Opening ceremony

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Opening ceremony
The Tenth Doctor carrying the Olympic Torch. (TV: Fear Her)

The Tenth Doctor carried the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. (TV: Fear Her)

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You may be looking for the concept of a Big Bang or the specific Big Bang that started off the Doctor's universe.

The Lodger was the eleventh episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

Based on a comic strip of the same name, it was the third instance, after Human Nature and Dalek, of a story from another medium being directly adapted for television. It was also a companion-lite story, somewhat like Midnight. This adventure provided the first hints of the Silence's presence on Earth, though they were not seen until the following season. The audience is also introduced to a new problem for the TARDIS; it cannot land somewhere where there has been numerous time loops until the source creating them has been "removed".


The Big Bang was the thirteenth and Special episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It concluded many aspects of the story begun in The Eleventh Hour — most obviously by marrying Amy and Rory and by seemingly closing the cracks in time — but it left the audience wondering what "the Silence" was and why it wanted the TARDIS to explode.

The series 4 special kickstarted several overarching stories that would foreshadow major conflicts yet to ensnare the Doctor. While the identity of the Silence was a major topic explored in series 6, the question of why they wanted to blow the TARDIS up remained what the Eleventh Doctor called "a good question for another day" until the 2013 Christmas Special The Time of the Doctor answered it, while the mention of "an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express in space" at the episode's end would later be picked up again in the series 7 episode Mummy on the Orient Express.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio was the 2016 Christmas Special of Doctor Who. It was the show's twelfth Christmas special since its revival and the third Christmas special starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.


The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the special episode of series 10 of Doctor Who. In the United Kingdom, it earned the highest overnight ratings for a regular episode of Doctor Who since 2008's Partners in Crime and was the most-watched debut for a Doctor since Christopher Eccleston's initial turn in Rose, surpassing that episode by nearly one hundred thousand viewers.[1]

It saw the return of Nardole from the previous Christmas special, this time as the Doctor's companion. The circumstances leading to Nardole's return were not explained until 2014's Extremis. Due to the delay of Series 10's broadcast, this was the only episode to be aired in 2015.

Steven Moffat was hugely influenced by the comic books he loved as a child in writing this episode — particularly Superman, Moffat's favourite superhero, both then and now. By his own account, he took particular inspiration from the Christopher Reeve Superman films of the 1970s and 1980s. Though clearly humorous in tone, The Return of Doctor Mysterio explores many common superhero themes, such as the hero's secret identity, his origin story, and a love triangle involving both the hero and the man behind the mask.

Synopsis

The Twelfth Doctor once more faces off with an alien species that wishes to conquer the planet: the Shoal of the Winter Harmony. This time, however, he has more backup than usual, and with a little twist: a real-life superhero called the Ghost.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, 1990s, New York City, a boy named Grant wakes up during the middle of the night to find the Doctor swinging from his ankles in front of his bedroom window. He asks to be let in, and Grant goes to ask his mother; Grant lets the Doctor in. Confused, the Doctor asks what Grant told his mother; Grant said there was "an old guy" at the window. Realising that Grant has mistaken him for Santa, the Doctor gives a "ho ho ho."

File:The Doctor Confronts The Harmony Shoal The Return Of Doctor Mysterio Doctor Who At Harmony Shoal, Sim greets his brother alien, now in Brock's body. Despite Brock's skull being too small, Sim assures his brother that it will soften with wear. Sim shows him footage of the Ghost, who they believe is the finest "vehicle" available on the planet. They watch footage of the Doctor, who suddenly shouts "boo!" It turns out he's right in the next room. The Doctor tells the duo that he offers them mercy, and won't follow them off the planet if they leave now. Taking this as a declaration of war, "Brock" opens his head and pulls out a gun. The Doctor tells them that they are just another attempted invasion of the planet, which will fail like all the others.

The Doctor holds out a burger, which is confiscated by Sim. He reveals to them that he knows what their plan is: "unzip" the heads of the world leaders and place their alien comrades inside to conquer the world. However, the White House and the Kremlin would be the hardest places to break into due to "big fences, shouty people and cross dogs." Sim reveals that they plan to make the leaders come running to them. The Doctor whistles, telling that it won't work. Sim wonders what he took from the Doctor, to which he is told it's a burger; "Always carry a snack; don't want it now. He's put me off my lunch." The TARDIS materialises around the Doctor.

