Good as Gold (TV story)

Good as Gold was a mini-episode of Doctor Who written by the winners of a Blue Peter script-to-screen competition.

Synopsis
Bored of not having any adventures lately, the Doctor and Amy get a bit more than they asked for when they set out on one. Landing in London 2012, there's only one piece of advice that can help them now: Whatever you do—don't blink!

Plot
The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond are inside the TARDIS, and Amy tells him that the guide book for travelling through the universe says they need to have at least one adventure per week. Complying, the Doctor activates the TARDIS' "Adventure Setting" and they are off. However, the TARDIS starts to malfunction and the Doctor gets blasted by steam. His hair becomes messy and the TARDIS continues to malfunction. The Cloister Bell sounds and the TARDIS console fires out sparks. The Doctor says the TARDIS is going to crash. He and Amy hang on for dear life and they crash.

Once they get up, an athlete runs through the door holding the Olympic Flame. He asks where he is, then realises he was running from something. They all look at the door and see a Weeping Angel.

The Doctor and Amy say, "don't blink", but then the TARDIS fires sparks out of the console. The Weeping Angel takes the Olympic Torch from the athlete. The Doctor says the Angel wants to destroy the Pride of the Olympics and ruin London 2012. He points his sonic screwdriver at the torch, using it as medium for cracking and blowing up the Angel.

The athlete jumps up and grabs the Torch so it doesn't hit the floor and go out. He thanks the Doctor for his assistance, giving him his own gold medal before heading out the Olympic Beacon as the final runner in the Olympic Torch Relay. The Doctor heads to the console, where he announces that they are now going on an adventure.

The Weeping Angel appears in the doorway, still cracked and missing the arm that held the torch. It stares into the TARDIS...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Athlete - Elliot Barnes-Worrell (uncredited)

Crew
To be added.

Story notes

 * A shortened version of the Doctor Who opening titles was used.
 * In announcing the competition, the BBC webcast a specially shot scene in January 2012 featuring the Doctor in the Land of Fiction (from TV: The Mind Robber), breaking the fourth wall and describing the competition. The winning story was chosen despite the fact the Doctor requests in the rules that the story not be set at the 2012 London Olympics, owing to the fact "I've already been there" (referring to TV: Fear Her) and also mentions that he "has been running into myself and it's really embarrassing."
 * The actor Elliot Barnes-Worrell who played The Athlete was not credited. However, he was later named in Issue 449 of Doctor Who Magazine.
 * Although obviously these events did not occur during the real-life opening ceremony, the sound of the TARDIS materialising was heard at one point during the event, though the original plan to show images of each of the Doctors was cut for time.
 * What appears to be an athletics stadium (where the opening ceremony traditionally takes place) is visible outside, though upon closer inspection, it does not resemble the actual Olympic Stadium in East London. However, the Athlete wears Team Great Britain's official London 2012 kit by Adidas.
 * Traditionally, the final torchbearer in the relay (in this case, the Athlete) has the honour of lighting the Olympic Beacon/Cauldron, but in the real-life London 2012 opening ceremony that August, a number of British sporting legends each gave their torches to an aspiring British athlete to light the cauldron, which was made of many kettles with one from each nation represented at the Games. When the Olympic Torch arrived in Cardiff, Matt Smith himself had the honour to carry it and take it to its next destination.

Ratings
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * Amy wears the same clothes she did in TV: The Doctor's Wife.
 * Weeping Angels first appeared in TV: Blink and last appeared in TV: The Time of the Doctor.
 * The Cloister Bell is heard, last having been heard in TV: The God Complex.
 * The Athlete mentions lighting the Olympic Flame. The Tenth Doctor did this himself in TV: Fear Her.
 * The Tenth Doctor had previously attended the 2012 Olympic Games in the company of Rose Tyler. (TV: Fear Her). Prior to that, he had also visited 2012 on at least one occasion during or prior to his sixth incarnation (AUDIO: The Raincloud Man) as well as during his seventh (AUDIO: Frozen Time), eighth (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon) and ninth incarnations (TV: Dalek).

Home video release

 * Good as Gold is included as a bonus feature on the UK edition of the Complete Doctor Who Series 7 DVD and Blu-ray box set, released 28 October 2013. It is not included in the North American version.