.gif)
Partners in Crime (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
"Partners in Crime" is the first episode of the fourth series
of British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
. It was broadcast on BBC One
on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced comedienne Catherine Tate
as Donna Noble
, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride
". Donna and the Doctor
(David Tennant
) meet while separately investigating Adipose Industries, a company that has created a revolutionary diet pill. Together, they attempt to stop the death of thousands of people in London after the head of the company, the alien Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire
), creates the Adipose, short white aliens made from human body fat.
The episode's alien creatures, the Adipose, were created using the software Massive, commonly used for crowd sequences in fantasy and science fiction films. The episode is stylistically different from other Doctor Who episodes; "Partners in Crime" has no clear antagonist, and the creatures are in a different style to Doctor Whos regular "big [and] scary" monsters.
"Partners in Crime" features the return of three supporting characters: Jacqueline King
reprises her role as Sylvia Noble from "The Runaway Bride
"; Bernard Cribbins
reprises his role as Wilfred Mott
from "Voyage of the Damned
", to replace the character of Geoff Noble after actor Howard Attfield died; and Billie Piper
briefly reprises her role as Rose Tyler
for the first time since the second series' finale "Doomsday
", in a scene that was not included in preview showings.
The episode received many positive reviews. Most critics liked the special effects used to create the Adipose. Critics also praised Tate's subdued acting in comparison to "The Runaway Bride"; Donna was changed from a "shouting fishwife" to a more emotional person when she became a full-time companion. Critics' opinions were split over the episode's plot: opinion on executive producer Russell T Davies' writing ranged from "pure pleasure" to "the back of a fag packet
".
(Catherine Tate
), a previous companion
who appeared in "The Runaway Bride
" has become disenchanted with normal life and regrets declining the Doctor's invitation to travel in the TARDIS
. She has started investigating conspiracy theories in the hope she would find him. She confides her regrets to her grandfather Wilfred Mott
(Bernard Cribbins
), an amateur astronomer
who met the Doctor before in "Voyage of the Damned
".
Both Donna and the Doctor are separately investigating Adipose Industries, which is marketing a special diet pill to London's population with the slogan, "The Fat Just Walks Away". They find that the slogan is literal: the pills use latent body fat to parthenogenetically
create the Adipose, small white aliens which spawn every night, removing a little of the host's body fat each time. In an emergency, multiple Adipose can spawn by using all of the body's organic tissue, killing the host. When the Doctor and Donna meet, they are confronted by Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire
), an alien who is exploiting Britain's overweight population to create the Adipose for the Adiposian First Family
. Miss Foster mentions that the Adipose species "lost" their breeding planet and hired Foster to find a replacement; she chose Earth, though knowing that using this planet was illegal.
Foster accelerates her plans, feeling threatened by the Doctor's invocation of galactic law and fearing he may inform the "Shadow Proclamation", an interplanetary police force. Throughout London, the Adipose begin to spawn, soon numbering several thousand. The Doctor and Donna prevent total emergency parthenogenesis occurring, while the remainder make their way to Adipose Industries. The Adiposian First Family use their spaceship to collect the Adipose, but kill Foster by dropping her from the ship to hide any evidence that they used Earth illegally. The Doctor refrains from killing the young Adipose, because they are children; Donna notes that his previous companion Martha Jones
made him more human, citing his infanticide of the Racnoss in their previous encounter.
At the end of the episode, Donna accepts an offer to travel in the TARDIS. She makes a detour to leave her car keys in a litter bin, telling her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
) to collect them later, and asks a blonde woman to help Sylvia find the keys. The woman turns towards the camera and is revealed to be Rose Tyler
(Billie Piper
). She fades from view as she walks away from the area. In the final scene, Donna asks the Doctor to fly by her grandfather, Wilfred. He sees her and celebrates on his allotment
garden.
