DW Christmas Special 2007: Voyage of the Damned

A Guide to Classic Who references (and other references) in new Who and spin-off episodes.

Doctor Who Christmas Special #3 (Story 32).  The Doctor spends Christmas on the Titanic.  Not that one, another one.

[OLD] - Things that first appeared in the classic series (or the film.)  Episode List.

For context, the following are also covered:

[1ST] -  The first appearance of things in Doctor Who series.

[NEW] - Things that first appeared previously in the new series.

Ongoing References...

• [OLD] The Doctor - The main character.  Real name: unknown; actual age: unclear.  Status as a Medical Doctor:  Undetermined.  He is a Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey.

• [OLD]  The TARDIS - The Doctor's time and space travel vechicle.  TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space.  Like a lot of Time Lord technology it is "bigger on the inside."  The Doctor stole his Tardis when fleeing Gallifrey.  It is an older model ("Type 40") and unreliable, often ending up in the wrong location and the chamleon circuit - designed to make the Tardis appear inconspicuous in any surroundings it appears has failed so it always appears as a police telephone box from 1960s England.

• [OLD] Sonic Screwdriver - The Doctor's favourite tool.  First appeared in "Fury of the Deep" (Season 5) and has been used off and on by various Doctor including the Ninth and Tenth.

This episode...

• Titanic crashing into the TARDIS - A repeat of events from "The Last of the Time Lords" and "Time Crash."

• [OLD]  Titanic - An actual ship, if you didn't know that, we have problems.  In 'The Invasion of Time" (Season 15) Chancellor Borusa found a copy of The Daily Mail the Fourth Doctor owned.  The Doctor promised he wasn't responsible for it sinking.  In "Rose" Clive has a photo of the Ninth Doctor with people he persuaded not to get on the ship and in the next episode ("The End of the World") told Jabe he'd been on an unsinkable ship and that the water had been cold.

• [1ST]  A starship called Titanic - First appearance in Doctor Who, however, former Doctor Who writer Douglas Adams did mentioned "Starship Titanic" in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which spawn a computer game designed by Adams and a novel written by Terry Jones.  Other sci-fi shows have also had starships with this name.

• [OLD]  Level 5 Planet - In "City of Death" (Season 17) Romana finds "a very sophisticated device for a level five civilisation" on Earth.

• [OLD] Sol 3 - Another name for Earth (The third planet from Sol (the Sun)).  Coordinator Engin, a Gallifreyan Archivist used the term in "The Deadly Assasin." (Season 14) and a warning message at the beginning of "Last of the Time Lords."

• [1ST] Planet Sto - The first mention of this planet.

• [NEW]  Big bloody spaceship - A refences to the events of "The Christmas Invasion."

• [NEW]  The Christmas Star - A refences to the events of "The Runaway Bride."

• [OLD]  Queen Elizabeth II - After helping save the world in "Robot" (Season 12) the Brigadier wants the Fourth Doctor to, among other things, have dinner at Buckingham Palace.  The Doctor declines in his usual manner - he runs away in the TARDIS.  The Seventh Doctor lands his TARDIS in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, in "Silver Nemesis" (Season 25) where the Queen is walking her corgis.

• [1ST]  Nuclear Storm Drive - Certainly sounds safe.

• [OLD]  Time Lord - The ruling elite on the Doctor's homeworld Gallifrey.  They were first named as such in "The War Games" (Season 6).

• [OLD]  Gallifrey - The Doctor's homeworld.  Although it first appeared in "The War Games" (Season 6) it was first named in "The Time Warrior" (Season 11.)

• [OLD]  Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous - Standard location given for the Doctor's homeworld since first mentioned as being in this constellation in the Fourth Doctor story "Pyramids of Mars" (Season 13.)  Of course, constellations are only stars that appear to be grouped in the skies of other planets and make no sense as a point of reference for locating a planet.

• [NEW]  Made homeless - Another reference to the Time War.

• [1ST]  Gravity Curtain - First mention of this... thing.

• [OLD]  "Take me to your leader" - A science fiction cliche upon meeting the member of another race.  The Doctor has said it a number of times, including "The Face of Evil" (Season 14) and the last being in "Aliens of London."

THE TEN RULES OF DISASTER FILMS

1.  Characers - The lead is the Doctor, a scientist type who is ignored.  Max, the important person only really appears at the end, Rickston Slade is a secondary important person.  The female lead is not an ex, but is the first to believe the Doctor.  The ship's captain is usurped, but he did so for money.  Alonso could count as the nerdy/geeky expert.  The experienced tradesman is worried about the host.  Mr Cooper is a bit of a washout or conman without the bad bits. Bannakaffalatt is a bit of a joker.  Morvin and Foon are a loving couple.

2.  Sex & Nudity - There is none.  Astrid does kiss the Doctor, however, and makes a comment about wanting to see him in the morning.

3.  Manmade Disaster - It is completely manmade.  It is limited to the ship and passengers, but will destroy an entire planet.  It re-enacts the events of the Titanic and has a sudden end.

4.  Endangered - Alonso and the Doctor try to warn people but are ignored.  The destruction occurs during a formal dinner.  Astrid dies because she goes to help the Doctor.  The group is slowed down by arguments and fear (especially Foon's)

5.  Destruction - Panoramic shots of Earth throughout, not just the beginning.  Small destruction just prior to the big event.  Buckingham Palace is endangered, but not destroyed.  There is a tipping point and ongoing destruction leading to the big re-entry at the end.

6.  Deaths - No prelude deaths (but one woman was almost straggled by one of the host); the bad coward survives, the expert tradesman is killed by the host he repairs, three characters sacrifise themselves for a noble death to save the group, the steward has a "bad option death," Bannakaffalatta a slow death, Morvin has a sudden death as a reminder of the dangers, both halves of the couple are killed.  The male lead survives. The important person is killed for what he did.

7.  Last ditch group - The bunch the Doctor leads.

8.  Ridiculous solutions - The Doctor uses the heat of re-entry to restart the secondary drive.

9.  Happily ever after - Not really.  Astrid dies and the Doctor is only momentarily reunited with her echo.

10.  Sequels - There is no sequel to this episode.

~ DUG.

Other new Doctor Who episodes.

Those are my holiday plans, what are yours?

The Time Crash blog was created to help New Who fans understand Classic Who references - and to know if something isn't a reference but a new idea.  If there's a reference I missed or a subject that you feel needs more explaining, please comment.