Doctor Who

Season 4

Partners in Crime

1. Howard Attfield did film some scenes as Donna's father, Geoff Noble, but became too unwell to continue and died during filming. This episode was dedicated to him. Bernard Cribbins, who had starred in the previous episode Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned (2007), as a newspaper salesman named Wilfred Mott, was brought back to re-film Attfield's scenes, now establishing Wilfred as Donna's grandfather. The video release shows Attfield's scenes in a special feature.
2. Donna Noble was supposed to be a one-off character. Russell T. Davies was impressed with Catherine Tate's performance in Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006), that he decided to bring her back as a regular companion in Series 4.
3. Miss Foster was originally called Miss Rattigan. It was changed because Russell T. Davies felt that it better encapsulated her motherly role. The surname Rattigan would later be used in Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem (2008)/Doctor Who: The Poison Sky (2008).
4. Just before the 28th minute of the episode, you can clearly hear the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy melody worked into the soundtrack.
5. The window cleaner cradle scene was intended for use in Doctor Who: Smith and Jones (2007), but was cut and used here instead. In the first draft, the initial confrontation between The Doctor, Donna and Miss Foster was to have happened in the cradle, but budgetary and logistics problems meant the scene was moved to the sales cubicles area (and The Doctor's "sonic screwdriver plus sonic pen equals massive sonic feedback" diversion added).
6. Penny Carter was the name of be the original main companion of Series Four but was dropped when Catherine Tate stated her desire to return as Donna. The Penny Carter who appeared in Partners In Crime is altogether a different character that Russell T. Davies has devised.
7. When it was clear that Howard Attfield would be unable to be in the episode, Russell T. Davies considered writing his character's death into the story arc, with Donna becoming a stronger person after dealing with the loss of her father.
8. The word "adipose" is the scientific term for body fat.
9. Russell T. Davies considered setting the story in suburban London, with a spaceship sealing off a section of the city under an enormous dome while an alien was hunted through the streets. The dome aspect was dropped because it was used in The Simpsons Movie (2007).
10. The Adipose developed from Russell T. Davies' idea that alien genetics were hidden in doses of a Botox-like drug, resulting in the people injected being overwhelmed by the genetic code and transforming into aliens. In his book Writer's Tale, he describes it as "Ladies Who Lunch/Lurch" (one of his cartoons included in the book shows his take on the idea).
11. Disappearances reference: Mrs. Foster states that the Adipose home planet disappeared.
12. At one point, the story was set in a dilapidated old house would hide a portal to another planet which had been overrun with vicious, dog-like Vorlax. The last survivors of this world had opened the portal to Earth in order to rid their world of the invaders.
13. Some reports stated this episode was called Partners in Time.
14. Phil Collinson directed some scenes.
15. In the close-up views of Miss Foster, while she is giving her promotional talk on the Adipose diet pill, only the letters D-U-S-T from the word "industries" are visible on the screen behind her, the rest of the word is outside the frame. This may be a deliberate reference to Little Britain (2003), in which Matt Lucas portrays (amongst other characters) Marjorie Dawes: a 'Fat Fighters' group leader who has the word "dust" as one of her catchphrases.
16. Bernard Cribbins previously appeared in the non-canonical projects Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966) and Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Horror of Glam Rock (2007).
17. When The Doctor is frantically fiddling with the evil building computer to stop the evil plan at the last second, the score once more contains a motif from the Christmas carol "Adeste fidelis", recycled from the score of Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006) where Donna first appeared.
18. This episode takes place in 2009.
19. The scene in which Rose Tyler appears was omitted when previewed for critics. While it had become common knowledge that Rose would appear later in Season 4, her presence in this one was a successfully guarded secret until its first broadcast on the BBC. This music heard during her appearance derives from her previous appearance in Doctor Who: Doomsday (2006).
20. On at least two taxicabs, you will notice that their windscreens have stickers with the word "ATMOS" on them, anticipating Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem (2008)/Doctor Who: The Poison Sky (2008). Then there's also the mention of bees disappearing, and even an entire planet 'gone missing', both of which tie heavily into future arcs.
21. Rose Tyler returns to Doctor Who for the first time since Doctor Who: Doomsday (2006) (barring archive footage), although it's only for a brief cameo role at the end before fading away. Billie Piper is even given top billing.
22. The Doctor popping up his head from behind a desk and smiling in the office scene foreshadows the scene in Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour (2010) which the newly regenerated 11th Doctor meets 7 year old Ameila Pond. The 11th Doctor. The 11th Doctor pops his head out of the TARDIS and smiles at Amelia.

