Turn Left (TV story)

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It's coming, Donna. It's coming from across the stars and nothing can stop it...Rose Tyler


Synopsis

Donna’s entire world collapses, but there’s no sign of the Doctor, as Russell T Davies’s Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama continues. Instead, she finds help from a mysterious blonde woman – a traveller from a parallel universe. But, as Donna and Rose Tyler combine forces, are they too late to save the whole of creation from the approaching darkness?

Cast

Production crew

to be added

References

to be added

Story notes

  • This is the first story to feature Rose in the capacity of the Doctor's companion since Doomsday.
  • Lucius Petrus Dextrus from The Fires of Pompeii says that "she is returning" when seeing the future. This is most likely a reference to Rose's return in this episode.
  • Billie Piper was seen at the end of Partners in Crime, as well as a short cameo in The Poison Sky and another in Midnight.
  • Chipo Chung was last seen in the episode Utopia as the Malmooth, Chantho. She plays a human character in this story.
  • This is the 'Doctor-lite' episode of the series, similar to Love and Monsters and Blink, albeit with a much darker storyline.
  • A reference to something on Donna's back was last heard in The Fires of Pompeii when Lucius Petrus Dextrus saw into the future 'something on your back' is a back story arc as it has never been mentioned up to this episode.
  • In DWM it said that Donna will receive a free tarot card reading and find out something bad is going to happen. When she is receiving it there will also be something behind her lurking in the curtains. The Tarot person will also look for a specific event in Donna's past.
  • Part of this episode is filmed in China Town, though not the one in London, but recreated in Cardiff. Chinese people living in South Wales were invited to be background extras via Facebook at the end of 2007. They had to reply to the Doctor Who casting crew with their name and sizes for costumes to be made for them and they were paid approx £70 for the day. David Tennant was seen in 'China Town' when he took time out of filming though staying on location to appear on Blue Peter to appeal to viewers to donate shoes to their Shoebiz appeal.

Ratings

to be added

Rumours

  • Because The Doctor drops his Sonic screwdriver, Donna picks it up and restores it or he rebuilds it as River Song's version seen in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead at the end of either this, the next or last episode.
  • Davros may be seen in the last few minutes of this episode. Plausible, as it will tie into episode 12(The Stolen Earth), like Utopia did in Series 3 to start the 1st part of the Finale and will also appear in the second part of the finale, Journey's End.
  • Rose is able to cross worlds because of technology developed by her parallel Torchwood, last seen in Doomsday.
  • Harriet Jones will appear in either this episode or the next, most likely because in this alternate timeline, she was never succeeded by Harold Saxon. She will appear, she's been billed to star in the next few episodes.
  • Harriet Jones will be Prime Minister. If the timeline is alternate, she may not have ordered the shooting down of the Sycorax ship and her Government would still be in power. Possible as the timeline is alternate creating opposite decisions from others in the real timeline, then Harriet Jones will probably not have ordered the shooting down of the Sycorax ship which led to the Doctor bringing down her government, she didn't do that in the alternate timeline. Also, she was still Prime Minister until the election in which Saxon took power which was way after the Runaway Bride.
  • It comments in DWM that Rose might not be on the same side as Donna. She may have her new worlds best interests at heart.
  • We see flashbacks of Donna before the events of The Runaway Bride.
  • Maybe, Rose appears to Donna in a dream and guides her, as the Doctor did in Doomsday to her world (Possibly through Bad Wolf Bay, as photos on www.youtube.com show Rose on the beach.).
  • The true mastermind of the ill fate that happens to Donna in this episode will be familiar to fans of one of the Doctor Who spinoff shows. The Trickster from Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?. Most likely. As he has the power to disrupt timelines and it stated The Doctor was his next target although other possibilities include the Beast or any of his sons like Abbadon.
  • This episode is set in an alternate timeline. Confirmed by "t.v. choice" magazine. Their feature on this episode that Donna receiving a free tarot card reading sets a chain of events in motion that disrupts the timeline.