. Tate, who expected Gardner would ask about appearing in a biopic
, later admitted it was "the furthest thing from [her] mind". Tate's return was controversial amongst Doctor Who fans; the criticism she received was compared to Daniel Craig
after he was cast as James Bond
. Howard Attfield, who appeared as Donna's father Geoff in "The Runaway Bride", filmed several scenes for this episode, but died before his scenes for the remainder of the season were completed. The producers retired his character out of respect, and dedicated him in the closing credits for the episode. Producer Phil Collinson
suggested transferring his traits to the unrelated character Stan Mott from "Voyage of the Damned
", and rewriting his role as Donna's grandfather. Executive producers Russell T Davies and Gardner liked the idea and recalled Bernard Cribbins to the role to re-film Attfield's scenes, with the character renamed as Wilfred—a name Davies favoured for Donna's grandfather—in time for the credits of "Voyage of the Damned" to be changed.
star Jo Frost
and Argentine
philanthropist and politician Eva Perón
, and Lancashire compared her character to Mary Poppins
. The Adipose are a different style to regular Doctor Who villains; antagonists such as Lazarus in "The Lazarus Experiment
" or the werewolf in "Tooth and Claw
" were singular monsters designed to scare the audience; the Adipose were written as "cute" to provide a "bizarre [and] surreal" experience.
Davies made some changes to Donna's character. The character was "rounded ... out from being a shouting fishwife to someone who's quite vulnerable and emotional". Donna was written to provide a "caustic" and "grown-up" attitude towards the Doctor, in opposition to Rose and Martha, who fell in love with him. Tate considered Donna to be more equal to the Doctor because her character did not romanticise him, allowing her to question his morality more easily.
Tate says Davies had suggested that she might come up with something on the day. She improvised her mime
during filming.
" and "The Poison Sky
", is referred to by a sticker on a taxi's windscreen. As the episode mostly takes place at night, many scenes were filmed in the early morning.
The scene where Donna and the Doctor investigate Adipose was difficult to film. The scene took thirty shots to complete, and Tennant and Tate experienced problems avoiding each other on-screen. The scene was filmed in Picture Finance's call centre on the outskirts of Newport
on an early Sunday morning, with the company's telephonists serving as extras.
Exterior shots of Adipose Industries were filmed at the British Gas building (Helmont House
) in Cardiff's city centre
. For health and safety reasons, Tennant was prohibited from performing his own stunts in the window cleaning platform. His only shot that required stunts was when he catches Miss Foster's sonic pen, a shot that took several takes to perfect.
. Davies' brief outlined a "cute" child-friendly creature shaped like a block of lard
, similar to the Pillsbury Doughboy
. Further consultation with post-production
team The Mill
resulted in the ears and the singular fang each Adipose has. Stephen Regelous
, who won an Academy Award for his software Massive, flew to London to supervise the creation of the crowd special effects. Regelous, a Doctor Who fan, was enthusiastic about helping The Mill with special effects, stating that "When I first found out that the Mill was working on Doctor Who, I was quietly hoping that Massive might be used to create hordes of Daleks or Cybermen and with series 4, I jumped at the opportunity to be involved." The Mill created two types of Adipose: extras with artificial intelligence and independent movement, and "hero" Adipose, which were hand-animated.
" onwards.
The preview version of the episode supplied to the press and aired at the press launch omitted the scene that features Rose; before broadcast, only the production team, Tate, and Tennant had seen the scene. The scene contains Rose's departure theme
, "Doomsday". Tennant commented "on the night of transmission ... the Radio Times
won't have told you it's coming, it'll come as a genuine [...] prickle up the spine".
Overnight figures estimated the show was watched by 8.4 million viewers, with a peak of 8.7 million, 39.4% of the television audience. The consolidated rating was 9.1 million viewers. Doctor Who was therefore the most watched show on 5 April, although the Grand National
had a higher peak with 10.1 million viewers. The episode's Appreciation Index
was 88 (considered "Excellent"), the highest for any television show aired on 5 April.
, called the episode an "undiluted triumph". Opening his review, he said "last night's episode struck me as being as close to 50 minutes of pure pleasure as you're likely to get on television". He noted the episode's clever tackling of the topical theme of obesity, and its mixture of emotion and special effects. In closing, he said "the dejected critic, denied even the smallest nit to pick, walks glumly away". Scott Matthewman of The Stage
lamented that the Adipose were not threatening enough. He liked the Adipose's execution of Miss Foster, a "momentary pause in mid-air, gravity only kicking in when the character looks down", comparing it to Wile E. Coyote and Chuck Jones
, which "[was] a nice little touch in an episode ... full of them". He also appreciated Tate, saying that "David Tennant finally has a partner who is approaching an equal". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian
wrote that Tate was "not right for this role" and "too hysterical, too comedy, not cool enough", and felt her inclusion was an attempt to trade on the popularity of her own series and "broaden the appeal of [Dr Who] still further". He also found the music "a bit oppressive" but concluded that, despite these criticisms, the show was "still awfully nice television". Keith Watson of Metro
gave the episode 4 stars out of 5. He admitted that despite his dislike of Tate, "she isn't that bad". His review of the Adipose was positive, citing them as a reason of the quality of the show. Closing, he said "it split [his] sides".
