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"The Doctor's Daughter"
The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a device, being both the source of life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline.
Cast
()
()
()
Guest stars
– – Cobb – Cline – Hath PeckRuari Mears – Hath GableAkin Gazi – CarterOlalekan Lawal Jr. – Soldier
Production
Writer
Director
Script editor
Lindsey Alford
Producer
Executive producer(s)
Production code
4.6
Series
Length
45 mins
Originally broadcast
Chronology
← Preceded by
Followed by →
""
""
"The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the of series . It was broadcast on on .
/
Synopsis
Following on from the end of "", the takes the () and his () and () to the planet
in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath,
fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for
General Cobb () force the Doctor's hand in a , which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments — (),
the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the
Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans
because of the Doctor's
attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its
belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a
peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source",
believed by each side to be the breath of their . When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first.
The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological
daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is
also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their
journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising ,
Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date
building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the
humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation
machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander.
Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently.
The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming
agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of
Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. Dying
in the Doctor' arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that
they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if
she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at
gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a
pacifist society.
At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha
warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna
nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely.
Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath.
She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by
resolving disputes and fighting villains.
Continuity
In "" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once". The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been , the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in .
Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist
reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after
his regeneration in and ""; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode.
Production
Writing
Russell T. Davies has stated that this episode "", although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense. Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was 's idea.
[] Casting
Jenny shortly after emerging from the .
, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of actor and star . described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter." Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of in 2004 and a role in ""
in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was
entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series. Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story and drama series . In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn".
Broadcast and reception
Unofficial figures show that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by
6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television
audience. While most programmes received lower figures than the
previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience to bring it back over the 6 million mark. The top rated programme was still ITV1's although its audience was down by a million at 7.5 million. Doctor Who
was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest
share of any programme on Saturday. The episode receieved an score of 88 (considered "Excellent").
"The Doctor's Daughter" has received mixed reviews. Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of -era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to". For Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of 's featured on . Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a "
it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting",
Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so
enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "", seems too similar to that of the immediately prior to this adventure because both involve militarism and cloning. 's also notes the similarities with "" and "".
Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries
"to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the
"interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve"
resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or
the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".
Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem",
Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing
the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes
Moffett as "superb", with Berriman calling her "cute as a button". Berriman praises Tennant's performance,
but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts
that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take
shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time DVD
The Sontarans invade the Citadel of the Time Lords
Cast
()
()
()
Production
Writer
"" ( and )
Director
Script editor
Anthony Read
Producer
Graham Williams
Executive producer(s)
None
Production code
4Z
Series
Length
6 episodes, 25 mins each
Originally broadcast
–,
Chronology
← Preceded by
Followed by →
The Invasion of Time is a in the series , which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from to , . This serial features the final appearances of as the
//
Synopsis
The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. His
behaviour is unusual and has Leela thrown in jail and then expelled
from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent
a instigated disaster.
Plot
The returns to after meeting a group of aliens in space, bringing
and K9 with him. He is behaving very strangely and when the Chancellory
Guard under their Commander, Andred, arrive at the Panopticon Chamber
to interrogate him, the Doctor demands to be taken to Chancellor ,
who is now in charge of the Time Lords. The Doctor claims the vacant
Presidency of Gallifrey having previously been a candidate and, ,
is now automatically elected. Under law this request cannot be refused.
The Doctor then chooses a Presidential chamber and asks it be decorated
with lead lining throughout. Shortly afterward a ceremony is held to
swear him in as President of Gallifrey and he is presented with the
various trappings of office. However, when the circlet connecting him
to the Matrix, repository of all Time Lord knowledge, is placed on his
head, the Doctor collapses in pain.
