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[[Partners in Crime]] is the first episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008 at 6:20 p.m. The episode reintroduced comedienne [[Catherine Tate]] as [[Donna Noble]], who previously appeared in "[[The Runaway Bride]]". Donna and the Doctor ([[David Tennant]]) meet while separately investigating Adipose Industries, a company that has created a revolutionary diet pill. Together, they attempt to stop the death of thousands of people in London after the head of the company, the alien Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire), creates the Adipose, short white aliens made from human body fat.
{{Quote|The fat just walks away.|The Doctor|Partners in Crime}}


The episode's alien creatures, the [[Adipose]], were created using the software Massive, commonly used for crowd sequences in fantasy and science fiction films. The episode is stylistically different from other Doctor Who episodes; "[[Partners in Crime]]" has no clear antagonist, and the creatures are in a different style to Doctor Who's regular "big [and] scary" monsters.
{{Infobox NewTV
|story name= Partners in Crime
|image= [[Image:Partners in Crime.jpg|250px]]
|series= [[Doctor Who]] <br> [[TV stories]]  
|number= 4
|story number= 1
|doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]
|companions= [[Donna Noble|Donna]] (reintroduction)
|enemy= [[Matron Cofelia]] (Miss Foster)
|setting= [[2009]]
|writer= [[Russell T Davies]]
|director= [[James Strong]]
|producer= [[Phil Collinson]]
|broadcast date= [[5th April]] [[2008]]
|format=1x50-minute episode
|production code=4.1
|previous story= [[Voyage of the Damned]]
|next story= [[The Fires of Pompeii]]
}}


"Partners in Crime" features the return of three other characters. Jacqueline King reprises her role as Sylvia Noble from "The Runaway Bride". Bernard Cribbins reprises his role as Wilfred Mott from "Voyage of the Damned". Cribbins was recalled to replace the character of Geoff Noble after actor Howard Attfield died. Billie Piper briefly reprises her role as Rose Tyler for the first time since the second series' finale "[[Doomsday]]", in a scene that was not included in preview showings.


== Synopsis ==
Donna Noble is determined to find the 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 ==
==Plot==
[[Donna Noble]] is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an 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 episode primarily focuses on Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), a previous companion who appeared in "The Runaway Bride". After her encounter with the Doctor (David Tennant), she became disenchanted with normal life and regretted declining his invitation to travel in the TARDIS. She started investigating conspiracy theories in the hope she would find him. She confides her regrets to her grandfather Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), an amateur astronomer who met the Doctor shortly before the episode's events.
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 of 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. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a [[Adipose|tubby piece of fat]] comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna 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 says to 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 episode concerns Adipose Industries, which is marketing a diet pill to London's population with the slogan "the fat just walks away". Believing the treatment to be otherworldly, the Doctor and Donna investigate the company separately, and find that the slogan is literal—the pills use latent body fat to parthenogenetically create the Adipose, small white aliens which spawn every night, removing a little of the host's body fat each time. In an emergency, multiple Adipose can spawn by using all of the body's organic tissue, killing the host. When the Doctor and Donna meet, they are confronted by [[Miss Foster]] (Sarah Lancashire), an alien who is exploiting Britain's overweight population to create the Adipose for the Adiposian First Family. Miss Foster mentions that the Adipose species "lost" their breeding planet, which is questioned by the doctor.
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 and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. 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 pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self 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]] 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. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna.  


Foster accelerates her plans, feeling threatened by the Doctor's invocation of galactic law and fearing he may inform the "Shadow Proclamation", an interplanetary code and council.[6][7] Throughout London, the Adipose begin to spawn, soon numbering several thousand. The Doctor and Donna prevent total emergency parthenogenesis occurring, while the remainder make their way to Adipose Industries. The Adiposian First Family use their spaceship to collect the Adipose, but kill Foster to hide any evidence they used Earth illegally. The Doctor defers from killing the Adipose because they are children; Donna notes that his previous companion Martha Jones made him more human, citing his infanticide of the Racnoss in their previous encounter.[8]
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 asks 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 and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster 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 family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a [[Level 5 planet]]. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's 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.


