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Original Transmission
Plot Outline From Wikipedia The Doctor takes Martha to her first destination, Elizabethan England. There they travel to the Globe Theatre to watch the première of Love's Labour's Lost. As they leave at the end Martha muses as to why the sequel announced on the night, Love's Labours Won, has never been heard of in the future. The Doctor then decides to find out and tells Martha he'll extend her one trip slightly longer. The two then go to the Elephant, the pub in which William Shakespeare is staying. They begin to talk to Shakespeare as he is writing the final scene of Love Labour's Won, when an official—who sanctions play performances in London—demands to see the script before he allows the play to proceed. Without viewing the unfinished script the official leaves, proclaiming that the play will never be performed. A strange trio of women watch the scene in a cauldron and the youngest girl promises her "mothers" that she will take care of the situation. The girl—who works at the inn—secretly takes some of the official's hair and makes a voodoo doll which she then proceeds to plunge into a bucket of water, drowning the official.
The Doctor hears the cry of the official in the street and runs down, seeing him blowing out water from his mouth. The Doctor tells the people that the official died of an "imbalance of the humours", but is unable to explain his death. Martha and the Doctor stay overnight in the inn as the landlady is murdered by the girl who works there after she compels Shakespeare to write different lines for the end of the play. The Doctor runs in to find the body as Martha watches a witch fly away on a broom through the window. In the morning the Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare proceed to the Globe Theatre where the Doctor muses as to why the theatre has 14 sides. When he asks Shakespeare he tells him that the architect thought it would make sound carry well and then mentions that he eventually went mad talking of witches. The three then travel to the asylum where the architect is being held. There he partially cures the man's madness which allows him to tell the Doctor what sent him mad. The three witches observe this in their cauldron and as the architect tells the Doctor that he saw the witches in All Hallow's Street. At that moment one of the witches teleports to the asylum cell and kills the man with a touch. She then threatens the other three in the cell with their own deaths but the Doctor then begins to work out who the 'witches' really are. He names them as Carrionites who are plotting to use the words of a genius (Shakespeare), to allow their species out of eternal imprisonment to begin a new empire on Earth when Love's Labours Won is performed.
This naming causes the Carrionite to be teleported back to her room in All Hallow's Street. The trio then return to the Elephant to plan what to do. The Doctor tells Shakespeare to stop the play whilst he and Martha will head to All Hallow's Street to stop the witches from going ahead with their plan. Shakespeare manages to burst on to the Globe's stage to try and stop the play but two of the Carionites are already there and use one of their dolls to render him unconscious. The other two reach All Hallow's Street and wonder which house the Carrionites are in. As the Doctor wonders this out loud a door creaks open and he decides that it is probably that one. They run into the house and find the girl who works in the inn. Martha tries to knock her out by speaking her name but the Carrionite in human form tells them that naming only works once and then names Martha Jones who is knocked out. She then tries to do the same to the Doctor but when she named him as the doctor it has no effect. Her 'magic' is apparently unable to find his real name. She then tries to psyche him out by naming "Rose". He approaches her and she is able to cut a lock of his hair from which she then makes a doll and proceeds to stab it in the heart. Unknown by her the Doctor has two hearts and she, believing him dead, flies to the globe. Martha wakes and is able to rouse the Doctor. She restarts his left heart and they then head to the Globe.
They arrive but are too late as the actors have already spoken the last lines of the play and have opened the portal allowing the Carrionites back into the universe. The Doctor finds Shakespeare and tells him that he is the only one who can find the words which can close the portal again, as the Carrionites use words in the same way in which humans use science. He proceeds to improvise a short rhyming stanza but is stuck when looking for a final word to finish the lines. Martha comes up with "Expelliarmus" and the Carrionites are banished back to their realm. Martha, Shakespeare and the actors from the play are left to take the applause of the audience who believe it all to be special effects.
In the morning the three are sat on the Globe's stage as Shakespeare flirts with Martha by coming up with the sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", but is stopped short by the Doctor telling him that he needs to take Martha back to her homeland. Shakespeare guesses that the Doctor is not of the Earth and that Martha is from the future. Before he can reply properly, two of Shakespeare's actors then burst in shouting how she is here. When pressed further they tell him it is the queen, Queen Elizabeth I. As she enters she appears to recognize the Doctor and shouts for her guards to seize him, calling him her greatest enemy and then, "Off with his head!" The Doctor seems bemused and claims not to know what he has done, saying, when asked by Martha what he had done to annoy her so much, "I don't know - I haven't done it yet". The two of them escape to the TARDIS and close the door in time, as two arrows embed themselves into the door.
