Tin Dog Podcast

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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

• 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. //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> 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". //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> 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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• 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 55: Doctor Who 4.03 Planet of the Ood

  23 April 2008 (10:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. The episode features the return of the Ood, last seen in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". In the narrative, the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate why the Ood are happy to serve. They become horrified at the alterations humans perform on the Ood, and resolve to free them. The episode received several positive reviews for its central theme of slavery. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, a species the Doctor previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".Before dying, the Ood's eyes turn red and it attacks the Doctor. The Doctor muses that the last time he met them, they were being influenced by the Devil, so their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who are selling the Ood as a servant race. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the 42nd century. The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the narrative. During the outbreak, the Ood state that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to foot-and-mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen (Tim McInnerny) tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical. Throughout the episode, Donna becomes sympathetic to the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and finds a batch of uncultivated Ood. Instead of a translation sphere, they hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality; the Doctor derides Halpen for lobotomising them. The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked warehouse. The warehouse contains a large brain, which completes the Ood's collective conciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder (Adrian Rawlins), and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma(Paul Kasey); Ryder lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood. The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end. Continuity The "red eye" phenomenon is present in all three "Ood" episodes, as an effect of being possessed; in the former, they were under the Beast's control. In "Planet of the Ood", the Doctor gives a time frame for all three episodes: the 42nd century, during the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire; the fourth incarnation was mentioned in "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf". The Ood-Sphere is in the same solar system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites;[ the Sensorites and Ood are visually similar.  Production We wanted to know more about [the Ood's] background. This time around, they're centre stage. The story is about them. Why they are the way they are. What makes them tick. --Keith Temple The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the terms "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity] Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that he "wrote a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes". Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood in lieu of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory.[3][10] Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion changing from visual disgust to empathy was deliberately important.[10] Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who's importance--she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally. The episode's antagonist, Klineman Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character--"a middle manager who's out of his depth"--a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!" Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic" Edgar Allen Poe-esque fate would not be deserved otherwise. Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry in the Brecon Beacons, the external scenes of the complex in a caramel factory, and the scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan.[10][9] Very little CGI was used in the episode; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics.[10][9] McInnerny wore a prosthetic head with removable flaps for the shot where Halpen transforms into an Ood. Instead of McInnerny, the production team's best boy provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth. Reception Overnight figures estimated Planet of the Ood was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 6.9 million viewers (33.4% of the total audience). The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the fifteenth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent). Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gaved a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood's natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... - one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn't that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves"]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit.", citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode. He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity". 4.03 - "Planet of the Ood" Doctor Who episode An unprocessed Ood shows his "hind" brain to the Doctor. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Tim McInnerny - Klineman HalpenAyesha Dharker - Solana MercurioAdrian Rawlins - Dr RyderRoger Griffiths - Commander KessPaul Clayton - Mr BartlePaul Kasey - Ood SigmaTariq Jorden - RepSilas Carson - Voice of the Ood Production Writer Keith Temple Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.3 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 19 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Sontaran Stratagem"

  
  

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• TDP 55: Doctor Who 4.03 Planet of the Ood

  23 April 2008 (10:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. The episode features the return of the Ood, last seen in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". In the narrative, the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate why the Ood are happy to serve. They become horrified at the alterations humans perform on the Ood, and resolve to free them. The episode received several positive reviews for its central theme of slavery. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, a species the Doctor previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".Before dying, the Ood's eyes turn red and it attacks the Doctor. The Doctor muses that the last time he met them, they were being influenced by the Devil, so their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who are selling the Ood as a servant race. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the 42nd century. The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the narrative. During the outbreak, the Ood state that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to foot-and-mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen (Tim McInnerny) tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical. Throughout the episode, Donna becomes sympathetic to the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and finds a batch of uncultivated Ood. Instead of a translation sphere, they hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality; the Doctor derides Halpen for lobotomising them. The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked warehouse. The warehouse contains a large brain, which completes the Ood's collective conciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder (Adrian Rawlins), and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma(Paul Kasey); Ryder lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood. The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end. Continuity The "red eye" phenomenon is present in all three "Ood" episodes, as an effect of being possessed; in the former, they were under the Beast's control. In "Planet of the Ood", the Doctor gives a time frame for all three episodes: the 42nd century, during the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire; the fourth incarnation was mentioned in "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf". The Ood-Sphere is in the same solar system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites;[ the Sensorites and Ood are visually similar.  Production We wanted to know more about [the Ood's] background. This time around, they're centre stage. The story is about them. Why they are the way they are. What makes them tick. --Keith Temple The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the terms "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity] Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that he "wrote a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes". Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood in lieu of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory.[3][10] Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion changing from visual disgust to empathy was deliberately important.[10] Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who's importance--she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally. The episode's antagonist, Klineman Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character--"a middle manager who's out of his depth"--a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!" Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic" Edgar Allen Poe-esque fate would not be deserved otherwise. Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry in the Brecon Beacons, the external scenes of the complex in a caramel factory, and the scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan.[10][9] Very little CGI was used in the episode; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics.[10][9] McInnerny wore a prosthetic head with removable flaps for the shot where Halpen transforms into an Ood. Instead of McInnerny, the production team's best boy provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth. Reception Overnight figures estimated Planet of the Ood was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 6.9 million viewers (33.4% of the total audience). The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the fifteenth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent). Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gaved a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood's natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... - one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn't that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves"]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit.", citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode. He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity". 4.03 - "Planet of the Ood" Doctor Who episode An unprocessed Ood shows his "hind" brain to the Doctor. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Tim McInnerny - Klineman HalpenAyesha Dharker - Solana MercurioAdrian Rawlins - Dr RyderRoger Griffiths - Commander KessPaul Clayton - Mr BartlePaul Kasey - Ood SigmaTariq Jorden - RepSilas Carson - Voice of the Ood Production Writer Keith Temple Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.3 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 19 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Sontaran Stratagem"

  
  

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• TDP 55: Doctor Who 4.03 Planet of the Ood

  23 April 2008 (10:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. The episode features the return of the Ood, last seen in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". In the narrative, the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate why the Ood are happy to serve. They become horrified at the alterations humans perform on the Ood, and resolve to free them. The episode received several positive reviews for its central theme of slavery. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, a species the Doctor previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".Before dying, the Ood's eyes turn red and it attacks the Doctor. The Doctor muses that the last time he met them, they were being influenced by the Devil, so their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who are selling the Ood as a servant race. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the 42nd century. The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the narrative. During the outbreak, the Ood state that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to foot-and-mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen (Tim McInnerny) tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical. Throughout the episode, Donna becomes sympathetic to the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and finds a batch of uncultivated Ood. Instead of a translation sphere, they hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality; the Doctor derides Halpen for lobotomising them. The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked warehouse. The warehouse contains a large brain, which completes the Ood's collective conciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder (Adrian Rawlins), and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma(Paul Kasey); Ryder lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood. The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end. Continuity The "red eye" phenomenon is present in all three "Ood" episodes, as an effect of being possessed; in the former, they were under the Beast's control. In "Planet of the Ood", the Doctor gives a time frame for all three episodes: the 42nd century, during the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire; the fourth incarnation was mentioned in "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf". The Ood-Sphere is in the same solar system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites;[ the Sensorites and Ood are visually similar.  Production We wanted to know more about [the Ood's] background. This time around, they're centre stage. The story is about them. Why they are the way they are. What makes them tick. --Keith Temple The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the terms "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity] Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that he "wrote a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes". Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood in lieu of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory.[3][10] Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion changing from visual disgust to empathy was deliberately important.[10] Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who's importance--she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally. The episode's antagonist, Klineman Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character--"a middle manager who's out of his depth"--a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!" Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic" Edgar Allen Poe-esque fate would not be deserved otherwise. Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry in the Brecon Beacons, the external scenes of the complex in a caramel factory, and the scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan.[10][9] Very little CGI was used in the episode; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics.[10][9] McInnerny wore a prosthetic head with removable flaps for the shot where Halpen transforms into an Ood. Instead of McInnerny, the production team's best boy provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth. Reception Overnight figures estimated Planet of the Ood was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 6.9 million viewers (33.4% of the total audience). The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the fifteenth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent). Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gaved a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood's natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... - one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn't that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves"]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit.", citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode. He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity". 4.03 - "Planet of the Ood" Doctor Who episode An unprocessed Ood shows his "hind" brain to the Doctor. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Tim McInnerny - Klineman HalpenAyesha Dharker - Solana MercurioAdrian Rawlins - Dr RyderRoger Griffiths - Commander KessPaul Clayton - Mr BartlePaul Kasey - Ood SigmaTariq Jorden - RepSilas Carson - Voice of the Ood Production Writer Keith Temple Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.3 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 19 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Sontaran Stratagem"

  
  

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• TDP 55: Doctor Who 4.03 Planet of the Ood

  23 April 2008 (10:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. The episode features the return of the Ood, last seen in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". In the narrative, the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate why the Ood are happy to serve. They become horrified at the alterations humans perform on the Ood, and resolve to free them. The episode received several positive reviews for its central theme of slavery. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, a species the Doctor previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".Before dying, the Ood's eyes turn red and it attacks the Doctor. The Doctor muses that the last time he met them, they were being influenced by the Devil, so their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who are selling the Ood as a servant race. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the 42nd century. The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the narrative. During the outbreak, the Ood state that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to foot-and-mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen (Tim McInnerny) tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical. Throughout the episode, Donna becomes sympathetic to the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and finds a batch of uncultivated Ood. Instead of a translation sphere, they hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality; the Doctor derides Halpen for lobotomising them. The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked warehouse. The warehouse contains a large brain, which completes the Ood's collective conciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder (Adrian Rawlins), and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma(Paul Kasey); Ryder lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood. The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end. Continuity The "red eye" phenomenon is present in all three "Ood" episodes, as an effect of being possessed; in the former, they were under the Beast's control. In "Planet of the Ood", the Doctor gives a time frame for all three episodes: the 42nd century, during the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire; the fourth incarnation was mentioned in "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf". The Ood-Sphere is in the same solar system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites;[ the Sensorites and Ood are visually similar.  Production We wanted to know more about [the Ood's] background. This time around, they're centre stage. The story is about them. Why they are the way they are. What makes them tick. --Keith Temple The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the terms "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity] Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that he "wrote a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes". Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood in lieu of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory.[3][10] Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion changing from visual disgust to empathy was deliberately important.[10] Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who's importance--she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally. The episode's antagonist, Klineman Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character--"a middle manager who's out of his depth"--a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!" Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic" Edgar Allen Poe-esque fate would not be deserved otherwise. Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry in the Brecon Beacons, the external scenes of the complex in a caramel factory, and the scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan.[10][9] Very little CGI was used in the episode; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics.[10][9] McInnerny wore a prosthetic head with removable flaps for the shot where Halpen transforms into an Ood. Instead of McInnerny, the production team's best boy provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth. Reception Overnight figures estimated Planet of the Ood was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 6.9 million viewers (33.4% of the total audience). The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the fifteenth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent). Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gaved a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood's natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... - one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn't that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves"]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit.", citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode. He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity". 4.03 - "Planet of the Ood" Doctor Who episode An unprocessed Ood shows his "hind" brain to the Doctor. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Tim McInnerny - Klineman HalpenAyesha Dharker - Solana MercurioAdrian Rawlins - Dr RyderRoger Griffiths - Commander KessPaul Clayton - Mr BartlePaul Kasey - Ood SigmaTariq Jorden - RepSilas Carson - Voice of the Ood Production Writer Keith Temple Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.3 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 19 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Sontaran Stratagem"

  
  

  ---

• TDP 55: Doctor Who 4.03 Planet of the Ood

  23 April 2008 (10:02pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. The episode features the return of the Ood, last seen in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". In the narrative, the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) investigate why the Ood are happy to serve. They become horrified at the alterations humans perform on the Ood, and resolve to free them. The episode received several positive reviews for its central theme of slavery. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor uses the TARDIS to land at a random point in time and space. On leaving the TARDIS, he and Donna find a dying Ood, a species the Doctor previously encountered in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".Before dying, the Ood's eyes turn red and it attacks the Doctor. The Doctor muses that the last time he met them, they were being influenced by the Devil, so their docility is being influenced by a different and closer being. The Doctor and Donna find an industrial complex controlled by Ood Operations, who are selling the Ood as a servant race. The Doctor locates their position: the Ood-Sphere in the 42nd century. The "Red Eye" phenomenon is affecting other Ood on the planet: several people have been killed in the weeks prior to the narrative. During the outbreak, the Ood state that "the circle must be broken". Ood Operations noted an increase in the phenomenon, and considered it to be similar to foot-and-mouth disease; CEO Klineman Halpen (Tim McInnerny) tells the Doctor the method of killing is identical. Throughout the episode, Donna becomes sympathetic to the Ood and is horrified by their status as slaves. The Doctor also takes an interest in the Ood noting that no species could naturally evolve to serve. He also feels he had overlooked them on their previous encounter. He and Donna travel through the complex and finds a batch of uncultivated Ood. Instead of a translation sphere, they hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality; the Doctor derides Halpen for lobotomising them. The Doctor and Donna are captured by Ood Operations' security force. Shortly after, the Ood begin a mass revolution, and the complex is evacuated. The Doctor follows Halpen to a locked warehouse. The warehouse contains a large brain, which completes the Ood's collective conciousness. The brain's control of the Ood is limited by a circle of pylons emitting a forcefield. Halpen plans to kill the brain, and by extension, all of the Ood, but is stopped by a joint effort between the Doctor, Donna, Dr Ryder (Adrian Rawlins), and Halpen's personal Ood, Ood Sigma(Paul Kasey); Ryder lowered the telepathic field gradually over ten years, while Ood Sigma used Halpen's hair-loss medication to slowly convert Halpen into an Ood. The Doctor shuts down the circle, freeing the Ood and allowing them to all rejoin in a telepathic collective. Before leaving, Ood Sigma promises to include the Doctor and Donna in the Ood's song and honour their names forever, but comments that the Doctor's song may soon end. Continuity The "red eye" phenomenon is present in all three "Ood" episodes, as an effect of being possessed; in the former, they were under the Beast's control. In "Planet of the Ood", the Doctor gives a time frame for all three episodes: the 42nd century, during the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire; the fourth incarnation was mentioned in "The Long Game" and "Bad Wolf". The Ood-Sphere is in the same solar system as the Sense-Sphere, the location for the 1964 serial The Sensorites;[ the Sensorites and Ood are visually similar.  Production We wanted to know more about [the Ood's] background. This time around, they're centre stage. The story is about them. Why they are the way they are. What makes them tick. --Keith Temple The episode was written by Keith Temple and directed by Graeme Harper. Executive producer Russell T Davies had envisioned the Ood's return because their previous appearance, the 2006 two-part story "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", had been overshadowed by the appearance of the Devil. Davies subsequently provided Temple with a brief for the episode which included the terms "ice planet" and the storyline of a business selling the Ood as a commodity] Temple's drafts of the episode were described as "too dark" and "too old Doctor Who"; Temple stated on the episode's commentary that he "wrote a six-part [serial] in 45 minutes". Temple and Davies thought that the episode was not a "fun reappearance" of an old monster; instead, they felt that there was "an actual story to tell". Temple emphasised in his script that the Doctor overlooked the Ood in lieu of the Devil, and the character had to see his shortcomings. Temple's script also emphasised the Ood's slavery; both Temple and lead actor David Tennant commented that the existence of a species born to serve was complicated, the latter stating complications with Richard Dawkins' "selfish gene" theory.[3][10] Donna's role in the episode was to further humanise the Doctor, and her opinion changing from visual disgust to empathy was deliberately important.[10] Susie Liggat cited the writing as part of Doctor Who's importance--she thought the story about "liberating oppressed people" could be applied domestically or globally. The episode's antagonist, Klineman Halpen, is portrayed by Tim McInnerny. Davies considered his character--"a middle manager who's out of his depth"--a perfect villain. Temple described him as "narcissistic", "preening" and "ruthless ... without sentiment". McInnerny said "It's always nice to play a bastard... I'm glad Halpen's a three-dimensional bastard! That makes him interesting!" Temple epitomised Halpen in a scene where he kills an operative for the activist group "Friends of the Ood"; Davies and Tennant felt that his "disgusting" and "gothic" Edgar Allen Poe-esque fate would not be deserved otherwise. Filming for the episode took place in August 2007. The opening and closing outdoor scenes were filmed in Trefil Quarry in the Brecon Beacons, the external scenes of the complex in a caramel factory, and the scenes in the "battery farm" were filmed in a hangar at RAF Saint Athan.[10][9] Very little CGI was used in the episode; the snow was paper snow adhered by water, and the Ood heads contained complex animatronics.[10][9] McInnerny wore a prosthetic head with removable flaps for the shot where Halpen transforms into an Ood. Instead of McInnerny, the production team's best boy provided motion capture for the computer-generated profile of the appendages coming out of his mouth. Reception Overnight figures estimated Planet of the Ood was the most watched programme in its timeslot, with 6.9 million viewers (33.4% of the total audience). The episode was the second most-watched programme of the day, beaten by Britain's Got Talent, and was the fifteenth most watched programme of the week. The episode's Appreciation Index was 87 (considered Excellent). Scott Matthewman, writing for The Stage, gaved a mixed review of the episode. He thought that "pretty much the only surprise in the way the humans who made up the Ood Corporation were presented came as PR girl Solana (Ayesha Dharker) escaped with the Doctor and Donna, only to betray their position by calling for the guards," and "the revelation that Ryder (Adrian Rawlins) has been working to infiltrate the Corporation is thrown away... as quickly as it is revealed." However, he thought Donna was becoming "fast ... one of the strongest and most well-rounded companions in the series' history", and "there were some nice interpretations of the Ood's natural development". Caitlin Moran of The Times thought the episode was "really really good ... - one that will have you staring at your screen and asking, once again, 'How can something so good be happening so early on a Saturday night, in my own front room?'". She enjoyed the scene where the Doctor and Donna talk about slaves in contemporary culture, saying that Tate "really, really isn't that bad when she says ["We don't have slaves"]". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode five stars out of five. Rawson-Jones opened his review by saying "Doctor Who can occasionally transcend the properties of a mere family television show to reach out and give viewers a poignant, beautiful epiphany and greater sense of the world they inhabit.", citing Donna's reaction on seeing the uncultivated Ood as the moving part of the episode. He thought the episode as a whole "exemplifies just how powerful and emotive Doctor Who can be when writing, direction and performance are all harmonious and complete their own Ood-like circle", and was appreciative of the acting. The episode's only flaw was when Donna said "Why do you say 'Miss'? Do I look single?", but was otherwise "an extremely impressive, contemplative examination of the abhorrent nature of humanity". 4.03 - "Planet of the Ood" Doctor Who episode An unprocessed Ood shows his "hind" brain to the Doctor. Cast Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) Companion Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Guest stars Tim McInnerny - Klineman HalpenAyesha Dharker - Solana MercurioAdrian Rawlins - Dr RyderRoger Griffiths - Commander KessPaul Clayton - Mr BartlePaul Kasey - Ood SigmaTariq Jorden - RepSilas Carson - Voice of the Ood Production Writer Keith Temple Director Graeme Harper Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Susie Liggat Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson Production code 4.3 Series Series 4 Length 45 mins Originally broadcast 19 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Sontaran Stratagem"

  
  

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• TDP 54: Doctor Who 4.02 The Fires of Pompeii

  16 April 2008 (5:05am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. The episode takes place during the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to recuse from the situation or to save the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecitta studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.[1] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe. Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode--the moral dilemma the Doctor faces--and Donna's insistence that he save the population of Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional"[2] and Peter Capaldi's and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".[3] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor. The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was destroyed. They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which is comprised of a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs) to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius. Despite Donna's efforts, she and the Doctor are only able to save Caecilius' family, who watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, the Doctor and Donna. Continuity The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[4][5] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile.[6][7][8] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced;[9] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".[10] The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial The Romans, admitting "a little" responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story.[11] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference. The sale of the TARDIS as "modern art" was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, City of Death.[12] The location and historical significance are also shared by "The Fires of Vulcan", a Big Finish audio play from 2000 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Production Writing How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? --James Moran[13] Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of Doctor Who, after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day.[14] That episode's position was given to Boom Town[14] and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode "Sleeper". Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times.[1] The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.[12] Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming.[13] Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix, such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film.[15][12] Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius' family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.[15][12] The line "Don't worry, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from Fawlty Towers, attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.[12] The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation.[13][15] Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption.[15] Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.[13] Filming "The Fires of Pompeii" was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome. The episode was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome in September 2007.[15] Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy.[15] This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad, and the first time the cast had filmed abroad;[15] pick-up shots were made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".[15] Cinecitta had accepted the BBC's request despite the show's small budget to promote the studios.[13] Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004,[13] but the episode was the first such occasion.[15] Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy.[15] Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.[16][17] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais.[15] The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".[1] Broadcast and reception Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to the beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. --Scott Matthewman, The Stage[2] Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 8.8 million people. The episode was the eleventh most-watched programme of the week.[18][19] The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World, said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius' family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers."[20] Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS' translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus' and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".[2] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly".[21] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".[3]

  
  

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• TDP 54: Doctor Who 4.02 The Fires of Pompeii

  16 April 2008 (5:05am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. The episode takes place during the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to recuse from the situation or to save the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecitta studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.[1] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe. Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode--the moral dilemma the Doctor faces--and Donna's insistence that he save the population of Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional"[2] and Peter Capaldi's and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".[3] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor. The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was destroyed. They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which is comprised of a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs) to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius. Despite Donna's efforts, she and the Doctor are only able to save Caecilius' family, who watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, the Doctor and Donna. Continuity The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[4][5] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile.[6][7][8] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced;[9] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".[10] The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial The Romans, admitting "a little" responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story.[11] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference. The sale of the TARDIS as "modern art" was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, City of Death.[12] The location and historical significance are also shared by "The Fires of Vulcan", a Big Finish audio play from 2000 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Production Writing How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? --James Moran[13] Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of Doctor Who, after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day.[14] That episode's position was given to Boom Town[14] and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode "Sleeper". Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times.[1] The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.[12] Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming.[13] Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix, such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film.[15][12] Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius' family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.[15][12] The line "Don't worry, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from Fawlty Towers, attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.[12] The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation.[13][15] Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption.[15] Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.[13] Filming "The Fires of Pompeii" was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome. The episode was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome in September 2007.[15] Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy.[15] This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad, and the first time the cast had filmed abroad;[15] pick-up shots were made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".[15] Cinecitta had accepted the BBC's request despite the show's small budget to promote the studios.[13] Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004,[13] but the episode was the first such occasion.[15] Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy.[15] Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.[16][17] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais.[15] The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".[1] Broadcast and reception Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to the beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. --Scott Matthewman, The Stage[2] Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 8.8 million people. The episode was the eleventh most-watched programme of the week.[18][19] The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World, said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius' family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers."[20] Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS' translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus' and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".[2] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly".[21] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".[3]

  
  

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• TDP 53: Doctor Who 4.01 Partners In Crime

  8 April 2008 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Partners in Crime 4.01 (30.1) Synopsis Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last? Plot Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking Miss Foster what this drug does she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses. Donna goes to a woman named Stacey Campbell's house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called Roger Davey about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going of at 1:30 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called Penny Carter. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find her mother nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He says to Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got Martha with him only he realises that he does not). The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He Spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna. But she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self up to rescue Donna as they get in he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a sonic pen which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna. Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an Inducer which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer ,hidden inside a cupboard, with his Sonic screwdriver. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna asks the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the Nursery Ship to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the Adiposian family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's says, with arrogance that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death, the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space. The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS) the Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her saying that he just wants a mate, she takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streek of nothing. Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a strange girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there', it turns out the girl is Rose Tyler and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She walks off down the street and dissapears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles that way to say goodbye to her Grandad, he cheers her on. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Donna Noble - Catherine Tate Rose Tyler - Billie Piper Miss Foster - Sarah Lancashire Sylvia Noble- Jacqueline King Wilfred Mott- Bernard Cribbins Penny Carter - Verona Joseph Stacey Campbell - Jessica Gunning Roger Davey - Martin Ball Craig Staniland - Rachid Sabitri Claire Pope - Chandra Ruegg Suzette Chambers - Sue Kelvin Taxi driver - Jonathon Stratt The Sinister Miss Foster Production crew 1st Assistant Director - James Blackwell 2nd Assistant Director - Jennie Fava 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Nicola Brown Floor Runners - Andy Newbery, Heddi Joy Taylor Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Darren Lean Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Continuity - Sheila Johnston Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera Operators - Rory Taylor, Julian Barber Focus Puller - Steve Rees Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Grip - John Robinson Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Stunt Performers - Gorden Seed, Jo McLaren Wireman - Bob Schofield Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Set Decorator - Malin Lindholm Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Design Assistants - Al Roberts, Peter McKinstry, Sarah Payne Storyboard Artist - Richard Shaun Williams Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Masters - Paul Aitken, Phil Lyons Dressing Chargehand - Matthew Wild Forward Dresser - Stuart MacKay Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Maker - Nick Robatto, Penny Howarth, Jon Grundon Practical Electrician - Albert James Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Construction Chargehands - Scott Fisher, Allen Jones Construction Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Amy Rogers VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Samantha Hall Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Danny Hargreaves Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Colourist - Mick Vincent 3D Artists - Stephen Regulus, Dave Levy, Serena Cacciato, Matt McKinney 2D Artists - Bryan Bartlett, Simon C Holden, Greg Spencer, Sara Bennett, Tim Barter, James Moxon, Murray Barber, Loraine Cooper VFX Co-ordinators - Jenna Powell, Rebecca Johnson VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer Casting Director - Andy Pryor Cdg Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Costume Designer - Louise Page Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott Music - Murray Gold Visual Effects - The Mill Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton Special Effects - Any Effects Prosthetics - Millenium Fx Editor - Mike Jones Production Designer - Edward Thomas Director Of Photography - Ernie Vincze Bsc Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner References Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the Racnoss children. Donna refers to the Starship Titanic (from Christmas day) saying it must have been a hoax. Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster) has a sonic pen. The Shadow Proclamation are most likely a group or organisation. They were mentioned before in Rose (TV story), The Christmas Invasion and Fear Her. Adipose Industries was a front company created by Matron Cofelia. The Doctor mentions Martha Jones. Donna asks about Rose and meets her at the end of the story although doesn't know who she is. Story notes This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10. A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London, this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her Sonic pen. Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area. Ratings Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers Myths It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false) Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century. Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans. Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps. Continuity Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride. Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer. This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character. The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments. The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.