At the end of the episode, Donna accepts an offer to travel in the TARDIS. She makes a detour to leave her car keys in a safe location for her mother [[Sylvia Noble]] (Jacqueline King), and asks a blonde woman to help Sylvia find the keys. The woman turns towards the camera, revealing her to be [[Rose Tyler]] (Billie Piper). She fades as she walks away from the area. In the final scene, Donna asks the Doctor to fly by her grandfather, Wilfred, who sees her and celebrates on his allotment.
The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings 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 takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streak of nothing. 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]] and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She 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 Grandad, he cheers her on.


== Critism and Positive Reviews==
==Cast==
The episode received many positive reviews. John Preston, writing for The Daily Telegraph, called the episode an "undiluted triumph". Opening his review, he said "last night's episode struck me as being as close to 50 minutes of pure pleasure as you're likely to get on television". He noted the episode's clever tackling of the topical theme of obesity, and its mixture of emotion and special effects. In closing, he said "the dejected critic, denied even the smallest nit to pick, walks glumly away". Scott Matthewman of The Stage lamented that the Adipose were not threatening enough. He liked the Adipose's execution of Miss Foster, a "momentary pause in mid-air, gravity only kicking in when the character looks down", comparing it to Wile E. Coyote and Chuck Jones, which "[was] a nice little touch in an episode ... full of them". He also appreciated Tate, saying that "David Tennant finally has a partner who is approaching an equal". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian wrote that Tate was "not right for this role" and "too hysterical, too comedy, not cool enough", and felt her inclusion was an attempt to trade on the popularity of her own series and "broaden the appeal of [Dr Who] still further". He also found the music "a bit oppressive" but concluded that, despite these criticisms, the show was "still awfully nice television". Keith Watson of Metro gave the episode 4 stars out of 5. He admitted that despite his dislike of Tate, "she isn't that bad". His review of the Adipose was positive, citing them as a reason of the quality of the show. Closing, he said "it split [his] sides".
*[[Tenth Doctor|The 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]]
*[[Claire Pope]] - [[Chandra Ruegg]]
*[[Suzette Chambers]] - [[Sue Kelvin]]
*Taxi driver - [[Jonathon Stratt]]
[[Image:Episode1preview.JPG|250px|thumb|right| The Sinister Miss Foster]]


