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The Black Archive #73
Under the Lake / Before the Flood
“You can’t cheat time. I just tried.”
A base under siege, a time travel paradox and ghosts! With these elements in place, Toby Whitehouse’s Under the Lake and Before the Flood (2015) treads familiar ground for fans of Doctor Who while also moving in bold new directions, both in terms of story-telling and character representation.
This two-part story sees Peter Capaldi’s 12th doctor break the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience. His lecture on what philosophers call “the bootstrap paradox” serves to set up the central puzzle of these episodes while insisting that it remain unsolved.
Actress Sophie Stone’s portrayal of Cass challenges traditional representational tropes surrounding disabled people. Simultaneously, this character asks us to think further about how we understand disability in, and through, science fiction.
A base under siege, a time travel paradox and ghosts! With these elements in place, Toby Whitehouse’s Under the Lake and Before the Flood (2015) treads familiar ground for fans of Doctor Who while also moving in bold new directions, both in terms of story-telling and character representation.
This two-part story sees Peter Capaldi’s 12th doctor break the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience. His lecture on what philosophers call “the bootstrap paradox” serves to set up the central puzzle of these episodes while insisting that it remain unsolved.
Actress Sophie Stone’s portrayal of Cass challenges traditional representational tropes surrounding disabled people. Simultaneously, this character asks us to think further about how we understand disability in, and through, science fiction.
- GenresDoctor Who
123 pages, ebook
Published October 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 28, 2025
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/under-the-lake-before-the-flood-by-ryan-c-parrey-and-kevin-s-decker-and-toby-whitehouse/
Ryan C. Parrey and Kevin S. Decker have done a solid though relatively short Black Archive on the story. The first chapter is an introduction which briefly touches on bases under siege, evil capitalism, and the reversed sequence of the narrative.
The second and longest chapter, “The Bootstrap Paradox”, goes in detail into the exploration of time paradoxes in this story and in other Doctor Who stories, and the extent to which they also carry the freight of moral dilemmas.
The third chapter, “‘Only Room for One Me’”, looks at Clara’s arc overall in the wider Doctor Who narrative.
The very brief fourth chapter, “Ghosts in the Machine”, looks at the ghosts in the story as compared to other Who stories, and unpacks how they are not really ghosts.
The fifth chapter, “New Waste Lands”, which is also short, looks at the alien Fisher King and successfully explained to me what is actually going on in the story, better than the script did.
The sixth and best chapter, “The Case of Cass”, looks at the varying ways that disabled people are portrayed in the media, especially in Doctor Who, coming to the conclusion that Cass is uniquely well depicted in this story. Hard to disagree with that, and it’s well argued.
The seventh and concluding chapter takes us back to ethics and invokes Jean-Paul Sartre.
I rate this about average of the Black Archives, but with significant bonus points for the discussion of disability.
Ryan C. Parrey and Kevin S. Decker have done a solid though relatively short Black Archive on the story. The first chapter is an introduction which briefly touches on bases under siege, evil capitalism, and the reversed sequence of the narrative.
The second and longest chapter, “The Bootstrap Paradox”, goes in detail into the exploration of time paradoxes in this story and in other Doctor Who stories, and the extent to which they also carry the freight of moral dilemmas.
The third chapter, “‘Only Room for One Me’”, looks at Clara’s arc overall in the wider Doctor Who narrative.
The very brief fourth chapter, “Ghosts in the Machine”, looks at the ghosts in the story as compared to other Who stories, and unpacks how they are not really ghosts.
The fifth chapter, “New Waste Lands”, which is also short, looks at the alien Fisher King and successfully explained to me what is actually going on in the story, better than the script did.
The sixth and best chapter, “The Case of Cass”, looks at the varying ways that disabled people are portrayed in the media, especially in Doctor Who, coming to the conclusion that Cass is uniquely well depicted in this story. Hard to disagree with that, and it’s well argued.
The seventh and concluding chapter takes us back to ethics and invokes Jean-Paul Sartre.
I rate this about average of the Black Archives, but with significant bonus points for the discussion of disability.
Displaying 1 of 1 review