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Tin Dog Podcast

Tin Dog Podcast
Description:
tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk The Tin Dog welcomes you to sit back and listen to his rants and ramblings about all that is best in modern SF and Television. Via the gift of the new fangled Podcast over the tinterweb. As you can probably guess Tin Dog mostly talks about Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Smith but that wont stop him talking about any other subject you suggest. Hailing from a non specific part of the northeast of England, Tin Dog is male and in his mid 30s. A life long fan of almost all TV SF. His semi-autistic tendencies combined with his total lack of social skills have helped him find a place in the heart of British SF Fandom. Even as a child the Tin Dogs mother told him that she can trace his love of SF TV back to his rhythmic kicking, while still in the womb, along to the beat of the Avengers theme music. From Gabriel Chase to Totters Lane, from the Bad Wolf Satellite to the back streets of the Cardiff, Tin Dog will give you his thoughts on the wonderful Whoniverse. Daleks and Cybermen and TARDIS ES Oh My If you enjoy these Tin Dog Podcasts please remember to tell your friends and leave an email tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk

Homepage: http://tin-dog.co.uk

RSS Feed: http://www.tin-dog.co.uk/rss

Tin Dog Podcast Statistics
Episodes:
2805
Average Episode Duration:
0:0:09:56
Longest Episode Duration:
0:2:09:15
Total Duration of all Episodes:
19 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes and 56 seconds
Earliest Episode:
1 May 2007 (6:54pm GMT)
Latest Episode:
10 April 2024 (6:23am GMT)
Average Time Between Episodes:
2 days, 4 hours, 56 minutes and 58 seconds

Tin Dog Podcast Episodes

  • TDP 132: Pandorica Opens & The Big Bang

    1 July 2010 (7:10am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 25 minutes and 21 seconds

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    The Doctor and Amy Pond  travel to the oldest planet in the universe where a legendary message turns out to be another "calling card" of River Song. Following the coordinates from the message, they arrive at Roman Britain in 102 AD and find River posing as Cleopatra. River explains that she has received warning of the destruction of the TARDIS from a painting by Vincent van Gogh ("Vincent and the Doctor") that in 1941 reached Winston Churchill and Professor Bracewell ("Victory of the Daleks"). Churchill had attempted to warn the Doctor himself, but the TARDIS instead connected his call to River; she subsequently escaped from prison and encountered Liz 10 ("The Beast Below"), who had Van Gogh's painting in her collection, and then used a vortex manipulator to transport herself to the oldest planet then to the coordinates in the painting. The Doctor realises the painting and destruction of the TARDIS may be connected to the "Pandorica", a fabled prison for the universe's deadliest being, and rationalises that it must be stored in a memorable location, the site of Stonehenge.At Stonehenge, the Doctor, Amy, and River find a passage to an underground area, which the Doctor terms "the Underhenge". Inside, they find the Pandorica, a room-sized metal box outfitted with every type of lock imaginable. The Doctor and River become concerned when they discover that the Pandorica is opening from inside and transmitting a message across time and space, drawing many of the Doctor's foes to Earth. River warns that "everything that ever hated [the Doctor] is coming tonight". The Doctor refuses to flee and instead asks River to seek help from the nearby Roman legion while he remains with the Pandorica. She finds the legion's commander reluctant, though one mysterious centurion and fifty others do volunteer.Back underground, while Amy questions the Doctor about the engagement ring she has found, the pair are attacked by the debris of a Cyberman's suit trying to find a new host. The Doctor is stunned and Amy sedated with a flechette. She runs away and is rescued by the mysterious centurion, who turns out to be Rory Williams. The revived Doctor is baffled to find Rory alive, since he is supposed to have been erased from history by a crack in the universe ("Cold Blood"). Rory is even more confused and says he simply remembers dying one second and being a Roman soldier the next.As more enemies gather in orbit, the Doctor temporarily delays the aliens and instructs River to bring the TARDIS to Stonehenge. Although shown to be an expert TARDIS pilot ("The Time of Angels"), River now finds the machine impossible to control and gets locked on course for Amy's house on 26 June 2010 - the very date of the time energy explosion that caused the cracks in the universe ("Flesh and Stone"). Whilst she ventures outside, the scanner screen suddenly cracks into the same shape as the other cracks in the universe, while an ominous voice declares "silence will fall". River finds large burn-marks on the lawn, and then begins to explore Amy's bedroom, still full of representations of the Doctor and the TARDIS. She also finds elements such as Pandora's box and the Roman soldiers within Amy's drawings and books. She relays this to the Doctor, who starts to worry they might all be imaginary constructs taken from Amy's mind to entrap him, and believing their own cover story until they are activated.Rory meanwhile has an emotional conversation with Amy as he tries to connect with her using the engagement ring that he had left aboard the TARDIS, but she is still unable to remember him. The TARDIS begins to malfunction dangerously. Upon discovery of the date to which River has been taken, the Doctor orders her to get out of that timezone, but the TARDIS is now controlled remotely. He urges her to get out, as the TARDIS engines are supposed to shut down automatically when no one is on board, but she finds herself locked in.Suddenly, Rory and the 'legionaries' with the Doctor are activated: they are Autons. The Rory Auton remains with Amy, struggling to retain his human consciousness and stop himself from killing her. Shortly after she remembers who he is, he loses control and shoots her. Meanwhile, the other Autons capture the Doctor and take him to the now-open Pandorica, which proves to be empty. Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, and other enemies arrive and reveal that they have formed an alliance and built the Pandorica as a prison for the Doctor, as they believe he is about to destroy the universe. The Doctor pleads that they have made a mistake and the TARDIS, not him, is about to destroy the universe but the aliens refuse to believe that anyone else can pilot the TARDIS.River frantically manages to hot-wire the TARDIS door, but finds her way blocked by a stone surface. She declares, "I'm sorry, my love," as the TARDIS goes critical and explodes. Rory is still cradling the lifeless Amy. The Pandorica closes on the Doctor, and a dramatic reveal shows explosions surrounding the Earth, which slowly fades to black as silence falls.Following from the cliffhanger of the previous episode, the Doctor is sealed in the Pandorica, a prison designed for him by his greatest foes and baited by elements of Amy's childhood imagination, while River Song is trapped in the TARDIS as it explodes, triggering the end of the universe. As the episode begins, the Earth, Moon, and what appears to be the Sun are all that remain in a starless black void. In 102 AD, the Auton replica of Rory, having shot Amy, is still holding her lifeless body when a future version of the Doctor, using a Vortex Manipulator, briefly appears and gives Rory his sonic screwdriver, with instructions to open the Pandorica. Rory releases the imprisoned Doctor, who places Amy inside the Pandorica where she will be revived and held in stasis. Rory, ageless due to his Auton nature, stays with the Pandorica, guarding it through nearly two millennia and creating a mythology around the box that survives to the present day.The Doctor jumps forward in time to 1996, and provides hints to the young Amelia Pond--who has dreams of a star-filled sky--that lead her to the British Museum, where the Pandorica is on display. Amelia's touch opens the Pandorica, releasing her older self. Rory, now a security guard at the museum, arrives just in time to save the Doctor, Amy and Amelia from a fossilized Dalek. After an emotional reunion, the Doctor uses the Vortex Manipulator to pass his screwdriver to Rory in the past and rescue River from the TARDIS. The group flees through the museum, purused by the Dalek, which the Doctor surmises has been re-activated by the light of the Pandorica. They meet a mortally wounded version of the Doctor from twelve minutes in the future, who whispers something to his past self and dies. The Doctor explains that a fragment of the original, star-filled universe is inside the Pandorica, and if they can transfer it to every point of the collapsing universe simultaneously, they may be able to "reboot" reality. He is then shot by the Dalek, and jumps twelve minutes into the past. Rory and Amy escape, while River confronts the Dalek- which uncharacteristically begs for mercy when told her name.After jumping back twelve minutes, the Doctor did not die, but instead directed his earlier self to create a diversion, giving the wounded Doctor the opportunity to program the Pandorica to fly into the Sun-like source of light: the TARDIS, exploding simultaneously at every point in space and time. When his companions return, the Doctor explains that once the universe is rebooted, Amy--having lived near the cracks in the universe all her life--will be able to use her memories to restore people who have been erased, and that he himself will be trapped in the void between universes once the cracks close. The Doctor then pilots the Pandorica into the TARDIS explosion, creating a second Big Bang and returning the universe to normal.The Doctor then finds himself rewinding through his life as an observer. Amy can hear but not see him, and as he passes through the events of "Flesh and Stone", he takes advantage of her closed eyes to tell her to remember what he told her when she was seven years old. Arriving on the day he met Amelia Pond ("The Eleventh Hour"), he finds the young girl asleep outside, waiting for her "raggedy Doctor" to return. The Doctor carries her to bed, and tells her a story about a daft old man who stole--"well, borrowed"--a magic box that was "big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient. And the bluest blue ever." He then steps into the crack in Amelia's bedroom wall, sealing it completely.Amy wakes up on 26 June 2010, the day of her wedding, to find she has remembered her mother, father and the human Rory back into existence. During the wedding reception, however, she feels as if she is forgetting something. When she sees River Song's diary, its cover fashioned after the TARDIS, she tearfully recalls the Doctor's story of "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue", causing the Doctor and the TARDIS to be restored. The Doctor joins in the wedding celebration.After the wedding, the Doctor gives River the Vortex Manipulator to return to her time. River sadly warns him he will soon learn who she truly is, and that it will change everything. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to Amy and Rory that unanswered questions remain about the destruction of the TARDIS and the nature of "the Silence" that will fall, but before they can contemplate that, the Doctor receives a telephone call alerting him to the presence of an escaped Egyptian goddess on the Orient Express in space. Rory and Amy decide to join him, and the three leave on their next adventure.[edit] ContinuityThe episode revisits several scenes from earlier in the series. The first scene in the episode mirrors the start of "The Eleventh Hour", except this time the Doctor does not crash into Amelia's garden, instead appearing later to direct her to the museum. Upon the TARDIS's restoration Rory tells Amy's parents that "I was plastic" and that the Doctor was "the stripper at my stag do", the latter event having been seen in "The Vampires of Venice".As the Doctor rewinds through his life, he sees events which relate to "The Lodger", but which were not shown in that episode. His conversation with Amy during the events of "Flesh and Stone" appeared in that episode, though it was not clear that this was a Doctor from a different timeline. Finally, he arrives in seven-year-old Amelia's house the night she waited for him in "The Eleventh Hour".Early in the episode, Amy's aunt states that she does not trust Richard Dawkins (who appeared as himself in "The Stolen Earth") due to his support for the existence of stars. When the sonic screwdriver given to Rory and that in the pocket of the Doctor in the Pandorica touch they cause sparks, in a revived-series reference to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect.


  • TDP 131: The Lodger

    16 June 2010 (5:12am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds

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    Plot The TARDIS lands in Colchester rather than its intended destination, the fifth moon of Sinda Callista, and the Doctor finds himself stranded there with Amy left in the TARDIS. Meanwhile, passers-by are seen being lured into a nearby house by various voices seeking help, from the intercom at its front door. The door opens and they ascend the staircase to the first floor, entering the room which lies there; flashing lights are seen and screams heard emanating from the room. The Doctor turns up at the house and rents a ground floor room from the flat's owner, a shy call centre worker called Craig Owens. Although Craig finds him odd, The Doctor quickly woos him and moves in. The Doctor tries to blend in his new environment with guidance from Amy, with whom he still manages to communicate through an earpiece. He also gets to know Craig who is locked in a platonic relationship with a colleague called Sophie and tries to manoeuvre them into declaring to each other. This backfires and Sophie decides to leave for an exotic destination. The Doctor has become aware that the first floor room may not be all it appears to be, as a strange damp patch is spreading on the living room ceiling, but thinks using his sonic screwdriver might alert whatever is up there and is instead building a crude apparatus in his room. His experiences on Earth are punctuated by increasingly frequent "time-loop" events, in which his own time is separated from those around him, who are unknowingly involved in repetitive events. This also affect Amy in the TARDIS. Craig touches the damp patch on his ceiling and is seriously poisoned. The Doctor revives him and goes to replace him at work while he recovers. Craig, however, far from being grateful, becomes jealous of the increasingly popular Doctor, since Sophie in particular has expressed enthusiasm, and tells the Doctor to leave the house, throwing his PS3000 deposit back at him. While the two quarrel, Sophie turns up at the house and gets called upstairs by the voice from the first floor room. To save time, the Doctor reveals to Craig who he is and what he is doing... by head-butting him. Craig is overwhelmed by all the information, but the two hear screams upstairs and rush to intervene. Spotting Sophie's set of keys on the door, they realise that she is the one in danger. Amy meanwhile, having studied the house's plans in the TARDIS's database informs them that the building is supposed to be only one storey tall. The Doctor and Craig enter the "upstairs flat" to save Sophie and discover that someone has been trying to build a TARDIS, which is now trapped on Earth and is disguised by a perception filter. Its pilot is an emergency AI hologram who is able to appear in the form of the various victims it has attracted, as well as Craig's seldom-seen neighbour. After the Doctor and Craig prevent Sophie from being forced to activate the ship's console, the hologram informs the Doctor that as the ship has crashed and the crew was killed, it has rebuilt itself and attempted to fly away by luring in humans to act as pilots. However the human minds weren't sufficient and burned out, leaving only husks. Recognising the Doctor as a suitable pilot, the ship tries to pull him in. Knowing he cannot pilot the ship safely and he would destroy the entire solar system in the process, the Doctor realises that the ship had only lured in people who wanted to escape or leave somewhere, which is why it hadn't attempted to lure Craig, or Sophie, until the Doctor motivated her to leave. After finally admitting their love for each other, both Craig and Sophie touch the panel's activator, causing the engines to shut down and the ship to implode. The Doctor, Craig and Sophie escape in time to see the top floor of the house turn into a spaceship which then disappears. Afterwards, the Doctor says his goodbyes to Craig and Sophie, who give him his set of keys to the flat as a parting gift. Back in the TARDIS the Doctor travels back in time a week and instructs Amy to leave the note in the newsagent's that directed him to Craig's flat in the first place. However, whilst rooting in the pocket of his discarded blazer for a pen, Amy discovers the ring Rory had given her before he was erased from time and becomes visibly unsettled. The crack from her bedroom appears once again, this time in the wall behind Craig's fridge, and glows ominously.  ] Continuity On Craig's fridge is a postcard advertising the Van Gogh exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay, which the Doctor, Amy and later Van Gogh himself visit in the previous episode.[2][3] In the Time Engine, Craig also uses the Eleventh Doctor's catchphrase of "Geronimo!", introduced in The End of Time. During the head-butting scene when the doctor performs a psychic link, the faces of some of the previous Doctors are seen. These include Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Paul McGann, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy do not appear in the montage. He also explicitly states that he is the eleventh incarnation. The Doctor playing football is the second time he has shown exceptional skill when playing a sport, entering a team at the last minute. In Black Orchid, the Fifth Doctor plays a cricket match and proves to be equally skilled with both bat and ball.   Outside references The Doctor paraphrases the Doctor hologram from Star Trek: Voyager when he states "Please state the nature of your emergency." (The original line being "Please state the nature of your medical emergency.").[4] He also refers to himself as Captain Troy Hadsome of International Rescue, referencing Thunderbirds.   Reception Gavin Fuller, writing for The Daily Telegraph, assessed the episode as "a delight", "thoroughly enjoyable (and) often amusing". In particular he praised Corden and Haggard for avoiding the usual "cliches of romcom", and Smith's portrayal of The Doctor as almost but not-quite human. He expressed some disappointment that the origin of the lurking time machine was not explained.[5]   Production Location filming took place in Cardiff in early March 2010. The house in which Craig has his flat is in Westville Road,[6] and the location for the football match was Victoria Park (building on Matt Smith's previous experience as a youth footballer, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town F.C., Nottingham Forest F.C. and Leicester City F.C.[7][8]); the play area there had previously been used as a location in "Forest of the Dead".[9]   References ^ "BAFTA Event - The BAFTA site". Bafta.co.uk. 2010-05-01. http://www.bafta.co.uk/event.html?Pevent=com.othermedia.bafta.model.BaftaEvent-L-6198635. Retrieved 2010-05-27. ^ "Doctor Who: The Lodger trailer". Den of Geek. http://www.denofgeek.com/television/502970/doctor_who_the_lodger_trailer.html. Retrieved 2010-06-11. ^ "Craig Owens' fridge, The Lodger ep.11, Doctor Who s.5". http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KTJWhtuRLac/TAok6eK9hNI/AAAAAAAAKkk/PMFy13TZY2w/s1600/lodger4.png. ^ http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/06/12/review-the-lodger/^ "Doctor Who review: The Lodger - Telegraph". telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/7821745/Doctor-Who-review-The-Lodger.html. Retrieved 2010-06-13. ^ "79 Westville Road - The Locations Guide to Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures". www.doctorwholocations.net. http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/westvilleroadno79#100304. Retrieved 2010-06-13. ^ "Meet the Eleventh Doctor". Doctor Who microsite. BBC. 5 January 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/misc/news/index_new_doctor.shtml. ^ Doctor Who Confidential^ "Victoria Park - The Locations Guide to Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures". www.doctorwholocations.net. http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/victoriapark#100305. Retrieved 2010-06-13.


