The Stolen Earth (TV story)

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Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection - and the triumph - of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race.Davros


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

The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble arrive on Earth immediately following the events of Turn Left. They rush out of the TARDIS to find the Earth as normal. They ask a nearby milkman the day and ascertain nothing is wrong.

They re-enter the TARDIS to try and work out what caused the Bad Wolf warnings to appear. Whilst inside the TARDIS shakes violently and the Doctor rushed to the door and opens it to find the TARDIS is now floating in outer space, the TARDIS has not moved however, the Earth has been stolen from underneath them.

Meanwhile on Earth, the Doctor's companions, Sarah-Jane Smith, Torchwood, and Martha Jones all look to the sky outside and see 26 planets, as well as earth all orbiting a common centre of mass inside a nebula in space.

Meanwhile the Doctor and Donna travel to the Shadow Proclamation, manned by Judoon and humanoid females with white hair and red eyes. Whilst there the Doctor discovers that 24 planets have disappeared immediately before their arrival. Donna remembers a number of other planets and moons which they were told had disappeared in earlier adventures, including Pyrovillia, Adipose 3 and Poosh.

One of the humanoid females provides Donna with refreshment and cryptically tells her she is sorry for her future loss. Donna and the Doctor ascertain that in the time before the Earth being stolen, bees were disappearing from the planet which emitted carrier waves to where the planet would be taken to. The Doctor then runs to leave in the TARDIS whilst one of the Humanoids orders the Doctor to surrender the TARDIS to them so that he could lead them to war. The Doctor escapes before the Shadow Proclamation can commandeer the TARDIS.

On Earth, Rose Tyler appears in a high street where widespread chaos and looting is in progress. She enters a computer store and hacks into UNIT computer systems. UNIT detects 3000 space ships approaching the Earth and the UN in Geneva declares an "Ultimate Code Red" as the ships transmit a message to Earth composed of only the word "Exterminate!".

Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood 3 calls Martha Jones in New York with UNIT, whilst her commanding officer orders her to initiate the "Project Indigo". Martha is surprised to learn that Jack knows of the existence of "Project Indigo", Jack explains to Ianto that it is teleportation device based on recovered Sontaran technology, which UNIT are still trying to perfect. Martha and her commanding officer leave the main office just in time to avoid extermination by the Daleks which have arrived on Earth and have begun attacking military installations, including the Valiant which is destroyed by swarming Daleks. Martha escapes to a back room and is ordered to put on a harness which is apparently a prototype device resulting from the "Indigo Project". She is given a device called the Osterhagen key by her commanding officer and ordered to activate the teleportation harness. She does so and disappears immediately before her commanding officer and his aide are exterminated by Daleks.

File:06.jpg
The destruction of the Valiant by the Daleks.

Donna Noble's mother and grandfather are hiding in a back alley, armed with a paintball gun, as they watch the Daleks order everyone in the street from their homes. One family refuses to comply and retreats backs in to their home. Three Daleks converge and destroy the house, presumably with the family inside. Donna's family retreat to their own home but are stopped by a Dalek on the way. Donna's grandfather shoots the Dalek's eye stalk with the paint ball gun, but the Dalek vapourises the paint declaring "My vision is not impaired!" and prepares to exterminate him. However immediately before it can, Rose Tyler destroys the Dalek with her weapon.

They retreat to the Noble's house as a laptop comes to life with former Prime Minister Harriet Jones communicating with all the Doctor's Companions on Earth by an unnoticeable sub-wave communications network. Torchwood, Sarah-Jane (via Mr Smith) and Martha Jones all communicate via a conference video call. Rose Tyler can only watch however as the Noble's never bought a web cam for their PC.

They establish that everyone with super phones have been unable to contact the Doctor. They together come up with a plan to boost the signal using the power of the rift and the coordination of Mr Smith to break through whatever the interference with the signal is. However the increased power of the resulting signal will make the communication network noticeable and traceable to the Daleks.

Meanwhile the Doctor in the TARDIS has followed the trail to its end and they arrive at the Medusa Cascade, apparently with no way to follow the signal further, the Doctor concludes that there is no way to find where all the planets have gone. The signal from Torchwood breaches the barrier however and begins to ring the Doctor's superphone. He uses the signal to trace where the Earth has been taken to and sends the TARDIS back to the source. He concludes that the Cascade has been placed 1 second out of phase with the rest of the universe and the 27 missing planets appear in front of them.

