Tin Dog Podcast

Description:

tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk The Tin Dog welcomes you to sit back and listen to his rants and ramblings about all that is best in modern SF and Television. Via the gift of the new fangled Podcast over the tinterweb. As you can probably guess Tin Dog mostly talks about Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith but that wont stop him talking about any other subject you suggest. Hailing from a non specific part of the northeast of England, Tin Dog is male and in his mid 30s. A life long fan of almost all TV SF. His semi-autistic tendencies combined with his total lack of social skills have helped him find a place in the heart of British SF Fandom. Even as a child the Tin Dogs mother told him that she can trace his love of SF TV back to his rhythmic kicking, while still in the womb, along to the beat of the Avengers theme music. From Gabriel Chase to Totters Lane, from the Bad Wolf Satellite to the back streets of the Cardiff, Tin Dog will give you his thoughts on the wonderful Whoniverse. Daleks and Cybermen and TARDIS ES Oh My If you enjoy these Tin Dog Podcasts please remember to tell your friends and leave an email tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk

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Tin Dog Podcast Episodes

• Bad Wolf arc

  24 June 2008 (8:22am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Bad Wolf The words Bad Wolf as aerosol graffiti on the TARDIS in "Aliens of London" The first arc word of the new series, "Bad Wolf", began to crop up in various ways starting from the second episode, "The End of the World", and then grew in prominence, leading to much fan speculation over the course of the series as to what the phrase referred to and what its ultimate significance would be. In this respect, the phrase was also a form of viral marketing. There was little clue to the meaning of the phrase until "The Parting of the Ways", where it was revealed to be a message spread by Rose Tyler throughout time after infusing herself with the power of the heart of the TARDIS. Having infused herself with the power of the time vortex, Rose gained seemingly infinite reality warping abilities with which she obliterated a Dalek fleet, before this fatal energy was removed from her by the Doctor. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", the extent of Rose's actions remains unclear. She revived Jack Harkness, an event which made him immortal, perhaps purposefully, and also acted as the catalyst for the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth. " I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them ... in time, and space. A message to lead myself here. " --Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". Bad Wolf arc The phrase first appeared in the second episode of the 2005 series, and then in every story of that series thereafter. It also occasionally appeared in the 2006 and 2007 series. Within the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the arc comprised the following episodes: "The End of the World": The Moxx of Balhoon mentions in a half-heard conversation to the Face of Boe the "Bad Wolf scenario." "The Unquiet Dead": When the clairvoyant Gwyneth reads Rose's mind, she says, "The things you've seen... the darkness.. the Big Bad Wolf!" "Aliens of London"/"World War Three": A young boy spray-paints the graffiti BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS and later cleans it off. "Dalek": The call sign for Henry van Statten's private helicopter is "Bad Wolf One" "The Long Game": One of the several thousand television channels being broadcast from Satellite Five is BAD WOLFTV. "Father's Day": A poster advertising a rave in 1987 has the words "BAD WOLF" defacing it. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances": The bomb that Captain Jack rides at the end of the story is labelled "SCHLECHTER WOLF", which literally translates as "Bad Wolf" in German (the appropriate translation, however, would be "Boser Wolf"). "Boom Town": A nuclear power plant is dubbed the Blaidd Drwg project, which is Welsh for "Bad Wolf". The Doctor also mentions for the first time that the phrase had been following them around. "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways": The corporation that runs the Game Station (formerly Satellite Five) is called the Badwolf Corporation. It is from this corporation's logo that Rose "takes the words" to scatter throughout Time and Space, resulting in the other appearances of the phrase. It is also in scattered graffiti around Rose's council estate, including on a poster tacked to the wall behind Rose's head in the cafe scene and in giant letters on a paved recreation ground. The latter is faded, but still visible, in "New Earth". Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akuro, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]". The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": At the end of this episode all text turns into "Bad Wolf", including the backlit signs and the board on the front of the TARDIS. This is described by the Doctor to be the end of the universe. There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf. The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Darlig ulv stranden", which she translates as "Bad Wolf Bay". (In actuality, it can be translated to "Bad Wolf Beach"). Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is a advert for good wolf insurance. Other media The tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime.'" The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" -- silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves. In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6] In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall. The phrase occurs in some of the New Series Adventures, the BBC Books range of spin-off novels based on the new series. The Ninth Doctor Adventures run concurrently with the 2005 series. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards features a character named Melissa Heart who notes that the two time travellers keep turning up "like a bad wolf." In Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner, there is a game called "Bad Wolf" amongst Mickey's other computer games. In The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole, a character named Dennel tells Rose "The big bad wolf's ready to blow our house down." In The Deviant Strain, also by Richards, a psychic character tells Rose that he fears "The bad wolf... The man with the wolf on his arm." Later, this character is indirectly killed by another character who has a tattoo of a wolf on his arm. In The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons, a character explaining why fiction is dangerous says, "We've good reason to be afraid of the big bad wolf." The phrase also appears in later Tenth Doctor novels, such as Peacemaker a character says the Doctor is 'the man who defeated the Bad Wolf'. There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W." A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazine comic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg.

  
  

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• Bad Wolf arc

  24 June 2008 (8:22am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Bad Wolf The words Bad Wolf as aerosol graffiti on the TARDIS in "Aliens of London" The first arc word of the new series, "Bad Wolf", began to crop up in various ways starting from the second episode, "The End of the World", and then grew in prominence, leading to much fan speculation over the course of the series as to what the phrase referred to and what its ultimate significance would be. In this respect, the phrase was also a form of viral marketing. There was little clue to the meaning of the phrase until "The Parting of the Ways", where it was revealed to be a message spread by Rose Tyler throughout time after infusing herself with the power of the heart of the TARDIS. Having infused herself with the power of the time vortex, Rose gained seemingly infinite reality warping abilities with which she obliterated a Dalek fleet, before this fatal energy was removed from her by the Doctor. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", the extent of Rose's actions remains unclear. She revived Jack Harkness, an event which made him immortal, perhaps purposefully, and also acted as the catalyst for the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth. " I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them ... in time, and space. A message to lead myself here. " --Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". Bad Wolf arc The phrase first appeared in the second episode of the 2005 series, and then in every story of that series thereafter. It also occasionally appeared in the 2006 and 2007 series. Within the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the arc comprised the following episodes: "The End of the World": The Moxx of Balhoon mentions in a half-heard conversation to the Face of Boe the "Bad Wolf scenario." "The Unquiet Dead": When the clairvoyant Gwyneth reads Rose's mind, she says, "The things you've seen... the darkness.. the Big Bad Wolf!" "Aliens of London"/"World War Three": A young boy spray-paints the graffiti BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS and later cleans it off. "Dalek": The call sign for Henry van Statten's private helicopter is "Bad Wolf One" "The Long Game": One of the several thousand television channels being broadcast from Satellite Five is BAD WOLFTV. "Father's Day": A poster advertising a rave in 1987 has the words "BAD WOLF" defacing it. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances": The bomb that Captain Jack rides at the end of the story is labelled "SCHLECHTER WOLF", which literally translates as "Bad Wolf" in German (the appropriate translation, however, would be "Boser Wolf"). "Boom Town": A nuclear power plant is dubbed the Blaidd Drwg project, which is Welsh for "Bad Wolf". The Doctor also mentions for the first time that the phrase had been following them around. "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways": The corporation that runs the Game Station (formerly Satellite Five) is called the Badwolf Corporation. It is from this corporation's logo that Rose "takes the words" to scatter throughout Time and Space, resulting in the other appearances of the phrase. It is also in scattered graffiti around Rose's council estate, including on a poster tacked to the wall behind Rose's head in the cafe scene and in giant letters on a paved recreation ground. The latter is faded, but still visible, in "New Earth". Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akuro, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]". The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": At the end of this episode all text turns into "Bad Wolf", including the backlit signs and the board on the front of the TARDIS. This is described by the Doctor to be the end of the universe. There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf. The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Darlig ulv stranden", which she translates as "Bad Wolf Bay". (In actuality, it can be translated to "Bad Wolf Beach"). Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is a advert for good wolf insurance. Other media The tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime.'" The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" -- silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves. In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6] In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall. The phrase occurs in some of the New Series Adventures, the BBC Books range of spin-off novels based on the new series. The Ninth Doctor Adventures run concurrently with the 2005 series. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards features a character named Melissa Heart who notes that the two time travellers keep turning up "like a bad wolf." In Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner, there is a game called "Bad Wolf" amongst Mickey's other computer games. In The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole, a character named Dennel tells Rose "The big bad wolf's ready to blow our house down." In The Deviant Strain, also by Richards, a psychic character tells Rose that he fears "The bad wolf... The man with the wolf on his arm." Later, this character is indirectly killed by another character who has a tattoo of a wolf on his arm. In The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons, a character explaining why fiction is dangerous says, "We've good reason to be afraid of the big bad wolf." The phrase also appears in later Tenth Doctor novels, such as Peacemaker a character says the Doctor is 'the man who defeated the Bad Wolf'. There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W." A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazine comic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg.

  
  

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• TDP 63: Doctor Who 4.11 Turn Left

  25 June 2008 (7:36pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 12 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  While visiting a market on the planet of Shan Shen with the Doctor, Donna Noble is offered a free fortune reading. The fortune-teller presses Donna to reveal her past and focuses on a point in her past on modern-day Earth where she was driving to her temporary job at H. C. Clements, despite her mother's desire that she take a permanent job nearby. As a large beetle-like creature climbs onto Donna's back, the teller convinces Donna to change her mind in the past, taking a right at the road junction per her mother's wishes instead of a left. The narrative turns to the alternate history created by Donna's choice, far bleaker than the course of events established in previous episodes. The Doctor dies permanently during the Racnoss' attack on London ("The Runaway Bride"), killed by the water pressure before he could regenerate, because Donna was not there to convince him to leave. Royal Hope Hospital is taken to the moon and returned ("Smith and Jones"), but only one person, Martha's fellow medical student Oliver Morgenstern, survives. Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith are among the dead (the latter apparently having foiled Florence Finnegan's plan). The Titanic crashes into the centre of London, wiping out the city and irradiating most of southern England ("Voyage of the Damned"). In the United States, 60 million people are turned into creatures made of fat ("Partners in Crime"). The Sontarans attempt to turn Earth into a breeding world ("The Poison Sky"), which is stopped by Jack Harkness and his remaining Torchwood team of Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. However, Gwen and Ianto are killed and Jack is transported to Sontar. Throughout all these events, Rose Tyler keeps appearing before Donna. Aware of the events to come, she steers Donna away from mortal danger but refuses to give her name. After the latest tragedy, Rose urges Donna to come with her, even though she will die. Donna initially refuses, but three weeks later, as she and her grandfather talk about recent events, the stars begin disappearing throughout the sky. Donna tells Rose that she is ready. Rose escorts Donna to a UNIT base where the dying TARDIS is being used to help power a makeshift time machine. Rose uses the system to show Donna the beetle that crawled onto her back during the fortune-telling. It is in temporal flux and cannot be removed, but Rose explains that Donna herself is also a point of flux. In order to set things right, they prepare to send her back in time to stop herself from going right. Donna agrees to go, but when she asks if she will get to live this time, Rose remains silent. Donna is sent back in time, but ends up half a mile away and with only four minutes to spare. Finding herself short of the mark on the road leading from the right of the critical intersection, Donna remembers what Rose said about her death and throws herself in front of a removal van. Traffic backs up to the intersection and the past Donna turns left, unwilling to wait for it to clear. As the future Donna lies on the ground, Rose leans over and whispers two words to pass on to the Doctor. Back on Shan Shen, the beetle falls off of Donna's back and the fortune teller flees, frightened by this unexpected development. The Doctor finds Donna and the beetle. He explains that it normally affects only the person it attaches to (the universe merely "compensates"), but in Donna's case created a parallel world. The Doctor is curious about the other alternate realities that seem to form around Donna ("Forest of the Dead"). He ponders the coincidences surrounding Donna and himself, as if something is binding them together. When Donna insists that she is nothing special, the Doctor tells her that she is brilliant, which triggers her fading memories of Rose. She tells him about Rose's warning that "the darkness is coming" and that it is affecting all worlds. At his insistence, Donna tells him the words Rose said; "Bad Wolf". Horrified, the Doctor runs outside to find that the words "Bad Wolf" are everywhere, even on the TARDIS. Inside the Cloister Bell is ringing and the TARDIS interior is glowing red. When Donna asks about the meaning of "Bad Wolf", the Doctor replies, "It's the end of the universe." This episode revisits the events of most of the present-day stories since Donna first met the Doctor, including "The Runaway Bride", "Smith and Jones", "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime", and "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky". The Doctor's absence during these events leads to the deaths of Martha Jones, Sarah Jane Smith, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. Jack Harkness, who cannot be killed, is transported to Sontar. Torchwood characters Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones are referred to by name for the first time in Doctor Who, while a short segment of music from the soundtrack of Torchwood plays in the background. Sarah Jane Smith is mentioned for the first time since "The Girl in the Fireplace", along with the first mentions of The Sarah Jane Adventures characters Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, and Maria Jackson. The recurring "Bad Wolf" motif, primarily from series 1, returns at the conclusion of this episode to warn the Doctor of the events that are causing Rose to return. The TARDIS's Cloister Bell, last used in "Time Crash", can also be heard at the end of the episode. Sylvia Noble mentions that the bees are disappearing, which has been mentioned by Donna in "Partners in Crime", "Planet of the Ood", and "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Donna's father Geoff, who appeared in "The Runaway Bride", is mentioned for the first time since "The Fires of Pompeii". It is implied that he was ill during the timescale of "Smith and Jones", and had died by the time of "Voyage of the Damned". His character was intended to be used during series 4, but was retired after actor Howard Attfield died before his scenes were finished. He was replaced by Bernard Cribbins, whose previous role as an anonymous newspaper seller was merged with that of Donna's grandfather. The "Time Beetle"[2] on Donna's back is described by the Doctor as part of "the Trickster's brigade". The Trickster was a time-altering villain in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?. The beetle on her back was also referenced by Lucius Dextrus in "The Fires of Pompeii" with the line, "Daughter of London, there is something on your back!". Sarah Jane Smith is said to write for the fictional Metropolitan magazine as previously mentioned in Planet of the Spiders. Rose mentions the "causal nexus", which was discussed by the Doctor and the Master in "Logopolis." Production The episode, filmed at the same time as "Midnight", saw the Doctor with very little screen-time, while "Midnight" saw Donna with little screen-time.[3] Tennant shot all his scenes, at the episode's beginning and end, in one day, while a double stood in for the shot of the dead Doctor's arm.[2] The appearance of the Giant Spider of Metebelis 3 that clung to Sarah Jane Smith's back in Planet of the Spiders influenced the design and concept of the "Time Beetle" that clings to Donna's back in this episode.[2] [edit] Cast notes Billie Piper makes her first substantial appearance on the show since "Doomsday". Interviewed for Doctor Who Confidential, Piper said her return had been planned at the time of her original departure but that around three weeks before filming she decided to rewatch some of her old episodes to refamiliarise herself with the role and ease her doubts that she could play Rose again.[2] Clive Standen reprises the role of Private Harris (credited in this episode as "UNIT Soldier") from "The Sontaran Strategem" / "The Poison Sky". Here he is shown to have been in attendance during the Webstar crisis. Ben Righton reprises the role of Oliver Morgenstern from "Smith and Jones", in this episode the only survivor when the hospital is returned to Earth, Martha Jones having given him the last oxygen pack. Lachele Carl returns as American newsreader Trinity Wells, who previously appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London"/"World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion", "The Sound of Drums" and "The Poison Sky", in addition to The Sarah Jane Adventures story Revenge of the Slitheen. Chipo Chung, who plays the fortune-teller, previously appeared as Chantho in the episode "Utopia". Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Turn Left" was watched by 7 million viewers, giving it a 35% share of the total television audience.[4] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[5] Keith Watson for the Metro newspaper called it a "daring" episode and praised Catherine Tate's performance, which was "perfectly suited to a complex story... Doctor Who could get away with being a lot less clever. But they actually care about what they do."[6] However, Sam Wollaston of The Guardian felt Tate was overshadowed by the return of Billie Piper. "Catherine Tate really puts everything into this episode (too much, maybe). But as soon as Rose shows, Donna's a goner."[7] 201 - "Turn Left" Doctor Who episode In the makeshift TARDIS-powered UNIT time machine, Rose shows Donna what is on her back Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Also starring Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) Guest stars Bernard Cribbins - Wilfred MottJacqueline King - Sylvia NobleJoseph Long - Rocco ColasantoNoma Dumzwemi - Capt. MagamboChipo Chung - Fortune TellerMarcia Lecky - Mooky KahariSuzann McLean - Veena BradyNatalie Walter - Alice ColtraneNeil Clench - Man in PubClive Standen - UNIT SoldierBhasker Patel - Jival ChowdryCatherine York - Female ReporterBen Righton - MorgensternLoraine Velez - Spanish MaidJason Mohammad - Studio News ReaderSanchia McCormack - Housing OfficerLawrence Stevenson - Soldier #1Terri-Ann Brumby - Woman in DoorwayLachele Carl - Trinity WellsPaul Richard Biggin - Soldier #2[1] Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Graeme Harper Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.11 Series Series 4 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Midnight" "The Stolen Earth"

  
  

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• Bad Wolf arc

  24 June 2008 (8:22am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Bad Wolf The words Bad Wolf as aerosol graffiti on the TARDIS in "Aliens of London" The first arc word of the new series, "Bad Wolf", began to crop up in various ways starting from the second episode, "The End of the World", and then grew in prominence, leading to much fan speculation over the course of the series as to what the phrase referred to and what its ultimate significance would be. In this respect, the phrase was also a form of viral marketing. There was little clue to the meaning of the phrase until "The Parting of the Ways", where it was revealed to be a message spread by Rose Tyler throughout time after infusing herself with the power of the heart of the TARDIS. Having infused herself with the power of the time vortex, Rose gained seemingly infinite reality warping abilities with which she obliterated a Dalek fleet, before this fatal energy was removed from her by the Doctor. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", the extent of Rose's actions remains unclear. She revived Jack Harkness, an event which made him immortal, perhaps purposefully, and also acted as the catalyst for the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth. " I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them ... in time, and space. A message to lead myself here. " --Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". Bad Wolf arc The phrase first appeared in the second episode of the 2005 series, and then in every story of that series thereafter. It also occasionally appeared in the 2006 and 2007 series. Within the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the arc comprised the following episodes: "The End of the World": The Moxx of Balhoon mentions in a half-heard conversation to the Face of Boe the "Bad Wolf scenario." "The Unquiet Dead": When the clairvoyant Gwyneth reads Rose's mind, she says, "The things you've seen... the darkness.. the Big Bad Wolf!" "Aliens of London"/"World War Three": A young boy spray-paints the graffiti BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS and later cleans it off. "Dalek": The call sign for Henry van Statten's private helicopter is "Bad Wolf One" "The Long Game": One of the several thousand television channels being broadcast from Satellite Five is BAD WOLFTV. "Father's Day": A poster advertising a rave in 1987 has the words "BAD WOLF" defacing it. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances": The bomb that Captain Jack rides at the end of the story is labelled "SCHLECHTER WOLF", which literally translates as "Bad Wolf" in German (the appropriate translation, however, would be "Boser Wolf"). "Boom Town": A nuclear power plant is dubbed the Blaidd Drwg project, which is Welsh for "Bad Wolf". The Doctor also mentions for the first time that the phrase had been following them around. "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways": The corporation that runs the Game Station (formerly Satellite Five) is called the Badwolf Corporation. It is from this corporation's logo that Rose "takes the words" to scatter throughout Time and Space, resulting in the other appearances of the phrase. It is also in scattered graffiti around Rose's council estate, including on a poster tacked to the wall behind Rose's head in the cafe scene and in giant letters on a paved recreation ground. The latter is faded, but still visible, in "New Earth". Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akuro, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]". The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": At the end of this episode all text turns into "Bad Wolf", including the backlit signs and the board on the front of the TARDIS. This is described by the Doctor to be the end of the universe. There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf. The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Darlig ulv stranden", which she translates as "Bad Wolf Bay". (In actuality, it can be translated to "Bad Wolf Beach"). Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is a advert for good wolf insurance. Other media The tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime.'" The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" -- silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves. In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6] In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall. The phrase occurs in some of the New Series Adventures, the BBC Books range of spin-off novels based on the new series. The Ninth Doctor Adventures run concurrently with the 2005 series. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards features a character named Melissa Heart who notes that the two time travellers keep turning up "like a bad wolf." In Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner, there is a game called "Bad Wolf" amongst Mickey's other computer games. In The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole, a character named Dennel tells Rose "The big bad wolf's ready to blow our house down." In The Deviant Strain, also by Richards, a psychic character tells Rose that he fears "The bad wolf... The man with the wolf on his arm." Later, this character is indirectly killed by another character who has a tattoo of a wolf on his arm. In The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons, a character explaining why fiction is dangerous says, "We've good reason to be afraid of the big bad wolf." The phrase also appears in later Tenth Doctor novels, such as Peacemaker a character says the Doctor is 'the man who defeated the Bad Wolf'. There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W." A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazine comic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg.

  
  

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• Bad Wolf arc

  24 June 2008 (8:22am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Bad Wolf The words Bad Wolf as aerosol graffiti on the TARDIS in "Aliens of London" The first arc word of the new series, "Bad Wolf", began to crop up in various ways starting from the second episode, "The End of the World", and then grew in prominence, leading to much fan speculation over the course of the series as to what the phrase referred to and what its ultimate significance would be. In this respect, the phrase was also a form of viral marketing. There was little clue to the meaning of the phrase until "The Parting of the Ways", where it was revealed to be a message spread by Rose Tyler throughout time after infusing herself with the power of the heart of the TARDIS. Having infused herself with the power of the time vortex, Rose gained seemingly infinite reality warping abilities with which she obliterated a Dalek fleet, before this fatal energy was removed from her by the Doctor. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", the extent of Rose's actions remains unclear. She revived Jack Harkness, an event which made him immortal, perhaps purposefully, and also acted as the catalyst for the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth. " I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them ... in time, and space. A message to lead myself here. " --Rose Tyler in "The Parting of the Ways". Bad Wolf arc The phrase first appeared in the second episode of the 2005 series, and then in every story of that series thereafter. It also occasionally appeared in the 2006 and 2007 series. Within the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the arc comprised the following episodes: "The End of the World": The Moxx of Balhoon mentions in a half-heard conversation to the Face of Boe the "Bad Wolf scenario." "The Unquiet Dead": When the clairvoyant Gwyneth reads Rose's mind, she says, "The things you've seen... the darkness.. the Big Bad Wolf!" "Aliens of London"/"World War Three": A young boy spray-paints the graffiti BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS and later cleans it off. "Dalek": The call sign for Henry van Statten's private helicopter is "Bad Wolf One" "The Long Game": One of the several thousand television channels being broadcast from Satellite Five is BAD WOLFTV. "Father's Day": A poster advertising a rave in 1987 has the words "BAD WOLF" defacing it. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances": The bomb that Captain Jack rides at the end of the story is labelled "SCHLECHTER WOLF", which literally translates as "Bad Wolf" in German (the appropriate translation, however, would be "Boser Wolf"). "Boom Town": A nuclear power plant is dubbed the Blaidd Drwg project, which is Welsh for "Bad Wolf". The Doctor also mentions for the first time that the phrase had been following them around. "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways": The corporation that runs the Game Station (formerly Satellite Five) is called the Badwolf Corporation. It is from this corporation's logo that Rose "takes the words" to scatter throughout Time and Space, resulting in the other appearances of the phrase. It is also in scattered graffiti around Rose's council estate, including on a poster tacked to the wall behind Rose's head in the cafe scene and in giant letters on a paved recreation ground. The latter is faded, but still visible, in "New Earth". Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akuro, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]". The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": At the end of this episode all text turns into "Bad Wolf", including the backlit signs and the board on the front of the TARDIS. This is described by the Doctor to be the end of the universe. There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf. The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Darlig ulv stranden", which she translates as "Bad Wolf Bay". (In actuality, it can be translated to "Bad Wolf Beach"). Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is a advert for good wolf insurance. Other media The tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime.'" The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" -- silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves. In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6] In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall. The phrase occurs in some of the New Series Adventures, the BBC Books range of spin-off novels based on the new series. The Ninth Doctor Adventures run concurrently with the 2005 series. The Clockwise Man, by Justin Richards features a character named Melissa Heart who notes that the two time travellers keep turning up "like a bad wolf." In Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner, there is a game called "Bad Wolf" amongst Mickey's other computer games. In The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole, a character named Dennel tells Rose "The big bad wolf's ready to blow our house down." In The Deviant Strain, also by Richards, a psychic character tells Rose that he fears "The bad wolf... The man with the wolf on his arm." Later, this character is indirectly killed by another character who has a tattoo of a wolf on his arm. In The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons, a character explaining why fiction is dangerous says, "We've good reason to be afraid of the big bad wolf." The phrase also appears in later Tenth Doctor novels, such as Peacemaker a character says the Doctor is 'the man who defeated the Bad Wolf'. There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W." A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazine comic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg.

