Aliens of London (TV story): Difference between revisions
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
The [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] materialises on a street in [[Rose Tyler|Rose's]] [[Powell Estate|council estate]]. The [[Ninth Doctor|Doctor]] has taken Rose home to visit her mother. He tells Rose they have landed some twelve hours after she first left with him. While waiting for her to return, a flyer on a nearby telephone pole catches his eye. It is a missing-persons | The [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] materialises on a street in [[Rose Tyler|Rose's]] [[Powell Estate|council estate]]. The [[Ninth Doctor|Doctor]] has taken Rose home to visit her mother. He tells Rose they have landed some twelve hours after she first left with him, or so he thinks at the moment. While waiting for her to return, a flyer on a nearby telephone pole catches his eye. It is a missing-persons notice with Rose's picture on it. When Rose enters her flat and casually greets her mother, claiming to have spent the night with a friend, the stunned Jackie sweeps her daughter up in a desperate, unbelieving hug. Over her shoulder, Rose notices a table covered with missing-persons flyers and posters, all with her name and picture on them. The Doctor bursts into the flat and apologetically informs Rose that she hasn't been gone for twelve hours, but for twelve ''months'', a whole year. | ||
Some time later, outside Jackie's flat, a young boy spray-paints the words "[[Bad Wolf (entity)|BAD WOLF]]” on the TARDIS and cycles off. Inside the Tylers' flat, a police inspector sits and listens patiently as Jackie lashes out at Rose for her thoughtlessness in vanishing for over a year without so much as a phone call. Rose says she's been travelling, but Jackie angrily points out that she left her passport behind. Rose claims she meant to phone and just forgot. The Doctor tries to explain he employed Rose as his companion — in a non-sexual sense, of course, but Jackie slaps him and accuses him of luring away her daughter for immoral purposes. Rose is embarrassed and remorseful, but despite her mother's pleas, she can't begin to explain where she's been for the past year. | Some time later, outside Jackie's flat, a young boy spray-paints the words "[[Bad Wolf (entity)|BAD WOLF]]” on the TARDIS and cycles off. Inside the Tylers' flat, a police inspector sits and listens patiently as Jackie lashes out at Rose for her thoughtlessness in vanishing for over a year without so much as a phone call. Rose says she's been travelling, but Jackie angrily points out that she left her passport behind. Rose claims she meant to phone and just forgot. The Doctor tries to explain he employed Rose as his companion — in a non-sexual sense, of course, but Jackie slaps him and accuses him of luring away her daughter for immoral purposes. Rose is embarrassed and remorseful, but despite her mother's pleas, she can't begin to explain where she's been for the past year. | ||
Rose and the Doctor talk on the roof of her tower block. She expresses her frustration at having | Rose and the Doctor talk on the roof of her tower block. She expresses her frustration at having accidentally traumatized her mother. The Doctor states firmly that Jackie is not coming with them if Rose decides to keep travelling, mentioning in passing that he's nine hundred years old. Rose realises this is another of the many things she can't discuss with anyone. She muses that she is one of only a few [[Human|people]] on [[Earth]] who knows that there are [[alien]]s and [[spacecraft|spaceships]]. On cue, a massive spaceship roars over them, trailing black smoke. The Doctor takes Rose by the hand as she says, "That's not fair", and they follow the ship. It zooms through the skies over Central [[London]], its wing cutting through two of the sides on [[Big Ben]], ringing the bell, before splash-landing in the [[River Thames]] near Westminster Bridge. The river is cordoned off by soldiers from the Parachute Regiment. Rose expects the Doctor to use the TARDIS to get a closer look, but he points out that the military is already busy with one spaceship — they don't need to add to the panic. | ||
