Wed, 25 June 2008
While visiting a market on the planet of Shan Shen with the Doctor, Donna Noble is offered a free fortune reading. The fortune-teller presses Donna to reveal her past and focuses on a point in her past on modern-day Earth where she was driving to her temporary job at H. C. Clements, despite her mother's desire that she take a permanent job nearby. As a large beetle-like creature climbs onto Donna's back, the teller convinces Donna to change her mind in the past, taking a right at the road junction per her mother's wishes instead of a left. The narrative turns to the alternate history created by Donna's choice, far bleaker than the course of events established in previous episodes. The Doctor dies permanently during the Racnoss' attack on London ("The Runaway Bride"), killed by the water pressure before he could regenerate, because Donna was not there to convince him to leave. Royal Hope Hospital is taken to the moon and returned ("Smith and Jones"), but only one person, Martha's fellow medical student Oliver Morgenstern, survives. Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith are among the dead (the latter apparently having foiled Florence Finnegan's plan). The Titanic crashes into the centre of London, wiping out the city and irradiating most of southern England ("Voyage of the Damned"). In the United States, 60 million people are turned into creatures made of fat ("Partners in Crime"). The Sontarans attempt to turn Earth into a breeding world ("The Poison Sky"), which is stopped by Jack Harkness and his remaining Torchwood team of Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. However, Gwen and Ianto are killed and Jack is transported to Sontar. Throughout all these events, Rose Tyler keeps appearing before Donna. Aware of the events to come, she steers Donna away from mortal danger but refuses to give her name. After the latest tragedy, Rose urges Donna to come with her, even though she will die. Donna initially refuses, but three weeks later, as she and her grandfather talk about recent events, the stars begin disappearing throughout the sky. Donna tells Rose that she is ready. Rose escorts Donna to a UNIT base where the dying TARDIS is being used to help power a makeshift time machine. Rose uses the system to show Donna the beetle that crawled onto her back during the fortune-telling. It is in temporal flux and cannot be removed, but Rose explains that Donna herself is also a point of flux. In order to set things right, they prepare to send her back in time to stop herself from going right. Donna agrees to go, but when she asks if she will get to live this time, Rose remains silent. Donna is sent back in time, but ends up half a mile away and with only four minutes to spare. Finding herself short of the mark on the road leading from the right of the critical intersection, Donna remembers what Rose said about her death and throws herself in front of a removal van. Traffic backs up to the intersection and the past Donna turns left, unwilling to wait for it to clear. As the future Donna lies on the ground, Rose leans over and whispers two words to pass on to the Doctor. Back on Shan Shen, the beetle falls off of Donna's back and the fortune teller flees, frightened by this unexpected development. The Doctor finds Donna and the beetle. He explains that it normally affects only the person it attaches to (the universe merely "compensates"), but in Donna's case created a parallel world. The Doctor is curious about the other alternate realities that seem to form around Donna ("Forest of the Dead"). He ponders the coincidences surrounding Donna and himself, as if something is binding them together. When Donna insists that she is nothing special, the Doctor tells her that she is brilliant, which triggers her fading memories of Rose. She tells him about Rose's warning that "the darkness is coming" and that it is affecting all worlds. At his insistence, Donna tells him the words Rose said; "Bad Wolf". Horrified, the Doctor runs outside to find that the words "Bad Wolf" are everywhere, even on the TARDIS. Inside the Cloister Bell is ringing and the TARDIS interior is glowing red. When Donna asks about the meaning of "Bad Wolf", the Doctor replies, "It's the end of the universe." This episode revisits the events of most of the present-day stories since Donna first met the Doctor, including "The Runaway Bride", "Smith and Jones", "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime", and "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky". The Doctor's absence during these events leads to the deaths of Martha Jones, Sarah Jane Smith, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. Jack Harkness, who cannot be killed, is transported to Sontar. Torchwood characters Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones are referred to by name for the first time in Doctor Who, while a short segment of music from the soundtrack of Torchwood plays in the background. Sarah Jane Smith is mentioned for the first time since "The Girl in the Fireplace", along with the first mentions of The Sarah Jane Adventures characters Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, and Maria Jackson. The recurring "Bad Wolf" motif, primarily from series 1, returns at the conclusion of this episode to warn the Doctor of the events that are causing Rose to return. The TARDIS's Cloister Bell, last used in "Time Crash", can also be heard at the end of the episode. Sylvia Noble mentions that the bees are disappearing, which has been mentioned by Donna in "Partners in Crime", "Planet of the Ood", and "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Donna's father Geoff, who appeared in "The Runaway Bride", is mentioned for the first time since "The Fires of Pompeii". It is implied that he was ill during the timescale of "Smith and Jones", and had died by the time of "Voyage of the Damned". His character