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Doomsday (Doctor Who)

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177b – "Doomsday"
Doctor Who episode
The Daleks, the Cybermen and Torchwood battle in Canary Wharf, in the first Dalek–Cyberman encounter and conflict in the show's forty-three year history.
Cast
Others
Production
Directed byGraeme Harper
Written byRussell T Davies
Script editorHelen Raynor
Produced byPhil Collinson
Executive producer(s)Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
SeriesSeries 2
Running time2nd of 2-part story, 45 minutes
First broadcast8 July 2006
Chronology
← Preceded by
"Army of Ghosts" 		Followed by →
"The Runaway Bride"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006. The two-part story features the Daleks, presumed extinct after the events of the 2005 series' finale; and the Cybermen, who appeared in "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel". Both species unexpectedly arrived on Earth at the conclusion of "Army of Ghosts".

The concept of the Daleks and the Cybermen both appearing on-screen was first proposed in 1967, but was vetoed by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks. The episode is the first conflict between the two species in Doctor Who's 45-year history, and features Billie Piper's last appearance in the lead companion role as Rose Tyler and the final regular appearances of Noel Clarke as Rose's ex-boyfriend and previous companion Mickey Smith, and Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall as Rose's parents Jackie and Pete Tyler. The episode was filmed in December 2005 and January 2006, alongside the episodes "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel".

The plot consists mostly of the Daleks and Cybermen waging a global war with humanity caught in the crossfire. The Doctor, the Tyler family, and Mickey Smith fight for their lives trying to revert the situation. They are successful, but at an emotional cost to the Doctor and Rose as they are split apart in separate universes.

The episode is one of the most popular Doctor Who episodes since the show's revival. It was nominated along with "Army of Ghosts" for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, which was won by the fourth episode in the series, "The Girl in the Fireplace". It shared the new series' highest Audience Appreciation rating of 89 with "The Parting of the Ways", "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" until 28 June 2008—"The Stolen Earth" gained a AI rating of 91;[1]—and is favoured by most critics for both the Cybermen–Dalek conflict and the farewell scene between the Doctor and Rose.

Synopsis

The episode's opening continues from the final scene of "Army of Ghosts"; Dr Singh (Raji James), Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) are trapped in a sealed room within Torchwood Tower. Four Daleks, accompanied by a device known as the "Genesis Ark", have emerged from the void ship.[2] A Dalek Supreme called Dalek Sec extracts information about Earth from Singh, killing him in the process. He discovers that a separate invasion is in progress, and sends Dalek Thay out to investigate. The Cybermen, who took control of Torchwood, detect the Dalek technology and offer an alliance. The Daleks decline, and the two species declare war on each other.

While discussing humanity with the Doctor (David Tennant), the Cyber Leader is destroyed by a strike team led by Jake Simmonds (Andrew Hayden-Smith), from the same universe as the Cybermen. Jake takes the Doctor to his universe and a parallel Torchwood. Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) tells him that the Cybermen vanished and they have followed them. Pete shows the Doctor how the breach has caused a significant rise in the alternate Earth's temperature, and that it must be closed before the damage destroys both worlds. The Doctor, Pete, and Jake return to the other universe and approach the Cybermen with a truce against the Daleks.

Meanwhile, Rose tells Mickey they were kept alive because, as time travellers, their touch would activate the Ark. Sec explains that the Cult cannot open the Ark because it is stolen Time Lord technology. He demands that Rose open it, but she refuses, and goads the Daleks with her knowledge of the Time War's conclusion and the fact she annihilated their Emperor[3] until the Doctor appears. Upon realising that the Daleks are the Cult of Skaro, he uses his sonic screwdriver to break the seal on the room, allowing the humans to escape while the Cybermen attack the Daleks. In their haste, Mickey accidentally activates the Ark. The Daleks escape the initial wave of Cybermen and travel with the Ark to the exterior of Canary Wharf to release the Ark's contents: millions of Daleks who were imprisoned during the Time War. The Daleks descend on London. The Daleks and Cybermen begin fighting all over the world.

The Doctor and his companions flee into the tower. En route, Pete rescues Jackie from upgrading and the couple are reunited. The Doctor realises he can open the breach into the void once more that will pull in all those who have crossed the void, including all of the Cybermen and Daleks, as well as himself and Rose due to their previous travel there. The Doctor forces Rose to return with Pete, Mickey, Jake, and Jackie to the alternate universe where they will be safe, but Rose returns and insists on helping the Doctor with his plan. They hang onto a pair of magnetic clamps as they pull two levers simultaneously and open the breach. Cyberman and Dalek alike are drawn back into the tower and into the breach, though the four Cult of Skaro Daleks escape through an "emergency temporal shift". Rose is forced to let go of the clamp in order to secure her lever in place; after pushing it back into position, she loses her grip and begins to fall into the void. Pete appears in time to grab her, and safely returns with her to the alternate universe. The breach is soon sealed, leaving both the Doctor and Rose devastated.

