The Stolen Earth (TV story)

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The TARDIS is still in the same place but the Earth is gone!The Doctor


Synopsis

When the Earth is stolen from its orbit and placed in another galaxy with 26 other stolen planets, the Doctor's secret army of allies comes together to defend the Earth from the New Dalek Empire. With battles raging on the streets and in the sky, the Doctor and Donna confront the Shadow Proclamation to find the truth; however, a fearsome old enemy waits in the shadows.

Plot

Having seen the signs, the Doctor and Donna return to Earth to find everything in order. The Doctor asks a milkman what day it is. It is Saturday. Donna presses the Doctor for an explanation of Rose's unexpected reappearance; the Doctor says that, if Rose can cross from her parallel world to Donna's parallel world, then the walls of reality are breaking down. But, with Earth

apparently safe for now, they return to the TARDIS and prepare to stop the walls breaking. The TARDIS rumbles with an

The Stolen Planets

apparent earthquake. The Doctor and Donna rush to the doors and fling them open to find that they are hanging in space. The Doctor checks the readings and realizes they have not moved, but the Earth has gone missing. It has been stolen.

At the UNIT New York Base, Dr Martha Jones, regains consciousness after an earthquake to find UNIT in chaos and its personnel panicking. One hysterical colleague screams at Martha to look at the sky. In Torchwood Three, Captain Jack Harkness blames the Rift for the brief but violent earthquake that has just devastated the Hub. After making sure that the other members of Torchwood Three - Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones - are all right, Jack heads outside to survey the damage. Ianto and Gwen look at the computers and Ianto realizes that, whatever the problem is, "it's a bit bigger than South Wales".

At 13 Bannerman Road, Ealing, London, Sarah Jane Smith and her son Luke comment on the earthquake - and wonder why, if it was only 8 a.m., when the quake struck, it is now dark outside. They approach the nearest window and look outside. In Chiswick, London, Donna's mother Sylvia and grandfather Wilf are not sure what has caused the earthquake. As they step outside their home, Sylvia looks at the sky. On the street in London where the TARDIS was parked, the milkman turns and sees Rose Tyler materializes. She is carrying a large gun. She looks up and, alone of the Doctor's friends, does not seem surprised. She declares that "Alright, now we're in trouble" as she arms her gun "it's only just beginning..."

The familiar Earth sky is gone. The sun is gone. The constellations have been replaced with strange new ones. And twenty-six new planets have appeared in the sky.

Aboard the TARDIS, Donna demands to know if her family is dead. The Doctor does not know, and decides they have to get help. They set a course for the Shadow Proclamation.

At Sarah Jane's house, alien supercomputer Mr Smith picks up readings of a fleet of 200 spaceships apparently headed towards Earth. At UNIT, American UNIT leader General Sanchez enters tells all soldiers and staff that UNIT commander Geneva has declared a Code Red Emergency. Martha tells him that she has tried to phone the Doctor, but the signal is dead. The number calls anywhere in the Universe, but the signal is being blocked by some unknown force. Sanchez notes that they will likely find out soon because the fleet is coming into orbit.

Martha manages to call Jack, who says that he has not heard anything from the Doctor either. Gwen calls her husband, Rhys, and tells him to stay indoors and call her mother. Meanwhile, Rose is walking along the streets of London. She threatens a pair of looters with her gun and looks at the computer screen in the electronics shop they were robbing. She looks at the readings.

At Torchwood Three, the team sees the spaceships. Mr Smith tells Sarah Jane that the ships have a message for the human race. He puts it through. It consists of a single repeated word: EXTERMINATE

. The message is heard on all frequencies, including UNIT, the speakers at

File:53.jpg
The Doctor and Donna arrive in the Shadow Proclamation

Torchwood Three and at Sarah Jane's attic thanks to Mr. Smith. The enemy are the Daleks. Upon hearing the message, both Jack and Sarah become very emotional, with Jack saying "I'm sorry, We're dead."

Rose hears the message and heads outside to see a massive Dalek spaceship flying over London, destroying everything in its path. Martha looks outside to see Dalek spaceships flying everywhere, destroying New York. Aboard a massive spaceship at the heart of the cluster of planets, the Daleks finalize their plans. The Supreme Dalek, a red Dalek with extra paneling, declares that the Crucible will soon be complete, and that the Daleks are the masters of Earth. Far back across the Universe, on board the TARDIS and unaware of the unfolding destruction on Earth, the Doctor and Donna arrive at the Shadow Proclamation and are greeted at gunpoint by its rhino-headed guards, the Judoon. The Doctor manages to convince them they mean no harm and need help. A female member of the Proclamation tells the Doctor that the situation is worse than he suspects--not one but 24 planets have been stolen. Donna asks about Pyrovillia, but the Judoon captain tells her that Pyrovillia is a cold case, and it disappeared over 2000 years ago. Donna asks about the Adipose Breeding Planet and the Doctor realizes that planets are being snatched out of time as well as space. The Doctor heads over to the computer and shifts the display of the missing planets into 3D. He adds Adipose 3, Pyrovillia, and the Lost Moon of Poosh. The model rearranges itself into a perfect balance. They fit together 'like pieces of an engine'.