was intended to be used during series 4, but was retired after actor Howard Attfield died before his scenes were finished. He was replaced by Bernard Cribbins, whose previous role as an anonymous newspaper seller was merged with that of Donna's grandfather. The "Time Beetle"[2] on Donna's back is described by the Doctor as part of "the Trickster's brigade". The Trickster was a time-altering villain in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?. The beetle on her back was also referenced by Lucius Dextrus in "The Fires of Pompeii" with the line, "Daughter of London, there is something on your back!". Sarah Jane Smith is said to write for the fictional Metropolitan magazine as previously mentioned in Planet of the Spiders. Rose mentions the "causal nexus", which was discussed by the Doctor and the Master in "Logopolis." ProductionThe episode, filmed at the same time as "Midnight", saw the Doctor with very little screen-time, while "Midnight" saw Donna with little screen-time.[3] Tennant shot all his scenes, at the episode's beginning and end, in one day, while a double stood in for the shot of the dead Doctor's arm.[2] The appearance of the Giant Spider of Metebelis 3 that clung to Sarah Jane Smith's back in Planet of the Spiders influenced the design and concept of the "Time Beetle" that clings to Donna's back in this episode.[2] [edit] Cast notesBillie Piper makes her first substantial appearance on the show since "Doomsday". Interviewed for Doctor Who Confidential, Piper said her return had been planned at the time of her original departure but that around three weeks before filming she decided to rewatch some of her old episodes to refamiliarise herself with the role and ease her doubts that she could play Rose again.[2] Clive Standen reprises the role of Private Harris (credited in this episode as "UNIT Soldier") from "The Sontaran Strategem" / "The Poison Sky". Here he is shown to have been in attendance during the Webstar crisis. Ben Righton reprises the role of Oliver Morgenstern from "Smith and Jones", in this episode the only survivor when the hospital is returned to Earth, Martha Jones having given him the last oxygen pack. Lachele Carl returns as American newsreader Trinity Wells, who previously appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London"/"World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion", "The Sound of Drums" and "The Poison Sky", in addition to The Sarah Jane Adventures story Revenge of the Slitheen. Chipo Chung, who plays the fortune-teller, previously appeared as Chantho in the episode "Utopia". ReceptionBased on BARB overnight returns, "Turn Left" was watched by 7 million viewers, giving it a 35% share of the total television audience.[4] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").[5] Keith Watson for the Metro newspaper called it a "daring" episode and praised Catherine Tate's performance, which was "perfectly suited to a complex story... Doctor Who could get away with being a lot less clever. But they actually care about what they do."[6] However, Sam Wollaston of The Guardian felt Tate was overshadowed by the return of Billie Piper. "Catherine Tate really puts everything into this episode (too much, maybe). But as soon as Rose shows, Donna's a goner."[7]
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Tue, 24 June 2008
Bad Wolf
The first arc word of the new series, "Bad Wolf", began to crop up in various ways starting from the second episode, "The End of the World", and then grew in prominence, leading to much fan speculation over the course of the series as to what the phrase referred to and what its ultimate significance would be. In this respect, the phrase was also a form of viral marketing. There was little clue to the meaning of the phrase until "The Parting of the Ways", where it was revealed to be a message spread by Rose Tyler throughout time after infusing herself with the power of the heart of the TARDIS. Having infused herself with the power of the time vortex, Rose gained seemingly infinite reality warping abilities with which she obliterated a Dalek fleet, before this fatal energy was removed from her by the Doctor. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", the extent of Rose's actions remains unclear. She revived Jack Harkness, an event which made him immortal, perhaps purposefully, and also acted as the catalyst for the Ninth Doctor's regeneration into the Tenth.
Bad Wolf arcThe phrase first appeared in the second episode of the 2005 series, and then in every story of that series thereafter. It also occasionally appeared in the 2006 and 2007 series. Within the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the arc comprised the following episodes:
Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akurō, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]". The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": At the end of this episode all text turns into "Bad Wolf", including the backlit signs and the board on the front of the TARDIS. This is described by the Doctor to be the end of the universe. There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf. The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Dårlig ulv stranden", which she translates as "Bad Wolf Bay". (In actuality, it can be translated to "Bad Wolf Beach"). Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is a advert for good wolf insurance. Other mediaThe tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime.'" The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" — silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves. In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6] In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall. The phrase occurs in some of the New Series Adventures, the BBC Books range of spin-off novels based on the new series. The Ninth Doctor Adventures run concurrently with the 2005 series.
