Partners in Crime (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{title|''{{PAGENAME}}''}}
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{{Infobox NewTV
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image          = [[file:PartnersinCrime.png|250px]]
|image          = File:Doctor and Donna Partners in Crime.jpg
|story name      = Partners in Crime
|season number   = Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)
|series          = [[Doctor Who]] <br> [[List of Doctor Who television stories|TV stories]]
|series episode number = 1
|number         = [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]]
|story number    = 189
|story number    = 189
|doctor          = [[Tenth Doctor]]
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-4-episode-1-partners-in-crime-yellow-revisions-16102007.pdf<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20130922085854/http://www.thewriterstale.com/pdfs/Doctor%20Who%204%20Ep.1%20-%20Shooting%20Script%20-%20Yellow%20-%2016.10.07.pdf ''Partners in Crime'' PDF shooting script (archived)]</ref>
|companions      = [[Donna Noble]] (re-introduced; joins)
|doctor          = Tenth Doctor
|enemy          = [[Matron Cofelia]]<br>[[Matron Cofelia's guards]]
|companions      = [[Donna Noble|Donna]]
|setting        = <ul><li>[[London]], [[2009]]</li><li>[[Chiswick]], [[London]], [[2009]]</li></ul>
|featuring      = Sylvia Noble
|writer          = [[Russell T Davies]]
|featuring2      = Wilfred Mott{{!}}Wilf
|featuring3      = Penny Carter
|featuring4      = Rose Tyler
|enemy          = [[Matron]] [[Cofelia]]
|setting        = [[London]], [[2009]]
|writer          = Russell T Davies
|director        = [[James Strong]]
|director        = [[James Strong]]
|producer        = [[Phil Collinson]]
|producer        = [[Phil Collinson]]
|confidential=[[A Noble Return]]
|confidential   = A Noble Return (CON episode)
|broadcast date  = [[5th April]] [[2008]]
|broadcast date  = 5 April 2008
|network        = BBC One
|format          = 1x50-minute episode
|format          = 1x50-minute episode
|production code = 4.1
|production code = 4.1
|previous story  = [[Voyage of the Damned]]
|series          = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|next story     = [[The Fires of Pompeii]]
|prev            = Voyage of the Damned (TV story)
}}'''''Partners in Crime''''' was the first episode of the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|fourth series]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It marked the reappearance of [[Catherine Tate]] as new regular companion [[Donna Noble]]. It also saw [[Sylvia Noble]] and [[Wilfred Mott]] return as Donna's family and [[Rose Tyler]] make a cameo appearance.
|next           = The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)
|made prev      = The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)
|made next      = The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)
|clip            = The Doctor and Donna discover the Adipose - Doctor Who - Partners in Crime - Series 4 - BBC
|clip2          = The Adipose return home - Doctor Who - Partners in Crime - Series 4 - BBC
|bts            = Behind the Reunion - Doctor Who Confidential- Series 4 - Doctor Who
}}
'''''Partners in Crime''''' was the first episode of [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 4]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
 
It saw [[Sylvia Noble]] and [[Wilfred Mott]] return, as Donna's family. Donna's father [[Geoff Noble]], however, was implied to have died offscreen, following the sudden passing of actor [[Howard Attfield]]. Importantly, [[Rose Tyler]] made a cameo appearance, heralding her eventual return later in the season.
 
This episode began the "Missing Planets Arc", with it being mentioned that [[Adipose 3]] had been lost.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
[[Donna Noble]] is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous [[Matron Cofelia|Miss Foster]]. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her [[Time Lord]] before the [[march of the Adipose]] begins at last?
[[Donna Noble]] is determined to find the [[Tenth Doctor]] again — even if it means braving the villainous [[Cofelia|Miss Foster]]. But when the [[alien]] threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her [[Time Lord]] before the [[March of the Adipose]] begins at last?
 
== Plot ==
[[Donna Noble]], wearing a business suit, walks down a street on the way to [[Adipose Industries]], as she is investigating them on their new [[Diet|weight-loss]] [[drug]]. Unknown to her, the [[Tenth Doctor]] is there for the exact same purpose. Both enter the Adipose offices through different entrances, and pass themselves off as employees of "[[Health and Safety]]".
 
Both the Doctor and Donna then crash a press conference held by Adipose Industries company manager [[Cofelia|Miss Foster]], Donna sitting with the [[journalist]]s and the Doctor watching from the projection booth. A science reporter, [[Penny Carter]] of ''[[The Observer]]'', asks what this drug does; Miss Foster gives them a lecture on the science of the [[pill]], and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses; Donna also takes a [[Adipose Industries pendant|pill-shaped golden pendant]] — a free gift that comes with the pills. Throughout their time at Adipose, the Doctor and Donna have multiple near-misses.
 
That night, Donna goes to the house of a woman named [[Stacy Campbell]], who is preparing to go out on a date to dump [[Stacy Campbell's partner|her boyfriend]] now that her weight is going down so nicely — "I can do better than him now!" Meanwhile, the Doctor interviews another valued customer, [[Roger Davey]], about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that he knows he's lost a kilo of weight every night by 1:10 AM — that's when he's always woken up by his burglar alarm. The Doctor [[deduce]]s that this is because of his [[cat flap]]. Not only does it let things in, it lets them ''out'' too. As the Adipose slogan goes, "The [[fat]] just walks away..."
 
[[File:Stacey campbell.jpg|thumb|Stacey sees how the fat goes away.]]
Stacy goes to the [[bathroom]], and Donna begins fiddling with her pendant; the result is that a [[humanoid]] [[Adipose|cute and tubby piece of fat]] forces itself out of Stacy's body. Donna, oblivious to what is occurring, then begins to investigate what's going on upstairs. Miss Foster is alerted that there has been an "unscheduled [[parthenogenesis]]", and sends out a squad team to retrieve the new Adipose children. The Doctor is also alerted of the "birth" via a [[Y-shaped hand-held device]] and runs off down the street to track it. Once Stacy witnesses the Adipose child, Miss Foster activates "full parthenogenesis", and Stacy's entire body is converted into numerous Adipose, leaving nothing but her clothing behind.
 
Donna, who is now upstairs due to Stacy's screams, breaks into her bathroom just in time to see an Adipose ''waving'' to her as it jumps out the window. The Adipose Industries retrieval team scoops up the new Adipose and zooms off in their van, just missed by both the Doctor and Donna — who both give up and head off in different directions, unaware they are only a few feet away from each other. Miss Foster goes through her CCTV records with her henchmen to find out just who "borrowed" a pendant and spots her.
 
Donna cancels [[Taxi driver (Partners in Crime)|Stacy's cab]], and goes home, only to find [[Sylvia Noble|her mother]] nagging at her about her unemployment. Donna sits at the table, ignoring her, as she tries to get over what she saw. She then goes to see her grandfather [[Wilfred Mott]], who is up at the allotments [[Telescope|stargazing]]. He says she looks like he's drifting, but she replies she's waiting for the right man — the Doctor. When Wilf urges her to look for him, Donna explains she has — but that he is nowhere. She asks him to keep an eye out for [[The Doctor's TARDIS|a certain blue box]] in the sky, and give her a shout if he finds it.
 
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor is examining his readings, talking to himself for a moment before remembering that [[Martha Jones]] has gone. He stands there in silence.


==Plot==
[[File:FosterAndThePill.jpg|thumb|left|Miss Foster shows off [[Adipose pill|the pill]].]]
[[Donna Noble]] is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth Doctor]] is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking [[Matron Cofelia|Miss Foster]] what this drug does; she fails to tell her and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses.
The next day, despite protests from her mother, Donna takes the [[car]] to Adipose Industries, parking in an alleyway nearby. Shortly thereafter, the TARDIS [[materialise]]s immediately behind it. The Doctor and Donna hide in the building until after hours: the Doctor in a caretaker's cupboard and Donna in the women's [[bathroom]]. Donna even goes so far to conceal herself as to pretend she is in church when her mother calls. Miss Foster suddenly stalks into the [[toilet]]s searching for the thief — and, much to Donna's surprise and relief instead pulls out Penny Carter.


