"Doctor Who" Gridlock (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Richard Clark

Writer:

Russell T. Davies (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

14 April 2007 (Season 3, Episode 3)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor and Martha go back to New Earth were The Doctor will encounter the Face of Boe who will tell The Doctor "The Great Secret".

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Time Lord | Tardis | Companion | Doctor Who

Cast

David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Freema Agyeman	...	Martha Jones
Ardal O'Hanlon	...	Brannigan
Anna Hope	...	Novice Hame
Travis Oliver	...	Milo
Lenora Crichlow	...	Cheen
Jennifer Hennessy	...	Valerie
Bridget Turner	...	Alice
Georgine Anderson	...	May
Simon Pearsall	...	Whitey
Daisy Lewis	...	Javit
Nicholas Boulton	...	Businessman
Erika Macleod	...	Sally Calypso
Judy Norman	...	Ma
Graham Padden	...	Pa
Lucy Davenport	...	Pale Woman
Tom Edden	...	Pharmacist #1
Natasha Williams	...	Pharmacist #2
Gayle Telfer Stevens	...	Pharmacist #3
Struan Rodger	...	The Face of Boe (voice)

Directed by
Richard Clark

Writing credits
Russell T. Davies		(written by)

Produced by
Phil Collinson	....	producer
Russell T. Davies	....	executive producer
Julie Gardner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Murray Gold

Cinematography by
Rory Taylor		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Richards

Casting by
Andy Pryor

Production Design by
Edward Thomas

Art Direction by
Arwel Jones		(supervising art director) (as Arwel Wyn Jones)

Set Decoration by
Malin Lindholm

Costume Design by
Louise Page

Makeup Department
Pam Mullins	....	makeup artist
John Munro	....	makeup artist
Steve Smith	....	makeup artist
Barbara Southcott	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Chris Blatchford	....	post-production supervisor
Rhys Griffiths	....	unit manager
Samantha Hall	....	post-production supervisor
Tracie Simpson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sarah Davies	....	third assistant director
Jennie Fava	....	second assistant director
Dan Mumford	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Paul Aitken	....	props master
Adrian Anscombe	....	chief props master
Ian Bunting	....	design assistant
Amy Chandler	....	forward dresser
Martin Griffiths	....	props storeman
Matthew Hywel-Davies	....	construction manager
Gareth Jeanne	....	props chargehand
Paul Jones	....	stand-by carpenter
Blaanid Maddrell	....	props buyer
Jonathan Marquand Allison	....	art department production manager
Nick Murray	....	stand-by props
Stephen Nicholas	....	chief supervising art director
James North	....	associate designer
Matthew North	....	art department coordinator
Leonie Rintler	....	stand-by art director
Al Roberts	....	design assistant
Phil Shellard	....	stand-by props (as Phill Shellard)
Shaun Williams	....	storyboard artist
Ellen Woods	....	stand-by painter

Sound Department
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist
Julian Howarth	....	sound recordist
Paul Jefferies	....	sound effects editor
Paul McFadden	....	supervising sound editor
Tim Ricketts	....	dubbing mixer
Doug Sinclair	....	sound editor
Jonathan Thomas	....	boom operator (as Jon Thomas)
Kelly-Marie Angell	....	foley editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ben Ashmore	....	special effects coordinator
Neill Gorton	....	prosthetics designer
Paul Kelly	....	special effects supervisor
Rob Mayor	....	prosthetics supervisor

Visual Effects by
Tim Barter	....	2D artist
Charlie Bennett	....	digital matte painter
Sara Bennett	....	2D artist
Paul Burton	....	3D artist
Serena Cacciato	....	3D artist
Will Cohen	....	visual effects producer
Barney Curnow	....	on-set visual effects supervisor
Jean-Claude Deguara	....	3D artist
Dave Houghton	....	visual effects supervisor
Rebecca Johnson	....	visual effects coordinator
Marie A. Jones	....	visual effects producer (as Marie Jones)
Bruce Magroune	....	3D artist
Matthew McKinney	....	3D artist
Jeff North	....	3D artist
Jenna Powell	....	visual effects coordinator
Neil Roche	....	3D artist
Adam Rowland	....	2D artist
Nick Webber	....	3D artist
Simon Wicker	....	digital matte painter
Melissa Butler Adams	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Joseph Courtis	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Andrew Guest	....	technical director (uncredited)
Nicolas Hernandez	....	cg supervisor (uncredited)
Russell Horth	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Marianne Paton	....	visual effects production assistant (uncredited)
Mark Wallman	....	technical director (uncredited)