Alisdair Stuart of Firefox News called the episode "the strongest season opener since 'Rose'". He called the miming scene between the Doctor and Donna when they first meet a "glorious, long overdue parody of the silent 'I'll save you' moment from 42", and applauded the scene's ability to be overdrawn but still fun Jon Wise of The People said "Doctor Who is a super-galactic way of spending a Saturday night indoors", and appreciated that Donna was not romantically interested in the Doctor, unlike Martha or Rose. Ben Rawson-Jones gave the episode a wholly positive review, summarising it as containing "pure fantastic family fun, delivering a winning blend of action, comedy, poignancy and one unexpected shock cameo".
==Production crew==
{| width=75%
|- valign=top
| width=25% |
*1st Assistant Director - [[James Blackwell]]
*2nd Assistant Director - [[Jennie Fava]]
*3rd Assistant Director - [[Sarah Davies]]
*Location Manager - [[Gareth Skelding]]
*Unit Manager - [[Rhys Griffiths]]
*Production Co-ordinator - [[Jess van Niekerk]]
*Production Secretary - [[Kevin Myers]]
*Production Runner - [[Nicola Brown]]
*Floor Runners - [[Andy Newbery]], [[Heddi Joy Taylor]]
*Drivers  - [[Wayne Humphreys]], [[Darren Lean]]
*Contracts Assistant - [[Kath Blackman]]
*Continuity - [[Sheila Johnston]]
*Script Editor - [[Lindsey Alford]]
*Camera Operators - [[Rory Taylor]], [[Julian Barber]]
*Focus Puller - [[Steve Rees]]
*Camera Assistants - [[Tom Hartley]], [[Jon Vidgen]]
*Grip - [[John Robinson]]
*Boom Operators - [[Jeff Welch]], [[Bryn Thomas]]
*Gaffer - [[Mark Hutchings]]
*Best Boy - [[Peter Chester]]
*Electricians - [[Steve Slocombe]], [[Clive Johnson]], [[Ben Griffiths]]
*Stunt Co-ordinator - [[Tom Lucy]]
*Stunt Performers - [[Gorden Seed]], [[Jo McLaren]]
*Wireman - [[Bob Schofield]]
*Chief Supervising Art Director - [[Stephen Nicholas]]
*Art Department Production Manager - [[Jonathan Marquand Allison]]
*Supervising Art Director - [[Arwel Wyn Jones]]
*Associate Designer - [[James North]]
*Art Department Coordinator - [[Amy Pope]]
*Set Decorator - [[Malin Lindholm]]
*Props Buyer - [[Catherine Samuel]]
*Standby Art Director - [[Ciaran Thompson]]
*Design Assistants - [[Al Roberts]], [[Peter McKinstry]], [[Sarah Payne]]
*Storyboard Artist - [[Richard Shaun Williams]]
*Standby Props - [[Phill Shellard]], [[Nick Murray]]
*Standby Carpenter - [[Will Pope]]
*Standby Painter - [[Ellen Woods]]
*Standby Rigger - [[Keith Freeman]]
*Property Masters - [[Paul Aitken]], [[Phil Lyons]]
*Dressing Chargehand - [[Matthew Wild]]
*Forward Dresser - [[Stuart MacKay]]
*Senior Props Maker - [[Barry Jones]]
*Props Maker - [[Nick Robatto]], [[Penny Howarth]], [[Jon Grundon]]
*Practical Electrician - [[Albert James]]
*Construction Manager - [[Matthew Hywel-Davies]]
*Scenic Artists - [[John Pinkerton]], [[John Whalley]]
*Construction Chargehands - [[Scott Fisher]], [[Allen Jones]]
*Construction Workshop Manager - [[Mark Hill]]
*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]], [[John Munro]]
*Casting Associates - [[Andy Brierley]], [[Amy Rogers]]
*VFX Editor - [[Ceres Doyle]]
| width=25% style="border-left: 1px solid #E0E0E0; padding-left:1em;" |
*Assistant Editor - [[Carmen Roberts]]
*Post Production Supervisors - [[Chris Blatchford]], [[Samantha Hall]]
*Post Production Co-ordinator - [[Marie Brown]]
*SFX Co-ordinator - [[Ben Ashmore]]
*SFX Supervisor - [[Danny Hargreaves]]
*Prosthetics Designer - [[Neill Gorton]]
*Prosthetics Supervisor - [[Rob Mayor]]
*On Line Editors - [[Matthew Clarke]], [[Mark Bright]]
*Colourist - [[Mick Vincent]]
*3D Artists - [[Stephen Regulus]], [[Dave Levy]], [[Serena Cacciato]], [[Matt McKinney]]
*2D Artists - [[Bryan Bartlett]], [[Simon C Holden]], [[Greg Spencer]], [[Sara Bennett]], [[Tim Barter]], [[James Moxon]], [[Murray Barber]], [[Loraine Cooper]]
*VFX Co-ordinators - [[Jenna Powell]], [[Rebecca Johnson]]
*VFX Production Assistant - [[Marianne Paton]]
*On Set VFX Supervisor - [[Tim Barter]]
*Dubbing Mixer - [[Tim Ricketts]]
*Supervising Sound Editor - [[Paul McFadden]]
*Sound FX Editor - [[Paul Jefferies]]
*Foley Editor - [[Kelly-Marie Angell]]
*Finance Manager - [[Chris Rogers]]
*Original Theme Music - [[Ron Grainer]]
*Casting Director - [[Andy Pryor Cdg]]
*Production Executive - [[Julie Scott]]
*Production Accountant - [[Oliver Ager]]
*Sound Recordist - [[Julian Howarth]]
*Costume Designer - [[Louise Page]]
*Make Up Designer - [[Barbara Southcott]]
*Music - [[Murray Gold]]
*Visual Effects - [[The Mill]]
*Visual Fx Producers - [[Will Cohen]], [[Marie Jones]]
*Visual Fx Supervisor - [[Dave Houghton]]
*Special Effects - [[Any Effects]]
*Prosthetics - [[Millenium Fx]]
*Editor - [[Mike Jones]]
*Production Designer - [[Edward Thomas]]
*Director Of Photography - [[Ernie Vincze]] Bsc
*Production Manager - [[Tracie Simpson]]
*Executive Producers - [[Russell T Davies]], [[Julie Gardner]]
|}