[[file:Episode1preview.JPG|250px|thumb|right|The Sinister Miss Foster]]
Penny accuses Miss Foster of faking her results. As Penny is dragged to Miss Foster's office by her guards, Donna follows, peeking through the office door. The Doctor zips to the roof, fiddles with a window-cleaning crane and drops down to the office window. He watches the same event from the other side of the room. Unable to quite see what's going on, both pop their heads up — only to spot each other. They mouth frantic questions to each other while Donna does her best to mime her answers, all the while unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office.
Donna goes to a woman named [[Stacey Campbell|Stacey Campbell's]] house while the Doctor goes and interviews a man called [[Roger Davey]] about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that his burglar alarm keeps going off at 1:10 AM. While Donna is talking to Stacey, Stacey tells Donna that she has lost a lot of weight and can't wait to dump her boyfriend. Stacey goes to the bathroom and it is at this point where Donna begins to examine the capsule-like pendant. This results in a singular [[Adipose|tubby piece of fat]] coming out of Stacey's body. Donna, oblivious to what is occurring then begins to investigate what is happening up stairs. [[Miss Foster]] is alerted that there has been an "unscheduled parthenogenesis" and sends out a squad team to retrieve the new Adipose child. The Doctor is also alerted of the 'birth' via a [[Y-shaped hand-held device]]. Miss Foster then incurs "full parthenogenesis" upon Stacey as the Adipose child had been witnessed by her, resulting in her entire body being converted into numerous Adipose, killing her instantly. Donna, who is now up stairs due to the unnerving shrieks emitted by Stacey in her last moments, breaks into her bathroom and as an Adipose waves to her it jumps out the window. Miss Foster senses it via her computer and she scans the CCTV with her henchmen only to find a reporter from earlier called [[Penny Carter]]. The Doctor senses what has happened to Stacey and runs up to her house only to find nothing there. He then runs off to the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]]. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find [[Sylvia Noble|her mother]] nagging at her so she goes off to see her grandfather [[Wilfred Mott]] who is gazing at the stars at the allotments. He tells Donna to find the right man as she talks to him about missing the trip with the Doctor. The Doctor is in the TARDIS and talks to himself about the Adipose (He is thinking he has got [[Martha Jones|Martha]] with him only he realises that he does not).


The next day Donna takes the car to Adipose industries only to be criticized by her mother because she needs the car for going out. Donna hides in the toilets until the end of the business day and the Doctor hides in a closet, to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets as Donna. Donna thinks that she has been caught but it turns out to be Penny, who is then tied up. Donna follows only to find that the Doctor is also watching Miss Foster. He spots Donna watching through the door and mouths to her and she mouths back. They are both unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office. Miss Foster asks her two henchmen to get them and they chase after Donna, but she runs up to the roof. Handily for the Doctor he was on a window cleaner's pulley; he pulls himself up to rescue Donna. As they get in, he locks the roping device with the sonic screwdriver so that he can get down. But to his surprise Miss Foster has a [[sonic pen]] with which she sends them down flying as she cuts the rope with it. Donna almost falls but the Doctor climbs up a rope and squeezes into a window. He then goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office, only to find that Penny is locked in there. He opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna.
Donna runs, while the Doctor locks the door with his [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] and raises his window-cleaning cradle to the roof, before racing to the stairs. The pair ''finally'' meet, but have to keep running and head back to the window-cleaning cradle to lower themselves down for a quick getaway as Donna explains how she had searched for the Doctor by "[looking] for trouble". However, even though the Doctor locks the pulley with his sonic screwdriver, Miss Foster has a [[sonic device]] of her own. She uses her [[sonic pen]] to cut one side of the supporting ropes, making Donna fall out and leaving her hanging to the broke rope. Before Miss Foster can cut the other one, the Doctor uses his sonic to knock the pen out of her hand and into his; he uses it to open a window below Donna and swings her inside before following after her. Intrigued that someone with advanced technology has appeared, Miss Foster heads back in with her guards to confront the Doctor.
[[file:March of the Adipose.jpg|thumb|right|The [[March of the Adipose]].]]


Miss Foster then uses a device (possibly another sonic pen) which opens a sliding door to reveal an [[Inducer]], which along with her capsule helps her to begin the birthing process of one million Adipose from her customers' bodies. Meanwhile the Doctor breaks into a secondary Inducer, hidden inside a cupboard, with his [[Sonic screwdriver]]. There he manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his capsule and attaching it to a wire connected to the Inducer. While he is doing this Donna tells the Doctor that he looks older. She also asks if he's still on his own; he replies that he had this friend called Martha but he ruined her life but she's fine, he also says that Rose is still missing. Miss Foster notices he has tried to hack into the system and increases the power to double strength on her Inducer. The Doctor realises he can't save them without a second capsule and is really upset, until Donna pulls out the capsule she took from Stacey Campbell's house from her jacket pocket. The Doctor uses this to save the people's lives. Miss Foster's plans have failed but she says that one million Adipose will have to do and calls upon the [[Nursery Ship]] to take them home. The Doctor listens to an incoming signal from the [[Adiposian First Family]] that identifies Matron Cofelia (Miss Foster's real name) as a criminal for breeding on a [[Level 5 planet]]. The Doctor and Donna run onto the rooftop to try and save Matron Cofelia. Donna suggests blowing up the Adipose, but the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he says, with arrogance, that she fancied him. He offers Matron a hand but she refuses just as the tractor beam switches off and she falls to her death; the Adipose leave the planet and zoom off into space.
Inside, the Doctor and Donna have arrived back in Miss Foster's office via the window. Out of breath from her screaming, Donna asks if she's right in thinking it's always like this with him around. The Doctor confirms with a smile and tells her it's time to run again. Donna rushes out as Penny, yells for answers; the Doctor tells her that as a reporter, she should just invent a story, which is what people in her profession are good at. He unties her via the sonic and runs out. However, Penny wastes the chance to flee by searching the office for evidence and is once more caught by Miss Foster and her guards. They tie her up again.


The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings (including a [[hat box]]) from her car (which is just a few feet from the TARDIS). The Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her, saying that he just wants a mate; she misunderstands this to mean that he wants "to mate", and says that he is just an alien streak of nothing. The misunderstanding mostly resolved, Donna then takes her car keys and puts them in a bin on Brook street, 30 yards from the corner. She then tells a girl with blonde hair to tell her mother: 'that bin there'; it turns out the girl is [[Rose Tyler]]. Donna then returns to the TARDIS, while Rose walks off down the street and disappears. Donna tells the Doctor to materialise two and a half miles "that way" to say goodbye to her Granddad; he cheers her on when they appear just above the hill from which he stargazes.
Miss Foster and her guards finally catch up with the Doctor and Donna in the main office; she notes that the Doctor must be an off-worlder due to his possession of sonic technology. The Doctor takes out the sonic pen he confiscated, noting that the design is sleeker than his sonic screwdriver. He asks for her real name, learning she is Matron Cofelia of the [[Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet]], Intergalactic Class, who has been hired by the [[Adiposian First Family]] to breed the next generation of the [[species]] from [[human]]s following the loss of [[Adipose 3|their breeding planet]]. Donna wonders how losing a planet is even possible, but Cofelia dismisses it as politics she's not interested in. Cofelia ignores both Donna's protests about Stacy Campbell's death (which she passes off as necessary to keep her presence secret; she does feel bad that using an entire person's matter makes the Adipose born from them a little ill) and the Doctor's that seeding a [[Level 5 planet]] is against [[galactic law]].


==Cast==
The Doctor decides to make a last request: does she know what happens if you use two sonic devices against each other? Cofelia hasn't a clue; ''"Nor me. Let's find out!"'' the Doctor smirks, pointing his sonic and her pen at each other and turning them on. The result is a painful sonic feedback, which stuns Cofelia and her guards. The Doctor grabs Donna's arm and pulls her away. Seeing that she cannot trap the Doctor, Cofelia fears that he might have alerted the [[Shadow Proclamation]] of her illegal actions; she decides to call the Adipose to collect the children that have been born already. Seeing that keeping her cover will not last, Cofelia activate the inducer - they're going into premature labour.
*The [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
*[[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
*[[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
*[[Matron Cofelia|Miss Foster]] - [[Sarah Lancashire]]
*[[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
*[[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
*[[Penny Carter]] - [[Verona Joseph]]
*[[Stacey Campbell]] - [[Jessica Gunning]]
*[[Roger Davey]] - [[Martin Ball]]
*[[Craig Staniland]] - [[Rachid Sabitri]]
*[[Clare Pope]] - [[Chandra Ruegg]]
*[[Suzette Chambers]] - [[Sue Kelvin]]
*[[Taxi Driver (Partners in Crime)|Taxi Driver]] - [[Jonathan Stratt]]
*[[Matron Cofelia's Guard|Miss Foster's Guard]] - [[Claudio Laurini]]


==Crew==
Down in the [[basement]], the Doctor and Donna head into the cupboard where he hid all day, which has a secondary [[inducer]] hidden in the back. He quickly uses the fact that Miss Foster had wired the building to stun her guards. Donna then admits she was a fool to turn down the Doctor's original offer to travel with him and asks if she can still come. Back in her office, Miss Foster activates the main inducer, which sends a signal to the free pendants that will trigger the Adipose birthing process in the company's one million customers, converting fat, bones and internal organs... and kill the hosts in the process.
 
[[File:March of the Adipose.jpg|thumb|left|The [[March of the Adipose]]!]]
In a [[London]] [[wine]] [[bar]], Sylvia Noble is having a girls' night out; one of them, [[Suzette Chambers]], is an Adipose customer and "[[Host body|host]]". Adipose start popping out of her, as well as out of Roger Davey back at his home. The Doctor manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his Adipose pendant and attaching it to his inducer, but Miss Foster doubles the power. The Doctor begins to panic as he finds himself unable to stop the imminent deaths of a million people, but Donna offers him just what he needs: a second pendant, to block the increased signal.
 