Analysis by Cuisle There was nothing too difficult about this story. It was set in 1599, around the Globe Theatre, an inn called The Elephant and William Shakespeare. Oh, and three witches. This was not a serious story. It was full of in jokes and puns, and some outrageous flirting. Bi-sexual flirting at that. I heard at university that a lot of Shakespeare’s love sonnets were addressed to a man. It was rather fun to find it might actually be The Doctor. Adult in-jokes like that, and a sophisticated style of dialogue made the fairly simple plot more engaging to the adult audience than it might be otherwise. The idea that The Globe Theatre might have been deliberately built as the focus for an alien entity is an intriguing one. The tetradecagon is a refreshing change from the usual ‘magic’ figures like circles and six pointed stars, etc. The element of mystery built up by the fact that, even The Doctor didn’t work it out immediately, held the viewing interest.
The relationship between The Doctor and Martha took some twists in this story. He twice mentioned about this being just the one short trip with her. And in the scene where they were lying on the bed close together his mention of Rose, as somebody who would have an answer where Martha had none, was almost cruel on his part. The Doctor is putting up emotional walls between him and Martha and Shakespeare was not far wrong when he suggested that The Doctor would never kiss her. Unless he starts to unbend in future episodes, this is not going to be the sort a rebound relationship. But that is consistent, at least. He can’t just walk from one love affair to another. The idea that the witches can be defeated – once at least – by speaking their name – was interesting. Especially when Lillith failed to find The Doctor’s name to use against him. It raises the possibility that he doesn’t even know his real name any more. After nearly 1,000 years of having his brain scrambled by various rays and probes and zappings, is it any wonder?
Plaudits must be given to some of the guest actors. Chris Larkin playing Linley, who died in such a spectacular way, drowning on dry land, did an excellent job. Seeing how it was done on Confidential took nothing away from the performance. Dean Lennox Kelly as Shakespeare was excellent. He and David Tennant made a perfect double act, bouncing of each other’s energy. Shakespeare as a bit of a 16th century Jack Harkness who would flirt with anything with a pulse might surprise some poeple, though not the 57 academics punching the air that The Doctor spoke of. As the Confidential explained, little is actually known about Shakespeare's personal life, so he is a fantastic blank page for scriptwriter and actor and that page was filled very well. A small but important role was that of Peter Streete was also excellently done. Playing a madman is not easy. He pulled it off well. His maddened eyes as The Doctor gently helped him to focus on what had sent him mad were very convincing.
Christine Cole as Lilith must also be mentioned. She played the innocent, beautiful face that hid absolute evil very well, and had to put up with a difficult scene involving being lifted on wires. But all of that should not be a surprise. Doctor Who has always had excellent guest actors, some well known faces, others not so well known. If there is one criticism, it’s that the central plot is a bit ‘done before’. The three witches trying to get the rest of their people through a portal into our world is similar to the Racnoss trying to release her children, or even the Gelth trying to get through the rift. It would be a pity if the scripts got predictable in that way. This was JUST different enough not to fall into the trap, but RTD needs to be careful. He ISN’T just writing for children with a 15 second memory. The MAJORITY of Doctor Who fans are adults who still remember episodes from the early 1970s. We can’t be short-changed that way. The problem seems to be that this story WAS aimed at the child audience principally, and that really isn’t good enough. Doctor Who is supposed to be a family show that appeals at all levels.
There are bound to be critics who will think of more things to complain about. That’s up to them. But really it can’t be much more than nit-picking. There was nothing to complain about, REALLY. But nit-picking Doctor Who has become a sport for some critics. And after all, it’s added something to the cultural capital of the British public. Now everyone knows the name of Shakespeare’s lost play and the name for a fourteen sided polygon. John Reith would be proud of them. And I’m saying nothing about the Harry Potter references. Except if JK has a problem with them, the Doctor Who team could mention portkeys that work suspiciously like time rings and cars and tents that are bigger on the inside and call it a draw.
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