Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)

188 – "Voyage of the Damned"
Doctor Who episode

The interstellar cruise ship Titanic, the main setting of the episode, orbits above Earth on Christmas Eve.
Cast
Others
Production
Writer Russell T Davies
Director James Strong
Script editor Brian Minchin
Producer Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s) Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Production code 4.X
Length 72 minutes
Originally broadcast 25 December 2007
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
"Time Crash" (mini-episode)
"Last of the Time Lords" (episode)		 "Partners in Crime"

"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme 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. The narrative continues from the final scenes of both "Last of the Time Lords" and the mini-episode "Time Crash", when a luxury space liner called the Titanic, a pastiche of the historical ocean liner, breached the walls of the TARDIS. The ship's captain, Hardaker (Geoffrey Palmer), sabotages the ship shortly after the Titanic's collision with the TARDIS. The Doctor (David Tennant) works with a waitress named Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) to prevent an imminent collision with Earth.

The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue. Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue. On its original airdate, "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.31 million viewers, the highest viewing figure for Doctor Who since the 1979 serial City of Death and as of October 2015 it still has the highest viewership of any episode since the show's revival. It was the second most-watched programme of 2007, beaten only by the episode of EastEnders which aired immediately after it. Critical opinion about the episode was divided; the writing and Minogue's performance were both praised and criticised.

Plot

The episode opens immediately following the events of "Time Crash", with the bow of the Titanic crashing into the TARDIS. The Doctor repairs the damage before landing the TARDIS on the ship. He discovers it's not the famed RMS Titanic, but instead is a starliner hailing from the planet Sto.

The Titanic is orbiting present day Earth to observe the traditions of primitive cultures, specifically Christmas. The Doctor dons a tuxedo and joins the reception on board, meeting waitress Astrid Peth. The Doctor convinces Astrid to join him on a brief excursion to the surface of Earth. They are accompanied by married couple Morvin and Foon Van Hoff, a Zocci named Bannakaffalatta, and historian and guide Mr. Copper. While on Earth, specifically a commercial district of London, the Doctor notes that London seems abandoned, and questions a man in a newspaper stand about it. The man, Wilfred Mott, tells the Doctor that most people have left London because of the previous two years of alien activity in London on Christmas ("The Christmas Invasion" and "The Runaway Bride").

Back on the Titanic, Captain Hardaker dismisses the ship's officers from the bridge. Citing regulations, that require at least two officers remain on the bridge at all times, Midshipman Alonso Frame stays. After the group returns from their excursion, Hardaker drops the vessel's protective shielding and magnetises the hull. This causes nearby meteors to be pulled toward the ship on a collision course. Midshipman Frame attempts to reactivate the shields but is shot by Hardaker as the meteors collide with the ship. The collision causes hull breaches, most of the 2,000 passengers and staff are killed, and the vessel begins plunging toward the Earth. The Doctor makes contact with the wounded Midshipman Frame, who stabilises and maintains the power from the damaged engines.

The Doctor and the rest of the excursion party attempt to reach the bridge but are repeatedly attacked by the ship's Angel Hosts, androids resembling angels who were programmed to supply information but are now eliminating all passengers and crew. Morvin falls off of a ledge into the ship's engine, and the rest of the group are surrounded by Angel Hosts. Bannakaffalatta reveals that he is a cyborg, and uses his internal EMP device to disable the Hosts. The EMP burst drains the Zocci's power cells and he dies. Mr. Copper takes the EMP device, saying that if they can manage to recharge it, they can use it against the Hosts again. A lone Angel Host attacks them again, and Foon ties herself to it and throws them both into the ship's engine. The Doctor separates from the rest and attempts to reach Deck 31, where he hopes to find the controls for the Heavenly Hosts. He convinces the Hosts that he is a stowaway - neither passenger nor crew and thus not in the Hosts' kill mandate - and the confused androids take him to see their operator, Max Capricorn. Max explains that he planned the Titanic's inevitable collision with Earth to bankrupt the company that voted him out. To save the Doctor, Astrid uses a forklift to ram Max Capricorn and push him into the ship's engine. The forklift falls on top of him, seemingly killing Astrid as well.