Back on Earth, the Daleks attack and bring down the Valiant. Jack, Gwen and Ianto try to find a way to stop them. But their efforts are futile. Daleks land in Japan and Africa as well as other countries across the world. Back in Manhattan, the UNIT Base is attacked by Daleks and Jack tells Martha to get out of there. However, she does not listen and General Sanchez declares that 'Project Indigo' has been activated. He leads Martha and another UNIT Soldier to the vault where Project Indigo is being kept and he orders Martha to wear it (as it is some-kind of suit). As Jack protests for Martha not to use it, stating that it is too dangerous, General Sanchez orders Martha to do it, as he hands her something called - 'The Osterhagen Key'. Martha, obviously understanding what the device is, states that she cannot take it, but General Sanchez urges her to, for the sake of the whole of Humanity. Martha then activates Project Indigo, against Jack's wishes, and disappears as the Daleks break in and exterminate the others.

Inside Torchwood, Jack states to Gwen and Ianto that Project Indigo was a teleport device reverse-engineered from the teleport pod salvaged from the Sontarans - but they have no coordinates or stabilization. Gwen asks where she is, but Jack states that Martha has been "scattered into atoms. Martha is down."

On board the Dalek station, the Supreme Dalek orders the Daleks to prepare landings and bring the humans to the Crucible. Then he receives a

Dalek Caan

call from the control room, asking about news. The Supreme Dalek declares Earth has been subjugated. The speaker is a sinister figure in the control, with the bottom half of a Dalek but his top half hidden in shadow. He is really asking for news of the Doctor, and the Supreme Dalek replies that there are no reports of the Doctor, and that they are beyond his reach. The figure is fascinated by the Dalek's tone of what seems to be triumph, and warns him about his pride. The Supreme Dalek believes the Doctor cannot stop them. The figure replies "And yet, Dalek Caan is uneasy." A light switches on to show a Dalek with its mid-section opened to reveal the creature inside, and its top half destroyed, evidently Caan, the last of the Cult of Skaro. The Supreme Dalek protests "The abomination is insane!" The figure demands that the Dalek shows respect, as without Dalek Caan Earth could never be conquered. Also, everything Caan says comes true. Caan says "He is coming. The three-fold man, he dances in the lonely places...oh, creator of us all...THE DOCTOR IS COMING!" Caan then bursts into insane laughter.

Back at the Shadow Proclamation's space station, Donna is sitting on the stairs waiting for the Doctor to work out what has happened. A member of the Shadow Architect's race comes over and gives Donna some water. She knows that there was something on Donna's back, and informs her of a loss still to come. The Doctor asks Donna if anything strange was happening on Earth. Donna reminds him about the bees disappearing. The Doctor realizes that this is a clue. Donna tells him some people thought it was pollution, or global warming. The Doctor tells her that in fact the bees were returning home, to the planet Melissa Majoria: The Tandoka Trail. They realize that if they follow the trail they can find the Earth. The Shadow Architect stops them, however, telling them "The planets were taken with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor, right across the Universe and you will lead us into battle!". The Doctor looks stunned then replies, "Right, course I will. I'll just go get you a key." He then closes the door and the TARDIS then vanishes, despite the Architect's demand that they stop.

Back on Earth, the Daleks have enslaved London are ordering that all humans leave their homes. Wilf and Sylvia are watching this happening. When a man and his children defy them and stay at home, the Daleks brutally incinerate the house, leaving no survivors. Wilf and Sylvia run out onto the street and are confronted by a Dalek, Wilf grabs a Paintball gun and shoots the Dalek in the eye but the Dalek melts the paint away. The Dalek then prepares to exterminate them, but then, suddenly it explodes. Behind stands Rose, who has shot it with her gun. She asks if they are Donna's family, and when they reply yes, she tells them she needs them. Wilf reveals he has tried calling her, but there is no reply. The last time Donna had phoned was from the planet Midnight, made of diamonds. Sylvia believes this is ridiculous, but Wilf tells her she cannot start denying things now. Rose tells them that they are her last hope of finding the Doctor.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS stops in the Medusa Cascade. The Doctor tells Donna he came here when he was just 90 years old, and that it was the centre of a rift in time and space. Donna asks about the 27 planets, and the Doctor tells her that they are nowhere. Donna asks what they do, but the Doctor does not reply. Despite Donna's pleas, the Doctor is just about ready to give up.

The subwave network

On Earth, Sarah Jane and Captain Jack have given up. At the Nobles' house, the laptop suddenly switches itself on, with a voice coming through. Sarah and Torchwood hear it too. Jack tells Gwen to leave it, but suddenly the woman who is speaking shames him, and demands that he stands to attention. She then identifies herself as Harriet Jones, former prime minister. Rose tries to talk to Harriet, but she can't hear her, due to Wilf and Sylvia not having a webcam. Harriet makes contact with Sarah, and then decides they should be able to talk to each other. There are four contacts: Harriet, Sarah and Torchwood. The fourth contact is having trouble getting in contact. Rose thinks this is her, but is surprised when Martha appears on screen. Martha reveals that Project Indigo brought her home, to her mother. Harriet then introduces Torchwood to Sarah. Jack has been following Sarah's work, and tells her "Nice job with the Slitheen." Sarah has been staying away from Torchwood - "too many guns." Jack tells her "Looking good, ma'am." Harriet tells them that this is the Subwave Network- it contacts anyone and everyone who can contact the Doctor. Harriet wants them to form the Doctor's Secret Army. Sarah reminds Harriet that the Doctor deposed her. Harriet tells her that she has wondered ever since then if she was wrong.

