The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)

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The Runaway Bride is a special episode of the long running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. The special was produced for Christmas 2006, aired on December 25 (Christmas Day)[1], and played much the same role that The Christmas Invasion did the previous year, introducing the third series while not actually being part of it.

182 - The Runaway Bride
Cast
Production
Directed byEuros Lyn
Written byRussell T. Davies
Script editorTo be announced
Produced byPhil Collinson
Executive producer(s)Russell T. Davies
Julie Gardner
SeriesChristmas Special (2006)
Running time60 minutes
First broadcastDecember 25, 2006
Chronology
← Preceded by
Doomsday
Followed by →
Smith and Jones

It was written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Euros Lyn. The special features Catherine Tate as Donna. She appeared in the TARDIS at the end of the previous episode Doomsday.

Synopsis

As Donna is about to marry her boyfriend Lance on Christmas Eve, she suddenly finds herself aboard the TARDIS. As the Doctor tries to get Donna to the church on time, the Alien Empress of Racnoss watches closely from the throne in her spaceship. Somehow Donna is the key to an ancient plot to destroy the Earth. With time running out, can the Doctor solve the puzzle, defeat the Empress and stop her army of robot Santas?

Plot

Template:Spoilers

File:Runawaybrideouterspace.jpg
"We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no Solar System- not yet. Only dust, and rocks, and gas."

On Earth, a wedding is taking place. A bride in a wedding dress walks down the aisle with her father, as her family, friends, and fiancé, Lance, look on. Suddenly, a yellow light begins to eminate from the bride. She screams as she disintegrates into millions of tiny golden particles and is whisked away into the sky.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS hovers around a supernova as the golden particles flow into it. Inside the TARDIS, the reforms and, at her first glimpse of the Doctor, all he can do is say "What!?"

The Doctor is stupefied as to how she could have got on board. He says it is physically impossible. Not listening, the bride demands that the Doctor tell her where she is right now. He tells her "Inside the TARDIS." But she doesn't believe him and he asks her once again how she got inside. She explains it's obvious - when he kidnapped her, an elaborate scheme obviously cooked up by another woman named Nerys. She berates him, shouting that she was halfway up the aisle, just seconds away from what she had been waiting for her whole life and that she and her soon-to-be-husband will be suing the Doctor as soon as she is married. Spotting the door, she runs for it, despite the Doctor's shouts not to, and opens it - only to be confronted with a supernova. She stands stunned, then asks why they aren't dead. The Doctor explains that the TARDIS is protecting them. The Doctor then introduces himself, and the bride introduces herself as Donna. He asks her if she's human. She replies, bitingly that she is, and then asks, "Is that optional?" The Doctor replies, "It is with me." She then realizes that he is, in fact, alien and that they really are on a spaceship. There is a pause, and then Donna says, "It's freezing with these doors open." The Doctor closes them.

Donna then notices a shirt (belonging to Rose), and asks how many other girls he has "kidnapped." The Doctor explains stone-faced that it belonged to a friend whom he lost. Becoming frustrated by Donna's accusations and questions, the Doctor rips the shirt from her hands and then lands the TARDIS in London, where Donna steps out and comes to the horrifying realization that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside. She runs, scared of the "Martian" though the Doctor keeps promising her that he will get her home. Donna and the Doctor unsuccessfully attempt to get a taxi but are ignored, instead being mocked by passers-by believing her to be drunk or in drag. Finally, the Doctor emits a piercing whistle and a cab comes to a screeching halt in front of them.

Donna and the Doctor's cab ride comes to an abrupt halt when they realize that neither of them are carrying any money. The Doctor seems amazed that she isn't carrying any money, and she points out that wedding dresses aren't known for having pockets. Unable to pay the cab fare, they are unceremoniously dumped at the curb. Donna complains of a lack of Christmas spirit, to which the Doctor wonders if it is Christmas already.

The Doctor takes Donna to a pay phone, zaps it with his sonic screwdriver, and instructs Donna to call her family and let her know that she's on her way while he gets some money. He then runs to a cashpoint and uses the screwdriver again to make an impromptu withdrawal. Hearing the Christmas music of a brass ensemble, he turns to face some familiar masked Santas, instantly recognising them as the same "Pilot Fish" from last year's Christmas (The Christmas Invasion). From behind him, he hears Donna's voice and turns to see that she has flagged down another cab. As she climbs inside, she turns to him and shouts, "Thanks for nothing, spaceman! I'll see you in court!" The Doctor realises her driver is yet another of the masked Santas and shouts to warn her - but it is too late, and the cab drives off. The other Santas walk menacingly towards the Doctor, pointing their horn-weapons at him. The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at the cashpoint. It explodes and cash spills all over the street. Shoppers begin to grab for the money and in doing so come into the Santas' line of fire. With no choice but to lower their weapons, the Doctor seizes the chance to escape back to the TARDIS.