The Fires of Pompeii

1. The Doctor tells Donna he had been to Rome once before, and that he "had nothing to do with that fire." The First Doctor, William Hartnell, visited Rome in Doctor Who: The Slave Traders (1965)/Doctor Who: All Roads Lead to Rome (1965)/Doctor Who: Conspiracy (1965)/Doctor Who: Inferno (1965) ("The Romans"). Although The Doctor did not directly start the fire, he did hold a map a bit too close to an open flame, giving Nero an idea.
2. The Latin phrase the Doctor utters when Lucius tries to have him arrested is "Morituri te salutant," meaning "Those who are about to die salute you": it was the traditional salute of slaves expecting imminent death, especially said by gladiators to the head of the games just before combat began.
3. Karen Gillan, who appears here as the Soothsayer, would later be cast as Amy Pond, the new companion for series 5. Peter Capaldi, who plays Caecilius, would later be cast as the Twelfth Doctor. Both use English accents in this episode, but their natural Scottish accents in their later roles. The dual casting of Capaldi is explained in canon, while Gillan's is never mentioned.
4. Caecilius, Metella and Quintus are all named after characters who appeared in the first book of the Cambridge Latin Course, which is set in Pompeii just before its destruction. Caecilius, at least, is known to have actually existed; archaeologists discovered his financial records and a bust of his head in his house during excavation of the ruins. The real historical figure was, however, quite bald in AD 79.
5. Caecilius' purchase of the TARDIS in the belief that it's a work of modern art is a deliberate reference to Doctor Who: City of Death: Part Four (1979), in which John Cleese and Eleanor Bron played a pair of art critics who discuss its artistic merits before being even more impressed when it dematerialises in front of them.
6. Whenever The Doctor and his companions visit a non-English speaking locale, the TARDIS translates speech and text for them. Curious about this, Donna tries speaking Latin in pre-volcano Pompeii; this sounds to the Pompeiians as Celtic. Throughout the show, when they utter a trivial Latin phrase, someone comments that they must be Celtic. And when The Doctor mentions San Francisco (from Spanish), Caecillius thinks it's a new restaurant in Naples.
7. When the Doctor and Donna see Vesuvius rumbling and realize that they have landed in Pompeii and not Rome, the Doctor says: "It's volcano day." This may be a reference to Doctor Who: The Doctor Dances (2005). When explaining his con to the Doctor and Rose, Captain Jack says: "Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it, though. But you've got to set your alarm for Volcano Day." Considering the source of the Volcano Day quote, Captain Jack Harkness will be there, doing his self cleaning con.
8. The middle name of the Auger Lucius, Petrus, means "stone" in Latin. This refers to the "god of Vesuvius" turning the soothsayers and Sybilline sisters to stone through inhaling vapors.
9. Much of this episode was shot at the Cinecittà studio in Rome, Italy. This marked the first time Doctor Who had been substantially filmed outside the UK since Doctor Who (1996) was produced in Vancouver, Canada. (The last regular series installment to include substantial production outside the UK was Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part One (1985)/Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part Two (1985)/Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part Three (1985), filmed in Spain.) The sets used were from the BBC/HBO co-production Rome (2005). The house of Caecilius was originally the house of the Junii.
10. The Roman family in Pompeii, scrambling to protect artwork during an earthquake while yelling "Positions!" is a reference to Mary Poppins (1964) when the neighbor would fire his rooftop cannon each day.
11. This episode was filmed on the same sets as Rome (2005).
12. Russell T. Davies had been interested in the devastation of Pompeii ever since seeing Pompeii: The Last Day (2003). considered writing a script about Pompeii for the eleventh episode of Season One, but it quickly became clear that this would have to be a budget-conscious adventure. Davies eventually wrote Doctor Who: Boom Town (2005) instead.
13. A fire broke out at Cinecittà Studios prior to filming. The conflagration was the result of an electrical short, and caused the deaths of four people and considerable destruction before it was extinguished. Despite the tragedy, however, the sets required had not been damaged.
14. Francesca Fowler suffered from a bad case of food poisoning during the filming of this episode, which has since been said to have helped contribute towards Evelina's ill appearance
15. When Donna is given a purple dress she asks if she looks like the goddess Venus, this is in reference to the colour usually being reserved for the emperor or representations of deities.
16. The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to The Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse themselves from the situation. James Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption. Moran and Russell T. Davies both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise The Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason The Doctor travels with companions.
17. The family was inspired by the first book of the Cambridge Latin Course (originally published in 1970), which focussed on a banker named Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, his wife Metella, and his son Quintus. The course also featured an unpleasant soothsayer named Lucius Marcius Memor, who inspired the villain of the story.
18. The Pyrovile were originally called Pyrovillaxians. This was shortened to Pyrovellians, then Pyrovile.
19. This episode was intended to be transmitted after Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood (2008), but this was swapped because, as Russell T. Davies wrote in The Writer's Tale: "Since the Ood tale is surprisingly dark, I'd thought that it would undercut people's comedy expectations of Life With Donna, but then, at the read-through, I thought that the Ood episode was dark to the point of grim. It's a very macho, testosterone-fuelled script, and they're never my favourites, so, yes, it's better as the third episode."
20. Although a Temple of Sybil and its virgins' Sisterhood is purely fictional, there really was such a temple excavated in 1981 at Pompeii (two whole millennia later!) but dedicated to Vesta with the Vestal virgins instead of the alleged Sisterhood of Sybil.
21. This episode replaced a WWII set story called "The Suicide Exhibition" by Mark Gatiss. It would have involved a Nazi task force assaulting the Natural History Museum in London, which has been overrun by monsters. Later action would have involved the discovery of a secret chamber beneath the museum.
22. Russell T. Davies suggested that the escape pod the Doctor and Donna use to trigger the eruption and then flee Vesuvius might be a reworked Sontaran globe-ship, since they would need the ships for the upcoming Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem (2008)/Doctor Who: The Poison Sky (2008). Whether or not they actually did so is unclear.
23. A primitive form of a central heating system depicted in this episode actually did exist in the ancient city of Pompeii yet not in the imperial capital Rome.
24. Disappearances reference: The Pyrovile home world has disappeared.
25. James Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite The Doctor's opening line over 20 times.
26. "Petrus" is Latin for "stone" and "Dextrus" is likely a malformed name based on the Latin "dexter" which means "right", as in right-handed.
27. Russell T. Davies chose James Moran to write this episode based on the strength of Torchwood: Sleeper (2008), which he wrote.
28. First sci-fi for Karen Gillan.
29. Lucius, the main villain, was written as man in his sixties, but a younger actor (Phil Davis) was cast. Davis was in his mid fifties when this was shot.
30. Lucius tells the Doctor "She is returning." He tells Donna, "There is something on your back." And the Soothsayer says The Doctor's real name is hidden and "burns in Cascade of Medusa herself." All of these things foreshadow the season's final three chapters.
31. According to David Tennant on the commentary, when The Doctor breaks off Lucius's arm, the original script had the Doctor throw it on the ground to break it into pieces. Tennant requested that this part be taken out, as he figured it was far too violent and destructive for The Doctor. Both he and Catherine Tate still consider the final cut to be "aggressive" by The Doctor's usual standards.

Planet of the Ood

1. Adrian Rawlins did the scene himself where he fell over the rail in one take.
2. Russell T. Davies contemplated devoting a two-part slot to an Ood adventure, but ultimately decided that the storyline would work better if it was not overcomplicated.
3. An extended sequence set in caves beneath the planet's surface, in which The Doctor searches for the giant Ood brain, was cut for time.
4. Ida Scott from Doctor Who: The Impossible Planet (2006)/Doctor Who: The Satan Pit (2006) was going to be a main character. She would now be a member of an investigative team looking into conditions on the Ood-Sphere, who would be dismayed to discover that her estranged father is now involved with Ood Operations - although it would later be revealed that he is secretly acting on behalf of the Ood.
5. The snow scenes were shot in a boiling hot week in August, using fake snow. This was done using tiny pieces of paper.
6. This was originally intended to be the second episode of Series Four, but was swapped with Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008).
7. Russell T. Davies noted during production of the Ood's introductory episodes that he considered their home world to be close to that of the Sensorites - hence the mention of the Sense-Sphere.
8. The top secret lab is in Warehouse 15, a play on the supposed alien research lab in Nevada, Area 51.
9. This episode takes place in 4126.
10. The Ood's feral state was inspired by 28 Days Later... (2002).
11. When the rocket flies overhead Donna comments that The Doctor has a box while the rocket's owners have a Ferrari. This is practically the opposite of The Doctor's comment to Martha in Doctor Who: The Sound of Drums (2007) where he says of Captain Jack's vortex manipulator "It's like I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."
12. An Ood says "D'oh!" This is Homer Simpson's catchphrase from The Simpsons (1989).
13. The Ood who are being manipulated have glowing red eyes. The Sandminer robots in Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part One (1977)/Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part Two (1977)/Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part Three (1977)/Doctor Who: The Robots of Death: Part Four (1977), another subservient group, likewise displayed glowing red eyes when they came under an evil influence.
14. The scene where Mr. Halpen turns into an Ood had to re-filmed because it was regarded as too horrifying.

The Sontaran Stratagem

1. The original Doctor Who (1963) presented conflicting evidence about when the UNIT stories were meant to take place, and there has been much confusion and continuing fan debate on this subject. The production team never reached consensus as to whether the UNIT stories took place in the "present" (1960s-70s) or the "near future" (1970s-80s). The Doctor references this confusion when he says he was on the UNIT staff "in the 1970s, or was it the 80s?"
2. This story marks the first appearance of the Sontarans since Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part Three (1985), 23 years earlier.
3. Initially, cloning was going to be a much more persistent element of the story, with the ATMOS factory workers all being clones. Russell T. Davies felt that the clone idea would be more effective in small doses, however, which led to the introduction of the cloned Martha.
4. UNIT has now been re-branded as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, having previously been known as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. This followed a request by the United Nations shortly after the series returned to TV in 2005.
5. The cloning vat is the fountain from Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008), redressed.
6. The table that is used to hold the real Martha is used in Torchwood: Cyberwoman (2006). Also the metal headgear that Martha has on at the same time looks like mind probe used in Torchwood: Sleeper (2008).
7. Originally, Geoff Noble was in this episode. Following Howard Attfield's death, his role was given to Wilf. The original script mentioned that Geof was unwell.
8. Originally, the story involved a new kind of chimney attached to every home which purported to cleanse the atmosphere.
9. The UNIT driver Ross Jenkins is a shout-out to script assistant Ross Sutherland and New Media assistant producer Richard Jenkins.
10. Luke's surname was originally Marlow, a reference to a young fan of Helen Raynor's acquaintance. This was changed to Rattigan, which had been an early name for Miss Foster in Doctor Who: Partners in Crime (2008).
11. The Doctor has a similar conversation with a Rutan, enemy of the Sontaran, "war not going well?" in Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock: Part Four (1977).
12. Phil Collinson did not produce this episode. While he took time off, Susie Liggat filled in for him.
13. This episode takes place in 2009.