  
  

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• TDP 54: Doctor Who 4.02 The Fires of Pompeii

  16 April 2008 (5:05am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds

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  The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. The episode takes place during the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to recuse from the situation or to save the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecitta studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.[1] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe. Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode--the moral dilemma the Doctor faces--and Donna's insistence that he save the population of Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional"[2] and Peter Capaldi's and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".[3] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor. The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was destroyed. They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which is comprised of a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs) to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius. Despite Donna's efforts, she and the Doctor are only able to save Caecilius' family, who watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, the Doctor and Donna. Continuity The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[4][5] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile.[6][7][8] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced;[9] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".[10] The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial The Romans, admitting "a little" responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story.[11] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference. The sale of the TARDIS as "modern art" was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, City of Death.[12] The location and historical significance are also shared by "The Fires of Vulcan", a Big Finish audio play from 2000 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Production Writing How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? --James Moran[13] Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of Doctor Who, after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day.[14] That episode's position was given to Boom Town[14] and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode "Sleeper". Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times.[1] The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.[12] Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming.[13] Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix, such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film.[15][12] Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius' family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.[15][12] The line "Don't worry, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from Fawlty Towers, attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.[12] The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation.[13][15] Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption.[15] Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.[13] Filming "The Fires of Pompeii" was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome. The episode was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome in September 2007.[15] Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy.[15] This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad, and the first time the cast had filmed abroad;[15] pick-up shots were made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".[15] Cinecitta had accepted the BBC's request despite the show's small budget to promote the studios.[13] Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004,[13] but the episode was the first such occasion.[15] Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy.[15] Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.[16][17] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais.[15] The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".[1] Broadcast and reception Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to the beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. --Scott Matthewman, The Stage[2] Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 8.8 million people. The episode was the eleventh most-watched programme of the week.[18][19] The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World, said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius' family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers."[20] Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS' translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus' and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".[2] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly".[21] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".[3]

  
  

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• TDP 53: Doctor Who 4.01 Partners In Crime

  8 April 2008 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds

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  Partners in Crime 4.01 (30.1) Synopsis Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last? Plot Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking Miss Foster what this drug does she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses. Donna goes to a woman named Stacey Campbell's house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called Roger Davey about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going of at 1:30 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called Penny Carter. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find her mother nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He says to Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got Martha with him only he realises that he does not). The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He Spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna. But she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self up to rescue Donna as they get in he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a sonic pen which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna. Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an Inducer which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer ,hidden inside a cupboard, with his Sonic screwdriver. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna asks the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the Nursery Ship to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the Adiposian family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's says, with arrogance that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death, the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space. The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS) the Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her saying that he just wants a mate, she takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streek of nothing. Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a strange girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there', it turns out the girl is Rose Tyler and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She walks off down the street and dissapears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles that way to say goodbye to her Grandad, he cheers her on. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Donna Noble - Catherine Tate Rose Tyler - Billie Piper Miss Foster - Sarah Lancashire Sylvia Noble- Jacqueline King Wilfred Mott- Bernard Cribbins Penny Carter - Verona Joseph Stacey Campbell - Jessica Gunning Roger Davey - Martin Ball Craig Staniland - Rachid Sabitri Claire Pope - Chandra Ruegg Suzette Chambers - Sue Kelvin Taxi driver - Jonathon Stratt The Sinister Miss Foster Production crew 1st Assistant Director - James Blackwell 2nd Assistant Director - Jennie Fava 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Nicola Brown Floor Runners - Andy Newbery, Heddi Joy Taylor Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Darren Lean Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Continuity - Sheila Johnston Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera Operators - Rory Taylor, Julian Barber Focus Puller - Steve Rees Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Grip - John Robinson Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Stunt Performers - Gorden Seed, Jo McLaren Wireman - Bob Schofield Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Set Decorator - Malin Lindholm Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Design Assistants - Al Roberts, Peter McKinstry, Sarah Payne Storyboard Artist - Richard Shaun Williams Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Masters - Paul Aitken, Phil Lyons Dressing Chargehand - Matthew Wild Forward Dresser - Stuart MacKay Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Maker - Nick Robatto, Penny Howarth, Jon Grundon Practical Electrician - Albert James Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Construction Chargehands - Scott Fisher, Allen Jones Construction Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Amy Rogers VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Samantha Hall Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Danny Hargreaves Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Colourist - Mick Vincent 3D Artists - Stephen Regulus, Dave Levy, Serena Cacciato, Matt McKinney 2D Artists - Bryan Bartlett, Simon C Holden, Greg Spencer, Sara Bennett, Tim Barter, James Moxon, Murray Barber, Loraine Cooper VFX Co-ordinators - Jenna Powell, Rebecca Johnson VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer Casting Director - Andy Pryor Cdg Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Costume Designer - Louise Page Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott Music - Murray Gold Visual Effects - The Mill Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton Special Effects - Any Effects Prosthetics - Millenium Fx Editor - Mike Jones Production Designer - Edward Thomas Director Of Photography - Ernie Vincze Bsc Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner References Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the Racnoss children. Donna refers to the Starship Titanic (from Christmas day) saying it must have been a hoax. Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster) has a sonic pen. The Shadow Proclamation are most likely a group or organisation. They were mentioned before in Rose (TV story), The Christmas Invasion and Fear Her. Adipose Industries was a front company created by Matron Cofelia. The Doctor mentions Martha Jones. Donna asks about Rose and meets her at the end of the story although doesn't know who she is. Story notes This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10. A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London, this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her Sonic pen. Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area. Ratings Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers Myths It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false) Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century. Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans. Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps. Continuity Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride. Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer. This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character. The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments. The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.

  
  

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• TDP 54: Doctor Who 4.02 The Fires of Pompeii

  16 April 2008 (5:05am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds

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  The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. The episode takes place during the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to recuse from the situation or to save the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecitta studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.[1] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe. Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode--the moral dilemma the Doctor faces--and Donna's insistence that he save the population of Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional"[2] and Peter Capaldi's and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".[3] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor. The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was destroyed. They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which is comprised of a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs) to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius. Despite Donna's efforts, she and the Doctor are only able to save Caecilius' family, who watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, the Doctor and Donna. Continuity The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[4][5] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile.[6][7][8] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced;[9] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".[10] The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial The Romans, admitting "a little" responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story.[11] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference. The sale of the TARDIS as "modern art" was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, City of Death.[12] The location and historical significance are also shared by "The Fires of Vulcan", a Big Finish audio play from 2000 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Production Writing How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? --James Moran[13] Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of Doctor Who, after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day.[14] That episode's position was given to Boom Town[14] and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode "Sleeper". Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times.[1] The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.[12] Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming.[13] Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix, such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film.[15][12] Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius' family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.[15][12] The line "Don't worry, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from Fawlty Towers, attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.[12] The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation.[13][15] Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption.[15] Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.[13] Filming "The Fires of Pompeii" was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome. The episode was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome in September 2007.[15] Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy.[15] This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad, and the first time the cast had filmed abroad;[15] pick-up shots were made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".[15] Cinecitta had accepted the BBC's request despite the show's small budget to promote the studios.[13] Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004,[13] but the episode was the first such occasion.[15] Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy.[15] Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.[16][17] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais.[15] The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".[1] Broadcast and reception Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to the beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. --Scott Matthewman, The Stage[2] Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 8.8 million people. The episode was the eleventh most-watched programme of the week.[18][19] The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World, said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius' family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers."[20] Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS' translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus' and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".[2] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly".[21] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".[3]

  
  

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• TDP 53: Doctor Who 4.01 Partners In Crime

  8 April 2008 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds

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  Partners in Crime 4.01 (30.1) Synopsis Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last? Plot Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking Miss Foster what this drug does she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses. Donna goes to a woman named Stacey Campbell's house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called Roger Davey about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going of at 1:30 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called Penny Carter. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find her mother nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He says to Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got Martha with him only he realises that he does not). The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He Spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna. But she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self up to rescue Donna as they get in he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a sonic pen which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna. Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an Inducer which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer ,hidden inside a cupboard, with his Sonic screwdriver. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna asks the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the Nursery Ship to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the Adiposian family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's says, with arrogance that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death, the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space. The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS) the Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her saying that he just wants a mate, she takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streek of nothing. Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a strange girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there', it turns out the girl is Rose Tyler and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She walks off down the street and dissapears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles that way to say goodbye to her Grandad, he cheers her on. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Donna Noble - Catherine Tate Rose Tyler - Billie Piper Miss Foster - Sarah Lancashire Sylvia Noble- Jacqueline King Wilfred Mott- Bernard Cribbins Penny Carter - Verona Joseph Stacey Campbell - Jessica Gunning Roger Davey - Martin Ball Craig Staniland - Rachid Sabitri Claire Pope - Chandra Ruegg Suzette Chambers - Sue Kelvin Taxi driver - Jonathon Stratt The Sinister Miss Foster Production crew 1st Assistant Director - James Blackwell 2nd Assistant Director - Jennie Fava 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Nicola Brown Floor Runners - Andy Newbery, Heddi Joy Taylor Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Darren Lean Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Continuity - Sheila Johnston Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera Operators - Rory Taylor, Julian Barber Focus Puller - Steve Rees Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Grip - John Robinson Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Stunt Performers - Gorden Seed, Jo McLaren Wireman - Bob Schofield Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Set Decorator - Malin Lindholm Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Design Assistants - Al Roberts, Peter McKinstry, Sarah Payne Storyboard Artist - Richard Shaun Williams Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Masters - Paul Aitken, Phil Lyons Dressing Chargehand - Matthew Wild Forward Dresser - Stuart MacKay Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Maker - Nick Robatto, Penny Howarth, Jon Grundon Practical Electrician - Albert James Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Construction Chargehands - Scott Fisher, Allen Jones Construction Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Amy Rogers VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Samantha Hall Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Danny Hargreaves Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Colourist - Mick Vincent 3D Artists - Stephen Regulus, Dave Levy, Serena Cacciato, Matt McKinney 2D Artists - Bryan Bartlett, Simon C Holden, Greg Spencer, Sara Bennett, Tim Barter, James Moxon, Murray Barber, Loraine Cooper VFX Co-ordinators - Jenna Powell, Rebecca Johnson VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer Casting Director - Andy Pryor Cdg Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Costume Designer - Louise Page Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott Music - Murray Gold Visual Effects - The Mill Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton Special Effects - Any Effects Prosthetics - Millenium Fx Editor - Mike Jones Production Designer - Edward Thomas Director Of Photography - Ernie Vincze Bsc Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner References Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the Racnoss children. Donna refers to the Starship Titanic (from Christmas day) saying it must have been a hoax. Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster) has a sonic pen. The Shadow Proclamation are most likely a group or organisation. They were mentioned before in Rose (TV story), The Christmas Invasion and Fear Her. Adipose Industries was a front company created by Matron Cofelia. The Doctor mentions Martha Jones. Donna asks about Rose and meets her at the end of the story although doesn't know who she is. Story notes This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10. A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London, this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her Sonic pen. Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area. Ratings Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers Myths It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false) Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century. Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans. Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps. Continuity Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride. Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer. This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character. The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments. The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.

  
  

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• TDP 52: Torchwood Double 2.12 Fragments AND 2.13 Exit Wounds

  8 April 2008 (8:13am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds

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  Fragments 2.12 - "Fragments" Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.12 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Adrift" "Exit Wounds" IMDb profile "Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot After the team gets signs of an unidentified life form, they (apart from Gwen, who is running late) go to investigate. Searching an abandoned building, the team discover it is a trap and the building is bombed. The resulting explosion causes the team to be trapped under piles of concrete rubble. Gwen and Rhys arrive (Rhys having given Gwen a lift), and as they dig everyone out, the team's lives flash before their eyes revealing how Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko got recruited to Torchwood. In the Victorian era, Jack is picked up by two women - Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd - who have noticed his immortality and his references to the Doctor. They examine him, which includes attempting to kill him. Jack recognizes that the technology being used in his interrogation is more advanced than Earth technology of the time. They identify themselves as being part of Torchwood and offer Jack a job with them. Jack initially declines the offer learning that they view the Doctor as a threat. He agrees to the assignment after being told that if he doesn't cooperate he will be treated as a threat himself. He takes an initial assignment which is to track down and capture an alien. While they have the alien in a small cell one of the officers pulls out a gun and shoots the alien in the head without any warning. Jack disagrees with this policy and refuses the next assignment they try to give him. Jack goes to a bar when a young female fortune teller comes to his table and offers to read his cards and doesn't listen to Jack's refusal. She tells him that he will not meet the Doctor for another century. He returns to the Torchwood office and opts to join Torchwood for that century. He is still working for Torchwood in 1999, when he comes back to the Hub on New Year's Eve to find that one of the team has murdered the rest out of fear for the future. He has in his hand some locket or pendant, and he claims to have seen the future in it and killed the rest of the team out of a sense of mercy that the immortal Jack cannot benefit from. Based on the vision from the locket, he states that the next century is when everything changes and that Torchwood isn't ready for it. He then commits suicide, leaving Torchwood to Jack as a "reward for a century of service." With the rest of the team dead, Jack will have to recruit a new team. Toshiko's flashback takes place five years ago when she was working for the Ministry of Defence. One night after her boss leaves she immediately breaks into the security room where she obtains secret files for a Sonic Modulator. At home, she begins constructing a mock version, and once complete, takes it to a secret base. She gives it to a woman, one of her mother's captors, in the hope of her mother's release, but in seeing Tosh's potential, they decide to have her work for them. Tosh refuses, and so the captors set off the Sonic Modulator, sending an ear-piercing sound around the room that brings Tosh and her mother to the floor as their blood vessels begin to pulse violently. At that point however, UNIT soldiers break in and arrest both the captors and Toshiko and her mother. Tosh is locked in a plain empty cell and told that she will have no communication with anyone, and they refuse to answer her questions to her mother's whereabouts. After living in solitude for some time, she is visited by Jack. Jack chats to her and states that she'll be imprisoned indefinitely. He recognises, however, Toshiko's talent and high intelligence in building the fully operational device from plans that could not possibly work and offers her a pardon if she takes a job at Torchwood. In Ianto's flashback, he first meets Jack by helping him fight a Weevil. Ianto asks for a job, but is rejected by Jack. The next morning, Ianto gives Jack a coffee outside Torchwood. Jack recalls a large amount of knowledge about Ianto, stating that he researched him after he was able to identify a Weevil. Ianto again asks for a job as his old job was lost when Torchwood One was destroyed. Jack states that he had severed all ties with Torchwood One. That night, Ianto steps in front of the SUV, and once more asks for a job. After Jack threatens to erase his memory, he tells Jack that he is pursuing a pterodactyl. After a long battle, the pair of them capture it, and Jack tells Ianto that he expects to see him at work the following morning. Owen's flashback shows him before he was employed in Torchwood, working as a regular doctor and planning a marriage. His fiancee, Katie, begins to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's Disease and is taken in for a brain scan. The doctors, in fact, state that it is a tumor, and decide to operate. While Owen waits outside, he hears a loud noise in the operating room, and enters to find all of the surgeons dead on the floor. Jack enters, and states that there is an alien parasite residing in his fiancee's brain that gives off a toxic gas when threatened. Jack attempts to take the brain, but Owen protests, and so Jack knocks him out with chloroform. Owen wakes up in a hospital bed, but because Jack has erased all evidence of himself, there was no proof of Owen ever seeing him and telling him about the alien. The doctors come to the conclusion that Owen is traumatised and they prescribe him 3 months of rest. Visiting his fiancee's grave, Owen sees Jack and confronts him for answers, saying that he was right and Jack was not just a figment of his own imagination. Seeing Owen's potential, Jack convinces him to start up at Torchwood as a medic for the team. When the team reunites, they discover that the SUV is missing. Jack receives a holographic message, as pictured, from Captain John Hart, who reveals himself to be behind the bombs and shows Jack an image of his long-lost brother Gray. He then vows to tear Jack's world apart, so Jack would spend time with him. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Blowfish -- Paul KaseyToshiko's Mother -- Noriko AidaAlice Guppy -- Amy MansonEmily Holroyd -- Heather CraneyLittle Girl -- Skye BennettAlex Hopkins[1] -- Julian Lewis JonesBob -- Simon ShackletonSecurity Guard -- Gareth JonesMilton -- Clare CliffordKatie Russell -- Andrea LoweDoctor -- Richard Lloyd-KingNurse -- Catherine MorrisPsychiatrist -- Selva RasalinghamCaptain John Hart -- James Marsters (uncredited)Gray -- Lachlan Nieboer[2] (uncredited) Cast notes Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock. Continuity The tarot card reader girl reappears in this episode. She was last seen in the episode "Dead Man Walking".Toshiko's mother, as played by Noriko Aida, reappears in this episode, having last been seen in "End of Days".Toshiko's "sonic modulator" device based on stolen design plans bears superficial similarities to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and its ear-splitting effect is similar to that produced by holding together two similar sonic devices in Partners in Crime.This is the first time the Doctor has been explicitly named in the series.A blowfish alien, similar to the one seen in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", appears in flashback sequences involving Jack's first mission for the Torchwood Institute.Captain Jack radios orders to an offscreen Suzie Costello in Ianto's flashback, although Ianto's arrival in the scene prevents the character from being given any lines. Suzie was last mentioned in the episode "Dead Man Walking", and last seen upon her resurrection in series one episode "They Keep Killing Suzie".In his flashback, Ianto Jones refers to his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, as having died during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Lisa is seen again as a partly-converted Cyberman in the series one episode "Cyberwoman". Exit Wounds 2.13 - "Exit Wounds" Torchwood episode Gray encounters Jack in the Hub. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Ashley Way Production code 2.13 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 4 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Fragments" -- IMDb profile "Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.[1] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Following the previous episode directly, the Torchwood team goes to sites of rift activity. Gwen goes to the police station where the four most senior officers have been killed by Weevils. Tosh and Ianto head to the central server building to deal with "ghosts" that appeared in the building. The ghosts turn out to be humanoid beings in cloaks holding scythes who look very like the Grim Reaper, but Tosh and Ianto easily end the threat by shooting them. Tosh mentions that the server building houses servers for the military, police, NHS and the nearby nuclear power station. Owen heads to St Helen's Hospital where a Hoix was found chewing on cables and subdues it with a sedative. With the rest of the team away dealing with their respective crises, Jack returns to the Hub alone and encounters John Hart, who after a brief conversation with Jack kills him, then strips him of his weapons and restrains him while he proceeds with his task. John gets the Torchwood members to approach the rooftops of their respective buildings to watch as he sets off 15 major and well placed explosions in Cardiff. The team try to cope with the workload of a crippled city. John, who is watching the mayhem in Cardiff Castle with a captive Jack takes him through the rift to the future site of Cardiff city in the year 27 AD. There John explains that he has not been acting of his own free will and shows Jack that his wristband has been molecularly bonded with his skin (rendering it unremovable) which is equipped with surveillance and remote detonation circuits to ensure his obedience. Before John can explain further he is interrupted by the arrival of Gray, Jack's long lost brother. Jack hugs him tearfully, happy to see him alive, only to have Gray stab him in the chest. When Jack comes to, Gray explains that he was tortured mercilessly for years by the aliens who captured him in his childhood, and that he blames Jack for what he had to endure. Gray taunts Jack saying that his grave will be the foundation of Cardiff and that his blessing of life is his curse. He then forces John to bury Jack alive as punishment for this. Before he begins his task John throws a ring into the grave, claiming that it is of sentimental value. He then proceeds to fill the grave, trapping Jack in a cycle of asphyxiation and revivification. John, now gone free and released from his obligation to Gray, returns to the present to help undo the mess he caused. Gwen encounters him and they call everyone back to the Hub except Owen, who is trying to contain the nuclear power plant meltdown--a result of the explosions John had previously set up. Unbeknownst to them, Gray is lurking in the Hub with them. He eventually traps Gwen, John, and Ianto in Weevil cells, and then shoots Toshiko, leaving her for dead. A loud banging noise is heard by everyone and Gray goes to investigate. The sound leads him to the morgue where a light can be seen coming from one of the compartments. Gray opens the compartment to find Jack waking in a cryochamber. The scene then flashes back to 1901 where Jack is discovered by Torchwood personnel because the ring that John dropped was in fact a beacon and Torchwood had picked up the signal. They dig him out and place him in the cryochamber at the Hub, with a timer set to wake him up in 2008. After incapacitating his brother, Jack frees Gwen, John, and Ianto. While this has been happening, Toshiko had been helping Owen to try to prevent a meltdown; despite her life-threatening injury. After sucessfully averting disaster by venting the flow channels into the room Owen is in, she also sets a time delay so Owen can escape. However, a power spike triggers an emergency lockdown and Owen is trapped. Before long the radioactive material is sent to Owen's location and the scene fades out back to the Hub. Jack discovers Toshiko who dies in his arms. As Ianto registers Owen and Toshiko's deaths on the Hub computer, a pre-programmed pop-up video of Toshiko appears, in which she says goodbye and confesses her love for Owen as well as thanking Jack for freeing her from the UNIT prison and showing her the many possibilities of the universe. The episode and second series closes with the devastated city recovering, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen standing together in the Hub. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydCaptain John Hart -- James MarstersGray -- Lachlan NieboerRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Hoix -- Paul KaseyPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceCowled Leader -- Paul Marc DavisDr Angela Connolly -- Golda RosheuvelNira Docherty -- Syreeta KumarCharles Gaskell -- Cornelius MacarthyAlice Guppy - Amy Manson Cast notes This episode marks the last episode starring Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Burn Gorman as Owen Harper. In the Torchwood: De-Classified that covers this episode, Burn Gorman who plays Owen Harper jokingly remarks that Owen either is truly dead or will transform into the "king of the Weevils". A story at GEOS correctly predicted that Tosh and Owen would leave the series.[2]. It also predicts that Martha Jones would become a Torchwood regular and that Captain Jack's role would be reduced. Continuity A Hoix creature, from the parent series Doctor Who in its 2006 episode "Love and Monsters" appears in this episode. This is the first time it is named onscreen.Owen refers to his status as "King of the Weevils", first mentioned in "Dead Man Walking" and seeded in "Combat".When Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are discussing their early days together, Tosh descibes pretending to be a medic in Owen's second week, to cover for him having a hangover. Owen asks if this was "the space pig", referring to Naoko Mori's appearance as Doctor Sato, a presumed pathologist in the Doctor Who story "Aliens of London".Jack tells Gray "I forgive you", infuriating Gray. The Doctor said this to the Master in similar circumstance in "Last of the Time Lords", and Jack himself spoke the phrase to Owen Harper following his resurrection in "End of Days".In the video played after her death, Toshiko tells Captain Jack "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose Tyler said this to the Doctor facing her death in the Doctor Who episode "Dalek".

  
  

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• TDP 54: Doctor Who 4.02 The Fires of Pompeii

  16 April 2008 (5:05am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds

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  The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. The episode takes place during the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to recuse from the situation or to save the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecitta studios, and was the first time the Doctor Who production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.[1] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe. Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode--the moral dilemma the Doctor faces--and Donna's insistence that he save the population of Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional"[2] and Peter Capaldi's and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".[3] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Synopsis The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor. The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was destroyed. They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which is comprised of a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs) to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius. Despite Donna's efforts, she and the Doctor are only able to save Caecilius' family, who watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, the Doctor and Donna. Continuity The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[4][5] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile.[6][7][8] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced;[9] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".[10] The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial The Romans, admitting "a little" responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story.[11] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference. The sale of the TARDIS as "modern art" was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, City of Death.[12] The location and historical significance are also shared by "The Fires of Vulcan", a Big Finish audio play from 2000 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Production Writing How does [the Doctor] decide who lives, who dies, when to intervene, and when not to? If you do save them, where do you stop? Do you remake the universe according to what you think is right and wrong? --James Moran[13] Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of Doctor Who, after seeing the documentary Pompeii: The Last Day.[14] That episode's position was given to Boom Town[14] and the idea was shelved for three years. The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film Severance and the Torchwood episode "Sleeper". Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times.[1] The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.[12] Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming.[13] Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series Asterix, such as Lucius Petrus Dextrus ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film.[15][12] Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius' family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.[15][12] The line "Don't worry, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from Fawlty Towers, attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.[12] The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation.[13][15] Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption.[15] Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.[13] Filming "The Fires of Pompeii" was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome. The episode was filmed at the Cinecitta studios in Rome in September 2007.[15] Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy.[15] This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad, and the first time the cast had filmed abroad;[15] pick-up shots were made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".[15] Cinecitta had accepted the BBC's request despite the show's small budget to promote the studios.[13] Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004,[13] but the episode was the first such occasion.[15] Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy.[15] Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.[16][17] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais.[15] The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".[1] Broadcast and reception Tate perfectly portrayed Donna's anguish as she forlornly appealed for people not to run to the beaches and certain death. For me, that short scene was the emotional highpoint of a series of heart-rending scenes, each with Donna at their heart. --Scott Matthewman, The Stage[2] Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 8.8 million people. The episode was the eleventh most-watched programme of the week.[18][19] The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for News of the World, said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius' family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to The Catherine Tate Show character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers."[20] Scott Matthewman of The Stage said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS' translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus' and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".[2] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying "[she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly".[21] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".[3]

  
  

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• TDP 53: Doctor Who 4.01 Partners In Crime

  8 April 2008 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds

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  Partners in Crime 4.01 (30.1) Synopsis Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last? Plot Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking Miss Foster what this drug does she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses. Donna goes to a woman named Stacey Campbell's house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called Roger Davey about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going of at 1:30 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called Penny Carter. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find her mother nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He says to Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got Martha with him only he realises that he does not). The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He Spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna. But she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self up to rescue Donna as they get in he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a sonic pen which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna. Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an Inducer which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer ,hidden inside a cupboard, with his Sonic screwdriver. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna asks the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the Nursery Ship to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the Adiposian family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's says, with arrogance that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death, the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space. The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS) the Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her saying that he just wants a mate, she takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streek of nothing. Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a strange girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there', it turns out the girl is Rose Tyler and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She walks off down the street and dissapears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles that way to say goodbye to her Grandad, he cheers her on. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Donna Noble - Catherine Tate Rose Tyler - Billie Piper Miss Foster - Sarah Lancashire Sylvia Noble- Jacqueline King Wilfred Mott- Bernard Cribbins Penny Carter - Verona Joseph Stacey Campbell - Jessica Gunning Roger Davey - Martin Ball Craig Staniland - Rachid Sabitri Claire Pope - Chandra Ruegg Suzette Chambers - Sue Kelvin Taxi driver - Jonathon Stratt The Sinister Miss Foster Production crew 1st Assistant Director - James Blackwell 2nd Assistant Director - Jennie Fava 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Nicola Brown Floor Runners - Andy Newbery, Heddi Joy Taylor Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Darren Lean Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Continuity - Sheila Johnston Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera Operators - Rory Taylor, Julian Barber Focus Puller - Steve Rees Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Grip - John Robinson Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Stunt Performers - Gorden Seed, Jo McLaren Wireman - Bob Schofield Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Set Decorator - Malin Lindholm Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Design Assistants - Al Roberts, Peter McKinstry, Sarah Payne Storyboard Artist - Richard Shaun Williams Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Masters - Paul Aitken, Phil Lyons Dressing Chargehand - Matthew Wild Forward Dresser - Stuart MacKay Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Maker - Nick Robatto, Penny Howarth, Jon Grundon Practical Electrician - Albert James Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Construction Chargehands - Scott Fisher, Allen Jones Construction Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Amy Rogers VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Samantha Hall Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Danny Hargreaves Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Colourist - Mick Vincent 3D Artists - Stephen Regulus, Dave Levy, Serena Cacciato, Matt McKinney 2D Artists - Bryan Bartlett, Simon C Holden, Greg Spencer, Sara Bennett, Tim Barter, James Moxon, Murray Barber, Loraine Cooper VFX Co-ordinators - Jenna Powell, Rebecca Johnson VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer Casting Director - Andy Pryor Cdg Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Costume Designer - Louise Page Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott Music - Murray Gold Visual Effects - The Mill Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton Special Effects - Any Effects Prosthetics - Millenium Fx Editor - Mike Jones Production Designer - Edward Thomas Director Of Photography - Ernie Vincze Bsc Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner References Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the Racnoss children. Donna refers to the Starship Titanic (from Christmas day) saying it must have been a hoax. Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster) has a sonic pen. The Shadow Proclamation are most likely a group or organisation. They were mentioned before in Rose (TV story), The Christmas Invasion and Fear Her. Adipose Industries was a front company created by Matron Cofelia. The Doctor mentions Martha Jones. Donna asks about Rose and meets her at the end of the story although doesn't know who she is. Story notes This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10. A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London, this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her Sonic pen. Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area. Ratings Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers Myths It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false) Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century. Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans. Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps. Continuity Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride. Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer. This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character. The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments. The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.