The second capsule overloads the system, and the Adipose clients return to normal; but ten thousand Adipose have now been born, and are now [[March of the Adipose|making their way to Adipose Industries]], causing traffic chaos throughout London. The ten thousand will have to do; the nursery is coming. As a benefit, now that the truth about the Adipose weight loss program has been revealed, it's highly unlikely that humanity will welcome the Adipose back to Earth; given that the spark of life could kill/convert them into Adipose.
 
A gigantic [[nursery ship]] arrives over London to collect the babies; while Sylvia gawps at it, Wilfred — the one who's always believed in extraterrestrial life — has his back turned towards his telescope in the other direction and his headphones on, and misses the whole thing. As it arrives, so does a signal from the [[Adiposian First Family]], which the Doctor listens to via the secondary inducer; he suddenly realises that it's no longer the humans, but Miss Foster who is now in serious trouble.
 
The Doctor and Donna run onto the rooftop to watch several [[levitation beam]]s carry the Adipose babies up to the ship. Having already seen first-hand what the Doctor can do to even children who he feels are a threat, the [[Racnoss]] children, she asks if he plans to blow the Adipose up too, but the Doctor refuses to harm them, as they're just children; they can't help where they came from. Donna openly notes that that is a marked difference from the last time they were in that situation; Martha's time with him seems to have changed him for the better. Smugly, the Doctor notes Martha fancied him; "Mad Martha that one; blind Martha; charity Martha." Donna jokes back to him.
 
A child sees them as it ascends, waving at them. They wave back as the Doctor admits that as a weight loss plan, the Adipose birthing has its merits. They see Cofelia in another beam on her way up to the nursery ship. The Doctor pleads with her to get over to the roof; the Adiposian First Family is aware that their actions are illegal, which means they need to get rid of their accomplice. Cofelia dismisses the threat because she's the nanny - but the Doctor remains worried, exclaiming, "Exactly! Mum and Dad have got the kids now - they don't need the [[nanny]] ''anymore!''" At that moment, the levitation beam carrying Miss Foster is switched off, and Miss Foster, with just enough time to realise her fate, falls to her death as the Doctor comforts a terrified Donna. Immediately afterwards, the nursery ship leaves Earth.
 
Back on the street the Doctor bins the sonic pen as Penny — still tied to a chair — flees the building, unable to cope with what's been happening; comically running off still tied up, she yells that the two of them are mad and she will report them for "madness". Donna points out, "Some people just can't take it" and then promptly drags the Doctor off to the TARDIS. Arriving in the alleyway, Donna is delighted to realise the TARDIS is parked just a few feet from her [[car]]; it's just like [[destiny]]!
 
Donna promptly starts hauling a ridiculous amount of luggage out of the car boot and shoving it into the Doctor's arms, saying she's been ready to go for ages. The Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her, saying that he just wants a mate. She misunderstands this to mean that he wants "''to'' [[sex|mate]]", saying he's just a "long streak of nothing" and exclaiming, "Well, you're not mating with ''me'', sunshine!" Once the misunderstanding is mostly resolved, Donna then calls her mum to say she's put the car keys in a certain bin for her to collect before asking a blonde girl to tell her mother, "That bin there". While Donna returns to the TARDIS, the girl, a sad-looking [[Rose Tyler]], walks off down the street and disappears into thin air...
 
For her first trip, Donna tells the Doctor she wants to go "two and a half [[mile]]s, that way". Back at the allotments, Wilf is still puttering about when he spots a certain blue box flying overhead. After first yelling for Donna, he takes a closer look through his telescope, and realises she's ''in'' the blue box, waving to him from the doorway — and so is the Doctor! He starts whooping and dancing around in delight as the TARDIS spins away into [[space]], happy she found what she was after.
 
== Cast ==
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* [[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* [[Rose Tyler]] - [[Billie Piper]]
* [[Cofelia|Miss Foster]] - [[Sarah Lancashire]]
* [[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
* [[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
* [[Penny Carter]] - [[Verona Joseph]]
* [[Stacy Campbell|Stacey Harris]] - [[Jessica Gunning]]
* [[Roger Davey]] - [[Martin Ball]]
* [[Craig Staniland]] - [[Rachid Sabitri]]
* [[Clare Pope]] - [[Chandra Ruegg]]
* [[Suzette Chambers]] - [[Sue Kelvin]]
* [[Taxi driver (Partners in Crime)|Taxi Driver]] - [[Jonathan Stratt]]
 
=== Uncredited cast ===
* Drinker - [[Jon Davey]]<ref>http://www.jondavey.com/acting.php</ref>
 
== Crew ==
{{wales crew
{{wales crew
|1stAD=James Blackwell
|1stAD=James Blackwell
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|UnitManager=Rhys Griffiths
|UnitManager=Rhys Griffiths
|AssistantUnitManager=
|AssistantUnitManager=
|ProductionManager=
|ProductionManager=Tracie Simpson
|ProductionCoOrdinator=Jess van Niekerk
|ProductionCoOrdinator=Jess van Niekerk
|AsstProductionCoOrdinator=Debi Griffiths
|AsstProductionCoOrdinator=Debi Griffiths
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|ContractsAssistant=Kath Blackman
|ContractsAssistant=Kath Blackman
|ContractsAssistant2=
|ContractsAssistant2=
|ScriptEditor=Lindsey Alfod
|ScriptEditor=Lindsey Alford
|Continuity=Non Eleri Hughes
|Continuity=Non Eleri Hughes
|CameraOperator=Rory Taylor
|CameraOperator=Rory Taylor
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|SetDecorator=Malin Lindholm
|SetDecorator=Malin Lindholm
|PropsBuyer=Catherine Samuel
|PropsBuyer=Catherine Samuel
|StandbyArtDirector=Ciaran Thompson
|StandbyArtDirector=Ciaran Thompson (crew){{!}}Ciaran Thompson
|ASupervisingArtDirector=
|ASupervisingArtDirector=
|SetDesigner=
|SetDesigner=
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|SoundEditor=  
|SoundEditor=  
|SoundEditor2=
|SoundEditor2=
|SoundEffectsEditor=Paul Jefferies
|SoundFXEditor=Paul Jefferies
|ModelUnitSupervisor=
|ModelUnitSupervisor=
|ModelUnitDOP=
|ModelUnitDOP=
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|RightsExecutive=
|RightsExecutive=
|FinanceManager=Chris Rogers
|FinanceManager=Chris Rogers
|VisualFXProducer=
|VisualFXProducer=Will Cohen
|VisualFXProducer2=
|VisualFXProducer2=Marie Jones
|VisualFXSupervisor=
|VisualFXSupervisor=Dave Houghton
|VisualFXSupervisor2=
|VisualFXSupervisor2=
|Thanks=
|Thanks=
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|Make-upDesigner=Barbara Southcott
|Make-upDesigner=Barbara Southcott
|VisualEffects=The Mill
|VisualEffects=The Mill
|VisualFXProducer=Will Cohen
|VisualFXProducer2=Marie Jones
|VisualFXSupervisor=Dave Houghton
|VisualFXSupervisor2=
|SpecialEffects=Any Effects
|SpecialEffects=Any Effects
|Prosthetics=Millennium FX
|Prosthetics=Millennium FX
|Music=Murray Gold
|Music=Murray Gold
|Editor=Mike Jones
|Editor=Mike Jones (editor)
|ProductionDesigner=Edward Thomas
|ProductionDesigner=Edward Thomas
|DOP=Ernie Vincze BSC
|DOP=Ernie Vincze BSC
|ProductionManager=Tracie Simpson
|LineProducer=
|LineProducer=
|AssociateProducer=
|AssociateProducer=
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}}
}}


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
===[[:Category:Individuals|Individuals]]===
=== Individuals ===
*The Doctor mentions [[Martha Jones]] and Donna makes remarks about her. [[Rose Tyler]] is also described by [[the Doctor]] as "still lost."
* The Doctor says he destroyed half of [[Martha Jones]]' life after she travelled with him and eventually left.
*This is the first time that Donna and the Doctor were mistaken to be married (other times after include ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Ood]]'').
* Donna leaves her car keys in a bin on [[Brook Street]].
===[[:Category:Races and species|Races and species]]===
* Rose Tyler suddenly appears back in [[The Doctor's World]], looks around for the Doctor, and then [[teleport]]s back to [[Pete's World]].
*Donna told the Doctor about [[bee (race)|bees]] disappearing; this seems inspired by [[wikipedia:colony collapse disorder|colony collapse disorder]].
* Wilf listens to "[[Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa]]".
*The Doctor references the [[Sisters of Plenitude]] he met on [[New Earth (planet)|New Earth]] when the adipose customer he visits mentions he is not a "cat person." ([[DW]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'')
* Donna has been investigating [[sea monster]]s.
===[[:Category:Organisations|Organisations]]===
* [[Colin Stretton]], [[Ciaran Thompson]], [[Melanie Darforth]] and [[Ellen Highbury]] are customers of Adipose Industries.
*The [[Shadow Proclamation]] is mentioned. They were previously mentioned in ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'', ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'' and ''[[Fear Her]]''.
 
