Planet of the Dead (TV story): Difference between revisions

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*Casting Associates Andy Brierley, Alice Purser
*Casting Associates Andy Brierley, Alice Purser


== References ==
v
*Malcolm named his unit of measurement the Bernard after Professor [[Bernard Quatermass]]. The [[British Rocket Group]], to which Quatermass belonged, was previously referenced (as was Quatermass himself, vaguely) when the Doctor was in [[1963]] London.
 
===[[:Category:Astronomical Objects|Astronomical Objects]]===
* The bus is transported to the [[Scorpion Nebula]] on the other side of the universe.
* [[San Helios]] became a desert over the course of a year or under. The sand is all that remains of the dead.
* Barclay and Nathan mention the [[Stolen Planets]].
 
===[[:Category:The Doctor|The Doctor]]===
*Carmen makes a prediction for the Doctor's future using her psychic gift: ''"Your song is ending, sir. It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor, he will knock four times."'' This prophecy reflects the [[Ood]]'s message to the Doctor, "Your song will end soon".
*[[The Doctor's TARDIS]] is discovered in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, and according to the Doctor, the Queen "doesn't mind".
* The Doctor said that he will "never" take another companion on board the TARDIS because he has lost all his previous ones.
* The Doctor's [[psychic paper]] is compatible with the Oyster Card scheme used for public transport in London and he uses his psychic paper to 'pay' his bus fare.
* A reference was made to [[Donna Noble]] as the Doctor said he had a friend who called him "Spaceman" ([[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'', et al).
* Malcolm says he had read all the Doctor's files and the Doctor asked "Really? What was your favorite? The Giant Robot?" This is a reference to the [[Fourth Doctor]]-era story ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]''.
* The Doctor's [[Sonic screwdriver]] can be used to tint his glasses to look like sunglasses.
* The Doctor admits that he stole [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] from his [[Time Lord|own people]].
* The Doctor says Christina looks like a [[Time Lord]], in response to her saying that he looks like a human.
 
===[[:Category:Food and Beverages|Foods and Beverages]]===
*The Doctor offers Christina the rest of his [[chocolate]] [[Easter egg]] because he's determined to keep his teeth.
 
===[[:Category:Physics|Physics]]===
*The Doctor's device is attempting to detect [[Rhondium particles]].
*A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm.
*100 [[Malcolm Taylor (Planet of the Dead)|Malcolms]] = 1 [[Bernard Quatermass|Bernard]]
 
===[[:Category:United Nations Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]]===
*[[UNIT]] is called in by the police to assist in locating the bus.
*[[UNIT]] has an automated phone system.
*[[UNIT]] troops are equipped with [[Firearm|H&K G36 assault rifles, M4 carbines, and Walther P99 pistols]].
*Malcolm's apparel as he leaves his laboratory is similar to that of the Doctor's [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnation]].
*The Captain expresses her surprise that "Guns work".
:''


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==

Revision as of 05:14, 28 April 2009

Planet of the Dead is the title of the first of the 2009 specials, which first aired on 11 April 2009. It starred David Tennant and featured two new characters, Christina and Malcolm, along with UNIT. Production of the special began on 19th January 2009.

It was broadcast for Easter, on Holy Saturday at 6.45PM. The BBC did not officially announce the broadcast date for the special until the beginning of April 2009.[1]

I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT ZOMBIES, THIS SUCKS!

I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT ZOMBIES, THIS SUCKS!