  • TDP 130: Vincent and the Doctor

    13 June 2010 (7:16pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 37 seconds

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    Synopsis During a visit to an art gallery with Amy, the Doctor's interest is caught by a painting of a church by Vincent van Gogh: there's a face in the window of the church - a curious, shadowed creepy face with a beak and nasty eyes. The Doctor is worried, and is sure he has seen the face somewhere before. There is only one thing for it: a trip in the TARDIS back to 1890, so the Doctor can find out from the artist himself. Plot The Doctor and Amy looking at van Gogh's painting of the Church at Auvers. In a field of wheat, something begins running through it, scaring the crows away, while an artist paints the scene. The same painting, years later, hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. A man, Dr. Black, in glasses and a bowtie tells a group of people that the painting is one of van Gogh's last paintings and that the last few months of his life were the most astonishing months of his artistic outpouring. As he compares van Gogh to Shakespeare, the Doctor and Amy pass behind him, admiring the pieces of art around them. Amy thanks the Doctor for bringing her to the museum and asks why he is being so nice to her. The Doctor defends himself and Amy says that she was only joking, asking why he was being so serious. Dr. Black tells the group the value of van Gogh's work today, tens of millions, and compares it with the value of it when van Gogh died, the value of a sofa and some chairs. A child says "He's the doctor." Thinking it is him, the Doctor turns around, only to discover the children are looking at a picture of van Gogh's doctor. Amy grabs the Doctor's hand and pulls him towards a painting of a church. As the Doctor admires the work, he notices something in the window of the church. Amy asks if it is a face and the Doctor tells her that it is, and that it isn't a nice face. The Doctor approaches Dr. Black, interrupting his talk and asks him when the painting was painted, asking him to skip a long speech. Dr. Black tells him that it was probably between the first and third of June in 1890. The Doctor thanks him, then the two men compliment each others bow ties. The Doctor then grabs Amy's hand and pulls her away. She asks about looking at the rest of the paintings, but he shoves her ahead, telling her that it is a matter of life and death, and that they must talk to Vincent van Gogh. The TARDIS materializes and the Doctor and Amy exit. The Doctor tells Amy the plan, to find van Gogh, wait for him to take them to the church, then defeat the monster. Amy exclaims that it will be easy, but the Doctor disagrees. He says that van Gogh will probably be in the local cafe and describes it. Amy flicks through her van Gogh guide and finds a painting of it. The Doctor tells her that that painting is the one, then Amy points out that the real cafe is right infront of them. The Doctor approaches the owner and asks about Vincent van Gogh. The owner disappears inside, so the Doctor asks the waitresses. The waitresses tell the Doctor and Amy that van Gogh is a mad drunk who never pays his bills. The Doctor tells them he's a good painter and the two women just laugh at him. As the Doctor sits at a table, a man follows the owner out of the cafe and tries to bargain with him, one painting for a drink. The Doctor points to the man and mouths to Amy that he is van Gogh. The owner says that the painting is no good, and tells van Gogh to either pay for drinks or get out. The Doctor offers to either pay for van Gogh's drink or to buy the painting, to which van Gogh asks who the Doctor is. The Doctor tells him that he is new in town, to which van Gogh tells him three things; that he pays for his own drinks, that no-one buys his paintings lest they be laughed out of town and that Amy is cute, but the Doctor should not interfere. Van Gogh returns to bargaining with the owner who still refuses to give him a drink, until Amy interferes and tells the two to shut up. She tells the owner that she will buy a bottle of wine, and will share it with whomever she wishes, looking at van Gogh. The owner agrees and follows Amy inside. Inside, the Doctor and Amy talk with van Gogh. Van Gogh asks about Amy's accent and whether she comes from Holland. She replies "no" while the Doctor replies "yes" at the same time. The Doctor introduces himself properly as "the Doctor", which causes van Gogh to believe that he is a doctor sent by his brother to help him with his mental state. The Doctor laughs at the notion and points to a painting beside van Gogh. Amy says that it is one of her favourites, to which van Gogh tells her she's never seen it before. She covers up her mistake and van Gogh comments on her hair colour, so she comments on his. Vincent and Amy at the Cafe. The Doctor interrupts and asks Vincent if he has painted any churches lately and van Gogh tells him that he has been thinking about painting one church. The Doctor says that is good news, when someone screams, the Doctor says that that is not good news. Out in the street, the three find a girl who has been killed. The mother of the girl pushes her way through, then blames Vincent for her daughter's death. She and some of the crowd throw stones at Vincent, so the Doctor, Amy and Vincent leave immediately. The Doctor asks Vincent if a similar murder has happened before. Vincent tells him that there was one a week ago and the Doctor says he thought so. He tells Vincent that he must get home. Vincent asks where the Doctor and Amy are staying, which the Doctor takes as an invite to stay with him. Amy nervously laughs and follows the Doctor, Vincent in tail of the two. Outside Vincent's home, the Doctor comments on the dark and the starry night. Van Gogh says that Amy and the Doctor will be alright to stay with him for one night, and one night only. Amy exclaims that they will be staying with him and the Doctor tells her until he paints the church. Inside, van Gogh lights a lamp and apologizes about the "clutter", saying he must really clear it out. Vincent offers coffee and after seeing Vincent put coffee on one of his works, the Doctor tells him to be careful with his work and that they are precious. Vincent disagrees with the Doctor, but Amy tells Vincent that they are precious to her. The Doctor asks about the church, to which Vincent asks about his obsession with it. The Doctor asks about Vincent, and Vincent tells him that it seems to him the world offers much more than the normal eye can see. The Doctor agrees with him, glancing at Amy. Soon after, Vincent wildly talks about colours and how he can hear them, and how he thinks. The Doctor stares at Vincent saying that he believes he has had enough coffee. The Doctor asks where Amy is and a scream comes from outside. Vincent and the Doctor rush outside and find Amy on the ground, shaken, but not injured. The Doctor says not to worry that the attacker has gone, but Vincent screams and runs to get a fork. The Doctor tries to calm Vincent down, but Vincent runs towards them. Amy and the Doctor move to the side and van Gogh tells them to run. The Doctor agrees and tells Amy that Vincent is having a fit. The Doctor again tries to calm Vincent down, telling him that it is only him there, when something large knocks him off his feet. Amy shouts that she cannot see anything and asks what it is. The Doctor agrees that her question is good. He gets up and grabs a stick, telling Vincent he will help him fight it. Vincent asks the Doctor if he can see the creature too, to which the Doctor says he can, kind of, and finally not. The Doctor then gets hit again and thrown over a table, landing on his back. Vincent tells the Doctor that he couldn't see the creature. The Doctor returns to where the creature was, swinging his stick around, while Vincent attacks the creature and fends it off. Both Vincent and Amy watch as the Doctor continues to fight nothing, swinging his stick around. Vincent tells the Doctor that the creature has gone, to which the Doctor stops. The three return inside. The Doctor says that the creature was invisible, and asks Vincent what it looked like. Vincet says he'll show them and begins to paint over one of his paintings, much to the Doctor and Amy's horror. After he has finished, the Doctor takes the painting from van Gogh and gives Amy instructions to keep Vincent safe. Amy protests the Doctor going outside as it is dangerous, but the Doctor decides to still go, telling them he'll be back before they can say "where's he got to now?" The Doctor leaves and Amy turns back to Vincent. The Doctor screams "not that fast" to keep the two on their toes and says he'll be pretty fast, then leaves. The Doctor walks down the alleyways, seemingly being followed by the creature, but reaches the TARDIS before he comes to any danger. Inside, he drags a chest from one of the alcoves, talking to a specific item. He apologizes to the item, saying he thought it was just a useless, embarrassing present from his godmother, who had two heads and bad breath, on both the heads. He pulls out a machine attached to a mirror and puts it up on the TARDIS console. He links it up to the TARDIS and sticks his tongue out at it. The machine identifies the Doctor as "Doctor" and his home planet as Gallifrey and prints a copy out on the console's typewriter, including pictures of the first and second incarnations. The Doctor then shows Vincent's drawing of the creature to the mirror in order to identify it. The machine first identifies it as a parrot, then a polar bear, both of which the Doctor dismisses. He then complains that the impressionists are not accurate enough and that it wouldn't happen with one of the "proper" painters, but then apologizes to Vincent. He says that Vincent will have to draw something better and throws the painting away behind him. The Doctor attempting to identify the 'invisible monster'. Leaving the TARDIS, now day, the Doctor alters the machine. The creature appears behind the Doctor, appearing in the mirror. The machine's "match" noise sounds and the Doctor says that there may be a time delay, but the machine always gets it in the end, not noticing the actual creature behind him. The Doctor reads the details on the creature, a Krafayis, before noticing that it is directly behind him. The Doctor begins to run and hides behind a corner. He uses the mirror to see the creature charging towards him, before running again. He tries to slow the creature by blocking its path, and the creature hits its head on an archway. The Doctor hides behind another corner and sees the creature fleeing. He breathes a sigh of relief, before turning the corner and seeing Amy. Both of them scream and the Doctor says that she scared the living daylights out of him. Amy apologizes and says that she was bored of Vincent's snoring. The Doctor enters Vincent's room and opens the windows, letting in a flood of light and waking Vincent up. Vincet gets up as the Doctor leaves the room, telling Vincent that Amy brought him a present. Amy tells him she brought the present for saving her the previous night. Vincent looks out to see the outside surrounded by sunflowers. Amy suggests he paint the flowers, but Vincent says that they are not his favourite flower, much to the surprise of Amy and the Doctor. Vincent explains that he finds them complex, half-living and half-dying, a little disgusting, but a challenge. The Doctor tells Vincent he is sure he will rise to the challenge. Amy amidst the sunflowers. The Doctor shows Vincent a picture of the Krafayis, explaining how the species travels in space as a pack and that they are a brutal race; if one falls behind, the rest of the pack do not return for it. He explains that this particular one has been left behind, and like the other Krafayis abandoned across the universe, it will kill without mercy until killed, which they usually are not, given their invisibility. The Doctor tells Vincent that they are in a unique position of being able to stop this one if Vincent paints the church. Vincent asks about the monster, but the Doctor tells him that if he paints the church, the monster will come. Vincent agrees and the Doctor tells him that he and Amy will be no longer bothering him by the next day and will be gone. After Vincent has left the room, the Doctor tells Amy that taking Vincent is risky. Amy asks if it is riskier than normal. The Doctor checks to see that Vincent is not listening and tells Amy that if Vincent is killed, half the pictures in the Musee d'Orsay will disappear and that it will be their fault. The Doctor knocks on Vincent's door and enters. He finds Vincent on his bed crying. The Doctor asks if he can help. Vincent tells the Doctor that he and Amy will leave as everyone always leaves him, that he will be left with an empty heart and no hope. The Doctor tells Vincent that his experience is that there is always hope, but Vincent tells him that he does not have a full experience and that he knows it will not end well. The Doctor tries to console him, but Vincent gets angry and tells him to get out. The Doctor leaves. Amy asks the Doctor what is happening and the Doctor explains how delicate Vincent is, that he will eventually shoot himself, and that is why they should leave. After looking at some of Vincent's paintings, the Doctor says that he and Amy must go to the church and hope that the Krafayis still turns up. Before they can leave, Vincent appears at the door, fully clothed and ready to go, selecting a paintbrush. Amy, walking arm in arm with Vincent, tells him that she is sorry he is sad. He tells her that the moods he has last for weeks or even months, but that he can soldier on if she can. She tells him that she is not soldiering on but he says to her that he can hear the song of her sadness and points out that she is crying. He tells Amy that he understands but Amy replies, telling him that she does not. The Doctor, having listened to the conversation interrupts and proposes a plan. Vincent says that they will fight the creature, but the Doctor explains that it needs to be more developed, that he needs to be able to see the creature as well. Amy asks how the Doctor is supposed to see the monster, to which he replies that he has the answer inside a box he is carrying, giving praise to his godmother. Further up the road, the three see the funeral of the girl who was killed the previous night. They stand at the side of the road, Vincent having taken his hat off in respect, as the coffin passes with sunflowers on top. Amy asks the Doctor if he has a plan, to which he tells her that he doesn't, but something similarly greater. Vincent sets up his easle as the Doctor makes sure that he will be told when the creature appears. Vincent tells the Doctor that he is mad and not stupid. The Doctor begins to explain that he may not actually be mad, just deeply depressed, but Vincent tells him to shush, and that he is working. As Vincent paints, the Doctor talks about watching Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chaple, and how he winged because he was afraid of heights but Amy tells him to shush. Later he moves on to Picasso, and how he tried to advise him on his paintings. Much later, the Doctor, bored, asks if time normally passes really slowly and in the correct order. He stands up and tells Amy and Vincent that he can't stand an unpunctual alien attack. Amy asks if he is nervous, when Vincent tells the two that the monster is now at the window. The Doctor tells Amy and Vincent that he is going in, so Vincent tells him that he is going in too. The Doctor stresses that Vincent is Vincent van Gogh, and that he is not going in. Vincent protests that the Doctor is not armed, but the Doctor tells him that he is, with overconfidence, the machine and a small screwdriver. The Doctor says that all he needs to do is find the correct prozac setting to stun the creature. He gives Amy one simple instruction, not to follow him and signals to Vincent to watch her. Amy agrees and the Doctor heads towards the church. Vincent leans in towards Amy and asks if she will follow him, and she tells him that she will. Vincent then tells Amy that he loves her. Just outside the chapel, the Doctor opens his box and takes out the machine. He puts it on and before heading into the chapel, looks at a carving above the door, a carving of an angel slaying a dragon. Inside, the Doctor looks around for the Krafayis. Outside, Amy asks Vincent if the Krafayis has moved. Vincent tells her that it hasn't, but suddenly tells her that it has turned around. After approaching the window where the Krafayis was, the Doctor believes the creature has moved. Suddenly, a hand knocks the Doctor flying. Amy and Vincent hear the crash, look at each other and head inside to help the Doctor. The Doctor recovers from his fall and tries to stun the Krafayis. He runs towards a room when he bumps into Amy. The two of them hide in a confessions box to hide. While inside, the Doctor tells Amy to breath quieter. Amy says that she cannot, then believes that it has walked past them. Then the Krafayis begins attacking the confessions box, and the Doctor compliments its excellent hearing. Vincent then calls on the monster, fighting it with a chair, while telling Amy and the Doctor to get behind him. The Doctor, twice, tries to stun the Krafayis again but is unsuccessful and on the second attempt, the Krafayis actually seems to enjoy it. Vincent tells the Doctor to duck as the creature takes a swipe at him, then to move to his left. However, because of miscommunication, left being Vincent's left and not the Doctor's, the Doctor is hit by the monster against a wall. The Doctor suggests that they run like crazy and regroup, so Amy chooses the nearest room to hide in. They get in the room and attempt to close the door until the creature blocks it with its foot. Vincent, however, stands on the foot and the creature retreats. The Doctor begins to tell Amy and Vincent his plan, but accidentally calls Vincent, Rory. When Amy asks what the plan is, the Doctor tells her that the only plan he is sure of his that he will only use his sonic screwdriver to screw in screws in future. Vincent tells Amy and the Doctor to give him a second and that he will be back. The Doctor considers talking to the Krafayis and hearing his side of the story. Although he thinks the Krafayis may not be in the mood for it, the Doctor but tries anyway. The Doctor explains to the creature that he understands that it is trapped on the planet and alone, and tells it that he is also alone. Suddenly, the window behind them smashes open and the invisible creature jumps through. Vincent returns with his easle, holding the feet up, the spikes being used as a weapon. The Doctor asks what it is doing and is told it is feeling it's