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Last Night was the fourth of five Night and the Doctor shorts produced exclusively for the Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series DVD and Blu-ray box sets. It is the second of a two-part story which began with "First Night". It was written by showrunner Steven Moffat.
Synopsis
The Doctor's first date with River has gotten more than a little complicated. With two future versions of her in the TARDIS, the Doctor has to find a way to get rid of them both to prevent any paradoxes from occuring.
Plot
The Doctor lays an unmoving River Song on the floor of the TARDIS, terrified she has been slain in the gunfight. He prepares to give her mouth-to-mouth, but realizes she is only holding her breath with her eyes closed. She gets up to flirt with him.
She has escaped from Stormcage and asked some Sontarans if they were out on a hen's night, only for them to chase her halfway across the galaxy. As he chastises her, she notices the gold dress he chosen for her for their first visit to Caldoron Beta five years before, hanging near the console. She demands to know whom he has brought and storms up the stairs to find the hussy. A second later, the earlier River returns from the TARDIS wardrobe, demanding to know whom he is talking to. She returns to the wardrobe. The older River returns, demanding to know who the Doctor is speaking to. When he denies talking to anyone, she resumes her hunt.
A third River enters the TARDIS, actually wearing the gold dress. This version of River was expecting to meet the Doctor here, but on seeing an identical gold dress hung by the console, asks why he has bought another. The Doctor asks her to step outside to check if the light on top of the TARDIS is working. She does.
The youngest River reappears, certain she has heard voices. The Doctor tells her he was talking to himself and she bustles off again. The second River returns to the control room, likewise convinced she heard the Doctor talking to someone. The Doctor brusquely activates her Vortex manipulator to send her back to prison. The third River re-enters the TARDIS. She is followed by a second, older incarnation of the Doctor in a tailcoat, who tells her she's in the wrong TARDIS. River is amused at the prospect of two versions of her husband, but as 'her' Doctor ushers her out, she calls back to tells the younger Doctor she and her Doctor are off to see the Singing Towers of Darillium. The two Doctors share a brief, sad moment, knowing this trips is the last she will see of them before she dies in the Library.
As the older Doctor exits, the youngest River returns to catch a glimpse of them together. Her Doctor will not tell her what has just transpired because of 'spoilers'. He escort her to the door to go on their date as she protests that she hasn't changed. He says she never will. River jokes that his secrets will be the death of her.
Cast
Crew
- Writer - Steven Moffat
- Director - Richard Senior (uncredited)
References
TARDIS
- Multiple versions of one person can coexist within the same TARDIS. While it can be claimed that this is contradicted by The Girl Who Waited, it should be noted that none of the River Songs that appear in this episode exist as a result of a paradox and are all from the "correct" timeline.
Story notes
- This is the second of a two-part story that began with First Night.
- The title makes reference to the fact that the future version of the Eleventh Doctor is the one that takes River on her final "night out" to the Singing Towers of Darillium before the events of Silence in the Library.
- This story is set entirely within the Doctor's TARDIS.
Myths and rumours
To be added
Filming locations
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Production errors
To be added
Continuity
- River asks the Doctor, "How many hands do you have?" The answer was, at one point, three. (DW: The Christmas Invasion, DW: Utopia, DW: The Stolen Earth, DW: Journey's End)
- River was being chased by Sontarans.
- The Doctor asks River to see if the TARDIS bulb needs changing. Amy Pond earler raised the question of whether the bulb needs to be changed shortly after arriving on the TARDIS. (DW: Meanwhile in the TARDIS: Episode 1)
- The TARDIS is mistaken by the third River Song as belonging to "her" Doctor when it technically belongs to another. Previously, Susan Foreman and the First Doctor had mistaken the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS for theirs. (DW: The Five Doctors)
- River's mind races at the possibility of two Doctors in the same place. Jack Harkness previous had a similar line of thought when in the presence of the Tenth Doctor, the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor, and the Doctor Donna. (DW: Journey's End)
- The two Doctors mention River's death. Later, River remarks that the Doctor will be the death of her, which was also something she would speak about metaphorically to her father later in her timeline. (DW: Forest of the Dead, DW: Day of the Moon)
- First chronological instance of River using the word "Spoilers."
- The Doctor wears a white suit with a black tie. This suit was first introduced in DW: A Christmas Carol.
- The dress that all three versions of River remark on First Night and Last Night is the same dress that River wears in the beginning of DW: Day of the Moon.
- A future version of the Eleventh Doctor wears a black and white suit with tails and a top hat to take a future version of River Song to the Singing Towers.
Timeline
For the present Eleventh Doctor
- This story takes place after DW: First Night
- This story takes place before DW: Bad Night
For River no. 1
- This story takes place immediately after DW: First Night.
For River no. 2
- This story takes place at least five years after her first version's appearance in DW: First Night and immediately after her second version's appearance in DW: First Night.
For the future Eleventh Doctor
- This story takes place after DW: The Wedding of River Song
- This story takes place before WC: Prequel (The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
For River no. 3
- This story takes place after her final scene in DW: The Wedding of River Song.
- This story takes place before DW: Silence in the Library.
Home video releases
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External links
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