===[[:Category:Devices|Devices]]===
=== Devices ===
*An [[ATMOS]] sticker appears on the taxi. ATMOS are devices that appear in ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]''.
* The Doctor uses a [[stethoscope]] to listen at the window of [[Adipose Industries]].
===[[:Category:Events|Events]]===
* Miss Foster has a [[sonic pen]]. Although it allows him to bypass [[deadlock seal]]s when used in conjunction with [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver|his sonic screwdriver]], the Doctor does not appreciate this device at all and deposits it into the trash.
*Donna refers to the [[Titanic (spaceship)|Starship Titanic]] (from [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]''), saying it must have been a hoax.
 
*Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances the last time they encountered each other, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the [[Racnoss]] children. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'')
=== Organisations ===
* The Doctor and Donna pretend to be from [[Health and Safety]].
* The [[Collection Squad]] is part of Adipose Industries.
 
=== Planets ===
* According to Wilf, [[Venus]] is the only planet in the [[solar system]] named after a woman.
* Donna says she's ready for a hypothetical [[Planet of the Hats]] after giving the Doctor a [[hat box]] to put in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]].
 
=== Places ===
* Donna attempted to take a vacation to [[Egypt]].
* Veena visited [[Bahrain]].
* Roger lives on [[Candleford Street]].


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==
*Some reports stated this episode was called '''Partners in Time'''.
* This episode is dedicated to [[Howard Attfield]], who passed away shortly after filming scenes for this episode reprising the role of Donna's father, [[Geoff Noble]]. As Geoff was to have been a recurring character in the season, the producers chose to remove Attfield's scenes and bring back [[Bernard Cribbins]] to play [[Wilfred Mott]], the character he played in ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]''. The character was retconned to become Donna's grandfather and renamed Wilf; although he was unnamed on screen, the character was called "Stan" in the scripts for ''Voyage of the Damned''. Attfield's scenes were preserved and included on the subsequent Series 4 DVD release.
*This episode is dedicated to [[Howard Attfield]], who passed away shortly after filming scenes for this episode reprising the role of Donna's father, [[Geoff Noble]]. As Geoff was to have been a recurring character in the season, the producers chose to remove Attfield's scenes and bring back [[Bernard Cribbins]] to play [[Wilfred Mott]], the character he played in ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]''; the character was retconned to become Donna's grandfather. Attfield's scenes were preserved and included on the subsequent Series 4 DVD release.
* According to his memoir ''[[The Writer's Tale]]'', [[Russell T Davies]] originally planned to introduce a new companion named Penny Carter in this episode, who he describes as 30-something, recently jilted by a boyfriend, and strong-willed in the vein of Donna Noble. When [[Catherine Tate]] became interested in reprising her role as Donna this idea was dropped, although a minor character in the episode, the journalist, was given the name Penny Carter.
*According to his memoir ''[[The Writer's Tale]]'', Russell T Davies originally planned to introduce a new companion named Penny Carter in this episode, who he describes as 30-something, recently jilted by a boyfriend, and strong-willed in the vein of Donna Noble. When it was decided to bring Donna back, this idea was dropped, although a minor character in the episode (the journalist) was given the name Penny Carter.
* This episode was broadcast at the earlier timeslot of 6.20. TV listings gave it a fifty-minute time slot rather than forty-five, stating that it would be shown from 6.20 to 7.10. The actual episode clocks in at just under 49 minutes.{{fact}}
*This episode is broadcast much earlier at a 6.20 timeslot. It is also fifty minutes long rather than forty five, as the TV listings state it is from 6.20 to 7.10.
* A certain shot shows an army of [[Adipose]] in the streets of [[London]]. This was extremely complex and took the series' CGI team, The Mill, more time to complete than most shots used for the series. They used the software called {{w|Massive (software)|Massive}}, which was created and used by {{w|Weta Digital}}, who created all CGI for ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings.]]''{{fact}}
*A certain shot shows an army of [[Adipose]] in the streets of [[London]], this was extremely complex and took the CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete. They used the software called [[Wikipedia:Massive (software)|Massive]], which was created and used by [[Wikipedia:Weta Digital|Weta Digital]], who created all CGI for the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.
* A scene was shown the day before airing on [[GM-TV|GMTV]] showing the Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her [[sonic pen]].{{fact}}
*A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV, showing The Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her [[sonic pen]].
* The planet [[Adipose 3]] is the first of the missing planets mentioned in this series. The mystery is solved in ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]''.
*Pointing the functioning ends of a [[sonic screwdriver]] and a [[sonic pen]] at one another (or, as the Doctor put it, "two identical sonic devices") creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area.
* The scene with Rose was actually shot along with her scenes in ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]''. It was removed from the episode when it was shown to the media. According to an interview in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #396, the positive reaction to [[Billie Piper]]'s surprise cameo (which was successfully telecast without any pre-broadcast revelation in the media thanks to this sleight-of-hand) led [[Russell T Davies]] to add a third surprise appearance by Rose to ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'', in addition to one already planned and filmed for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'' (the ''Midnight'' footage was reused). Rose's return wasn't a ''complete'' surprise, however; besides media coverage of her return, a clip of Rose from ''Turn Left'' had also been included in the official Series 4 theatrical trailer several weeks earlier.
*The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'' and ''[[Gridlock]]'', or during ''[[Survival]]''.
* Miss Foster mentions the Doctor warning the [[Shadow Proclamation]] about her illegal activities, suggesting that they are an organisation rather than just a treaty; this was confirmed in ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]''.
*In [[The Fires of Pompeii]] the planet [[Pyrovillia]] also has gone missing similiar to the [[Adipose Breeding Planet]].''Important in [[The Stolen Earth]]''
* The window cleaner cradle scene was intended for use in ''[[Smith and Jones (TV story)|Smith and Jones]]'' but was cut and used here instead. In the first draft, the initial confrontation between the Doctor, Donna and Miss Foster was to have happened in the cradle, but budgetary and logistics problems meant the scene was moved to the sales cubicles area (and the Doctor's "sonic screwdriver plus sonic pen equals massive sonic feedback" diversion added).{{fact}}
*The scene with Rose was actually shot along with her scenes in ''[[Turn Left]]''. It was removed from the episode when it was shown to the media. According to an interview in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #396, the positive reaction to Piper's surprise cameo (which was successfully telecast without any pre-broadcast revelation in the media thanks to the earlier slight-of-hand) led Davies to add a third surprise appearance by Rose to ''[[The Poison Sky]]'', in addition to one already planned and filmed for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'' (the ''Midnight'' footage was reused). Rose's return wasn't a complete surprise; besides media coverage of her return, a clip of Rose from ''Turn Left'' had also been included in the official Series 4 theatrical trailer several weeks earlier.
* The Adipose developed from [[Russell T Davies]]'s idea that alien genetics were hidden in doses of a Botox-like drug, resulting in the people injected being overwhelmed by the genetic code and transforming into aliens; in his ''[[The Writer's Tale|Writer's Tale]]'' he describes it as "Ladies Who Lunch/Lurch" (one of his cartoons included in the book shows his take on the idea).
*Miss Foster mentions The Doctor warning the [[Shadow Proclamation]], suggesting that they are an organization rather than just a treaty (''confirmed in [[The Stolen Earth]]'')
* This was the last episode until [[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|the 50th-anniversary special]] not to include a pre-credits sequence.
*The window cleaner cradle scene was intended for use in [[Smith and Jones]] but was cut and used here instead.
*  According to the DVD commentary, additional material for the episode, namely the reshoots featuring [[Bernard Cribbins]] in place of [[Howard Attfield]] and Rose's cameo at the end, was directed, uncredited, by [[Graeme Harper]].
*The original idea for this story was to have alien genetics hidden in Botox doses, resulting in the people injected being overwhelmed by the genetic code, and transforming into aliens. A similar plot was later used in ''[[The Vampires of Venice]]''.
* This episode features the first reference to disappearing bees, which is explained in ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]''. Although intended as a storyline reference, this is actually {{w|Colony collapse disorder|a real-life concern}}.
* Miss Foster was originally called Miss Rattigan. It was changed because [[Russell T Davies]] felt that it better encapsulated her motherly role. The surname Rattigan would later be used in ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]''.{{fact}}
* [[Russell T Davies]] considered setting the story in suburban London, with a spaceship sealing off a section of the city under an enormous dome while an alien was hunted through the streets. The dome aspect was dropped because it was used in ''[[The Simpsons|The Simpsons Movie]]''.{{fact}}
* When it was clear that [[Howard Attfield]] would be unable to be in the episode, [[Russell T Davies]] considered writing his character's death into the story arc, with Donna becoming a stronger person after dealing with the loss of her father.{{fact}}
* The word "adipose" is the scientific term for body fat.
* At one point, the story was set in a dilapidated old house that would hide a portal to another planet which had been overrun with vicious, dog-like Vorlax. The last survivors of this world had opened the portal to Earth in order to rid their world of the invaders.{{fact}}
* The music heard during Rose's appearance derives from her previous appearance in ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]''.
* For the scene where the Doctor and Donna are reunited on either side of soundproof glass and thus have to mime their conversation, the script gave the lines they wanted Donna to mime (''Donna does a little mime: "I came here, trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Looked. You. Cos they..."''). [[Catherine Tate]] said that [[Russell T Davies]] had suggested that she might come up with something on the day. She improvised her mime during filming.
* Originally, [[Colin Teague]] was supposed to direct as part of the third production block opposite ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]].'' Complications with that episode led to it forming the block on its own, with this episode being made as part of Block Four and [[James Strong]] assigned.{{fact}}
* The only location work outside Cardiff came when Picture Finance in Newport provided not only an area with sales cubicles, but also staffmembers to serve as extras in these scenes.{{fact}}
* The Adipose were inspired by a stuffed toy [[Russell T Davies]] owned. Ironically, they would later become a plush toy. He later joked that he lost a fortune by licensing them under a BBC contract.{{fact}}
* The scene of the Doctor meeting Donna on the stairwell had to be remounted due to a lighting problem which had afflicted the original version.{{fact}}
* The scene where Donna and the Doctor investigate Adipose was difficult to film. The scene took thirty shots to complete, and [[David Tennant]] and [[Catherine Tate]] experienced problems avoiding each other on-screen.{{fact}}
* For health and safety reasons, [[David Tennant]] was prohibited from performing his own stunts in the window cleaning platform. His only shot that required stunts was when he catches Miss Foster's sonic pen, a shot that took several takes to perfect.{{fact}}
* As the episode mostly takes place at night, many scenes were filmed in the early morning.{{fact}}
* Further consultation with [[the Mill]] resulted in the ears and the single fang each Adipose has.{{fact}}
* Had Penny Carter been introduced as the companion in this episode, she and her mother would have been driving to visit her grandfather when they became trapped under a giant dome of alien origin. She would have been faced with the seemingly innocuous choice of turning left or right at a t-junction. The plan was to explore the alternative timeline in ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]''.{{fact}}
* Wilf originally led a team of pensioners who formed a neighbourhood watch for alien activity. This idea would later appear in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]''.


