 "In the Forest of the Night" is the tenth story of Season Thirty Four (New Series 8). It has been written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Sheree Folkson.
This story features a cast of child actors: BAFTA-winning Harley Bird is best known as the voice of Peppa Pig; Abigail Eames has had roles in The Crimson Field and Casualty; Ashley Foster has appeared in The Woman in Black and Standings; and Jaydon Harris-Wallace danced in CITV Text Santa, and for the Spirit of London Awards.
The title of this story is a quote from William Blake's poem The Tyger.
This is the first Doctor Who story written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. He is best known as an award-winning author of children’s books including Millions, Framed, and a series of sequels to Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. His film scripts include 24 Hour Party People and Butterfly Kiss. He also wrote the script for the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. It has been revealed that when he was asked to write for Doctor Who, the only question he asked was ‘Do I get to take my kids in the TARDIS?’.
Frank Cottrell Boyce has revealed that he was 'flabbergasted to be asked to write an episode' and that 'of all the thrills that pen and paper have brought into my life, there’s nothing that quite compares to the buzz of unlimited possibility that rushes through your fingers and into your brain when you write the words: "Interior … TARDIS"’.
Steven Moffatt has revealed that 'Frank's script is pure magic and everything I could have hoped for from the genius behind the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Doctor Who is born anew in the mind of a genius!'.
This story is directed by Sheree Folkson, whose credits include Russell T Davies' Casanova, BBC One's Truckers and ABC's Ugly Betty. This is her first work for Doctor Who.
This story is produced by another newcomer, Paul Frift, whose credits include ITV's Primeval and BBC Four's Room at the Top as well as Escape Artist, Best Possible Taste and Restless.
The read through for this story took place on the 18th July 2014 and recording began on the 22nd July and continued each day until the 8th August 2014. An additional two days filming involving the animals took place in Chipping Norton beginning on the 13th August 2014.
Locations for this story include the National Museum in Cardiff, the Forest Fawr Woods, the Heythorp Zoological Gardens in Chipping Norton as well several residential areas in Cardiff.
This was the last story to be recorded for Season Thirty Four (New Series 8).
The bus that is seen in the background of the forest is actually a cardboard cut-out. This is due to difficulties that would be faced in order to manoeuvre a real bus into the forest that was used for the location recording for this scene.
The TARDIS uses a female GPS-like voice to indicate that they have reached their destination. This is the first time such an announcement is heard.
One of the children is heard to ask what the 'round bits' in the TARDIS are (see "The Day of The Doctor").
Maebh is heard to say to The Doctor, to prove to him that he is in London, ‘Nelson’s Column… Do you like it?’. In the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Sea Devils", The Doctor is heard to mention that Horatio Nelson was ‘a close personal friend’. He has also visited Trafalgar Square on several occasions, most recently in "The Day of The Doctor". The famous London landmark also featured in the 1964 First Doctor story "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", the 1965 First Doctor story "The Chase" and the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose". It also featured in The Adventure Game "City of the Daleks".
‘Darkness-phobic’ that is mentioned in this story is not a completely made up concept… The syndrome, when acute, is known as nyctophobia (from the Greek for night and phobos, meaning fear). In the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead", The Doctor is heard to state ‘Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they’re wrong, because it’s not irrational. It’s Vashta Nerada!’.
The Doctor compares the solar flare to the one that hit the Bank of Karabraxos in "Time Heist".
In the future, massive solar flares would lead to the exodus of human race from Earth. (see the 1966 First Doctor story "The Ark", the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "The Ark in Space" and the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Beast Below"). Earth would also undergo a solar flare when it was relocated by the Time Lords (see the 1986 The Trial of a Time Lord story "The Mysterious Planet").
The Doctor explains that the Tunguska and Curuçá events are evidence of the protection of Earth by trees.
When The Doctor mentions Tunguska he’s referring to the so-called ‘Tunguska Event’ - a huge, mysterious blast that occurred on the 30th June 1908 in the Siberian region of Russia. Many different theories exist as to the nature of the blast, ranging from an asteroid hitting Earth’s atmosphere to a black hole passing through our planet.
