The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)

The Idiot's Lantern was the seventh episode of the second series of Doctor Who.

Synopsis
1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - but there is something hiding in the televisions of the British people. Something hungry...

Plot
"The Wire" is a creature/entity that was executed on its own world, but escaped by becoming living energy. In that form, it arrives on Earth in 1953 and is electrically transferred into the television signal system to stay alive. It appears on the screen of a television in the electronics shop of Mr. Magpie, telling the delirious, sleepy man that he is not dreaming. It briefly tries to absorb Magpie's face, but halts as it implanted a burning pain in Magpie to make him obey its needs. To be fair, the Wire makes a deal with Magpie. It will spare him and remove the pain if he sells televisions for extremely low prices to maximise the amount of viewers (and therefore potential victims). The victims of the Wire are those unlucky television viewers who are subjected to alien radiations from their television sets; through this process their brain waves are robbed and their faces disappear and are captured onto the screens in the shop. The Wire steals this energy, which it feeds on to survive.

About then, the Tenth Doctor and Rose land in Muswell Hill, London, in 1953, yet expecting to be in New York. Dressed in an Elvis Presley mode, they expect to attend a performance of the Ed Sullivan Show. However, the different skyline, a red double decker bus, and a Union Flag tells them that, actually, they are in northern London on the eve of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

By chance, the Doctor witnesses a person covered in a blanket being abducted by men in black. The Doctor and Rose hop on a scooter and race after the car. The car passes through a gated doorway which slams shut and a market stall arranged in front of the gate, making it look like a dead end. The Doctor and Rose arrive shortly after, mystified by the car's disappearance. They decide to investigate. Posing as Royal inspectors, with the help of the Doctor's psychic paper, they arrive at the home of the Connollys. Mr. Connolly has bullied his family into ignoring Gran after her face was stolen. The Doctor convinces Rita Connolly to bring him to Gran. As the Doctor examines Gran, two men burst into the house, knock out the Doctor and hustle Gran away. The Doctor gives chase but Rose stays behind. She notices the television set is giving off electrical sparks. Rose reads the name on the television's tag: Magpie. She heads for the television shop where Mr. Magpie, who seems to be extremely stressed, tries to get her out the door before The Wire is alerted to her presence. Rose insists on asking Magpie about the televisions he's sealing. The Wire appears on a screen, confusing Rose as to if a broadcast was being played, but the Wire declares it is sentient by telling Rose its name and declaring that it's hungry. The Wire begins sucking Rose's brainwaves and face into its television as Rose desperately pleas for help. Magpie only apologises, claiming Rose had brought it upon herself.