The Doctor is taken to the Chancellor to rest and recover. When he
regains consciousness he reminds the Time Lords that no aliens are
allowed on Gallifrey and instructs that Leela be expelled from the
Capitol Citadel, where she will have to fend in the wastelands. She
tries to avoid banishment, but the Doctor is serious about this
banishment. The Doctor now retreats to the TARDIS where he shares a
secret plan with K9, but is obviously very concerned about the
situation he has found himself in. He is planning to aid an invasion of
Gallifrey itself and to this end sets about destroying the induction
barrier that defends the planet from external threat. K9 sets about
this task while the Doctor returns to the Panopticon, the great hall of
the Time Lords, and laughs cruelly as three alien beings start to
materialise.
The invading beings are known as Vardans. They appear as shimmering
manifestations who made an alliance with the Doctor some time ago, and
the Doctor advises the Time Lords, including the stubborn Borusa, to
submit to their new and powerful masters. The Doctor then asks Borusa
to meet him in his office, and when this happens the Doctor explains he
has had the lead walls installed to prevent the Vardans entering the
room on thought waves and reading his mind. He sent Leela away to
protect her, he explains, and is now able to work with Borusa to defeat
the Vardan threat. A new problem has emerged, however, with the
ascendancy of the obsequious and compliant Castellan Kelner, who is
being far too co-operative with the Vardan occupation. The toadying yet
ambitious Castellan soon has Borusa placed under house arrest and
starts a process of expelling trouble-making Time Lords from the safety
of the Capitol.
Leela has meanwhile kept her faith in the Doctor and reasons that if
he wishes her to leave the Capitol it is with good reason, so she
departs for the wastelands. She is accompanied by Rodan, a Time Lady
who previously maintained the transduction barrier. Theyare welcomed
warily by a tribe of outsiders who have rejected Time Lord society and
live in the wastelands. Their leader, Nesbin, explains some of the
background to his tribe. Back in the Capitol, however, things are
looking grim for the Doctor when Andred corners him and decides to
execute him in the name of liberty.
K9 helps the Doctor overpower Andred, and then explains the danger
and abilities of the Vardans to Andred, with his TARDIS providing a
shield to his thoughts. The Doctor is hoping to persuade the Vardans to
reveal their true form so that he can time loop their planet. Leela has
also organised her own resistance movement in the wastelands,
comprising Nesbin’s people and the exiled Time Lords, all of whom are
drilled into a fighting force which soon launches an assault on the
Capitol.
The aliens and Kelner have meanwhile decided the Doctor is behaving
in an untrustworthy manner. The Doctor reaffirms his loyalty to them by
agreeing to dismantle the final force field protecting Gallifrey from
attack. He does not fully disable it, but rather places a large hole in
it. The Vardans use the hole to properly invade Gallifrey and appear as
humanoid warriors. Their manifestation enables K9 to track down their
home planet and supply the Doctor with the correct co-ordinates. He
uses this to beam the Vardans back to their home world and then traps
it in a time loop. At about the same time Leela and her warriors reach
the Panopticon, but celebrations are shortlived when a Sontaran warrior
appears in the chamber.
Gallifrey has now been invaded by the Sontarans, led by Commander
Stor, who finds Kelner ever ready to pledge support, even if the other
Time Lords remain resistant. The Doctor and his party escape and the
Doctor uses his freedom to try and pressure Borusa into revealing to
him the location of the ,
a missing item of the Presidential regalia. They then regroup at the
TARDIS where Rodan is put to work using the TARDIS’ controls to repair
the hole in the forcefield. However, Kelner imperils their resistance
when he manipulates the stabiliser banks of the Doctor’s TARDIS to try
and destroy the resistance force within by hurling them to the heart of
a Black Star.
The Doctor manages to override the threat, so their enemies change
tack. The Sontarans, assisted by Castellan Kelner, gain access to the
Doctor's TARDIS and try to hunt down the President and his friends,
pursuing them through the labyrinthine corridors. Stor is after the
Great Key too, knowing the Doctor has now persuaded Borusa to yield it
to him. The Doctor uses distractions to buy time while he kills the
remaining Sontaran troopers. On the Doctor’s instruction, a hypnotised
Rodan and K9 construct a special forbidden Time Lord weapon: the Demat
Gun. Powered by the Great Key itself, the Demat Gun erases its victims
from time itself. The Doctor takes the Gun and confronts Stor in the
Panopticon. Stor intends to destroy the
with a bomb, but the blast is cancelled out by the Doctor with the
Demat Gun which obliterates Stor, wipes the Doctor’s mind of recent
events, and also destroys itself. Kelner is arrested and Borusa begins
the process of rebuilding Gallifrey.