Cast

Production crew

  • 1st Assistant Director - John Bennett
  • 2nd Assistant Director James DeHaviland
  • 3rd Assistant Director Sarah Davies
  • Location Manager Gareth Skelding
  • Unit Manager Geraint Williams
  • Production Co-ordinator Jess van Niekerk
  • Production Secretary Kevin Myers
  • Production Runner Siân Warrilow
  • Drivers Malcolm Kearney, Wayne Humphreys
  • Floor Runners Nicola Brown, Alison Jones, Tom Evans
  • Contracts Assistants Kath Blackman, Lisa Hayward
  • Continuity Llinos Wyn Jones
  • Script Editor Lindsey Alford
  • Camera Operators Joe Russell, James Leigh
  • Focus Pullers Steve Rees, Jamie Southcott
  • Grip John Robinson
  • Camera Assistants Jon Vidgen, Tom Hartley
  • Boom Operators Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas
  • Gaffer Mark Hutchings
  • Best Boy Peter Chester
  • Electricians Steve Slocombe, Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths, Jonathon Cox
  • Stunt Co-ordinator Lee Sheward
  • Stunt Performers Kim McGarrity, Jamie Edgell
  • Wires Bob Schofield
  • Choreographer Ailsa Berk
  • Chief Supervising Art Director Stephen Nicholas
  • Associate Designer James North
  • Art Department Coordinator Amy Pope
  • Production Buyer Ben Morris
  • Set Decorator Julian Luxton
  • Props Buyer Adrian Anscombe
  • Standby Art Director Nick Murray
  • Design Assistant Al Roberts
  • Storyboard Artist Richard Shaun Williams
  • Standby Props Phill Shellard, Jackson Pope
  • Standby Carpenter Will Pope
  • Standby Rigger Keith Freeman
  • Property Master Paul Aitken
  • Chargehand Props Matt Wild
  • Dressing Props Martin Broadbent, Rhys Jones
  • Senior Props Maker Penny Howarth
  • Props Maker Nick Robatto
  • Practical Electrician Albert James
  • Construction Manager Matthew Hywel-Davies
  • Construction Workshop Manager Mark Hill
  • Construction Chargehand Scott Fisher
  • Scenic Artist John Pinkerton
  • Graphics BBC Wales Graphics
  • Costume Supervisor Lindsay Bonaccorsi
  • Assistant Costume Designer Rose Goodhart
  • Costume Assistants Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin
  • Make-Up Artists Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, Morag Smith
  • Casting Associates Andy Brierley, Alice Purser

v

Story notes

  • The title of the episode was unveiled during the closing credits of The Next Doctor broadcast on 25th December 2008, several weeks before production of the episode was due to begin. The title of the next special, The Waters of Mars, was in turn officially revealed in a trailer included at the end of the closing credits of Planet of the Dead, although Davies had revealed the title in an interview broadcast a few days earlier.
  • This is the first Doctor Who episode in which series producer Russell T Davies shares co-writing credit, and the first episode since the show's return in 2005 to credit two writers. The last televised story to credit two writers was the 1993 mini-episode Dimensions in Time.
  • The casting of Michelle Ryan has been reported both by media and via on-set confirmation. Ryan, best known for her work on the UK soap opera EastEnders and the US science fiction series Bionic Woman, had previously co-starred in the Steven Moffat-written mini-series Jekyll and was also reportedly a candidate for new companion after the departure of Billie Piper in 2006.
  • After initial rumours, it was confirmed that part of the episode will be filmed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates through BBC News coverage that a bus that was to be used for filming there was heavily damaged upon arrival there.[2]
  • According to the BBC report, the damage to the bus -- a twin to one being used for filming in Cardiff -- prompted a rewrite of part of the script, the recently released trailer for the episode depicts damage to the bus identical to the damage seen in many on-set photos, suggesting that the bus getting damaged has become part of the story.
  • On 16 January 2009 The Guardian newspaper published an online column condemning the then-rumoured plan to film in Dubai, citing the UAE's human rights record.[3] Similar criticism was posted by the fan site Kasterborous on 28 January.[4]
  • As seen in David Tennant's video diary for this episode's read-through, Tennant feared that, having spent six months portraying Hamlet for the RSC, that he would be unable to accurately replicate the voice he uses when portraying The Doctor. In an informal discussion with Julie Gardner, he describes his voice for Hamlet as being the same as the Doctor's (being an English accent) except "more posh" and mentioned he may have to watch his previous performances as the Doctor and practice the voice. This strongly echoes Billie Piper's dilemma when she returned to film Turn Left; in interviews with Doctor Who Confidential, Piper confessed to having forgotten how to speak in Rose's accent; it was later noted that she spoke with a noticeable lisp in several scenes of that episode.
  • It has been confirmed by the BBC that Planet of the Dead will be the first Doctor Who story to be produced in high-definition; this changeover can be likened to the move from black and white to colour production in 1970.
  • According to Tennant's video diary, he and co-star Adam James have been friends for 10 years, having also worked together in the past, James is also Jon Pertwee's godson.
  • In an interview for BBC Breakfast on 7th April 2009, Russell T. Davies revealed that the episode had only been completed at 11:30pm the previous night, only 5 days before the episode airs.
  • DWM Issue 407 confirmed that Planet of the Dead was Doctor Who's 200th story.
  • Lady Christina is the latest companion to kiss the Doctor.
  • In pre-broadcast publicity interviews, Michelle Ryan described her character as a one-off companion, though like most other one-offs, such as (initially) Donna Noble, and Jenny the door has been left open for a future return.
  • The advertisement on the side of the bus reads "Unbeatable global call tariffs". On the other side it says "Tomorrow is here" and both sides say "Neon by Naismith" with the company being Neon. It is possible that this a reference to the two final episodes of the 2009 Specials as actor David Harewood has stated that he will play a character called Joshua Naismith in David Tennant's final story.
  • Lady Christina de Souza is similar to a character called 'Kate Tollinger' who was to have been introduced in a story called Crime of the Century had Doctor Who been produced beyond Survival in 1989. Tollinger would have been a safe-cracking, lock-picking thief.
  • When discussing Easter, the Doctor claims to "remember the original". It's unclear whether this means he was present at the crucifixion and/or resurrection of Jesus -- the events the Easter season commemorates -- or the first actual celebration. If the former, this bookends an earlier statement made by the Doctor in Voyage of the Damned suggesting he was present at the birth of Christ.
  • As in the previous story The Next Doctor there are no scenes taking place in the TARDIS.