At the dump site, the Doctor finds people whose faces have been stolen locked in a cage. As they begin to surround him, the investigators shine a light into the cage. Detective Inspector Bishop begins to interrogate the Doctor but the tables are turned as the Doctor asks him questions he can't answer. He convinces the DI that he can help. As Bishop begins to share information, an agent brings in another victim: Rose. The Doctor rages at Rose's condition. They return to Floridel Street. The Doctor and Bishop ask Tommy what happened with Gran the night her face was stolen; she was watching television. The three head to Magpie's shop, but Magpie is gone. The Doctor discovers a handheld portable TV as well as external power source, which should not exist yet on Earth. He discovers the people's missing faces as they appear on the screens in the shop. On one of the screens is Rose's face, calling over and over for the Doctor. Magpie enters, and the Doctor demands to know who is really in charge. The Wire appears, briefly turning the black and white television to color, telling the Doctor that it was executed by its own people, but fled to Earth were there was enough mental energy for it to reconstitute its physical form. The Doctor wonders when this will be and the Wire cryptically says her "crowning achievement", causing Bishop to realise that it plans to feed while people watch the coronation. The Wire then beings to feed on Bishop, the Doctor and Tommy. The Doctor is able to stop threaten the Wire by brandishing the higher alien technology: his sonic screwdriver. Realising the Doctor is an offworlder as it is, the Wire stops its feeding after completely draining Bishop, but not the Doctor and Tommy. The Wire transfers itself into the portable TV and orders Magpie to take it to Alexandra Palace. Magpie climbs the antenna and plugs the TV into the tower. It begins to suck the energy from the coronation viewers. The Doctor comes to and with Tommy's assistance, quickly assembles a device. They race to the Tardis to pick up one more part then run to the Palace. The Doctor orders Tommy to keep the device he plugged in to the broadcasting system operating no matter what. He goes to the top, fearing the height and begins to climb the tower. Magpie is at the top, begging the Wire to stop the pain in his head as it promised him peace after its physical reconstitution. Complying with Magpie's wish for peace, the Wire incinerates him with a bolt of electricity. The Doctor reaches the Wire and tells it that it wasn't smart to take a shot at Magpie as not it has overexerted itself, grabbing the portable television. The Wire tries to fry the Doctor using the tower as a conductor, but the soles of the Doctor's shoes are rubber, keeping him safe. The Doctor plugs in a long cord he carried up with him into the portable. But a fuse shorts and the machine Tommy is keeping an eye on stops. The Wire taunts the Doctor for now it will be able to live again. Tommy quickly changes the fuse and the machine operates again. Screaming in horror, the Wire is transferred from the portable into a betamax cassette the Doctor built with parts from the TV shop. The Doctor jokes he made the home video over 30 years earlier than it should have been. Elsewhere, all of the Wire's victims have regained their faces and minds and are released from holding.

The Doctor reunites with Rose on Tommy's street, which is now throwing a party to celebrate the coronation. As a gift for helping him, the Doctor gives Tommy the keys to his scooter, telling him to wait until he's old enough to drive. At the same time, Mr. Connolly is been kicked out by his mother for only thinking about his family's status over their well being. Tommy is glad that his father is going, but the Doctor tells him even a moron like Mr. Connolly deserves a second chance. While Tommy runs off to talk to his father, Rose asks the Doctor what he'll do with the Wire trapped in the tape. The Doctor explains that he'll use his unrivalled knowledge of transtemporalextopation methods to neutralise the residual electronic pattern. Confused as to what the Doctor means, Rose asks him to dumb it down. "I'm gonna tape over it." the Doctor explains. They toast with orange juice and enjoy the party.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
 * The Wire - Maureen Lipman
 * Mr. Magpie - Ron Cook
 * Eddie Connolly - Jamie Foreman
 * Rita Connolly - Debra Gillett
 * Tommy Connolly - Rory Jennings
 * Grandma Connolly - Margaret John
 * Mrs Gallagher - Marie Lewis
 * Detective Inspector Bishop - Sam Cox
 * Crabtree - Ieuan Rhys
 * Aunt Betty - Jean Challis
 * Security Guard - Christopher Driscoll

Events

 * The Doctor and Rose try to arrive in 1956 to see Elvis Presley's performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City, but arrive mistakenly in London, three years earlier.

Torchwood

 * Torchwood is mentioned by the police officer.

Real world

 * Magpie was watching an episode of What's My Line?
 * Rose mentions how she and her mum would watch Cliff Richard movies every Bank holiday

Foods and beverages

 * Grandma Connolly mentions how television turns your brain to soup.