Stunts
Crispin Layfield	....	stunt coordinator
Tom Lucy	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Chester	....	best boy
Bryan Griffiths	....	stand-by rigger
Mark Hutchings	....	gaffer
Albert James	....	practical electrician
Steve Rees	....	focus puller
John Robinson	....	grip
Tom Hartley	....	camera trainee (uncredited)
Penny Shipton	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Andy Brierley	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lindsay Bonaccorsi	....	costume supervisor
Sheenagh O'Maran	....	costume assistant (as Sheenagh O'Marah)
Marnie Ormiston	....	assistant costume designer
Kirsty Wilkinson	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Marie Brown	....	post-production coordinator
Matthew Clarke	....	on-line editor
Ceres Doyle	....	assistant editor
Tim Hodges	....	assistant editor
Mick Vincent	....	colorist

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

Other crew
Bethan Britton	....	contracts assistant (as Bethan Britten)
Lowri Denman	....	floor runner
Siân Eve Goldsmith	....	production runner
Debi Griffiths	....	production assistant
Non Eleri Hughes	....	continuity
Christian Ibell	....	cyfle trainee
Kevin Myers	....	production secretary
Chris Rogers	....	finance manager
Julie Scott	....	production executive
Heddi-Joy Taylor	....	floor runner (as Heddi Joy Taylor)
Lowri Thomas	....	location manager
Jess Van Niekerk	....	production coordinator
Endaf Emyr Williams	....	production accountant
Simon Winstone	....	script editor

Special Effects

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

Other Companies

• BBC National Orchestra of Wales  thanks
• BBC Wales Graphics  graphics

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating)

Trivia:

Russell T. Davies has said this will be the last episode of the series to be set in the year 5 billion.

Quotes:

[to the Doctor]
Thomas Kincade Brannigan: And who might you be? You're very well dressed for a hitch-hiker!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Doctor Who Confidential: Space Craft (#3.7)" (2007)

A dark, gripping and ambitious New Earth episode

This third episode of Tennant's second season is a cracker. With The Doctor returning to New Earth, we find a world that is grimly disturbing. Inhabitants of the planet's dark underworld resort to emotion-altering drugs dished out from shanty-town vendors while the rest of the population are caught-up in the mother of all traffic-jams. Stuck in an agonisingly slow flow of traffic, the passengers are lucky to move 5 miles in 12 years. Unless, perhaps, they move to the Fast Lane...

With a huge scale, mind-boggling big-scale effects and the return of the Face of Boe and Novice Hame, this is a future classic. The icing on the cake is the totally unexpected appearance of an old (and I really mean old - think Troughton's era!) enemy, produced with The Mill's CGI wizardry.

The New Earth of "Gridlock" is a mix of "Blade Runner"'s rain splattered streets, Judge Dredd's overcrowded Mega-City One and Star Wars' majestic, sky-scraping Coruscant. There's even a nod to Dredd's pinstripe freak, Max Normal, in this tale. Superb stuff.

The cast are excellent as always. The series attracts the UK's best talent and in "Gridlock" we have "Father Ted"'s Ardal O'Hanlon (disguised heavily under brilliant cat make-up) and the lovely Lenora Crichlow. Crichlow was a delight in "Sugar Rush" and she's very watchable here.

This is an ambitious, CGI-reliant episode that hits the mark. Tennant is spot-on with his performance and Agyeman's beautiful Martha Jones is proving to be one of the best companions we've seen. Russell T. Davies displays his usual ability to create genuinely moving scenarios in phantasmagoric settings. Only hours after this episode has aired, I already know of one person who cried during the finale. A nice touch in this episode is The Doctor's description of Gallifrey, i.e. "the burnt orange sky" and "silver trees". This ties up with previous descriptions from earlier incarnations of the Time Lord and is a lovely example of continuity with the "classic" series. Despite a few silly touches (for example, the talking kittens), this is a well written episode that deserves to be recognised as an above-average tale.

On a side note, I think I deserve a prize for guessing what the Face of Boe's last words would be. I bet a few thousand fans will have been in the same position, though. Showing a lot of future thinking, the arcs in "Doctor Who" are elaborate and span seasons rather than mere episodes! Next episode - the dreaded Daleks are back! This is proving to be a very memorable season and one that is not short of treats.

9 out of 10.