Kill the Moon (TV story)

Kill the Moon
Doctor:	Twelfth Doctor
Companion(s):	Clara
Featuring:	Courtney
Main setting:	The Moon, 2049
Key crew
Writer:	Peter Harness
Director:	Paul Wilmshurst
Producer:	Peter Bennett
Release details
Story number:	247
Premiere broadcast:	4 October 2014
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x45 minute episode
Production code:	4.7
Doctor Who television stories
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Kill the Moon was the seventh episode in series 8 of Doctor Who.

It saw the Twelfth Doctor take Coal Hill School student Courtney Woods on a trip to the Moon following her discovery of his true nature in the previous episode. It also revealed the true nature of the Earth's natural satellite, which had been a fixture of many previous stories.

It revisited the Earth's environmentally disastrous mid-21st century as well as the concept of time in flux, with the Doctor choosing to take a step back and leaving the future in the hands of his human company, a choice that would lead to a divide between the Doctor and Clara.

Kill the Moon was also notable from a production standpoint. Lanzarote was utilised as a filming location for the first time since 1984 when it stood in for Planet of Fire's Sarn. The production team played upon this - early drafts of the script were titled Return to Sarn just to mislead those who theorised that this story would feature the return of the Master.

The concept behind the episode came to writer Peter Harness in 2011, so initially it was written for Matt Smith. Harness expressed a belief that the script better suited Peter Capaldi with the Doctor-Clara dynamic playing out better. (DWM 478)

Synopsis

The Doctor, Clara and Courtney goes to the Moon in 2049, where they discover that the Earth's constant companion is not what it seems...

Cast

• The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
• Clara - Jenna Coleman
• Danny - Samuel Anderson
• Courtney Woods - Ellis George
• Hermione Norris - Lundivik
• Tony Osoba - Duke
• Phil Nice - Henry
• Christopher Dane - McKean

Crew

Executive Producers   Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Line Producer - Tracie Simpson Production Manager - Simon Morris Location Manager - Paul Davies Unit Manager - Iestyn Hampson-Jones Production Co-ordinator - Adam Knopf Assistant Production Co-ordinator - Sandra Cosfeld Production Assistant - Matthew Jones Production Accountant - Jeff Dunn First Assistant Accountant - Bethan Griffiths Script department Script Editor - David P Davies Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Scott Bates 2nd Assistant Director - James Dehaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Danielle Richards Assistant Directors - Gareth Jones, Chris Thomas Script Supervisor - Steve Walker Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Matthew Waving Grip - John Robinson Assistant Grip - Sean Cronin Camera Assistants - Cai Thompson, Katy Kardasz, Gathin Wiliams	Art department Concept Artist - Chris Lees Graphic Artist - Christina Tom Standby Props - Liam Collins, Matt Ireland Standby Carpenter - Paul Jones Standby Rigger - Bryan Griffiths Store Person - Jamie Southcott Props Master - Paul Smith Props Chargehand - Kyle Belmont Dressing Props - Jayne Davies, Mike Elkins Props Driver - Gareth Fox Props Makers - Alan Hardy, Jamie Thomas Construction Manager - Terry Horle Construction Chargehand - Dean Tucker Practical Electrician - Christian Davies Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Draughtsman - Kartik Nagar Costume department	Make-up and prosthetics Prosthetics - Millennium FX Movement Stunt Co-ordinators - Crispin Layfield, Gordon Seed General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Nerys Davies Post-production Co-ordinator - Samantha Price Assistant Editors - Katrina Aust, Carmen Sanchez Roberts On-line Editor - Geraint Pari Huws Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Joel Skinner Colourist - Gareth Spensley Sound Sound Recordist - Deian Llŷr Humphreys Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Maintenance Engineers - Tam Shoring, Christopher Goding Dialogue Editor - Darran Clement ADR Editor - Matthew Cox Foley Editor - Jamie Talbutt

		Make-up Designer - Claire Pritchard-Jones

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.

References

• The orange spacesuits worn by the Twelfth Doctor, Clara, and Courtney on the Moon are nearly identical to the Sanctuary Base 6 spacesuits (TV: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit), one of which was shown to be taken by the Tenth Doctor and worn on several later occasions (TV: 42, The Waters of Mars), and by the Eleventh Doctor in TV: Hide. This time, however, the insignia of Sanctuary Base 6 is removed, unlike Orson Pink's spacesuit in TV: Listen, which was inexplicably identical to the SB6 spacesuits.
• A lesson about Charles Dickens and David Copperfield was given at Coal Hill School.

Story notes

• This episode's original broadcast was followed by a teaser for the second series of fellow BBC Saturday night drama, Atlantis, confirming that it would premiere on 15 November, the week following the Series 8 finale of Doctor Who.

Continuity

• Like the Second Doctor, the Twelfth Doctor says "When I say 'run', run".
• The Doctor tells Courtney to use a DVD in order to bring the TARDIS to him. He also says that she should hold to the console so she won't be left behind. (TV: Blink)
• The Doctor says that he wouldn't kill Hitler as an example of not interfering with the course of history. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, TV: Let's Kill Hitler)
• The Doctor finds amniotic fluid, from which life comes from. (TV: City of Death)
• Earth of the mid-21st century is shown to be worse for wear enviromentally compared to the start of the century. (TV: The Waters of Mars, Aeolian)
• The Doctor chooses to take a step back in the face of an potentially apocalyptic event, leaving humanity to choose the future. The Ninth Doctor initially took a similar approach upon witnessing what appeared to be humanity's first contact with alien life. (TV: Alien of London)
• This is not the first time The Doctor has used a yo-yo to assess the gravity. (TV: The Ark in Space)
• Clara mentions the previous time the TARDIS made an emergency dematerialisation. (TV: Cold War)
• This episode reveals that every Whoniverse story set on Earth's moon after the year 2049 actually takes place on the replacement moon "laid" after the creature hatches.

Home video releases

DVD releases

• The episode will be released as part of the Complete Series 8 box set in November 2014.

Blu-ray releases

to be added

External links

to be added