With Max Capricorn dead, the Heavenly Host divert to the next highest authority, the Doctor, and aid him in quickly reaching the bridge. Together with Midshipman Frame, he uses the heat from the entry into the Earth's atmosphere to restart the ship's auxiliary engines. The ship stabilises and narrowly avoids a collision with Buckingham Palace. The Doctor then realizes that Astrid was wearing a teleport bracelet when she fell into the engine. In an emergency, the teleport bracelets were programmed to hold a person's molecular pattern in stasis until it can be recovered. The Doctor frantically attempts to retrieve Astrid's pattern, but the machine is too badly damaged. The Doctor reluctantly allows the ghostly remains of Astrid's atoms to dissipate into space. As the surviving passengers wait for rescue, the Doctor and Mr. Copper, who would otherwise be sent to prison for committing fraud in order to get a job with the company, teleport to Earth and find that the TARDIS landed unharmed, thrown from the ship after the collision. An ecstatic Mr. Copper is left to live on Earth with a credit card he preloaded with a million pounds, unaware of the conversion between pound sterling and Sto credits.

Production

Casting

Kylie Minogue, alongside David Tennant, wearing a "cigarette girl" costume, which she described as "the most comfortable [she] had worn in years"

During the third series press launch in March 2007, the production team was approached by Will Baker, Kylie Minogue's creative director, about her appearing in the show. Executive producer Julie Gardner replied that Minogue could guest star if her schedule was free.[1] Minogue officially registered her interest on 26 March 2007 and was subsequently given a one-off role as the Doctor's companion.[1][2] Minogue's appearance would allow the show to easily transfer the lead companion role from Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to "Penny"—the intended companion for the fourth series, eventually replaced by Catherine Tate as Donna Noble—and provide a "big name" star to appear in the Christmas special.[1] Her casting was first reported in the News of the World in April 2007.[3] Davies initially dismissed the story, but Baker and Minogue contemporaneously confirmed she would star in the show.[2][4][5] Her role was officially confirmed on 3 July 2007.[6] Both Minogue and Doctor Who had acknowledged each other before: "The Idiot's Lantern" mentions Minogue as a real person;[7] and Baker, a fan of Doctor Who, included aspects of the classic series in Minogue's tours: the Raston Warriors (from The Five Doctors) in the Fever tour; and the Cybermen in the Showgirl tour.[2]

Clive Swift and Geoffrey Palmer have had previous roles in Doctor Who. Swift portrayed Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks, while Palmer played Undersecretary Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians, and the Administrator in The Mutants. Jessica Martin had played Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. In addition, Bernard Cribbins played Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., the second Doctor Who feature-film adaptation starring Peter Cushing as well as Arnold Korns in the audio play Horror of Glam Rock. Colin McFarlane, who provided the voices of the Heavenly Host for the episode, went on to play General Pierce in Torchwood: Children of Earth, before later reappearing in Doctor Who as Moran in "Under the Lake".[8]

Minogue's costume

Minogue met designer Louise Page four times during pre-production to discuss her costume. Page rejected a long dress because it was atypical to Minogue; she instead elected for a "cigarette girl" image, similar to a "1950s [...] cinema usherette". Five costumes were made for different scenes and Minogue's stunt doubles, and each part of each costume was made separately to keep Minogue's role secret. After filming, Minogue told Page that the costume was "the most comfortable [she] had worn in years".[2]

Writing

The episode was primarily written by Russell T Davies after Minogue was cast. Davies described his pitch to Minogue as "busking".[2] The character of Astrid Peth was written for Minogue. Davies later stated that Minogue was a "very exceptional case"; he considered writing a role specifically for one actor "dangerous territory" because the desired actor may be unavailable or decline the part.[9] In early drafts of the episode, Astrid did not die. Davies decided Astrid's death was necessary to allow Minogue focus on her musical career.[2] Davies described the original nature of her death—falling over a precipice during a fight with Capricorn—as "fleeting".[1] He intensified the scene by changing Max from mobile to cybernetic and Astrid's attack from an altercation to a fork-lift truck.[1] Davies felt the revised scene was "such a beautiful image" and romanticised Astrid's "ultimate sacrifice".[1][2]