The Poison Sky

1. It was rumoured that while filming the gas mask scene, David Tennant forgot his line, and he spontaneously ad-libbed "Are you my mummy?", the catchphrase of the gas mask zombies in the Christopher Eccleston serial Doctor Who: The Empty Child (2005)/Doctor Who: The Doctor Dances (2005). However, his wife Georgia Tennant confirmed that this isn't true.
2. Donna Noble's initial pronunciation of the name "Sontaron" is an in-joke mirroring a disagreement in the original production of Doctor Who: The Time Warrior: Part One (1973), where director Alan Bromly suggested the "Saunter-on" pronunciation and was overruled by Kevin Lindsay who used his position as portrayer of the Sontaran Linx as authority of knowing how to pronounce the name of his species.
3. Donna was originally meant to use a shoe to knock out the Sontarans but because Catherine Tate only wears trainers they didn't want it to be a trainer, or they thought a trainer would be too soft and just bounce off the back of the neck. She got to use a mallet instead.
4. When preparing for the nuclear strike, all countries with known nuclear capabilities check in, except for Russia. The very last to check in is North Korea, of which it is disputed they have nuclear weapons, at which point the Colonel looks very surprised.
5. Donna Noble gets a key to the TARDIS, the first of 2 signs that she is the new companion, the other being a cell phone upgrade.
6. When The Doctor cuts off Staal's speech on the video screen in mid flow, a clip from Tommy Zoom (2007) is featured. The original plan to use a clip from Shaun the Sheep (2007) fell through.
7. Susie Liggat produced this episode in order to give Phil Collinson time off.
8. Although Donna used a mallet rather than her trainer to whack the Sontaran on the back of the neck, it wasn't brought on for that purpose only. In fact, the Mallet has been standard equipment ever since Ed Thomas redesigned the Tardis interior for the new series.
9. Wilf's role in the story was originally intended for Geoffrey Noble. This was amended after Howard Attfield's death.
10. When Rose and Martha received a key to the TARDIS, they were really pleased because both of them thought their association with the doctor was a romantic one. To them, getting the key was a "sign" that the doctor felt the same way towards them. Donna on the other hand, had no romantic feelings towards the doctor, just those as a friend, so getting the key was no big deal.
11. This episode takes place in 2009.
12. Rose Tyler appearance: When Donna is in the TARDIS, Rose appears briefly on the screen calling out. This is the second time she has appeared in this series. According to Russell T. Davies, the cameo was added just before broadcast when Davies learned how successful her unheralded cameo in Doctor Who: Partners in Crime (2008) was. Billie Piper receives screen credit as Rose Tyler, even though her appearance lasts less than one second.

The Doctor's Daughter

1. Georgia Tennant, daughter of Doctor Who (1963)'s Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, plays The Doctor's Daughter (actually a clone created from his DNA). While filming she met David Tennant who was then the Tenth Doctor. The following year they started dating. In 2010 she fell pregnant, giving birth to a daughter Olive Tennant in March 2011. She and Tennant married in December 2011. So, in truth, The Doctor's Daughter is The Doctor's Daughter, had The Doctor's Daughter, and had The Doctor's Granddaughter.
2. The scar that the cloning machine leaves on the back of The Doctor's hand is the same shape as the scar on the back of the child's hand in Doctor Who: The Empty Child (2005).
3. Georgia Tennant previously auditioned for Rose Tyler.
4. Even though they communicated by gurgling, Stephen Greenhorn wrote all of the dialogue for the Hath to give the actors under the masks an impression of how their characters should behave.
5. The script evolved considerably during its development, with various plot points - such as the war's seven-day length, Donna's investigation of the mysterious numbers, and the greenhouse venue of the climactic scenes - added to later drafts.
6. The two Hath named in credits would appear to be named after famous actors, "Hath Peck" drawing his name from Gregory Peck and "Hath Gable" taking his from Clark Gable.
7. The underground war and the Hath's mode of communication via bubbling liquid were Russell T. Davies' ideas.
8. Jenny's acrobatics in a corridor full of deadly laser beams was inspired by Britney Spears: Toxic (2004). Toxic was played during Doctor Who: The End of the World (2005).
9. Donna Noble gets a cell phone upgrade, the second of 2 signs that she is the new companion, the other being a key to the TARDIS .
10. This episode takes place on July 24, 6012.
11. The Hath's opponents were originally called the Takrans, but this was excised because of its ambiguous pronunciation.
12. The weapons used by General Cobb's soldiers are variants of the FN P90 series of Personal Defense Weapons.
13. Contrary to popular belief, Summer Glau was never considered for the role of Jenny.
14. The one line said by the soldier was deleted in post.
15. The original plan for the story was to keep Jenny killed off. However, Steven Moffat suggested that Jenny should be revived at the end of the episode instead.
16. The Doctor threatening to shoot Cobb was a late change. Originally, he was taken away to be executed.
17. According to Steven Moffat Jenny did not regenerate but was brought back to life by the Source.
18. The speech The Doctor gives to The Hath and the humans when Jenny dies was strongly influenced by Gladiator (2000), namely the speech that Lucilla gives to the Roman spectators and the Roman Centurions and the Gladiators when General Maximus dies.
19. The final scene which Jenny is revived and decides to leave Messaline and follow in the footsteps of The Doctor and to travel and explore the universe hinted at the possibility of a spin-off series. However, in the comic books "The Choice" and "Endgame" Jenny met The Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald and would do battle with The Master and Adam Mitchell, former companion of The Ninth Doctor.

