WEBVTT NOTE This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 14:34:33 1 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.740 Hello, dear Lister, and welcome back to Flight Through Entirety, the only Doctor Who podcast where the Fat just walks away. 2 00:00:45.299 --> 00:00:47.100 And we're back. 3 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:48.359 I'm Nathan. 4 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:49.619 I'm James. 5 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:54.000 I'm Todd, and I'm Peter, and I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale. 6 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.700 I hate you so much. 7 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.039 I'm thin and beauty. 8 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:09.480 So it's been a couple of months since we killed Kylie and narrowly avoided crashing the Titanic into the royal family, so it's time for a return to business as usual. 9 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:16.859 A new companion, a new family and a new small to medium enterprise to undermine and ultimately explode. 10 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:21.120 It's the 1st episode of RTD's last Doctor Who series. 11 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:22.920 It's partners in crime. 12 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:39.299 So, let's start with Donna, I think. 13 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:45.000 Peter, how did you feel when you first heard that Donna was coming back for an entire season? 14 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:48.599 Well, I was actually spoil it on this fact very early. 15 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:56.099 I think, um, yeah, maybe just after series 3 had finished recording, um, and a friend rang me up and said, you'll never guess what. 16 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.579 Catherine Tate is back and she's going to be the regular for the entire season. 17 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.939 I was like, 0 my god, and we both sort of, you know, combusted on the spot. 18 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.939 But I knew that they would do something interesting with her. 19 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.280 I knew that she wouldn't be quite the same Donna that we'd seen in runaway bride. 20 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:15.479 There'd be more facets tour and more elements and they delivered on that in spades. 21 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.060 How did you feel, Todd? 22 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:19.740 I was concerned. 23 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:20.460 Yeah. 24 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:30.960 Because I hadn't really liked her very much initially, in her 1st appearance, well, certainly for about 20 minutes of the episode, she shouted her way through it, and then she got better. 25 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.080 So when it was announced. 26 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:36.060 I was like, okay, we'll see where this goes. 27 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:40.439 Um, I mean, I wasn't totally against it, but I was, you know, concerned. 28 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:41.939 And James? 29 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:45.840 Um, oh, I was, I was really excited. 30 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:47.819 I love Catherine Tate. 31 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:49.800 I've loved everything she's ever done. 32 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:57.539 Um, uh, she is just fantastic and, And she's a bloody good actress. 33 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:06.479 I think it is the biggest companion casting announcement since Bonnie Langford, and maybe those are the 2 big ones. 34 00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:08.099 Maybe since Jackie Lane. 35 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:10.319 Maybe since Jackie Lane and Bonnie Langford. 36 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:21.960 And it was criticised in the in the press at the time for being stunt casting that they were chucking her back in there because they were trying to broaden the appeal of the show. 37 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:24.719 What a terrible thing to do. 38 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:26.219 Oh, that's crazy. 39 00:03:26.219 --> 00:03:28.199 It was like, how very terrible. television. 40 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:30.300 I mean, yeah, let's try and broaden the appeal. 41 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:35.340 But yeah, so now you're like, it is great casting. 42 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:36.599 If you can get her back. 43 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.080 By all accounts, she loved working on the show. 44 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:43.259 I think she just loved working with David Tennant. 45 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:44.819 Isn't that the story? 46 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.740 Palpable chemistry on screen. 47 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:47.939 And they've been friends ever since. 48 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:48.780 Yeah. 49 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:55.740 And you can see it when they sort of did press appearances together and the way that they would fire back and forth and kind of bounce off each other. 50 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:56.520 It was just delightful. 51 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:01.439 I don't think I seriously believed it because I just thought she was too big. 52 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:08.759 Her show was still going on, so it meant, you know, months living in Cardiff, not doing the show, doing nothing other than Doctor Who. 53 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:13.500 And she's really, really funny in the commentaries. 54 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:17.399 Remember the podcast commentaries that they were making it this time? 55 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:18.959 been releasing on the BBC website. 56 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:25.019 Like the Santaran 2 parter and everything where she's just completely clueless about production, but Ishi. 57 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:25.620 Yeah, yeah. 58 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:26.160 Yeah, yeah. 59 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:29.100 I think it's I think it's actually, you know, a bit. 60 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:34.439 But she makes the claim that she thought that Doctor Who always just had Daleks in it. 61 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:38.339 Like she seems to have not known anything about Doctor Who, you know, really. 62 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.399 But it is incredible. 63 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:50.639 And I think what you said earlier, Todd, where she's big and shouty for 20 minutes in Runaway Bride, but then it's a much, much more interesting performance. 64 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:57.120 I think it's one of those things where comics often make the best dramatic actors and actresses. 65 00:04:57.240 --> 00:04:59.339 And in the back of my mind. 66 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:06.660 That's what I was thinking, that that's where we're going to go with this and she had the potential to be the most sensational thing ever. 67 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.420 And she was the most sensational thing ever. 68 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:15.660 I think that's the thing, is that to be a good comedian, you really do need to understand drama. 69 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:16.500 Yeah. 70 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:22.199 Like, you need to understand timing, which is very important in drama. 71 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:25.079 You need to understand how to carry an audience. 72 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:31.019 And she came up, what, around the same time slightly before the Little Britain boys. 73 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:32.759 She was doing stand-up. 74 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:37.259 Um, they, didn't they kind of rip her off for Vicky Pollard in a way? 75 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:38.339 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 76 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.980 Well, that's not for here. 77 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:51.839 Um, you know, she earned her, her um, her stand-up, her comedy chops and has pivoted quite well into other roles. 78 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:54.600 She turned up in the office a few years later. 79 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:55.800 Yeah, yeah. 80 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:57.420 Yeah, doing a character. 81 00:05:57.480 --> 00:05:58.199 The Unreal Office. 82 00:05:58.259 --> 00:06:02.339 The wrong one, the one that is being remade again by NBC, apparently. 83 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:08.939 I think they're not my companion crowd, the ones who are like, oh, she's just going to ruin the show and be over the top. 84 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:15.839 It shows a certain lack of imagination of what Russell would be able to do with a character like that played by an actress like that. 85 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:18.480 So people who are just like, oh, she's just going to be terrible. 86 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:20.819 She's just going to be terrible and pretty much hung on to that. 87 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:22.560 They're a very small minority. 88 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:29.819 And can I say, when I was doing the big polls for Doctor Who magazine, Donna came 2nd in the companion polls both times. 89 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:34.379 So this was up to 8 years after she left the show, 2nd only to Elizabeth Slayton. 90 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:46.740 It's funny too, because the show, the new show, introduces Sarah Jane Smith, and Donna Noble as regulars in the same way. 91 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:53.399 So they're investigating something, because they know that that's what the doctor would do. 92 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:58.379 And so Sarah Jane Smith turns up in school reunion at the school. 93 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:12.120 And here, um, Donna turns up at Adipose Industries because they know that the infiltrating an organisation that has some alien involvement is the sort of thing that the doctor would do. 94 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:21.959 And the most interesting thing I think about the way that she's introduced is that she's positioned as the doctor's counterpart. 