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The Poison Sky (TV story): Difference between revisions
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== Story notes == | == Story notes == | ||
* This is the second part of a story which began with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]''. | * This is the second part of a story which began with ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]''. | ||
* This episode and ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' are [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s directorial debut. | * This episode and ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' are [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s directorial debut. | ||
* When the Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid-flow, a clip from {{w|CBeebies}} cartoon {{wi|Tommy Zoom}} is featured. The original plan to use a clip from {{wi|Shaun the Sheep}} fell through. | * When the Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid-flow, a clip from {{w|CBeebies}} cartoon {{wi|Tommy Zoom}} is featured. The original plan to use a clip from {{wi|Shaun the Sheep}} fell through. | ||
* [[Billie Piper]] appears very briefly as [[Rose Tyler]] on the TARDIS' screen in this episode. She receives screen credit, and is fourth-billed, for a performance that lasts less than one second and which was actually shot for another episode. According to Russell T Davies in an interview in [[DWM 396]], this cameo was not in the original edit of the episode, but was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unbilled cameo in ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' was. Although it was reported that the clip came from "an untransmitted scene" from another episode, in fact, according to the DVD commentary for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', the scene was shot especially for ''Midnight'' during production of ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'' and Davies dropped the scene into ''The Poison Sky'', too. Davies said that like ''Partners in Crime'', advance review copies of this episode did not include the cameo. This scene was directed by [[Alice Troughton]]. | * [[Billie Piper]] appears very briefly as [[Rose Tyler]] on the TARDIS' screen in this episode. She receives screen credit, and is fourth-billed, for a performance that lasts less than one second and which was actually shot for another episode. According to [[Russell T Davies]] in an interview in [[DWM 396]], this cameo was not in the original edit of the episode, but was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unbilled cameo in ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' was. Although it was reported that the clip came from "an untransmitted scene" from another episode, in fact, according to the DVD commentary for ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', the scene was shot especially for ''Midnight'' during production of ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'' and Davies dropped the scene into ''The Poison Sky'', too. Davies said that like ''Partners in Crime'', advance review copies of this episode did not include the cameo. This scene was directed by [[Alice Troughton]]. | ||
* The music that plays when the ''Valiant'' appears is strikingly similar to "The Master Tape", one of [[Murray Gold]]'s musical themes for [[the Master]]. The Master helped design the ''Valiant''. | * The music that plays when the ''Valiant'' appears is strikingly similar to "The Master Tape", one of [[Murray Gold]]'s musical themes for [[the Master]]. The Master helped design the ''Valiant''. | ||
* This is the first episode to feature Billie Piper, [[Freema Agyeman]], and Catherine Tate all together as Rose, [[Martha Jones|Martha]], and [[Donna Noble|Donna]], respectively. It is not, however, the first ''story ''in which all three ''actresses ''appear, as they all appear in ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]. '' | * This is the first episode to feature [[Billie Piper]], [[Freema Agyeman]], and [[Catherine Tate]] all together as Rose, [[Martha Jones|Martha]], and [[Donna Noble|Donna]], respectively. It is not, however, the first ''story ''in which all three ''actresses ''appear, as they all appear in ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]. '' | ||
* The Doctor says to the clone Martha, "Avanti", which means "Let's go" in Italian. This is probably to confirm his suspicion of her clone nature. The real Martha would know that the Doctor usually says "Allons-y", the French equivalent. | * The Doctor says to the clone Martha, "Avanti", which means "Let's go" in Italian. This is probably to confirm his suspicion of her clone nature. The real Martha would know that the Doctor usually says "Allons-y", the French equivalent. | ||
* The [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier]] is said to be stranded in [[Peru]]. He has been knighted as Colonel [[Alan Mace|Mace]] refers to him as "Sir Alistair". This is the first reference to the character in ''Doctor Who'' since the 1989 story ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'', although several references occurred in the first season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', broadcast in 2007. The Brigadier was knighted in the book ''[[The Dying Days (novel)|The Dying Days]]'' and called "Sir Alastair" in [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio dramas. The Doctor wishes he was there. | * The [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier]] is said to be stranded in [[Peru]]. He has been knighted as Colonel [[Alan Mace|Mace]] refers to him as "Sir Alistair". This is the first reference to the character in ''Doctor Who'' since the 1989 story ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'', although several references occurred in the first season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', broadcast in 2007. The Brigadier was knighted in the book ''[[The Dying Days (novel)|The Dying Days]]'' and called "Sir Alastair" in [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio dramas. The Doctor wishes he was there. | ||
* During production, Douglas Mackinnon intended to have the episode's climactic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the centre console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair | * During production, [[Douglas Mackinnon]] intended to have the episode's climactic scene in the TARDIS show the moveable column in the centre console move up and down much more rapidly than normal. However, when attempting to accomplish this, Mackinnon ended up breaking the prop, which took thirty minutes to repair. | ||
* Donna was originally meant to use a shoe to knock out the Sontarans, but because [[Catherine Tate]] only wears trainers they didn't want it to be a trainer, or they thought a trainer would be too soft and just bounce off the back of the neck. She got to use a mallet instead. | |||
* Donna was originally meant to use a shoe to knock out the Sontarans but because Catherine Tate only wears trainers they didn't want it to be a trainer, or they thought a trainer would be too soft and just bounce off the back of the neck. She got to use a mallet instead. | |||
* When preparing for the nuclear strike, all countries with known nuclear capabilities check in, except for Russia. The very last to check in is North Korea, of which it is disputed they have nuclear weapons, at which point the Colonel looks very surprised. | * When preparing for the nuclear strike, all countries with known nuclear capabilities check in, except for Russia. The very last to check in is North Korea, of which it is disputed they have nuclear weapons, at which point the Colonel looks very surprised. | ||
* [[Susie Liggat]] produced this episode in order to give [[Phil Collinson]] time off. | * [[Susie Liggat]] produced this episode in order to give [[Phil Collinson]] time off. | ||
* When interviewed on ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_with_Jonathan_Ross Friday Night with Jonathan Ross]'', [[Catherine Tate]] stated that she had been filming alongside ten actors playing Sontarans for two weeks before she realised that there were actors inside the Sontaran costumes. She had assumed the Sontarans "ran on electricity". It was not until an actor removed his helmet to reveal his real face that she realised her mistake. She stated she was "freaked out" by this and said she "nearly died". | |||
* This two-parter was originally designated Block Four of the recording schedule. However, when Block Three - ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' and ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]'' - was split into two, it became Block Five instead. | |||
* [[Kirsty Wark]] was a friend of [[Douglas Mackinnon]]. | |||
* The exploding ATMOS jeep was supposed to be a more impressive faire, but it would've been too expensive to blow up the Rover (and the Army wouldn't have approved), so it was rewritten to have the ATMOS controller give off a few sparks. | |||
* As in many previous episodes of the revived series, supposed BBC News 24 footage is used featuring reports of unfolding events. However, as with the more recent appearances of such footage in Doctor Who, the channel is simply captioned on screen as 'News 24' devoid of the BBC logo. Since this episode was produced, the BBC News 24 channel was rebranded in real life as BBC News. | |||
* Donna's mispronunciation of Sontaran stems from the original production of ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]''. [[Kevin Lindsay]] pronounced the word as it has always been used, with emphasis on "Son-TAR-an", whereas [[Alan Bromly]] wanted it pronounced with no emphasis. Lindsay won the argument, claiming "I'm from the bloody planet, I think I know how to pronounce my own name!" | |||
=== Ratings === | === Ratings === | ||