With a new outfit selected, the Doctor builds a rudimentary teleport out of Tzim-Sha's technology, which she has programmed to track the TARDIS' trail of Artron energy and prepares to leave. Saying her goodbyes to Graham, Ryan and Yaz, the Doctor sonics the devices and readies for departure, but the device teleports all four of them instead. On the other end, the Doctor is shocked to see her friends floating behind her; all of them suspended and stranded in deep space.

Cast

Guest Cast


The Tenth Planet

Uncredited cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound


South Africa crew
General production staff

Art department

 Camera and lighting department
 Costume

Hair and make-up

Sound

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

This story had no direct Visual Effects credit, which means that it unusually didn't credit The Mill. Instead, the roll credited many more workers from The Mill than usual, and even changed Will Cohen's normal title to the grander, "Executive Visual FX Producer".


References

Cultural references from the real world

The Doctor

Individuals

Objects

  • The Doctor wears a fez during the episode. He believes "fezzes are cool". Neither Amy nor River are impressed - Amy grabs it and throws it in the air, and River destroys it with her blaster.
    • The fez has become a popular part of the Eleventh Doctor's outfit - at the 2010 Doctor Who at the Proms, for example, the TV version opens with a shot of Prince Albert's bust wearing a fez.

Theories and concepts

  • There is a small explosion when the Doctor taps the two versions of his sonic screwdriver together. It is possible to read this as an expression of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, though this term is never used in the episode. Moreover, no such explosion occurs when both Amy and the Doctor touch their younger selves. No explanation for the discrepancy was provided by the script. (It is possible that the collapsing of the universe would allow this the closer to the end it got)

Story notes

  • The broadcast and narrative dates were the same: 26/06/2010. This is one of only four times in the revived series in which the date of broadcast and narrative date are the same. The others are TV: The Impossible Astronaut on 22 April 2011, part one of TV: The End of Time on 25 December 2009, and TV: Resolution on 1 January 2019.
  • This was the first BBC Wales finale which featured neither David Tennant nor the departure of a main character.
  • According to the DVD commentary, director Toby Haynes continued to use playback while recording this episode, just as he had for The Pandorica Opens. In particular, it was used with Caitlin Blackwood's solo scenes in the museum.
  • River's main costume in this story was designed deliberately to evoke both Princess Leia and Han Solo, so that she looked like, according to Toby Haynes, a "female Han Solo". (DCOM: The Big Bang)
  • According to Toby Haynes, this episode had no bigger budget "and maybe even a little less" than other episodes in the series. (DCOM: The Big Bang)
  • According to the episode commentary, Karen Gillan was genuinely laughing at Matt Smith's dancing at the reception scene.
  • Alex Kingston was having trouble walking in heels during the scene where River gets her diary back from the Doctor; due to the ground being too soft after rainfall. So they avoided long-range shots, allowing Alex to wear practical footwear. She can subtly be seen sinking down after walking up Matt Smith.
  • The closing credits play over a textless version of the opening title sequence rather than the usual closing title sequence.

Ratings

  • 6.7 million. (UK final)[3]
  • This marked the first time in the new series that the final episode of the series did not get higher ratings than the penultimate episode of the series. This occurred in every series finale episode before this one, this would not occur again until Series 9's Hell Bent in December 2015.

Rumours

  • The Internet Movie Database incorrectly stated that Doctor Who veteran actor Philip Madoc would guest star. He did not appear.

