Series 1, Episode 9 | First broadcast: 21 May 2005 | Writer: Steven Moffat | Director: James Hawes
Cast
- Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor
- Billie Piper as Rose Tyler
- John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness
- Florence Hoath as Nancy
- Richard Wilson as Dr Constantine
- Albert Valentine as the Child
Summary
The Doctor and Rose arrive in London during the Blitz of 1941, following a mysterious escape pod that has crash-landed nearby. They discover the city is being terrorised by an unsettling child in a gas mask, wandering the streets asking “Are you my mummy?”, and anyone who encounters him becomes infected, transforming into an identical gas-masked figure themselves. Investigating alongside a resourceful young street thief named Nancy, the Doctor also crosses paths with time-traveling con man Captain Jack Harkness, who turns out to be connected to the crashed pod. As the mystery of the empty child deepens, the Doctor is left facing possibly the first true horror story of the revived series, on a cliffhanger resolved in the following episode.
Interesting Facts
- This is the first Doctor Who episode written by Steven Moffat, who would go on to serve as showrunner and lead writer of the series from 2010 to 2017.
- It marks the debut of John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, a character who would go on to headline the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood.
- The episode is frequently ranked among the scariest in the show’s history, largely due to the eerie, repeated line “Are you my mummy?”
- Together with its concluding half, “The Doctor Dances,” this story won the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.
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