Tin Dog Podcast
- Description:
- tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk The Tin Dog welcomes you to sit back and listen to his rants and ramblings about all that is best in modern SF and Television. Via the gift of the new fangled Podcast over the tinterweb. As you can probably guess Tin Dog mostly talks about Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith but that wont stop him talking about any other subject you suggest. Hailing from a non specific part of the northeast of England, Tin Dog is male and in his mid 30s. A life long fan of almost all TV SF. His semi-autistic tendencies combined with his total lack of social skills have helped him find a place in the heart of British SF Fandom. Even as a child the Tin Dogs mother told him that she can trace his love of SF TV back to his rhythmic kicking, while still in the womb, along to the beat of the Avengers theme music. From Gabriel Chase to Totters Lane, from the Bad Wolf Satellite to the back streets of the Cardiff, Tin Dog will give you his thoughts on the wonderful Whoniverse. Daleks and Cybermen and TARDIS ES Oh My If you enjoy these Tin Dog Podcasts please remember to tell your friends and leave an email tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk
Homepage: http://tin-dog.co.uk
RSS Feed: http://www.tin-dog.co.uk/rss
- Episodes:
- 2900
- Average Episode Duration:
- 0:0:10:08
- Longest Episode Duration:
- 0:2:09:15
- Total Duration of all Episodes:
- 20 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes and 2 seconds
- Earliest Episode:
- 1 May 2007 (6:54pm GMT)
- Latest Episode:
- 20 May 2025 (6:53am GMT)
- Average Time Between Episodes:
- 2 days, 6 hours, 34 minutes and 0 seconds
Tin Dog Podcast Episodes
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TDP 128: Whostrology Help Needed
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 4 minutes and 4 secondsMising dates June 30 August 2 August 19 August 21
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TDP 127: Amy's Choice
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 52 secondsIt has been five years since Amy Pond last travelled with the Doctor, and when he lands in her garden again, on the eve of the birth of her first child, she finds herself facing a heartbreaking choice - one that will change her life forever. They will have to choose which is the dream world and which is reality. Plot Leadworth, 2015. Amy Pond is stirring some custard in a bowl but starts to feel pain in her pregnant body. Rory immediately arrives on his bike (with a pony tail on his head) and Amy screams Rory's name so he can get inside thinking the baby is coming. Amy's pain then subsides and both of them are about to resume their daily lives, when the TARDIS materializes outside their kitchen window. The Doctor exits the TARDIS whilst Rory and Amy hurry to him and the TARDIS before hugs are exchanged and the Doctor stating how happy they look five years after they last travelled with him. Cast Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith Amy Pond - Karen Gillan Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill Dream Lord - Toby Jones Mr Nainby - Nick Hobbs Mrs Poggit - Audrey Ardington Mrs Hamil - Joan Linder Production crew to be added References The Doctor reveals to Amy and Rory that he threw the TARDIS Manual at a Supernova because he 'disagreed' with it. The Dream Lord brings up the Doctor's relationship with Elizabeth I. The Dream Lord teleports himself around much like The Valeyard did in DW: The Ultimate Foe. The Dream Lord refers to The Doctor as the 'last of the Time Lords' and 'the oncoming storm', two nicknames he has been given. (DW: Doomsday, Journey's End et al.) Story notes The enemies the old folks play are a race known as the Eknodine. The Dream Lord traps the Doctor, Rory and Amy in an alternative world and Amy has to decide what is the real world. Technically, the entire episode took place in the TARDIS. The box under the TARDIS console the Doctor opens has the words: "TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Build Site: Gallifrey Blackhole Shipyard. Type 40. Build date: 1963. Authorised for use by qualified Time Lords only by the Shadow Proclamation. Misuse or theft of any TARDIS will result in extreme penalties and permanent exile." written on it. There is no indication of how much time has passed since DW: The Vampires of Venice. The sign outside the old peoples' home reads "SARN Residential Care Home". Sarn was the setting for DW: Planet of Fire. This is only the second episode of the series (after Time of the Angels) not to feature a Crack in time but is the first non 2 part story to not feature a crack. Ratings to be added Rumours The 'Dream Lord' was rumoured to pretend to be the Doctor because of a shot of him inside the TARDIS wearing the Eleventh Doctor's costume in the trailer. He was, in fact, the Doctor himself - at least, his dark side. Aunt Sharon will appear. This was false Filming locations to be added Production errors When Rory and Amy are running from the Eknodine you can clearly see no mud on his back, but he was thrown on his back, into mud, a minute before.It concerns a dream, that puts things in perspective.The Doctor mentions again that bow ties are cool. (DW: The Eleventh Hour) The Dream Lord refers to what happened between the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I. (DW: The Shakespeare Code, The End of Time, The Beast Below) The Doctor initially assumes that the TARDIS has jumped a time track (DW: The Space Museum) The Doctor tries to jump start the TARDIS by kicking it. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen) The Dream Lord accuses the Doctor of abandoning his companions in favour of younger friends, echoing remarks by Sarah Jane Smith about the Tenth Doctor and his relationship with Rose Tyler. (DW: School Reunion) The Dream Lord, once alone with Amy, echoes a conversation Jackie Tyler had with the Ninth Doctor about how 'anything could happen'. (DW: Rose) After Rory dies in the dream, Amy asks the Doctor "What is the point of you?", similar to how Gwen asks the same to Jack after Rhys dies. (TW: End of Days) The swimming pool has turned up; the Doctor said that "it'll turn up" in DW: The Eleventh Hour. DVD and Blu-ray release BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Three will feature Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood and Vincent and the Doctor. It will be released on Monday 2nd August 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[1] External links to be added Footnotes | DWM 421, Page 18
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TDP 126: The Vampires of Venice
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 58 secondsDessicated corpses, terror in the canal and a visit to the sinister House of Calvierri - the Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a romantic mini-break, as the TARDIS touches down once again. Vampires converge Vampires in the dungeon But 16th-century Venice is not as it should be. The city has been sealed to protect it from the Plague, although Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans... Plot Cast The Doctor - Matt Smith Amy Pond - Karen Gillan Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill Rosanna Calvierri - Helen McCrory Francesco - Alex Price Isabella - Alisha Bailey Steward - Simon Gregor Guido - Lucian Msamati Inspector - Michael Percival Vampire - Gabriela Montarez Vampire - Elizabeth Croft Vampire - Gabriella Wylde Vampire - Sonila Vieshta Vampire - Hannah Steele Crew Executive Producers: Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis Produced byTracie SimpsonPatrick Schweitzer Directed byJonny Campbell Written byToby Whithouse(script editing by Brian Minchin) Director of PhotographyTony Slater Ling Production DesignerEdward Thomas Visual EffectsThe Mill Make-up DesignerBarbara Southcott Casting DirectorAndy Pryor CDG MusicMurray Gold Costume DesignerRay Holman EditorJames Pearson Special EffectsReal SFX Original theme music by Ron Grainer* Title sequence by Framestore* With thanks to BBC National Orchestra of Wales General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Line Producer - Patrick Schweitzer Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Assistant Production Manager - Claire Thomas Production Runner - Sian Warrilow Production Accountant - Ceru Tothill A/Production Accountant - Carole Wakefield Directorial/DOP staff 1st Assistant Director - John Bennett 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch Runners - Nicola Enyon Price, Laura Jenkins Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes Camera Operator - Ian Adrian B Camera Operator - Matthew Poynter Focus Puller - Steve Rees Grip - John Robinson Assistant Camera - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Boom Operator - Dafydd Parry Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Pete Chester Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Steve Slocombe, Bob Milton, Alan Tippets Art department Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Co-ordinator - Amy Oakes Associate Designer - James North Production Buyer - Ben Morris Set Decorator - Keith Dunne Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Set Designer - Ben Austin Storyboard Artist - James Iles Concept Artists - Richard Shaun Williams, Peter McKinstry Graphic Artist - Jackson Pope Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Tom Evans Standby Art Director - Tristan Peatfield Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Props Master - Paul Aitken Props Chargehand - Matt Wild Dressing Props - Martin Broadbent, Rhys Jones Prop Makers - Penny Howarth, Nicholas Robatto Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Construction Chargehand - Scott Fisher Practical Electrician - Albert James Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Costume Supervisor - Bobbie Peach Crowd Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Costume Assistants - Sara Morgan, Maria Franchi Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Pam Mullins Make-up Artists - Abi Brotherton, Morag Smith Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Crispin Layfield Stunt Performers - Gordon Seed Casting Casting Associates: Andy Brierley, Alice Purser General post-production staff Post-production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Ceres Doyle Post-production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Assistant Editor - Becky Trotman On-line Conform - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Cat Gregory Colourist - Mick Vincent Sound Sound Recordist - Bryn Howarth Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Maintenance Engineer - Jeff Welch Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Helen Dickson Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. According to a pre-launch press pack issued by the BBC, Patrick Schweitzer was actually the co-producer of this episode, but in the event, he was actually double credited -- as both a full producer and a line producer. References The Doctor's library card The Doctor The Doctor shows his Library Card to the Vampires. It has a picture of his first incarnation on it. The name on it appears to be "Dr. J. Smith." Amy describes her time with the Doctor as involving "lots of running." The Doctor gives Amy a boiled sweet. Individuals The Doctor compares the Vampires to Harry Houdini. When Rory asks why the Psychic paper says he is Amy's eunuch, she says "I'll explain later". Races and species The relationship between Calvierri and her son and their plan to convert people to become their species is similar to that of the Family of Blood who shared a close bond and took over individuals to go unnoticed. When Calvierri commits suicide she asks The Doctor if he can carry another dead race on his conscience, and to remember her, much like Davros did when he died. Technology Rosanna Calvierri uses a Perception filter. The perception filter is shown to have a self preservation loophole, making the teeth visible when the brain detects a threat. Story Notes A 90-second clip from this episode was aired during Matt Smith's appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 26 March 2010. The Vampires are not real vampires, but are of alien origin. They are fish-like alien creatures using Perception Filters to hide themselves to other people. There was some initial confusion over the title of this story, with some media sources (as well as Matt Smith in a TV interview[1]) using the title Vampires in Venice. In the Series 5 preview, one of the vampires leap for Rory, without any change. In the actual episode, he changes to his alien form. Differences like this have happened many times from trailer to episode. The name of the species, Saturnynians, isn't spoken in the episode, though the planet Saturnyne is mentioned twice. The Saturnynian are hiding from the Cracks and the Silence. The Doctor mentions meeting Casanova. David Tennant had previously played Casanova in a television series written by Russell T Davies. This is the first Doctor Who episode that, instead of having the last scene cut to the closing titles, the closing titles 'merge' with the scene. In this case, the camera zooms into the TARDIS keyhole, and through it, the Time Vortex is visible. This episode is notable for being filmed in Croatia, and is therefore the first episode of a Doctor Who universe show to be filmed in a formerly Communist country. The Vampires of Venice contains similarities to School Reunion, also written by Toby Whithouse: Pre-titles sequence involves scene of a young girl being attacked by an alien, followed by a scene in which the Doctor appears during a mundane activity and says something rather ordinary. The companion's boyfriend joins in for the adventure and becomes part of the TARDIS crew for the following episodes. Both episodes feature scenes where two of the main characters discuss the Doctor's effect on relationships. The leader of the alien race in both episodes proposes an alliance with the Doctor. A minor character disposes of most of the aliens by causing an explosion. The alien's plan is thwarted by a simple flick of a switch. Ratings 6.2 million Filming Locations Croatia was used as the primary location for the setting of this episode. It is the third episode of the revival series after DW: The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Dead to include major filming outside the UK. Some filming took place in Caephilly Castle. [1] Scenes featuring The Doctor, Amy and Rory were filmed at Llancaiach Fawr. [2] Continuity The Doctor tells Rory that Amy kissed him. (DW: Flesh and Stone) Instead of his Psychic paper, the Doctor shows his library card, which includes a photo of his first incarnation. The First Doctor's library card can read out 76 TOTTERS LANE, first seen in DW: An Unearthly Child The library card lists his name as "Dr. J. Smith," presumably standing for "Dr. John Smith," a frequent alias of the Doctor's. The Fourth Doctor previously encountered vampires of a different kind in DW: State of Decay The Seventh Doctor encountered a kind of vampire known as "Haemovores", which also happened to reside in water, in DW: The Curse of Fenric. The Eighth Doctor had previously visited 23rd Century Venice in BFA: The Stones of Venice. The Doctor mentions how a life of time travel can make it difficult to readjust to a normal existence. Sarah Jane Smith told him much the same thing in DW: School Reunion. DVD and Blu-ray Releases BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two will feature The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice. It will be released on Monday 5th July 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[2]