The Unicorn and the Wasp

1. Donna mentions that meeting Agatha Christie during a murder mystery would be as preposterous as meeting "Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas", which The Doctor did in Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (2005).
2. Because of Agatha Christie appearing as a central character in the story, references are made throughout the dialogue to her works. Donna and others drop the names of several of Agatha's works: Why Didn't They Ask Evans, Murder on the Orient Express, N or M, Nemesis, Cards on the Table, Cat Among the Pigeons, Dead Man's Folly, They Do It With Mirrors, Appointment with Death, Sparkling Cyanide (also known as Death Remembered), Endless Night, Crooked House, and Murder at the Vicarage. Also, the book that Lady Eddison reads in a flashback is another Agatha Christie work, 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.'
3. The novel the Doctor produces is from a chest of items beginning with C, including a Cyberman chest-plate from Doctor Who: The Age of Steel (2006), and the crystal ball in which the Carrionites are trapped from Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Code (2007).
4. Some of the characters resemble popular characters from the Hasbro Company's murder mystery "whodunit" board games Clue & Cluedo: Clemency Eddison resembles Mrs. Peacock; Robina Redmond resembles Miss Scarlet; Colonel Hugh Curshiby resembles Colonel Mustard; Professor Gerald Peach resembles Professor Plum; Miss Chandrakala resembles Miss White; and Reverend Arnold Golightly resembles Reverend Green.
5. In Doctor Who: Last of the Time Lords (2007), The Doctor told Martha Jones that he'd like to meet Agatha Christie, saying "I bet she's brilliant."
6. Agatha Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard sat in on script readings and rehearsals.
7. The wasp was inspired by the cover illustration for Death in the Clouds, which depicted a biplane being menaced by what - in perspective - appeared to be a giant wasp.
8. The anchovies that The Doctor pours down his throat in the kitchen were really mushrooms.
9. The casting of Fenella Woolgar (who, coincidentally or not, has starred in two episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot: Poirot: Lord Edgware Dies (2000) and Poirot: Hallowe'en Party (2010)) as Agatha Christie was made at the suggestion of David Tennant. They had previously worked together in Bright Young Things (2003) and the BBC mini-series He Knew He Was Right (2004).
10. Initially, Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts envisioned setting the story in the mid-Sixties, depicting an elderly Agatha Christie who could be portrayed in the manner of Miss Marple. However, they soon came to realise that a relatively modern setting would not convey the desired flavour of a classic Christie novel.
11. Lady Clemency Eddison is named for Clemency Leonides from the 1949 Agatha Christie novel Crooked House.
12. The Doctor's poisoning was inspired by Gareth Roberts' comic strip The Love Invasion, which featured The Ninth Doctor.
13. Christopher Benjamin (Colonel Hugh) previously appeared in Doctor Who: Inferno: Episode 1 (1970) with the Third Doctor and Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang: Part One (1977) with the Fourth.
14. Piperine is in fact the active ingredient in black pepper and has been used as an insecticide.
15. The car driven by Agatha is a blue 1919-1926 Morris Cowley "Bullnose"-- the same car driven by the real Agatha Christie around the time of her disappearance in 1926.
16. The script originally contained a reference to Ten Little Niggers, which was dropped for being too risky: Donna: It's like Ten Little - The Doctor: Niggles aside, we'd better look in the library.
17. This episode was filmed at Athelhampton House, a beautiful Manor House in Dorset, England, featured in movies such as Sleuth (1972) and From Time to Time (2009). The Fourth Doctor serial Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom: Part One (1976) also used this location. Director Graeme Harper was a production assistant on Seeds of Doom.
18. The role of Lady Eddison was offered to Helen Mirren.
19. Much like her character of Lady Eddison, Felicity Kendal was raised in India and can speak Hindi.
20. Peter Capaldi (Caecilius in Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008), John Frobisher in Torchwood (2006), and the 12th Doctor) appeared in Poirot: Wasps' Nest (1991), one of the stories discussed in this one.
21. Natalie Barrett filmed scenes as a nurse for the 1976 scenes, but all the 1976 scenes were deleted in post production.
22. David Tennant is from Scotland: the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.
23. David Tennant said that he felt kind of silly filming the car chase. While meant to be a high-speed chase, the vintage cars used in the scene were only capable of a top speed of about 30 miles per hour.
24. The flashback of The Doctor with a bow and arrows is similar to his appearance at the end of Doctor Who: Blink (2007), and may be intended as an explanation of where he was coming from in that scene.
25. Near the end the 1926 Blue Morris driven by Agatha Christie licence plate MM 589 is still in use (as of 2020).The Green 1925 Sunbeam license plate MO 5599 used by the Doctor and Donna in a chase with Agatha Christie was issued with a new V5 in 2004 but has lain untaxed since 2006.
26. Felicity Kendal (Lady Eddison) is best known for her role on Rosemary & Thyme (2003) about two garden designers who solve crimes at the same time.
27. Many of Agatha Christie's novel titles are mentioned throughout the episode. Why Didn't They Ask Evans, The Body in the Library, Murder on the Orient Express, The Secret Adversary, N or M?, Nemesis, Cat Among the Pigeons, Dead Man's Folly, They Do it with Mirrors, Appointment with Death, Cards on the Table, Sparkling Cyanide, Endless Night, A Crooked House, Taken at the Flood, Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Death Comes As the End, Murder at the Vicarage, and Death in the Clouds are all recognizable.
28. The song mentioned by The Doctor and Donna, "Camptown Races," is a minstrel show song by Stephen Foster published in 1850. The minstrel shows are also where Donna gets the "Mammy" gesture from. The actual Camptown Races song is often hummed by the character Foghorn Leghorn in various cartoons in the mid-20th century.
29. A Harvey Wallbanger is a mixed drink made with vodka, orange juice and Galliano (a liqueur). It is usually poured over ice and stirred, but it could be shaken instead. When The Doctor mimes a shaking motion (for salt), it is vaguely possible he could have been miming the preparation of a Harvey Wallbanger (as Donna incorrectly guessed). However the drink didn't first appear until the mid-20th century.
30. While the real Agatha Christie actually did disappear mysteriously for ten days, her car was not found next to a lake but parked above a chalk quarry at Newlands Corner, with an expired driving licence and clothes inside.
31. Donna makes a guess during The Doctor's "charades" involving The Towering Inferno (1974), an Irwin Allen "disaster flick." A similar film by Allen, The Poseidon Adventure (1972), was used as the basis for Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned (2007).
32. Sandy McDonald: The father of David Tennant stars as a footman. He was visiting David on set and was offered a part on the spot - and he confessed he was glad he didn't have to learn lines.
33. The script also makes multiple references to the murder mystery board game Cluedo (Clue in America). The first murder took place in the library, one of the rooms on the Cluedo board, with a lead pipe, one of the suspected weapons in the game. The victim's name is Professor Peach, a reference to Cluedo's Professor Plum. The episode also features a Colonel (Colonel Mustard), a woman wearing blue (Mrs Peacock), a reverend (Reverend Green), a frazzled maid (Mrs. White) and a woman in red (Miss Scarlett). The vicar, indeed, is Rev. Golightly - ie Go-light (green, as in traffic lights). The lady in scarlet is Robina (robin redbreast), Redmond. Gareth has said that the housekeeper Mrs Chandrakala's name means or is connected with White in one of the Indian languages (Gujarati or Panjabi?). 'Curbishley' is a puzzle and may have no connection to mustard. If it does, given Roberts's known interests, it may somehow be linked to Ben Jonson's satire of Shakespeare's motto Non-Sanz Droict, which he guyed as 'Not Without Mustard'. There is also another possible reference to colonel mustard. As when its found out that the Doctor spiked the soup with pepper the colonel likes the spicy flavour. This could hint at a liking for Mustard which has a spicy flavour to it.
34. The Silent Pool is a real place near Newlands Corner where the real Agatha Christie's car was discovered when she disappeared, however the Harrogate Hotel where The Doctor leaves Agatha is fictitious. In actuality, the hotel where she was found was the Swan Hydro, now the Old Swan Hotel.
35. When the body of Professor Peach is found, the Doctor remarks that the time of death was quarter past four. In Agatha Christie's novel "The Clocks," the clocks are frozen at 4:13.
36. Donna is upset that Agatha would never know of the impact her writing would have for years to come, to which the Doctor replies "Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered. All we can do is hope for the best." This also foreshadows Doctor Who: Journey's End (2008).
37. While Professor Peach is in the library, he says, "Why didn't they ask.... Heavens!" as the murderer appears. This is a reference to Agatha Christie's "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" Georgia Tennant (Jenny in Doctor Who: The Doctor's Daughter (2008)) appeared in Agatha Christie's Marple: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (2009).
38. Originally, The Doctor was to have rammed the Vespiform into the lake with the car that he and Donna had commandeered. David Tennant objected because he was concerned that that ending would portray The Doctor as a murderer.
39. Daphne Oxenford filmed scenes as Dame Agatha on her deathbed in 1976, with Natalie Barrett as her attending nurse, but these were removed during editing.
40. In the final scene inside the TARDIS The Doctor produces an Agatha Christie book with a wasp on the cover (an obvious allusion to the giant wasp in the story) entitled Death in the Clouds, an actual Poirot novel written by her in 1935, although it was originally published under the title of Death in the Air.