Ratings

  • Easter Saturday 11th April 2009 ~ 6:45pm ~ BBC One ~ 8.41 million (unofficial overnight)

The BARB official ratings are 9.54 million, the 5th most watched programme of the week, the second most watched on BBC of the week and the second most watched of Saturday 11th April. It also gained 200,000 viewers on BBC HD, the biggest ever audience for the channel. Planet of the Dead is now the sixth best rated Doctor Who episode since its 2005 revival with Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, Rose, Journey's End and The Christmas Invasion beating the episode.

Myths and Rumours

  • Carmen mentioned in "It is returning, he will knock four times" could be Davros, the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor or The Master. Or it could mean something else entirely. The "knock four times" could refer to the Master, as the drumming motif that he continuously hears in his head, and that he used in The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords to hypnotize the Earth's population, was a four-beat rhythm. Alternately, the "darkness" was used throughout the fourth series to refer to the return of Davros. His "song" may also be a reference to River Song, a future companion who appeared and died in Forest of the Dead; it may also be connected to the prediction of the Ood in DW: Planet of the Ood. The four knocks is also somewhat reminiscent of the Midnight Entity, a side note on that, the music from the episode Midnight was in the background as the Doctor was warned. Also when Carmen mentioned the "darkness" Davros's theme from the Season 4 finale was played. Another possibility is that he is referring to the Eleventh Doctor "knocking" on the Doctor's door in a metaphorical sense, as in its the Eleventh Doctor's time now.
  • Since eccentric time lady Iris Wildthyme had a TARDIS that resembled a London bus, there were rumours she'd appear in the special.
  • Related to the Wildthyme rumor, speculation regarding the identity and true nature of Lady Christina, following statements by Davies that she would have a profound impact on the Doctor, included the possibility that she might be a Time Lord, and perhaps even a known Time Lord such as The Rani or Romana. This ultimately proved not to be the case, although the Doctor's comment to Christina, "You look Time Lord" (filmed in January-February 2009, after the speculation began) might be a reference to the rumor.
  • Michelle Ryan is one of many young actresses rumored to be contention to appear as companion to Matt Smith's Doctor. In pre-broadcast publicity, Ryan stated she considered Christina to be a one-time companion. As of April 2009, however, casting for Smith's co-star has not yet been finalized.
  • The Radio station, Neon, advertised on the buses in London is part of the story arc for forthcoming episodes.[1]
  • The bus used for the Dubai filming was stolen and needed to be replaced. There is no indication this is the case. It is a known fact that the bus shipped to Dubai was heavily damaged upon arrival and needed some restoration work, and according to media coverage there was talk of trying to replace the bus before the decision was made to alter the script instead, but no indication that any buses were stolen during production.