way around the room. The Doctor calls himself stupid and comments that he is getting old. The Doctor figures out that the Krafayis is blind and raises his voice when mentioning the fact it has perfect hearing. Vincent then tells them that it is now charging towards them. Vincent runs forward as the creature charges, telling the Doctor and Amy to get back. The creature is stabbed by the easle, and Vincent is sent hanging in the air. As the creature falls to the ground, Vincent lets go of the easle and lands on his feet. Vincent tells the Doctor that he didn't mean to kill the creature, and the Doctor comforts it as it dies. He makes out that the creature says that it is afraid and the Doctor tells it not to be while stroking it. Vincent compares the Krafayis to humans who lash out when they are frightened, much like those in the town that scream at him and the children who throw stones at him. The Doctor then says that sometimes winning is no fun at all. Amy, Vincent and the Doctor lie in a field and hold hands. Vincent asks the other two to see the world as he does, describing the night sky. The Doctor tells him that he has seen nothing as wonderful as what Vincent has. Vincent tells the Doctor and Amy that he will miss them when they are gone. The Doctor, Vincent and Amy gazing up at the 'Starry Night' The next morning, Vincent tries to give the Doctor a self portrait as a gift, but the Doctor refuses (though Vincent isn't surprised). Vincent hugs Amy who tells him to be good and kind to himself and to trim his beard before next kissing someone. Vincent also tells Amy that if she tires of the Doctor, she should return and they could have children together. Vincent then tells the Doctor that he thinks he might not do as well on his own than when he was with him. They embrace in a hug, then Amy and the Doctor leave. Outside, the Doctor asks Amy if she is thinking what he is thinking. She replies telling him she wants food before they leave, not exactly what the Doctor was thinking. The Doctor then calls Vincent, who hangs out a window, and tells him he has something to show him and to tidy himself up first. The Doctor takes Vincent to a poster covered TARDIS and lets him inside. Vincent then peers out of the TARDIS and feels the outside walls before going back in and asking how he is crazy and the Doctor and Amy are sane. The Doctor enters and takes Vincent's hat off him, placing it on the hatstand. Amy closes the door and they head to the console. Vincent asks what all of the buttons do and the Doctor explains several of them; one which plays soothing music, one which makes a large noise and one which makes everything shake. Vincent asks what a button does and the Doctor lunges forward to stop Vincent from pressing it, telling him that it is the Friction Contrafibulator. Then Vincent asks what another button does, to which the Doctor tells him that it is ketchup, then points to another which he calls mustard. Vincent asks them back to the cafe, but the Doctor tells him that he wishes to show him something first. In Paris 2010, outside the Musee d'Orsay, the last few posters burn off the TARDIS. Amy, Vincent and the Doctor step outside and head into the museum, the Doctor explaining when and where they are. The three enter the van Gogh exhibition. Vincent looks around at his work in awe at the number of people looking at them. The Doctor then asks Dr. Black to tell him where van Gogh stands in the importance of the history of art. Amy positions Vincent behind Dr. Black so he can hear all the positive things he thinks of him; that he is the finest painter of them all, the most popular painter who managed to transform his pain into beauty, that he was not only the world's greatest artist but also one of the greatest men of all time. Vincent in the Musee d'Orsay At hearing these words, Vincent begins to cry, but when the Doctor asks if it is too much, he replies that they are tears of joy. Vincent then kisses, hugs and thanks Dr. Black, apologizing about his beard after. Dr. Black then walks away, but pauses for a moment to ponder. He looks back and then dismisses the thought. The Doctor returns Vincent to his own place and time. Vincent tells the Doctor that he will be a new man and the Doctor tells Vincent that it has been an honour. Amy then hugs Vincent as he jokes about her marital status, to which Amy tells him she in not the marrying kind. The TARDIS departs and Vincent walks off. Vincent's dedication of Sunflowers for Amy.Amy and the Doctor return to the Musee d'Orsay, Amy believing that there will be hundreds more paintings, but the Doctor is doubtful. In the gallery, Amy finds no new paintings and hears Dr. Black still saying that he commited suicide at age 37. Amy thinks that they didn't make a difference to Vincent's life at all, but the Doctor explains to her that although good things can't remove the bad things, the bad things can't spoil the good things, and that they certainly added a large amount of good things to Vincent's life. The Doctor also shows Amy that they did make a couple of minor changes, such as the non-existance of the evil face in the church window. As Amy walks away, she walks towards another painting, one of sunflowers, which she sees is dedicated in her name. She tells the Doctor that if they had been married, their children would have had very red hair. The Doctor calls them the "Ultimate Ginger". Amy smiles at him and says the "Ultimate Ginge". The two chuckle together as Amy tears up. Cast The Doctor - Matt Smith Amy Pond - Karen Gillan Vincent van Gogh - Tony Curran Dr Black - Bill Nighy (uncredited) Mother - Chrissie Cotterill Student - Morgan Overton Student - Andrew Byrne Maurice - Nik Howden Waitress - Sarah Counsell Crew Executive Producers: Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis Produced byTracie SimpsonPatrick Schweitzer Directed byJonny Campbell Written byRichard Curtisscript editing by Brian Minchin and Emma Freud Director of PhotographyTony Slater Ling Production DesignerEdward Thomas Visual EffectsThe Mill Make-up DesignerBarbara Southcott Casting DirectorAndy Pryor CDG MusicMurray Gold Costume DesignerRay Holman EditorJamie Pearson Special EffectsReal SFX Original theme music by Ron Grainer* Title sequence by Framestore* With thanks to BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martha Freud  General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Line Producer - Patrick Schweitzer Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Management Assistant - Claire Thomas Production Runner - Sian Warrilow Production Accountant - Ceri Tothill A/Production Accountant - Carole Wakefield Directorial/DOP staff 1st Assistant Director - John Bennett 2nd Assistant Director - James Dehaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch Runners - Nicola Eynon Price, Laura Jenkins Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes Camera Operator - Ian Adrian B Camera Operator - Matthew Poynter Focus Puller - Steeve Rees Grip - John Robinson Assistant Camera - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Boom Operator - Dafydd Parry Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Pete Chester Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Steve Slocombe, Bob Milton, Alan Tippets Art department Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Co-ordinator - Amy Oakes Associate Designer - James North Production Buyer - Ben Morris Set Decorator - Keith Dunne Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Set Designer - Ben Austin Storyboard Artist - James Iles Concept Artists - Richard Shaun Williams, Peter McKinstry Graphic Artist - Jackson Pope Standby Props - Phil Shellard, Rom Evans Standby Art Director - Tristan Peatfield Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Props Master - Paul Aitken Dressing Chargehand - Matt Wild Dressing Props - Martin Broadbent, Rhys Jones Props Fabrication Manager - Barry Jones Prop Makers - Penny Howarth, Nicholas Robatto Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Construction Chargehand - Scott Fisher Practical Electrician - Albert James Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Costume Supervisor - Bobbie Peach Crowd Supervisor - Lindsay Bonacorssi Costume Assistants - Sara Morgan, Maria Franchi Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Pam Mullins Make-up Artists - Abi Brotherton, Morag Smith Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Crispin Layfield Casting Casting Associates: Andy Brierley, Alice Purser General post-production staff Post-production Supervisors - Ceres Doyle, Chris Blatchford Post-production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Assistant Editor - Becky Trotman On-line Conform - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Cat Gregory Colourist - Mick Vincent Sound Sound Recordist - Bryn Thomas Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Maintenance Engineer - Jeff Welch Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Helen Dickson 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 was the first episode of the BBC Wales series to have two credited script editors. Oddly, Emma Freud was credited at the end of the roll, suggesting she was considered more "senior" than Brian Minchin.  As on The Vampires of Venice, Patrick Schweitzer was double-credited as both producer and line producer. References The episode makes numerous direct and indirect references to van Gogh's most famous works, though artistic liberty was taken in regard to their chronology and the locations in which they were painted. While the setting for the episode was ostensibly Auvers-Sur-Oise, the last place of residence and resting place of van Gogh, where he painted Church at Auvers, inspiration for the set decoration of his home and the cafe he frequented (or rather was frequently thrown out of), came from works he previously produced while living in Arles several years before (Bedroom in Arles, Cafe Terrance at Night). Also, while the episode suggested Amy Pond inspired van Gogh to paint sunflowers, particularly Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, to which he then 'dedicated' to her, they were, in fact, painted in 1887 and 1888. Van Gogh works referenced in the episode include: Church at Auvers (1890), Bedroom in Arles (1887), Cafe Terrance at Night (1888), Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888), Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890), The Starry Night (1889), Wheatfield With Crows (1890), Vincent's Chair with His Pipe (1888), Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887). Among the posters covering the TARDIS are those for the cafe Au Tambourin at 27 Rue Richelieu in Paris, which was the first place to exhibit van Gogh's artwork in Paris. The Doctor refers to having met Michaelangelo and Pablo Picasso. The Doctor expresses frustration with van Gogh's 'impressionist' style when attempting to identify the invisible monster (though van Gogh is considered to be post-Impressionist by art historians), suggesting that this would "never happen with Gainsborough, one of those proper painters." While this suggests the Doctor's affinity for some notion of 'scientific accuracy' over emotive artistic expression, he later humbly tells Vincent that while he has seen many things, "you are right, nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see." Story notes The episode was incorrectly entitled, Lend Me Your Ear. However, no mention or reference was made in the episode regarding van Gogh's ear at all. Unlike most stories in this series, this story focuses much more on characters than plot, and has hints and references to van Gogh's depression and suicide, something the series has not explored very much before. In fact, a message and phone number for the 'BBC Action Line' was broadcast following the 'Next Time' trail, for those wanting more information on 'issues raised in this program.' Pictures of the First and Second Doctors are printed on the TARDIS' typewriter. This is the second story in the series to lack any cracks, silence, or other foreshadowing of the series' finale (the first being Amy's Choice). However, it does tie in to Rory's death and establishes that, on some level, Amy is aware he has died. Although originally believed to be standalone, spoilers make this story involved with the series arc, some mentioning van Gogh's paintings, one of which is Dr. Gatchet, relating to the finale. Dr. Gatchet is supposed to be appearing in the mentioned episode. Others include van Gogh communicating a disturbing prophecy to the Doctor in the finale through one of his paintings, and a van Gogh reference in DW: The Lodger. Bill Nighy was not credited for his role. Numerous positive or affirmative references were made in the episode to van Gogh and Amy's hair colour, perhaps in a conscious effort to address the accusation by some viewers of the program being 'anti-ginger' (the so-called 'ginger' controversy). The song used for the final scenes is "Chances" by Athlete. Amy attempting to get Vincent to paint 'The Sunflowers' is similar to Rose trying to get Queen Victoria to say, "I am not amused." (DW: Tooth and Claw) Ratings 5.0 million Filming locations National Museum of Wales [1] Trogir, Croatia [2] Roald Dahl Plass [3], which is supposed to double for the Musee d'Orsay in Paris Rumours It was rumoured that either the Timoreen, the Ha'rik or the Skarkish will appear. The monster was a Krafayis. It was rumoured that Vincent van Gogh will stab a yellow monster. He stabbed the Krafayis, the monster was pale yellow. Howard Lee plays a character called "Dr. Gachet" [4]. Dr. Gachet was van Gogh's real doctor, who nursed him during his final years. He was mentioned but he was not actually in the episode. Nighy plays a van Gogh expert, with similar fashion tastes to the Doctor himself. This turned out also true. He also wore a bowtie. Steven Moffat stated in a recent interview that the controversial topic of the regeneration limit for Time Lords will be "addressed in a very, very cheeky way by an old friend of mine" at some point in Series 5. [5] As the "old friend" could very well be Richard Curtis, the issue might be addressed in this episode. This turned out to be false for this episode, but it could happen in later episodes with Alex Kingston's character River Song addressing the subject, as Steven Moffatt created her character. As a Vincent van Gogh painting will feature in the events of "The Pandorica Opens", it was likely that this story would bring more developments to the main story arc of the series. [6] This was not the case, with the episode being more or less a stand-alone story, but apparently the finale will still feature a van Gogh painting in some way. This connection may be illuminated in "The Lodger", as a pamphlet for a van Gogh exhibit can be seen on Craig's fridge in the trailer. Although, the Doctor does take a van Gogh painting inside the TARDIS trying to identify the Krafayis, he pitches the painting over his shoulder into the TARDIS. Perhaps that painting is the one to carry a message 1,000 years into the future. It was rumoured that Vincent will propose to Amy or ask the Doctor to travel with them because in the preview clips, he shows a large interest in Amy and the Doctor and even tells Amy that he loves her. This turned out true. Production errors When running through the streets with his mirror, the Doctor screams "Ahh", but his mouth is not synced with his screaming. For most of the episode, Amy is wearing tights. During the church scene, when van Gogh starts painting the Church, they've gone. Later on when the group are hiding from the monster, she's wearing them again, as was the case with the previous episode. When in the chapel looking for the monster, the Doctor switches the mirror from his left to right side while holding his sonic screwdriver. For each change, the camera angle also changes, and the sonic screwdriver changes from being in closed mode and extended mode. At the beginning, when looking at the painting of the church, the Doctor scratches his head. When the camera is behind the Doctor, he uses his right hand but when the camera cuts to in front of him, he is using his left hand. Continuity 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. The Doctor and Dr. Black compliment each other's bow ties, the Doctor exclaiming again that "bow ties are cool". (DW: The Eleventh Hour, Amy's Choice) The Doctor mentions that he had a godmother with two heads. Before his ninth regeneration, he declared that he might have ended up with two heads. (DW: The Parting of the Ways) Although it seemed like a joke at the time, this statement suggests that a regeneration actually could result in the creation of an extra head. It may also be a reference to the Aplans. (DW: The Time of Angels) The first and second Doctors are pictured. The Doctor finds his species identifier device by rifling through a chest in the TARDIS' alcoves; this plot device for providing artifacts and tools was utilised in several of the previous incarnations' series (e.g. DW: The Abominable Snowmen, where the Second Doctor finds a holy Tibetan bell and Jamie a set of bagpipes). It has also been used in the Tenth Doctor's era, in which he retrieved an Agatha Christie novel. (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp) The Doctor once again mentions that he is aging mentally, contrasting with his physical appearance. (DW: Time Crash, The End of Time) Amy mentions that the Doctor took her to Arcadia. The planet was featured in NA: Deceit, and the "fall of Arcadia" was mentioned as one of the events of the Time War in DW: Doomsday. The Doctor mentions Rory, to which Amy asks "who?" Amy also says that the Doctor is being extra kind to her, feeling guilty about Rory's erasure. Van Gogh also sees that Amy is crying, although she doesn't know why; he theorises that she has lost someone. After receiving a half-joking marriage proposal from Vincent, Amy tells him that she's "not the marrying kind". (DW: Cold Blood). This marks the fourth episode this season which opens on a nature shot. DW: The Time of Angels, Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth and this episode all open on beautiful, wide-open fields on bright, sunny days. Vincent van Gogh is the second historical figure in the new series to have romantic feelings for one of the Doctor's companions and the third to have such feelings for a member of the TARDIS crew. Previously, William Shakespeare made advances towards Martha Jones, and Madame de Pompadour fell in love with the Doctor. (DW: The Shakespeare Code, The Girl in the Fireplace) Home video releases BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Three will feature Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood and Vincent and the Doctor. It will be released on Monday 2nd August 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[1]