Jon Wise of The People
said "Doctor Who is a super-galactic way of spending a Saturday night indoors", and appreciated that Donna was not romantically interested in the Doctor, unlike Martha or Rose. Ben Rawson-Jones gave the episode a wholly positive review, summarising it as containing "pure fantastic family fun, delivering a winning blend of action, comedy, poignancy and one unexpected shock cameo".
The episode received several negative reviews. Andrew Billen, writing for The Times
, lamented that Davies had "forgotten that Doctor Who's main task is to send children scuttling behind sofas
while entertaining their fathers with the odd philosophical idea, the occasional classical reference, a joke or two they would probably not wish to explain and a wee bit of space totty". Billen also criticised the writing and acting, but commended Tate for a "toned down performance". Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal
summarised it as "a runaway Saturday morning cartoon in desperate need to a solid story". Blair found flaws with the comedy and the music in the episode, but was impressed with Tate's acting and Piper's cameo. Kevin O'Sullivan of the Sunday Mirror
criticised Tate and Tennant for overacting, and had concerns about the writing: "It didn't exactly ooze tension. All we got in the way of terrifying space enemies was Sarah Lancashire hamming it up as an intergalactic super nanny, a couple of security guards with guns and lots of cute little fat babies." Ian Hyland
of News of the World
criticised the child-friendly storyline, comparing it to "the back of a fag packet
". He also criticised Tennant for appearing "jaded" and Tate for "still shouting".
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It was broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced comedienne Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
as Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride
The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)
"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...
". Donna and the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
(David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
) meet while separately investigating Adipose Industries, a company that has created a revolutionary diet pill. Together, they attempt to stop the death of thousands of people in London after the head of the company, the alien Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire is an English actress, probably best recognised for her role as Raquel Watts in Coronation Street. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986.-Television:...
), creates the Adipose, short white aliens made from human body fat.
The episode's alien creatures, the Adipose, were created using the software Massive, commonly used for crowd sequences in fantasy and science fiction films. The episode is stylistically different from other Doctor Who episodes; "Partners in Crime" has no clear antagonist, and the creatures are in a different style to Doctor Whos regular "big [and] scary" monsters.
"Partners in Crime" features the return of three supporting characters: Jacqueline King
Jacqueline King
-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
reprises her role as Sylvia Noble from "The Runaway Bride
The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)
"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...
"; Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
reprises his role as Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
from "Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005...
", to replace the character of Geoff Noble after actor Howard Attfield died; and Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
briefly reprises her role as Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
for the first time since the second series' finale "Doomsday
Doomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...
", in a scene that was not included in preview showings.
The episode received many positive reviews. Most critics liked the special effects used to create the Adipose. Critics also praised Tate's subdued acting in comparison to "The Runaway Bride"; Donna was changed from a "shouting fishwife" to a more emotional person when she became a full-time companion. Critics' opinions were split over the episode's plot: opinion on executive producer Russell T Davies' writing ranged from "pure pleasure" to "the back of a fag packet
Cigarette pack
A pack or packet of cigarettes is a rectangular container, mostly of paperboard, which contains cigarettes. The pack is designed with a flavor-protective foil, paper or biodegradable plastic, and sealed through a transparent airtight plastic film. By pulling the "pull-tabs", the pack is opened...
".
Synopsis
Donna NobleDonna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
), a previous companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
who appeared in "The Runaway Bride
The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)
"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...
" has become disenchanted with normal life and regrets declining the Doctor's invitation to travel in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
. She has started investigating conspiracy theories in the hope she would find him. She confides her regrets to her grandfather Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
(Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
), an amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
who met the Doctor before in "Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005...
".