95 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:23.459 She's the same as the doctor. 96 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:24.899 She's his partner in crime. 97 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:25.920 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 98 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:33.240 But she's more she's clever and more competent because she manages to infiltrate without having to break doors down and that sort of thing. 99 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:34.740 She's setting technology. 100 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.240 She just, yeah, she just... 101 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:37.560 Oh, yes, do, do. 102 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:41.220 So yeah, so she actually looks a lot more professional. than he does. 103 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:44.279 She doesn't need psychic paper or a sonic scrutiny. 104 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:46.079 But she does have psychic paper. 105 00:07:46.139 --> 00:08:05.699 The funny thing about it is, she's clearly, it's clear in that wonderful scene, which we'll talk about later, that scene with Sylvia, that she's got a job in health and safety, has got an ID, quit the job 2 days later, and she's seen flashing the ID in exactly the same way as the doctor very quickly with a couple of fingers over it. 106 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:06.899 Yeah, yeah. 107 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:08.339 And it's health and safety. 108 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:10.379 Like they both pose as health and safety. 109 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:17.160 And they're both infiltrating the same organisation at exactly the same pace and doing the same thing. 110 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:34.799 I'm not entirely sure that those scenes early on quite work, and I think it's James Strong's fault, because there are only a few scenes where it's very clear what their relationship spatially is to one another. 111 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:42.480 And the script is clearly written in such a way that they're supposed to keep missing one another, just by a hair. 112 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:46.259 But it's never very quite clear where spatially they are in relation to one another. 113 00:08:46.320 --> 00:09:01.500 They had such trouble filming that they kept stuffing up the timing and it took all night to get about 3 seconds of, I mean, I'm exaggerating there, but like they, all of that popping up, popping down stuff. 114 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:06.000 They kept they kept stuffing it up and they had to reshoot and reshoot and reshoot. 115 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:08.879 James, just do it as a split screen and they'd edit it later. 116 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:10.740 But that is the bit that works. 117 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:17.100 The bit where they're going up and down popping over the over the cubicle partitions and just missing one another. 118 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:17.879 That's all wonderful. 119 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:27.779 But when they approach the building, it's not clear. like it looks initially like they're walking towards one another and then it's not clear, like they're clearly going to different sides of the building. 120 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:32.340 There's another scene later at night where they're at that sort of intersection and they walk. 121 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.799 Which I do like because the last shot pays that off quite well. 122 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:35.700 Yeah. 123 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:36.299 Yeah. 124 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:38.879 So she's the doctor straight away. 125 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:51.539 And and that is obviously feeding into the arc this year, the Dr. Donna, which won't be actually sort of mentioned by name for another 2 episodes. 126 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:55.980 It's like the way they're constantly mistaken for a married couple. 127 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:04.440 The idea that they, that they have this sort of very, very close relationship, which ends up being a real kind of timey, whimey thing. 128 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.120 Which other people pick up on immediately? 129 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:07.019 Yeah, yeah. 130 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:22.860 I have to say as well, it's really nice, the fact that Donna's investigating this, like Sarah Jane did, is very indicative of the change in her character because old Donna, you know, new flavour of Pringle, text me, text me, Donna, would have been all over the adipose tablet. 131 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:24.720 She would have been one of the 1st customers. 132 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:38.700 She would have been there, swept up in the craze, whereas New Donna, who's sort of investigating and interrogating things and wants to change her life, is more interested by what is this and what's behind it rather than it supposedly does this. 133 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:42.120 Which is what makes her ultimate fate. 134 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:44.519 So devastating. 135 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:45.480 Of course, yeah. 136 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:47.700 That she goes back to. 137 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:53.039 Yeah, that like, you know, meeting the doctor made her a better person. 138 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:53.940 Yeah. 139 00:10:53.940 --> 00:11:00.059 And the fact that she basically dies at the end of the season is just horrific. 140 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:02.519 I still haven't forgiven Russell for it. 141 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:03.659 Spoiler. 142 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:04.620 Yeah, yeah. 143 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:15.059 So, can we talk about Donna and her mum? 144 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:27.659 Because I think the introduction of Will, and I think everyone's probably familiar with the story of the fact that it was meant to be Donna's dad from Runaway Brides, but sadly, the actor was very ill and passed away. not long after. 145 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.960 And so they brought in Bernard Cribbens and made him her grandad. 146 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:35.100 Um, that scene on the hill between them really warms Donna up. 147 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:41.220 It allows her to kind of come back down to earth and gives her a few more facets because of his obvious love for her. 148 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:56.639 Um, but her mum, uh, that scene in the kitchen, that very well shot scene where Donna's just sitting there staring into space and her mother's this whirl of activity kind of moving around her. um, and she's haranguing her. 149 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:58.559 And she's really mean. 150 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:04.200 Like everything that she says, she sort of pokes her face into Donna's and really gets up in her business. 151 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:06.539 And you think, yeah, this is dreadful. 152 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:10.200 You can see why Donna previously hasn't had any ambitions. 153 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:13.500 She's been ground down by kind of everyday bullying. 154 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:15.720 Although I like the intention of that scene. 155 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:23.159 I actually don't like the way it shot because Sylvia just seems to be, um, cleaning the same 3 spots all the time. 156 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:25.019 Don't you think Sylvia might do that? 157 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:26.100 I don't know. 158 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.799 I just, every time I watch it, I just go, can you, can you do something different? 159 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:30.539 You can be putting things away in the cupboard? 160 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.100 But I just don't like the way it's shot. 161 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.080 Hermogadons just kicked in. 162 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:40.379 I think it's a good way of indicating that this is what happens to Donna all the time. 163 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.840 So she's just sitting there like... 164 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:43.799 A time lapse of weeks. 165 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:44.759 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 166 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:49.860 I mean, it is clearly not meant to be a time lapse of weeks, but it does give the impression that this is how Sylvia treats her. 167 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:54.659 I think Sylvia is incredibly good and she's already good in Runaway Bride. 168 00:12:54.899 --> 00:13:07.440 Yeah, it's amazing because last season, you get off a bit on the wrong foot with Francine, she's a much harsher character, but coming back to this, I still warmed Sylvia, even though she's nagging away. 169 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:10.139 And I think that's an interesting difference. 170 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:18.779 And I like the fact that we then sort of go to Donna on the Hill talking to her, her grandfather and she's so much calmer and there's just a warmth there. 171 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:25.740 And I think at that moment, you know, the character is that different and there's a completely new side to her. 172 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:27.899 And so by that time, I'm completely on board. 173 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:29.639 Yeah, yeah. 174 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:32.759 I think that that seems a little bit on the nose in places. 175 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:34.679 Like, Donna's given. 176 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:36.659 You seem to be drifting. 177 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:42.899 Yeah, it's all just a little bit kind of too obvious, but just the warmth between the 2 characters. 