And according to one interview with writer Russell T. Davies, the fortune-teller "casts a spell" on Donna. And then suddenly we see Donna in a world where she's never met the Doctor. Instead, she meets Rose, who calls her the "most important woman in creation." There's a "circle of mirrors" that Donna has to go back to, to make everything right.[1]

  • The Eight legs are is in this episode and an eight leg is on Donna's back.
  • It is a baby racnoss on Donna's back. A flash back occurs showing Donna getting bitten on the back.
  • History is being rewritten and Donna is the only one able to fix it, Rose is there to help her sort it all out.
  • The Time Beetle (the thing on Donna's back) may prevent Donna from ever having met The Doctor, causing him to be killed when flooding the Racnoss Base instead of escaping. Confirmed as in the exclusive clip we see that Donna was not with the Doctor at the time and the UNIT soldier says that he remained too long in the underground area and was caught in the floods, due to (Though not explicitly stated)the fact Donna wasn't there to get him out
  • The Medusa Cascade (mentioned in past episodes) is the link between Pete's world and our world.Unlikely as RTD has said in an interview that the Medusa Cascade will come back to haunt us and a gateway between two worlds isn't a very frightening.
  • The Judoon will be in the episode, as at the Cardiff Doctor Who exhibition the Judoon suit had been taken "for filming". Possibly true although may not refer to this episode.
  • The reason Rose will not be in the specials is that by the end of the series they've corrected the alternate timeline, so she is banished back to where she should be - Pete's world. High unlikely since the Doctor dying in The Runaway Bride would not mean Rose was never stuck in the alternate Earth. She'd still be there.
  • A probable plot for this episode is that either the Metebilis Spider a.k.a "Eight Legs" on Donna's back or Davros(more likely) has caused a disruption and caused the timeline to change to where Donna was never around to meet the Doctor during the events of The Runaway Bride, thus causing him to die when the Thames flooded. Rose has returned from her alternate reality through the now active Medusa Cascade, or the Cardiff Rift with knowledge of Davros (since the mid-season trailer implied she knew of the returning Daleks and not whatever is on Donna's back) Likely, since the Doctor dying in The Runaway Bride would not cause any change in Rose's personal timeline, and thus she'd still be in the parallel reality. The exclusive clip shown on the BBC's website implies Donna remembers about the Doctor when she sees his corpse, and thus viewers can assume the change in the timeline happened too suddenly to effect her memories, only her place in the timeline. Most likely, Rose and Donna will work together to repair the changes when the Judoonunlikely since the judoon are interplanetary police and not a species of invaders and other enemies invade; since the Doctor was not alive to defeat them. Once Donna discovers the Eight Legs on her back and destroys it in some manner, the timeline reverts to normal until Davros appears in the last few minutes.
  • If the episode deals with what would happen if The Doctor never met Donna, wouldn't he be unaware of the Racnoss, meaning that he wouldn't drown? As he wouldn't know Donna had Huon particles, he wouldn't know about HC Clements and never have met the Racnoss.The idea is that he never met Donna, so it is possible that he met someone else who had been inhabited with Huon particles and then transported to the TARDIS, or something similar. At any rate, the Webstar ultimately appearing over London would have attracted the Doctor's attention, and the events in the Torchwood-Thames base would still have occured, albeit differently.
  • There have been rumours and support on three different claims as to what was on Donna's back, most likely being the Eight Legs since when seen it looked similar and that is their behavior(clinging to people's backs). Also a baby Racnoss (unlikely since a racnoss is unable to do what the eight legs do, and they were destroyed before one could attach to Donna) and finally a 'Time Beetle' as we get a crude glimpse of the creature in the trailer and itshead look more like that of a beetle, not a spider or a racnoss.
  • Could be set in a parallel universe as in the exclusive clip,Ross who died in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky is shown talking on a Telepathice cylong control. This episode is set before the events of The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. And so, Ross will be alive.

Filming Locations

"China Town" Recreated in Cardiff

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

The shooting down of the Webstar was ordered by a Mr Saxon during The Runaway Bride. Providing that the Doctor never met Donna, and concequently never met Martha, Saxon, and therefore The Master, would never have come to Earth. If the Doctor died during The Runaway Bride he couldn't have met Martha, which means the Master never returned to Earth, meaning he couldn't have shot down the Racnoss.

Continuity

  • In The Sontaran Strategem the Sat Nav kept saying Turn Left. This could have something to do with this episode.
  • The explanations above for what would've happened of the Doctor died take on a similar context to the Unbound series and DWM:Time & Time Again
  • Captain Jack mentioned telling someone they should have turned left during a joke in 'Boom Town' In fact, a few of the episodes from the new series have the phrase turn left in them.

DVD and Other releases

See also

to be added

External links

to be added

Template:Series 4

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