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TDP 125: The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 43 secondsPlotThe Doctor discovers a message in Old High Gallifreyan engraved on the side of a ruined flight recorder from the starship Byzantium 12,000 years in the past by Doctor River Song. With Amy Pond, the Doctor takes the TARDIS to meet her before the ship crashes on the planet Alfava Metraxis. After reuniting with the Doctor, whom she has had extensive contact within his relative future, Dr. Song warns the Doctor of a Weeping Angel, creatures that cannot move when observed but otherwise can move incredibly fast, that the Byzantium was carrying, and calls for Father Octavian and his troops to join her on the surface to recapture it. Dr. Song shows the Doctor and Amy a four-second loop of security footage of the Angel as the soldiers set up base camp. The Doctor and Song review a book written by a madman about the Angels which warns that any form of image of the Angels become Angels themselves. Simultaneously, Amy finds, when she looks away, the Angel from the footage moves and begins to emerge from the screen, further trapping her in the viewing room. As the Doctor and Song attempt to free Amy, Amy is able to freeze the image on a loop break, causing the Angel to disappear and saving herself. As the Doctor and Song verify Amy is safe, she continues to believe she has something in her eyes.To access the Byzantium and locate the Angel, the group must travel through a "Maze of the Dead", a stone labyrinth with numerous statues erected by the planet's natives that the Angel could hide among. The group splits up, with some soldiers left to guard the entrance. As they explore, the Doctor and Song come to realize that the native species of the planet have two heads, while all the statues have one; they quickly realise that every statue is a Weeping Angel, slower and weaker than the captured Angel due to lack of beings to consume over the centuries but now absorbing energy from the crashed ship. As the group tries to escape, Amy believes her hand to have become stone and cannot move, but the Doctor points out that her perception has been influenced by the Angel, and she is still fine, allowing her to flee. The group soon finds that the Angels have killed their rear guard and are using their consciousness to speak to the Doctor. The Angels reveal they have lured the group in the trap, and are planning to use their essences to further regenerate. The Doctor threatens that the Angels should have never put him in the trap, and prepares the group to act once he fires at the globe of light providing the only illumination the maze; the episode ends on this cliffhanger.The Doctor, Amy, River Song, Father Octavian and his clerics find themselves standing on the nose of the Byzantium, looking down on the surface and the Weeping Angels, after having been caught by the ship's artificial gravity when the gravity globe burst. The group make their way to the secondary flight deck while being chased by the regenerating Angels, who have now also jumped up to the ship. All the while, Amy is counting downwards from ten without realising it. Angel Bob claims that this is a countdown to when they will kill her, after which they will take control of the universe. The Doctor asks the Angels where they can possibly expect to get the power from to take over the universe, but the Angels just laugh at the Doctor's ignorance of the situation. The Doctor turns around and then sees a giant crack in the ship's wall, identical to the one in Amy's bedroom in "The Eleventh Hour", and as seen in "The Beast Below" and "Victory of the Daleks", it is a crack in the universe. While the others escape into the ship's oxygen factory, a giant forest, the Doctor examines the crack, before noticing he is surrounded by Weeping Angels - one of whom catches him by his jacket. He warns the Angels that the crack, whilst full of energy, is not full of the energy they need (time energy); it is instead a crack from the end of the universe, a crack that will consume everyone. While distracting them with this thought, he escapes, minus his coat, and quickly follows after the others.Just before the Doctor can reach her, Amy collapses to the forest floor, seemingly dying. Recollecting that the image of an Angel is itself an Angel, the Doctor realises that Amy has the image of a Weeping Angel in the visual centres of her mind. The Doctor tells her to close her eyes in order to suppress the visual centres of the brain and explains that if she opens her eyes for more than a second, the Angel will kill her. Before he leaves, Amy confesses to the Doctor she is unsure if she can trust him yet, as he isn't always truthful with her, but the Doctor simply informs her that if he always told her the truth, she would never need to trust him. He implores her to remember what he told her when she was seven, but Amy does not know what he is referring to. The Doctor, River and Father Octavian head off to the main control room in the hope of slowing down the descent of the Angels, while Amy is left alone with the clerics as the Weeping Angels advance. Whilst walking through the forest, the Doctor traces the origins of the crack back to the point in time and space at which it began - June 26th, 201x (the last digit is not revealed until the end of the episode). While trying to break into the control room, an Angel traps Octavian. The Doctor is helpless to save him and Octavian urges him to leave and join River inside. Just before his inevitable death though, Octavian divulges to the Doctor that River is a criminal currently in his custody, guilty of the murder of a man whose identity he will not reveal. The Doctor gives his last apologies to Octavian and hurries inside.The crack in the secondary flight deck widens into the forest, where Amy is being guarded by four of the clerics. The Angels run away from the crack, in fear from the Doctor's warning, leaving the clerics and Amy behind. The Doctor speculates that the crack is allowing time to be rewritten and River asks him how they can close it. The Doctor explains that the best way to close it is to feed it a complicated space-time event: him. In the forest, three of clerics go to inspect the crack, which just looks like a very bright light but, after they've gone, the remaining cleric doesn't even remember that they existed. He goes to investigate the crack himself, leaving Amy truly alone and with only a communicator. The Doctor radios Amy and tells her to come to the control room. She asks why she should risk confronting the Angels and the Doctor tells her that the Angels can only kill her, but the crack can erase her from time. Reluctantly and still with her eyes closed, she follows his sonic screwdriver signal, until the Angels arrive and surround her. Since the Angels are still very scared, the Doctor informs Amy that if she walks like she can see, the Angels will remain in stone form due to their survival instincts, but Amy soon gives herself away as blind by tripping over and shouting, allowing the Angels (who are seen moving for the first time) to advance in on her. Just in time, River teleports her to the control room.All the Angels come to the entrance to the room as they drain energy from the doors, which then open. The lead Angel, whom the Doctor has named "Angel Bob" after the man whose voice it was using, demands that the Doctor throw himself into the crack in order to save the Angels. River, as a time traveller, wants to throw herself in but the Doctor laughs at the idea, claiming that she is not even as complicated as one Angel and that only all the Angels are equivalent to him. He then realises that as the ship's power is quickly draining, its artificial gravity field is about to collapse, and he urges his friends to hold on to something to stop themselves from falling. The gravity field then collapses and all of the frozen Angels fall into the crack. This is enough to seal it, erasing them all from existence. The group escapes to the outside of the temple, and Amy is again able to see - the Angel within her mind never existed, due to the fact it fell into the crack. Confused, Amy asks how it is possible she remembers all of the clerics who seemingly "ceased to exist," but the Doctor informs her that, since they are time travellers, and time has no context in which to work, they can remember them. River, who after completing her mission is about to be teleported back to her cell in space, tells the Doctor she will see him again when the Pandorica opens (unnerving the Doctor, who claims the Pandorica is just a fairy tale), and that the man she killed was the best man she'd ever known. She is teleported back to the penal starship, with the remaining soldiers.Amy tells the Doctor to take her home. There, she tells him that she is getting married in the morning and tries to seduce him (to which he acts alarmed). He declines to reciprocate and, whilst looking at her bedside digital clock, realises that she is at the centre of all the cracks and that the time explosion which created them occurs today - the day of her wedding, June 26th 2010. He quickly whisks her away in order to try to sort the issue out.
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TDP 124: The Creature from the Pit
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds-undefined-
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UK TDP STORE NOW OPEN
Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 secondsThere are now 2 tin dog stores open. one in the UK and the other in the US of A. simply click on the images on the right and be redirected be seeing you.
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TDP 123: Victory of the Daleks
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 38 seconds-undefined-
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New Tin Dog Podcast Store
Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 secondscreate & buy custom products at Zazzle
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TDP 121: The Eleventh Hour
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 30 secondsSorry its late
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TDP 120: Smith and Moff interviews
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 24 minutes and 59 seconds-undefined-
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TDP 119: How to have a Doctor Who Convention By Yourself
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 45 seconds(late) third avviversary show. Enjoy
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TDP 118: The Horns of Nimon
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 59 secondsYoutube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL8qirrysRM <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EL8qirrysRM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EL8qirrysRM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> and the link to WHO AT FAB CAFE http://www.fanslikeus.org.uk/
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TDP 112:Masque of Mandragora Review
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 43 secondsdvd review
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SFX WEEKENDER TICKET GIVE AWAY!!!
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 54 secondsSFX have given the alliance 50 sets of 4 tickets to give away on our shows... all listeners have to do is phone 08700110034 and quote promotional code DWPOD
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TDP 109: A short Story at Christmas. Raining Cats and Dogs
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 3 secondsenjoy this xmas gift from the TDP
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TDP 108: RPG Adventures in Time and An Earthly Child
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 48 secondsRPG Update
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TDP 107: Dalek, Dreamland and SJSA 3.6
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 29 minutes and 1 secondinfo to follow
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TDP 106: Waters of Mars & SJSA 3.5
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 5 secondsThe Waters of Mars is the second of the 2009 Specials leading up to the end of the David Tennant era. It aired on 15th November 2009 on BBC One. Contents [show] 1 Synopsis2 Plot3 Cast4 Crew5 References 5.1 Earth history5.2 Locations5.3 Races and Species5.4 Robots 6 Story Notes 6.1 Ratings6.2 Filming Locations6.3 Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors 7 Continuity8 International broadcasts9 DVD release10 External links11 Footnotes wgAfterContentAndJS.push(function() { if (window.showTocToggle) { window.tocShowText = "show"; window.tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle();}}); Synopsis Mars. 2059. Bowie Base One. Last recorded message: "Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop." Plot The TARDIS arrives on Mars and the Doctor steps out in his spacesuit, seemingly just to relax and enjoy the landscape. Stumbling across a base inhabited by a team from Earth, the Doctor is detained by a remote-controlled robot called "GADGET" and brought inside. The base commander, Adelaide Brooke, is at first suspicious of the Doctor, but after a tense interrogation, decides to trust him. The Doctor learns that the date is 21st November 2059, and that this is in fact Bowie Base One, the first human outpost on Mars. History has it that on this date the base was destroyed in a mysterious explosion and Brooke and her crew were all killed. Unwilling to break the laws of time and interfere with fixed points in history, the Doctor decides to leave. However, at the very same moment a crisis is developing: two crewmembers, Andy Stone and Maggie Cain, have been infected by a mysterious life form which takes over their bodies and causes them to gush copious amounts of water. Adelaide confiscates the Doctor's spacesuit, reasoning that he could be responsible for the infection in some way, and orders him to come with her and another crewmember, Tarak Ital, to investigate. The infection spreads, with Andy passing on the condition to Tarak. The two men are contained in the base's "bio-sphere" section while Maggie is secured in the medical wing. In a conversation with colleague Yuri Kerenski, the organism occupying Maggie's body reveals its desire to reach Earth, a planet rich in water. The crew plan to evacuate in an escape shuttle, and the Doctor breaks the news to Adelaide that she must die today, on Mars, if events are to unfold as they should. However, he also tells her that her death will inspire her descendants to travel further into space and establish peaceful relations with numerous extraterrestrial species. Unwillingly, Adelaide lets him leave. As the Doctor is making his way back to the TARDIS, Maggie breaks out of confinement, infiltrates the shuttle and infects pilot Ed Gold, Adelaide's deputy. Before the condition takes a hold over him, Ed manages to trigger the shuttle's self-destruct mechanism, which traps the infection on Mars but also leaves the surviving crew with no means of escape. The destruction of the shuttle is witnessed by the Doctor who, overcome by defiance against time itself, returns to the base to save the others. Realising that there is no way to change the course of history, Adelaide activates Bowie Base's self-destruct sequence. The infected personnel mount the roof of the control centre and exude more water, which pours into the room and claims GADGET's operator, Roman Groom, and Steffie Ehrlich. However, the Doctor uses GADGET to access the TARDIS, operate its controls remotely and transport the time and space machine into the base, rescuing Adelaide, Yuri and Mia Bennett from the resulting nuclear explosion. The TARDIS materialises outside Adelaide's house on Earth. Mia and Yuri are shocked by their experiences on Mars and Doctor's power and depart, bewildered. In a conversation with Adelaide, the Doctor reflects on why he ultimately decided to save her and the others. He argues that the Time Lords' rules were only valid while their civilisation existed, and that since he is the last of his race he has total authority over time. He proudly declares himself the "Time Lord Victorious" and remarks that with this power he will now be able to save influential figures such as Adelaide as well as "little people" the likes of Yuri and Mia. Scolding the Doctor for his new found arrogance, Adelaide returns home and commits suicide, reverting the changes that the Doctor has made to the timeline. Only now understanding the full impact of his actions, the Doctor is overcome with horror and realises that there will be a price to pay for his interference. Ood Sigma appears in the street, prompting the Doctor to ask him whether he has finally gone too far -- whether the time has come for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!", he begins to work the machine's controls. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Adelaide Brooke - Lindsay Duncan Ed Gold - Peter O'Brien Tarak Ital - Chook Sibtain Andy Stone - Alan Ruscoe Maggie Cain - Sharon Duncan-Brewster Mia Bennett - Gemma Chan Yuri Kerenski - Aleksander Mikic Steffie Ehrlich - Cosima Shaw Roman Groom - Michael Goldsmith Emily Brooke - Lily Bevan Mikhail Kerenski - Max Bollinger Ulrika Ehrlich - Anouska Strahnz Lisette Ehrlich - Zofia Strahnz Adelaide's Father - Charlie De'ath Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey Young Adelaide - Rachel Fewell Crew 1st Assistant Director - William Hartley 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Geraint Williams Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Sian Warrilow Floor Runner - Alison Jones Continuity - Llinos Wyn Jones Script Editor - Gary Russell Camera Operators - Roger Pearce, Rory Taylor Focus Pullers - Steve Rees, Jamie Southcott Grip - John Robinson Camera Assistants - Jon Vidgen, Tom Hartley Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Jonathon Cox Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Stunt Co-ordinator - Abbi Collins Choreographer - Ailsa Berk Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Jackson Pope Set Decorator - Joelle Rumbelow Property Master - Paul Aitken Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies 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, Morag Smith Casting Associate - Andy Brierley Casting Assistant - Alice Purse VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Post Production Supervisors - Samantha Hall, Chris Blatchford Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Colourist - Mick Vincent Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Dialogue Editor - Douglas Sinclair References Adelaide was 10 years old when the Earth was stolen by the Daleks, she witnessed one herself. Whilst on Earth when the Doctor is in the TARDIS the cloister bell is audible. Earth history Adelaide Brooke says that the last forty years on Earth have been chaos, with massive climate change, ozone degredation, and "the oil apocalypse"; humanity "almost reached extinction" during this period. Andy's obituary mentions "appalling storm conditions" in 2040, and climate change affecting agriculture in 2045. Maggie believes the Doctor may be a Philippino or Spanish astronaut, as the Philippines are rumoured to be building a Mars rocket and Spain have a "space link" that they managed to keep secret. Andy Stone's sister worked for the Spanish space programme. Ed Gold believes the Doctor is from a non-state independent group, referring to the Branson Inheritance. Various lunar missions have been carried out, including ten German missions and Project Pit Stop, establishing a refueling station on the moon. Mars was landed on in 2041, with Adelaide Brooke as part of the crew. Thirty years after 2059, Brooke's granddaughter Susan will pilot the first lightspeed ship. At least one of the webpages -- the one showing Brooke's granddaughter -- dates from the 2080s or later, suggesting the Internet still exists in some form in the late 21st century. Locations Bowie Base One is Earth's first off world colony. "Bowie Base One" is a reference to the David Bowie song "Life on Mars", which is also the name of a BBC TV series set in 1972 starring John Simm, who currently plays The Master. Bowie Base One is located on Mars in the Gusev Crater. Races and Species The Doctor mentions the Ice Warriors and suggests that they may have frozen the Flood. Robots The Doctor said that he hates "funny robots" but notes that he'd be okay with a robot dog. Gadget was built by Roman Groom using parts from the drones that constructed Bowie Base One. Story Notes This story was initially envisaged as a Christmas special, several festive references remain, such as the crew on Mars preparing for Christmas dinner, and it snowing when the Doctor arrives back on Earth as he exclaims how he likes snow. This story was originally entitled; Red Christmas. As Lindsay Duncan has been cast as a companion, she is the oldest actor to play a companion on television since the beginning of the series, although this title will be taken away from her in the next episode when Bernard Cribbins becomes the Doctor's companion. Ratings 9.1m 33.9% of TV share Filming Locations Victoria Place, Newport National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Carmarthenshire Taff's Well quarry, Cardiff, Wales Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors If no Human had ever heard of the Ice Warriors then how can the events of NA: The Dying Days not be known by the Humans? The novels may not be considered canon, by the current production team, also that event may have been in flux. It is never explicitly stated that Humans have never heard of the Ice Warriors. When the Doctor mentions them, Adelaide simply states, "I haven't got time for stories." After the explosion of the shuttle, several fires are burning all around the site. Taking into account the initial explosion was fueled by the base's oxygen, and given that Mars has no appreciable atmosphere, how can these smaller fires burn in the vacuum? Because Mars does have an atmosphere, albeit one with a pressure roughly equivalent to one hundredth that of Earth's atmosphere. Given that Mars's thin atmosphere consists primarily of carbon dioxide, with a very small concentration of oxygen (which is required for combustion), how can the smaller fires after the explosion burn? There is a lot we don't know about Bowie Base One. We don't know what sort of fuel they're using, we don't know how the self-destruct mechanism on the rocket works. In Father's Day The Reapers turned up due to Rose saving her father when somebody who was dead is now alive - surely this should be the case now for Yuri and Mia as they should have died but are now alive. The Reapers only showed up in Fathers Day due to Rose saving her father's life, as then, that altered the timeline meaning that in the future Rose wouldn't have travelled to the past to save her father, causing a paradox, the Doctor only changed the future when he saved Adelaide's life. Had Adelaide's granddaughter travelled back in time to save her grandmother, for instance, that would more likely have caught the Reapers' attention. Also, as Adelaide almost immediately kills herself, thereby maintaining the timeline, there was no need for the Reapers to appear. The news article on Adelaide claims that she was born in 1999 and yet was also 10 when her parents died in 2008. (There was clearly a typo in the article in regards to either the year or her age.) The news article identifies The Stolen Earth as occuring in 2008, instead of 2009 (as the show's been a year ahead since Aliens of London). The production team have deliberately stated that Series Three occurs within a space of a few days to rectify the year-off discrepancy that Aliens of London introduced, so the Whoniverse timeline is in sync with ours again. (Two explanations: either the article we were "seeing" had some sort of typo, or the events of The Stolen Earth actually did happen in 2008.) The news article on the mission refers to "Dr Tarak Ital MD." It would be correct to write either the "Dr" or the "MD," but both at once is redundant and grammatically incorrect. Ital's obituary also misspells "Havana". It is correct if the person has both an MD and a PhD. The article on Susie Fontana Brooke's first "Faster then Light" flight lists Adelaide's team at the end as hers. Why would the Doctor comment on Mia's age when Roman is two years younger than her? When it is revealed that Maggie is one of the creatures, the outer shot shows her hair back while in the closer shot, it is around her face. Continuity The Doctor speaks partially to the events of DW: The Fires of Pompeii. There is a flashback to (which includes a cameo by a Dalek) DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End The spacesuit the Doctor wore was the same suit from DW: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. Mars appears not to have much of an atmosphere, however NA: The Dying Days suggests otherwise. SJA: The Mad Woman in the Attic is also (partially) set in 2059. Carmen's prophecy "he will knock four times" is mentioned from DW: Planet of the Dead. Sound clips of the Doctor talking about the Time Lords and The Time War are used from DW: Gridlock, Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords International broadcasts ABC1 - Australia : 6th December 2009[1] BBC America: 19th December 2009 Space - Canada: 19th December 2009[2]
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TDP 105: SJS3.4 and Aliens of London/WWIII
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 12 secondsrevisiting the past
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TDP 104: Dead Shoes and SJSA 3.2 & 3.3
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 secondsinfo to follow
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TDP 103: Planet of the Daleks & SJSA 3.1
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 39 secondsINFO TO FOLLOW
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TDP 102: Fronteer in Space and New Logo Chat
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 32 secondsTDP info to follow
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TDP 101:The keys of Marinus and Hornets 1
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 39 secondsinfo to follow
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TDP 100: The 100th Show!
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 11 secondsmy top 20 Whoness things
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TDP 099: Twin Dilemma
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 44 secondsPlot After his regeneration from their previous adventure, the Doctor starts behaving erratically. He goes to the wardrobe and looking for a new outfit and finds a glaring, mismatched, brightly coloured coat to which he immediately takes a shine. Peri tells him that he could not go outside wearing such an awful garb, to which the Doctor takes offence. Two twins, Romulus and Remus Sylveste, receive a visitation from a mysterious old man called Professor Edgeworth. They question how he managed to get inside their house; he tells them he will return when their father is there, then proceeds to abduct them and the trio disappear. They arrive on a spacecraft in deep space. Edgeworth then communicates with his superior, a slug-like creature called Mestor, who instructs Edgeworth to take the twins to Titan 3. In the console room, the Doctor has a funny turn, quoting a poem about a Peri -- a good and beautiful fairy in Persian mythology, but one which used to be evil. The Doctor accuses her of being evil, and of being an alien spy before rushing toward her and throttling her. He catches a sight of his own manic face in a mirror and collapses in a heap, releasing Peri. When she tells him that he tried to kill her, he initially denies he could be capable of such an act, but seeing how terrified of him she is, decides he must become a hermit on the desolate asteroid Titan 3. The twins' father contacts the authorities; he found Zanium in their room -- a sure sign of intergalactic kidnap. A Commander Lang begins the pursuit and soon finds a suspicious ship previously reported missing. He tries to contact it, but it enters warp drive -- something that class of ship is not designed to do. On Titan 3, as the Doctor contemplates a thousand years of solitude and Peri expresses her disapproval, they hear the crash landing of a craft. Examining its wreckage, they find the concussed body of Commander Lang. They take him back to the TARDIS where he reveals his whole squadron has been destroyed. Believing the Doctor to be responsible, he points his gun at the Doctor and threatens to kill him... Peri pleads with Lang, telling him that the Doctor had in fact saved him, but he faints away. The Doctor is not keen to treat Lang, more concerned for his own life, but eventually agrees to Peri's persuasion. Edgeworth argues with Romulus and Remus, making them do Mestor's work. He scolds them for setting up a distress signal, so they are not allowed to use electronic equipment to solve the equations they have been set. An image of Mestor appears and gives the twins a more blunt threat -- work for him or have their minds destroyed. On the TARDIS scanner, the Doctor and Peri see a building -- something which has no place on an uninhabited asteroid. Leaving Lang behind, they find a tunnel which may lead to the building, but on exploring find two aliens wielding guns. The Doctor cowers in fear and pleads with them not to shoot him. They are led off and are brought before Edgeworth. The Doctor claims to be a pilgrim to Titan 3, but Noma, one of the aliens, says they are spies and should be shot. The Doctor suddenly recognises Edgeworth as an old friend - Azmael, master of Jaconda, whom he last saw two incarnations ago. When the Doctor sees Romulus and Remus and discovers it is Azmael who has abducted them, he is disgusted. Azmael teleports away with the twins and the aliens, leaving the Doctor and Peri locked in the building. The Doctor starts to break the lock's combination, but Peri discovers Noma has set the base to self-destruct. The Doctor improvises a solution to teleport them back to the TARDIS. Peri makes a successful return, but the Doctor has not appeared when she sees the base explode on the scanner... A glimpse of the Doctor is seen appearing in the TARDIS; he was delayed returning because he was using Peri's watch to synchronise their arrival, but the watch had stopped. The Doctor is surprised at Peri's compassion when she thought he had died. On Jaconda, Mestor is seen putting one of the bird-like Jacondans to death for a petty offence of stealing a few vegetables. Soon, the TARDIS arrives, but instead of the expected beautiful planet the Doctor is expecting, he, Peri and Lang find a desolate wasteland covered with giant Gastropod trails. The Doctor is reluctant to go to the palace, scared for his own life, but is persuaded to take Lang there in the TARDIS. In the palace corridors they see murals depicting Jaconda's history, depicting the slugs of myth - but it appears that they are now all too real. After avoiding Gastropods, Lang gets stuck in their slime trail. Azmael takes the twins to his laboratory and shows them a store room full of Gastropod eggs. Mestor arrives and tries to persuade them that his aims are benevolent. Azmael begs him to stop reading