178 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:48.240 It's not just the fact that Wilf loves Donna, that sells Donna to us. 179 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:50.220 It's that Donna loves Wilf as well. 180 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:59.460 And the 2 of them have this little oasis outside where they can escape being nagged by Sylvia because Sylvia nags Wilf as well. 181 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.740 Like, she's all over Wilf too. 182 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.580 I think we discover later that she won't let him have a webcam. 183 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.399 You know, she's... 184 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:14.460 Later on, she's sort of bustling him out the door and telling him to get outside with his thermos and things. 185 00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:23.220 And, you know, she's his daughter. but she sort of bosses him around and kind of doesn't really respect him. 186 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.139 I love the family dynamic. 187 00:14:25.379 --> 00:14:29.340 And it's the thing that Russell does so incredibly well. 188 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:32.940 I mean, you know, that's what Russell brings to the show. 189 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.799 I've been missing that ever since. 190 00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:47.279 Yeah, I think, you know, Chipnell has learned from the best and has certainly attempted to do that with Yaz's family, with some success, I think, but they're just not in it enough. 191 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:48.299 Yeah, they're not in enough. 192 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:54.240 I think Yaz's mum is played by an actress who could deliver if she was given some material. 193 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.559 Pilate. 194 00:14:55.620 --> 00:14:59.159 But I think Jackie King playing Sylvia. 195 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:01.080 She's responsible for a lot of that Walt. 196 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:09.059 She really manages to convey the fact that this is not a mean woman at her heart, that she just acts cruelly and doesn't even realise it. 197 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.919 Yeah, is that relationship. 198 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:15.179 We do get to see her out on the town with the Wednesday girls and she's there. person. 199 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:16.200 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 200 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:17.820 And she's wonderful in that too. 201 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:24.539 And it's a return of having the family menaced by the aliens, which is great. 202 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:33.299 I have always read the way that she behaves post Runaway bride as. 203 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:42.179 This is like she's nastier in series 4 at the beginning than she is in Runner Boy Bride. 204 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:45.240 And I think that's, I read that as her husband's died. 205 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:56.220 She's, yeah, gone through trauma. and she's putting on this sort of angry face because that's the way she's getting through the day. 206 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:57.179 I agree with you. 207 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:02.639 And but also to say, you know, he's gone and you got to live your life and what are you doing? 208 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:03.539 Yeah. 209 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:05.220 It's it's kind of funny, isn't it? 210 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:06.659 Because the seams show a little bit. 211 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.860 They don't talk about the death of Jeff until later in the season. 212 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:19.440 It does get a mention and obviously it's mentioned in the end of time part 2 in a scene which just never fails to make me bore my eyes out. 213 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:21.120 Oh, lovely. 214 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.120 I won't dwell or not here or we'll be a mess. 215 00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:44.940 But when Wilf says, you know, you've had a difficult year to Donna, it's that funny old Christmas and poor old what's his name, Lance, but not, and plus your dad died, because they aren't rewriting the script at this point, they're just getting him in to kind of reshoot those scenes. 216 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:49.200 And maybe it might have been worth saying something like that early on. 217 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.740 I don't think it, I don't think it's a problem. 218 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.700 I think for us who've seen her before and the dad we can read into that. 219 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:57.720 Yeah, yeah. 220 00:16:57.779 --> 00:17:05.940 But also, I read that as, because at the time I had not read that he had died. until after I'd seen the episode. 221 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:13.259 I read that as, oh, the character's gone, but they're not talking about it because they're being very British and avoiding dealing with the emotion. 222 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:14.039 Yeah, yes. 223 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:16.079 So I think it works either way. 224 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:16.740 Yeah. 225 00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:23.339 Like, it could be that they're just avoiding talking about that because it's just too hard for them to cope with because he has just died. 226 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.519 And those are the scenes that that actor did. 227 00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:29.579 Like those were actually shot, weren't they? 228 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:32.039 They exist, they might be... 229 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:32.759 They're on the extras. 230 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:33.240 Yeah, yeah. 231 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:35.519 I think there's something unsaid there maybe as well. 232 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:48.599 When Donna's explaining to the doctor and she says, you know, I was going to go off and enjoy life, I was going to go and run around the pyramids barefoot, is what she's not saying, the fact that she started to do that, but then had to come home because her father was ill. 233 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:50.220 I mean she's just not addressing that at all. 234 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.140 I mean, it works. 235 00:17:52.200 --> 00:18:02.940 It does work in a way, and it is, again, Russell's just incredible insight into people, because that's how resolutions work, isn't it? 236 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.059 We all kind of say this year I'm going to do this. 237 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:11.099 This year I'm going to, you know, lose a kilogram every evening, this year. 238 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.380 You know, I've got a little tablet. 239 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.319 This year I'm going to exercise this year. 240 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:22.799 I'm going to be nicer to the dog, you know, all of those things and then life takes over and it doesn't happen. 241 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:25.200 Wait, you're going to be nicer to your dog. 242 00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:26.339 Yeah, no it's not possible. 243 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:46.019 I think two, you know, there is that change in the way that Donna is portrayed, where she doesn't do quite so much shoutiness, you know, in the other plot, in the non-family plot, in the proper sort of science fiction-y plot. 244 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:50.220 Uh, she is sort of just much cleverer. 245 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.700 And that was the thing that Lance said, you know, she couldn't find Germany on a map. 246 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:01.019 But she is clever and she's good with people and they've obviously given her an environment that she's used to. 247 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:04.559 She's a temp, so here she is infiltrating an office. 248 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:24.779 Um, And I guess the big moment at the end is where the doctor realises that he and Donna are the same, you know, he needs 2 of these tablets in order to defeat Matron Foster's dastardly plan, but he doesn't have one and he thinks that everyone's going to die. 249 00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:39.480 But of course, Donna has one for exactly the same reason that he has one because they're the same, you know, and together they are, you know, they're given a photo defeat, whom they can only defeat together. 250 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:41.579 Yeah, because they've done the same thing. 251 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:46.019 I love that shot too, when the camera pulls in and out and they move back and forward. 252 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:47.819 Yeah, the Hitchcock shot. 253 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.579 Yeah. it's a bit leisurely isn't it? 254 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:51.900 Do you know what I mean? 255 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:55.619 A 1000000 people are dying, but Donna gets to kind of make a big point. 256 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:00.299 Doesn't she even pause 3 seconds looking pleased with the self-proportionate? 257 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:05.339 And even, even, even the pull Zoom is leisurely. 258 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:06.779 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 259 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:08.640 Very kind of... 260 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.380 They've only got so much track. 261 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:14.099 Yeah, they couldn't do that too quickly. 262 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.200 They'd go flying into the back of the studio. 263 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.539 Exactly, take an eye out of Phil Collinson. 264 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:20.759 The other thing that they introduce. 265 00:20:20.819 --> 00:20:30.180 And it is sort of there in the runaway bride, but I think it's going to be Donna's biggest feature for the entire season is how compassionate she is. 266 00:20:30.660 --> 00:20:36.539 How incredibly deeply she feels for other people. 267 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:42.299 And we will talk more about this next week and the week after, but it comes up over and over again. 268 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:47.940 And it's in that scene with Stacy, which I just think is so great. 