In the cab, the Santa drives onto a motorway, despite Donna's protests that he is going the wrong way. She tugs at its hood, causing the mask to fall off and revealing a metallic face. She reels back in shock, realizing that the driver is in fact a bronze-colored robot. She starts banging on the windows, screaming for help. Suddenly, behind them, the TARDIS materialises and smashes down onto the motorway. Donna cannot believe her eyes as the TARDIS races along the motorway, dodging cars and catching up to Donna's cab. Inside the Doctor attaches some string to a lever and, as the TARDIS flies alongside the cab, kicks open the door. He uses the sonic screwdriver to unlock the cab's door, telling Donna she is going to have to jump. The Santa speeds up, but the Doctor tugs on the string which pulls the lever further over in a shower of sparks, causing the TARDIS to accelerate and catch up again. The Doctor uses the screwdriver to attempt to short out the robot and again tells Donna to jump. She opens the door but cannot bring herself to jump into the TARDIS. The Doctor tells her to trust him, but Donna replies, "Is that what you said to her? Your friend. The one you lost. Did she trust you?" The Doctor answers, his voice filling with emotion, "Yes, she did. And she is not dead, she is so alive! Now JUMP!" Screaming, Donna leaps from the cab, landing on top of the Doctor. The TARDIS pulls up from the motorway and flies off.

Later, they land on a heliport on top of a London skyscraper. The physical stress of flying (versus the relatively normal task of winking in and out of existence) has worn the TARDIS out and it needs a couple of hours to recover. Donna is depressed at the failure of her wedding day. She wishes wistfully for a time machine; the Doctor, without admitting to the true nature of the TARDIS, tells her that, even if he did, he couldn't travel back on one person's personal timeline, anyway. He does give her a ring, however, an ironic gesture that is, in fact, meant to protect her; the ring is actually a bio-damper, which will make it harder for the robot Santas to track her, thus keeping her safe. He mentions that he met them once before last Christmas. From their vantage point, he's able to point out where Rose's family used to live, mentioning that he spent Christmas dinner with them there.

Abruptly changing the conversation, the Doctor begins to grill Donna in an attempt to find out why Donna is so special and inquires about her job and Lance. She reveals that she works at H.C. Clemens and that she met her fiance, Lance, on the first day, when he offered to make her a cup of coffee. Lance was the head of Human Resources and she a mere secretary, but she happily accepted. She informs the Doctor that they then began dating, and that he proposed to her after only six months. (In fact, she was the one that proposed to him and wouldn't leave him alone until he accepted.) She realizes that explaining her sudden disappearance to her family and friends is going to be mortally embarassing; she tells the Doctor, "You can do the explaining, Martian boy." He tells her once again that he is NOT from Mars.

They head to the reception, where she is horrified to discover her family celebrating without her and Lance dancing with her hated rival, Nerys. Not in the least contrite, they all begin berating her for her mysterious disappearance. She bursts into sudden tears and everyone gathers around in sympathy; a serreptitious wink at the Doctor reveals that she did this on purpose to bring the situation back under her control. The party once more gets underway but this time with Donna dancing with Lance; meanwhile, the Doctor uses his screwdriver on a borrowed mobile phone to research Donna's employer. He realises that the main proprietors of H.C. Clemens are, in fact, Torchwood. Brooding over this revelation, he turns to watch the happy couples on the dance floor. He sees a man and a blonde woman dancing together; as the man dips her down and sweeps her up again, the Doctor has flashbacks of a similar moment when he caught Rose as she fainted on him in the hospital on New Earth.

He notices the wedding cameraman and checks with him to see footage from the moment when Donna disappeared from the church. Watching the replay of her vanishing in a burst of golden particles, he exclaims that it is impossible: they are Huon particles, a source of energy which has not existed for billions of years. In fact they are so old... and he realises with horror that they can't be hidden by a biodamper. He races out into the front lobby and looks out a window, where two robot Santas are coming up the walk. He races back to Donna and shouts at her that they have to get out. But the robots are at the back and side exits as well, and one of them is holding a large remote control. Turning around the Doctor sees another memory from last year: a large Christmas tree, similar to the one that attempted to attack Rose and him at her mother's home last Christmas. Donna asks what is dangerous about Christmas trees and the Doctor simply replies, "They kill."