Meanwhile a shadowy figure inside the Daleks central command orders the Red Dalek to patch him to the sub-wave network after sending Daleks to the source of the network at Harriet Jones's house, where it appears she is exterminated off screen. Davros appears on the screen in the TARDIS and declares to the Doctor that Dalek Caan arrived on his ship in the time war after his emergency temporal shift despite the Time War being time locked, succeeding where the Doctor had failed and rescued him from the War. Davros also reveals he has recreated the Dalek race by cannabilizing his own body, he opens his shirt to reveal his remains of his exposed organs and skeleton.

The Doctor abruptly cuts the transmission and dematerializes the TARDIS and lands on Earth. Captain Jack gains some information from Martha Jones about the Indigo project which he uses to reactivate his wrist device. He then teleports to the location of the TARDIS but not before telling his Torchwood colleagues that he'll be back for them. He leaves and a Dalek breaks through into the hub as Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper fire machine guns to defend themselves. At the same time, presumably on her way to find the Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith leaves Luke Smith under the care of Mr Smith and takes off in her car, only to be stopped by Daleks who reject the concept of apologies or surrender, and prepare to exterminate her.

Rose communicates to "Control" in her own universe and tells them to transmat her to the Doctor's location. Rose arrives as the Doctor and Donna step out of the TARDIS and the two see each other. As they run towards each other, a Dalek emerges from behind a van and shoots towards the Doctor. It is only a glancing blow but some of the beam hits his arm and sends the Doctor to the ground. Captain Jack materializes and destroys the Dalek with his gun. Together they drag the Doctor into the TARDIS and the Doctor proclaims he is beginning to regenerate, and light begins shooting out of his body as his regeneration occurs.

Cast

Production crew

to be added

References

Many of the plot elements reference previous episodes of the revived (2005) series throughout this episode. In order of episode:

  • 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, Turn Left
File:Sunny side up.jpg
Wilf fires a paintball at a Dalek
  • Wilf uses a paintball gun as a weapon against the Daleks by shooting paintballs at their eyestalks, 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 melts off the eyestalk after coming into contact with it (and at same replying "My vision is NOT impaired"); of course, most previous instances had the eyestalk being damaged or destroyed, not simply covered.
  • Doctor said Davros died in the very first year of the Time War, suggesting that Time War has lasted several years. This also confirms that he survived his last TV appearance in Remembrance of the Daleks.
  • The Doctor first went to the Medusa Cascade when he was "a kid" at the age of 90. Whether this is a joke or if Gallifreyans are in fact considered children at that age is not known.
  • Calufrax Minor is presumably a sister planet to Calufrax, from The Pirate Planet, which is also about the stealing of planets.
  • A possible reference to the lyrics of the song "The Stowaway" from the Voyage of the Damned Christmas special occurs. The song predicts that the Stowaway will be "lying with his love", which is exactly what the Doctor is seen doing after he is shot and again just before he begins to regenerate.

Story notes

  • 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).
  • Davros refers to the Doctor's allies as the Children of Time.
  • The Doctor starts to regenerate yet again, acting as a cliffhanger.
  • The Doctor's severed hand is seen bubbling at the end of Turn Left and during this episode as well. When in Jack Harkness's possession, the bubbling signaled the Doctor's presence, but in the Doctor's possession the bubbling has signaled the presence of other Time Lords.
  • Davros and his command ship were lost in the first year of the Time War. Dalek Caan managed to save Davros, at the cost of his own sanity.
  • The Doctor states he tried to save Davros before his ship was lost in the first year of the Time War.
  • 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). Incidentally this is the first time Elizabeth Sladen's name has appeared in the opening credits. This is the first time all of the Doctor's "main" companions since the revival of the series began (the female leads) have all been credited at the same time; it is not, however, a complete listing of all the revival-series companions as Noel Clarke, Kylie Minogue (Astrid Peth) and Bruno Langley (Adam Mitchell) are not included.
  • Russell T Davies's pattern of using the same surnames is the most notable in this episode with Martha Jones, Francine Jones, Harriet Jones and Ianto Jones. Francine and Martha are related (mother and daughter).
  • 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.
  • The new Daleks are quite literally Davros's "children" as they have been grown from his own cells.
  • The claws of the Daleks in Crucible is very similiar to ones in Doctor Who And The Daleks- Movie, but with eight fingers insted of two.
  • Dalek Caan predicts the most "faithful" companion will die.
  • There is reference to an object called an "Osterhagen key", but no explanation is given as to its function, origin or purpose. 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.
  • 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".


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.
  • It was also rumored 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, another actor was revealed to be playing the character.