The phrase also appears in later Tenth Doctor novels, such as Peacemaker a character says the Doctor is 'the man who defeated the Bad Wolf'. There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W." A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazine comic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg. Category:Information
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Mon, 23 June 2008
No Title Original airdate 1 An Unearthly
Child 23 November–14 December
1963 aka 100,000
BC aka The
Tribe of Gum 2 The Daleks 21 December 1963–1 February 1964 aka The
Mutants aka The
Dead Planet 3 The Edge of
Destruction 8–15 February 1964 aka Inside
the Spaceship aka Beyond
the Sun 4 Marco Polo 22 February–4 April 1964 aka A
Journey Through Cathay 5 The Keys of
Marinus 11 April–16 May 1964 aka The Sea
of Death 6 The Aztecs 23 May–13 June 1964 7 The
Sensorites 20 June–1 August
1964 8 The Reign of
Terror 8 August–12 September
1964 aka The
French Revolution Season 2 (1964-65) No Title Original airdate 9 Planet of
Giants 31 October–14 November
1964 10 The Dalek
Invasion of Earth 21
November–26 December 1964 aka World's
End 11 The Rescue 2–9 January 1965 12 The Romans 16 January–6 February 1965 13 The Web
Planet 13 February –20 March
1965 aka The
Zarbi 14 The Crusade 27 March–17 April 1965 aka The
Lionheart aka The
Crusaders 15 The Space
Museum 24 April–15 May 1965 16 The Chase 22 May–26 June 1965 17 The Time
Meddler 3–24 July 1965 Season 3 (1965-66) No Title Original airdate 18 Galaxy 4 11 September–2 October 1965 19 "Mission
to the Unknown" 09-Oct-65 aka
"Dalek Cutaway" 20 The Myth
Makers 16 October–6 November
1965 21 The Daleks'
Master Plan 13 November 1965–29
January 1966 22 The Massacre
of St Bartholomew's Eve 5 February–26
February 1966 aka The
Massacre 23 The Ark 5 March–26 March 1966 24 The Celestial
Toymaker 2 April–23 April 1966 25 The
Gunfighters 30 April–21 May
1966 26 The
Savages[b] 28 May–18 June 1966 27 The War
Machines 25 June–16 July 1966 Season 4 (1966-67) No Title Original airdate 28 The Smugglers 10 September–1 October 1966 29 The Tenth
Planet 8–29 October 1966 Second Doctor Season 4 (1966-67) — continued No Title Original airdate 30 The Power of
the Daleks 5 November–10 December 1966 31 The
Highlanders 17 December 1966–7
January 1967 32 The
Underwater Menace 14 January–4
February 1967 33 The Moonbase 11 February–3 March 1967 34 The Macra
Terror 11 March–1 April 1967 35 The Faceless
Ones 8 April–13 May 1967 36 The Evil of
the Daleks 20 May–1 July 1967 Season 5 (1967-68) No Title Original airdate 37 The Tomb of
the Cybermen 2–23 September
1967 38 The
Abominable Snowmen 30
September–4 November 1967 39 The Ice
Warriors 11 November–16
December 1967 40 The Enemy of
the World 23 December 1967–27 January
1968 41 The Web of
Fear 3 February–9 March 1968 42 Fury from the
Deep 16 March–20 April 1968 43 The Wheel in
Space 27 April–1 June 1968 Season 6 (1968-69) No Title Original airdate 44 The
Dominators 10 August–7
September 1968 45 The Mind
Robber 14 September–12 October
1968 46 The Invasion 2 November–21 December 1968 47 The Krotons 28 December 1968–18 January 1969 48 The Seeds of
Death 25 January–1 March 1969 49 The Space
Pirates 8 March–12 April 1969 50 The War Games 19 April–21 June 1969 Third Doctor Season 7 (1970) No Title Original airdate 51 Spearhead
from Space 3–24 January 1970 52 Doctor Who
and the Silurians 31 January–14
March 1970 aka The
Silurians 53 The
Ambassadors of Death 21 March–2
May 1970 54 Inferno 9 May–20 June 1970 Season 8 (1971) No Title Original airdate 55 Terror of the
Autons 2–23 January 1971 56 The Mind of
Evil 30 January–6 March 1971 57 The Claws of
Axos 13 March–3 April 1971 58 Colony in
Space 10 April–15 May 1971 59 The Dæmons 22 May–19 June 1971 Season 9 (1972) No Title Original airdate 60 Day of the
Daleks 1–22 January 1972 61 The Curse of
Peladon 29 January–19 February
1972 62 The Sea
Devils 26 February–1 April 1972 63 The Mutants 8 April–13 May 1972 64 The Time
Monster 20 May–24 June 1972 Season 10 (1972-73) No Title Original airdate 65 The Three
Doctors[c] 30 December 1972–20
January 1973 66 Carnival
of Monsters 27 January–17
February 1973 67 Frontier in
Space 24 February–31 March 1973 68 Planet of the
Daleks 7 April–12 May 1973 69 The Green
Death 19 May–23 June 1973 Season 11 (1973-74) No Title Original airdate 70 The Time
Warrior 15 December 1973-5 January
1974 71 Invasion
of the Dinosaurs [d] 12
January–16 February 1974 72 Death to the
Daleks 23 February–16 March
1974 73 The Monster
of Peladon 23 March–27 April
1974 74 Planet of the
Spiders 4 May–8 June 1974 Fourth Doctor Season 12 (1974-75) No Title Original airdate 75 Robot 28 December 1974–18 January 1975 76 The Ark in
Space 25 January–15 February
1975 77 The Sontaran
Experiment 22 February–1 March
1975 78 Genesis of
the Daleks 8 March–12 April
1975 79 Revenge
of the Cybermen 19 April–10 May
1975 Season 13 (1975-76) No Title Original airdate 80 Terror of the
Zygons 30 August–20 September
1975 81 Planet of
Evil 27 September–18 October 1975 82 Pyramids
of Mars 25 October–15 November
1975 83 The Android
Invasion 22 November–13
December 1975 84 The Brain of
Morbius 3–24 January 1976 85 The Seeds of
Doom 31 January–6 March 1976 Season 14 (1976-77) No Title Original airdate 86 The Masque of
Mandragora 4–25 September 1976 87 The Hand of
Fear 2–23 October 1976 88 The Deadly
Assassin 30 October–20 November
1976 89 The Face of
Evil 1–22 January 1977 90 The Robots of
Death 29 January – 19 February 1977 91 The Talons of
Weng-Chiang 26 February – 2
April 1977 Season 15 (1977-78) No Title Original airdate 92 Horror of
Fang Rock 3–24 September 1977 93 The Invisible
Enemy 1–22 October 1977 94 Image of the
Fendahl 29 October–19 November
1977 95 The Sun
Makers 26 November–17 December
1977 96 Underworld 7–28 January 1978 97 The Invasion
of Time 4 February – 11 March 1978 Season 16 (1978-79) No Title Original airdate 98 The Ribos
Operation 2–23 September 1978 99 The Pirate
Planet 30 September–21 October
1978 100 The Stones of
Blood 28 October–18 November 1978 101 The Androids
of Tara 25 November–16 December 1978 102 The Power of
Kroll 23 December 1978–13
January 1979 103 The Armageddon
Factor 20 January – 24 February 1979 Season 17 (1979-80) No Title Original airdate 104 Destiny of the
Daleks 1–22 September 1979 105 City of Death 29 September–20 October 1979 106 The Creature
from the Pit 27 October–17 November 1979 107 Nightmare
of Eden 24 November–15 December
1979 108 The Horns of
Nimon 22 December 1979–12 January 1980 109 Shada[e] Unaired Season 18 (1980-81) No Title Original airdate 110 The Leisure
Hive 30 August–20 September
1980 111 Meglos 27 September–18 October 1980 112 Full Circle 25 October–15 November 1980 113 State of Decay 22 November–13 December 1980 114 Warriors'
Gate 3–24 January 1981 115 The Keeper of
Traken 31 January–21 February 1981 116 Logopolis 28 February–21 March 1981 Fifth Doctor Season 19 (1982) No Title Original airdate 117 Castrovalva 4–12 January 1982 118 Four to
