Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)

The TARDIS has collided with a ship called the Titanic. To investigate further, the Tenth Doctor runs the TARDIS's self-repair programme and boards the Titanic, which the Doctor discovers is an interstellar cruiser from the planet Sto. Modelled after the Earth ocean liner Titanic, the ship is orbiting present-day Earth to observe "primitive cultures"—specifically, Christmas. The Doctor decides to stow away, and joins a party of aliens including the waitress Astrid Peth on a brief excursion to London. However, the populace of London fled in fear because of extraterrestrial attacks over the previous two Christmases. After the party return from the excursion, the ship's captain, Hardaker, sabotages the ship by engineering its collision with three meteors. The resulting collision kills most of the passengers on board and draws the ship to an extinction level collision with Earth. The Doctor makes contact with Midshipman Frame, a crew member who survived the collision, to help him stabilise the ship. En route to the bridge, the Doctor's party are repeatedly attacked by the Host, androids resembling angels who were programmed to kill the survivors. The Doctor breaks from the party and attempts to reach the control point for the Host. He is taken to the Host's leader, former cruise line owner Max Capricorn, who is a head attached to a mobile life support unit. Capricorn was bitter about being forced out of his own company and plotted the Titanics inevitable collision with Earth to bankrupt the company by framing the board of directors for murder; the terminally ill Captain Hardaker's part was secured by promising financial support for his family. To save the Doctor, Astrid rams Capricorn with a forklift, which sends both of them over a ledge to their deaths in the engine. The Doctor uses the Host to reach the bridge, where he uses the heat from entry into the Earth's atmosphere to restart the ship's engines. After stabilising the ship, the Doctor realises that the teleport bracelet Astrid was wearing backed up her molecular pattern. However, the damaged system can only partially regenerate Astrid. Astrid reappears spectral and bewildered, as the Doctor gives her a goodbye kiss before freeing her sentient atoms (described as "stardust") to roam space as energy. ==Production==

Casting Clive Swift and Geoffrey Palmer have had previous roles in Doctor Who. Swift portrayed Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks (1985), while Palmer played Undersecretary Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970), and the Administrator in The Mutants (1972). Jessica Martin had played Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1988–89). 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 (2009), before later reappearing in Doctor Who'' as Moran in "Under the Lake". Russell Tovey plays Midshipman Frame, a role he would briefly reprised in The End of Time. Tovey and McFarlane would both be in The War Between the Land and the Sea in which Tovey played Barclay Pierre-Dupont and McFalane reprised General Pierce from Torchwood: Children of Earth. Jimmy Vee had previously played aliens in "The End of the World" and "Aliens of London" (2005), and would later play other aliens in "The End of Time" (2009–10) and "The Caretaker" (2014). Kylie Minogue During the third series press launch in March 2007, the production team was approached by William 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. Minogue officially registered her interest on 26 March 2007 and was subsequently given a one-off role as the Doctor's companion. Davies initially dismissed the story, but Baker and Minogue contemporaneously confirmed she would star in the show. Her role was officially confirmed on 3 July 2007. Baker, a long-term Doctor Who fan, was largely responsible for Minogue's casting by setting up a meeting between her, Davies and Julie Gardner. Davies has claimed that Minogue was keen to appear on Doctor Who to relaunch her acting career. Minogue met designer Louise Page four times during pre-production to discuss her costume. Astrid's surname, Peth, was confirmed in the Christmas edition of Radio Times. Davies has stated that the character was always going to be a "one-off" even before Minogue was cast and that Astrid would demonstrate "a whole new take – again – on what a companion can be". However, the episode established no such connection. On Doctor Who Confidential, Minogue describes Astrid as a "dreamer" and that meeting with the Doctor rekindles Astrid's desire to explore. Later in his book ''A Writer's Tale'' Davies discussed with co-author Benjamin Cook how he had originally named the character "Peth" in a treatment but it bugged him, he later renamed her to "Astrid" giving the reason that it "...sounds more spacey, more like a futuristing Doctor's companion". Despite Davies stating that the companion in "Voyage of the Damned" was "always going to [be] a one-off...little knowing that it would be Kylie Minogue", In early drafts of the episode, Astrid did not die. Davies decided Astrid's death was necessary to allow Minogue to focus on her musical career. 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"; 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". 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—on 15 and 21 July, respectively. During Tennant's absence, scenes in the Titanics reception area were filmed at the Exchange in Swansea and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay. Tennant filmed his scenes in the area on 16 and 17 July. Mamo, primarily a soul singer, was approached by Gold after his friends saw her performing, and she unconditionally accepted his offer. She performed the songs "My Angel Put the Devil in Me" and "The Stowaway" on the third series soundtrack. 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. A ten-minute suite of the episode's musical score was included on the fourth series soundtrack. The episode also 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. ==Promotion==

