The Poison Sky (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image = poisonsky.png
|image                 = Valiant- Close to ground - Copy.jpg
|name = The Poison Sky
|series               = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|series =[[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]|
|season number         = Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)
|season number = [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]]
|series episode number = 5
|story number = 192b
|story number         = 192b
|doctor = Tenth Doctor
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-4-episode-5-the-poison-sky-yellow-revisions-05112007.pdf
|companions = [[Donna Noble|Donna]],[[Martha Jones|Martha]]
|doctor               = Tenth Doctor
|enemy = [[Sontaran]]s, [[Martha Jones (clone)|Clone facsimile]], [[Luke Rattigan]]
|companions           = [[Donna Noble|Donna]]
|setting = {{il|[[London]], [[2009]]|[[Rattigan Academy]], [[2009]]|[[Sontaran flagship]], [[2009]]}}
|featuring            = Martha Jones
|writer = [[Helen Raynor]]
|featuring2            = Wilfred Mott
|director = [[Douglas Mackinnon]]
|featuring3            = Sylvia Noble
|producer = [[Susie Liggat]]
|featuring4            = Trinity Wells
|confidential=[[Sontar-Ha!]]
|enemy                 = [[General]] [[Staal]]
|broadcast date = [[3 May]] [[2008]]
|setting               = [[London]], [[2009]]
|network=[[BBC One]]|
|writer               = Helen Raynor
|format = 1 45 minute episode
|director             = [[Douglas Mackinnon]]
|production code = 4.5
|producer             = [[Susie Liggat]]
|prev = The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)
|confidential         = Sontar-Ha! (CON episode)
|next = The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)
|broadcast date       = 3 May 2008
|network               = BBC One
|format               = 1x45 minute episode
|production code       = 4.5
|prev                 = The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)
|next                 = The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)
|clip                  = Donna Noble Vs a Sontaran - The Poison Sky - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip2                = The Doctor Ignites The Poison Gas - The Poison Sky - Doctor Who - BBC
}}
}}
'''''The Poison Sky''''' was the fifth episode of the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|fourth series]] of ''[[Doctor Who]].'' Unlike other episodes of the season, this one had no reference to the Missing Planets Arc. It saw the Doctor's life saved again by and at the cost of the life of another person.  
'''''The Poison Sky''''' was the fifth episode of [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 4]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.


This episode left a loose end about the Sontarans' defeat that was used in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' episode ''[[The Last Sontaran]]''.  
It was the only episode of the season to not reference the Missing Planets arc. It saw the Doctor's life saved again by and at the cost of the life of another person; it was also another moment where his desire to spare his enemies overrides his logic, as he knew Sontarans wouldn't back off if threatened. There was also a second, fleetingly brief cameo made by [[Billie Piper]] as [[Rose Tyler]], foreshadowing a major story arc development ahead.
 
This episode left a loose end about the Sontarans' defeat that was used in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' television story ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]''.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
As the gas from the [[Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet]]'s [[Atmospheric Omission System|ATMOS]]' continues to thicken throughout the world, a clone of Martha Jones works in the shadows to support them. Will the Doctor learn about Martha's replacement? And can he figure out what the gas is made of and destroy it before the entire planet chokes to death or UNIT accidentally initiates an interplanetary war with the Sontarans in their bid to be rid of the gas?
As the [[poison]]ous [[gas]] from the [[Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet]]'s [[ATMOS]] continues to thicken throughout the world, purging humanity one country after the next, a [[Martha Jones (clone)|clone of Martha Jones]] works in the shadows to support them. Will the [[Tenth Doctor]] learn about [[Martha Jones|Martha]]'s replacement? And can he figure out what the gas is made of, and destroy it before the entire [[Earth|planet]] chokes to death? More importantly, can the Doctor stop [[UNIT]] from starting an interplanetary war with the deadly [[Sontaran]]s? It's all down to [[Donna Noble]] and child genius [[Luke Rattigan]] to fix things before it's too late.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
[[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] continues sonicking the car in his attempt to free [[Wilfred Mott|Wilf]] form it before he chokes on the gas. However, it proves useless as [[Sylvia Noble|Sylvia]] frees Wilf from the car by smashing the window with an axe she keeps incase of burglers. [[Ross Jenkins|Ross]] arrives in a taxi, the only thing he could find not fitted with ATMOS. Despite, Sylvia's protests, Donna goes with the Doctor back to the [[ATMOS factory]] with her grandfather's support.  
The [[Tenth Doctor]] continues [[Sonic screwdriver|sonicking]] the Nobles' [[car]] in his desperate attempt to free [[Wilfred Mott|Wilf]] from it before he chokes on the [[Caesofine gas|gas]]. It proves useless until [[Sylvia Noble|Sylvia]] frees Wilf by smashing the car window with an [[axe]] she keeps in case of burglars. [[Ross Jenkins|Ross]] arrives in a taxi, the only vehicle he could find not fitted with ATMOS. Despite Sylvia's protests, Donna goes with the Doctor back to the [[ATMOS factory]] with her grandfather's support.


Arriving at the factory, the Doctor gives [[Donna Noble|Donna]] a key to [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] so she can wait without choking on the air. Donna manages to enter the TARDIS just as she began coughing hard from the gas. In the meantime, [[Martha Jones (clone)|Clone Martha]] overhears a radio transmission of the Doctor's arrival and tells Colonel Mace the previous message the Doctor gave her: Code Red Sontaran. Rushing into the mobile base, the Doctor tells Mace not to engage the Sontarans in battle. When questioned what he plans to do, the Doctor says he'll use the TARDIS to get on their ship to talk with them.
Arriving at the factory, the Doctor gives [[Donna Noble|Donna]] a [[TARDIS key|key]] to [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] so she can wait safely inside without choking on the poisoned air. Donna manages to enter the TARDIS just before she begins coughing hard from the gas. In the meantime, [[Martha Jones (clone)|Martha's clone]] overhears a [[Radio transmitter|radio transmission]] of the Doctor's arrival and belatedly relates to [[Alan Mace|Colonel Mace]] the previous message the Doctor gave her: [[Code Red Sontaran]]. Rushing into the mobile base, the Doctor tells Mace not to engage the Sontarans in battle. When questioned about what he plans to do, the Doctor says he'll use the TARDIS to get on their [[Sontaran flagship|ship]] to talk with them.