  • Van box

    7 June 2010 (6:10am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

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  • TDP 129: The Hungry Earth and Cold blood

    7 June 2010 (2:40am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 27 seconds

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    The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in the small Welsh village of Cwmtaff in 2020, as opposed to their intended destination of Rio de Janeiro. They encounter a mining operation, led by Doctor Nasreen Chaudry, studying minerals deep in the earth that have not been seen for over 20 million years. Nasreen is accompanied by a local, Tony Mack, whose daughter and grandson, Ambrose and Elliot, are examining the disappearance of bodies from underground at the graveyard of a nearby church. An earth tremor causes the ground to open and send Tony and Amy falling into it; Tony is rescued but Amy is pulled under by unknown forces. The Doctor surmises the minerals form a bio-reactive defense system that was triggered by the drilling operation. The group is soon alerted to the presence of three life forms traveling up the drilling shaft from 21 kilometres below the earth, and they barricade themselves in the church. The Doctor explains Amy's disappearance to Rory and assures him he will get her back.The three beings turn out to be reptilian humanoids, and in a scuffle, they capture Elliot and strike Tony with a venomous forked tongue; the Doctor and the group are able to subdue one of the beings while the other two retreat with Elliot back into the earth. The Doctor realises the beings are a new form of Silurians, and that they have relented in their attack since both side hold a hostage. The captured Silurian calls herself Alaya, a member of the warrior caste awoken by the intrusion of the drill. Alaya believes, as with all the other Silurians, that the Earth still belongs to them and will defeat humanity eventually. Tony, suffering from the effects of the venom, believes they should dissect Alaya, but the Doctor warns that it will be seen as an act of war. The Doctor decides to travel in the TARDIS down the drilling shaft to talk to the rest of the Silurians and work out a truce, with Narseen desiring to come along.Amy awakens to find herself strapped to an examining table, near to where Ambrose's husband Mo is similar ensnared. Mo apologizes to Amy that the Silurians intended to vivisect them. The Doctor and Nasreen descend in the TARDIS, where the Doctor explains the Silurians and that he only expects to encounter a small number of the aliens. The show ends on a cliffhanger as the Doctor and Nasreen are surprised to find an immense Silurian civilisation stretching out for miles in the caverns below the earth.This second part starts with the Doctor and Nasreen walking along a bridge in the Silurian civilisation, as the Doctor marvels at the technological advances they have made since he last met them. They find themselves in a corridor covered with plants long thought extinct, and find an entrance. As soon as they walk through it, an alarm goes off and the pair are inevitably captured by the Silurian soldiers where they are taken to the same lab Amy and Mo are in. Amy is about to be dissected by the Silurian doctor Malohkeh, but he is called off moments before doing so by the alarm triggered by the Doctor and Nasreen.Malohkeh had used a palm-sized device to lock Amy's hands into the cuffs and had placed it in his pocket. But while he is distracted by the alarm, Amy pickpockets him and steals the device. Amy quickly unlocks the clamps around her arms and frees Mo. As they walk around trying to find a way out, they stumble upon a chamber where the Silurians are keeping Elliot alive, but sedated, for observation. Mo, Elliot's father, is enraged and determines they need to find weapons to protect themselves and later get his son out. They then find two contiguous chambers, each with a Silurian warrior inside, although they appear to be immobile. Amy deduces that they are hibernation pods, with each warrior standing on a transport disc that can take them to the surface. Since they don't know how to work the transport discs, they take the hibernating Silurians' weapons instead to have something to fight with while looking for another exit.In the church, while the group are awaiting the Doctor's and Nasreen's return, Ambrose notices her father's injury from Alaya's sting, so she goes to Alaya's room and implores her to give her the cure. Alaya responds that she has no desire nor need to tell her. Angered, Ambrose picks up a stun gun to pretend to threaten Alaya. However, Alaya begins taunting her by asking her where her son is, and how she is too much of a coward to use the stun gun even to protect her family. Angered and worried about her family, Ambrose does stun her, at first lightly to get the information, but when Alaya still refuses, she shoves the stun gun into her stomach with greater strength, killing her. The others run in, shocked, for keeping Alaya alive was probably the only way to achieve a peaceful resolution.Meanwhile, the Doctor and Nasreen are clamped onto the operating tables, where Nasreen is knocked unconscious. The Doctor is kept awake as the Silurians attempt to 'decontaminate' him for analysis. The Doctor, however, is unusually finding the decontamination painful, and yells out in between cringing at Malohkeh that he is not human. After Malohkeh checks and notices the Doctor's two hearts, he turns the machine off and uses a rod similar to the Doctor's sonic Screwdriver to wake up Nasreen. Another Silurian, Restac, Alaya's sister and the Silurians' military commander, enters, however, and is adamant that they be destroyed. She takes the Doctor and Nasreen to a conference room, which turns out to be the Silurian court, and informs them they will be executed. On the way, the Doctor explains some of the Silurians' history: that they went into hibernation when their astronomers predicted a solar catastrophe approaching Earth. When the Silurians ask how he knows so much about them, the Doctor explains he has encountered their kind before. Initially delighted that others of their species survived, the Doctor angers them by explaining humans wiped out those who woke before. Restac views such an act as justification to destroy humanity.Just as Restac is about to fire, Amy and Mo arrive, armed with the Silurian guns. They are soon overwhelmed by the dozens of Silurian guards, however, and are about to be executed as well. Back at the church, Rory and the gang have wrapped Alaya's body in an orange afghan, when a screen on an unplugged computer turns on, revealing Restac who shows them the others as hostages. The Doctor reminds Rory that if they bring Alaya back, the Silurians will leave them alone, but Restac refuses and announces that the first to be executed will be Amy, aiming her gun as the screen switches off completely, leaving Rory in shock. Malohkeh attempts to reason with Restac as he believes that the Silurians and humans are compatible with each other and so war is unnecessary; however, she simply orders him to leave. Nevertheless, Amy manages to survive because Eldane, a Silurian above Restac in rank, arrives after being fetched by Malohkeh and orders for them to be untied.The Doctor proposes that the Silurians hold talks, with Amy and Nasreen as the human race's representatives, to try to figure out a peaceful way for the Earth to be shared between the species. They are making progress, as Amy suggests that certain areas of the planet that are inhospitable to humans could work for the Silurians. In exchange, Eldane proposes that all Silurian technology can be used to both species' benefit. As they have found common ground, Eldane is open to the idea of exchanging them for Alaya, so they open another communication link to Rory and the others in the church. They agree to bring them down to the Silurians' habitat for the exchange, and it appears as if it will all work out. Meanwhile, Restac and a number of troops storm into Malohkeh's lab and execute him for betraying her cause.After the communications link is closed, Ambrose, still distrustful of the Silurians and worried because Alaya is in fact dead, decides that before going down, they should set the drill to go off in 15 minutes, which would destroy all oxygen in the Silurians' habitat. As the group arrive with Alaya's corpse, Restac returns with many more warriors, who she has woken up from hibernation, intending to stage a coup. When she sees that Alaya, her sister, is dead, Restac loses control and orders her warriors to kill all the humans, starting with Ambrose. As the Silurians open fire, the Doctor deters them by breaking down their weapons with the sonic screwdriver, as all the humans and Eldane lock themselves in the lab. There, they realise that they have very little time before the drill impacts the surface of the Silurians' habitat and they all die. The Doctor decides that they should use the Silurian technology to send an energy pulse through the tunnel network to destroy the drill before it demolishes the Silurian civilisation. However, doing so would cause an underground collapse, so they will need to escape before the drill is destroyed. They need to get from the lab to where the Doctor and Nasreen left the TARDIS, but the Silurian army is blocking the way. Eldane tells them that he can stall the army by activating 'toxic fumigation'; a safety system that warns everyone to return to hibernation before a toxic gas is released, for only those stubborn and violent enough to follow Restac will die. The Doctor approaches Eldane and promises that in a thousand years, the Silurians and humans should attempt living together once again, for he will ensure that the humans are the best they can be by then. He approaches Elliot and asks him to create a myth, story or religion that can inform all coming human generations of the Silurians and how they can cohabitate peacefully one day in order to promote this plan.As the safety system is triggered, Tony yells out in pain. Alaya had previously suggested that he should have been dead soon after she attacked him, but the Doctor finds that instead of killing him, the spit from Alaya has triggered a mutation. The Ambassador tells them that Tony can be put in a chamber to stop the infection, but the process takes much longer than the 15 minutes they have before the drill impacts. To this, Tony responds that he will stay behind, and everybody else clamors to get to the TARDIS. The Doctor realises Nasreen is not moving, as she informs him she will stay behind with Tony, to study the Earth and help the Silurians co-operate with mankind when the time comes. As the Doctor is taking so long, Amy returns to get him, prompting Rory to wait for Amy and the Doctor as well.Ambrose, Mo and Elliot quickly get onto the TARDIS, but before Amy, Rory and the Doctor go in, they all notice a crack in the wall, just like that in Amy's bedroom as a child. The Doctor surmised that the cracks in the universe must have been formed by an explosion and insists on reaching into the other side to see what it holds, because explosions often leave shrapnel. He takes something out and looks at it in horror. Just as Rory, Amy and the Doctor are about to finally go into the TARDIS and take off to safety, Restac, dying due to exposure to the toxic gas, appears and shoots at the Doctor. Rory pushes him out of the way and takes the blast, dying in Amy's arms, confused because they had seen a future version of themselves across the hill from where they 'parked' the TARDIS in the beginning. The energy from the crack in the wall soon begins to absorb Rory, and the Doctor recalls what he said to Amy in the forest at the 'Byzantium': that if the time energy catches up to you, all evidence of your life is erased, as if you had never been born.Since the drill is moments away from killing them, the Doctor pries a sobbing Amy away from Rory's lifeless body, locks her in the TARDIS and takes off, watching Rory's body dissipate into the crack. However, Amy implores the Doctor not to let her forget Rory, so he prompts her to clutch onto all the memories of him so that he can live on in her mind. Unlike with the Byzantium and the Weeping Angels, Amy will not remember Rory just because she is a time traveller, as he is part of her own personal history. For a moment, it looks as if Amy remembers. However, the TARDIS jolts, causing Amy to lose her focus, and she is not able to hold onto memories of Rory. The Doctor finds Amy's engagement ring on the floor of the TARDIS.They arrive at the surface just as the drill explodes. Ambrose thanks the Doctor, since he could have let the Silurians kill her for killing Alaya. The Doctor responds that an eye for an eye is no way to live, and that she should seek some sort of repentance by making sure that her son really is the best humanity can be, in preparation for when the Silurians end their hibernation in a thousand years. Amy and the Doctor return to the TARDIS to leave, and they spot someone across the hill again, except this time, it is only 'future Amy', and no Rory. Amy does remark that for a second she thought she saw someone else as well, but lets go of the thought. On her way back into the TARDIS, Amy makes a remark to the Doctor and uses the term "you boys".The Doctor lags behind to examine what he pulled from the other side of the crack: a burnt piece of the TARDIS.[edit] ContinuityThe events of "Cold Blood" continue the running series arc about by the Cracks in Time, resulting in Rory's deletion from history.After his "decontamination", the Doctor asks the Silurians whether they have any celery or tomatoes. The Eleventh Doctor expressed similar food cravings early in his regeneration in "The Eleventh Hour", whilst the Fifth Doctor wore celery on his jacket and in The Caves of Androzani claimed it had restorative powers.