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • If the Reapers appeared and tried to destroy all life on Earth last time there was an attempted rescue in time to prevent someone's death, why does this not occur with Dalek Caan and Davros? The presence of two sets of the Doctor and Rose had made that point in time/space particularly vulnerable. But there where two Dalek caans at this point as one was fighting in the time war. The timelords where still alive then so they could easily fix the problem. False. The Cult of Skaro had escaped the Time War in the Void Ship. Dalek Caan was not present. Also in Father's Day, in order for the Reapers to attack, Rose had to make physical contact with her past self.
  • It is not explained how the Daleks know of Harriet Jones. Presumably this is for comedic effect, serving only to continue the running gag. During the doomsday episode the Dr Singh character had his memory taken and he would have known about Harriet Jones and even though Dalek Caan is insane Davros is aware of current events.
  • Normally when a Dalek exterminates someone the beam normally hits them and disappears but when The Doctor gets exterminated you can clearly see the ray go through him and come out the other side. The beam did not go through him: it went past him, only touching him slightly. Also, his entire body did not glow; only a portion did, which suggests that the beam did not do full damage (though still enough to cause a regeneration apparently).
  • At the end of Turn Left Bad Wolf was on the TARDIS. It's not there now. They've travelled to Earth, as per Rose's request. Having arrived, there's no further need for the Bad Wolf message. In addition, it's been suggested that the Bad Wolf wording might have been put there by the chameleon circuit; perhaps the Doctor was able to rectify this, or the TARDIS itself decided it didn't need it anymore.
  • The TARDIS didn't translate the 'Judoon-speak', though the Doctor could understand it. This could have been similar to the Hath. This may also have been done to give a bit of humour to a much serious episode. Later in the episode we can understand the Judoon, maybe it just takes time to work. Maybe it can not be translated into English because there is no English for it, it is clear that it is used as some form of clearance code, or something along those lines. Or perhaps Translations are not used in the Shadow Proclamation for legal reasons. Or Doctor understands Judoon language(as being able to respond to Judoons), so no need to translate. Or maybe it translated for the Doctor and Donna, but didn't translate for us, the viewers, because the way Donna looks at the Doctor when he is speaking seems as though she understands him. Also, the Judoon are probably actually speaking English later on in the scene, since in Smith and Jones, the Judoon used a human's words to be able to speak English.
  • When Harriet Jones transfers control of the sub-wave network to Torchwood, the map circles an area in Swansea, not Cardiff. Russell T. Davies was born in Swansea, this may be an intentional error.
  • 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.Harriet Jones states the sub wave only finds people with the capacity to contact the Doctor. Presumably this refers to the current incarnation of the Doctor (as opposed to someone trying to contact, say, the Sixth Doctor), thereby disqualifying companions such as Ian Chesterton or Tegan Jovanka, who presumably have no access to things like "superphones".
  • Donna indicates she has no idea what regeneration is, even though she was present when Martha referenced it in The Doctor's Daughter (She might not have understood what was meant at the time).
  • When Martha is about to engage the Project Indigo device, there is a scene where she says goodbye to Captain Jack over the phone, using a blue-tooth headset. In the shot immediately preceding, she is not wearing the headset. In the shot immediately following, right before she activates the device, she is seen removing the headset.
  • Why did Harriet's computer screen turn off just because she died? Presumably the computer was destroyed as well as Harriet, perhaps by the Daleks' extermination rays. They might not have 'exterminated' her, but her computer in an attempt to stop the signal. Also, if the subwave finds the people who can contact the Doctor, then it must somehow link with the people themselves. This is demonstrated by the sub-wave finding Rose, even though the nearest computer is not her own. Harriet's death would therefore have severed the connection.
  • How did Captain Jack know exactly where to teleport to shoot the Dalek that had shot The Doctor? He probably tracked the TARDIS location. The numbers 4 and 9 were to reactivate his vortex manipulator. He also appears to have arrived facing the Dalek, so his reflexes would have come into play.
  • 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? Even a machine as good as the TARDIS can make slight errors. The control did reasonably well to land her quite near to the TARDIS, especially since we don't yet know where "Control" is located; if it's on Pete's World or Donna's World, accuracy may have been difficult.
  • How can Davros have an organic body when he was just a head in Remembrance of the Daleks. Presumably he generated a new body, considering he's able to create Daleks from his own cells. Davros wasn't just a head in Remembrance of The Daleks, his body was just covered with wires. Are you sure your not confusing this with the decoy head he used in Revelation of the Daleks?
  • Though, if this is true, why does he have a cybernetic hand (presumably a replacement for the one lost on Necros in Revelation of the Daleks) instead of an organic one? Possibly because a cybernetic hand is stronger than an organic hand. His severed head form in Remembrance could have been a decoy, as was his severed head form in Revelation.
  • Dalek Caan didn't have emotions, so how can he laugh or go insane in the first place? Caan was a member of the Cult of Skaro, who were made to think like the enemy, i.e. having names and some emotions. As indicated in dialogue in this episode, emotions are discouraged, but still exist. There are also other examples of Daleks displaying anger, pride, and even a sense of humor (albeit sarcastic and dry) in past episodes (for an example of the last, reference the "pest control" comment directed at the Cybermen in Doomsday). Not only that, but Davros, when he created the Daleks, didn't remove all emotions: just those which he considered a weakness, such as mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Not to mention the fact that emotions are not a necessary component of insanity.
  • Ianto is seen watching Paul O'Grady, but it was said earlier in the episode that it was a Saturday. Paul O'Grady is not aired on a Saturday. A possibility is that the move of Earth has taken time or time has skipped forward since the mention of the date was prior to the move. Perhaps Ianto uses Sky+. Also, there is clear indication that, on earth at least, at least a few hours might have elapsed.
  • When a Dalek turns around and implies, "New location, Torchwood", the blue light in it's eye is switched off as if it has been blinded and does not come on until a few seconds later.
  • The apparent death of Harriet Jones puts paid to 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). In several episodes, the Doctor has stated that history can be rewritten and only certain fixed points remain unchangeable. Presumably Jones is one of those changeable points. Also, Turn Left addressed the notion of alternate timelines stemming from choices; perhaps the Ninth Doctor was referencing what turned out to be an alternate timeline created when his next incarnation set in motion the events that would end her career (DW: The Christmas Invasion). Also, it should be noted that until the events of Journey's End play out, it remains to be seen if Jones has actually been killed.
  • Television, cellphone and satellite communications continue to work, even though by rights when the planet moved anything in orbit should have been lost. Evidently when the Earth was moved whoever did it decided to include its satellites as well.
  • What about the Moon? There's no indication it was moved with the Earth, so is it going to drift away? Objects in space often move slowly relative to the earth, so even if the moon were suddenly cut free (a la Moonbase Alpha in Space: 1999) it would take awhile for it to be lost forever, giving some time for the planet to be returned to its proper place. If the Earth is gone then the moon will be attracted to the biggest gravitational force near it which would be the Sun.
  • None of the significant death by Dalek extermination scenes are actually visible, only presumed. Possible loop-hole: teleportation to space station. What about the doctor?'
  • This episode is set in 2009, with hundreds of Daleks invading Earth. Not to mention the previous encounter in Doomsday, how does the human race not know of the Daleks in the 2005 episode Dalek, set a few years after these events? Don't bother thinking about it. Remember, time is a big ball of wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey stuff.
  • If the Earth has changed co-ordinates how is Rose able to find it?
  • Why did the rift move with the Earth? Shouldn't it have stated behind the way the Tardis did? Without knowing why the rift exists, we don't know if it might have an intrinsic link to Earth.
  • If Earth had been transported to somewhere different by Davros, it would contradict The Mysterious Planet as it had already been moved by The Master by then and was renamed Ravalox.