269 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:53.400 So the doctor and Donna, of course, go and interview someone who's taking the pills. 270 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:56.460 Their plan to infiltrate is exactly identical. 271 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:02.220 The doctor goes to see Sir Roger, who doesn't seem to be particularly fat, but maybe he's been taking the pills for a while. 272 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.140 Well, he, a kilo a day. 273 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.599 He must have been on it for like 30 days at least. 274 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:08.279 Because he's very thin. 275 00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:09.599 He is very thin. 276 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:12.240 And then she goes and sees Stacy. 277 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:26.700 And it's so such a rustly thing to have the detail that Stacy, who is still fat and still like not conventionally attractive, and wearing kind of daggy makeup and stuff. 278 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:28.140 I think she looks fabulous. 279 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:31.019 But um, and she's not going on a date. 280 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:31.980 She hasn't decided. 281 00:21:32.099 --> 00:21:32.880 I've lost all this weight. 282 00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:34.740 I'm gonna go and get myself a man now. 283 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.599 It's like I've lost all this weight. 284 00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:38.759 I'm going to dump this guy and get someone better. 285 00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:40.559 But Donna assumes that. 286 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.779 It's so good. 287 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:44.640 And Stacy is wonderful. 288 00:21:44.700 --> 00:21:46.440 That whole scene is so real. 289 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:48.779 Well, it's what Russell does best. 290 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:55.319 I mean, those 2 characters, they're drafted in like 3 or 4 lines and you totally know them in their entire lives. 291 00:21:55.380 --> 00:22:01.740 But also something that Russell does a lot, which is... 292 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:02.940 Well, there's that, yes. 293 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:07.500 But making you love a character in a few lines and then horribly murdering. 294 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:08.279 Yeah, yeah. 295 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:21.240 Can we also talk just as a little addendum about the 2 people in the call centre for adipos wearing their headsets because Russell always does this. 296 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:29.579 He loves casting, attractive young people working in call centres with headsets and things on, who then interact with the regulars, and one of them will always fancy the doctor. 297 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:36.059 There's actually there's a line in there that's almost almost a reference to Paradise Towers. 298 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:36.720 Really? 299 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:39.779 When, you know, UB Health, RB safety. 300 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:40.319 Okay? 301 00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:44.519 He says, oh, that's against paragraph 9, subsection C. 302 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:49.019 That is that's actually quite a saucy come on, isn't it? 303 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:52.740 It's like, is she, is she, are they going to time what another arm? 304 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.119 Is that what she has in mind? 305 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:57.960 And then, of course, you know, he has to come back to her. 306 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:02.759 But it is cute how cute those 2 people are. 307 00:23:02.819 --> 00:23:05.099 And, you know, again, it works. 308 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:11.579 They're slightly different from one another in exactly the way they approach the tone of their approach, but basically they're doing the same thing. 309 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:16.859 It's a real throwback to army of ghosts with Adiola and her 2 cute sidekicks. 310 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:17.579 Yes, yeah. 311 00:23:17.579 --> 00:23:20.220 We all know what happened to them. 312 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:25.740 But it's so sad that Stacy gets horribly killed. 313 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:30.240 And like that whole scene when it's all happening is that adipose are coming out and thinking, oh my goodness. 314 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:34.740 And then, it appears, and you can't help but love it. 315 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:42.480 Yeah, it's Russell doing that incredible pivot that he does from sadness to comedy because they're funny. 316 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:52.920 And just the one, the one that's in the sink, like that, that's kind of pushes open the casement window and then just drops out the window after sort of waving goodbye. 317 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:54.960 Well, if the happiness patrol taught us anything. 318 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:57.539 It's the happiness and sadness are 2 sides of the same choice. 319 00:23:58.019 --> 00:24:09.119 But it's just so cute from the, from the waving at fat to the skipping, to the sliding down, tooth, tooth bang, just sliding down on the, the, the cab. 320 00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:10.980 To getting run over by the cab. 321 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:13.200 Do you think? 322 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:23.160 Do you think that when they came up with massive for Lord of the Rings, they thought that one day that it was going to be used to, anime, tiny little fat creature? 323 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:23.759 Yeah, yeah. 324 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:31.680 So massive is like a software package that enables you to create crowd scenes. 325 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:35.099 And so it was used in Lord of the Rings to create all the orcs and all of that sort of thing. 326 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:35.940 And here. 327 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:43.079 So we've never had quite so many little monsters and things kind of walking around in the street. 328 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:46.380 And you can see that they're all slightly different from one another. 329 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:47.460 They all move differently. 330 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.440 They all look the same, but just creating a sort of convincing milling crowd of things. 331 00:24:52.500 --> 00:25:02.279 And that's the 1st time Doctor Who uses that, we've had CGI creatures before, but not sort of quite so many of... 332 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:03.420 Yeah, yeah. 333 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:22.740 And, and like Russell based them, didn't he, on, there was an ad for like a breath freshener or something that had tiny animated, like a little animated donut and a little animated slice of pizza that sort of skipped along and they were sort of supposed to be cute, but were actually somehow really rather horrific. 334 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.859 He claims he based them on the Pillsby doughboy. 335 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.180 Oh, okay, yeah, yeah. 336 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:27.539 Yeah. 337 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:31.319 But I mean, they're just, they're tremendously great, aren't they? 338 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:35.220 And it's nice that they're not a threat to... 339 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:44.039 I don't buy a lot of Doctor Who merchandise in terms of like some people go for little Doctor Who figurines and stuff and I just, it just doesn't interest me. 340 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:46.019 But I bought an adipose. 341 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:47.099 Oh, well, yes. 342 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:49.559 The only thing I've got, which one? 343 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:53.339 The latex one, the fluffy one or the glow in the dark one. 344 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:55.380 Well, it's getting a little bit personal, James. 345 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.779 Why not all pushy toy? 346 00:25:58.140 --> 00:26:01.019 There was one which was like a stress ball. 347 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:03.240 Because maybe that's stressful material? 348 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:03.660 Yeah, yeah. 349 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:14.039 So there's 2 other characters I'd like to talk about. 350 00:26:14.099 --> 00:26:16.380 One is Penny and one is Miss Foster. 351 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:26.460 So if we go with Penny first, apparently Russell had planned a companion called Penny, when he didn't know that, um, Catherine Tate was going to come back. 352 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:35.460 And so we've got an investigative journalist here called Penny, who's probably not the same character as probably what's left of what he developed. 353 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:41.519 But I just think it's hilarious that she keeps getting tied up all the time and discovered. 354 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:42.960 And I just, I just laugh. 355 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.240 I don't know when everything happens to her. 356 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:47.819 I just think you poor sad woman. 357 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:58.259 So Russell's idea of the next companion was always going to be that she was older and that there wouldn't be a romantic relationship between the doctor and the companion. 358 00:26:58.319 --> 00:26:59.640 That was always going to be the thing. 359 00:26:59.700 --> 00:27:01.740 She was going to be in her 30s. 360 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:11.640 I think in the writer's tale, Russell imagined that if it wasn't the BBC, she would be smoking, she would have recently had a relationship breakup, I think. 361 00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:16.140 And so it was going to be a little bit more kind of adult. 362 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:20.460 And she described her as strong-willed in the vein of Donna Noble. 