  • TDP 128: Whostrology Help Needed

    27 May 2010 (8:11am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 4 minutes and 4 seconds

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    Mising dates June 30                                                                                                                 August      2                                                                                                                   August      19                                                                                            August      21


  • TDP 127: Amy's Choice

    18 May 2010 (7:41am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 52 seconds

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    It has been five years since Amy Pond last travelled with the Doctor, and when he lands in her garden again, on the eve of the birth of her first child, she finds herself facing a heartbreaking choice - one that will change her life forever. They will have to choose which is the dream world and which is reality. Plot Leadworth, 2015. Amy Pond is stirring some custard in a bowl but starts to feel pain in her pregnant body. Rory immediately arrives on his bike (with a pony tail on his head) and Amy screams Rory's name so he can get inside thinking the baby is coming. Amy's pain then subsides and both of them are about to resume their daily lives, when the TARDIS materializes outside their kitchen window. The Doctor exits the TARDIS whilst Rory and Amy hurry to him and the TARDIS before hugs are exchanged and the Doctor stating how happy they look five years after they last travelled with him. Cast Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith Amy Pond - Karen Gillan Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill Dream Lord - Toby Jones Mr Nainby - Nick Hobbs Mrs Poggit - Audrey Ardington Mrs Hamil - Joan Linder Production crew to be added References The Doctor reveals to Amy and Rory that he threw the TARDIS Manual at a Supernova because he 'disagreed' with it. The Dream Lord brings up the Doctor's relationship with Elizabeth I. The Dream Lord teleports himself around much like The Valeyard did in DW: The Ultimate Foe. The Dream Lord refers to The Doctor as the 'last of the Time Lords' and 'the oncoming storm', two nicknames he has been given. (DW: Doomsday, Journey's End et al.) Story notes The enemies the old folks play are a race known as the Eknodine. The Dream Lord traps the Doctor, Rory and Amy in an alternative world and Amy has to decide what is the real world. Technically, the entire episode took place in the TARDIS. The box under the TARDIS console the Doctor opens has the words: "TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Build Site: Gallifrey Blackhole Shipyard. Type 40. Build date: 1963. Authorised for use by qualified Time Lords only by the Shadow Proclamation. Misuse or theft of any TARDIS will result in extreme penalties and permanent exile." written on it. There is no indication of how much time has passed since DW: The Vampires of Venice. The sign outside the old peoples' home reads "SARN Residential Care Home". Sarn was the setting for DW: Planet of Fire. This is only the second episode of the series (after Time of the Angels) not to feature a Crack in time but is the first non 2 part story to not feature a crack. Ratings to be added Rumours The 'Dream Lord' was rumoured to pretend to be the Doctor because of a shot of him inside the TARDIS wearing the Eleventh Doctor's costume in the trailer. He was, in fact, the Doctor himself - at least, his dark side. Aunt Sharon will appear. This was false Filming locations to be added Production errors When Rory and Amy are running from the Eknodine you can clearly see no mud on his back, but he was thrown on his back, into mud, a minute before.It concerns a dream, that puts things in perspective.The Doctor mentions again that bow ties are cool. (DW: The Eleventh Hour) The Dream Lord refers to what happened between the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I. (DW: The Shakespeare Code, The End of Time, The Beast Below) The Doctor initially assumes that the TARDIS has jumped a time track (DW: The Space Museum) The Doctor tries to jump start the TARDIS by kicking it. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen) The Dream Lord accuses the Doctor of abandoning his companions in favour of younger friends, echoing remarks by Sarah Jane Smith about the Tenth Doctor and his relationship with Rose Tyler. (DW: School Reunion) The Dream Lord, once alone with Amy, echoes a conversation Jackie Tyler had with the Ninth Doctor about how 'anything could happen'. (DW: Rose) After Rory dies in the dream, Amy asks the Doctor "What is the point of you?", similar to how Gwen asks the same to Jack after Rhys dies. (TW: End of Days) The swimming pool has turned up; the Doctor said that "it'll turn up" in DW: The Eleventh Hour. DVD and Blu-ray release BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Three will feature Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood and Vincent and the Doctor. It will be released on Monday 2nd August 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[1] External links to be added Footnotes | DWM 421, Page 18


  • TDP 126: The Vampires of Venice

    17 May 2010 (6:50am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 58 seconds

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    Dessicated corpses, terror in the canal and a visit to the sinister House of Calvierri - the Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a romantic mini-break, as the TARDIS touches down once again. Vampires converge Vampires in the dungeon But 16th-century Venice is not as it should be. The city has been sealed to protect it from the Plague, although Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans... Plot Cast The Doctor - Matt Smith Amy Pond - Karen Gillan Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill Rosanna Calvierri - Helen McCrory Francesco - Alex Price Isabella - Alisha Bailey Steward - Simon Gregor Guido - Lucian Msamati Inspector - Michael Percival Vampire - Gabriela Montarez Vampire - Elizabeth Croft Vampire - Gabriella Wylde Vampire - Sonila Vieshta Vampire - Hannah Steele Crew Executive Producers: Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis Produced byTracie SimpsonPatrick Schweitzer Directed byJonny Campbell Written byToby Whithouse(script editing by Brian Minchin) Director of PhotographyTony Slater Ling Production DesignerEdward Thomas Visual EffectsThe Mill Make-up DesignerBarbara Southcott Casting DirectorAndy Pryor CDG MusicMurray Gold Costume DesignerRay Holman EditorJames Pearson Special EffectsReal SFX Original theme music by Ron Grainer* Title sequence by Framestore* With thanks to BBC National Orchestra of Wales  General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Line Producer - Patrick Schweitzer Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Assistant Production Manager - Claire Thomas Production Runner - Sian Warrilow Production Accountant - Ceru Tothill A/Production Accountant - Carole Wakefield Directorial/DOP staff 1st Assistant Director - John Bennett 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch Runners - Nicola Enyon Price, Laura Jenkins Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes Camera Operator - Ian Adrian B Camera Operator - Matthew Poynter Focus Puller - Steve Rees Grip - John Robinson Assistant Camera - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Boom Operator - Dafydd Parry Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Pete Chester Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Steve Slocombe, Bob Milton, Alan Tippets Art department Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Art Department Co-ordinator - Amy Oakes Associate Designer - James North Production Buyer - Ben Morris Set Decorator - Keith Dunne Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Set Designer - Ben Austin Storyboard Artist - James Iles Concept Artists - Richard Shaun Williams, Peter McKinstry Graphic Artist - Jackson Pope Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Tom Evans Standby Art Director - Tristan Peatfield Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Props Master - Paul Aitken Props Chargehand - Matt Wild Dressing Props - Martin Broadbent, Rhys Jones Prop Makers - Penny Howarth, Nicholas Robatto Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Construction Chargehand - Scott Fisher Practical Electrician - Albert James Scenic Artists - John Pinkerton, John Whalley Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Costume Supervisor - Bobbie Peach Crowd Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Costume Assistants - Sara Morgan, Maria Franchi Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Pam Mullins Make-up Artists - Abi Brotherton, Morag Smith Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Crispin Layfield Stunt Performers - Gordon Seed Casting Casting Associates: Andy Brierley, Alice Purser General post-production staff Post-production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Ceres Doyle Post-production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Assistant Editor - Becky Trotman On-line Conform - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Cat Gregory Colourist - Mick Vincent Sound Sound Recordist - Bryn Howarth Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Maintenance Engineer - Jeff Welch Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Foley Editor - Helen Dickson 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.            According to a pre-launch press pack issued by the BBC, Patrick Schweitzer was actually the co-producer of this episode, but in the event, he was actually double credited -- as both a full producer and a line producer. References The Doctor's library card The Doctor The Doctor shows his Library Card to the Vampires. It has a picture of his first incarnation on it. The name on it appears to be "Dr. J. Smith." Amy describes her time with the Doctor as involving "lots of running." The Doctor gives Amy a boiled sweet. Individuals The Doctor compares the Vampires to Harry Houdini. When Rory asks why the Psychic paper says he is Amy's eunuch, she says "I'll explain later". Races and species The relationship between Calvierri and her son and their plan to convert people to become their species is similar to that of the Family of Blood who shared a close bond and took over individuals to go unnoticed. When Calvierri commits suicide she asks The Doctor if he can carry another dead race on his conscience, and to remember her, much like Davros did when he died. Technology Rosanna Calvierri uses a Perception filter. The perception filter is shown to have a self preservation loophole, making the teeth visible when the brain detects a threat. Story Notes A 90-second clip from this episode was aired during Matt Smith's appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 26 March 2010. The Vampires are not real vampires, but are of alien origin. They are fish-like alien creatures using Perception Filters to hide themselves to other people. There was some initial confusion over the title of this story, with some media sources (as well as Matt Smith in a TV interview[1]) using the title Vampires in Venice. In the Series 5 preview, one of the vampires leap for Rory, without any change. In the actual episode, he changes to his alien form. Differences like this have happened many times from trailer to episode. The name of the species, Saturnynians, isn't spoken in the episode, though the planet Saturnyne is mentioned twice. The Saturnynian are hiding from the Cracks and the Silence. The Doctor mentions meeting Casanova. David Tennant had previously played Casanova in a television series written by Russell T Davies. This is the first Doctor Who episode that, instead of having the last scene cut to the closing titles, the closing titles 'merge' with the scene. In this case, the camera zooms into the TARDIS keyhole, and through it, the Time Vortex is visible. This episode is notable for being filmed in Croatia, and is therefore the first episode of a Doctor Who universe show to be filmed in a formerly Communist country. The Vampires of Venice contains similarities to School Reunion, also written by Toby Whithouse: Pre-titles sequence involves scene of a young girl being attacked by an alien, followed by a scene in which the Doctor appears during a mundane activity and says something rather ordinary. The companion's boyfriend joins in for the adventure and becomes part of the TARDIS crew for the following episodes. Both episodes feature scenes where two of the main characters discuss the Doctor's effect on relationships. The leader of the alien race in both episodes proposes an alliance with the Doctor. A minor character disposes of most of the aliens by causing an explosion. The alien's plan is thwarted by a simple flick of a switch. Ratings 6.2 million Filming Locations Croatia was used as the primary location for the setting of this episode. It is the third episode of the revival series after DW: The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Dead to include major filming outside the UK. Some filming took place in Caephilly Castle. [1] Scenes featuring The Doctor, Amy and Rory were filmed at Llancaiach Fawr. [2] Continuity The Doctor tells Rory that Amy kissed him. (DW: Flesh and Stone) Instead of his Psychic paper, the Doctor shows his library card, which includes a photo of his first incarnation. The First Doctor's library card can read out 76 TOTTERS LANE, first seen in DW: An Unearthly Child The library card lists his name as "Dr. J. Smith," presumably standing for "Dr. John Smith," a frequent alias of the Doctor's. The Fourth Doctor previously encountered vampires of a different kind in DW: State of Decay The Seventh Doctor encountered a kind of vampire known as "Haemovores", which also happened to reside in water, in DW: The Curse of Fenric. The Eighth Doctor had previously visited 23rd Century Venice in BFA: The Stones of Venice. The Doctor mentions how a life of time travel can make it difficult to readjust to a normal existence. Sarah Jane Smith told him much the same thing in DW: School Reunion. DVD and Blu-ray Releases BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two will feature The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice. It will be released on Monday 5th July 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.[2]


  • TDP 125: The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone

    9 May 2010 (6:06pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds

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    PlotThe Doctor discovers a message in Old High Gallifreyan engraved on the side of a ruined flight recorder from the starship Byzantium 12,000 years in the past by Doctor River Song. With Amy Pond, the Doctor takes the TARDIS to meet her before the ship crashes on the planet Alfava Metraxis. After reuniting with the Doctor, whom she has had extensive contact within his relative future, Dr. Song warns the Doctor of a Weeping Angel, creatures that cannot move when observed but otherwise can move incredibly fast, that the Byzantium was carrying, and calls for Father Octavian and his troops to join her on the surface to recapture it. Dr. Song shows the Doctor and Amy a four-second loop of security footage of the Angel as the soldiers set up base camp. The Doctor and Song review a book written by a madman about the Angels which warns that any form of image of the Angels become Angels themselves. Simultaneously, Amy finds, when she looks away, the Angel from the footage moves and begins to emerge from the screen, further trapping her in the viewing room. As the Doctor and Song attempt to free Amy, Amy is able to freeze the image on a loop break, causing the Angel to disappear and saving herself. As the Doctor and Song verify Amy is safe, she continues to believe she has something in her eyes.To access the Byzantium and locate the Angel, the group must travel through a "Maze of the Dead", a stone labyrinth with numerous statues erected by the planet's natives that the Angel could hide among. The group splits up, with some soldiers left to guard the entrance. As they explore, the Doctor and Song come to realize that the native species of the planet have two heads, while all the statues have one; they quickly realise that every statue is a Weeping Angel, slower and weaker than the captured Angel due to lack of beings to consume over the centuries but now absorbing energy from the crashed ship. As the group tries to escape, Amy believes her hand to have become stone and cannot move, but the Doctor points out that her perception has been influenced by the Angel, and she is still fine, allowing her to flee. The group soon finds that the Angels have killed their rear guard and are using their consciousness to speak to the Doctor. The Angels reveal they have lured the group in the trap, and are planning to use their essences to further regenerate. The Doctor threatens that the Angels should have never put him in the trap, and prepares the group to act once he fires at the globe of light providing the only illumination the maze; the episode ends on this cliffhanger.The Doctor, Amy, River Song, Father Octavian and his clerics find themselves standing on the nose of the Byzantium, looking down on the surface and the Weeping Angels, after having been caught by the ship's artificial gravity when the gravity globe burst. The group make their way to the secondary flight deck while being chased by the regenerating Angels, who have now also jumped up to the ship. All the while, Amy is counting downwards from ten without realising it. Angel Bob claims that this is a countdown to when they will kill her, after which they will take control of the universe. The Doctor asks the Angels where they can possibly expect to get the power from to take over the universe, but the Angels just laugh at the Doctor's ignorance of the situation. The Doctor turns around and then sees a giant crack in the ship's wall, identical to the one in Amy's bedroom in "The Eleventh Hour", and as seen in "The Beast Below" and "Victory of the Daleks", it is a crack in the universe. While the others escape into the ship's oxygen factory, a giant forest, the Doctor examines the crack, before noticing he is surrounded by Weeping Angels - one of whom catches him by his jacket. He warns the Angels that the crack, whilst full of energy, is not full of the energy they need (time energy); it is instead a crack from the end of the universe, a crack that will consume everyone. While distracting them with this thought, he escapes, minus his coat, and quickly follows after the others.Just before the Doctor can reach her, Amy collapses to the forest floor, seemingly dying. Recollecting that the image of an Angel is itself an Angel, the Doctor realises that Amy has the image of a Weeping Angel in the visual centres of her mind. The Doctor tells her to close her eyes in order to suppress the visual centres of the brain and explains that if she opens her eyes for more than a second, the Angel will kill her. Before he leaves, Amy confesses to the Doctor she is unsure if she can trust him yet, as he isn't always truthful with her, but the Doctor simply informs her that if he always told her the truth, she would never need to trust him. He implores her to remember what he told her when she was seven, but Amy does not know what he is referring to. The Doctor, River and Father Octavian head off to the main control room in the hope of slowing down the descent of the Angels, while Amy is left alone with the clerics as the Weeping Angels advance. Whilst walking through the forest, the Doctor traces the origins of the crack back to the point in time and space at which it began - June 26th, 201x (the last digit is not revealed until the end of the episode). While trying to break into the control room, an Angel traps Octavian. The Doctor is helpless to save him and Octavian urges him to leave and join River inside. Just before his inevitable death though, Octavian divulges to the Doctor that River is a criminal currently in his custody, guilty of the murder of a man whose identity he will not reveal. The Doctor gives his last apologies to Octavian and hurries inside.The crack in the secondary flight deck widens into the forest, where Amy is being guarded by four of the clerics. The Angels run away from the crack, in fear from the Doctor's warning, leaving the clerics and Amy behind. The Doctor speculates that the crack is allowing time to be rewritten and River asks him how they can close it. The Doctor explains that the best way to close it is to feed it a complicated space-time event: him. In the forest, three of clerics go to inspect the crack, which just looks like a very bright light but, after they've gone, the remaining cleric doesn't even remember that they existed. He goes to investigate the crack himself, leaving Amy truly alone and with only a communicator. The Doctor radios Amy and tells her to come to the control room. She asks why she should risk confronting the Angels and the Doctor tells her that the Angels can only kill her, but the crack can erase her from time. Reluctantly and still with her eyes closed, she follows his sonic screwdriver signal, until the Angels arrive and surround her. Since the Angels are still very scared, the Doctor informs Amy that if she walks like she can see, the Angels will remain in stone form due to their survival instincts, but Amy soon gives herself away as blind by tripping over and shouting, allowing the Angels (who are seen moving for the first time) to advance in on her. Just in time, River teleports her to the control room.All the Angels come to the entrance to the room as they drain energy from the doors, which then open. The lead Angel, whom the Doctor has named "Angel Bob" after the man whose voice it was using, demands that the Doctor throw himself into the crack in order to save the Angels. River, as a time traveller, wants to throw herself in but the Doctor laughs at the idea, claiming that she is not even as complicated as one Angel and that only all the Angels are equivalent to him. He then realises that as the ship's power is quickly draining, its artificial gravity field is about to collapse, and he urges his friends to hold on to something to stop themselves from falling. The gravity field then collapses and all of the frozen Angels fall into the crack. This is enough to seal it, erasing them all from existence. The group escapes to the outside of the temple, and Amy is again able to see - the Angel within her mind never existed, due to the fact it fell into the crack. Confused, Amy asks how it is possible she remembers all of the clerics who seemingly "ceased to exist," but the Doctor informs her that, since they are time travellers, and time has no context in which to work, they can remember them. River, who after completing her mission is about to be teleported back to her cell in space, tells the Doctor she will see him again when the Pandorica opens (unnerving the Doctor, who claims the Pandorica is just a fairy tale), and that the man she killed was the best man she'd ever known. She is teleported back to the penal starship, with the remaining soldiers.Amy tells the Doctor to take her home. There, she tells him that she is getting married in the morning and tries to seduce him (to which he acts alarmed). He declines to reciprocate and, whilst looking at her bedside digital clock, realises that she is at the centre of all the cracks and that the time explosion which created them occurs today - the day of her wedding, June 26th 2010. He quickly whisks her away in order to try to sort the issue out.


