 David Troughton, son of the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, is no stranger to Doctor Who, having appeared as King Peladon in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Curse of Peladon", 1967's Second Doctor story "The Enemy of the World" (as an uncredited extra in the first, fifth, and sixth episodes), and as Private Moor in 1969, in his father’s last regular story "The War Games". This epic 10 part adventure, was the fiftieth Doctor Who story to be made. Co-incidentally, "Midnight" is the fiftieth episode to start filming since Doctor Who returned in 2005. David Troughton is the second child of an actor who played The Doctor to guest star in this season - the first being Georgia Moffett in "The Doctor's Daughter". He also played the part of the Tinghus in the 2008 Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio story "Cuddlesome". Despite sharing the same surname David is not directly related to Alice Troughton – who directed this story.
As was the case with her appearances in "Partners in Crime" and "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky", Billie Piper, as Rose Tyler, receives screen credit behind only David Tennant and Catherine Tate for a very brief performance with no audible dialogue. She can be seen briefly on one of the shuttle's television screens, silently shouting for The Doctor. This echoes her similar appearance on the TARDIS scanner in "The Poison Sky". Rose is also mentioned twice by The Doctor: once by name, and again as a ‘friend who went to a different universe’. Martha Jones is also mentioned.
Lesley Sharp, who plays the part of Sky Silvestry, has starred in two previous Russell T Davies productions - Bob and Rose and The Second Coming. The latter also starred Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston.
Colin Morgan, who plays the part of Jethro Cane, previously appeared with Catherine Tate in her 2007 Christmas special. He has also recently been cast in the title role of the BBC production, Merlin.
The majority of this story is set in just one room. This is similar to several other claustrophobic thrillers, such as Hitchcock's' Rope and more recently, Flightplan.
Things went horribly wrong the last time The Doctor went on a holiday and encountered passengers on a 'space bus', - see 1987's "Delta and the Bannermen".
The Doctor mentions the Medusa Cascade, which has been mentioned several times in the show.
'Molto Bene' is Italian for 'Very Good'. We first heard The Doctor say it in 2007's "Human Nature/The Family of Blood".
The female singer who briefly appears on the entertainment system's channels is Italian celebrity Raffaella Carrà, in a performance of her 1978 UK hit single "Do It, Do It Again".
When The Doctor is asked for his real name, he lies and replies with the name "John Smith", a common alias of his, which is not believed. The mystery behind The Doctor's real name is a recurring theme in the show's revival, with specific mentions of the mystery in "The Girl in the Fireplace", "The Shakespeare Code", "The Fires of Pompeii" and "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead".
This story is one of very few not to feature the TARDIS (except in the title sequence). The last time this happened was in 1975's "Genesis of the Daleks". This is also the third story without a companion in the main narrative, the first being "The Deadly Assassin" and the second being "Time Crash". The reason for this was "Midnight" was filmed at the same time as "Turn Left". Donna Noble therefore has a minimal role in this story (appearing in only the pre-credits sequence and the final scene), while The Doctor has a minimal role in "Turn Left".
Uniquely for Doctor Who, we don't get to see even a glimpse of The Doctor's adversary, nor find out its name.
Interestingly virtually all of "Midnight" was recorded at Upper Boat Studios - an unusual occurance for the revamped show. Even more unusual is that Alice Troughton chose to record this story mainly in story order -- a practise which had not been common in the show since the early Seventies.
This story was originally intended to be broadcast before Steven Moffat's two-part story "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead". The name of the shuttle bus, Crusader 50, was a reference to the initial plans for it to become the 50th episode of the revived show to be screened.
The end of this story contains a trailer for the next story "Turn Left".
Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the tenth chapter of the fourth series of Doctor Who Confidential, "Look Who's Talking" presented by Anthony Head.
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The Firsts:
The first time, in the revived television series, that The Doctor has an adventure alone without the assistance of a companion.
The first story, in the revived television series, not to feature the TARDIS.
The first time, in the revived television series, we don't get to see even a glimpse of The Doctor's adversary, nor find out its name.
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(Position = 4 out of 11)
(Position = 43 out of 200)
(Position = 44 out of 241)
