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The Idiot's Lantern

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Release
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Synopsis

The Wire

1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - but there are rumours of monsters on the streets of London.

Source: BBC DVD

General Information

Season:	Twenty Eight (New Series 2)
Production Code:	2-7
Story Number:	173 (New Series: 17)
Episode Number:	717 (New Series: 21)
Number of Episodes:	1
Percentage of Episodes Held:	100%
Working Titles:	"Mr Sandman", "Sonic Doom" and "The One-Eyed Monster"
Production Dates:	January - February 2006
Broadcast Date:	27 May 2006
Colour Status:	Colour
Studio:	BBC Wales (Unit Q2, Newport) and Enfys Television Studios (Cardiff)
Location:	Florentia Street (Cathays, Cardiff), Blenheim Road (Pen-y-lan, Cardiff), Cardiff Royal Infirmary, Cardiff Heliport (Cardiff Bay) and Newport Docks.

Writer:

Mark Gatiss

Director:

Euros Lyn

Producer:

Phil Collinson

Executive Producers:

Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies

Script Editor:

Simon Winstone

Editor:

Crispin Green

Production Manager:

Marcus Prince

Production Designer:

Edward Thomas

Director of Photography:

Rory Taylor

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG

Costume Designer:

Louise Page

Make-Up Designer:

Sheelagh Wells

Visual Effects:

The Mill

Special Effects:

Any Effects

Prosthetics:

Millennium Effects and Neill Gorton

Stunt Co-ordinator:

Dave Forman

Stunt Performers:

Gordon Seed, Ray De-Haan, Rocky Taylor, Sarah Franzl and Steve Griffin

Incidental Music:

Murray Gold

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Paul Jefferies

Sound Recordist:

Simon Fraser

Sound Editors:

Doug Sinclair and Paul McFadden

Music Performed By:

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)

Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) Guest Cast: Maureen Lipman (The Wire) Additional Cast: Ron Cook (Magpie), Jamie Foreman (Eddie Connolly), Debra Gillett (Rita Connolly), Rory Jennings (Tommy Connolly), Margaret John (Grandma Connolly), Sam Cox (Detective Inspector Bishop), Ieuan Rhys (Crabtree), Jean Challis (Aunty Betty), Christopher Driscoll (Security Guard), Marie Lewis (Mrs Gallagher)Setting: London (1953) Villain:The Wire

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
717	The Idiot's Lantern	27 May 2006	45'08"	6.8	Yes

Total Duration

45 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

6.8

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2006)	68.47% (Position = 8 out of 11)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	63.84% (Position = 138 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	60.56% (Position = 195 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 33 out of 36

Archives

This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.

Notes

Margaret John, who plays Grandma Connolly, previously played Megan Jones in the 1968 Second Doctor story "Fury From the Deep".

This is the second adventure to be scripted by The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss - The first being "The Unquiet Dead" for the revived show's inaugural season. Mark is only one of three people who have both written for and acted in Doctor Who. The other two are Victor Pemberton and Glyn Jones.

This story takes place in the 1950's, It has been praised for its great attention to period detail.

'Goodnight children, everywhere', spoken by The Wire as she feeds on Rose Tyler, was the catchphrase of Derek McCulloch presenter of the kids' show Children's Hour.

Florizel Street, as featured in this story, was originally the working title for long running ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

The Magpie logo has since been used in three other stories: on the P.A. speakers at the wedding reception in "The Runaway Bride" (but sadly not seen on camera), Martha Jones's television set in "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords" and the microphone stand used by the ship's band on the 'Titanic' in "Voyage of the Damned".

This is the first time we've seen The Doctor on a scooter, although he did ride a motorcycle in the 1972 story "The Dæmons", the 1987 story "Delta and the Bannermen" and in the 1989 story "Survival".

The Doctor makes reference to legendary singer Kylie Minogue. Kylie subsequently played companion Astrid Peth in "Voyage of the Damned".

The original script referenced The Doctor's fear of transmitter towers, because he 'fell off one once'. This was a reference to the Fourth Doctor's falling to his 'death' from the Pharos Project transmitter at the end of "Logopolis". In this earlier story the fall caused him to regenerate into the Fifth Doctor.

The 55 second TARDISode for this story depicted Tommy's grandmother being attacked by the Wire. This was filmed on the 16th February 2006 at the Doctor Who studio space of Unit Q2 in Newport. As with all the other TARDISode's - all of which were written by Gareth Roberts - it could be downloaded from the BBC Doctor Who website or via a mobile phone a week before the broadcast of the main story.

The ending of this story contains a trailer for the first episode of the next story - "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the seventh chapter of the second series of Doctor Who Confidential, "The Writer's Tale" presented by Mark Gatiss.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first time we see The Doctor on a scooter.

Story Images

Show Text

Dressed for the Period

Going for a Ride

The Doctor and Rose

Mr Magpie

The Wire

Tommy Connolly and Rose

The Connolly Family

Grandma

Rose is Absorbed

Rose, Trapped

The Doctor, Rose and Tommy

The Wire Unleashes Its Plan

Quote of the Story

'They just took her face and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things simple, very, very simple. You know why? Because now, Detective-Inspector Bishop, THERE IS NO POWER ON THIS EARTH THAT CAN STOP ME! Come on!'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	Rise of the Cybermen - The Age of Steel - The Idiot's Lantern	July 2006	BBCDVD 1962	Photo-montage
DVD	The Complete Second Series	November 2006	BBCDVD 2122	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
DVD	The Complete Second Series (Amazon Version)	November 2006	BBCDVD 2122	Photo-montage	Limited Edition 'Cyberman Head' box set containing all 11 stories
CD	Original Television Soundtrack	December 2006	SILCD1224	Photo-montage	Music by Murray Gold
CD	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 1 and 2	2007		Photo-montage	Music by Murray Gold
DVD	Series 1 - 4 Box Set	October 2009	BBCDVD 3058		Boxed set containing all 43 stories on 23 Discs
Blu-Ray	The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)	December 2013	BBCBD 0242	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
DVD	The Complete Second Series (2014 Re-release)	August 2014	BBCDVD 3966	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
DVD	The Complete David Tennant Years Box Set	November 2014	BBCDVD 4000	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 37 stories on 26 Discs
Blu-Ray	The Complete Second Series Box Set	August 2015	BBCBD 0262	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 11 stories
LP	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 1 and 2	2016		Photo-montage	Music by Murray Gold
DVD	The Complete Second Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	July 2017	BBCDVD 2317	Photo-montage	Limited Edition DVD Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories (Amazon Exclusive)
Blu-Ray	The Complete Second Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	July 2017	BBCBD 0393	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories (Amazon Exclusive)
Blu-Ray	Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection	November 2023	BBCBD 0582	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories upscaled to high definition

In Print

No Book Release

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview	Issue 370 (Released: June 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - Article	Issue 371 (Released: July 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - After Image	Issue 372 (Released: August 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 448 (Released: June 2012)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 590 (Released: June 2023)
Doctor Who DVD Files	Volume 11 (Released: June 2009)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companion

The Tenth Doctor

Rose Tyler

On Release

DVD Cover

VIDEO

Complete Series DVD Box Set

VIDEO

DVD Box Set
(Amazon Version)

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Cover

AUDIO

Original Television Soundtrack Silva Screen CD Cover

AUDIO

Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)

Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

VIDEO

Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Vinyl Cover

AUDIO

Complete Series DVD Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

VIDEO

Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

VIDEO

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 370

Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 371

Doctor Who Magazine - After Image: Issue 372

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 448

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 590

Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 11

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Tenth Doctor

Season 28 (New Series 2)

References

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