Midnight (TV story)

Synopsis

The Doctor is trapped, alone, powerless and terrified, on the planet Midnight. Soon, the knocking on the wall begins. Only a woman called Sky seems to know the truth – but as paranoia turns into a witch-hunt, Sky turns the Doctor's greatest strengths against him, and a sacrifice must be made...

Plot

The Doctor and Donna spend some leisure time on the crystalline planet Midnight, which orbits close enough to its sun that the Xtonic radiation exposure would vaporise any living thing to walk unprotected on its surface. Donna opts to relax at a spa while the Doctor takes a four-hour shuttle bus ride to the Sapphire Waterfall. Other passengers include the Cane family, Val and her husband Biff and their teenage son Jethro. Professor Hobbes who is investigating the waterfall and his assistant Dee Dee Blasco, and a businesswoman, Sky Silvestry. The staff are the driver Joe, trainee mechanic Claude and the Hostess, a steward.

The trip initially goes smoothly despite the shuttle being rerouted to a new course, but suddenly the shuttle stops. The Doctor checks with the shuttle's driver and mechanic, confirming that there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. He convinces them to open the shutter to look outside, and the mechanic believes he sees a shadow moving towards the bus. The crew calls for a rescue vehicle while the Doctor returns to the main cabin.

A few moments later, something begins knocking on the shuttle's hull, copying the passengers when they knock back. The knocking moves around the shuttle, making its way towards Sky Silvestry, apparently the most frightened of the lot, and dents the door she is standing by. The lights then temporarily fail and the shuttle is violently rocked. When the lights are restored, the seats near Sky have been ripped off the floor and she is cowering in the corner. An attempt to speak to the crew reveals that their cabin has also been ripped away, vapourising Joe and Claude.

Sky initially remains motionless, but is coaxed into turning around by the Doctor. Attempts to get her to speak only cause her to repeat what she is told, making it clear that Sky is no longer in control. The delay between Sky's repetitions becomes shorter, until eventually she is repeating everyone instantly. Cabin fever sets in, and the passengers contemplate throwing her outside. The Doctor's attempts to calm the situation fail when the passengers become suspicious of him, especially when he his unwilling to reveal his name. This is only amplified when Sky focuses solely on repeating the Doctor's words.

As the Doctor tries to reason with Sky, he suddenly starts repeating her. Most of the passengers reason that the Doctor must be possessed, while the hostess and Dee Dee reason that this is just the next step: stealing the voice of another. The other passengers refuse to listen and begin to drag the Doctor towards the nearest door, all the while being goaded on by Sky. However, the hostess realises that Sky is not talking in her own voice when she uses two phrases the Doctor had used earlier. Before the other passengers can throw the Doctor out, she sacrifices herself by dragging Sky out of another door. The Doctor slowly recovers, and as the passengers wait for the rescue shuttle, he realises that no one knew the hostess' name. At the spa, the Doctor mournfully reunites with Donna.

Cast

Production crew

to be added

References

During Sky's constant copying of the Doctor, he mentions such things as Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, TARDIS, Bananas and the Medusa Cascade.
When Donna impersonates the Doctor's Italian accent at the end, the Doctor goes "Don't do that" in a similar fashion to how he addressed Martha Jones and Rose Tyler's earlier attempts at accents; however on this occasion it is with serious intent.
A Betty Boop cartoon is briefly shown on a screen during the voyage.

Story notes

This episode has marked Doctor Who's 200th story.
Donna was largely absent from this episode, as Catherine Tate was filming Turn Left.
Dee Dee mentions The Lost Moon of Poosh, one of the six planets Russell T Davies said would be mentioned throughout Series 4.
This episode was originally intended to be episode 8, before Steven Moffat's two-parter, but was pushed back to episode 10. The name of the shuttle bus, Crusader 50, was a reference to it originally being in the 50th episode of the new series to be screened.
This is the first Television story since Genesis of the Daleks not to feature the TARDIS at all.
This is the second episode in which the Doctor has not had a companion to assist him. The first episode without a companion was The Deadly Assassin, although the earlier story remains the only one in which no companion appears at all (as opposed to Donna's appearances at the beginning and end of this episode).
The villain in this episode is actually never revealed.
David Troughton, who plays the professor, is the son of Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor. Episode director Alice Troughton is not related.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

to be added

Filming Locations

To be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

The hostess twice opens the doors in the shuttle to the outside and lives, despite the Professor saying that the X-Tronic light would vaporize them in a split-second. There is actually 6 seconds before the x-tronic light becomes harmful. Actually six seconds is how long the shielding lasts. Once it gives out, death is instantaneous.
When the Doctor's authority is challenged, he finds himself at a loss for words, at one point desperately citing his John Smith alias in hopes of placating the panicking passengers. Why wouldn't he use the same "I'm a Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey, I'm 903 years old and I'm going to save your lives - got a problem with that"-type speech that he used in a similar situation in Voyage of the Damned? Aside from the obvious -- it would be repeating what had gone before -- the last time the Doctor made such a speech and such a promise, all but two of the passengers died, which may have made him less likely to try it again. This is also a totally different situation. They were all paranoid and it would be likely that telling the truth would have not made any difference. Besides they were already criticizing his attempts to save them, they cared more about hating each other than helping each other. It also seemed like he was trying to keep the entity from knowing who he was.

Continuity

Rose Tyler is seen again this time in one of the shuttle bus's screens. (This is the same clip that appeared for a second in DW: The Poison Sky except this time it was slightly longer, and Rose seemed to mouth "Doctor!" twice rather than the once in The Poison Sky)
This is the first time in the revived fourth series that there has been no scenes inside the TARDIS. Every other episode of the fourth series from DW: Voyage of the Damned to Forest of the Dead have featured interior TARDIS scenes.
This is also the first time in the revived series and the first time since the Fourth Doctor story DW: Genesis of the Daleks that the TARDIS has not appeared on screen at any point.
'Molto Bene' is Italian for 'Very Good', the Doctor first uttered this in DW: The Family of Blood.

DVD and other releases

It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.
It will be released as Series 4 Volume 3 alongside Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead in August 2008.

External links

BBC Website - Episode Guide: Midnight

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