Doctor Who - The Television Stories

Doctor Who - The Stories

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Gridlock

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Synopsis

Rush Hour

The Doctor takes Martha to New Earth, in the far future, only to find that an entire city has become a deadly trap.

Source: BBC DVD

General Information

Season:	Twenty Nine (New Series 3)
Production Code:	3-3
Story Number:	181 (New Series: 25)
Episode Number:	727 (New Series: 31)
Number of Episodes:	1
Percentage of Episodes Held:	100%
Production Dates:	September - November 2006
Broadcast Date:	14 April 2007
Colour Status:	Colour
Studio:	BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)
Location:	Temple of Peace and Ely Papermill (Cardiff) and The Maltings (Cardiff Bay).

Writer:

Russell T Davies

Director:

Richard Clark

Producer:

Phil Collinson

Executive Producers:

Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies

Script Editor:

Simon Winstone

Editor:

John Richards

Production Executive:

Julie Scott

Production Manager:

Tracie Simpson

Production Designer:

Edward Thomas

Director of Photography:

Rory Taylor

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG

Costume Designer:

Louise Page

Make-Up Designer:

Barbara Southcott

Visual Effects:

The Mill

Special Effects:

Any Effects

Prosthetics:

Millennium FX

Stunt Co-ordinators:

Crispin Layfield and Tom Lucy

Incidental Music:

Murray Gold

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Paul Jefferies

Sound Recordist:

Julian Howarth

Sound Supervisor:

Paul McFadden

Sound Editor:

Doug Sinclair

Music Performed By:

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Title Music:

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

The Macra Originally Created By:

Ian Stuart Black

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)

Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) Additional Cast: Ardal O'Hanlon (Brannigan), Anna Hope (Novice Hame), Travis Oliver (Milo), Lenora Crichlow (Cheen), Jennifer Hennessy (Valerie), Bridget Turner (Alice), Georgine Anderson (May), Simon Pearsall (Whitey), Daisy Lewis (Javit), Nicholas Bolton (Businessman), Erika Macleod (Sally Calypso), Judy Norman (Ma), Graham Padden (Pa), Lucy Davenport (Pale Woman), Tom Edden (Pharmacist #1), Natasha Williams (Pharmacist #2), Gayle Telfer Stevens (Pharmacist #3), Struan Rodger (The Face of Boe)Setting: New New York, New Earth, M87 Galaxy (5,000,000,053). Villain: The Macra

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
727	Gridlock	14 April 2007	49'59"	8.4	Yes

Total Duration

50 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

8.4

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2007)	75.13% (Position = 6 out of 10)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	72.84% (Position = 74 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	69.82% (Position = 136 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 19 out of 36

Archives

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

Notes

"Gridlock" is the 727th episode of Doctor Who. This breaks the record formerly held by the various series in the Star Trek franchise. They amassed a combined total of 726 episodes between them.

Several elements of "Gridlock" were directly inspired by the comic book 2000AD. From the Judge Dredd strip, Russell T Davies seized upon the overcrowded Mega-City One for the look of New New York, and upon informant Max Normal for the appearance of the bowler-hatted businessman.

Directing both "Gridlock" and "The Lazarus Experiment", which formed the year's third production block, was Richard Clark. Clark had recently handled episodes of Life on Mars. Amongst his cast was Bridget Turner, playing Alice; Turner was married to Frank Cox, who had directed Season One's First Doctor stories "The Edge of Destruction" and "The Sensorites".

The description of The Doctor gives of Gallifrey's 'burnt orange skies and silver leaves' was first heard way back in the 1964 story "The Sensorites" by The Doctor's first companion, and granddaughter, Susan. We finally get to see it in its true splendour in "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords".

The Doctor first visited the city of 'New New York' in "New Earth" where he also met, for the first time, Novice Hame. Another returning character is The Face of Boe who has now appeared in three stories. The other two being "The End of the World" and "New Earth".

The Businessman that The Doctor meets is not the first character to wear a bowler hat in the show; previous wearers include Trevor Sigma in "The Happiness Patrol" and the Time Lord in "Terror of the Autons". Although bowler hats went out of fashion in the United Kingdom by the 1980s, it seems that by the year five billion and fifty three, they're back in vogue for the sartorially conscious commuter!

Brannigan, Boe and Nurse Hame were just 3 of the 44 prosthetic and animatronic monster creations featured in Season Twenty Nine (New Series 3); and this figure doesn't include the numerous other smaller prosthetic elements used! It takes four days to make one Cat Nun prosthetic, and each can only be used once.

The Macra were created by Ian Stuart Black and first appeared in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Macra Terror".

The end of this story contains a trailer for the next story "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the third chapter of the third series of Doctor Who Confidential, "Are We There Yet?" presented by Anthony Head.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first appearance of The Macra in the revived television series and the first for 40 years - since the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Macra Terror".

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Richard Clark.

Story Images

Show Text

A Damp Arrival

The Doctor and Martha

A Hover Car

Martha

Rush Hour

Being Offered a Lift

Hitching a Lift

Brannigan

Escaping from the Macra

Novice Hame

The Face of Boe

A Way Out At Last

Quote of the Story

'You’re taking me to the same planets you took her...? Ever heard the word rebound?'

Martha Jones

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	Smith and Jones - The Shakespeare Code - Gridlock	May 2007	BBCDVD 2381	Photo-montage
DVD	The Complete Third Series (Standard Version)	November 2007	BBCDVD 2579	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
DVD	The Complete Third Series (Amazon Version)	November 2007	BBCDVD 2579	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
DVD	The Complete Third Series (Woolworths Version)	November 2007	BBCDVD 2579	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
CD	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 3	November 2007	SILCD1250	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
CD	The 50th Anniversary Collection	December 2013		Photo-montage	Original Television Soundtracks
DVD	The Complete Third Series (2014 Re-release)	August 2014	BBCDVD 3967	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 Third Series Box Set	August 2015	BBCBD 0263	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 11 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Third Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	May 2018	BBCBD 0436	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 11 stories
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 381 (Released: May 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine - Article	Issue 382 (Released: May 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine - After Image	Issue 383 (Released: June 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 459 (Released: May 2013)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 536 (Released: April 2019)
Doctor Who DVD Files	Volume 16 (Released: August 2009)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companion

The Tenth Doctor

Martha Jones

On Release

DVD Cover

VIDEO

DVD Box Set
(Standard Version)

VIDEO

DVD Box Set
(Amazon Version)

VIDEO

DVD Box Set
(Woolworths Version)

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Cover

AUDIO

Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

VIDEO

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

VIDEO

The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover

AUDIO

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

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 381

Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 382

Doctor Who Magazine - After Image: Issue 383

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 459

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 536

Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 16

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Tenth Doctor

Season 29 (New Series 3)

References

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