Series 4, Episode 7 | 1 part | First broadcast: 17 May 2008 | Writer: Gareth Roberts | Director: Graeme Harper
Cast
- David Tennant as the Doctor
- Catherine Tate as Donna Noble
- Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie
- Felicity Kendal as Lady Eddison
Summary
Arriving at a 1920s English country house dinner party, the Doctor and Donna find themselves amid a real murder mystery unfolding in the style of an Agatha Christie novel, alongside the famous author herself. As guests are picked off one by one by a giant alien wasp connected to a decades-old scandal, the Doctor and Donna must solve the mystery using every convention of the genre before Christie’s own real, then-unexplained disappearance from history comes into play.
Interesting Facts
- The episode playfully weaves in the real, unsolved mystery of Agatha Christie’s actual eleven-day disappearance in 1926, explaining it in-universe via the story’s alien plot.
- It affectionately parodies classic English murder-mystery tropes, including a full “drawing room” suspect lineup scene near its climax.
- Fenella Woolgar’s performance as Agatha Christie was widely praised for capturing the author’s wit and melancholy in equal measure.
- The story ends on a bittersweet note referencing Christie’s real amnesia following the disappearance, tying her lost memories to the Doctor’s intervention.
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