Time Crash (TV story)

Time Crash was a special "mini-episode" produced for the 2007 Children in Need appeal. It featured a brief encounter between the Fifth and Tenth Doctors and was written by Steven Moffat. It also served as the explanation of how the Doctor's TARDIS was breached by the Titanic at the end of Last of the Time Lords. As such, it was very much a part of the overall continuity of the BBC Wales series of Doctor Who.

Synopsis
The Tenth Doctor accidentally pilots his TARDIS into the path of the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS which threatens to rip a hole in space and time the size of Belgium!

Plot
This story follows on from the previous episode the Tenth Doctor has just said goodbye to Martha, and is attempting to take off when the TARDIS suddenly goes haywire.

Suddenly, someone else is in the TARDIS, the Fifth Doctor. The Tenth Doctor realises straight away this is his past incarnation and is soon reminiscing about his adventures as the Fifth Doctor, much to the latter's confusion. The Fifth Doctor decides that the strange skinny bloke in his TARDIS is an obsessive fan of his--possibly affiliated with LINDA--and the Tenth, to his own bewilderment, can't convince his past self otherwise. Meanwhile, the collision of the TARDIS with its past (or future) self threatens to tear a hole in the universe; one the exact size of Belgium, which, as the Fifth Doctor remarks, is a rather undramatic description. The Fifth Doctor despairs of finding a solution in time, but the Tenth purposefully, if maniacally manipulates the TARDIS controls and averts the disaster.

Stunned by the unexpected solution, the Fifth Doctor realises that the other man is in fact his future self. The Tenth Doctor bids a warm farewell to his past self; and, with a final warning to his future self to restore the TARDIS shields, the Fifth Doctor rejoins his own timeline.

But suddenly, it's too late to put up the shields... the Titanic has plowed through the wall of the TARDIS.

Cast

 * Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
 * Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman (uncredited recap footage)

Production crew

 * Written by - Steven Moffat
 * Produced by - Phil Collinson
 * Directed by - Graeme Harper
 * 1st Assistant Director - Dan Mumford
 * 3rd Assistant Director - Andy Newbery
 * Additional Assistant Director - Kevin Myers
 * Driver - Kevin Kearns
 * Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes
 * Script Editor - Brian Minchin
 * Focus Puller - Ant Hugill
 * Grip - John Robinson
 * Camera Assistant - Tom Hartley
 * Jimmy Jib - Arun Taylor
 * Boom Operator - Ramon Pyndiah
 * Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Clive Johnson
 * Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones
 * Associate Designer - James North
 * Senior Props Maker - Penny Howarth
 * Assistant Costume Designer - Rose Goodhart
 * Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi
 * Costume Assistant - Barbara Harrington
 * Make-Up Artist - Morag Smith
 * Assistant Editor - Carmen Roberts
 * Post Production Supervisors - Samantha Hall, Chris Blatchford
 * Post Production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown
 * 3D Artist - Mark Wallman
 * 2D Artist - Simon C Holden
 * On Line Editors - Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright
 * Colourist - Mick Vincent
 * Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts
 * Sound Editor - Paul McFadden
 * Sound FX Editor - Paul Jefferies
 * Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
 * Casting Director - Andy Pryor
 * Production Executive - Julie Scott
 * Production Accountant - Oliver Ager
 * Sound Recordist - Ray Parker
 * Costume Designer - Louise Page
 * Make Up Designer - Barbara Southcott
 * Music - Murray Gold
 * Visual Effects - The Mill
 * Visual Fx Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones
 * Visual Fx Supervisor - Dave Houghton
 * Editor - Ceres Doyle
 * Production Designer - Edward Thomas
 * Director of Photography - Rory Taylor
 * Production Manager - Jennie Fava
 * Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner

Story notes

 * This is the third filmed contribution by the new series production team to Children in Need. In 2005, they had offered the Children in Need Special (aka 'Pudsey Cutaway'). In 2006 they provided a live concert of music during the traditional Children in Need charity time period, and subsequently offered it to home viewers prior to the original broadcast of The Runaway Bride.
 * After it was cancelled, the original series was briefly revived in 1993 by the inaugural Doctor Who filmed entertainment made especially for Children in Need, entitled Dimensions in Time. In 1983, The Five Doctors was also broadcast as a part of, though not made especially for, the Children in Need charity drive.
 * This story marks the first appearance of a Doctor from the original series appearing in the new series, although recognisable drawings of original series Doctors can be seen in Human Nature along with archive footage of the previous Doctors being seen in both The Next Doctor and The Eleventh Hour.
 * This story is directed by Graeme Harper who also directed Peter Davison's last story (DW: The Caves of Androzani).
 * Steven Moffat (writer) also wrote the Comic Relief story, The Curse of Fatal Death.
 * The special was introduced by Terry Wogan and John Barrowman.
 * Peter Davison's name appears in the credits, the first time (discounting the 1996 TV movie) that an original series Doctor has had his name at the start of an episode.
 * The Fifth Doctor remembers how to save the TARDIS when he is the Tenth Doctor because, as the Fifth, he saw what the Tenth did. This is a reference to time going in a straight line, which makes sense, but was not discussed in DW: The Three Doctors or DW: The Five Doctors.
 * This is the first official episode of Doctor Who written by Steven Moffat that doesn't use his theme of highlighting childhood fears.
 * This episode marked the final use of the 2005 arrangement of the "Doctor Who theme" by Murray Gold; a new arrangement by Gold would be introduced in the next episode, DW: Voyage of the Damned.
 * According to writer (later executive producer-designate) Steven Moffat, in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine #389, the events of Time Crash are considered canonical.
 * This is the first televised "multi-doctor" story in the history of the show that did not include Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, who had appeared in DW: The Three Doctors, DW: The Five Doctors and DW: The Two Doctors
 * Incidental music from the Fifth Doctor era is used as part of the background music.
 * According to Doctor Who Confidential, the Fifth Doctor's costume consisted of an original series coat, shirt, trousers and hat band borrowed from an exhibit, and a new hat and hand-knitted jumper. The trousers had extra fabric sewn into the bottom, which identified them as the pair worn by Colin Baker in his first scenes as the Sixth Doctor. Peter Davison also remarked that a real stick of celery was included in the ensemble, rather than the fake piece used during most of his tenure.