Clone Martha subtly gives orders to the hypnotised UNIT soldiers [[Carl Harris|Harris]] and [[Steve Gray|Gray]] to put teleport relays on the TARDIS for the Sontarans to beam it up. Once done, Donna feels a shake from the teleport. The Sontarans gloat over having the Doctor's imfamous vessel. The Doctor and Clone Martha arrive to find the TARDIS gone. Knowing he is trapped, the Doctor tries to goad the Sontarans into revealing their plan. The Sontarans do not to fall prey to this ploy, but they move the TARDIS out of the main war room, placing Donna in a position to help.
Martha's clone subtly gives orders to the [[Hypnosis|hypnotised]] [[UNIT]] soldiers [[Carl Harris|Harris]] and [[Steve Gray|Gray]] to put teleport relays on the TARDIS for the Sontarans to beam it up. Donna feels a shake from the teleport as the ship is transported to the Sontaran war room, and General [[Staal]] gloats over his capture of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Martha's clone arrive to find the TARDIS gone. Realising he is trapped on Earth, the Doctor returns to UNIT headquarters and establishing visual contact with the Sontarans, trying to goad them into revealing their plan. Staal does not fall prey to this ploy, but he orders the TARDIS moved out of the main war room when the Doctor threatens to summon it via remote control on his sonic screwdriver, placing Donna in a position to help.


Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use nuclear weapons against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the launch codes, and stops every attempt they make to fire the weapons. The Sontarans mobilise troops to retrieve and protect the clone. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional firearms by expanding the copper-lined bullets, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured.
Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use [[nuclear weapon]]s against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the NATO launch codes and stops every attempt made by Captain [[Marion Price]] to fire the weapons. Led by Commander [[Skorr]], the Sontarans mobilise troops to retrieve and protect the clone. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional [[firearm]]s by expanding the [[copper]]-lined [[bullet]]s with their cordolaine signal, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured, with privates Jenkins, Harris and Gray among the dead.


[[Luke Rattigan|Rattigan]] leaves the Sontaran mothership to gather his students. He plans to take them to another planet and begin the human race anew. The students laugh him off, even when he brandishes a gun. When he returns to report his failure, the Sontarans too ridicule his efforts, having never planned to take him. Rattigan teleports back to his mansion before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the teleport pods against him.
[[Luke Rattigan|Rattigan]] leaves the Sontaran flagship to gather his students at the Rattigan Academy, planning to take them to another planet, [[Castor 36]], and begin the [[human]] race anew; everything they were building was the foundation of said new world. The incredulous students laugh him off, and Rattigan attempts to keep them from leaving by brandishing a gun. However, when he shows no initiative to use it, they desert him en masse. Rattigan dejectedly returns to the ship to report his failure, only to then learn from the Sontarans that he was only needed to install ATMOS and that they had no further plans for him and his students beyond using them for target practice. Rattigan [[Teleportation|teleports]] back to his [[Rattigan Academy|mansion]] before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the [[teleport pod]]s, isolating him on Earth.


[[File:The Poison Sky Tenth Gas Mask Mommy.JPG|thumb|left|"Are you my mummy ?"]]Meanwhile, the Doctor instructs Donna to reopen the teleport pods. UNIT uses the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant's]]'' turbofan engines to clear an area around the factory. A Sunglider weapon - smaller than that used against the [[Sycorax]] - is their main offence and with steel-encased bullets in lieu of copper, they begin a successful retaliatory strike.
[[File:The Poison Sky Tenth Gas Mask Mommy.JPG|thumb|left|"Are you my mummy?"]]
Meanwhile, the Doctor calls [[Martha Jones' mobile phone|Martha's mobile phone]], which is on the TARDIS console. Donna answers, and the Doctor instructs Donna over the phone to reopen the teleport pods from the Sontaran warship. She is able to incapacitate the Sontaran standing guard outside the TARDIS by striking its probic vent with a mallet from the console. Outside the ATMOS factory, UNIT troops have regrouped wearing gas masks. Mace calls down the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant]]'', whose engines are strong enough to clear the area around the factory; this is enough to earn the Doctor's approval. A [[Jathaa sunglider|Sunglider]] weapon smaller than that used against the [[Sycorax]] is UNIT's main offence, killing many Sontarans in the blast, and with steel-encased bullets in lieu of copper, Mace's soldiers begin a successful retaliatory strike, during which the colonel personally confronts and executes Commander Skorr with a pistol.


The Doctor makes his way to the cloning room where Martha is being held. Having figured out long before the clone wasn't the genuine article, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Martha convinces the clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments. The clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "clone feed" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. With Donna's help, the Doctor reactivates the teleport pods, rescues Donna, steals back the TARDIS, and teleports into Rattigan's mansion.
With Martha's clone in tow, the Doctor tracks a signal on his sonic screwdriver and makes his way down to the cloning room where the unconscious Martha is being held. Having figured out long before the clone wasn't the genuine article from her lack of concern for her family and bad non-human smell, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Wrapped in the Doctor's coat, Martha convinces her clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments. The clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "[[clone feed]]" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. As her clone dies, Martha reclaims her engagement ring. With Donna's help, the Doctor reactivates the teleport pods, rescues her from the Sontaran ship, steals back the TARDIS, and teleports into Rattigan's mansion.