  
  

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• WHOstrology - Doctor Who Broadcast Dates

  23 June 2008 (9:18am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

   No       Title            Original airdate 1          An Unearthly Child            23 November-14 December 1963             aka 100,000 BC                 aka The Tribe of Gum     2          The Daleks  21 December 1963-1 February 1964             aka The Mutants                 aka The Dead Planet   3          The Edge of Destruction            8-15 February 1964             aka Inside the Spaceship                     aka Beyond the Sun            4          Marco Polo     22 February-4 April 1964             aka A Journey Through Cathay 5          The Keys of Marinus            11 April-16 May 1964             aka The Sea of Death   6          The Aztecs  23 May-13 June 1964 7          The Sensorites            20 June-1 August 1964 8          The Reign of Terror            8 August-12 September 1964             aka The French Revolution                                Season 2 (1964-65)                                       No       Title            Original airdate 9          Planet of Giants            31 October-14 November 1964 10        The Dalek Invasion of Earth            21 November-26 December 1964             aka World's End     11        The Rescue 2-9 January 1965 12        The Romans            16 January-6 February 1965 13        The Web Planet            13 February -20 March 1965             aka The Zarbi         14        The Crusade            27 March-17 April 1965             aka The Lionheart               aka The Crusaders  15        The Space Museum            24 April-15 May 1965 16        The Chase   22 May-26 June 1965 17        The Time Meddler            3-24 July 1965                         Season 3 (1965-66)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 18        Galaxy 4          11 September-2 October 1965                         19            "Mission to the Unknown"            09-Oct-65             aka "Dalek Cutaway"         20        The Myth Makers            16 October-6 November 1965                         21        The Daleks' Master Plan      13 November 1965-29 January 1966                        22        The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve      5 February-26 February 1966             aka The Massacre   23        The Ark      5 March-26 March 1966 24        The Celestial Toymaker            2 April-23 April 1966                         25        The Gunfighters            30 April-21 May 1966 26        The Savages[b]            28 May-18 June 1966                         27        The War Machines            25 June-16 July 1966                         Season 4 (1966-67)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 28        The Smugglers            10 September-1 October 1966                         29        The Tenth Planet            8-29 October 1966                                                 Second Doctor                                  Season 4 (1966-67) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 30        The Power of the Daleks  5 November-10 December 1966                         31        The Highlanders            17 December 1966-7 January 1967                         32        The Underwater Menace            14 January-4 February 1967                         33        The Moonbase            11 February-3 March 1967                         34        The Macra Terror            11 March-1 April 1967                         35        The Faceless Ones            8 April-13 May 1967                         36        The Evil of the Daleks  20 May-1 July 1967                        Season 5 (1967-68)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 37        The Tomb of the Cybermen            2-23 September 1967 38        The Abominable Snowmen            30 September-4 November 1967                         39        The Ice Warriors            11 November-16 December 1967                         40        The Enemy of the World  23 December 1967-27 January 1968                         41        The Web of Fear            3 February-9 March 1968                         42        Fury from the Deep            16 March-20 April 1968                         43        The Wheel in Space            27 April-1 June 1968                         Season 6 (1968-69)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 44        The Dominators            10 August-7 September 1968 45        The Mind Robber            14 September-12 October 1968 46        The Invasion            2 November-21 December 1968                         47        The Krotons            28 December 1968-18 January 1969 48        The Seeds of Death            25 January-1 March 1969 49        The Space Pirates            8 March-12 April 1969                         50        The War Games            19 April-21 June 1969                         Third Doctor                                        Season 7 (1970)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 51            Spearhead from Space            3-24 January 1970 52        Doctor Who and the Silurians            31 January-14 March 1970             aka The Silurians     53        The Ambassadors of Death            21 March-2 May 1970                         54        Inferno            9 May-20 June 1970                         Season 8 (1971)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 55        Terror of the Autons            2-23 January 1971 56        The Mind of Evil            30 January-6 March 1971                         57        The Claws of Axos            13 March-3 April 1971 58        Colony in Space            10 April-15 May 1971 59        The Daemons            22 May-19 June 1971                         Season 9 (1972)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 60        Day of the Daleks            1-22 January 1972 61        The Curse of Peladon            29 January-19 February 1972 62        The Sea Devils            26 February-1 April 1972 63        The Mutants            8 April-13 May 1972 64        The Time Monster            20 May-24 June 1972                         Season 10 (1972-73)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 65        The Three Doctors[c]            30 December 1972-20 January 1973 66            Carnival of Monsters            27 January-17 February 1973 67        Frontier in Space            24 February-31 March 1973 68        Planet of the Daleks            7 April-12 May 1973                         69        The Green Death            19 May-23 June 1973                         Season 11 (1973-74)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 70        The Time Warrior            15 December 1973-5 January 1974 71            Invasion of the Dinosaurs [d]            12 January-16 February 1974                         72        Death to the Daleks            23 February-16 March 1974 73        The Monster of Peladon            23 March-27 April 1974 74        Planet of the Spiders            4 May-8 June 1974                         Fourth Doctor                                  Season 12 (1974-75)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 75        Robot            28 December 1974-18 January 1975 76        The Ark in Space            25 January-15 February 1975 77        The Sontaran Experiment            22 February-1 March 1975 78        Genesis of the Daleks            8 March-12 April 1975 79            Revenge of the Cybermen            19 April-10 May 1975                         Season 13 (1975-76)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 80        Terror of the Zygons            30 August-20 September 1975 81        Planet of Evil   27 September-18 October 1975 82            Pyramids of Mars            25 October-15 November 1975 83        The Android Invasion            22 November-13 December 1975 84        The Brain of Morbius            3-24 January 1976 85        The Seeds of Doom            31 January-6 March 1976                         Season 14 (1976-77)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 86        The Masque of Mandragora            4-25 September 1976 87        The Hand of Fear            2-23 October 1976 88        The Deadly Assassin            30 October-20 November 1976 89        The Face of Evil            1-22 January 1977 90        The Robots of Death   29 January - 19 February 1977 91        The Talons of Weng-Chiang            26 February - 2 April 1977                         Season 15 (1977-78)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 92        Horror of Fang Rock            3-24 September 1977 93        The Invisible Enemy            1-22 October 1977 94        Image of the Fendahl            29 October-19 November 1977 95        The Sun Makers            26 November-17 December 1977 96            Underworld   7-28 January 1978 97        The Invasion of Time     4 February - 11 March 1978                         Season 16 (1978-79)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 98        The Ribos Operation            2-23 September 1978 99        The Pirate Planet            30 September-21 October 1978 100      The Stones of Blood   28 October-18 November 1978 101      The Androids of Tara     25 November-16 December 1978 102      The Power of Kroll            23 December 1978-13 January 1979 103      The Armageddon Factor  20 January - 24 February 1979                         Season 17 (1979-80)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 104      Destiny of the Daleks            1-22 September 1979 105      City of Death   29 September-20 October 1979 106      The Creature from the Pit   27 October-17 November 1979 107            Nightmare of Eden            24 November-15 December 1979 108      The Horns of Nimon  22 December 1979-12 January 1980 109            Shada[e]         Unaired                         Season 18 (1980-81)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 110      The Leisure Hive            30 August-20 September 1980 111      Meglos            27 September-18 October 1980 112      Full Circle   25 October-15 November 1980 113      State of Decay  22 November-13 December 1980 114            Warriors' Gate  3-24 January 1981 115      The Keeper of Traken 31 January-21 February 1981 116            Logopolis         28 February-21 March 1981                         Fifth Doctor                                        Season 19 (1982)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 117            Castrovalva      4-12 January 1982 118      Four to Doomsday            18-26 January 1982 119      Kinda            1-9 February 1982 120      The Visitation            15-23 February 1982 121      Black Orchid  1-2 March 1982 122            Earthshock      8-16 March 1982 123      Time-Flight    22-30 March 1982                         Season 20 (1983)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 124      Arc of Infinity  3-12 January 1983 125            Snakedance     18-26 January 1983 126            Mawdryn Undead            1-9 February 1983 127            Terminus         15-23 February 1983 128            Enlightenment   1-9 March 1983 129      The King's Demons            15-16 March 1983 130      The Five Doctors[f]            23-Nov-83                        Season 21 (1984)                               No       Title            Original airdate 131            Warriors of the Deep            5-13 January 1984 132      The Awakening            19-20 January 1984 133            Frontios           26 January-3 February 1984 134            Resurrection of the Daleks  8-15 February 1984                         135      Planet of Fire  23 February-2 March 1984 136      The Caves of Androzani            8-16 March 1984                         Sixth Doctor                                        Season 21 (1984) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 137      The Twin Dilemma            22-30 March 1984                         Season 22 (1985)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 138      Attack of the Cybermen            5-12 January 1985 139            Vengeance on Varos            19-26 January 1985 140      The Mark of the Rani     2-9 February 1985 141      The Two Doctors            16 February-2 March 1985 142            Timelash          9-16 March 1985 143            Revelation of the Daleks  23-30 March 1985                         Season 23 (1986)                                      Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord                                          No       Title            Original airdate 144      The Mysterious Planet   6-27 September 1986 145            Mindwarp       4-25 October 1986 146      Terror of the Vervoids            1-22 November 1986             aka The Vervoids    147      The Ultimate Foe            29 November-6 December 1986             aka Time Incorporated                            Seventh Doctor                                               Season 24 (1987)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 148      Time and the Rani            7-28 September 1987 149            Paradise Towers            5-26 October 1987 150      Delta and the Bannermen            2-16 November 1987 151            Dragonfire       23 November-7 December 1987                         Season 25 (1988-89)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 152            Remembrance of the Daleks  5-26 October 1988 153      The Happiness Patrol   2-16 November 1988 154      Silver Nemesis            23 November-7 December 1988 155      The Greatest Show in the Galaxy            14 December 1988-4 January 1989                         Season 26 (1989)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 156            Battlefield        6-27 September 1989 157      Ghost Light     4-18 October 1989 158      The Curse of Fenric            25 October-15 November 1989 159      Survival            22 November-6 December 1989                         Eighth Doctor                                      

  
  

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• WHOstrology - Doctor Who Broadcast Dates

  23 June 2008 (9:18am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

   No       Title            Original airdate 1          An Unearthly Child            23 November-14 December 1963             aka 100,000 BC                 aka The Tribe of Gum     2          The Daleks  21 December 1963-1 February 1964             aka The Mutants                 aka The Dead Planet   3          The Edge of Destruction            8-15 February 1964             aka Inside the Spaceship                     aka Beyond the Sun            4          Marco Polo     22 February-4 April 1964             aka A Journey Through Cathay 5          The Keys of Marinus            11 April-16 May 1964             aka The Sea of Death   6          The Aztecs  23 May-13 June 1964 7          The Sensorites            20 June-1 August 1964 8          The Reign of Terror            8 August-12 September 1964             aka The French Revolution                                Season 2 (1964-65)                                       No       Title            Original airdate 9          Planet of Giants            31 October-14 November 1964 10        The Dalek Invasion of Earth            21 November-26 December 1964             aka World's End     11        The Rescue 2-9 January 1965 12        The Romans            16 January-6 February 1965 13        The Web Planet            13 February -20 March 1965             aka The Zarbi         14        The Crusade            27 March-17 April 1965             aka The Lionheart               aka The Crusaders  15        The Space Museum            24 April-15 May 1965 16        The Chase   22 May-26 June 1965 17        The Time Meddler            3-24 July 1965                         Season 3 (1965-66)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 18        Galaxy 4          11 September-2 October 1965                         19            "Mission to the Unknown"            09-Oct-65             aka "Dalek Cutaway"         20        The Myth Makers            16 October-6 November 1965                         21        The Daleks' Master Plan      13 November 1965-29 January 1966                        22        The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve      5 February-26 February 1966             aka The Massacre   23        The Ark      5 March-26 March 1966 24        The Celestial Toymaker            2 April-23 April 1966                         25        The Gunfighters            30 April-21 May 1966 26        The Savages[b]            28 May-18 June 1966                         27        The War Machines            25 June-16 July 1966                         Season 4 (1966-67)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 28        The Smugglers            10 September-1 October 1966                         29        The Tenth Planet            8-29 October 1966                                                 Second Doctor                                  Season 4 (1966-67) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 30        The Power of the Daleks  5 November-10 December 1966                         31        The Highlanders            17 December 1966-7 January 1967                         32        The Underwater Menace            14 January-4 February 1967                         33        The Moonbase            11 February-3 March 1967                         34        The Macra Terror            11 March-1 April 1967                         35        The Faceless Ones            8 April-13 May 1967                         36        The Evil of the Daleks  20 May-1 July 1967                        Season 5 (1967-68)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 37        The Tomb of the Cybermen            2-23 September 1967 38        The Abominable Snowmen            30 September-4 November 1967                         39        The Ice Warriors            11 November-16 December 1967                         40        The Enemy of the World  23 December 1967-27 January 1968                         41        The Web of Fear            3 February-9 March 1968                         42        Fury from the Deep            16 March-20 April 1968                         43        The Wheel in Space            27 April-1 June 1968                         Season 6 (1968-69)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 44        The Dominators            10 August-7 September 1968 45        The Mind Robber            14 September-12 October 1968 46        The Invasion            2 November-21 December 1968                         47        The Krotons            28 December 1968-18 January 1969 48        The Seeds of Death            25 January-1 March 1969 49        The Space Pirates            8 March-12 April 1969                         50        The War Games            19 April-21 June 1969                         Third Doctor                                        Season 7 (1970)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 51            Spearhead from Space            3-24 January 1970 52        Doctor Who and the Silurians            31 January-14 March 1970             aka The Silurians     53        The Ambassadors of Death            21 March-2 May 1970                         54        Inferno            9 May-20 June 1970                         Season 8 (1971)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 55        Terror of the Autons            2-23 January 1971 56        The Mind of Evil            30 January-6 March 1971                         57        The Claws of Axos            13 March-3 April 1971 58        Colony in Space            10 April-15 May 1971 59        The Daemons            22 May-19 June 1971                         Season 9 (1972)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 60        Day of the Daleks            1-22 January 1972 61        The Curse of Peladon            29 January-19 February 1972 62        The Sea Devils            26 February-1 April 1972 63        The Mutants            8 April-13 May 1972 64        The Time Monster            20 May-24 June 1972                         Season 10 (1972-73)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 65        The Three Doctors[c]            30 December 1972-20 January 1973 66            Carnival of Monsters            27 January-17 February 1973 67        Frontier in Space            24 February-31 March 1973 68        Planet of the Daleks            7 April-12 May 1973                         69        The Green Death            19 May-23 June 1973                         Season 11 (1973-74)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 70        The Time Warrior            15 December 1973-5 January 1974 71            Invasion of the Dinosaurs [d]            12 January-16 February 1974                         72        Death to the Daleks            23 February-16 March 1974 73        The Monster of Peladon            23 March-27 April 1974 74        Planet of the Spiders            4 May-8 June 1974                         Fourth Doctor                                  Season 12 (1974-75)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 75        Robot            28 December 1974-18 January 1975 76        The Ark in Space            25 January-15 February 1975 77        The Sontaran Experiment            22 February-1 March 1975 78        Genesis of the Daleks            8 March-12 April 1975 79            Revenge of the Cybermen            19 April-10 May 1975                         Season 13 (1975-76)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 80        Terror of the Zygons            30 August-20 September 1975 81        Planet of Evil   27 September-18 October 1975 82            Pyramids of Mars            25 October-15 November 1975 83        The Android Invasion            22 November-13 December 1975 84        The Brain of Morbius            3-24 January 1976 85        The Seeds of Doom            31 January-6 March 1976                         Season 14 (1976-77)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 86        The Masque of Mandragora            4-25 September 1976 87        The Hand of Fear            2-23 October 1976 88        The Deadly Assassin            30 October-20 November 1976 89        The Face of Evil            1-22 January 1977 90        The Robots of Death   29 January - 19 February 1977 91        The Talons of Weng-Chiang            26 February - 2 April 1977                         Season 15 (1977-78)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 92        Horror of Fang Rock            3-24 September 1977 93        The Invisible Enemy            1-22 October 1977 94        Image of the Fendahl            29 October-19 November 1977 95        The Sun Makers            26 November-17 December 1977 96            Underworld   7-28 January 1978 97        The Invasion of Time     4 February - 11 March 1978                         Season 16 (1978-79)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 98        The Ribos Operation            2-23 September 1978 99        The Pirate Planet            30 September-21 October 1978 100      The Stones of Blood   28 October-18 November 1978 101      The Androids of Tara     25 November-16 December 1978 102      The Power of Kroll            23 December 1978-13 January 1979 103      The Armageddon Factor  20 January - 24 February 1979                         Season 17 (1979-80)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 104      Destiny of the Daleks            1-22 September 1979 105      City of Death   29 September-20 October 1979 106      The Creature from the Pit   27 October-17 November 1979 107            Nightmare of Eden            24 November-15 December 1979 108      The Horns of Nimon  22 December 1979-12 January 1980 109            Shada[e]         Unaired                         Season 18 (1980-81)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 110      The Leisure Hive            30 August-20 September 1980 111      Meglos            27 September-18 October 1980 112      Full Circle   25 October-15 November 1980 113      State of Decay  22 November-13 December 1980 114            Warriors' Gate  3-24 January 1981 115      The Keeper of Traken 31 January-21 February 1981 116            Logopolis         28 February-21 March 1981                         Fifth Doctor                                        Season 19 (1982)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 117            Castrovalva      4-12 January 1982 118      Four to Doomsday            18-26 January 1982 119      Kinda            1-9 February 1982 120      The Visitation            15-23 February 1982 121      Black Orchid  1-2 March 1982 122            Earthshock      8-16 March 1982 123      Time-Flight    22-30 March 1982                         Season 20 (1983)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 124      Arc of Infinity  3-12 January 1983 125            Snakedance     18-26 January 1983 126            Mawdryn Undead            1-9 February 1983 127            Terminus         15-23 February 1983 128            Enlightenment   1-9 March 1983 129      The King's Demons            15-16 March 1983 130      The Five Doctors[f]            23-Nov-83                        Season 21 (1984)                               No       Title            Original airdate 131            Warriors of the Deep            5-13 January 1984 132      The Awakening            19-20 January 1984 133            Frontios           26 January-3 February 1984 134            Resurrection of the Daleks  8-15 February 1984                         135      Planet of Fire  23 February-2 March 1984 136      The Caves of Androzani            8-16 March 1984                         Sixth Doctor                                        Season 21 (1984) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 137      The Twin Dilemma            22-30 March 1984                         Season 22 (1985)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 138      Attack of the Cybermen            5-12 January 1985 139            Vengeance on Varos            19-26 January 1985 140      The Mark of the Rani     2-9 February 1985 141      The Two Doctors            16 February-2 March 1985 142            Timelash          9-16 March 1985 143            Revelation of the Daleks  23-30 March 1985                         Season 23 (1986)                                      Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord                                          No       Title            Original airdate 144      The Mysterious Planet   6-27 September 1986 145            Mindwarp       4-25 October 1986 146      Terror of the Vervoids            1-22 November 1986             aka The Vervoids    147      The Ultimate Foe            29 November-6 December 1986             aka Time Incorporated                            Seventh Doctor                                               Season 24 (1987)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 148      Time and the Rani            7-28 September 1987 149            Paradise Towers            5-26 October 1987 150      Delta and the Bannermen            2-16 November 1987 151            Dragonfire       23 November-7 December 1987                         Season 25 (1988-89)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 152            Remembrance of the Daleks  5-26 October 1988 153      The Happiness Patrol   2-16 November 1988 154      Silver Nemesis            23 November-7 December 1988 155      The Greatest Show in the Galaxy            14 December 1988-4 January 1989                         Season 26 (1989)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 156            Battlefield        6-27 September 1989 157      Ghost Light     4-18 October 1989 158      The Curse of Fenric            25 October-15 November 1989 159      Survival            22 November-6 December 1989                         Eighth Doctor                                      

  
  

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• WHOstrology - Doctor Who Broadcast Dates