Doomsday 18–26 January 1982 119 Kinda 1–9 February 1982 120 The Visitation 15–23 February 1982 121 Black Orchid 1–2 March 1982 122 Earthshock 8–16 March 1982 123 Time-Flight 22–30 March 1982 Season 20 (1983) No Title Original airdate 124 Arc of
Infinity 3-12 January 1983 125 Snakedance 18-26 January 1983 126 Mawdryn
Undead 1-9 February 1983 127 Terminus 15-23 February 1983 128 Enlightenment 1-9 March 1983 129 The King's
Demons 15-16 March 1983 130 The Five
Doctors[f] 23-Nov-83 Season 21 (1984) No Title Original airdate 131 Warriors
of the Deep 5–13 January 1984 132 The Awakening 19–20 January 1984 133 Frontios 26 January–3 February 1984 134 Resurrection
of the Daleks 8–15 February 1984 135 Planet of Fire 23 February–2 March 1984 136 The Caves of
Androzani 8–16 March 1984 Sixth Doctor Season 21 (1984) — continued No Title Original airdate 137 The Twin
Dilemma 22–30 March 1984 Season 22 (1985) No Title Original airdate 138 Attack of the
Cybermen 5–12 January 1985 139 Vengeance
on Varos 19–26 January 1985 140 The Mark of
the Rani 2–9 February 1985 141 The Two
Doctors 16 February–2 March
1985 142 Timelash 9–16 March 1985 143 Revelation
of the Daleks 23–30 March 1985 Season 23 (1986) Main article: The Trial of a Time Lord No Title Original airdate 144 The Mysterious
Planet 6–27 September 1986 145 Mindwarp 4–25 October 1986 146 Terror of the
Vervoids 1–22 November 1986 aka The
Vervoids 147 The Ultimate
Foe 29 November–6 December 1986 aka Time
Incorporated Seventh Doctor Season 24 (1987) No Title Original airdate 148 Time and the
Rani 7–28 September 1987 149 Paradise
Towers 5–26 October 1987 150 Delta and the
Bannermen 2–16 November 1987 151 Dragonfire 23 November–7 December 1987 Season 25 (1988-89) No Title Original airdate 152 Remembrance
of the Daleks 5–26 October 1988 153 The Happiness
Patrol 2–16 November 1988 154 Silver Nemesis 23 November–7 December 1988 155 The Greatest
Show in the Galaxy 14 December
1988–4 January 1989 Season 26 (1989) No Title Original airdate 156 Battlefield 6–27 September 1989 157 Ghost Light 4–18 October 1989 158 The Curse of
Fenric 25 October–15 November
1989 159 Survival 22 November–6 December 1989 Eighth Doctor Category:Information
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Thu, 19 June 2008
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. SynopsisThe Doctor and Donna take a holiday on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing walking unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family — Val (Coulson), Biff (Ryan), and their teenage son Jethro (Morgan) — Professor Hobbes (Troughton) and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco (Antoine), and businesswoman Sky Silvestry (Sharp). The staff are the driver Joe (Bluto), trainee mechanic Claude (Henry), and a steward who is only referred to as 'the Hostess' (Ayola). The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin. A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the cabin crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, exposing Joe and Claude to the deadly sunlight. Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she begins speaking in exact unison with the passengers. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he is unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words. As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, she begins speaking his words first, and the Doctor quickly becomes the one doing the repeating. Most of the passengers reason that whatever was in Sky has now passed into the Doctor, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door after being goaded by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, a mournful Doctor reunites with Donna. ContinuityRose Tyler appears on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the lifeform attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in "The Poison Sky". In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name along with Martha and Donna. This is the first story since Genesis of the Daleks where the TARDIS does not appear. This is the second full story featuring the Doctor without a companion in the main narrative, the first being The Deadly Assassin (Mission to the Unknown in 1965 featured neither the Doctor nor his companions). It is also the only time where the adversary is neither seen nor given a name.[2] When the Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind the Doctor's name and the use of a simple alias is a recurring theme in the series' revival. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" and "molto bene", first used in "Army of Ghosts" and "The Runaway Bride" respectively.[2] ProductionThis episode is the fiftieth episode filmed for the revived series, and was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna has a minor role in the episode (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while the Doctor has a minor role in "Turn Left".[1][3][4] Cast notesDavid Troughton, cast here as Professor Hobbes, was a late replacement for Sam Kelly, who broke his leg and had to withdraw from the production. Troughton joined the rest of the cast in Cardiff with just two days notice. An actor now known for his stage work with the RSC as well as television, he is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor. He had a long association with the early series in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Enemy of the World as Private Moor in the sixth episode of the Second Doctor serial The War Games[, and as King Peladon in all four episodes of the Third Doctor serial The Curse of Peladon. [8][9] More recently he has appeared as the Tinghus in the Doctor Who audio adventure Cuddlesome. ReceptionBased on BARB overnight returns, "Midnight" was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 38% share of the total television audience. [] against ITV's live coverage of a UEFA Euro 2008 international football match. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 86 (considered "Excellent"). The Guardian's TV reviewer Sam Wollaston described the episode as "great... it's tense and claustrophobic, and gnaws away at you." He praised the fact that all the action happened in one confined space with an unseen enemy, saying "this is psychological drama rather than full-blown horror; creepy-unknown scary, not special-effect-monster scary." The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen was more critical, writing that Tennant's Doctor was becoming "increasingly irritating". He called the episode "sheet upon sheet of dialogue" that "felt too much of a writing exercise to be really scary" and a case-in-point of how the 2008 series "fails as often as it succeeds". Billen did, however, praise the episode for its claustrophobic atmosphere and for showing the series was "not afraid of variety [and]... dead scared of repetition".
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Tue, 17 June 2008
To get a replacement disc you need to send your current one to:
The just released K9 Tales DVD set has a problem at the end of Episode 3 of The Invisible Enemy that causes scenes to play out of order.
