Series 1, Episode 11 | First broadcast: 4 June 2005 | Writer: Russell T Davies | Director: Joe Ahearne
Cast
- Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor
- Billie Piper as Rose Tyler
- John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness
- Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith
- Annette Badland as Margaret Blaine (Slitheen)
- Mali Harries as Cathy
- Aled Pedrick as Idris Hopper
Summary
The TARDIS crew returns to present-day Cardiff and discovers that Margaret Blaine, the last surviving Slitheen from “Aliens of London” and “World War Three,” has reinvented herself as the mayor and is using her position to construct a nuclear power plant that would devastate the city as a means of escaping Earth. With Jack and Mickey’s help, the Doctor confronts and captures Margaret, and much of the episode becomes an extended, tense conversation between the two as she pleads for her life and tries to manipulate the Doctor’s morality. Ultimately, rather than deciding her fate himself, the Doctor exposes her to the heart of the TARDIS, which regresses her to an infant state, giving her a chance to live her life again.
Interesting Facts
- This is a rare “bottle episode” of the revived series, filmed largely on a single, cost-effective location in Cardiff to balance the show’s budget after several effects-heavy episodes.
- Annette Badland’s extended dialogue-driven scenes as Margaret gave the character considerably more depth than her earlier appearances as a Slitheen villain.
- The episode raises pointed questions about the Doctor’s right to judge and punish, foreshadowing themes explored further in the series finale.
- It marks one of Captain Jack Harkness’s earliest full episodes as a regular member of the TARDIS crew following his introduction in “The Empty Child.”
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