Mummy on the Orient Express (TV story): Difference between revisions
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{{ | {{ImageLinkTV}} | ||
{{Infobox Story SMW | |||
|image = The Doctor Foretold.jpg | |image = The Doctor Foretold.jpg | ||
|novelisation = Mummy on the Orient Express (novelisation) | |||
|series = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]] | |series = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]] | ||
|season number = | |season number = Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005) | ||
|story number = | |series episode number = 8 | ||
|story number = 249 | |||
|scripturl = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writers/documents/doctor-who-8-episode-8-mummy-on-the-orient-expfress-shooting-script-070514.pdf<ref>[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571a5cc31bbee032f7af1a65/t/642b2b6d6218204dee49c958/1680550767182/Mummy+on+the+Orient+Express+Draft+One.pdf ''Mummy on the Orient Express'' PDF first draft script]</ref><ref>[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571a5cc31bbee032f7af1a65/t/646de7e5e6cd722f9961fdcb/1684924389797/DW8+-+Mummy+on+the+Orient+Express+BLUE+Script+220514.pdf ''Mummy on the Orient Express'' PDF shooting script]</ref> | |||
|doctor = Twelfth Doctor | |doctor = Twelfth Doctor | ||
|companions = [[Clara Oswald|Clara]] | |companions = [[Clara Oswald|Clara]] | ||
| | |featuring = [[Danny Pink|Danny]] | ||
|setting = [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]] | |enemy = [[Gus (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Gus]] | ||
|writer = | |setting = ''[[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]]'' | ||
|writer = Jamie Mathieson | |||
|director = [[Paul Wilmshurst]] | |director = [[Paul Wilmshurst]] | ||
|producer = [[Peter Bennett]] | |producer = [[Peter Bennett]] | ||
| | |dwe = Mummy on the Orient Express (DWE episode) | ||
|broadcast date = | |broadcast date = 11 October 2014 | ||
|format = 1x45 minute episode | |format = 1x45 minute episode | ||
|network = | |network = BBC One | ||
|prev = Kill the Moon (TV story) | |prev = Kill the Moon (TV story) | ||
|next = | |next = Flatline (TV story) | ||
| | |trailer = Mummy On The Orient Express Official TV Trailer - Doctor Who Series 8 Episode 8 (2014) - BBC One | ||
| | |trailer2 = Mummy On The Orient Express - Next Time Trailer - Doctor Who Series 8 - BBC | ||
|clip = | |trailer3 = Mummy On The Orient Express Teaser - Doctor Who Series 8 - BBC | ||
|clip2 = | |clip = Start the clock - 'Mummy on the Orient Express' Preview - Doctor Who Series 8 - BBC | ||
|clip2 = The Doctor vs The Foretold - Mummy On The Orient Express - Doctor Who - BBC | |||
|bts = | |bts = Introduction to Mummy on the Orient Express - Doctor Who Series 8 Episode 8 (2014) - BBC One | ||
|bts2 = | |bts2 = Mummy on the Orient Express - Doctor Who Extra Series 1 Episode 8 (2014) - BBC | ||
|bts3 = | |bts3 = DOCTOR WHO Exclusive Inside Look at Mummy on the Orient Express Luxury Space Train - BBC AMERICA | ||
| | |bts4 = Foxes in Space - 'Mummy on the Orient Express' Extra Preview - Doctor Who Series 8 - BBC | ||
}} | |||
}}'''''Mummy on the Orient Express''''' was the eighth episode of | '''''Mummy on the Orient Express''''' was the eighth episode of [[Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 8]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. | ||
It picked up a hanging plot thread posed in the [[Eleventh Doctor]]'s era from [[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang (TV story)|The Big Bang]]'' – a phone call placed to the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] which initially appeared to be a request for help, but carried a sinister subtext veiled beneath a front that would draw out the Doctor into a trap. | |||
The original idea for the script had far more content, with the Express visiting the "[[Wonders of the Universe|Seven Wonders of the Universe]]", but this was removed due to time constraints. | Mathieson was approached to write the script while working on ''[[Flatline (TV story)|Flatline]]''. He was given the title, chosen by [[Steven Moffat]], which led Mathieson to look to [[Agatha Christie]] for inspiration. [[Frank Skinner]]'s character was based on a friend of his, [[Perkins (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Perkins]], a "[[train]] buff" from whom he acquired information about the [[Orient Express]]. The original idea for the script had far more content, with the Express visiting the "[[Wonders of the Universe|Seven Wonders of the Universe]]", but this was removed due to time constraints. | ||
[[Brian Minchin]] expressed early on to Mathieson that the Mummy might force the episode to be broadcast at a later time as the [[BBC]] judged it to be too scary. Minchin had repeatedly tried to have it shown in the series trailer, but the corporation would not allow it. ([[DWM 478]]) | [[Brian Minchin]] expressed early on to Mathieson that the Mummy might force the episode to be broadcast at a later time as the [[BBC]] judged it to be too scary. Minchin had repeatedly tried to have it shown in the series trailer, but the corporation would not allow it. ([[DWM 478]]) | ||
== Synopsis == | == Synopsis == | ||
After their [[Kill the Moon (TV story)|previous trip to the moon ended on a sour note]], the Doctor decides to take Clara on a final trip in the TARDIS - "our last hoorah!" The destination? There have been many trains that took the name ''Orient Express'', but there's only ever been [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|one that traverses space]]! | |||
However, they find their luxury trip may take an unexpected turn when they discover there's a [[Foretold|supernatural passenger]]... | |||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
In a luxurious dining car of a train, [[Pitt (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Mrs Pitt]], an elderly lady, spots a man "dressed as a [[mummy]] monster", at which point a clock starts counting down in the corner of the screen. She wants him out of her dining car, but no one else seems to see him. She calls a guard over and tries to get him to throw the man out of her dining car, but he can't see it either. As the clock reaches 6 seconds, the Mummy gets closer and closer to Mrs | In a luxurious dining car of a train, [[Pitt (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Mrs Pitt]], an elderly lady, spots a man "dressed as a [[mummy]] monster", at which point a clock starts counting down in the corner of the screen. She wants him out of her dining car, but no one else seems to see him. She calls a guard over and tries to get him to throw the man out of her dining car, but he can't see it either. As the clock reaches 6 seconds, the Mummy gets closer and closer to Mrs Pitt. At 5 seconds, it has its face in hers. At 4 seconds, her granddaughter, [[Maisie Pitt]], is starting to worry. At 3 seconds, everyone in the car is staring. At 2 seconds, Mrs Pitt seems to be having a panic attack. At 1 second, the Mummy has his hands on her forehead. Then she collapses, dead. | ||
The Doctor lands the TARDIS in the train's baggage car. He steps out with Clara. Clara is dressed in a 1920s outfit | The Doctor lands the TARDIS in the train's baggage car. He steps out with Clara. Clara is dressed in a 1920s outfit and the Doctor in a tuxedo. "There were many trains to take the name Orient Express," he tells her, "but only one in space." He opens the door to reveal the dining car, where there is [[Singer (Mummy on the Orient Express)|a singer]] performing a jazz version of [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[Don't Stop Me Now]]". The Doctor ushers Clara inside. As they look out a window at a nebula, the Doctor begins to tell Clara about the various [[planet]]s that used to be there, thousands of years ago. Clara interrupts, apologising for her [[Kill the Moon (TV story)|recent anger]] towards the Doctor. She says she could never hate him, but intends this to be their last trip together. As the Doctor mentions having had a picnic on one of the now-gone planets, Maisie overhears and calls him a liar. She says he must be, as that planet has not existed for a thousand years. Visibly distraught, she is gently ushered back to her room by guards. Clara asks [[Hector Quell|Quell]], the Captain, what happened and he explains Mrs Pitt's sudden death, before escorting Maisie out. | ||