Category:general
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Mon, 16 June 2008
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008.[1] It is the first of a two-part story by Steven Moffat, followed by "Forest of the Dead
PlotSynopsisThe Doctor and Donna arrive in the 51st century at a planet-sized book repository simply called "The Library", summoned by an anonymous request for help on the Doctor's psychic paper. However, they find it completely devoid of humanoid life, and the Library's computers even claim as such, though when the Doctor widens the search for non-humanoid life, the Library's computers claim over "a million million lifeforms" exist. A Node, an information drone which presents a donated human face to the user to facilitate communication, warns them to count the shadows, which appear despite the lack of objects to cast them. As they try to search for answers, they meet a team of explorers, led by archaeologist Professor River Song, who have come to ascertain the meaning of the Library's final communication, which states "4022 saved, no survivors". River Song seems to know the Doctor, has a diary with a cover matching the Doctor's TARDIS, and even possesses a sonic screwdriver. She also later displays knowledge of the TARDIS' "emergency program one". She only admits that she will know the Doctor in his relative future, refusing to disclose more for fear of "spoilers". Professor Song also recognises Donna's name, but avoids explaining why Donna was not present when she knew the Doctor. The Doctor organizes the team to make sure the area is well lit as he explains that they are surrounded by Vashta Nerada, microscopic carnivorous creatures that disguise themselves as shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. He notes that they are usually nowhere near as aggressive or numerous as the ones here seem to be. Before he can fully explain, however, one of the explorers wanders off and is stripped to the bone in moments. The Doctor and Donna learn that the exploration team wears communication devices which link to their nervous systems for thought-based communication. As a side-effect, these devices tend to pick up an imprint of the user at the moment of death, creating a short-lived "Data Ghost" of that person's consciousness. Curiously, the Library's operations seem to be tied to the imagination of a young girl; she sees the Doctor and Donna through the eyes of a security camera when they first break into central room, the exploration team appears on her television when the Doctor attempts to hack the Library computers, and books fly from the shelves when she fiddles with the television's remote control. The girl is under the observation of Dr Moon, a child psychologist, at the request of her dad, but Dr Moon insists to the girl that what she imagines in her nightmares is in fact real, while the "real" world is a lie. He also states that there are people in her library who need to be saved. The team's investigation is interrupted when a shadow of Vashta Nerada latches onto the pilot, Dave. Although the Doctor attempts to save him by sealing him inside his suit, the creatures manage to get inside, eat him alive, and then animate his suit in order to chase the other explorers. The Doctor attempts to teleport Donna back to the TARDIS while he leads the rest of the team to safety, but something goes wrong with the teleport and Donna fails to materialize properly. As the team races away from the possessed suit, the Doctor is horrified to find a Node with Donna's face on it, which claims that Donna has left the Library and has been "saved". The show ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor is forced to leave the Node behind, but is trapped by the approaching suit on one side and the Vashta Nerada shadows on the other. ContinuityAs shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library either written by former Doctor Who writers or featured in previous episodes. Among those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child), the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name). The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In "The Parting of the Ways", this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in "New Earth", where the Face of Boe called the Doctor to his supposed deathbed. The Doctor also mentions that he loves "a little shop", a sentiment previously expressed in the episodes "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones". Broadcast and reception"Silence in the Library" was scheduled against the final of ITV's talent contest Britain's Got Talent and suffered in the ratings as a result. Overnight viewing figures suggested that the episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers, although this increased to 6.27 million when adjusted for time shifting. Britain's Got Talent was viewed by 11.52 million in comparison. This was the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who did not have the largest audience share in its timeslot. However, the episode did receive an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent")[, the joint highest figure the new series has received alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the following episode "Forest of the Dead". BBC Three's repeat of the episode was watched by 1.35 million viewers, almost double the figures for the equivalent repeat of the previous episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp". ProductionCertain scenes were filmed at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, Wales. "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story, following "Silence in the Library". PlotSynopsisImmediately following the events of the previous episode, "Silence in the Library", the Doctor and the exploration team manage to escape the Vashta Nerada and take refuge in a well-lit room. As they work out a plan, the Doctor is concerned about how he can trust River Song, so she whispers a single word in his ear which convinces him: his real name. Donna Noble finds herself at a care home named "CAL", apparently two years later, with Dr Moon treating her. He introduces her to another man, Lee, and is later seen visiting the married Donna and her family. However, Donna keeps noticing that something is wrong; she seems to skip from one place to another at a whim, only to be reminded of the journey by Dr Moon, who does this frequently by ending his sentences with "...and then you remembered/forgot"). Meanwhile, the little girl watches both the Doctor and Donna by switching channels on her television. In the library, the Doctor discovers that the moon is sending out electromagnetic signals that are interfering with his sonic screwdriver. Strackman Lux explains that the moon is a virus scanner for the planet-side computer core. The Doctor briefly interrupts this signal, and suddenly appears in Dr Moon's place next to Donna; Dr Moon is quite literally the "doctor