Arachnids in the UK was the fourth episode in the eleventh series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.
The Thirteenth Doctor finally returns Graham, Ryan and Yasmin home, just half an hour after they had left unwillingly. Notably, the Doctor's new companions actively choose to travel with her at the end of this episode.
The Doctor also mentions an element of her past, saying she used to have sisters.
Synopsis
The Thirteenth Doctor finally manages to bring her friends home, but with more time alone on the horizon, she soon discovers that something unnatural has happened to the eight-legged population of Sheffield. Why have they converged on an unopened hotel, and why is there a man going around like he owns the place?
Plot
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Cast
- The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
- Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
- Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
- Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
- Robertson - Chris Noth
- Grace O'Brien - Sharon D Clarke
- Najia Khan - Shobna Gulati
- Dr Jade McIntyre - Tanya Fear
- Hakim Khan - Ravin J Ganatra
- Sonya Khan - Bhavnisha Parmar
- Frankie Ellish - Jaleh Alp
- Kevin - William Meredith
Crew
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References
People
- The Doctor mentions an incident involving stopping an airplane with a pencil-thick strand of spider-web and Amelia Earhart.
- The Doctor used to be a sister in an aqua hospital which turned out to be a training camp for the Quiston Calcium Assassins.
- The Doctor muses that The Mother Spider in the Ballroom could be the title of "the best novel Edith Wharton never wrote".
- The Doctor states that Ed Sheeran is a person that a lot of people talk about today.
- Donald Trump is said to be the current sitting President of the United States.
Locations
- Yasmin Khan and her family live in Flat 34 at Park Hill. Anna, the neighbour two doors down, lives in Flat 27.
- A sign on Yaz's floor points the way to Norwich Street.
- A Sheffield Supertram is seen travelling to the destination Malin Bridge.
- Sheffield Hallam University can be seen from Graham's house.
Technology
- The Doctor uses the psychic paper to identify herself to Robertson as a "problem-solver".
Food
- Hakim offers to cook pakora - a dish which Yaz states that he's terrible at.
Story notes
- This story introduced the new version of the Time Vortex as well as giving us a more in-depth look at it.
- While the Doctor says in this episode she's never had a flat before, previous stories including PROSE: Verdigris and PROSE: Endgame indicate otherwise.
- The plot of the episode takes inspiration from the films Ice Spiders and Eight Legged Freaks.[source needed]
- Almost every science fiction fact about spiders mentioned or done in the episode has its ground in real world science.[1]
- Internationally renowned zoologist and conservationist Dr Niall Doran was consulted for this episode.[2]
Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
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Continuity
- The Doctor returns her companions to Sheffield half an hour after they left. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
- The Doctor once more refers to her TARDIS team as "fam". (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
- The Doctor's bemusement to Ryan if she is being weird in public resembles the Tenth Doctor's similar aside to Rose Tyler about whether he acts rude. (TV: Tooth and Claw)
- Najia Khan's wary attitude to the Doctor echoes that of other mothers of companions such as Jackie Tyler, (TV: Aliens of London) Francine Jones (TV: The Lazarus Experiment) and Sylvia Noble. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem)
- The Doctor reiterates her dislike of guns, (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Doctor's Daughter, The Impossible Astronaut, The Curse of the Black Spot, Into the Dalek, The Doctor Falls, The Ghost Monument)
- The Doctor uses her psychic paper. (TV: The End of the World, et al.)
- Graham is still grieving over Grace O'Brien. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth)
- The Doctor has previously met large arachnid-like creatures, such as the Great One of the Eight Legs, (TV: Planet of the Spiders) a friendly Hysperon spider, (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress) the Racnoss, (TV: The Runaway Bride), and spider germs, (TV: Kill the Moon) as well as a large spider of unknown origin (COMIC: Dr. Who in the Spider's Web) and Giant Spiders of a jungle planet. (COMIC: The Psychic Jungle)
Home video releases
DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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External links
- Official Arachnids in the UK page on the Doctor Who website