Both Donna and the Doctor are separately investigating Adipose Industries, which is marketing a special diet pill to London's population with the slogan, "The Fat Just Walks Away". They find that the slogan is literal: the pills use latent body fat to parthenogenetically
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
create the Adipose, small white aliens which spawn every night, removing a little of the host's body fat each time. In an emergency, multiple Adipose can spawn by using all of the body's organic tissue, killing the host. When the Doctor and Donna meet, they are confronted by Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire is an English actress, probably best recognised for her role as Raquel Watts in Coronation Street. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986.-Television:...
), an alien who is exploiting Britain's overweight population to create the Adipose for the Adiposian First Family
First Family
A First Family is an unofficial title for the family of the head of state or head of government of a country .A First Family usually consists of:*The head of state or head of government*The First Lady or First Gentleman...
. Miss Foster mentions that the Adipose species "lost" their breeding planet and hired Foster to find a replacement; she chose Earth, though knowing that using this planet was illegal.
Foster accelerates her plans, feeling threatened by the Doctor's invocation of galactic law and fearing he may inform the "Shadow Proclamation", an interplanetary police force. Throughout London, the Adipose begin to spawn, soon numbering several thousand. The Doctor and Donna prevent total emergency parthenogenesis occurring, while the remainder make their way to Adipose Industries. The Adiposian First Family use their spaceship to collect the Adipose, but kill Foster by dropping her from the ship to hide any evidence that they used Earth illegally. The Doctor refrains from killing the young Adipose, because they are children; Donna notes that his previous companion Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
made him more human, citing his infanticide of the Racnoss in their previous encounter.
At the end of the episode, Donna accepts an offer to travel in the TARDIS. She makes a detour to leave her car keys in a litter bin, telling her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
Jacqueline King
-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
) to collect them later, and asks a blonde woman to help Sylvia find the keys. The woman turns towards the camera and is revealed to be Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
). She fades from view as she walks away from the area. In the final scene, Donna asks the Doctor to fly by her grandfather, Wilfred. He sees her and celebrates on his allotment
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
garden.
Casting
"Partners in Crime" features several actors returning to the series. Catherine Tate was offered the opportunity to return as Donna Noble during lunch with executive producer Julie GardnerJulie Gardner
Julie Gardner is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who and its spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
. Tate, who expected Gardner would ask about appearing in a biopic
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
, later admitted it was "the furthest thing from [her] mind". Tate's return was controversial amongst Doctor Who fans; the criticism she received was compared to Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
after he was cast as James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
. Howard Attfield, who appeared as Donna's father Geoff in "The Runaway Bride", filmed several scenes for this episode, but died before his scenes for the remainder of the season were completed. The producers retired his character out of respect, and dedicated him in the closing credits for the episode. Producer Phil Collinson
Phil Collinson
Philip "Phil" Collinson is a British television producer. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as a script editor and writer on programmes such as Springhill and Emmerdale, later becoming the producer of Peak Practice, Doctor Who and Coronation...
suggested transferring his traits to the unrelated character Stan Mott from "Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005...
", and rewriting his role as Donna's grandfather. Executive producers Russell T Davies and Gardner liked the idea and recalled Bernard Cribbins to the role to re-film Attfield's scenes, with the character renamed as Wilfred—a name Davies favoured for Donna's grandfather—in time for the credits of "Voyage of the Damned" to be changed.
Writing
Davies took a different approach while writing the episode. David Tennant and Sarah Lancashire noted the character of Miss Foster had good intentions but was morally ambiguous. The premise of the Adipose pill was equally ambiguous with rare side-effects, but was a "win-win situation" for anyone involved. Davies based the character of Miss Foster on SupernannySupernanny
Supernanny is a reality TV programme which originated in the United Kingdom about parents struggling with their children's behaviour. The UK version has aired on Channel 4 with E4 showing repeats since 2004. The program returned in 2010...
star Jo Frost
Jo Frost
Joanne "Jo" Frost is a British nanny and television personality. She was the central figure of the reality television program Supernanny...
and Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
philanthropist and politician Eva Perón
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
, and Lancashire compared her character to Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (character)
Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the protagonist of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books and all of its adaptations. She is a magical nanny of unknown origins who arrives at the Banks home in Cherry Tree Lane where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons...