moon". The Doctor then understands that the message "4022 saved" did not mean they were rescued, but that their teleport patterns were saved to the library's hard drive. They are found once more by the Vashta Nerada suit and forced to flee, but the Doctor stays behind to reason with it. Through the communicator on the suit, the Vashta Nerada explain that the library is their "forest"; the paper of the countless books in the library was made from trees filled with Vashta Nerada spores, from which they hatched after being shipped to the library. They manage to kill Other Dave and resume the chase. River still laments the non-appearance of the Doctor she knew, recalling him making whole armies run away and opening the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers. Anita notices she has two shadows, and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to tint her visor to attempt to trick the Vashta Nerada into thinking they are already in there. In the computer core, the truth of the situation is revealed to Donna by none other than Miss Evangelista. She reveals that her Data Ghost was captured by the library's wireless internet, but was corrupted and caused her face to become severely disfigured while increasing her intelligence, leaving her "brilliant but unloved" and able to see the false reality for what it really is. She points out that all the children are merely identical copies, and gets Donna to remember the library. However, the young girl, watching from her television, does not want Donna to know and uses her television remote control to injure one of Donna's children as a diversion. Donna leaves Miss Evangelista behind, but her acceptance of the simulated reality is nevertheless shaken, and her invented children disappear when confronted with the fact that they do not exist. The little girl, increasingly frustrated by events, "switches off" her father and throws the remote control to the floor, activating the computer's self-destruct mechanism. Dr Moon attempts to protect the girl as he is programmed to do, but he is also switched off. 
To stop the self-destruct, the Doctor, River Song, and Lux make their way to the computer core. Here, Lux reveals the meaning of CAL: it is an acronym for the name Charlotte Abigail Lux, his grandfather's daughter, who was wired into the computer as a child because she was dying. In this manner, Charlotte could live forever with the sum total of human knowledge to pass the time. However, storing the patterns of 4022 unique people has filled her computer core, and is preventing normal operations. The only way to set things right is to reintegrate them in the library. As CAL cannot do this alone, the Doctor prepares to wire his own mind into the system as extra memory, though it will surely kill him. As he works, he uses his screwdriver to un-tint Anita's visor to reveal a skeleton inside - she had been dead for some time now. He insists that in exchange for getting to keep their forest, he will get to save the people in the computer core. They initially refuse, but when the Doctor tells them to search for his name in the library's archives, they immediately reconsider and give him a day to clear the planet. River, unwilling to let the Doctor die, which would rewrite history and erase their time together, knocks him out and takes his place, rescuing those trapped in the computer at the cost of her life instead of his. As the rescued humans are teleported home, Donna meets up with the Doctor. Having been unable to find her husband from the virtual world, the pair walks to the TARDIS, unaware that he is in the next group being teleported out. As the Doctor mournfully leaves River's diary and her sonic screwdriver in the library, he realises the reason why his future self gave her the sonic screwdriver in the first place: it holds a communication device with a Data Ghost. He uses it to bring River back to life inside the computer. After returning to the TARDIS, he decides to test what River Song said about his future: he opens and closes the TARDIS doors by snapping his fingers, then continues his adventures. Meanwhile, River Song appears in the virtual world, where she is greeted by Charlotte and Dr Moon. Anita, the two Daves and Miss Evangelista (her face restored) also appear, their Data Ghosts having been saved by Charlotte and brought into the computer for eternity. Josh and Ella, the homogeneous children from CAL's world, are seen to live with Charlotte and River. ContinuityMultiple items from previous episodes are reused here. The wedding dress Catherine Tate wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in "The Runaway Bride". According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada at the beginning of the episode is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode "The Doctor Dances". Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after "The Parting of the Ways", and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose Tyler in the earlier episode. The Bad Wolf motif (seen throughout series one and in other places) is alluded to once more: a picture of blonde girl and a wolf is visible in Charlotte's house. There are some similarities between River Song and Bernice Summerfield, a character created by Paul Cornell as a companion of the Seventh and late Eighth Doctors in Virgin New Adventures series of novels in the 1990s.[4] Both characters are archaeologists from the future who came to be the Doctor's most trusted companion. Professor River Song uses the Doctor's name (not heard by the viewer) in order to gain his trust. The secret behind the Doctor's true name was also explored in "The Girl in the Fireplace" (also by Steven Moffat), "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Fires of Pompeii", and later referred to in "Midnight". Production"Forest of the Dead" was initially announced under the title "River's Run", before its name was changed relatively late in production.[ Several scenes from this episode and "Silence in the Library" were filmed at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. These include the library reception area where the TARDIS arrives, and the staircase where the Doctor and Donna look out over the empty library. The climactic scenes of the episode (in the library core) were filmed in an electrical substation of a disused Alcoa factory in Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Josh and Ella, Donna's two children in the computer-generated world, were named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.[8] ReceptionBased on overnight returns, it is estimated that Forest of the Dead was watched by 7.1 million viewers, giving it a 40.0% audience share; the highest in Series Four and the highest in its timeslot.[9] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 89 (considered "Excellent"), the joint highest score the programme has achieved alongside "The Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and the preceding episode "Silence in the Library".