  
  

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• TDP 52: Torchwood Double 2.12 Fragments AND 2.13 Exit Wounds

  8 April 2008 (8:13am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds

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  Fragments 2.12 - "Fragments" Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.12 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Adrift" "Exit Wounds" IMDb profile "Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot After the team gets signs of an unidentified life form, they (apart from Gwen, who is running late) go to investigate. Searching an abandoned building, the team discover it is a trap and the building is bombed. The resulting explosion causes the team to be trapped under piles of concrete rubble. Gwen and Rhys arrive (Rhys having given Gwen a lift), and as they dig everyone out, the team's lives flash before their eyes revealing how Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko got recruited to Torchwood. In the Victorian era, Jack is picked up by two women - Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd - who have noticed his immortality and his references to the Doctor. They examine him, which includes attempting to kill him. Jack recognizes that the technology being used in his interrogation is more advanced than Earth technology of the time. They identify themselves as being part of Torchwood and offer Jack a job with them. Jack initially declines the offer learning that they view the Doctor as a threat. He agrees to the assignment after being told that if he doesn't cooperate he will be treated as a threat himself. He takes an initial assignment which is to track down and capture an alien. While they have the alien in a small cell one of the officers pulls out a gun and shoots the alien in the head without any warning. Jack disagrees with this policy and refuses the next assignment they try to give him. Jack goes to a bar when a young female fortune teller comes to his table and offers to read his cards and doesn't listen to Jack's refusal. She tells him that he will not meet the Doctor for another century. He returns to the Torchwood office and opts to join Torchwood for that century. He is still working for Torchwood in 1999, when he comes back to the Hub on New Year's Eve to find that one of the team has murdered the rest out of fear for the future. He has in his hand some locket or pendant, and he claims to have seen the future in it and killed the rest of the team out of a sense of mercy that the immortal Jack cannot benefit from. Based on the vision from the locket, he states that the next century is when everything changes and that Torchwood isn't ready for it. He then commits suicide, leaving Torchwood to Jack as a "reward for a century of service." With the rest of the team dead, Jack will have to recruit a new team. Toshiko's flashback takes place five years ago when she was working for the Ministry of Defence. One night after her boss leaves she immediately breaks into the security room where she obtains secret files for a Sonic Modulator. At home, she begins constructing a mock version, and once complete, takes it to a secret base. She gives it to a woman, one of her mother's captors, in the hope of her mother's release, but in seeing Tosh's potential, they decide to have her work for them. Tosh refuses, and so the captors set off the Sonic Modulator, sending an ear-piercing sound around the room that brings Tosh and her mother to the floor as their blood vessels begin to pulse violently. At that point however, UNIT soldiers break in and arrest both the captors and Toshiko and her mother. Tosh is locked in a plain empty cell and told that she will have no communication with anyone, and they refuse to answer her questions to her mother's whereabouts. After living in solitude for some time, she is visited by Jack. Jack chats to her and states that she'll be imprisoned indefinitely. He recognises, however, Toshiko's talent and high intelligence in building the fully operational device from plans that could not possibly work and offers her a pardon if she takes a job at Torchwood. In Ianto's flashback, he first meets Jack by helping him fight a Weevil. Ianto asks for a job, but is rejected by Jack. The next morning, Ianto gives Jack a coffee outside Torchwood. Jack recalls a large amount of knowledge about Ianto, stating that he researched him after he was able to identify a Weevil. Ianto again asks for a job as his old job was lost when Torchwood One was destroyed. Jack states that he had severed all ties with Torchwood One. That night, Ianto steps in front of the SUV, and once more asks for a job. After Jack threatens to erase his memory, he tells Jack that he is pursuing a pterodactyl. After a long battle, the pair of them capture it, and Jack tells Ianto that he expects to see him at work the following morning. Owen's flashback shows him before he was employed in Torchwood, working as a regular doctor and planning a marriage. His fiancee, Katie, begins to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's Disease and is taken in for a brain scan. The doctors, in fact, state that it is a tumor, and decide to operate. While Owen waits outside, he hears a loud noise in the operating room, and enters to find all of the surgeons dead on the floor. Jack enters, and states that there is an alien parasite residing in his fiancee's brain that gives off a toxic gas when threatened. Jack attempts to take the brain, but Owen protests, and so Jack knocks him out with chloroform. Owen wakes up in a hospital bed, but because Jack has erased all evidence of himself, there was no proof of Owen ever seeing him and telling him about the alien. The doctors come to the conclusion that Owen is traumatised and they prescribe him 3 months of rest. Visiting his fiancee's grave, Owen sees Jack and confronts him for answers, saying that he was right and Jack was not just a figment of his own imagination. Seeing Owen's potential, Jack convinces him to start up at Torchwood as a medic for the team. When the team reunites, they discover that the SUV is missing. Jack receives a holographic message, as pictured, from Captain John Hart, who reveals himself to be behind the bombs and shows Jack an image of his long-lost brother Gray. He then vows to tear Jack's world apart, so Jack would spend time with him. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Blowfish -- Paul KaseyToshiko's Mother -- Noriko AidaAlice Guppy -- Amy MansonEmily Holroyd -- Heather CraneyLittle Girl -- Skye BennettAlex Hopkins[1] -- Julian Lewis JonesBob -- Simon ShackletonSecurity Guard -- Gareth JonesMilton -- Clare CliffordKatie Russell -- Andrea LoweDoctor -- Richard Lloyd-KingNurse -- Catherine MorrisPsychiatrist -- Selva RasalinghamCaptain John Hart -- James Marsters (uncredited)Gray -- Lachlan Nieboer[2] (uncredited) Cast notes Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock. Continuity The tarot card reader girl reappears in this episode. She was last seen in the episode "Dead Man Walking".Toshiko's mother, as played by Noriko Aida, reappears in this episode, having last been seen in "End of Days".Toshiko's "sonic modulator" device based on stolen design plans bears superficial similarities to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and its ear-splitting effect is similar to that produced by holding together two similar sonic devices in Partners in Crime.This is the first time the Doctor has been explicitly named in the series.A blowfish alien, similar to the one seen in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", appears in flashback sequences involving Jack's first mission for the Torchwood Institute.Captain Jack radios orders to an offscreen Suzie Costello in Ianto's flashback, although Ianto's arrival in the scene prevents the character from being given any lines. Suzie was last mentioned in the episode "Dead Man Walking", and last seen upon her resurrection in series one episode "They Keep Killing Suzie".In his flashback, Ianto Jones refers to his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, as having died during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Lisa is seen again as a partly-converted Cyberman in the series one episode "Cyberwoman". Exit Wounds 2.13 - "Exit Wounds" Torchwood episode Gray encounters Jack in the Hub. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Ashley Way Production code 2.13 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 4 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Fragments" -- IMDb profile "Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.[1] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Following the previous episode directly, the Torchwood team goes to sites of rift activity. Gwen goes to the police station where the four most senior officers have been killed by Weevils. Tosh and Ianto head to the central server building to deal with "ghosts" that appeared in the building. The ghosts turn out to be humanoid beings in cloaks holding scythes who look very like the Grim Reaper, but Tosh and Ianto easily end the threat by shooting them. Tosh mentions that the server building houses servers for the military, police, NHS and the nearby nuclear power station. Owen heads to St Helen's Hospital where a Hoix was found chewing on cables and subdues it with a sedative. With the rest of the team away dealing with their respective crises, Jack returns to the Hub alone and encounters John Hart, who after a brief conversation with Jack kills him, then strips him of his weapons and restrains him while he proceeds with his task. John gets the Torchwood members to approach the rooftops of their respective buildings to watch as he sets off 15 major and well placed explosions in Cardiff. The team try to cope with the workload of a crippled city. John, who is watching the mayhem in Cardiff Castle with a captive Jack takes him through the rift to the future site of Cardiff city in the year 27 AD. There John explains that he has not been acting of his own free will and shows Jack that his wristband has been molecularly bonded with his skin (rendering it unremovable) which is equipped with surveillance and remote detonation circuits to ensure his obedience. Before John can explain further he is interrupted by the arrival of Gray, Jack's long lost brother. Jack hugs him tearfully, happy to see him alive, only to have Gray stab him in the chest. When Jack comes to, Gray explains that he was tortured mercilessly for years by the aliens who captured him in his childhood, and that he blames Jack for what he had to endure. Gray taunts Jack saying that his grave will be the foundation of Cardiff and that his blessing of life is his curse. He then forces John to bury Jack alive as punishment for this. Before he begins his task John throws a ring into the grave, claiming that it is of sentimental value. He then proceeds to fill the grave, trapping Jack in a cycle of asphyxiation and revivification. John, now gone free and released from his obligation to Gray, returns to the present to help undo the mess he caused. Gwen encounters him and they call everyone back to the Hub except Owen, who is trying to contain the nuclear power plant meltdown--a result of the explosions John had previously set up. Unbeknownst to them, Gray is lurking in the Hub with them. He eventually traps Gwen, John, and Ianto in Weevil cells, and then shoots Toshiko, leaving her for dead. A loud banging noise is heard by everyone and Gray goes to investigate. The sound leads him to the morgue where a light can be seen coming from one of the compartments. Gray opens the compartment to find Jack waking in a cryochamber. The scene then flashes back to 1901 where Jack is discovered by Torchwood personnel because the ring that John dropped was in fact a beacon and Torchwood had picked up the signal. They dig him out and place him in the cryochamber at the Hub, with a timer set to wake him up in 2008. After incapacitating his brother, Jack frees Gwen, John, and Ianto. While this has been happening, Toshiko had been helping Owen to try to prevent a meltdown; despite her life-threatening injury. After sucessfully averting disaster by venting the flow channels into the room Owen is in, she also sets a time delay so Owen can escape. However, a power spike triggers an emergency lockdown and Owen is trapped. Before long the radioactive material is sent to Owen's location and the scene fades out back to the Hub. Jack discovers Toshiko who dies in his arms. As Ianto registers Owen and Toshiko's deaths on the Hub computer, a pre-programmed pop-up video of Toshiko appears, in which she says goodbye and confesses her love for Owen as well as thanking Jack for freeing her from the UNIT prison and showing her the many possibilities of the universe. The episode and second series closes with the devastated city recovering, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen standing together in the Hub. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydCaptain John Hart -- James MarstersGray -- Lachlan NieboerRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Hoix -- Paul KaseyPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceCowled Leader -- Paul Marc DavisDr Angela Connolly -- Golda RosheuvelNira Docherty -- Syreeta KumarCharles Gaskell -- Cornelius MacarthyAlice Guppy - Amy Manson Cast notes This episode marks the last episode starring Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Burn Gorman as Owen Harper. In the Torchwood: De-Classified that covers this episode, Burn Gorman who plays Owen Harper jokingly remarks that Owen either is truly dead or will transform into the "king of the Weevils". A story at GEOS correctly predicted that Tosh and Owen would leave the series.[2]. It also predicts that Martha Jones would become a Torchwood regular and that Captain Jack's role would be reduced. Continuity A Hoix creature, from the parent series Doctor Who in its 2006 episode "Love and Monsters" appears in this episode. This is the first time it is named onscreen.Owen refers to his status as "King of the Weevils", first mentioned in "Dead Man Walking" and seeded in "Combat".When Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are discussing their early days together, Tosh descibes pretending to be a medic in Owen's second week, to cover for him having a hangover. Owen asks if this was "the space pig", referring to Naoko Mori's appearance as Doctor Sato, a presumed pathologist in the Doctor Who story "Aliens of London".Jack tells Gray "I forgive you", infuriating Gray. The Doctor said this to the Master in similar circumstance in "Last of the Time Lords", and Jack himself spoke the phrase to Owen Harper following his resurrection in "End of Days".In the video played after her death, Toshiko tells Captain Jack "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose Tyler said this to the Doctor facing her death in the Doctor Who episode "Dalek".

  
  

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• TDP 52: Torchwood Double 2.12 Fragments AND 2.13 Exit Wounds

  8 April 2008 (8:13am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Fragments 2.12 - "Fragments" Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.12 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Adrift" "Exit Wounds" IMDb profile "Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot After the team gets signs of an unidentified life form, they (apart from Gwen, who is running late) go to investigate. Searching an abandoned building, the team discover it is a trap and the building is bombed. The resulting explosion causes the team to be trapped under piles of concrete rubble. Gwen and Rhys arrive (Rhys having given Gwen a lift), and as they dig everyone out, the team's lives flash before their eyes revealing how Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko got recruited to Torchwood. In the Victorian era, Jack is picked up by two women - Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd - who have noticed his immortality and his references to the Doctor. They examine him, which includes attempting to kill him. Jack recognizes that the technology being used in his interrogation is more advanced than Earth technology of the time. They identify themselves as being part of Torchwood and offer Jack a job with them. Jack initially declines the offer learning that they view the Doctor as a threat. He agrees to the assignment after being told that if he doesn't cooperate he will be treated as a threat himself. He takes an initial assignment which is to track down and capture an alien. While they have the alien in a small cell one of the officers pulls out a gun and shoots the alien in the head without any warning. Jack disagrees with this policy and refuses the next assignment they try to give him. Jack goes to a bar when a young female fortune teller comes to his table and offers to read his cards and doesn't listen to Jack's refusal. She tells him that he will not meet the Doctor for another century. He returns to the Torchwood office and opts to join Torchwood for that century. He is still working for Torchwood in 1999, when he comes back to the Hub on New Year's Eve to find that one of the team has murdered the rest out of fear for the future. He has in his hand some locket or pendant, and he claims to have seen the future in it and killed the rest of the team out of a sense of mercy that the immortal Jack cannot benefit from. Based on the vision from the locket, he states that the next century is when everything changes and that Torchwood isn't ready for it. He then commits suicide, leaving Torchwood to Jack as a "reward for a century of service." With the rest of the team dead, Jack will have to recruit a new team. Toshiko's flashback takes place five years ago when she was working for the Ministry of Defence. One night after her boss leaves she immediately breaks into the security room where she obtains secret files for a Sonic Modulator. At home, she begins constructing a mock version, and once complete, takes it to a secret base. She gives it to a woman, one of her mother's captors, in the hope of her mother's release, but in seeing Tosh's potential, they decide to have her work for them. Tosh refuses, and so the captors set off the Sonic Modulator, sending an ear-piercing sound around the room that brings Tosh and her mother to the floor as their blood vessels begin to pulse violently. At that point however, UNIT soldiers break in and arrest both the captors and Toshiko and her mother. Tosh is locked in a plain empty cell and told that she will have no communication with anyone, and they refuse to answer her questions to her mother's whereabouts. After living in solitude for some time, she is visited by Jack. Jack chats to her and states that she'll be imprisoned indefinitely. He recognises, however, Toshiko's talent and high intelligence in building the fully operational device from plans that could not possibly work and offers her a pardon if she takes a job at Torchwood. In Ianto's flashback, he first meets Jack by helping him fight a Weevil. Ianto asks for a job, but is rejected by Jack. The next morning, Ianto gives Jack a coffee outside Torchwood. Jack recalls a large amount of knowledge about Ianto, stating that he researched him after he was able to identify a Weevil. Ianto again asks for a job as his old job was lost when Torchwood One was destroyed. Jack states that he had severed all ties with Torchwood One. That night, Ianto steps in front of the SUV, and once more asks for a job. After Jack threatens to erase his memory, he tells Jack that he is pursuing a pterodactyl. After a long battle, the pair of them capture it, and Jack tells Ianto that he expects to see him at work the following morning. Owen's flashback shows him before he was employed in Torchwood, working as a regular doctor and planning a marriage. His fiancee, Katie, begins to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's Disease and is taken in for a brain scan. The doctors, in fact, state that it is a tumor, and decide to operate. While Owen waits outside, he hears a loud noise in the operating room, and enters to find all of the surgeons dead on the floor. Jack enters, and states that there is an alien parasite residing in his fiancee's brain that gives off a toxic gas when threatened. Jack attempts to take the brain, but Owen protests, and so Jack knocks him out with chloroform. Owen wakes up in a hospital bed, but because Jack has erased all evidence of himself, there was no proof of Owen ever seeing him and telling him about the alien. The doctors come to the conclusion that Owen is traumatised and they prescribe him 3 months of rest. Visiting his fiancee's grave, Owen sees Jack and confronts him for answers, saying that he was right and Jack was not just a figment of his own imagination. Seeing Owen's potential, Jack convinces him to start up at Torchwood as a medic for the team. When the team reunites, they discover that the SUV is missing. Jack receives a holographic message, as pictured, from Captain John Hart, who reveals himself to be behind the bombs and shows Jack an image of his long-lost brother Gray. He then vows to tear Jack's world apart, so Jack would spend time with him. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Blowfish -- Paul KaseyToshiko's Mother -- Noriko AidaAlice Guppy -- Amy MansonEmily Holroyd -- Heather CraneyLittle Girl -- Skye BennettAlex Hopkins[1] -- Julian Lewis JonesBob -- Simon ShackletonSecurity Guard -- Gareth JonesMilton -- Clare CliffordKatie Russell -- Andrea LoweDoctor -- Richard Lloyd-KingNurse -- Catherine MorrisPsychiatrist -- Selva RasalinghamCaptain John Hart -- James Marsters (uncredited)Gray -- Lachlan Nieboer[2] (uncredited) Cast notes Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock. Continuity The tarot card reader girl reappears in this episode. She was last seen in the episode "Dead Man Walking".Toshiko's mother, as played by Noriko Aida, reappears in this episode, having last been seen in "End of Days".Toshiko's "sonic modulator" device based on stolen design plans bears superficial similarities to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and its ear-splitting effect is similar to that produced by holding together two similar sonic devices in Partners in Crime.This is the first time the Doctor has been explicitly named in the series.A blowfish alien, similar to the one seen in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", appears in flashback sequences involving Jack's first mission for the Torchwood Institute.Captain Jack radios orders to an offscreen Suzie Costello in Ianto's flashback, although Ianto's arrival in the scene prevents the character from being given any lines. Suzie was last mentioned in the episode "Dead Man Walking", and last seen upon her resurrection in series one episode "They Keep Killing Suzie".In his flashback, Ianto Jones refers to his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, as having died during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Lisa is seen again as a partly-converted Cyberman in the series one episode "Cyberwoman". Exit Wounds 2.13 - "Exit Wounds" Torchwood episode Gray encounters Jack in the Hub. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Ashley Way Production code 2.13 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 4 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Fragments" -- IMDb profile "Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.[1] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Following the previous episode directly, the Torchwood team goes to sites of rift activity. Gwen goes to the police station where the four most senior officers have been killed by Weevils. Tosh and Ianto head to the central server building to deal with "ghosts" that appeared in the building. The ghosts turn out to be humanoid beings in cloaks holding scythes who look very like the Grim Reaper, but Tosh and Ianto easily end the threat by shooting them. Tosh mentions that the server building houses servers for the military, police, NHS and the nearby nuclear power station. Owen heads to St Helen's Hospital where a Hoix was found chewing on cables and subdues it with a sedative. With the rest of the team away dealing with their respective crises, Jack returns to the Hub alone and encounters John Hart, who after a brief conversation with Jack kills him, then strips him of his weapons and restrains him while he proceeds with his task. John gets the Torchwood members to approach the rooftops of their respective buildings to watch as he sets off 15 major and well placed explosions in Cardiff. The team try to cope with the workload of a crippled city. John, who is watching the mayhem in Cardiff Castle with a captive Jack takes him through the rift to the future site of Cardiff city in the year 27 AD. There John explains that he has not been acting of his own free will and shows Jack that his wristband has been molecularly bonded with his skin (rendering it unremovable) which is equipped with surveillance and remote detonation circuits to ensure his obedience. Before John can explain further he is interrupted by the arrival of Gray, Jack's long lost brother. Jack hugs him tearfully, happy to see him alive, only to have Gray stab him in the chest. When Jack comes to, Gray explains that he was tortured mercilessly for years by the aliens who captured him in his childhood, and that he blames Jack for what he had to endure. Gray taunts Jack saying that his grave will be the foundation of Cardiff and that his blessing of life is his curse. He then forces John to bury Jack alive as punishment for this. Before he begins his task John throws a ring into the grave, claiming that it is of sentimental value. He then proceeds to fill the grave, trapping Jack in a cycle of asphyxiation and revivification. John, now gone free and released from his obligation to Gray, returns to the present to help undo the mess he caused. Gwen encounters him and they call everyone back to the Hub except Owen, who is trying to contain the nuclear power plant meltdown--a result of the explosions John had previously set up. Unbeknownst to them, Gray is lurking in the Hub with them. He eventually traps Gwen, John, and Ianto in Weevil cells, and then shoots Toshiko, leaving her for dead. A loud banging noise is heard by everyone and Gray goes to investigate. The sound leads him to the morgue where a light can be seen coming from one of the compartments. Gray opens the compartment to find Jack waking in a cryochamber. The scene then flashes back to 1901 where Jack is discovered by Torchwood personnel because the ring that John dropped was in fact a beacon and Torchwood had picked up the signal. They dig him out and place him in the cryochamber at the Hub, with a timer set to wake him up in 2008. After incapacitating his brother, Jack frees Gwen, John, and Ianto. While this has been happening, Toshiko had been helping Owen to try to prevent a meltdown; despite her life-threatening injury. After sucessfully averting disaster by venting the flow channels into the room Owen is in, she also sets a time delay so Owen can escape. However, a power spike triggers an emergency lockdown and Owen is trapped. Before long the radioactive material is sent to Owen's location and the scene fades out back to the Hub. Jack discovers Toshiko who dies in his arms. As Ianto registers Owen and Toshiko's deaths on the Hub computer, a pre-programmed pop-up video of Toshiko appears, in which she says goodbye and confesses her love for Owen as well as thanking Jack for freeing her from the UNIT prison and showing her the many possibilities of the universe. The episode and second series closes with the devastated city recovering, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen standing together in the Hub. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydCaptain John Hart -- James MarstersGray -- Lachlan NieboerRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Hoix -- Paul KaseyPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceCowled Leader -- Paul Marc DavisDr Angela Connolly -- Golda RosheuvelNira Docherty -- Syreeta KumarCharles Gaskell -- Cornelius MacarthyAlice Guppy - Amy Manson Cast notes This episode marks the last episode starring Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Burn Gorman as Owen Harper. In the Torchwood: De-Classified that covers this episode, Burn Gorman who plays Owen Harper jokingly remarks that Owen either is truly dead or will transform into the "king of the Weevils". A story at GEOS correctly predicted that Tosh and Owen would leave the series.[2]. It also predicts that Martha Jones would become a Torchwood regular and that Captain Jack's role would be reduced. Continuity A Hoix creature, from the parent series Doctor Who in its 2006 episode "Love and Monsters" appears in this episode. This is the first time it is named onscreen.Owen refers to his status as "King of the Weevils", first mentioned in "Dead Man Walking" and seeded in "Combat".When Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are discussing their early days together, Tosh descibes pretending to be a medic in Owen's second week, to cover for him having a hangover. Owen asks if this was "the space pig", referring to Naoko Mori's appearance as Doctor Sato, a presumed pathologist in the Doctor Who story "Aliens of London".Jack tells Gray "I forgive you", infuriating Gray. The Doctor said this to the Master in similar circumstance in "Last of the Time Lords", and Jack himself spoke the phrase to Owen Harper following his resurrection in "End of Days".In the video played after her death, Toshiko tells Captain Jack "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose Tyler said this to the Doctor facing her death in the Doctor Who episode "Dalek".