  23 June 2008 (9:18am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

   No       Title            Original airdate 1          An Unearthly Child            23 November-14 December 1963             aka 100,000 BC                 aka The Tribe of Gum     2          The Daleks  21 December 1963-1 February 1964             aka The Mutants                 aka The Dead Planet   3          The Edge of Destruction            8-15 February 1964             aka Inside the Spaceship                     aka Beyond the Sun            4          Marco Polo     22 February-4 April 1964             aka A Journey Through Cathay 5          The Keys of Marinus            11 April-16 May 1964             aka The Sea of Death   6          The Aztecs  23 May-13 June 1964 7          The Sensorites            20 June-1 August 1964 8          The Reign of Terror            8 August-12 September 1964             aka The French Revolution                                Season 2 (1964-65)                                       No       Title            Original airdate 9          Planet of Giants            31 October-14 November 1964 10        The Dalek Invasion of Earth            21 November-26 December 1964             aka World's End     11        The Rescue 2-9 January 1965 12        The Romans            16 January-6 February 1965 13        The Web Planet            13 February -20 March 1965             aka The Zarbi         14        The Crusade            27 March-17 April 1965             aka The Lionheart               aka The Crusaders  15        The Space Museum            24 April-15 May 1965 16        The Chase   22 May-26 June 1965 17        The Time Meddler            3-24 July 1965                         Season 3 (1965-66)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 18        Galaxy 4          11 September-2 October 1965                         19            "Mission to the Unknown"            09-Oct-65             aka "Dalek Cutaway"         20        The Myth Makers            16 October-6 November 1965                         21        The Daleks' Master Plan      13 November 1965-29 January 1966                        22        The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve      5 February-26 February 1966             aka The Massacre   23        The Ark      5 March-26 March 1966 24        The Celestial Toymaker            2 April-23 April 1966                         25        The Gunfighters            30 April-21 May 1966 26        The Savages[b]            28 May-18 June 1966                         27        The War Machines            25 June-16 July 1966                         Season 4 (1966-67)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 28        The Smugglers            10 September-1 October 1966                         29        The Tenth Planet            8-29 October 1966                                                 Second Doctor                                  Season 4 (1966-67) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 30        The Power of the Daleks  5 November-10 December 1966                         31        The Highlanders            17 December 1966-7 January 1967                         32        The Underwater Menace            14 January-4 February 1967                         33        The Moonbase            11 February-3 March 1967                         34        The Macra Terror            11 March-1 April 1967                         35        The Faceless Ones            8 April-13 May 1967                         36        The Evil of the Daleks  20 May-1 July 1967                        Season 5 (1967-68)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 37        The Tomb of the Cybermen            2-23 September 1967 38        The Abominable Snowmen            30 September-4 November 1967                         39        The Ice Warriors            11 November-16 December 1967                         40        The Enemy of the World  23 December 1967-27 January 1968                         41        The Web of Fear            3 February-9 March 1968                         42        Fury from the Deep            16 March-20 April 1968                         43        The Wheel in Space            27 April-1 June 1968                         Season 6 (1968-69)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 44        The Dominators            10 August-7 September 1968 45        The Mind Robber            14 September-12 October 1968 46        The Invasion            2 November-21 December 1968                         47        The Krotons            28 December 1968-18 January 1969 48        The Seeds of Death            25 January-1 March 1969 49        The Space Pirates            8 March-12 April 1969                         50        The War Games            19 April-21 June 1969                         Third Doctor                                        Season 7 (1970)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 51            Spearhead from Space            3-24 January 1970 52        Doctor Who and the Silurians            31 January-14 March 1970             aka The Silurians     53        The Ambassadors of Death            21 March-2 May 1970                         54        Inferno            9 May-20 June 1970                         Season 8 (1971)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 55        Terror of the Autons            2-23 January 1971 56        The Mind of Evil            30 January-6 March 1971                         57        The Claws of Axos            13 March-3 April 1971 58        Colony in Space            10 April-15 May 1971 59        The Daemons            22 May-19 June 1971                         Season 9 (1972)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 60        Day of the Daleks            1-22 January 1972 61        The Curse of Peladon            29 January-19 February 1972 62        The Sea Devils            26 February-1 April 1972 63        The Mutants            8 April-13 May 1972 64        The Time Monster            20 May-24 June 1972                         Season 10 (1972-73)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 65        The Three Doctors[c]            30 December 1972-20 January 1973 66            Carnival of Monsters            27 January-17 February 1973 67        Frontier in Space            24 February-31 March 1973 68        Planet of the Daleks            7 April-12 May 1973                         69        The Green Death            19 May-23 June 1973                         Season 11 (1973-74)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 70        The Time Warrior            15 December 1973-5 January 1974 71            Invasion of the Dinosaurs [d]            12 January-16 February 1974                         72        Death to the Daleks            23 February-16 March 1974 73        The Monster of Peladon            23 March-27 April 1974 74        Planet of the Spiders            4 May-8 June 1974                         Fourth Doctor                                  Season 12 (1974-75)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 75        Robot            28 December 1974-18 January 1975 76        The Ark in Space            25 January-15 February 1975 77        The Sontaran Experiment            22 February-1 March 1975 78        Genesis of the Daleks            8 March-12 April 1975 79            Revenge of the Cybermen            19 April-10 May 1975                         Season 13 (1975-76)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 80        Terror of the Zygons            30 August-20 September 1975 81        Planet of Evil   27 September-18 October 1975 82            Pyramids of Mars            25 October-15 November 1975 83        The Android Invasion            22 November-13 December 1975 84        The Brain of Morbius            3-24 January 1976 85        The Seeds of Doom            31 January-6 March 1976                         Season 14 (1976-77)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 86        The Masque of Mandragora            4-25 September 1976 87        The Hand of Fear            2-23 October 1976 88        The Deadly Assassin            30 October-20 November 1976 89        The Face of Evil            1-22 January 1977 90        The Robots of Death   29 January - 19 February 1977 91        The Talons of Weng-Chiang            26 February - 2 April 1977                         Season 15 (1977-78)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 92        Horror of Fang Rock            3-24 September 1977 93        The Invisible Enemy            1-22 October 1977 94        Image of the Fendahl            29 October-19 November 1977 95        The Sun Makers            26 November-17 December 1977 96            Underworld   7-28 January 1978 97        The Invasion of Time     4 February - 11 March 1978                         Season 16 (1978-79)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 98        The Ribos Operation            2-23 September 1978 99        The Pirate Planet            30 September-21 October 1978 100      The Stones of Blood   28 October-18 November 1978 101      The Androids of Tara     25 November-16 December 1978 102      The Power of Kroll            23 December 1978-13 January 1979 103      The Armageddon Factor  20 January - 24 February 1979                         Season 17 (1979-80)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 104      Destiny of the Daleks            1-22 September 1979 105      City of Death   29 September-20 October 1979 106      The Creature from the Pit   27 October-17 November 1979 107            Nightmare of Eden            24 November-15 December 1979 108      The Horns of Nimon  22 December 1979-12 January 1980 109            Shada[e]         Unaired                         Season 18 (1980-81)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 110      The Leisure Hive            30 August-20 September 1980 111      Meglos            27 September-18 October 1980 112      Full Circle   25 October-15 November 1980 113      State of Decay  22 November-13 December 1980 114            Warriors' Gate  3-24 January 1981 115      The Keeper of Traken 31 January-21 February 1981 116            Logopolis         28 February-21 March 1981                         Fifth Doctor                                        Season 19 (1982)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 117            Castrovalva      4-12 January 1982 118      Four to Doomsday            18-26 January 1982 119      Kinda            1-9 February 1982 120      The Visitation            15-23 February 1982 121      Black Orchid  1-2 March 1982 122            Earthshock      8-16 March 1982 123      Time-Flight    22-30 March 1982                         Season 20 (1983)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 124      Arc of Infinity  3-12 January 1983 125            Snakedance     18-26 January 1983 126            Mawdryn Undead            1-9 February 1983 127            Terminus         15-23 February 1983 128            Enlightenment   1-9 March 1983 129      The King's Demons            15-16 March 1983 130      The Five Doctors[f]            23-Nov-83                        Season 21 (1984)                               No       Title            Original airdate 131            Warriors of the Deep            5-13 January 1984 132      The Awakening            19-20 January 1984 133            Frontios           26 January-3 February 1984 134            Resurrection of the Daleks  8-15 February 1984                         135      Planet of Fire  23 February-2 March 1984 136      The Caves of Androzani            8-16 March 1984                         Sixth Doctor                                        Season 21 (1984) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 137      The Twin Dilemma            22-30 March 1984                         Season 22 (1985)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 138      Attack of the Cybermen            5-12 January 1985 139            Vengeance on Varos            19-26 January 1985 140      The Mark of the Rani     2-9 February 1985 141      The Two Doctors            16 February-2 March 1985 142            Timelash          9-16 March 1985 143            Revelation of the Daleks  23-30 March 1985                         Season 23 (1986)                                      Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord                                          No       Title            Original airdate 144      The Mysterious Planet   6-27 September 1986 145            Mindwarp       4-25 October 1986 146      Terror of the Vervoids            1-22 November 1986             aka The Vervoids    147      The Ultimate Foe            29 November-6 December 1986             aka Time Incorporated                            Seventh Doctor                                               Season 24 (1987)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 148      Time and the Rani            7-28 September 1987 149            Paradise Towers            5-26 October 1987 150      Delta and the Bannermen            2-16 November 1987 151            Dragonfire       23 November-7 December 1987                         Season 25 (1988-89)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 152            Remembrance of the Daleks  5-26 October 1988 153      The Happiness Patrol   2-16 November 1988 154      Silver Nemesis            23 November-7 December 1988 155      The Greatest Show in the Galaxy            14 December 1988-4 January 1989                         Season 26 (1989)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 156            Battlefield        6-27 September 1989 157      Ghost Light     4-18 October 1989 158      The Curse of Fenric            25 October-15 November 1989 159      Survival            22 November-6 December 1989                         Eighth Doctor                                      

  
  

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• WHOstrology - Doctor Who Broadcast Dates

  23 June 2008 (9:18am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

   No       Title            Original airdate 1          An Unearthly Child            23 November-14 December 1963             aka 100,000 BC                 aka The Tribe of Gum     2          The Daleks  21 December 1963-1 February 1964             aka The Mutants                 aka The Dead Planet   3          The Edge of Destruction            8-15 February 1964             aka Inside the Spaceship                     aka Beyond the Sun            4          Marco Polo     22 February-4 April 1964             aka A Journey Through Cathay 5          The Keys of Marinus            11 April-16 May 1964             aka The Sea of Death   6          The Aztecs  23 May-13 June 1964 7          The Sensorites            20 June-1 August 1964 8          The Reign of Terror            8 August-12 September 1964             aka The French Revolution                                Season 2 (1964-65)                                       No       Title            Original airdate 9          Planet of Giants            31 October-14 November 1964 10        The Dalek Invasion of Earth            21 November-26 December 1964             aka World's End     11        The Rescue 2-9 January 1965 12        The Romans            16 January-6 February 1965 13        The Web Planet            13 February -20 March 1965             aka The Zarbi         14        The Crusade            27 March-17 April 1965             aka The Lionheart               aka The Crusaders  15        The Space Museum            24 April-15 May 1965 16        The Chase   22 May-26 June 1965 17        The Time Meddler            3-24 July 1965                         Season 3 (1965-66)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 18        Galaxy 4          11 September-2 October 1965                         19            "Mission to the Unknown"            09-Oct-65             aka "Dalek Cutaway"         20        The Myth Makers            16 October-6 November 1965                         21        The Daleks' Master Plan      13 November 1965-29 January 1966                        22        The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve      5 February-26 February 1966             aka The Massacre   23        The Ark      5 March-26 March 1966 24        The Celestial Toymaker            2 April-23 April 1966                         25        The Gunfighters            30 April-21 May 1966 26        The Savages[b]            28 May-18 June 1966                         27        The War Machines            25 June-16 July 1966                         Season 4 (1966-67)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 28        The Smugglers            10 September-1 October 1966                         29        The Tenth Planet            8-29 October 1966                                                 Second Doctor                                  Season 4 (1966-67) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 30        The Power of the Daleks  5 November-10 December 1966                         31        The Highlanders            17 December 1966-7 January 1967                         32        The Underwater Menace            14 January-4 February 1967                         33        The Moonbase            11 February-3 March 1967                         34        The Macra Terror            11 March-1 April 1967                         35        The Faceless Ones            8 April-13 May 1967                         36        The Evil of the Daleks  20 May-1 July 1967                        Season 5 (1967-68)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 37        The Tomb of the Cybermen            2-23 September 1967 38        The Abominable Snowmen            30 September-4 November 1967                         39        The Ice Warriors            11 November-16 December 1967                         40        The Enemy of the World  23 December 1967-27 January 1968                         41        The Web of Fear            3 February-9 March 1968                         42        Fury from the Deep            16 March-20 April 1968                         43        The Wheel in Space            27 April-1 June 1968                         Season 6 (1968-69)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 44        The Dominators            10 August-7 September 1968 45        The Mind Robber            14 September-12 October 1968 46        The Invasion            2 November-21 December 1968                         47        The Krotons            28 December 1968-18 January 1969 48        The Seeds of Death            25 January-1 March 1969 49        The Space Pirates            8 March-12 April 1969                         50        The War Games            19 April-21 June 1969                         Third Doctor                                        Season 7 (1970)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 51            Spearhead from Space            3-24 January 1970 52        Doctor Who and the Silurians            31 January-14 March 1970             aka The Silurians     53        The Ambassadors of Death            21 March-2 May 1970                         54        Inferno            9 May-20 June 1970                         Season 8 (1971)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 55        Terror of the Autons            2-23 January 1971 56        The Mind of Evil            30 January-6 March 1971                         57        The Claws of Axos            13 March-3 April 1971 58        Colony in Space            10 April-15 May 1971 59        The Daemons            22 May-19 June 1971                         Season 9 (1972)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 60        Day of the Daleks            1-22 January 1972 61        The Curse of Peladon            29 January-19 February 1972 62        The Sea Devils            26 February-1 April 1972 63        The Mutants            8 April-13 May 1972 64        The Time Monster            20 May-24 June 1972                         Season 10 (1972-73)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 65        The Three Doctors[c]            30 December 1972-20 January 1973 66            Carnival of Monsters            27 January-17 February 1973 67        Frontier in Space            24 February-31 March 1973 68        Planet of the Daleks            7 April-12 May 1973                         69        The Green Death            19 May-23 June 1973                         Season 11 (1973-74)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 70        The Time Warrior            15 December 1973-5 January 1974 71            Invasion of the Dinosaurs [d]            12 January-16 February 1974                         72        Death to the Daleks            23 February-16 March 1974 73        The Monster of Peladon            23 March-27 April 1974 74        Planet of the Spiders            4 May-8 June 1974                         Fourth Doctor                                  Season 12 (1974-75)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 75        Robot            28 December 1974-18 January 1975 76        The Ark in Space            25 January-15 February 1975 77        The Sontaran Experiment            22 February-1 March 1975 78        Genesis of the Daleks            8 March-12 April 1975 79            Revenge of the Cybermen            19 April-10 May 1975                         Season 13 (1975-76)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 80        Terror of the Zygons            30 August-20 September 1975 81        Planet of Evil   27 September-18 October 1975 82            Pyramids of Mars            25 October-15 November 1975 83        The Android Invasion            22 November-13 December 1975 84        The Brain of Morbius            3-24 January 1976 85        The Seeds of Doom            31 January-6 March 1976                         Season 14 (1976-77)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 86        The Masque of Mandragora            4-25 September 1976 87        The Hand of Fear            2-23 October 1976 88        The Deadly Assassin            30 October-20 November 1976 89        The Face of Evil            1-22 January 1977 90        The Robots of Death   29 January - 19 February 1977 91        The Talons of Weng-Chiang            26 February - 2 April 1977                         Season 15 (1977-78)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 92        Horror of Fang Rock            3-24 September 1977 93        The Invisible Enemy            1-22 October 1977 94        Image of the Fendahl            29 October-19 November 1977 95        The Sun Makers            26 November-17 December 1977 96            Underworld   7-28 January 1978 97        The Invasion of Time     4 February - 11 March 1978                         Season 16 (1978-79)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 98        The Ribos Operation            2-23 September 1978 99        The Pirate Planet            30 September-21 October 1978 100      The Stones of Blood   28 October-18 November 1978 101      The Androids of Tara     25 November-16 December 1978 102      The Power of Kroll            23 December 1978-13 January 1979 103      The Armageddon Factor  20 January - 24 February 1979                         Season 17 (1979-80)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 104      Destiny of the Daleks            1-22 September 1979 105      City of Death   29 September-20 October 1979 106      The Creature from the Pit   27 October-17 November 1979 107            Nightmare of Eden            24 November-15 December 1979 108      The Horns of Nimon  22 December 1979-12 January 1980 109            Shada[e]         Unaired                         Season 18 (1980-81)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 110      The Leisure Hive            30 August-20 September 1980 111      Meglos            27 September-18 October 1980 112      Full Circle   25 October-15 November 1980 113      State of Decay  22 November-13 December 1980 114            Warriors' Gate  3-24 January 1981 115      The Keeper of Traken 31 January-21 February 1981 116            Logopolis         28 February-21 March 1981                         Fifth Doctor                                        Season 19 (1982)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 117            Castrovalva      4-12 January 1982 118      Four to Doomsday            18-26 January 1982 119      Kinda            1-9 February 1982 120      The Visitation            15-23 February 1982 121      Black Orchid  1-2 March 1982 122            Earthshock      8-16 March 1982 123      Time-Flight    22-30 March 1982                         Season 20 (1983)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 124      Arc of Infinity  3-12 January 1983 125            Snakedance     18-26 January 1983 126            Mawdryn Undead            1-9 February 1983 127            Terminus         15-23 February 1983 128            Enlightenment   1-9 March 1983 129      The King's Demons            15-16 March 1983 130      The Five Doctors[f]            23-Nov-83                        Season 21 (1984)                               No       Title            Original airdate 131            Warriors of the Deep            5-13 January 1984 132      The Awakening            19-20 January 1984 133            Frontios           26 January-3 February 1984 134            Resurrection of the Daleks  8-15 February 1984                         135      Planet of Fire  23 February-2 March 1984 136      The Caves of Androzani            8-16 March 1984                         Sixth Doctor                                        Season 21 (1984) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 137      The Twin Dilemma            22-30 March 1984                         Season 22 (1985)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 138      Attack of the Cybermen            5-12 January 1985 139            Vengeance on Varos            19-26 January 1985 140      The Mark of the Rani     2-9 February 1985 141      The Two Doctors            16 February-2 March 1985 142            Timelash          9-16 March 1985 143            Revelation of the Daleks  23-30 March 1985                         Season 23 (1986)                                      Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord                                          No       Title            Original airdate 144      The Mysterious Planet   6-27 September 1986 145            Mindwarp       4-25 October 1986 146      Terror of the Vervoids            1-22 November 1986             aka The Vervoids    147      The Ultimate Foe            29 November-6 December 1986             aka Time Incorporated                            Seventh Doctor                                               Season 24 (1987)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 148      Time and the Rani            7-28 September 1987 149            Paradise Towers            5-26 October 1987 150      Delta and the Bannermen            2-16 November 1987 151            Dragonfire       23 November-7 December 1987                         Season 25 (1988-89)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 152            Remembrance of the Daleks  5-26 October 1988 153      The Happiness Patrol   2-16 November 1988 154      Silver Nemesis            23 November-7 December 1988 155      The Greatest Show in the Galaxy            14 December 1988-4 January 1989                         Season 26 (1989)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 156            Battlefield        6-27 September 1989 157      Ghost Light     4-18 October 1989 158      The Curse of Fenric            25 October-15 November 1989 159      Survival            22 November-6 December 1989                         Eighth Doctor                                      

  
  

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• WHOstrology - Doctor Who Broadcast Dates

  23 June 2008 (9:18am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

   No       Title            Original airdate 1          An Unearthly Child            23 November-14 December 1963             aka 100,000 BC                 aka The Tribe of Gum     2          The Daleks  21 December 1963-1 February 1964             aka The Mutants                 aka The Dead Planet   3          The Edge of Destruction            8-15 February 1964             aka Inside the Spaceship                     aka Beyond the Sun            4          Marco Polo     22 February-4 April 1964             aka A Journey Through Cathay 5          The Keys of Marinus            11 April-16 May 1964             aka The Sea of Death   6          The Aztecs  23 May-13 June 1964 7          The Sensorites            20 June-1 August 1964 8          The Reign of Terror            8 August-12 September 1964             aka The French Revolution                                Season 2 (1964-65)                                       No       Title            Original airdate 9          Planet of Giants            31 October-14 November 1964 10        The Dalek Invasion of Earth            21 November-26 December 1964             aka World's End     11        The Rescue 2-9 January 1965 12        The Romans            16 January-6 February 1965 13        The Web Planet            13 February -20 March 1965             aka The Zarbi         14        The Crusade            27 March-17 April 1965             aka The Lionheart               aka The Crusaders  15        The Space Museum            24 April-15 May 1965 16        The Chase   22 May-26 June 1965 17        The Time Meddler            3-24 July 1965                         Season 3 (1965-66)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 18        Galaxy 4          11 September-2 October 1965                         19            "Mission to the Unknown"            09-Oct-65             aka "Dalek Cutaway"         20        The Myth Makers            16 October-6 November 1965                         21        The Daleks' Master Plan      13 November 1965-29 January 1966                        22        The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve      5 February-26 February 1966             aka The Massacre   23        The Ark      5 March-26 March 1966 24        The Celestial Toymaker            2 April-23 April 1966                         25        The Gunfighters            30 April-21 May 1966 26        The Savages[b]            28 May-18 June 1966                         27        The War Machines            25 June-16 July 1966                         Season 4 (1966-67)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 28        The Smugglers            10 September-1 October 1966                         29        The Tenth Planet            8-29 October 1966                                                 Second Doctor                                  Season 4 (1966-67) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 30        The Power of the Daleks  5 November-10 December 1966                         31        The Highlanders            17 December 1966-7 January 1967                         32        The Underwater Menace            14 January-4 February 1967                         33        The Moonbase            11 February-3 March 1967                         34        The Macra Terror            11 March-1 April 1967                         35        The Faceless Ones            8 April-13 May 1967                         36        The Evil of the Daleks  20 May-1 July 1967                        Season 5 (1967-68)                                          No       Title            Original airdate 37        The Tomb of the Cybermen            2-23 September 1967 38        The Abominable Snowmen            30 September-4 November 1967                         39        The Ice Warriors            11 November-16 December 1967                         40        The Enemy of the World  23 December 1967-27 January 1968                         41        The Web of Fear            3 February-9 March 1968                         42        Fury from the Deep            16 March-20 April 1968                         43        The Wheel in Space            27 April-1 June 1968                         Season 6 (1968-69)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 44        The Dominators            10 August-7 September 1968 45        The Mind Robber            14 September-12 October 1968 46        The Invasion            2 November-21 December 1968                         47        The Krotons            28 December 1968-18 January 1969 48        The Seeds of Death            25 January-1 March 1969 49        The Space Pirates            8 March-12 April 1969                         50        The War Games            19 April-21 June 1969                         Third Doctor                                        Season 7 (1970)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 51            Spearhead from Space            3-24 January 1970 52        Doctor Who and the Silurians            31 January-14 March 1970             aka The Silurians     53        The Ambassadors of Death            21 March-2 May 1970                         54        Inferno            9 May-20 June 1970                         Season 8 (1971)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 55        Terror of the Autons            2-23 January 1971 56        The Mind of Evil            30 January-6 March 1971                         57        The Claws of Axos            13 March-3 April 1971 58        Colony in Space            10 April-15 May 1971 59        The Daemons            22 May-19 June 1971                         Season 9 (1972)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 60        Day of the Daleks            1-22 January 1972 61        The Curse of Peladon            29 January-19 February 1972 62        The Sea Devils            26 February-1 April 1972 63        The Mutants            8 April-13 May 1972 64        The Time Monster            20 May-24 June 1972                         Season 10 (1972-73)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 65        The Three Doctors[c]            30 December 1972-20 January 1973 66            Carnival of Monsters            27 January-17 February 1973 67        Frontier in Space            24 February-31 March 1973 68        Planet of the Daleks            7 April-12 May 1973                         69        The Green Death            19 May-23 June 1973                         Season 11 (1973-74)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 70        The Time Warrior            15 December 1973-5 January 1974 71            Invasion of the Dinosaurs [d]            12 January-16 February 1974                         72        Death to the Daleks            23 February-16 March 1974 73        The Monster of Peladon            23 March-27 April 1974 74        Planet of the Spiders            4 May-8 June 1974                         Fourth Doctor                                  Season 12 (1974-75)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 75        Robot            28 December 1974-18 January 1975 76        The Ark in Space            25 January-15 February 1975 77        The Sontaran Experiment            22 February-1 March 1975 78        Genesis of the Daleks            8 March-12 April 1975 79            Revenge of the Cybermen            19 April-10 May 1975                         Season 13 (1975-76)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 80        Terror of the Zygons            30 August-20 September 1975 81        Planet of Evil   27 September-18 October 1975 82            Pyramids of Mars            25 October-15 November 1975 83        The Android Invasion            22 November-13 December 1975 84        The Brain of Morbius            3-24 January 1976 85        The Seeds of Doom            31 January-6 March 1976                         Season 14 (1976-77)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 86        The Masque of Mandragora            4-25 September 1976 87        The Hand of Fear            2-23 October 1976 88        The Deadly Assassin            30 October-20 November 1976 89        The Face of Evil            1-22 January 1977 90        The Robots of Death   29 January - 19 February 1977 91        The Talons of Weng-Chiang            26 February - 2 April 1977                         Season 15 (1977-78)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 92        Horror of Fang Rock            3-24 September 1977 93        The Invisible Enemy            1-22 October 1977 94        Image of the Fendahl            29 October-19 November 1977 95        The Sun Makers            26 November-17 December 1977 96            Underworld   7-28 January 1978 97        The Invasion of Time     4 February - 11 March 1978                         Season 16 (1978-79)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 98        The Ribos Operation            2-23 September 1978 99        The Pirate Planet            30 September-21 October 1978 100      The Stones of Blood   28 October-18 November 1978 101      The Androids of Tara     25 November-16 December 1978 102      The Power of Kroll            23 December 1978-13 January 1979 103      The Armageddon Factor  20 January - 24 February 1979                         Season 17 (1979-80)                                         No       Title            Original airdate 104      Destiny of the Daleks            1-22 September 1979 105      City of Death   29 September-20 October 1979 106      The Creature from the Pit   27 October-17 November 1979 107            Nightmare of Eden            24 November-15 December 1979 108      The Horns of Nimon  22 December 1979-12 January 1980 109            Shada[e]         Unaired                         Season 18 (1980-81)                                           No       Title            Original airdate 110      The Leisure Hive            30 August-20 September 1980 111      Meglos            27 September-18 October 1980 112      Full Circle   25 October-15 November 1980 113      State of Decay  22 November-13 December 1980 114            Warriors' Gate  3-24 January 1981 115      The Keeper of Traken 31 January-21 February 1981 116            Logopolis         28 February-21 March 1981                         Fifth Doctor                                        Season 19 (1982)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 117            Castrovalva      4-12 January 1982 118      Four to Doomsday            18-26 January 1982 119      Kinda            1-9 February 1982 120      The Visitation            15-23 February 1982 121      Black Orchid  1-2 March 1982 122            Earthshock      8-16 March 1982 123      Time-Flight    22-30 March 1982                         Season 20 (1983)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 124      Arc of Infinity  3-12 January 1983 125            Snakedance     18-26 January 1983 126            Mawdryn Undead            1-9 February 1983 127            Terminus         15-23 February 1983 128            Enlightenment   1-9 March 1983 129      The King's Demons            15-16 March 1983 130      The Five Doctors[f]            23-Nov-83                        Season 21 (1984)                               No       Title            Original airdate 131            Warriors of the Deep            5-13 January 1984 132      The Awakening            19-20 January 1984 133            Frontios           26 January-3 February 1984 134            Resurrection of the Daleks  8-15 February 1984                         135      Planet of Fire  23 February-2 March 1984 136      The Caves of Androzani            8-16 March 1984                         Sixth Doctor                                        Season 21 (1984) -- continued                                              No       Title            Original airdate 137      The Twin Dilemma            22-30 March 1984                         Season 22 (1985)                                      No       Title            Original airdate 138      Attack of the Cybermen            5-12 January 1985 139            Vengeance on Varos            19-26 January 1985 140      The Mark of the Rani     2-9 February 1985 141      The Two Doctors            16 February-2 March 1985 142            Timelash          9-16 March 1985 143            Revelation of the Daleks  23-30 March 1985                         Season 23 (1986)                                      Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord                                          No       Title            Original airdate 144      The Mysterious Planet   6-27 September 1986 145            Mindwarp       4-25 October 1986 146      Terror of the Vervoids            1-22 November 1986             aka The Vervoids    147      The Ultimate Foe            29 November-6 December 1986             aka Time Incorporated                            Seventh Doctor                                               Season 24 (1987)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 148      Time and the Rani            7-28 September 1987 149            Paradise Towers            5-26 October 1987 150      Delta and the Bannermen            2-16 November 1987 151            Dragonfire       23 November-7 December 1987                         Season 25 (1988-89)                                            No       Title            Original airdate 152            Remembrance of the Daleks  5-26 October 1988 153      The Happiness Patrol   2-16 November 1988 154      Silver Nemesis            23 November-7 December 1988 155      The Greatest Show in the Galaxy            14 December 1988-4 January 1989                         Season 26 (1989)                                     No       Title            Original airdate 156            Battlefield        6-27 September 1989 157      Ghost Light     4-18 October 1989 158      The Curse of Fenric            25 October-15 November 1989 159      Survival            22 November-6 December 1989                         Eighth Doctor                                      