his thoughts and stop Noma watching his every move. He agrees and leaves. Azmael explains to the Twins that Mestor usurped him as leader of Jaconda and outlines a plan to draw two outlying planets into the same orbit as Jaconda. The Twins' genius is required to stabilise those planets in their new orbit. The Doctor, leaving Peri and Lang behind, finds Azmael's lab. In a manic fit of pique, he attacks Azmael, but is restrained by a Jacondan and the Twins. The Doctor apologises to Azmael but demands to know what is going on. Meanwhile, Peri is captured by Jacondan guards and brought before Mestor. When Lang escapes to Azmael's lab and informs them what has happened, the Doctor finally shows compassion for her when he thinks she might die... Mestor refrains from killing Peri immediately, finding her appearance pleasing. Jacondan guards arrive in Azmael's lab and seize the Doctor. The Doctor tells Mestor that he ought to allow him to assist with the dangerous operation of moving the planets, as a single mistake could blow a hole in that corner of the universe. Back the laboratory, Azmael informs the Doctor the details of the plan to bring the planets into the same orbit -- they will be placed in different time zones using time travel technology that Mestor stole from Azmael. The Doctor realises that, as the other planets are smaller than Jaconda, bringing them closer to Jaconda's sun will lead to catastrophe. The Doctor enters the egg storeroom, and is disturbed that they have no nutritional mucus. He tries to cut one open with a laser cutter; the shell is impenetrable, but the egg reacts slightly to the heat. The Doctor realises they have been designed to withstand the heat of an exploding sun -- the explosion of the Jacondan sun will scatter the eggs throughout the universe. When they hatch, the Gastropods will conquer the universe. The one remaining Jacondan in the lab collapses dead, his mind burnt out. Mestor had been using him as a monitor, and knows the full details of what has been discussed. Peri, Lang and the Twins return to the TARDIS, whilst the Doctor and Azmael go to confront Mestor. When Mestor refuses to abandon his plans, the Doctor hurls a vial of acid taken from the lab at him, but a force field protects Mestor from any harm. Mestor threatens to possess the Doctor's mind and body, and demonstrates by taking control of Azmael's body. Azmael tells him to destroy Mestor's body before he can return to it, which he does with a further vial. Then Azmael, in his last regeneration, forces himself to regenerate -- killing himself -- and in doing so destroys Mestor. Dying, Azmael says he has no regrets and that one of his fondest memories was a time spent with the Doctor by a fountain. The Doctor and Peri return to the TARDIS; Lang decides to stay behind on Jaconda to assist with their rebuilding. When Peri tells the Doctor off for being rude, he reminds her that he is an alien, with alien sensibilities: "I am the Doctor... whether you like it or not!" [edit] Cast notes Maurice Denham makes a guest appearance as Azmael. See Celebrity appearances in Doctor WhoColin Baker also provides, uncredited, the voice of a Jacondan at Freighter Control in part three.Dennis Chinnery had previously appeared as Gharman in the Tom Baker story Genesis of the Daleks. [edit] Continuity The Doctor states that he has regenerated twice since his last encounter with Azmael. This means that this last time (including the incident at the fountain) occurred during the Doctor's fourth incarnation.The Doctor is unusually violent at the start of this episode, even attempting to strangle Peri. The intention was to create a Doctor that was initially unlikeable, but would gradually reveal a kind-hearted soul (glimpsed in Revelation of the Daleks). This was also intended to be a contrast to the instantly likeable Tom Baker and Peter Davison Doctors. However, in later interviews, director Peter Moffatt said that the original idea was merely to have the Doctor in a much more energetic state than he was during the Fifth Doctor's debut story Castrovalva. Colin Baker said during a 2003 documentary celebrating the series' 40th anniversary that "the idea was that over the many, many years I would be playing the part, the outer layers would gradually peel away, revealing the kind-hearted soul."Eric Saward intended for Azmael to be the hermit to whom the Doctor had spoken in his youth, referenced in The Time Monster. Anthony Steven misinterpreted the request and instead made Azmael a former academy tutor of the Doctor.[2] The Hermit character had already been introduced as K'anpo Rinpoche in Planet of the Spiders ten years before. [edit] Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" March 22, 1984 (1984-03-22) 24:42 7.6 "Part Two" March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) 25:09 7.4 "Part Three" March 29, 1984 (1984-03-29) 24:27 7.0 "Part Four" March 30, 1984 (1984-03-30) 25:04 6.3 [3][4][5] Anthony Steven worked very slowly on the scripts, offering many strange excuses (purportedly saying that his typewriter had literally exploded) and turning them in at a very late stage. Compounding things were the fact that the scripts were viewed as being of poor quality and too much for the show's budget by script editor Eric Saward, who was forced to rework them at great length in a very short amount of time.[citation needed]At least one aspect of Steven's original script featured the Jaconda and Gastropods being dropped totally early in the fourth episode without resolution to the plot, with the final battle taking place in another dimension against a being called Azlan who was controlling Mestor all along.The cat badge worn by the Sixth Doctor on his lapel for this story was hand-made and painted by Suzie Trevor, and purchased for the programme from a specialist badge shop in central London. For each subsequent story, the Doctor was to wear a different cat badge to symbolise that he was a "travelling cat of different walks."Besides being adjusted for the new Doctor, the opening credits underwent additional modifications with this episode. A prism-colour effect is added and the series logo takes on a somewhat bluish hue (which also results in it appearing slightly curved in comparison to the version introduced during Tom Baker's era). The theme music remains the same version as that introduced in 1980. Prior to this, the opening sequences of the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Doctor eras had incorporated a still photograph of the lead actor. For the Sixth Doctor opening this was changed to using two photographs - one of the Doctor with a serious expression which changes to a second image showing the Doctor smiling. This limited animation would continue with the opening sequence for the Seventh Doctor.Fandom often holds the serial in a very low light, being regarded as one of the very worst serials in the history of the series (indeed in SFX #150 new series producer Russell T. Davies cites this story as "the beginning of the end" of Doctor Who). A 1997 poll by Doctor Who Magazine ranked the serial the second worst of all time (the Children in Need special Dimensions in Time was ranked lowest), while a 2003 poll by fansite Outpost Gallifrey ranked it worst of all, below even Dimensions in Time. [edit] Outside references Shortly before the Doctor assaults Peri in a paranoid rage, he quotes the line "One morn a peri at the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate" and asks Peri to identify its author. The answer is Thomas Moore, in his poem Lalla Rookh. The first two instalments of the BBV Stranger video series appear to borrow the premise of the Doctor's desire to become a hermit to atone for mistakes he has made. Since the Stranger is played by Colin Baker and his companion Miss Brown is played by Nicola Bryant, it is often viewed as a "What-If" scenario, despite the fact that the BBV production could not legally use the Doctor Who characters. [edit] In print Doctor Who book The Twin Dilemma Series Target novelisations Release number 103 Writer Eric Saward Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0-491-03124-6 Release date October 1985 (hardback) 13 March 1986 (paperback) Preceded by The Time Monster Followed by Galaxy 4 A novelisation of this serial, written by Saward, was published in hardback by Target Books in October 1985, and in paperback in March 1986. The cover illustration originally featured Colin Baker. However when Baker's agent enquired about a royalty, the decision was taken to not feature him on the cover and a replacement was commissioned. This adaptation is notable for Saward's convoluted attempt at explaining in detail how the regeneration process works. [edit] Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases This story was released on VHS in May 1992. The tape was available exclusively through branches of Woolworths as part of a special promotion. A general release followed in February 1993.A Commentary with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Kevin McNally was recorded in April 2008 for a planned DVD release on September 7 2009. This will also be the last of the Colin Baker years of Doctor Who to be released onto DVD. [edit] References
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TDP 096: Maudryn Undead and Children of Earth Round Up
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 29 secondsNot sure if anyone else is aware of the Twitter/James Moran things. Thought youd like to read the item from his blog. the direct link is at the bottom of the page Sunday, July 12, 2009 Stepping back Before I start, this post - and every post on here, and anything I say on Twitter, or anywhere else - is entirely MY opinion. Nothing to do with the people I've worked with, or the BBC, or anyone else. I don't speak for any other writers, I *only* speak for myself, and I will not pass on any messages to anyone. Here's my position: I'm not going get into any more discussions or debates about what happened in Torchwood this week (being vague, in case people come across this and haven't seen it). Not now, not in the future. Why? I started trying to discuss it, but swiftly realised that it was pointless. It simply turns into "No it isn't" / "Yes it is", and there's no way I can win the argument, because in certain people's opinion, I am wrong, and that's the end of it. And it's all just opinion anyway. It would also feel like I was trying to justify the show, and I'm not doing that. I have absolutely no need to. The show is the show. Whether you like it or dislike it, that's up to you. I helped plot the whole storyline, and I stand by every single decision. Yes, including *that* one - I had my hand on the death lever along with everyone else, and was fully involved. I think it's a fantastic, brave, challenging drama, and contains some of the best moments on TV all year. I've received over a thousand messages from viewers talking about the show. The vast majority have been extremely positive. Even though many of them are upset and shocked, they have managed to express that without making it personal. So to you, I'm extremely grateful. I'm glad you liked the show, and love that it made you respond so strongly. I can't reply to everyone, it'd take weeks, so please accept my thanks. But the rest of the messages? Unacceptable. Some have been spewing insults and passive aggressive nonsense. Accusing me of deliberately trying to mislead, lie, and hurt people. Telling me I hate the fans, that I'm laughing at them, that I used them, that I'm slapping people in the face, that I've "killed" the show, that I'm a homophobe, that I want to turn the fanbase away and court new, "cooler" viewers, even that I'm hurting depressed people with dark storylines. Asking me to pass on vitriolic, hateful messages to people I love and respect. Not cool. These are all things that nobody would dare to say to me in person. But on the internet, it's easy for them to fire off these things. Forgetting that at the other end is me, a real person, someone who has been nothing but open and friendly. But I've been a bit too open, a bit too nice, a bit too willing to explain the thought process behind story decisions. And some people are taking advantage of that, or misinterpreting what it means. So here's the deal: I'm a professional writer. That's my job. I write what I write, for whatever the project might be. I have the utmost respect for you, and honestly want you to like my work, but I can't let that affect my story decisions. Everybody wants different things from a story, but this is not a democracy, you do not get to vote. You are free to say what you think of my work, even if you hate it, I honestly don't mind. But the ONLY person I need to please is myself, and the ONLY thing I need to serve is the story. Not you. I will do my work to the very best of my ability, in an attempt to give you the best show, the best movie, the best story, the best entertainment I possibly can. Even if that means that sometimes, I'll do things you won't like. I won't debate it. Either you go along with it, or you don't. None of it is done to hurt you, or to force some agenda down your throat, or anything else. It's all in service of the story. When I started this blog, I wanted to give some insight into the writing process. I've done that. I've answered all the questions, written about the process, done several huge posts trying to pass on what I've learned. The posts are all still there, and will remain there. I've had great fun with it, and given as much as I can, but it's never going to be enough. For a while now, I've let things get too cosy here, indulged myself too much, and if I let it carry on, it will affect my work. The last few days have just confirmed that for me. So I'm going to step back and take a break from it. Things are very busy for the next month or two, and I won't have the time anyway. I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has commented on here, and the blog will probably continue in some form, but limited to anything that isn't about the work - announcements, TV/movie recommendations, etc. I have to concentrate on my writing. And I will not put up with any more abusive messages, or threats, or accusations, or attempted guilt trips. So while I completely understand your pain at some of the events in the series, that does not give you the right to insult me. Talk about the *work*, all you want. But lay off the person behind the work. Because I'm simply trying to tell you good stories. In the end, that is all I can do. James Moran Writer Please feel free to pass this on, I encourage you to do so, to make my position clear to everyone - but you must include the link to the full post here: http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html Bookmark and Shareinfo to follow
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TDP 095e: Day 5 Torchwood Children of Earth
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 58 secondsThe last of 5 podcasts about Children of earth
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TDP 095d: Day 4 Torchwood Children of Earth
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 14 secondsDay 4
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TDP 095c: Day 3 Torchwood Children of Earth
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 4 minutes and 24 secondsDay 3 Podcast
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TDP 095b: Day 2 Torchwood Children of Earth
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 25 secondsday 2
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TDP 095a: Day 1 Torchwood Children of Earth
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds0Torchwood Children of Earth Day One Podcast.