  • TDP 124: The Creature from the Pit

    3 May 2010 (1:44pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds

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  • UK TDP STORE NOW OPEN

    23 April 2010 (8:18am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

    There are now 2 tin dog stores open.   one in the UK and the other in the US of A.   simply click on the images on the right and be redirected   be seeing you.    


  • TDP 123: Victory of the Daleks

    22 April 2010 (9:13am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 38 seconds

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  • New Tin Dog Podcast Store

    21 April 2010 (6:18am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 minutes and 0 seconds

    create & buy custom products at Zazzle


  • TDP 122: The Beast Below

    15 April 2010 (10:11am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds

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  • TDP 121: The Eleventh Hour

    13 April 2010 (1:48pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds

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    Sorry its late


  • TDP 120: Smith and Moff interviews

    11 April 2010 (8:31am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 24 minutes and 59 seconds

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  • Nick Briggs Event!

    10 April 2010 (3:24pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds

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  • TDP 119: How to have a Doctor Who Convention By Yourself

    31 March 2010 (9:07am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 45 seconds

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    (late) third avviversary show.   Enjoy


  • TDP 118: The Horns of Nimon

    26 March 2010 (10:04am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 59 seconds

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    Youtube link   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL8qirrysRM   <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EL8qirrysRM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EL8qirrysRM&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>   and the link to WHO AT FAB CAFE   http://www.fanslikeus.org.uk/    


  • TDP 117: Underworld

    20 March 2010 (8:01pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 44 seconds

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  • TDP 116: The Time Monster

    16 March 2010 (11:15am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 11 minutes and 26 seconds

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  • THE Colin Baker Event

    14 March 2010 (5:35pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 2 minutes and 26 seconds

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  • TDP 115: The Chase

    6 March 2010 (7:00am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 35 seconds

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  • TDP 114: The Space Museum

    1 March 2010 (10:13pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes and 21 seconds

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  • TDP: Feb Info

    21 February 2010 (11:01am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 48 seconds

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  • TDP 113: The End of Time

    2 February 2010 (12:00pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 31 seconds

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  • TDP 112:Masque of Mandragora Review

    26 January 2010 (6:00am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 7 minutes and 43 seconds

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    dvd review


  • TDP 111: Peladon Tales

    19 January 2010 (10:42pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds

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     notes to follow


  • SFX WEEKENDER TICKET GIVE AWAY!!!

    7 January 2010 (8:09am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 54 seconds

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    SFX have given the alliance 50 sets of 4 tickets to give away on our shows... all listeners have to do is phone 08700110034 and quote promotional code DWPOD


  • TDP 109: A short Story at Christmas. Raining Cats and Dogs

    28 December 2009 (8:09am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 3 seconds

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    enjoy this xmas gift from the TDP


  • TDP 108: RPG Adventures in Time and An Earthly Child

    23 December 2009 (11:35pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds

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    RPG Update


  • TDP 107: Dalek, Dreamland and SJSA 3.6

    4 December 2009 (4:37pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 29 minutes and 1 second

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    info to follow


  • TDP 106: Waters of Mars & SJSA 3.5

    19 November 2009 (9:42am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes and 5 seconds

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    The Waters of Mars is the second of the 2009 Specials leading up to the end of the David Tennant era. It aired on 15th November 2009 on BBC One. Contents [show] 1 Synopsis2 Plot3 Cast4 Crew5 References 5.1 Earth history5.2 Locations5.3 Races and Species5.4 Robots 6 Story Notes 6.1 Ratings6.2 Filming Locations6.3 Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors 7 Continuity8 International broadcasts9 DVD release10 External links11 Footnotes wgAfterContentAndJS.push(function() { if (window.showTocToggle) { window.tocShowText = "show"; window.tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle();}}); Synopsis Mars. 2059. Bowie Base One. Last recorded message: "Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop." Plot The TARDIS arrives on Mars and the Doctor steps out in his spacesuit, seemingly just to relax and enjoy the landscape. Stumbling across a base inhabited by a team from Earth, the Doctor is detained by a remote-controlled robot called "GADGET" and brought inside. The base commander, Adelaide Brooke, is at first suspicious of the Doctor, but after a tense interrogation, decides to trust him. The Doctor learns that the date is 21st November 2059, and that this is in fact Bowie Base One, the first human outpost on Mars. History has it that on this date the base was destroyed in a mysterious explosion and Brooke and her crew were all killed. Unwilling to break the laws of time and interfere with fixed points in history, the Doctor decides to leave. However, at the very same moment a crisis is developing: two crewmembers, Andy Stone and Maggie Cain, have been infected by a mysterious life form which takes over their bodies and causes them to gush copious amounts of water. Adelaide confiscates the Doctor's spacesuit, reasoning that he could be responsible for the infection in some way, and orders him to come with her and another crewmember, Tarak Ital, to investigate. The infection spreads, with Andy passing on the condition to Tarak. The two men are contained in the base's "bio-sphere" section while Maggie is secured in the medical wing. In a conversation with colleague Yuri Kerenski, the organism occupying Maggie's body reveals its desire to reach Earth, a planet rich in water. The crew plan to evacuate in an escape shuttle, and the Doctor breaks the news to Adelaide that she must die today, on Mars, if events are to unfold as they should. However, he also tells her that her death will inspire her descendants to travel further into space and establish peaceful relations with numerous extraterrestrial species. Unwillingly, Adelaide lets him leave. As the Doctor is making his way back to the TARDIS, Maggie breaks out of confinement, infiltrates the shuttle and infects pilot Ed Gold, Adelaide's deputy. Before the condition takes a hold over him, Ed manages to trigger the shuttle's self-destruct mechanism, which traps the infection on Mars but also leaves the surviving crew with no means of escape. The destruction of the shuttle is witnessed by the Doctor who, overcome by defiance against time itself, returns to the base to save the others. Realising that there is no way to change the course of history, Adelaide activates Bowie Base's self-destruct sequence. The infected personnel mount the roof of the control centre and exude more water, which pours into the room and claims GADGET's operator, Roman Groom, and Steffie Ehrlich. However, the Doctor uses GADGET to access the TARDIS, operate its controls remotely and transport the time and space machine into the base, rescuing Adelaide, Yuri and Mia Bennett from the resulting nuclear explosion. The TARDIS materialises outside Adelaide's house on Earth. Mia and Yuri are shocked by their experiences on Mars and Doctor's power and depart, bewildered. In a conversation with Adelaide, the Doctor reflects on why he ultimately decided to save her and the others. He argues that the Time Lords' rules were only valid while their civilisation existed, and that since he is the last of his race he has total authority over time. He proudly declares himself the "Time Lord Victorious" and remarks that with this power he will now be able to save influential figures such as Adelaide as well as "little people" the likes of Yuri and Mia. Scolding the Doctor for his new found arrogance, Adelaide returns home and commits suicide, reverting the changes that the Doctor has made to the timeline. Only now understanding the full impact of his actions, the Doctor is overcome with horror and realises that there will be a price to pay for his interference. Ood Sigma appears in the street, prompting the Doctor to ask him whether he has finally gone too far -- whether the time has come for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!", he begins to work the machine's controls. Cast The Doctor - David Tennant Adelaide Brooke - Lindsay Duncan Ed Gold - Peter O'Brien Tarak Ital - Chook Sibtain Andy Stone - Alan Ruscoe Maggie Cain - Sharon Duncan-Brewster Mia Bennett - Gemma Chan Yuri Kerenski - Aleksander Mikic Steffie Ehrlich - Cosima Shaw Roman Groom - Michael Goldsmith Emily Brooke - Lily Bevan Mikhail Kerenski - Max Bollinger Ulrika Ehrlich - Anouska Strahnz Lisette Ehrlich - Zofia Strahnz Adelaide's Father - Charlie De'ath Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey Young Adelaide - Rachel Fewell Crew 1st Assistant Director - William Hartley 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Geraint Williams Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Sian Warrilow Floor Runner - Alison Jones Continuity - Llinos Wyn Jones Script Editor - Gary Russell Camera Operators - Roger Pearce, Rory Taylor Focus Pullers - Steve Rees, Jamie Southcott Grip - John Robinson Camera Assistants - Jon Vidgen, Tom Hartley Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Peter Chester Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Jonathon Cox Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Stunt Co-ordinator - Abbi Collins Choreographer - Ailsa Berk Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Associate Designer - James North Art Department Coordinator - Amy Pope Standby Art Director - Ciaran Thompson Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Jackson Pope Set Decorator - Joelle Rumbelow Property Master - Paul Aitken Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart Costume Assistants - Barbara Harrington, Louise Martin Make-Up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, Morag Smith Casting Associate - Andy Brierley Casting Assistant - Alice Purse VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle Post Production Supervisors - Samantha Hall, Chris Blatchford Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Colourist - Mick Vincent Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies Dialogue Editor - Douglas Sinclair References Adelaide was 10 years old when the Earth was stolen by the Daleks, she witnessed one herself. Whilst on Earth when the Doctor is in the TARDIS the cloister bell is audible. Earth history Adelaide Brooke says that the last forty years on Earth have been chaos, with massive climate change, ozone degredation, and "the oil apocalypse"; humanity "almost reached extinction" during this period. Andy's obituary mentions "appalling storm conditions" in 2040, and climate change affecting agriculture in 2045. Maggie believes the Doctor may be a Philippino or Spanish astronaut, as the Philippines are rumoured to be building a Mars rocket and Spain have a "space link" that they managed to keep secret. Andy Stone's sister worked for the Spanish space programme. Ed Gold believes the Doctor is from a non-state independent group, referring to the Branson Inheritance. Various lunar missions have been carried out, including ten German missions and Project Pit Stop, establishing a refueling station on the moon. Mars was landed on in 2041, with Adelaide Brooke as part of the crew. Thirty years after 2059, Brooke's granddaughter Susan will pilot the first lightspeed ship. At least one of the webpages -- the one showing Brooke's granddaughter -- dates from the 2080s or later, suggesting the Internet still exists in some form in the late 21st century. Locations Bowie Base One is Earth's first off world colony. "Bowie Base One" is a reference to the David Bowie song "Life on Mars", which is also the name of a BBC TV series set in 1972 starring John Simm, who currently plays The Master. Bowie Base One is located on Mars in the Gusev Crater. Races and Species The Doctor mentions the Ice Warriors and suggests that they may have frozen the Flood. Robots The Doctor said that he hates "funny robots" but notes that he'd be okay with a robot dog. Gadget was built by Roman Groom using parts from the drones that constructed Bowie Base One. Story Notes This story was initially envisaged as a Christmas special, several festive references remain, such as the crew on Mars preparing for Christmas dinner, and it snowing when the Doctor arrives back on Earth as he exclaims how he likes snow. This story was originally entitled; Red Christmas. As Lindsay Duncan has been cast as a companion, she is the oldest actor to play a companion on television since the beginning of the series, although this title will be taken away from her in the next episode when Bernard Cribbins becomes the Doctor's companion. Ratings 9.1m 33.9% of TV share Filming Locations Victoria Place, Newport National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Carmarthenshire Taff's Well quarry, Cardiff, Wales Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors If no Human had ever heard of the Ice Warriors then how can the events of NA: The Dying Days not be known by the Humans? The novels may not be considered canon, by the current production team, also that event may have been in flux. It is never explicitly stated that Humans have never heard of the Ice Warriors. When the Doctor mentions them, Adelaide simply states, "I haven't got time for stories." After the explosion of the shuttle, several fires are burning all around the site. Taking into account the initial explosion was fueled by the base's oxygen, and given that Mars has no appreciable atmosphere, how can these smaller fires burn in the vacuum? Because Mars does have an atmosphere, albeit one with a pressure roughly equivalent to one hundredth that of Earth's atmosphere. Given that Mars's thin atmosphere consists primarily of carbon dioxide, with a very small concentration of oxygen (which is required for combustion), how can the smaller fires after the explosion burn? There is a lot we don't know about Bowie Base One. We don't know what sort of fuel they're using, we don't know how the self-destruct mechanism on the rocket works. In Father's Day The Reapers turned up due to Rose saving her father when somebody who was dead is now alive - surely this should be the case now for Yuri and Mia as they should have died but are now alive. The Reapers only showed up in Fathers Day due to Rose saving her father's life, as then, that altered the timeline meaning that in the future Rose wouldn't have travelled to the past to save her father, causing a paradox, the Doctor only changed the future when he saved Adelaide's life. Had Adelaide's granddaughter travelled back in time to save her grandmother, for instance, that would more likely have caught the Reapers' attention. Also, as Adelaide almost immediately kills herself, thereby maintaining the timeline, there was no need for the Reapers to appear. The news article on Adelaide claims that she was born in 1999 and yet was also 10 when her parents died in 2008. (There was clearly a typo in the article in regards to either the year or her age.) The news article identifies The Stolen Earth as occuring in 2008, instead of 2009 (as the show's been a year ahead since Aliens of London). The production team have deliberately stated that Series Three occurs within a space of a few days to rectify the year-off discrepancy that Aliens of London introduced, so the Whoniverse timeline is in sync with ours again. (Two explanations: either the article we were "seeing" had some sort of typo, or the events of The Stolen Earth actually did happen in 2008.) The news article on the mission refers to "Dr Tarak Ital MD." It would be correct to write either the "Dr" or the "MD," but both at once is redundant and grammatically incorrect. Ital's obituary also misspells "Havana". It is correct if the person has both an MD and a PhD. The article on Susie Fontana Brooke's first "Faster then Light" flight lists Adelaide's team at the end as hers. Why would the Doctor comment on Mia's age when Roman is two years younger than her? When it is revealed that Maggie is one of the creatures, the outer shot shows her hair back while in the closer shot, it is around her face. Continuity The Doctor speaks partially to the events of DW: The Fires of Pompeii. There is a flashback to (which includes a cameo by a Dalek) DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End The spacesuit the Doctor wore was the same suit from DW: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. Mars appears not to have much of an atmosphere, however NA: The Dying Days suggests otherwise. SJA: The Mad Woman in the Attic is also (partially) set in 2059. Carmen's prophecy "he will knock four times" is mentioned from DW: Planet of the Dead. Sound clips of the Doctor talking about the Time Lords and The Time War are used from DW: Gridlock, Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords International broadcasts ABC1 - Australia : 6th December 2009[1] BBC America: 19th December 2009 Space - Canada: 19th December 2009[2]


