Death Is the Only Answer (TV story)

Plot
When the Doctor is reunited with his Fez, he trips over onto the console, knocking off his Fez and hitting a lever. The Fez vanishes and Albert Einstein arrives, with the Fez on his head. He had been working on his time machine, and he thought he'd found the vital part of it - a mysterious liquid which Einstein believed to be bionic fusion liquid. But it wasn't, and Einstein had got it wrong. When he walked away from the console, liquid spat up at his face, turning him into an Ood. The Doctor managed to turn Albert back into his normal self afterwards, and stopped him from feeling sick with help from the Sonic. The Doctor dropped Albert off in 1945, and the Doctor and his Fez went off to another adventure, a bit of goo left on the floor.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Albert Einstein - Nickolas Grace
 * Ood - Paul Kasey

Continuity

 * Albert Einstein gets temporarily turned into an Ood. Their last appearence was in DW: The Doctor's Wife.
 * The Doctor mentions that Einstein's toothbrush was destroyed by the Daleks during a recent (unspecified) encounter.
 * The Doctor states that "This old Trash will be around until the end of time. In fact, it was."
 * This is the second time Einstein has been in the TARDIS, the first time was with The Seventh Doctor in DW: Time and the Rani explaining that the TARDIS was all relative. He once had his picture taken with the Eleventh Doctor and Father Christmas at Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge.
 * The Doctor has obtained a new fez (apparently originally owned by Einstein) and he mentioned River Song blowing up the last one (DW: The Big Bang).

Timeline

 * The time-placement of this story is not certain, but the fact that the Doctor seems to be travelling alone implies that it takes place sometime after The God Complex. If taken in strict order of broadcast, this would take place following The Wedding of River Song. The reference to the fez means it cannot take place earlier than The Big Bang (i.e. during some unchronicled solo travel period such as the test flight of the renovated TARDIS in The Eleventh Hour). However, it is possible this story takes place prior to the events of A Christmas Carol as a) the Doctor is still sore about losing his fez and b) the Doctor has obtained a new fez by the time of the Christmas story. The absence of Rory and Amy is covered by the fact the Doctor travelled alone for a time while they were on honeymoon.

Behind the Scenes

 * The canonicity of this mini-episode, given its unique nature, is at present unclear.
 * This special was broadcast on BBC3 as part of the Doctor Who Confidential episode When Time Froze.
 * Aspects of this episode's production were covered as a regular feature in every Confidential episode from River Runs Wild through its premiere within When Time Froze
 * This special's only screen credit was that of the authors, the Children of Oakley Junior School.
 * After being cast as the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith famously wrote several (unpublished) Doctor Who short stories, in order to help him prepare for the role. According to several interviews one of these stories featured the Doctor meeting Einstein.