The Hungry Earth (TV story)

The Hungry Earth was the eighth episode of the fifth series of the revived series of Doctor Who. It was the first part of a two-part story that featured the first televised re-appearance of the Silurians since 1984's Warriors of the Deep.

Synopsis
It’s 2020, and the most ambitious drilling project in history has reached deeper beneath the Earth’s crust than man has ever gone before – but now the ground itself is fighting back. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory arrive in a tiny mining village and find themselves plunged into a battle against a deadly danger from a bygone age.

Plot
In 2020, in the small Welsh village of Cwmtaff, a team led by Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry is attempting the deepest drilling project in history in order to investigate minerals that appeared locally, but otherwise have not been seen on the planet's surface for over twenty million years.

Mo Northover, a night watchman on the project, is present at the drilling site when a strange earthquake strikes. Upon investigating, he discovers a smoking hole in the floor of a store room. Kneeling down next to it, he plunges his hand into the hole, realizing that nothing exists beneath it apart from air. He is promptly dragged beneath the surface despite attempting to escape.

Shortly thereafter, the Doctor arrives in Cwmtaff with Amy and Rory, having promised them a vacation in Rio de Janeiro; however, the TARDIS misnavigated yet again. As they look out across the valley, Amy spots two figures waving at them from the opposite hillside; the Doctor realizes that it is Amy and Rory from the future, coming back to revisit past glories. Though she finds this "interaction" with her future self thrilling, Amy pleads to continue on to their intended destination; however, the Doctor is intrigued by the presence of blue grass in the cemetery where the TARDIS has materialized, as well as the site of the drilling operation in the valley below. He insists that they investigate.

While the Doctor and Amy head off to explore, Rory returns Amy's engagement ring to the TARDIS for safekeeping, promising to catch up to them. As he disembarks from the police box, he is stopped by Ambrose Northover, who mistakes him for an investigator that she called down; along with her son Elliot, she explains that local graves have been mysteriously dug up and bodies have disappeared, despite the fact that no disturbance registers from the surface.

At the mine, the Doctor and Amy meet Nasreen and her assistant, Tony Mack, who are investigating the hole in the store room. Checking the readings on Nasreen's computer, the Doctor announces that the Earth is shifting when it shouldn't be; suddenly, another earthquake strikes, causing more holes to appear. As the group rushes to escape, Tony is caught in one of the holes; despite the Doctor's orders that she continue moving, Amy stops and tries to help Tony only to be caught in one of the holes herself. Nasreen and the Doctor double back to help the two; Nasreen succeeds in helping Tony to safety, and the Doctor orders them to shut the drill off while he holds onto Amy. Though he promises not to let go of her, he can't stop her from being pulled under.

When Nasreen and Tony return -- having shut off the drill too late to save Amy -- the trio continues inspecting the Earth. The Doctor deduces that the Earth was bio-programmed to attack whenever it perceived a threat -- namely, Nasreen's drill, which has breached a network of tunnels twenty-one kilometers down. Using her computer, he realizes that transport pods are heading for the surface, and will arrive in twelve minutes. The Doctor, Nasreen, and Tony gather the equipment and make for the church, where they encounter Rory, Ambrose, and Elliot. The unknown attackers create an energy barrier around the town to prevent escape; it also puts them under cover of darkness. Both Ambrose and Rory are furious that their loved ones have been lost, but the Doctor promises to get them back, though he requires their cooperation. The group sets up a network of cameras and security alarms around the church, and cintinues monitoring the pods' ascent via Nasreen's computers. The Doctor, distracted by the impending threat, allows Elliot to leave the safety of the church so that he can return home and collect his headphones.

The attack begins, but the attackers' advanced technology knocks out the camera network, leaving the group blind. Elliot is chased back to the church by a reptilian humanoid creature; it manages to catch up with him before the group can open the door of the church. Ambrose races out into the night, calling out for her son, and is attacked by one of the creatures; when Tony steps in to rescue her, the creature lashes out at him with its venemous tongue. Though they are unable to retrieve Elliot, the Doctor and Rory manage to capture one of the creatures in the back of Ambrose's Meals-on-Wheels van.

