Doctor Who Boss Shares The Unusual Note He Got About Psychological Thriller Featuring A Deaf Character

The scariest episode of this Doctor Who season also was an illuminating one, for showrunner Russell T Davies.

The Saturday, April 26 episode, "The Well" — which series leads Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu both flagged (in the video above) as the season's "scariest" hour, and "a psychological thriller" — takes place 500,000 years in the future, on a brutal planet that is home to a devastated mining colony which has only one survivor.

Rose Ayling-Ellis, an English television presenter and writer of children's books whose previous acting credits include EastEnders and Casualty, plays that lone survivor of an unspeakable incident, named Aliss.

Ayling-Ellis has been deaf since birth, but that quality was not endemic to the character as originally conceived.

"Aliss wasn't written as a deaf character," Davies told TVLine ahead of the new season. "But then Rose's name came up, and she's acted for long time on British television, and I instantly said yes. Because she's just wonderful."

Davies went on to say that one reason to "cast diversely," as he happened to do here, is because all involved can learn a thing or two along the way. In turn, an episode of TV can only get better.

"It was a delight to work with Rose. As I talked with her, we put things into the script I never would have thought of," he recalled. "She modified things, and we modified things...."

After submitting the script for "The Well" for a compliance reading — where typically "they tell us what we've gotten wrong, which is exactly the way it should work," Davies explained — this time "it came back with such a glowing report."

In fact, one of the few notes he did receive celebrated a line of dialogue, about how hearing people can get paranoid around those who are quietly signing. "I've never seen that said out loud before," is what Davies said the impressed consultant on deafness reported back.

As for Ayling-Ellis' acting performance as Aliss, "I don't want to give away too much...," the showrunner hedged, adding: "Is she the villain? Maybe she's behind it all?"

But this much he affirmed: "Oh my God, she gives so much that your heart absolutely goes out to her. I'm so lucky to talk about her, and to work with her."

Want scoop on Doctor Who, or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line!