Smile (TV story)

 was the second episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Bill Potts travel to the future. They come across one of Earth's final colonies, but can he save then from the Vardy?

Plot
The Doctor and Bill are discussing where they should visit in the TARDIS when a knock on the door interrupts them. The Doctor answers saying "Mum", only to find companion Nardole. The two discuss plans, promises and premises before Nardole is order to put the kettle on.

The Doctor and Bill decide to have one trip, and be back before the kettle has boiled. The travellers embark on a journey... to the future.

The TARDIS materialises on a human colony planet, where they meet the Vardy.

To be continued...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Bill - Pearl Mackie
 * Nardole - Matt Lucas
 * Kezzia - Kiran L Dadlani
 * Goodthing - Mina Anwar
 * Steadfast - Ralf Little
 * Praiseworthy - Kaizer Akhtar
 * Nate - Kalungi Ssebandeke
 * Emojibot - Kiran Shah
 * Emojibot - Craig Garner

Language

 * The Emojibots speak Emoji. Emoji used by them include:
 * 😃 – smiling face
 * 💀 – a skull, a symbol of death
 * 😢 – crying face
 * 💡 – a light bulb, symbolising a new idea forming
 * 😕 – puzzled face
 * ❓ – question mark, indicating confusion
 * 👍 – thumbs up, indicating approval
 * 💷 – pound sterling, indicating an interest in monetary gain
 * The Doctor calls the sound implants installed on them "thingamabobs".

Culture

 * The Doctor says that the colonists will come expecting the Garden of Eden.
 * The Vardy identified grief as the enemy of happiness.
 * The Doctor tells the story of "The Magic Haddock".

Locations

 * The planet the Doctor and Bill visit is called Gliese 581d.
 * The spaceship the Doctor and Bill find on the planet is called the Erehwon.
 * The Doctor and Bill encounter an elephant on a frozen-over River Thames.

Species

 * The Vardy can eat other species, leaving behind bones and skulls.
 * The Vardy can cloak themselves as buildings by staying really close together.
 * They are now the indigenous species on the planet.

Technology

 * The Emojibots are an interface of the Vardy.
 * The Doctor and Bill receive sound implants on arrival at the colony.
 * All inhabitants and visitors are given mood badges.
 * Bill's smart phone is also a camera phone, meaning she can take a picture of the map.

Anatomy and physiology

 * The Doctor mentions his binary vascular system, and tells Bill this does indeed lead to high blood pressure.

Botany

 * The colony has rosemaries in the garden, which reminds Bill of home.

Food and beverages

 * The Doctor and Bill are served squares of algae jelly.
 * According to Bill, it smells of fish.
 * The Doctor does not like fish.

Science

 * The Doctor explains that because space is curved, the Earth is in any direction you choose to look in.

Music

 * The Doctor recites the line "I'm happy, hope you're happy too" from the David Bowie song, Ashes to Ashes.

TARDIS

 * Bill asks why the chairs in the TARDIS are so far from the console.
 * Bill asks whether she has to wear a seatbelt during flight.
 * Bill also asks if there is a steering wheel.
 * She questions the Doctor on the police box exterior, and deduces that he likes it because of the sign—which reads, "Advice & assistance obtainable immediately / Officer & cars respond to all calls".

Story notes

 * The Doctor says that Scotland demands independence every planet they go to. In real world current events, at the time of this episode's release, Scotland was again from the United Kingdom, as a result of Brexit.
 * This story also shares a narrative theme with The Happiness Patrol, the theme being the fact that if you're not happy you would be executed.

Ratings
to be added



Filming locations

 * The City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias), in Valencia, Spain, is the real setting for the Gliese 581d scenes.

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * Nardole reminds the Doctor that he can't go off-world because he promised. (TV: The Pilot)
 * Bill again calls the Doctor "a penguin with its arse on fire" when she sees him run. (TV: The Pilot)
 * The Doctor states that the TARDIS takes him where they need to go, rather than where they want to. (TV: The Doctor's Wife)
 * There's a bust of Queen Nefertiti in the spaceship. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)
 * The Doctor mentions having previously encountered human colony ships, (TV: The Ark, The Beast Below, PROSE: The Lost Generation) and stations of colonists in cryogenic suspension. (TV: The Ark in Space)
 * The record of human history Bill finds includes Vincent van Gogh's self-portrait. (TV: Vincent and the Doctor)
 * The Doctor had once before visited a human colony in which unhappy people were killed. (TV: The Happiness Patrol)
 * The Doctor mentions Scotland wanting independence everywhere they go, such as when they wanted a separate ship from Starship UK. (TV: The Beast Below)
 * Bill says that she is in a "proper spaceship". The Tenth Doctor was previously offended when Donna Noble said something similar. (TV: Planet of the Ood)

DVD releases
to be added

Blu-ray releases
to be added

Digital releases
to be added