  
  

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• TDP 52: Torchwood Double 2.12 Fragments AND 2.13 Exit Wounds

  8 April 2008 (8:13am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Fragments 2.12 - "Fragments" Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.12 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Adrift" "Exit Wounds" IMDb profile "Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot After the team gets signs of an unidentified life form, they (apart from Gwen, who is running late) go to investigate. Searching an abandoned building, the team discover it is a trap and the building is bombed. The resulting explosion causes the team to be trapped under piles of concrete rubble. Gwen and Rhys arrive (Rhys having given Gwen a lift), and as they dig everyone out, the team's lives flash before their eyes revealing how Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko got recruited to Torchwood. In the Victorian era, Jack is picked up by two women - Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd - who have noticed his immortality and his references to the Doctor. They examine him, which includes attempting to kill him. Jack recognizes that the technology being used in his interrogation is more advanced than Earth technology of the time. They identify themselves as being part of Torchwood and offer Jack a job with them. Jack initially declines the offer learning that they view the Doctor as a threat. He agrees to the assignment after being told that if he doesn't cooperate he will be treated as a threat himself. He takes an initial assignment which is to track down and capture an alien. While they have the alien in a small cell one of the officers pulls out a gun and shoots the alien in the head without any warning. Jack disagrees with this policy and refuses the next assignment they try to give him. Jack goes to a bar when a young female fortune teller comes to his table and offers to read his cards and doesn't listen to Jack's refusal. She tells him that he will not meet the Doctor for another century. He returns to the Torchwood office and opts to join Torchwood for that century. He is still working for Torchwood in 1999, when he comes back to the Hub on New Year's Eve to find that one of the team has murdered the rest out of fear for the future. He has in his hand some locket or pendant, and he claims to have seen the future in it and killed the rest of the team out of a sense of mercy that the immortal Jack cannot benefit from. Based on the vision from the locket, he states that the next century is when everything changes and that Torchwood isn't ready for it. He then commits suicide, leaving Torchwood to Jack as a "reward for a century of service." With the rest of the team dead, Jack will have to recruit a new team. Toshiko's flashback takes place five years ago when she was working for the Ministry of Defence. One night after her boss leaves she immediately breaks into the security room where she obtains secret files for a Sonic Modulator. At home, she begins constructing a mock version, and once complete, takes it to a secret base. She gives it to a woman, one of her mother's captors, in the hope of her mother's release, but in seeing Tosh's potential, they decide to have her work for them. Tosh refuses, and so the captors set off the Sonic Modulator, sending an ear-piercing sound around the room that brings Tosh and her mother to the floor as their blood vessels begin to pulse violently. At that point however, UNIT soldiers break in and arrest both the captors and Toshiko and her mother. Tosh is locked in a plain empty cell and told that she will have no communication with anyone, and they refuse to answer her questions to her mother's whereabouts. After living in solitude for some time, she is visited by Jack. Jack chats to her and states that she'll be imprisoned indefinitely. He recognises, however, Toshiko's talent and high intelligence in building the fully operational device from plans that could not possibly work and offers her a pardon if she takes a job at Torchwood. In Ianto's flashback, he first meets Jack by helping him fight a Weevil. Ianto asks for a job, but is rejected by Jack. The next morning, Ianto gives Jack a coffee outside Torchwood. Jack recalls a large amount of knowledge about Ianto, stating that he researched him after he was able to identify a Weevil. Ianto again asks for a job as his old job was lost when Torchwood One was destroyed. Jack states that he had severed all ties with Torchwood One. That night, Ianto steps in front of the SUV, and once more asks for a job. After Jack threatens to erase his memory, he tells Jack that he is pursuing a pterodactyl. After a long battle, the pair of them capture it, and Jack tells Ianto that he expects to see him at work the following morning. Owen's flashback shows him before he was employed in Torchwood, working as a regular doctor and planning a marriage. His fiancee, Katie, begins to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's Disease and is taken in for a brain scan. The doctors, in fact, state that it is a tumor, and decide to operate. While Owen waits outside, he hears a loud noise in the operating room, and enters to find all of the surgeons dead on the floor. Jack enters, and states that there is an alien parasite residing in his fiancee's brain that gives off a toxic gas when threatened. Jack attempts to take the brain, but Owen protests, and so Jack knocks him out with chloroform. Owen wakes up in a hospital bed, but because Jack has erased all evidence of himself, there was no proof of Owen ever seeing him and telling him about the alien. The doctors come to the conclusion that Owen is traumatised and they prescribe him 3 months of rest. Visiting his fiancee's grave, Owen sees Jack and confronts him for answers, saying that he was right and Jack was not just a figment of his own imagination. Seeing Owen's potential, Jack convinces him to start up at Torchwood as a medic for the team. When the team reunites, they discover that the SUV is missing. Jack receives a holographic message, as pictured, from Captain John Hart, who reveals himself to be behind the bombs and shows Jack an image of his long-lost brother Gray. He then vows to tear Jack's world apart, so Jack would spend time with him. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Blowfish -- Paul KaseyToshiko's Mother -- Noriko AidaAlice Guppy -- Amy MansonEmily Holroyd -- Heather CraneyLittle Girl -- Skye BennettAlex Hopkins[1] -- Julian Lewis JonesBob -- Simon ShackletonSecurity Guard -- Gareth JonesMilton -- Clare CliffordKatie Russell -- Andrea LoweDoctor -- Richard Lloyd-KingNurse -- Catherine MorrisPsychiatrist -- Selva RasalinghamCaptain John Hart -- James Marsters (uncredited)Gray -- Lachlan Nieboer[2] (uncredited) Cast notes Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock. Continuity The tarot card reader girl reappears in this episode. She was last seen in the episode "Dead Man Walking".Toshiko's mother, as played by Noriko Aida, reappears in this episode, having last been seen in "End of Days".Toshiko's "sonic modulator" device based on stolen design plans bears superficial similarities to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and its ear-splitting effect is similar to that produced by holding together two similar sonic devices in Partners in Crime.This is the first time the Doctor has been explicitly named in the series.A blowfish alien, similar to the one seen in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", appears in flashback sequences involving Jack's first mission for the Torchwood Institute.Captain Jack radios orders to an offscreen Suzie Costello in Ianto's flashback, although Ianto's arrival in the scene prevents the character from being given any lines. Suzie was last mentioned in the episode "Dead Man Walking", and last seen upon her resurrection in series one episode "They Keep Killing Suzie".In his flashback, Ianto Jones refers to his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, as having died during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Lisa is seen again as a partly-converted Cyberman in the series one episode "Cyberwoman". Exit Wounds 2.13 - "Exit Wounds" Torchwood episode Gray encounters Jack in the Hub. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Ashley Way Production code 2.13 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 4 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Fragments" -- IMDb profile "Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.[1] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Following the previous episode directly, the Torchwood team goes to sites of rift activity. Gwen goes to the police station where the four most senior officers have been killed by Weevils. Tosh and Ianto head to the central server building to deal with "ghosts" that appeared in the building. The ghosts turn out to be humanoid beings in cloaks holding scythes who look very like the Grim Reaper, but Tosh and Ianto easily end the threat by shooting them. Tosh mentions that the server building houses servers for the military, police, NHS and the nearby nuclear power station. Owen heads to St Helen's Hospital where a Hoix was found chewing on cables and subdues it with a sedative. With the rest of the team away dealing with their respective crises, Jack returns to the Hub alone and encounters John Hart, who after a brief conversation with Jack kills him, then strips him of his weapons and restrains him while he proceeds with his task. John gets the Torchwood members to approach the rooftops of their respective buildings to watch as he sets off 15 major and well placed explosions in Cardiff. The team try to cope with the workload of a crippled city. John, who is watching the mayhem in Cardiff Castle with a captive Jack takes him through the rift to the future site of Cardiff city in the year 27 AD. There John explains that he has not been acting of his own free will and shows Jack that his wristband has been molecularly bonded with his skin (rendering it unremovable) which is equipped with surveillance and remote detonation circuits to ensure his obedience. Before John can explain further he is interrupted by the arrival of Gray, Jack's long lost brother. Jack hugs him tearfully, happy to see him alive, only to have Gray stab him in the chest. When Jack comes to, Gray explains that he was tortured mercilessly for years by the aliens who captured him in his childhood, and that he blames Jack for what he had to endure. Gray taunts Jack saying that his grave will be the foundation of Cardiff and that his blessing of life is his curse. He then forces John to bury Jack alive as punishment for this. Before he begins his task John throws a ring into the grave, claiming that it is of sentimental value. He then proceeds to fill the grave, trapping Jack in a cycle of asphyxiation and revivification. John, now gone free and released from his obligation to Gray, returns to the present to help undo the mess he caused. Gwen encounters him and they call everyone back to the Hub except Owen, who is trying to contain the nuclear power plant meltdown--a result of the explosions John had previously set up. Unbeknownst to them, Gray is lurking in the Hub with them. He eventually traps Gwen, John, and Ianto in Weevil cells, and then shoots Toshiko, leaving her for dead. A loud banging noise is heard by everyone and Gray goes to investigate. The sound leads him to the morgue where a light can be seen coming from one of the compartments. Gray opens the compartment to find Jack waking in a cryochamber. The scene then flashes back to 1901 where Jack is discovered by Torchwood personnel because the ring that John dropped was in fact a beacon and Torchwood had picked up the signal. They dig him out and place him in the cryochamber at the Hub, with a timer set to wake him up in 2008. After incapacitating his brother, Jack frees Gwen, John, and Ianto. While this has been happening, Toshiko had been helping Owen to try to prevent a meltdown; despite her life-threatening injury. After sucessfully averting disaster by venting the flow channels into the room Owen is in, she also sets a time delay so Owen can escape. However, a power spike triggers an emergency lockdown and Owen is trapped. Before long the radioactive material is sent to Owen's location and the scene fades out back to the Hub. Jack discovers Toshiko who dies in his arms. As Ianto registers Owen and Toshiko's deaths on the Hub computer, a pre-programmed pop-up video of Toshiko appears, in which she says goodbye and confesses her love for Owen as well as thanking Jack for freeing her from the UNIT prison and showing her the many possibilities of the universe. The episode and second series closes with the devastated city recovering, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen standing together in the Hub. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydCaptain John Hart -- James MarstersGray -- Lachlan NieboerRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Hoix -- Paul KaseyPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceCowled Leader -- Paul Marc DavisDr Angela Connolly -- Golda RosheuvelNira Docherty -- Syreeta KumarCharles Gaskell -- Cornelius MacarthyAlice Guppy - Amy Manson Cast notes This episode marks the last episode starring Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Burn Gorman as Owen Harper. In the Torchwood: De-Classified that covers this episode, Burn Gorman who plays Owen Harper jokingly remarks that Owen either is truly dead or will transform into the "king of the Weevils". A story at GEOS correctly predicted that Tosh and Owen would leave the series.[2]. It also predicts that Martha Jones would become a Torchwood regular and that Captain Jack's role would be reduced. Continuity A Hoix creature, from the parent series Doctor Who in its 2006 episode "Love and Monsters" appears in this episode. This is the first time it is named onscreen.Owen refers to his status as "King of the Weevils", first mentioned in "Dead Man Walking" and seeded in "Combat".When Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are discussing their early days together, Tosh descibes pretending to be a medic in Owen's second week, to cover for him having a hangover. Owen asks if this was "the space pig", referring to Naoko Mori's appearance as Doctor Sato, a presumed pathologist in the Doctor Who story "Aliens of London".Jack tells Gray "I forgive you", infuriating Gray. The Doctor said this to the Master in similar circumstance in "Last of the Time Lords", and Jack himself spoke the phrase to Owen Harper following his resurrection in "End of Days".In the video played after her death, Toshiko tells Captain Jack "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose Tyler said this to the Doctor facing her death in the Doctor Who episode "Dalek".

  
  

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• TDP 53: Doctor Who 4.01 Partners In Crime

  8 April 2008 (12:00pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds

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  Partners in Crime 4.01 (30.1) Synopsis Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last? Plot Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking Miss Foster what this drug does she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses. Donna goes to a woman named Stacey Campbell's house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called Roger Davey about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going of at 1:30 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called Penny Carter. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find her mother nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He says to Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got Martha with him only he realises that he does not). The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He Spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna. But she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self up to rescue Donna as they get in he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a sonic pen which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna. Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an Inducer which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer ,hidden inside a cupboard, with his Sonic screwdriver. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna asks the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the Nursery Ship to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the Adiposian family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's says, with arrogance that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death, the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space. The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS) the Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her saying that he just wants a mate, she takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streek of nothing. Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a strange girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there', it turns out the girl is Rose Tyler and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She walks off down the street and dissapears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles that way to say goodbye to her Grandad, he cheers her on. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Donna Noble - Catherine Tate Rose Tyler - Billie Piper Miss Foster - Sarah Lancashire Sylvia Noble- Jacqueline King Wilfred Mott- Bernard Cribbins Penny Carter - Verona Joseph Stacey Campbell - Jessica Gunning Roger Davey - Martin Ball Craig Staniland - Rachid Sabitri Claire Pope - Chandra Ruegg Suzette Chambers - Sue Kelvin Taxi driver - Jonathon Stratt The Sinister Miss Foster Production crew 1st Assistant Director - James Blackwell 2nd Assistant Director - Jennie Fava 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Nicola Brown Floor Runners - Andy Newbery, Heddi Joy Taylor Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Darren Lean Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Continuity - Sheila Johnston Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera Operators - Rory Taylor, Julian Barber Focus Puller - Steve Rees Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Grip - John Robinson Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Stunt Performers - Gorden Seed, Jo McLaren Wireman - Bob Schofield Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Set Decorator - Malin Lindholm Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Design Assistants - Al Roberts, Peter McKinstry, Sarah Payne Storyboard Artist - Richard Shaun Williams Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Masters - Paul Aitken, Phil Lyons Dressing Chargehand - Matthew Wild Forward Dresser - Stuart MacKay Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Maker - Nick Robatto, Penny Howarth, Jon Grundon Practical Electrician - Albert James Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Construction Chargehands - Scott Fisher, Allen Jones Construction Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Amy Rogers VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Samantha Hall Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Danny Hargreaves Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Colourist - Mick Vincent 3D Artists - Stephen Regulus, Dave Levy, Serena Cacciato, Matt McKinney 2D Artists - Bryan Bartlett, Simon C Holden, Greg Spencer, Sara Bennett, Tim Barter, James Moxon, Murray Barber, Loraine Cooper VFX Co-ordinators - Jenna Powell, Rebecca Johnson VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer Casting Director - Andy Pryor Cdg Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Costume Designer - Louise Page Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott Music - Murray Gold Visual Effects - The Mill Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton Special Effects - Any Effects Prosthetics - Millenium Fx Editor - Mike Jones Production Designer - Edward Thomas Director Of Photography - Ernie Vincze Bsc Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner References Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the Racnoss children. Donna refers to the Starship Titanic (from Christmas day) saying it must have been a hoax. Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster) has a sonic pen. The Shadow Proclamation are most likely a group or organisation. They were mentioned before in Rose (TV story), The Christmas Invasion and Fear Her. Adipose Industries was a front company created by Matron Cofelia. The Doctor mentions Martha Jones. Donna asks about Rose and meets her at the end of the story although doesn't know who she is. Story notes This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10. A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London, this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her Sonic pen. Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area. Ratings Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers Myths It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false) Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century. Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans. Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps. Continuity Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride. Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer. This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character. The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments. The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.

  
  

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• TDP 52: Torchwood Double 2.12 Fragments AND 2.13 Exit Wounds

  8 April 2008 (8:13am GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds

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  Fragments 2.12 - "Fragments" Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.12 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 21 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Adrift" "Exit Wounds" IMDb profile "Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008. //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot After the team gets signs of an unidentified life form, they (apart from Gwen, who is running late) go to investigate. Searching an abandoned building, the team discover it is a trap and the building is bombed. The resulting explosion causes the team to be trapped under piles of concrete rubble. Gwen and Rhys arrive (Rhys having given Gwen a lift), and as they dig everyone out, the team's lives flash before their eyes revealing how Jack, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko got recruited to Torchwood. In the Victorian era, Jack is picked up by two women - Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd - who have noticed his immortality and his references to the Doctor. They examine him, which includes attempting to kill him. Jack recognizes that the technology being used in his interrogation is more advanced than Earth technology of the time. They identify themselves as being part of Torchwood and offer Jack a job with them. Jack initially declines the offer learning that they view the Doctor as a threat. He agrees to the assignment after being told that if he doesn't cooperate he will be treated as a threat himself. He takes an initial assignment which is to track down and capture an alien. While they have the alien in a small cell one of the officers pulls out a gun and shoots the alien in the head without any warning. Jack disagrees with this policy and refuses the next assignment they try to give him. Jack goes to a bar when a young female fortune teller comes to his table and offers to read his cards and doesn't listen to Jack's refusal. She tells him that he will not meet the Doctor for another century. He returns to the Torchwood office and opts to join Torchwood for that century. He is still working for Torchwood in 1999, when he comes back to the Hub on New Year's Eve to find that one of the team has murdered the rest out of fear for the future. He has in his hand some locket or pendant, and he claims to have seen the future in it and killed the rest of the team out of a sense of mercy that the immortal Jack cannot benefit from. Based on the vision from the locket, he states that the next century is when everything changes and that Torchwood isn't ready for it. He then commits suicide, leaving Torchwood to Jack as a "reward for a century of service." With the rest of the team dead, Jack will have to recruit a new team. Toshiko's flashback takes place five years ago when she was working for the Ministry of Defence. One night after her boss leaves she immediately breaks into the security room where she obtains secret files for a Sonic Modulator. At home, she begins constructing a mock version, and once complete, takes it to a secret base. She gives it to a woman, one of her mother's captors, in the hope of her mother's release, but in seeing Tosh's potential, they decide to have her work for them. Tosh refuses, and so the captors set off the Sonic Modulator, sending an ear-piercing sound around the room that brings Tosh and her mother to the floor as their blood vessels begin to pulse violently. At that point however, UNIT soldiers break in and arrest both the captors and Toshiko and her mother. Tosh is locked in a plain empty cell and told that she will have no communication with anyone, and they refuse to answer her questions to her mother's whereabouts. After living in solitude for some time, she is visited by Jack. Jack chats to her and states that she'll be imprisoned indefinitely. He recognises, however, Toshiko's talent and high intelligence in building the fully operational device from plans that could not possibly work and offers her a pardon if she takes a job at Torchwood. In Ianto's flashback, he first meets Jack by helping him fight a Weevil. Ianto asks for a job, but is rejected by Jack. The next morning, Ianto gives Jack a coffee outside Torchwood. Jack recalls a large amount of knowledge about Ianto, stating that he researched him after he was able to identify a Weevil. Ianto again asks for a job as his old job was lost when Torchwood One was destroyed. Jack states that he had severed all ties with Torchwood One. That night, Ianto steps in front of the SUV, and once more asks for a job. After Jack threatens to erase his memory, he tells Jack that he is pursuing a pterodactyl. After a long battle, the pair of them capture it, and Jack tells Ianto that he expects to see him at work the following morning. Owen's flashback shows him before he was employed in Torchwood, working as a regular doctor and planning a marriage. His fiancee, Katie, begins to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's Disease and is taken in for a brain scan. The doctors, in fact, state that it is a tumor, and decide to operate. While Owen waits outside, he hears a loud noise in the operating room, and enters to find all of the surgeons dead on the floor. Jack enters, and states that there is an alien parasite residing in his fiancee's brain that gives off a toxic gas when threatened. Jack attempts to take the brain, but Owen protests, and so Jack knocks him out with chloroform. Owen wakes up in a hospital bed, but because Jack has erased all evidence of himself, there was no proof of Owen ever seeing him and telling him about the alien. The doctors come to the conclusion that Owen is traumatised and they prescribe him 3 months of rest. Visiting his fiancee's grave, Owen sees Jack and confronts him for answers, saying that he was right and Jack was not just a figment of his own imagination. Seeing Owen's potential, Jack convinces him to start up at Torchwood as a medic for the team. When the team reunites, they discover that the SUV is missing. Jack receives a holographic message, as pictured, from Captain John Hart, who reveals himself to be behind the bombs and shows Jack an image of his long-lost brother Gray. He then vows to tear Jack's world apart, so Jack would spend time with him. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Blowfish -- Paul KaseyToshiko's Mother -- Noriko AidaAlice Guppy -- Amy MansonEmily Holroyd -- Heather CraneyLittle Girl -- Skye BennettAlex Hopkins[1] -- Julian Lewis JonesBob -- Simon ShackletonSecurity Guard -- Gareth JonesMilton -- Clare CliffordKatie Russell -- Andrea LoweDoctor -- Richard Lloyd-KingNurse -- Catherine MorrisPsychiatrist -- Selva RasalinghamCaptain John Hart -- James Marsters (uncredited)Gray -- Lachlan Nieboer[2] (uncredited) Cast notes Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock. Continuity The tarot card reader girl reappears in this episode. She was last seen in the episode "Dead Man Walking".Toshiko's mother, as played by Noriko Aida, reappears in this episode, having last been seen in "End of Days".Toshiko's "sonic modulator" device based on stolen design plans bears superficial similarities to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and its ear-splitting effect is similar to that produced by holding together two similar sonic devices in Partners in Crime.This is the first time the Doctor has been explicitly named in the series.A blowfish alien, similar to the one seen in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", appears in flashback sequences involving Jack's first mission for the Torchwood Institute.Captain Jack radios orders to an offscreen Suzie Costello in Ianto's flashback, although Ianto's arrival in the scene prevents the character from being given any lines. Suzie was last mentioned in the episode "Dead Man Walking", and last seen upon her resurrection in series one episode "They Keep Killing Suzie".In his flashback, Ianto Jones refers to his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, as having died during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Lisa is seen again as a partly-converted Cyberman in the series one episode "Cyberwoman". Exit Wounds 2.13 - "Exit Wounds" Torchwood episode Gray encounters Jack in the Hub. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Ashley Way Production code 2.13 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 4 April 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Fragments" -- IMDb profile "Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.[1] //&lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &quot;show&quot;; var tocHideText = &quot;hide&quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&gt; Plot Following the previous episode directly, the Torchwood team goes to sites of rift activity. Gwen goes to the police station where the four most senior officers have been killed by Weevils. Tosh and Ianto head to the central server building to deal with "ghosts" that appeared in the building. The ghosts turn out to be humanoid beings in cloaks holding scythes who look very like the Grim Reaper, but Tosh and Ianto easily end the threat by shooting them. Tosh mentions that the server building houses servers for the military, police, NHS and the nearby nuclear power station. Owen heads to St Helen's Hospital where a Hoix was found chewing on cables and subdues it with a sedative. With the rest of the team away dealing with their respective crises, Jack returns to the Hub alone and encounters John Hart, who after a brief conversation with Jack kills him, then strips him of his weapons and restrains him while he proceeds with his task. John gets the Torchwood members to approach the rooftops of their respective buildings to watch as he sets off 15 major and well placed explosions in Cardiff. The team try to cope with the workload of a crippled city. John, who is watching the mayhem in Cardiff Castle with a captive Jack takes him through the rift to the future site of Cardiff city in the year 27 AD. There John explains that he has not been acting of his own free will and shows Jack that his wristband has been molecularly bonded with his skin (rendering it unremovable) which is equipped with surveillance and remote detonation circuits to ensure his obedience. Before John can explain further he is interrupted by the arrival of Gray, Jack's long lost brother. Jack hugs him tearfully, happy to see him alive, only to have Gray stab him in the chest. When Jack comes to, Gray explains that he was tortured mercilessly for years by the aliens who captured him in his childhood, and that he blames Jack for what he had to endure. Gray taunts Jack saying that his grave will be the foundation of Cardiff and that his blessing of life is his curse. He then forces John to bury Jack alive as punishment for this. Before he begins his task John throws a ring into the grave, claiming that it is of sentimental value. He then proceeds to fill the grave, trapping Jack in a cycle of asphyxiation and revivification. John, now gone free and released from his obligation to Gray, returns to the present to help undo the mess he caused. Gwen encounters him and they call everyone back to the Hub except Owen, who is trying to contain the nuclear power plant meltdown--a result of the explosions John had previously set up. Unbeknownst to them, Gray is lurking in the Hub with them. He eventually traps Gwen, John, and Ianto in Weevil cells, and then shoots Toshiko, leaving her for dead. A loud banging noise is heard by everyone and Gray goes to investigate. The sound leads him to the morgue where a light can be seen coming from one of the compartments. Gray opens the compartment to find Jack waking in a cryochamber. The scene then flashes back to 1901 where Jack is discovered by Torchwood personnel because the ring that John dropped was in fact a beacon and Torchwood had picked up the signal. They dig him out and place him in the cryochamber at the Hub, with a timer set to wake him up in 2008. After incapacitating his brother, Jack frees Gwen, John, and Ianto. While this has been happening, Toshiko had been helping Owen to try to prevent a meltdown; despite her life-threatening injury. After sucessfully averting disaster by venting the flow channels into the room Owen is in, she also sets a time delay so Owen can escape. However, a power spike triggers an emergency lockdown and Owen is trapped. Before long the radioactive material is sent to Owen's location and the scene fades out back to the Hub. Jack discovers Toshiko who dies in his arms. As Ianto registers Owen and Toshiko's deaths on the Hub computer, a pre-programmed pop-up video of Toshiko appears, in which she says goodbye and confesses her love for Owen as well as thanking Jack for freeing her from the UNIT prison and showing her the many possibilities of the universe. The episode and second series closes with the devastated city recovering, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen standing together in the Hub. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydCaptain John Hart -- James MarstersGray -- Lachlan NieboerRhys Williams -- Kai OwenWeevil / Hoix -- Paul KaseyPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceCowled Leader -- Paul Marc DavisDr Angela Connolly -- Golda RosheuvelNira Docherty -- Syreeta KumarCharles Gaskell -- Cornelius MacarthyAlice Guppy - Amy Manson Cast notes This episode marks the last episode starring Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Burn Gorman as Owen Harper. In the Torchwood: De-Classified that covers this episode, Burn Gorman who plays Owen Harper jokingly remarks that Owen either is truly dead or will transform into the "king of the Weevils". A story at GEOS correctly predicted that Tosh and Owen would leave the series.[2]. It also predicts that Martha Jones would become a Torchwood regular and that Captain Jack's role would be reduced. Continuity A Hoix creature, from the parent series Doctor Who in its 2006 episode "Love and Monsters" appears in this episode. This is the first time it is named onscreen.Owen refers to his status as "King of the Weevils", first mentioned in "Dead Man Walking" and seeded in "Combat".When Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are discussing their early days together, Tosh descibes pretending to be a medic in Owen's second week, to cover for him having a hangover. Owen asks if this was "the space pig", referring to Naoko Mori's appearance as Doctor Sato, a presumed pathologist in the Doctor Who story "Aliens of London".Jack tells Gray "I forgive you", infuriating Gray. The Doctor said this to the Master in similar circumstance in "Last of the Time Lords", and Jack himself spoke the phrase to Owen Harper following his resurrection in "End of Days".In the video played after her death, Toshiko tells Captain Jack "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Rose Tyler said this to the Doctor facing her death in the Doctor Who episode "Dalek".