  
  

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• TDP 62: Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

  19 June 2008 (9:15pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. Synopsis The Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family -- Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) -- Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. Continuity Rose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] Production This episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notes David Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition". 200 - "Midnight" Doctor Who episode Sky Silvestry synchronises with the Doctor Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Billie Piper - Rose TylerLesley Sharp - Sky SilvestryRakie Ayola - HostessDavid Troughton - Professor HobbesAyesha Antoine - Dee Dee BlascoLindsey Coulson - Val CaneDaniel Ryan - Biff CaneColin Morgan - Jethro CaneTony Bluto - Driver JoeDuane Henry - Mechanic Claude Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Alice Troughton Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.10 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 14 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Forest of the Dead" "Turn Left"

  
  

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• TDP 62: Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

  19 June 2008 (9:15pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. Synopsis The Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family -- Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) -- Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. Continuity Rose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] Production This episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notes David Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition". 200 - "Midnight" Doctor Who episode Sky Silvestry synchronises with the Doctor Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Billie Piper - Rose TylerLesley Sharp - Sky SilvestryRakie Ayola - HostessDavid Troughton - Professor HobbesAyesha Antoine - Dee Dee BlascoLindsey Coulson - Val CaneDaniel Ryan - Biff CaneColin Morgan - Jethro CaneTony Bluto - Driver JoeDuane Henry - Mechanic Claude Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Alice Troughton Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.10 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 14 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Forest of the Dead" "Turn Left"

  
  

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• TDP 62: Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

  19 June 2008 (9:15pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. Synopsis The Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family -- Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) -- Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. Continuity Rose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] Production This episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notes David Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition". 200 - "Midnight" Doctor Who episode Sky Silvestry synchronises with the Doctor Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Billie Piper - Rose TylerLesley Sharp - Sky SilvestryRakie Ayola - HostessDavid Troughton - Professor HobbesAyesha Antoine - Dee Dee BlascoLindsey Coulson - Val CaneDaniel Ryan - Biff CaneColin Morgan - Jethro CaneTony Bluto - Driver JoeDuane Henry - Mechanic Claude Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Alice Troughton Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.10 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 14 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Forest of the Dead" "Turn Left"

  
  

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• TDP 62: Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

  19 June 2008 (9:15pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. Synopsis The Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family -- Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) -- Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. Continuity Rose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] Production This episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notes David Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition". 200 - "Midnight" Doctor Who episode Sky Silvestry synchronises with the Doctor Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Billie Piper - Rose TylerLesley Sharp - Sky SilvestryRakie Ayola - HostessDavid Troughton - Professor HobbesAyesha Antoine - Dee Dee BlascoLindsey Coulson - Val CaneDaniel Ryan - Biff CaneColin Morgan - Jethro CaneTony Bluto - Driver JoeDuane Henry - Mechanic Claude Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Alice Troughton Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.10 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 14 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Forest of the Dead" "Turn Left"

  
  

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• TDP 62: Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

  19 June 2008 (9:15pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. Synopsis The Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family -- Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) -- Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. Continuity Rose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] Production This episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notes David Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. Reception Based on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition". 200 - "Midnight" Doctor Who episode Sky Silvestry synchronises with the Doctor Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Billie Piper - Rose TylerLesley Sharp - Sky SilvestryRakie Ayola - HostessDavid Troughton - Professor HobbesAyesha Antoine - Dee Dee BlascoLindsey Coulson - Val CaneDaniel Ryan - Biff CaneColin Morgan - Jethro CaneTony Bluto - Driver JoeDuane Henry - Mechanic Claude Production Writer Russell T. Davies Director Alice Troughton Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.10 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 14 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Forest of the Dead" "Turn Left"

  
  

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• Fault on Invisible Enemy DVDs

  17 June 2008 (1:39pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to: DVD Support 2Entertain 33 Foley Street London W1W 7TL   The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order. the fault kicks in at around 21' 10, when Tom says "Get out of my head!" - there is a leap to the final lab scene where the "shrimp" appears. this continues to 22' 07 and the beginning of the "sting" when we return to the scene in Tom's head, until 22'27, when the credits kick in suddenly. this is all too noticeable and makes the end of the episode total nonsense.    

  
  

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• Fault on Invisible Enemy DVDs

  17 June 2008 (1:39pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to: DVD Support 2Entertain 33 Foley Street London W1W 7TL   The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order. the fault kicks in at around 21' 10, when Tom says "Get out of my head!" - there is a leap to the final lab scene where the "shrimp" appears. this continues to 22' 07 and the beginning of the "sting" when we return to the scene in Tom's head, until 22'27, when the credits kick in suddenly. this is all too noticeable and makes the end of the episode total nonsense.    

  
  

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• Fault on Invisible Enemy DVDs

  17 June 2008 (1:39pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to: DVD Support 2Entertain 33 Foley Street London W1W 7TL   The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order. the fault kicks in at around 21' 10, when Tom says "Get out of my head!" - there is a leap to the final lab scene where the "shrimp" appears. this continues to 22' 07 and the beginning of the "sting" when we return to the scene in Tom's head, until 22'27, when the credits kick in suddenly. this is all too noticeable and makes the end of the episode total nonsense.    

  
  

  ---

• Fault on Invisible Enemy DVDs

  17 June 2008 (1:39pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to: DVD Support 2Entertain 33 Foley Street London W1W 7TL   The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order. the fault kicks in at around 21' 10, when Tom says "Get out of my head!" - there is a leap to the final lab scene where the "shrimp" appears. this continues to 22' 07 and the beginning of the "sting" when we return to the scene in Tom's head, until 22'27, when the credits kick in suddenly. this is all too noticeable and makes the end of the episode total nonsense.    

  
  

  ---

• Fault on Invisible Enemy DVDs

  17 June 2008 (1:39pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to: DVD Support 2Entertain 33 Foley Street London W1W 7TL   The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order. the fault kicks in at around 21' 10, when Tom says "Get out of my head!" - there is a leap to the final lab scene where the "shrimp" appears. this continues to 22' 07 and the beginning of the "sting" when we return to the scene in Tom's head, until 22'27, when the credits kick in suddenly. this is all too noticeable and makes the end of the episode total nonsense.    

  
  

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• TDP 61: Doctor Who 4.08 & 4.09 Silence in the Library - Forest of the Dead

  16 June 2008 (9:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 29 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. Continuity As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception "Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Production Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis Immediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. Professor River Song gives her life in place of the Doctor. To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. Continuity Multiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight".  Production "Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] Reception Based on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library". 199a - "Silence in the Library" Doctor Who episode The Doctor, Donna and the explorers find the skeleton of one of their companions. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadSarah Niles - Node 1Joshua Dallas - Node 2Steve Pemberton - Strackman LuxTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveHarry Peacock - Proper Dave Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.8 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 31 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Forest of the Dead" 199b - "Forest of the Dead" Doctor Who episode Donna discovers that Miss Evangelista was corrupted when she was uploaded to the data core. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonHarry Peacock - Proper DaveSteve Pemberton - Strackman LuxJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadJason Pitt - LeeEloise Rakic-Platt - EllaAlex Midwood - JoshuaTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJonathan Reuben - Man Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.9 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 7 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Silence in the Library" "Midnight"

  
  

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• TDP 61: Doctor Who 4.08 & 4.09 Silence in the Library - Forest of the Dead

  16 June 2008 (9:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 29 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. Continuity As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception "Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Production Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis Immediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. Professor River Song gives her life in place of the Doctor. To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. Continuity Multiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight".  Production "Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] Reception Based on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library". 199a - "Silence in the Library" Doctor Who episode The Doctor, Donna and the explorers find the skeleton of one of their companions. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadSarah Niles - Node 1Joshua Dallas - Node 2Steve Pemberton - Strackman LuxTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveHarry Peacock - Proper Dave Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.8 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 31 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Forest of the Dead" 199b - "Forest of the Dead" Doctor Who episode Donna discovers that Miss Evangelista was corrupted when she was uploaded to the data core. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonHarry Peacock - Proper DaveSteve Pemberton - Strackman LuxJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadJason Pitt - LeeEloise Rakic-Platt - EllaAlex Midwood - JoshuaTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJonathan Reuben - Man Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.9 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 7 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Silence in the Library" "Midnight"

  
  

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• TDP 61: Doctor Who 4.08 & 4.09 Silence in the Library - Forest of the Dead

  16 June 2008 (9:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 29 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. Continuity As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception "Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Production Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis Immediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. Professor River Song gives her life in place of the Doctor. To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. Continuity Multiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight".  Production "Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] Reception Based on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library". 199a - "Silence in the Library" Doctor Who episode The Doctor, Donna and the explorers find the skeleton of one of their companions. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadSarah Niles - Node 1Joshua Dallas - Node 2Steve Pemberton - Strackman LuxTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveHarry Peacock - Proper Dave Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.8 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 31 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Forest of the Dead" 199b - "Forest of the Dead" Doctor Who episode Donna discovers that Miss Evangelista was corrupted when she was uploaded to the data core. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonHarry Peacock - Proper DaveSteve Pemberton - Strackman LuxJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadJason Pitt - LeeEloise Rakic-Platt - EllaAlex Midwood - JoshuaTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJonathan Reuben - Man Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.9 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 7 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Silence in the Library" "Midnight"

  
  

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• TDP 61: Doctor Who 4.08 & 4.09 Silence in the Library - Forest of the Dead

  16 June 2008 (9:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 29 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. Continuity As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception "Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Production Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis Immediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. Professor River Song gives her life in place of the Doctor. To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. Continuity Multiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight".  Production "Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] Reception Based on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library". 199a - "Silence in the Library" Doctor Who episode The Doctor, Donna and the explorers find the skeleton of one of their companions. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadSarah Niles - Node 1Joshua Dallas - Node 2Steve Pemberton - Strackman LuxTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveHarry Peacock - Proper Dave Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.8 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 31 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Forest of the Dead" 199b - "Forest of the Dead" Doctor Who episode Donna discovers that Miss Evangelista was corrupted when she was uploaded to the data core. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonHarry Peacock - Proper DaveSteve Pemberton - Strackman LuxJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadJason Pitt - LeeEloise Rakic-Platt - EllaAlex Midwood - JoshuaTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJonathan Reuben - Man Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.9 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 7 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Silence in the Library" "Midnight"

  
  

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• TDP 61: Doctor Who 4.08 & 4.09 Silence in the Library - Forest of the Dead

  16 June 2008 (9:30am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 29 seconds

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  "Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. Continuity As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception "Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Production Certain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis Immediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. Professor River Song gives her life in place of the Doctor. To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. Continuity Multiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight".  Production "Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] Reception Based on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library". 199a - "Silence in the Library" Doctor Who episode The Doctor, Donna and the explorers find the skeleton of one of their companions. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadSarah Niles - Node 1Joshua Dallas - Node 2Steve Pemberton - Strackman LuxTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveHarry Peacock - Proper Dave Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.8 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 31 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Forest of the Dead" 199b - "Forest of the Dead" Doctor Who episode Donna discovers that Miss Evangelista was corrupted when she was uploaded to the data core. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Alex Kingston - Professor River SongColin Salmon - Dr MoonHarry Peacock - Proper DaveSteve Pemberton - Strackman LuxJessika Williams - AnitaO-T Fagbenle - Other DaveEve Newton - The GirlMark Dexter - DadJason Pitt - LeeEloise Rakic-Platt - EllaAlex Midwood - JoshuaTalulah Riley - Miss EvangelistaJonathan Reuben - Man Production Writer Steven Moffat Director Euros Lyn Script editor Helen Raynor Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.9 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 7 June 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "Silence in the Library" "Midnight"

  
  

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• TDP 60: Doctor Who and Torchwood DVD Round Up

  12 June 2008 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds

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  DVD round up for the summer of 2008!

  
  

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• TDP 60: Doctor Who and Torchwood DVD Round Up

  12 June 2008 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds

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  DVD round up for the summer of 2008!

  
  

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• TDP 60: Doctor Who and Torchwood DVD Round Up

  12 June 2008 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds

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  DVD round up for the summer of 2008!

  
  

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• TDP 60: Doctor Who and Torchwood DVD Round Up

  12 June 2008 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds

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  DVD round up for the summer of 2008!

  
  

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• TDP 59: Doctor Who 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  4 June 2008 (8:12am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds

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  "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5] //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). Continuity When the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside references There are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing -- particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). Production The episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notes Actor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] Music Although the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noel Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. Locations The Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode. Doctor Who episode Having followed her to the lake, the titular "Wasp" is controlled by Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) using the Firestone - the object sought after by the titular "Unicorn" - as the Doctor runs forward with Donna to plead with it to spare Christie's life. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Fenella Woolgar - Agatha ChristieFelicity Kendal - Lady Clemency EddisonFelicity Jones - Robina RedmondChristopher Benjamin - Colonel HughTom Goodman-Hill - Reverend GolightlyIan Barritt - Professor PeachDavid Quilter - GreevesAdam Rayner - Roger CurbishleyDaniel King - DavenportCharlotte Eaton - Mrs HartLeena Dhingra - Miss ChandrakalaAlexander McDonald - Footman (uncredited)[1] Production Writer Gareth Roberts Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.7 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 17 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Doctor's Daughter" "Silence in the Library"

  
  

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• TDP 60: Doctor Who and Torchwood DVD Round Up

  12 June 2008 (8:35pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds

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  DVD round up for the summer of 2008!

  
  

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• TDP 59: Doctor Who 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  4 June 2008 (8:12am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds

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  "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5] //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). Continuity When the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside references There are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing -- particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). Production The episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notes Actor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] Music Although the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noel Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. Locations The Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode. Doctor Who episode Having followed her to the lake, the titular "Wasp" is controlled by Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) using the Firestone - the object sought after by the titular "Unicorn" - as the Doctor runs forward with Donna to plead with it to spare Christie's life. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Fenella Woolgar - Agatha ChristieFelicity Kendal - Lady Clemency EddisonFelicity Jones - Robina RedmondChristopher Benjamin - Colonel HughTom Goodman-Hill - Reverend GolightlyIan Barritt - Professor PeachDavid Quilter - GreevesAdam Rayner - Roger CurbishleyDaniel King - DavenportCharlotte Eaton - Mrs HartLeena Dhingra - Miss ChandrakalaAlexander McDonald - Footman (uncredited)[1] Production Writer Gareth Roberts Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.7 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 17 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Doctor's Daughter" "Silence in the Library"

  
  

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• TDP 59: Doctor Who 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  4 June 2008 (8:12am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5] //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). Continuity When the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside references There are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing -- particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). Production The episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notes Actor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] Music Although the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noel Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. Locations The Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode. Doctor Who episode Having followed her to the lake, the titular "Wasp" is controlled by Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) using the Firestone - the object sought after by the titular "Unicorn" - as the Doctor runs forward with Donna to plead with it to spare Christie's life. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Fenella Woolgar - Agatha ChristieFelicity Kendal - Lady Clemency EddisonFelicity Jones - Robina RedmondChristopher Benjamin - Colonel HughTom Goodman-Hill - Reverend GolightlyIan Barritt - Professor PeachDavid Quilter - GreevesAdam Rayner - Roger CurbishleyDaniel King - DavenportCharlotte Eaton - Mrs HartLeena Dhingra - Miss ChandrakalaAlexander McDonald - Footman (uncredited)[1] Production Writer Gareth Roberts Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.7 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 17 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Doctor's Daughter" "Silence in the Library"

  
  

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• TDP 59: Doctor Who 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  4 June 2008 (8:12am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5] //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). Continuity When the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside references There are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing -- particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). Production The episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notes Actor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] Music Although the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noel Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. Locations The Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode. Doctor Who episode Having followed her to the lake, the titular "Wasp" is controlled by Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) using the Firestone - the object sought after by the titular "Unicorn" - as the Doctor runs forward with Donna to plead with it to spare Christie's life. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Fenella Woolgar - Agatha ChristieFelicity Kendal - Lady Clemency EddisonFelicity Jones - Robina RedmondChristopher Benjamin - Colonel HughTom Goodman-Hill - Reverend GolightlyIan Barritt - Professor PeachDavid Quilter - GreevesAdam Rayner - Roger CurbishleyDaniel King - DavenportCharlotte Eaton - Mrs HartLeena Dhingra - Miss ChandrakalaAlexander McDonald - Footman (uncredited)[1] Production Writer Gareth Roberts Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.7 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 17 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Doctor's Daughter" "Silence in the Library"

  
  

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• TDP 59: Doctor Who 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

  4 June 2008 (8:12am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5] //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot Synopsis The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). Continuity When the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside references There are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing -- particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). Production The episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notes Actor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] Music Although the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noel Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. Locations The Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode. Doctor Who episode Having followed her to the lake, the titular "Wasp" is controlled by Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) using the Firestone - the object sought after by the titular "Unicorn" - as the Doctor runs forward with Donna to plead with it to spare Christie's life. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Fenella Woolgar - Agatha ChristieFelicity Kendal - Lady Clemency EddisonFelicity Jones - Robina RedmondChristopher Benjamin - Colonel HughTom Goodman-Hill - Reverend GolightlyIan Barritt - Professor PeachDavid Quilter - GreevesAdam Rayner - Roger CurbishleyDaniel King - DavenportCharlotte Eaton - Mrs HartLeena Dhingra - Miss ChandrakalaAlexander McDonald - Footman (uncredited)[1] Production Writer Gareth Roberts Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.7 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 17 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Doctor's Daughter" "Silence in the Library"

  
  

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• TDP 58: Grand Moff will succeed Russell T Davies

  22 May 2008 (3:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 7 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer Category: Wales; TV Drama; BBC One Date: 20.05.2008 Printable version BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010. Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?" For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons. Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin - the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero - to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. "Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!" Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. "As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. "But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. "Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. "His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper - The Doctor's two former companions - have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. SH

  
  

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• TDP 58: Grand Moff will succeed Russell T Davies

  22 May 2008 (3:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 7 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer Category: Wales; TV Drama; BBC One Date: 20.05.2008 Printable version BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010. Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?" For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons. Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin - the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero - to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. "Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!" Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. "As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. "But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. "Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. "His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper - The Doctor's two former companions - have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. SH

  
  

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• TDP 58: Grand Moff will succeed Russell T Davies

  22 May 2008 (3:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 7 seconds

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  Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer Category: Wales; TV Drama; BBC One Date: 20.05.2008 Printable version BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010. Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?" For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons. Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin - the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero - to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. "Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!" Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. "As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. "But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. "Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. "His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper - The Doctor's two former companions - have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. SH

  
  

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• TDP 58: Grand Moff will succeed Russell T Davies

  22 May 2008 (3:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 7 seconds

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  Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer Category: Wales; TV Drama; BBC One Date: 20.05.2008 Printable version BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010. Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?" For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons. Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin - the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero - to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. "Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!" Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. "As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. "But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. "Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. "His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper - The Doctor's two former companions - have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. SH

  
  

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• TDP 58: Grand Moff will succeed Russell T Davies

  22 May 2008 (3:00am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 7 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer Category: Wales; TV Drama; BBC One Date: 20.05.2008 Printable version BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010. Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?" For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons. Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin - the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero - to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. "Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!" Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. "As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. "But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. "Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. "His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper - The Doctor's two former companions - have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. SH

  
  

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• TDP 57: Doctor Who 4.06 The Doctor's Daughter & The Invasion of Time DVD

  15 May 2008 (8:19pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

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  *  "The Doctor's Daughter" The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1] Guest stars Georgia Moffett - JennyNigel Terry - CobbJoe Dempsie - ClinePaul Kasey - Hath PeckRuari Mears - Hath GableAkin Gazi - CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. - Soldier Production Writer Stephen Greenhorn Director Alice Troughton Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.6 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 10 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Poison Sky" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" IMDb profile "The Doctor's Daughter"[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.[3] /&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry) force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments -- Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first. The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander. Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society. At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains. Continuity In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode. Production Writing Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.[5] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.[6] [edit] Casting Jenny shortly after emerging from the Progenation Machine. Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."[7] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series[6]. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn". Broadcast and reception Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[8] "The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".[9] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning.[10] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".[11] Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",[11] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".[10] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,[10] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".[9] The Invasion of Time  The Invasion of Time DVD The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords Cast Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) Companions Louise Jameson (Leela) John Leeson (K-9 Mk. I) Production Writer "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) Director Gerald Blake Script editor Anthony Read Producer Graham Williams Executive producer(s) None Production code 4Z Series Season 15 Length 6 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast February 4-March 11, 1978 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - Underworld The Ribos Operation The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 4 to March 11, 1978. This serial features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the  //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. Plot The Fourth Doctor returns to Gallifrey after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing Leela and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor Borusa, who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, after the demise of Chancellor Goth, is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused. The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his head, the Doctor collapses in pain. The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to materialise. The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety of the Capitol. Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to execute him in the name of liberty. K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands, comprising Nesbin's people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the Capitol. The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior appears in the chamber. Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to him the location of the Great Key of Rassilon, a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS' controls to repair the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor's TARDIS to try and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of a Black Star. The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends, pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor's instruction, a hypnotised Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the Eye of Harmony with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor's mind of recent events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins the process of rebuilding Gallifrey. The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the fourth wall, looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously. Cast The Doctor -- Tom BakerLeela -- Louise JamesonVoice of K-9 -- John LeesonChancellor Borusa -- John ArnattCastellan Kelner -- Milton JohnsCommander Andred -- Chris TranchellGold Usher -- Charles MorganRodan -- Hilary RyanLord Gomer -- Dennis EdwardsLord Savar -- Reginald JessupBodyguard -- Michael HarleyCastellan Guard -- Eric DanotGuard -- Christopher ChristouNesbin -- Max FaulknerAblif -- Ray CallaghanJasko -- Michael MundellPresta -- Gai SmithVardans -- Stan McGowan, Tom KellyStor -- Derek DeadmanSontaran -- Stuart Fell Cast notes Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in Sydney, Australia. Continuity Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.In addition, in his next on-screen visit to his home planet, the Doctor is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the revived series, we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel No Future by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's The Edge of Destruction notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen earlier in the season in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels. Production The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' script editor) and Graham Williams (series producer).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh -- the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.[1]An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.[1]As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.[1]Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily explainedIt was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of episode 4. In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time Series Target novelisations Release number 35 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0 426 20093 4 Release date 21 February 1980 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Underworld Followed by Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in February 1980. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release This story was released on a two tape VHS set in March of 2000It was released onto DVD on May 5th 2008 with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery, Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer of The K9 boxset featuring The Invisible Enemy and K9 and Company. It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors.