With Rattigan's equipment, the Doctor builds an atmospheric converter, igniting the atmosphere to clear out the poison gas. However, he knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily - they are beginning their standard invasion stratagem. He tells Donna and Martha to lead good lives, tells Rattigan to go on and do something clever, and teleports to their ship with the converter to give them the choice between retreat and death. The Sontarans choose the latter, but the Doctor cannot bring himself to destroy a ship full of sentients. However, with a few seconds left, Rattigan simultaneously teleports himself to the Sontaran ship and the Doctor back to Earth. The Sontarans stop their "haka" with the new development. Luke says "Sontar? Ha!" and detonates the device.
Using Rattigan's equipment, the Doctor builds an [[atmospheric converter]], igniting the Earth's [[atmosphere]] to clear out the poison gas, much to the delight of UNIT and the rest of humanity; Wilf and Sylvia come out of their house to cheer along with their neighbours, while Captain Marion Price kisses Colonel Mace as the UNIT soldiers celebrate their victory, although she quickly composes herself. However, the Doctor knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily they are beginning their standard invasion stratagem to wipe out the human race in retaliation.


With the day saved, the Doctor and Donna say their goodbyes to Martha, only to have the TARDIS spring to life and begin piloting itself to places unknown before she can leave, the Doctor's hand jar bubbling...
Recalibrating the atmospheric converter to Sontaran air, the Doctor tells Donna and Martha to lead good lives, asks Rattigan to go on and do something clever with his life, and teleports to the Sontaran ship with the intention of giving them the choice between retreat and death. The Sontarans choose the latter, as a countdown begins to deploy their weapons upon the Earth. Unafraid of death, Staal remains defiant in the face of the Doctor's threats and leads his warriors in another "Sontar-ha!" war chant. However, with a few seconds left, Rattigan acts on the Doctor's advice and rewires the teleport pod to transport himself to the Sontaran ship in the Doctor's stead, mocking the Sontarans' chant with a sarcastic "Sontar? Ha!" before he triggers the device. The ensuing explosion blows out the windows of the bridge, killing Staal and Rattigan, before consuming the entire Sontaran ship; the resulting shockwave destroys most of the Sontaran space pods launching from the main vessel.
 
With the day saved, life gradually returns to normal as the ATMOS devices are removed from the world's cars. Donna returns to her home in Chiswick and shares a tearful farewell with Wilf, who promises not to let Sylvia know of her travels with the Doctor. Martha turns down an offer to travel with them and bids them goodbye, only to have the TARDIS spring to life and begin piloting itself to places unknown before she can leave, the Doctor's [[The Tenth Doctor's hand|hand jar]] bubbling...


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* [[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* [[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* [[Martha Jones]] - [[Freema Agyeman]]
* [[Martha Jones]] - [[Freema Agyeman]]<ref>Agyeman also plays [[Martha Jones (clone)|the clone of Martha Jones]].</ref>
* [[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
* [[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
* [[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
* [[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
* [[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
* [[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
* [[Staal|General Staal]] - [[Christopher Ryan]]
* [[Skorr|Commander Skorr]]/[[Skree|Lieutenant Skree]] - [[Dan Starkey]]
* [[Alan Mace|Colonel Mace]] - [[Rupert Holliday Evans]]
* [[Luke Rattigan]] - [[Ryan Sampson]]
* [[Luke Rattigan]] - [[Ryan Sampson]]
* [[Ross Jenkins]] - [[Christian Cooke]]
* [[Colonel]] [[Alan Mace|Mace]] - [[Rupert Holliday Evans]]
* [[Marion Price|Captain Price]] - [[Biddy Hodson]] (credited as "Bridget Hodgson")
* [[General]] [[Staal]] - [[Christopher Ryan]]
* [[Commander]] [[Skorr]] - [[Dan Starkey]]
* [[Harris (The Sontaran Stratagem)|Private Harris]] - [[Clive Standen]]
* [[Harris (The Sontaran Stratagem)|Private Harris]] - [[Clive Standen]]
* [[Steve Gray|Private Gray]] - [[Wesley Theobald]]
* [[Steve Gray|Private Gray]] - [[Wesley Theobald]]
* [[Newsreader (The Poison Sky)|Herself]] - [[Kirsty Wark]]
* [[Ross Jenkins]] - [[Christian Cooke]]
* [[Trinity Wells]] - [[Lachele Carl]]
* [[Female student (The Poison Sky)|Female Student]] - [[Meryl Fernandes]]
* [[Male student (The Poison Sky)|Male Student]] - [[Leeshon Alexander]]
* [[Captain]] [[Marion Price|Price]] - [[Bridget Hodgson]]
* [[Kirsty Wark (in-universe)|Kirsty Wark]] - [[Kirsty Wark|Herself]]
* [[Trinity Wells|US Newsreader]] - [[Lachele Carl]]