Davies based the episode on the traditional disaster film format. He was highly influenced by the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure: he considered "[turning] the spaceship upside down" before cutting the concept for monetary constraints;[1] and the character of Foon Van Hoff (Debbie Chazen) was heavily based on Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters). He diverged from the trope in its climax; the format of Doctor Who dictated the requirement of an antagonist: Max Capricorn, whose plan was to sabotage the ship as part of an insurance scam.[2] Davies based the portrayal of Kansas in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as an analogue for Sto.[10]

The episode includes several references to outside the show's fictional universe: the episode is dedicated to Verity Lambert, Doctor Who's founding producer, who died on 22 November 2007, a day before the show's forty-fourth anniversary;[11] and the malfunctioning Host stuttering over the name "Max" is a reference to 1980s virtual presenter Max Headroom;[11] Davies inserted references to other Doctor Who episodes in the script: he emphasised society's increasing awareness of aliens and the tradition of London's consecutive Christmas attacks in the script, describing the latter as "becoming a bit of an in-joke";[2] the Doctor's use of the catchphrase "allons-y Alonso" in the episode when he helps Frame stabilise the ship continues a running gag originating in "Army of Ghosts";[1][12] and the Host continue the thematic motif of angels. Angels previously appeared in "Blink", where the antagonists of the episode were Weeping Angels, and in "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords", where the Master's communication network was called the "Archangel Network".[11] Despite angels being the antagonist in two episodes that aired close to each other, which dismayed writer and executive producer Russell T Davies when he read Steven Moffat's script for "Blink", the Host are functionally different as subordinate "robot butlers".[10]

Filming

Filming primarily took place between 9 July and 11 August 2007;[1] the first scene filmed depicted the group being accosted by the Host while crossing over the engines.[10] On 12 July, Tennant's mother, Helen McDonald, began to succumb to her cancer. Filming was rescheduled to allow Tennant to be present when she died and was buried; she died on 15 July and was buried on 21 July.[1][13][14] During Tennant's absence, scenes in the Titanic's reception area were filmed at the Exchange in Swansea and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay.[15] Tennant filmed his scenes in the area on 16 and 17 July.[1] The last use of the Coal Exchange was on the 18th; scenes depicting the ship's collision with meteors were filmed on that day.[1]

One week of filming was conducted primarily at the old DuPont site in Pontypool which provided the sets for Deck 31—Capricorn's refuge and command centre, Much of the old extrusion machinery still in situ and their corresponding control "Thorn Drive" panels —and the various stairwells and corridors of the ship. Scenes on Deck 31 were filmed on 19 and 20 July. A double, Danielle de Costa, operated the fork-lift truck because Minogue didn't have the required license.[1] Shooting was staggered as a result of Tennant's departure: 21 July focused on the supporting characters; and 23 July focused on Tennant. The aftermath of the meteor strike was filmed between 25 July and 27 July.[1]

Filming returned to the Exchange in Swansea to film two more scenes: The denouément of the episode was filmed on 28 July; and the pre-credits sequence on 30 July. The most important day of filming was on 31 July 2007: an evening location shoot of the party's arrival in London. Before filming commenced, Minogue covered her death scene above a chroma key mattress.[1] The scene in London commenced filming at sunset in Cardiff city centre.[1] For security concerns—specifically, protecting Minogue—the street was sealed off for the first time since the show's revival in 2005.[1][2]

Filming finished in the first two weeks of August 2007: the closing scene was filmed in Cardiff Docks on 1 August; Hardaker's death was filmed at Upper Boat on 2 August; scenes in the ship's kitchen was filmed on 3 August; and scenes on the bridge were filmed on 6—8 August. The last day of filming was on 21 August 2007; cameo scenes by BBC reporters Jason Mohammad and Nicholas Witchell were filmed at BBC's broadcasting houses in Llandaff and London.[1]