Filming Locations

  • Cardiff, St Mary Street - the first scenes with the red bus driving down the road with the Doctor and Christina stepping on to it
  • Cardiff Bay - Police and UNIT investigating the disappearance of the bus through the wormhole
  • Dubai, United Arab Emirates - San Helos

[2]

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • At the beginning of the story the wormhole is in the centre of the tunnel but by the time the bus driver dies it is at the entrance. The wormhole increases in radius, as the UNIT Captain says. It's not illogical to then assume the entrance and exit are further apart when they return.
  • Why do the International Gallery guards really not look at the item they're guarding? They were expecting intruders to enter from the sides, not from above or below, and therefore were keeping a lookout to the sides.
  • Would the security lasers around the relic in the museum not have a roof of some kind? Haven't they worked out that thieves can enter the museum from above? Perhaps they felt it wasn't needed, as they had four gaurds at the scene. Plus, seeing as this takes place in 2010, the recession may have caused the museum to cut down on the budget for security.
  • Why do none of the passengers on the 200 question why there are many Police Cars following them? They're in London, police are everywhere.
  • When the bus is originally shown, it has a number plate of W974GHM, but later, when flying, its number plate has changed to RUA467W. Two buses were used for filming, and the crew may have simply forgotten to change the plates.
  • The Doctor claims that it will take the Swarm 20 minutes to reach them 100 miles away. So therefore they were moving at 300mph. However, when Christina was being chased by one it could not catch up despite her moving at a much slower speed. The one that chases Christina had only just got going. The ones creating the wormhole had been circling for days suggesting they have had time to build up speed. Also, the one that chased Christina was waking from hibernation and so may still have been dazed. It may have also been slowed down by the narrow passage. Furthermore, Christina was being pulled up by an electronically-powered winch that the Doctor obviously had on the fastest setting, which would have been fairly fast.
  • How exactly does Nathan phone the Doctor? The Doctor has only given free roaming to Barclay's phone. In Journey's End all the phones in England call the Doctor with only a few of them having free roaming capabilities. Obviously, if the Doctor enhances a phone, it can be contacted anywhere in the universe from any phone.
  • Why did the Tritovores have ear pieces? They clearly don't have ears. Not that we know of. Plus they may have used them through some other part of their body. Plus we don't know if the Tritovores had members aboard their ships who were humanoid in form and had ears.
  • The rays were travelling in a swarm; how did only three manage to get through when they were all going through together? Could have easily have been scouts/leaders, ahead of the swarm. However, I do agree they were quite far ahead and UNIT took a long time to close the wormhole. The time taken was probably exaggerated to build suspense though.
  • The bus is seen to take on damage as it travels through the worm hole, but on its way back to Earth, no more damage to the bus is sustained. On the way the wormhole was very small. When they return it was much bigger. The bus was obviously affected on the way there due to the size of the wormhole.
  • Surely companions like Jack Harkness or Martha Jones aren't exactly "lost"? The Doctor may be referring to his companions generally. However, this episode does not follow directly from The Next Doctor nor do the two prior episodes (Journey's End and Music of the Spheres). There may have been lots of time in-between where something has happened to the other companions.
  • Why did Carmen not see that they were going to survive? Because, like with time itself in the show, certain events are in flux, rather than fixed. Perhaps the Doctor saving them was in flux.
  • There are tire tracks behind the bus, proving it drove to its location. Or it skidded as it exited the wormhole, thus making tracks
  • When Christina escaped the police car at the end, why didn't all the hundreds of heavily armed UNIT troops not try to stop her when she just ran past them? UNIT were either pre-occupied with clearing up the 3 aliens, debriefing the bus passengers or UNIT simply does not get involved with police matters.
  • After seeing its fellow eaten why didn't the other Tritovore just shoot the stingray with its weapon. It might have been panicked and attacked the Alien Stingray instead of running. It looked like it tried to, but was too scared and got eaten before it could. Plus we do not know the relationship of the two Tritovore. If they were lovers or great friends then the other may have been just boldly fighting regardless of what happened to him.
  • The cannon the UNIT troops are using is seen being fired several times out of four nozzles but only one of the rockets seems to hit the Stingrays each time. Perhaps the cannon is a special cannon that only UNIT has that fire rocket parts which combines together in the air to form one rocket. One big rocket.
  • Police cars can't be opened at the back from the inside, so how did Christina escape? The handcuffs may not have been the only thing the Doctor unlocked with his screwdriver.
  • Why didn't the Doctor just ask UNIT to send an all terrain vehicle or helicopter through the wormhole to pick up the survivors? Or other supplies for that matter? The Doctor probably didn't want to potentially make the situation even worse
  • Why is this the first episode to mention the resession, the episode is set in 2010, the recession should have been mentioned on DW: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky, which was set in 2009? Since The Poison Sky was made before the ressesion, then it is logical to say that the ressesion shouldn't have occured in the Doctor Who Universe.
  • Early in the episode, it was shown that the worm hole was very close behind the bus in the desert. When the Docter flies the bus back in to the worm hole, he had to travel considerable distance before reaching it. When they first take off in the bus they celebrate that it worked before turning around and flying back to the worm hole.
  • In the beginning when the bus entered the worm hole at ground level, it seems like it exited at or close to ground level on the other planet. When the bus flew back into the worm hole high above the ground, it ended up exiting at Earth very close to the ground when it should be much higher.
  • The bus entered the worm hole from inside the tunnel and exited on the planet, yet reversing direction from the planet into the worm hole from the same side results in the bus (and other objects) exiting on Earth at the opposide side of the worm hole outside the tunnel when they should be exiting on the original side, inside the tunnel.
  • Wormholes do not form by flying around a planet really fast in great numbers. Doctor Who science, anything is possible
  • The chances of creating a wormhole with an exit on a planet is so improbable it is virtually impossible. Doctor Who science, anything is possible