== Production crew ==
== Crew ==
 
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* Uncredited: [[Alice Troughton]] (director, [[Billie Piper]] sequence, used again in [[TV]]: ''[[Midnight]]'')
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== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor mentions the [[Rutan Host|Rutans]] and the [[Rutan-Sontaran War]].
* The Doctor mentions the [[Rutan Host|Rutans]] and the [[Rutan-Sontaran War]].
* The [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier]] is said to be stranded in [[Peru]]. He has been knighted as Colonel [[Alan Mace|Mace]] refers to him as "Sir Alistair". This is the first reference to the character in ''Doctor Who'' since the 1989 story ''[[Battlefield]]'', although several references occurred in the first season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', broadcast in 2007. The Brigadier was knighted in the book [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Dying Days]]'' and called "Sir Alastair" in [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio dramas. The Doctor wishes he was there.
* The Doctor asks, "Are you my mummy?" while wearing a gas mask like the [[Jamie (The Empty Child)|Empty Child]] from [[TV]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]''.
* The Doctor addresses the Sontarans "under [[Jurisdiction Two]] of the [[Intergalactic rules of engagement]]" which is very similar to the [[Shadow Proclamation]].
* The Doctor addresses the Sontarans "under [[Jurisdiction Two]] of the [[Intergalactic rules of engagement]]" which is very similar to the [[Shadow Proclamation]].
* The Doctor watches ''Tommy Zoom'' while waiting for the Sontarans to stop chanting. This is similar to [[the Master]] watching other shows such as ''[[Teletubbies]]'' and ''[[The Clangers]]''.
* The Doctor watches ''[[Tommy Zoom]]'' while waiting for the Sontarans to stop chanting.
* UNIT uses the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant]]'' to blow away ATMOS' gases. When the Doctor admires the ship and Colonel Mace asks if he has a taste for it, the Doctor is quick to reply, "Not at all. Not me." This can be interpreted as masked reluctance from the Doctor to acknowledge any similarities between himself and the Master, who was very keen on the ''Valiant''. Most likely, though, it was simply the Doctor reacting to the unpleasant memories of his [[Year That Never Was|year spent in captivity]] aboard the vessel.
* Donna has to use the [[Star Trek|Vulcan salute]] on a hand recognition device in order to open a door in the Sontaran ship.
* The Valiant's laser is similar to that of [[Torchwood 1]] one used against the [[Sycorax]], which in turn was very similar to the Death Star's laser from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies. ([[TV]]:''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'')
* UNIT uses the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant]]'' to blow away ATMOS' gases.
* During the pollution crisis the American newsreader mentions that it is the "end of days" which was also said after [[Owen Harper|Owen]] opens the [[Cardiff Rift|rift]] and caused shockwaves around the world. ([[TV]]:''[[End of Days]]'')
* The Doctor mentions [[Jack Harkness]] when he confronts the clone of Martha.
* The Doctor mentions [[Jack Harkness]] when he confronts the Martha clone.
* Luke Rattigan believed the Sontarans would take him and his followers to [[Castor 36]], a planet orbiting [[Alpha Geminorum]].
* Luke Rattigan believed the Sontarans would take him and his followers to Castor 36, a planet orbiting [[Alpha Geminorum]].
* One of Rattigan's [[Female student (The Poison Sky)|students]] tells him to shoot her.
* The close-up of the news reader's eyes and mouth are reminiscent of the Doctor's message during ''[[Blink]]''.
* The scene in which Luke Rattigan beams to the Sontaran ship to swap places with the Doctor is similar to the scene in ''Star Trek: Nemesis'' in which Lt Commander Data beamed Cpt Jean-Luc Picard away from the Scimitar before it exploded, causing his own death.


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==
* [[Helen Raynor]] wrote this episode. Her [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] episodes ''[[Daleks in Manhattan]]'' and ''[[Evolution of the Daleks]]'' both occupied fourth and fifth episode in the series. This two part episode also occupies episode four and five.
* This is the second part of a story which began with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]''.
* This the second part of a story which began with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]''.
* This episode and ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' are [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s directorial debut.
* This story and ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' are [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s first stories as director.
* When the Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid-flow, a clip from [[CBeebies]] cartoon {{wi|Tommy Zoom}} is featured. The original plan to use a clip from {{wi|Shaun the Sheep}} fell through.
* When the Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid flow, a clip from [[Wikipedia:CBeebies|CBeebies]] cartoon ''[[Wikipedia:Tommy Zoom|Tommy Zoom]]'' is featured. The original plan to use a clip from ''[[Wikipedia:Shaun the Sheep|Shaun the Sheep]]'' fell through.
* [[Billie Piper]] appears very briefly as [[Rose Tyler]] on the TARDIS' screen in this episode. She receives screen credit, and is fourth-billed, for a performance that lasts less than one second and which was actually shot for another episode. According to [[Russell T Davies]] in an interview in [[DWM 396]], this cameo was not in the original edit of the episode, but was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unbilled cameo in ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' was. Although it was reported that the clip came from "an untransmitted scene" from another episode, in fact, according to the DVD commentary for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', the scene was shot especially for ''Midnight'' during production of ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'' and Davies dropped the scene into ''The Poison Sky'', too. Davies said that like ''Partners in Crime'', advance review copies of this episode did not include the cameo. This scene was directed by [[Alice Troughton]].
