DW 08-07: Kill The Moon

A Guide to Classic Who references in New Who episodes.

The seventh episode of series 8.  Courtney, Clara and the Doctor visit the Moon.

Warning: May contain Spoilers for

"Kill the Moon"

Viewing Order

• 7-06 "The Bells of Saint John" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character, plot connection)
• 8-01 - "Deep Breath" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character.)
• 8-02 - "Into the Dalek" (Suggested viewing - introduction of character.)
• 8-04 - "The Caretaker" (Suggested viewing - story reference & character "introduction.")

References

[1ST] - First appearance in Doctor Who.
[NEW] - Stuff seen previously in the New Series.

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

• [1ST]  2049 AD - First appearance of this year.  However, the Second Doctor story "The Moonbase" was set on a base on the moon (Who'da thunk?) in the year 2070.  The base was said to have been established in 2050.

• [NEW]  Courtney Woods - Appeared in flashback in "Deep Breath" mentioned in "Listen" and introduced properly in "The Caretaker."

• [NEW]  Psychic Paper - First used in "The End of the World" by the Ninth Doctor and regularly since.

• [NEW]  Vortex Manipulators - A wrist-worn device used for time travel (and other functions) by Time Agents, including Jack Harkness.  River Song also used one, taken from a Time Agent and "sold" to River Song by Dorium Maldovar in "The Pandorica Opens"

• [NEW]  Sanctuary Base-style spacesuits - Worn by the Doctor and Ida Scott in "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" and by the Tenth ("42" & "Waters of Mars") and Eleventh Doctors ("Hide") with the SB6 logo removed.  See also "Listen" for other uses.

• [OLD]  Bennett Oscillator - A piece of technology that seems to be good for dating technology, previously appearing as such in the Fourth Doctor story "The Ark in Space."  The name was an in-joke referring to Richard Bennett, director of the story (his first for Doctor Who).  Coincidentally (perhaps) "Kill the Moon" was produced by Peter Bennett.

• [NEW]  Regenerating Forever - Timelords can regenerate 12 times (13 bodies), the Eleventh Doctor was his 13th Body, but the Timelords granted the Doctor another cycle ("Time of the Doctor.")  This is the first time that the Doctor has questioned whether he has another 11, 12 or now unlimited regenerations.  In the Fifth Doctor story "The Five Doctors" it is shown that Rassilon has found a method of immortality (don't try it at home.)

• [OLD]  Yo-yo gravity test - Also previously done by the Doctor in "The Ark in Space."  The Fourth Doctor used a yellow yo-yo in a number of his adventures.

• [1ST]  Gravity bombs - First reference to this weapon.  The term "gravity bomb" another way of saying "unguided bomb" or "free-fall bomb" (ie, a bomb that is dropped and guided only by gravity.)  The usage by the Doctor, however, suggests a bomb that in some way alters gravity or the weight of an object.  Lundvik's look and assumption that these devices are alien suggests that they don't exist on Earth at this time, if, in fact they exist outside the Doctor's head.

• [1ST]  Axis Alignment Systems - First reference to these.... systems that premusably realign a body's axis.  Not sure how that changes a body's weight but then I'm not a planetary engineer.  Lundvik's look and assumption that these devices are alien suggests that they don't exist on Earth at this time, if, in fact they exist outside the Doctor's head.

• [1ST]  Planet Shellers - First reference to these devises.  Whether they shell a planet with bomb (like gravity bombs), shell a body with planets, remove or add a shell to a planet, I don't know.  But most of those wouldn't appear to be the case here.  But again, not a planetary engineer.  Lundvik's look and assumption that these devices is the same moment shared with the two previous comments so assume that this sentence is repeated in your own or the Doctor's head.

• [NEW]  Tides so high they would drown whole cities - Although these events are not specifically mentioned, it matches Adelaide Brooke's description in 2059 of the last 40 years being chaos and full of environmental problems ("The Waters of Mars").  Although, you'd think that events of this episode would rate a mention, though.