The Doctor and Rose watch the events unfold on the [[television]] in Jackie's flat. Friends and neighbours join them to discuss the crash and Rose's return. The Doctor has difficulty attending to the news, fighting for the remote with a toddler trying to watch ''[[wikipedia:Blue Peter|Blue Peter]]''. The world is being put on red alert | The Doctor and Rose watch the events unfold on the [[television]] in Jackie's flat. Friends and neighbours join them to discuss the crash and Rose's return. The Doctor has difficulty attending to the news, even at one point fighting for the remote with a toddler trying to watch ''[[wikipedia:Blue Peter|Blue Peter]]''. The world is being put on red alert. Flights have been cancelled over North American airspace and the UN Secretary General has advised people to watch the skies. Divers recover an alien body from the wreckage of the spacecraft. It is put under military supervision under the command of General [[Asquith]] and brought to nearby [[Albion Hospital]] for analysis. Asquith examines the body and asks [[Toshiko Sato|Dr. Toshiko Sato]], the pathologist, if the creature is by any chance a fake. She informs him [[X-ray]]s of the skull show wiring she has never seen before — no one could have made it up. | ||
There has been no sign of the [[Prime Minister]] since the state of emergency was declared. Due to the gridlock and the grounding of flights, most of the Cabinet are stranded outside central London. Joseph Green, the rotund MP for Hartley Dale and Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the Monitoring of Sugar Standards in Exported Confectionery | There has been no sign of the [[Prime Minister]] since the state of emergency was declared. Due to the gridlock and the grounding of flights, most of the Cabinet are stranded outside central London. Hence, in a surprise turn of events, the role of Acting Prime Minister has gone to Joseph Green, the rotund MP for Hartley Dale, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the Monitoring of Sugar Standards in Exported Confectionery. Escorted to [[10 Downing Street]], he is met by [[Indra Ganesh]], a Junior Secretary with the [[Ministry of Defence]]. Green seems to have difficulty handling the pressure; as Ganesh tries to brief him, he breaks wind, claiming nerves are giving him an upsert stomach. Ganesh hands Green a red box containing the [[Emergency Protocols]], all of the procedures to deal with extraterrestrial incidents. Green is met by [[Margaret Blaine]] of [[MI5]] and [[Oliver Charles]], Transport Liaison, each as fat as Green. Blaine reports she escorted the Prime Minister to his car this morning, but according to Charles, the car seems to have vanished. The three government officials leave Ganesh and enter the Cabinet Rooms. But once they close the door, Green drops the Emergency Protocols on the table, looks at Blaine and Oliver, and all three break out in hysterics, knowing that their evil plan is going according to schedule. | ||
Evening settles on the Powell estate. People hold alien-welcoming parties. The Doctor leaves Rose's flat, saying he is not good with people and it's hard to understand why people are talking about where to buy dodgy top-up cards for half price in the middle of a historical milestone. Rose thinks he is going to investigate the crash, but he says he is not going to interfere with [[human]]ity's first contact with extraterrestrial life. To reassure her, he gives her a TARDIS key. However, outside, he enters the TARDIS and starts it up. Mickey spots the Doctor from his own flat and rushes down, too late. The TARDIS dematerialises; Mickey crashes into a wall. | Evening settles on the Powell estate. People hold alien-welcoming parties around the area. The Doctor leaves Rose's flat, saying he is not good with people and it's hard to understand why people are talking about where to buy dodgy top-up cards for half price in the middle of a historical milestone. Rose thinks he is going to investigate the crash, but he says he is not going to interfere with [[human]]ity's first contact with extraterrestrial life. To reassure her, he gives her a TARDIS key. However, outside, he enters the TARDIS and starts it up. Mickey spots the Doctor from his own flat and rushes down, several seconds too late. The TARDIS dematerialises; Mickey crashes into a wall. | ||
[[File:Ninth Doctor and Toshiko Sato with the Space Pig.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor and Toshiko examine the "Space Pig."]] | [[File:Ninth Doctor and Toshiko Sato with the Space Pig.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor and Toshiko examine the "Space Pig."]] | ||