Some time later, Rose has a dream where she hears the Doctor's voice calling her. Rose, her parents, and Mickey follow the voice to a remote bay in Norway called Bad Wolf Bay, where an image of the Doctor appears, which he is harnessing the power of a supernova to transmit through one of the final breaches. Because the breach is going to close permanently in two minutes, the pair share one last conversation. Rose breaks down in tears and tells him that she loves him, but as the Doctor starts to reply, the breach closes for good. Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor is shown with tears on his cheeks. He eventually regains his composure, wiping away his tears, and sets a new course. He looks up to see a woman in a wedding dress (portrayed by Catherine Tate), who demands to know where she is.[4]

Production

Conception

The concept of the Daleks and Cybermen appearing together on screen is not new; in December 1967, the BBC approached Terry Nation to have both races in a serial, but Nation vetoed this idea. The concept came to Davies while mapping out the 2006 series: the story would both serve to resurrect the popular Daleks and provide a suitable exit for Piper, who had decided to leave Doctor Who.[5] "Doomsday" is the first episode in the history of Doctor Who where the Cybermen and the Daleks appear on-screen together; both Cybermen and Daleks were featured in The Five Doctors and "Army of Ghosts", but in separate scenes.[6][7]

The two-part finale was originally going to take place in Cardiff on the time rift which was the focus of the episodes "The Unquiet Dead" and "Boom Town". When Torchwood was commissioned in 2005, Davies decided to base the spin-off in Cardiff and relocate "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" to Canary Wharf in London.[5]

An item of discussion between the production staff was over who would rescue Rose; Davies and Julie Gardner wanted Pete to rescue her, while Clarke and Phil Collinson wanted Mickey. The position was ultimately given to Pete, to emphasise that he had accepted Rose as a surrogate daughter.[5] The Doctor's intended reply to Rose was also discussed; Davies, who left the reply unspecified, stated he didn't know when asked by Collinson on the commentary, and Gardner vehemently believed the Doctor would reciprocate Rose's love.[8]

Some elements of the story were inspired by Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Pullman was "flattered" by the references in the episode, and compared Davies' actions to his own practice of referencing works.[9]

Filming

Southerndown beach in Wales was used as the backdrop to the Doctor's farewell to Rose Tyler on Bad Wolf Bay.

To ensure that Clarke and Dingwall were available for filming, the story was filmed in the season's third production block with "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel". Filming for the story started on 2 November 2005 on location in Kennington, but did not become the primary focus of the production crew until 29 November, when filming began on the scenes in and around the sphere chamber. The scene of the Tylers driving through Norway was filmed at Bridgend on 6 December. Scenes in the lever room, the main setting for the story, were filmed between 12 December and 15 December, and 3 January and 5 January 2006. Greenscreen work for Rose being sucked into the void took place on 13 January and the skirmish between the military and Cybermen on the bridge was filmed on 15 January.[5]

Other location shooting took place at the Coal Exchange and Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay.[10]

The penultimate scene of the episode, the Doctor's farewell to Rose, was filmed on 16 January 2006; the last day of filming for Clarke and Dingwall. As with all scenes set at Bad Wolf Bay, these were in fact filmed at Southerndown beach, Vale of Glamorgan.[11] Piper's last scene was Rose's reunion with the Doctor in "The Satan Pit" on 31 March,[12] but the shoot was rather emotional,[8] to the point there were several tears on set.[13] The last scene, Catherine Tate's appearance in the TARDIS as Donna Noble (credited as "The Bride"), was filmed on 31 March during the wrap party, and was the last usage of the TARDIS set that had been used since 2005. To ensure the secrecy of Rose's departure and Tate's appearance, only Piper and Tennant were given scripts of the departure scene, and director Graeme Harper was not informed of the final scene until the last possible second.[5]

Music

"Doomsday"
The beginning of the song "Doomsday".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

As well as using existing music such as the themes for the Daleks, Cybermen and Rose, Murray Gold specially composed a piece of music for Rose's farewell, entitled "Doomsday", which featured vocal work from Melanie Pappenheim. Instead of using the swelling violins that Davies and the rest of the production team had expected, Gold took a minimalist approach. When pitching the track to the production team, Gold described the track as representing Rose's unbridled energy and determination as she searches for the Doctor, later saying "I wanted to get that kind of throbbing, sort of hurt sound of quite emotional rock, because I thought that's what Rose would do if she was hurting and ran up to her bedroom and locked herself in her room and had a good old cry, really".[14] The piece uses the same vocal work from "Rose" when Rose first enters the TARDIS, thus creating a bookend effect.[14] It is a favourite among fans, especially executive producer Julie Gardner,[8] and is one of the reasons, along with Pappenheim's overall contribution and the song "Song for Ten" from "The Christmas Invasion", that the soundtrack of both series was released several months later.[15][16]

Broadcast, reception, and legacy

Broadcast and pre-airing media blackout

To protect as much information concerning the episode as possible, the final scene of "Army of Ghosts" was withheld, the BBC website's Fear Forecasters were not allowed to see the episode before its airing,[17] and access to copies was restricted. Despite this, the Dalek Sec prop, which had been previously unused, had invaded the stage at the 2006 BAFTA Television Awards while the production team were collecting an award.[8] A similar moratorium would be placed on the following series' finale "Last of the Time Lords".[18]