The episode received several negative reviews. Andrew Billen, writing for The Times, lamented that Davies had "forgotten that Doctor Who's main task is to send children scuttling behind sofas while entertaining their fathers with the odd philosophical idea, the occasional classical reference, a joke or two they would probably not wish to explain and a wee bit of space totty". Billen also criticised the writing and acting, but commended Tate for a "toned down performance". Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal summarised it as "a runaway Saturday morning cartoon in desperate need to a solid story". Blair found flaws with the comedy and the music in the episode, but was impressed with Tate's acting and Piper's cameo. Kevin O'Sullivan of the Sunday Mirror criticised Tate and Tennant for overacting, and had concerns about the writing: "It didn't exactly ooze tension. All we got in the way of terrifying space enemies was Sarah Lancashire hamming it up as an intergalactic super nanny, a couple of security guards with guns and lots of cute little fat babies."[Ian Hyland of News of the World criticised the child-friendly storyline, comparing it to "the back of a fag packet". He also criticised Tennant for appearing "jaded" and Tate for "still shouting".
== References ==
*Donna and the Doctor refer to many instances they last time the encountered one another, including the scene where the Doctor drowned the [[Racnoss]] children. ([[DW]]: [[The Runaway Bride]])
*Donna refers to the [[Titanic (spaceship)|Starship Titanic]] (from [[Christmas]] day) saying it must have been a hoax.
*The [[Shadow Proclamation]] is mentioned. They were mentioned before in [[Rose (TV story)]], [[The Christmas Invasion]] and [[Fear Her]].
*The Doctor mentions [[Martha Jones]] and Donna makes remarks about her. [[Rose Tyler]] is also described by [[the Doctor]] as "still lost."
*An [[ATMOS]] sticker appears on the taxi. ATMOS are devices that appear in [[The Sontaran Stratagem]].
*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]]).
 
== Story notes ==
*This episode is dedicated to [[Howard Attfield]], who passed away shortly before he was to resume playing Donna's father, [[Geoff Noble]].
*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 CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete.
*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]].
*Pointing a [[sonic screwdriver]] and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area.
*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]]''.
*In [[The Fires of Pompeii]] the planet [[Pyrovillia]] also has gone missing similiar to the [[Adipose Breeding Planet]].
 
=== Ratings ===
*Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers
 
=== Myths ===
*It was rumoured that Miss Foster was [[The Rani]]. ''(This turned out to be false)''
*Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between [[Earth]] and [[Pete's World]]. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the [[Ogron|Ogrons]] in [[Day of the Daleks]] where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century.
*Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans.
*In [[The Fires of Pompeii]] the planet [[Pyrovillia]] also has gone missing similiar to the [[Adipose Breeding Planet]]. This is believed to be an arc for Series 4.
 
=== Filming Locations ===
''to be added''
 
=== Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors ===
*When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps.
*The building Miss Foster stands in front of when she is giving the speech is the same building [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] got pushed off by [[John Hart|John]] in the [[Torchwood]] episode ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]''. Partners in Crime plays in [[London]], Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang in [[Cardiff]]. ''(Obviously a filming error)''
*The character [[Stacey Campbell]] is credited as Stacey '''Harris'''.
*The credit, VFX Supervisor - [[Barney Curnow]], should read: On Set VFX Supervisor - [[Tim Barter]].
 
== Continuity ==
*Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in ''[[The Runaway Bride]]''.
*Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' as the Newspaper dealer.
*This is the first episode since ''[[Doomsday]]'' that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character.
*The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in [[TW]]: ''[[Fragments]]''.
*First reference to disappearing bees. Although intended as a storyline reference, this is actually [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder a real-life concern] in the early 21st Century.
 
== DVD and other releases==
*It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.
*It will be released on vanilla DVD Series 4 Volume 1 along with [[The Fires of Pompeii]] and [[Planet of the Ood]] on June 2nd 2008
 
==External links==
''to be added''
 
{{Series 4}}
 
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor episodes]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Adipose]]

Revision as of 10:22, 17 May 2008

The fat just walks away.The Doctor [Partners in Crime [src]]


Synopsis

Donna Noble is determined to find the 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

Donna Noble is walking down a street on the way to Adipose Industries, as she is investigating them on their weight-loss drug. The Doctor is doing the same but they fail to see each other as they do different things at the same time. They are in an a conference room posing as Health and Safety when a reporter starts asking 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.