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TDP 094: The War Games
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 56 secondsThe War Games From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the Doctor Who serial. For the 1965 television film on nuclear war, see The War Game. For the war games in the anime/manga MAR, see The War Games (MAR). For the 1983 US movie, see WarGames. 050 - The War Games Doctor Who serial The Doctor and his friends are caught in the middle of World War I... or are they? Cast Doctor Patrick Troughton (Second Doctor) Companions Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot) Guest stars David Savile -- Lt CarstairsJane Sherwin -- Lady Jennifer BuckinghamNoel Coleman -- General SmytheRichard Steele -- Commandant GortonTerence Bayler -- Major BarringtonHubert Rees -- Captain RansomDavid Valla -- Lieutenant CraneEsmond Webb -- Sgt Major BurnsBrian Forster -- Sergeant WillisPat Gorman -- Military PolicemanPeter Stanton -- Military ChauffeurDavid Garfield -- Von WeichGregg Palmer -- Lieutenant LuckeJohn Livesey, Bernard Davies -- German SoldiersPhilip Madoc -- War LordEdward Brayshaw -- War ChiefJames Bree -- Security ChiefVernon Dobtcheff -- Chief ScientistJohn Atterbury -- Alien GuardCharles Pemberton -- Alien TechnicianBill Hutchinson -- Sgt ThompsonTerry Adams -- Corporal RileyLeslie Schofield -- LeroyRudolph Walker -- HarperMichael Lynch -- SpencerGraham Weston -- RussellDavid Troughton -- MoorPeter Craze -- Du PontMichael Napier-Brown -- Arturo VillarStephen Hubay -- PetrovTony McEwan -- RedcoatBernard Horsfall -- First Time LordTrevor Martin -- Second Time LordClyde Pollitt -- Third Time LordClare Jenkins -- Tanya Lernov Production Writer Malcolm Hulke Terrance Dicks Director David Maloney Script editor Terrance Dicks (uncredited) Producer Derrick Sherwin Executive producer(s) None Production code ZZ Series Season 6 Length 10 episodes, 25 minutes each Originally broadcast April 19-June 21, 1969 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - The Space Pirates Spearhead from Space The War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from April 19 to June 21, 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe Heriot and Jamie McCrimmon. It is the 50th story of the series, and the last Doctor Who serial to be recorded in black and white. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Synopsis1.2 Continuity 1.2.1 Firsts1.2.2 Lasts 2 Production3 Commercial releases 3.1 In print 4 References5 External links 5.1 Reviews5.2 Target novelisation //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> [edit] Plot [edit] Synopsis On an alien planet the Doctor uncovers a diabolic plot to conquer the universe, with brainwashed soldiers abducted from Earth forced to fight in simulated environments, reflecting the periods in history from whence they were taken. The alien's aim is to produce a super army from the survivors, to this end they have been aided by a renegade from the Doctor's own race the 'Time Lords'. Joining forces with rebel soldiers, who have broken their conditioning, the Doctor and his companions foil the plan and stop the fighting. But the Doctor admits he needs the help of the Time Lords to return the soldiers to their own times, but in asking risks capture for his own past crimes including the theft of the TARDIS. After sending the message he and his companions attempt to evade capture, but are caught. Having returned the soldiers to Earth, the Time Lords erase Zoe and Jamie's memories of travelling with the Doctor, and return them to the point in time just before they entered the TARDIS. They then place the Doctor on trial for stealing the TARDIS and breaking the rule of non-interference. The Doctor presents a spirited defence citing his many battles against the evils of the universe. Accepting this defence the Time Lords announce his punishment is exile to Earth. In addition the operation of the TARDIS is wiped from his memory and his next regeneration is imposed. [edit] Continuity Patrick Troughton later reprised the role of the Second Doctor in The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors. In the second of these, he expresses knowledge of events of the final episode of this serial, on the face of it a chronological impossibility, and in the last he is on an assignment for the Time Lords, which is incompatible with the events seen here. These facts gave rise to the Season 6B theory, enabled by the aforementioned lack of on-screen depiction of the regeneration.The Doctor again faces trial in The Trial of a Time Lord, the beginning of which refers to this previous trial.The time machines designed by the War Chief and used by the War Lords are called SIDRATs, an inversion of the name TARDIS. Though this name is used only once, and then merely in passing, on-screen during the serial (and pronounced "side-rat")[1], the expanded acronym is revealed to stand for "Space and Inter-Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transporter" in the 1979 novelisation by Malcolm Hulke. It is repeated in the Virgin New Adventures novel Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks, which forms a sequel to The War Games.The Second Doctor's appearance in Terrance Dicks' BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures novel, The Eight Doctors, occurs during this story. [edit] Firsts For the first time, this serial names the Doctor's race as the "Time Lords". Although his home planet (Gallifrey) is seen, it would not be referenced by name until The Time Warrior (1973). His reasons for leaving Gallifrey, and the fact that he stole the TARDIS, are also revealed.Aside from the Doctor and Susan, the War Chief is the second person of the Doctor's race (after the Meddling Monk) to appear in the television series.Again the concept of regeneration is presented but not named in this serial, following The Tenth Planet/The Power of the Daleks. The process was eventually named in Planet of the Spiders, then retrospectively attributed to the earlier two changes of actors -- first by series fans, then later by the early-'80s production team in The Five Doctors. Until that point, there was some fan controversy over whether the Second Doctor had actually regenerated or merely had his appearance changed.While Troughton's Doctor is sentenced to a forced regeneration at the end of this serial, we do not actually see him regenerate into the Third Doctor (who first appears -- briefly wearing the Troughton costume -- in the next serial, Spearhead from Space). The only other Doctor not to receive an on-screen regeneration is the Eighth Doctor, who has already regenerated into the Ninth Doctor at the start of the 2005 series.In the first Episode, the Second Doctor kisses Zoe. [1] This display of platonic affection is the first time that the Doctor kisses one of his companions, though as the series went on it would be far from the last. [edit] Lasts In the final episode, the Time Lords wipe Zoe's mind and return her to the Wheel, where she encounters Tanya Lernov, a character from The Wheel in Space. A set from The Wheel in Space was rebuilt and actress Clare Jenkins (Tanya) rehired for this one scene.[2] The Big Finish Productions audio drama Fear of the Daleks shows an older Zoe having detailed dreams of her adventures with the Doctor, suspecting that something is blocking her memory, and seeing a psychiatric counsellor in an effort to understand the "dreams".This marks the last appearance of the TARDIS Control Room until The Claws of Axos in 1971, though the removed TARDIS console would be seen in the Doctor's UNIT headquarters laboratory in The Ambassadors of Death, and in a hut on the grounds of the titular project in Inferno.Episode 10 is the last episode of the original series to be produced in black and white. [edit] Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) Archive "Episode 1" 19 April 1969 25:00 5.5 16mm t/r "Episode 2" 26 April 1969 25:00 6.3 16mm t/r "Episode 3" 3 May 1969 24:30 5.1 16mm t/r "Episode 4" 10 May 1969 23:40 5.7 16mm t/r "Episode 5" 17 May 1969 24:30 5.1 16mm t/r "Episode 6" 24 May 1969 22:53 4.2 16mm t/r "Episode 7" 31 May 1969 22:28 4.9 16mm t/r "Episode 8" 7 June 1969 24:37 3.5 16mm t/r "Episode 9" 14 June 1969 24:34 4.1 16mm t/r "Episode 10" 21 June 1969 24:23 5.0 16mm t/r [3][4][5] Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the War Games Series Target novelisations Release number 70 Writer Malcolm Hulke Publisher Target Books Cover artist John Geary ISBN 0-426-20082-9 Release date 25 September 1979 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl Followed by Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks [edit] Commercial releases This serial was released in the UK February 1990 in a two-tape set in episodic form. It was re-released in remastered format in September 2002. Since this VHS re-release, better quality film prints of the story have been located at the BFI, and were used for the DVD release.[6] The DVD will be released on July 6th 2009 and is a 3 disc set,[7] with a commentry provided by Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Philip Madoc, Graham Weston, Jane Sherwin, Terrance Dicks and Derrick Sherwin. [edit] In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Malcolm Hulke, was published by Target Books in September 1979, entitled Doctor Who and The War Games. Despite the length of the serial, Hulke was allotted only 143 pages in which to adapt the 10-episode script, the third longest Doctor Who serial. By comparison, the later novelisation of the second longest serial, the 12-episode The Daleks' Master Plan, was published in two volumes, each of which were much longer than Hulke's book, while four books were used to novelise the longest serial, the 14-episode The Trial of a Time Lord. [edit] References ^ Cornell, Paul, Martin Day, & Keith Topping, Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide, Virgin Books, 1995, p. 104^ Wood, Tat; and Lawrence Miles (2006). About Time 2: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who: 1966-1969, Seasons 4 to 6. Des Moines, Iowa: Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-1-4. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". Outpost Gallifrey. http://gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=zz. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_2z.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2005-05-12). "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/zz.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/TheWarGamesDVD.htm^ http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/TheWarGamesDVD.htm [edit] External links The War Games at bbc.co.ukThe War Games at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)The War Games at the Doctor Who Reference GuideDoctor Who Locations - The War GamesDoctor Who Restoration Team - The War Games [edit] Reviews The War Games reviews at Outpost GallifreyThe War Games reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide [edit] Target novelisation Doctor Who and the War Games reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings GuideOn Target -- Doctor Who and the War Games
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TDP 093: Big Finish Roundup Enemy of Daleks and Season 3 of 8th Doctor
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes and 12 secondsinfo to follow
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TDP 092: Delta and the Bannermen
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 7 secondsSynopsis On an alien planet the genocide of the Chimeron by the merciless Bannermen led by Gavrok is almost complete. The last survivor, Chimeron Queen Delta, escapes by the skin of her teeth clutching her egg, the future for her species. She makes it to a space tollport where the Navarinos, a race of shape changing tourist aliens, are planning a visit to the planet Earth in 1959 in a spaceship disguised as an old holiday bus. She stows aboard, as does Mel, while the Doctor follows them in the TARDIS. The Doctor and Mel have won the trip as a prize for arriving in the Navarino spaceport at the right time to be declared the ten billionth customers. No sooner has the tourist vehicle blasted away than the Bannermen turn up, ruthlessly hunting down the fugitive, and they kill the Tollmaster when he refuses to co-operate. The holiday vehicle from Nostalgia Tours meets an unfortunate collision with an American space satellite and is diverted off track, landing at a holiday camp in South Wales rather than Disneyland. However, the basic but cheerful Shangri-La holiday camp is happy to accommodate the visitors led by the ebullient Burton, who assures the travellers of a warm welcome while they wait for the driver, Murray, to repair their innocuous seeming transport. Mel gets close to Delta and uncovers the truth of her situation, including the hatching of the egg into a bright green baby that starts to grow at a startling rate. The Chimeron Queen supports this development with the equivalent of royal jelly given to bees. Delta tries to take her mind off the situation and goes to the Shangri-La dance, instantly capturing the heart of Billy, the camp's mechanic - and making an enemy of the smitten Rachel (or Ray), who loves Billy herself. Ray confides her situation to the Doctor, and they both stumble across a bounty hunter making contact with the Bannermen to tell them of the Chimeron's whereabouts. It is only a matter of time before Gavrok and his troops arrive. Delta and Billy head off on a romantic countryside ramble the following morning, but the Doctor wastes no time in persuading Burton to evacuate the camp, helping Murray repair the ship, and then heading off to find the young lovers while there is still time. Once they are found, everyone returns to the camp but the situation has become dire. The Bannermen have destroyed the Navarino bus with all its official passengers inside, taking Mel as a hostage, as Gavrok tries to work out how to capture the Chimeron. The Doctor's early attempts to intercede are futile, but he does rescue Burton and Mel from the Bannermen. Two Bannermen are holding prisoner two aging American agents, Hawk and Weismuller, who were tracking the missing satellite when they first arrived. The Bannermen were instructed by Gavrok to wait for the Doctor, Burton and Mel on the side of the road. Just before they left the Americans, they place a joined head lock device to prevent them from escaping. While the two Bannerman were placing a tracker on the Doctor, riding Billy's motorbike with Burton and Mel, in an attempt to disguise an ambush attempt, Ray manages to rescue Hawk and Weismuller head locks with an Allen key. They all make contact with the mysterious beekeeper Goronwy, who hides them for a while in his house. As the two Bannerman find that the Americans have been set free, they track the Doctor's party to Goronwy House. As they were closing in to the house, the Chimeron child Princess made a high pitched scream of warning which traumatised the ears of the two Bannermen, allowing Delta was able to shoot one of them, while the other escaped to inform Gavrok of the location of Delta and the Princess. At Shangri-La, before leaving to attack Goronwy House, Gavrok booby-trapped the outside of the TARDIS in an attempt to kill the Doctor. As Gavrok and his Bannermen approached Goronwy House shooting, and crashing into the rock-and-roll-music-filled house, only to have honey broken over them in the process. This then set Goronwy's bees on the honey-covered Bannermen. In the meanwhile, the Doctor and his party made it to Shangri-La to set up a defence. Billy rigged up the Shangri-La sound system to amplify the perfectly pitched scream of the Chimeron child Princess - a sound which is excruciatingly painful to Bannermen. Goronwy explains to Billy the purpose of royal jelly in the lifecycle of the honeybee, provoking the mechanic to consume Delta's equivalent that she has been feeding her daughter, in the hope of metamorphosing into a Chimeron. As Gavrok and his band of Bannermen attack Shangri-La, the amplified scream of the Chimeron princess traumatised the attackers, including Gavrok, who becomes so stunned that he falls into the beam of the booby-trap he placed on the TARDIS and is incinerated. Other Bannermen are so traumatised that they are easily rounded up. Delta and Billy leave together with the child and the prisoners, heading for an intergalactic war crimes tribunal. To their delight, The Doctor shows Hawk and Weismuller the missing satellite nearby. All is well and the next bus of holidaymakers, this time human, arrive at Shangri-La as the Doctor and Mel slip away. [edit] Continuity The Seventh Doctor's question mark handle umbrella makes its first appearance in this story.Sylvester McCoy can be seen wearing his glasses in certain long shots of him riding a motorcycle (consequently, the only time the Seventh Doctor is seen wearing spectacles, though he does produce a pair for use as an aid to hypnosis in the extended version of Silver Nemesis).The Navarinos are also featured in the novel Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman. Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 2 November 1987 24:47 5.3 "Part Two" 9 November 1987 24:23 5.1 "Part Three" 16 November 1987 24:22 5.4 [2][3][4] Preproduction This was the first three-part story since Planet of Giants (1964), not counting the 3 x 45 minute episodes of The Two Doctors, which had been broadcast 2 years previously, and the first intended to be this length (Giants had been recorded as a four-parter and cut).Working titles for this story included The Flight of the Chimeron[5]. The eventual title is a reference to the British band Echo and the Bunnymen. The story title makes a single substitution using the phonetic alphabet and a slight change in the final word of the title.The character of Ray was originally created as a new companion for the Doctor as Bonnie Langford had announced she would be leaving the series at the end of the season. The serial, with the working title, The Flight Of The Chimeron, was originally scheduled to end the season. However, as the serial neared production, Langford had not yet decided whether she would leave at the end of Season 24 or during Season 25; that, plus the rescheduling of Delta and the Bannermen to earlier in the season and the decision by script editor Andrew Cartmel to create another replacement companion named Alf (later renamed 'Ace'), led to the idea of Ray as a new companion being abandoned[5]. Casting Features guest appearance by Ken Dodd, Don Henderson, Hugh Lloyd, Richard Davies, and American stage and screen actor Stubby Kaye. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who. Production The scenes at the Shangri-La holiday camp were shot on location at the Butlins Holiday camp on Barry Island, Wales. The holiday camp is no longer there, but the island was used again, this time as a stand-in for a bomb site in 1941 London, in the 2005 series episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".[6]The soundtrack of this serial contained a higher-than-usual number of recognizable pop songs, although due to licensing costs all were re-recorded by "The Lovells", a fictional group created by the show's incidental music composer Keff McCullough. The songs featured in the serial were: "Rock Around the Clock", "Singing the Blues", "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", "Mr. Sandman", "Goodnight, Sweetheart", "That'll Be the Day", "Only You", "Lollipop", "Who's Sorry Now?" and "Happy Days Are Here Again".The motorbike ridden by Billy in this story is a Vincent, made by British manufacturer Vincent Motorcycles.The guitar the Doctor is seen hugging at the end of the story is a Fender Stratocaster, although the model is not one available at the time the story was set. Commercial releases The story was released on VHS in March 2001 in the UK and June 2002 in North America, but music clearance issues prevented the release of the serial in Australia. A commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sara Griffiths, Chris Clough and Andrew Cartmel has been recorded for the DVD release. The DVD will be released on June 22 2009. In print Doctor Who book Delta and the Bannermen Series Target novelisations Release number 131 Writer Malcolm Kohll Publisher Target Books Cover artist Alister Pearson ISBN 0-426-20333-X Release date 19 January 1989 Preceded by Paradise Towers Followed by The War Machines A novelisation of this serial, written by Malcolm Kohll, was published by Target Books in January 1989.