Ratings
to be added

Filming Locations

 * Upper Boat Studios, Cardiff

Myths and rumours

 * When the Fifth Doctor asks if the Master "still has that rubbish beard," the Tenth replies, "No ... well, a wife." This was interpreted by some fans as being a gay culture reference; a "beard" is a slang term for a member of the opposite sex who joins a homosexual individual in a marriage or other relationship in order to mask the fact that one or both partners is gay. Moffat confirmed it as a gay joke in Death Ray Magazine in 2008, when he proudly claimed "I've got the record for gay jokes. I've got the gayest joke of all time in Doctor Who - I've got the "beard" joke about the Master". However, the presence of the joke does not necessarily indicate that the Master, himself, was gay.
 * If what the Tenth Doctor says is correct when describing The Fifth's placement, this story must take place sometime after DW: Arc of Infinity and before DW: Mawdryn Undead for the Fifth Doctor. But the Fifth Doctor gave no indication if the Tenth was wrong or right. However, Adric is not mentioned thus saying that perhaps the Tenth Doctor knows where his past self is and knows that the death is still on his mind.

Production errors

 * At the end of Time Crash, the Doctor pushes a button just as the Titanic is heard. In DW: The Last of the Time Lords however, the Doctor pushed the button then flicked a switch before the Titanic is heard.

Continuity

 * This is the first on screen TV appearance of the Fifth Doctor since DW: Dimensions in Time (and the first 'official' on screen appearance since DW: The Caves of Androzani).
 * This story takes place immediately after Martha leaves the TARDIS in DW: Last of the Time Lords
 * The Fifth Doctor previously met the first three Doctors (First Doctor, Second Doctor, Third Doctor) in DW: The Five Doctors.
 * The Fifth Doctor has also met the Sixth and Seventh Doctors in BFA: The Sirens of Time.
 * The Fifth Doctor has also encountered the Seventh Doctor in MA: Cold Fusion
 * The Fifth Doctor also encountered the Eighth Doctor in EDA: The Eight Doctors.
 * LINDA is mentioned, they last appeared in DW: Love & Monsters.
 * The Fifth Doctor encountered "Time Lords in funny hats" in DW: Arc of Infinity and DW: The Five Doctors.
 * The placement of this story for the Fifth Doctor is unclear. The Tenth Doctor makes references to the era (most of which the Fifth Doctor would recognise right from the beginning of his incarnation, however gives no mention of Adric, for obvious reasons), but the Fifth Doctor gives no indication as to which part of his era he might be from.
 * Fifth Doctor identified new series' TARDIS console room's as a desktop theme named "Coral". Also says it to be worse than "leopard skin". His criticism of the TARDIS' redecoration is similar to that made by the Second Doctor to the Third Doctor in DW: The Three Doctors. The revelation that the TARDIS console room design can be changed like a computer desktop clarifies the differing look of the TARDIS interior in DW: Doctor Who (1996), and minor changes seen over the years during the classic series. (The different appearance of the console room during the mid-Tom Baker era (DW: The Hand of Fear, et al) is explained on-screen as being a secondary control room.)
 * This is the first televised multi-Doctor story to account for the aging of the actor returning to play a previous Doctor, by explaining it as a byproduct of being taken out of his timeline.
 * The cloister bell was previously heard in DW: The Sound of Drums.
 * The Tenth Doctor exclaims "Snap!" when displaying his glasses to his younger self. While this is a common expression, it is interesting to note that it is the same word that the Sixth and Second Doctors used to greet each other when they met in DW: The Two Doctors.

DVD and other releases

 * Released in the Series 4 DVD boxset in November 2008 along with the rest of the Series.
 * Released in a vanilla edition alongside Voyage of the Damned on 10th March 2008. Extras include the Children in Need Special: Time Crash and Confidential Cutdown