Silence in the Library

1. Steven Moffat didn't tell any of the actors (except Alex Kingston and only very few of the crew) just who River Song is. David Tennant had no idea how to act opposite her, to great effect. On the DVD commentary, he says that he had the Doctor assume she's a future regeneration of him, because even though that made no sense, it made more sense than anything else he could come up with.
2. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun used by Professor River Song to help the party escape from the impending Vashta Nerada is intended to be the same sonic blaster that was used by Jack Harkness in the episode Doctor Who: The Doctor Dances (2005). Moffat suggests that it was left in the TARDIS after Doctor Who: The Parting of the Ways (2005), and taken by River Song in the Doctor's future. The name "squareness gun" was coined by Rose in the earlier episode.
3. The character of River Song was originally created for the plot to make more sense. Moffat knew that the team of archaeologists would have to trust the Doctor, but that the Doctor's psychic paper could not explain and convince the team why he had appeared in a sealed-off library. Therefore, Steven Moffat intended for the Doctor to know one of the archaeologists. Later, he decided that this idea was too "dull", and instead opted to have one of them know him.
4. Alex Kingston took the part of River Song under the assumption that the character would appear only in this two-parter. However, she was delighted to learn that Steven Moffat had longer-term plans for the character.
5. The first appearance of River Song.
6. Steven Moffat stated that British newspaper The Sun got a hold of the script for the episode and threatened to publish it. Moffat jokingly told them to do it. He later remarked, "I'd like to see The Sun publish that many words in a day."
7. The Doctor mentions that "emergency program one" will send Donna home should she be left alone in the TARDIS for five hours. In Doctor Who: The Parting of the Ways (2005), this program was activated by the Ninth Doctor to send Rose Tyler home.
8. The episode ran short, so Steven Moffat quickly provided extra material, with the discovery of Miss Evangelista's body being the chief beneficiary.
9. The psychic paper has previously summoned the Doctor to a location in Doctor Who: New Earth (2006), where the Face of Boe called the Doctor.
10. There are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS, Origins of the Universe, (Destiny of the Daleks) The French Revolution, (An Unearthly Child) A Journal of Impossible Things, (Human Nature/The Family of Blood) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who (1963) writer and script editor), Everest in Easy Stages, (The Creature from the Pit) and Black Orchid (Black Orchid).
11. Michael Gambon and Ian McKellen were offered the part of Doctor Moon.
12. When the Doctor and Donna are standing on the balcony of Biographies after first arriving at the Library the Doctor snatches a book from Donna saying "Spoilers". This is a major catch phrase of River Song, whom the Doctor will meet for the first time later in the episode and who will become a major character in later episodes.
13. As with "The Girl in the Fireplace", Steven Moffat inspired by The Time Traveller's Wife. River meeting the Doctor in the library very much echoes Clare meeting Henry in a library in that book.
14. Kate Winslet was considered for the role of River Song.
15. The 51st century keyboards in The Library are early 21st century Apple keyboards inset to the kiosks, both regular and extended, UK models, with some distressing. Each kiosk has one of each.
16. This two-parter was originally meant for Series Three.
17. When The Doctor shows Donna the psychic paper, the message is signed with an "x" Donna remarks " with a kiss?". In actual life, when David Tennant signs his autographs he ends his name with an "X"
18. Russell T. Davies originally wanted Kate Winslet for River Song. Kate Winslet had starred in Russell T. Davies's CBBC science fiction thriller mini-series Dark Season (1991). But, Russell T. Davies changed his mind and instead cast Alex Kingston.
19. Filming took place during late January and early February 2008 in Wales, at the Old Swansea Central Library and the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea. During filming the area was hit with some rather noisy weather, wind and rain, which despite the sound dept best efforts to create silence in the library in post production, can sometimes still be heard in the background whenever anyone speaks undubbed during a quiet scene.
20. When questioning the Doctor about their adventures, River asks about the crash of the Byzantium, an adventure which occurs with the Eleventh Doctor during Series 5.
21. An early version of the library itself was introduced by Steven Moffat in his 1996 short story "Continuity Errors", the first Doctor Who (2005) story he ever wrote.
22. River Song seems to immediately recognize The Doctor when she first sees him, and questions him on multiple adventures he hasn't had with her yet while he looks on, befuddled. This two-part episode marks the only time the character of River Song appears with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). The next time they meet (in The Doctor's chronological timeline, at least) he will have already regenerated into the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). It is entirely possible, however, that though she otherwise never knew him in his current form, she still has some sort of inexplicable perception that allows her to recognize him regardless of physical form, as many of his previous acquaintances have done from time to time in the past.
23. The little girl was originally a boy. It was felt that a young female character would be seen as more vulnerable.
24. When the girl falls down after hearing the sonic screwdriver (about 10 minutes in), there's a split second glimpse of CAL on Dr. Moon's briefcase on the right side of the screen.
25. Alex Kingston was born in 1963, which was the same year Doctor Who (1963) first started on BBC television.
26. The rug in the little girl's flat is the same shape as the 'eye' in the security camera and computer system.
27. In both episodes, every keyboard seen is an Apple Mac keyboard.
28. This episode takes place in the 51st Century.
29. The security camera appears to have angel wings carved on its sides.
30. David Tennant (the Doctor) and Talulah Rilely( Miss Evanglista) went on to play opposite each other in "St. Trinians: The Legend of Fritton's Gold," as Sir Piers Pomfrey and Annabelle Fritton respectively.
31. River asks the Doctor, "...picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" Earlier in the episode Josh Dallas appears as one of the library's info nodes; he played Fandral, an Asgardian, in Thor (2011).
32. Since this is the next episode after The Unicorn and the Wasp, a mystery involving Agatha Christie which ends with them talking about her books, it is relatively likely that this adventure, which takes place in a library and starts with the Doctor referencing reading, picks up soon after the other ends. Alternately, he may just have been talking about books because of the message he got on the psychic paper.
33. In Doctor Who: Silence in the Library (2008) River Song mentions that The Doctor and herself had a picnic on Asgard. In Norse mythology, Asgard was one of the nine worlds and the seat of the ruling aesir Gods of the Norse faith. Christopher Eccleston (The 9th Doctor) played Malekith in "Thor: The Dark World", based on the Marvel comic, inspired by the Norse myth. David Schofield played Odin in Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died (2015) and Doctor Who: The Woman Who Lived (2015). Odin was a god from Norse mythology.
34. The first time Dr. Moon is talking to the little girl, look above and to the left. There are two paintings on the wall, one of a pretty blond girl, and the other of a wolf. This is reference to Rose Tyler and the Bad Wolf being one and the same.
35. David Tennant briefly considered returning for an additional season before leaving the series. Had he stayed, he would have appeared in the adventure involving the crash of the Byzantium, which would have added plausibility to River's questioning him about it here.
36. River quotes her recurring catchphrase "Spoilers" for the first time.
37. Alex Kingston (River Song) says to the 10th doctor "Lets get a shift on!" towards the end of the episode, which has become a catchphrase of Jodie Whittaker's incarnation as the 13th Doctor.
38. When river is syncing her journal with the doctor she mentions the crash of the Byzanthium this foreshadows the events for season five where the doctor and Amy meet river in the two part episode the time of angels/flesh of stone
39. River Song meeting Donna Noble foreshadows the ending of Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War (2011) which River Song reveals herself to Amy Pond and Rory Williams as their daughter Melody Pond. Both Donna Noble and Amy Pond are natural redheads and it's likely Donna reminded River of Amy.

Forest of the Dead

1. The wedding dress Donna wears in this episode is the same dress she wore in Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006).
2. According to Steven Moffat, the squareness gun is the sonic blaster used by Jack Harkness in season 1. After Jack leaves it in the TARDIS, River Song will take the gun in the Doctor's future.
3. The characters Joshua and Ella are respectively named after Steven Moffat's son and his son's friend.
4. Working titles for this episode included The Doctor Runs, Forest Of The Night, River's Run and Return Of The Dead.
5. The phrase, "Time can be rewritten", is first uttered by the Doctor in this story and is a recurring phrase throughout Series 5 and 6.
6. A twist revelation in which Donna's artificial-reality husband, Lee, turned out to be an overweight woman in the real world was excised for fear of being too confusing.
7. The concept of downloading human consciousness as data - even after physical death - and the philosophical issues surrounding this is an issue being addressed by futurists in real-life, with scientists such as Ray Kurzweil speculating that technology will allow the uploading of consciousness to computers within a generation in his book, The Age of Spiritual Machines.
8. The location of the facility that houses CAL & Donna was also used in the Sarah Jane Adventures, "The Eternity Trap", Parts 1 & 2.
9. Heavy rains forced the postponement of much of the recording of the outdoor scenes in Victoria Park, Cardiff.
10. This episode takes place in the 51st Century.
11. At the time of airing, River's familiarity and her easy recognition of the Tenth Doctor were meant to imply that she knew this particular incarnation, and it was assumed that the character might possibly return for future episodes that would explore their relationship. However, David Tennant departed the role before any new stories with River were presented, resulting in the bulk of River's adventures occurring with Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor. This created some continuity issues with this adventure and the rest of the series, which were not always resolved.
12. The plot device of life forms being saved in a teleport buffer is similar to the plot of the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episode Relics, from 1992, which brought back Captain Montgomery Scott after he'd been trapped in a transporter buffer for 75 years before being restored by the crew of the Enterprise-D.
13. Donna's illusory children were initially called Alan and Tracy.
14. The Doctor's dinner date with River at the Singing Towers would later be depicted in "The Husbands of River Song".
15. CAL, Charlotte Abigail Lux, is described by Mr Lux as being his grandfather's youngest daughter. This would make her his aunt. Supposedly, Vashta Nerada invaded the library 100 years ago, causing the Library to close. That would make CAL over 100 years old, making Mr. Lux's parents even older.
16. When River is about to die and is telling the Doctor that he can't die there and time can't be rewritten she says "not one line" of it can change. This is one of the last things the Eleventh Doctor says before regenerating in The Time of the Doctor. Perhaps intentionally, most of River's appearances are with the Eleventh Doctor.
17. Showrunner Russell T. Davues and episode writer Steven Moffat discussed in an email the idea that Dr. Moon was the 45th and final regeneration of the Doctor, saved to the Library. This was never made canon, however.