363 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:21.119 Yeah, yeah. 364 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:23.460 Yeah, well, this sounds like surrogate for Donna, doesn't it? 365 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.539 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 366 00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:24.900 Yeah. 367 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.160 So, Penny. 368 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:41.579 And there's a sort of feint, isn't there, where we think that Miss Foster has twigged that Donna has infiltrated adipose industries and she keeps talking about she and we'll wait and we'll get her and all of that sort of thing. 369 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:47.940 And then Donna's hidden in the toilet, where she has that fantastic conversation with Sylvia over the phone. 370 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:57.180 She's hidden in the toilet and then Miss Foster and her attractive bodyguard and her 2nd even more attractive bodyguard come in. 371 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:01.140 And we think that Don has been rumbled and Donna thinks that she's been rumbled. 372 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:05.880 But it turns out that Penny's been hiding in the loo, just sort of 2 or 3 cubicles are. 373 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:09.119 It's almost as if the casting director was gay. 374 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:16.619 I like the fact that because Donna was whispering on the phone that Penny 2 cubicles away didn't know she was there. 375 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:18.000 Well, she was whispering. 376 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:19.319 Also, did you notice? 377 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:24.359 On the back of the door and in the toilets, there's actually a sign for the restaurant her mother's eating him. 378 00:28:24.420 --> 00:28:25.500 Oh, really? 379 00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:25.859 Okay. 380 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:26.339 Okay, okay. 381 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:27.119 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 382 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:27.599 Whoops. 383 00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:30.839 The little one down the bottom saying, PS, the stars are going out. 384 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:34.079 And did you notice the bees? 385 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:36.720 Ah, yeah, we get the bees. 386 00:28:36.779 --> 00:28:38.279 So what do we have? 387 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:39.480 Let's do a checklist. 388 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:42.900 What do we have of the sort of arc concepts here? 389 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:50.759 We have the doctor and Donna are the same, which is not as explicit as it becomes later, but it's the thrust of the episode. 390 00:28:50.819 --> 00:28:52.259 We have the bees. 391 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:55.200 He talks about the shadow proclamation. 392 00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:56.339 The shadow proclamation. 393 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:00.359 Adipose 3 has gone... has disappeared, a planet has gone missing. 394 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:07.259 And it's quite funny, actually, because it talks about the 1st family losing one of their breeding planets. 395 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:13.319 And then she says, but I don't go into the politics of it as if they've lost it in some kind of border dispute. 396 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:16.380 Yeah, to sort of throw you off the scent in a way. 397 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:23.220 And then, of course, you've got the big reveal, the end of the episode, which was successfully kept hidden at the time. 398 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:25.200 So how did they do that, Peter? 399 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:28.680 They edited that scene out of the previews that were shown to the press. 400 00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:30.779 Also, it was filmed a lot later. 401 00:29:30.839 --> 00:29:32.460 It was filmed with turn left. 402 00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:33.420 Was? 403 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:33.839 Yes. 404 00:29:33.900 --> 00:29:34.319 Okay. 405 00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:45.660 So that's where Donna is dropping the keys in the bin, which again, I think is just wonderful in a little low-key way that she can torment Sylvia in revenge. 406 00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:48.660 Make your fish around in the garden. 407 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.500 She had to buy new car because the bins had been empty. 408 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:59.460 It's good that Rose doesn't get any lines because I think she was probably still working in those dentures. 409 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:02.759 She looks very weird. 410 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:07.079 It is a sort of odd shot, but I do like it and the music is sort of particularly good. 411 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:09.960 And then having her walk away and vanish as she walks away. 412 00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:11.640 And it's got a real resonance. 413 00:30:11.700 --> 00:30:14.700 If you're not expecting Rose to turn up, that is a massive shock. 414 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.220 No, I certainly remember being shocked by it. 415 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:18.299 Yeah, chills. 416 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:19.740 Yeah, yeah. 417 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:21.960 Yeah, you kind of you caught your breath, didn't you? 418 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:27.180 It's one of the better reveals of... 419 00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:31.740 And it's wonderfully shot because the hold on in close-up on the back of her head. 420 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.579 You are there calculating in real time going, is that, is that? 421 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:37.259 And then she turns it is. 422 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:51.839 It's funny, it's hard to believe that Russell didn't go into this knowing that this would be his final full season because so many things happen this year, you know, that make you think that he's kind of rounding everything off. 423 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:55.740 Does he know at this stage that he's not doing a season next year? 424 00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:03.539 I think he probably does because wasn't Stephen Moth that approach to take over in early 2008. 425 00:31:03.779 --> 00:31:05.519 So they would have still been shooting the season. 426 00:31:05.579 --> 00:31:12.180 Yeah, they were prepping series 5 from, was it, like early to mid 2008. 427 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:19.559 They'd actually started pre-production on the 5th series whilst they were filming series 4. 428 00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:24.299 And then, you know, gave him an extra year to do it. 429 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:25.259 Yeah. 430 00:31:25.259 --> 00:31:32.279 So, like, which is why they spaced out the, the special 5 episodes over the following year. 431 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:35.880 It's the longest production run of the new series still, isn't it? 432 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:39.420 Like, from the beginning, before which of the damned to the next doctor. 433 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:40.200 Yeah. 434 00:31:40.259 --> 00:31:44.099 Well, actually, no, isn't it all the way through to the end of time? 435 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:55.200 I, no, I, I may be wrong, but I think that there's a big break between um, the next doctor and Planet of Fair, because I think that's when David Tennant is um, Hamlet. 436 00:31:55.259 --> 00:31:55.980 Yeah. 437 00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:00.299 And is he still deciding whether to stay at that point or is he... 438 00:32:00.539 --> 00:32:00.779 Yes. 439 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:19.740 Stephen Moffatt talks about the fact that he had discussions with David, and David, who had decided to go with Russell, was wavering and thinking, maybe I will come back for one more season, and Stephen had plans to make season five, David's last season, and we have just had to have made minor tweaks to the arc to make it work. 440 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:20.579 Right, right. 441 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:33.359 At 2346, the greatest comic moment in the history of Doctor Who occurs. 442 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:35.940 I know where you're going with this. 443 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:45.299 Obviously, it's the doctor and Donna discovering each other across from the windows and mouthing their whole conversation. 444 00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:46.980 At the time, it was... 445 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:48.720 I took my breath away. 446 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:51.480 It took my breath away, and I just couldn't stop laughing. 447 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:53.039 And that is old, Donna. 448 00:32:53.099 --> 00:32:55.380 That's big old, loud donner, isn't it? 449 00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:05.400 But they, you know, it's engineered in such a way that she can't actually be loud because she can't be hurt, but she's doing these big, you know, reactions. 450 00:33:05.460 --> 00:33:09.180 They actually add-libbed that on the day. 451 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:09.779 Really? 452 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:14.700 I mean, it was planned for them to do that interaction, but they're not sticking to the script at all. 453 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:16.019 I love her. 454 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:22.619 I read it on the internet and her miming the internet by doing sort of exaggerated typewriter thing. 455 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:24.839 Like a massive muppety gaping faces. 456 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:25.980 And she says, no. 457 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:29.099 She just holds it far beyond what any normal human would. 458 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:30.059 It's amazing. 459 00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:33.119 And the doctor's reaction is super weird as well. 460 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:36.059 It's kind of like, he's not really that excited. 461 00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:38.880 Oh, hurricane. 462 00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:46.140 We talked a little bit last year about how David Tennant's kind of blazing performance sometimes overshadowed Freemaragements. 