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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
- The Doctor - David Tennant
- Donna Noble - Catherine Tate-(Minor Apperance)
- Rose Tyler - Billie Piper-(Cameo)
- Hostess - Rakie Ayola
- Sky Silvestry - Lesley Sharp
- Val Cane - Lindsey Coulson
- Biff Cane - Daniel Ryan
- Jethro Cane - Colin Morgan
- Professor Hobbes - David Troughton
- Dee Dee Blasco - Ayesha Antoine
- Mechanic Claude - Duane Henry
- Driver Joe - Tony Bluto
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. - it may also be that he is still afraid of anything being copied, and doesn't want Donna copying what he says
- A Betty Boop cartoon and Italian soubrette Raffaella Carrà are briefly shown on a screen during the voyage.
- When Sky starts repeating everyone Jethro says "666" these are the numbers that symbolise the Devil. This may have been because of Jethros mosher culture.
Story notes
- The last time a shuttle bus was featured was in Seventh Doctor serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
- This episode has marked Doctor Who's 200th story — if one includes the unfinished Shada in the counting.
- Donna was largely absent from this episode, as Catherine Tate was filming Turn Left.
- Dee Dee mentions the lost moon of Poosh, continuing the theme of disappearing planetary bodies featured 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. It was however the 50th episode of the 'New Series' to be filmed.
- This is the first televised story since Genesis of the Daleks not to feature a glimpse of the TARDIS' interior or exterior.
- 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 directly related.
- This is the first episode of Series 4 where the Doctor is present at the time when Rose Tyler apears as the other times only Donna or Captian Jack. However the Doctor's back was turned.
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 vaporise them in a split-second. (There is an air buffer that lasts for six seconds, the glass between the Crusader and the outside world lasts for a few minutes.)
- 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? (All the passengers were paranoid, and appeared to be xenophobic, therefore knowing he was not human would not have helped.)
- When Rose apears on screen, Didn't the others notice?
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)
- 'Molto Bene' is Italian for 'Very Good', the Doctor first uttered this in DW: The Family of Blood.
- This is the second story in which the Doctor's 'John Smith' alias is not believed. The first of which was Terror of the Autons.
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.