• [NEW]  Greatest natural disaster in history - Or as later generations would call it "the appalling storm conditions of 2040." ("Waters of Mars")

• [1ST]  First woman on the Moon - Seems that Courtney claims this title from Captain Lundvik, although Lundvik probably officially retains that title.  Lundvik, despite appearances seems not to be a Briton working for NASA as the first and second female Briton on the moon were Adelaide Brooke and Maggie Cain (Cain landing on the Moon two years after this episode, in April 2015.)  Unless the future news stories were referring to the then current Moon (the second Moon) as The Moon in which case all bets are off. ("The Waters of Mars")

• [OLD]  Amniotic Fluid - Previously used by the Fourth Doctor to describe (to the guest character with the greatest ever name in the history of the show) the primordial soup on early Earth, which would evolve into life on said planet in the story "City of Death."

• [OLD]  For a hundred million years or so/Whatever killed the dinosaurs -  The Third Doctor story "The Silurians" he suggested that the incoming "small planet" that the Silurians feared forcing them to go underground and suspended their lives for millions of years was the incoming moon.  Inconsistent dating of the period of Silurian rule is somewhere between 35 million to 300 million years ago, which may be consistent.  Or a coincidence.

• [NEW]  DVD  - Using DVD as "valid control discs" causing the TARDIS to return to the Doctor - valid one journey (Although Sally Sparrow did appear to be holding onto the console but got left anyone behind) - previously appeared in the Tenth Doctor story "Blink."

• [NEW]  Kill Hitler - A standard time travel trope, and one visited in the aptly named Eleventh Doctor story "Let's Kill Hitler."  In fact there were more than 25 attempts to assassinate Hitler, many failing due to bad luck or chance.  The fact that so many occurred and failed has been suggested as feeding Hitler's belief he was destined to win, while others have suggested that this is proof that time travel is real but the history protects itself.

• [NEW]  The mid-21 century... - The 10th German Moon mission occurred some time after Steffi Ehrlich finished her training with the German branch of the European Space Agency in 2050 and her being part of the Mars mission in 2056 that sets off to establish the first permanent Mars Colony in 2058.  The episode "The Waters of Mars" features the destruction of that base in 2059.

• [OLD]  ...To the stars...  - In 2080, Station W3 is a deep space observatory in the Second Doctor story "The Wheel in Space."  Also featured in the story is the Silver Carrier a craft lost and abandoned on its way to Station 5.  (As mentioned above, the Second Doctor also visited a moonbase in 2070).

• [NEW]  ...Through the galaxy... - Adelaide Brooke's granddaughter, Susie Fontana Brooke successfully piloted the first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centuri. ("The Water of Mars")

• [OLD]  A man named Blinovitch - Probably the person the Blinovitch Limitation Effect was named after.  The Effect was first mentioned in a conversation between Jo Grant and the Third Doctor in "Day of the Daleks" in an attempt by writer Terry Nation and producer Barry Letts to lampshade the problems inherent in time travel.  It was a significant plot point in the Fifth Doctor story "Mawdryn Undead" and formed the background to the Ninth Doctor story "Father's Day."

The 10 Rules to Doctor Who.

10.  TARDIS:  The TARDIS is used for basic transport, the Doctor semi-refuses to change time.  [1]

9.  Meeting Yourself:  No one tries.  [X]

8.  Non-sequiturs:   Yes.  [1]

7.  Serious/Frivolous:  Certainly.  [1]

6.  Series Final:  This is not a series final.  [X]

5.  Companion:  Clara, contemporary British female, pseudo-companion Courtney.  (Future moon story).  [1]

4.  Emotionless:  No sentient enemy. [X]

3.  Title Spoilers:  The title is a spoiler, but not an obviousl one. [.5]

2.  The Threat:  The Doctor works things out based on information the audience doesn't see (except a flash forward at the beginning.  [.5]

1.  Last of It's Kind:  The Doctor surmises that The Moon is the only one of its kind in the universe.  It is assumed to be dangerous but isn't (beyond the worst environmental catastrophe ever.  If you count that as dangerous.)  [.5]

Score:  5.5/7.

~ DUG.

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.