Series 1, Episode 2 | First broadcast: 2 April 2005 | Writer: Russell T Davies | Director: Euros Lyn
Cast
- Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor
- Billie Piper as Rose Tyler
- Zoe Wanamaker as the voice of Cassandra
- Simon Day as the Steward
- Yasmin Bannerman as Jabe
Summary
The Doctor takes Rose five billion years into her future to Platform One, a space station orbiting Earth, where wealthy alien dignitaries have gathered to watch the planet’s destruction as the Sun expands. Among the guests is Lady Cassandra, the self-proclaimed “last human,” who has had so much cosmetic surgery she’s now little more than a stretched piece of skin on a frame. As the countdown to Earth’s destruction proceeds, the Doctor and Rose realize someone aboard is sabotaging the station’s systems, putting everyone’s life at risk. The Doctor discovers Cassandra is responsible, hoping to profit from an “insurance scam,” and stops her plan just in time, saving the station and its guests, though Cassandra herself is destroyed.
Interesting Facts
- This episode marks the first time in the revived series the show traveled into the future relative to the viewer, rather than visiting Earth’s past or present.
- It introduces both Lady Cassandra and the Face of Boe, both of whom return in the Series 2 episode “New Earth.”
- This is the first episode to mention “Bad Wolf,” the phrase that would recur as a story arc throughout Series 1.
- The episode reveals the Last Great Time War and that the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey, was destroyed, establishing him as “the last of the Time Lords.”
- Actress Zoe Wanamaker (the voice of Cassandra) was not present on set for filming; a stand-in was used for her scenes.
- In a knowingly irreverent touch, the “traditional Earth ballad” played to mark Earth’s destruction is revealed to be Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”
No Responses