Boom Town (TV story)

Boom Town
Doctor:	[[doctor::Ninth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Rose Tyler Captain Jack Harkness Mickey Smith
Main enemy:	Margaret Blaine
Main setting:	Cardiff, September 2006
Key crew
Writer:	Russell T. Davies
Director:	Joe Ahearne
Producer:	Phil Collinson
Release details
Release number:	11
Premiere broadcast:	4th June 2005
Format:	1 45-minute episode
Production code:	170

The Ninth Doctor, Rose and Jack travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey. There, they discover that a recent enemy is very much alive, and is willing to rip apart the planet to ensure her freedom.

Cast

• The Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
• Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Mickey Smith - Noel Clarke
• Mr Cleaver - William Thomas
• Margaret Blaine - Annette Badland
• Cathy Salt - Mali Harries
• Idris Hopper - Aled Pedrick

Crew

• Slitheen - Alan Ruscoe

References

• Tribophysics was first mentioned off-handedly by Sarah Jane Smith to describe Osirian technology.
• When explaining the TARDIS's police box shape and the chameleon circuit to Mickey, Rose uses the term "cloaking device," a Star Trek reference.
• This is the first indication we have that Rose and the Doctor have noticed the Bad Wolf references which have been appearing on their travels. Margaret's admission that the power station's name, Blaidd Drwg, Welsh for "Bad Wolf," "just came to her".
• Rose mentions her visit to Justicia.
• Margaret plans to use the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator as a pan-dimensional surfboard to escape Earth.

Story Notes

• Boom Town had a working title of Dining With Monsters.

Ratings

• 7.7 million viewers.

Myths

• When the Doctor and his associates march into Cardiff City Hall to capture Margaret, the Doctor is the only one not wearing a scarf. This could be a subtle in-joke reference to the Fourth Doctor, who is considered the definitive Doctor by many fans.

Influences

• The scene in which the Doctor and his companions march into Cardiff Town Hall to capture Margaret has been likened to similar scenes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Russell T. Davies has acknowledged Buffy as a major influence on his vision of the current series.

• The means by which Margaret plans to use the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator as a pan-dimensional surfboard to escape Earth is highly reminiscent of the board used by the Silver Surfer, a character appearing in publications by Marvel Comics, whose UK division publishes Doctor Who Monthly.

Location Filming

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• After the Doctor reads the Welsh banner Blaidd Drwg, Rose asks what it means even though the TARDIS should have translated it in her head. The TARDIS telepathic circuits only work on alien and not earthly languages. Except for French. And Latin.

Continuity

• This story is set six months after the events of "Aliens of London" and "World War Three."

• The temporal rift first appeared in "The Unquiet Dead," a brief synopsis of which is related by Rose to Mickey.

• The Edge of Destruction was the first story to suggest that there was some sort of 'power' beneath the console.

• "Tribophysics" was first mentioned offhandedly by Sarah Jane Smith in Pyramids of Mars. What Sarah meant, or what she actually said, is a matter of minor debate in fandom (some have suggested "tribiophysics" or "tribal physics"). Tribophysics may or may not have anything to do with the real science of tribology (also sometimes known as tribophysics), which deals with friction.

• During his dinner with Margaret Blaine, the Doctor eats steak — evidently, he has given up his vegetarianism, which the Sixth Doctor began to practice at the end of The Two Doctors.

• The temporal rift becomes a major plot and story focus for much of Torchwood.

• The Monsters Inside featured the trip to Justicia.

DVD and Other Releases

• This was released with Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways on a "vanilla" DVD with no extras.
• It was also part of the series 1 box set.

See Also

• This is not the first time a story is resolved by de-aging the Doctor's antagonist, as happens to Margaret Blaine when the TARDIS regresses her back into an egg. A similar occurrence happens to Pangol of the Argolin in "The Leisure Hive".

External Links

• Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for Boom Town
• Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: Boom Town
• The Doctor Who Reference Guide detailed synopsis of Boom Town
• The Whoniverse Discontinuity Guide to Boom Town
• A Brief History of Time (Travel): Boom Town

Television

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Next story: Bad Wolf

All Media

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Next story: The Stealers of Dreams