Regardless, she stands by her actions to this day. She always felt that there would be one day when Earth would be threatened, and the Doctor would not appear. She told him so and he did not listen. Now it has happened. Torchwood realizes that they can transmit using all the power of the Rift, and Luke and Sarah have Mr Smith: phones, all calling out the same number at the same time. Ianto appears beside Jack and theorizes that if transmitting slows or stops, the Subwave Network will become visible to the Daleks. Harriet understands this, but declares her life does not matter- not if it saves the world. she then tells Jack to tell the Doctor from her "He chose his companions well." Martha sends them all the number. Rose decides to call the Doctor herself. The transmitting starts. Rose, Sylvia and Wilf start to call the Doctor. Mr Smith and the equipment at Torchwood is pushed beyond their limits. Suddenly, transmitting slows, and the Daleks detect the Subwave Network. The Supreme Dalek orders that the culprit be exterminated. The figure in the control room contacts him again, telling him "I warned you, Supreme One. Just as Dalek Caan foretold, the Children of Time are moving against us. But everything is falling into place..." Gwen tells Harriet they have found her, but Harriet keeps working. She sends control to Torchwood, just as the Daleks arrive in her home. The Daleks tell her they know her. Harriet says "Oh, you know nothing of any human. And that will be your downfall." With this, she is exterminated.

On board the TARDIS, the Doctor picks up the signal and locks onto it. Doing so causes the TARDIS to travel through time, overloading in the process. The 27 planets come into view, and the Doctor realizes that they were all 1 second out of sync with the universe. He then picks up the subwave network, and the Doctor's companions appear onscreen. The Doctor introduces Donna to all of them, but is disappointed that Rose is not visible.

On board the Crucible, Caan says "He is here...the Dark Lord is coming..." Then, the figure says "Supreme One, this Subwave Network, I will address it. Give me access."

Suddenly, all the contacts vanish off-screen. Donna thinks they are losing contact, but the Doctor realizes there is another contact coming through. He thinks it is Rose, but it is a different voice, one that he and Sarah Jane recognize: "Your voice is different and yet, its arrogance is unchanged..." Suddenly, the figure glides onto the screen, and is revealed as Davros. He says "Welcome to my new empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should witness the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator the Dalek race." The Doctor protests that Davros was destroyed in the very fist year of the Time War. His command ship flew into the jaws of the Nightmare Child at the Gates of Elysium. He even attempted to save Davros. Davros says "But it took one stronger than you- Dalek Caan himself." Caan says "I flew into the wild, and the fire. I danced and I died a thousand times." Davros tells the Doctor that his Emergency Temporal Shift from 1930 had taken him back into the Time War itself.

The Doctor protests that the War is time-locked. But Caan had broken down the barriers and rescued Davros, albeit at the cost of his own mind.

Captain Jack Harkness

The Doctor realizes that now Davros has created a new race of Daleks. Davros says "I gave myself to them- quite literally: each one grown from a cell of my own body." He reveals that parts of his torso have been replaced by metal. His hand is also metal, but this is to replace the one blown off on Necros. As Davros says: "New Daleks...TRUE Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?" Then, the Doctor says one thing: "BYE!" He then cuts transmission with Davros, and sets the TARDIS for Earth. The Supreme Dalek orders that the Daleks locate the TARDIS and find the Doctor. Davros orders the other Daleks to go to the Earth and exterminate or capture the Doctor's companions. Caan says "Death is coming. I can see it! Everlasting death for the most faithful companion..." Suddenly, the Daleks detect that the Subwave Network has been rebooted, and the new location is Torchwood. The Supreme Dalek orders that Torchwood be exterminated.

On Earth, Jack contacts Martha via phone and asks for the digits on the Project Indigo transporter. They are oscillating between a 4 and a 9. These are the two digits Jack needs to reactivate his Vortex Manipulator. He grabs the re-powered defabricator, and tells Gwen and Ianto that he will come back. Then he vanishes. Sarah then heads off to find the Doctor in her car. Mr Smith protects Luke. Rose contacts the parallel Torchwood and asks them to lock her onto the TARDIS, after she sais goodbye to Sylvia and Wilf she teleports away. The TARDIS lands in a street that is deserted and trashed.

The Doctor asks Donna what Rose said in the parallel Earth and Donna replies by saying "Why don't you ask her yourself". The Doctor turns around and sees Rose standing down the street then they both run towards each other. As they get closer a stray Dalek appears from behind a van and spots the Doctor. The Doctor sees the Dalek but is too slow and the Dalek shoots the Doctor in the arm, sending him to the ground. However the beam only partially hits the Doctor and doesn't kill him straight away. Captain Jack teleports into the street and shoots the Dalek to bits with his gun. Rose kneels over the Doctor as he lies on the ground dying and Jack and Donna gather around and prepare to move him into the TARDIS.