* [[Billie Piper]] appears very briefly as [[Rose Tyler]] on the TARDIS's screen in this episode. She receives screen credit, and is fourth-billed, for a performance that lasts less than one second and which was actually shot for another episode.
* The music that plays when the ''Valiant'' appears is strikingly similar to "The Master Tape", one of [[Murray Gold]]'s musical themes for [[the Master]]. The Master helped design the ''Valiant''.
* According to [[Russell T Davies]] in an interview in [[DWM 396]], the cameo by Rose was not in the original edit of the episode, but was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unbilled cameo in ''[[Partners in Crime]]'' was. Although it was reported that the clip came from "an untransmitted scene" from another episode, in fact, according to the DVD commentary for ''[[Midnight]]'', the scene was shot especially for ''Midnight'' during production of ''[[Turn Left]]'' and Davies dropped the scene into ''The Poison Sky'', too. Davies said that, like ''Partners in Crime'', advance review copies of this episode did not include the cameo. This scene was directed by [[Alice Troughton]].
* This is the first episode to feature [[Billie Piper]], [[Freema Agyeman]], and [[Catherine Tate]] all together as Rose, [[Martha Jones|Martha]], and [[Donna Noble|Donna]], respectively. It is not, however, the first ''story ''in which all three ''actresses ''appear, as they all appear in ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]. ''
* The music that plays when the ''Valiant'' appears is strikingly similar to "The Master Tape", one of the Murray Gold themes for the Master. The Master helped design the ''Valiant''.
* The Doctor says to the clone Martha, "Avanti", which means "Let's go" in Italian. This is probably to confirm his suspicion of her clone nature. The real Martha would know that the Doctor usually says "Allons-y", the French equivalent.
* When Martha Jones wears the Doctor's jacket at the end of the episode, she says she feels like "a kid in my Dad's clothes." The following episode features an actual daughter of the Doctor.
* The [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier]] is said to be stranded in [[Peru]]. He has been knighted as Colonel [[Alan Mace|Mace]] refers to him as "Sir Alistair". This is the first reference to the character in ''Doctor Who'' since the 1989 story ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'', although several references occurred in the first season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', broadcast in 2007. The Brigadier was knighted in the book ''[[The Dying Days (novel)|The Dying Days]]'' and called "Sir Alastair" in [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio dramas. The Doctor wishes he was there.
* This is the first episode to feature [[Billie Piper]], [[Freema Agyeman]], and [[Catherine Tate]] all together as [[Rose Tyler|Rose]], [[Martha Jones|Martha]], and [[Donna Noble|Donna]], respectively. It is not, however, the first ''story ''in which all three ''actresses ''appear, as all three appear in ''[[Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday]]. ''
* During production, [[Douglas Mackinnon]] intended to have the episode's climactic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the centre console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair.
* The Doctor says to the clone Martha "Avanti", which is "Let's go" in Italian. This is probably to confirm his suspicion of her clone nature. The real Martha would know that the Doctor usually says "Allons-y" which is "Let's go" in French.
* Donna was originally meant to use a shoe to knock out the Sontarans, but because [[Catherine Tate]] only wears trainers they didn't want it to be a trainer, or they thought a trainer would be too soft and just bounce off the back of the neck. She got to use a mallet instead. Later, [[Chrissie Jackson]] would use a [[high heel]] to knock out Commander [[Kaagh]] in ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]''.
* As is routine for post-2005 ''Doctor Who'', a "NEXT TIME" trailer for the [[The Doctor's Daughter|next episode]] is shown at the end of the episode.
* When preparing for the nuclear strike, all countries with known nuclear capabilities check in, except for Russia. The very last to check in is North Korea, of which it is disputed they have nuclear weapons, at which point the Colonel looks very surprised.
* [[Susie Liggat]] produced this episode in order to give [[Phil Collinson]] time off.
* When interviewed on ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_with_Jonathan_Ross Friday Night with Jonathan Ross]'', [[Catherine Tate]] stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".
* This two-parter was originally designated Block Four of the recording schedule. However, when Block Three - ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' and ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]'' - was split into two, it became Block Five instead.
* [[Kirsty Wark]] was a friend of [[Douglas Mackinnon]].
* The exploding ATMOS jeep was supposed to be a more impressive faire, but it would've been too expensive to blow up the Rover (and the Army wouldn't have approved), so it was rewritten to have the ATMOS controller give off a few sparks.
* As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News.
* Donna's mispronunciation of Sontaran stems from the original production of ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]''. [[Kevin Lindsay]] pronounced the word as it has always been used, with emphasis on "Son-TAR-an", whereas [[Alan Bromly]] wanted it pronounced with no emphasis. Lindsay won the argument, claiming "I'm from the bloody planet, I think I know how to pronounce my own name!"


