The Witch from the Well

Main Range #154

Released: 8 November 2011

Listened: 7/15/21

From one classic horror trope to another, this one has the titular witch wreaking havoc in the 21st century, causing the Doctor and Mary to jump back to the 17th to see how it all got started. They’re accompanied by two oddly-named teenage twins, Finicia and Lucern, who are related to the nobility in the area. Much like in “The Witchfinders,” the Doctor really doesn’t get along with people who want to hunt and persecute witches. However, in this case there’s a bunch of backstory around a race of aliens who use energies that would be considered paranormal, and generally inaccessible to the rest of the universe. That provides a metaphor for persecution on a couple of levels, as well as what it does to the psychology of the persecuted, which is interesting, but not fully explored. As often happens in Doctor Who stories, who the monster is, and who the villains are, is confused and muddled and swaps around during the story, all of which is complicated by the fact that the story jumps between the 1650s and the present. Mary spends much of the story separated from the Doctor, but having to take charge of the two teens puts her in the driver’s seat for her part of the plot, and then she has to motivate the current lord of the manor, who’s not exactly decisive. She has the usual issues companions from the past face with present-day technology, but her sci-fi writer’s mind grasps the concepts well enough, and she’s even used to the TARDIS capabilities in quite a short time. The story seems to have a tragic ending, but there’s a cop-out after the fact that cheapens the drama, in my opinion. Overall, it’s a good showcase for Mary, adjusting on her own, and a story with more timey-wimey than usual, so the twist works fairly well.