During the night, the Doctor ponders the story of Mrs Pitt's death and the mummy which only she could see, becoming | Later, while sharing a nightcap outside their cabins, Clara and the Doctor debate whether or not there is anything suspicious about the old woman's death. Clara begins to have doubts about leaving the Doctor when he makes her realise that when this, their "last hurrah", is over, she is unlikely to ever see him again. During the night, the Doctor ponders the story of Mrs Pitt's death and the mummy which only she could see, becoming increasingly suspicious of it. Clara meanwhile is on the phone with Danny, discussing this as her last trip with the Doctor. He is relieved that at least the train is safe, which Clara seems somewhat unsure of, but nevertheless confirms. The Doctor leaves his room, stopping at Clara's door. He almost knocks, but instead goes on, leaving her to sleep. As soon as he disappears down the hall, Clara emerges from her room and goes to the Doctor's door. She knocks, but not being there he, of course, does not answer. | ||
The Doctor starts to poke around the engine room, where he examines the chair that Mrs Pitt had died in. It's then that he meets [[Perkins (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Perkins]] chief engineer aboard the Orient Express. Perkins tells him that they think something else might be responsible for the deaths of some of the passengers. | |||
Having changed back into her dress, Clara again exits her room. She sees Maisie, who is coming down the hall with a determined look and a high heel shoe in hand. Clara greets her, then follows her. Maisie asks the computer for access to a room, and the computer replies, "Call me [[Gus (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Gus]]. I'm afraid this door can only be opened by executive order." | |||
Maisie says that that's the room where they're keeping Mrs Pitt's body and that she should be allowed to see it. Clara agrees, then tells her that she has a friend who's really good with locks and he can open it for her. Instead, Maisie smashes the computer with her high heel shoe and the door slides open. | |||
The Doctor asks him about the [[Foretold]] - a mythical mummy. Moorhouse tells the Doctor various bits of information, including the saying: "They that bear the Foretold's stare have sixty six seconds to live. | The Doctor has sought out a passenger named Professor [[Emile Moorhouse]], professor of alien mythology. The Doctor asks him about the [[Foretold]] - a mythical mummy. Moorhouse tells the Doctor various bits of information, including the saying: "They that bear the Foretold's stare have sixty-six seconds to live", and that only they can see the creature when it does appear to them. | ||
At that moment, in the kitchen, the | At that moment, in the kitchen, one of the chefs catches sight of the Foretold and screams. Alerting the other kitchen crew, who, of course, can't see it, the chef grabs a [[knife]] and waves it around. The chef backs up towards the freezer and locks himself in it, seeing that the Foretold is on the other side of the door and can't get inside. But when he turns around, he comes face to face with - the Foretold, who has somehow teleported inside the freezer. As the clock ticks to 1 second, the Foretold wraps its hands around the chef, who collapses. | ||
The Doctor confronts Quell about the Foretold but Quell does not believe him. Perkins then gives the Doctor a large | The Doctor confronts Quell about the Foretold - using his [[psychic paper]] to masquerade as a mystery shopper to get information out of him - but Quell does not believe him. Perkins then gives the Doctor a large number of documents and information. They meet up with Moorhouse in the engineer's room to watch footage of Mrs Pitt's death and note the details. | ||
Maisie and Clara get into the room, but Mrs | Maisie and Clara get into the room, but Mrs Pitt's body isn't there. The door has closed and locked behind them. Trapped, for now, they enter into a conversation about why Clara is leaving the Doctor; Maisie doesn't believe Clara's claims that her friendship with the Doctor is over. "You got on a train with him," Maisie points out. The Doctor calls Clara, who tells him that there's a strange sarcophagus at the back of the room. It opens up, but there's nothing in there but bubble wrap. Captain Quell then apprehends the Doctor believing he is the one causing the deaths - he's called Head Office, and there's no mystery shopper. | ||
[[File:The Doctor deduces the truth about the Orient Express.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor | [[File:The Doctor deduces the truth about the Orient Express.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor [[deduce]]s that the passengers have been gathered to study the Foretold, as some are revealed to be hard-light [[hologram]]s.]] | ||
The Doctor and Quell go to a different cabin, where they find a guard writhing on the ground, shooting his gun at an invisible thing in front of him. The guard drops dead and Quell releases the Doctor, who then [[deduce]]s that the passengers are all experts and scientists in specific fields of study. They have been gathered here to study the Foretold. The inside of the room turns into a white laboratory, and most of the passengers disappear - holograms, says the Doctor, to make up the numbers. The train comes to a stop and the computer Gus reveals that the Doctor is right, and the whole Orient Express cruise was to find out more about the Foretold. Specifically; "Your goal is to ascertain the Foretold's true nature, probe for weaknesses with a view to capture, after which we will reverse engineer its abilities". Gus reveals that an ancient scroll is what causes the mummy to appear. | |||
Moorhouse suddenly catches sight of the Foretold, and the Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock. Perkins sets his stopwatch for 66 seconds, and the Doctor asks Moorhouse to describe the Foretold in as much detail as he can. Moorhouse does just that, but a dead man can tell no tales, and Moorhouse collapses, as have the other victims of the Mummy. | Moorhouse suddenly catches sight of the Foretold, and the Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock. Perkins sets his stopwatch for 66 seconds, and the Doctor asks Moorhouse to describe the Foretold in as much detail as he can. Moorhouse does just that, but a dead man can tell no tales, and Moorhouse collapses, as have the other victims of the Mummy. | ||
Clara calls the Doctor to tell him about some documents they found about the Orient Express. Gus tells the Doctor to terminate the call. When he refuses, Gus de-pressurises the kitchen room. Looking out the window, those in the laboratory see the lifeless bodies of the kitchen staff floating in space, and Gus warns the team that he will do this to another car if someone | Clara calls the Doctor to tell him about some documents they found about the Orient Express. Gus tells the Doctor to terminate the call. When he refuses, Gus de-pressurises the kitchen room. Looking out the window, those in the laboratory see the lifeless bodies of the kitchen staff floating in space, and Gus warns the team that he will do this to another, random, car if someone disobeys his orders again. The Doctor ends the call. | ||
After looking at the medical history of the previous victims, they figure out that the Foretold is targeting weaker passengers first: Mrs Pitt was over a hundred years old, the chef had a blood disorder, the guard had replacement lungs, and the Professor suffered from [[post-traumatic stress]] after a car accident. Quell reluctantly tells the Doctor that he too suffers from post-traumatic stress following war service, and the Doctor confirms to him that he will be next. It isn't long before Quell sees the Mummy, too. The Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock. Quell describes the Foretold as much as he can and dies, like the others, in 66 seconds. Perkins realises that the reason it takes exactly that long is because the creature is in phase, and it takes "about a minute" for something to come out of phase. Therefore, the Foretold has some kind of technology allowing it to do so. | |||