  • TDP 105: SJS3.4 and Aliens of London/WWIII

    12 November 2009 (11:11am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 18 minutes and 12 seconds

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    revisiting the past


  • TDP 104: Dead Shoes and SJSA 3.2 & 3.3

    4 November 2009 (11:04am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds

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    info to follow


  • TDP 103: Planet of the Daleks & SJSA 3.1

    19 October 2009 (7:13am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 39 seconds

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    INFO TO FOLLOW


  • TDP 102: Fronteer in Space and New Logo Chat

    7 October 2009 (8:48am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 32 seconds

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    TDP info to follow


  • TDP 101:The keys of Marinus and Hornets 1

    28 September 2009 (6:19am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 39 seconds

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    info to follow


  • TDP: Extra

    21 September 2009 (8:48am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 2 minutes and 44 seconds

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    Sorry. no show this week


  • TDP 100: The 100th Show!

    8 September 2009 (4:48pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 11 seconds

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    my top 20 Whoness things


  • TDP 099: Twin Dilemma

    2 September 2009 (9:18am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes and 44 seconds

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    Plot After his regeneration from their previous adventure, the Doctor starts behaving erratically. He goes to the wardrobe and looking for a new outfit and finds a glaring, mismatched, brightly coloured coat to which he immediately takes a shine. Peri tells him that he could not go outside wearing such an awful garb, to which the Doctor takes offence. Two twins, Romulus and Remus Sylveste, receive a visitation from a mysterious old man called Professor Edgeworth. They question how he managed to get inside their house; he tells them he will return when their father is there, then proceeds to abduct them and the trio disappear. They arrive on a spacecraft in deep space. Edgeworth then communicates with his superior, a slug-like creature called Mestor, who instructs Edgeworth to take the twins to Titan 3. In the console room, the Doctor has a funny turn, quoting a poem about a Peri -- a good and beautiful fairy in Persian mythology, but one which used to be evil. The Doctor accuses her of being evil, and of being an alien spy before rushing toward her and throttling her. He catches a sight of his own manic face in a mirror and collapses in a heap, releasing Peri. When she tells him that he tried to kill her, he initially denies he could be capable of such an act, but seeing how terrified of him she is, decides he must become a hermit on the desolate asteroid Titan 3. The twins' father contacts the authorities; he found Zanium in their room -- a sure sign of intergalactic kidnap. A Commander Lang begins the pursuit and soon finds a suspicious ship previously reported missing. He tries to contact it, but it enters warp drive -- something that class of ship is not designed to do. On Titan 3, as the Doctor contemplates a thousand years of solitude and Peri expresses her disapproval, they hear the crash landing of a craft. Examining its wreckage, they find the concussed body of Commander Lang. They take him back to the TARDIS where he reveals his whole squadron has been destroyed. Believing the Doctor to be responsible, he points his gun at the Doctor and threatens to kill him... Peri pleads with Lang, telling him that the Doctor had in fact saved him, but he faints away. The Doctor is not keen to treat Lang, more concerned for his own life, but eventually agrees to Peri's persuasion. Edgeworth argues with Romulus and Remus, making them do Mestor's work. He scolds them for setting up a distress signal, so they are not allowed to use electronic equipment to solve the equations they have been set. An image of Mestor appears and gives the twins a more blunt threat -- work for him or have their minds destroyed. On the TARDIS scanner, the Doctor and Peri see a building -- something which has no place on an uninhabited asteroid. Leaving Lang behind, they find a tunnel which may lead to the building, but on exploring find two aliens wielding guns. The Doctor cowers in fear and pleads with them not to shoot him. They are led off and are brought before Edgeworth. The Doctor claims to be a pilgrim to Titan 3, but Noma, one of the aliens, says they are spies and should be shot. The Doctor suddenly recognises Edgeworth as an old friend - Azmael, master of Jaconda, whom he last saw two incarnations ago. When the Doctor sees Romulus and Remus and discovers it is Azmael who has abducted them, he is disgusted. Azmael teleports away with the twins and the aliens, leaving the Doctor and Peri locked in the building. The Doctor starts to break the lock's combination, but Peri discovers Noma has set the base to self-destruct. The Doctor improvises a solution to teleport them back to the TARDIS. Peri makes a successful return, but the Doctor has not appeared when she sees the base explode on the scanner... A glimpse of the Doctor is seen appearing in the TARDIS; he was delayed returning because he was using Peri's watch to synchronise their arrival, but the watch had stopped. The Doctor is surprised at Peri's compassion when she thought he had died. On Jaconda, Mestor is seen putting one of the bird-like Jacondans to death for a petty offence of stealing a few vegetables. Soon, the TARDIS arrives, but instead of the expected beautiful planet the Doctor is expecting, he, Peri and Lang find a desolate wasteland covered with giant Gastropod trails. The Doctor is reluctant to go to the palace, scared for his own life, but is persuaded to take Lang there in the TARDIS. In the palace corridors they see murals depicting Jaconda's history, depicting the slugs of myth - but it appears that they are now all too real. After avoiding Gastropods, Lang gets stuck in their slime trail. Azmael takes the twins to his laboratory and shows them a store room full of Gastropod eggs. Mestor arrives and tries to persuade them that his aims are benevolent. Azmael begs him to stop reading his thoughts and stop Noma watching his every move. He agrees and leaves. Azmael explains to the Twins that Mestor usurped him as leader of Jaconda and outlines a plan to draw two outlying planets into the same orbit as Jaconda. The Twins' genius is required to stabilise those planets in their new orbit. The Doctor, leaving Peri and Lang behind, finds Azmael's lab. In a manic fit of pique, he attacks Azmael, but is restrained by a Jacondan and the Twins. The Doctor apologises to Azmael but demands to know what is going on. Meanwhile, Peri is captured by Jacondan guards and brought before Mestor. When Lang escapes to Azmael's lab and informs them what has happened, the Doctor finally shows compassion for her when he thinks she might die... Mestor refrains from killing Peri immediately, finding her appearance pleasing. Jacondan guards arrive in Azmael's lab and seize the Doctor. The Doctor tells Mestor that he ought to allow him to assist with the dangerous operation of moving the planets, as a single mistake could blow a hole in that corner of the universe. Back the laboratory, Azmael informs the Doctor the details of the plan to bring the planets into the same orbit -- they will be placed in different time zones using time travel technology that Mestor stole from Azmael. The Doctor realises that, as the other planets are smaller than Jaconda, bringing them closer to Jaconda's sun will lead to catastrophe. The Doctor enters the egg storeroom, and is disturbed that they have no nutritional mucus. He tries to cut one open with a laser cutter; the shell is impenetrable, but the egg reacts slightly to the heat. The Doctor realises they have been designed to withstand the heat of an exploding sun -- the explosion of the Jacondan sun will scatter the eggs throughout the universe. When they hatch, the Gastropods will conquer the universe. The one remaining Jacondan in the lab collapses dead, his mind burnt out. Mestor had been using him as a monitor, and knows the full details of what has been discussed. Peri, Lang and the Twins return to the TARDIS, whilst the Doctor and Azmael go to confront Mestor. When Mestor refuses to abandon his plans, the Doctor hurls a vial of acid taken from the lab at him, but a force field protects Mestor from any harm. Mestor threatens to possess the Doctor's mind and body, and demonstrates by taking control of Azmael's body. Azmael tells him to destroy Mestor's body before he can return to it, which he does with a further vial. Then Azmael, in his last regeneration, forces himself to regenerate -- killing himself -- and in doing so destroys Mestor. Dying, Azmael says he has no regrets and that one of his fondest memories was a time spent with the Doctor by a fountain. The Doctor and Peri return to the TARDIS; Lang decides to stay behind on Jaconda to assist with their rebuilding. When Peri tells the Doctor off for being rude, he reminds her that he is an alien, with alien sensibilities: "I am the Doctor... whether you like it or not!" [edit] Cast notes Maurice Denham makes a guest appearance as Azmael. See Celebrity appearances in Doctor WhoColin Baker also provides, uncredited, the voice of a Jacondan at Freighter Control in part three.Dennis Chinnery had previously appeared as Gharman in the Tom Baker story Genesis of the Daleks. [edit] Continuity The Doctor states that he has regenerated twice since his last encounter with Azmael. This means that this last time (including the incident at the fountain) occurred during the Doctor's fourth incarnation.The Doctor is unusually violent at the start of this episode, even attempting to strangle Peri. The intention was to create a Doctor that was initially unlikeable, but would gradually reveal a kind-hearted soul (glimpsed in Revelation of the Daleks). This was also intended to be a contrast to the instantly likeable Tom Baker and Peter Davison Doctors. However, in later interviews, director Peter Moffatt said that the original idea was merely to have the Doctor in a much more energetic state than he was during the Fifth Doctor's debut story Castrovalva. Colin Baker said during a 2003 documentary celebrating the series' 40th anniversary that "the idea was that over the many, many years I would be playing the part, the outer layers would gradually peel away, revealing the kind-hearted soul."Eric Saward intended for Azmael to be the hermit to whom the Doctor had spoken in his youth, referenced in The Time Monster. Anthony Steven misinterpreted the request and instead made Azmael a former academy tutor of the Doctor.[2] The Hermit character had already been introduced as K'anpo Rinpoche in Planet of the Spiders ten years before. [edit] Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) "Part One" March 22, 1984 (1984-03-22) 24:42 7.6 "Part Two" March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) 25:09 7.4 "Part Three" March 29, 1984 (1984-03-29) 24:27 7.0 "Part Four" March 30, 1984 (1984-03-30) 25:04 6.3 [3][4][5] Anthony Steven worked very slowly on the scripts, offering many strange excuses (purportedly saying that his typewriter had literally exploded) and turning them in at a very late stage. Compounding things were the fact that the scripts were viewed as being of poor quality and too much for the show's budget by script editor Eric Saward, who was forced to rework them at great length in a very short amount of time.[citation needed]At least one aspect of Steven's original script featured the Jaconda and Gastropods being dropped totally early in the fourth episode without resolution to the plot, with the final battle taking place in another dimension against a being called Azlan who was controlling Mestor all along.The cat badge worn by the Sixth Doctor on his lapel for this story was hand-made and painted by Suzie Trevor, and purchased for the programme from a specialist badge shop in central London. For each subsequent story, the Doctor was to wear a different cat badge to symbolise that he was a "travelling cat of different walks."Besides being adjusted for the new Doctor, the opening credits underwent additional modifications with this episode. A prism-colour effect is added and the series logo takes on a somewhat bluish hue (which also results in it appearing slightly curved in comparison to the version introduced during Tom Baker's era). The theme music remains the same version as that introduced in 1980. Prior to this, the opening sequences of the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Doctor eras had incorporated a still photograph of the lead actor. For the Sixth Doctor opening this was changed to using two photographs - one of the Doctor with a serious expression which changes to a second image showing the Doctor smiling. This limited animation would continue with the opening sequence for the Seventh Doctor.Fandom often holds the serial in a very low light, being regarded as one of the very worst serials in the history of the series (indeed in SFX #150 new series producer Russell T. Davies cites this story as "the beginning of the end" of Doctor Who). A 1997 poll by Doctor Who Magazine ranked the serial the second worst of all time (the Children in Need special Dimensions in Time was ranked lowest), while a 2003 poll by fansite Outpost Gallifrey ranked it worst of all, below even Dimensions in Time. [edit] Outside references Shortly before the Doctor assaults Peri in a paranoid rage, he quotes the line "One morn a peri at the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate" and asks Peri to identify its author. The answer is Thomas Moore, in his poem Lalla Rookh. The first two instalments of the BBV Stranger video series appear to borrow the premise of the Doctor's desire to become a hermit to atone for mistakes he has made. Since the Stranger is played by Colin Baker and his companion Miss Brown is played by Nicola Bryant, it is often viewed as a "What-If" scenario, despite the fact that the BBV production could not legally use the Doctor Who characters. [edit] In print Doctor Who book The Twin Dilemma Series Target novelisations Release number 103 Writer Eric Saward Publisher Target Books Cover artist Andrew Skilleter ISBN 0-491-03124-6 Release date October 1985 (hardback) 13 March 1986 (paperback) Preceded by The Time Monster Followed by Galaxy 4 A novelisation of this serial, written by Saward, was published in hardback by Target Books in October 1985, and in paperback in March 1986. The cover illustration originally featured Colin Baker. However when Baker's agent enquired about a royalty, the decision was taken to not feature him on the cover and a replacement was commissioned. This adaptation is notable for Saward's convoluted attempt at explaining in detail how the regeneration process works. [edit] Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases This story was released on VHS in May 1992. The tape was available exclusively through branches of Woolworths as part of a special promotion. A general release followed in February 1993.A Commentary with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Kevin McNally was recorded in April 2008 for a planned DVD release on September 7 2009. This will also be the last of the Colin Baker years of Doctor Who to be released onto DVD. [edit] References