Music
"The Stowaway"
The chorus of the song "The Stowaway", which was influenced by Irish folk music.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Composer Murray Gold, arranger Ben Foster, and singer Yamit Mamo make cameo appearances as part of the ship's band.[11][16] Mamo, primarily a soul singer, was approached by Gold after his friends saw her performing, and she unconditionally accepted his offer.[2] She performed the songs "My Angel Put the Devil in Me" and "The Stowaway" on the third series soundtrack.[2][11] The latter was specifically composed for this episode and was recorded in September 2007 at AIR Studios in London. The song features everyone who was present in the studios during recording as backing vocals. "The Stowaway" continues the tradition of a Christmas song from "The Christmas Invasion" ("Song for Ten") and "The Runaway Bride" ("Love Don't Roam"). The song was influenced by Irish folk music, and contrasts the upbeat "under deck" feeling with melancholy lyrics about unrequited love. The episode features a new version of the theme tune during its credits, comparable to Peter Howell's version from the 1980s, which contains a new bass line, drums, and piano.[11]

Broadcast and reception

Broadcast

Overnight figures estimated that the episode's Christmas Day broadcast was watched by 12.2 million viewers. The final viewing figures were 13.31 million viewers with a peak of 13.8 million, the second highest audience for any programme during 2007: the episode of BBC soap EastEnders which aired after "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.9 million viewers.[17][18] The viewing figure is the highest for the new series, exceeding the previous record set by "Rose". The figure is also the highest for Doctor Who overall since 1979, specifically, the final episode of "City of Death".[19][20] The episode's Appreciation Index rating was 86 ("excellent"), above the average score of 77 for drama programmes, and was the highest Index rating for any programme shown on terrestrial television on Christmas Day.[21] Although not filmed in HD, the BBC aired it on BBC One HD, Wednesday 29 December 2010, having up-scaled the program to HD and also including Dolby Surround sound. This is the first Doctor Who episode, filmed in SD, to have been up-scaled to HD for broadcast on television, and the second episode, overall, to be up-scaled from SD to HD, the first being the 2008 Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, for the Blu-ray release of the Complete Specials Boxset.[22]

This special first aired in Canada on Space in April 2010.[23]

Criticism and review

A scene where the Doctor was lifted by the angelic Host to the ship's bridge was both criticised and praised for its religious imagery.

The episode was criticised by Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 Titanic sinking, who stated that it was "disrespectful to make entertainment of such a tragedy."[24] The organisation Christian Voice expressed offence at the religious imagery of a scene in which the Doctor is lifted through the ship by robot angels, believing the messianic portrayal of the Doctor as "inappropriate";[25] however, in April 2008, vicars were encouraged to use the same scene to "illustrate themes of resurrection, redemption and evil" to young people.[26]

Gareth McLean, who reviewed a preview screening for The Guardian's TV and radio weblog, appreciated the episode's use of "the disaster movie template" and came to a favourable overall conclusion: "For the most part, The Voyage of the Damned is absolutely smashing." Its main flaw, in his view, was the "blank and insipid" acting of Kylie Minogue.[27] James Walton of The Daily Telegraph gave the episode a positive review, summarising it as "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation".[28] Alex Clark of The Observer commented that the death toll was rather high, but she still thought the episode was "an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention".[29] Harry Venning of The Stage concluded his positive review of the episode by stating it "was well up to Doctor Who's impeccably high standards".[30] Doctor Who Magazine placed two of the deaths in the episode in its list of the top 100 deaths in the history of the show. Bannakaffalatta's death, a self-sacrifice to save the Doctor's party, was placed in the "top 20 tearjerkers" category. Astrid's death was given the title of "Doctor Who's all-time greatest death scene", commenting it "ticks boxes in all of our main categories [(gruesome, scary, self-sacrifice, tearjerking, surprising)]", and "her death would truly make a glass eye cry."[31] Tim Teeman of The Times gave the episode a negative review, stating that "It was boring, despite the endless dashing about and CGI flimflam."[32] The Daily Mirror commented the episode had "some brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd-esque imagery", "great baddies", and "neat jokes", but lamented that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster."[33]