Continuity

  • As this episode is the 200th storyline of Doctor Who, the episode makes an in-universe reference to this by calling the bus The 200.
  • Several bus passengers discuss the events surrounding the relocation of Earth to the Medusa Cascade (per DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), which places this story as taking place after those events, while confirming that, unlike the Battle of Canary Wharf, there seems to have been no attempt to "cover up" what happened, and it remains public knowledge.
  • The Doctor mentions "Humans on a bus, always blaming me", referring to the bus accident in DW: Midnight.
  • The Doctor mentions the K1 Robot that featured in DW: Robot, when asking Malcolm what his favourite file about him was.
  • UNIT at last meets an alien race that's not immune to bullets DW: Robot or as Captain Magambo puts it "I don't believe it, guns that work", this also refrences the events of The Sontaran Stratagem where UNIT's weapons are rendered useless.
  • Carmen says "Your song must end soon" which is what the Ood also said to the Doctor in DW: Planet of the Ood. As well as the warnings of darkness heard in Series 4 (Turn Left, et al); the reference to knocking reflects a similar event that occurred in DW: Midnight and the drums the Master hears in DW: Utopia and DW: The Sound of Drums
  • Bernard Quatermass is mentioned and referenced, he was previously mentioned in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks.
  • Captain Mugumbo's exclamation "the guns work" could be a call back to the Brigadier who once proclaimed he hated how so many aliens were immune to bullets; or more likely a reference to UNIT's trouble in their last appearance DW: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky.
  • When Christina calls the Doctor "Spaceman" he refers to Donna, saying "I had a friend that used to call me that"

DVD and Other releases

According to Amazon.co.uk, a Region 2 (UK) DVD release is scheduled for 29 June 2009[2], although no official announcement has been made by BBC Video or 2 Entertain. It is not yet known if the release will have any extra features; none are indicated on the box cover art currently shown on Amazon.

As with The Next Doctor no North American DVD release has been hinted at; it is assumed it will at least be included in a box set collecting the 2009 Specials and The Next Doctor; such a release will not occur until the first quarter of 2010, at the earliest, pending broadcast of the remaining specials in the UK.

International broadcast

The Canadian cable network, Space, has announced it will air the special on June 20, 2009, confirming that it is taking over broadcasts of Doctor Who from the CBC.[3] The American network Sci Fi Channel, which holds the US broadcast rights to Doctor Who, has yet to announce an airdate for the special.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ BBC Press Office - BBC ONE Unplaced Week 15
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 BBC News - Who rewrite after damage to bus
  3. ↑ The Guardian - The Doctor in Dubai: dubious indeed
  4. ↑ Kasterborous Online Magazine - RTD on Dubai Shoot
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