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
*9.1 million viewers
* 9.14 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 and rumours ===
*It was rumoured that Miss Foster was [[The Rani]]. ''This turned out to be false''
* It was rumoured that Miss Foster was actually [[the Rani]]. ''This turned out to be false.''
*It was rumoured that Rose would appear. ''This was true''
* It was rumoured that Rose would appear. ''This was true.''


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
====Studio====
==== Studio ====
*Upper Boat Studios, Treforrest
* Upper Boat Studios, Treforrest
====Location====
*Waterloo Gardens, Cardiff
*Glan Rhymni, Tremorfa
*Grange Well Park, Cardiff Bay
*Odeon Cinema, Cardiff Bay
*British Gas Building, Cardiff
*Dominions Arcade, Cardiff
*Picture Finance, Newport
*Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
*Crockherbtown Lane, Cardiff
*Bar Icon, Cardiff
*Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
*Kings Way, Cardiff
*Fat Cats Restaurant, Cardiff
*Tiger Tiger, Cardiff
*Scott Road, Cardiff
*Grangemoor Park, Cardiff
*Franklen Road, Cardiff


===Production errors===
==== Location ====
* Waterloo Gardens, Cardiff
* Glan Rhymni, Tremorfa
* Grange Well Park, Cardiff Bay
* Odeon Cinema, Cardiff Bay
* British Gas Building, Cardiff
* Dominions Arcade, Cardiff
* Picture Finance, Newport
* Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
* Crockherbtown Lane, Cardiff
* Bar Icon, Cardiff
* Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
* Kings Way, Cardiff
* Fat Cats Restaurant, Cardiff
* Tiger Tiger, Cardiff
* Scott Road, Cardiff
* Grangemoor Park, Cardiff
* Franklen Road, Cardiff
 
=== Production errors ===
{{Discontinuity}}
{{Discontinuity}}
*In every scene Miss Foster's guards change position.
* In every scene Miss Foster's guards change position.
*When the Doctor and Donna are in the cradle, Miss Foster is seen cutting the cable on the right (the Doctor's side). However, the cable on the left (Donna's side) is the one that snaps. This mistake is confirmed a few moments later; when Miss Foster says 'Now for the other one', she moves over to the cable on the left, which has clearly already snapped.
* When the Doctor and Donna are in the cradle, Miss Foster is seen cutting the cable on the right, the Doctor's side. However, the cable on the left, Donna's side is the one that snaps. This mistake is confirmed a few moments later; when Miss Foster says, "Now for the other one", she moves over to the cable on the left, which has clearly already snapped. This is realised in the episode commentary.
*When the Doctor is erecting a sonic cage around the cradle controls, he puts the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, with the emitter facing to his left. When he turns to look at Donna briefly and takes it out of his mouth, the emitter is facing to his right.
* When the Doctor is erecting a sonic cage around the cradle controls, he puts the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, with the emitter facing to his left. When he turns to look at Donna briefly and takes it out of his mouth, the emitter is facing to his right.
*At 17.21 the numberplate of the Noble family's car is YD55YHG. However, when Donna collects her bags from the car at 43.01 it has the numberplate LN54VKR.
* At 17.21 the numberplate of the Noble family's car is YD55VHG. However, when Donna collects her bags from the car at 43.01 it has the numberplate LN54VKR.
*In the scene with The Doctor and Donna outside the TARDIS, the rain in the alleyway stops and starts every time the angle changes.
* In the scene with the Doctor and Donna outside the TARDIS, the rain in the alleyway stops and starts every time the angle changes. ''The production team had some difficulty filming this sequence due to both the weather (filming had to be rescheduled due to rain), and then a very noisy nightclub nearby, as related by Russell T Davies in ''[[The Writer's Tale]].
* Miss Foster places an Adipose on her desk, but in the next shot, it's gone.
* When the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver and sonic pen in conjunction to incapacitate Miss Foster and her guards with the feedback, the sonic pen's emitter is shown to be closed, then in the closeup, it is extended, before being shown closed in the next shot.
* The electrocuted guards start reacting to having been electrocuted before any electricity is shown to be generated.
* The electrocuted guards disappear.
* [[Stacy Campbell]]'s name is clearly visible onscreen among other clients of [[Adipose Industries]], and confirmed by Donna when she asks Stacy's full name, but the end credits refer to her as "Stacey Harris".
* In the Adipose Industries toilets, a poster on the wall states that "[[De Rossi's Wine Bar]] is dedicated to keeping these facilities clean at all times" and goes on to say that "we check our facilities at regular intervals". Against all other evidence, this would imply that the scene is taking place at De Rossi's Wine Bar. It would also suggest that a scene was to originally be set in the toilets of the Wine Bar.


==Continuity==
=== Influences ===
*Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in [[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'', but accepted this time.
*The Doctor and Donna missing each other by a fraction resembles the [[First Doctor]] and [[Vicki Pallister]] missing [[Barbara Wright]] and [[Ian Chesterton]] while in [[Rome]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Romans]]'')
*Wilfred Mott, Donna's grandfather, appeared in [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' as the newspaper dealer.
*This is the first episode since [[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'' in which Rose Tyler appeared as a present character.
*The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver (or, as the Doctor put it, "two identical sonic devices") at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in [[TW]]: ''[[Fragments]]''.
*This is the first reference to disappearing bees (which is explained in [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]''). Although intended as a storyline reference, this is actually [[Wikipedia:Colony collapse disorder|a real-life concern]].
*On one of the taxis there is an ATMOS sticker on the windscreen. This will crop up again in [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' / ''[[The Poison Sky]]''.
*In [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'', sixty million Americans are converted into fat. Adipose Industries had targeted the United States rather than London since it no longer existed, having been destroyed when the Titanic crashed, and the entire South of England was flooded by radiation.
* Humanoid [[Catkind]] are mentioned.
* A catflap is examined as a method of either ingress or egress for a sneaky alien threat, just as it had been in [[DW]]:&nbsp;''[[Rose_(TV_story)|Rose]]''.