DVD release

The ten Christmas specials between "The Christmas Invasion" and "Last Christmas" inclusive were released in a boxset titled Doctor Who – The 10 Christmas Specials on 19 October 2015.[34]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pixley, Andrew (2008-08-14). "Voyage of the Damned". Doctor Who Magazine. Vol. The Doctor Who Companion: Series Four no. Special Edition 20 (Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Panini Comics).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Confidential at Christmas". Doctor Who Confidential. Season 4. Episode Special. 2007-12-25. BBC. BBC Three.
  3. ↑ Hayes, Paul (2007-04-27). "Kylie Minogue cast?". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  4. ↑ Hayes, Paul (2007-04-27). "Davies dismisses Kylie rumour". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  5. ↑ Marcus (2007-05-12). "Christmas Episode 2007". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  6. ↑ "Step Back In Time". BBC. 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  7. ↑ Mark Gatiss (writer), Euros Lyn (director), Phil Collinson (producer) (27 May 2006). "The Idiot's Lantern". Doctor Who. Series 2. Episode 7. BBC. BBC One.
  8. ↑ "Doctor who Guide: Colin McFarlane". guide.doctorwhonews.net. Doctor Who Guide. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  9. ↑ T Davies, Russell (April 2008). "Be My Guest". Radio Times. No. 5–11 April 2008 (BBC). p. 17.
  10. 1 2 3 Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner (2007-12-25). "Voyage of the Damned commentary (stream)". BBC.co.uk (Podcast). Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Doctor Who - Fact File - Voyage of the Damned". BBC. 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  12. ↑ Russell T Davies (writer), Graeme Harper (director), Phil Collinson (producer) (1 July 2006). "Army of Ghosts". Doctor Who. Series 2. Episode 12. BBC. BBC One.
  13. ↑ "Tributes pour in for Helen". Paisley Daily Express. 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  14. ↑ Hinman, Michael (2007-07-20). "'Doctor Who' Filming Delayed This Weekend". SyFy Portal. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  15. ↑ "Walesarts, Coal Exchange and Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay". BBC. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  16. ↑ Berriman, Ian (2007-12-13). "Phil Collinson on Doctor Who". SFX. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  17. ↑ Ormsby, Avril (26 December 2007). "EastEnders pips Dr Who on Christmas". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  18. ↑ Marcus (2008-01-11). "Voyage – 2nd most watched programme in 2007". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  19. ↑ Wilkes, Neil (26 December 2007). "'Doctor Who' gets best ratings since 1979". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  20. ↑ "Titanic Success!". BBC. 2007-12-26. Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  21. ↑ Marcus (2007-12-27). "Voyage - Appreciation Index". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  22. ↑ "Voyage of the Damned", BBC, retrieved 2011-02-04
  23. ↑ "BBC Worldwide and Space Wrap Up Sci-Fi". channelcanada.com. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  24. ↑ "Doctor Who Slammed By Titanic Survivor". Daily Record. 22 December 2007. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  25. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (21 December 2007). "Christians protest as Doctor Who is portrayed as 'messiah'". The Times (London). Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  26. ↑ Wynne-Jones, Jonathan (2008-05-04). "The church is ailing - send for Dr Who". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  27. ↑ McLean, Gareth (20 December 2007). "The Doctor Who disaster movie is a great success". theblog: tv&radio (London: Guardian Unlimited). Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  28. ↑ Walton, James (26 December 2007). "Telegraph pick: Doctor Who (BBC1)". telegraph.co.uk (London). Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  29. ↑ Clark, Alex (2007-12-30). "Feel the pain and pass the port". London: The Observer. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  30. ↑ Venning, Harry (2007-12-28). "TV review". The Stage. Archived from the original on 2013-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  31. ↑ "Doctor Who's 100 Greatest Death Scenes". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 393. March 2008. pp. 18–30.
  32. ↑ Teeman, Tim (26 December 2007). "Christmas Day TV: Doctor Who; EastEnders; Coronation Street". timesonline.co.uk (London). Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  33. ↑ Shelly, Jim (2007-12-17). "EastEnders saves the day". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  34. ↑ "Doctor Who News: Doctor Who - The Ten Christmas Specials". Doctor Who News. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

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