When The Doctor mentions Curuçá he is referring to an event generally assumed to be fragments of an asteroid impacting on an area of Brazil on the 13th August 1930. Due to the nature of the event it’s often called ‘The Brazilian Tunguska’.
Mention is made of the UK government's emergency committee, COBR. This acronym stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms and is a committee set up to coordinate the actions of bodies within the UK government’s powers in response to national, regional and occasionally international crises.
When Clara insists that The Doctor escape Earth's coming destruction, she repeats his own words as the War Doctor to 'make it worthwhile' (see "The Day of The Doctor"). The Doctor responds with ‘I walk your Earth. I breathe your air’, echoing words spoken to him during "Kill the Moon". At the close of that story Clara furiously tells The Doctor ‘You walk our Earth, Doctor, you breathe our air’.
When Clara asks how the ‘Forest of the Night’ will be explained, The Doctor replies ‘You’ll all forget it ever happened’. The idea of humanity not registering such epic events is well-established in Doctor Who. For instance, in the 1988 Seventh Doctor story "Remembrance of the Daleks", The Doctor is heard saying to Ace: ‘Do you remember the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster? Or the Yeti in the Underground? Your species has an amazing capacity for self-deception’.
The Doctor reminds Clara that the future can be changed despite her having witnessed it alongside him (see "Kill the Moon").
Danny discovers that Clara wasn't telling him the truth about her relationship with The Doctor (see "Flatline").
When The Doctor and Clara speak over the phone about the forest, The Doctor describes the forest as the New Forest, only newer.
When Danny asks The Doctor how a forest can grow during one night, The Doctor responds with 'Exactly what they said about the ice age'.
The Doctor again is heard calling Danny 'PE' (see "The Caretaker" and "Flatline").
Clara is heard telling The Doctor that her 'gifted and talented' students have traits she says are 'all super-powers if you use them properly'. The Doctor tells young Rupert Pink a similar thing in "Listen" when he says 'fear is a super-power, it's your super-power'.
Danny Pink and the children can be heard singing Everywhere We Go by Dave Benson Phillips.
One of the Coal Hill children is heard to say 'Timey Wimey' while they are planning the speech to stop the destruction of the trees. This is an expression used by the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor.
The sonic screwdriver is ineffective where wood is concerned as it was in "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead". Its ineffectiveness against wood is long established and in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "Night Terrors", The Doctor admitted ‘I’ve got to invent a setting for wood… It’s embarrassing!’.
Maebh is heard to say that the trees can communicate between one another, if only just a little. A bit sarcastically, The Doctor asks Maebh if she thinks the trees communicate by some form of tree-Facebook.
A human is once again in telepathic contact with tree-based intelligent life forms. (see the 2011 Christmas Special "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe").
The Forest of Cheem was an example of an intelligent race of trees who evolved on Earth (see the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World").
Various character’s names are linked with the narrative in this story. For instance, the little girl who notices the red ring is called Ruby and Maebh, the child who has the connection with the trees, has the surname Arden, which brings to mind the Forest of Arden, the setting for William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
This story also contains many elements of fairy tales. For example, Maebh in a red coat being chased by wolves is very reminiscent of the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood.
The fairytales Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel are also mentioned. Clara asks Danny whether a forest really can grow during one night or if they have been sleeping for years, like the character of this Sleeping Beauty. She later alludes to the gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel while looking for Maebh with The Doctor.
This story is an example of Doctor Who (as a television show) being referenced in the show itself, with a bus in one shot advertising Series 8 of Doctor Who. This advertisement though is only visible for a brief second. A previous example occurred in "Remembrance of the Daleks", which was set on the same day that Doctor Who premiered, with an announcer on a television in the background saying 'And now for a new science fiction adventure, Doc-" before cutting out.
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: When Clara picks up Maebh's pink phone with her right hand, she is also holding her own white phone in her left hand. However, in the next shot, the pink phone is in her left hand and the white phone is in her right hand. They later return back to normal in the following shots.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Sheree Folkson.
Paul Frift's first involvement in the show as a Producer.
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(Position = 12 out of 12)