Filming locations

  • Miskin Manor - Cardiff

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • When Amy is praying as a child when the TARDIS should have crashed and she runs to the window you can see it crashed out of the window before she sees the shed.
  • In the museum, when the trio see the "future" Doctor die, Amy walks up the stairs. The camera cuts to the Doctor, then back to Amy, when she walks up the stairs again. It was too quick for her to go back down the stairs.
  • When the Amy that has just come out of the Pandorica compares height to younger Amy and guesses the date, you can see a shadow back away from the side of the camera when it pans out.
  • In the museum, the Doctor is talking but a shot of him turning around shows that his lips are not moving.
  • The museum scenes are set in 1996, but when the Doctor and crew make it to the roof, you see the Gherkin in the skyline - a building that was built in the twenty-first century.
  • While travelling backwards, the Doctor is seen wearing the vortex manipulator in the TARDIS on the way to Space Florida. In the next scene, while telling Amy to remember, it is absent. It returns in the following scene when he picks up the younger Amy.
  • In the museum, after the two Amys, the Doctor, and Rory escape the stone Dalek, we see the Doctor use the vortex manipulator to go back and talk to Rory, as seen at the beginning of the episode. The third time, in the wide shot of Rory and Amy, Amy's abdomen moves from the actress's breathing. During Rory's speech at the beginning of the episode, there is faint breathing heard during his dialogue, probably from Amy.
  • Directly after the Stone Dalek shoots the Doctor, his clothes remain unscathed as he collapses, when they should appear frayed and scorched as they do in the closeup showing him collapsed on the floor of the museum. This exposes that Matt Smith is wearing two different versions of his costume- the normal attire and a battle-damaged replica- and switched clothes in between takes, which the special effects crew neglected to hide.
  • In the scene where Rory opens the Pandorica with the sonic screwdriver, you can see he stops using it, however in the next shot, he is still using it.
  • During the wedding, guests change places.
  • In the same scene, Amy's father is NOT writing anything, let alone a speech as he claims.
  • During the last scene, a crew member can be seen at various points. This crew member also wears glasses, and you can see the glasses reflecting under lights.
  • Amy's wedding dress varies from the one seen in The Eleventh Hour.
  • Amy's room also varies from the one seen in The Eleventh Hour and Flesh and Stone.
  • The Dalek in the museum actually slides sideways when it halts.
  • A crew member can be seen slightly in the dancing scene, amongst the wedding guests.

Continuity

UMD releases

Series 1: Volume 1

  • Region 2 UK cover

    Region 2 UK cover

Home video releases

Series 1 Volume 1 DVD Cover
  • This was released with Rose and The Unquiet Dead on a "vanilla" DVD with no extras.
  • It was also released as part of the Series 1 DVD box set
  • This was also released with Issue 1 of the Doctor Who DVD Files.
  • Released in the Series 1 Bluray set in November 2013 along with the rest of the series.
    • This release was initially bundled with the first seven series of the revived Doctor Who.
  • Available for streaming via Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime.
  • The Complete Series 9

    The Complete Series 9

  • The Husbands of River Song DVD cover

    The Husbands of River Song DVD cover

Voyage of the Damned DVD Cover
  • This story was released on the Series 3 DVD box set in 2008, and on the reissued Series 4 DVD set in 2014.
  • It was released on Region 2 (UK) DVD on 10th March 2005. Unlike most single-disc Region 2 DVD releases from the revived series, this was not a "vanilla" edition (program only, no extras), but included the mini-episode Time Crash, as well as an edition of the cutdown version of Doctor Who Confidential.
  • Along with the rest of Series 4, the story was released on Bluray in 2013 as part of the Complete Series 1-7 Gift Set, where it was upscaled to HD from standard-definition. As with the other HD upscales in the set, the story runs at a slightly reduced speed of 24 frames per second, resulting in a slightly longer runtime.
  • The Series 4 Bluray was given a standalone release in 2014 in the UK and 2014 in the US.
  • The Complete Series 9

    The Complete Series 9

  • The Husbands of River Song DVD cover

    The Husbands of River Song DVD cover

Series 5 Volume 4 DVD Cover

BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four features Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. It was released on Monday 6th September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[4]

Series 5 Volume 4 DVD Cover

BBC Video - "Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four" features Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. It was released on 6 September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray see picture below.[5] It was released on a full series box set on 8th November 2010 but as two sets. One is a limited edition steelbook and the other one is a Lenticular Sleeve.

Video game adaptation

  • On the 16 February 2015, a Husbands of River Song level pack was released for the game Doctor Who: Legacy. It used ten non-dialogue levels to visually retell the episode's story.


Home video releases

Series 5 Volume 4 DVD Cover

BBC Video - "Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four" features Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. It was released on 6 September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray see picture below.[6] It was released on a full series box set on 8th November 2010 but as two sets. One is a limited edition steelbook and the other one is a Lenticular Sleeve.

  • This story was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 23rd January 2017.
  • This episode was released as part of the Series 10 DVD box set on 13 November 2014.
  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named final ratings
  2. ↑ http://www.jondavey.com/acting.php
  3. ↑ Doctor Who Ratings - UK final
  4. ↑ DWM 421, Page 18
  5. ↑ DWM 421, p. 18
  6. ↑ DWM 421, p. 18
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