==[[Tenth Doctor - Timeline|Timeline]]==
* [[Russell T Davies]] based the character of Miss Foster on {{wi|Supernanny}} star {{w|Jo Frost}} and Argentine philanthropist and politician {{w|Eva Perón}}, and [[Sarah Lancashire]] compared her character to [[Mary Poppins]].
*This story takes place after [[DWBIT]]: ''[[The Creative Spark]]''
* Davies's brief outlined a "cute" child-friendly creature shaped like a block of lard, similar to the {{w|Pillsbury Doughboy}}.
*This story takes place before [[DW]]: ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]''


== Home video releases==
== Continuity ==
[[file:Bbcdvd-s4-v1.jpg|thumb|120px|Series 4 Volume 1 DVD Cover]]
* Donna and the Doctor refer in many instances to the last time they encountered each other, including the Doctor drowning the [[Racnoss]] children. Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him then, but regrets the decision and accepts this time. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'')
*Released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] DVD boxset in [[November]] [[2008]] along with the rest of the Series.
* The Doctor mentions how [[Rose Tyler]] is still lost, ([[TV]]: ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'') and how his most recent companion [[Martha Jones]] suffered while adventuring with him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'')
*Released as Series 4 Volume 1 in a vanilla edition alongside [[The Fires of Pompeii]] and [[Planet of the Ood]]
* The Doctor and Donna constantly missing each other by a fraction resembles the [[First Doctor]] and [[Vicki Pallister|Vicki]] constantly missing [[Barbara Wright]] and [[Ian Chesterton]] while in [[Rome]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Romans (TV story)|The Romans]]'')
* [[Rose Tyler]] appears, briefly returning from [[Pete's World|the parallel universe]] in which she was locked. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'')
* The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver or, as the Doctor put it, "two identical sonic devices", at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device constructed by [[Toshiko Sato]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'') This trick was also done by the [[Fourth Doctor]] and the [[Eighth Doctor]] to enter [[The Master's TARDIS]] when trapped in a pocket dimension ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]])''
* Reference is made to disappearing bees and a missing planet. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'')
* One of the taxis has an [[ATMOS]] sticker on the windscreen. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' / ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'')
* In [[parallel world (Turn Left)|a parallel world]], sixty million Americans were converted into fat. Adipose Industries had targeted the United States rather than London, as the city had been destroyed and the entire South of England flooded by radiation when the ''[[Titanic (Turn Left)|Titanic]]'' crashed. ([[TV]]: ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'')
* [[Roger Davey]] says he is not a [[cat]] person, which makes the Doctor reflect on his past encounters with "[[Catkind|cat people]]". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Fairy Tale of New New York (short story)|Fairy Tale of New New York]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'', ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'', ''[[Gridlock (TV story)|Gridlock]]'')
* A catflap is examined as a method of either entry or exit for an alien threat. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'')
* The [[Shadow Proclamation]] is mentioned. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'', ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'', ''[[Fear Her (TV story)|Fear Her]]'') The Doctor will later take Donna to meet them. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'')
* Donna refers to the [[Titanic (spaceship)|''Titanic'' replica]] over [[Buckingham Palace]], saying it must have been a hoax. ([[TV]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'')
* Donna and the Doctor's mimed reunion echoes a similar situation involving the [[Third Doctor]] and [[Jo Grant]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sea Devils (TV story)|The Sea Devils]]'')


[[fr:Partners in Crime]]
== Home video releases ==
 
=== DVD releases ===
 
* Series 4, Volume One was released on DVD in region 2/B on 2 June 2008 and region 4 on 7 Agust 2008. The volume features ''Partners in Crime'', ''The Fires of Pompeii'' and ''Planet of the Ood''.
* The episode was later released in the Complete Fourth Series DVD boxset, in region 1 on 18 November 2008, in region 2 on 17 November 2008 and in region 4 on 4 December 2008.
* The collection Series 4, Part One, containing the first six episodes of the series, was released in region 1 on 5 August 2014
 
=== Blu-ray releases ===
 
* ''Partners in Crime'' was first released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom as part of the Complete Series 1-7 boxset on 4 December 2013, then in the Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray on 31 August 2015.
* In the US, it was released on 5 December 2013 as part of the Complete Series 1-7 boxset.
* In Australia, the series was released individually on 4 December 2013.
 
=== Digital releases ===
 
* In the United Kingdom, this story is available on [[BBC iPlayer]].
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:The Complete David Tennant Years Region 1 US DVD cover.jpg|The Complete David Tennant Years DVD<br />Region 1 US cover
File:Bbcdvd-s4-v1.jpg|thumb|Series 4 Volume 1 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:Bbcdvd-series1234567.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven'' Blu-ray box-set
</gallery>
 
== External links ==
{{dwrefguide|who_tv33.htm|Partners in Crime}}
* {{whoniverse|s04_01|Partners in Crime}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/2008a.html|Partners in Crime}}
* {{locguide|partnersincrime|Partners in Crime}}
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20110809114614/http://www.thewriterstale.com/scr.html Original script] (archived), posted online by [[Russell T Davies]] in conjunction with the release of his book [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]''.


==External links==
== Footnotes ==
*[http://www.thewriterstale.com/scr.html Original script], posted online by [[Russell T Davies]] in conjunction with the release of his book [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]''.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Missing Planets arc]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009]]
[[Category:Series 4 (Doctor Who) stories]]
[[Category:Series 4 (Doctor Who) stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Chiswick]]
[[Category:Stories set in Chiswick]]
[[Category:Adipose television stories]]
[[Category:Television stories that use Murray Gold's 2nd main theme]]
[[Category:The Doctors and Monsters, Aliens, Robots stories]]
[[fr:Partners in Crime]]
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[[pt:Partners in Crime]]

Latest revision as of 10:29, 4 September 2024

RealWorld.png

Partners in Crime was the first episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It saw Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott return, as Donna's family. Donna's father Geoff Noble, however, was implied to have died offscreen, following the sudden passing of actor Howard Attfield. Importantly, Rose Tyler made a cameo appearance, heralding her eventual return later in the season.

This episode began the "Missing Planets Arc", with it being mentioned that Adipose 3 had been lost.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Donna Noble is determined to find the Tenth Doctor again — even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the March of the Adipose begins at last?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Donna Noble, wearing a business suit, walks down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their new weight-loss drug. Unknown to her, the Tenth Doctor is there for the exact same purpose. Both enter the Adipose offices through different entrances, and pass themselves off as employees of "Health and Safety".

Both the Doctor and Donna then crash a press conference held by Adipose Industries company manager Miss Foster, Donna sitting with the journalists and the Doctor watching from the projection booth. A science reporter, Penny Carter of The Observer, asks what this drug does; Miss Foster gives them a lecture on the science of the pill, and the meeting ends. The Doctor and Donna ask different employees for customer addresses; Donna also takes a pill-shaped golden pendant — a free gift that comes with the pills. Throughout their time at Adipose, the Doctor and Donna have multiple near-misses.

That night, Donna goes to the house of a woman named Stacy Campbell, who is preparing to go out on a date to dump her boyfriend now that her weight is going down so nicely — "I can do better than him now!" Meanwhile, the Doctor interviews another valued customer, Roger Davey, about his use of the drug. Roger tells the Doctor that he knows he's lost a kilo of weight every night by 1:10 AM — that's when he's always woken up by his burglar alarm. The Doctor deduces that this is because of his cat flap. Not only does it let things in, it lets them out too. As the Adipose slogan goes, "The fat just walks away..."

Stacey sees how the fat goes away.

Stacy goes to the bathroom, and Donna begins fiddling with her pendant; the result is that a humanoid cute and tubby piece of fat forces itself out of Stacy's body. Donna, oblivious to what is occurring, then begins to investigate what's going on upstairs. Miss Foster is alerted that there has been an "unscheduled parthenogenesis", and sends out a squad team to retrieve the new Adipose children. The Doctor is also alerted of the "birth" via a Y-shaped hand-held device and runs off down the street to track it. Once Stacy witnesses the Adipose child, Miss Foster activates "full parthenogenesis", and Stacy's entire body is converted into numerous Adipose, leaving nothing but her clothing behind.

Donna, who is now upstairs due to Stacy's screams, breaks into her bathroom just in time to see an Adipose waving to her as it jumps out the window. The Adipose Industries retrieval team scoops up the new Adipose and zooms off in their van, just missed by both the Doctor and Donna — who both give up and head off in different directions, unaware they are only a few feet away from each other. Miss Foster goes through her CCTV records with her henchmen to find out just who "borrowed" a pendant and spots her.

Donna cancels Stacy's cab, and goes home, only to find her mother nagging at her about her unemployment. Donna sits at the table, ignoring her, as she tries to get over what she saw. She then goes to see her grandfather Wilfred Mott, who is up at the allotments stargazing. He says she looks like he's drifting, but she replies she's waiting for the right man — the Doctor. When Wilf urges her to look for him, Donna explains she has — but that he is nowhere. She asks him to keep an eye out for a certain blue box in the sky, and give her a shout if he finds it.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor is examining his readings, talking to himself for a moment before remembering that Martha Jones has gone. He stands there in silence.

Miss Foster shows off the pill.

The next day, despite protests from her mother, Donna takes the car to Adipose Industries, parking in an alleyway nearby. Shortly thereafter, the TARDIS materialises immediately behind it. The Doctor and Donna hide in the building until after hours: the Doctor in a caretaker's cupboard and Donna in the women's bathroom. Donna even goes so far to conceal herself as to pretend she is in church when her mother calls. Miss Foster suddenly stalks into the toilets searching for the thief — and, much to Donna's surprise and relief instead pulls out Penny Carter.

Penny accuses Miss Foster of faking her results. As Penny is dragged to Miss Foster's office by her guards, Donna follows, peeking through the office door. The Doctor zips to the roof, fiddles with a window-cleaning crane and drops down to the office window. He watches the same event from the other side of the room. Unable to quite see what's going on, both pop their heads up — only to spot each other. They mouth frantic questions to each other while Donna does her best to mime her answers, all the while unaware that they are being watched by Miss Foster and everybody in her office.