Story notes

 * This story had working titles of: Mr Sandman, Sonic Doom, The One-Eyed Monster.
 * The Idiot's Lantern was originally to have been the ninth episode of Series 2.
 * Originally, the Doctor was supposed to have a line about having trouble with radio transmitters, which was supposed to be a reference to DW: Logopolis, where the Fourth Doctor fell from the Pharos Project transmitter to his death.
 * The Doctor quotes Kylie Minogue's song "Never Too Late." Minogue would later appear as a guest star in the episode Voyage of the Damned, playing Astrid Peth.
 * All the television aerials seem to resemble Nazi swastikas. On the DVD commentary, one of the set designers mentions that this was done to evoke the post-war era.
 * Magpie Electricals apparently continues to exist beyond the death of Mr. Magpie; Martha Jones had a Magpie brand television in DW: The Sound of Drums, and a Magpie brand microphone can be seen in Voyage of the Damned. The new TARDIS interior, after it repaired itself following the events of DW: The End of Time has some parts made by Magpie Electricals. Magpie apparently continues to thrive into the future, as a large sign with the company's logo can be seen aboard Starship UK in DW: The Beast Below.
 * Lara Phillipart, who played Jasmine Pierce in TW: Small Worlds can be seen briefly as a girl in the Connolly's living room watching the coronation.
 * The Wire's repeated demand "FEED ME!" is reminiscent of a similar demand made, to comic effect, by the killer plant Audry Jr. in the classic horror-comedy film (and later musical) The Little Shop of Horrors. Also when the faces are shown on the screens in the TVs, it is also similar in the original film when Audrey Jr. finally bloomed showing the faces of all its victims.
 * Margaret John, who plays Grandma Connolly, previously played Megan Jones in DW: Fury from the Deep.
 * Rory Jennings, who plays Tommy Connolly, would later play Davros as a sixteen-year-old boy in BFD: Innocence.

Ratings

 * Overnight viewing figures for the initial broadcast of this episode were 6.32 million, peaking at 7.78 million, an audience share of 32.2%.
 * The final rating was 6.76 million, making it the most watched programme of the day.

Myths

 * This episode is frequently mistakenly cited as taking place in 1952, the year Elizabeth ascended to the throne upon the death of her father; her official coronation ceremony, however, did not occur until nearly 18 months later, in June 1953. (In addition, the episode itself states that it is 1953.)
 * It is often erroneously claimed that footage of Rose calling out from the TV set was recycled for her brief cameos in the Season 4 episodes The Poison Sky and Midnight.

Filming locations

 * Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, London
 * Florentia Street in Cathays, Cardiff
 * Blenheim Road in Pen-y-lan, Cardiff
 * Cardiff Royal Infirmary
 * Veritair Limited tarmac at the Cardiff Heliport on Cardiff Bay

Production errors

 * David Tennant mentioned on the DVD commentary that he accidentally hit the button on the sonic screwdriver prop while putting it into his pocket, causing the light to flicker on and "sonic-ing" himself. This is clearly visible on the episode itself.
 * The episode's last scene in Magpie Electricals ends with the Doctor exiting the shop and looking towards Alexandra Palace. It was achieved by dropping in a matte painting of Ally Pally on a hill into a location foreground actually filmed in Cardiff. According to David Tennant on the DVD commentary for the episode, however, the composition of the shot violates the narrative of the story. Magpie is said to be in Muswell Hill, but in order to have that particular view of Ally Pally, one would actually have to be filming from the vantage point of Crouch End. Whether this is a production error or not depends on one's point of view. To those unfamiliar with London, there's nothing wrong with the technical set-up or execution of the scene. But given the episode's otherwise meticulous attempts to capture the reality of a particular moment in history, it is a glaring error to anyone who knows London.
 * When the Doctor is climbing the transmitter, there's a moment where David Tennant's right foot disappears due to a compositing error.
 * At the beginning of the episode when The Doctor and Rose are on the mopeds with helmets and sunglasses, the camera crew are reflected in them.
 * Also at the beginning the double-decker bus seen is a Crossley - a type never used in London and it is not in London Passenger Transport Board 'all-over' colour red as it would have been in 1953.

Continuity

 * The scene where the Doctor flips his interrogation with Detective Inspector Bishop is similar to the scene with the Seventh Doctor and the Chief Caretaker in DW: Paradise Towers.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DWS: No One Died
 * This story occurs before NSA: The Nightmare of Black Island

Home video releases

 * This was released on a vanilla DVD along side Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel.
 * It was also released as part of the Series 2 DVD box set.