The Doctor is ready to leave, but Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey
because she has fallen in love with Commander Andred, leader of the
Chancellory Guards. K-9 decides to stay behind to look after Leela. The
TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor reveals he is not alone: he pulls
out a box labeled K-9 Mk II and, breaking the , looks directly at the camera and grins mischievously.
Cast
— — Voice of — Chancellor — Castellan Kelner — Commander Andred — Gold Usher — Rodan — Lord Gomer — Lord Savar — Bodyguard — Castellan Guard — Guard — Nesbin — Ablif — Jasko — Presta — Vardans — , Stor — —
Cast notes
Gai Smith, now Gai Waterhouse, who played Presta, is now an extremely successful thoroughbred horse trainer based in , .
Continuity
Though Leela and K9 Mark I left the Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the novel by Marc Platt, and encounter the . Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 'Gallifrey' series of audio plays by .In addition, in his next on-screen , the
is heard to ask after her: "Tell me, what of my former companion
Leela?" He is informed that she is "well and happy". However, in the ,
we learn that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor thereafter
makes many references to all his family and friends having being killed.The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel by , in which
refers to this story by dismissing them as "the only race in history to
be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans".This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (1964's
notwithstanding). The majority of the final episode comprises a chase
inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas
beyond the more familiar roundells-on-white look, plus the spa/pool
area ('bathroom') and art gallery. The Doctor had been seen in an artist's smock, apparently 'redecorating'.In one of the few times in the series that the Doctor directly
kills anyone, he uses the de-mat gun to disintegrate the Sontaran
warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular
and stated aversion to firearms.In the Virgin New Adventures novel, ,
it is revealed that during the events of the episode the Doctor uses
the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a
recurring villain from the novels.
Production
The script is credited to , a pseudonym often used by the
for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On
this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read (the series' ) and Graham Williams (series ).This story was written as a replacement for another story, The Killers of the Dark by ,
which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script was
written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites. Additionally,
when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams,
having forgotten the exact title, made up the name "Gin Sengh", as in The Killer Cats of Geng Singh (or Geng Singh — the spelling being indeterminate), resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before
production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's
Hospital as BBC's Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the
regular studios.As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams was given the
option of not producing the final six episodes of the season and have
the money rollover into the next season. Williams rejected this because
of the additional problem of inflation that year and didn't want the
budgeted money to depreciate even further.Louise Jameson, who had already announced her departure from the
show, reportedly wished for her character, Leela, to be killed at the
end of the series, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to
stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script
suggests a romance between the two characters. The producers decided
that killing off her character would be too traumatic for younger
viewers.The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of
vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen
tripping through and over props. At one point, a Sontaran (ironically
played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a
short jump and landing on a pool chair. As the aliens originate on a
planet of notably high gravity, however, their clumsiness is easily
explainedIt was
who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two
segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and
the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into
the story at the end of episode 4.
In print
book
Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time
Series
Release number
35
Writer
Publisher
Cover artist
ISBN
0 426 20093 4
Release date
21 February 1980
Preceded by
Followed by
A novelisation of this serial, written by , was published by in February 1980.
Broadcast, VHS and DVD release
This story was released on a two tape set in March of 2000It was released onto on
with special features; The Rise & Fall of Gallifrey, The Elusive
David Agnew, Out of Time; a making of mini documentry, Photo Gallery,
Trails and Continuity, new CGI effects and a Coming Soon to DVD Trailer
of The K9 boxset featuring and .
It has also has been released in a boxset Bred for War (The Sontaran Collection) along with , and .