  
  

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• TDP 57: Doctor Who 4.06 The Doctor's Daughter & The Invasion of Time DVD

  15 May 2008 (8:19pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  *  "The Doctor's Daughter" The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1] Guest stars Georgia Moffett - JennyNigel Terry - CobbJoe Dempsie - ClinePaul Kasey - Hath PeckRuari Mears - Hath GableAkin Gazi - CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. - Soldier Production Writer Stephen Greenhorn Director Alice Troughton Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.6 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 10 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Poison Sky" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" IMDb profile "The Doctor's Daughter"[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.[3] /&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry) force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments -- Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first. The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander. Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society. At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains. Continuity In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode. Production Writing Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.[5] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.[6] [edit] Casting Jenny shortly after emerging from the Progenation Machine. Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."[7] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series[6]. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn". Broadcast and reception Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[8] "The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".[9] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning.[10] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".[11] Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",[11] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".[10] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,[10] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".[9] The Invasion of Time  The Invasion of Time DVD The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords Cast Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) Companions Louise Jameson (Leela) John Leeson (K-9 Mk. I) Production Writer "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) Director Gerald Blake Script editor Anthony Read Producer Graham Williams Executive producer(s) None Production code 4Z Series Season 15 Length 6 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast February 4-March 11, 1978 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - Underworld The Ribos Operation The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 4 to March 11, 1978. This serial features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the  //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. Plot The Fourth Doctor returns to Gallifrey after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing Leela and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor Borusa, who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, after the demise of Chancellor Goth, is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused. The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his head, the Doctor collapses in pain. The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to materialise. The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety of the Capitol. Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to execute him in the name of liberty. K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands, comprising Nesbin's people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the Capitol. The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior appears in the chamber. Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to him the location of the Great Key of Rassilon, a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS' controls to repair the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor's TARDIS to try and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of a Black Star. The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends, pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor's instruction, a hypnotised Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the Eye of Harmony with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor's mind of recent events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins the process of rebuilding Gallifrey. The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the fourth wall, looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously. Cast The Doctor -- Tom BakerLeela -- Louise JamesonVoice of K-9 -- John LeesonChancellor Borusa -- John ArnattCastellan Kelner -- Milton JohnsCommander Andred -- Chris TranchellGold Usher -- Charles MorganRodan -- Hilary RyanLord Gomer -- Dennis EdwardsLord Savar -- Reginald JessupBodyguard -- Michael HarleyCastellan Guard -- Eric DanotGuard -- Christopher ChristouNesbin -- Max FaulknerAblif -- Ray CallaghanJasko -- Michael MundellPresta -- Gai SmithVardans -- Stan McGowan, Tom KellyStor -- Derek DeadmanSontaran -- Stuart Fell Cast notes Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in Sydney, Australia. Continuity Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.In addition, in his next on-screen visit to his home planet, the Doctor is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the revived series, we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel No Future by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's The Edge of Destruction notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen earlier in the season in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels. Production The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' script editor) and Graham Williams (series producer).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh -- the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.[1]An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.[1]As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.[1]Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily explainedIt was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of episode 4. In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time Series Target novelisations Release number 35 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0 426 20093 4 Release date 21 February 1980 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Underworld Followed by Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in February 1980. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release This story was released on a two tape VHS set in March of 2000It was released onto DVD on May 5th 2008 with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery, Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer of The K9 boxset featuring The Invisible Enemy and K9 and Company. It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors.

  
  

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• TDP 57: Doctor Who 4.06 The Doctor's Daughter & The Invasion of Time DVD

  15 May 2008 (8:19pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  *  "The Doctor's Daughter" The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1] Guest stars Georgia Moffett - JennyNigel Terry - CobbJoe Dempsie - ClinePaul Kasey - Hath PeckRuari Mears - Hath GableAkin Gazi - CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. - Soldier Production Writer Stephen Greenhorn Director Alice Troughton Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.6 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 10 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Poison Sky" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" IMDb profile "The Doctor's Daughter"[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.[3] /&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry) force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments -- Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first. The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander. Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society. At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains. Continuity In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode. Production Writing Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.[5] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.[6] [edit] Casting Jenny shortly after emerging from the Progenation Machine. Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."[7] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series[6]. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn". Broadcast and reception Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[8] "The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".[9] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning.[10] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".[11] Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",[11] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".[10] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,[10] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".[9] The Invasion of Time  The Invasion of Time DVD The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords Cast Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) Companions Louise Jameson (Leela) John Leeson (K-9 Mk. I) Production Writer "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) Director Gerald Blake Script editor Anthony Read Producer Graham Williams Executive producer(s) None Production code 4Z Series Season 15 Length 6 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast February 4-March 11, 1978 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - Underworld The Ribos Operation The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 4 to March 11, 1978. This serial features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the  //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. Plot The Fourth Doctor returns to Gallifrey after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing Leela and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor Borusa, who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, after the demise of Chancellor Goth, is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused. The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his head, the Doctor collapses in pain. The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to materialise. The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety of the Capitol. Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to execute him in the name of liberty. K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands, comprising Nesbin's people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the Capitol. The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior appears in the chamber. Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to him the location of the Great Key of Rassilon, a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS' controls to repair the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor's TARDIS to try and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of a Black Star. The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends, pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor's instruction, a hypnotised Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the Eye of Harmony with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor's mind of recent events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins the process of rebuilding Gallifrey. The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the fourth wall, looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously. Cast The Doctor -- Tom BakerLeela -- Louise JamesonVoice of K-9 -- John LeesonChancellor Borusa -- John ArnattCastellan Kelner -- Milton JohnsCommander Andred -- Chris TranchellGold Usher -- Charles MorganRodan -- Hilary RyanLord Gomer -- Dennis EdwardsLord Savar -- Reginald JessupBodyguard -- Michael HarleyCastellan Guard -- Eric DanotGuard -- Christopher ChristouNesbin -- Max FaulknerAblif -- Ray CallaghanJasko -- Michael MundellPresta -- Gai SmithVardans -- Stan McGowan, Tom KellyStor -- Derek DeadmanSontaran -- Stuart Fell Cast notes Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in Sydney, Australia. Continuity Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.In addition, in his next on-screen visit to his home planet, the Doctor is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the revived series, we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel No Future by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's The Edge of Destruction notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen earlier in the season in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels. Production The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' script editor) and Graham Williams (series producer).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh -- the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.[1]An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.[1]As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.[1]Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily explainedIt was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of episode 4. In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time Series Target novelisations Release number 35 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0 426 20093 4 Release date 21 February 1980 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Underworld Followed by Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in February 1980. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release This story was released on a two tape VHS set in March of 2000It was released onto DVD on May 5th 2008 with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery, Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer of The K9 boxset featuring The Invisible Enemy and K9 and Company. It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors.

  
  

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• TDP 57: Doctor Who 4.06 The Doctor's Daughter & The Invasion of Time DVD

  15 May 2008 (8:19pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  *  "The Doctor's Daughter" The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1] Guest stars Georgia Moffett - JennyNigel Terry - CobbJoe Dempsie - ClinePaul Kasey - Hath PeckRuari Mears - Hath GableAkin Gazi - CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. - Soldier Production Writer Stephen Greenhorn Director Alice Troughton Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.6 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 10 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Poison Sky" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" IMDb profile "The Doctor's Daughter"[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.[3] /&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry) force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments -- Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first. The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander. Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society. At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains. Continuity In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode. Production Writing Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.[5] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.[6] [edit] Casting Jenny shortly after emerging from the Progenation Machine. Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."[7] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series[6]. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn". Broadcast and reception Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[8] "The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".[9] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning.[10] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".[11] Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",[11] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".[10] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,[10] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".[9] The Invasion of Time  The Invasion of Time DVD The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords Cast Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) Companions Louise Jameson (Leela) John Leeson (K-9 Mk. I) Production Writer "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) Director Gerald Blake Script editor Anthony Read Producer Graham Williams Executive producer(s) None Production code 4Z Series Season 15 Length 6 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast February 4-March 11, 1978 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - Underworld The Ribos Operation The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 4 to March 11, 1978. This serial features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the  //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. Plot The Fourth Doctor returns to Gallifrey after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing Leela and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor Borusa, who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, after the demise of Chancellor Goth, is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused. The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his head, the Doctor collapses in pain. The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to materialise. The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety of the Capitol. Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to execute him in the name of liberty. K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands, comprising Nesbin's people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the Capitol. The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior appears in the chamber. Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to him the location of the Great Key of Rassilon, a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS' controls to repair the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor's TARDIS to try and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of a Black Star. The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends, pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor's instruction, a hypnotised Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the Eye of Harmony with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor's mind of recent events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins the process of rebuilding Gallifrey. The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the fourth wall, looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously. Cast The Doctor -- Tom BakerLeela -- Louise JamesonVoice of K-9 -- John LeesonChancellor Borusa -- John ArnattCastellan Kelner -- Milton JohnsCommander Andred -- Chris TranchellGold Usher -- Charles MorganRodan -- Hilary RyanLord Gomer -- Dennis EdwardsLord Savar -- Reginald JessupBodyguard -- Michael HarleyCastellan Guard -- Eric DanotGuard -- Christopher ChristouNesbin -- Max FaulknerAblif -- Ray CallaghanJasko -- Michael MundellPresta -- Gai SmithVardans -- Stan McGowan, Tom KellyStor -- Derek DeadmanSontaran -- Stuart Fell Cast notes Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in Sydney, Australia. Continuity Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.In addition, in his next on-screen visit to his home planet, the Doctor is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the revived series, we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel No Future by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's The Edge of Destruction notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen earlier in the season in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels. Production The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' script editor) and Graham Williams (series producer).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh -- the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.[1]An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.[1]As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.[1]Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily explainedIt was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of episode 4. In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time Series Target novelisations Release number 35 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0 426 20093 4 Release date 21 February 1980 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Underworld Followed by Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in February 1980. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release This story was released on a two tape VHS set in March of 2000It was released onto DVD on May 5th 2008 with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery, Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer of The K9 boxset featuring The Invisible Enemy and K9 and Company. It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors.

  
  

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• TDP 56: Doctor Who 4.04 & 4.05 Sontaran Stratagem: The Poison Sky

  9 May 2008 (7:03pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes and 39 seconds

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  The Sontaran Stratagem 196 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" Doctor Who episode A Sontaran introduces himself to the Doctor as General Staal, "the undefeated". Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) Guest stars Christopher Ryan - General StaalRupert Holliday Evans - Colonel MaceDan Starkey - Commander SkorrBernard Cribbins - Wilfred MottJacqueline King - Sylvia NobleEleanor Matsuura - Jo NakashimaRyan Sampson - Luke RattiganChristian Cooke - Ross JenkinsClive Standen - Private HarrisWesley Theobald - Private GrayRuari Mears - Clone Production Writer Helen Raynor Director Douglas Mackinnon Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.4 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 26 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Planet of the Ood" "The Poison Sky" IMDb profile "The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008. The episode features the return of former companion Martha Jones, as well as the return of the alien Sontarans to the series. It is the first of a two part story, followed by "The Poison Sky". This is the Sontarans' first appearance since the 1985 Colin Baker story The Two Doctors. //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) calls the Doctor (David Tennant) to ask for assistance during an investigation by UNIT. Minutes after the TARDIS materialises in contemporary Britain, Martha authorises the raid of an ATMOS (Atmospheric Omission System) factory. The Doctor introduces his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) to Martha and UNIT; Donna instantly befriends Martha, but is concerned about UNIT's ethics and asks the Doctor why he is associated with them; the Doctor ambiguously replies he used to work for them in the late twentieth century. ATMOS is marketing a satellite navigation system developed by child prodigy Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson). The system also reduces carbon dioxide emissions to zero; UNIT requested the Doctor's help because the technology is not contemporary and potentially alien. UNIT are also concerned about fifty-two deaths occurring spontaneously and contemporaneously several days before the narrative. The Doctor travels to Rattigan's private school to investigate the system, and discovers that the episode's events are being influenced by the Sontarans. The Sontarans depicted in the episode are part of a battlegroup led by General Staal, "the undefeated" (Christopher Ryan). Instead of an instant invasion, they are tactically approaching an invasion with a combination of human clones, mind control, and ATMOS; Martha is captured by two of the controlled humans and cloned to provide a tactical advantage against UNIT. A subplot depicts Donna returning to her home to warn her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King) and grandfather Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) about the Doctor. Concerned about the implications of telling the truth, Donna reneges from warning her mother. At the end of the episode, the Doctor investigates the ATMOS device attached to Donna's car and discovers a secondary function: the device can emit a poisonous gas. Wilfred attempts to take the car off the road, but is trapped when Staal activates all 400 million installed in cars worldwide. The episode's cliffhanger depicts Donna shouting for help while the Doctor stares helplessly at a street full of cars emitting the gas. [edit] Production The episode features the return of the Sontarans, who last appeared in the 1985 serial The Two Doctors, a centric appearance by UNIT, and Martha Jones, who had last appeared in "Last of the Time Lords" and made special guest appearances in the Torchwood episodes "Reset", "Dead Man Walking", and "A Day in the Death"; the brief executive producer Russell T Davies gave to writer Helen Raynor included the terms "Sontarans", "military", and "Martha's back".[1][2] Martha's departure allowed Davies to change the character's personality. In her reappearance, she is more mature and equal to the Doctor in comparison to falling in love in the third series.[1] Several aspects of her character were debated: in particular, her status and reaction to Donna. Raynor elected to emphasise Martha's medical career over her military career, and avoided a "handbags at dawn" scenario because she felt it would rehash Rose Tyler's (Billie Piper) initial opinion of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) from the second series episode "School Reunion".[2] The episode is the first centric appearance of UNIT since the show's revival. Their name has changed from United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to Unified Intelligence Taskforce at the request of the United Nations, who cited the political climate and potential "brand confusion" as reasons for disassociation. The new acronym was coined by Davies after several meetings among the scriptwriters. The UNIT privates Gray and Wilson were specifically written as "alien fodder".[2][3] The episode refers to inconsistencies in dating UNIT stories when the Doctor is unsure whether he worked for UNIT in the 70s or 80s.[4] This episode continues the pattern of having monsters from the classic series return in the new one. Davies commented that the Sontarans were "always on his list" of villains to resurrect.[5] The time and location of the episode was deliberately chosen because every Sontaran story except for The Invasion of Time was set on Earth.[5] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[6] Raynor initally envisioned the poisonous gas would be emitted by factories, but changed it in later drafts to cars for several reasons: the episode would provide social commentary and the idea of an "evil satnav system" was "much more engageable" and "irresistible"; Davies thought the concept was "so very Doctor Who".[5][2][1] Because the series was produced out of order, the "ATMOS" subplot was seeded in the episode "Partners in Crime".[7] In the episode, a system installed in a UNIT jeep undramatically explodes; originally, Raynor wanted it to be a large explosion, but reduced the explosion to several sparks to reduce costs and to lampoon an action movie cliche.[2] The opening scene, which depicts the system driving its occupant into a canal, was filmed at Cardiff's docks. The scene was the first time a car-cannon had been used since 2005, and was required to be completed in one shot. The car fired into the canal was removed immediately afterwards to clear the shipping route.[1] The episode, like "Aliens of London" and "The Lazarus Experiment", properly introduces the lead companion's family. Unlike the Tyler or Jones families, both Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott had met the Doctor before (in "The Runaway Bride" and "Voyage of the Damned", respectively), providing Raynor with an additional subplot. Expository dialogue explains Mott's absence from "The Runaway Bride" as the character having Spanish flu. Wilfred's positive opinion of the Doctor is different to Sylvia, who "joined a long line of mothers that don't get the Doctor"; Davies had wanted a family member who trusted the Doctor since the show's revival.[1] Despite the Sontaran's clone culture being asserted in the classic series, "The Sontaran Strategem" is the first episode to depict cloning. Originally, all of the factory workers were to be clones, but Raynor reduced it to only Martha to solve continuity problems with the second part. The template clone was portrayed by Ruari Mears, who wore a prosthetic mask which took longer to apply than any mask he had worn.[2] The scenes involving the cloning tank were filmed in a Welsh shampoo factory and reused a prop from "The Fires of Pompeii" as the tank which contained the clone. Davies and Agyeman enjoyed scenes set in the cloning room; Agyeman enjoyed playing an "evil companion", who she and Davies felt made the real Martha "warmer", and Davies thought Privates Gray and Harris discovering the tank in a darkened room was "classic Doctor Who".[1] "The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both old companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans.[3] It is the second of a two part story, following "The Sontaran Stratagem". //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Following from the previous episode, Sylvia Noble (Jacqueline King) manages to free Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) from the car by smashing the window with an axe. The Doctor (David Tennant) sends Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) back to the TARDIS while he sets off to figure out what the Sontarans are up to. After studying the gas, UNIT determines that it will need to reach 80% density to become lethal. Elsewhere, Martha Jones's clone (Freema Agyeman) helps the Sontarans to seize the TARDIS. Realising that he is trapped, the Doctor attempts to goad General Staal (Christopher Ryan) into revealing their plan: Staal is smart enough not to fall prey to this ploy, but the Doctor does trick him into moving the TARDIS out of the main war room, placing Donna in a position to help. Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use nuclear weapons against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the launch codes, and stops every attempt they make to fire the weapons. This in itself shows a hidden agenda, since a nuclear strike would not have harmed them in the first place. This, combined with the unidentifiable elements in the gas, suggest that the Sontarans have an interest in keeping anything from disrupting the atmospheric conversion. At the same time, the Sontarans mobilize a contingent of troops to protect the factory. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional firearms by expanding the copper-lined bullets, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured. Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson) leaves the Sontaran mothership to gather his students, explaining that he plans to have the Sontarans take them to another planet and begin the human race anew. The students merely laugh him off, even when he brandishes a gun. When he returns to report his failure, the Sontarans likewise ridicule his efforts, admitting that they never intended to take him or his students anywhere. Rattigan teleports back to his mansion before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the teleport pods behind him. Meanwhile, the Doctor instructs Donna on how to reopen the teleport pods. As she makes her way through the ship, UNIT begins a counterattack, loading their weapons with non-copper bullets and using the aircraft carrier Valiant to clear the gas. The counterattack is a success, and the UNIT troops are able to put the Sontarans on the defensive. The distraction allows the Doctor to make his way to the cloning room where Martha is being held. Having figured out long before that the clone wasn't the genuine article, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Martha convinces the clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments, and the clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "food" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. With Donna's help, the Doctor is able to reactivate the teleport pods, allowing him to rescue Donna, steal back the TARDIS, and teleport into Rattigan's mansion. With the terraforming equipment Rattigan's students built, the Doctor builds his own atmospheric converter, igniting the atmosphere to clear out the poison gas as shown in the picture. However, he knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily, and teleports to their ship with the converter, planning to give them the choice between retreat or death. Staal chooses the latter, content with the knowledge that the Doctor will die with them. At the last moment, Rattigan teleports himself to the Sontaran ship and brings the Doctor back to Earth, sacrificing himself to destroy the Sontarans. With the day saved, Martha says goodbye to Donna and the Doctor in the TARDIS and prepares to head home. However, before she can leave, the TARDIS suddenly springs to life, locking the doors and piloting itself to an unknown destination as the jar containing the Doctor's severed hand bubbles. Continuity Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is mentioned as being "stranded in Peru", the first explicit mention of the character in the new series. Colonel Mace refers to him as "Sir Alastair", implying he has received a knighthood since the events of Battlefield.Just as Donna moves towards the TARDIS screen while the Doctor contacts the Sontarans, Rose Tyler can be seen on the screen, silently calling out. This follows a similar silent cameo appearance in "Partners in Crime".The Valiant, the primary setting for the climax of "The Sound of Drums" and much of "Last of the Time Lords", is seen again in this episode when it is used by UNIT to clear the poisonous gas from the atmosphere over the ATMOS factory. It is also equipped with a scaled down version of the Torchwood weapon that destroyed the Sycorax ship in "The Christmas Invasion".[4]As the TARDIS traps Donna, Martha, and the Doctor at the end of the episode, the Doctor's severed hand, last seen at the beginning of "Voyage of the Damned", can be seen in a similar state of agitation it felt when the TARDIS materialised near it in the Torchwood episode "End of Days".In addition to the Sontarans, the Rutans are mentioned for the first time in the revived series.Lachelle Carl reprises her recurring role as the US Newsreader, Mal Loup, seen previously in the episodes "Aliens of London", "World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Sound of Drums" and in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures story Revenge of the Slitheen.The Doctor asks Colonel Mace, "Are you my mummy?", while wearing a gas mask, a line spoken by gas mask-wearing characters in "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances".[5][6] Production This episode and the previous episode were filmed over five weeks, beginning in September 2007. Post-production was completed a week before the first part aired.[7] During production, director Douglas Mackinnon intended to have the episode's climatic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the center console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair.[8] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[9][10] When the Doctor interrupts the Sontarans' transmission, animated footage from CBeebies's part live action, part animation[11] eco adventure show Tommy Zoom is brought up on screen featuring the villanous Polluto disguised as a magician and the heroic Tommy and his dog Daniel as his audience.[12] As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News.[13] "The Poison Sky" marks the first time all three of the Tenth Doctor's primary companions -- Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) -- have appeared in the same episode, though Rose's appearance was extremely brief. Piper received screen credit, although her appearance is less than a second in duration. Broadcast Unofficial figures show that "The Poison Sky" was watched by 5.9 million viewers, giving it a 32.5% share of the total television audience. Although dipping below the 6 million mark, the programme was still the second most watched of the day, being beaten by ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, which got 8.5 million viewers. It was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day. The programme is currently the 19th most watched of the week and received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[14]

  
  

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• TDP 57: Doctor Who 4.06 The Doctor's Daughter & The Invasion of Time DVD

  15 May 2008 (8:19pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

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  *  "The Doctor's Daughter" The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1] Guest stars Georgia Moffett - JennyNigel Terry - CobbJoe Dempsie - ClinePaul Kasey - Hath PeckRuari Mears - Hath GableAkin Gazi - CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. - Soldier Production Writer Stephen Greenhorn Director Alice Troughton Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Phil Collinson Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 4.6 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 10 May 2008 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - "The Poison Sky" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" IMDb profile "The Doctor's Daughter"[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.[3] /&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry) force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments -- Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first. The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander. Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society. At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains. Continuity In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode. Production Writing Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.[5] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.[6] [edit] Casting Jenny shortly after emerging from the Progenation Machine. Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."[7] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series[6]. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn". Broadcast and reception Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[8] "The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".[9] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning.[10] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".[11] Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",[11] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".[10] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,[10] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".[9] The Invasion of Time  The Invasion of Time DVD The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords Cast Doctor Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor) Companions Louise Jameson (Leela) John Leeson (K-9 Mk. I) Production Writer "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) Director Gerald Blake Script editor Anthony Read Producer Graham Williams Executive producer(s) None Production code 4Z Series Season 15 Length 6 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast February 4-March 11, 1978 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - Underworld The Ribos Operation The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from February 4 to March 11, 1978. This serial features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the  //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Synopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. Plot The Fourth Doctor returns to Gallifrey after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing Leela and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor Borusa, who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, after the demise of Chancellor Goth, is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused. The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his head, the Doctor collapses in pain. The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to materialise. The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety of the Capitol. Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to execute him in the name of liberty. K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands, comprising Nesbin's people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the Capitol. The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior appears in the chamber. Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to him the location of the Great Key of Rassilon, a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS' controls to repair the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor's TARDIS to try and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of a Black Star. The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends, pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor's instruction, a hypnotised Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the Eye of Harmony with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor's mind of recent events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins the process of rebuilding Gallifrey. The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the fourth wall, looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously. Cast The Doctor -- Tom BakerLeela -- Louise JamesonVoice of K-9 -- John LeesonChancellor Borusa -- John ArnattCastellan Kelner -- Milton JohnsCommander Andred -- Chris TranchellGold Usher -- Charles MorganRodan -- Hilary RyanLord Gomer -- Dennis EdwardsLord Savar -- Reginald JessupBodyguard -- Michael HarleyCastellan Guard -- Eric DanotGuard -- Christopher ChristouNesbin -- Max FaulknerAblif -- Ray CallaghanJasko -- Michael MundellPresta -- Gai SmithVardans -- Stan McGowan, Tom KellyStor -- Derek DeadmanSontaran -- Stuart Fell Cast notes Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in Sydney, Australia. Continuity Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.In addition, in his next on-screen visit to his home planet, the Doctor is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the revived series, we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel No Future by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's The Edge of Destruction notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen earlier in the season in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels. Production The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' script editor) and Graham Williams (series producer).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh -- the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.[1]An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.[1]As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.[1]Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily explainedIt was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of episode 4. In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time Series Target novelisations Release number 35 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0 426 20093 4 Release date 21 February 1980 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Underworld Followed by Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in February 1980. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release This story was released on a two tape VHS set in March of 2000It was released onto DVD on May 5th 2008 with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery, Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer of The K9 boxset featuring The Invisible Enemy and K9 and Company. It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors.

