About
- Broadcast: 14 April 2007
- Viewers: 8.41m
- Availability: DVD Series 3: Volume 1
Synopsis
The Doctor takes Martha to the planet New Earth, in the far future. But when they find the streets being ruled by the sinister Pharamacists, they must brave the ordeal of the mysterious Motorway in order to discover the terrible secret at the heart of the city.
Credits
Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Richard Clarke
The Doctor – David Tennant
Martha Jones – Freema Agyeman
Brannigan – Ardal O’Hanlon
Novice Hame – Anna Hope
Milo – Travis Oliver
Cheen – Lenora Crichlow
Valerie – Jennifer Hennessy
Alice – Bridget Turner
May – Georgine Anderson
Whitey – Simon Pearsall
Javit – Daisy Lewis
Businessman – Nicholas Bolton
Sally Calypso – Erika Macleod
Ma – Judy Norman
Pa – Graham Padden
Pale Woman – Lucy Davenport
Pharmacist #1 – Tom Edden
Pharmacist #2 – Natasha Williams
Pharmacist #3 – Gayle Telfer Stevens
The Face Of Boe – Struan Rodger
Quotes
The Doctor: "The skies burnt orange, with the citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever. Slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow."
Martha: "Can we go there?"
The Doctor: "…Nah, where’s the fun for me?! I don’t want to go home!"
The Doctor: "This must be the lower levels, down the base of the tower, some sort of under-city."
Martha: "You’ve brought me to the slums!?"
The Doctor: "Much more interesting, it’s all cocktails and glitter up there! This is the real city."
Martha: "Thanks. But how far down is it to this fast lane?"
Milo: "It’s right at the bottom, underneath the traffic jam. Not many people can afford three passengers so it’s empty down there. Rumor has it you can reach up to 30 mph!"
Martha: "Wow, that’s like, crazy… But how’re you supposed to live inside this thing, it’s tiny!"
Cheen: "Oh, we stocked up! Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for excercise and there’s a chemical toilet out the back, and all waste products are recycled as food.
Martha: [drops biscuit] "OK…"
Valerie: "He’s completely insane!"
Brannigan: "That, and a bit magnificent!"
Face of Boe: "I give you my last…
The Doctor: "Hey, look after him! Don’t you go dying on me, you big old face! You gotta see this, the open road! Hah!"
The Face of Boe:" Know this, Time Lord…You are not alone."
Martha: "But what did he mean? The Face of Boe… ‘You’re not alone’?"
The Doctor: "I don’t know."
Martha: "You’ve got me. Is that what he meant?"
The Doctor: "I don’t think so. Sorry."
Notes
This episode takes place in the year 5,000,000,053 (five billion and fifty three). 30 years after the events of New Earth.
Russell T. Davies took inspiration for this episode from the fictional city of Mega City One featured in the Judge Dredd and 2000AD comics .
Third appearance of the Face of Boe. Previously seen in The End of the World and New Earth.
The "great secret" promised to The Doctor by the Face of Boe in New Earth is finally revealed – "You are not alone".
The second appearance of Novice Hame. She was last seen in New Earth.
The Macra first appeared 40 years ago in a 1967 Patrick Troughton Doctor Who story entitled, "The Macra Terror".
The hymn sung on the Motorway is "The Old Rugged Cross", and the song heard at the end of the story is "Abide With Me".