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
* 6.5 million viewers
* 6.53 million viewers (UK final)<ref>[http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&start=100&type=date&order= Doctor Who - consolidated ratings]</ref>


=== Myths and Rumours ===
=== Myths ===
* Billie Piper's brief cameo was taken from an earlier episode, most likely ''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]'' in which she was also shown shouting silently from a TV screen. ''In fact, the scene was filmed especially for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', and inserted into this episode at the last minute.''
* [[Billie Piper]]'s brief cameo was taken from an earlier episode, most likely ''[[The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)|The Idiot's Lantern]]'' in which she was also shown shouting silently from a TV screen. ''In fact, the scene was filmed especially for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', and inserted into this episode at the last minute.''
* The Tenth Doctor's "Are you my mummy?" line was improvised by [[David Tennant]] because he forgot this line. ''There is no known behind-the-scenes source to back up this erroneous claim, and appears to originate with a Tumblr post that went mildly viral in the early 2010s. [[Georgia Moffett]] debunked this on [[Instagram]].''


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
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* When Martha's clone enters the mobile HQ, it can be seen that she entered through a normal building's door (with daylight coming in through the window) which isn't present on the back of the vehicle or in the previous episode.
* When Martha's clone enters the mobile HQ, it can be seen that she entered through a normal building's door (with daylight coming in through the window) which isn't present on the back of the vehicle or in the previous episode.
* During the end we see the Sontaran's weapons starting to target the Earth. They get ready and open up, yet when it's destroyed, they're still closed.
* During the end we see the Sontaran's weapons starting to target the Earth. They get ready and open up, yet when it's destroyed, they're still closed.
* During the warehouse battle, around when the Doctor tells Donna, "Hold on, I'm coming", the film crew can be seen reflected in a door at the right of screen.
* During the warehouse battle, around the time when the Doctor tells Donna, "Hold on, I'm coming", the film crew can be seen reflected in a door at the right of the screen.
* When Colonel Mace confronts Commander Skorr, he raises his gun twice: once in one shot, and immediately after in the other.
* When Colonel Mace confronts Commander Skorr, he raises his gun twice: once in one shot, and again in the immediate next shot.
* When the atmospheric converter began burning the sky, it is seen that the fire sweeps from the dark side of the earth towards the light side. The same could be seen when the fire recinds. The fire should be sweeping from the light side towards the dark side, as the conversion began in London UK during the daytime, and recinded from the same location.
* Near the end when Luke Rattigan teleports onto the Sontaran ship, he catches the detonation device, then catches it again in a close-up.
* Near the end when Luke Rattigan teleports onto the Sontaran ship, he catches the detonation device, then catches it again in a close up.
* When the corridor is blown up by the ''Valiant'', one of the visual effects department's right shoulder can be seen.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Sontaran High Command was mentioned in [[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors]]''.
* The Sontaran High Command are mentioned. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'')
* The ''Valiant'' last appeared in [[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''.
* Rose Tyler appears on the TARDIS scanner screen for a split second. She appears to be shouting, "Doctor!" ([[TV]]: ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'')
* At the end of the episode, when the TARDIS flies off, the Doctor says his "What?! What?! What?!" line from Donna's first appearance in [[TV]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'' and also from ''The Voyage of the Damned'' when the Titanic smashed through the TARDIS.
** This is not the first time Rose has attempted to communicate with the Doctor through a television screen. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)|The Idiot's Lantern]]'')
* Rose Tyler appears on the TARDIS scanner screen for a split second. She appears to be shouting, "Doctor!" and was last seen in [[TV]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]''. This is not the first time Rose has attempted to communicate with the Doctor though a television screen, as she also attempted this in [[TV]]: ''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]''.
* [[General Staal]] is under the impression that his fleet is the first in history to capture a TARDIS. In fact, other fleets had managed to do similar previously. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Sontarans (audio story)|The Sontarans]]'')
* After the Sontarans fill the area with gas, the Doctor wears a gas mask. While being shown a gun by Colonel Mace, he is asked what he thinks. His reply is, "Are you my mummy?", a reference to the episodes ''[[The Empty Child]]'' and ''[[The Doctor Dances]]'', in which the child asks this question numerous times. It is worth noting that these episodes did not feature David Tennant as the Doctor, but instead Christopher Eccleston as the [[Ninth Doctor]].
** One such fleet not only managed to capture a TARDIS but also managed to enter it. They threatened to use it to annihilate the [[Rutan Host|Rutans]] and to correct past defeats. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The First Sontarans (audio story)|The First Sontarans]]'')
* The ''Valiant's'' laser appears to be the same that Torchwood used in [[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'' (''Similar, not the same - this one's much smaller'').
* After the Sontarans fill the area with gas, the Doctor wears a gas mask. While being shown a gun by Colonel Mace, he is asked what he thinks. His reply is, "Are you my mummy?" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]''/''[[The Doctor Dances (TV story)|The Doctor Dances]]'')
* The Doctor thanks Donna and Martha just before he tries to sacrifice his life. He last said this to Donna in [[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' when she was supposedly leaving him.
* The ''Valiant's'' laser appears similar to one that Torchwood used. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'')
* In the New York scene a building with the name "[[Butler Institute]]" can be seen on one of the buildings. The Butler Institute first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]''.
* The Doctor thanks Donna and Martha just before he tries to sacrifice his life. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'')
* Gas was released over [[London]] previously in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Amorality Tale]]''.
* In the New York scene a building with the name "[[Butler Institute]]" on it can be seen. The Butler Institute first appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]''.
* The Doctor gave clues to Donna about what action to take via a visual link, but the Sontarans didn't know it was happening. The Doctor did a similar thing in [[TV]]: ''[[The Age of Steel]]'', when he gave clues to [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] about how to stop the [[Cyberman (Pete's World)|Cybermen created by Cybus Industries]].
* Gas was released over [[London]] previously in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Amorality Tale (novel)|Amorality Tale]]''.
* In [[TV]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'', the Sontaran invasion was stopped by Torchwood 3. The atmosphere was reverted to its previous state and the Sontaran flagship exploded by [[Gwen Cooper]] and [[Ianto Jones]]. [[Jack Harkness]] was stranded on [[Sontar|the Sontaran's home planet]].
* The Doctor gave clues to Donna about what action to take via a visual link, but the Sontarans didn't know it was happening. The Doctor did a similar thing when he gave clues to [[Mickey Smith|Mickey]] about how to stop the [[Cyberman (Pete's World)|Cybermen created by Cybus Industries]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Age of Steel (TV story)|The Age of Steel]]'')
* The destruction of the Sontaran ship will be shown again in [[TV]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran]]''.
* The Sontarans show their tendacy to break promises and betray 'allies'. ([[TV]]: [[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]], [[The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)|The Sontaran Experiment]], [[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]; [[HOMEVID]]: [[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans (home video)|Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]])
* When the Doctor yells at Colonel Mace, David Tennant's gold tooth can be visibly seen. This became the subject of an internet meme wondering if the Doctor regenerated them or if he has practised lacklustre dental hygiene in his tenth incarnation's relatively short life and, that being the case, chastising him.
* The Doctor is able to tell when a companion is not themselves. He previously identified when [[Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17|Cassandra]] had taken over [[Rose Tyler|Rose]]'s body. ([[TV]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'') The Eleventh Doctor would later recognise [[Amy Pond]] as a [[Ganger]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Almost People (TV story)|The Almost People]]'') The Fourteenth Doctor would later identify the [[Not-thing]] impersonating [[Donna Noble|Donna]] because its arms were minutely too long, although he initially did not notice this. ([[TV]]: ''[[Wild Blue Yonder (TV story)|Wild Blue Yonder]]'')
* In [[parallel world (Turn Left)|a parallel world]], the Sontaran invasion was stopped by [[Torchwood Three]]. The atmosphere was reverted to its previous state and the Sontaran flagship exploded by [[Gwen Cooper]] and [[Ianto Jones]], who were killed in the process. [[Jack Harkness]] was taken to [[Sontar|the Sontaran home planet]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'')
* The destruction of the Sontaran ship would be referred to again by a surviving Sontaran named Commander [[Kaagh|Kargh]]. His scout ship can be seen being knocked away from the blast force of the exploding flagship. He would crash land on Earth, heavily injured. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]'')
* Rattigan would be among those remembered when [[Davros]] asked the Doctor: ''"How many have died in your name?'' ([[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'')
* The Tenth Doctor has had his TARDIS stolen before. ([[TV]]: ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')


== Home video releases ==
== Home video releases ==
[[File:Series-4-volume-3.jpg|thumb]]
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
* This story was released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] DVD box set in [[November]] [[2008]] along with the rest of the series.
File:The Complete David Tennant Years Region 1 US DVD cover.jpg|The Complete David Tennant Years DVD<br />Region 1 US cover
* It was released as Series 4 Volume 2 in a vanilla edition with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'', ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]'' and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]''.
File:Series-4-volume-3.jpg|thumb|Series 4 Volume 2 DVD Cover
File:Series-4-boxset.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series'' DVD cover
File:Bbcdvd-series1234.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four'' DVD box-set
File:The Sontarans (box set).jpg|thumb|The Sontarans Box-Set
File:Bbcdvd-series1234567.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven'' DVD box-set
</gallery>
 
* This story was released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 4]] DVD box set in November 2008 along with the rest of the series.
* It was released as part of Series 4 Volume 2 in a vanilla edition with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'', ''[[The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)|The Doctor's Daughter]]'' and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)|The Unicorn and the Wasp]]''.