  
  

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• TDP 56: Doctor Who 4.04 & 4.05 Sontaran Stratagem: The Poison Sky

  9 May 2008 (7:03pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes and 39 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  The Sontaran Stratagem 196 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" Doctor Who episode A Sontaran introduces himself to the Doctor as General Staal, "the undefeated". Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) Guest stars Christopher Ryan - General StaalRupert Holliday Evans - Colonel MaceDan Starkey - Commander SkorrBernard Cribbins - Wilfred MottJacqueline King - Sylvia NobleEleanor Matsuura - Jo NakashimaRyan Sampson - Luke RattiganChristian Cooke - Ross JenkinsClive Standen - Private HarrisWesley Theobald - Private GrayRuari Mears - Clone Production Writer Helen Raynor Director Douglas Mackinnon Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.4 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 26 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Planet of the Ood" "The Poison Sky" IMDb profile "The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008. The episode features the return of former companion Martha Jones, as well as the return of the alien Sontarans to the series. It is the first of a two part story, followed by "The Poison Sky". This is the Sontarans' first appearance since the 1985 Colin Baker story The Two Doctors. //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) calls the Doctor (David Tennant) to ask for assistance during an investigation by UNIT. Minutes after the TARDIS materialises in contemporary Britain, Martha authorises the raid of an ATMOS (Atmospheric Omission System) factory. The Doctor introduces his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) to Martha and UNIT; Donna instantly befriends Martha, but is concerned about UNIT's ethics and asks the Doctor why he is associated with them; the Doctor ambiguously replies he used to work for them in the late twentieth century. ATMOS is marketing a satellite navigation system developed by child prodigy Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson). The system also reduces carbon dioxide emissions to zero; UNIT requested the Doctor's help because the technology is not contemporary and potentially alien. UNIT are also concerned about fifty-two deaths occurring spontaneously and contemporaneously several days before the narrative. The Doctor travels to Rattigan's private school to investigate the system, and discovers that the episode's events are being influenced by the Sontarans. The Sontarans depicted in the episode are part of a battlegroup led by General Staal, "the undefeated" (Christopher Ryan). Instead of an instant invasion, they are tactically approaching an invasion with a combination of human clones, mind control, and ATMOS; Martha is captured by two of the controlled humans and cloned to provide a tactical advantage against UNIT. A subplot depicts Donna returning to her home to warn her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King) and grandfather Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) about the Doctor. Concerned about the implications of telling the truth, Donna reneges from warning her mother. At the end of the episode, the Doctor investigates the ATMOS device attached to Donna's car and discovers a secondary function: the device can emit a poisonous gas. Wilfred attempts to take the car off the road, but is trapped when Staal activates all 400 million installed in cars worldwide. The episode's cliffhanger depicts Donna shouting for help while the Doctor stares helplessly at a street full of cars emitting the gas. [edit] Production The episode features the return of the Sontarans, who last appeared in the 1985 serial The Two Doctors, a centric appearance by UNIT, and Martha Jones, who had last appeared in "Last of the Time Lords" and made special guest appearances in the Torchwood episodes "Reset", "Dead Man Walking", and "A Day in the Death"; the brief executive producer Russell T Davies gave to writer Helen Raynor included the terms "Sontarans", "military", and "Martha's back".[1][2] Martha's departure allowed Davies to change the character's personality. In her reappearance, she is more mature and equal to the Doctor in comparison to falling in love in the third series.[1] Several aspects of her character were debated: in particular, her status and reaction to Donna. Raynor elected to emphasise Martha's medical career over her military career, and avoided a "handbags at dawn" scenario because she felt it would rehash Rose Tyler's (Billie Piper) initial opinion of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) from the second series episode "School Reunion".[2] The episode is the first centric appearance of UNIT since the show's revival. Their name has changed from United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to Unified Intelligence Taskforce at the request of the United Nations, who cited the political climate and potential "brand confusion" as reasons for disassociation. The new acronym was coined by Davies after several meetings among the scriptwriters. The UNIT privates Gray and Wilson were specifically written as "alien fodder".[2][3] The episode refers to inconsistencies in dating UNIT stories when the Doctor is unsure whether he worked for UNIT in the 70s or 80s.[4] This episode continues the pattern of having monsters from the classic series return in the new one. Davies commented that the Sontarans were "always on his list" of villains to resurrect.[5] The time and location of the episode was deliberately chosen because every Sontaran story except for The Invasion of Time was set on Earth.[5] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[6] Raynor initally envisioned the poisonous gas would be emitted by factories, but changed it in later drafts to cars for several reasons: the episode would provide social commentary and the idea of an "evil satnav system" was "much more engageable" and "irresistible"; Davies thought the concept was "so very Doctor Who".[5][2][1] Because the series was produced out of order, the "ATMOS" subplot was seeded in the episode "Partners in Crime".[7] In the episode, a system installed in a UNIT jeep undramatically explodes; originally, Raynor wanted it to be a large explosion, but reduced the explosion to several sparks to reduce costs and to lampoon an action movie cliche.[2] The opening scene, which depicts the system driving its occupant into a canal, was filmed at Cardiff's docks. The scene was the first time a car-cannon had been used since 2005, and was required to be completed in one shot. The car fired into the canal was removed immediately afterwards to clear the shipping route.[1] The episode, like "Aliens of London" and "The Lazarus Experiment", properly introduces the lead companion's family. Unlike the Tyler or Jones families, both Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott had met the Doctor before (in "The Runaway Bride" and "Voyage of the Damned", respectively), providing Raynor with an additional subplot. Expository dialogue explains Mott's absence from "The Runaway Bride" as the character having Spanish flu. Wilfred's positive opinion of the Doctor is different to Sylvia, who "joined a long line of mothers that don't get the Doctor"; Davies had wanted a family member who trusted the Doctor since the show's revival.[1] Despite the Sontaran's clone culture being asserted in the classic series, "The Sontaran Strategem" is the first episode to depict cloning. Originally, all of the factory workers were to be clones, but Raynor reduced it to only Martha to solve continuity problems with the second part. The template clone was portrayed by Ruari Mears, who wore a prosthetic mask which took longer to apply than any mask he had worn.[2] The scenes involving the cloning tank were filmed in a Welsh shampoo factory and reused a prop from "The Fires of Pompeii" as the tank which contained the clone. Davies and Agyeman enjoyed scenes set in the cloning room; Agyeman enjoyed playing an "evil companion", who she and Davies felt made the real Martha "warmer", and Davies thought Privates Gray and Harris discovering the tank in a darkened room was "classic Doctor Who".[1] "The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both old companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans.[3] It is the second of a two part story, following "The Sontaran Stratagem". //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Following from the previous episode, Sylvia Noble (Jacqueline King) manages to free Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) from the car by smashing the window with an axe. The Doctor (David Tennant) sends Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) back to the TARDIS while he sets off to figure out what the Sontarans are up to. After studying the gas, UNIT determines that it will need to reach 80% density to become lethal. Elsewhere, Martha Jones's clone (Freema Agyeman) helps the Sontarans to seize the TARDIS. Realising that he is trapped, the Doctor attempts to goad General Staal (Christopher Ryan) into revealing their plan: Staal is smart enough not to fall prey to this ploy, but the Doctor does trick him into moving the TARDIS out of the main war room, placing Donna in a position to help. Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use nuclear weapons against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the launch codes, and stops every attempt they make to fire the weapons. This in itself shows a hidden agenda, since a nuclear strike would not have harmed them in the first place. This, combined with the unidentifiable elements in the gas, suggest that the Sontarans have an interest in keeping anything from disrupting the atmospheric conversion. At the same time, the Sontarans mobilize a contingent of troops to protect the factory. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional firearms by expanding the copper-lined bullets, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured. Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson) leaves the Sontaran mothership to gather his students, explaining that he plans to have the Sontarans take them to another planet and begin the human race anew. The students merely laugh him off, even when he brandishes a gun. When he returns to report his failure, the Sontarans likewise ridicule his efforts, admitting that they never intended to take him or his students anywhere. Rattigan teleports back to his mansion before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the teleport pods behind him. Meanwhile, the Doctor instructs Donna on how to reopen the teleport pods. As she makes her way through the ship, UNIT begins a counterattack, loading their weapons with non-copper bullets and using the aircraft carrier Valiant to clear the gas. The counterattack is a success, and the UNIT troops are able to put the Sontarans on the defensive. The distraction allows the Doctor to make his way to the cloning room where Martha is being held. Having figured out long before that the clone wasn't the genuine article, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Martha convinces the clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments, and the clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "food" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. With Donna's help, the Doctor is able to reactivate the teleport pods, allowing him to rescue Donna, steal back the TARDIS, and teleport into Rattigan's mansion. With the terraforming equipment Rattigan's students built, the Doctor builds his own atmospheric converter, igniting the atmosphere to clear out the poison gas as shown in the picture. However, he knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily, and teleports to their ship with the converter, planning to give them the choice between retreat or death. Staal chooses the latter, content with the knowledge that the Doctor will die with them. At the last moment, Rattigan teleports himself to the Sontaran ship and brings the Doctor back to Earth, sacrificing himself to destroy the Sontarans. With the day saved, Martha says goodbye to Donna and the Doctor in the TARDIS and prepares to head home. However, before she can leave, the TARDIS suddenly springs to life, locking the doors and piloting itself to an unknown destination as the jar containing the Doctor's severed hand bubbles. Continuity Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is mentioned as being "stranded in Peru", the first explicit mention of the character in the new series. Colonel Mace refers to him as "Sir Alastair", implying he has received a knighthood since the events of Battlefield.Just as Donna moves towards the TARDIS screen while the Doctor contacts the Sontarans, Rose Tyler can be seen on the screen, silently calling out. This follows a similar silent cameo appearance in "Partners in Crime".The Valiant, the primary setting for the climax of "The Sound of Drums" and much of "Last of the Time Lords", is seen again in this episode when it is used by UNIT to clear the poisonous gas from the atmosphere over the ATMOS factory. It is also equipped with a scaled down version of the Torchwood weapon that destroyed the Sycorax ship in "The Christmas Invasion".[4]As the TARDIS traps Donna, Martha, and the Doctor at the end of the episode, the Doctor's severed hand, last seen at the beginning of "Voyage of the Damned", can be seen in a similar state of agitation it felt when the TARDIS materialised near it in the Torchwood episode "End of Days".In addition to the Sontarans, the Rutans are mentioned for the first time in the revived series.Lachelle Carl reprises her recurring role as the US Newsreader, Mal Loup, seen previously in the episodes "Aliens of London", "World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Sound of Drums" and in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures story Revenge of the Slitheen.The Doctor asks Colonel Mace, "Are you my mummy?", while wearing a gas mask, a line spoken by gas mask-wearing characters in "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances".[5][6] Production This episode and the previous episode were filmed over five weeks, beginning in September 2007. Post-production was completed a week before the first part aired.[7] During production, director Douglas Mackinnon intended to have the episode's climatic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the center console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair.[8] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[9][10] When the Doctor interrupts the Sontarans' transmission, animated footage from CBeebies's part live action, part animation[11] eco adventure show Tommy Zoom is brought up on screen featuring the villanous Polluto disguised as a magician and the heroic Tommy and his dog Daniel as his audience.[12] As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News.[13] "The Poison Sky" marks the first time all three of the Tenth Doctor's primary companions -- Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) -- have appeared in the same episode, though Rose's appearance was extremely brief. Piper received screen credit, although her appearance is less than a second in duration. Broadcast Unofficial figures show that "The Poison Sky" was watched by 5.9 million viewers, giving it a 32.5% share of the total television audience. Although dipping below the 6 million mark, the programme was still the second most watched of the day, being beaten by ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, which got 8.5 million viewers. It was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day. The programme is currently the 19th most watched of the week and received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[14]

  
  

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• Sontaran a guide for people who dont know them