Perkins reports to the Doctor that Maisie is probably next because of her trauma from Mrs Pitt's death, and so the Doctor calls Clara to inform her that Maisie is next on the list. He tells her to bring Maisie to the car that he's in and that Gus has agreed to bring her there. Clara is greatly upset by this, telling the Doctor that she can't just lead Maisie to her death, but the Doctor, claiming that there is no other solution convinces her, though very reluctantly, to lie to Maisie and claim that the Doctor can help her. | |||
When Clara brings Maisie to his car, she screams and points, the Foretold staring at her coldly in the doorway. The Doctor fiddles with Maisie's mind and scans her for her emotions of grief and trauma. When he implants those same emotions on himself, the Foretold now believes that he is Maisie. | When Clara brings Maisie to his car, she realises that the Doctor had been hoping for trouble - Gus had tried to entice him on board before - and she is, naturally, furious after having trusted him to take them for a simple holiday. At that point Maisie screams and points, the Foretold is staring at her coldly in the doorway. The Doctor fiddles with Maisie's mind and scans her for her emotions of grief and trauma. When he implants those same emotions on himself, the Foretold now believes that ''he'' is Maisie. | ||
The Doctor sees the | [[File:Foretold Approaches Twelve.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Foretold]] approaches the Doctor.]] | ||
The Doctor sees the Foretold and Perkins starts the clock. The Doctor [[deduce]]s that the scroll is actually a flag which the mummy is protecting and that the mummy itself is actually an ancient soldier augmented with stealth technology to allow it to kill only its victims by pulling them out of phase. The Doctor realises that the Foretold is killing the passengers because it believes the war it fought in is still going on and with one second left, the Doctor shouts; "We surrender!" | |||
The Foretold suddenly stops and comes out of phase. | The Foretold suddenly stops, the tech inside it deactivates and it comes out of phase. With everyone now able to see it, it wearily raises its arm in a salute. "You're relieved, soldier," says the Doctor quietly. With that, the Foretold shrivels into dust, and the Doctor picks up the tech that powered it from the dust. He starts to fiddle with it. Gus' voice comes over the speakers again, congratulating them on solving the mystery, before telling them that no survivors are needed. "Ah, well, there's a shocker," the Doctor mutters. As Gus starts to let the air out of the cabin, the Doctor fiddles with the device. Clara and the other humans collapse. From space, the train is seen exploding. | ||
Sometime later, Clara wakes up on a rocky beach covered with a picnic blanket, with the TARDIS nearby. The Doctor, writing in the sand with a stick, greets her. He says that he was able to teleport all the passengers into the TARDIS, using the Mummy's animation device. He then tried to hack Gus to find out who had created him, but this triggered a security measure, causing the train to blow up so no evidence could be discovered. Then he dropped everyone off safely here, on the [[Planet (Mummy on the Orient Express)|nearest civilised planet]]. | |||
Clara is impressed that the Doctor managed to save every survivor, and asks him why he didn't tell her straight away what he was planning to do with Maisie | Clara is impressed that the Doctor managed to save every survivor, and asks him why he didn't tell her straight away what he was planning to do with Maisie. The Doctor explains that he couldn't risk Gus getting tipped off about his plan and trying to stop it. Clara then asks him if he was just pretending to be heartless. The Doctor pauses for a bit, before asking "Would you like to think that about me? Would that make it easier?" He then expresses sadness at having failed to save Moorhouse and Quell and admits that he wasn't even sure if he could have saved Maisie. He states that if that plan also had failed, he would have gone on to the next passenger, and then the next, and so forth until he had found a way to defeat the Foretold. He tells Clara that sometimes, all your available choices are bad ones, but in the end, you still have to choose. | ||
Back in the TARDIS, Perkins | Back in the TARDIS, Perkins compliments the Doctor on his ship and tells him that a couple of the drive stacks need replacing. The Doctor implies an invitation for the train engineer to travel with him, so he can replace the drive stacks. Perkins politely declines, stating "that job could change a man," to which the Doctor agrees. He and the Doctor bid each other goodbye. | ||
Clara, reflecting back on their previous conversation, asks the Doctor if he loves being the man who has to make the impossible choices all the time. The Doctor responds that it is his life. Clara then asks if it is an addiction to him, and he answers that you can't truly tell if something is an addiction until you have tried giving it up, something she notices he never has. | Clara, reflecting back on their previous conversation, asks the Doctor if he loves being the man who has to make the impossible choices all the time. The Doctor responds that it is his life. Clara then asks if it is an addiction to him, and he answers that you can't truly tell if something is an addiction until you have tried giving it up, something she notices he never has. | ||
Clara then receives a call from Danny, and he asks her if it that last | Clara then receives a call from Danny, and he asks her if it that last adventure of hers is over. Clara, having decided to forgive the Doctor, lies to Danny and tells him "mission accomplished". She then tells the Doctor that Danny just told her that he is fine with them travelling around, and so is she. The Doctor, happily surprised by her sudden change of heart, asks her if she is serious, and Clara answers that she wants to see more planets right now. The Doctor excitedly tells her about "one that's made entirely of shrubs" and plots a course for it. The two pull the dematerialisation lever together. | ||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
*[[Twelfth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Peter Capaldi]] | * [[Twelfth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Peter Capaldi]] | ||
*[[Clara Oswald|Clara]] - [[Jenna Coleman]] | * [[Clara Oswald|Clara]] - [[Jenna Coleman]] | ||
*[[Danny Pink]] - [[Samuel Anderson]] | * [[Danny Pink|Danny]] - [[Samuel Anderson]] | ||
*[[Perkins (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Perkins]] - [[Frank Skinner]] | * [[Perkins (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Perkins]] - [[Frank Skinner]] | ||
*[[Quell|Captain Quell]] - [[David Bamber]] | * [[Hector Quell|Captain Quell]] - [[David Bamber]] | ||
*[[Gus]] - [[John Sessions]] | * [[Gus (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Gus]] - [[John Sessions]] | ||
*[[Maisie Pitt|Maisie]] - [[Daisy Beaumont]] | * [[Maisie Pitt|Maisie]] - [[Daisy Beaumont]] | ||
*[[Emile Moorhouse|Prof Moorhouse]] - [[Christopher Villiers]] | * [[Pitt (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Mrs Pitt]] - [[Janet Henfrey]] | ||
* [[ | * [[Emile Moorhouse|Prof Moorhouse]] - [[Christopher Villiers]] | ||
*[[ | * [[Singer (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Singer]] - [[Foxes]] | ||
*[[ | * [[Foretold]] - [[Jamie Hill]] | ||
=== Uncredited cast === | |||
* [[Medic (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Medic]] - [[Ian Furey-King]]{{fact}} | |||
* [[Carlyle (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Mr Carlyle]] - [[Allan Gill]]{{fact}} | |||
* [[Train guards (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Train Guards]] - [[Chester Durrant]], [[Steve Grant]]{{fact}} | |||
* [[Stumpy|Head Chef Stumpy]] - [[Matthew Jones (production assistant)|Matthew Jones]]{{fact}} | |||
* [[Chefs (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Chefs]] - [[Scott Stevenson]], [[Richard Michael]], [[Luke Bailey]]{{fact}} | |||
* [[Maitre'd (Mummy on the Orient Express)|Maitre'd]] - [[Murray Johnston]]{{fact}} | |||
== Crew == | == Crew == | ||
| Line 108: | Line 123: | ||
|DOP = Ashley Rowe | |DOP = Ashley Rowe | ||
|ProductionDesigner = Michael Pickwoad | |ProductionDesigner = Michael Pickwoad | ||
|VisualEffects = Milk VFX | |VisualEffects = Milk VFX | ||
|VisualEffects2 = BBC Wales VFX | |VisualEffects2 = BBC Wales VFX | ||
|CastingDirector = Andy Pryor CDG | |CastingDirector = Andy Pryor CDG | ||