Back in Torchwood Gwen and Ianto pick up Machine guns

and get ready for battle. A Dalek enters Torchwood and Gwen and Ianto open fire. Back in the TARDIS the Doctor is in terrible pain. Donna asks if there's anything they can do to help him but Jack tells them to just stay away. Rose and Jack know what will happen next but Donna is oblivious. The Doctor lifts up his hand and it begins to glow. Sarah Jane is still in her

File:158h.jpg
The Doctor regenarating

car and is driving down a street until she nearly hits two Daleks that are on the road. The Daleks turn around and Sarah Jane tries to apologize but the Daleks do not accept it and prepare to exterminate her. Back in the TARDIS the Doctor is still in pain and Jack makes the others back away.

Donna asks what's going on and Rose explains that when the Doctor is dying he can heal himself but he changes in the process. Rose doesn't want the Doctor to change as she has come a long way to find him however the process has already started so he can't stop it.

In Torchwood Three, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones aim their weapons and pull the safety catches, as the Dalek says for a third and final time, "EXTERMINATE..."

As the Doctor stumbles to his feet he stands up right and bursts with a huge yellow and white energy. His hands and head explode with energy and starts to regenerate in front of Rose, Jack and Donna. The yellow and orange regeneration energy slowly begins to fade...

Cast

References

  • General Sanchez is heard saying "Ladies and gentlemen, we are at war." The same phrase was spoken by Jack Harkness when facing the Daleks on the Game Station.
  • Harriet Jones has yet again introduced herself by flashing her identity card earning her the response of "Yes, I/We know who you are", even from the Daleks dispatched to her location to exterminate her.
  • Mr Smith says that the TARDIS has landed in "vector 7, grid references 666". 666 is the number of the Beast.
  • When the sub-wave network patches through to Rose at Donna Noble's home the ring tone matches the rhythm of the drums that the Master spoke of in The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords.
  • When Sarah Jane summons Mr. Smith, she complains about the musical fanfare that accompanies the computer's activation; this is the culmination of a recurring gag in The Sarah Jane Adventures in which the same fanfare (usually) blares whenever Mr. Smith is activated. This is the first time, however, that it is confirmed the characters actually hear this music.
  • Luke's comment about spatial transference echoes a similar statement made by Grace Holloway when she displays unexpected knowledge of time travel in the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.

Daleks

  • Wilf uses a paintball gun as a weapon against the Daleks by shooting paintballs at their eye stalks, referencing the popular method of incapacitating a Dalek: blinding them. However, it seems that the Daleks have been redesigned with this weakness in mind as the paint simply evaporates from the eye stalk after coming into contact with it (and at the same time replying "My vision is NOT impaired"). Actor Bernard Cribbins last squared off against the Daleks in the film Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD.
  • Caan referred the Doctor as "Dark Lord". (The Doctor is probably referred to in this way due to being the cause of death and destruction, from the point of view of the Daleks.) He has also been known by the Daleks as the Ka Faraq Gatri or the 'destroyer of worlds' and also "The Oncoming Storm".
  • The new Daleks are said to be Davros's "children" as they have been grown from his own cells.
  • The Daleks' weaponry has seemingly been updated to include a "maximum extermination" setting, capable of destroying an entire house if three Daleks fire at the same target.
  • The Daleks in this episode don't seem to have any shields. When UNIT soldiers fire upon the Daleks, the bullets clearly make physical contact with their casings - perhaps certain bullets melt on the surface and others don't? However, it should be noted that the Daleks are still impervious to modern Earth fire-arms.
  • The Daleks have an ambivalent relationship with Davros. Davros tells the Doctor that he and the Supreme Dalek have an 'arrangement'. The Doctor says that Davros is the Supreme Dalek's 'pet'. Dalek Caan rescued Davros from the Time War in order that Davros might recreate the Dalek race. Davros also invented the reality bomb. Still, the Daleks do not give him the leadership and regard him with distrust.

The Doctor

  • The Doctor makes a reference to the lost moon of Poosh (as mentioned in Midnight.)
  • The Doctor first went to the Medusa Cascade when he was "just a child" at the age of 90.
  • The Doctor says he likes Saturdays, echoing his earlier statement in Silence in the Library about finding Sundays boring.

Last Great Time War

  • The Doctor says that Davros died in the very first years of the Time War, when Davros's ship flew into the "jaws of the Nightmare Child", implying that the Time War lasted multiple years. Whether only several years, or centuries, or even millions of years, is unknown (and if the Time War was fought across time, very possibly not even applicable).
  • An ongoing question relating to why the Doctor can't or won't go back to the era of the Time War to make things turn out differently is addressed by the Doctor indicating that the war is time-locked; Dalek Caan, having circumvented this barrier, paid for the experience with his sanity.
  • It's revealed that Davros fought in the Time War, and the Doctor tried to save his life. This means at least two of the Doctor's mortal enemies were involved in the conflict, although the Doctor wasn't aware of the Master's involvement until much later.