Midnight

1. David Troughton (Professor Hobbes) is the son of Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) from 1966 to 1969.
2. This episode marked Doctor Who's 200th story.
3. This is the first complete story where the TARDIS does not appear since Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part One (1975) (in the original series, there were usually far more episodes in a story and it was common to have episodes without the TARDIS).
4. Midnight was set to be episode 8 of season 4 with Doctor Who: Silence in the Library (2008) and Doctor Who: Forest of the Dead (2008) following it. Had the episode been originally where it had been placed it would have been the 50th episode of the revived series. A reference to this milestone was seen in the bus' name "Crusader 50".
5. Rose Tyler appears briefly on one of the shuttle's television screens shortly after the life form attacks the transport, echoing a similar appearance in Doctor Who: The Poison Sky (2008). In both instances, she silently shouts for the Doctor, who is not there to see the image in the first instance and is looking in the opposite way in this episode. Rose is also mentioned by the Doctor by name, along with Martha and Donna. In an early conversation with Sky about becoming recently single, the Doctor indirectly referred to Rose as one who "went to a different universe."
6. Two of the Tenth Doctor's common phrases are used to identify his voice: "allons-y" (French for "let's go") and "molto bene" (Italian for "very well" or "very good"), first used in Army of Ghosts and The Runaway Bride respectively.
7. The first time on the show someone mentions "He will knock 4 times."
8. Russell T. Davies wrote this episode in 3 days.
9. The song that plays on the shuttle's entertainment system is "Do It Do It Again", by Raffaella Carrà.
10. David Troughton replaced Sam Kelly who broke his leg in a car accident shortly before filming.
11. Colin Morgan who played Jethro, a future emo space boy in Midnight, soon went famous worldwide for his title role of a legendary sorcerer as a young man on Merlin, another BBC TV series (2008-2012), co-starring Bradley James as prince/king Arthur.
12. Colin Morgan (Jethro) worked with David Throughton's (Professor Hobbes) nephew, Harry Melling, in the Merlin (2008) episode 'The Sorcerer's Shadow'. They played Merlin and Gilli respectively.
13. Helen Worth was offered the role of Val Cane.
14. Daniel Ryan and Lindsey Coulson played a husband and wife again some 11 years later in The Bay.
15. In order to have Sky repeating everyone's words and intonation when she was possessed by the Midnight Entity without having the actress, Lesley Sharp, memorize all the lines, the crew set monitors up in front of each actor which would scroll their lines for Lealey to read. The actors would deliver their lines and then Lesley would copy their intonation. This was done on Lesley's coverage so that she would have the correct eyeline as well. The actors had pre filmed the scenes in which they were all talking together and then they recorded Lesley's parts separately. The voices (Lesley's and the actor she was mimicking) were then joined in post production, a massive undertaking for the actors and the sound engineers. There couldn't be a single deviation from script, the lines would need to be delivered with as exactly the same intonation as the actors could, and then the sound editor had to take each snippet of Lesley's repeated lines and match them into the jumble-talking scene. The hardest bits of dialogue to film for David and Lesley were the ones in which they were meant to be totally in sync, as there needed to be a shot of the both of them in camera at the same time delivering the same lines with the same intonation. They had to breathe and open their mouths simultaneously, and these chunks of dialogue were rehearsed by them both as extensively as possible in order to properly coordinate. David has said the absolute most difficult part was the delivery of the Square Root of Pi to thirty decimal places because it had to be done very rapidly, and although they were not in sync at the time in the script, Lesley would be repeating everything he said just a split second after him, and in the jumble of the two voices it could be difficult to remember the string of numbers, which are difficult enough to remember correctly on their own.
16. This is the first time the true nature or species of an enemy has never been revealed.
17. Dee Dee tells the Doctor that she has written a paper on the lost moon of Poosh, the third reference to a missing planet in the series, after Adipose 3 in Partners in Crime and Pyrovilia in The Fires of Pompeii. All three disappearances are explained in episode 12 and reversed in episode 13 of the series: the planets were snatched out of time and space by Davros and the Daleks. Whilst speaking to Sky, the Doctor also mentions the Medusa Cascade, where these planets were sent.

Turn Left

1. Billie Piper admitted that she had forgotten how to play Rose, and needed to watch past episodes to remind herself.
2. David Tennant did not actually play the Doctor when he was lying on the stretcher in the scene where they pull the Doctor's body from the Thames.
3. Russell T. Davies dropped a subplot involving Donna getting married and having children. This was originally intended to add even more drama to Donna's decision to sacrifice herself and unravel the parallel timeline: not only would she be giving up her own life, but her offspring would be erased from history. However, Davies had now become aware that Steven Moffat had similar plans for Donna in "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead" and Davies agreed that it was more pertinent to Moffat's tale than his own.
4. Russell T. Davies considered exploring how stories set in the past or on other planets would be affected - such as having UNIT send "time commandos" to the year 1599 to foil the plot of the Carrionites, in "The Shakespeare Code". Ultimately, however, he decided that this would cause an already very self-referential episode to become unnecessarily obsessed with minutiae, and Davies was very concerned about the ability of casual viewers to immerse themselves in the storyline.
5. David Tennant was only required for a day.
6. The Time Beetle attaching itself onto Donna's back was written as an obvious nod to the final Jon Pertwee story, Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders: Part Six (1974). In that story a giant Metebelis spider attaches itself onto Sarah Jane Smith's back. Another nod to that story is Sarah Jane being mentioned by the TV reporter in the "space rhinos" segment as being trapped in the hospital.
7. Russell T. Davies wanted the TARDIS to be on fire, but the budget didn't allow for the effect.
8. Catherine Tate was sick with flu during production.
9. When examining the Time Beetle the Doctor states that it's something to do with the Trickster's Brigade. The Trickster first appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007).
10. Chipo Chung's 2nd and last appearance in Doctor Who (2005) (TV Series). Chippo Chung previously played Chan'tho in Doctor Who: Utopia (2007) (TV Series).
11. When Donna is in the bar with her friends before the Racnoss Queen's ship attacks, the same Christmas song on the radio is played in the episode "Last of the Time Lords" when The Master celebrates the anniversary of world domination. It is also played when she is in her car on her vacation, before the Titanic crashes.
12. Despite being billed in the opening credits and featuring prominently in the episode, Rose is never referred to by name.
13. Russell T. Davies' was inspired by Sliding Doors (1998).
14. This episode takes place from June 25, 2007 to 2009.
15. When Donna runs into the city the UNIT officer referred to as Greyhound 15 is played by Clive Standen who also played a soldier with the code name Greyhound 15 in the two-episode story The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poision Sky earlier in the season.
16. In an earlier episode in the season, The Fires of Pompeii, Lucius Petrus Dextrus tells Donna that she has something on her back; possibly foreshadowing this episode.
17. The character 'Rocco Colasanto' shares a surname with the 'Colasanto' family, featured in Torchwood (2006), a spin-off of Doctor Who (2005)
18. Morganstern refers to the Judoon as rhinos in black leather. The old logo for Rhino Entertainment Company was designed by William Stout and is in fact a rhino in black leather.
19. Bernard Cribbins first appeared in Doctor Who in the 2nd non-canon Peter Cushing Doctor Who/Dalek movie.
20. The Simpsons: Lisa's Wedding (1995) (TV Episode) has been speculated to be an influence behind (#4.11): In (#4.11) The Doctor and Donna are at a marketplace and Donna encounters an fortune teller who shows Donna what her life could had been like if she never met The Doctor. In The Simpsons: Lisa's Wedding (1995) (TV Episode) The Simpsons are at Renaissance Fair and Lisa encounters a fortune teller who tells Lisa about a man she will fall in love with in the future.
21. The 3rd story in Series 4, in which characters make predictions about what happens to The Doctor and Donna: In Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008), Evalina predicts the Time Beetle on Donna's back, and, in Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood (2008) Ood Sigma calls The Doctor and Donna 'DoctorDonna'. In this story, Donna encounters a fortune teller who shows Donna what would have happened if the Doctor never met her, as a Time Beetle attaches itself to Donna's back and Rose Tyler warns Donna that the fabric of universe is collapsing and that only The Doctor can stop it. This sets the stage for Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (2008) and Doctor Who: Journey's End (2008), in which Rose Tyler returns and Ood Sigma, calling The Doctor and Donna "DoctorDonna", seals Donna's fate.