Outside, the robot Santa activates the Christmas tree. Instead of beginning to spin in whirling destruction like last time, the balls on the tree float off and spread themselves out over the crowd. At first everyone looks on in amazement, but their surprise turns to horror as the balls start slamming down, causing small but deadly explosions wherever they hit. When the smoke clears, a line of robot Santas stands in the middle of the room with horn-weapons at the ready. The Doctor, finding himself behind the DJ's table, sticks his sonic screwdriver into the sound system and activates it. The resulting amplified sonic pulse literally shakes the robots to pieces, destroying them. Grabbing the robot's remote control and one of the demolished robot's heads, the Doctor and Donna run out of the ruins of the reception hall. Once outside, the Doctor is able to use the robot's head to determine that the robots are not working indepedently, but are in fact being controlled by someone else, and that the signal is originating from somewhere out in space. Indeed, far above the Earth's surface hovers a star-shaped spaceship encased in some sort of webbing. A creature, seen only in glimpses, gloats over the Doctor's confusion and proclaims that it will soon descend upon the Earth and that all will be revealed.

Lance in tow, the Doctor and Donna go to H.C. Clemens, where the Doctor uses the computer system to check the layout of the building. He discovers that there is a hidden basement level that's not part of the published building plans. The Doctor realizes that whatever is happening to Donna and the robot Santas, the answers lie in that hidden basement.

The Doctor, Lance and Donna head down to the basement and discover the entrance to an immense tunnel. Finding some conveniently available Segways, they make their way along the tunnel until they reach a door with a worn-out Torchwood label on them. The Doctor goes through to a narrow shaft, climbs up a long ladder, and finds himself on top of one of the piers of the Thames Barrier, in the middle of the Thames River.

Going back, the three make their way down the hallway to a laboratory. In the lab, the Doctor notes that it seems that Torchwood was busy making Huon particles, which they'd managed to convert to a clear, liquid form. The Doctor finally realizes how Donna got pulled into the TARDIS. She is infected with Huon particles, which also happen to exist within the heart of the TARDIS. Useless in a liguid form, they need a living host to reach their full potential. After six months of injesting the liquid form of the particles from the lab, the heightened stress and emotions of her wedding day transformed the Huon particles into their final energy state. Once activated, the particles were drawn to the TARDIS like a magnet, thus transporting her through space.

Inside the lab, there is also a large hole that seems to go down for miles, which puzzles the Doctor - what was Torchwood doing? They get their answer when the being from the spaceship taunts the Doctor and Donna, finally materializing. They come face to face with a giant, red, spider-like creature with a woman's face and 10 eyes on the front. The Doctor recognizes this being as one of the Rachnos, which is impossible, as they were wiped out billions of years ago. The spider-creature confirms that she is, in fact, the Empress of the Rachnos. They were killed off because they consumed everything they came in contact with, even entire planets - as she says, "We are born hungry." Unseen by her, Lance, having stayed behind, grabs an axe and slowly moves in. Donna distracts the empress as Lance closes in, but just as he's about to swing, he stops - and laughs, along with the Empress. It turns out Lance was the one supplying Donna with the Huon particles - every day for six months with the cup of coffee he gave her. In return, the Empress promised him to be able to see the stars. The Empress also confirms that the hole goes to the center of the earth, and that using Donna as a key will enable her to regain her ancient power.

The Empress has the robots - now shed of their Santa costumes - at the ready with machine guns, ready to kill the Doctor. The Doctor still has a trick up his sleeve, though - if Donna was able to be pulled into the TARDIS through the activation of the Huon particles in her body, then activating them in the opposite manner would get the TARDIS to come to her. He does so, and the TARDIS materializes around them just as the robots open fire. The Doctor and Donna manage to escape, while the Empress proclaims that now that she knows the appropriate dosage, she doesn't need Donna - she can substitute Lance as her 'key'. Meanwhile, on the surface, she has her spaceship descend upon the earth. The people seeing the ship stare in wonder, with one girl brightly musing that the star-shaped ship means "It's Christmas". However, their wonderment is shattered when the ship starts shooting bolts of blue energy at the people below, causing massive explosions and killing people.