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Thu, 12 June 2008
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Wed, 4 June 2008
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 7:00pm.[2][3] Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most successful episode this series since "The Fires of Pompeii".[4] The episode is a pseudohistorical story set in 1926, in a manor owned by a character named Lady Eddison in which crime fiction novelist Agatha Christie is visiting, and is a comedic episode with a murder storyline.[5]
PlotSynopsisThe episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Lady Eddison (Felicity Kendal) and her husband, Colonel Hugh (Christopher Benjamin). One of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar). Looking at a newspaper, the Doctor finds that it is the day of Agatha Christie's famous unexplained disappearance (December 8, 1926). Just as this revelation is made, another guest, Professor Peach (Ian Barritt), is found by Eddison's friend and companion Miss Chandrakala (Leena Dhingra) in the library, murdered with a lead pipe; Donna alludes to the similarity to the boardgame Cluedo. The Doctor finds morphic residue on the floor while examining the scene, meaning that one of the guests isn't human. Aided by Agatha, the Doctor interviews the guests while Donna goes looking for clues. She investigates a locked room, which the butler explains Lady Eddison had sequestered herself in while recovering from a bout of malaria contracted in India forty years earlier and they had left locked after her recovery. Donna is attacked by a giant wasp after tracing a buzzing sound to a window. She scares it off with a magnifying glass. It escapes and apparently retakes human form before they can catch up, killing Miss Chandrakala along the way. Her last words are "The poor little child." At this point it becomes clear that the murder is being played out like one of Agatha's novels. While the three mull over the evidence they've gathered thus far, the Doctor is poisoned with cyanide; however, it is not as fatal for him as it is for humans, and an odd combination of ingredients with a shock (in the form of a kiss) from Donna allows him to detoxify himself. In return, the Doctor "poisons" the guests' dinner with pepper; naturally this is not harmful to humans, but it acts as an insecticide to wasps. A buzzing sound can be heard moments later, to which Lady Eddison exclaims, "It can't be!" The lights are blown out by a sudden wind and they again fail to ascertain the identity of the alien. Roger Curbishley (Adam Rayner), Lady Eddison's son, is murdered in the confusion, and Lady Eddison's necklace, 'The Firestone,' is stolen. In the sitting room, the Doctor and Agatha reveal several secrets about the guests and hosts. Robina Redmond (Felicity Jones) is a thief called 'The Unicorn' who coveted the Firestone and stole it in the confusion. Colonel Hugh is not actually wheelchair bound as he appears to be; he faked the condition to make sure Lady Eddison did not leave him. The truth of Lady Eddison's bout of malaria is also revealed; she was actually made pregnant by an alien known as a Vespiform, who gave her the Firestone necklace. The necklace is psychically linked to her son, whom she had given up for adoption and never saw again. Her son is actually the Reverend Golightly (Tom Goodman-Hill), who had come to associate Agatha Christie's novels with the way the world must work because Lady Eddison had been reading one when his alien biology was awakened in a moment of anger, and had killed those who were working against him in the manner of one of her novels. Golightly, now enraged once more at being discovered, transforms into his wasp form. Agatha snatches the Firestone, and Golightly pursues her since she is now linked to it. The Doctor and Donna follow after her. Agatha leads the creature to the lake, where Donna throws the necklace into the water. Golightly follows it in and thus drowns. Still linked to the necklace, Agatha nearly dies as well, but Golightly chooses to release her as his last act. The trauma causes amnesia, and the Doctor deposits her at the Harrogate Hotel ten days later, explaining her disappearance. In the TARDIS, the Doctor produces one of Agatha's novels, Death in the Clouds, and points to the copyright page in the front. The publication date is listed as the year five billion; Agatha Christie is quite literally the most popular novelist of all time. The cover features a giant wasp, suggesting that the amnesia was not total (although the wasp in the novel is in fact of the normal variety). ContinuityWhen the Doctor meets Agatha Christie for the first time, he mentions that he was just talking about her the other day, saying "I bet she's brilliant". This comes from the end of "Last of the Time Lords", when he was suggesting places where he and Martha could go after the Master's defeat. Several previous episodes are referenced by both the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor produces items from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from "The Age of Steel" and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from "The Shakespeare Code". Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", unknowingly referencing the events of "The Unquiet Dead". When Donna attempts to use 1920s lingo, the Doctor tells her to stop, just as he did with Rose Tyler (in "Tooth and Claw") and Martha Jones (in "The Shakespeare Code" and The Infinite Quest) when they tried to mimic local speech; the first slang phrase Donna uses ("Topping day, what!") is also used by the Third Doctor when interacting with 1920s characters in the 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters. When poisoned, the Doctor runs into the kitchen and asks for ginger beer. The Fourth Doctor was seen drinking ginger pop throughout The Android Invasion and the dislike of it by companion Sarah Jane Smith becomes a major plot point. Donna refers to her own failed marriage in "The Runaway Bride", comparing it to Christie's husband's infidelity. She notes that her husband was colluding not with another woman but with a giant spider. She also mentions the disappearing bees, following on from previous mentions in "Partners in Crime" and "Planet of the Ood". The Doctor has a flashback scene when unravelling motives with Agatha Christie. In it he's carving through Belgium with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. His voiceover explains he looking for Charlemagne who was "kidnapped by an insane computer." Christie interrupts before he can paint a full picture; however the events are fully explored on Doctor Who's BBC website in the short story "The Lonely Computer."