| Line 124: | Line 139: | ||
|ProductionManager = Simon Morris | |ProductionManager = Simon Morris | ||
|LocationManager = Iestyn Hampson-Jones | |LocationManager = Iestyn Hampson-Jones | ||
|UnitManager = Nick Clark | |UnitManager = Nick Clark (crew) | ||
|ProductionCoOrdinator = Adam Knopf | |ProductionCoOrdinator = Adam Knopf | ||
|AsstProductionCoOrdinator = Sandra Cosfeld | |AsstProductionCoOrdinator = Sandra Cosfeld | ||
|ProductionAssistant = Matthew Jones | |ProductionAssistant = Matthew Jones (production assistant) | ||
|ProductionAccountant = Jeff Dunn | |ProductionAccountant = Jeff Dunn | ||
|FirstAssistantAccountant = | |FirstAssistantAccountant = | ||
|ScriptEditor = David P Davis | |ScriptEditor = David P Davis | ||
|1stAD = Scott Bates | |1stAD = Scott Bates | ||
|2ndAD = James Dehaviland | |2ndAD = James Dehaviland | ||
|3rdAD = Danielle Richards | |3rdAD = Danielle Richards | ||
|AD2 = Chris Thomas | |AD2 = Chris Thomas (assistant director) | ||
|AD = Gareth Jones | |AD = Gareth Jones | ||
|ScriptSupervisor = Steve Walker | |ScriptSupervisor = Steve Walker | ||
|CameraOperator = | |CameraOperator = Mark McQuoid | ||
|FocusPuller2 = | |FocusPuller2 = John Ellis Evans | ||
|FocusPuller = Jonathan Vidgen | |FocusPuller = Jonathan Vidgen | ||
|Grip = John Robinson | |Grip = John Robinson | ||
| Line 144: | Line 159: | ||
|CameraAsst2 = Katy Kardasz | |CameraAsst2 = Katy Kardasz | ||
|CameraAsst = Cai Thompson | |CameraAsst = Cai Thompson | ||
|CameraAsst3 = | |CameraAsst3 = Gethin Williams | ||
|ConceptArtist = Chris Lees | |ConceptArtist = Chris Lees | ||
|GraphicArtist = Christina Tom | |GraphicArtist = Christina Tom | ||
|StandbyProps2 = | |StandbyProps2 = Ian Davies | ||
|StandbyProps = Liam Collins | |StandbyProps = Liam Collins | ||
|StandbyCarpenter = Paul Jones | |StandbyCarpenter = Paul Jones | ||
|StandbyRigger = Bryan Griffiths | |StandbyRigger = Bryan Griffiths | ||
|StorePerson = | |StorePerson = | ||
| | |PropMaster = Paul Smith (prop master) | ||
|PropsChargehand = Kyle Belmont | |PropsChargehand = Kyle Belmont | ||
|DressingProps2 = Mike Elkins | |DressingProps2 = Mike Elkins | ||
| Line 163: | Line 178: | ||
|PracticalElectrician = Christian Davies | |PracticalElectrician = Christian Davies | ||
|Graphics = BBC Wales Graphics | |Graphics = BBC Wales Graphics | ||
|Draughtsman = | |Draughtsman = | ||
|Prosthetics = Millennium FX | |Prosthetics = Millennium FX | ||
|StuntCoOrdinator = Crispin Layfield | |StuntCoOrdinator = Crispin Layfield | ||
|StuntCoOrdinator2 = | |StuntCoOrdinator2 = | ||
|PostProdSupervisor = Nerys Davies | |PostProdSupervisor = Nerys Davies | ||
|PostProdCoOrdinator = Samantha Price | |PostProdCoOrdinator = Samantha Price | ||
|AsstEditor2 = Carmen Sanchez Roberts | |AsstEditor2 = Carmen Sanchez Roberts | ||
|AsstEditor = Katrina Aust | |AsstEditor = Katrina Aust | ||
|OnlineEditor = | |OnlineEditor = Mark Hardyman | ||
|VFXEditor = | |VFXEditor = Dan Rawlings | ||
|Colourist = Gareth Spensley | |Colourist = Gareth Spensley | ||
|SoundRecordist = Deian Llŷr Humphreys | |SoundRecordist = Deian Llŷr Humphreys | ||
|DubbingMixer = | |DubbingMixer = Mark Ferda | ||
|SoundMaintenanceEngineer2 = Christopher Goding | |SoundMaintenanceEngineer2 = Christopher Goding | ||
|SoundMaintenanceEngineer = Tam Shoring | |SoundMaintenanceEngineer = Tam Shoring | ||
| Line 181: | Line 196: | ||
|ADREditor = Matthew Cox | |ADREditor = Matthew Cox | ||
|FoleyEditor = Jamie Talbutt | |FoleyEditor = Jamie Talbutt | ||
|UKMake-UpDesigner = | |UKMake-UpDesigner = | ||
|Writer = Jamie Mathieson | |Writer = Jamie Mathieson | ||
|Producer = Peter Bennett | |Producer = Peter Bennett | ||
|Director = Paul Wilmshurst | |Director = Paul Wilmshurst | ||
|ProductionAssistant2 = Katie Player | |||
|ProductionSecretary = Medyr Llewelyn | |||
|UnitMedic = Glyn Evans | |||
|AssistantAccountant = Bethan Griffiths | |||
|AD3 = Jordan Wallace | |||
|Gaffer = Mark Hutchings | |||
|BestBoy = Stephen Slocombe | |||
|Electrician = Gafin Riley | |||
|Electrician2 = Andy Gardiner | |||
|Electrician3 = Bob Milton | |||
|Electrician4 = Gareth Sheldon | |||
|SupervisingArtDirector = Paul Spriggs | |||
|ArtDirector = Vicki Stevenson | |||
|ArtDeptAccountant = Maria Hurley | |||
|ProductionBuyer = Helen O'Leary | |||
|SetDecorator = Adrian Anscombe | |||
|SetDresser2 = Jayne Davies | |||
|SetDresser = Mike Elkins | |||
|SetDresser3 = Jamie Farrell | |||
|PropBuyer2 = Vicki Male | |||
|PropBuyer = May Johnson | |||
|StandbyProps3 = Medard Mankos | |||
|StandbyArtDirector = Jim McCallum | |||
|HeadScenicArtist = Clive Clarke | |||
|ScenicPainter2 = Matt Weston | |||
|ScenicPainter = Steve Nelms | |||
|Storeman = Jamie Southcott | |||
|AssistantStoreman = Ryan Milton | |||
|ConstructionDriver = Jonathan Tylke | |||
|GraphicDesigner = Nina Dunn | |||
|Draughtsperson = Kartik Nagar | |||
|Carpenter2 = Chris Daniels | |||
|Carpenter = John Sinnott | |||
|Carpenter3 = Lawrie Ferry | |||
|Carpenter4 = Matt Ferry | |||
|Carpenter5 = Julian Tucker | |||
|Carpenter6 = Mark Painter | |||
|Carpenter7 = Joe Painter | |||
|Carpenter8 = Tim Burke | |||
|TitleConcept = Billy Hanshaw | |||
|CostumeSupervisor = Anita Lad | |||
|AsstCostumeDesigner = Carly Griffith | |||
|CostumeAsst2 = Nicola Rodd | |||
|CostumeAsst = Michelle McGrath | |||
|CostumeAsst3 = Gemma Evans | |||
|Make-upArtist2 = Ann Marie Williams | |||
|Make-upArtist = Emma Cowen | |||
|CastingAssociate = Alice Purser | |||
|EffectsEditor = Harry Barnes | |||
|AD4 = Paul Rubery | |||
|CostumeAsst4 = Charlotte Bestwick | |||
|Make-upDesigner = Claire Pritchard-Jones | |||
}} | }} | ||
== | === Uncredited crew === | ||
* [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s song "[[Don't Stop Me Now]]" is performed on the train. | * [[Choreographer]] - [[Ailsa Berk]]<ref name="DWM 491">[[DWM 491]]</ref> | ||
==== Millennium FX ==== | |||
* [[Prosthetics effects producer|Prosthetics Effects Producer]] - [[Kate Walshe]]<ref name="DWM 491" /><ref name="Foretold crew" /> | |||
* [[Creature supervisor|Creature Supervisor]] - [[Dave Bonneywell]]<ref name="DWM 491" /><ref name="Foretold crew">{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-12-17/this-exclusive-doctor-who-series-8-concept-art-is-dark-very-dark-indeed/|title=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-12-17/this-exclusive-doctor-who-series-8-concept-art-is-dark-very-dark-indeed/|author=Holmes, Jonathan|date of source=14 December 2014|website name=RadioTimes|accessdate=6 November 2018}}</ref> | |||
== Worldbuilding == | |||
=== Music === | |||
* [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s song "[[Don't Stop Me Now]]" is performed on the train, in a jazz theme. | |||
=== The Doctor === | === The Doctor === | ||
*The Doctor | * The Doctor keeps [[jelly baby|jelly babies]] in [[Twelfth Doctor's jelly baby case|a cigarette case]] about his person. | ||
* The Doctor's formal suit includes a black bow-tie scarf, which harkens back to the formal bow-tie that the [[Eleventh Doctor]] wore. | |||
* The Doctor | |||
=== Technology === | === Technology === | ||
* Half of the guests aboard the [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]] are revealed by the Doctor to be | * Half of the guests aboard the [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]] are revealed by the Doctor to be [[hard-light hologram]]s. | ||
* Mrs Pitt's chair is fitted with the [[Excelsior Life Extender]] to help keep her alive. | |||
=== Planets === | |||
* The Doctor mentioned three planets when looking out at the [[Magellan black hole]], which according to him used to be "planets as far as the eye could see". One of these was the planet [[Obsidian (planet)|Obsidian]] which was in perpetual darkness. | |||
* Another of these planets was [[Planet made of shrubs|one made completely of shrubs]], to which the Doctor later offered to take Clara. | |||
* The third was the planet [[Thedion Four]], which had constant acid rain. The Doctor said that he "had a lovely picnic there once, wearing a [[gas mask]]." It was destroyed a thousand years earlier. | |||
=== Mythology === | |||
* The countdown for [[Foretold|the Foretold]] to kill is [[66 (number)|66]] seconds long. This is a shortened version of [[the Devil]]’s number, [[666 (number)|666]]. | |||
== Story notes == | == Story notes == | ||