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TDP 091: Planet of the Dead and Fab Whostrology
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 3 seconds"Planet of the Dead" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It is the first of four special episodes to be broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which serve as lead actor David Tennant's denouement as the Tenth Doctor. He is joined in the episode by actress Michelle Ryan, who plays one-off companion to the Doctor Lady Christina de Souza. The episode was co-written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts: the first writing partnership since the show's revival in 2005. The episode depicts Christina fleeing the police from a museum robbery by boarding a bus that accidentally travels from London to the desert planet of San Helios, trapping her, the Doctor, and several passengers on board a damaged bus. After the bus driver dies trying to return to Earth, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, headed by Captain Erisa Magambo (Noma Dumezweni) and scientific advisor Malcolm Taylor (Lee Evans), attempt to return the bus to Earth while preventing a race of metallic stingray aliens from posing a threat to Earth. At the end of the episode, one of the passengers delivers a warning to the Doctor which foreshadows the remaining three specials. "Planet of the Dead" is the first Doctor Who episode to be filmed in high definition, after a positive reaction to the visual quality of spin-off series Torchwood and the financial viability of HDTV convinced the production team to switch formats. To ensure that the desert scenes looked as realistic as possible, the production team filmed in Dubai for three days, sending several props--most notably, a 1980 double-decker Bristol VR bus--to the United Arab Emirates for filming. After the bus was unintentionally damaged in Dubai by a shipping container, Davies rewrote the script to explain the damage in the narrative. Reaction to the episode was mixed: the audience gave the episode an Appreciation Index of 88[3]--considered excellent--but critics gave average reviews to the episode. The consensus among critics was that it was enjoyable as a whole but that it was only an average script. The main point of praise was Evans' performance alongside Dumezweni in scenes set on Earth, which countered their criticism of the events on San Helios as being relatively boring. //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> Plot The episode begins with a young thrill-seeking burglar, Lady Christina de Souza (Ryan), stealing a gold chalice once belonging to King Athelstan from a museum. She then narrowly evades the police by riding on a London bus on which the Doctor (Tennant) is also travelling, shortly before the bus suddenly passes through a wormhole and arrives on the desert planet of San Helios. The Doctor and the other passengers find that the wormhole is still present, but deduce that the bus had protected them like a Faraday cage after the bus driver is killed trying to cross back on foot, evaporating to a skeleton instantly. Seeing the driver's skeleton coming out on the other side of the portal, the police call in UNIT, commanded by Captain Erisa Magambo (Dumezweni) and aided by scientific advisor Malcolm Taylor (Evans), to close the wormhole. Trapped on a heavily damaged bus, the other passengers introduce themselves: Angela (Victoria Alcock) is a middle-aged mother travelling home to her family; Lou (Reginald Tsiboe) and Carmen (Ellen Thomas) are an elderly couple who win PS10 each time they play the National Lottery due to Carmen's low-level psychic abilities; Barclay (Daniel Kaluuya) was travelling to a friend's house to ask her on a date; and Nathan (David Ames) was travelling home to watch television. The Doctor and Christina decide to scout the planet, spotting an approaching storm, while Nathan and Barclay try to fix the bus. As they travel, the Doctor learns of Christina's troubled history, and appreciates her callousness and aptitude to the alien situation. The Doctor and Christina encounter the Tritovore, an anthropomorphic fly species, who take them to their wrecked spaceship. The Tritovore explain that they were making a routine goods collection from the planet but crashed in an unfamiliar environment; a year previously, the planet housed a hundred billion inhabitants and a thriving ecosystem. The Tritovore send out a probe to investigate the cause, and discover a large swarm of metallic stingray-like aliens who routinely create wormholes and destroy ecospheres as their biological imperatives. To rescue the Tritovore and the bus passengers, Christina uses her burglary skills to retrieve a crystal which powers the spaceship (together with the pedestal it is located on), unintentionally awakening a stingray that kills the two Tritovore. The Doctor attaches parts of the pedestal to the bus and uses the chalice of Athelstan as an interface to the technology. This allows the bus to fly through the wormhole, with the stingrays in hot pursuit. Taylor quickly closes the wormhole but not before three of the stingrays pass through it. After UNIT has shot down the stingrays and the passengers have been debriefed, Christina asks the Doctor to let her travel with him; he rejects her because he does not want to lose another companion. The characters part ways. The Doctor recommends that UNIT hire Barclay and Nathan, Christina is arrested by the police for the theft and Carmen has a premonition that visibly unnerves the Doctor: You be careful, because your song is ending, sir. It is returning, it is returning through the dark. And then Doctor... oh, but then... he will knock four times. --Carmen, "Planet of the Dead"[4] As a final act of kindness, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to release Christina from her handcuffs. The pair part on good terms as she flies away in the bus as the Doctor enters his TARDIS and dematerialises. Production Writing and casting Ryan and Tennant reviewing the script before filming in Butetown on 28 January 2009. Russell T Davies co-wrote the episode with Gareth Roberts, the first writing partnership for the show since its 2005 revival.[5] "Planet of the Dead" was a departure from Roberts' usual stories--Roberts had previously only written pseudo-historical stories--and instead consisted of "wild" science fiction elements from his literary career and teenage imagination. The episode had no clear concept--such as Shakespeare and witches in "The Shakespeare Code" or Agatha Christie and a murder mystery in "The Unicorn and the Wasp"--and instead was a deliberate "clash [of concepts] with many disparate elements". Roberts explained he was cautious to ensure that each element had to "feel precise and defined ... like we meant that", citing the serial Arc of Infinity as an example where such control was not enforced.[6] The episode includes a common feature of Davies' writing in that there is no clear antagonist: the Tritovore are eventually sympathetic to the protagonists and the stingrays are only following their biological imperative.[7][8] Unlike the Christmas specials, the theme of Easter was not emphasised in the story; the episode only contained a "fleeting mention" of the holiday instead of "robot bunnies carrying baskets full of deadly egg bombs". The episode's tone word--"joyous"--was influenced by Davies' realisation that "every story since "The Fires of Pompeii" [had] a bittersweet quality" and subsequent desire to avoid the recurring theme.[5] The starting point for the story was Roberts' first novel The Highest Science. Davies liked the image of a London Underground train on a desert planet and rewrote it to contain a bus. Davies nevertheless emphasised it was not an "adaptation as such" because tangential elements were constantly being conceived and added.[5] Michelle Ryan portrays Lady Christina de Souza, the daughter of a recently impoverished aristocrat and adrenaline junkie. Christina is a "typical" Doctor Who companion, Davies electing to draw parallels from the Time Lady Romana rather than new series companion Rose Tyler. Roberts described her as an "adventuress" who is "upper class and glam, suited and booted, and extremely intelligent" which the Doctor could relate to because they both rejected their heritages. The episode's director James Strong described the character as reverting to a traditional romantic-based companionship--rather than the platonic companionship of Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) in the fourth series--while still being a unique companion:[9] It's back to basics: she's probably more of a traditional, romantic kind of Thomas Crown Affair kind of heroine, if you like. [...] It echoes to me of Rose, in that there may be a good old fashioned romantic connection between them. She's young, she's beautiful, she's sexy, but whereas Rose was a very ordinary, normal girl, Lady Christina is a lady, she comes from a very privileged, very elite background. She's different to any of the companions we've ever had in that she doesn't particularly want to get caught up with the Doctor. She's got her own thing going on, so she's very much a match for the Doctor and very much an equal. Often in an adventure the Doctor will take control and everyone will do what he says. She's very much in control - the two of them are in a sparring way, battling against each other to get through this adventure. --James Strong, Digital Spy interview.[9] Comedian Lee Evans plays Professor Malcolm Taylor, a UNIT scientist devoted to his predecessor, the Doctor. Davies created Evans' character to serve as a foil for Noma Dumezweni's pragmatic character Captain Erisa Magambo, who previously appeared in the episode "Turn Left".[5] Roberts noted after writing the episode that Evans' character had unintentionally become a "loving" caricature of Doctor Who fandom.[6][10] The episode was influenced by several works: Davies described "Planet of the Dead" as "a great big adventure, a little bit Indiana Jones, a little bit Flight of the Phoenix, a little bit Pitch Black.";[11] the relationship between the Doctor and Christina was influenced by 1960s films such as Charade and Topkapi, which included Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn "being witty and sophisticated together, and then running for their lives";[5] and the Tritovore were influenced by 1950s and 1970s science fiction B-movies such as The Fly and Davies' habit of including aliens that were recognisable to the audience as animals from Earth, such as the Judoon.[7] Carmen's warning evoked memories of the Ood's warning to the Doctor and Donna in the fourth series episode "Planet of the Ood".[7] Tennant explained the prophecy meant that the Doctor's "card [had become] marked" and the three specials would thus be darker--characterising "Planet of the Dead" as the "last time the Doctor gets to have any fun"--and that the subject of the prophecy was not the obvious answer: David TennantReally, from this moment on, the Doctor's card is marked. Because when we come back in "The Waters of Mars", it's all become a little bit darker.Julie GardnerAnd as we know, David, he really does knock four times.TennantYeah, absolutely, and if you think you've figured out what that means, you're wrong!GardnerBut when you do figure it out, it's a sad day. --David Tennant and Julie Gardner, Doctor Who: The Commentaries, "Planet of the Dead"[8] Filming The two major filming locations of the episode: the desert of Dubai was used for scenes on the "planet of the dead"; and the Queen's Gate Tunnel in Butetown, Cardiff was used for the majority of Earth-bound scenes. Pre-production on the four specials started on 20 November 2008--four days before scheduled--because the episode's overseas filming in Dubai required the extra planning time.[12] Two weeks later, the production team was on a recce for the special and the final draft of the script was completed.[13] The production team examined overseas locations to film the episode because they wanted the scenery to feel "real" and thought that they would be unable to film on a Welsh beach in winter. After examining countries such as Morocco and Tunisia, the production team decided to film in Dubai because the area was more amicable to the filming industry and viable filming locations were nearer to urban areas than other locations.[14] Production began on 19 January in Wales.[2][10] The special was the first Doctor Who episode to be filmed in high-definition television resolution.[15] The move to HD had previously been resisted for two major reasons: when the show was revived in 2005, high-definition television was not adopted by an adequate portion of the audience to be financially viable; and special effects were considerably more expensive to create in high-definition than in standard-definition. "Planet of the Dead" was used to switch to HD because of the show's reduced schedule in 2009 and because the filming crew had become experienced with the equipment while they were filming Torchwood.[8] Filming began at the National Museum Cardiff,[location 1] which doubled for the history museum depicted in the episode's first scene. To portray the tunnel the bus travelled into, the Queen's Gate Tunnel of the A4232 road in Butetown[location 2] was closed for four nights to accommodate filming. The last major piece of filming in Wales took place in the closed Mir (formerly Alphasteel) steelworks in Newport,[location 3] which doubled almost unaltered for the Tritovore spaceship. Filming took place at the peak of the February 2009 Great Britain snowfall, where the sub-zero temperatures slowed filming and had a visible effect on the cast. To accommodate for the adverse conditions, Davies included a line in the script that specified that the Tritovore spaceship cooled as external temperatures increase.[8] The 200 bus--so named after the episode's landmark--in dock at Dubai City Port, after a container was accidentally dropped on it. Filming in Dubai[location 4] took place in mid-February 2009. Two weeks previously, one of the two 1980 Bristol VR double-decker buses bought for filming had been substantially damaged when a crane accidentally dropped a container in Dubai City Port.[7][16]After an emergency discussion by the production team, they agreed that the damage was unintentionally artistic and decided to include the damaged bus in the episode;[7] instead of shipping the spare bus from Cardiff--which would have delayed the already hurried filming schedule--the production team decided to partially reconstruct the bus in Dubai, damage the spare bus in Cardiff to match the bus in Dubai, and rewrite part of the script to accommodate and mention the damage to the bus.