Donna goes to a woman named 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 of 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. So Stacey goes to the bathroom only to find that her stomach starts moving and a tubby piece of fat comes out her body. Donna while down stairs is fiddling with a capsule like necklace with the end shaped like a pill. As she turns it another fat thing comes out of Stacey's body. As Donna plays with the necklace more of Stacey's body explodes into more pieces of fat and dies. Donna 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 TARDIS. Donna cancels Stacey's cab and goes home only to find 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 says to 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 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 and the Doctor hides to investigate. All day Miss Foster is looking for Penny Carter who is hiding in the same toilets too. 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 pully for the window cleaner he pulls him self 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 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. Goes down a floor to Miss Foster's office. Only to find that Penny is locked in there. He then opens her window with his screw driver and saves Donna.

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 asks 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 and is really upset, that is until Donna pulls out her capsule from her jacket pocket and the peoples lives are saved. Miss Foster 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 family that identify Matron Cofelia as a criminal for breeding on a Level 5 planet. The Doctor runs onto the rooftop to try and save her and Donna suggests blowing them up though the Doctor replies that they're just children and can't help from where they came from. Donna says that Martha must have done him good and he's 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.

The Doctor bins the sonic pen and Donna drags him off to the TARDIS. Once there she unpacks her belongings 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 takes this literally and says that he is just an alien streak of nothing. 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 and she has just missed the Doctor hoping to catch him at the event. She 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 Grandad, he cheers her on.

Cast

File:Episode1preview.JPG
The Sinister Miss Foster

Production crew

References

Story notes

  • This episode is dedicated to Howard Attfield, who passed away shortly before he was to resume playing Donna's father, Geoff Noble.
  • 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 CGI team (The Mill) more time than most shots used for the series to complete.
  • 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.
  • Pointing a sonic screwdriver and a sonic pen at one another creates a sonic feedback in the surrounding area.
  • The Doctor says he's met 'cat people' before, he may be referring to the cat people he met in New Earth and Gridlock, or during Survival.
  • In The Fires of Pompeii the planet Pyrovillia also has gone missing similiar to the Adipose Breeding Planet.

Ratings

  • Unofficial overnight ratings - 8.4 million viewers

Myths

  • It was rumoured that Miss Foster was The Rani. (This turned out to be false)
  • Rose's fading away at the end of the episode indicates that there may be an unstable linkway between Earth and Pete's World. The way Rose fades away echoes that of the guerillas and the Ogrons in Day of the Daleks where those who came from the 22nd century faded away and returned to their own century a short time after arriving in the 20th century.
  • Due to their appearance, the Adipose are said to be the cloning incubation of the Sontarans.
  • In The Fires of Pompeii the planet Pyrovillia also has gone missing similiar to the Adipose Breeding Planet. This is believed to be an arc for Series 4.

Filming Locations

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • When Miss Foster cuts the first cable, she is clearly cutting the one on the Doctor's side of the cradle. However, it is the cable on Donna's side that snaps.
  • The building Miss Foster stands in front of when she is giving the speech is the same building Jack got pushed off by John in the Torchwood episode Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Partners in Crime plays in London, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang in Cardiff. (Obviously a filming error)
  • The character Stacey Campbell is credited as Stacey Harris.
  • The credit, VFX Supervisor - Barney Curnow, should read: On Set VFX Supervisor - Tim Barter.

Continuity

  • Donna declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in The Runaway Bride.
  • Wilfred Mott is Donna's Grandfather who appeared in Voyage of the Damned as the Newspaper dealer.
  • This is the first episode since Doomsday that Rose Tyler has appeared as a present character.
  • The effect of pointing the sonic pen and sonic screwdriver at one another is remarkably similar to an effect of a sonic device in TW: Fragments.
  • First reference to disappearing bees. Although intended as a storyline reference, this is actually a real-life concern in the early 21st Century.

DVD and other releases

  • It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.
  • It will be released on vanilla DVD Series 4 Volume 1 along with The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood on June 2nd 2008

External links

to be added

Template:Series 4

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