The Doctor (Smith) and Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) get a Cold War adventure in this tale written by Mark Gatiss.

The episode aired on 13 April, 2013. The Time Lord and his Companion find themselves on a Soviet submarine commanded by Captain Zukhov (Liam Cunningham), his lieutenant, Stepashin (Tobias Menzies) and an Ultravox loving scientist, Grisenko (David Warner).

It’s 1983, tensions are high and things are about to get a lot worse. It seems there is a Martian Ice Warrior aboard, frozen and recovered from the North Pole. And what is worse – the Doctor knows all about this particular Ice Warrior.

In a time of high tensions that will just make things all the more tense, and the Doctor better find a way to maintain the piece as nuclear and interplanetary war hang in the balance.

Clara negotiates with the Doctor’s help and the two of them may just be able to save the day and keep the peace. It plays tensely, and there are some nice moments with the crew as they interact with the Doctor, and it’s nice that they made it a Russian sub, because it makes us look at those we feared and see them in a new way.

I like this episode  plays nicely in the era it’s set in, and it further cements the relationship between Time Lord and Companion while having a great sense of fun about the whole thing.

Hide is one of my favourite episodes of this series – what starts out as a spooky story with ghost hunters plays out a completely different way.

Written by Neil Cross this one came to the screen on 20 April, 2013, the story finds the Doctor and Clara in 1974, in a sprawling, rather spooky mansion, owned by Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott).

Palmer, with the help of his assistant, Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) is investigating his home, as it seems to be haunted. Time Lord and Companion get drawn, excitingly into the mystery, and the fun begins as the Doctor plays Ghostbuster, until he discovers what is really going on, and the true nature of the ghost of Caliburn House.

I love how the shift in the story happens, it’s a fantastic bit, as it moves smoothly from haunted house story to something unexpected.

There are some great moments in the episode, and while it does play with the usual British haunted house tropes – big spooky mansions, flickering candelabras, dark corridors, troubling surrounding grounds – it does it well, and is wonderfully engaging.

You become so invested in the spooky nature of the tale that you buckle up and hang on for the ride, and this one is definitely that. The Doctor et al. need to save a lost soul, and it’s gonna be a rip-roaring story.

There isn’t a single moment in the episode that I didn’t enjoy. And while I do love The Angels Take Manhattan, Hide may be my favourite episode of this series.

Next week we Journey to the Centre of the Tardis…