Doctor Who continues its most innovative season in years with “The Well”, Season 15 Episode 3, a perfectly hidden sequel episode.
Showrunner: Russell T Davies
Director: Amanda Brotchie
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Number of Episodes in Season 15 (also known as Season 2): 8
Episode 3 Release Date: April 26, 2025
Where to Watch: Disney+ (US & globally) / BBC iPlayer (UK)
One of the many features that’s allowed Doctor Who to survive for so many years is its episodic format, with the Doctor and his companions traveling throughout time and space every single week to undergo a brand new adventure. However, some of the show’s most ambitious writers have dared to break this format in the past, offering a handful of sequel episodes that unexpectedly hark back to previous adventures in Doctor Who’s history.
Season 15 episode 3 is a perfect example of this, subtly continuing a story that’s widely regarded by Doctor Who fans as one of the show’s best.
“The Well” sees the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) infiltrate a human colonisation effort, where they soon get separated from the TARDIS and stranded on a mysterious planet far from home. When they enter an abandoned research facility and find the majority of the humans slaughtered and all the mirrors destroyed, they quickly realize that a dark entity is hiding in the shadows – and it’s one the Doctor has met before.
In this new era of Doctor Who, with the show available to so many fresh audiences across the globe who haven’t necessarily seen every previous episode, sequel episodes like this can be somewhat risky. But thankfully, writers Russell T. Davies and Sharma Angel-Walfall do an excellent job of ensuring that this story works on two levels: it’s easy to understand the narrative without any prior Doctor Who knowledge, but it’s also laced with details and Easter eggs that enhance the adventure for long-time fans. This isn’t an easy thing to do, but “The Well” manages it perfectly.
There’s a real sense of dread and tension in Doctor Who season 15 episode 3 that’s been missing from the past couple of seasons, as Davies & Walfall clearly draw inspiration from classic sci-fi horrors in their script. There are hints of both Alien and The Thing in this story, with its fierce ensemble constantly unsure of who can be trusted and who should be considered a threat. It plays on the universal fear of the unknown and the paranoia of not being able to physically see your enemy in a way that works really well – in both this episode and the previous one that it references.
“The Well” also features some outstanding performances, both from the returning cast and the guest stars. Gatwa finally gets a chance to lean into the darker side of the Doctor, while Sethu gets her first real moment of terror and fear, which really humanizes Belinda and allows the show to cultivate her friendship with the Doctor. However, it’s guest star Rose Ayling-Ellis who steals the show in “The Well”. She plays Allis Fenly, the sole survivor of the massacre at the research base – and her character takes center stage in this episode. It’s a classic case of the Doctor trying to help somebody in need, but they’re both in way over their head and nothing is working in their favour. It’s a typical Doctor Who structure, but it’s executed perfectly.
Doctor Who season 15 episode 3 will ultimately spark discussions thanks to its connections to another fan-favourite story, but even without this shared history, “The Well” stands alone as the most exciting Doctor Who adventure of Ncuti Gatwa’s era so far. It’s brimming with tension (and some genuinely spooky jumpscares) in a way that Doctor Who rarely dares to attempt, ditching the playfulness of the previous two episodes for a much darker, horror-infused episode that feels like its been plucked straight from Davies’ previous tenure on the show in the late 2000s.
Episode 3 of Season 15 (also known as Season 2) of Doctor Who, named “The Well,” is now available to stream globally on Disney+, and on the BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