  25 April 2008 (12:25pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  ive had a few emails from people who dont know much about the returning villain for this weeks show so heres some information ive gathered together to help.(This is only text - no audio version as Ill be covering a lot of this in the podcast review of Time Warrior DVD)Sontaran The original Sontarans Sontarans Type Cloned humanoids Affiliated with Sontaran Empire Home planet Sontar First appearance The Time Warrior //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Appearances Television The Sontarans made their first appearance in 1973 in the serial The Time Warrior by Robert Holmes. There, it was explained that they are a race that reproduces by means of cloning rather than by means of sexual reproduction. They live in a militaristic society obsessed by war. Sontarans are humanoid, with a squat build and distinctive dome-shaped head. They come from a high-gravity world named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy", and are far stronger than humans. They recharge their energy through a "probic vent" at the back of the neck rather than by eating food; they also use this vent in their reproduction process. The Sontarans have been at war with the Rutan Host for thousands of years. In the episode The Invasion of Time, the Sontarans successfully invaded Gallifrey, but were driven out again after less than a day. Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the probic vent at the back of their neck; they have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (The Invasion of Time) and an arrow (The Time Warrior). They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (The Two Doctors). At some point, the Sontarans encountered the equally expansionist Rutan Host. The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans continued for several millennia, with both sides remaining fairly evenly matched and neither side interested in negotiating for peace. It was still ongoing at the time of The Sontaran Experiment, which takes place at least 10,000 years beyond the 30th century. The episode Horror of Fang Rock, set during the early 20th century, hinted the Sontarans had gained the upper hand, but this proved merely a temporary setback for the Rutans. Thus far in the program's history although both the Sontarans and the Rutans have been seen, they have never been seen together in the same story. All the Sontarans depicted in the original television series have monosyllabic names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound (e.g., Styre in The Sontaran Experiment, Stor in The Invasion of Time, Stike in The Two Doctors and Staal in The Sontaran Stratagem). Subdivisions of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey [1], the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group [2], and the Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps [3]. In a televised trailer for the 2008 episode The Sontaran Stratagem, a Sontaran character is heard to identify himself as "General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet" [4]. The Sontarans appeared in a skit for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It titled "A Fix with Sontarans", along with Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka. On October 2, 2007 the BBC's official Doctor Who site revealed that the Sontarans will return in series 4, with Christopher Ryan playing the Sontaran leader, General Staal.[5] This will be in a two-part story, entitled "The Sontaran Stratagem"[6]/"The Poison Sky". The BBC later revealed promotional images which featured the new Sontaran design.[7] They are mentioned in Eye of the Gorgon, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sarah Jane Smith meets Bea Nelson-Stanley, an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer's disease who recalls her husband describing the Sontarans as looking like potatoes and that they were "quite the silliest creatures in the galaxy". Games The new 2008 design of a Sontaran, beside the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones The origins of the Sontarans have not been revealed in the television series. The Doctor Who role-playing game published by FASA claimed that they were all descended from the genetic stock of General Sontar (or Sontaris), who used newly developed bioengineering techniques to clone millions of duplicates of himself and annihilated the non-clone population. He renamed the race after himself and turned the Sontarans into an expansionist and warlike society set on universal conquest. However, this origin has no basis in anything seen in the television series. The Sontarans have also appeared as a character in the PC game Destiny of the Doctors released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia. They can be defeated by firing the occupants of an angry beehive at them.[8] Other Appearances Other appearances by the Sontarans include the spin-off videos Mindgame, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans and Do You Have A License To Save This Planet?; three audio plays by BBV: Silent Warrior, Old Soldiers and Conduct Unbecoming; the Faction Paradox audio The Shadow Play; and a cameo appearance in Infidel's Comet. Shakedown marks the only occasion in which the Sontarans and their Rutan foes appear on screen together, and was adapted into a Virgin New Adventures novel. They have also appeared in several spin-off novels, including Lords of the Storm by David A. McIntee and The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin. In The Infinity Doctors, the Doctor negotiated a peace between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host when two of them were left trapped in a TARDIS for several hours and got to talking due to their inability to kill each other. General Sontar also made an appearance in that novel. In The Crystal Bucephalus by Craig Hinton, the name of their planet was given as Sontara. Comic books The Sontarans have also appeared several times in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, both as adversaries of the Doctor and in strips not involving the Doctor. In The Outsider (DWM #25-26), by Steve Moore and David Lloyd, a Sontaran named Skrant invaded the world of Brahtilis with the unwitting help of Demimon, a local astrologer. The Fourth Doctor faced the Sontarans in Dragon's Claw (DWM #39-#45), by Steve Moore and Dave Gibbons, where a crew of Sontarans menaced China in 1522 AD. In Steven Moffat's short story "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow" (the basis for the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink") the Ninth Doctor has a rooftop sword fight with two Sontarans in 21st century Istanbul, defeating them with the help of spy Sally Sparrow, apparently before the events of "Rose" in his personal timeline. The Sontaran homeworld was destroyed in Seventh Doctor strip Pureblood (DWM #193-196) but the Sontaran race pool survived, allowing for further cloning; the strip introduced the concept of "pureblood" Sontarans not born of cloning. The Sontarans also feature in the Kroton solo strip Unnatural Born Killers (DWM #277) and the Tenth Doctor's comic strip debut The Betrothal of Sontar (DWM #365-#368), by John Tomlinson and Nick Abadzis, where a Sontaran mining rig on the ice planet Serac comes under attack by a mysterious force. TIME WARRIORSynopsis A Sontaran named Linx, trapped in the Middle Ages, uses crude time travel technology to kidnap scientists from the 20th Century to help repair his spacecraft. Plot In the Middle Ages, the bandit Irongron and his aide Bloodaxe together with their rabble of criminals find the crashed spaceship of a Sontaran warrior named Linx. The alien claims Earth for his Empire then sets about repairing his ship, offering Irongron "magic weapons? that will make him a king in return for shelter. They strike a bargain, though Irongron remains suspicious. The Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart are investigating the disappearance of several scientists from a top secret scientific research complex. They do not know Linx has used an Osmic Projector to send himself forward eight hundred years and has kidnapped the scientists then hypnotized them into making repairs on his ship. The Projector only lets him appear in another time for a brief period. While the Doctor investigates he meets an eccentric scientist called Rubeish and a young journalist called Sarah Jane Smith, who has infiltrated the complex by masquerading as her aunt. Later that evening Rubeish disappears and the Doctor uses the data he has gathered to pilot the TARDIS back to the Middle Ages.- not realising new companion Sarah has stowed away on board. Irongron is a robber baron who has stolen his castle from an absent nobleman, and relations with his neighbours are appalling. Indeed, the mild Lord Edward of Wessex has been provoked into building an alliance against him and, when this is slow in developing, sends his archer Hal on an unsuccessful mission to kill Irongron. The robber baron is in a foul mood when a captured Sarah is brought before him. His mood improves when Linx presents him with a robot knight which is then put to the test on a captured Hal. The archer is only saved when the Doctor intervenes from afar, shooting the robot control box from Irongron's hands. The ensuing confusion lets both Hal and Sarah flee, and they head for Wessex Castle. Meanwhile the Doctor has realised both that Sarah is in the time period and has been captured, and also that she previously supposed him to be in league with Irongron. The next morning the robber baron and his troops assault the castle using rifles supplied by Linx but the attack is repelled by the Doctor's cunning. The failure further sours the relationship between Linx and Irongron, which has deteriorated since the robot knight fiasco and the point at which the robber saw the Sontaran's true visage beneath his helmet. The Doctor now decides to lead an attack on Irongron's castle, and he and Sarah enter dressed as friars. He makes contact with Rubeish and finds the human scientists in a state of extreme exhaustion. Linx catches the Doctor in the laboratory once more, but this time is rendered immobile when a lucky strike from Rubeish hits his probic vent - a Sontaran refuelling point on the back of their necks which is also their main weakness. Rubeish and the Doctor use the Osmic Projector to send the scientists back to the twentieth century. Sarah now invites herself into Irongron's kitchen, using the opportunity to drug the food, thereby knocking out Irongron's men. A recovered Linx now determines his ship is repaired enough to effect a departure. Once more he encounters the Doctor, and they wrestle in combat. A crazed and half drugged Irongron arrives and accuses Linx of betraying him: the Sontaran responds by killing him. As Linx enters his spherical vessel Hal arrives and shoots him in the probic vent, and the Sontaran warrior falls dead over his controls, triggering the launch mechanism. Knowing the place is about to explode when the shuttle takes off, Bloodaxe awakes and rises the remaining men and tells them to flee, while the Doctor hurries the last of his allies out of the castle. It explodes moments before the Doctor and Sarah depart in the TARDIS. The Sontaran ExperimentSynopsis On a future Earth recovering from devastating solar flares, the Fourth Doctor, Harry Sullivan, and Sarah Jane Smith discover Styre, a Sontaran warrior, conducting experiments on astronauts he has captured during their investigation of the rejuvenated Earth. Plot Following on from The Ark in Space, the time travellers teleport down from the Nerva Space Station to Earth, ostensibly uninhabited. However, the system is not functioning well, and the Doctor begins repairing it. The other two explore the surrounding area, but Harry falls down a crevasse and Sarah goes to seek the Doctor's help. He is nowhere in sight. Roth, an astronaut, finds Sarah. He is obviously distressed, and explains that he has been tortured by an alien that lives in the rocks, together with its patrolling robot. He takes Sarah towards the astronauts' campsite, but refuses to approach the campsite, suspecting the astronaut Vural of collusion with the alien. Three of the astronauts have captured the Doctor. They believe Nerva to be a legend, and tell him in turn that they had picked up a distress signal from Earth. They came to investigate, but their ship was vaporised when they emerged, leaving nine of them stranded. Then they began to vanish one by one. They blame the Doctor for this. Roth appears and the astronauts chase him, while Sarah frees the Doctor. Roth loses the others and meets up with Sarah and the Doctor. The Doctor also falls down a crevasse, and the robot returns, capturing Roth and Sarah and bringing them to the alien's spacecraft. The alien is Field Major Styre of the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey, who has been experimenting on, and killing, the astronauts. Roth tries to escape but is shot dead by Styre. Styre reports back to his Marshal via a video link. The Marshal is impatient for the intelligence report (without which an invasion of Earth cannot take place), but Styre admits that he has been delayed in his experiments. Styre subjects Sarah to a series of terrifying hallucinations. The Doctor, free from the hole, has reached her and rips off a hallucinogenic device from her forehead, but she falls unconscious. The Doctor, enraged, attacks Styre, but the Sontaran easily fends him off. Styre shoots him unconscious (believing it to be fatal) when he runs away. The robot, having captured the three remaining spacemen, brings them to Styre's ship, where it is revealed that Vural had tried to make a deal with Styre in exchange for his own life. However, Styre intends to experiment on Vural anyway. The Doctor recovers, disables the robot, and meets Sarah and Harry. He confronts Styre, goading him into accepting hand-to-hand combat. While the two fight, Sarah and Harry free the three astronauts, and then Harry climbs towards Styre's ship to sabotage it. Styre almost wins the fight, but Vural attacks him, saving the Doctor at the cost of his own life. Styre, now low on energy, heads back towards his ship to recharge, but the sabotage causes it to kill him. The Doctor informs the Marshal that not only has Styre's mission failed, but that the invasion plans are in human hands. This is enough to ward off the invasion, and the three can return to Nerva. The Invasion of TimeSynopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. More when I review the DVD.The Two DoctorsSynopsis The Second Doctor and Jamie are on a mission for the Time Lords that goes horribly wrong, and Jamie sees the Doctor being tortured to death. However, if the Doctor died in his second incarnation, what does that mean for the Sixth Doctor and Peri? Plot The Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon land the TARDIS on board Space Station Camera in the Third Zone, on a mission for the Time Lords, who have also installed a teleport control on the TARDIS that grants them dual control for the occasion. The Doctor explains to Jamie that the station is a research facility and they are here to have a discreet word with Dastari, the Head of Projects. The TARDIS materialises in the station kitchen, where they meet Shockeye, the station cook. Shockeye is an Androgum, a member of a primitive, emotionally and ethically bestial humanoid race which acts as the station's workforce, and is confrontational until the Doctor reveals he is a Time Lord. Suddenly deferential, Shockeye eyes Jamie hungrily and offers to buy him from the Doctor as the main ingredient for a meal. The Doctor, shocked, refuses, and takes Jamie away to see Dastari. As they leave, however, they hear the sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. This is observed by Chessene, an Androgum technologically augmented to mega-genius levels. Chessene has plans of her own, involving someone named Stike who will be arriving in force soon, once Shockeye's poisoned meal to the scientists takes effect. She has also taken possession of the Kartz-Reimer module. The Doctor speaks to Dastari in his office, telling him that the Time Lords want the time experiments of Kartz and Reimer stopped. The Time Lords have an official policy of neutrality, and so have sent the exiled Doctor to maintain deniability. Dastari introduces Chessene, but the Doctor is sceptical as to whether such augmentation can change Chessene's essential Androgum nature, and he considers such tampering dangerous. Meanwhile, three Sontaran battlecruisers appear near the station, on an intercept course. Before the station's defences can be activated, Chessene incapacitates the technician on post and opens the docking bays. Back in the office, the Doctor warns that the distortions from the Kartz-Reimer experiments are on the verge of threatening the fabric of time, but Dastari refuses to order them to cease, accusing the Time Lords of not wanting another race to discover the secrets of time travel. As the argument grows more heated, Dastari grows faint and falls into a drugged stupor. Energy weapons fire begins to sound in the corridors and the Doctor orders Jamie to run as a Sontaran levels a gun at the Doctor. Somewhere else, the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown are on a peaceful fishing trip. When they return to the TARDIS, Peri is startled as the Sixth Doctor sways and collapses -- just as, back on the station, Jamie spies the Second Doctor in a glass chamber, writhing in agony as a Sontaran manipulates controls. In his TARDIS, the Sixth Doctor awakens, somehow having had a vision of himself as his second incarnation being put to death. He realizes that this is impossible, since he is still alive, but he is also concerned that he may have died in the past and only exists now as a temporal anomaly. He decides to go and consult his old friend Dastari to see if he can enlist his help. The TARDIS materializes on the station, but everything is dark, and the smell of decay and death is everywhere. The station computer demands the Doctor leave, and when he refuses, tries to kill him and Peri by depressurising the passageway. The Doctor, however, manages to open a hatch and drag his unconscious companion through to another section. In Dastari's office, the Doctor discovers the scientist's day journal and the Time Lords' objections to the Kartz-Reimer experiments, but refuses to believe his people are responsible for the massacre. Peri suggests someone is trying to frame the Time Lords and drive a wedge between them and the Third Zone governments. They leave the office to enter the service ducts, work their way to the control centre and attempt to deactivate the computer before it succeeds in killing them. On Earth, Chessene, Shockeye and a Sontaran, Major Varl, take possession of a Spanish hacienda by killing its aged owner, Dona Arana. Varl sets up a homing beacon for the Sontaran ship, while Chessene absorbs the knowledge of the old woman's mind, discovering that they are in Andalucia, just outside the city of Seville. Varl announces that Group Marshal Stike of the Ninth Sontaran Battle Fleet is in descent orbit. Meanwhile, two people, Oscar Botcherby and Anita, are approaching the grounds. Oscar, an ex-English stage actor who is managing a restaurant in the city, is here to catch moths, armed with a net and a cyanide killing jar in his backpack. He and Anita see the Sontaran ship zoom overhead, and observe through binoculars Dastari and another Sontaran carrying an unconscious Second Doctor towards the hacienda. Anita pulls Oscar along, thinking that they are victims of an aeroplane crash and need help. Down in the bowels of the station, the Sixth Doctor tries to disconnect the main circuit. Suddenly, Peri is attacked by a humanoid in rags, and when her cries distract the Doctor, he is hit by a gas trap and falls unconscious, becoming entangled in the wires. Peri knocks out her attacker and frees the Sixth Doctor, who saved himself by shutting off his respiratory passages. He disconnects the computer's main circuit, and the two find that Peri's attacker was a half-delirious Jamie, who has been hiding all the while. Jamie moans that "they" killed the Doctor, and under hypnosis, tells the Sixth Doctor what has transpired, giving a description that the Doctor recognizes as the Sontarans. Returning to the office to examine the station records, the Doctor suddenly sees Peri in the glass tube, writhing in pain. As he frantically works the controls to free her, the person in the tube changes from Peri to Dastari to the Second Doctor and even to himself. When Jamie and Peri return to the office, the Sixth Doctor explains that what Jamie saw was an illusion designed to make people believe the Doctor was dead and not investigate further (the animator had been left on and captured Peri's image), which means the Second Doctor is being held captive somewhere. The Sixth Doctor theorises that the Sontarans kidnapped Dastari as well because Dastari is the only biogeneticist in the galaxy who could isolate the symbiotic nuclei of a Time Lord that gives them the molecular stability to travel through time. If given time travel, the Sontarans will be unstoppable. The Sixth Doctor decides to put himself into a telepathic trance to try and determine where his past incarnation is being held. He awakens having heard the sound of the Santa Maria, the largest of the 25 bells at the Great Cathedral of Seville. In the cellar of the hacienda, Dastari and Chessene set up equipment, keeping the Second Doctor drugged and passive. Dastari questions why they have come to Earth, and Chessene explains that it is conveniently situated for an attack Stike wishes to make on the Madillon Cluster against the Rutan Host, and that Shockeye also wanted to taste the flesh of humans. Dastari heaps scorn on Shockeye's primitive urges, and urges Chessene to remember that she is beyond those, now. The TARDIS materialises on the grounds near the hacienda, and Oscar approaches it as the TARDIS crew emerge, thinking it is a real police box and that the Doctor and his companions are plain-clothes police officers. Taking advantage of the mistake, the Doctor asks that Oscar lead him to the hacienda. Dastari reveals his plan to dissect the Second Doctor's cell structure to isolate his symbiotic nuclei and give them to Chessene. The Second Doctor calls him mad, and protests that her barbaric Androgum nature, coupled with the ability to time travel, will mean that there will be no limit to her evil. The Sixth Doctor asks Peri to create a distraction at the front door of the hacienda while he and Jamie make their way into the cellar via a passage in the nearby ice house. Peri calls out, interrupting Dastari's operation. She poses as a lost American student, but Chessene is suspicious, having read thoughts of the Doctor in her mind. Chessene gets Shockeye to bring the Second Doctor, strapped into a wheelchair, through the hall, to see if Peri reacts. She does not, as she has never seen the Second Doctor before. Peri makes her excuses and leaves, but Shockeye chases her anyway, eager for a meal. Meanwhile, the Sixth Doctor and Jamie are in the cellar, where the Doctor examines the Kartz-Reimer module, a prototype time machine modelled on Time Lord technology. He explains to Jamie that once the briode nebuliser of the module is primed with his symbiotic nuclei -- the Rassilon Imprimatur -- it will be safe for anyone to use. Unfortunately, the Sontarans have heard him. Outside, Shockeye also catches up to Peri. Shockeye knocks Peri out and brings her back to the hacienda kitchen. In the cellar, Stike threatens to kill Jamie unless the Sixth Doctor gets into the module and primes it with his symbiotic print, and the Doctor does so. Stike is about to execute Jamie anyway, but Jamie stabs Stike's leg with a concealed knife, and the Doctor and he run off upstairs, where they find the Second Doctor. Before they can release the Second Doctor and escape the hacienda, however, Shockeye shows up with the unconscious Peri. The Second Doctor feigns unconsciousness while the others hide. While the Sixth Doctor and Jamie watch from their hiding place, they hear Chessene voice her concern that now that a second Time Lord is involved, the other Time Lords will be arriving as well. However, she has a contingency plan. She asks Dastari to implant the Second Doctor with some of Shockeye's genetic material, turning the Doctor into an Androgum and under her thrall, following which they will eliminate the Sontarans. However, Dastari and Chessene are unaware that the module is now primed, and that, outside, Stike is preparing to leave in it once Sontaran High Command has been notified and leave no one alive when he does so. Stike orders Varl to set the Sontaran battlecraft's self-destruct mechanism. Interrupting Shockeye as he is about to slaughter Peri, Chessene gets him to bring the Second Doctor to the cellar. Once there, she stuns Shockeye so that Dastari can remove his genetic material. The Sixth Doctor revives Peri in the kitchen and ushers her and Jamie away. The Sixth Doctor tells them that what he revealed about the Imprimatur in the cellar was not strictly true -- he had heard Stike approaching and the speech was for the Sontaran's benefit. The machine worked for the Doctor, but will not for them because the Doctor has taken the briode nebuliser. Dastari has implanted the Second Doctor with a 50 percent Androgum inheritance, and when Shockeye wakes in a rage, he finds a kindred spirit in the transformed Doctor. They decide to go into the town to sample the local cuisine. In the meantime, Dastari lures the Sontarans into the cellar, where Chessene attacks them with two canisters of coronic acid. Varl is killed, but Stike, though wounded, manages to escape. He tries to use the module, but without the nebuliser, it severely burns him instead. Stike staggers towards his battlecraft, forgetting about the self-destruct. The ship explodes, taking him with it. The Sixth Doctor, Peri and Jamie follow the Second Doctor and Shockeye into Seville, hoping to cure him before the change becomes complete and affects the Sixth Doctor as well. Dastari and Chessene are also seeking the two of them, knowing that unless the Second Doctor undergoes a second, stabilizing operation, he will eventually reject the Androgum transfusion. The Second Doctor and Shockeye go to Oscar's restaurant, ordering gargantuan amounts of food. When Oscar demands that they pay, Shockeye fatally stabs Oscar, just as the Sixth Doctor and the others arrive. Shockeye leaves the Second Doctor behind, who slowly reverts back to normal. As all of them leave the restaurant and the distraught Anita, however, Chessene and Dastari appear, taking them back to the hacienda at gunpoint. Chessene and Dastari find the nebuliser on the module missing, and the Sixth Doctor tells them how he primed the machine for Stike. To test the truth of the Doctor's claim, they replace the nebuliser and send Peri on a trip with the module, and she survives. Chessene gives permission for Shockeye to eat Jamie, and the Androgum takes him up to the kitchen. Left alone for the moment, the Sixth Doctor smugly confirms the Second's suspicions -- the nebuliser is sabotaged, with a thin interface layer so it would only work once for Peri. Flipping the table over on which the key to their chains rests, the Doctors retrieve the key. The Sixth Doctor frees himself first, and runs up to save Jamie. He encounters Shockeye in the kitchen, and the Androgum wounds him with a knife. Shockeye pursues him through the grounds, but the Sixth Doctor finds Oscar's pack and his cyanide killing jar. The Doctor ambushes Shockeye, covering his head with Oscar's butterfly net and pressing the cyanide-soaked cotton wool to his face, killing him. The sight of the Time Lord's blood on the ground is too much for Chessene, who falls to her knees and starts licking it, to Dastari's disgust. He realizes that no matter how augmented she may be, Chessene will always be an Androgum, and decides to free the Second Doctor and his companions. When Chessene sees this, she shoots and kills Dastari. She tries to shoot the Second Doctor and Peri as well, but Jamie throws a knife at her wrist, making her drop the gun. Chessene goes into the module, hoping to escape, but the module explodes, molecularly disintegrating her and turning her back into a common Androgum in death. The Second Doctor uses a Stattenheim remote control -- which the Sixth Doctor covets -- to summon his TARDIS. He and Jamie say their goodbyes and leave. As the Sixth Doctor and Peri make their way back to their own TARDIS, the Doctor tells her that from now on, it will be a healthy vegetarian diet for both of them.

  
  

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• TDP 56: Doctor Who 4.04 & 4.05 Sontaran Stratagem: The Poison Sky

  9 May 2008 (7:03pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 17 minutes and 39 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  The Sontaran Stratagem 196 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" Doctor Who episode A Sontaran introduces himself to the Doctor as General Staal, "the undefeated". Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companions Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) Guest stars Christopher Ryan - General StaalRupert Holliday Evans - Colonel MaceDan Starkey - Commander SkorrBernard Cribbins - Wilfred MottJacqueline King - Sylvia NobleEleanor Matsuura - Jo NakashimaRyan Sampson - Luke RattiganChristian Cooke - Ross JenkinsClive Standen - Private HarrisWesley Theobald - Private GrayRuari Mears - Clone Production Writer Helen Raynor Director Douglas Mackinnon Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.4 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 26 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Planet of the Ood" "The Poison Sky" IMDb profile "The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008. The episode features the return of former companion Martha Jones, as well as the return of the alien Sontarans to the series. It is the first of a two part story, followed by "The Poison Sky". This is the Sontarans' first appearance since the 1985 Colin Baker story The Two Doctors. //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) calls the Doctor (David Tennant) to ask for assistance during an investigation by UNIT. Minutes after the TARDIS materialises in contemporary Britain, Martha authorises the raid of an ATMOS (Atmospheric Omission System) factory. The Doctor introduces his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) to Martha and UNIT; Donna instantly befriends Martha, but is concerned about UNIT's ethics and asks the Doctor why he is associated with them; the Doctor ambiguously replies he used to work for them in the late twentieth century. ATMOS is marketing a satellite navigation system developed by child prodigy Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson). The system also reduces carbon dioxide emissions to zero; UNIT requested the Doctor's help because the technology is not contemporary and potentially alien. UNIT are also concerned about fifty-two deaths occurring spontaneously and contemporaneously several days before the narrative. The Doctor travels to Rattigan's private school to investigate the system, and discovers that the episode's events are being influenced by the Sontarans. The Sontarans depicted in the episode are part of a battlegroup led by General Staal, "the undefeated" (Christopher Ryan). Instead of an instant invasion, they are tactically approaching an invasion with a combination of human clones, mind control, and ATMOS; Martha is captured by two of the controlled humans and cloned to provide a tactical advantage against UNIT. A subplot depicts Donna returning to her home to warn her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King) and grandfather Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) about the Doctor. Concerned about the implications of telling the truth, Donna reneges from warning her mother. At the end of the episode, the Doctor investigates the ATMOS device attached to Donna's car and discovers a secondary function: the device can emit a poisonous gas. Wilfred attempts to take the car off the road, but is trapped when Staal activates all 400 million installed in cars worldwide. The episode's cliffhanger depicts Donna shouting for help while the Doctor stares helplessly at a street full of cars emitting the gas. [edit] Production The episode features the return of the Sontarans, who last appeared in the 1985 serial The Two Doctors, a centric appearance by UNIT, and Martha Jones, who had last appeared in "Last of the Time Lords" and made special guest appearances in the Torchwood episodes "Reset", "Dead Man Walking", and "A Day in the Death"; the brief executive producer Russell T Davies gave to writer Helen Raynor included the terms "Sontarans", "military", and "Martha's back".[1][2] Martha's departure allowed Davies to change the character's personality. In her reappearance, she is more mature and equal to the Doctor in comparison to falling in love in the third series.[1] Several aspects of her character were debated: in particular, her status and reaction to Donna. Raynor elected to emphasise Martha's medical career over her military career, and avoided a "handbags at dawn" scenario because she felt it would rehash Rose Tyler's (Billie Piper) initial opinion of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) from the second series episode "School Reunion".[2] The episode is the first centric appearance of UNIT since the show's revival. Their name has changed from United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to Unified Intelligence Taskforce at the request of the United Nations, who cited the political climate and potential "brand confusion" as reasons for disassociation. The new acronym was coined by Davies after several meetings among the scriptwriters. The UNIT privates Gray and Wilson were specifically written as "alien fodder".[2][3] The episode refers to inconsistencies in dating UNIT stories when the Doctor is unsure whether he worked for UNIT in the 70s or 80s.[4] This episode continues the pattern of having monsters from the classic series return in the new one. Davies commented that the Sontarans were "always on his list" of villains to resurrect.[5] The time and location of the episode was deliberately chosen because every Sontaran story except for The Invasion of Time was set on Earth.[5] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[6] Raynor initally envisioned the poisonous gas would be emitted by factories, but changed it in later drafts to cars for several reasons: the episode would provide social commentary and the idea of an "evil satnav system" was "much more engageable" and "irresistible"; Davies thought the concept was "so very Doctor Who".[5][2][1] Because the series was produced out of order, the "ATMOS" subplot was seeded in the episode "Partners in Crime".[7] In the episode, a system installed in a UNIT jeep undramatically explodes; originally, Raynor wanted it to be a large explosion, but reduced the explosion to several sparks to reduce costs and to lampoon an action movie cliche.[2] The opening scene, which depicts the system driving its occupant into a canal, was filmed at Cardiff's docks. The scene was the first time a car-cannon had been used since 2005, and was required to be completed in one shot. The car fired into the canal was removed immediately afterwards to clear the shipping route.[1] The episode, like "Aliens of London" and "The Lazarus Experiment", properly introduces the lead companion's family. Unlike the Tyler or Jones families, both Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott had met the Doctor before (in "The Runaway Bride" and "Voyage of the Damned", respectively), providing Raynor with an additional subplot. Expository dialogue explains Mott's absence from "The Runaway Bride" as the character having Spanish flu. Wilfred's positive opinion of the Doctor is different to Sylvia, who "joined a long line of mothers that don't get the Doctor"; Davies had wanted a family member who trusted the Doctor since the show's revival.[1] Despite the Sontaran's clone culture being asserted in the classic series, "The Sontaran Strategem" is the first episode to depict cloning. Originally, all of the factory workers were to be clones, but Raynor reduced it to only Martha to solve continuity problems with the second part. The template clone was portrayed by Ruari Mears, who wore a prosthetic mask which took longer to apply than any mask he had worn.[2] The scenes involving the cloning tank were filmed in a Welsh shampoo factory and reused a prop from "The Fires of Pompeii" as the tank which contained the clone. Davies and Agyeman enjoyed scenes set in the cloning room; Agyeman enjoyed playing an "evil companion", who she and Davies felt made the real Martha "warmer", and Davies thought Privates Gray and Harris discovering the tank in a darkened room was "classic Doctor Who".[1] "The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both old companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans.[3] It is the second of a two part story, following "The Sontaran Stratagem". //&amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; Plot Synopsis Following from the previous episode, Sylvia Noble (Jacqueline King) manages to free Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) from the car by smashing the window with an axe. The Doctor (David Tennant) sends Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) back to the TARDIS while he sets off to figure out what the Sontarans are up to. After studying the gas, UNIT determines that it will need to reach 80% density to become lethal. Elsewhere, Martha Jones's clone (Freema Agyeman) helps the Sontarans to seize the TARDIS. Realising that he is trapped, the Doctor attempts to goad General Staal (Christopher Ryan) into revealing their plan: Staal is smart enough not to fall prey to this ploy, but the Doctor does trick him into moving the TARDIS out of the main war room, placing Donna in a position to help. Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use nuclear weapons against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the launch codes, and stops every attempt they make to fire the weapons. This in itself shows a hidden agenda, since a nuclear strike would not have harmed them in the first place. This, combined with the unidentifiable elements in the gas, suggest that the Sontarans have an interest in keeping anything from disrupting the atmospheric conversion. At the same time, the Sontarans mobilize a contingent of troops to protect the factory. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional firearms by expanding the copper-lined bullets, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured. Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson) leaves the Sontaran mothership to gather his students, explaining that he plans to have the Sontarans take them to another planet and begin the human race anew. The students merely laugh him off, even when he brandishes a gun. When he returns to report his failure, the Sontarans likewise ridicule his efforts, admitting that they never intended to take him or his students anywhere. Rattigan teleports back to his mansion before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the teleport pods behind him. Meanwhile, the Doctor instructs Donna on how to reopen the teleport pods. As she makes her way through the ship, UNIT begins a counterattack, loading their weapons with non-copper bullets and using the aircraft carrier Valiant to clear the gas. The counterattack is a success, and the UNIT troops are able to put the Sontarans on the defensive. The distraction allows the Doctor to make his way to the cloning room where Martha is being held. Having figured out long before that the clone wasn't the genuine article, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Martha convinces the clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments, and the clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "food" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. With Donna's help, the Doctor is able to reactivate the teleport pods, allowing him to rescue Donna, steal back the TARDIS, and teleport into Rattigan's mansion. With the terraforming equipment Rattigan's students built, the Doctor builds his own atmospheric converter, igniting the atmosphere to clear out the poison gas as shown in the picture. However, he knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily, and teleports to their ship with the converter, planning to give them the choice between retreat or death. Staal chooses the latter, content with the knowledge that the Doctor will die with them. At the last moment, Rattigan teleports himself to the Sontaran ship and brings the Doctor back to Earth, sacrificing himself to destroy the Sontarans. With the day saved, Martha says goodbye to Donna and the Doctor in the TARDIS and prepares to head home. However, before she can leave, the TARDIS suddenly springs to life, locking the doors and piloting itself to an unknown destination as the jar containing the Doctor's severed hand bubbles. Continuity Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is mentioned as being "stranded in Peru", the first explicit mention of the character in the new series. Colonel Mace refers to him as "Sir Alastair", implying he has received a knighthood since the events of Battlefield.Just as Donna moves towards the TARDIS screen while the Doctor contacts the Sontarans, Rose Tyler can be seen on the screen, silently calling out. This follows a similar silent cameo appearance in "Partners in Crime".The Valiant, the primary setting for the climax of "The Sound of Drums" and much of "Last of the Time Lords", is seen again in this episode when it is used by UNIT to clear the poisonous gas from the atmosphere over the ATMOS factory. It is also equipped with a scaled down version of the Torchwood weapon that destroyed the Sycorax ship in "The Christmas Invasion".[4]As the TARDIS traps Donna, Martha, and the Doctor at the end of the episode, the Doctor's severed hand, last seen at the beginning of "Voyage of the Damned", can be seen in a similar state of agitation it felt when the TARDIS materialised near it in the Torchwood episode "End of Days".In addition to the Sontarans, the Rutans are mentioned for the first time in the revived series.Lachelle Carl reprises her recurring role as the US Newsreader, Mal Loup, seen previously in the episodes "Aliens of London", "World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Sound of Drums" and in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures story Revenge of the Slitheen.The Doctor asks Colonel Mace, "Are you my mummy?", while wearing a gas mask, a line spoken by gas mask-wearing characters in "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances".[5][6] Production This episode and the previous episode were filmed over five weeks, beginning in September 2007. Post-production was completed a week before the first part aired.[7] During production, director Douglas Mackinnon intended to have the episode's climatic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the center console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair.[8] When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".[9][10] When the Doctor interrupts the Sontarans' transmission, animated footage from CBeebies's part live action, part animation[11] eco adventure show Tommy Zoom is brought up on screen featuring the villanous Polluto disguised as a magician and the heroic Tommy and his dog Daniel as his audience.[12] As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News.[13] "The Poison Sky" marks the first time all three of the Tenth Doctor's primary companions -- Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) -- have appeared in the same episode, though Rose's appearance was extremely brief. Piper received screen credit, although her appearance is less than a second in duration. Broadcast Unofficial figures show that "The Poison Sky" was watched by 5.9 million viewers, giving it a 32.5% share of the total television audience. Although dipping below the 6 million mark, the programme was still the second most watched of the day, being beaten by ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, which got 8.5 million viewers. It was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day. The programme is currently the 19th most watched of the week and received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[14]