. The Adipose are a different style to regular Doctor Who villains; antagonists such as Lazarus in "The Lazarus Experiment
The Lazarus Experiment
"The Lazarus Experiment" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 May 2007 and is the sixth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones as his companion, played...
" or the werewolf in "Tooth and Claw
Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
"Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...
" were singular monsters designed to scare the audience; the Adipose were written as "cute" to provide a "bizarre [and] surreal" experience.
Davies made some changes to Donna's character. The character was "rounded ... out from being a shouting fishwife to someone who's quite vulnerable and emotional". Donna was written to provide a "caustic" and "grown-up" attitude towards the Doctor, in opposition to Rose and Martha, who fell in love with him. Tate considered Donna to be more equal to the Doctor because her character did not romanticise him, allowing her to question his morality more easily.
Donna's mime
In this production, the script requires Catherine Tate, as Donna Noble, to reintroduce herself to the Doctor in mime. The stage directions by writer Russell T Davies are as follows.Tate says Davies had suggested that she might come up with something on the day. She improvised her mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
during filming.
Filming
The episode was in the fourth production block in the season, and was filmed in October 2007. The out-of-sequence filming allowed producers to use props to "seed" later episodes; ATMOS, a plot device in the episodes "The Sontaran StratagemThe Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
" and "The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
", is referred to by a sticker on a taxi's windscreen. As the episode mostly takes place at night, many scenes were filmed in the early morning.
The scene where Donna and the Doctor investigate Adipose was difficult to film. The scene took thirty shots to complete, and Tennant and Tate experienced problems avoiding each other on-screen. The scene was filmed in Picture Finance's call centre on the outskirts of Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
on an early Sunday morning, with the company's telephonists serving as extras.
Exterior shots of Adipose Industries were filmed at the British Gas building (Helmont House
Helmont House
Helmont House is a high-rise hotel and office tower in Cardiff, Wales. Completed in 1984, the high building has 12 floors and is the tenth tallest building in Cardiff...
) in Cardiff's city centre
Cardiff city centre
Cardiff city centre is the central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bounded by the River Taff to the west, the Civic centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations - Central and Queen Street - to the south and east respectively...
. For health and safety reasons, Tennant was prohibited from performing his own stunts in the window cleaning platform. His only shot that required stunts was when he catches Miss Foster's sonic pen, a shot that took several takes to perfect.
Adipose
The Adipose were inspired by a stuffed toy Davies owned. The name comes from the scientific name for body fat, adipose tissueAdipose tissue
In histology, adipose tissue or body fat or fat depot or just fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. It is technically composed of roughly only 80% fat; fat in its solitary state exists in the liver and muscles. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts...
. Davies' brief outlined a "cute" child-friendly creature shaped like a block of lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
, similar to the Pillsbury Doughboy
Pillsbury Doughboy
Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising icon and mascot of The Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2004 conclude with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach...
. Further consultation with post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
team The Mill
The Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
resulted in the ears and the singular fang each Adipose has. Stephen Regelous
Stephen Regelous
Stephen Regelous is a pioneering computer graphics software engineer from New Zealand. He is best known as the creator of the Massive simulation system that generated the battle scenes of the Peter Jackson movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In 2004, Regelous received an Academy Award for...
, who won an Academy Award for his software Massive, flew to London to supervise the creation of the crowd special effects. Regelous, a Doctor Who fan, was enthusiastic about helping The Mill with special effects, stating that "When I first found out that the Mill was working on Doctor Who, I was quietly hoping that Massive might be used to create hordes of Daleks or Cybermen and with series 4, I jumped at the opportunity to be involved." The Mill created two types of Adipose: extras with artificial intelligence and independent movement, and "hero" Adipose, which were hand-animated.
Broadcast and reception
Broadcast and ratings
The episode was broadcast on 5 April 2008 at 18:20, the earliest timeslot since the show's revival in 2005. Davies criticised the BBC's scheduling department and claimed the show could lose 1.5 million viewers. The show retained a similar time of broadcast for a further four episodes, before returning to around 19:00. from "The Doctor's DaughterThe Doctor's Daughter
"The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.- Synopsis :...
" onwards.
