A terrifying episode reminiscent of Midnight and Blink. I am so happy with these new episodes of Doctor Who episodes and so happy at how clever the storytelling. I should not have been scared but I was a little, watching this episode. It was delightful.
Warning! This contains spoilers!
Onboard a spaceship at the edge of the universe. the doctor and Donna try to get the spaceship running again when they meet a pair of dopplegangers that are slowly forming from the void of the universe. These life forms take time and brainpower to complete the copy and can hasten the process by terrorizing the Doctor and Donna, which has the side effect of increased heart rate, adrenaline and brain power. The only clue that the Doctor and Donna has is that a very bad and dangerous event is about to happen, an anachronistic, for the time period, robot, and a slow alien language that recites as the ship changes its walls and internal makeup. The also find out from the ships computer the door to the outside opened 3 years ago, closed and there are no life sign on board.
After multiple terrifying encounters with their dopplegangers, the Doctor and Donna manage to defeat their rivals and escape back to earth meeting Mr. Wilfred Mott, a very loved and favorite character played by the late Bernard Cribbins before they see that everyone is going mad. The show ends with this as a cliffhanger as they all enter the Tardis to escape.
Cool Terminology and trivia
HADS - Hostile Action Displacement System, a device on the TARDIS
The doctor knows 57 billion 205 languages.
Fewslaw. Coliss. Brate. Gilvane. Stond. Ratico.Vandeen. Blinss. Sensill. Tacsladia.10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,0
The doppleganger is a great trope and reminiscent of the Spiderman trope.
Characters of Interest
Dr. Who - Brilliantly played by David Tennant
Donna Noble - well acted by Catherine Tate
Not-things - formless, life forms from the edge of the universe. They can create mass from heat and in doing so, the area around them gets colder.
Wilfred Mott - Donna's maternal grandfather. Seeing him in this episode was heartwarming and reminded you of how well this character is played. We will all miss Mr. Bernard Cribbins.
Shaun - Donna's husband, mentioned but not in this episode
Rose - Donna's Daughter, mentioned but not in this episode
Mrs. Bean - Head of the Choir, got into an argument with Donna's grandfather about singing "Wild Blue Yonder"
Lingering questions
Who is "the Boss" that The Meep mentioned in the first episode?
Will the term Mavity instead of Gravity have a special meaning later or is it just for joviality?
Did the not-things die when the dopplegangers died or did they resume back to their shapeless form in the nothing?
Will hear here more mention of Camboolian Flat Mathematics?
The doctor will likely regenerate in the next episode and he says he should not have mentioned a superstition, specifically the one with salt at the edge of the universe. How will this have an impact?
Why did he come back with his Doctor #10 face?