[7][8][17][18] James Strong recalled the reaction of the production team to the damage to the bus in an issue of Doctor Who Magazine: One morning in the first week of February, I was leaving my flat when Julie Gardner phoned. She said, "there's been a little accident with the bus [...] it's a disaster; the bus is fucked." When I got into the office, I was handed a photograph--and my initial reaction was absolute horror. We called an emergency meeting. Russell came in [...] and we discussed our options. We had bought an identical London bus to film on in Cardiff, so could we send that out to Dubai? We could have got it out in time if it'd left Cardiff, literally, the next day, but we'd have had to find a third bus, an exact replica, to film on in Cardiff a week later. It had taken us a month to find the one we had. It was even mooted that we'd have to forget Dubai and opt for a beach in the UK. But Russell's response was "Okay, let's embrace it. Let's say that the bus was damaged on its way to the alien planet. [...] He wove it into the narrative. We're not trying to hide the damage at all. In fact, we show it off, enhancing it with special effects, smoke and sparks. It works rather marvellously. That London bus, damaged and smoking, in the middle of the desert--yeah, it looks incredible, especially in gorgeous hi-def. --James Strong, Doctor Who Magazine issue 407.[14] A notable use of lens flares being used in the episode for artistic effect. Strong sought to maximise--rather than minimise--effects such as these because it disguised the fact it was filmed in a studio and allowed the viewer to suspend their disbelief more easily; this specific shot was highlighted by Strong and Tennant as an example of how it was correctly utilised.[8] The damaged bus was not the only problem to filming in Dubai: the first of the three days was afflicted by a sandstorm which left most of the footage shot unusable.[14] The production team then struggled to complete three days of filming in two days; the last day was compared to "filming Lawrence of Arabia".[7] To complete the episode's filming, interior scenes in the bus were filmed in a studio in Wales. To disguise the fact they were using a translite--a 360-degree background image--, Strong utilised often-avoided techniques such as muddied windows and lens flares; the latter also served to create a warmer environment for the viewer.[8] After filming ended, editing and post-processing took place until two days before transmission, leaving the BBC to resort to using an unfinished copy to market the episode.[7][8] 200th story "Planet of the Dead" was advertised as Doctor Who's 200th story. Writer Russell T Davies admitted that the designation was arbitrary and debatable, based upon how fans counted the unfinished serial Shada, the season-long fourteen-part serial The Trial of a Time Lord, and the third series finale consisting of "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords".[19] Davies personally disagreed about counting The Trial of a Time Lord as one serial--arguing that it "felt like four stories" to him--and grouping "Utopia" with its following episodes, but agreed that it was only an opinion which did not override any others.[19] Gareth Roberts inserted a reference to the landmark--specifically, the bus number is 200[20]--and Davies emailed the show's publicity team to advertise the special as such.[19] Doctor Who Magazine's editor Tom Spilsbury aknowledged the controversy in the magazine's 407th issue, which ran a reader survey of all 200 stories.[21] EUBroadcast and reception Overnight figures estimated that the special was watched by 8.41 million people, a 39.6% share of the audience. An additional 184,000 watched the programme on BBC HD, the channel's highest rating so far. The initial showing had an Appreciation Index of 88: considered excellent.[22][23] A BBC One repeat, two days later, gained an overnight figure of 1.8 million viewers.[22] The special was therefore the second most watched programme of the day, being beaten by the premiere of the new series of Britain's Got Talent.[23] The final viewing figure for the initial broadcast was 9.54 million viewers on BBC One and 200,000 viewers on BBC HD, making it the fifth most watched programme of the week and the most watched programme ever aired on BBC HD.[24] Including repeats in the following week and viewings on the BBC iPlayer, 13.89 million viewers watched the episode in total.[25] The episode received average critical reviews. Simon Brew of science fiction blog Den of Geek said the episode was "by turns ambitious and predictable" but "still quite entertaining". The first part of the review mentioned an objection from his wife that the bus trapped in the sand "[looked] really fake", despite the episode being actually filmed in Dubai, and then mentioned Brew's appreciation of the concept of people stranded in the desert and concluded that "made a fair fist of it". Brew positively reviewed Michelle Ryan's performance--comparing her performance to be on par to her role in Bionic Woman rather than her role as Zoe Slater in Eastenders--and Lee Evans' performance as Malcolm Taylor, calling him the highlight of the episode because of his dialogue. He closed his review by saying that ""Planet of the Dead" was passable enough": he thought it "never really gelled" for him; but he thought it was overall entertaining and was excited for the remaining three specials as a result of Carmen's prophecy.[26] Charlie Jane Anders of io9 "mostly loved "Planet Of The Dead"", commenting that it was a standard Russell T Davies script that had the "elements of a cracking good story": POTD was pretty much everything you've come to expect from Russell T. Davies' Who: crazy adventures, slightly cartoony characters, clever dialogue, moments of sheer silly fun, a childlike solemnity, a miraculous save, bombastic music, and one woman who's held up as being the most special person ever. It didn't hurt that POTD had all the elements of a cracking good story: The Doctor and friends trapped on an alien planet, on the other side of the universe, with no easy way to get home. Alien creatures who might be hostile. A deadly swarm coming to tear our heroes apart. And UNIT on the other side of the wormhole, trying to come to grips with this almost unimaginable threat. --Charlie Jane Anders, io9[27] She compared it to two previous episodes, "The Impossible Planet" and "Midnight", both of which she enjoyed. She criticised three aspects of the episode: Lady Christina, who was the "first RTD heroine who actually filled [her] with revulsion", leaving her hoping that the character would be killed off-screen, Malcolm's reluctance to close the wormhole and the implausibility of only three stingrays travelling through it. She thought that the episode was "a pretty solid adventure with a cool set of monsters".[27] Ben Rawson-Jones of entertainment website Digital Spy gave the episode two stars out of five. He characterised the episode as being "as hollow as a big chocolate Easter egg" because it was "lacking in the enthralling drama and compelling characterisation that has been the lynchpin of the Russell T Davies era". His main criticism was towards Ryan's character, describing the romantic tension between Christina and the Doctor as "feeling forced" and arguing that Ryan was "utterly unconvincing" as Christina. Conversely, he was appreciative of Strong's direction and the UNIT subplot. Specifically, he approved of Evans' performance, noting that "the fact that Malcolm names a unit of measurement after himself is both inspired and hilarious". His review ended by describing the episode as "lifeless for much of the hour" and expressing his hope that the ambiguous entity from Carmen's premonition would "hurry up".[28] Orlando Parfitt of IGN gave the episode a 7.1 (Good) rating out of ten. Parfitt called it a "straightforward story" that did not elevate to the level of excitement typically seen in Doctor Who until the episode's climax, instead describing the majority of the story as being "taken up with Tennant and Ryan standing in the desert, swapping flirtatious banter in between proclaiming how dire their situation in between", and criticised the writing of the part of the episode where the bus was on San Helios, claiming that plot devices such as the Tritovore or Taylor being held at gunpoint and ordered to close the wormhole as "feel[ing] forced and unnaturally shoe-horned into the script". His praise of the episode went to Ryan and Evans: although he thought of Christina as a "shameless Lara Croft ripoff", he said that the character "still proves a sexy and wise-cracking counterpart to the Doctor"; and Evans' acting alongside Dumezweni highlighted his "undeniably great comic acting" as opposed to his "love-it-or-hate-it" stand-up comedy. The last paragraph of his review focused on the climax, which he thought was "a cracker [that] just-about makes up for the previously plodding plot", and described the entire episode as having "enough enjoyable moments" to entertain fans before the transmission of "The Waters of Mars".[29] DVD and Blu-Ray release "Planet of the Dead" will be released on DVD on 15 June 2009,[30] and on Blu-Ray on 29 June 2009.[31]
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TDP 89: The Deadly Assassin
Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 54 secondsSynopsis The Doctor answers a summons and finally returns to his homeworld, Gallifrey, seat of the Time Lords. However, when the President of the High Council is assassinated, he becomes the prime suspect, while an old enemy lurks in the shadows, pulling the strings. [edit] Plot The Fourth Doctor has arrived on Gallifrey after receiving a mysterious summons from the Time Lords. Along the way, he has a precognitive vision about the President of the Time Lords being murdered. As soon as the TARDIS materialises within the Gallifreyan Citadel, an alarm sounds and it is surrounded by soldiers. Their leader, Commander Hildred, reports to Castellan Spandrell. Both note that the TARDIS is a Type 40, which is no longer in service. Since the arrival is unauthorised, the soldiers are ordered to impound the TARDIS and arrest the occupant. The Doctor overhears this, and realises that the Time Lords did not summon him. Someone has gone to great lengths to set him up. Spandrell goes to see Coordinator Engin in the Archives Section, leaving Hildred in charge. Hildred and his troops enter the TARDIS, but the Doctor manages to sneak out and make his way to a service lift that leads to the main tower. A soldier is present, and threatens to place the Doctor under arrest. However, the soldier is quickly killed by a phantom-like figure who disappears before the Doctor can get a good look at him. The Doctor sends the lift on its way, in an attempt to fool the soldiers into thinking he has fled deeper into the Citadel. All of this has been observed by the Doctor's old adversary, the Master, who is wearing a black hood that conceals his features. "Predictable as ever, Doctor," he snorts, before returning to the shadows. Chancellor Goth arrives outside the TARDIS to see the situation for himself. Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor is watching a news broadcast by a reporter he recognises as Runcible (whom the Doctor nicknames "the Fatuous"), a classmate from his days at the Academy. It is revealed that the President is set to retire, and he is to name a successor before he does. Runcible is talking to Cardinal Borusa, one of the Doctor's former teachers. He asks Borusa who the Presidential successor will be, but Borusa brushes him off. The TARDIS is transmatted to the museum, and the Doctor takes the opportunity to steal a set of traditional Gallifreyan robes to mingle with the crowds. Meanwhile, deep within the archive tower, the Master, revealed to be horribly emaciated, confers with an unseen accomplice. He says that the trap has been set, and they must make sure the Doctor dies quickly. At the Panopticon, the disguised Doctor briefly converses with Runcible before the outgoing President makes his entrance. The Doctor scans the area and notes a camera stationed on an unguarded catwalk. He also spots a sniper rifle next to the camera. The Doctor fights his way to the catwalk, warning that the President is about to be killed. Unfortunately, for the Doctor, the assassin is actually among the delegates. He pulls out a pistol and shoots the President dead. The crowd sees the Doctor on the catwalk with the rifle and assume he is the assassin. The captured Doctor insists that he is innocent. Eventually, Spandrell starts to believe him and orders Engin to assist him in an independent investigation. Meanwhile, Goth and Borusa debate over the Doctor's impending trial. Goth notes that the election for a new President will occur in forty-eight hours, and he is eager to see the Doctor executed before then. Borusa, however, wants to ensure that the Doctor receives a fair trial, according to law. The Doctor surprises everyone by invoking Article 17: he will run for President, which will mean he can only be tried if he loses the election. The Master and his assassin are not pleased with this turn of events. The Doctor returns to the scene of the crime with Spandrell. They discover that the sight on the Doctor's rifle was fixed, making it impossible for this weapon to have killed the President. They conclude that the real assassin would have been caught on tape by a nearby video camera, but when they inspect the camera, they find the shrunken body of the technician inside. The Doctor then realises that the Master is behind this. Runcible attempts to take the tape from the camera to the archives for review, but he is killed by a spear to the back. The Doctor realises that the Master sent the Doctor the premonition of the assassination through the Matrix, a vast computer which turns thought patterns into virtual reality. He decides to enter the Matrix as a means of tracking the Master. Engin warns him that if he dies in the virtual world, he will die in the real world as well. The Doctor enters the Matrix and finds himself in a forbidding landscape of crumbling white cliffs and sparse vegetation. The disembodied laughter of some unknown presence echoes off the canyon walls. The Doctor is then engaged in a series of surrealistic sequences. First he nearly walks into the open jaws of a hungry crocodile, which simply disappears into thin air. He is then attacked by a masked samurai