The Doctor lands the TARDIS in a storage cupboard in Albion Hospital. He opens the door, only to run into soldiers on tea break, who level their rifles at him. They hear a scream and the Doctor immediately takes charge, barking orders to lock down the perimeter. He finds Dr Sato cowering in the corner of an operating room. The supposedly dead alien has returned to life. The Doctor spots the alien, which looks like an Earth [[pig]] in a spacesuit. The creature flees in terror, only to be shot by a soldier. The Doctor berates the soldier, insisting it was only frightened. Examining the | The Doctor lands the TARDIS in a storage cupboard in Albion Hospital. He opens the door, only to run into soldiers on tea break, who level their rifles at him. They hear a scream and the Doctor immediately takes charge, barking orders to lock down the perimeter. He finds Dr. Sato cowering in the corner of an operating room. The supposedly dead alien has returned to life. The Doctor spots the alien, which looks like an Earth [[pig]] in a spacesuit. The creature flees in terror, only to be shot dead by a soldier. The Doctor berates the soldier, insisting it was only frightened. Examining the carcass with Dr Sato, the Doctor tells her it is a real pig, its [[brain]] augmented by alien technology. Other aliens wanted to fake an alien crash landing, but why? By the time Dr Sato asks the question, the Doctor is gone to the echo of a dematerializing TARDIS. | ||
Meanwhile, at 10 Downing Street, [[Harriet Jones]], the backbench MP for Flydale North, tries to convince Ganesh to let her speak with Green. He refuses to interrupt Green's important meeting for her minor concerns. When Green, Margaret and Oliver emerge from the Cabinet office, Harriet tries to speak with Green, explaining she's come up with a scheme by which cottage hospitals don't have to be excluded from centres of excellence. Green laughs in her face and walks off with the others. Nettled, Harriet slips into the deserted Cabinet office and drops the report she's prepared in Green's briefcase. She notices he's left the Emergency Protocols booklet behind. Curious, she begins to leaf through it. | Meanwhile, at 10 Downing Street, [[Harriet Jones]], the backbench MP for Flydale North, tries to convince Ganesh to let her speak with Green. He refuses to interrupt Green's important meeting for her minor concerns. When Green, Margaret and Oliver emerge from the Cabinet office, Harriet tries to speak with Green, explaining she's come up with a scheme by which cottage hospitals don't have to be excluded from centres of excellence. Green laughs in her face and walks off with the others. Nettled, Harriet slips into the deserted Cabinet office and drops the report she's prepared in Green's briefcase. She notices he's left the Emergency Protocols booklet behind. Curious, she begins to leaf through it. | ||
Jones panics when she hears General Asquith approaching the room and hides in a closet. Asquith is angrily berating Green, Blaine and Charles about their inaction. Green isn't returning the White House's phone calls, he hasn't started any of the Emergency Protocols, and he's cancelled the airlift that would have brought senior cabinet members into London. To Asquith's fury, the three officials seem to find the complaints amusing and start to break wind uncontrollably, laughing hysterically. When Asquith threatens to relieve Green as Acting Prime Minister and place the country under martial law, Green takes this more seriously. He tells Asquith his latest complaint is hair raising, literally! He immediately reaches up and unzips his forehead. Asquith looks and sees Blaine and Charles doing the same. A bright blue light shines through the zippers as the three reveal their true alien forms. As Harriet watches terrified through a crack in the door, General Asquith screams as the disguised aliens advance and kill him. | |||
Mickey enters the Tylers' flat. He is furious to see Rose sitting with the neighbours. Rose | Mickey enters the Tylers' flat. He is furious to see Rose sitting with the neighbours. Rose apologizes for not visiting him, but that does not satisfy Mickey. When she disappeared with no explanation, Mickey was nearly charged with her murder. He's been questioned by police five times in the past year. When Jackie blamed him, he couldn't tell her the truth. He demands that Rose admit the truth; she might as well, because the Doctor's gone without her. Rose refuses to believe this, but when she goes out to see for herself, there is no sign of the TARDIS. She angrily insists the Doctor wouldn't have left her behind — and as she speaks, the TARDIS key begins to glow in her hand. The TARDIS materialises before their eyes. Rose goes inside with Mickey. Jackie follows, but quickly runs off, overwhelmed. | ||