463 00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:47.819 I don't think there's any danger of that. 464 00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:57.000 Actually, in some ways, her being quite a strong willed actor levels him out a bit. 465 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:13.559 He actually brings his performance down because she is so animated and so front in the scene that he actually steps back and lets her play quite a lot. 466 00:34:13.619 --> 00:34:31.860 I don't completely agree with you Not all the time, but I actually think that you're right in that he lets her play, but I then think it does have impacts during the season as I've been watching that his performance that we always think about all of his teeth, gnarly and all of his over the top stuff, which I remember is really front and centre this season. 467 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:35.039 It gets worse as the season goes along, in my opinion. 468 00:34:35.099 --> 00:34:37.920 I seem to remember getting sick of some of his ticks. 469 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:48.179 That thing where he glues his tongue to the roof of his mouth when he's speaking and just a few other things, which I just kind of think, you know, those things are a bit tiresome. 470 00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:58.199 And I have heard people suggest that it's a bit of a vicious circle that they or a sort of positive feedback loop that they outbig each other a little bit. 471 00:34:58.260 --> 00:35:05.639 But I do think that they work well together and you're not going to get a restrained performance from tenant as the doctor. 472 00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:15.360 His shtick is that he'll do that occasionally in moments of great emotion, but mostly he's being big and it is even in story. 473 00:35:15.420 --> 00:35:16.679 It's a performance. 474 00:35:16.739 --> 00:35:19.019 You know, the doctor is a mask. 475 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:23.579 The doctor is a performance, and it's tenant that kind of introduces that. 476 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:26.639 And so having these sort of 2 big characters. 477 00:35:26.699 --> 00:35:29.519 I just think they're really enjoyable to watch and so maybe I don't care. 478 00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:31.500 Super enjoyable. 479 00:35:31.559 --> 00:35:33.059 Yeah, I find tenet irritating. 480 00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:35.039 I've said this before from time to time. 481 00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:40.019 But watching this season watching ahead, I haven't got quite to the end yet. 482 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:46.619 But I am finding watching the 2 of them together really, really quite enjoyable. 483 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:52.559 It's so great that they hold it to like 20 minutes into the episode because it just pays off in spades. 484 00:35:52.619 --> 00:35:54.300 You just want them to be together. 485 00:35:54.360 --> 00:36:01.260 And of course, they're stopped by recognising that Miss Foster has caught on. 486 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:04.199 And I think she gives a wonderful performance as Supernanny. 487 00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:13.800 Well, in fact, there's that Donna is in the middle of pulling a face when she notices, when she notices Miss Foster, and she just holds that look. 488 00:36:13.860 --> 00:36:16.199 And you're left sort of going, how long? 489 00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.559 They actually been watching them at this conversation. 490 00:36:19.619 --> 00:36:25.500 And you can see the performance working there because a little bit earlier when Donna catches sight of the doctor. 491 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:28.079 They're both focussed on what Miss Foster is doing. 492 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:30.539 There's no need for them just to take a look around. 493 00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:37.199 And so Catherine Tate does this thing where she does just a, oh, I'm bored now, kind of glance askew, and that's where she notices the doctor. 494 00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:38.280 That's great. 495 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:41.940 He's like, let's talk about Miss Foster then. 496 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:44.219 She has a sonic device. 497 00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:44.940 She does. 498 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.519 And when you put 2 sonic devices together. 499 00:36:47.579 --> 00:36:48.840 Hilarity ensures. 500 00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:51.059 It's it's kind of funny. 501 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:55.920 We've probably forgotten the super nanny because that's 10, 11 years ago now. 502 00:36:55.980 --> 00:37:00.239 But the super nanny had those black rimmed glasses. 503 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:02.099 Do you remember the show? 504 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:03.119 Yeah. 505 00:37:03.179 --> 00:37:10.199 Yeah, um, I think I was living in the UK at the time series 4 was on. 506 00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:14.940 Yeah, no, I was living in the UK at the time, so I had seen Super Danny on television. 507 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:16.320 So I got out here. 508 00:37:16.380 --> 00:37:17.940 It was on out here and it was huge. 509 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:19.260 I didn't have Foxtell. 510 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:19.619 Right. 511 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:21.239 Super Nanny was big. 512 00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:27.539 And I used to love it because, you know, I don't have children and it used to make me feel really great about that. 513 00:37:28.860 --> 00:37:38.880 And I was in a position where I could side with the children and it was sort of painfully obvious to me that their poor behaviour was always the result of the parents' bad parenting. 514 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:49.860 And then one of those genres of reality TV that I really like is where someone nice comes in and helps people kind of deal with a horrific situation. 515 00:37:49.920 --> 00:38:00.780 And so Marie Kondo and perhaps, you know, nothing more than queer eye, which is just 5 sweet, lovely men come in and help you fix your life. 516 00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:03.420 I just love that genre of TV. 517 00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:05.340 So I was a bit of a fan of the super nanny. 518 00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:07.860 Russell was deliberately referencing that. 519 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.840 I think he described the characters cross between Supernanny and Ava Perron. 520 00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:20.820 Well, when she puts her arms up, like to be taken away and then... 521 00:38:20.820 --> 00:38:22.320 And then her wily coyote moment. 522 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:23.159 Oh my god. 523 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:32.579 And she, she, Sarah Lancashire said, I kind of saw her as an evil version of Mary Poppins. 524 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:33.360 Yeah. 525 00:38:33.420 --> 00:38:34.079 Yeah. 526 00:38:34.139 --> 00:38:35.579 No, it's fantastic. 527 00:38:35.639 --> 00:38:40.199 I, like, I think she's one of the best one-off villain characters. 528 00:38:40.739 --> 00:38:43.980 It's a very Sarah Jane villain, isn't it? 529 00:38:44.039 --> 00:38:47.579 Like that sort of woman with her sort of hair tied back and glasses or? 530 00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:52.920 Who's the villain in time heist, Miss Del Fox, who has her law? 531 00:38:52.980 --> 00:38:53.579 Kelly Hawes. 532 00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:54.119 Yeah, yeah. 533 00:38:54.179 --> 00:38:57.420 And Celia Immery in The Bells of St. 534 00:38:57.420 --> 00:38:57.780 John. 535 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:00.000 It's a thing that we go back to, isn't it? 536 00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:01.440 A strict woman. 537 00:39:01.500 --> 00:39:02.760 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 538 00:39:02.820 --> 00:39:03.659 But she is the best. 539 00:39:03.719 --> 00:39:05.820 I mean, Sarah Lancashire is great. 540 00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:09.599 I mean, she was very famous from Coronation Street playing a very popular character. 541 00:39:09.659 --> 00:39:11.159 And she's brilliant. 542 00:39:11.219 --> 00:39:14.760 And, you know, just like she's very thin compared to everybody else. 543 00:39:14.820 --> 00:39:18.480 And did anyone else catch the line where she says she's the adipose's wet nurse. 544 00:39:18.539 --> 00:39:21.059 Yes, so she's breastfeeding the adipose. 545 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:21.960 Is that what that means? 546 00:39:22.500 --> 00:39:24.420 Oh, no. 547 00:39:24.420 --> 00:39:27.239 I didn't just notice that. 548 00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:28.619 Oh, that's terrible. 549 00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:39.480 I like, um, two, it's that RTD thing where it's not alien races that are evil, so much as sort of individual members of a species. 550 00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:41.820 So this is the adipose 1st family. 551 00:39:41.880 --> 00:39:43.619 So they're sort of royal. 552 00:39:43.679 --> 00:39:45.239 So obviously they're evil. 553 00:39:45.300 --> 00:39:48.900 And here they are sort of seeding our planet. 554 00:39:48.960 --> 00:39:56.280 And then the other thing is too, every spaceship in the RTD era is sort of dramatically different looking. 555 00:39:56.340 --> 00:39:59.400 And here they've just gone for close encounters of the 3rd kind. 556 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:00.780 With the noise and everything. 557 00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.860 I really think it's nice that this foster is an evil too. 558 00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:11.579 At the end, she just doesn't want them to interfere with her plan. 559 00:40:11.639 --> 00:40:19.199 And so when she's being drawn up before her wily coyote, drop to earth, she says to the doctor and Donna, oh, I really hope we won't meet again. 560 00:40:19.260 --> 00:40:22.019 It's quite palsy, really, now that she's got what she wanted. 561 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.619 Well, except that she does try and kill a 1000000 people at one. 562 00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:27.960 But she was just doing her job. 563 00:40:28.019 --> 00:40:31.500 Oh, and that's where you lose the right to even talk to me, James. 564 00:40:34.980 --> 00:40:36.300 I don't agree with that. 565 00:40:36.360 --> 00:40:40.199 But yeah, I mean, it's and that's a deliberate thing as well. 566 00:40:40.260 --> 00:40:47.400 It's like, she doesn't see herself as evil because she is just doing her job and no we're not going to mention the Nazis. 