  
  

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• TDP 51: The Black Orchid

  3 April 2008 (1:28pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 53 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 - Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast March 1-March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor -- featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS -- since The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa, is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June 11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station, the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station, they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well. Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is exactly like his fiancee in appearance. They discuss cricket, the Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a "Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks "Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir, the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor, saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to "the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancee, and she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the "hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink, the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh, a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance. Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only difference between them is that she has a mole on her left shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge -- now nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor, examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse. Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin lurches over her prostrate body... The Doctor returns to the secret room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who she introduces as Latoni -- an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her, drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl. Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof. The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid. Cast * The Doctor -- Peter Davison * Adric -- Matthew Waterhouse * Nyssa / Ann Talbot -- Sarah Sutton * Tegan -- Janet Fielding * Lord Cranleigh -- Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh -- Barbara Murray * The Unknown / George Cranleigh -- Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir -- Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham -- Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings -- Andrew Tourell * Latoni -- Ahmed Khalil * Brewster -- Brian Hawksley * Tanner -- Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane, who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise, Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity * The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment (1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in the present day. Production * The working title for this story was The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era - Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming locations * 4 Deleted scenes * an Easter Egg * a Blue Peter item * Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor * Poinst of View * a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time DVD.

  
  

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• TDP 51: The Black Orchid

  3 April 2008 (1:28pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 53 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 - Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast March 1-March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor -- featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS -- since The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa, is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June 11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station, the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station, they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well. Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is exactly like his fiancee in appearance. They discuss cricket, the Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a "Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks "Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir, the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor, saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to "the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancee, and she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the "hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink, the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh, a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance. Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only difference between them is that she has a mole on her left shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge -- now nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor, examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse. Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin lurches over her prostrate body... The Doctor returns to the secret room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who she introduces as Latoni -- an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her, drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl. Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof. The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid. Cast * The Doctor -- Peter Davison * Adric -- Matthew Waterhouse * Nyssa / Ann Talbot -- Sarah Sutton * Tegan -- Janet Fielding * Lord Cranleigh -- Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh -- Barbara Murray * The Unknown / George Cranleigh -- Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir -- Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham -- Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings -- Andrew Tourell * Latoni -- Ahmed Khalil * Brewster -- Brian Hawksley * Tanner -- Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane, who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise, Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity * The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment (1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in the present day. Production * The working title for this story was The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era - Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming locations * 4 Deleted scenes * an Easter Egg * a Blue Peter item * Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor * Poinst of View * a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time DVD.

  
  

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• TDP 51: The Black Orchid

  3 April 2008 (1:28pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 53 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 - Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast March 1-March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor -- featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS -- since The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa, is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June 11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station, the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station, they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well. Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is exactly like his fiancee in appearance. They discuss cricket, the Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a "Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks "Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir, the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor, saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to "the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancee, and she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the "hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink, the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh, a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance. Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only difference between them is that she has a mole on her left shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge -- now nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor, examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse. Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin lurches over her prostrate body... The Doctor returns to the secret room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who she introduces as Latoni -- an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her, drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl. Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof. The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid. Cast * The Doctor -- Peter Davison * Adric -- Matthew Waterhouse * Nyssa / Ann Talbot -- Sarah Sutton * Tegan -- Janet Fielding * Lord Cranleigh -- Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh -- Barbara Murray * The Unknown / George Cranleigh -- Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir -- Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham -- Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings -- Andrew Tourell * Latoni -- Ahmed Khalil * Brewster -- Brian Hawksley * Tanner -- Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane, who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise, Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity * The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment (1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in the present day. Production * The working title for this story was The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era - Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming locations * 4 Deleted scenes * an Easter Egg * a Blue Peter item * Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor * Poinst of View * a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time DVD.

  
  

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• TDP 51: The Black Orchid

  3 April 2008 (1:28pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 53 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 - Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast March 1-March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor -- featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS -- since The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa, is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June 11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station, the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station, they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well. Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is exactly like his fiancee in appearance. They discuss cricket, the Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a "Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks "Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir, the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor, saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to "the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancee, and she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the "hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink, the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh, a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance. Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only difference between them is that she has a mole on her left shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge -- now nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor, examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse. Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin lurches over her prostrate body... The Doctor returns to the secret room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who she introduces as Latoni -- an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her, drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl. Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof. The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid. Cast * The Doctor -- Peter Davison * Adric -- Matthew Waterhouse * Nyssa / Ann Talbot -- Sarah Sutton * Tegan -- Janet Fielding * Lord Cranleigh -- Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh -- Barbara Murray * The Unknown / George Cranleigh -- Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir -- Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham -- Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings -- Andrew Tourell * Latoni -- Ahmed Khalil * Brewster -- Brian Hawksley * Tanner -- Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane, who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise, Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity * The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment (1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in the present day. Production * The working title for this story was The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era - Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming locations * 4 Deleted scenes * an Easter Egg * a Blue Peter item * Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor * Poinst of View * a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time DVD.

  
  

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• TDP 51: The Black Orchid

  3 April 2008 (1:28pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 53 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 - Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally broadcast March 1-March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor -- featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS -- since The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa, is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June 11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station, the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station, they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well. Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is exactly like his fiancee in appearance. They discuss cricket, the Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a "Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks "Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir, the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor, saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to "the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancee, and she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the "hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink, the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh, a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance. Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only difference between them is that she has a mole on her left shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge -- now nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor, examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse. Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin lurches over her prostrate body... The Doctor returns to the secret room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who she introduces as Latoni -- an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her, drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl. Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof. The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid. Cast * The Doctor -- Peter Davison * Adric -- Matthew Waterhouse * Nyssa / Ann Talbot -- Sarah Sutton * Tegan -- Janet Fielding * Lord Cranleigh -- Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh -- Barbara Murray * The Unknown / George Cranleigh -- Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir -- Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham -- Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings -- Andrew Tourell * Latoni -- Ahmed Khalil * Brewster -- Brian Hawksley * Tanner -- Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane, who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise, Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity * The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment (1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in the present day. Production * The working title for this story was The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era - Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming locations * 4 Deleted scenes * an Easter Egg * a Blue Peter item * Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor * Poinst of View * a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time DVD.

  
  

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• TDP 50: Torchwood Double 2.10 From out of the Rain and 2.11 Adrift

  28 March 2008 (5:52pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  From out of the RainSynopsis After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white film are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape it. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff. They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begins research on these old travelling companies. Jack used to be a member of one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who perform only during night, and the mythology surrounding them, saying that 'young children were told to hold their breath while the travelling show passed by'. The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all the phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts for ever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most of the human souls are lost in the air, so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except for a child. The silver flask ends up being stored by Jack in his safe at Torchwood. Though the threat of the Night Travellers has been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and, back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydGhostmaker - Julian BleachPearl - Camilla PowerJonathan Penn - Craig GallivanDavid Penn - Stephen MarzellaFaith Penn - Hazel Wyn WilliamsNettie Williams - Lowri Sian JonesChristina - Eileen EssellRestaurant Owner - Anwen CarlisleSenior Nurse - Yasmin WildeA&E Nurse - Caroline SheenYoung Dad - Alastair SillYoung Mum - Catherine Olding Cast and credits notes The episodic title credits were missing in the BBC HD broadcast of this episode.Gerard Carey received a closing credit as Greg, a character from the earlier episode, "Meat". Neither the actor nor his character appeared in this episode. 2.10 - "From Out of the Rain" Torchwood episode One of the Night Travelers steps out of the film, into reality. Production Writer Peter J. Hammond Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.10 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 12 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Something Borrowed" "Adrift" IMDb profile AdriftSynopsis Jonah Bevan is walking home when a bright light appears over him. One second later he is gone. Seven months later, at the instigation of PC Andy Davidson, Gwen is investigating the disappearance of Jonah. Her research reveals there are more cases that resemble Jonah's disappearance. Toshiko discovers that these disappearances happen during a negative spike in the rift activity, which were previously discarded as background noise. Gwen is able to compile a list of all missing persons and informs Jack. However, Jack tells Gwen that nothing can be done and instructs her to stop the investigation, which she refuses. The investigation slowly turns into an obsession and takes a toll on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. When Ianto secretly gives Gwen a GPS device with a stored hidden location, Gwen finds a facility on Flat Holm. It harbours 17 of the missing people that the rift took and subsequently brought back, including Jonah, the boy she has been looking for. However, he has aged 40 years and is very deformed. Gwen also finds Jack there, and she demands access to Jonah. Jonah tells how he was stuck on a "burning planet" and how he was taken into a building that was actually a rescue craft, from which he witnessed the burning of a solar system. Afterwards, Jack reveals that he set up the facility when he first took command of Torchwood, in order to care for the victims of the rift, who had previously been locked away in the vaults. Gwen brings Nikki, Jonah's mother, in to see him. At first she is horrified, believing it to be a cruel joke, but Jonah starts telling her things that only he would know. Nikki calms and they hug for a moment, but one of the staff tells Nikki to get away from him. She resists and says that she can take care of him. However Jonah starts screaming, a scream so horrible that everyone flees. In a voiceover, Gwen reveals that he screams like that for 20 hours a day because he looked into the heart of a Dark Star, which drove him insane. A week later, Gwen goes to see Nikki, who implores her not to show the island to anyone else. Gwen takes down her notes over the missing and Nikki packs up Jonah's room. At home that night, Gwen prepares a romantic candle-lit dinner for Rhys, who lets her cry into his chest. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceNikki Bevan -- Ruth JonesJonah Bevan -- Robert PughYoung Jonah -- Oliver FerrimanHelen -- Lorna Gayle Outside references When Andy is showing Gwen the security camera photos from the night Jonah went missing, he refers to Jack as 'Mulder', from The X-Files.During the first meeting for the missing persons support group, PC Andy quotes the line "If you build it, they will come", from the film Field of Dreams.The prophet Jonah was swallowed and later regurgitated by a large fish; this episode's Jonah is taken and returned by the Rift.When Nikki clears the shelves of video tapes, several book titles are visible including Snap Happy by Fiona Walker, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and A Grand Affair by Charlotte Bingham. 2.11 - "Adrift" Torchwood episode Gwen has compiled a list of all people that have disappeared during a negative rift spike. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Mark Everest Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.11 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 19 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "From out of the Rain" "Fragments" IMDb profile

  
  

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• TDP 50: Torchwood Double 2.10 From out of the Rain and 2.11 Adrift

  28 March 2008 (5:52pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  From out of the RainSynopsis After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white film are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape it. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff. They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begins research on these old travelling companies. Jack used to be a member of one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who perform only during night, and the mythology surrounding them, saying that 'young children were told to hold their breath while the travelling show passed by'. The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all the phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts for ever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most of the human souls are lost in the air, so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except for a child. The silver flask ends up being stored by Jack in his safe at Torchwood. Though the threat of the Night Travellers has been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and, back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydGhostmaker - Julian BleachPearl - Camilla PowerJonathan Penn - Craig GallivanDavid Penn - Stephen MarzellaFaith Penn - Hazel Wyn WilliamsNettie Williams - Lowri Sian JonesChristina - Eileen EssellRestaurant Owner - Anwen CarlisleSenior Nurse - Yasmin WildeA&E Nurse - Caroline SheenYoung Dad - Alastair SillYoung Mum - Catherine Olding Cast and credits notes The episodic title credits were missing in the BBC HD broadcast of this episode.Gerard Carey received a closing credit as Greg, a character from the earlier episode, "Meat". Neither the actor nor his character appeared in this episode. 2.10 - "From Out of the Rain" Torchwood episode One of the Night Travelers steps out of the film, into reality. Production Writer Peter J. Hammond Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.10 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 12 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Something Borrowed" "Adrift" IMDb profile AdriftSynopsis Jonah Bevan is walking home when a bright light appears over him. One second later he is gone. Seven months later, at the instigation of PC Andy Davidson, Gwen is investigating the disappearance of Jonah. Her research reveals there are more cases that resemble Jonah's disappearance. Toshiko discovers that these disappearances happen during a negative spike in the rift activity, which were previously discarded as background noise. Gwen is able to compile a list of all missing persons and informs Jack. However, Jack tells Gwen that nothing can be done and instructs her to stop the investigation, which she refuses. The investigation slowly turns into an obsession and takes a toll on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. When Ianto secretly gives Gwen a GPS device with a stored hidden location, Gwen finds a facility on Flat Holm. It harbours 17 of the missing people that the rift took and subsequently brought back, including Jonah, the boy she has been looking for. However, he has aged 40 years and is very deformed. Gwen also finds Jack there, and she demands access to Jonah. Jonah tells how he was stuck on a "burning planet" and how he was taken into a building that was actually a rescue craft, from which he witnessed the burning of a solar system. Afterwards, Jack reveals that he set up the facility when he first took command of Torchwood, in order to care for the victims of the rift, who had previously been locked away in the vaults. Gwen brings Nikki, Jonah's mother, in to see him. At first she is horrified, believing it to be a cruel joke, but Jonah starts telling her things that only he would know. Nikki calms and they hug for a moment, but one of the staff tells Nikki to get away from him. She resists and says that she can take care of him. However Jonah starts screaming, a scream so horrible that everyone flees. In a voiceover, Gwen reveals that he screams like that for 20 hours a day because he looked into the heart of a Dark Star, which drove him insane. A week later, Gwen goes to see Nikki, who implores her not to show the island to anyone else. Gwen takes down her notes over the missing and Nikki packs up Jonah's room. At home that night, Gwen prepares a romantic candle-lit dinner for Rhys, who lets her cry into his chest. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceNikki Bevan -- Ruth JonesJonah Bevan -- Robert PughYoung Jonah -- Oliver FerrimanHelen -- Lorna Gayle Outside references When Andy is showing Gwen the security camera photos from the night Jonah went missing, he refers to Jack as 'Mulder', from The X-Files.During the first meeting for the missing persons support group, PC Andy quotes the line "If you build it, they will come", from the film Field of Dreams.The prophet Jonah was swallowed and later regurgitated by a large fish; this episode's Jonah is taken and returned by the Rift.When Nikki clears the shelves of video tapes, several book titles are visible including Snap Happy by Fiona Walker, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and A Grand Affair by Charlotte Bingham. 2.11 - "Adrift" Torchwood episode Gwen has compiled a list of all people that have disappeared during a negative rift spike. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Mark Everest Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.11 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 19 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "From out of the Rain" "Fragments" IMDb profile

  
  

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• TDP 50: Torchwood Double 2.10 From out of the Rain and 2.11 Adrift

  28 March 2008 (5:52pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  From out of the RainSynopsis After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white film are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape it. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff. They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begins research on these old travelling companies. Jack used to be a member of one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who perform only during night, and the mythology surrounding them, saying that 'young children were told to hold their breath while the travelling show passed by'. The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all the phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts for ever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most of the human souls are lost in the air, so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except for a child. The silver flask ends up being stored by Jack in his safe at Torchwood. Though the threat of the Night Travellers has been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and, back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydGhostmaker - Julian BleachPearl - Camilla PowerJonathan Penn - Craig GallivanDavid Penn - Stephen MarzellaFaith Penn - Hazel Wyn WilliamsNettie Williams - Lowri Sian JonesChristina - Eileen EssellRestaurant Owner - Anwen CarlisleSenior Nurse - Yasmin WildeA&E Nurse - Caroline SheenYoung Dad - Alastair SillYoung Mum - Catherine Olding Cast and credits notes The episodic title credits were missing in the BBC HD broadcast of this episode.Gerard Carey received a closing credit as Greg, a character from the earlier episode, "Meat". Neither the actor nor his character appeared in this episode. 2.10 - "From Out of the Rain" Torchwood episode One of the Night Travelers steps out of the film, into reality. Production Writer Peter J. Hammond Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.10 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 12 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Something Borrowed" "Adrift" IMDb profile AdriftSynopsis Jonah Bevan is walking home when a bright light appears over him. One second later he is gone. Seven months later, at the instigation of PC Andy Davidson, Gwen is investigating the disappearance of Jonah. Her research reveals there are more cases that resemble Jonah's disappearance. Toshiko discovers that these disappearances happen during a negative spike in the rift activity, which were previously discarded as background noise. Gwen is able to compile a list of all missing persons and informs Jack. However, Jack tells Gwen that nothing can be done and instructs her to stop the investigation, which she refuses. The investigation slowly turns into an obsession and takes a toll on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. When Ianto secretly gives Gwen a GPS device with a stored hidden location, Gwen finds a facility on Flat Holm. It harbours 17 of the missing people that the rift took and subsequently brought back, including Jonah, the boy she has been looking for. However, he has aged 40 years and is very deformed. Gwen also finds Jack there, and she demands access to Jonah. Jonah tells how he was stuck on a "burning planet" and how he was taken into a building that was actually a rescue craft, from which he witnessed the burning of a solar system. Afterwards, Jack reveals that he set up the facility when he first took command of Torchwood, in order to care for the victims of the rift, who had previously been locked away in the vaults. Gwen brings Nikki, Jonah's mother, in to see him. At first she is horrified, believing it to be a cruel joke, but Jonah starts telling her things that only he would know. Nikki calms and they hug for a moment, but one of the staff tells Nikki to get away from him. She resists and says that she can take care of him. However Jonah starts screaming, a scream so horrible that everyone flees. In a voiceover, Gwen reveals that he screams like that for 20 hours a day because he looked into the heart of a Dark Star, which drove him insane. A week later, Gwen goes to see Nikki, who implores her not to show the island to anyone else. Gwen takes down her notes over the missing and Nikki packs up Jonah's room. At home that night, Gwen prepares a romantic candle-lit dinner for Rhys, who lets her cry into his chest. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceNikki Bevan -- Ruth JonesJonah Bevan -- Robert PughYoung Jonah -- Oliver FerrimanHelen -- Lorna Gayle Outside references When Andy is showing Gwen the security camera photos from the night Jonah went missing, he refers to Jack as 'Mulder', from The X-Files.During the first meeting for the missing persons support group, PC Andy quotes the line "If you build it, they will come", from the film Field of Dreams.The prophet Jonah was swallowed and later regurgitated by a large fish; this episode's Jonah is taken and returned by the Rift.When Nikki clears the shelves of video tapes, several book titles are visible including Snap Happy by Fiona Walker, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and A Grand Affair by Charlotte Bingham. 2.11 - "Adrift" Torchwood episode Gwen has compiled a list of all people that have disappeared during a negative rift spike. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Mark Everest Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.11 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 19 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "From out of the Rain" "Fragments" IMDb profile

  
  

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• TDP 50: Torchwood Double 2.10 From out of the Rain and 2.11 Adrift

  28 March 2008 (5:52pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  From out of the RainSynopsis After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white film are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape it. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff. They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begins research on these old travelling companies. Jack used to be a member of one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who perform only during night, and the mythology surrounding them, saying that 'young children were told to hold their breath while the travelling show passed by'. The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all the phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts for ever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most of the human souls are lost in the air, so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except for a child. The silver flask ends up being stored by Jack in his safe at Torchwood. Though the threat of the Night Travellers has been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and, back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydGhostmaker - Julian BleachPearl - Camilla PowerJonathan Penn - Craig GallivanDavid Penn - Stephen MarzellaFaith Penn - Hazel Wyn WilliamsNettie Williams - Lowri Sian JonesChristina - Eileen EssellRestaurant Owner - Anwen CarlisleSenior Nurse - Yasmin WildeA&E Nurse - Caroline SheenYoung Dad - Alastair SillYoung Mum - Catherine Olding Cast and credits notes The episodic title credits were missing in the BBC HD broadcast of this episode.Gerard Carey received a closing credit as Greg, a character from the earlier episode, "Meat". Neither the actor nor his character appeared in this episode. 2.10 - "From Out of the Rain" Torchwood episode One of the Night Travelers steps out of the film, into reality. Production Writer Peter J. Hammond Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.10 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 12 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Something Borrowed" "Adrift" IMDb profile AdriftSynopsis Jonah Bevan is walking home when a bright light appears over him. One second later he is gone. Seven months later, at the instigation of PC Andy Davidson, Gwen is investigating the disappearance of Jonah. Her research reveals there are more cases that resemble Jonah's disappearance. Toshiko discovers that these disappearances happen during a negative spike in the rift activity, which were previously discarded as background noise. Gwen is able to compile a list of all missing persons and informs Jack. However, Jack tells Gwen that nothing can be done and instructs her to stop the investigation, which she refuses. The investigation slowly turns into an obsession and takes a toll on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. When Ianto secretly gives Gwen a GPS device with a stored hidden location, Gwen finds a facility on Flat Holm. It harbours 17 of the missing people that the rift took and subsequently brought back, including Jonah, the boy she has been looking for. However, he has aged 40 years and is very deformed. Gwen also finds Jack there, and she demands access to Jonah. Jonah tells how he was stuck on a "burning planet" and how he was taken into a building that was actually a rescue craft, from which he witnessed the burning of a solar system. Afterwards, Jack reveals that he set up the facility when he first took command of Torchwood, in order to care for the victims of the rift, who had previously been locked away in the vaults. Gwen brings Nikki, Jonah's mother, in to see him. At first she is horrified, believing it to be a cruel joke, but Jonah starts telling her things that only he would know. Nikki calms and they hug for a moment, but one of the staff tells Nikki to get away from him. She resists and says that she can take care of him. However Jonah starts screaming, a scream so horrible that everyone flees. In a voiceover, Gwen reveals that he screams like that for 20 hours a day because he looked into the heart of a Dark Star, which drove him insane. A week later, Gwen goes to see Nikki, who implores her not to show the island to anyone else. Gwen takes down her notes over the missing and Nikki packs up Jonah's room. At home that night, Gwen prepares a romantic candle-lit dinner for Rhys, who lets her cry into his chest. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceNikki Bevan -- Ruth JonesJonah Bevan -- Robert PughYoung Jonah -- Oliver FerrimanHelen -- Lorna Gayle Outside references When Andy is showing Gwen the security camera photos from the night Jonah went missing, he refers to Jack as 'Mulder', from The X-Files.During the first meeting for the missing persons support group, PC Andy quotes the line "If you build it, they will come", from the film Field of Dreams.The prophet Jonah was swallowed and later regurgitated by a large fish; this episode's Jonah is taken and returned by the Rift.When Nikki clears the shelves of video tapes, several book titles are visible including Snap Happy by Fiona Walker, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and A Grand Affair by Charlotte Bingham. 2.11 - "Adrift" Torchwood episode Gwen has compiled a list of all people that have disappeared during a negative rift spike. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Mark Everest Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.11 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 19 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "From out of the Rain" "Fragments" IMDb profile

  
  

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• TDP 50: Torchwood Double 2.10 From out of the Rain and 2.11 Adrift

  28 March 2008 (5:52pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  From out of the RainSynopsis After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white film are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape it. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff. They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begins research on these old travelling companies. Jack used to be a member of one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who perform only during night, and the mythology surrounding them, saying that 'young children were told to hold their breath while the travelling show passed by'. The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all the phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts for ever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most of the human souls are lost in the air, so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except for a child. The silver flask ends up being stored by Jack in his safe at Torchwood. Though the threat of the Night Travellers has been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and, back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydGhostmaker - Julian BleachPearl - Camilla PowerJonathan Penn - Craig GallivanDavid Penn - Stephen MarzellaFaith Penn - Hazel Wyn WilliamsNettie Williams - Lowri Sian JonesChristina - Eileen EssellRestaurant Owner - Anwen CarlisleSenior Nurse - Yasmin WildeA&E Nurse - Caroline SheenYoung Dad - Alastair SillYoung Mum - Catherine Olding Cast and credits notes The episodic title credits were missing in the BBC HD broadcast of this episode.Gerard Carey received a closing credit as Greg, a character from the earlier episode, "Meat". Neither the actor nor his character appeared in this episode. 2.10 - "From Out of the Rain" Torchwood episode One of the Night Travelers steps out of the film, into reality. Production Writer Peter J. Hammond Director Jonathan Fox Bassett Script editor Brian Minchin Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.10 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 12 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Something Borrowed" "Adrift" IMDb profile AdriftSynopsis Jonah Bevan is walking home when a bright light appears over him. One second later he is gone. Seven months later, at the instigation of PC Andy Davidson, Gwen is investigating the disappearance of Jonah. Her research reveals there are more cases that resemble Jonah's disappearance. Toshiko discovers that these disappearances happen during a negative spike in the rift activity, which were previously discarded as background noise. Gwen is able to compile a list of all missing persons and informs Jack. However, Jack tells Gwen that nothing can be done and instructs her to stop the investigation, which she refuses. The investigation slowly turns into an obsession and takes a toll on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. When Ianto secretly gives Gwen a GPS device with a stored hidden location, Gwen finds a facility on Flat Holm. It harbours 17 of the missing people that the rift took and subsequently brought back, including Jonah, the boy she has been looking for. However, he has aged 40 years and is very deformed. Gwen also finds Jack there, and she demands access to Jonah. Jonah tells how he was stuck on a "burning planet" and how he was taken into a building that was actually a rescue craft, from which he witnessed the burning of a solar system. Afterwards, Jack reveals that he set up the facility when he first took command of Torchwood, in order to care for the victims of the rift, who had previously been locked away in the vaults. Gwen brings Nikki, Jonah's mother, in to see him. At first she is horrified, believing it to be a cruel joke, but Jonah starts telling her things that only he would know. Nikki calms and they hug for a moment, but one of the staff tells Nikki to get away from him. She resists and says that she can take care of him. However Jonah starts screaming, a scream so horrible that everyone flees. In a voiceover, Gwen reveals that he screams like that for 20 hours a day because he looked into the heart of a Dark Star, which drove him insane. A week later, Gwen goes to see Nikki, who implores her not to show the island to anyone else. Gwen takes down her notes over the missing and Nikki packs up Jonah's room. At home that night, Gwen prepares a romantic candle-lit dinner for Rhys, who lets her cry into his chest. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenPC Andy Davidson -- Tom PriceNikki Bevan -- Ruth JonesJonah Bevan -- Robert PughYoung Jonah -- Oliver FerrimanHelen -- Lorna Gayle Outside references When Andy is showing Gwen the security camera photos from the night Jonah went missing, he refers to Jack as 'Mulder', from The X-Files.During the first meeting for the missing persons support group, PC Andy quotes the line "If you build it, they will come", from the film Field of Dreams.The prophet Jonah was swallowed and later regurgitated by a large fish; this episode's Jonah is taken and returned by the Rift.When Nikki clears the shelves of video tapes, several book titles are visible including Snap Happy by Fiona Walker, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and A Grand Affair by Charlotte Bingham. 2.11 - "Adrift" Torchwood episode Gwen has compiled a list of all people that have disappeared during a negative rift spike. Production Writer Chris Chibnall Director Mark Everest Script editor Lindsey Alford Producer Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.11 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast 19 March 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "From out of the Rain" "Fragments" IMDb profile

  
  

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• Date and Time for Season 4 (Ok its really season 30 old school time...)