The episode's finalised average viewing figure was 8.22 million viewers and was, excepting World Cup games, the second most watched television programme of the week, behind an episode of Coronation Street, and eighth most-watched overall. The companion episode of Doctor Who Confidential gained just over one million viewers, making it the second most watched programme on a non-terrestrial channel that week.[19] The ratings for the episode were higher than the following World Cup match between Germany and Portugal, which had a million fewer viewers.[20]

Critical reception and later release

"Doomsday" is one of the most popular episodes of the revived Doctor Who. It gained an audience Appreciation Index of 89, which was the highest figure for nearly two years; it was surpassed by "The Stolen Earth", which had an Index of 91;[1][21][22] and is the first episode of Doctor Who to receive a perfect 10 rating on IGN,[23] who congratulated Davies on making an action-packed episode so emotional.[24] Television Without Pity gave the episode an A+ rating.[25] The Stage commented that the Dalek-Cybermen conflict was the "only thing worth watching" at the weekend, overshadowing even the World Cup Final, and that the parting scene was "beautifully written and movingly played", with "not a dry eye in the universe".[26] Dek Hogan of Digital Spy stated that the episode was "beautifully balanced and with moments of high excitement and touching poignancy" and that the single oil tear shed by the Cyberman version of Hartman was a "nice touch", but criticised Catherine Tate's appearance as being unnecessary to end the episode and for "breaking the mood".[27] Stephen Brook of The Guardian thought that the episode was "a highpoint of the modern series, highly emotional, scary and genuinely exciting", Rose's departure was "brilliantly handled", and positively compared the episode's plot of a war between "the greatest monsters in the programme history" against the film Alien vs. Predator.[28]

After its initial airing, the episode was released on DVD with "Fear Her" and "Army of Ghosts" on 25 September 2006.[29] It was first aired on CBC Television on 19 February 2007.[30] The story ("Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday") was one of three from the second series of Doctor Who to be nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form; the other stories nominated were "School Reunion" and "The Girl in the Fireplace",[31] the award won by the latter.[32]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Stolen Earth - AI and Digital Ratings". Outpost Gallifrey. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-06-30. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  2. ^ Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson (2006-07-01). "Army of Ghosts". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Writer Russell T Davies, Director Joe Ahearne, Producer Phil Collinson (2005-06-18). "The Parting of the Ways". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson (2006-12-25). "The Runaway Bride". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Sullivan, Shannon (2006-11-15). ""Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"". A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  6. ^ Writer Terrance Dicks, Directors Peter Moffatt, John Nathan-Turner (uncredited), Producer John Nathan-Turner (1983-11-23). The Five Doctors. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC1. {{cite serial}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson (2006-07-01). "Army of Ghosts". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c d Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson. Commentary for "Doomsday" (mp3). BBC. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  9. ^ "Would Pullman write for Dr Who?". Newsround. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  10. ^ "Walesarts, Coal Exchange and Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay". BBC. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  11. ^ "Walesarts, Southerndown beach, Vale of Glamorgan". BBC. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Shannon. ""The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit"". A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  13. ^ "Episode 13: Finale" (Embedded Flash object). Doctor Who Confidential. BBC. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  14. ^ a b "Music and Monsters". Doctor Who Confidential. 2006-12-25. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Who soundtrack soon". BBC. 2006-07-17. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  16. ^ "Soundtrack details". BBC. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  17. ^ "Fear Forecast: "Army of Ghosts"". BBC Doctor Who website. BBC. Retrieved 2007-02-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ "What did Lizo think of Doctor Who?". CBBC. 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  19. ^ Lyon, Shaun (2006-07-20). "Doomsday Final Ratings, and Series Two Recap". Outpost Gallifrey News Page.
  20. ^ Hoskyn, Jane. "World Cup streaming fails to score". The Register; TV Scoop.
  21. ^ Marcus (2007-04-02). "Smith and Jones AI figure". Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
  22. ^ Marcus. "Search results for "Appreciation Index"". Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
  23. ^ "Television reviews; Score: 10". IGN. 2006-12-22. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  24. ^ Haque, Ahsan (2006-12-11). "Doomsday review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  25. ^ Clifton, Jacob (2006-12-31). "Hold the Line With Me: Doomsday recap". Doctor Who reviews. Television Without Pity. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  26. ^ Venning, Harry (2006-07-17). "TV review". The Stage. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  27. ^ Hogan, Dek (2006-07-09). "Horses for Courses". Dek's TV Diary. Digital Spy. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  28. ^ Brook, Stephen (2006-07-10). "Doctor Who: that was the year that was". Organgrinder. The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-01-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Doctor Who: Series 2 Volume 5". BBC Shop. BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  30. ^ "Vol 10, No 6". This Week in Doctor Who. Outpost Gallifrey; Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2008-01-07. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2007-02-09 suggested (help)
  31. ^ "Nippon 2007 Hugo Nominees". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  32. ^ "2007 Hugo Awards". thehugoawards.org. World Science Fiction Society. 2007-09-01. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
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