Continuity

  • For those who have not watched the spinoffs, the episode provides a brief reference to the deaths of Owen and Tosh in Torchwood, but offers no explanation for the absence of K-9 and the origin of both Luke Smith and Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures (indeed, the episode includes a potentially confusing reference to the teenaged Luke being Sarah Jane's son).
  • The Daleks have also used maximum extermination when attacking 'Hooverville'.
  • 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 Doctor mentions a previous attempt to move the earth "a long time ago", possibly a reference to the goal of the Daleks in DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, as well as the feature film remake Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD which co-starred Bernard Cribbins, who plays Donna's grandfather in this episode. It may also have been a reference to the moving of earth in The Mysterious Planet, when it became known as Ravolox. Both incidents, however, occur far into Earth's future.
  • 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.
  • 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 Turn Left.
  • The Doctor forces himself to stand in order to begin regeneration. This is consistent with the previously seen regenerations of the Ninth Doctor and The Master, but not of the regenerations shown for the the first eight Doctors, all of whom are shown regenerating lying down (save for the Second and Eighth Doctors whose regenerations are not shown). During most of the Doctor's regenerations he is rendered unconscious or severely weakened, which would make him incapable of standing. The enormous display of energy seen during his ninth and the Master's most recent regenerations could also be connected to their level of consciousness and strength.
  • In The Parting of the Ways the Emperor of the Daleks used the name 'The Abomination' on Rose and in this episode The Dalek Supreme used the same nickname for Dalek Caan.

DVD and Other releases


External links

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