Amy awakes beneath the surface to find herself trapped in a clear plastic container. Despite her protests, a shadowy figure appears overhead and activates a control, flooding the container with gas that knocks her out again.

The Doctor and Rory bring the creature to the church cellar and restrain it with chains. The Doctor deduces that the creature is a member of an unknown, three hundred million year old branch of the Silurians, a reptilian race that inhabited Earth before the humans. He confronts the prisoner, a Silurian warrior called Alaya. She explains that the Silurians have been hibernating below Cwmtaff for countless centuries, but their civilization was disturbed by the drill, threatening its safety. The Doctor attempts to negotiate with her, but Alaya declares that the Silurians will wipe humanity off the surface of their planet.

The Doctor returns to the church hall, informing his companions of his intention to travel down beneath the surface and commence negotations while simultaneously rescuing Amy, Mo, and Elliot. Tony insists that they dissect Alaya to learn more about what they are facing, but the Doctor refuses, knowing that if they are to get their loved ones back unharmed, Alaya must be kept alive. He entrusts the humans with this responsibility, paying particular attention to Ambrose, who has opposed his actions thus far. As the Doctor goes out to the TARDIS, Nasreen follows, requesting to go down with him; he reluctantly agrees. Nasreen and Tony share a passionate kiss before she departs.

Below the surface, Amy regains consciosuness once more. She is strapped to a standing medical table in a laboratory; Mo is imprisoned next to her, and warns her of her impending dissection. He reveals a long scar stretching down his chest as evidence of this. Amy begins to scream as a Silurian scientist approaches her with a scalpel.

Tony returns to the church and inspects his wound in a mirror, horrified to realize that the veins around the injury are turning green.

The TARDIS materializes in a cavern deep within the Earth; the Doctor and Nasreen begin exploring the surrounding tunnels in search of the Silurian camp. The Doctor warns Nasreen to expect a small group of perhaps a dozen Silurians; however, she points him to an entire civilization, stretching for miles around.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry - Meera Syal
 * Alaya - Neve McIntosh
 * Tony Mack - Robert Pugh
 * Elliot - Samuel Davies
 * Mo - Alun Raglan
 * Ambrose - Nia Roberts
 * Malohkeh - Richard Hope

Technology

 * The Doctor has a pair of sunglasses that function as infra-red thermal imaging scanners.
 * The Sonic Screwdriver can't "do wood."

Individuals

 * The Doctor uses Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein as examples of people with Dyslexia.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor promised to take Amy to a beach but accidentally took her to a graveyard instead. This is the fourth time the Doctor has planned to go to the beach but ended up somewhere else: The Doctor had promised to take Donna Noble to a beach but took her to the Library (DW: Silence in the Library); he offered to take Sarah Jane Smith to a beach but ended up on Exxilon (DW: Death to the Daleks); and although they were supposedly random coordinates, the Doctor was supposed to take Martha Jones to Copacabana Beach but The Doctor's TARDIS was intercepted by Caw and taken to Pheros (DW: The Infinite Quest).
 * The Doctor carries a catapult (sling shot) in his pocket.