* | * Prior to this story, the televised stories ''[[The Robots of Death (TV story)|The Robots of Death]]'', ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]'', and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)|The Unicorn and the Wasp]]'' used elements from the works of [[Agatha Christie]], with the latter also featuring the author as a character. | ||
* Starting its broadcast at 20:35, this episode has the latest transmission time of a ''Doctor Who'' television story. | |||
* Starting its broadcast at 20:35, this episode has the latest transmission time | |||
* The ''Radio Times'' programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of Frank Skinner as Perkins, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.35 p.m. / Frank Skinner plays the chief engineer on an intergalactic luxury train". | * The ''Radio Times'' programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of Frank Skinner as Perkins, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.35 p.m. / Frank Skinner plays the chief engineer on an intergalactic luxury train". | ||
* Two scenes were deleted from the final episode due to timing reasons. The first scene featured the Doctor protesting against superstition after seeing that people had lit a candle near the scroll and were leaving trinkets and money near it as if it was a shrine. The second scene revealed that Maisie was present near the campfire on the beach | * Two scenes were deleted from the final episode due to timing reasons. The first scene featured the Doctor protesting against [[superstition]] after seeing that people had lit a candle near the scroll and were leaving trinkets and money near it as if it was a shrine. The second scene revealed that Maisie was present near the campfire on the beach at the end, explaining that when the Doctor implanted Maisie's pain and trauma into himself, he took them away from her for good. In the former scene, the Doctor refers to having encountered alien technology masquerading as magic which is exactly what the Foretold turns out to be.<ref>http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iyngn/i_wrote_tonights_doctor_who_and_next_weeks_ama/cl6uv67</ref> | ||
* Following the episode's first broadcast on BBC One, the BBC released an official music video of Foxes' complete performance of "Don't Stop Me Now," including clips from this episode, plus footage of Foxes performing the song not included in the episode, but also past and future Series 8 episodes. This is the first time the BBC has issued a formal music video for a song featured in ''Doctor Who'', notwithstanding videos based upon the [[Doctor Who Theme]] created for a DVD release. Foxes herself uploaded a second video consisting solely of footage of her performing the song on the set, without any cutaways and featuring the mix heard on screen as opposed to the more robust mix used for the main music video. | |||
* This episode marks the first time since [[Doctor Who (TV story)|the 1996 TV movie]] that the Doctor has offered anyone jelly babies on screen, though he makes no vocal reference to them. They have been offered/referenced twice before in that time by {{Simm}} in [[TV]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'', and the [[Eleventh Doctor (Ganger)|Eleventh Doctor's ganger]] as it ran through the Doctor's previous incarnations in [[TV]]: ''[[The Almost People (TV story)|The Almost People]]''. | |||
* The Doctor's description of how he dealt with the situation on the ''Orient Express'' bears very strong resemblance to the pragmatic medical technique known as {{w|triage}}, appropriately fitting a character who refers to himself as "the Doctor", and the Twelfth Doctor's own pragmatic approach at handling a crisis. | |||
* This story is one of few examples in Doctor Who of a non-diegetic visual appearing throughout the story. The timer shown during the Foretold's attack can't be seen by any of the characters, and is shown purely for the audience's benefit. | |||
=== Ratings === | === Ratings === | ||
* 7.11 million ([[DWM 480]]) | |||
=== Filming locations === | === Filming locations === | ||
| Line 214: | Line 298: | ||
=== Production errors === | === Production errors === | ||
*Shortly after Perkins leaves the TARDIS, the camera cuts to Clara as she asks the Doctor if he enjoys his self-chosen role in life. In this shot only, her hair is parted on the left. In the previous and following shots, it is parted on the right. | {{Discontinuity}} | ||
* Shortly after Perkins leaves the TARDIS, the camera cuts to Clara as she asks the Doctor if he enjoys his self-chosen role in life. In this shot only, her hair is parted on the left. In the previous and following shots, it is parted on the right. | |||
* After the Doctor berates Clara about smiling sadly, the singer is heard singing, "I'll make a supersonic woman of you," but her mouth moves to, "I'll make a supersonic man out of you". | |||
* When Clara takes a call from the Doctor on her mobile phone, the interface for the phone's image gallery appears over the call. | |||
* As the Doctor apologises to Maisie about her father, the clock on Perkins' screen reaches 30 seconds. But at that moment, the on-screen clock is on 33 seconds. | |||
* As the Doctor realises the mummy is a soldier, he points at it with his right arm. But in the next shot, he is pointing with his left arm. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
*Following the [[wedding]] of [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]], the [[Eleventh Doctor]] received a call informing him that an [[Egypt]]ian [[god]]dess was loose on the [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]] in space. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang]]'') | * Following the [[wedding]] of [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]], the [[Eleventh Doctor]] received a call informing him that an [[Egypt]]ian [[god]]dess was loose on the [[Orient Express (spacecraft)|Orient Express]] in space. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang (TV story)|The Big Bang]]'') | ||
* | * It has been three weeks since Clara stormed out of the TARDIS after the incident on [[the Moon]] in [[2049]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Kill the Moon (TV story)|Kill the Moon]]'') | ||
*The [[Seventh Doctor]] | * The Doctor manipulates Clara similarly to how the [[Seventh Doctor]] once manipulated [[Ace]] into no longer believing in him in order to allow the [[Ancient Haemovore]] to kill [[Fenric]]'s host body. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'') | ||
* Clara's caller ID photo for the Doctor is a picture of a stick insect with a top hat. She had previously called the Doctor "a big grey-haired stick insect." ([[TV]]: ''[[Listen (TV story)|Listen]]'') | |||
* | * The [[Seventh Doctor]] previously encountered trains that travel through space. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Transit (novel)|Transit]]'') | ||
*The Doctor asks the Foretold "Are you my mummy?" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]'', ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'') | * The Doctor asks the Foretold "Are you my mummy?" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]'', ''[[The Doctor Dances (TV story)|The Doctor Dances]]'', ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'') | ||
* | * The Doctor's [[respiratory bypass system]] allows him to handle lack of oxygen considerably better than humans. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ark in Space (TV story)|The Ark in Space]]'', ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'', ''[[Smith and Jones (TV story)|Smith and Jones]]'', ''[[The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)|The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe]]'') | ||
*The Doctor previously encountered [[mummy|mummies]], | * The Doctor has previously encountered [[mummy|mummies]], or mummy-like beings. ([[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]'', ''[[The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)|The Rings of Akhaten]]'') | ||
* The Doctor mentions how hard it is for someone to acquire the TARDIS telephone number. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time Heist (TV story)|Time Heist]]'') | * The Doctor mentions how hard it is for someone to acquire the TARDIS telephone number. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time Heist (TV story)|Time Heist]]'') | ||
