Aliens of London in “Real Life”

This is the third in a series of Doctor Who in “Real Life” posts. The idea is that I discuss how episodes work from a real world perspective. To celebrate it’s ten year anniversary, today I am looking at the episode Aliens of London.

Some time before the events in London, certain areas of the internet already believed there was some kind of conspiracy in the British government. One site posted this:

Rose Tyler was reported missing to the police who ran a large campaign locally to find her. Much of the suspicions fell on her boyfriend, Mickey Smith who wrote online:

Their net of suspicion has closed in around me - they refuse to consider the evidence I have of what REALLY happened. And of who it really affects.

The following poster was put up around the Powell Estate and the local area.

The spaceship crashing into Big Ben and landing on the Thames was witnessed by a considerable number of people. Surprisingly little footage of the incident was captured, probably due to the speed of the incident, but this was one photo taken by a witness.

Various people told of their sightings of the event- here are a few witness statements:

Bill: I was on my first vacation in years. I saw the crash through my video camera! I tried to get closer, but your army wouldn't let me anywhere near. They even took my camera! I want to know who to contact to get it back! I'll tell you this. I was scared out of my mind on the flight home!

Connor: I was site seeing with my family when there was a really loud humming! i didn't have a clue what was happening and suddenly this huge ship flew stragiht over and crashed into big ben! The sound was immense i saw all the shards of big ben falling from the sky! i was really scared but was told to evacuate the area!

Andy H: I didn't see the crash but I was visiting my nan in Albion Hospital when all these army men turned up and turfed everyone out. Apparently they put the alien in there. There were men with guns everywhere and despite what was going on they kept telling us there was nothing to see. Yeah, right.

Padrone: A soldier told me that it was just an experimental plane that crashed and the pilot was killed. He said they haven't named him yet as his family has to be told. They UFO story started because people panicked!

The incident led to various parties and lots of internet memes, like the one below:

Though the Albion Hospital was supposed to be sealed off to the public, an image from within did make it online:

The person who posted the image also shared a sketch of the supposed pilot of the spaceship.

That’s all for this week but keep checking back as I continue by look back at Series 1 of Doctor Who!

^{(Again, much of the content comes from here. The missing poster comes from here although is an exact copy of the one in the episode)}

Lethbridge-Stewart: Top Secret Files

This is a fun addition to the series featuring Doctor Who's Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Although it costs 99p on the Kindle Store, you can get the e-book free as a PDF from the publisher's website here.

The Ambush: A short story originally published in Doctor Who Magazine which explains the moments before Lethbridge-Stewart's very first Doctor Who appearance in The Web of Fear. It's nothing hugely special but it is a nice little extension of a wonderful TV story.

We Won't Let him Down: An extended edition of a chapter from Companions focussing on the Brigadier. It's essentially a run down of his TV appearances and I suspect most people reading the book won't get much from this, but it is a useful addition for newer fans.

What Lies Beyond: A quick look at some novels featuring the Brigadier. It's basically just a further reading list.

Graeme Harper: An interview with the only man to direct both Classic and New Who who directed Nicholas Courtney a number of times during his career. It's an affectionate little interview that only makes you wish that Courtney was still alive for more.

Original Prelude: This was originally going to be the opening to The Forgotten Son. It is set much more recently, in the Brigadier's last few weeks of life and explains where the stories in the series come from. I really liked it.

The New World: The opening chapter of The Forgotten Son. I've yet to read that book but this is very promising, continuing Lethbridge-Stewart's story on from the end of The Web of Fear.

All in all, a pretty decent collection considering you can get it for free and makes me eager to read the first in the series.

Doctor Who Unlocked: The End of the World

It’s ten years today since the Ninth Doctor’s second episode The End of the World first aired. To celebrate, I thought the episode was ideal for an edition of Doctor Who Unlocked where I look into minor bits of continuity and the extended Whoniverse that are easy to miss.

So, The End of the World introduces us to a lot of new aliens so I’ve taken a look at all those that appear on Platform One.

The Crew

The crew appear to be fairly normal humanoids, although with blue skin. They are from the Crespallion. Raffalo tells Rose Tyler that Crespallion is not a planet but part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. Whatever that means. It appears in the episode that many of the Crespallions are much smaller than humans and the Doctor Who Encyclopedia says that whilst make Crespallions are about human-size, females are the size of a human child.

Trees from the Forest of Cheem

Three individuals from the Forest of Cheem are present on Platform One- Jabe, the female with the wealth and her associates Lute and Coffa. Cheem is the planet they live on. They are humanoids made of wood and evolved from trees- Jabe explains to the Doctor that they are actually descendants from the tropical rainforests of Earth. They have retractable lianas on their arms which they aren't supposed to show in public.

The Moxx of Balhoon

A diminutive blue alien who travelled on a fast-moving anti-gravity chair. He was present aboard Platform One representing the solicitors Jolco and Jolco.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme

Sinister-looking hooded robots that were controlled by the Lady Cassandra. Their purpose was to give the robotic spiders to the guests and divert suspicion from Cassandra herself. They weren’t entirely robotic, being composed of organic strands connected to their hand. The Doctor works out the name simply means they are an idea rather than real aliens.

The Brothers Hop Pyleen

Reptilian humanoids from the planet Rex Vox Jax. They became rich and famous by inventing the Hyopslip Travel Systems. Due to being cold-blooded, they wear fur clothes in order to keep warm on Platform One.

The Face of Boe

The Doctor meets the Face of Boe several times. It is a large face which usually communicate by telepathy, although can speak verbally. The Face was the main sponsor of the Earth Destruction event and was later believed to be the oldest being in the universe. It is reported by Bad WolfTV that he had fallen pregnant with children and he seemed to spend much of his time on New Earth dying of old age. Captain Jack Harkness said that he was known as the Face of Boe as a child and as he cannot die the Doctor and Martha wondered if Harkness and the Face were one and the same. This has never been confirmed but equally there has been no other explanation to how the Face knew the Master was still alive.

Lady Cassandra

The last “pure” human being. She was born a male and presumably underwent surgery to change to female at some point. By the time she arrives on Platform One she has undergone 708 surgical procedures and is nothing more than a piece of skin with eyes and a mouth stretched on a frame, connected to a brain in a jar below.

Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light

The ambassadors are creatures with pointed ears, multiple eyes and four-fingered hands with claws. They wear long robes and are oxygen sensitive so oxygen levels on board Platform One were constantly monitored. A member of their species can be spotted enjoying the festivities in The Rings of Akhaten.

Scholars of the University of Rago Rago 56 Rago

The four scholars visited the end of the Earth as a result of receiving 27 A++ scores at their university.  They appear to be of two-different species. One species had faces of golden metal whilst the other resemble tree stumps and appear to be made of wicker. They all wore white robes.

Cal MacNannovich and Noxwen Van Coofen

Cal is a cybernetic film star and Noxwen was his plus one. They wore large hooded cloaks and cybernetic face masks which pumped some form of special air into their faces.

Mr and Mrs Pakoo

Avian humanoids which look almost identical.

That’s all for today but come back each week as I continue my look-back over Series 1!