The Doctor admits he suspected the crash was a fake from the start | The Doctor admits he suspected the crash was a fake from the start: the flight path going into Big Ben was too perfect to have been unintentional. Mickey says it's an odd way to invade a planet, putting it on red alert. They exchange barbs, but the Doctor has more important things to do. Rose apologizes for his behaviour and assures Mickey that she did miss him, even though she's only been gone for a few days from her perspective. He tells her he spent the year looking for her, and he never dated anyone else (although admittedly, the latter is because most people think he murdered Rose and hid her body somewhere). She realises that Mickey wants to pick up their relationship where they left off — but before she can decide, the Doctor announces he's finished his work. He has set the TARDIS scanner to track the spacecraft back twelve hours before the crash. It was launched from Earth. Whoever these aliens are, they have been here for a while. | ||
Jackie huddles in her flat, trying to cope with what she's seen. When the Emergency Alien Hotline number reappears on the TV, she calls and blurts out her story, claiming that her daughter is in danger because of an alien called the Doctor who travels in a blue box called the TARDIS. Key words trigger an automated alert which Ganesh receives at 10 Downing Street. | Jackie huddles in her flat, trying to cope with what she's seen. When the Emergency Alien Hotline number reappears on the TV, she calls and blurts out her story, claiming that her daughter is in danger because of an alien called the Doctor who travels in a blue box called the TARDIS. Key words trigger an automated alert which Ganesh receives at 10 Downing Street. | ||
Ganesh rushes to tell General Asquith. Inside the Cabinet Office, the alien who | Ganesh rushes to tell General Asquith. Inside the Cabinet Office, the alien who had been posing as Oliver Charles has put himself into the general's skin. Like the other aliens, he frequently breaks wind to fit into his tight disguise. Blaine complains that they have to do something about the gas exchange that is causing their flatulence, but Green disagrees, believing it seems human enough to him. As Asquith tosses his former skin into the closet where Harriet Jones is hiding, he considers the change of disguise a shame, regretting that he will have to leave behind Oliver's wife, his mistress and the young farmer he was seeing on the side — something he very much enjoyed. As they leave, Ganesh tells Asquith the Doctor has been spotted. When Blaine asks who this "doctor" is, Ganesh says he is ''the'' expert on aliens, one they need desperately. In the meantime, other alien experts from around the world, including the [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce]], are being summoned to Downing Street. | ||
[[File:Nine waves.jpg|thumb|The Doctor enjoys his momentary fame.]] | [[File:Nine waves.jpg|thumb|The Doctor enjoys his momentary fame.]] | ||
When the Doctor, Rose and Mickey exit the TARDIS, they are surrounded by armed soldiers, vehicles and a [[helicopter]]. Mickey runs away, but the Doctor and Rose are put into a limousine and escorted to 10 Downing Street. The police escort Jackie to her flat and Police Commissioner Strickland, a rotund and gassy man who seems uncomfortable in his skin, assures Jackie her daughter is in a position to help the country. He asks Jackie how she made contact with the Doctor. Strickland sends the other police away so he may speak to Jackie alone. | When the Doctor, Rose and Mickey exit the TARDIS, they are surrounded by armed soldiers, vehicles and a [[helicopter]]. Mickey runs away, but the Doctor and Rose are put into a limousine and escorted to 10 Downing Street. The police escort Jackie to her flat and Police Commissioner Strickland, a rotund and gassy man who seems to be uncomfortable in his skin, assures Jackie her daughter is in a position to help the country. He asks Jackie how she made contact with the Doctor. Strickland sends the other police away so he may speak to Jackie alone. | ||
At Downing Street, Ganesh has gathered all of the experts together. He meets the Doctor and Rose. Ganesh tells them their ID cards must be worn at all times and ushers them into a room. Rose is not cleared and not allowed in. Harriet Jones, who sneaked out of the Cabinet Rooms unseen, comes along and offers to take care of Rose. She takes Rose to the rooms and shows her Oliver Charles's empty skin. They find the Prime Minister's corpse stuffed in a cupboard. Ganesh enters and is aghast when he sees the body. | At Downing Street, Ganesh has gathered all of the experts together. He meets the Doctor and Rose. Ganesh tells them their ID cards must be worn at all times and ushers them into a room. Rose is not cleared and not allowed in. Harriet Jones, who sneaked out of the Cabinet Rooms unseen, comes along and offers to take care of Rose. She takes Rose to the rooms and shows her Oliver Charles's empty skin. They find the Prime Minister's corpse stuffed in a cupboard. Ganesh enters and is aghast when he sees the body. | ||