567 00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:51.300 A little pasta no genesis never hurt anybody. 568 00:40:51.480 --> 00:40:53.159 It doesn't hurt. 569 00:40:53.219 --> 00:40:54.719 Just pop out of existence. 570 00:40:54.780 --> 00:40:58.019 And also, who wouldn't kill a 1000000 people for that degree of weight loss. 571 00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:02.039 Well, in fact, I think that they really do. 572 00:41:02.099 --> 00:41:05.880 Um, like the bit where the doctor says Actually, it's not a bad plan. 573 00:41:05.940 --> 00:41:13.019 Like, you know, imagine if she come to earth and said, I actually have these diet pills and I promise not to kill you and make sick adipose. 574 00:41:13.079 --> 00:41:13.920 I would have been fabulous. 575 00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:14.880 I'd have been right on it. 576 00:41:14.940 --> 00:41:25.380 And of course, it comes back later in the season as well, where, well, in turn left, where Titanic crashes into London destroys the south of England. 577 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:30.360 And so the adipose Target America, and 60000000 people die. 578 00:41:30.420 --> 00:41:31.679 Yeah, yeah. 579 00:41:31.739 --> 00:41:42.719 So, so we do see that her plan is horrifically evil and the doctor has to stop it, but we don't really hate her because she's sort of rather camp and sort of fabulous, I think. 580 00:41:42.780 --> 00:41:49.800 Let's talk about the scene where the doctor and Donna in that sort of cradle, the cleaning. 581 00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:50.760 The window cleaning cradle. 582 00:41:50.820 --> 00:41:51.300 Yeah, yeah. 583 00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:55.380 Because that's when we see her with her Sonic Divine. 584 00:41:55.440 --> 00:42:03.000 And it is that kind of thing where the doctor says, it'll be fine because she won't have a sonic device and then she would cut to her wielding her Sonic device. 585 00:42:03.059 --> 00:42:06.179 And stuffing up all the continuity as well. 586 00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:07.199 Oh, why? 587 00:42:07.500 --> 00:42:16.440 That shot keeps accidentally being flipped either in post-production or because they kept forgetting which way they were shooting. 588 00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:22.019 So, um, between shots, the why that she's cut flips. 589 00:42:22.019 --> 00:42:22.739 Oh, really? 590 00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:29.519 And also the Sonic screwdriver keeps swapping sort of which way is oriented in David's mouth. 591 00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:33.420 It is a great scene. 592 00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:35.699 Russell talks about it in the writer's tale, doesn't he? 593 00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:50.699 Because he says, this, we're going to be filming, and I'm writing a script where there's a lot of detailed action and not that much dialogue, which is something that Doctor Who hasn't been able to manage much before, I don't like the end of that scene. 594 00:42:50.760 --> 00:42:52.500 Oh, which end? 595 00:42:52.619 --> 00:42:55.019 Well, when Donna's hanging on for an eternity. 596 00:42:55.079 --> 00:42:57.360 I mean, she's got the best grip and arms. 597 00:42:57.420 --> 00:43:03.179 Like she should be plummeting to her death by the time the doctor gets down and then there's a cheek to get her actually into the window. 598 00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:04.559 That is a terrible cheat. 599 00:43:04.619 --> 00:43:05.099 That scene. 600 00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:06.000 It's so terrible. 601 00:43:06.059 --> 00:43:07.019 Like she's hanging. 602 00:43:07.079 --> 00:43:10.199 He's like one floor too low down or something. 603 00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:15.900 And so he's grabbing her by her calves and it's kind of like, she lets go. 604 00:43:15.960 --> 00:43:17.280 How does she not plummet to a dick? 605 00:43:17.340 --> 00:43:20.159 She's got incredibly strong. calm. 606 00:43:20.219 --> 00:43:23.820 So he's got great upper body strength and he really doesn't. 607 00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:25.860 Such a thin, thin man. 608 00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:35.639 Do you remember that scene from the original Crystal Reeves Superman movie where he gets Lois Lane, which is falling and he says, don't worry, I've got you and she says, you've got me. 609 00:43:35.699 --> 00:43:36.300 Who's got you? 610 00:43:36.659 --> 00:43:37.980 Yes. 611 00:43:38.099 --> 00:43:44.039 I mean, I think they try and give Donna something to hang on to that's sort of more substantial than just a robe. 612 00:43:44.099 --> 00:43:47.940 So to try and justify the fact that she's left hanging there for a long time. 613 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:49.800 But that would cut your hands up. 614 00:43:49.860 --> 00:43:54.179 But it is, it's just a sort of, it's like a piece of metal that doesn't seem to be sharp. 615 00:43:54.239 --> 00:44:01.619 So it does give her a sort of substantial thing to hang on to, but keep on justifying it. 616 00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:06.960 I'm sorry, I don't buy it for a second. mine is one point. for me for this episode. 617 00:44:07.019 --> 00:44:13.079 But it does give her time to yell about how much she hates the doctor and to kind of regret doing what she's doing. 618 00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:17.400 And it's wonderful that just a 2nd later once she's in the building. 619 00:44:17.460 --> 00:44:21.840 All of that's gone and she's, you know, back on board and having sort of fun adventures. 620 00:44:21.900 --> 00:44:34.980 And that's, that's the kind of moment when you see that, the way that she behaved previously in the runaway bride, at least the way they're reconning it now, because she's a continuing character. 621 00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:37.260 That was all a front. 622 00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:42.960 That was all an armour that she put up against the world because it had hurt her a lot. 623 00:44:43.019 --> 00:44:51.480 Yeah, so maybe the runaway bride, you know, the end of the runaway bride promises some changes for Donna, doesn't it? 624 00:44:51.539 --> 00:44:53.880 Like she's she's going to become the doctor. 625 00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:54.780 She's going to travel. 626 00:44:55.260 --> 00:44:59.460 And so bringing her back is a little bit of a disappointment in a way. 627 00:44:59.699 --> 00:45:03.840 But she is still a better person already. 628 00:45:03.900 --> 00:45:05.760 And she's fully prepared. 629 00:45:05.820 --> 00:45:07.320 I mean, that boot in the car. 630 00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:12.780 The hat box. love that line. 631 00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:14.699 So great, isn't it? 632 00:45:14.760 --> 00:45:16.679 And the doctor looks so miserable. 633 00:45:16.739 --> 00:45:27.539 You remember that scene, that awful scene in the 2 doctors, where the doctor kind of comes into the TARDIS and he's doing his sort of arm waving kind of blowviating thing that he does. 634 00:45:27.599 --> 00:45:36.000 And then, and then Perry trudges into the Tartar's mind, carrying all of his crap, all of his fishing gear. 635 00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:42.480 And here it's reversed, you know, the doctor has all of this baggage and he looks utterly miserable. 636 00:45:42.539 --> 00:45:45.179 In fact, maybe too miserable. 637 00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:48.539 This is the 2nd time in 2 seasons. 638 00:45:48.599 --> 00:45:53.219 The doctors looked a little bit miserable taking someone on board the TARDIS in a pack alley in Cardiff. 639 00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:54.300 Sorry, London. 640 00:45:55.019 --> 00:46:05.639 This has been a really interesting discussion because I've watched this episode a number of times over the years and this was the hardest episode for me to watch this entire season. 641 00:46:05.699 --> 00:46:06.480 Wow. 642 00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:10.139 I found it not as funny and I wasn't as connected. 643 00:46:10.199 --> 00:46:18.420 And you may recall that a few episodes ago, I dare to suggest that last season's opener might, I might like it more than this. 644 00:46:18.960 --> 00:46:21.840 That was your reaction then too, Peter. 645 00:46:21.900 --> 00:46:23.340 And you were wrong. 646 00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:38.760 It's really interesting because I have this vision in my head that RTD is sitting having his typewriter having his glass of Chardonnay, much like the canine and company increditors, right? 647 00:46:38.820 --> 00:46:46.199 So for this one, he's starting typing away and he gets a phone call, he hears his sports out of the end of the phone going, hello, governor. 648 00:46:46.260 --> 00:46:47.699 It's Billy Piper here. 649 00:46:47.760 --> 00:46:48.360 I can do the season. 650 00:46:48.420 --> 00:46:49.800 And he goes, huzzah. 651 00:46:49.860 --> 00:46:50.579 This is fantastic. 652 00:46:50.639 --> 00:46:53.099 So he takes a swig of his wine and then he gets another phone call. 653 00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:55.500 Oh, hello, it's Catherine Tate here. 654 00:46:55.559 --> 00:46:56.940 I can do the whole season. 655 00:46:57.000 --> 00:46:58.320 Oh, huzzah. 656 00:46:58.380 --> 00:47:07.440 He takes another swig of the of the wine and the stomach rumbles and he goes, oh my goodness, the fat just walks away and he starts typing and it's all, you know, one draft. 657 00:47:07.500 --> 00:47:07.980 Here it is. 658 00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:08.579 Boom. 659 00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:09.780 He's had the family before. 660 00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:11.039 Last season. 661 00:47:11.099 --> 00:47:16.619 It's like, okay, so he starts off with the Chardonnay and the typewriter and it's like, okay. 662 00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:22.260 Now, I've got to come up with a companion that is clever and funny, but not rose and everybody's going to love. 663 00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:40.619 I've got to make sure that the doctor likes her, but is also, um, missing rose still, and he has to be clever and funny, um, and, oh, I need a villain as well that is going to be funny but threatening, and it's like page after page, and the sweat is coming off, and he's having more and more drinks, and I've got to introduce a whole new family, like a whole new family. 664 00:47:40.679 --> 00:47:47.280 And so by the end of it, it's like, you know, with Sarah Jane running, it's completely sweat. sweaters everywhere, the wine bottle's emptied. 665 00:47:47.340 --> 00:47:49.920 He's got a stack of papers next to him. 666 00:47:49.980 --> 00:47:51.059 It's like draft 23. 667 00:47:51.239 --> 00:47:56.579 So I've got this image in my head that there was so much work that had to be done at the beginning of last season. 668 00:47:56.639 --> 00:48:13.679 So that script to balance all of those elements out. whereas here I've got this image that it's just, oh, no, Catherine can just make that up on the spot and they can just workshop that and so I kind of got the feeling that it was a much sparser sort of script and as opposed to last year that was so heavily packed impacted. 