Midnight

Episode Location: Midnight, a diamond, "alien leisure planet"
Aliens/Enemies: Unknown
New Characters: Sky, Professor Hobbes, Dee Dee Blasco, Biff & Vale Cane, Jethro, Hostess
Gadgets Used: Unknown
Episode Objective: To visit the diamond glacier, and then to survive and escape the knocking on the bus.

A sapphire waterfall on the planet Midnight: this enormous jewel, the size of a glacier, reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires, falling a hundred, thousand feet into a crystal ravine. But Donna Noble would prefer to sunbathe back at the Leisure Palace, so the Doctor boards the shuttle bus to the waterfall, alone...

Except, he's not alone for long.

There's Sky Silvestry, a businesswoman in her 40's, strong, but quiet.The shambolic Professor Hobbes, full of enthusiasm;
His young assistant Dee Dee Blasco;
Biff and Vale Cane, a nice couple on their holidays;










Their 18-year old son Jethro, a bit of a goth, sullen, moping;
And the Hostess, on duty in the aisle.
All of them are aboard the Crusader 50 shuttle bus as its sets off for the planets big attraction.

This episode is the biggest kept secret of the series! And the less you know before watching it, the more you'll enjoy it.

Its largely a Donna-lite
Its the "low budget" episode.
Features the line "Chicken or beef"
Its the 50th episode to be filmed of New Doctor Who

Donna only appears for the first 2 minutes and last minute. She decides to stay by the pool whilst The Doctor goes on a 4 hour shuttle journey to visit a remarkable sapphire waterfall. But, while Donna is sunbathing and not getting into copious amounts of trouble, bad things are install for the Doctor.

"Writer Russell T Davies takes a beautifully simple concept and turns it into something filled with menace and terror. It's a story that looks at different parts of the Doctor's personality, especially his never ending curiosity, while at the same time showing the risks and danger that that brings.
It also highlights, with Donna not around for most of the story, how important his companion is to him. But the most terrifying part is how it explores how human beings respond when they're under intense pressure."

(Lizo's review)

Donna: You be careful
The Doctor: Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight... what could possibly go wrong?!

Ooh! Foreboding words there!
But of course the Doctor needs to settle himself in and have a quick chat to the hostess:

HOSTESS: Enjoy your trip.
THE DOCTOR: Oh, I can't wait! Allons-y!
HOSTESS: I'm sorry..?
THE DOCTOR: It's French, for let's go!
HOSTESS: Fascinating.

Apparently we will hear another Allons-y and a Malto Bene at some point in the episode.









And theres the irony kicking in. What could go wrong?
Well... that for a start...

Looks like the shuttle bus is having a bit of difficulty there. So now our little team of tourists are trapped on a tiny bus in the middle of no where.

Well, at least the Doctor keeps his head.

"We're going to get out of here I promise"

So now what? Stuck on a bus in the middle of nowhere with only a strange man to rely on? No wonder tempers are raised.

Doctor: If we're going to get out of this, then you need me!
Vale: Oh, like you're so special

Hostess: Two people are dead!
Doctor: Don't make it a third!



Apparently theres a point in the episode which only works if the Doctor is alone. The affection between the Doctor and Donna shines in the couple of minutes they are together at the start and end of the episode.

But, moving on from that, the knocking begins. The knock-knock-knocking on the outside of the bus...

Sky: What the hell is making that noise?

Vale: Its trying the door!
Hobbs: There is no "it"!

Sky: What is it? Just tell me what the hell it is?!

"It's coming for me!"

"Get out of there!"

So, according to some review or other "Only Sky seems to know the truth – but as paranoia turns into a witch-hunt, Sky turns the Doctor's greatest strengths against him, and a sacrifice must be made..."

And who is this mysterious Sky, who apparently knows something or other? Well apparently whatever it is that is making the knocking manages to possess Sky... and "terrible things are said"


Lesley Sharp, interviewed on "Loose Women" said that at the end of the episode there won't be a lot left of Sky Silvestry

And although we know theres an alien threat, we don't know what it actually is. But we do know that its effecting the Doctor.



Some lucky people have already seen this episode, and the feedback they give, while sparse, is constantly rewarding. They say Tennant is amazing, and someone kindly gave away this info:

• The first 10 minutes has a lot of humour
  
  
• In the early part of the episode, The Hostess uses a very funny line when talking to the passengers
  
  
• Rafaella Carra (Italian singer) appears "in all her glory" as part of the in-shuttle entertainment package (briefly replaced by Rose)
  
  
• "Doctor, Doctor" is briefly mouthed by someone, via a monitor, but the Doctor doesn't see the message (Rose)
  
  
• Klicks
  
  
• Fear and paranoia reign supreme. Someone must make the ultimate sacrifice. By C=O's recollection, 10 people are aboard the Shuttle when it leaves. By the end only 6 are left.