[1] The first episode of this series was called "Partners in Crime" - the title of one of Agatha Christie's books. Outside referencesThere are numerous references to either Agatha Christie's novels or to Christie herself. In a similar manner to the running gag between the Doctor and William Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", both Donna and the Doctor refer to novels which Agatha has yet to write, ideas which she naturally finds to be intriguing — particularly Murder On The Orient Express, which Donna mentions. Other novels referenced are Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Appointment with Death, N or M?, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, Sparkling Cyanide, Crooked House, They Do It With Mirrors, Cat Among the Pigeons, Endless Night, The Secret Adversary, Nemesis, Taken at the Flood, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death Comes as the End, Dead Man's Folly and Death in the Clouds. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, "The Clocks" where there are clocks frozen at 4:13. Donna also mentions Miss Marple (whom Christie had not yet created), and the novelist remarks that she would make for an interesting character. The episode also claims that Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (literally), which is true today as her novels have sold an estimated four billion copies. (The works of Shakespeare and the Bible have sold more copies overall, but are not novels.)[6] The Doctor also makes a slight faux pas when he addresses Christie as "Dame Agatha", a title which she had yet to receive at the time the episode is set in. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo. The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). ProductionThe episode is written by Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the pseudohistorical episode "The Shakespeare Code". Roberts was given a fourth series episode to write after executive producer Russell T Davies reviewed Roberts' script for "The Shakespeare Code". Several months later, he received an email from the production team which said "Agatha Christie".[7] Roberts, a self-confessed fan of Christie's works, made the episode into a comedy, the first Doctor Who story to do so since Donald Cotton's serials The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters, in 1965 and 1966, respectively.[5] Roberts based the episode on his favourite Christie works: Crooked House, which focuses on secrets within an aristocratic society, and the 1982 film adaptation of Evil Under the Sun. Speaking of both works, Roberts noted that it was "quite strange writing a modern Doctor Who with posh people in it. We don't really see posh people on television anymore, except at Christmas", and "there's something funny about the veneer of upper class respectability and the truth of any family underneath". He also stated that "there's really nothing nicer than watching a lot of English actors hamming it up in a vaguely exotic location... and then somebody's murdered!" The episode's title was deliberately chosen to sound "vaguely Christie-ish", but Roberts admitted that "[Christie] never used 'the blank and the blank' construction".[7] In writing the episode, Roberts aimed to make the episode a "big, fun, all-star murder mystery romp". He was influenced by advice given by Davies, who wanted Roberts to "go funnier" with every draft, and former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams' advice that "a danger one runs is that the moment you have anything in the script that's clearly meant to be funny in some way, everybody thinks 'oh well we can do silly voices and silly walks and so on', and I think that's exactly the wrong way to do it". Using this advice, he used the adage that in comedy, the characters do not realise the humour, and cited Basil Fawlty's mishaps in Fawlty Towers as an example.[7] In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Roberts stated that "to a certain extent [there was less pressure]" in writing the episode. He was pleased with the success of "The Shakespeare Code" and the The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?", but likened himself to Corporal Bell, a member of the administrative staff at the fictional Doctor Who organisation UNIT, in saying that he did not wish to be "in the middle of things" or writing episodes "where big, pivotal things have happened to [the Doctor]".[7] Cast notesActor Christopher Benjamin, who plays Colonel Hugh, previously starred in two serials of the original Doctor Who series, playing Sir Keith Gold in Inferno (1970) and Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977). David Tennant's father Alexander McDonald played a footman in one of the early scenes, after being asked to act when visiting David on set.[8] He had no lines. The casting of Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant, who had previously worked with her on Bright Young Things.[8] MusicAlthough the opening notes of the gramophone record playing at the garden party have an apparent similarity to the Doctor Who theme, it is in fact the opening of Twentieth Century Blues, originally from Noël Coward's 1931 play Cavalcade. The recording used here, edited together with other "period music," is a 1931 recording of Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra, featuring vocalist Al Bowlly. LocationsThe Harrogate Hotel where the Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro (now the Old Swan Hotel), a somewhat less imposing building than the one depicted in the episode.
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