The Doctor tells Donna that they have to figure out why Torchwood drilled a hole to the center of the earth and what it has to do with the Rachnos. He proclaims that they're going "further back than I've ever gone before." The Doctor opens the door to show Donna the Earth - 4.3 billion years in the past, before it became a planet. In this form, it's just bits of rock and dust, waiting for one rock large and heavy enough to start gravitationally pulling the rest in. As they watch, they see a ship, similar to the Rachnos ship, move into the middle of the pile - and suddenly all the rocks and dust start getting pulled towards it. The ship will become the core of the future Earth, and the last remnants of the Rachnos will sleep inside to await the day that the Empress will come to wake them again. Back in the present, the Empress has her robots force-feed Huon energy in the form of water down Lance's throat. Once this is done, she activates the Huon energy, which flows down into the core of the Earth to awaken her children.

Coming back to the present, the Doctor and Donna try opening one of the Torchwood doors, when Donna is pulled away by a robot. The Doctor opens the door and comes face to face with another robot aiming a gun directly at him. Back in the tunnel chamber, both Donna and Lance are trussed up to the ceiling with webbing. The Empress eagerly waits for her children to rise and take their first feeding. A robot walks in the room, but the Empress is quick to recognize the Doctor in disguise. The Doctor gives her an ultimatum - he'll find a world for her and her children to feed, as long as she leaves the Earth alone. The Empress laughs this off and orders the robots to fire. The Doctor then instructs the robots to "relax," and the robots suddenly deactivate. The Doctor then pulls out a remote control - the same one the robot Santas used before. When Donna asks how he was able to fit it in his pocket, the Doctor replies that his pockets, like the TARDIS, are "bigger on the inside." Using his sonic screwdriver, he sets Donna free, and grabbing a piece of webbing, she manages to swing towards the Doctor and safety - althoughs the Doctor's aim appears to have been slightly off, as she fails to fall into his arms and instead lands with a thud on the floor beneath him. The Empress scoffs that the robots are no longer necessary, and that her children will feast on "Martian" flesh. The Doctor informs her that he is not Martian, but from a planet far away and long-since gone - Gallifrey. The Empress' face becomes a mask of rage and horror as she realizes who she faces, and screams that his people annihilated her race.

The Doctor then pulls out some of the remaining exploding Christmas decorations and hurls them into the air. Using the remote control, he sends them hurtling into the pipes and walls around them, releasing the waters of the Thames into the chamber, which then flood into the tunnel mouth and drown the Empress' children far below. Engulfed in flames and torrents of water, the Empress laments that the Doctor is killing her babies. Donna, seeing the suffering of the Empress and hearing the cries from below, shouts at the Doctor that he can stop now. The Doctor pauses, an enigmatic look on his face, before grabbing Donna and racing for safety. The Empress transports back to her spaceship, where she vows to destroy the entire planet in payment for killing her children. However, since the Empress used up all her Huon energy in her attempt to revive her children, she is now commpletely defenseless. On the surface, tanks roll up the street and take aim at the ship, firing at it until it explodes. Back on top of one of the Thames Barriers. the Doctor and Donna look up to see the ship being destroyed - but the only problem is that the Thames has been completely drained, with all of its ships now resting on the river bottom.

The Doctor then takes Donna back to her parents' house, where her parents wait and worry. Donna, however, is disconsolate, as she's missed her wedding, lost her job, and watched her husband-to-be fall to his death. The Doctor tries to give Donna a little Christmas cheer by sending a burst of energy from the TARDIS to the atmosphere, causing snow to fall. He then asks her what she'll do with herself. She replies that she won't be satisfied with her old way of life - perhaps she'll travel and expand her horizons a bit first. The Doctor suggests that she might travel with him, but Donna refuses. The Doctor scares her - his ability to do all the things he does, the horrors he faces, and the dark side of him that she glimpsed in the chaos of the flooding chamber. Still, Donna asks the Doctor if he'd like to come in for Christmas dinner. Initially he refuses, but she cajoles him with the argument that he mentioned that he took Christmas dinner last year with his friend's family. The Doctor finally agrees, asking her to wait a moment while he "parks" the TARDIS so that it doesn't "drift off." However, instead of the Doctor re-emerging, the TARDIS activates and starts to fade. Donna, realizing what is happening, yells for the Doctor. The Doctor steps out and comments that she can certainly shout. Donna asks if she'll ever see him again. The Doctor replies with an affectionate smile that they might if he is lucky. She then implores him to find somebody - someone to stop him when he can't stop himself. Donna then asks what his friend's name was. The Doctor replies in a thick voice, "Her name was Rose."

The Doctor then steps back into the TARDIS, but rather than disappearing as it usually does, it shoots up into the snowing sky.