* The Doctor | * The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams previously encountered hard-light holograms. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Spam Filtered (comic story)|Spam Filtered]]'') | ||
* This is at least the second time the Doctor has rode a space train. The Eleventh Doctor took [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]] on a different space-faring train than the Orient Express, the ''[[Orion Express]]''. Unlike the Orient, it was not a nostalgic throwback and had a modern, ordinary design normal for space trains. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Trouble on the Orion Express (comic story)|Trouble on the Orion Express]]'') | |||
* The Doctor again considers taking on a new companion when it appears possible that Clara is about to leave him. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Caretaker (TV story)|The Caretaker]]'') | |||
== Home video releases == | == Home video releases == | ||
=== DVD & Blu-ray releases === | |||
[[File:Complete 8th Series UK Cover.jpg|thumb|Series Full Box-set Region 2]] | |||
* ''Mummy on the Orient Express'' was released as part of [[Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005)|the Complete Eighth Series]] DVD and Blu-ray boxsets in region 1/A on [[9 December (releases)|9 December]] [[2014 (releases)|2014]], in region 2/B on [[24 November (releases)|24 November]] 2014 and in region 4/B on [[19 November (releases)|19 November]] 2014. | |||
* It was later included in the Series 8, Part Two DVD boxset in region 1 on [[13 December (releases)|13 December]] [[2016 (releases)|2016]]. | |||
=== | === Digital releases === | ||
'' | * The episode was released on Google Play, iTunes and Amazon Instant Video in HD or SD, also available as part of the Series 8 digital boxset. The digital boxset contains various features: trailer, interviews, ''The Ultimate Companion, The Ultimate Time Lord, Inside the World Tour ''and ''[[Doctor Who Extra]] ''episodes for each episode. | ||
* In the US, the series was released through digital streaming services Hulu and Netflix with a subscription. | |||
'' | * In the United Kingdom, this story is available on [[BBC iPlayer]]. | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
* [https://www.jamiemathieson.com/the-first-draft-of-mummy First draft and shooting script], posted online by [[Jamie Mathieson]]. | |||
== Footnotes == | == Footnotes == | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
{{DWTV}} | {{DWTV}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
{{cat|Doctor Who (2005) television stories}} | {{cat|Doctor Who (2005) television stories}} | ||
[[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]] | [[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]] | ||
[[Category:Series 8 (Doctor Who) stories]] | [[Category:Series 8 (Doctor Who) stories]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in London]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in the 2010s]] | |||
[[pt:Mummy on the Orient Express]] | |||
Latest revision as of 22:57, 23 November 2024
Mummy on the Orient Express was the eighth episode of series 8 of Doctor Who.
It picked up a hanging plot thread posed in the Eleventh Doctor's era from TV: The Big Bang – a phone call placed to the TARDIS which initially appeared to be a request for help, but carried a sinister subtext veiled beneath a front that would draw out the Doctor into a trap.
Mathieson was approached to write the script while working on Flatline. He was given the title, chosen by Steven Moffat, which led Mathieson to look to Agatha Christie for inspiration. Frank Skinner's character was based on a friend of his, Perkins, a "train buff" from whom he acquired information about the Orient Express. The original idea for the script had far more content, with the Express visiting the "Seven Wonders of the Universe", but this was removed due to time constraints.
Brian Minchin expressed early on to Mathieson that the Mummy might force the episode to be broadcast at a later time as the BBC judged it to be too scary. Minchin had repeatedly tried to have it shown in the series trailer, but the corporation would not allow it. (DWM 478)
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
After their previous trip to the moon ended on a sour note, the Doctor decides to take Clara on a final trip in the TARDIS - "our last hoorah!" The destination? There have been many trains that took the name Orient Express, but there's only ever been one that traverses space!
However, they find their luxury trip may take an unexpected turn when they discover there's a supernatural passenger...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
In a luxurious dining car of a train, Mrs Pitt, an elderly lady, spots a man "dressed as a mummy monster", at which point a clock starts counting down in the corner of the screen. She wants him out of her dining car, but no one else seems to see him. She calls a guard over and tries to get him to throw the man out of her dining car, but he can't see it either. As the clock reaches 6 seconds, the Mummy gets closer and closer to Mrs Pitt. At 5 seconds, it has its face in hers. At 4 seconds, her granddaughter, Maisie Pitt, is starting to worry. At 3 seconds, everyone in the car is staring. At 2 seconds, Mrs Pitt seems to be having a panic attack. At 1 second, the Mummy has his hands on her forehead. Then she collapses, dead.
The Doctor lands the TARDIS in the train's baggage car. He steps out with Clara. Clara is dressed in a 1920s outfit and the Doctor in a tuxedo. "There were many trains to take the name Orient Express," he tells her, "but only one in space." He opens the door to reveal the dining car, where there is a singer performing a jazz version of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". The Doctor ushers Clara inside. As they look out a window at a nebula, the Doctor begins to tell Clara about the various planets that used to be there, thousands of years ago. Clara interrupts, apologising for her recent anger towards the Doctor. She says she could never hate him, but intends this to be their last trip together. As the Doctor mentions having had a picnic on one of the now-gone planets, Maisie overhears and calls him a liar. She says he must be, as that planet has not existed for a thousand years. Visibly distraught, she is gently ushered back to her room by guards. Clara asks Quell, the Captain, what happened and he explains Mrs Pitt's sudden death, before escorting Maisie out.
Later, while sharing a nightcap outside their cabins, Clara and the Doctor debate whether or not there is anything suspicious about the old woman's death. Clara begins to have doubts about leaving the Doctor when he makes her realise that when this, their "last hurrah", is over, she is unlikely to ever see him again. During the night, the Doctor ponders the story of Mrs Pitt's death and the mummy which only she could see, becoming increasingly suspicious of it. Clara meanwhile is on the phone with Danny, discussing this as her last trip with the Doctor. He is relieved that at least the train is safe, which Clara seems somewhat unsure of, but nevertheless confirms. The Doctor leaves his room, stopping at Clara's door. He almost knocks, but instead goes on, leaving her to sleep. As soon as he disappears down the hall, Clara emerges from her room and goes to the Doctor's door. She knocks, but not being there he, of course, does not answer.
The Doctor starts to poke around the engine room, where he examines the chair that Mrs Pitt had died in. It's then that he meets Perkins chief engineer aboard the Orient Express. Perkins tells him that they think something else might be responsible for the deaths of some of the passengers.
Having changed back into her dress, Clara again exits her room. She sees Maisie, who is coming down the hall with a determined look and a high heel shoe in hand. Clara greets her, then follows her. Maisie asks the computer for access to a room, and the computer replies, "Call me Gus. I'm afraid this door can only be opened by executive order."
Maisie says that that's the room where they're keeping Mrs Pitt's body and that she should be allowed to see it. Clara agrees, then tells her that she has a friend who's really good with locks and he can open it for her. Instead, Maisie smashes the computer with her high heel shoe and the door slides open.