Planets

Technology

  • There is reference to an object called an "Osterhagen key", This is explained by Martha Jones in a transmission to the Dalek Crucible to be a key that activates "A chain of 25 nuclear warheads, placed in strategic locations beneath the Earth's crust" which on detonation rip the Earth apart. She is instructed that the Osterhagen Key is to be used only "If the suffering of the human race is so great, so without hope, that it becomes the final option". Significantly, while Harriet Jones is aware of its function and forbids its use, and Martha is also aware of what it can do, Jack Harkness and Torchwood have no idea what it is, even though they know about the other top-secret Indigo project, though Jack does mention this was because he 'met a soldier in a bar'. He is also from the future and seems to know the project is not fully operational, though Martha survives.
  • Harriet Jones uses the subwave network to put the Doctor's 'secret army' in contact with each other, it utilises Sub-wave communication developed by the Mr Copper Foundation. Donna compares it to Facebook.
  • The sentence You will obey your Dalek masters is cut off towards the end, and you can hear the Master's beat replace the masters the Daleks were to finish - just before the subwave network opened.

Story notes

  • This episode is the 750th broadcast episode of Doctor Who.
  • This episode was the last of Series 4 to have its title revealed.
  • This is the fourth time that the Daleks have returned with a leader in a finale. In DW: The Evil of the Daleks they returned led by their emperor; in the 2005 finale, The Parting of the Ways, the Daleks were led by the Dalek Emperor; and in 2006 finale, Doomsday, Dalek Sec led the Cult of Skaro. The Other Dalek two-parter in 2007 Series was shown as the 4th & 5th episodes of the series (Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks).
  • There was originally a scene where a Dalek Saucer landed at Westminister and one of the Daleks exterminated the Prime Minister Aubrey Fairchild before the Dalek invasion force emerged from the saucer. An unseen character in The Next Doctor was named Aubrey Fairchild.
  • The "To Be Continued" before the end credits is different from the others previously used. There is also no sneak peek of the next episode.
  • When Harriet Jones contacts Captain Jack, Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith, the contact tone is the same tone used by the Master to control the populace under the Archangel network.
  • For the first time, the opening credits incorporate not two or three names, but six, adding Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman and Elisabeth Sladen to the Tennant, Tate and Piper credits of the previous week. The typeface used for these credits is slightly different than that usually used. In addition, several "overflow" cast credits are featured over the first scene after the opening sequence, a first for the series (Penelope Wilton, Adjoa Andoh, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd). Although the appearances of Harriet Jones and Francine Jones are clearly intended to be surprises, the surprise is weakened for anyone who recognized the names of Wilton and Andoh in these opening credits. Despite their major roles in this episode, neither Bernard Cribbins nor Jacqueline King receive similar credits.
  • Scientist and author Richard Dawkins has a cameo as himself. Dawkins is married to Lalla Ward, the actress who portrayed Romana II. The two were introduced by Douglas Adams, who met Ward in his capacity as the show's script editor during the time Ward's ex-husband, Tom Baker, played the Doctor.
  • The claws of the Daleks in Crucible are very similar to ones in Dr. Who and the Daleks movie, but with eight fingers instead of two.
  • The clicking sound when the Time Beetle from Turn Left was mentioned occurred when Donna was offered water at the Shadow Proclamation, accompanied by the same words used when the Time Beetle was "seen" by somebody else, "There's something on your back!"
  • The differences between the child-friendly Sarah Jane Adventures and the very adult-oriented Torchwood are reflected in the onscreen conference. Sarah Jane mentions that she tries to steer away from Torchwood because they have "too many guns", nodding to Luke as she does so. Despite this, Jack cannot resist flirting with her, and she seems to appreciate his compliment.
  • In the scene with the Shadow Proclamation, it was originally planned to show many more aliens old and new including:

Ratings

To be added

Myths and rumours

  • The presence of Davros in this episode had been rumoured for a long time before broadcast. An associated rumour suggested that the episode would reveal that Donna was actually Davros in disguise or Caan mutating himself into Davros. See this section in Journey's End for additional rumors related to Donna.
  • It was also rumoured on the fan boards that Patrick Stewart or Ben Kingsley might have been cast as Davros, given media reports of his interest in appearing in Doctor Who after it was announced that he and Tennant would perform a season of Shakespeare together in 2008. Ultimately, Julian Bleach was revealed to be playing the character.
  • The cliffhanger regeneration ending sparked a week's worth of widespread speculation as to whether David Tennant was in fact about to hand the role over to another actor, despite reports that he was to at least appear in the upcoming Christmas special. The rumors, of course, were put to bed upon the cliffhanger's resolution.