Cast

Cast notes

  • The Doctor's new companion Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman, did not appear in this episode.[5] She does however appear in the "Coming Soon" clips at the end of the episode.[6]
  • In the lead-up to transmission, Radio 1 reported that Billie Piper might appear in the episode "in one form or another".[7] This was later denied by Davies.[8] Although she did appear, it was only briefly in flashbacks from Doomsday and New Earth. She was also discussed several times between Tennant and Tate, and referred to by name once when Donna asked the Doctor what her name was. He sadly replied "Rose", the final word uttered in the episode.

Continuity

Production

  • Russell T. Davies had the idea for this episode from the very beginning of his association with the programme, and he planned to air it in Series Two. With the public announcement of two Christmas specials and the private knowledge of Billie Piper leaving at the end of Series Two, Davies decided to "elevate" this story to the Christmas special, not introducing the new companion immediately, and filling the slot with Tooth and Claw.[11]
  • This will be the first Doctor Who story to be broadcast with in-vision British Sign Language interpretation, in a UK repeat scheduled for 30th December 2006.[12]
  • The Daily Star reported that the special was a three-parter to be shown over the Christmas period, and that the Doctor would come face-to-face with a "Cyberwoman".[7] However, Russell T. Davies subsequently confirmed that the special will air in one 60-minute slot;[8] the "Cyberwoman" rumour either stemmed from confusion with a Torchwood episode or from mishearing a description of "spider woman" Sarah Parish's character.
  • For legal reasons, the production team were forced to make obviously fake banknotes for a scene. The £10 notes feature the Doctor's face and the phrases "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten satsumas" and "No second chances - I'm that sort of a man".[16][17] The text is a reference to the Doctor's actions and dialogue near the end of The Christmas Invasion. There were also £20 notes featuring producer Phil Collinson. These had the phrase 'There's no point being grown up if you can't be a little childish sometimes.' printed on them, seemingly misquoting the line originally spoken by the Fourth Doctor, (Tom Baker), in Robot, "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."[16][18] All notes and the cash machine were labelled "London Credit Bank".
  • Night filming of scenes involving gunfire, explosions and a tank disturbed some Cardiff residents, including one American woman returning home from the conflict in Israel. [19] These scenes, as well as those on "Oxford Street", were filmed on St. Mary Street outside Howell's Department Store in Cardiff City Centre; Cardiff Castle is visible behind the tank in some shots.
  • The TARDIS chase scene down the motorway was shown at a Children in Need concert, which featured a live orchestra performing many of the music themes from Doctor Who, including the Dalek music and Rose's theme. The clip was leaked online shortly after the event and the concert and clip were shown earlier before the episode officially aired on Christmas Day on a Doctor Who Confidential special at 1:00pm
  • The controller used by the aliens appears to be a heavily modified PlayStation 2 controller; the PlayStation 2 is the only games console to feature two sets of L and R triggers, all of which are still clearly numbered. The large size of the controller implies that the controller is a third party wireless, with the extra used for batteries.

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference December was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Who's new". bbc.co.uk. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2006-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  3. ^ Parish, Sarah (2006-09-02). "Sarah Parish in Shropshire and Wales". The Guardian Weekend Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Russell, Gary (2006). Doctor Who: The Inside Story. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-48649-X.
  5. ^ "Freema Agyeman confirmed as new companion to Doctor Who" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2006-07-05. Retrieved 2006-07-25. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Series 3 trailer BBC Doctor Who website
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference og July 9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Mzimba, Lizo (Interviewer) (2006-09-12). Exclusive Q&A: The brains behind Dr Who (RealMedia). London: CBBC Newsround.
  9. ^ "BBC - Doctor Who - Gallery - The Runaway Bride". Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  10. ^ http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/4131/newspaper00ot.jpg
  11. ^ "Wedding Plans: Russell reveals Runaway Bride origins in DWM special", Doctor Who Magazine Series Two Companion via bbc.co.uk, 2006-08-07
  12. ^ "Programme Information - BBC One Transmission Details - Weeks 52/1" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2006-12-07. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Methven, Nicola (2006-08-04). "DOC'S XMAS BRIDE SHOCK". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2006-08-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Lyon, Shaun (2006-08-01). "Sarah Jane Investigates". Outpost Gallifrey News Page. Retrieved 2006-08-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Wright, Mark (2006-08-02). "With apologies..." The Stage. Retrieved 2006-08-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b Carey, Paul (2006-07-26). "Fake notes are Doctor Who's cash conversion". Western Mail. Retrieved 2006-07-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Image of "David Tennant" £10 note". Outpost Gallifrey. 2006-07-26. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Image of "Phil Collinson" £20 note". Outpost Gallifrey. 2006-07-26. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Cox, Emma (2006-08-01). "Tanks for waking us, Doc". The Sun. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)