"Doctor Who" The Empty Child (2005)

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Director:

James Hawes

Writer:

Steven Moffat (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

21 May 2005 (Season 1, Episode 9)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The emergency signal from an out-of-control timeship lands the Doctor and Rose in the middle of London in World War II...

Plot Keywords:

Cult TV Reference | 1940s | Con Man | London England | Renegade

Cast

Christopher Eccleston	...	Doctor Who
Billie Piper	...	Rose Tyler
Kate Harvey	...	Nightclub Singer
Albert Valentine	...	The Child
Florence Hoath	...	Nancy
Cheryl Fergison	...	Mrs. Lloyd
Damian Samuels	...	Mr. Lloyd
John Barrowman	...	Jack Harkness
Robert Hands	...	Algy
Joseph Tremain	...	Jim
Jordan Murphy	...	Ernie
Brandon Miller	...	Alf
Richard Wilson	...	Dr. Constantine
Noah Johnson	...	The Empty Child (voice)
Dian Perry	...	Computer (voice)

Directed by
James Hawes

Writing credits
Steven Moffat		(written by)

Produced by
Phil Collinson	....	producer
Russell T. Davies	....	executive producer
Julie Gardner	....	executive producer
Helen Vallis	....	associate producer
Mal Young	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Murray Gold

Cinematography by
Ernest Vincze		(director of photography) (as Ernie Vincze)

Film Editing by
Liana Del Giudice

Casting by
Andy Pryor

Production Design by
Edward Thomas

Art Direction by
Stephen Nicholas		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Liz Griffiths

Costume Design by
Lucinda Wright

Makeup Department
Linda Davie	....	makeup supervisor
Davy Jones	....	makeup designer
Claire Pritchard	....	makeup artist
Steve Williams	....	makeup artist
Jo Grover	....	special makeup effects lab work (uncredited)

Production Management
Marie Brown	....	post-production supervisor
Justin Gyphion	....	unit manager
Tracie Simpson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steffan Morris	....	second assistant director
Dan Mumford	....	third assistant director
Jon Older	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Adrian Anscombe	....	property master
Jenny Bowers	....	graphic artist
Bryan Hitch	....	concept artist
Trystan Howell	....	stand-by props
Arwel Jones	....	stand-by art director
Gwenllian Llwyd	....	art department coordinator
Catherine Samuel	....	production buyer
Phil Shellard	....	stand-by props (as Phill Shellard)
Andrew Smith	....	construction manager
Matthew North	....	forward dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Paul Jefferies	....	sound effects editor
Paul McFadden	....	dialogue editor
Damian Richardson	....	boom operator
Ian Richardson	....	sound recordist
Tim Ricketts	....	dubbing mixer
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Andy Hagon	....	foley mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Sara Bennett	....	digital compositor
David A.T. Bowman	....	lead compositor (as David Bowman)
Paul Burton	....	3D visual effects artist
Astrid Busser-Casas	....	2D visual effects artist
Will Cohen	....	visual effects producer
Jean-Claude Deguara	....	3D visual effects artist
Alex Fort	....	digital matte painter (as Alexander Fort)
Michael Harrison	....	digital compositor
Jennifer Herbert	....	2D visual effects artist
Nicolas Hernandez	....	3D visual effects artist
Simon C. Holden	....	lead compositor
Dave Houghton	....	visual effects supervisor
Andy Howell	....	3D visual effects artist
Matthew McKinney	....	3D visual effects artist (as Matt McKinney)
Alberto Montañés	....	compositor (as Alberto Montanes)
Chris Petts	....	lead cgi artist
Nick Webber	....	3D visual effects artist

Stunts
Kim McGarrity	....	stunt performer
Lee Sheward	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Chester	....	best boy
Mark Hutchings	....	gaffer
Mark Isaac	....	focus puller
John Robinson	....	grip
Martin Stephens	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Kirsty Robertson	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yolanda Peart-Smith	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Jamie Adams	....	assistant editor
Zoe Cassey	....	on-line editor
Matt Clarke	....	on-line editor (as Matthew Clarke)
Ceres Doyle	....	assistant editor
Jamie Wilkinson	....	colorist

Music Department
Ron Grainer	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Kath Blackman	....	assistant production accountant
Debi Griffiths	....	assistant production accountant
Non Eleri Hughes	....	continuity
Llyr Morus	....	location manager
Richard Pugsley	....	finance manager
Helen Raynor	....	script editor
Jess Van Niekerk	....	production coordinator
Endaf Emyr Williams	....	production accountant

Distributors

• BBC America (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Verenigde Arbeiders Radio Amateurs (VARA) (2006) (Netherlands) (TV)

Special Effects

• Any Effects (special effects)
• The Mill (visual effects)
• Millennium FX (prosthetics)

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Barry Steam Railway, Plymouth Road, Barry Island, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Trivia:

When Captain Jack mocks the Doctor and Rose for their out-of-place outfits ("Flag Girl was bad enough - but U-boat captain?"), he is actually spot on - the Doctor's leather jacket is in fact a vintage 1938 German U-boat commander's jacket.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rose looks around Jack's ship, right after her "Very...Spock" line the flats of her hands are seen. Here they are completely unharmed. Later, they are burnt.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Rose Tyler: What's the emergency?
The Doctor: It's mauve.
Rose Tyler: Mauve?
The Doctor: Universally recognised colour for danger.
Rose Tyler: What happened to red?
The Doctor: That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings! All those red alerts, all that dancing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Kumars at No. 42: (#7.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

In The Mood

Good Production Values But Not The Masterwork Claimed

It's impossible to mention this two part story without discussing its popularity within DOCTOR WHO fandom . This was the most popular story from season one and some fan forums included surveys that considered the Eccleston series as the twenty seventh season where The Empty Child /The Doctor Dances is considered one of the top three greatest Who stories to have been broadcast since the show's inception in 1963 . I have to disagree because it's nowhere that good

Looking at the good points you genuinely believe The Doctor and Rose have visited 1941 London . Imagine this being produced in the old series where we'd see a closed camera in close up trying and failing to convince us that the Tardis has travelled back in time ( Also watch Dalek invasion Of Earth and Frontier In Space for failed futuristic equivalents ) and the production team deserves much praise for the night filming . Can anyone else name a location based story that took place entirely at night ?

Where the story fails in some places can be attributed to writer Steven Moffat , a scriptwriter who has a large fan base but a writer who I have never warmed to . In every story this series there's a line which previous producers would never have got away with , in this one there's two lines , one where a young boy makes blatant assertions to have been abused by a paedophile while another insinuates that one of the supporting characters is gay . There's also a bit too many easy escapes for the heroes: " Go to your room ! "

All in all a fairly good story which casual viewers will remember as " The one during the Blitz " but for more hardcore fans it will be remembered as one of the high points of British television since its creation and I'm something at a loss to know why