DW 04-11: Turn Left (Part 1)

A Guide to Classic Who references in new Who.

Doctor Who series 4 episode 11 (Story 41 Part 1) in which Donna doesn't meet the Doctor.

Warning: May contain spoilers for

"Turn Left"

Viewing Order

"Midnight" < Doctor's Timeline > "The Stolen Earth"

References

[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.

[SJA] - Things that first appeared previously in Sarah Jane Adventures.

[TW] - Things that first appeared previously in Torchwood.

This episode...

• [1ST] Unnamed planet - Presumably the first appearance of this planet.

• [OLD] The Doctor - The central character of both series of Doctor Who.  This is the Tenth Doctor.  He's a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.  This, it turns out, means he can survive cyanide poisoning.  Real name: unknown; actual age: unclear.

• [1ST] Beetle thing - First appearance of this thing.

Alternate "Runaway Bride"

• [NEW] Wedding Day & Job - As seen in "The Runaway Bride" (Doctor Who (2005) 2006 Christmas Special).

• [NEW] Wedding Day & Job - As seen in "The Runaway Bride" (Doctor Who (2005) 2006 Christmas Special).

• [NEW] Henrick's - The store that Rose worked for in "Rose" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 1).

• [OLD]    UNIT - A military organisation created to investigate alien incursions.  UNIT appeared regularly in the classic series.  In the new series organisation appeared in a small role in the "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" (Doctor Who Series 1) and in larger role in "The Christmas Invasion" (Doctor Who 2005 Christmas Special) and "The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords" (Doctor Who Series 3).  A member of UNIT also appeared in:  "Reset"/"Dead Man Walking"/"A Day in the Death." (Torchwood Series 2)

• [OLD]  Trap One - In classic Doctor Who serials, UNIT base of operations often had Trap callsigns, for UNIT Moble HQ: "The Mind of Evil" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 8), "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4); and general HQ: "Day of the Daleks" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 9), "The Green Death" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 10), "Robot" (Doctor Who (1963) Season 12).

• [OLD]  Greyhound 15 - In classic Doctor Who serials, members of UNIT often had Greyhound callsigns.

• [NEW]  Private Harris - One of the UNIT soldiers mind-controlled by the Sontaran Commander Staal in "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4).

• [NEW]   Unnamed blond girl - A character appearing in briefly in "Partners in Crime" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4) and on screens in "The Poison Sky" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4) and "Midnight" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4). She claims to have known the Doctor and have returned from a parallel world.  No idea who this could be.

Alternate "Smith & Jones"

• [NEW]  Royal Hope Hospital - Disappeared and reappeared in "Smith & Jones" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 3)

• [NEW]  Talking rhinos in black leather - The Judoon, first appeared in "Smith & Jones" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 3)

• [NEW]  Martha Jones - The Doctor's companion in series 3 of the new Doctor Who, first appearing in "Smith & Jones" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 3)  She was revealed to have joined UNIT in "Reset" (Torchwood Series 2) in which she and Jack Harkness speculated that the Doctor may have recommended her.

• [OLD] Sarah Jane Smith - Sarah Jane Smith was companion to the Third and Fourth Doctors (From "The Time Warriors" (Doctor Who (1963) season 11) to "The Hand of Fear" (Doctor Who (1963) season 14).)  She returned to the Doctor's side in "The Five Doctors" (Doctor Who (1963) 20th Anniversary Special) and "School Reunion" (Doctor Who (2005) series 2).  Her adventures without the Doctor appear in K9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

• [SJA] Luke Smith - Created by the Bane and rescued by Sarah Jane Smith, Maria Jackson and Kelsey Hooper in "Invasion of the Bane" (Sarah Jane Adventures (2007 New Year's Special)).

• [SJA] Maria Jackson - Sarah Jane's young neighbour, part of her gang of teen investigators.  She first appeared in "Invasion of the Bane" (Sarah Jane Adventures (2007 New Year's Special)).

• [SJA] Clyde Langer - Luke and Maria's school friend, part of Sarah Jane's gang of teen investigators.  He first appeared in "Revenge of the Slitheen Part 1" (Sarah Jane Adventures series 1).

Alternate "Voyage of the Damned"

• [NEW] Titanic replica - Almost crashed in "Voyage of the Damned" (Doctor Who (2005) 2007 Christmas Special).

• [1ST] Guinever range of Satellite - First mention of these satellites.

• [NEW] Selling papers - Which he was actually shown doing in "Voyage of the Damned" (Doctor Who (2005) 2007 Christmas Special).

Alternate "Partners in Crime"

• [NEW] Dissolved fat - The events of "Partners in Crime" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4) have been moved from London to the US with a much higher casualty rate.

• [NEW]  Trinity Wells - Regularly appearing reporter in Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures.

• [NEW] Bumble bees - Donna also obsesses about Hive Collapse Syndrome.

Alternate "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky"

[1ST]  ATMOS - Went out of control in "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4). A sticker appeared on a taxi cab in "Partners in Crime" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4).

• [OLD]  The Sontarans - A race who frequently appeared in classic Doctor Who. "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 4) was their first appearance in new Who.

• [NEW]  Torchwood - An organisation created by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 2)..  Torchwood-1 (London) was destroyed by the events of "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 2).  This is Torchwood-3 (Cardiff), who first appeared in "Everything Changes" (Torchwood Series 1).

• [TW]  Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones -  Members of Torchwood Three.  Both first appeared in "Everything Changes" (Torchwood series 1).

• [NEW]  Captain Jack Harkness - Former Time Agent from the 51st century, con-man and companion to the Tenth Doctor.  Head of Torchwood-3.  He was made immortal accidentally by the Bad Wolf entity (Rose Tyler) in "The Parting of the Ways" (Doctor Who (2005) Series 1).

This episode...

• [OLD]  The TARDIS - The Doctor's time and space travel vehicle.  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 chameleon 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.

• [NEW] The Library - A library planet, the setting of "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" (Doctor Who (2005) series 4).

• [SJA] The Trickster's Brigade - The first mentioned on this group, but not of the Trickster, a being who appeared in "Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane Part 1" and "Part 2" (The Sarah Jane Adventures series 1). In that story it attempted to remove Sarah Jane from history.  It also stated of her memories of the Doctor:

I can use you to find him. Imagine if the Doctor had never existed. What chaos there would be across the stars.

• [NEW] "Bad Wolf" - The entity that Rose became when she absorbed the heart of the TARDIS.

"Midnight" < Doctor's Timeline > "The Stolen Earth"

~ 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.

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