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_05 Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for '''The Poison Sky''']
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_05 Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for '''The Poison Sky''']


== Footnotes ==
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{{DWTV}}
{{DWTV}}
{{Sontaran stories}}
{{Sontaran stories}}
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{{TitleSort}}


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[[fr:The Poison Sky]]
[[it:The Poison Sky (TV)]]
[[pt:The Poison Sky]]

Latest revision as of 13:15, 4 August 2024

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The Poison Sky was the fifth episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It was the only episode of the season to not reference the Missing Planets arc. It saw the Doctor's life saved again by and at the cost of the life of another person; it was also another moment where his desire to spare his enemies overrides his logic, as he knew Sontarans wouldn't back off if threatened. There was also a second, fleetingly brief cameo made by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, foreshadowing a major story arc development ahead.

This episode left a loose end about the Sontarans' defeat that was used in The Sarah Jane Adventures television story The Last Sontaran.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

As the poisonous gas from the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet's ATMOS continues to thicken throughout the world, purging humanity one country after the next, a clone of Martha Jones works in the shadows to support them. Will the Tenth Doctor learn about Martha's replacement? And can he figure out what the gas is made of, and destroy it before the entire planet chokes to death? More importantly, can the Doctor stop UNIT from starting an interplanetary war with the deadly Sontarans? It's all down to Donna Noble and child genius Luke Rattigan to fix things before it's too late.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Tenth Doctor continues sonicking the Nobles' car in his desperate attempt to free Wilf from it before he chokes on the gas. It proves useless until Sylvia frees Wilf by smashing the car window with an axe she keeps in case of burglars. Ross arrives in a taxi, the only vehicle he could find not fitted with ATMOS. Despite Sylvia's protests, Donna goes with the Doctor back to the ATMOS factory with her grandfather's support.

Arriving at the factory, the Doctor gives Donna a key to the TARDIS so she can wait safely inside without choking on the poisoned air. Donna manages to enter the TARDIS just before she begins coughing hard from the gas. In the meantime, Martha's clone overhears a radio transmission of the Doctor's arrival and belatedly relates to Colonel Mace the previous message the Doctor gave her: Code Red Sontaran. Rushing into the mobile base, the Doctor tells Mace not to engage the Sontarans in battle. When questioned about what he plans to do, the Doctor says he'll use the TARDIS to get on their ship to talk with them.

Martha's clone subtly gives orders to the hypnotised UNIT soldiers Harris and Gray to put teleport relays on the TARDIS for the Sontarans to beam it up. Donna feels a shake from the teleport as the ship is transported to the Sontaran war room, and General Staal gloats over his capture of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Martha's clone arrive to find the TARDIS gone. Realising he is trapped on Earth, the Doctor returns to UNIT headquarters and establishing visual contact with the Sontarans, trying to goad them into revealing their plan. Staal does not fall prey to this ploy, but he orders the TARDIS moved out of the main war room when the Doctor threatens to summon it via remote control on his sonic screwdriver, placing Donna in a position to help.

Against the Doctor's advice, UNIT decides to use nuclear weapons against the Sontarans; however, Martha's clone has covertly copied the NATO launch codes and stops every attempt made by Captain Marion Price to fire the weapons. Led by Commander Skorr, the Sontarans mobilise troops to retrieve and protect the clone. With the Sontarans' ability to jam most conventional firearms by expanding the copper-lined bullets with their cordolaine signal, the UNIT troops are quickly slaughtered and the factory is secured, with privates Jenkins, Harris and Gray among the dead.

Rattigan leaves the Sontaran flagship to gather his students at the Rattigan Academy, planning to take them to another planet, Castor 36, and begin the human race anew; everything they were building was the foundation of said new world. The incredulous students laugh him off, and Rattigan attempts to keep them from leaving by brandishing a gun. However, when he shows no initiative to use it, they desert him en masse. Rattigan dejectedly returns to the ship to report his failure, only to then learn from the Sontarans that he was only needed to install ATMOS and that they had no further plans for him and his students beyond using them for target practice. Rattigan teleports back to his mansion before they can kill him, and the Sontarans lock the teleport pods, isolating him on Earth.

"Are you my mummy?"

Meanwhile, the Doctor calls Martha's mobile phone, which is on the TARDIS console. Donna answers, and the Doctor instructs Donna over the phone to reopen the teleport pods from the Sontaran warship. She is able to incapacitate the Sontaran standing guard outside the TARDIS by striking its probic vent with a mallet from the console. Outside the ATMOS factory, UNIT troops have regrouped wearing gas masks. Mace calls down the Valiant, whose engines are strong enough to clear the area around the factory; this is enough to earn the Doctor's approval. A Sunglider weapon — smaller than that used against the Sycorax — is UNIT's main offence, killing many Sontarans in the blast, and with steel-encased bullets in lieu of copper, Mace's soldiers begin a successful retaliatory strike, during which the colonel personally confronts and executes Commander Skorr with a pistol.

With Martha's clone in tow, the Doctor tracks a signal on his sonic screwdriver and makes his way down to the cloning room where the unconscious Martha is being held. Having figured out long before the clone wasn't the genuine article from her lack of concern for her family and bad non-human smell, he severs its connection to Martha, leaving it to die. Wrapped in the Doctor's coat, Martha convinces her clone to betray the Sontarans in its last moments. The clone reveals that the poison gas is actually "clone feed" for Sontaran clones: they are converting the planet into a giant breeding world. As her clone dies, Martha reclaims her engagement ring. With Donna's help, the Doctor reactivates the teleport pods, rescues her from the Sontaran ship, steals back the TARDIS, and teleports into Rattigan's mansion.

Using Rattigan's equipment, the Doctor builds an atmospheric converter, igniting the Earth's atmosphere to clear out the poison gas, much to the delight of UNIT and the rest of humanity; Wilf and Sylvia come out of their house to cheer along with their neighbours, while Captain Marion Price kisses Colonel Mace as the UNIT soldiers celebrate their victory, although she quickly composes herself. However, the Doctor knows the Sontarans won't accept defeat so easily — they are beginning their standard invasion stratagem to wipe out the human race in retaliation.