  • TDP 098: Enlightenment

    18 August 2009 (10:10am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes and 36 seconds

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    notes to follow


  • TDP 097: Terminus

    7 August 2009 (4:12am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 43 seconds

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    info to follow


  • TDP 096: Maudryn Undead and Children of Earth Round Up

    30 July 2009 (11:15am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 26 minutes and 29 seconds

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    Not sure if anyone else is aware of the Twitter/James Moran things. Thought youd like to read the item from his blog. the direct link is at the bottom of the page Sunday, July 12, 2009 Stepping back Before I start, this post - and every post on here, and anything I say on Twitter, or anywhere else - is entirely MY opinion. Nothing to do with the people I've worked with, or the BBC, or anyone else. I don't speak for any other writers, I *only* speak for myself, and I will not pass on any messages to anyone. Here's my position: I'm not going get into any more discussions or debates about what happened in Torchwood this week (being vague, in case people come across this and haven't seen it). Not now, not in the future. Why? I started trying to discuss it, but swiftly realised that it was pointless. It simply turns into "No it isn't" / "Yes it is", and there's no way I can win the argument, because in certain people's opinion, I am wrong, and that's the end of it. And it's all just opinion anyway. It would also feel like I was trying to justify the show, and I'm not doing that. I have absolutely no need to. The show is the show. Whether you like it or dislike it, that's up to you. I helped plot the whole storyline, and I stand by every single decision. Yes, including *that* one - I had my hand on the death lever along with everyone else, and was fully involved. I think it's a fantastic, brave, challenging drama, and contains some of the best moments on TV all year. I've received over a thousand messages from viewers talking about the show. The vast majority have been extremely positive. Even though many of them are upset and shocked, they have managed to express that without making it personal. So to you, I'm extremely grateful. I'm glad you liked the show, and love that it made you respond so strongly. I can't reply to everyone, it'd take weeks, so please accept my thanks. But the rest of the messages? Unacceptable. Some have been spewing insults and passive aggressive nonsense. Accusing me of deliberately trying to mislead, lie, and hurt people. Telling me I hate the fans, that I'm laughing at them, that I used them, that I'm slapping people in the face, that I've "killed" the show, that I'm a homophobe, that I want to turn the fanbase away and court new, "cooler" viewers, even that I'm hurting depressed people with dark storylines. Asking me to pass on vitriolic, hateful messages to people I love and respect. Not cool. These are all things that nobody would dare to say to me in person. But on the internet, it's easy for them to fire off these things. Forgetting that at the other end is me, a real person, someone who has been nothing but open and friendly. But I've been a bit too open, a bit too nice, a bit too willing to explain the thought process behind story decisions. And some people are taking advantage of that, or misinterpreting what it means. So here's the deal: I'm a professional writer. That's my job. I write what I write, for whatever the project might be. I have the utmost respect for you, and honestly want you to like my work, but I can't let that affect my story decisions. Everybody wants different things from a story, but this is not a democracy, you do not get to vote. You are free to say what you think of my work, even if you hate it, I honestly don't mind. But the ONLY person I need to please is myself, and the ONLY thing I need to serve is the story. Not you. I will do my work to the very best of my ability, in an attempt to give you the best show, the best movie, the best story, the best entertainment I possibly can. Even if that means that sometimes, I'll do things you won't like. I won't debate it. Either you go along with it, or you don't. None of it is done to hurt you, or to force some agenda down your throat, or anything else. It's all in service of the story. When I started this blog, I wanted to give some insight into the writing process. I've done that. I've answered all the questions, written about the process, done several huge posts trying to pass on what I've learned. The posts are all still there, and will remain there. I've had great fun with it, and given as much as I can, but it's never going to be enough. For a while now, I've let things get too cosy here, indulged myself too much, and if I let it carry on, it will affect my work. The last few days have just confirmed that for me. So I'm going to step back and take a break from it. Things are very busy for the next month or two, and I won't have the time anyway. I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has commented on here, and the blog will probably continue in some form, but limited to anything that isn't about the work - announcements, TV/movie recommendations, etc. I have to concentrate on my writing. And I will not put up with any more abusive messages, or threats, or accusations, or attempted guilt trips. So while I completely understand your pain at some of the events in the series, that does not give you the right to insult me. Talk about the *work*, all you want. But lay off the person behind the work. Because I'm simply trying to tell you good stories. In the end, that is all I can do. James Moran Writer Please feel free to pass this on, I encourage you to do so, to make my position clear to everyone - but you must include the link to the full post here: http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html Bookmark and Shareinfo to follow


  • TDP 095e: Day 5 Torchwood Children of Earth

    13 July 2009 (9:13pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 58 seconds

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    The last of 5 podcasts about Children of earth


  • TDP 095d: Day 4 Torchwood Children of Earth

    9 July 2009 (10:00pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 14 seconds

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    Day 4


  • TDP 095c: Day 3 Torchwood Children of Earth

    9 July 2009 (9:35am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 4 minutes and 24 seconds

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    Day 3 Podcast


  • TDP 095b: Day 2 Torchwood Children of Earth

    8 July 2009 (11:47am GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes and 25 seconds

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    day 2


  • TDP 095a: Day 1 Torchwood Children of Earth

    7 July 2009 (12:25pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds

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    0Torchwood Children of Earth Day One Podcast.


  • TDP 094: The War Games

    28 June 2009 (10:08pm GMT)
    Episode Duration: 0 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes and 56 seconds

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    The War Games From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the Doctor Who serial. For the 1965 television film on nuclear war, see The War Game. For the war games in the anime/manga MAR, see The War Games (MAR). For the 1983 US movie, see WarGames. 050 - The War Games Doctor Who serial The Doctor and his friends are caught in the middle of World War I... or are they? Cast Doctor Patrick Troughton (Second Doctor) Companions Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot) Guest stars David Savile -- Lt CarstairsJane Sherwin -- Lady Jennifer BuckinghamNoel Coleman -- General SmytheRichard Steele -- Commandant GortonTerence Bayler -- Major BarringtonHubert Rees -- Captain RansomDavid Valla -- Lieutenant CraneEsmond Webb -- Sgt Major BurnsBrian Forster -- Sergeant WillisPat Gorman -- Military PolicemanPeter Stanton -- Military ChauffeurDavid Garfield -- Von WeichGregg Palmer -- Lieutenant LuckeJohn Livesey, Bernard Davies -- German SoldiersPhilip Madoc -- War LordEdward Brayshaw -- War ChiefJames Bree -- Security ChiefVernon Dobtcheff -- Chief ScientistJohn Atterbury -- Alien GuardCharles Pemberton -- Alien TechnicianBill Hutchinson -- Sgt ThompsonTerry Adams -- Corporal RileyLeslie Schofield -- LeroyRudolph Walker -- HarperMichael Lynch -- SpencerGraham Weston -- RussellDavid Troughton -- MoorPeter Craze -- Du PontMichael Napier-Brown -- Arturo VillarStephen Hubay -- PetrovTony McEwan -- RedcoatBernard Horsfall -- First Time LordTrevor Martin -- Second Time LordClyde Pollitt -- Third Time LordClare Jenkins -- Tanya Lernov Production Writer Malcolm Hulke Terrance Dicks Director David Maloney Script editor Terrance Dicks (uncredited) Producer Derrick Sherwin Executive producer(s) None Production code ZZ Series Season 6 Length 10 episodes, 25 minutes each Originally broadcast April 19-June 21, 1969 Chronology - Preceded by Followed by - The Space Pirates Spearhead from Space The War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from April 19 to June 21, 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe Heriot and Jamie McCrimmon. It is the 50th story of the series, and the last Doctor Who serial to be recorded in black and white. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Synopsis1.2 Continuity 1.2.1 Firsts1.2.2 Lasts 2 Production3 Commercial releases 3.1 In print 4 References5 External links 5.1 Reviews5.2 Target novelisation //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> [edit] Plot [edit] Synopsis On an alien planet the Doctor uncovers a diabolic plot to conquer the universe, with brainwashed soldiers abducted from Earth forced to fight in simulated environments, reflecting the periods in history from whence they were taken. The alien's aim is to produce a super army from the survivors, to this end they have been aided by a renegade from the Doctor's own race the 'Time Lords'. Joining forces with rebel soldiers, who have broken their conditioning, the Doctor and his companions foil the plan and stop the fighting. But the Doctor admits he needs the help of the Time Lords to return the soldiers to their own times, but in asking risks capture for his own past crimes including the theft of the TARDIS. After sending the message he and his companions attempt to evade capture, but are caught. Having returned the soldiers to Earth, the Time Lords erase Zoe and Jamie's memories of travelling with the Doctor, and return them to the point in time just before they entered the TARDIS. They then place the Doctor on trial for stealing the TARDIS and breaking the rule of non-interference. The Doctor presents a spirited defence citing his many battles against the evils of the universe. Accepting this defence the Time Lords announce his punishment is exile to Earth. In addition the operation of the TARDIS is wiped from his memory and his next regeneration is imposed. [edit] Continuity Patrick Troughton later reprised the role of the Second Doctor in The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors. In the second of these, he expresses knowledge of events of the final episode of this serial, on the face of it a chronological impossibility, and in the last he is on an assignment for the Time Lords, which is incompatible with the events seen here. These facts gave rise to the Season 6B theory, enabled by the aforementioned lack of on-screen depiction of the regeneration.The Doctor again faces trial in The Trial of a Time Lord, the beginning of which refers to this previous trial.The time machines designed by the War Chief and used by the War Lords are called SIDRATs, an inversion of the name TARDIS. Though this name is used only once, and then merely in passing, on-screen during the serial (and pronounced "side-rat")[1], the expanded acronym is revealed to stand for "Space and Inter-Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transporter" in the 1979 novelisation by Malcolm Hulke. It is repeated in the Virgin New Adventures novel Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks, which forms a sequel to The War Games.The Second Doctor's appearance in Terrance Dicks' BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures novel, The Eight Doctors, occurs during this story. [edit] Firsts For the first time, this serial names the Doctor's race as the "Time Lords". Although his home planet (Gallifrey) is seen, it would not be referenced by name until The Time Warrior (1973). His reasons for leaving Gallifrey, and the fact that he stole the TARDIS, are also revealed.Aside from the Doctor and Susan, the War Chief is the second person of the Doctor's race (after the Meddling Monk) to appear in the television series.Again the concept of regeneration is presented but not named in this serial, following The Tenth Planet/The Power of the Daleks. The process was eventually named in Planet of the Spiders, then retrospectively attributed to the earlier two changes of actors -- first by series fans, then later by the early-'80s production team in The Five Doctors. Until that point, there was some fan controversy over whether the Second Doctor had actually regenerated or merely had his appearance changed.While Troughton's Doctor is sentenced to a forced regeneration at the end of this serial, we do not actually see him regenerate into the Third Doctor (who first appears -- briefly wearing the Troughton costume -- in the next serial, Spearhead from Space). The only other Doctor not to receive an on-screen regeneration is the Eighth Doctor, who has already regenerated into the Ninth Doctor at the start of the 2005 series.In the first Episode, the Second Doctor kisses Zoe. [1] This display of platonic affection is the first time that the Doctor kisses one of his companions, though as the series went on it would be far from the last. [edit] Lasts In the final episode, the Time Lords wipe Zoe's mind and return her to the Wheel, where she encounters Tanya Lernov, a character from The Wheel in Space. A set from The Wheel in Space was rebuilt and actress Clare Jenkins (Tanya) rehired for this one scene.[2] The Big Finish Productions audio drama Fear of the Daleks shows an older Zoe having detailed dreams of her adventures with the Doctor, suspecting that something is blocking her memory, and seeing a psychiatric counsellor in an effort to understand the "dreams".This marks the last appearance of the TARDIS Control Room until The Claws of Axos in 1971, though the removed TARDIS console would be seen in the Doctor's UNIT headquarters laboratory in The Ambassadors of Death, and in a hut on the grounds of the titular project in Inferno.Episode 10 is the last episode of the original series to be produced in black and white. [edit] Production Serial details by episode: Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership (in millions) Archive "Episode 1" 19 April 1969 25:00 5.5 16mm t/r "Episode 2" 26 April 1969 25:00 6.3 16mm t/r "Episode 3" 3 May 1969 24:30 5.1 16mm t/r "Episode 4" 10 May 1969 23:40 5.7 16mm t/r "Episode 5" 17 May 1969 24:30 5.1 16mm t/r "Episode 6" 24 May 1969 22:53 4.2 16mm t/r "Episode 7" 31 May 1969 22:28 4.9 16mm t/r "Episode 8" 7 June 1969 24:37 3.5 16mm t/r "Episode 9" 14 June 1969 24:34 4.1 16mm t/r "Episode 10" 21 June 1969 24:23 5.0 16mm t/r [3][4][5] Doctor Who book Doctor Who and the War Games Series Target novelisations Release number 70 Writer Malcolm Hulke Publisher Target Books Cover artist John Geary ISBN 0-426-20082-9 Release date 25 September 1979 Preceded by Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl Followed by Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks [edit] Commercial releases This serial was released in the UK February 1990 in a two-tape set in episodic form. It was re-released in remastered format in September 2002. Since this VHS re-release, better quality film prints of the story have been located at the BFI, and were used for the DVD release.[6] The DVD will be released on July 6th 2009 and is a 3 disc set,[7] with a commentry provided by Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Philip Madoc, Graham Weston, Jane Sherwin, Terrance Dicks and Derrick Sherwin. [edit] In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Malcolm Hulke, was published by Target Books in September 1979, entitled Doctor Who and The War Games. Despite the length of the serial, Hulke was allotted only 143 pages in which to adapt the 10-episode script, the third longest Doctor Who serial. By comparison, the later novelisation of the second longest serial, the 12-episode The Daleks' Master Plan, was published in two volumes, each of which were much longer than Hulke's book, while four books were used to novelise the longest serial, the 14-episode The Trial of a Time Lord. [edit] References ^ Cornell, Paul, Martin Day, & Keith Topping, Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide, Virgin Books, 1995, p. 104^ Wood, Tat; and Lawrence Miles (2006). About Time 2: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who: 1966-1969, Seasons 4 to 6. Des Moines, Iowa: Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-1-4. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". Outpost Gallifrey. http://gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=zz. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_2z.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2005-05-12). "{{subst:PAGENAME}}". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/zz.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-31. ^ http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/TheWarGamesDVD.htm^ http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/TheWarGamesDVD.htm [edit] External links The War Games at bbc.co.ukThe War Games at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)The War Games at the Doctor Who Reference GuideDoctor Who Locations - The War GamesDoctor Who Restoration Team - The War Games [edit] Reviews The War Games reviews at Outpost GallifreyThe War Games reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide [edit] Target novelisation Doctor Who and the War Games reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings GuideOn Target -- Doctor Who and the War Games


 
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