Minogue posed with a Dalek in an exclusive photo shoot for Doctor Who Magazine promoting "Voyage of the Damned". The shoot paid homage to actress Katy Manning's (who portrayed Jo Grant) famous nude photo shoot with a Dalek. Lengthier discussion about her involvement in "Voyage of the Damned" was included in the extended repeat of X-Amining Kylie, entitled Re-X-Amining Kylie, broadcast on Boxing Day 2007. It was leaked to The Sun and other media outlets that Astrid would kiss the Doctor. ==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. 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". 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. Although not filmed in HD, the BBC aired it on BBC One HD, Wednesday 29 December 2010, having up-scaled the programme 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. This special first aired in Canada on Space in April 2010. Reception The episode was seen by 13.8 million watching at its peak, according to consolidated ratings, when it was first broadcast on Christmas Day on BBC One. Younger viewers who were fans of pop star Kylie were left distraught by Astrid's death and had to be convinced that Kylie was not dead in real life. Although reviewer Jane Simon would have liked to have seen more of the character and it has been asserted that her appearance in the episode has helped her make "a full return to the limelight", Minogue's appearance was not universally praised. Gareth McLean, a TV writer for The Guardian, described Minogue as "not that good...she's blank and insipid". McLean wrote: There's no chemistry between Astrid and the Doctor, she delivers her lines with a real lack of conviction and thus we never really believe in Astrid as a character. Where Catherine Tate's Donna in last year's special was overbearing, Kylie Minogue's Astrid is hardly there at all. It does make you wonder why casting Kylie was regarded as a coup. She's a pop star – of course she's going to say yes to being beamed into millions of homes in the run-up to Christmas. She's got a duff album to sell. In truth, Kylie should be grateful to [Doctor Who]. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian claimed Kylie's performance was "disappointing" and did not live up to those of Freema Agyeman or Billie Piper in Doctor Who. Jim Shelley of The Mirror stated that Minogue did not "look vivacious enough to be worth all the fuss". Conversely, Paddy Shennan of the Liverpool Echo accused the makers of cynically including shots of Minogue's cleavage and legs. Tim Teeman of the Times Online described Astrid as "gutsy", but commented on Minogue's "older" appearance and likened her "breathy delivery" to her performance as Charlene Mitchell in Neighbours. In 2012, Will Salmon of SFX named Astrid's demise as one of the five worst companion departures, writing that her death circumstance was "a bit daft" and her starlight farewell was a "laughably mawkish scene". Billie Piper, who portrayed former companion Rose Tyler, commented that it was a "great idea" to cast Minogue, and was disappointed to miss meeting and befriending her on the set of Doctor Who as Tennant had done. Character Options has produced an action figure of Astrid for inclusion in a "Voyage of the Damned" action figure box set. Criticism and review The episode was criticised by Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, who said: "The Titanic was a tragedy which tore so many families apart. I lost my father and he lies on that wreck. I think it is disrespectful to make entertainment of such a tragedy." A spokeswoman for the show said: "No offence was intended. 'Voyage of the Damned' is set on a spaceship called The Titanic and not a boat." Gareth McLean, who reviewed a preview screening for The Guardian, 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. 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". 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". Harry Venning of The Stage concluded his positive review of the episode by stating it "was well up to Doctor Whos impeccably high standards". 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 Whos 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." Tim Teeman of The Times gave the episode a negative review, stating that "It was boring, despite the endless dashing about and CGI flimflam." 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." Later media The episode was first released in the UK on DVD in March 2008. The ten Christmas specials between "The Christmas Invasion" and "Last Christmas" inclusive were later released in a boxset titled Doctor Who – The 10 Christmas Specials on 19 October 2015. In the 2013 novel Shroud of Sorrow, the Shroud, the main antagonist of the book, takes the form of deceased loved ones known to the people it approaches, in a bid to entice and entrap them. For the Eleventh Doctor, it takes the form of Astrid. The Doctor later uses a 'Once More With Feeling' device to revisit memories of losing friends, including Astrid's death, to generate enough personal grief that the Shroud releases its victims and latches on to him. ==References==