669 00:48:13.739 --> 00:48:26.400 But of course, yet again, talking here, and certainly earlier in our conversation, I was really, really amazed at what you were talking about in terms of all the characters with Sylvia and Wilf and all that sort of thing. 670 00:48:26.460 --> 00:48:31.800 And so I actually came away a little bit disappointed when I watched this, but again, now talking. 671 00:48:31.860 --> 00:48:34.079 It's like, it's gone back up to a 9 again. 672 00:48:34.079 --> 00:48:38.699 Like, it's, but I think both of them are equally as good. 673 00:48:38.760 --> 00:48:39.840 I like both of them as much now. 674 00:48:39.900 --> 00:48:40.800 This is fun. 675 00:48:40.860 --> 00:48:43.260 Last year had a lot of other things that it needed to do. 676 00:48:43.320 --> 00:48:50.280 It was harder, I think, because it is the 1st change in regular cast apart from, I guess, Eccleston and Tenet. 677 00:48:50.340 --> 00:48:57.780 But the 1st new entirely new character that he has to introduce in an opener, and it just might not have worked. 678 00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:01.739 And here he's got an established character. 679 00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:07.260 He still has to do a lot of work in order to make her more than just a one-off character. 680 00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:08.760 But that's the thing. 681 00:49:08.820 --> 00:49:10.559 Like, she is returning. 682 00:49:10.619 --> 00:49:17.280 We're already familiar with her. and passingly familiar with her mother and would have been with her father. 683 00:49:17.340 --> 00:49:20.639 And we are with her grandfather as well. 684 00:49:20.699 --> 00:49:26.940 So the script doesn't have to do as much heavy lifting because you're already, if you're a regular viewer. 685 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:37.860 And Doctor Who is, you know, I mean, that that Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, like, is the highest rated story of the modern era. 686 00:49:37.920 --> 00:49:46.320 So, chances are, if you're watching Doctor Who, with Catherine Tate returning, and this is her grandfather, you've already seen that character. 687 00:49:47.280 --> 00:49:53.820 Yeah, there are 4000000 viewers more watching Voyage of the Dam than there are watching this. 688 00:49:53.880 --> 00:49:56.519 This is still very good rating for a season opener. 689 00:49:56.639 --> 00:49:57.659 It's still top 10. 690 00:49:57.900 --> 00:50:09.119 But I just, I do love the fact that you have got Donna talking to the doctor too at the end about Rose and about Martha, and the doctor even concedes. 691 00:50:09.179 --> 00:50:12.059 Well, she fancied me. don't like that line. 692 00:50:12.119 --> 00:50:17.760 But then there's then he kind of makes up for it by admitting I destroyed half her life. 693 00:50:17.880 --> 00:50:18.840 Yeah, yeah. 694 00:50:18.900 --> 00:50:22.920 He's actually kind of gone. oh I was a bastard. 695 00:50:22.980 --> 00:50:34.019 Well, it kind of works, too, because Donna is absolutely not impressed because the doctor goes, you know, she fancied me as if we're going to think that that's cool or something. 696 00:50:34.079 --> 00:50:36.539 She's like, oh, there must be something wrong with her. 697 00:50:36.599 --> 00:50:37.739 That's right. 698 00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:41.760 So she relentlessly refuses to be impressed by that. 699 00:50:41.820 --> 00:50:43.139 I think that's kind of cool. 700 00:50:43.199 --> 00:50:46.619 And then you get the, I just want to mate line. 701 00:50:46.619 --> 00:50:49.079 And I doesn't quite work on it. 702 00:50:49.139 --> 00:50:50.219 Yeah, it doesn't quite work for me. 703 00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:57.360 And I think partly it's because Catherine Tate over enunciates the word 2 when she says it in return. 704 00:50:57.420 --> 00:51:00.840 So no one would say, I just want to mate. 705 00:51:00.900 --> 00:51:01.800 Do you know what I mean? 706 00:51:01.860 --> 00:51:04.320 So I think that that's a bad line reading. 707 00:51:04.380 --> 00:51:06.059 But I just think the whole thing's too on the nose. 708 00:51:06.179 --> 00:51:15.360 I think, actually, the problem is with David Tennant's delivery because he delivered it as I just want to mate. then she wouldn't have had to have over enunciated it to make a joke. 709 00:51:15.420 --> 00:51:16.739 Yeah, you should have said, I just want a mate. 710 00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:25.619 But I think that's also true sometimes when you get too strong and well-known actors, like, does the director do enough to actually step in? 711 00:51:25.739 --> 00:51:27.659 Yeah, that's a possibility too. 712 00:51:27.719 --> 00:51:31.679 And so we've already criticised a few aspects to his direction. 713 00:51:31.739 --> 00:51:36.059 Sorry, James, because I actually think he does... 714 00:51:36.119 --> 00:51:37.860 I think you did very well James. 715 00:51:38.280 --> 00:51:40.019 Oh, listeners. 716 00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:42.780 It's episode one of series four. 717 00:51:42.840 --> 00:51:43.320 Help me now. 718 00:51:45.119 --> 00:51:59.880 But yes, I think there are some aspects in this episode where I think the director gets it wrong and it may be because of the actual having to deal with 2 big personalities who are in the lead and not being able to say, well, no, we need to do it a different way. 719 00:51:59.940 --> 00:52:02.699 You know, they may have done it several times. don't know. 720 00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:06.840 I also think too, it's a little bit too tell, don't show. 721 00:52:06.900 --> 00:52:11.099 You know, it's a little bit too much directed at the audience. 722 00:52:11.159 --> 00:52:13.920 It's not something those 2 would say to one another. 723 00:52:13.980 --> 00:52:29.159 It's happening because Russell wants to tell the people at home that we're not going to have that love affair that really, we decided halfway through series 3 was not such a great idea and began walking back. 724 00:52:29.219 --> 00:52:34.980 And so now, you know, so by the way, people at home, you know, Donna's not... 725 00:52:34.980 --> 00:52:36.119 No hanky-panky in the tar. 726 00:52:36.179 --> 00:52:36.840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 727 00:52:36.900 --> 00:52:41.039 And what you were saying, Todd, as well, about directors not stepping in with big personalities. 728 00:52:41.099 --> 00:52:47.699 You could also say that maybe Julie or Phil might have flagged that up to Russell and said, yeah, that doesn't quite work, but just let it through. 729 00:52:47.760 --> 00:52:49.559 Yeah, that's a possibility. 730 00:52:49.800 --> 00:52:52.980 I'm sorry, we're hopping on a bit about James Strong's direction. 731 00:52:53.039 --> 00:52:58.199 I also have a problem with the fact that Donna pulls up her car and then the Tartar seems to land like 12nd later and she doesn't hear anything. 732 00:52:58.260 --> 00:53:00.000 Like, so it's engineering. that as well. 733 00:53:00.059 --> 00:53:02.400 I mean, that's another thing too, though. 734 00:53:02.460 --> 00:53:05.099 That's another wonderful thing about the doctor and Donna being the same. 735 00:53:05.159 --> 00:53:10.500 You know, that they both turn up within seconds of each other in blue vehicles in a particular alley. 736 00:53:10.500 --> 00:53:12.780 You know, it's very cute. 737 00:53:12.840 --> 00:53:14.519 And Donna actually notices it too. 738 00:53:14.579 --> 00:53:17.760 Do you think Rose went over to the bin and fished out the TARDIS key? 739 00:53:18.659 --> 00:53:26.519 I was just going to say, I mean, we have harped on a little bit about his direction, but by no means is this poorly directed? 740 00:53:26.579 --> 00:53:27.599 It is a really great story. 741 00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:49.500 And I think it really perhaps is summed up in the final moments. when the doctor asked Donna where she wants to go, and you kind of, you know, people might say, oh, past the future, and then you see that she's going to see a grandfather, and it gets to me every single time, and I think it sums up the change in character and the warmth and the family atmosphere and the payoffs that you want to have for the rest of the season. 742 00:53:49.559 --> 00:53:51.360 Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it? 743 00:53:51.420 --> 00:53:55.619 And ending on Bernie Cribbon's dancing as well in the in the vegetable patch. 744 00:53:55.739 --> 00:53:59.519 You've got that sort of, is there like a double punch of emotion? 745 00:53:59.579 --> 00:54:05.400 You get rose come back and then you see them flying over and waving too many. 746 00:54:05.400 --> 00:54:06.599 Like, I well up. 747 00:54:06.659 --> 00:54:08.519 Yeah, that's lovely. 748 00:54:08.579 --> 00:54:10.860 It's just, it's gorgeous, isn't it? 749 00:54:10.980 --> 00:54:19.559 It's like that sets up the rest of the season because you've got this sort of joy. to these characters who are just friends. 750 00:54:19.619 --> 00:54:20.400 They're just friends. 751 00:54:20.460 --> 00:54:24.300 The whole episode is just like a joyous, light, screwball comedy. 752 00:54:24.360 --> 00:54:25.079 How could you not love it? 753 00:54:46.860 --> 00:54:50.820 Well, dear listener, that's all we've got time for this week. 754 00:54:50.940 --> 00:54:59.039 We'll be back next week for a Latin lesson, a moral dilemma, and some proleptically familiar faces in the fires of Pompeii. 755 00:54:59.099 --> 00:55:15.420 In the meantime, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts, and you can keep up with us at Flight Through Entirety on Facebook, at FTE Podcast on Twitter, and on our website, Flight Through Entirety.com, where you'll find links to our other podcasts, Bondfinger, and Jody into Terror. 756 00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:20.340 Until next time, remember the true secret of lasting weight loss. 757 00:55:20.400 --> 00:55:24.000 No exercise, no diet, and no pain. 758 00:55:24.059 --> 00:55:26.340 Thank you very much for listening and good night. 759 00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:27.059 Good night. 760 00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:28.079 See you soon. 761 00:55:28.139 --> 00:55:28.559 Good night. 762 00:55:31.619 --> 00:55:41.280 That was Flight Through Entirety, starring Todd Bealby, Nathan Bottomley, Peter Griffiths and James Selwood, theme arrangement by Cameron Lamb, Strings performance by Jane Orberg. 763 00:55:41.340 --> 00:55:48.599 This episode, for exactly the same reason, was recorded on the 1st of February 2020 and released on the 15th of March. 764 00:55:50.219 --> 00:56:02.820 Fans who think that Sylvia was cruel to Bandwilf from having a webcam should on no account visit onlyfans.com slash Skiffleman, which we will not be linking to in the show notes. 765 00:56:04.320 --> 00:56:08.400 Q music, Q music, that'll be Donna's theme. 766 00:56:08.460 --> 00:56:09.059 Was that all right? 767 00:56:09.119 --> 00:56:09.719 Yes. 768 00:56:09.780 --> 00:56:12.599 I was wondering whether to foley footsteps in. 769 00:56:12.659 --> 00:56:14.340 The fat just walks away. 770 00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:14.639 Okay. 771 00:56:14.699 --> 00:56:18.539 You know, they destroyed a small to medium enterprise in yesterday's enterprise. 772 00:56:18.599 --> 00:56:19.380 I did. 773 00:56:21.360 --> 00:56:24.840 When are we doing the yesterday's Enterprise podcast? 774 00:56:24.900 --> 00:56:27.780 Oh, anytime. several times. 775 00:56:29.519 --> 00:56:32.820 So, let's start with Donna, I think.