Story notes

 * The episode was incorrectly entitled The Ground Beneath their Feet, Warm Planet and Cold Blood.
 * Despite the press release saying that the story would take place in 2015, it actually took place in 2020. It may have been changed due to some events of the previous episode happening in 2015.
 * The visor's different scanning types are reminiscent of the helmets used by the aliens in the Predator film series. Also when Matt Smith moves his hand when looking through the heat scanning glasses, there is the same 'swish' sound heard when the Predator changes scanning type.
 * Matt Smith celebrated his 27th birthday during the filming of this episode.
 * Amy and Rory see future versions of themselves in 2020 from a distance, seemingly revisiting their past adventure and watching their past (current, from a series perspective) selves. However, this may change; as the Doctor says, "time can be re-written."
 * When Amy goes to say hello to their future selves the Doctor stops her saying "Things can get very complicated".
 * The completed episode had a running time of sixty minutes, requiring over fifteen minutes of footage to be removed in order to fit its broadcast slot.
 * This is the first Silurian story to feature a female member of the species.
 * Originally, Mo and Amy were to be stripped down to their underwear before being dissected. This was removed as "too adult".
 * This is the first episode which does not confirm who originally created the enemy since the revival.
 * In the early stages of production, the new Silurians' masks were intended to quite similar to the originals, only with green scales. (DWA Issue 172)
 * This episode aired on the same day as the K9 episode, Mutant Copper was first broadcast on Disney XD in Britain. It also aired on the same day that Jaws of Orthrus was first broadcast on Network Ten in Australia.
 * The term "homo reptilia" is mentioned in the publisher's summary of the novel The Scales of Injustice.

Ratings
Overnight ratings were 4.5 million (4.2 million on BBC1, 0.3 million on HD) for a 32.2% share.

The offical viewing figures was 6.01 million viewers.

The Appreciation Index was 86.

Rumours

 * It is rumoured that the Sea Devils will appear as one of the races seen in the trailers. This was proven false.
 * Melanie Walters will appear in this episode and in Cold Blood. This was confirmed as false but as she was seen filming it could be for the finale.

Filming locations
St. Gwynno's Church, Llanwonno, Rhondda Valley

Bedwelty Coal Pit, Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent

Tower Collery, Hirwaun, Glamorgan, South Wales

Production errors

 * When Rory is being shown the graves by Ambrose and Elliot, he has his arms by his side whenever the camera is focused on the latter, but when the camera is on him, his arms are linked in front of him.
 * Before Nasreen enters the TARDIS she has red shoes however when both she and the Doctor fall they are brown boots.
 * Throughout this episode, Amy's earrings seem to disappear and reappear.

Continuity

 * In 1984's Frontios "...the earth is hungry" too. There too people were swallowed by the ground.
 * The Silurians have appeared twice in television stories, in 1970's DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians and then alongside the closely-related race Sea Devil in 1984's DW: Warriors of the Deep. The Sea Devils also appeared in 1972's DW: The Sea Devils.
 * The Doctor tells the Silurians that he has met another tribe of homo reptilia, but when they ask him where they are, he replies "The humans killed them". (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
 * In reply to the question "Are you scared of monsters?" The Doctor says "No, they're scared of me." This is similar to what he says in DW: The Girl in the Fireplace to Reinette, and what the Eighth Doctor said to Destrii in DWM: Uroboros.
 * A similar drilling project took place in DW: Inferno.
 * DW: The Dæmons also featured a small town cut off from the outside world by an energy barrier.
 * DW: The Green Death was also set in a small Welsh mining village.
 * The Doctor again mentions that the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. (DW: Silence in the Library)
 * This isn't the first time the Doctor has tried to broker a peace between the Silurians and humans. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
 * This story shares many similarities to DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians.
 * Before their plans are disrupted, the Silurians in DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians intend to return to hibernation for fifty years. Doctor Who and the Silurians was first broadcast in 1970 and The Hungry Earth is set in 2020: a timespan of fifty years.
 * This is the fourth time the Doctor has used a church as a refuge; other times were in DW: Father's Day, DW: Amy's Choice and in DW: The Daemons.
 * The Doctor previously referred to the Silurians as 'Eocenes' in DW: The Sea Devils.
 * When Amy is anaesthetized, she cries out "No, no gas!" In DW: The Beast Below, a Winder used a ring filled with knock-out gas on her.
 * This Silurian tribe have the ability to flick their long, forked tongues at their enemies, injecting them with poison. The Doctor implies that he has prior knowledge of such an ability, suggesting that he had encountered another Silurian tribe with a similar trait.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: NSA: The King's Dragon
 * This story occurs before: DW: Cold Blood

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Three features Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood. It was released on Monday 2nd August 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.