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • It is not explained how the Daleks know of Harriet Jones. If they know of Torchwood and UNIT, then they know about Harriet Jones.
  • At the end of Turn Left Bad Wolf was on the TARDIS. It's not there now at the beginning of this episode. They've travelled to Earth, just as Rose needed, so there is no need for the message to be there anymore.
  • If Dalek Caan broke into The Time War, Why did he not save millions of other Daleks to build a greater Dalek empire for Davros. Dalek Caan is only one Dalek he could only save Davros. As Caan said in the next episode, he had saw what the Daleks had done, and set all of these motions in play so that the Daleks would be destroyed
  • When Harriet Jones transfers control of the sub-wave network to Torchwood, the map circles an area in Swansea, not Cardiff. There is no indication to suggest that the area circled has anything to do with the transfer of control. Furthermore, there were several identical scans of seemingly random areas on the screens in the background of most shots of the computer earlier in the sequence. Or it could be that be circleling harriet jones herself, and that she had moved to swansea.
  • When Jones' sub-wave system seeks out those who have worked with the Doctor, only the companions of the Tenth Doctor are singled out, not other past companions and/or acquaintances who might have worked with previous incarnations. The subwave network only seeks out those that have the capacity to contact the Doctor; other companions such as Tegan Jovanka or Ian Chesterton do not have this ability or the possession of a superphone
  • Donna indicates she has no idea what regeneration is, even though she was present when Martha mentioned it in The Doctor's Daughter. Neither Martha or the Doctor went into detail about what regeneration was.
  • Why did Harriet's computer screen turn off just because she died? Harriet was standing in front of her computer when three Dalek's fired on her—the computer was likely destroyed by the overblast. Alternatively, because the Subwave network was designed to seek out those who had a link to The Doctor. There was no one left at that computer's location who fit that description.
  • If Rose asked her "Control" to lock on to the TARDIS and transport, why did she end up at the other end of the street? Control is likely to be in Pete's World, so it did quite well to get her into the same street as the TARDIS.
  • The death of Harriet Jones belies the comment of the Ninth Doctor stating that she was destined to serve three terms as PM and lead Britain into a new golden age (DW: World War Three). According to the Doctor, some events are fixed and others are in flux. Presumably, Jones' three terms are in flux. And neither the Doctor's companions nor the television audience see her death. Perhaps her death is deliberately ambiguous to allow for a future story involving Harriet Jones.
  • Television, mobile phone and satellite communications continue to work, even though by rights when the planet moved anything in orbit should have been lost. When the Daleks moved the planet, satellites were moved as well.
  • Without the moon, there would be huge earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides. The Earth would quite literally fall apart. There is no indication the moon is taken with it, and it is proved that it isn't in the next episode.The Moon does not hold the Earth together—gravity does that. While the pull of the Moon does influence tides and if it were to move closer to the Earth it would indeed trigger earthquakes and such, its absence would not. It would simply cease to have any affect at all (on the other hand, in the absence of the Earth it would tumble off into its own solar orbit—putting the Earth-Moon system back together at the end of the day would involve an interesting exercise in applied celestial mechanics).
  • This episode is set in 2008, with hundreds of Daleks invading Earth. Not to mention the previous encounter in Doomsday, how does Henry van Statten not know of the Daleks in the 2005 episode Dalek, set in 2012? The Dalek and Cyberman invasion was put down to terrorists drugging the water supply with psychotropic drugs. This is inconsistent with the number of deaths, and also doesn't explain the ignorance of the events of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. History can change, so the version seen in "Dalek" may have been rewritten. Also, there is precedent for major characters to somehow "miss" major events such as this witness Donna's comments in The Runaway Bride regarding the Cybermen/Dalek and Sycorax invasions or as his "Metaltron" never spoke until the Ninth Doctor encountered it, van Stratten may simply never have known it was one of the same creatures that moved the Earth.
  • If the Earth has changed co-ordinates how is Rose able to find it? Pete's World may have a spatial and temporal connection with the Doctor's Earth.
  • Why did the Cardiff rift move with the Earth? Shouldn't it have stayed behind the way the TARDIS did? The Cariff rift is locked on a fixed point of the Earth and is dragged along with it as the Earth moves. Otherwise it wouldn't stay in place as the Earth rotates around its axis or revolves around the Sun.
  • The TARDIS stayed in place even when the Earth moved. But in The Impossible Planet the TARDIS fell down after the floor was removed. When the planets were stolen the Earth's atmosphere was also moved despite not being physically attached to the planet, suggesting that anything within a set area was taken with the Earth. In contrast, the TARDIS was just obeying gravity - if the floor is removed, you fall. His TARDIS might not have been fixed to the ground at that point. Alternatively, the Daleks may have intentionally avoided taking Time Lord technology, or the TARDIS in particular.
  • Mr Smith was supposed to make every phone call the Doctor. However, the screen only shows a map of Britain. The map is not a literal representation of every cell phone under Mr Smith's control—otherwise there would be a lot more that the roughly 75 red dots we see on the map.
  • Rose and Donna's family are seen to have to phone him themselves without Mr Smith helping them. The three of them are seen holding their phones and possibly dialing, but their actions wouldn't matter if Mr Smith has already overridden theirs and every other cell phone.
  • Rose can see the Dalek space-ships in a TV showroom - despite it being impossible to see secret UNIT surveillance unless at UNIT. She used the 'Buffalo' password used by Mickey in World War Three to access the UNIT website.
  • How did the Valiant move with the Earth? The Valiant is an aircraft carrier, not a spaceship, so it was within the atmosphere at the time of transportation and was moved with it.
  • Why do the Daleks not attack any of the other planets they stole, and if some are populated with alien life, why do none of them take any action? Presumably, the attacks did happen, but "off-camera". Jahoo isn't populated, Adipose 3 is a nursing planet with little benefit of decimating, moons are rarely populated, and in the Doctor's own words, "Who'd want Clom?" Alternatively, they chose Earth as subject randomly - it could just have easily been Clom or Woman Wept.
  • If Dalek Caan changed history by saving Davros, wouldn't the Reapers come out? If the change in the timeline occured during the Time War, then the Time Lords were around to prevent them from appearing.
  • In The Sound of Drums, it was shown that travelling via Jack's Vortex Manipulator caused considerable discomfort to the user. Despite this when Jack teleports to find the Doctor, he shows no discomfort upon arrival. Jack only teleported to another position, he didn't actually time travel.
  • In the scene where the Doctor is explaining the Tandocca Scale, the TARDIS can be seen behind them, yet when the Doctor and Donna run off to the TARDIS they are running away from it.