The Doctor has sought out a passenger named Professor Emile Moorhouse, professor of alien mythology. The Doctor asks him about the Foretold - a mythical mummy. Moorhouse tells the Doctor various bits of information, including the saying: "They that bear the Foretold's stare have sixty-six seconds to live", and that only they can see the creature when it does appear to them.
At that moment, in the kitchen, one of the chefs catches sight of the Foretold and screams. Alerting the other kitchen crew, who, of course, can't see it, the chef grabs a knife and waves it around. The chef backs up towards the freezer and locks himself in it, seeing that the Foretold is on the other side of the door and can't get inside. But when he turns around, he comes face to face with - the Foretold, who has somehow teleported inside the freezer. As the clock ticks to 1 second, the Foretold wraps its hands around the chef, who collapses.
The Doctor confronts Quell about the Foretold - using his psychic paper to masquerade as a mystery shopper to get information out of him - but Quell does not believe him. Perkins then gives the Doctor a large number of documents and information. They meet up with Moorhouse in the engineer's room to watch footage of Mrs Pitt's death and note the details.
Maisie and Clara get into the room, but Mrs Pitt's body isn't there. The door has closed and locked behind them. Trapped, for now, they enter into a conversation about why Clara is leaving the Doctor; Maisie doesn't believe Clara's claims that her friendship with the Doctor is over. "You got on a train with him," Maisie points out. The Doctor calls Clara, who tells him that there's a strange sarcophagus at the back of the room. It opens up, but there's nothing in there but bubble wrap. Captain Quell then apprehends the Doctor believing he is the one causing the deaths - he's called Head Office, and there's no mystery shopper.
The Doctor and Quell go to a different cabin, where they find a guard writhing on the ground, shooting his gun at an invisible thing in front of him. The guard drops dead and Quell releases the Doctor, who then deduces that the passengers are all experts and scientists in specific fields of study. They have been gathered here to study the Foretold. The inside of the room turns into a white laboratory, and most of the passengers disappear - holograms, says the Doctor, to make up the numbers. The train comes to a stop and the computer Gus reveals that the Doctor is right, and the whole Orient Express cruise was to find out more about the Foretold. Specifically; "Your goal is to ascertain the Foretold's true nature, probe for weaknesses with a view to capture, after which we will reverse engineer its abilities". Gus reveals that an ancient scroll is what causes the mummy to appear.
Moorhouse suddenly catches sight of the Foretold, and the Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock. Perkins sets his stopwatch for 66 seconds, and the Doctor asks Moorhouse to describe the Foretold in as much detail as he can. Moorhouse does just that, but a dead man can tell no tales, and Moorhouse collapses, as have the other victims of the Mummy.
Clara calls the Doctor to tell him about some documents they found about the Orient Express. Gus tells the Doctor to terminate the call. When he refuses, Gus de-pressurises the kitchen room. Looking out the window, those in the laboratory see the lifeless bodies of the kitchen staff floating in space, and Gus warns the team that he will do this to another, random, car if someone disobeys his orders again. The Doctor ends the call.
After looking at the medical history of the previous victims, they figure out that the Foretold is targeting weaker passengers first: Mrs Pitt was over a hundred years old, the chef had a blood disorder, the guard had replacement lungs, and the Professor suffered from post-traumatic stress after a car accident. Quell reluctantly tells the Doctor that he too suffers from post-traumatic stress following war service, and the Doctor confirms to him that he will be next. It isn't long before Quell sees the Mummy, too. The Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock. Quell describes the Foretold as much as he can and dies, like the others, in 66 seconds. Perkins realises that the reason it takes exactly that long is because the creature is in phase, and it takes "about a minute" for something to come out of phase. Therefore, the Foretold has some kind of technology allowing it to do so.
Perkins reports to the Doctor that Maisie is probably next because of her trauma from Mrs Pitt's death, and so the Doctor calls Clara to inform her that Maisie is next on the list. He tells her to bring Maisie to the car that he's in and that Gus has agreed to bring her there. Clara is greatly upset by this, telling the Doctor that she can't just lead Maisie to her death, but the Doctor, claiming that there is no other solution convinces her, though very reluctantly, to lie to Maisie and claim that the Doctor can help her.
When Clara brings Maisie to his car, she realises that the Doctor had been hoping for trouble - Gus had tried to entice him on board before - and she is, naturally, furious after having trusted him to take them for a simple holiday. At that point Maisie screams and points, the Foretold is staring at her coldly in the doorway. The Doctor fiddles with Maisie's mind and scans her for her emotions of grief and trauma. When he implants those same emotions on himself, the Foretold now believes that he is Maisie.
The Foretold approaches the Doctor.
The Doctor sees the Foretold and Perkins starts the clock. The Doctor deduces that the scroll is actually a flag which the mummy is protecting and that the mummy itself is actually an ancient soldier augmented with stealth technology to allow it to kill only its victims by pulling them out of phase. The Doctor realises that the Foretold is killing the passengers because it believes the war it fought in is still going on and with one second left, the Doctor shouts; "We surrender!"
The Foretold suddenly stops, the tech inside it deactivates and it comes out of phase. With everyone now able to see it, it wearily raises its arm in a salute. "You're relieved, soldier," says the Doctor quietly. With that, the Foretold shrivels into dust, and the Doctor picks up the tech that powered it from the dust. He starts to fiddle with it. Gus' voice comes over the speakers again, congratulating them on solving the mystery, before telling them that no survivors are needed. "Ah, well, there's a shocker," the Doctor mutters. As Gus starts to let the air out of the cabin, the Doctor fiddles with the device. Clara and the other humans collapse. From space, the train is seen exploding.
Sometime later, Clara wakes up on a rocky beach covered with a picnic blanket, with the TARDIS nearby. The Doctor, writing in the sand with a stick, greets her. He says that he was able to teleport all the passengers into the TARDIS, using the Mummy's animation device. He then tried to hack Gus to find out who had created him, but this triggered a security measure, causing the train to blow up so no evidence could be discovered. Then he dropped everyone off safely here, on the nearest civilised planet.
Clara is impressed that the Doctor managed to save every survivor, and asks him why he didn't tell her straight away what he was planning to do with Maisie. The Doctor explains that he couldn't risk Gus getting tipped off about his plan and trying to stop it. Clara then asks him if he was just pretending to be heartless. The Doctor pauses for a bit, before asking "Would you like to think that about me? Would that make it easier?" He then expresses sadness at having failed to save Moorhouse and Quell and admits that he wasn't even sure if he could have saved Maisie. He states that if that plan also had failed, he would have gone on to the next passenger, and then the next, and so forth until he had found a way to defeat the Foretold. He tells Clara that sometimes, all your available choices are bad ones, but in the end, you still have to choose.
Back in the TARDIS, Perkins compliments the Doctor on his ship and tells him that a couple of the drive stacks need replacing. The Doctor implies an invitation for the train engineer to travel with him, so he can replace the drive stacks. Perkins politely declines, stating "that job could change a man," to which the Doctor agrees. He and the Doctor bid each other goodbye.
Clara, reflecting back on their previous conversation, asks the Doctor if he loves being the man who has to make the impossible choices all the time. The Doctor responds that it is his life. Clara then asks if it is an addiction to him, and he answers that you can't truly tell if something is an addiction until you have tried giving it up, something she notices he never has.