  27 March 2008 (5:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Date And Time Series Four premiere details confirmed. We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One. Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet! As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.10pm on BBC Three. Partners In Crime will be repeated on Sunday 06 April at 8pm on BBC Three. Doctor Who Confidential follows at 8.45pm. As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.

  
  

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• Date and Time for Season 4 (Ok its really season 30 old school time...)

  27 March 2008 (5:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Date And Time Series Four premiere details confirmed. We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One. Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet! As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.10pm on BBC Three. Partners In Crime will be repeated on Sunday 06 April at 8pm on BBC Three. Doctor Who Confidential follows at 8.45pm. As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.

  
  

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• Date and Time for Season 4 (Ok its really season 30 old school time...)

  27 March 2008 (5:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Date And Time Series Four premiere details confirmed. We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One. Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet! As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.10pm on BBC Three. Partners In Crime will be repeated on Sunday 06 April at 8pm on BBC Three. Doctor Who Confidential follows at 8.45pm. As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.

  
  

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• Date and Time for Season 4 (Ok its really season 30 old school time...)

  27 March 2008 (5:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Date And Time Series Four premiere details confirmed. We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One. Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet! As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.10pm on BBC Three. Partners In Crime will be repeated on Sunday 06 April at 8pm on BBC Three. Doctor Who Confidential follows at 8.45pm. As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.

  
  

  ---

• Date and Time for Season 4 (Ok its really season 30 old school time...)

  27 March 2008 (5:58pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

  Date And Time Series Four premiere details confirmed. We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One. Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet! As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.10pm on BBC Three. Partners In Crime will be repeated on Sunday 06 April at 8pm on BBC Three. Doctor Who Confidential follows at 8.45pm. As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.

  
  

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• TDP 49: Torchwood Double 2.8 A Day in the Death & 2.9 Something Borrowed

  23 March 2008 (4:42pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  A Day in the Death 2.8 - "A Day in the Death" Torchwood episode Owen holds on to "the Pulse" as it is about to explode. Writer Joseph Lidster Director Andy Goddard Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.8 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast February 27, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Dead Man Walking" "Something Borrowed" IMDb profile "A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on February 27, 2008.[1] This episode is the last of three to feature Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, and also features guest star Richard Briers. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot The opening of the episode is narrated by Owen Harper, who tells of his life and his death, which he is currently living through. Although everyone else believes he is fine, Owen knows that he is not. He is seen on top of an apartment building with a suicidal woman, asking her if she is ready to jump. After showing the woman his gunshot wound and revealing he is already dead, Owen begins to tell her about the days since his death, shown as a series of flashbacks. Firstly, Captain Jack relieves Owen of his duties as a way of monitoring his condition and keeping him safe. Owen is angry that Martha Jones is taking his position as head medic, and further disheartened when Jack gives him Ianto's old job of making the coffee. He feels useless, conscious that he has always been alone while each one of the Torchwood team has or has had someone in their life (Ianto and Jack, Gwen and Rhys, Martha and her boyfriend, Tosh and Tommy). Ianto challanges him as to whether he is really going to let this problem beat him, after all that he's been through. After Martha concludes from her tests that Owen is 100% human yet will not age, the team meets to discuss a series of unusual energy spikes coming from the estate of a reclusive collector of alien artifacts, Henry Parker. Parker hasn't been seen since 1986, leading the team to wonder what he has inside his house. They devise a plan to find out the origin of the energy spikes, excluding any involvement from Owen. Back on the roof, Owen recounts suicide statistics to the woman, who asks him who he actually is. Owen replies that he is a 'bloody brilliant doctor', which takes us back to the autopsy room, where he is conversing with Martha. As he carelessly toys with a scalpel, Martha tries to reassure him that she does not want his job. While talking, she realizes that he has sliced his hand open with the scalpel - a wound he can't feel, and that won't heal. Owen takes over the stitching, realizing he will need to get used to doing it himself. As we come back to the roof, the woman chastises Owen for refusing help, and he asks her if her boyfriend dumped her because she was so annoying. In flashback, the effectively unemployed Owen heads home, where he sits around aimlessly and then clears out his fridge - he no longer needs food or drink. Tosh arrives and starts to tell him about her morning, as Owen zones out completely. On the roof, the woman states that Owen and Tosh sound like an old married couple. She tells him about how her husband died, also glimpsed in flashbacks, in a car accident an hour after they were married. She asks Owen if things get better when you die, and we come back to Owen's apartment, where he is still zoned out. He asks Tosh why she is there, and becomes angry when she says she wants to help, since in reality she can't. He directs his anger at Tosh, accusing her of wanting someone as screwed up as himself - which he has finally become. After breaking his finger to show Tosh how 'broken' he is, Owen tries to drown himself, but fails because despite his ability to talk, he no longer needs to breathe. At the Hub, the team are discussing the security heat-sensors used at Parker's estate, making it virtually impossible for them to gain access. When Owen points out that he has no body heat, Jack agrees to let him take on the mission. Tosh returns Owen's apartment keys and carries on with the task at hand. The woman on the roof can't get over why Tosh wasn't angry at him and Owen explains that it was Tosh's way: always professional. The woman becomes upset and Owen rushes her to the edge, where she pulls back from jumping. She asks him how he got from where he was to the roof... At the estate, Martha tells Owen not to engage in any physical combat as he will not recover. After breaking security both on the outside and inside the house, Owen reaches Parker who is an old man linked up to many ventilators and medical machines. The man reveals that he has suffered a failed bypass and three heart attacks, but is being kept alive by a glowing object he calls 'the Pulse'. Owen tells him that the object isn't doing anything to keep him alive; that it is actually hope that is doing the job. Owen promises to help Parker face his fear of death, but the man soon suffers another heart attack. Unable to draw breath himself, Owen is unable to perform the kiss of life, and Parker dies. Tosh tells Owen through the earpiece that 'The Pulse' is going to explode and there's nothing they can do about it. Owen holds the object, telling the team he's going to try to absorb it. They all protest, and Owen begins to say his goodbyes, praising Martha as an ideal replacement, and apologising to Tosh for his behavior. Tosh says she loves him and as the object begins to glow ever so brightly, Owen hugs it. On the roof, the woman looks at Owen incredulously, asking what had happened next. Owen says that life is sometimes not as bad as we think, and retrieves 'The Pulse' from his backpack. The team had falsely identified it as a bomb, whereas in fact it was a reply to one of humanity's satellites, launched in the 1970's, to make contact with alien life. The object produces a beautiful light and Owen answers the woman's earlier question: that it does get better. In flashback, after the team say their goodbyes to the departing Martha, Tosh makes Owen promise to open up to her in future; to tell her when he's feeling bad about anything. He agrees, admitting that he's scared of the darkness, and of becoming trapped. We see him walking along a footpath and pick up a photo of the woman on the roof, which had fallen from a building above. This is what had brought him to her: not to jump himself, but to try and save her. In the present, Owen tells the woman that if she can really see that there is nothing for her, then she should jump; but that if she can see even a glimmer of hope then it must be worth taking a chance. She tells him that her name is Maggie, and Owen holds her hand as they watch the lightshow. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydMartha Jones -- Freema AgyemanHenry Parker -- Richard BriersMaggie Hopley -- Christine BottomleyPhillip Farrington -- Louis Decosta JohnsonTaylor -- Brett AllenWebb -- Gil KolirinWeevil -- Paul Kasey (uncredited) Cast notes Although credited, Kai Owen does not appear as Gwen's fiance Rhys Williams.Richard Briers previously played the Chief Caretaker in the Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers. Continuity One of Henry Parker's purchases was a Dogon Eye, an item last seen in "Random Shoes". The official website states that he has recently purchased a Cyberman arm and chest unit.In the opening scene, archive footage of Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes, Owen's first series love interest, is shown. Also in the opening montage, clips from episodes such as "Everything Changes", "Ghost Machine", "Out of Time" and "Meat" can be glimpsed.This is the second episode in which Owen is relieved of his duties. He was previously dismissed by Jack after he opened the rift in "End of Days". [edit] Outside references Owen says that Torchwood filed Henry Parker as "Mostly Harmless," a reference to the book by the same name by Douglas Adams, who used to write for Doctor Who. "Mostly Harmless" was the revised entry for planet Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also written by Adams. The original entry for Earth was "harmless".Owen criticises Ianto for liking Tintin. Owen thinks Tintin is weird, and reckons "he was shagging the dog" (his pet Snowy). Later in the episode, Owen is given a Tintin T-shirt. Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is currently writing a screenplay for a forthcoming Tintin movie.In reference to his reclusiveness, Parker is stated to be "a bit Howard Hughes".The symptoms of Owen's death (numbness, inability to heal) have similarities to leprosy, as suffered by the protagonist of Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The alien words spoken by Owen in the "Dead Man Walking" (melenkurion, abatha, duroc, minas, mill and khabaal) were also taken from Donaldson's novels.The song playing in Owen's apartment is "Atlas" by Battles. Something Borrowed (Torchwood) 2.9 - "Something Borrowed" Torchwood episode The female Nostrovite takes the shape of Rhys's mother and holds Gwen's mother hostage. Writer Phil Ford Director Ashley Way Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.9 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast March 5, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "A Day in the Death" "From out of the Rain" IMDb profile "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot Just hours before her wedding night, Gwen chases down a shape-shifting alien, eventually engaging him in a fight wherein he bites her arm before he is killed by Jack. The next morning they discover that the alien had transferred its eggs into Gwen, which has matured inside her body to the point where she now appears pregnant. Gwen and Rhys, at the insistence of Gwen, decide to have their wedding anyway, with Gwen's condition being explained away as her being pregnant with Rhys's child, as they do not want to have to explain about aliens or Torchwood. During an autopsy of the alien creature, the team discover that it is a Nostrovite, a race of carnivourous shape shifters who hunt in pairs and mate for life. After fertilisation, the female passes the eggs on to the male, who then transfers them to a host to act as an incubator until the time is right. The female then tracks the host down, and when the egg is ready to hatch she tears the host apart to free the offspring. They realise that the mother must still be out there and that they need to hurry as it is out looking for Gwen. The female Nostrovite tracks Gwen to the hotel where she is having her wedding. Her presence is soon detected, at which point the team tries to catch her while at the same time minimalise any information leaking out to the public. They decide to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the eggs incubating within Gwen. Rhys and Gwen flee to the stable, where Rhys removes the egg using the scalpel, which infuriates the female Nostrovite that followed them. She attacks Rhys who fends her off with a chainsaw, but it stalls. At that moment, Jack enters and kills the creature. Rhys and Gwen's wedding resumes, and the couple are successfully wed. At the reception, and just before Rhys and Gwen leave for their honeymoon, they realise that Jack has retconned the entire wedding party to wipe their memories of the Nostrovite. Jack offers the couple the amnesia pills, and Gwen declines stating that there'd be no secrets in their marriage. They say their goodbyes and leave whilst Jack and the others proceed to clean up. Alone at the Hub, Jack retrieves an old tin box, containing old pictures from his past. He looks at them, reminiscing, and comes across a particular one of him and his bride at his own wedding. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenBrenda Williams -- Nerys HughesMary Cooper -- Sharon MorganGeraint Cooper -- William ThomasBarry Williams -- Robin GriffithCarrie -- Collette BrownMegan -- Danielle HenryTrina -- Ceri Ann GregoryBanana Boat -- Jonathan Lewis OwenMervyn -- Morgan HopkinsRegistrar -- Valerie MurrayShop Assistant -- Pethrow Gooden Cast notes Nerys Hughes previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor serial Kinda and the Eighth Doctor audio drama Phobos.William Thomas was the first actor to appear in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, first in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks and then the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town". This makes him the first actor to appear in the classic series, the new series and Torchwood. Continuity An upgraded version of the singularity scalpel from "Reset" is used to remove the alien egg from Gwen. On the Torchwood website Jack receives an email from Martha Jones after the events in "A Day in the Death" saying she is sorry for not going to Gwen's wedding implying she was invited to the wedding. The canonicity of the email is unclear.

  
  

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• TDP 49: Torchwood Double 2.8 A Day in the Death & 2.9 Something Borrowed

  23 March 2008 (4:42pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  A Day in the Death 2.8 - "A Day in the Death" Torchwood episode Owen holds on to "the Pulse" as it is about to explode. Writer Joseph Lidster Director Andy Goddard Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.8 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast February 27, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Dead Man Walking" "Something Borrowed" IMDb profile "A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on February 27, 2008.[1] This episode is the last of three to feature Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, and also features guest star Richard Briers. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot The opening of the episode is narrated by Owen Harper, who tells of his life and his death, which he is currently living through. Although everyone else believes he is fine, Owen knows that he is not. He is seen on top of an apartment building with a suicidal woman, asking her if she is ready to jump. After showing the woman his gunshot wound and revealing he is already dead, Owen begins to tell her about the days since his death, shown as a series of flashbacks. Firstly, Captain Jack relieves Owen of his duties as a way of monitoring his condition and keeping him safe. Owen is angry that Martha Jones is taking his position as head medic, and further disheartened when Jack gives him Ianto's old job of making the coffee. He feels useless, conscious that he has always been alone while each one of the Torchwood team has or has had someone in their life (Ianto and Jack, Gwen and Rhys, Martha and her boyfriend, Tosh and Tommy). Ianto challanges him as to whether he is really going to let this problem beat him, after all that he's been through. After Martha concludes from her tests that Owen is 100% human yet will not age, the team meets to discuss a series of unusual energy spikes coming from the estate of a reclusive collector of alien artifacts, Henry Parker. Parker hasn't been seen since 1986, leading the team to wonder what he has inside his house. They devise a plan to find out the origin of the energy spikes, excluding any involvement from Owen. Back on the roof, Owen recounts suicide statistics to the woman, who asks him who he actually is. Owen replies that he is a 'bloody brilliant doctor', which takes us back to the autopsy room, where he is conversing with Martha. As he carelessly toys with a scalpel, Martha tries to reassure him that she does not want his job. While talking, she realizes that he has sliced his hand open with the scalpel - a wound he can't feel, and that won't heal. Owen takes over the stitching, realizing he will need to get used to doing it himself. As we come back to the roof, the woman chastises Owen for refusing help, and he asks her if her boyfriend dumped her because she was so annoying. In flashback, the effectively unemployed Owen heads home, where he sits around aimlessly and then clears out his fridge - he no longer needs food or drink. Tosh arrives and starts to tell him about her morning, as Owen zones out completely. On the roof, the woman states that Owen and Tosh sound like an old married couple. She tells him about how her husband died, also glimpsed in flashbacks, in a car accident an hour after they were married. She asks Owen if things get better when you die, and we come back to Owen's apartment, where he is still zoned out. He asks Tosh why she is there, and becomes angry when she says she wants to help, since in reality she can't. He directs his anger at Tosh, accusing her of wanting someone as screwed up as himself - which he has finally become. After breaking his finger to show Tosh how 'broken' he is, Owen tries to drown himself, but fails because despite his ability to talk, he no longer needs to breathe. At the Hub, the team are discussing the security heat-sensors used at Parker's estate, making it virtually impossible for them to gain access. When Owen points out that he has no body heat, Jack agrees to let him take on the mission. Tosh returns Owen's apartment keys and carries on with the task at hand. The woman on the roof can't get over why Tosh wasn't angry at him and Owen explains that it was Tosh's way: always professional. The woman becomes upset and Owen rushes her to the edge, where she pulls back from jumping. She asks him how he got from where he was to the roof... At the estate, Martha tells Owen not to engage in any physical combat as he will not recover. After breaking security both on the outside and inside the house, Owen reaches Parker who is an old man linked up to many ventilators and medical machines. The man reveals that he has suffered a failed bypass and three heart attacks, but is being kept alive by a glowing object he calls 'the Pulse'. Owen tells him that the object isn't doing anything to keep him alive; that it is actually hope that is doing the job. Owen promises to help Parker face his fear of death, but the man soon suffers another heart attack. Unable to draw breath himself, Owen is unable to perform the kiss of life, and Parker dies. Tosh tells Owen through the earpiece that 'The Pulse' is going to explode and there's nothing they can do about it. Owen holds the object, telling the team he's going to try to absorb it. They all protest, and Owen begins to say his goodbyes, praising Martha as an ideal replacement, and apologising to Tosh for his behavior. Tosh says she loves him and as the object begins to glow ever so brightly, Owen hugs it. On the roof, the woman looks at Owen incredulously, asking what had happened next. Owen says that life is sometimes not as bad as we think, and retrieves 'The Pulse' from his backpack. The team had falsely identified it as a bomb, whereas in fact it was a reply to one of humanity's satellites, launched in the 1970's, to make contact with alien life. The object produces a beautiful light and Owen answers the woman's earlier question: that it does get better. In flashback, after the team say their goodbyes to the departing Martha, Tosh makes Owen promise to open up to her in future; to tell her when he's feeling bad about anything. He agrees, admitting that he's scared of the darkness, and of becoming trapped. We see him walking along a footpath and pick up a photo of the woman on the roof, which had fallen from a building above. This is what had brought him to her: not to jump himself, but to try and save her. In the present, Owen tells the woman that if she can really see that there is nothing for her, then she should jump; but that if she can see even a glimmer of hope then it must be worth taking a chance. She tells him that her name is Maggie, and Owen holds her hand as they watch the lightshow. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydMartha Jones -- Freema AgyemanHenry Parker -- Richard BriersMaggie Hopley -- Christine BottomleyPhillip Farrington -- Louis Decosta JohnsonTaylor -- Brett AllenWebb -- Gil KolirinWeevil -- Paul Kasey (uncredited) Cast notes Although credited, Kai Owen does not appear as Gwen's fiance Rhys Williams.Richard Briers previously played the Chief Caretaker in the Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers. Continuity One of Henry Parker's purchases was a Dogon Eye, an item last seen in "Random Shoes". The official website states that he has recently purchased a Cyberman arm and chest unit.In the opening scene, archive footage of Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes, Owen's first series love interest, is shown. Also in the opening montage, clips from episodes such as "Everything Changes", "Ghost Machine", "Out of Time" and "Meat" can be glimpsed.This is the second episode in which Owen is relieved of his duties. He was previously dismissed by Jack after he opened the rift in "End of Days". [edit] Outside references Owen says that Torchwood filed Henry Parker as "Mostly Harmless," a reference to the book by the same name by Douglas Adams, who used to write for Doctor Who. "Mostly Harmless" was the revised entry for planet Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also written by Adams. The original entry for Earth was "harmless".Owen criticises Ianto for liking Tintin. Owen thinks Tintin is weird, and reckons "he was shagging the dog" (his pet Snowy). Later in the episode, Owen is given a Tintin T-shirt. Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is currently writing a screenplay for a forthcoming Tintin movie.In reference to his reclusiveness, Parker is stated to be "a bit Howard Hughes".The symptoms of Owen's death (numbness, inability to heal) have similarities to leprosy, as suffered by the protagonist of Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The alien words spoken by Owen in the "Dead Man Walking" (melenkurion, abatha, duroc, minas, mill and khabaal) were also taken from Donaldson's novels.The song playing in Owen's apartment is "Atlas" by Battles. Something Borrowed (Torchwood) 2.9 - "Something Borrowed" Torchwood episode The female Nostrovite takes the shape of Rhys's mother and holds Gwen's mother hostage. Writer Phil Ford Director Ashley Way Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.9 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast March 5, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "A Day in the Death" "From out of the Rain" IMDb profile "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot Just hours before her wedding night, Gwen chases down a shape-shifting alien, eventually engaging him in a fight wherein he bites her arm before he is killed by Jack. The next morning they discover that the alien had transferred its eggs into Gwen, which has matured inside her body to the point where she now appears pregnant. Gwen and Rhys, at the insistence of Gwen, decide to have their wedding anyway, with Gwen's condition being explained away as her being pregnant with Rhys's child, as they do not want to have to explain about aliens or Torchwood. During an autopsy of the alien creature, the team discover that it is a Nostrovite, a race of carnivourous shape shifters who hunt in pairs and mate for life. After fertilisation, the female passes the eggs on to the male, who then transfers them to a host to act as an incubator until the time is right. The female then tracks the host down, and when the egg is ready to hatch she tears the host apart to free the offspring. They realise that the mother must still be out there and that they need to hurry as it is out looking for Gwen. The female Nostrovite tracks Gwen to the hotel where she is having her wedding. Her presence is soon detected, at which point the team tries to catch her while at the same time minimalise any information leaking out to the public. They decide to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the eggs incubating within Gwen. Rhys and Gwen flee to the stable, where Rhys removes the egg using the scalpel, which infuriates the female Nostrovite that followed them. She attacks Rhys who fends her off with a chainsaw, but it stalls. At that moment, Jack enters and kills the creature. Rhys and Gwen's wedding resumes, and the couple are successfully wed. At the reception, and just before Rhys and Gwen leave for their honeymoon, they realise that Jack has retconned the entire wedding party to wipe their memories of the Nostrovite. Jack offers the couple the amnesia pills, and Gwen declines stating that there'd be no secrets in their marriage. They say their goodbyes and leave whilst Jack and the others proceed to clean up. Alone at the Hub, Jack retrieves an old tin box, containing old pictures from his past. He looks at them, reminiscing, and comes across a particular one of him and his bride at his own wedding. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenBrenda Williams -- Nerys HughesMary Cooper -- Sharon MorganGeraint Cooper -- William ThomasBarry Williams -- Robin GriffithCarrie -- Collette BrownMegan -- Danielle HenryTrina -- Ceri Ann GregoryBanana Boat -- Jonathan Lewis OwenMervyn -- Morgan HopkinsRegistrar -- Valerie MurrayShop Assistant -- Pethrow Gooden Cast notes Nerys Hughes previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor serial Kinda and the Eighth Doctor audio drama Phobos.William Thomas was the first actor to appear in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, first in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks and then the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town". This makes him the first actor to appear in the classic series, the new series and Torchwood. Continuity An upgraded version of the singularity scalpel from "Reset" is used to remove the alien egg from Gwen. On the Torchwood website Jack receives an email from Martha Jones after the events in "A Day in the Death" saying she is sorry for not going to Gwen's wedding implying she was invited to the wedding. The canonicity of the email is unclear.

