The Hungry Earth (TV story)
The Hungry Earth is the eighth episode of Series Five. It is the first part of a two-part story. It marks the re-appearance of the Silurians for the first time in 26 years.
Synopsis
It’s 2020, and the most ambitious drilling project in history has reached deeper beneath the Earth’s crust than man has ever gone before – but now the ground itself is fighting back. The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in a tiny mining village and find themselves plunged into a battle against a deadly danger from a bygone age. [1]
Plot
The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in the small Welsh village of Cwmtaff in 2020, as opposed to their intended destination of Rio de Janeiro. The Doctor quickly notices a major mining operation is occurring near to the village, and proceeds to investigate with Amy. They discover that the mining operation is a project by Doctor Nasreen Chaudry and her assistant, Tony Mack, investigating the appearance of minerals that have not been seen for over 20 million years (which the Doctor had also noticed in the form of patches of blue grass). Meanwhile, Rory, who went back to put Amy's engagement ring in the TARDIS for safekeeping, is mistaken for a police officer by local resident Ambrose Northover (Tony's daughter), and her son Elliot, who explains that the dead are being removed from their graves, but there is no sign of disturbance on the surface, which could only mean the bodies were taken from below...
At that moment, an earthquake hits the mining facility, causing parts of the ground to open. Tony and Amy fall into the cracks and while Nasreen is able to pull Tony free, something beneath the ground drags Amy under. In the aftermath, the Doctor explains that the minerals were a warning to keep away and that when they started drilling, the ground 'fought back'. The Doctor realises that the ground has been bio-programmed to attack whenever it perceives a threat, which should be impossible as he remarks humans will not develop such technology for millenia. At that moment, an alarm goes off; the drill, having gone down 21 kilometres has breached into a network of underground catacombs, and three unknown entities are heading up. With only twelve minutes until the unknown attackers reach the surface, the Doctor orders the pair to take safety in the local church, where they meet up with Rory, Ambrose and Elliot, by which time the attackers have erected an energy barricade to prevent escape and turned day into night for their own benefit. In private, the Doctor tells Rory what has happened and promises to get Amy back.
The Doctor has the group barricade themselves in the church and sets up a network of cameras to let him know when the attackers arrive, but problems arise when Elliot leaves to collect headphones from his house, as the attackers- strange reptilian humanoids- have arrived and take him. Ambrose and Tony run out to try and rescue him, but another one of the creatures attacks, lashing Tony with a venomous forked tongue before being subduded and captured by the Doctor and Rory. The Doctor deduces that these attackers are a new species of an old enemy; the Silurians. At that point, the energy barricade dissipates and daylight returns; the Doctor explains that the Silurians have retreated, as now both sides have hostages to bargain with.
The group imprison the captured Silurian in the church's cellar and the Doctor goes to interrogate it. The prisoner, a female member of the warrior caste called Alaya, reluctantly explains that her tribe had hibernated beneath Cwmtaff for eons, but the drill was perceived as a threat to them and the warrior caste were reawakened to deal with the threat. The Doctor explains that the humans didn't mean any harm, but Alaya aggressively snarls that the Silurians will not tolerate mankind (whom she derogatively refers to as "apes") on what they still view as their planet. The Doctor tries to warn her that mankind will fight back if threatened, but she is confident of the Silurians' victory over humanity.
The Doctor explains the Silurians' history to the group and that he intends to go underground and negotiate with the Silurians, and tells them that Alaya must be kept safe if they are to bargain with them. Tony (who appears to be suffering from the effects of Alaya's venom) comments that they should be studying the creature, but the Doctor refuses, saying that if Alaya is harmed, the Silurians could view it as an act of war. The Doctor and Nasreen, who having studied the earth all her life wants to see it for herself, descend in the TARDIS, while the others speak to Alaya. They try to assure her they don't mean any harm and that she will be kept safe, but she replies that they will kill her, triggering an unwinnable war between humans and Silurians. She also remarks that she knows who will kill her, even if they don't.