The Stolen Earth

1. The episode is a crossover between Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood (2006) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007). Writer Russell T. Davies described the crossover by saying "it's simply doing what kids do in their imaginations ... they would think nothing of having their Dalek toys battling Star Wars droids. Why not have all the factions of the Doctor Who universe going into battle together?".
2. The weapon that Jack grabs is the gun he made in 'Bad Wolf'.
3. The sub-wave network was developed by the "Mr. Copper Foundation" a probable reference to Mr. Copper in Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned (2007) (from the beginning of the season).
4. This episode marks the first on-screen appearance of the Shadow Proclamation, first mentioned in Doctor Who: Rose (2005). This episode reveals that it is an organization, not just a treaty.
5. The Stolen Earth is the first appearance of Davros since the 1988 serial Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks: Part Four (1988). Russell T. Davies postponed Davros' return as he thought that "Davros would dominate the Daleks... like plain robots, instead of the scheming geniuses that they are", and used the previous series to establish the Daleks' individual intelligence.
6. The filming block that contained this particular story as well as the next, Journey's End, took approximately 39 days to complete.
7. The word "Osterhagen" can be rearranged to read "Earth's gone".
8. Midshipman Alonzo Frame from 'Voyage of the Damned' was originally set to make a return appearance in earlier drafts of the script but was later dropped.
9. The scene in the Shadow Proclamation was originally planned to show many more aliens old and new including: Sycorax, Hath, Vespiforms, Krillitane, Gelth, Cybermen, Isolus, Graske, Hoix and even a giant adult Adipose. This was axed because it would have used up half the episode's allotted budget in about 30 seconds.
10. When The Doctor and Donna first arrive at the Shadow Proclamation, the Judoon and The Doctor exhange words in the Judoon's native tongue. This is one of only a few times in the show's history where alien language is not translated by the TARDIS. No explanation is ever given for the lack of translation in this instance. An audio story states this is because the language is too primitive for TARDIS translation.
11. Margaret Blaine, the Slitheen who was reverted back to an egg in season one was due to make a cameo in a scene with the Shadow Proclamation, and Annette Badland even recorded a line of dialogue but the scene was cut.
12. The most cast names (6) to appear in the opening credits of Doctor Who
13. Alonso Frame's original role in the story was that he would appear when the Doctor and Donna travel to the Shadow Proclamation, assisting them in dealing with his superiors there. He would then journey with them in the TARDIS to the Dalek Crucible, only to be exterminated. His role was given to Harriet Jones.
14. It took a night to film Penelope Wilton's scenes.
15. Terry Molloy was considered for Davros. He played the role in Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as various audio productions.
16. The script originally featured a lengthy flashback chronicling Davros' youth on Skaro, his experiments on Kaled soldiers, and the explosion which disfigured him. This was previously dramatised in the Big Finish Audio series "I, Davros".
17. When the TARDIS is hurtling toward the headquarters of the Shadow Proclamation, a scene is reused from "The Parting of the Ways" where the Ninth Doctor flew the TARDIS into battle against a Dalek fleet, which bombarded it with torpedoes. Coincidentally, this episode is also centred around a major Dalek conflict.
18. To portray Davros, Russell T. Davies cast Julian Bleach after his performance as the Ghostmaker in the Torchwood (2006) episode Torchwood: From Out of the Rain (2008).
19. In the Torchwood (2006) universe, this episode takes place between Season 2 and Children of Earth.
20. Richard Dawkins, who cameos as himself in Series 4's penultimate episode, was at the time married to Lalla Ward, who had played one of the Doctor's previous companions, Romana, during Tom Baker's tenure and was also married to Tom Baker in the early 1980s.
21. There was originally a scene where a Dalek Saucer landed at Westminster and one in which the Daleks exterminated the Prime Minister, Aubrey Fairchild, before the Dalek invasion force emerged from the saucer.
22. Bernard Cribbins' first encounter with Daleks since the non-canon "Daleks--Invasion Earth 2150" (starring Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who"). Cribbins played a police officer, not Wilf.
23. Davros has a robotic right hand. In the backstory behind it: Davros lost his right hand when he was shot in the hand by Bostock, the squire of the Knight of the Grand Order of Obion Orcini at Tranquil Repose on the planet Necros. (See: Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks: Part Two (1985) (TV Episode)).
24. The role of Gen. Sanchez was written for a man in his forties, but played by a man in his sixties: Michael Brandon.
25. David Tennant (The Doctor) & Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) also worked together on two episodes of Broadchurch (2013) as Alec Hardy and Claire Ripley respectively.
26. This episode takes place in 2009.
27. Richard Dawkins' cameo was originally written as an unnamed scientist.
28. The staircase which Donna is sitting on at the Shadow Proclamation is the same staircase on which Owen Harper fights death in Torchwood Season 2 Episode 7 Dead Man Walking.
29. Philip McGough recorded alien voices for a scene that was never filmed.
30. First appearance of Kelly Hunter as Shadow Architect. Shadow Architect later reappeared in Doctor Who: The Magician's Apprentice (2015).
31. Penelope Wilton appeared in The Norman Conquests with Patrick Troughton's son David who appeared in Midnight
32. Eve Myles has played two different characters over the course of the series: Episode 4.13 Doctor Who: Journey's End (2008) - Gwen CooperEpisode 4.12 Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (2008) - Gwen CooperEpisode 1.3 Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (2005) - Gwyneth
33. Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (2008) and Doctor Who: Journey's End (2008) are considered to be the "Infinity War" of Doctor Who (2005). "Infinity War" was a 6 part comic book published by Marvel comics.
34. Nova Prime and the Nova Corps from the Marvel comic book "Guardians of the Galaxy" are considered as possible major influences behind The Shadow Architect and The Shadow Proclamation. In "Guardians of the Galaxy", Nova Prime is the chief of an intergalactic police force called the Nova Corps. The Shadow Proclamation is also an intergalactic police force led by The Shadow Architect whom is a woman.
35. When the Doctor mentions a previous plan to steal the Earth, he may be referencing the classic era Doctor Who story The Dalek Invasion of Earth (season two, with William Hartnell as the Doctor), when the Daleks plan to turn the Earth into a spaceship. The story was also made into the non-canon film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. with Peter Cushing as the Doctor.
36. The scene depicting Wilfred Mott firing a paint ball pellet at a Dalek was inserted at the suggestion of Bernard Cribbins; he thought it would provide comic relief in between heavy exposition. Cribbins explained that impairing their vision would be "common sense" owing to the Daleks' lack of limbs and cycloptic nature. The Dalek's response - evaporating the paint ball and replying "My vision is not impaired" - removed a weakness the Daleks had exhibited since their first appearance in Doctor Who: The Dead Planet (1963).
37. Twenty-seven planets are stolen by the Daleks including Earth, Jahoo, Shalakatom, Pyrovillia (Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008)), Adipose III (Doctor Who: Partners in Crime (2008)), and the Lost Moon of Poosh (Doctor Who: Midnight (2008)), Klom (Doctor Who: Love & Monsters (2006)), Woman Wept (Doctor Who: Boom Town (2005)), and Callufrax Minor (Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet: Part One (1978)).
38. Last ever appearance of Harriet Jones.
39. Sarah Jane encounters Davros again after meeting him in Genesis of the Daleks. The last time she saw him, he was attacked by Daleks. This explains why she is surprised that he's alive
40. Julian Bleach, who plays Davros, also appeared in the Whoniverse after this two parter. He played The Nightmare Man in the Sarah Jane Adventures two parter of the same name, and plays Davros again in The Magicians Apprentice/The Witches Familiar, the opening two parter to series 9 of Doctor Who