  
  

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• Sontaran a guide for people who dont know them

  25 April 2008 (12:25pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  ive had a few emails from people who dont know much about the returning villain for this weeks show so heres some information ive gathered together to help.(This is only text - no audio version as Ill be covering a lot of this in the podcast review of Time Warrior DVD)Sontaran The original Sontarans Sontarans Type Cloned humanoids Affiliated with Sontaran Empire Home planet Sontar First appearance The Time Warrior //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Appearances Television The Sontarans made their first appearance in 1973 in the serial The Time Warrior by Robert Holmes. There, it was explained that they are a race that reproduces by means of cloning rather than by means of sexual reproduction. They live in a militaristic society obsessed by war. Sontarans are humanoid, with a squat build and distinctive dome-shaped head. They come from a high-gravity world named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy", and are far stronger than humans. They recharge their energy through a "probic vent" at the back of the neck rather than by eating food; they also use this vent in their reproduction process. The Sontarans have been at war with the Rutan Host for thousands of years. In the episode The Invasion of Time, the Sontarans successfully invaded Gallifrey, but were driven out again after less than a day. Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the probic vent at the back of their neck; they have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (The Invasion of Time) and an arrow (The Time Warrior). They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (The Two Doctors). At some point, the Sontarans encountered the equally expansionist Rutan Host. The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans continued for several millennia, with both sides remaining fairly evenly matched and neither side interested in negotiating for peace. It was still ongoing at the time of The Sontaran Experiment, which takes place at least 10,000 years beyond the 30th century. The episode Horror of Fang Rock, set during the early 20th century, hinted the Sontarans had gained the upper hand, but this proved merely a temporary setback for the Rutans. Thus far in the program's history although both the Sontarans and the Rutans have been seen, they have never been seen together in the same story. All the Sontarans depicted in the original television series have monosyllabic names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound (e.g., Styre in The Sontaran Experiment, Stor in The Invasion of Time, Stike in The Two Doctors and Staal in The Sontaran Stratagem). Subdivisions of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey [1], the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group [2], and the Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps [3]. In a televised trailer for the 2008 episode The Sontaran Stratagem, a Sontaran character is heard to identify himself as "General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet" [4]. The Sontarans appeared in a skit for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It titled "A Fix with Sontarans", along with Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka. On October 2, 2007 the BBC's official Doctor Who site revealed that the Sontarans will return in series 4, with Christopher Ryan playing the Sontaran leader, General Staal.[5] This will be in a two-part story, entitled "The Sontaran Stratagem"[6]/"The Poison Sky". The BBC later revealed promotional images which featured the new Sontaran design.[7] They are mentioned in Eye of the Gorgon, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sarah Jane Smith meets Bea Nelson-Stanley, an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer's disease who recalls her husband describing the Sontarans as looking like potatoes and that they were "quite the silliest creatures in the galaxy". Games The new 2008 design of a Sontaran, beside the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones The origins of the Sontarans have not been revealed in the television series. The Doctor Who role-playing game published by FASA claimed that they were all descended from the genetic stock of General Sontar (or Sontaris), who used newly developed bioengineering techniques to clone millions of duplicates of himself and annihilated the non-clone population. He renamed the race after himself and turned the Sontarans into an expansionist and warlike society set on universal conquest. However, this origin has no basis in anything seen in the television series. The Sontarans have also appeared as a character in the PC game Destiny of the Doctors released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia. They can be defeated by firing the occupants of an angry beehive at them.[8] Other Appearances Other appearances by the Sontarans include the spin-off videos Mindgame, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans and Do You Have A License To Save This Planet?; three audio plays by BBV: Silent Warrior, Old Soldiers and Conduct Unbecoming; the Faction Paradox audio The Shadow Play; and a cameo appearance in Infidel's Comet. Shakedown marks the only occasion in which the Sontarans and their Rutan foes appear on screen together, and was adapted into a Virgin New Adventures novel. They have also appeared in several spin-off novels, including Lords of the Storm by David A. McIntee and The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin. In The Infinity Doctors, the Doctor negotiated a peace between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host when two of them were left trapped in a TARDIS for several hours and got to talking due to their inability to kill each other. General Sontar also made an appearance in that novel. In The Crystal Bucephalus by Craig Hinton, the name of their planet was given as Sontara. Comic books The Sontarans have also appeared several times in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, both as adversaries of the Doctor and in strips not involving the Doctor. In The Outsider (DWM #25-26), by Steve Moore and David Lloyd, a Sontaran named Skrant invaded the world of Brahtilis with the unwitting help of Demimon, a local astrologer. The Fourth Doctor faced the Sontarans in Dragon's Claw (DWM #39-#45), by Steve Moore and Dave Gibbons, where a crew of Sontarans menaced China in 1522 AD. In Steven Moffat's short story "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow" (the basis for the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink") the Ninth Doctor has a rooftop sword fight with two Sontarans in 21st century Istanbul, defeating them with the help of spy Sally Sparrow, apparently before the events of "Rose" in his personal timeline. The Sontaran homeworld was destroyed in Seventh Doctor strip Pureblood (DWM #193-196) but the Sontaran race pool survived, allowing for further cloning; the strip introduced the concept of "pureblood" Sontarans not born of cloning. The Sontarans also feature in the Kroton solo strip Unnatural Born Killers (DWM #277) and the Tenth Doctor's comic strip debut The Betrothal of Sontar (DWM #365-#368), by John Tomlinson and Nick Abadzis, where a Sontaran mining rig on the ice planet Serac comes under attack by a mysterious force. TIME WARRIORSynopsis A Sontaran named Linx, trapped in the Middle Ages, uses crude time travel technology to kidnap scientists from the 20th Century to help repair his spacecraft. Plot In the Middle Ages, the bandit Irongron and his aide Bloodaxe together with their rabble of criminals find the crashed spaceship of a Sontaran warrior named Linx. The alien claims Earth for his Empire then sets about repairing his ship, offering Irongron "magic weapons? that will make him a king in return for shelter. They strike a bargain, though Irongron remains suspicious. The Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart are investigating the disappearance of several scientists from a top secret scientific research complex. They do not know Linx has used an Osmic Projector to send himself forward eight hundred years and has kidnapped the scientists then hypnotized them into making repairs on his ship. The Projector only lets him appear in another time for a brief period. While the Doctor investigates he meets an eccentric scientist called Rubeish and a young journalist called Sarah Jane Smith, who has infiltrated the complex by masquerading as her aunt. Later that evening Rubeish disappears and the Doctor uses the data he has gathered to pilot the TARDIS back to the Middle Ages.- not realising new companion Sarah has stowed away on board. Irongron is a robber baron who has stolen his castle from an absent nobleman, and relations with his neighbours are appalling. Indeed, the mild Lord Edward of Wessex has been provoked into building an alliance against him and, when this is slow in developing, sends his archer Hal on an unsuccessful mission to kill Irongron. The robber baron is in a foul mood when a captured Sarah is brought before him. His mood improves when Linx presents him with a robot knight which is then put to the test on a captured Hal. The archer is only saved when the Doctor intervenes from afar, shooting the robot control box from Irongron's hands. The ensuing confusion lets both Hal and Sarah flee, and they head for Wessex Castle. Meanwhile the Doctor has realised both that Sarah is in the time period and has been captured, and also that she previously supposed him to be in league with Irongron. The next morning the robber baron and his troops assault the castle using rifles supplied by Linx but the attack is repelled by the Doctor's cunning. The failure further sours the relationship between Linx and Irongron, which has deteriorated since the robot knight fiasco and the point at which the robber saw the Sontaran's true visage beneath his helmet. The Doctor now decides to lead an attack on Irongron's castle, and he and Sarah enter dressed as friars. He makes contact with Rubeish and finds the human scientists in a state of extreme exhaustion. Linx catches the Doctor in the laboratory once more, but this time is rendered immobile when a lucky strike from Rubeish hits his probic vent - a Sontaran refuelling point on the back of their necks which is also their main weakness. Rubeish and the Doctor use the Osmic Projector to send the scientists back to the twentieth century. Sarah now invites herself into Irongron's kitchen, using the opportunity to drug the food, thereby knocking out Irongron's men. A recovered Linx now determines his ship is repaired enough to effect a departure. Once more he encounters the Doctor, and they wrestle in combat. A crazed and half drugged Irongron arrives and accuses Linx of betraying him: the Sontaran responds by killing him. As Linx enters his spherical vessel Hal arrives and shoots him in the probic vent, and the Sontaran warrior falls dead over his controls, triggering the launch mechanism. Knowing the place is about to explode when the shuttle takes off, Bloodaxe awakes and rises the remaining men and tells them to flee, while the Doctor hurries the last of his allies out of the castle. It explodes moments before the Doctor and Sarah depart in the TARDIS. The Sontaran ExperimentSynopsis On a future Earth recovering from devastating solar flares, the Fourth Doctor, Harry Sullivan, and Sarah Jane Smith discover Styre, a Sontaran warrior, conducting experiments on astronauts he has captured during their investigation of the rejuvenated Earth. Plot Following on from The Ark in Space, the time travellers teleport down from the Nerva Space Station to Earth, ostensibly uninhabited. However, the system is not functioning well, and the Doctor begins repairing it. The other two explore the surrounding area, but Harry falls down a crevasse and Sarah goes to seek the Doctor's help. He is nowhere in sight. Roth, an astronaut, finds Sarah. He is obviously distressed, and explains that he has been tortured by an alien that lives in the rocks, together with its patrolling robot. He takes Sarah towards the astronauts' campsite, but refuses to approach the campsite, suspecting the astronaut Vural of collusion with the alien. Three of the astronauts have captured the Doctor. They believe Nerva to be a legend, and tell him in turn that they had picked up a distress signal from Earth. They came to investigate, but their ship was vaporised when they emerged, leaving nine of them stranded. Then they began to vanish one by one. They blame the Doctor for this. Roth appears and the astronauts chase him, while Sarah frees the Doctor. Roth loses the others and meets up with Sarah and the Doctor. The Doctor also falls down a crevasse, and the robot returns, capturing Roth and Sarah and bringing them to the alien's spacecraft. The alien is Field Major Styre of the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey, who has been experimenting on, and killing, the astronauts. Roth tries to escape but is shot dead by Styre. Styre reports back to his Marshal via a video link. The Marshal is impatient for the intelligence report (without which an invasion of Earth cannot take place), but Styre admits that he has been delayed in his experiments. Styre subjects Sarah to a series of terrifying hallucinations. The Doctor, free from the hole, has reached her and rips off a hallucinogenic device from her forehead, but she falls unconscious. The Doctor, enraged, attacks Styre, but the Sontaran easily fends him off. Styre shoots him unconscious (believing it to be fatal) when he runs away. The robot, having captured the three remaining spacemen, brings them to Styre's ship, where it is revealed that Vural had tried to make a deal with Styre in exchange for his own life. However, Styre intends to experiment on Vural anyway. The Doctor recovers, disables the robot, and meets Sarah and Harry. He confronts Styre, goading him into accepting hand-to-hand combat. While the two fight, Sarah and Harry free the three astronauts, and then Harry climbs towards Styre's ship to sabotage it. Styre almost wins the fight, but Vural attacks him, saving the Doctor at the cost of his own life. Styre, now low on energy, heads back towards his ship to recharge, but the sabotage causes it to kill him. The Doctor informs the Marshal that not only has Styre's mission failed, but that the invasion plans are in human hands. This is enough to ward off the invasion, and the three can return to Nerva. The Invasion of TimeSynopsis The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Sontaran instigated disaster. More when I review the DVD.The Two DoctorsSynopsis The Second Doctor and Jamie are on a mission for the Time Lords that goes horribly wrong, and Jamie sees the Doctor being tortured to death. However, if the Doctor died in his second incarnation, what does that mean for the Sixth Doctor and Peri? Plot The Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon land the TARDIS on board Space Station Camera in the Third Zone, on a mission for the Time Lords, who have also installed a teleport control on the TARDIS that grants them dual control for the occasion. The Doctor explains to Jamie that the station is a research facility and they are here to have a discreet word with Dastari, the Head of Projects. The TARDIS materialises in the station kitchen, where they meet Shockeye, the station cook. Shockeye is an Androgum, a member of a primitive, emotionally and ethically bestial humanoid race which acts as the station's workforce, and is confrontational until the Doctor reveals he is a Time Lord. Suddenly deferential, Shockeye eyes Jamie hungrily and offers to buy him from the Doctor as the main ingredient for a meal. The Doctor, shocked, refuses, and takes Jamie away to see Dastari. As they leave, however, they hear the sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. This is observed by Chessene, an Androgum technologically augmented to mega-genius levels. Chessene has plans of her own, involving someone named Stike who will be arriving in force soon, once Shockeye's poisoned meal to the scientists takes effect. She has also taken possession of the Kartz-Reimer module. The Doctor speaks to Dastari in his office, telling him that the Time Lords want the time experiments of Kartz and Reimer stopped. The Time Lords have an official policy of neutrality, and so have sent the exiled Doctor to maintain deniability. Dastari introduces Chessene, but the Doctor is sceptical as to whether such augmentation can change Chessene's essential Androgum nature, and he considers such tampering dangerous. Meanwhile, three Sontaran battlecruisers appear near the station, on an intercept course. Before the station's defences can be activated, Chessene incapacitates the technician on post and opens the docking bays. Back in the office, the Doctor warns that the distortions from the Kartz-Reimer experiments are on the verge of threatening the fabric of time, but Dastari refuses to order them to cease, accusing the Time Lords of not wanting another race to discover the secrets of time travel. As the argument grows more heated, Dastari grows faint and falls into a drugged stupor. Energy weapons fire begins to sound in the corridors and the Doctor orders Jamie to run as a Sontaran levels a gun at the Doctor. Somewhere else, the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown are on a peaceful fishing trip. When they return to the TARDIS, Peri is startled as the Sixth Doctor sways and collapses -- just as, back on the station, Jamie spies the Second Doctor in a glass chamber, writhing in agony as a Sontaran manipulates controls. In his TARDIS, the Sixth Doctor awakens, somehow having had a vision of himself as his second incarnation being put to death. He realizes that this is impossible, since he is still alive, but he is also concerned that he may have died in the past and only exists now as a temporal anomaly. He decides to go and consult his old friend Dastari to see if he can enlist his help. The TARDIS materializes on the station, but everything is dark, and the smell of decay and death is everywhere. The station computer demands the Doctor leave, and when he refuses, tries to kill him and Peri by depressurising the passageway. The Doctor, however, manages to open a hatch and drag his unconscious companion through to another section. In Dastari's office, the Doctor discovers the scientist's day journal and the Time Lords' objections to the Kartz-Reimer experiments, but refuses to believe his people are responsible for the massacre. Peri suggests someone is trying to frame the Time Lords and drive a wedge between them and the Third Zone governments. They leave the office to enter the service ducts, work their way to the control centre and attempt to deactivate the computer before it succeeds in killing them. On Earth, Chessene, Shockeye and a Sontaran, Major Varl, take possession of a Spanish hacienda by killing its aged owner, Dona Arana. Varl sets up a homing beacon for the Sontaran ship, while Chessene absorbs the knowledge of the old woman's mind, discovering that they are in Andalucia, just outside the city of Seville. Varl announces that Group Marshal Stike of the Ninth Sontaran Battle Fleet is in descent orbit. Meanwhile, two people, Oscar Botcherby and Anita, are approaching the grounds. Oscar, an ex-English stage actor who is managing a restaurant in the city, is here to catch moths, armed with a net and a cyanide killing jar in his backpack. He and Anita see the Sontaran ship zoom overhead, and observe through binoculars Dastari and another Sontaran carrying an unconscious Second Doctor towards the hacienda. Anita pulls Oscar along, thinking that they are victims of an aeroplane crash and need help. Down in the bowels of the station, the Sixth Doctor tries to disconnect the main circuit. Suddenly, Peri is attacked by a humanoid in rags, and when her cries distract the Doctor, he is hit by a gas trap and falls unconscious, becoming entangled in the wires. Peri knocks out her attacker and frees the Sixth Doctor, who saved himself by shutting off his respiratory passages. He disconnects the computer's main circuit, and the two find that Peri's attacker was a half-delirious Jamie, who has been hiding all the while. Jamie moans that "they" killed the Doctor, and under hypnosis, tells the Sixth Doctor what has transpired, giving a description that the Doctor recognizes as the Sontarans. Returning to the office to examine the station records, the Doctor suddenly sees Peri in the glass tube, writhing in pain. As he frantically works the controls to free her, the person in the tube changes from Peri to Dastari to the Second Doctor and even to himself. When Jamie and Peri return to the office, the Sixth Doctor explains that what Jamie saw was an illusion designed to make people believe the Doctor was dead and not investigate further (the animator had been left on and captured Peri's image), which means the Second Doctor is being held captive somewhere. The Sixth Doctor theorises that the Sontarans kidnapped Dastari as well because Dastari is the only biogeneticist in the galaxy who could isolate the symbiotic nuclei of a Time Lord that gives them the molecular stability to travel through time. If given time travel, the Sontarans will be unstoppable. The Sixth Doctor decides to put himself into a telepathic trance to try and determine where his past incarnation is being held. He awakens having heard the sound of the Santa Maria, the largest of the 25 bells at the Great Cathedral of Seville. In the cellar of the hacienda, Dastari and Chessene set up equipment, keeping the Second Doctor drugged and passive. Dastari questions why they have come to Earth, and Chessene explains that it is conveniently situated for an attack Stike wishes to make on the Madillon Cluster against the Rutan Host, and that Shockeye also wanted to taste the flesh of humans. Dastari heaps scorn on Shockeye's primitive urges, and urges Chessene to remember that she is beyond those, now. The TARDIS materialises on the grounds near the hacienda, and Oscar approaches it as the TARDIS crew emerge, thinking it is a real police box and that the Doctor and his companions are plain-clothes police officers. Taking advantage of the mistake, the Doctor asks that Oscar lead him to the hacienda. Dastari reveals his plan to dissect the Second Doctor's cell structure to isolate his symbiotic nuclei and give them to Chessene. The Second Doctor calls him mad, and protests that her barbaric Androgum nature, coupled with the ability to time travel, will mean that there will be no limit to her evil. The Sixth Doctor asks Peri to create a distraction at the front door of the hacienda while he and Jamie make their way into the cellar via a passage in the nearby ice house. Peri calls out, interrupting Dastari's operation. She poses as a lost American student, but Chessene is suspicious, having read thoughts of the Doctor in her mind. Chessene gets Shockeye to bring the Second Doctor, strapped into a wheelchair, through the hall, to see if Peri reacts. She does not, as she has never seen the Second Doctor before. Peri makes her excuses and leaves, but Shockeye chases her anyway, eager for a meal. Meanwhile, the Sixth Doctor and Jamie are in the cellar, where the Doctor examines the Kartz-Reimer module, a prototype time machine modelled on Time Lord technology. He explains to Jamie that once the briode nebuliser of the module is primed with his symbiotic nuclei -- the Rassilon Imprimatur -- it will be safe for anyone to use. Unfortunately, the Sontarans have heard him. Outside, Shockeye also catches up to Peri. Shockeye knocks Peri out and brings her back to the hacienda kitchen. In the cellar, Stike threatens to kill Jamie unless the Sixth Doctor gets into the module and primes it with his symbiotic print, and the Doctor does so. Stike is about to execute Jamie anyway, but Jamie stabs Stike's leg with a concealed knife, and the Doctor and he run off upstairs, where they find the Second Doctor. Before they can release the Second Doctor and escape the hacienda, however, Shockeye shows up with the unconscious Peri. The Second Doctor feigns unconsciousness while the others hide. While the Sixth Doctor and Jamie watch from their hiding place, they hear Chessene voice her concern that now that a second Time Lord is involved, the other Time Lords will be arriving as well. However, she has a contingency plan. She asks Dastari to implant the Second Doctor with some of Shockeye's genetic material, turning the Doctor into an Androgum and under her thrall, following which they will eliminate the Sontarans. However, Dastari and Chessene are unaware that the module is now primed, and that, outside, Stike is preparing to leave in it once Sontaran High Command has been notified and leave no one alive when he does so. Stike orders Varl to set the Sontaran battlecraft's self-destruct mechanism. Interrupting Shockeye as he is about to slaughter Peri, Chessene gets him to bring the Second Doctor to the cellar. Once there, she stuns Shockeye so that Dastari can remove his genetic material. The Sixth Doctor revives Peri in the kitchen and ushers her and Jamie away. The Sixth Doctor tells them that what he revealed about the Imprimatur in the cellar was not strictly true -- he had heard Stike approaching and the speech was for the Sontaran's benefit. The machine worked for the Doctor, but will not for them because the Doctor has taken the briode nebuliser. Dastari has implanted the Second Doctor with a 50 percent Androgum inheritance, and when Shockeye wakes in a rage, he finds a kindred spirit in the transformed Doctor. They decide to go into the town to sample the local cuisine. In the meantime, Dastari lures the Sontarans into the cellar, where Chessene attacks them with two canisters of coronic acid. Varl is killed, but Stike, though wounded, manages to escape. He tries to use the module, but without the nebuliser, it severely burns him instead. Stike staggers towards his battlecraft, forgetting about the self-destruct. The ship explodes, taking him with it. The Sixth Doctor, Peri and Jamie follow the Second Doctor and Shockeye into Seville, hoping to cure him before the change becomes complete and affects the Sixth Doctor as well. Dastari and Chessene are also seeking the two of them, knowing that unless the Second Doctor undergoes a second, stabilizing operation, he will eventually reject the Androgum transfusion. The Second Doctor and Shockeye go to Oscar's restaurant, ordering gargantuan amounts of food. When Oscar demands that they pay, Shockeye fatally stabs Oscar, just as the Sixth Doctor and the others arrive. Shockeye leaves the Second Doctor behind, who slowly reverts back to normal. As all of them leave the restaurant and the distraught Anita, however, Chessene and Dastari appear, taking them back to the hacienda at gunpoint. Chessene and Dastari find the nebuliser on the module missing, and the Sixth Doctor tells them how he primed the machine for Stike. To test the truth of the Doctor's claim, they replace the nebuliser and send Peri on a trip with the module, and she survives. Chessene gives permission for Shockeye to eat Jamie, and the Androgum takes him up to the kitchen. Left alone for the moment, the Sixth Doctor smugly confirms the Second's suspicions -- the nebuliser is sabotaged, with a thin interface layer so it would only work once for Peri. Flipping the table over on which the key to their chains rests, the Doctors retrieve the key. The Sixth Doctor frees himself first, and runs up to save Jamie. He encounters Shockeye in the kitchen, and the Androgum wounds him with a knife. Shockeye pursues him through the grounds, but the Sixth Doctor finds Oscar's pack and his cyanide killing jar. The Doctor ambushes Shockeye, covering his head with Oscar's butterfly net and pressing the cyanide-soaked cotton wool to his face, killing him. The sight of the Time Lord's blood on the ground is too much for Chessene, who falls to her knees and starts licking it, to Dastari's disgust. He realizes that no matter how augmented she may be, Chessene will always be an Androgum, and decides to free the Second Doctor and his companions. When Chessene sees this, she shoots and kills Dastari. She tries to shoot the Second Doctor and Peri as well, but Jamie throws a knife at her wrist, making her drop the gun. Chessene goes into the module, hoping to escape, but the module explodes, molecularly disintegrating her and turning her back into a common Androgum in death. The Second Doctor uses a Stattenheim remote control -- which the Sixth Doctor covets -- to summon his TARDIS. He and Jamie say their goodbyes and leave. As the Sixth Doctor and Peri make their way back to their own TARDIS, the Doctor tells her that from now on, it will be a healthy vegetarian diet for both of them.

  
  

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