Recalibrating the atmospheric converter to Sontaran air, the Doctor tells Donna and Martha to lead good lives, asks Rattigan to go on and do something clever with his life, and teleports to the Sontaran ship with the intention of giving them the choice between retreat and death. The Sontarans choose the latter, as a countdown begins to deploy their weapons upon the Earth. Unafraid of death, Staal remains defiant in the face of the Doctor's threats and leads his warriors in another "Sontar-ha!" war chant. However, with a few seconds left, Rattigan acts on the Doctor's advice and rewires the teleport pod to transport himself to the Sontaran ship in the Doctor's stead, mocking the Sontarans' chant with a sarcastic "Sontar? Ha!" before he triggers the device. The ensuing explosion blows out the windows of the bridge, killing Staal and Rattigan, before consuming the entire Sontaran ship; the resulting shockwave destroys most of the Sontaran space pods launching from the main vessel.

With the day saved, life gradually returns to normal as the ATMOS devices are removed from the world's cars. Donna returns to her home in Chiswick and shares a tearful farewell with Wilf, who promises not to let Sylvia know of her travels with the Doctor. Martha turns down an offer to travel with them and bids them goodbye, only to have the TARDIS spring to life and begin piloting itself to places unknown before she can leave, the Doctor's hand jar bubbling...

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



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.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This is the second part of a story which began with The Sontaran Stratagem.
  • This episode and The Sontaran Stratagem are Douglas Mackinnon's directorial debut.
  • When the Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid-flow, a clip from CBeebies cartoon Tommy Zoom is featured. The original plan to use a clip from Shaun the Sheep fell through.
  • Billie Piper appears very briefly as Rose Tyler on the TARDIS' screen in this episode. She receives screen credit, and is fourth-billed, for a performance that lasts less than one second and which was actually shot for another episode. According to Russell T Davies in an interview in DWM 396, this cameo was not in the original edit of the episode, but was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unbilled cameo in Partners in Crime was. Although it was reported that the clip came from "an untransmitted scene" from another episode, in fact, according to the DVD commentary for Midnight, the scene was shot especially for Midnight during production of Turn Left and Davies dropped the scene into The Poison Sky, too. Davies said that like Partners in Crime, advance review copies of this episode did not include the cameo. This scene was directed by Alice Troughton.
  • The music that plays when the Valiant appears is strikingly similar to "The Master Tape", one of Murray Gold's musical themes for the Master. The Master helped design the Valiant.
  • This is the first episode to feature Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, and Catherine Tate all together as Rose, Martha, and Donna, respectively. It is not, however, the first story in which all three actresses appear, as they all appear in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.
  • The Doctor says to the clone Martha, "Avanti", which means "Let's go" in Italian. This is probably to confirm his suspicion of her clone nature. The real Martha would know that the Doctor usually says "Allons-y", the French equivalent.
  • The Brigadier is said to be stranded in Peru. He has been knighted as Colonel Mace refers to him as "Sir Alistair". This is the first reference to the character in Doctor Who since the 1989 story Battlefield, although several references occurred in the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, broadcast in 2007. The Brigadier was knighted in the book The Dying Days and called "Sir Alastair" in Big Finish Productions' audio dramas. The Doctor wishes he was there.
  • During production, Douglas Mackinnon intended to have the episode's climactic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the centre console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair.
  • Donna was originally meant to use a shoe to knock out the Sontarans, but because Catherine Tate only wears trainers they didn't want it to be a trainer, or they thought a trainer would be too soft and just bounce off the back of the neck. She got to use a mallet instead. Later, Chrissie Jackson would use a high heel to knock out Commander Kaagh in The Last Sontaran.
  • When preparing for the nuclear strike, all countries with known nuclear capabilities check in, except for Russia. The very last to check in is North Korea, of which it is disputed they have nuclear weapons, at which point the Colonel looks very surprised.
  • Susie Liggat produced this episode in order to give Phil Collinson time off.
  • When interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Catherine Tate stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died".
  • This two-parter was originally designated Block Four of the recording schedule. However, when Block Three - Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii - was split into two, it became Block Five instead.
  • Kirsty Wark was a friend of Douglas Mackinnon.
  • The exploding ATMOS jeep was supposed to be a more impressive faire, but it would've been too expensive to blow up the Rover (and the Army wouldn't have approved), so it was rewritten to have the ATMOS controller give off a few sparks.
  • As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News.
  • Donna's mispronunciation of Sontaran stems from the original production of The Time Warrior. Kevin Lindsay pronounced the word as it has always been used, with emphasis on "Son-TAR-an", whereas Alan Bromly wanted it pronounced with no emphasis. Lindsay won the argument, claiming "I'm from the bloody planet, I think I know how to pronounce my own name!"

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 6.53 million viewers (UK final)[2]

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Billie Piper's brief cameo was taken from an earlier episode, most likely The Idiot's Lantern in which she was also shown shouting silently from a TV screen. In fact, the scene was filmed especially for Midnight, and inserted into this episode at the last minute.
  • The Tenth Doctor's "Are you my mummy?" line was improvised by David Tennant because he forgot this line. There is no known behind-the-scenes source to back up this erroneous claim, and appears to originate with a Tumblr post that went mildly viral in the early 2010s. Georgia Moffett debunked this on Instagram.

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Studio[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Upper Boat Studios, Trefforest
  • BBC Broadcasting House, Llandaff

Location[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Margam Country Park, Port Talbot
  • Usk Valley Business Park, Pontypool
  • Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
  • Orion Electric, Port Talbort
  • Roath Basin, Cardiff Docks

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • When Martha's clone enters the mobile HQ, it can be seen that she entered through a normal building's door (with daylight coming in through the window) which isn't present on the back of the vehicle or in the previous episode.
  • During the end we see the Sontaran's weapons starting to target the Earth. They get ready and open up, yet when it's destroyed, they're still closed.
  • During the warehouse battle, around the time when the Doctor tells Donna, "Hold on, I'm coming", the film crew can be seen reflected in a door at the right of the screen.
  • When Colonel Mace confronts Commander Skorr, he raises his gun twice: once in one shot, and again in the immediate next shot.
  • Near the end when Luke Rattigan teleports onto the Sontaran ship, he catches the detonation device, then catches it again in a close-up.
  • When the corridor is blown up by the Valiant, one of the visual effects department's right shoulder can be seen.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]