  • Technically, when Mr Smith is making every phone on Earth ring to the TARDIS, the signals travel at the speed of light. It would take several years for the signals to reach the TARDIS. It has been long established that a "superphone" can work through time and space with no time delay, so the speed of light should be an irrelvant consideration.
  • If the Earth is out of synchronisation with the rest of the universe, then how can the phone signal get to the TARDIS? It has been long established that a "superphone" can reach the Doctor through time and space. Once the outgoing signal was sufficiently boosted to clear Dalek interference, the superphone itself could deal with a second or two of time shift.
  • Martha is talking to Jack using an earpiece, but before she says "Bye Jack" she removes it, then in the next scene she's wearing it again just before transporting. (Having nowhere convenient to hold it, she put it back on again.)
  • When Torchwood sends the signal to find the Doctor, the point of origin isn't coming from Cardiff. It's coming from the centre of Europe. The limits of the Torchwood Rift are never defined for certain. In the Torchwood episode Countrycide, the Rift expanded to the Brecon Beacons, but this could easily have been width. The Rift could easily have been long enough to reach Europe.
  • In Utopia, the TARDIS jumps to the end of the universe when Jack jumps on the TARDIS, because, as Jack said, it was 'prejudiced' against him. Why does the TARDIS not jump to the end of the universe when Jack enters the TARDIS in this episode? That may be because this time he was inside the TARDIS, whereas in Utopia he was hanging on to the outside, which no normal person should be able to survive. The TARDIS might have also lost its prejudice since Utopia, especially since he saved it in Last of the Time Lords.
  • The Doctor says that the entire Medusa Cascade has been taken a second out of synchronisation with the rest of the universe, rendering the planets inaccessible. However, the nebula clouds can be seen before and after the TARDIS breaks into the Cascade. (The Daleks were using the Cascade as a hiding place for the planets, so leaving the nebula clouds visible as normal was a necessary part of this.)
  • In The Juggernauts, the self-destruct mechanism of Davros' life-support chair explodes, leaving him as presumably nothing but a head, as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks in which he is wired into an Emperor Dalek casing. However, in The Stolen Earth his body is how it was in Revelation of the Daleks, and his torso is clearly seen. (His body can be seen below the cables in Remembrance of the Daleks.)
  • In Terror Firma, the "Emperor" personality in Davros becomes dominant and he becomes, mentally, an Emperor Dalek. Here, he is clearly Davros again. It is possible that his Davros personality was restored between Terror Firma and The Stolen Earth and its also possible that the current production is not considering any of the audio stories as canon
  • The Doctor states that Davros died in the first year of the Time War. However, the Doctor Who Annual 2006 established the War to have started in Genesis of the Daleks, and a period of at least 90 years passed between Genesis of the Daleks and Resurrection of the Daleks (the gap between the Genesis and Destiny of the Daleks being of uncertain length), and Davros is still alive in the latter (and further appearances). (Although the annual suggests that the Time War started out with incidents such as the events in those stories, it also indicates that it later became a full-scale war. The Doctor is clearly referring to the first year of this full-scale conflict, when Davros' ship was destroyed.)
  • Why is evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins appearing on television to assert that the Earth has moved? Surely an astronomer would be more appropriate? Dawkins may already have been at the studio and so was able to make an appearance. It may be a small joke by the writers, as Dawkins is here clearly asserting a fact despite a considerable number of other people believing something different (people believe that the planets have appeared in the sky and the Earth has remained stationary), referencing his works and own atheism and the theist argument against him in reality.
  • Why did Davros feel the need to remove so many cells from his body presumably with such speed that he did not give his tissue time to heal? He could have grown one Dalek at a time while the cell used grew back. Why was he content to leave his ribcage flayed open? (Davros is a megalomaniac obsessed with Dalek superiority, so he would want to create them again quickly.)
  • The subwave network only seems to able to show four people on the screen at any one time (as evidenced by the fact that when Harriet Jones' signal is cut off it is replaced by static rather than the screen rearranging itself to show only three images), so were would the Doctor and Donna have appeared if Harriet Jones had not been killed? There is no way to evenly divide a rectangular screen into three windows and still maintain an appropriate aspect ratio, so the network kept the fourth window after Harriet Jones dropped out. It should be assumed that if the Doctor and Donna had joined in when she was still transmitting, then the screens would have reconfigured into six windows.
  • Didn't the Dalek at the end of this episode contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan, something that even the Supreme Dalek wouldn't do? This Dalek was a soldier so it may not have known about Caan's prophecy.
  • General Sanchez wears insignia indicating that he is an Army Ranger as well as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. However, he does not wear a Parachutist badge, which is a requirement for both units. He also uses a revolver as a personal sidearm, which is against U.S. Army regulations. UNIT may have separate regulations beyond the US army
  • When the Doctor arrives at the Shadow Proclamation the Judoon speak in their own language to him, and the TARDIS does not translate. (This part of the conversation is heard from the perspective of the Judoon, who obviously hear the Doctor speaking in their own language.)
  • When the Torchwood hub is attacked by Daleks. Why did Gwen and Ianto not just escape by going up in the lift to the bay? (The Hub was Time Locked.)
  • Why does the Doctor go to London, (let alone Earth as a whole) at the beginning of the episode? If it's the end of the universe surely anywhere in the universe could be checked to see if anything's wrong. (That's where Donna had encountered Rose in Turn Left, so it was logical of him to start there.)
  • The visual effect used in this story for Mr. Smith is that used before SJA: The Lost Boy. Following his "forced re-boot" in that story, the patterns on his screen are not the same (more "wobbly"). (The Earth transportation may have mucked up his screen.)
  • It's strange that the Supreme Dalek wants to make sure the Doctor won't interfer while 27 planets have been stolen and Dalek Caan predicts that his companions will unite againist them. (The Supreme Dalek believes Caan to be a abomination, and doesn't believe that every thing Caan says will happen).
  • From a logical standpoint, wouldn't only a single phone be able to reach the Doctor's phone, and all others get a "Line Busy" message? (Every mobile phone isnt trying to ring through to the Doctor and speak to him, they are only being used to help him find the Earth.)
  • In The Parting of the Ways Dalek saucers demonstrate enough firepower to completely destroy Australia to the point of being barely recognizable in a second or two, yet here their weaponry hardly seems more powerful than a standard Dalek gun set on 'Maximum Extermination'. The Doctor makes it clear that the Daleks are far more deadly here than ever before, and later states that the Crucible's fleet is already more than enough to slaughter the universe, so why are the Daleks using such weak conventional weaponry, especially if their intent is to destroy all human resistance? The Daleks may not wish to damage the Earth, as it may interfere with the working of the Reality Bomb.

