New Earth (TV story)

Summary
In the year five billion and twenty-three, after the destruction of the Earth, the Doctor takes Rose to the New Earth. There, in a hospital facility, the feline Sisters of Plenitude can cure any disease, but in the basement an old enemy of the Doctor is out for revenge. (Click here for a more detailed summary)

Cast & Characters

 * The Doctor — David Tennant
 * Rose Tyler — Billie Piper
 * Jackie Tyler — Camille Coduri
 * Mickey Smith — Noel Clarke
 * Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen - Zoë Wanamaker
 * Chip — Sean Gallagher
 * Matron Casp — Doña Croll
 * Duke of Manhattan — Michael Fitzgerald
 * Frau Clovis — Lucy Robinson
 * Sister Jatt — Adjoa Andoh
 * Novice Harne — Anna Hope
 * Patient — Simon Ludders
 * Face of Boe — Struan Rodger

Crew
To be added.

Influences

 * Recent Controversy in the United Kingdom regarding Animal Testing
 * Plastic surgery
 * MRSA
 * The cells in which the plague carriers are held seem to be a cross between The Matrix and The Borg. (The cells in which the Borg rested are themselves quite similar to the hibernation chambers used by the Cybermen in "The Tomb of the Cybermen," bringing this particular motif full circle.)
 * The concept and moral dilemmas of using clones or natural humans as involuntary organ donors has been explored in other works, including the film "The Clonus Horror" and the novel and film, "Coma."

Ratings
New Earth - 8.0m (38.6%)

Location Filming

 * The exterior shots of New Earth were filmed on the Gower Peninsula
 * The hospital scenes were filmed inside the Wales Millennium Centre which appeared in the previous series episode Boom Town. When the Doctor asks about the shop and points to where he would put it, he points to the location of the centre's own Portmeirion shop.
 * The exterior shots of the lift car as Rose descends to the basement are reused footage from Rose

Cultural References

 * Rose refers to Chip as Gollum. Gollum is a creature from Lord of the Rings
 * When Cassandra takes possession of Rose she looks in the mirror and describes herself as a Chav a common stereotype in the UK.

Continuity

 * There have been several planets called "New Earth" in Doctor Who: the planet where Sarah was told she was being taken to in a spaceship in Invasion of the Dinosaurs; a planet from the Fourth Doctor comic strip story Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (Doctor Who Weekly #1-#8); the homeworld of the Sixth Doctor novel companion Grant Markham and the setting of the Virgin Missing Adventures novel Time of Your Life by Steve Lyons; and the "New Earth Republic", a future Earth colony and the setting of the Past Doctor Adventures Synthespians™ by Craig Hinton
 * The Sisters of Plenitude are not the first feline aliens to feature in the series. A race of Cheetah People appeared in the Seventh Doctor serial Survival
 * The ailment that the Duke of Manhattan is dying from, Petrifold Regression — a disease that turns its victims to stone — is also mentioned in The Stone Rose
 * The Bad Wolf car park graffiti shown in The Parting Of The Ways reappears at the outset of the episode, though faded.
 * The conclusion is an ontological paradox in which Cassandra (in Chip's body) interacts with Cassandra's human self. After Cassandra (in Chip's body) dies, Cassandra's earlier self bases Chip on the man who had praised her beauty. Where the "pattern" for Chip comes from in the first instance is thus unclear. This is the second story in a row in which the Doctor has created a paradox (Having done so with Harriet Jones in The Christmas Invasion) and seems to be developing as a pattern for the Tenth Doctor.

Quotes
Cassandra (as Rose) – Oh My God I’m a Chav

Cassandra (as Rose) – Its Like living inside a bouncy castle

Cassandra (as Rose) – The same Doctor with a new face…that hypocrite.

Cassandra (as Rose) - Chavtastic

Story Arcs

 * The Doctor and Rose Arc
 * Paradox Arc
 * End of the World Arc

Similar stories

 * The End of the World
 * Terminus

More Info

 * Story Synopsis
 * Story Statistics
 * Story in the Media

Public Releases
According to Doctor Who Magazine #366, this episode will be released as a "vanilla" DVD with The Christmas Invasion, reportedly on May 1, 2006