Journey's End

1. The original script contained the following dialogue for the scene in The Crucible. Rose: "So how was that sentence going to end?" The Doctor: "Which one?" Rose: The one that started with 'Rose Tyler'?" The Doctor: "'...it's cold out.'" Rose: "Seriously!" The Doctor: "Does it really need saying?" Rose: "Yes." Davros: "Such intimacy with your companions, Doctor. So different from the man I once knew."
2. The Doctor's asking Gwen if she's from an old Cardiff family is a reference back to Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (2005), in which Eve Myles played the clairvoyant Gwyneth.
3. The original ending featured the Doctor in the TARDIS, when a scanner begins receiving a strange signal, prompting the Doctor to launch into his traditional "What? What? What?" response, after which two Cybermen suddenly rise up behind him - a cliffhanger. Russell T. Davies explained that the cliffhanger ending was dropped in response to comments by Ben Cook, a writer with Doctor Who Magazine, who stated a cliffhanger was inappropriate after such a sad series of scenes. Had the Cybermen scene been kept, this would have marked the first time since Doctor Who: Doomsday (2006) that both Daleks and Cybermen had appeared in the same episode, and the first time Cybermen would have appeared in the same episode with Davros.
4. The full dialogue for the German Daleks is as follows: "Exterminieren! Exterminieren! Halt! Sonst werden wir Sie exterminieren! Sie sind jetzt ein Gefangener der Daleks! Exterminieren! Exterminieren!" This translates as: "Exterminate! Exterminate! Stop! Or you will be exterminated. You are a prisoner of the Daleks. Exterminate! Exterminate!".
5. The BBC considered ending the revived series after David Tennant's tenure as The Doctor, as he had become a national treasure with his performance as The Doctor. But outgoing producer Russell T. Davies advised the BBC that the programme should keep going.
6. Bernard Cribbins has appeared alongside the Daleks before in the 1966 film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966) which Peter Cushing was Doctor Who.
7. The Doctor mentions to the shadow proclamation someone tried to move the earth before, and then says, "No, it can't be". He's possibly referring to when the Time Lords moved the earth and changed the name to Ravalox during the 1986 episodes of the "Trial of a Time Lord". It can't be, because all the Time Lords are now gone.
8. The musical score that is being played when the TARDIS tows the earth home is the same musical arrangement for the "Song" that the Ood sing after the circle has been broken (Planet of the Ood), only with different percussion.
9. The scene where the Daleks are speaking German is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that Terry Nation based the Daleks on the Nazis.
10. Davros states that he and Sarah Jane had met on Skaro, in reference to Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part Two (1975).
11. Series 4 had a recurring theme ("Prediction"). In Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (2008), The Sybilline Sisterhood are a cult of soothsayers. Evelina predicts truths about The Doctor and Donna (their real names) and that Donna has something on her back (A Time Beetle). In Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood (2008), Ood Sigma tells The Doctor that his song will end soon (The Tenth Doctor's regeneration into the Eleventh Doctor) and in Doctor Who: Turn Left (2008) Donna meets a fortune teller who shows Donna what her life could have been if she had never met The Doctor and a Time Beetle attaches itself onto Donna's back (which Evalina predicted).
12. The original script contained the following dialogue between Rose and Davros: Rose: "What happened to you? I mean, your face... your eyes..." Davros: "Do you pity me, Ms. Tyler?" Rose: "Someone must have, once."
13. First regular season finale to not end on a cliffhanger leading into the Christmas Special. However, a teaser for the special is featured after the end credits.
14. This episode takes place in 2009.
15. The Doctor's recollection that "somebody tried to move the Earth before" is possibly a reference to the plot of 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' (1964), foreshadowing the realisation that the Daleks are again involved.
16. David Tennant (The Doctor) & Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) also worked together on two episodes of Broadchurch (2013) as Alec Hardy and Claire Ripley respectively.
17. Eve Myles has played two different characters over the course of the series: Episode 4.13 Doctor Who: Journey's End (2008) - Gwen CooperEpisode 4.12 Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (2008) - Gwen CooperEpisode 1.3 Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (2005) - Gwyneth
18. According to the original script, the Doctor was to give Rose's Doctor a small piece of "coral" from the TARDIS so that he could grow his own TARDIS. This was filmed and survived until the last edit of the episode, but was ultimately cut because the production team felt it made the Bad Wolf Bay scene "too long and complicated". In addition, Davies decided it should not be seen to be so easy to produce another TARDIS.
19. When the Meta-Crisis Doctor holds Rose's hand as they watch the TARDIS disappear, he does it with his right hand - the only part of the original doctor.
20. The Osterhagen key would destroy the Earth. The word, 'Osterhagen', is an anagram of the phrase, Earth's gone.
21. Originally, Donna was to hear the sound of the TARDIS dematerialising and a brief look of recognition registered on her face before being dismissed. This shot was dropped at the suggestion of Julie Gardner who reminded Russell T. Davies that it had just been explicitly stated that if Donna remembered anything about the Doctor she would die.
22. Following her appearance, Elisabeth Sladen was quoted in several interviews as saying she expected this to be her final appearance on Doctor Who (2005). As it happened, she would make one final cameo appearance in "The End of Time Part 2".
23. Those shown in flashback who die for the Doctor are Harriet Jones who dies in this episode, Jabe from Doctor Who: The End of the World (2005), The Controller from Doctor Who: Bad Wolf (2005), Lynda Moss from Doctor Who: The Parting of the Ways (2005), Robert MacLeish from Doctor Who: Tooth and Claw (2006), Mrs Moore from Doctor Who: The Age of Steel (2006), Colin Skinner from Doctor Who: Love & Monsters (2006), Ursula Blake from Doctor Who: Love & Monsters (2006) (who did not die but was left permanently disfigured and incapacitated), Bridget Sinclair from Doctor Who: Love & Monsters (2006), Face of Boe from Doctor Who: Gridlock (2007), Chantho from Doctor Who: Utopia (2007), Astrid Peth from Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned (2007), Luke Rattigan from Doctor Who: The Poison Sky (2008), Jenny from Doctor Who: The Doctor's Daughter (2008) (who is, in fact, not dead, but the Doctor is unaware of this), River Song from Doctor Who: Forest of the Dead (2008) (Though only her body is dead. The Doctor preserves her mind in the computer of The Library), and the Hostess from Doctor Who: Midnight (2008). It could be argued that out of all of these flashbacks, Jenny's death affects the Doctor the most, since her flashback is the only one with sound.
24. Although it is explicitly stated that the Doctor did use a full regeneration's worth of energy to heal himself (using his severed hand to contain the surplus that would have changed his appearance), Russell T. Davies went on record saying the Doctor did not waste a regeneration. This was subsequently contradicted during Steven Moffat's tenure, with the Eleventh Doctor explaining that "Ten regenerated into himself" at one point.
25. The outfit the Meta-Crisis Doctor wears mirrors both Rose's outfit from this season (by having a blue jacket over a red shirt) as well as the Ninth Doctor's outfit (with a similar type of shirt with a jacket over it) from Series 1.
26. Dalek Caan foretold the death of the favorite companion, which actually did happen. To protect her, all memories of her travels with the Doctor were erased from her mind when the Doctor brought her home. Donna, as a companion was dead.
27. Davros wouldn't appear in Doctor Who (2005) again until The Magician's Apprentice (2015).
28. After the part-human/part-Time lord Doctor gets dressed, it turns out that he is wearing the blue suit, the complete opposite of the brown suit, which the original Doctor is wearing.