Deep underground, Amy awakens strapped to an examining table. Next to her is Ambrose's husband, Mo Northover, who was taken earlier by the Silurians. He apologises, explaining that the Silurians intend to vivisect them, as a Silurian in scrubs advances on them with a scalpel. The Doctor and Nasreen arrive in the catacombs, the Doctor explaining that they are unlikely to find more than a dozen Silurians, but falls silent as they enter a cave and find an immense Silurian civilisation, stretching for miles underground before them...
Cast
- The Doctor - Matt Smith
- Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
- Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
- Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry - Meera Syal
- Alaya - Neve McIntosh
- Tony Mack - Robert Pugh
- Elliot - Samuel Davies
- Mo - Alun Raglan
- Ambrose - Nia Roberts
- Malohkek - Richard Hope
- Eldane - Stephen Moore
Crew
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
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Despite the centrality of prosthetics to creating the Silurians — and indeed the inclusion of an interview with Rob Mayor on CON: "After Effects" — no member of Millennium FX's staff received an individual credit on this episode. Similarly, Davy Jones was fairly extensively interviewed in CON: "After Effects", where he was clearly shown to be doing the job of the prosthetics make-up artist. However he wasn't credited for his work. This was the first time he was visually confirmed to be working on Doctor Who since The Parting of the Ways. Malcolm Hulke did not receive a credit for creating the Silurians, seemingly indicating that the BBC owns them outright. |
References
Technology
- The Doctor has a pair of sunglasses that function as infrared thermal imaging scanners.
- The Sonic Screwdriver can't "do wood".
Story notes
- The episode was incorrectly entitled, The Ground Beneath their Feet.
- A review for the episode by Beehive City states that the year is actually 2020 despite the press release saying 2015. It may have been changed due to some events of the previous episode happen in 2015.
- The masks the Silurians wear are similar to the helmets the Sycorax wore. (DW: The Christmas Invasion) The visor's different scanning types are reminiescient of the helmets used by the aliens in the Predator film series. Also when Matt Smith moves his hand when looking through the heat scanning glasses, there is the same 'swish' sound heard when the Predator changes scanning type.
- Matt Smith celebrated his 27th birthday during the filming of this episode.
- Amy and Rory see future versions of themselves in 2020 from a distance, seemingly revisiting their past adventure and watching their past (current, from a series perspective) selves. However, this may change, as the Doctor says, "time can be re-written."
- The completed episode had a running time of sixty minutes, requiring over fifteen minutes of footage to be removed in order to fit its broadcast slot.
- This Silurian tribe have the ability to flick their long forked tongues at their enemies, injecting them with poison. The Doctor implies that he has prior knowledge of such an ability, suggesting that he had encountered another Silurian tribe with a similar trait.
- This is the first Silurian story to feature a female member of the species.
- Originally, Mo and Amy were to be stripped down to their underwear before being dissected. This was removed for being "too adult".
- The Doctor also refers to the Silurians as 'Eocenes', 'Homo Reptilia' and 'Earth...lians'.
Ratings
To be added
Rumours
- It is rumoured that the Sea Devils will appear as one of the races seen in the trailers. This was proven false.
- Melanie Walters will appear in this episode and in Cold Blood. This was confirmed as false but as she was seen filming it could be for episode 11 or the finale.
Filming locations
to be added
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- The Silurians have appeared twice in television stories in 1970's DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians and in 1984's DW: Warriors of the Deep.
- The Silurians return after a 26 year absence, having last appeared in DW: Warriors of the Deep.
- In reply to the question "Are you scared of monsters?" The Doctor says "No, they're scared of me." Similar to something he says in DW: The Girl in the Fireplace to Reinette.
- A similar drilling project took place in DW: Inferno.
- The Doctor again mentions that the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. (DW: Silence in the Library)
- This isn't the first time The Doctor has tried to broker a peace between the Silurians and Humans. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
- This story shares many simularities to DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians
- This is the second time the Doctor has used a church as a refuge, the first time was in DW: Father's Day. The Doctor also herded people into the church in Amy's Choice and in The Daemons.
DVD and Blu-ray releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Three will feature Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood and Vincent and the Doctor. It will be released on Monday 2nd August 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[2]
See also
to be added
External links
to be added
Footnotes
- ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-hungry-earth-5209.htm
- ↑ DWM 421, Page 18