  
  

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• TDP 49: Torchwood Double 2.8 A Day in the Death & 2.9 Something Borrowed

  23 March 2008 (4:42pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  A Day in the Death 2.8 - "A Day in the Death" Torchwood episode Owen holds on to "the Pulse" as it is about to explode. Writer Joseph Lidster Director Andy Goddard Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.8 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast February 27, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Dead Man Walking" "Something Borrowed" IMDb profile "A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on February 27, 2008.[1] This episode is the last of three to feature Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, and also features guest star Richard Briers. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot The opening of the episode is narrated by Owen Harper, who tells of his life and his death, which he is currently living through. Although everyone else believes he is fine, Owen knows that he is not. He is seen on top of an apartment building with a suicidal woman, asking her if she is ready to jump. After showing the woman his gunshot wound and revealing he is already dead, Owen begins to tell her about the days since his death, shown as a series of flashbacks. Firstly, Captain Jack relieves Owen of his duties as a way of monitoring his condition and keeping him safe. Owen is angry that Martha Jones is taking his position as head medic, and further disheartened when Jack gives him Ianto's old job of making the coffee. He feels useless, conscious that he has always been alone while each one of the Torchwood team has or has had someone in their life (Ianto and Jack, Gwen and Rhys, Martha and her boyfriend, Tosh and Tommy). Ianto challanges him as to whether he is really going to let this problem beat him, after all that he's been through. After Martha concludes from her tests that Owen is 100% human yet will not age, the team meets to discuss a series of unusual energy spikes coming from the estate of a reclusive collector of alien artifacts, Henry Parker. Parker hasn't been seen since 1986, leading the team to wonder what he has inside his house. They devise a plan to find out the origin of the energy spikes, excluding any involvement from Owen. Back on the roof, Owen recounts suicide statistics to the woman, who asks him who he actually is. Owen replies that he is a 'bloody brilliant doctor', which takes us back to the autopsy room, where he is conversing with Martha. As he carelessly toys with a scalpel, Martha tries to reassure him that she does not want his job. While talking, she realizes that he has sliced his hand open with the scalpel - a wound he can't feel, and that won't heal. Owen takes over the stitching, realizing he will need to get used to doing it himself. As we come back to the roof, the woman chastises Owen for refusing help, and he asks her if her boyfriend dumped her because she was so annoying. In flashback, the effectively unemployed Owen heads home, where he sits around aimlessly and then clears out his fridge - he no longer needs food or drink. Tosh arrives and starts to tell him about her morning, as Owen zones out completely. On the roof, the woman states that Owen and Tosh sound like an old married couple. She tells him about how her husband died, also glimpsed in flashbacks, in a car accident an hour after they were married. She asks Owen if things get better when you die, and we come back to Owen's apartment, where he is still zoned out. He asks Tosh why she is there, and becomes angry when she says she wants to help, since in reality she can't. He directs his anger at Tosh, accusing her of wanting someone as screwed up as himself - which he has finally become. After breaking his finger to show Tosh how 'broken' he is, Owen tries to drown himself, but fails because despite his ability to talk, he no longer needs to breathe. At the Hub, the team are discussing the security heat-sensors used at Parker's estate, making it virtually impossible for them to gain access. When Owen points out that he has no body heat, Jack agrees to let him take on the mission. Tosh returns Owen's apartment keys and carries on with the task at hand. The woman on the roof can't get over why Tosh wasn't angry at him and Owen explains that it was Tosh's way: always professional. The woman becomes upset and Owen rushes her to the edge, where she pulls back from jumping. She asks him how he got from where he was to the roof... At the estate, Martha tells Owen not to engage in any physical combat as he will not recover. After breaking security both on the outside and inside the house, Owen reaches Parker who is an old man linked up to many ventilators and medical machines. The man reveals that he has suffered a failed bypass and three heart attacks, but is being kept alive by a glowing object he calls 'the Pulse'. Owen tells him that the object isn't doing anything to keep him alive; that it is actually hope that is doing the job. Owen promises to help Parker face his fear of death, but the man soon suffers another heart attack. Unable to draw breath himself, Owen is unable to perform the kiss of life, and Parker dies. Tosh tells Owen through the earpiece that 'The Pulse' is going to explode and there's nothing they can do about it. Owen holds the object, telling the team he's going to try to absorb it. They all protest, and Owen begins to say his goodbyes, praising Martha as an ideal replacement, and apologising to Tosh for his behavior. Tosh says she loves him and as the object begins to glow ever so brightly, Owen hugs it. On the roof, the woman looks at Owen incredulously, asking what had happened next. Owen says that life is sometimes not as bad as we think, and retrieves 'The Pulse' from his backpack. The team had falsely identified it as a bomb, whereas in fact it was a reply to one of humanity's satellites, launched in the 1970's, to make contact with alien life. The object produces a beautiful light and Owen answers the woman's earlier question: that it does get better. In flashback, after the team say their goodbyes to the departing Martha, Tosh makes Owen promise to open up to her in future; to tell her when he's feeling bad about anything. He agrees, admitting that he's scared of the darkness, and of becoming trapped. We see him walking along a footpath and pick up a photo of the woman on the roof, which had fallen from a building above. This is what had brought him to her: not to jump himself, but to try and save her. In the present, Owen tells the woman that if she can really see that there is nothing for her, then she should jump; but that if she can see even a glimmer of hope then it must be worth taking a chance. She tells him that her name is Maggie, and Owen holds her hand as they watch the lightshow. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydMartha Jones -- Freema AgyemanHenry Parker -- Richard BriersMaggie Hopley -- Christine BottomleyPhillip Farrington -- Louis Decosta JohnsonTaylor -- Brett AllenWebb -- Gil KolirinWeevil -- Paul Kasey (uncredited) Cast notes Although credited, Kai Owen does not appear as Gwen's fiance Rhys Williams.Richard Briers previously played the Chief Caretaker in the Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers. Continuity One of Henry Parker's purchases was a Dogon Eye, an item last seen in "Random Shoes". The official website states that he has recently purchased a Cyberman arm and chest unit.In the opening scene, archive footage of Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes, Owen's first series love interest, is shown. Also in the opening montage, clips from episodes such as "Everything Changes", "Ghost Machine", "Out of Time" and "Meat" can be glimpsed.This is the second episode in which Owen is relieved of his duties. He was previously dismissed by Jack after he opened the rift in "End of Days". [edit] Outside references Owen says that Torchwood filed Henry Parker as "Mostly Harmless," a reference to the book by the same name by Douglas Adams, who used to write for Doctor Who. "Mostly Harmless" was the revised entry for planet Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also written by Adams. The original entry for Earth was "harmless".Owen criticises Ianto for liking Tintin. Owen thinks Tintin is weird, and reckons "he was shagging the dog" (his pet Snowy). Later in the episode, Owen is given a Tintin T-shirt. Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is currently writing a screenplay for a forthcoming Tintin movie.In reference to his reclusiveness, Parker is stated to be "a bit Howard Hughes".The symptoms of Owen's death (numbness, inability to heal) have similarities to leprosy, as suffered by the protagonist of Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The alien words spoken by Owen in the "Dead Man Walking" (melenkurion, abatha, duroc, minas, mill and khabaal) were also taken from Donaldson's novels.The song playing in Owen's apartment is "Atlas" by Battles. Something Borrowed (Torchwood) 2.9 - "Something Borrowed" Torchwood episode The female Nostrovite takes the shape of Rhys's mother and holds Gwen's mother hostage. Writer Phil Ford Director Ashley Way Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.9 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast March 5, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "A Day in the Death" "From out of the Rain" IMDb profile "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot Just hours before her wedding night, Gwen chases down a shape-shifting alien, eventually engaging him in a fight wherein he bites her arm before he is killed by Jack. The next morning they discover that the alien had transferred its eggs into Gwen, which has matured inside her body to the point where she now appears pregnant. Gwen and Rhys, at the insistence of Gwen, decide to have their wedding anyway, with Gwen's condition being explained away as her being pregnant with Rhys's child, as they do not want to have to explain about aliens or Torchwood. During an autopsy of the alien creature, the team discover that it is a Nostrovite, a race of carnivourous shape shifters who hunt in pairs and mate for life. After fertilisation, the female passes the eggs on to the male, who then transfers them to a host to act as an incubator until the time is right. The female then tracks the host down, and when the egg is ready to hatch she tears the host apart to free the offspring. They realise that the mother must still be out there and that they need to hurry as it is out looking for Gwen. The female Nostrovite tracks Gwen to the hotel where she is having her wedding. Her presence is soon detected, at which point the team tries to catch her while at the same time minimalise any information leaking out to the public. They decide to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the eggs incubating within Gwen. Rhys and Gwen flee to the stable, where Rhys removes the egg using the scalpel, which infuriates the female Nostrovite that followed them. She attacks Rhys who fends her off with a chainsaw, but it stalls. At that moment, Jack enters and kills the creature. Rhys and Gwen's wedding resumes, and the couple are successfully wed. At the reception, and just before Rhys and Gwen leave for their honeymoon, they realise that Jack has retconned the entire wedding party to wipe their memories of the Nostrovite. Jack offers the couple the amnesia pills, and Gwen declines stating that there'd be no secrets in their marriage. They say their goodbyes and leave whilst Jack and the others proceed to clean up. Alone at the Hub, Jack retrieves an old tin box, containing old pictures from his past. He looks at them, reminiscing, and comes across a particular one of him and his bride at his own wedding. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenBrenda Williams -- Nerys HughesMary Cooper -- Sharon MorganGeraint Cooper -- William ThomasBarry Williams -- Robin GriffithCarrie -- Collette BrownMegan -- Danielle HenryTrina -- Ceri Ann GregoryBanana Boat -- Jonathan Lewis OwenMervyn -- Morgan HopkinsRegistrar -- Valerie MurrayShop Assistant -- Pethrow Gooden Cast notes Nerys Hughes previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor serial Kinda and the Eighth Doctor audio drama Phobos.William Thomas was the first actor to appear in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, first in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks and then the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town". This makes him the first actor to appear in the classic series, the new series and Torchwood. Continuity An upgraded version of the singularity scalpel from "Reset" is used to remove the alien egg from Gwen. On the Torchwood website Jack receives an email from Martha Jones after the events in "A Day in the Death" saying she is sorry for not going to Gwen's wedding implying she was invited to the wedding. The canonicity of the email is unclear.

  
  

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• TDP 49: Torchwood Double 2.8 A Day in the Death & 2.9 Something Borrowed

  23 March 2008 (4:42pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  A Day in the Death 2.8 - "A Day in the Death" Torchwood episode Owen holds on to "the Pulse" as it is about to explode. Writer Joseph Lidster Director Andy Goddard Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.8 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast February 27, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Dead Man Walking" "Something Borrowed" IMDb profile "A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on February 27, 2008.[1] This episode is the last of three to feature Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, and also features guest star Richard Briers. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot The opening of the episode is narrated by Owen Harper, who tells of his life and his death, which he is currently living through. Although everyone else believes he is fine, Owen knows that he is not. He is seen on top of an apartment building with a suicidal woman, asking her if she is ready to jump. After showing the woman his gunshot wound and revealing he is already dead, Owen begins to tell her about the days since his death, shown as a series of flashbacks. Firstly, Captain Jack relieves Owen of his duties as a way of monitoring his condition and keeping him safe. Owen is angry that Martha Jones is taking his position as head medic, and further disheartened when Jack gives him Ianto's old job of making the coffee. He feels useless, conscious that he has always been alone while each one of the Torchwood team has or has had someone in their life (Ianto and Jack, Gwen and Rhys, Martha and her boyfriend, Tosh and Tommy). Ianto challanges him as to whether he is really going to let this problem beat him, after all that he's been through. After Martha concludes from her tests that Owen is 100% human yet will not age, the team meets to discuss a series of unusual energy spikes coming from the estate of a reclusive collector of alien artifacts, Henry Parker. Parker hasn't been seen since 1986, leading the team to wonder what he has inside his house. They devise a plan to find out the origin of the energy spikes, excluding any involvement from Owen. Back on the roof, Owen recounts suicide statistics to the woman, who asks him who he actually is. Owen replies that he is a 'bloody brilliant doctor', which takes us back to the autopsy room, where he is conversing with Martha. As he carelessly toys with a scalpel, Martha tries to reassure him that she does not want his job. While talking, she realizes that he has sliced his hand open with the scalpel - a wound he can't feel, and that won't heal. Owen takes over the stitching, realizing he will need to get used to doing it himself. As we come back to the roof, the woman chastises Owen for refusing help, and he asks her if her boyfriend dumped her because she was so annoying. In flashback, the effectively unemployed Owen heads home, where he sits around aimlessly and then clears out his fridge - he no longer needs food or drink. Tosh arrives and starts to tell him about her morning, as Owen zones out completely. On the roof, the woman states that Owen and Tosh sound like an old married couple. She tells him about how her husband died, also glimpsed in flashbacks, in a car accident an hour after they were married. She asks Owen if things get better when you die, and we come back to Owen's apartment, where he is still zoned out. He asks Tosh why she is there, and becomes angry when she says she wants to help, since in reality she can't. He directs his anger at Tosh, accusing her of wanting someone as screwed up as himself - which he has finally become. After breaking his finger to show Tosh how 'broken' he is, Owen tries to drown himself, but fails because despite his ability to talk, he no longer needs to breathe. At the Hub, the team are discussing the security heat-sensors used at Parker's estate, making it virtually impossible for them to gain access. When Owen points out that he has no body heat, Jack agrees to let him take on the mission. Tosh returns Owen's apartment keys and carries on with the task at hand. The woman on the roof can't get over why Tosh wasn't angry at him and Owen explains that it was Tosh's way: always professional. The woman becomes upset and Owen rushes her to the edge, where she pulls back from jumping. She asks him how he got from where he was to the roof... At the estate, Martha tells Owen not to engage in any physical combat as he will not recover. After breaking security both on the outside and inside the house, Owen reaches Parker who is an old man linked up to many ventilators and medical machines. The man reveals that he has suffered a failed bypass and three heart attacks, but is being kept alive by a glowing object he calls 'the Pulse'. Owen tells him that the object isn't doing anything to keep him alive; that it is actually hope that is doing the job. Owen promises to help Parker face his fear of death, but the man soon suffers another heart attack. Unable to draw breath himself, Owen is unable to perform the kiss of life, and Parker dies. Tosh tells Owen through the earpiece that 'The Pulse' is going to explode and there's nothing they can do about it. Owen holds the object, telling the team he's going to try to absorb it. They all protest, and Owen begins to say his goodbyes, praising Martha as an ideal replacement, and apologising to Tosh for his behavior. Tosh says she loves him and as the object begins to glow ever so brightly, Owen hugs it. On the roof, the woman looks at Owen incredulously, asking what had happened next. Owen says that life is sometimes not as bad as we think, and retrieves 'The Pulse' from his backpack. The team had falsely identified it as a bomb, whereas in fact it was a reply to one of humanity's satellites, launched in the 1970's, to make contact with alien life. The object produces a beautiful light and Owen answers the woman's earlier question: that it does get better. In flashback, after the team say their goodbyes to the departing Martha, Tosh makes Owen promise to open up to her in future; to tell her when he's feeling bad about anything. He agrees, admitting that he's scared of the darkness, and of becoming trapped. We see him walking along a footpath and pick up a photo of the woman on the roof, which had fallen from a building above. This is what had brought him to her: not to jump himself, but to try and save her. In the present, Owen tells the woman that if she can really see that there is nothing for her, then she should jump; but that if she can see even a glimmer of hope then it must be worth taking a chance. She tells him that her name is Maggie, and Owen holds her hand as they watch the lightshow. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydMartha Jones -- Freema AgyemanHenry Parker -- Richard BriersMaggie Hopley -- Christine BottomleyPhillip Farrington -- Louis Decosta JohnsonTaylor -- Brett AllenWebb -- Gil KolirinWeevil -- Paul Kasey (uncredited) Cast notes Although credited, Kai Owen does not appear as Gwen's fiance Rhys Williams.Richard Briers previously played the Chief Caretaker in the Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers. Continuity One of Henry Parker's purchases was a Dogon Eye, an item last seen in "Random Shoes". The official website states that he has recently purchased a Cyberman arm and chest unit.In the opening scene, archive footage of Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes, Owen's first series love interest, is shown. Also in the opening montage, clips from episodes such as "Everything Changes", "Ghost Machine", "Out of Time" and "Meat" can be glimpsed.This is the second episode in which Owen is relieved of his duties. He was previously dismissed by Jack after he opened the rift in "End of Days". [edit] Outside references Owen says that Torchwood filed Henry Parker as "Mostly Harmless," a reference to the book by the same name by Douglas Adams, who used to write for Doctor Who. "Mostly Harmless" was the revised entry for planet Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also written by Adams. The original entry for Earth was "harmless".Owen criticises Ianto for liking Tintin. Owen thinks Tintin is weird, and reckons "he was shagging the dog" (his pet Snowy). Later in the episode, Owen is given a Tintin T-shirt. Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is currently writing a screenplay for a forthcoming Tintin movie.In reference to his reclusiveness, Parker is stated to be "a bit Howard Hughes".The symptoms of Owen's death (numbness, inability to heal) have similarities to leprosy, as suffered by the protagonist of Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The alien words spoken by Owen in the "Dead Man Walking" (melenkurion, abatha, duroc, minas, mill and khabaal) were also taken from Donaldson's novels.The song playing in Owen's apartment is "Atlas" by Battles. Something Borrowed (Torchwood) 2.9 - "Something Borrowed" Torchwood episode The female Nostrovite takes the shape of Rhys's mother and holds Gwen's mother hostage. Writer Phil Ford Director Ashley Way Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.9 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast March 5, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "A Day in the Death" "From out of the Rain" IMDb profile "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot Just hours before her wedding night, Gwen chases down a shape-shifting alien, eventually engaging him in a fight wherein he bites her arm before he is killed by Jack. The next morning they discover that the alien had transferred its eggs into Gwen, which has matured inside her body to the point where she now appears pregnant. Gwen and Rhys, at the insistence of Gwen, decide to have their wedding anyway, with Gwen's condition being explained away as her being pregnant with Rhys's child, as they do not want to have to explain about aliens or Torchwood. During an autopsy of the alien creature, the team discover that it is a Nostrovite, a race of carnivourous shape shifters who hunt in pairs and mate for life. After fertilisation, the female passes the eggs on to the male, who then transfers them to a host to act as an incubator until the time is right. The female then tracks the host down, and when the egg is ready to hatch she tears the host apart to free the offspring. They realise that the mother must still be out there and that they need to hurry as it is out looking for Gwen. The female Nostrovite tracks Gwen to the hotel where she is having her wedding. Her presence is soon detected, at which point the team tries to catch her while at the same time minimalise any information leaking out to the public. They decide to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the eggs incubating within Gwen. Rhys and Gwen flee to the stable, where Rhys removes the egg using the scalpel, which infuriates the female Nostrovite that followed them. She attacks Rhys who fends her off with a chainsaw, but it stalls. At that moment, Jack enters and kills the creature. Rhys and Gwen's wedding resumes, and the couple are successfully wed. At the reception, and just before Rhys and Gwen leave for their honeymoon, they realise that Jack has retconned the entire wedding party to wipe their memories of the Nostrovite. Jack offers the couple the amnesia pills, and Gwen declines stating that there'd be no secrets in their marriage. They say their goodbyes and leave whilst Jack and the others proceed to clean up. Alone at the Hub, Jack retrieves an old tin box, containing old pictures from his past. He looks at them, reminiscing, and comes across a particular one of him and his bride at his own wedding. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenBrenda Williams -- Nerys HughesMary Cooper -- Sharon MorganGeraint Cooper -- William ThomasBarry Williams -- Robin GriffithCarrie -- Collette BrownMegan -- Danielle HenryTrina -- Ceri Ann GregoryBanana Boat -- Jonathan Lewis OwenMervyn -- Morgan HopkinsRegistrar -- Valerie MurrayShop Assistant -- Pethrow Gooden Cast notes Nerys Hughes previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor serial Kinda and the Eighth Doctor audio drama Phobos.William Thomas was the first actor to appear in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, first in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks and then the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town". This makes him the first actor to appear in the classic series, the new series and Torchwood. Continuity An upgraded version of the singularity scalpel from "Reset" is used to remove the alien egg from Gwen. On the Torchwood website Jack receives an email from Martha Jones after the events in "A Day in the Death" saying she is sorry for not going to Gwen's wedding implying she was invited to the wedding. The canonicity of the email is unclear.

  
  

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• TDP 48: Big Finish Recommendations One (sorry about the voice)

  15 March 2008 (4:17pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  : Big Finish Recommendations OneFirts off sorry about my voice but I didnt want to let you guys down with no show even if I did do 3 last week... so heres you are. Notes on 5 of the Best Big Finsh CDs... Ill do more recommendations soon.34. Doctor Who - Spare Parts - DownloadPrice: PS11.99Technical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Sally Knyvette (Doctorman Allan); Pamela Binns (Sisterman Constant); Derren Nesbitt (Thomas Dodd); Paul Copley (Dad); Kathryn Guck (Yvonne Hartley); Jim Hartley (Frank Hartley); Ann Jenkins (Mrs. Ginsberg); Nicholas Briggs (Zheng / Cyber Voices / Radio Announcer / Citizen / Nurse); Alistair Lock (Minister / TV Commentator); Gary Russell (Philpott / Nurse)Writer:    Marc Platt     Recorded:    26 and 27 March 2002Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    July 2002Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (59' 08"); Disc 2 (73' 50")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    6C/E            ISBN:    1-903654-72-6SynopsisOn a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity and after the Big Finish audio dramaSTORM WARNINGCast:    Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard); Gareth Thomas (Lord Tamworth); Nicholas Pegg (Lt-Col Frayling); Barnaby Edwards (Rathbone); Hylton Collins (Chief Steward Weeks); Helen Goldwyn (Triskelion); Mark Gatiss (Announcer)Writer:    Alan Barnes     Recorded:    18 May 2000Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    January 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (50' 34"); Disc 2 (67' 11")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    8B            ISBN:    1-903654-24-6SynopsisOctober, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R1010, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakble, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie.THE ONE DOCTORTechnical DetailsCast:    Colin Baker (The Doctor); Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush); Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame); Clare Buckfield (Sally-Anne Stubbins); Matt Lucas (Cylinder / The Jelloid); Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2); Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos); Jane Goddard (The Questioner / Queen Elizabeth); Adam Buxton (Assembler 1); Mark Wright (Guard); Alistair Lock (Guard)Writer:    Gareth Roberts andClayton Hickman     Recorded:    28 and 29 April 2001Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    December 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (49' 03"); Disc 2 (73' 39")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    7C/R            ISBN:    1-903654-56-4SynopsisWhen the evil Skelloids launch an attack upon the seventeen worlds of the Generios system, its peace-loving inhabitants face total destruction. So it's fortunate that the famous traveller in time and space known only as the Doctor is in the area, and doubly lucky that, with the help of his pretty young assistant, Sally-Anne, he manages to defeat the deadly creatures and save the day. But now it looks as though the Doctor1s luck has run out. Who is the mysterious, curly-haired stranger who insists on causing trouble? What role does the feisty redhead Melanie play in his scheme? And what have they to do with the sinister alien cylinder approaching Generios? One thing is certain: for the Doctor and Sally-Anne, there1s deadly danger ahead ...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.KINGMAKERTechnical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Arthur Smith (Clarrie); Michael Fenton-Stevens (Mr Seyton); Stephen Beckett (Richard; Duke of Gloucester); Marcus Hutton (Henry; Duke of Buckingham); John Culshaw (Earl Rivers); Chris Neill (Sir James Tyrell); Katie Wimpenny (Susan); Linzi Matthews (Judith)Writer:    Nev Fountain     Recorded:    20 and 21 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    April 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (69' 57"); Disc 2 (75' 46")Cover Art:     Stuart Manning     Production Code:    6Q/I          ISBN:    1-84435-161-0SynopsisDr Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed up with Richard the third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.You might not like the answer...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .NIGHT THOUGHTSTechnical DetailsCast:    Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Bernard Kay (Major Dickens); Joanna McCallum (The Bursar); Andrew Forbes (Dr O'Neil); Lizzie Hopley (Sue); Ann Beach (The Deacon); Duncan Duff (Joe Hartley)Writer:    Edward Young     Recorded:    7 and 8 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    February 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (61' 38"); Disc 2 (63' 51")Cover Art:     Lee Binding     Production Code:    7W/C          ISBN:    1-84435-167-XSynopsisI warn you, things could get very nasty here before they get better.'A remote Scottish mansion. Five bickering academics are haunted by ghosts from their past. Reluctantly they offer shelter to the Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.Hex, already troubled by a vivid nightmare, is further disturbed by the nighttime appearance of a whistling, hooded apparition.Ace tries to befriend the young housemaid, Sue. Sue knows secrets. She knows why the academics have assembled here, and she knows why they are all so afraid. But Sue's lips are sealed, preferring to communicate through her disturbing toy, Happy the Rabbit.And then the killing begins. Gruesome deaths that lead the Doctor and his friends to discover the grisly truth behind the academics' plans, and as the ghosts of the past become ghosts of the present to recognise that sometimes death can be preferable to life.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .

  
  

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• TDP 48: Big Finish Recommendations One (sorry about the voice)

  15 March 2008 (4:17pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  : Big Finish Recommendations OneFirts off sorry about my voice but I didnt want to let you guys down with no show even if I did do 3 last week... so heres you are. Notes on 5 of the Best Big Finsh CDs... Ill do more recommendations soon.34. Doctor Who - Spare Parts - DownloadPrice: PS11.99Technical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Sally Knyvette (Doctorman Allan); Pamela Binns (Sisterman Constant); Derren Nesbitt (Thomas Dodd); Paul Copley (Dad); Kathryn Guck (Yvonne Hartley); Jim Hartley (Frank Hartley); Ann Jenkins (Mrs. Ginsberg); Nicholas Briggs (Zheng / Cyber Voices / Radio Announcer / Citizen / Nurse); Alistair Lock (Minister / TV Commentator); Gary Russell (Philpott / Nurse)Writer:    Marc Platt     Recorded:    26 and 27 March 2002Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    July 2002Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (59' 08"); Disc 2 (73' 50")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    6C/E            ISBN:    1-903654-72-6SynopsisOn a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity and after the Big Finish audio dramaSTORM WARNINGCast:    Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard); Gareth Thomas (Lord Tamworth); Nicholas Pegg (Lt-Col Frayling); Barnaby Edwards (Rathbone); Hylton Collins (Chief Steward Weeks); Helen Goldwyn (Triskelion); Mark Gatiss (Announcer)Writer:    Alan Barnes     Recorded:    18 May 2000Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    January 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (50' 34"); Disc 2 (67' 11")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    8B            ISBN:    1-903654-24-6SynopsisOctober, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R1010, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakble, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie.THE ONE DOCTORTechnical DetailsCast:    Colin Baker (The Doctor); Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush); Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame); Clare Buckfield (Sally-Anne Stubbins); Matt Lucas (Cylinder / The Jelloid); Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2); Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos); Jane Goddard (The Questioner / Queen Elizabeth); Adam Buxton (Assembler 1); Mark Wright (Guard); Alistair Lock (Guard)Writer:    Gareth Roberts andClayton Hickman     Recorded:    28 and 29 April 2001Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    December 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (49' 03"); Disc 2 (73' 39")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    7C/R            ISBN:    1-903654-56-4SynopsisWhen the evil Skelloids launch an attack upon the seventeen worlds of the Generios system, its peace-loving inhabitants face total destruction. So it's fortunate that the famous traveller in time and space known only as the Doctor is in the area, and doubly lucky that, with the help of his pretty young assistant, Sally-Anne, he manages to defeat the deadly creatures and save the day. But now it looks as though the Doctor1s luck has run out. Who is the mysterious, curly-haired stranger who insists on causing trouble? What role does the feisty redhead Melanie play in his scheme? And what have they to do with the sinister alien cylinder approaching Generios? One thing is certain: for the Doctor and Sally-Anne, there1s deadly danger ahead ...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.KINGMAKERTechnical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Arthur Smith (Clarrie); Michael Fenton-Stevens (Mr Seyton); Stephen Beckett (Richard; Duke of Gloucester); Marcus Hutton (Henry; Duke of Buckingham); John Culshaw (Earl Rivers); Chris Neill (Sir James Tyrell); Katie Wimpenny (Susan); Linzi Matthews (Judith)Writer:    Nev Fountain     Recorded:    20 and 21 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    April 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (69' 57"); Disc 2 (75' 46")Cover Art:     Stuart Manning     Production Code:    6Q/I          ISBN:    1-84435-161-0SynopsisDr Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed up with Richard the third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.You might not like the answer...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .NIGHT THOUGHTSTechnical DetailsCast:    Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Bernard Kay (Major Dickens); Joanna McCallum (The Bursar); Andrew Forbes (Dr O'Neil); Lizzie Hopley (Sue); Ann Beach (The Deacon); Duncan Duff (Joe Hartley)Writer:    Edward Young     Recorded:    7 and 8 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    February 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (61' 38"); Disc 2 (63' 51")Cover Art:     Lee Binding     Production Code:    7W/C          ISBN:    1-84435-167-XSynopsisI warn you, things could get very nasty here before they get better.'A remote Scottish mansion. Five bickering academics are haunted by ghosts from their past. Reluctantly they offer shelter to the Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.Hex, already troubled by a vivid nightmare, is further disturbed by the nighttime appearance of a whistling, hooded apparition.Ace tries to befriend the young housemaid, Sue. Sue knows secrets. She knows why the academics have assembled here, and she knows why they are all so afraid. But Sue's lips are sealed, preferring to communicate through her disturbing toy, Happy the Rabbit.And then the killing begins. Gruesome deaths that lead the Doctor and his friends to discover the grisly truth behind the academics' plans, and as the ghosts of the past become ghosts of the present to recognise that sometimes death can be preferable to life.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .

  
  

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• TDP 49: Torchwood Double 2.8 A Day in the Death & 2.9 Something Borrowed

  23 March 2008 (4:42pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  A Day in the Death 2.8 - "A Day in the Death" Torchwood episode Owen holds on to "the Pulse" as it is about to explode. Writer Joseph Lidster Director Andy Goddard Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.8 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast February 27, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "Dead Man Walking" "Something Borrowed" IMDb profile "A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on February 27, 2008.[1] This episode is the last of three to feature Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, and also features guest star Richard Briers. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot The opening of the episode is narrated by Owen Harper, who tells of his life and his death, which he is currently living through. Although everyone else believes he is fine, Owen knows that he is not. He is seen on top of an apartment building with a suicidal woman, asking her if she is ready to jump. After showing the woman his gunshot wound and revealing he is already dead, Owen begins to tell her about the days since his death, shown as a series of flashbacks. Firstly, Captain Jack relieves Owen of his duties as a way of monitoring his condition and keeping him safe. Owen is angry that Martha Jones is taking his position as head medic, and further disheartened when Jack gives him Ianto's old job of making the coffee. He feels useless, conscious that he has always been alone while each one of the Torchwood team has or has had someone in their life (Ianto and Jack, Gwen and Rhys, Martha and her boyfriend, Tosh and Tommy). Ianto challanges him as to whether he is really going to let this problem beat him, after all that he's been through. After Martha concludes from her tests that Owen is 100% human yet will not age, the team meets to discuss a series of unusual energy spikes coming from the estate of a reclusive collector of alien artifacts, Henry Parker. Parker hasn't been seen since 1986, leading the team to wonder what he has inside his house. They devise a plan to find out the origin of the energy spikes, excluding any involvement from Owen. Back on the roof, Owen recounts suicide statistics to the woman, who asks him who he actually is. Owen replies that he is a 'bloody brilliant doctor', which takes us back to the autopsy room, where he is conversing with Martha. As he carelessly toys with a scalpel, Martha tries to reassure him that she does not want his job. While talking, she realizes that he has sliced his hand open with the scalpel - a wound he can't feel, and that won't heal. Owen takes over the stitching, realizing he will need to get used to doing it himself. As we come back to the roof, the woman chastises Owen for refusing help, and he asks her if her boyfriend dumped her because she was so annoying. In flashback, the effectively unemployed Owen heads home, where he sits around aimlessly and then clears out his fridge - he no longer needs food or drink. Tosh arrives and starts to tell him about her morning, as Owen zones out completely. On the roof, the woman states that Owen and Tosh sound like an old married couple. She tells him about how her husband died, also glimpsed in flashbacks, in a car accident an hour after they were married. She asks Owen if things get better when you die, and we come back to Owen's apartment, where he is still zoned out. He asks Tosh why she is there, and becomes angry when she says she wants to help, since in reality she can't. He directs his anger at Tosh, accusing her of wanting someone as screwed up as himself - which he has finally become. After breaking his finger to show Tosh how 'broken' he is, Owen tries to drown himself, but fails because despite his ability to talk, he no longer needs to breathe. At the Hub, the team are discussing the security heat-sensors used at Parker's estate, making it virtually impossible for them to gain access. When Owen points out that he has no body heat, Jack agrees to let him take on the mission. Tosh returns Owen's apartment keys and carries on with the task at hand. The woman on the roof can't get over why Tosh wasn't angry at him and Owen explains that it was Tosh's way: always professional. The woman becomes upset and Owen rushes her to the edge, where she pulls back from jumping. She asks him how he got from where he was to the roof... At the estate, Martha tells Owen not to engage in any physical combat as he will not recover. After breaking security both on the outside and inside the house, Owen reaches Parker who is an old man linked up to many ventilators and medical machines. The man reveals that he has suffered a failed bypass and three heart attacks, but is being kept alive by a glowing object he calls 'the Pulse'. Owen tells him that the object isn't doing anything to keep him alive; that it is actually hope that is doing the job. Owen promises to help Parker face his fear of death, but the man soon suffers another heart attack. Unable to draw breath himself, Owen is unable to perform the kiss of life, and Parker dies. Tosh tells Owen through the earpiece that 'The Pulse' is going to explode and there's nothing they can do about it. Owen holds the object, telling the team he's going to try to absorb it. They all protest, and Owen begins to say his goodbyes, praising Martha as an ideal replacement, and apologising to Tosh for his behavior. Tosh says she loves him and as the object begins to glow ever so brightly, Owen hugs it. On the roof, the woman looks at Owen incredulously, asking what had happened next. Owen says that life is sometimes not as bad as we think, and retrieves 'The Pulse' from his backpack. The team had falsely identified it as a bomb, whereas in fact it was a reply to one of humanity's satellites, launched in the 1970's, to make contact with alien life. The object produces a beautiful light and Owen answers the woman's earlier question: that it does get better. In flashback, after the team say their goodbyes to the departing Martha, Tosh makes Owen promise to open up to her in future; to tell her when he's feeling bad about anything. He agrees, admitting that he's scared of the darkness, and of becoming trapped. We see him walking along a footpath and pick up a photo of the woman on the roof, which had fallen from a building above. This is what had brought him to her: not to jump himself, but to try and save her. In the present, Owen tells the woman that if she can really see that there is nothing for her, then she should jump; but that if she can see even a glimmer of hope then it must be worth taking a chance. She tells him that her name is Maggie, and Owen holds her hand as they watch the lightshow. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydMartha Jones -- Freema AgyemanHenry Parker -- Richard BriersMaggie Hopley -- Christine BottomleyPhillip Farrington -- Louis Decosta JohnsonTaylor -- Brett AllenWebb -- Gil KolirinWeevil -- Paul Kasey (uncredited) Cast notes Although credited, Kai Owen does not appear as Gwen's fiance Rhys Williams.Richard Briers previously played the Chief Caretaker in the Seventh Doctor serial Paradise Towers. Continuity One of Henry Parker's purchases was a Dogon Eye, an item last seen in "Random Shoes". The official website states that he has recently purchased a Cyberman arm and chest unit.In the opening scene, archive footage of Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes, Owen's first series love interest, is shown. Also in the opening montage, clips from episodes such as "Everything Changes", "Ghost Machine", "Out of Time" and "Meat" can be glimpsed.This is the second episode in which Owen is relieved of his duties. He was previously dismissed by Jack after he opened the rift in "End of Days". [edit] Outside references Owen says that Torchwood filed Henry Parker as "Mostly Harmless," a reference to the book by the same name by Douglas Adams, who used to write for Doctor Who. "Mostly Harmless" was the revised entry for planet Earth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also written by Adams. The original entry for Earth was "harmless".Owen criticises Ianto for liking Tintin. Owen thinks Tintin is weird, and reckons "he was shagging the dog" (his pet Snowy). Later in the episode, Owen is given a Tintin T-shirt. Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat is currently writing a screenplay for a forthcoming Tintin movie.In reference to his reclusiveness, Parker is stated to be "a bit Howard Hughes".The symptoms of Owen's death (numbness, inability to heal) have similarities to leprosy, as suffered by the protagonist of Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The alien words spoken by Owen in the "Dead Man Walking" (melenkurion, abatha, duroc, minas, mill and khabaal) were also taken from Donaldson's novels.The song playing in Owen's apartment is "Atlas" by Battles. Something Borrowed (Torchwood) 2.9 - "Something Borrowed" Torchwood episode The female Nostrovite takes the shape of Rhys's mother and holds Gwen's mother hostage. Writer Phil Ford Director Ashley Way Script editor Gary Russell Producer Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner Production code 2.9 Series Series 2 Length 50 mins Originally broadcast March 5, 2008 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed by - "A Day in the Death" "From out of the Rain" IMDb profile "Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. //&amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = &amp;amp;quot;show&amp;amp;quot;; var tocHideText = &amp;amp;quot;hide&amp;amp;quot;; showTocToggle(); } //]]&amp;amp;gt; Plot Just hours before her wedding night, Gwen chases down a shape-shifting alien, eventually engaging him in a fight wherein he bites her arm before he is killed by Jack. The next morning they discover that the alien had transferred its eggs into Gwen, which has matured inside her body to the point where she now appears pregnant. Gwen and Rhys, at the insistence of Gwen, decide to have their wedding anyway, with Gwen's condition being explained away as her being pregnant with Rhys's child, as they do not want to have to explain about aliens or Torchwood. During an autopsy of the alien creature, the team discover that it is a Nostrovite, a race of carnivourous shape shifters who hunt in pairs and mate for life. After fertilisation, the female passes the eggs on to the male, who then transfers them to a host to act as an incubator until the time is right. The female then tracks the host down, and when the egg is ready to hatch she tears the host apart to free the offspring. They realise that the mother must still be out there and that they need to hurry as it is out looking for Gwen. The female Nostrovite tracks Gwen to the hotel where she is having her wedding. Her presence is soon detected, at which point the team tries to catch her while at the same time minimalise any information leaking out to the public. They decide to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the eggs incubating within Gwen. Rhys and Gwen flee to the stable, where Rhys removes the egg using the scalpel, which infuriates the female Nostrovite that followed them. She attacks Rhys who fends her off with a chainsaw, but it stalls. At that moment, Jack enters and kills the creature. Rhys and Gwen's wedding resumes, and the couple are successfully wed. At the reception, and just before Rhys and Gwen leave for their honeymoon, they realise that Jack has retconned the entire wedding party to wipe their memories of the Nostrovite. Jack offers the couple the amnesia pills, and Gwen declines stating that there'd be no secrets in their marriage. They say their goodbyes and leave whilst Jack and the others proceed to clean up. Alone at the Hub, Jack retrieves an old tin box, containing old pictures from his past. He looks at them, reminiscing, and comes across a particular one of him and his bride at his own wedding. Cast Captain Jack Harkness -- John BarrowmanGwen Cooper -- Eve MylesOwen Harper -- Burn GormanToshiko Sato -- Naoko MoriIanto Jones -- Gareth David-LloydRhys Williams -- Kai OwenBrenda Williams -- Nerys HughesMary Cooper -- Sharon MorganGeraint Cooper -- William ThomasBarry Williams -- Robin GriffithCarrie -- Collette BrownMegan -- Danielle HenryTrina -- Ceri Ann GregoryBanana Boat -- Jonathan Lewis OwenMervyn -- Morgan HopkinsRegistrar -- Valerie MurrayShop Assistant -- Pethrow Gooden Cast notes Nerys Hughes previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor serial Kinda and the Eighth Doctor audio drama Phobos.William Thomas was the first actor to appear in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, first in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks and then the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town". This makes him the first actor to appear in the classic series, the new series and Torchwood. Continuity An upgraded version of the singularity scalpel from "Reset" is used to remove the alien egg from Gwen. On the Torchwood website Jack receives an email from Martha Jones after the events in "A Day in the Death" saying she is sorry for not going to Gwen's wedding implying she was invited to the wedding. The canonicity of the email is unclear.

  
  

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• TDP 48: Big Finish Recommendations One (sorry about the voice)

  15 March 2008 (4:17pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  : Big Finish Recommendations OneFirts off sorry about my voice but I didnt want to let you guys down with no show even if I did do 3 last week... so heres you are. Notes on 5 of the Best Big Finsh CDs... Ill do more recommendations soon.34. Doctor Who - Spare Parts - DownloadPrice: PS11.99Technical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Sally Knyvette (Doctorman Allan); Pamela Binns (Sisterman Constant); Derren Nesbitt (Thomas Dodd); Paul Copley (Dad); Kathryn Guck (Yvonne Hartley); Jim Hartley (Frank Hartley); Ann Jenkins (Mrs. Ginsberg); Nicholas Briggs (Zheng / Cyber Voices / Radio Announcer / Citizen / Nurse); Alistair Lock (Minister / TV Commentator); Gary Russell (Philpott / Nurse)Writer:    Marc Platt     Recorded:    26 and 27 March 2002Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    July 2002Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (59' 08"); Disc 2 (73' 50")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    6C/E            ISBN:    1-903654-72-6SynopsisOn a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity and after the Big Finish audio dramaSTORM WARNINGCast:    Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard); Gareth Thomas (Lord Tamworth); Nicholas Pegg (Lt-Col Frayling); Barnaby Edwards (Rathbone); Hylton Collins (Chief Steward Weeks); Helen Goldwyn (Triskelion); Mark Gatiss (Announcer)Writer:    Alan Barnes     Recorded:    18 May 2000Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    January 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (50' 34"); Disc 2 (67' 11")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    8B            ISBN:    1-903654-24-6SynopsisOctober, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R1010, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakble, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie.THE ONE DOCTORTechnical DetailsCast:    Colin Baker (The Doctor); Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush); Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame); Clare Buckfield (Sally-Anne Stubbins); Matt Lucas (Cylinder / The Jelloid); Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2); Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos); Jane Goddard (The Questioner / Queen Elizabeth); Adam Buxton (Assembler 1); Mark Wright (Guard); Alistair Lock (Guard)Writer:    Gareth Roberts andClayton Hickman     Recorded:    28 and 29 April 2001Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    December 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (49' 03"); Disc 2 (73' 39")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    7C/R            ISBN:    1-903654-56-4SynopsisWhen the evil Skelloids launch an attack upon the seventeen worlds of the Generios system, its peace-loving inhabitants face total destruction. So it's fortunate that the famous traveller in time and space known only as the Doctor is in the area, and doubly lucky that, with the help of his pretty young assistant, Sally-Anne, he manages to defeat the deadly creatures and save the day. But now it looks as though the Doctor1s luck has run out. Who is the mysterious, curly-haired stranger who insists on causing trouble? What role does the feisty redhead Melanie play in his scheme? And what have they to do with the sinister alien cylinder approaching Generios? One thing is certain: for the Doctor and Sally-Anne, there1s deadly danger ahead ...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.KINGMAKERTechnical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Arthur Smith (Clarrie); Michael Fenton-Stevens (Mr Seyton); Stephen Beckett (Richard; Duke of Gloucester); Marcus Hutton (Henry; Duke of Buckingham); John Culshaw (Earl Rivers); Chris Neill (Sir James Tyrell); Katie Wimpenny (Susan); Linzi Matthews (Judith)Writer:    Nev Fountain     Recorded:    20 and 21 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    April 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (69' 57"); Disc 2 (75' 46")Cover Art:     Stuart Manning     Production Code:    6Q/I          ISBN:    1-84435-161-0SynopsisDr Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed up with Richard the third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.You might not like the answer...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .NIGHT THOUGHTSTechnical DetailsCast:    Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Bernard Kay (Major Dickens); Joanna McCallum (The Bursar); Andrew Forbes (Dr O'Neil); Lizzie Hopley (Sue); Ann Beach (The Deacon); Duncan Duff (Joe Hartley)Writer:    Edward Young     Recorded:    7 and 8 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    February 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (61' 38"); Disc 2 (63' 51")Cover Art:     Lee Binding     Production Code:    7W/C          ISBN:    1-84435-167-XSynopsisI warn you, things could get very nasty here before they get better.'A remote Scottish mansion. Five bickering academics are haunted by ghosts from their past. Reluctantly they offer shelter to the Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.Hex, already troubled by a vivid nightmare, is further disturbed by the nighttime appearance of a whistling, hooded apparition.Ace tries to befriend the young housemaid, Sue. Sue knows secrets. She knows why the academics have assembled here, and she knows why they are all so afraid. But Sue's lips are sealed, preferring to communicate through her disturbing toy, Happy the Rabbit.And then the killing begins. Gruesome deaths that lead the Doctor and his friends to discover the grisly truth behind the academics' plans, and as the ghosts of the past become ghosts of the present to recognise that sometimes death can be preferable to life.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .

  
  

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• TDP 48: Big Finish Recommendations One (sorry about the voice)

  15 March 2008 (4:17pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  : Big Finish Recommendations OneFirts off sorry about my voice but I didnt want to let you guys down with no show even if I did do 3 last week... so heres you are. Notes on 5 of the Best Big Finsh CDs... Ill do more recommendations soon.34. Doctor Who - Spare Parts - DownloadPrice: PS11.99Technical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Sally Knyvette (Doctorman Allan); Pamela Binns (Sisterman Constant); Derren Nesbitt (Thomas Dodd); Paul Copley (Dad); Kathryn Guck (Yvonne Hartley); Jim Hartley (Frank Hartley); Ann Jenkins (Mrs. Ginsberg); Nicholas Briggs (Zheng / Cyber Voices / Radio Announcer / Citizen / Nurse); Alistair Lock (Minister / TV Commentator); Gary Russell (Philpott / Nurse)Writer:    Marc Platt     Recorded:    26 and 27 March 2002Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    July 2002Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (59' 08"); Disc 2 (73' 50")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    6C/E            ISBN:    1-903654-72-6SynopsisOn a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity and after the Big Finish audio dramaSTORM WARNINGCast:    Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard); Gareth Thomas (Lord Tamworth); Nicholas Pegg (Lt-Col Frayling); Barnaby Edwards (Rathbone); Hylton Collins (Chief Steward Weeks); Helen Goldwyn (Triskelion); Mark Gatiss (Announcer)Writer:    Alan Barnes     Recorded:    18 May 2000Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    January 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (50' 34"); Disc 2 (67' 11")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    8B            ISBN:    1-903654-24-6SynopsisOctober, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R1010, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakble, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie.THE ONE DOCTORTechnical DetailsCast:    Colin Baker (The Doctor); Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush); Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame); Clare Buckfield (Sally-Anne Stubbins); Matt Lucas (Cylinder / The Jelloid); Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2); Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos); Jane Goddard (The Questioner / Queen Elizabeth); Adam Buxton (Assembler 1); Mark Wright (Guard); Alistair Lock (Guard)Writer:    Gareth Roberts andClayton Hickman     Recorded:    28 and 29 April 2001Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    December 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (49' 03"); Disc 2 (73' 39")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    7C/R            ISBN:    1-903654-56-4SynopsisWhen the evil Skelloids launch an attack upon the seventeen worlds of the Generios system, its peace-loving inhabitants face total destruction. So it's fortunate that the famous traveller in time and space known only as the Doctor is in the area, and doubly lucky that, with the help of his pretty young assistant, Sally-Anne, he manages to defeat the deadly creatures and save the day. But now it looks as though the Doctor1s luck has run out. Who is the mysterious, curly-haired stranger who insists on causing trouble? What role does the feisty redhead Melanie play in his scheme? And what have they to do with the sinister alien cylinder approaching Generios? One thing is certain: for the Doctor and Sally-Anne, there1s deadly danger ahead ...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.KINGMAKERTechnical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Arthur Smith (Clarrie); Michael Fenton-Stevens (Mr Seyton); Stephen Beckett (Richard; Duke of Gloucester); Marcus Hutton (Henry; Duke of Buckingham); John Culshaw (Earl Rivers); Chris Neill (Sir James Tyrell); Katie Wimpenny (Susan); Linzi Matthews (Judith)Writer:    Nev Fountain     Recorded:    20 and 21 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    April 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (69' 57"); Disc 2 (75' 46")Cover Art:     Stuart Manning     Production Code:    6Q/I          ISBN:    1-84435-161-0SynopsisDr Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed up with Richard the third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.You might not like the answer...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .NIGHT THOUGHTSTechnical DetailsCast:    Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Bernard Kay (Major Dickens); Joanna McCallum (The Bursar); Andrew Forbes (Dr O'Neil); Lizzie Hopley (Sue); Ann Beach (The Deacon); Duncan Duff (Joe Hartley)Writer:    Edward Young     Recorded:    7 and 8 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    February 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (61' 38"); Disc 2 (63' 51")Cover Art:     Lee Binding     Production Code:    7W/C          ISBN:    1-84435-167-XSynopsisI warn you, things could get very nasty here before they get better.'A remote Scottish mansion. Five bickering academics are haunted by ghosts from their past. Reluctantly they offer shelter to the Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.Hex, already troubled by a vivid nightmare, is further disturbed by the nighttime appearance of a whistling, hooded apparition.Ace tries to befriend the young housemaid, Sue. Sue knows secrets. She knows why the academics have assembled here, and she knows why they are all so afraid. But Sue's lips are sealed, preferring to communicate through her disturbing toy, Happy the Rabbit.And then the killing begins. Gruesome deaths that lead the Doctor and his friends to discover the grisly truth behind the academics' plans, and as the ghosts of the past become ghosts of the present to recognise that sometimes death can be preferable to life.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .

  
  

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• TDP 48: Big Finish Recommendations One (sorry about the voice)

  15 March 2008 (4:17pm GMT)
  Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds

  Direct Podcast Download

  : Big Finish Recommendations OneFirts off sorry about my voice but I didnt want to let you guys down with no show even if I did do 3 last week... so heres you are. Notes on 5 of the Best Big Finsh CDs... Ill do more recommendations soon.34. Doctor Who - Spare Parts - DownloadPrice: PS11.99Technical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Sally Knyvette (Doctorman Allan); Pamela Binns (Sisterman Constant); Derren Nesbitt (Thomas Dodd); Paul Copley (Dad); Kathryn Guck (Yvonne Hartley); Jim Hartley (Frank Hartley); Ann Jenkins (Mrs. Ginsberg); Nicholas Briggs (Zheng / Cyber Voices / Radio Announcer / Citizen / Nurse); Alistair Lock (Minister / TV Commentator); Gary Russell (Philpott / Nurse)Writer:    Marc Platt     Recorded:    26 and 27 March 2002Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    July 2002Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (59' 08"); Disc 2 (73' 50")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    6C/E            ISBN:    1-903654-72-6SynopsisOn a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity and after the Big Finish audio dramaSTORM WARNINGCast:    Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard); Gareth Thomas (Lord Tamworth); Nicholas Pegg (Lt-Col Frayling); Barnaby Edwards (Rathbone); Hylton Collins (Chief Steward Weeks); Helen Goldwyn (Triskelion); Mark Gatiss (Announcer)Writer:    Alan Barnes     Recorded:    18 May 2000Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    January 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (50' 34"); Disc 2 (67' 11")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    8B            ISBN:    1-903654-24-6SynopsisOctober, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R1010, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakble, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie.THE ONE DOCTORTechnical DetailsCast:    Colin Baker (The Doctor); Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush); Christopher Biggins (Banto Zame); Clare Buckfield (Sally-Anne Stubbins); Matt Lucas (Cylinder / The Jelloid); Stephen Fewell (Councillor Potikol / Assembler 2); Nicholas Pegg (Citizen Sokkery / Mentos); Jane Goddard (The Questioner / Queen Elizabeth); Adam Buxton (Assembler 1); Mark Wright (Guard); Alistair Lock (Guard)Writer:    Gareth Roberts andClayton Hickman     Recorded:    28 and 29 April 2001Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    December 2001Music:    Alistair Lock     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    Alistair Lock     Duration    Disc 1 (49' 03"); Disc 2 (73' 39")Cover Art:     Clayton Hickman     Production Code:    7C/R            ISBN:    1-903654-56-4SynopsisWhen the evil Skelloids launch an attack upon the seventeen worlds of the Generios system, its peace-loving inhabitants face total destruction. So it's fortunate that the famous traveller in time and space known only as the Doctor is in the area, and doubly lucky that, with the help of his pretty young assistant, Sally-Anne, he manages to defeat the deadly creatures and save the day. But now it looks as though the Doctor1s luck has run out. Who is the mysterious, curly-haired stranger who insists on causing trouble? What role does the feisty redhead Melanie play in his scheme? And what have they to do with the sinister alien cylinder approaching Generios? One thing is certain: for the Doctor and Sally-Anne, there1s deadly danger ahead ...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.KINGMAKERTechnical DetailsCast:    Peter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Arthur Smith (Clarrie); Michael Fenton-Stevens (Mr Seyton); Stephen Beckett (Richard; Duke of Gloucester); Marcus Hutton (Henry; Duke of Buckingham); John Culshaw (Earl Rivers); Chris Neill (Sir James Tyrell); Katie Wimpenny (Susan); Linzi Matthews (Judith)Writer:    Nev Fountain     Recorded:    20 and 21 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    April 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (69' 57"); Disc 2 (75' 46")Cover Art:     Stuart Manning     Production Code:    6Q/I          ISBN:    1-84435-161-0SynopsisDr Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed up with Richard the third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.You might not like the answer...Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .NIGHT THOUGHTSTechnical DetailsCast:    Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Bernard Kay (Major Dickens); Joanna McCallum (The Bursar); Andrew Forbes (Dr O'Neil); Lizzie Hopley (Sue); Ann Beach (The Deacon); Duncan Duff (Joe Hartley)Writer:    Edward Young     Recorded:    7 and 8 November 2005Director:    Gary Russell     Released:    February 2006Music:    ERS     No. of Discs:    2Sound Design:    ERS     Duration    Disc 1 (61' 38"); Disc 2 (63' 51")Cover Art:     Lee Binding     Production Code:    7W/C          ISBN:    1-84435-167-XSynopsisI warn you, things could get very nasty here before they get better.'A remote Scottish mansion. Five bickering academics are haunted by ghosts from their past. Reluctantly they offer shelter to the Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.Hex, already troubled by a vivid nightmare, is further disturbed by the nighttime appearance of a whistling, hooded apparition.Ace tries to befriend the young housemaid, Sue. Sue knows secrets. She knows why the academics have assembled here, and she knows why they are all so afraid. But Sue's lips are sealed, preferring to communicate through her disturbing toy, Happy the Rabbit.And then the killing begins. Gruesome deaths that lead the Doctor and his friends to discover the grisly truth behind the academics' plans, and as the ghosts of the past become ghosts of the present to recognise that sometimes death can be preferable to life.Chronological PlacementThis story takes place between the television adventures, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure, .

  
  

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