Clara then receives a call from Danny, and he asks her if it that last adventure of hers is over. Clara, having decided to forgive the Doctor, lies to Danny and tells him "mission accomplished". She then tells the Doctor that Danny just told her that he is fine with them travelling around, and so is she. The Doctor, happily surprised by her sudden change of heart, asks her if she is serious, and Clara answers that she wants to see more planets right now. The Doctor excitedly tells her about "one that's made entirely of shrubs" and plots a course for it. The two pull the dematerialisation lever together.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
- Clara - Jenna Coleman
- Danny - Samuel Anderson
- Perkins - Frank Skinner
- Captain Quell - David Bamber
- Gus - John Sessions
- Maisie - Daisy Beaumont
- Mrs Pitt - Janet Henfrey
- Prof Moorhouse - Christopher Villiers
- Singer - Foxes
- Foretold - Jamie Hill
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Medic - Ian Furey-King[source needed]
- Mr Carlyle - Allan Gill[source needed]
- Train Guards - Chester Durrant, Steve Grant[source needed]
- Head Chef Stumpy - Matthew Jones[source needed]
- Chefs - Scott Stevenson, Richard Michael, Luke Bailey[source needed]
- Maitre'd - Murray Johnston[source needed]
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin |
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| 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. |
Uncredited crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
Millennium FX[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
Music[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Queen's song "Don't Stop Me Now" is performed on the train, in a jazz theme.
The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor keeps jelly babies in a cigarette case about his person.
- The Doctor's formal suit includes a black bow-tie scarf, which harkens back to the formal bow-tie that the Eleventh Doctor wore.
Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Half of the guests aboard the Orient Express are revealed by the Doctor to be hard-light holograms.
- Mrs Pitt's chair is fitted with the Excelsior Life Extender to help keep her alive.
Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor mentioned three planets when looking out at the Magellan black hole, which according to him used to be "planets as far as the eye could see". One of these was the planet Obsidian which was in perpetual darkness.
- Another of these planets was one made completely of shrubs, to which the Doctor later offered to take Clara.
- The third was the planet Thedion Four, which had constant acid rain. The Doctor said that he "had a lovely picnic there once, wearing a gas mask." It was destroyed a thousand years earlier.
Mythology[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The countdown for the Foretold to kill is 66 seconds long. This is a shortened version of the Devil’s number, 666.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Prior to this story, the televised stories The Robots of Death, Terror of the Vervoids, and The Unicorn and the Wasp used elements from the works of Agatha Christie, with the latter also featuring the author as a character.
- Starting its broadcast at 20:35, this episode has the latest transmission time of a Doctor Who television story.
- The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of Frank Skinner as Perkins, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.35 p.m. / Frank Skinner plays the chief engineer on an intergalactic luxury train".
- Two scenes were deleted from the final episode due to timing reasons. The first scene featured the Doctor protesting against superstition after seeing that people had lit a candle near the scroll and were leaving trinkets and money near it as if it was a shrine. The second scene revealed that Maisie was present near the campfire on the beach at the end, explaining that when the Doctor implanted Maisie's pain and trauma into himself, he took them away from her for good. In the former scene, the Doctor refers to having encountered alien technology masquerading as magic which is exactly what the Foretold turns out to be.[5]
- Following the episode's first broadcast on BBC One, the BBC released an official music video of Foxes' complete performance of "Don't Stop Me Now," including clips from this episode, plus footage of Foxes performing the song not included in the episode, but also past and future Series 8 episodes. This is the first time the BBC has issued a formal music video for a song featured in Doctor Who, notwithstanding videos based upon the Doctor Who Theme created for a DVD release. Foxes herself uploaded a second video consisting solely of footage of her performing the song on the set, without any cutaways and featuring the mix heard on screen as opposed to the more robust mix used for the main music video.
- This episode marks the first time since the 1996 TV movie that the Doctor has offered anyone jelly babies on screen, though he makes no vocal reference to them. They have been offered/referenced twice before in that time by the Saxon Master in TV: The Sound of Drums, and the Eleventh Doctor's ganger as it ran through the Doctor's previous incarnations in TV: The Almost People.
- The Doctor's description of how he dealt with the situation on the Orient Express bears very strong resemblance to the pragmatic medical technique known as triage, appropriately fitting a character who refers to himself as "the Doctor", and the Twelfth Doctor's own pragmatic approach at handling a crisis.
- This story is one of few examples in Doctor Who of a non-diegetic visual appearing throughout the story. The timer shown during the Foretold's attack can't be seen by any of the characters, and is shown purely for the audience's benefit.
Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]
- 7.11 million (DWM 480)
Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]
Limpert Bay, Saint Athan
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.
- Shortly after Perkins leaves the TARDIS, the camera cuts to Clara as she asks the Doctor if he enjoys his self-chosen role in life. In this shot only, her hair is parted on the left. In the previous and following shots, it is parted on the right.
- After the Doctor berates Clara about smiling sadly, the singer is heard singing, "I'll make a supersonic woman of you," but her mouth moves to, "I'll make a supersonic man out of you".
- When Clara takes a call from the Doctor on her mobile phone, the interface for the phone's image gallery appears over the call.
- As the Doctor apologises to Maisie about her father, the clock on Perkins' screen reaches 30 seconds. But at that moment, the on-screen clock is on 33 seconds.
- As the Doctor realises the mummy is a soldier, he points at it with his right arm. But in the next shot, he is pointing with his left arm.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Following the wedding of Amy Pond and Rory Williams, the Eleventh Doctor received a call informing him that an Egyptian goddess was loose on the Orient Express in space. (TV: The Big Bang)
- It has been three weeks since Clara stormed out of the TARDIS after the incident on the Moon in 2049. (TV: Kill the Moon)
- The Doctor manipulates Clara similarly to how the Seventh Doctor once manipulated Ace into no longer believing in him in order to allow the Ancient Haemovore to kill Fenric's host body. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
- Clara's caller ID photo for the Doctor is a picture of a stick insect with a top hat. She had previously called the Doctor "a big grey-haired stick insect." (TV: Listen)
- The Seventh Doctor previously encountered trains that travel through space. (PROSE: Transit)
- The Doctor asks the Foretold "Are you my mummy?" (TV: The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Poison Sky)
- The Doctor's respiratory bypass system allows him to handle lack of oxygen considerably better than humans. (TV: The Ark in Space, Four to Doomsday, Smith and Jones, The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe)
- The Doctor has previously encountered mummies, or mummy-like beings. (TV: Pyramids of Mars, The Rings of Akhaten)
- The Doctor mentions how hard it is for someone to acquire the TARDIS telephone number. (TV: Time Heist)
- The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams previously encountered hard-light holograms. (COMIC: Spam Filtered)
- This is at least the second time the Doctor has rode a space train. The Eleventh Doctor took Amy Pond and Rory Williams on a different space-faring train than the Orient Express, the Orion Express. Unlike the Orient, it was not a nostalgic throwback and had a modern, ordinary design normal for space trains. (COMIC: Trouble on the Orion Express)
- The Doctor again considers taking on a new companion when it appears possible that Clara is about to leave him. (TV: The Caretaker)
Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
DVD & Blu-ray releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mummy on the Orient Express was released as part of the Complete Eighth Series DVD and Blu-ray boxsets in region 1/A on 9 December 2014, in region 2/B on 24 November 2014 and in region 4/B on 19 November 2014.
- It was later included in the Series 8, Part Two DVD boxset in region 1 on 13 December 2016.
Digital releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The episode was released on Google Play, iTunes and Amazon Instant Video in HD or SD, also available as part of the Series 8 digital boxset. The digital boxset contains various features: trailer, interviews, The Ultimate Companion, The Ultimate Time Lord, Inside the World Tour and Doctor Who Extra episodes for each episode.
- In the US, the series was released through digital streaming services Hulu and Netflix with a subscription.
- In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- First draft and shooting script, posted online by Jamie Mathieson.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Mummy on the Orient Express PDF first draft script
- ↑ Mummy on the Orient Express PDF shooting script
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 DWM 491
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Holmes, Jonathan (14 December 2014). https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-12-17/this-exclusive-doctor-who-series-8-concept-art-is-dark-very-dark-indeed/. RadioTimes. Retrieved on 6 November 2018.
- ↑ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iyngn/i_wrote_tonights_doctor_who_and_next_weeks_ama/cl6uv67