Continuity

  • This episode marks the first on-screen appearance of the Shadow Proclamation, first mentioned in DW: Rose. This episode reveals that it is an organisation, not just a treaty.
  • It appears that Gwen and Ianto are both aware of the Doctor, implying that Jack has told them about him at some point after TW: Exit Wounds, although it is unknown if he has told them about his travels with him or whether he wanted to clear up some details of him to "clean up" some of the "Anti Doctor" bias of Torchwood setup by Queen Victoria (and possibly to explain his disappearance after TW: End of Days).
  • The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned in DW: Last of the Time Lords.
  • The Valiant last appeared in DW: The Poison Sky to help UNIT with attacking the ATMOS Factory and, before that, in DW: The Sound of Drums. In this episode, it is seen being swarmed (and most likely destroyed) by a huge group of Daleks using 'maximum extermination'), which they also use to exterminate a man that rebels against their order of human surrender. This is the first time this power has been used.
  • Gwen states that she intends to "go out fighting" like Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato to Ianto after handing him a firearm during the Dalek invasion of Torchwood 3, referring to their deaths in TW: Exit Wounds.
  • The sub-wave network mentioned by Harriet Jones, and funded by the Mr Copper Foundation is most likely a reference to Mr Copper from DW: Voyage of the Damned.
  • Sarah Jane Smith, Rose, Jack, Martha have all encountered the Daleks.
  • Gwen does not know who the Daleks are; this is a reference back to an early episode of Torchwood in which it was stated that an attempt at covering up some elements of the Battle of Canary Wharf was made. Similarly, when Jack first contacts Martha, he references putting something in his drink, referencing the "contaminated water supply" cover story.
  • Donna is told that she had something on her back. She was first told she has something on her back in DW: The Fires of Pompeii and it was a major element of the preceding episode, DW: Turn Left the Beetle sound effect is heard as this point as well.
  • The Daleks say "The Daleks are the masters of Earth!" they previously said this in DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where they also issued the command for "the males, the females and the descendants" to come into the street and surrender to them.
  • The Doctor calls out "Bye!" to Davros in a similar fashion that the Fourth Doctor bade him farewell in DW: Destiny of the Daleks. The Master also says something similar in DW: Utopia whilst stealing the TARDIS as a rather childish "Bye-Bye!"
  • The Doctor's TARDIS has reverted to its original appearance and is no longer covered with the words "Bad Wolf" as at the end of DW: Turn Left.
  • Mr. Smith using every phone on Earth to call the Doctor is similar to everyone saying "Doctor" in DW: Last of the Time Lords.
  • The Doctor and Rose are reunited near a church, echoing the setting of DW: Father's Day in which Rose's father is killed by an oncoming car and dies in the street. In this instance, Rose witnesses the Doctor being mortally wounded by a Dalek, and cradles him as he lies dying in the street.
  • On screen, the Doctor was last shown meeting Davros in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, however this episode establishes that they had at least one more encounter, during the Time War. Davros acknowledges that the Doctor has changed again since their last meeting.
  • Upon answering the phone to Martha the first time, Jack says "Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale" - the same words he used in TW: Reset when introducing her to the rest of the team.
  • Dalek Caan tells the Doctor that he did not cause events to occur as they did, but 'only helped'. This continues the theme of an unknown power directing the Doctor's destiny.

DVD and Other releases

Series 4 Volume 4 DVD Cover

External links


Template:Series 4








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For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
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