Donna runs, while the Doctor locks the door with his sonic screwdriver and raises his window-cleaning cradle to the roof, before racing to the stairs. The pair finally meet, but have to keep running and head back to the window-cleaning cradle to lower themselves down for a quick getaway as Donna explains how she had searched for the Doctor by "[looking] for trouble". However, even though the Doctor locks the pulley with his sonic screwdriver, Miss Foster has a sonic device of her own. She uses her sonic pen to cut one side of the supporting ropes, making Donna fall out and leaving her hanging to the broke rope. Before Miss Foster can cut the other one, the Doctor uses his sonic to knock the pen out of her hand and into his; he uses it to open a window below Donna and swings her inside before following after her. Intrigued that someone with advanced technology has appeared, Miss Foster heads back in with her guards to confront the Doctor.

Inside, the Doctor and Donna have arrived back in Miss Foster's office via the window. Out of breath from her screaming, Donna asks if she's right in thinking it's always like this with him around. The Doctor confirms with a smile and tells her it's time to run again. Donna rushes out as Penny, yells for answers; the Doctor tells her that as a reporter, she should just invent a story, which is what people in her profession are good at. He unties her via the sonic and runs out. However, Penny wastes the chance to flee by searching the office for evidence and is once more caught by Miss Foster and her guards. They tie her up again.

Miss Foster and her guards finally catch up with the Doctor and Donna in the main office; she notes that the Doctor must be an off-worlder due to his possession of sonic technology. The Doctor takes out the sonic pen he confiscated, noting that the design is sleeker than his sonic screwdriver. He asks for her real name, learning she is Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class, who has been hired by the Adiposian First Family to breed the next generation of the species from humans following the loss of their breeding planet. Donna wonders how losing a planet is even possible, but Cofelia dismisses it as politics she's not interested in. Cofelia ignores both Donna's protests about Stacy Campbell's death (which she passes off as necessary to keep her presence secret; she does feel bad that using an entire person's matter makes the Adipose born from them a little ill) and the Doctor's that seeding a Level 5 planet is against galactic law.

The Doctor decides to make a last request: does she know what happens if you use two sonic devices against each other? Cofelia hasn't a clue; "Nor me. Let's find out!" the Doctor smirks, pointing his sonic and her pen at each other and turning them on. The result is a painful sonic feedback, which stuns Cofelia and her guards. The Doctor grabs Donna's arm and pulls her away. Seeing that she cannot trap the Doctor, Cofelia fears that he might have alerted the Shadow Proclamation of her illegal actions; she decides to call the Adipose to collect the children that have been born already. Seeing that keeping her cover will not last, Cofelia activate the inducer - they're going into premature labour.

Down in the basement, the Doctor and Donna head into the cupboard where he hid all day, which has a secondary inducer hidden in the back. He quickly uses the fact that Miss Foster had wired the building to stun her guards. Donna then admits she was a fool to turn down the Doctor's original offer to travel with him and asks if she can still come. Back in her office, Miss Foster activates the main inducer, which sends a signal to the free pendants that will trigger the Adipose birthing process in the company's one million customers, converting fat, bones and internal organs... and kill the hosts in the process.

The March of the Adipose!

In a London wine bar, Sylvia Noble is having a girls' night out; one of them, Suzette Chambers, is an Adipose customer and "host". Adipose start popping out of her, as well as out of Roger Davey back at his home. The Doctor manages to temporarily disable the process by unscrewing his Adipose pendant and attaching it to his inducer, but Miss Foster doubles the power. The Doctor begins to panic as he finds himself unable to stop the imminent deaths of a million people, but Donna offers him just what he needs: a second pendant, to block the increased signal.

The second capsule overloads the system, and the Adipose clients return to normal; but ten thousand Adipose have now been born, and are now making their way to Adipose Industries, causing traffic chaos throughout London. The ten thousand will have to do; the nursery is coming. As a benefit, now that the truth about the Adipose weight loss program has been revealed, it's highly unlikely that humanity will welcome the Adipose back to Earth; given that the spark of life could kill/convert them into Adipose.

A gigantic nursery ship arrives over London to collect the babies; while Sylvia gawps at it, Wilfred — the one who's always believed in extraterrestrial life — has his back turned towards his telescope in the other direction and his headphones on, and misses the whole thing. As it arrives, so does a signal from the Adiposian First Family, which the Doctor listens to via the secondary inducer; he suddenly realises that it's no longer the humans, but Miss Foster who is now in serious trouble.

The Doctor and Donna run onto the rooftop to watch several levitation beams carry the Adipose babies up to the ship. Having already seen first-hand what the Doctor can do to even children who he feels are a threat, the Racnoss children, she asks if he plans to blow the Adipose up too, but the Doctor refuses to harm them, as they're just children; they can't help where they came from. Donna openly notes that that is a marked difference from the last time they were in that situation; Martha's time with him seems to have changed him for the better. Smugly, the Doctor notes Martha fancied him; "Mad Martha that one; blind Martha; charity Martha." Donna jokes back to him.

A child sees them as it ascends, waving at them. They wave back as the Doctor admits that as a weight loss plan, the Adipose birthing has its merits. They see Cofelia in another beam on her way up to the nursery ship. The Doctor pleads with her to get over to the roof; the Adiposian First Family is aware that their actions are illegal, which means they need to get rid of their accomplice. Cofelia dismisses the threat because she's the nanny - but the Doctor remains worried, exclaiming, "Exactly! Mum and Dad have got the kids now - they don't need the nanny anymore!" At that moment, the levitation beam carrying Miss Foster is switched off, and Miss Foster, with just enough time to realise her fate, falls to her death as the Doctor comforts a terrified Donna. Immediately afterwards, the nursery ship leaves Earth.

Back on the street the Doctor bins the sonic pen as Penny — still tied to a chair — flees the building, unable to cope with what's been happening; comically running off still tied up, she yells that the two of them are mad and she will report them for "madness". Donna points out, "Some people just can't take it" and then promptly drags the Doctor off to the TARDIS. Arriving in the alleyway, Donna is delighted to realise the TARDIS is parked just a few feet from her car; it's just like destiny!

Donna promptly starts hauling a ridiculous amount of luggage out of the car boot and shoving it into the Doctor's arms, saying she's been ready to go for ages. The Doctor warns that it is a hard life but accepts her, saying that he just wants a mate. She misunderstands this to mean that he wants "to mate", saying he's just a "long streak of nothing" and exclaiming, "Well, you're not mating with me, sunshine!" Once the misunderstanding is mostly resolved, Donna then calls her mum to say she's put the car keys in a certain bin for her to collect before asking a blonde girl to tell her mother, "That bin there". While Donna returns to the TARDIS, the girl, a sad-looking Rose Tyler, walks off down the street and disappears into thin air...

For her first trip, Donna tells the Doctor she wants to go "two and a half miles, that way". Back at the allotments, Wilf is still puttering about when he spots a certain blue box flying overhead. After first yelling for Donna, he takes a closer look through his telescope, and realises she's in the blue box, waving to him from the doorway — and so is the Doctor! He starts whooping and dancing around in delight as the TARDIS spins away into space, happy she found what she was after.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited 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.
          

Barney Curnow is actually credited as "VFX Supervisor" on this episode. However, this credit means "On-set VFX Supervisor". It would be confusing to list him as "VFX Supervisor", as this would indicate he had the same job as the actual VFX supervisor, Dave Houghton.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Devices[[edit] | [edit source]]

Organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

Places[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

  • This episode is dedicated to Howard Attfield, who passed away shortly after filming scenes for this episode reprising the role of Donna's father, Geoff Noble. As Geoff was to have been a recurring character in the season, the producers chose to remove Attfield's scenes and bring back Bernard Cribbins to play Wilfred Mott, the character he played in Voyage of the Damned. The character was retconned to become Donna's grandfather and renamed Wilf; although he was unnamed on screen, the character was called "Stan" in the scripts for Voyage of the Damned. Attfield's scenes were preserved and included on the subsequent Series 4 DVD release.
  • According to his memoir The Writer's Tale, Russell T Davies originally planned to introduce a new companion named Penny Carter in this episode, who he describes as 30-something, recently jilted by a boyfriend, and strong-willed in the vein of Donna Noble. When Catherine Tate became interested in reprising her role as Donna this idea was dropped, although a minor character in the episode, the journalist, was given the name Penny Carter.
  • This episode was broadcast at the earlier timeslot of 6.20. TV listings gave it a fifty-minute time slot rather than forty-five, stating that it would be shown from 6.20 to 7.10. The actual episode clocks in at just under 49 minutes.[source needed]
  • A certain shot shows an army of Adipose in the streets of London. This was extremely complex and took the series' CGI team, The Mill, more time to complete than most shots used for the series. They used the software called Massive, which was created and used by Weta Digital, who created all CGI for The Lord of the Rings.[source needed]
  • A scene was shown the day before airing on GMTV showing the Doctor and Donna Noble on a suspended window washing platform breaking in while Miss Foster cuts the cable with her sonic pen.[source needed]
  • The planet Adipose 3 is the first of the missing planets mentioned in this series. The mystery is solved in The Stolen Earth.
  • The scene with Rose was actually shot along with her scenes in Turn Left. It was removed from the episode when it was shown to the media. According to an interview in Doctor Who Magazine #396, the positive reaction to Billie Piper's surprise cameo (which was successfully telecast without any pre-broadcast revelation in the media thanks to this sleight-of-hand) led Russell T Davies to add a third surprise appearance by Rose to The Poison Sky, in addition to one already planned and filmed for Midnight (the Midnight footage was reused). Rose's return wasn't a complete surprise, however; besides media coverage of her return, a clip of Rose from Turn Left had also been included in the official Series 4 theatrical trailer several weeks earlier.
  • Miss Foster mentions the Doctor warning the Shadow Proclamation about her illegal activities, suggesting that they are an organisation rather than just a treaty; this was confirmed in The Stolen Earth.
  • The window cleaner cradle scene was intended for use in Smith and Jones but was cut and used here instead. In the first draft, the initial confrontation between the Doctor, Donna and Miss Foster was to have happened in the cradle, but budgetary and logistics problems meant the scene was moved to the sales cubicles area (and the Doctor's "sonic screwdriver plus sonic pen equals massive sonic feedback" diversion added).[source needed]
  • The Adipose developed from Russell T Davies's idea that alien genetics were hidden in doses of a Botox-like drug, resulting in the people injected being overwhelmed by the genetic code and transforming into aliens; in his Writer's Tale he describes it as "Ladies Who Lunch/Lurch" (one of his cartoons included in the book shows his take on the idea).
  • This was the last episode until the 50th-anniversary special not to include a pre-credits sequence.
  • According to the DVD commentary, additional material for the episode, namely the reshoots featuring Bernard Cribbins in place of Howard Attfield and Rose's cameo at the end, was directed, uncredited, by Graeme Harper.
  • This episode features the first reference to disappearing bees, which is explained in The Stolen Earth. Although intended as a storyline reference, this is actually a real-life concern.
  • Miss Foster was originally called Miss Rattigan. It was changed because Russell T Davies felt that it better encapsulated her motherly role. The surname Rattigan would later be used in The Sontaran Stratagem.[source needed]
  • Russell T Davies considered setting the story in suburban London, with a spaceship sealing off a section of the city under an enormous dome while an alien was hunted through the streets. The dome aspect was dropped because it was used in The Simpsons Movie.[source needed]
  • When it was clear that Howard Attfield would be unable to be in the episode, Russell T Davies considered writing his character's death into the story arc, with Donna becoming a stronger person after dealing with the loss of her father.[source needed]
  • The word "adipose" is the scientific term for body fat.
  • At one point, the story was set in a dilapidated old house that would hide a portal to another planet which had been overrun with vicious, dog-like Vorlax. The last survivors of this world had opened the portal to Earth in order to rid their world of the invaders.[source needed]
  • The music heard during Rose's appearance derives from her previous appearance in Doomsday.
  • For the scene where the Doctor and Donna are reunited on either side of soundproof glass and thus have to mime their conversation, the script gave the lines they wanted Donna to mime (Donna does a little mime: "I came here, trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble = you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Crept along. Looked. You. Cos they..."). Catherine Tate said that Russell T Davies had suggested that she might come up with something on the day. She improvised her mime during filming.
  • Originally, Colin Teague was supposed to direct as part of the third production block opposite The Fires of Pompeii. Complications with that episode led to it forming the block on its own, with this episode being made as part of Block Four and James Strong assigned.[source needed]
  • The only location work outside Cardiff came when Picture Finance in Newport provided not only an area with sales cubicles, but also staffmembers to serve as extras in these scenes.[source needed]
  • The Adipose were inspired by a stuffed toy Russell T Davies owned. Ironically, they would later become a plush toy. He later joked that he lost a fortune by licensing them under a BBC contract.[source needed]
  • The scene of the Doctor meeting Donna on the stairwell had to be remounted due to a lighting problem which had afflicted the original version.[source needed]
  • The scene where Donna and the Doctor investigate Adipose was difficult to film. The scene took thirty shots to complete, and David Tennant and Catherine Tate experienced problems avoiding each other on-screen.[source needed]
  • For health and safety reasons, David Tennant was prohibited from performing his own stunts in the window cleaning platform. His only shot that required stunts was when he catches Miss Foster's sonic pen, a shot that took several takes to perfect.[source needed]
  • As the episode mostly takes place at night, many scenes were filmed in the early morning.[source needed]
  • Further consultation with the Mill resulted in the ears and the single fang each Adipose has.[source needed]
  • Had Penny Carter been introduced as the companion in this episode, she and her mother would have been driving to visit her grandfather when they became trapped under a giant dome of alien origin. She would have been faced with the seemingly innocuous choice of turning left or right at a t-junction. The plan was to explore the alternative timeline in Turn Left.[source needed]
  • Wilf originally led a team of pensioners who formed a neighbourhood watch for alien activity. This idea would later appear in The End of Time.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 9.14 million viewers (UK final)[3]

Myths and rumours[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • It was rumoured that Miss Foster was actually the Rani. This turned out to be false.
  • It was rumoured that Rose would appear. This was true.

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

Studio[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Upper Boat Studios, Treforrest

Location[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Waterloo Gardens, Cardiff
  • Glan Rhymni, Tremorfa
  • Grange Well Park, Cardiff Bay
  • Odeon Cinema, Cardiff Bay
  • British Gas Building, Cardiff
  • Dominions Arcade, Cardiff
  • Picture Finance, Newport
  • Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
  • Crockherbtown Lane, Cardiff
  • Bar Icon, Cardiff
  • Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
  • Kings Way, Cardiff
  • Fat Cats Restaurant, Cardiff
  • Tiger Tiger, Cardiff
  • Scott Road, Cardiff
  • Grangemoor Park, Cardiff
  • Franklen Road, Cardiff

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.
  • In every scene Miss Foster's guards change position.
  • When the Doctor and Donna are in the cradle, Miss Foster is seen cutting the cable on the right, the Doctor's side. However, the cable on the left, Donna's side is the one that snaps. This mistake is confirmed a few moments later; when Miss Foster says, "Now for the other one", she moves over to the cable on the left, which has clearly already snapped. This is realised in the episode commentary.
  • When the Doctor is erecting a sonic cage around the cradle controls, he puts the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, with the emitter facing to his left. When he turns to look at Donna briefly and takes it out of his mouth, the emitter is facing to his right.
  • At 17.21 the numberplate of the Noble family's car is YD55VHG. However, when Donna collects her bags from the car at 43.01 it has the numberplate LN54VKR.
  • In the scene with the Doctor and Donna outside the TARDIS, the rain in the alleyway stops and starts every time the angle changes. The production team had some difficulty filming this sequence due to both the weather (filming had to be rescheduled due to rain), and then a very noisy nightclub nearby, as related by Russell T Davies in The Writer's Tale.
  • Miss Foster places an Adipose on her desk, but in the next shot, it's gone.
  • When the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver and sonic pen in conjunction to incapacitate Miss Foster and her guards with the feedback, the sonic pen's emitter is shown to be closed, then in the closeup, it is extended, before being shown closed in the next shot.
  • The electrocuted guards start reacting to having been electrocuted before any electricity is shown to be generated.
  • The electrocuted guards disappear.
  • Stacy Campbell's name is clearly visible onscreen among other clients of Adipose Industries, and confirmed by Donna when she asks Stacy's full name, but the end credits refer to her as "Stacey Harris".
  • In the Adipose Industries toilets, a poster on the wall states that "De Rossi's Wine Bar is dedicated to keeping these facilities clean at all times" and goes on to say that "we check our facilities at regular intervals". Against all other evidence, this would imply that the scene is taking place at De Rossi's Wine Bar. It would also suggest that a scene was to originally be set in the toilets of the Wine Bar.

Influences[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Series 4, Volume One was released on DVD in region 2/B on 2 June 2008 and region 4 on 7 Agust 2008. The volume features Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood.
  • The episode was later released in the Complete Fourth Series DVD boxset, in region 1 on 18 November 2008, in region 2 on 17 November 2008 and in region 4 on 4 December 2008.
  • The collection Series 4, Part One, containing the first six episodes of the series, was released in region 1 on 5 August 2014

Blu-ray releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Partners in Crime was first released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom as part of the Complete Series 1-7 boxset on 4 December 2013, then in the Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray on 31 August 2015.
  • In the US, it was released on 5 December 2013 as part of the Complete Series 1-7 boxset.
  • In Australia, the series was released individually on 4 December 2013.

Digital releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.
  • The Complete David Tennant Years DVD Region 1 US cover

    The Complete David Tennant Years DVD
    Region 1 US cover

  • Series 4 Volume 1 DVD Cover

    Series 4 Volume 1 DVD Cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

    Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven Blu-ray box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven Blu-ray box-set

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Partners in Crime PDF shooting script (archived)
  2. ↑ http://www.jondavey.com/acting.php
  3. ↑ Doctor Who - consolidated ratings
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