The preview version of the episode supplied to the press and aired at the press launch omitted the scene that features Rose; before broadcast, only the production team, Tate, and Tennant had seen the scene. The scene contains Rose's departure theme
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
, "Doomsday". Tennant commented "on the night of transmission ... the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
won't have told you it's coming, it'll come as a genuine [...] prickle up the spine".
Overnight figures estimated the show was watched by 8.4 million viewers, with a peak of 8.7 million, 39.4% of the television audience. The consolidated rating was 9.1 million viewers. Doctor Who was therefore the most watched show on 5 April, although the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
had a higher peak with 10.1 million viewers. The episode's Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
was 88 (considered "Excellent"), the highest for any television show aired on 5 April.
Critical reception
The episode received many positive reviews. John Preston, writing for The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, called the episode an "undiluted triumph". Opening his review, he said "last night's episode struck me as being as close to 50 minutes of pure pleasure as you're likely to get on television". He noted the episode's clever tackling of the topical theme of obesity, and its mixture of emotion and special effects. In closing, he said "the dejected critic, denied even the smallest nit to pick, walks glumly away". Scott Matthewman of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
lamented that the Adipose were not threatening enough. He liked the Adipose's execution of Miss Foster, a "momentary pause in mid-air, gravity only kicking in when the character looks down", comparing it to Wile E. Coyote and Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
, which "[was] a nice little touch in an episode ... full of them". He also appreciated Tate, saying that "David Tennant finally has a partner who is approaching an equal". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote that Tate was "not right for this role" and "too hysterical, too comedy, not cool enough", and felt her inclusion was an attempt to trade on the popularity of her own series and "broaden the appeal of [Dr Who] still further". He also found the music "a bit oppressive" but concluded that, despite these criticisms, the show was "still awfully nice television". Keith Watson of Metro
Metro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
gave the episode 4 stars out of 5. He admitted that despite his dislike of Tate, "she isn't that bad". His review of the Adipose was positive, citing them as a reason of the quality of the show. Closing, he said "it split [his] sides".
Jon Wise of The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
said "Doctor Who is a super-galactic way of spending a Saturday night indoors", and appreciated that Donna was not romantically interested in the Doctor, unlike Martha or Rose. Ben Rawson-Jones gave the episode a wholly positive review, summarising it as containing "pure fantastic family fun, delivering a winning blend of action, comedy, poignancy and one unexpected shock cameo".
The episode received several negative reviews. Andrew Billen, writing for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, lamented that Davies had "forgotten that Doctor Who's main task is to send children scuttling behind sofas
Behind the sofa
"Behind the sofa" is a British pop culture phrase, used as a metaphor to describe the actions that a state of fear may drive a person to — e.g., a child hiding behind the sofa to avoid a frightening television programme...
while entertaining their fathers with the odd philosophical idea, the occasional classical reference, a joke or two they would probably not wish to explain and a wee bit of space totty". Billen also criticised the writing and acting, but commended Tate for a "toned down performance". Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal
SyFy Portal
Airlock Alpha, formerly SyFy Portal, is an entertainment news website focusing on science-fiction, fantasy and comic book television series and films.-History:...
summarised it as "a runaway Saturday morning cartoon in desperate need to a solid story". Blair found flaws with the comedy and the music in the episode, but was impressed with Tate's acting and Piper's cameo. Kevin O'Sullivan of the Sunday Mirror
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...
criticised Tate and Tennant for overacting, and had concerns about the writing: "It didn't exactly ooze tension. All we got in the way of terrifying space enemies was Sarah Lancashire hamming it up as an intergalactic super nanny, a couple of security guards with guns and lots of cute little fat babies." Ian Hyland
Ian Hyland
Ian Hyland is an English television critic.-Journalism career:Hyland wrote a column for the Sunday Mirror from 2000 to 2005. Until 2011 closure of the newspaper, he wrote for the News of the World. He currently writes for the Daily Mail...
of News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
criticised the child-friendly storyline, comparing it to "the back of a fag packet
Cigarette pack
A pack or packet of cigarettes is a rectangular container, mostly of paperboard, which contains cigarettes. The pack is designed with a flavor-protective foil, paper or biodegradable plastic, and sealed through a transparent airtight plastic film. By pulling the "pull-tabs", the pack is opened...
". He also criticised Tennant for appearing "jaded" and Tate for "still shouting".