warrior and falls from a cliff into unconsciousness. He revives upon an outdoor operating table with a masked surgeon standing over him. The surgeon tries to inject him with a substance from an extremely large hypodermic needle. The Doctor pushes the surgeon away and runs off to find himself in the midst of a World War I battle. Shell and machine gun fire is heard and gas canisters explode all around. A soldier and his horse stumble out of the smoke wearing gas masks. The Doctor runs bewildered until he comes upon a train track, the rail of which closes upon one of his boots and traps him. A group of three masked men appear and one attempts to run him down with a mine train. The train disappears before hitting the Doctor and he works his foot free. The Doctor realizes that his surroundings are but an illusion and tries to deny their existence, but passes out from the strain. Recovering consciousness he becomes aware of the two large black eyes of his unknown adversary in the side of a cliff, telling him that he is the creator of this world and that there is no escape. The Doctor, dehydrated and thirsty, hears the sound of running water, but when he attempts to dig into the ground to locate its source he is greeted by a red-nosed clown peering through a window, laughing at him. He is then strafed by machine gun fire by a masked pilot in a biplane, eventually receiving a bullet wound in the leg. The Doctor tries to deny the existence of the wound, and it disappears. However, the disembodied voice of the assassin reminds him that this is his reality, and his rules, and the wound reappears. The Doctor declares that he will then fight the assassin in his reality. In the real world, Engin tells Spandrell that the Doctor's adversary is using a lot of energy to maintain the virtual environment, so the Doctor can defeat him if he provides an adequate distraction. Inside the Matrix, the dry barren virtual environment merges into a thick, sticky jungle, and the assassin soon appears dressed as a big game hunter, a mesh veil obscuring his face. The assassin concludes that the Doctor will need water, and, leaving his backpack behind him, goes off to contaminate the local supply with poison from a small bottle. The Doctor finds the assassin's backpack and takes a grenade and some twine, setting up a makeshift booby trap. The assassin returns and trips it, setting off an explosion which wounds him in the abdomen. Fearing that his protege might lose, the Master sends a hypnotised guard to kill the Doctor's physical form. Back inside the Matrix, the Doctor continues to be hunted through the virtual jungle. Coming to the pool of water, he finds dead, floating fish and the empty bottle and realises that the water has been poisoned. He finds a small amount of uncontaminated water and drinks it through a reed, then uses the reed and some thorns off of a nearby tree to make a blowgun, dipping the ends of the darts into the remnants of the poison from the bottle. The Doctor climbs up into a tree and shoots the assassin in the leg with a dart. The assassin fires his rifle and hits the Doctor in the arm, causing him to fall out of the tree. Ripping his pants leg open to reveal a potentially fatal wound, the assassin injects himself with an antidote while the Doctor again escapes. In the real world, the hypnotised guard makes his way to the Matrix chamber, but Spandrell manages to shoot him before he can sabotage the Matrix link. Back in the Matrix, the Doctor has made it to a gas-filled marsh, where the assassin reveals his true identity: Chancellor Goth. Goth tries to shoot the Doctor but ignites the marsh gas, setting himself on fire. Goth falls into the water to extinguish the spreading flames. The Doctor comes out of hiding to confront him, but is caught by surprise by Goth and tackled. Intense hand-to-hand combat ensues, with Goth seeming to gain the upper hand. He attempts to drown the Doctor. However, the strain of fighting and keeping up the virtual reality overcomes Goth. The Doctor breaks free and hits Goth over the head with a large stick. The Master, realising that Goth has been effectively defeated, decides to hedge his bets and tries to trap the Doctor in the Matrix by overloading the neuron fields, even though this will also kill Goth. Engin manages to get the Doctor out, but Goth is not so lucky. The Master then injects himself with a hypodermic needle. The Doctor and Spandrell, accompanied by soldiers, manage to make their way to the chamber where the Master and Goth were accessing the Matrix. They find the Master slumped in a chair without a pulse and Goth dying. Goth reveals that he found the Master, near death, on Tersurus. The Master was nearing the end of his twelfth and final regeneration. Goth went along with his schemes mainly for power: he knew the President had no intention of naming him as a successor, but if a new election was held, he would be the front runner. Before he dies, Goth warns that the Master has a doomsday plan. When Spandrell relates the story to Borusa, the Cardinal orders that a cover story be created to maintain confidence in the Time Lords and their leadership. The official story will be that the Master arrived in secret to assassinate the President, and Goth heroically tracked him down and killed him but perished in the attempt. The charge against the Doctor will be dropped on condition that he leave Gallifrey. Attempting to piece together what the Master and Goth were planning, the Doctor inquires as to what becoming the President entails. He is told that the President has access to the symbols of office: the Sash and Great Key of Rassilon. As Engin plays the records of the Old Time, which describes how Rassilon found the Eye of Harmony within the "black void", the Doctor realises these objects are not ceremonial. The Doctor inspects the hypodermic needle, and realises that it contained a neural inhibitor. The Master is still alive. The Doctor, Spandrell, and Engin arrive at the morgue, to find that the Master has revived and killed Hildred. Armed with Hildred's staser pistol, the Master seizes the Sash from the President's corpse and traps the three in the morgue. The Doctor explains what he has deduced: that the Eye is actually the nucleus of a black hole, an inexhaustible energy source that Rassilon captured to power Gallifrey, and the Sash and Key are its control devices. The Doctor deduces that the Master was planning to steal this energy to gain a new cycle of regenerations. However, if the Eye is disrupted, Gallifrey will be destroyed and a hundred other worlds will be consumed in a chain reaction. Inside the Panopticon, the Master makes his way to the obelisk containing the Eye. He unhooks the coils that connect it to Gallifrey, and is prepared to access the energy. The Doctor makes his way to the Panopticon via a service shaft. The Citadel begins to quake, and cracks appear in the floor. The Doctor and the Master fight, until the Master loses his footing and falls into a chasm. The Doctor reconnects the coils and saves Gallifrey, although half the city is in ruins and many lives have been lost. The Doctor is now free to return to his TARDIS. He bids farewell to Borusa, Spandrell, and Engin, but also warns that the Master may not be dead. He had harvested some energy from the obelisk before he was stopped, and may have been able to channel it. As the Doctor's TARDIS dematerialises, Spandrell and Engin witness the Master sneak into his own TARDIS - disguised as a grandfather clock - and make his escape. Spandrell concludes that it is only a matter of time before the two enemies cross paths again. [edit] Cast notes Bernard Horsfall guest stars as Chancellor Goth. He had previously appeared as an unnamed Time Lord (credited as 'Time Lord 1') in the serial The War Games prompting some speculation that they were the same character. Other parts played by Horsfall in Doctor Who were Gulliver in The Mind Robber and Taron in Planet of the Daleks. [edit] Continuity This is the only serial of the original Doctor Who series in which the Doctor does not have a companion. This was reportedly at Tom Baker's request as he wanted to try a solo adventure. In addition, some have suggested that the production team hoped to discourage Baker's interest in solo serials, but his enthusiastic reaction to the scripts seems to have belied this.Although this story was well-received, the experiment of the Doctor without his companions was not repeated until the revived series episode "Midnight" in the 2008 series. Robert Holmes later stated how difficult it was to write a script without anyone for the Doctor to share his thoughts and plans with (the character is seen to talk to himself more than usual).The planet Tersurus, where Goth says he found the Master, is seen in the 1999 charity spoof Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. How the Master arrived there in an emaciated state is described in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel.The character of Borusa reappears in The Invasion of Time, Arc of Infinity and The Five Doctors. In each subsequent story, the character is played by a different actor, Borusa having regenerated. He has also been promoted in each interim, a cardinal here, Chancellor, President, and Lord High President in the later serials, respectively.Earth is referred to as Sol 3; this name is again used in "Last of the Time Lords".[1] The Factfile for that episode on the official BBC Doctor Who website, compiled by fan Rob Francis, refers to the term as Earth's Gallifreyan name.[2] It is used as such again in "Voyage of the Damned".The Doctor's trial and subsequent exile to Earth by the Time Lords and the later lifting of that sentence are mentioned. [edit] Notable additions This is the first story to state that there is a limited number of times that a Time Lord can regenerate, and that this number is twelve. None of the Time Lords who are killed in this story are seen to regenerate, and the Doctor does qualify (in The War Games) that his people can live forever "barring accidents." In The Brain of Morbius, the fourth Doctor states that his people chose to not live forever because "death is the price of progress."This episode is one of the very few where we see the written Galifreyan language by way of a note to the authorities the Doctor leaves in the Tardis. The handwriting, done with a quill pen, resembles random stylized penstrokes shaped like the upside down capital letter L.The source of the Time Lords' power and that of the TARDIS is the Eye of Harmony, the nucleus of a black hole that lies beneath the citadel on Gallifrey. The Eye (or a link to it) is seen inside the TARDIS in the 1996 television movie. Whether the Eye survived the destruction of Gallifrey mentioned in the 2005 series is not clear, though the TARDIS is seen twice ("Boom Town", "Utopia") drawing its power from the time rift in Cardiff.This story introduces Rassilon who, along with Omega (introduced in The Three Doctors) would become the central figure in Time Lord mythology. When Rassilon's name is first mentioned, the Doctor inquires who he is.One of the artefacts that controls the Eye of Harmony is the Great Key of Rassilon, a large ebonite rod. Confusingly, there are two other Keys of Rassilon mentioned later in the series. One, also known as the Great Key, whose location is known only to the Chancellor, resembles an ordinary key and is a vital component of the demat gun (The Invasion of Time). The other, simply called the Key of Rassilon, gives access to the Matrix (The Ultimate Foe). [edit] Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" 30 October 1976 21:13 11.8 "Part Two" 6 November 1976 24:44 12.1 "Part Three" 13 November 1976 24:20 13 "Part Four" 20 November 1976 24:30 11.8 [3][4][5] Working titles for this story included The Dangerous Assassin (which Holmes changed to "deadly" because he thought it "didn't sound right"). The final title is a tautology: a successful assassin must, by definition, be deadly. However, since Time Lords can in general survive death, and the assassin's victims do not, he is perhaps "deadly" in that sense.The story drew considerable hostile commentary from Mary Whitehouse, who particularly objected to the extended freeze frame of Goth drowning the Doctor at the end of episode 3. [edit] Outside references The story was largely inspired by the film and book The Manchurian Candidate, down to the inclusion of a CIA.The serial begins with Tom Baker doing a voiceover introduction referring to Time Lords in the third person, over a text crawl similar to that seen in the opening of Star Wars (although The Deadly Assassin predates the premiere of Star Wars by six months). The 1996 television movie, "Father's Day", "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" are the only other stories so far that begin with a voiceover.See also: Simulated reality [edit] In print Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin Series Target novelisations Release number 19 Writer Terrance Dicks Publisher Target Books Cover artist Mike Little ISBN 0-426-11965-7 Release date 20 October 1977 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Mutants Followed by Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in October 1977, entitled Doctor Who and The Deadly Assassin. [edit] Broadcast This serial was repeated on BBC One in August 1977 (04/08/77) to (25/08/77) on Thursdays at 6.20pm. The cliffhanger to Episode 3 -- where Goth holds the Doctor's head underwater in an attempt to drown him -- came in for heavy criticism, particularly from television decency campaigner Mary Whitehouse. She often cited it in interviews as one of the most frightening scenes in Doctor Who, her reasoning being that children would not know if the Doctor survived until the following week and that they would have this strong image in their minds during all that time. After the episode's initial broadcast, the master tape of the episode was edited to remove the original ending. However, off-air U-matic recordings of the original broadcast exist with the ending intact, and have been used to restore the ending on the VHS and subsequent DVD release. [edit] VHS and DVD release This story was released in March 1989 in edited omnibus format in the US only.It was released in episodic format in the UK in October 1991. It was also re-released & remastered for the W H Smith exclusive Time Lord Collection in 2002 with a better quality freeze frame cliffhanger for Episode 3.DWM 404 confirmed this story for 2009 DVD release. Play.com has it listed for 11th May and Amazon.co.uk have this listed for a 4th May release.