Dreamland (Doctor Who)
| Dreamland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who animated serial | |||
| File:Dreamland(doctorwho).jpg | |||
| Cast | |||
Companion
| |||
Others
| |||
| Production | |||
| Directed by | Gary Russell | ||
| Written by | Phil Ford | ||
| Produced by | Ed Cross (Interactive Producer) Mat Fidell (Senior Producer) | ||
| Executive producer(s) | Anwen Aspden (Interactive) Sarah Muller (for CBBC) Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Piers Wenger | ||
| Running time | 1 episode x 12 minutes 5 episodes x 6 minutes 45 minutes total[2] | ||
| First broadcast | 21- 26 November 2009[1] 5 December 2009 (full story)[2] | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
.jpg){kind=link}
Dreamland is the second animated Doctor Who serial (based on the British science fiction television live action series) to air on television. It stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and aired in six parts (one 12 minute episode, followed by five 6 minute episodes) broadcast daily from 21 November 2009 on the BBC's Red Button service, the official Doctor Who website and the BBC iPlayer.[8][3] It was broadcast in its entirety on BBC Two and BBC HD[8] on 5 December 2009.[2]
A previous animated story, The Infinite Quest, aired in 2007.
Plot
13 June 1947: a spaceship, trying to escape from two others, is shot down and crashes on Earth near Roswell, New Mexico.
Eleven years later in Dry Springs, Nevada, The TARDIS materialises at a diner, and the Doctor meets Cassie Rice and Jimmy Stalkingwolf. He spots an alien artifact, which Cassie says is supposed to be from a "saucer crash" five years previously. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to investigate: the artifact glows and the diner's lights shatter. Jimmy thinks that this may be connected to a "space monster" that he thinks has been eating cattle. Detecting that the artifact has been activated, two Men in Black arrive. One enters the diner and demands the "ionic fusion bar", as he calls it, from Cassie, sparking a confrontation. The Doctor and the others escape, with the aid of the sonic screwdriver, and leave by truck to investigate Jimmy's "space monster".
The monster turns out to be a Viperox battle-drone, which wants to use them as target practice. The drone is destroyed by a rocket from a USAF helicopter which arrives on the scene. The soldiers from the helicopter announce that they have orders from a Colonel Stark to take them to Area 51 (aka Dreamland).
In Dreamland, Stark orders them locked in cell with a gas that will wipe their memories, as they have seen too much. The Doctor manages to break free and stop the gas and escapes with Cassie and Jimmy via a ventilation shaft. The alarm sounds and they run into Lab 51 where they find a captured Grey alien. After fleeing pursuing guards in a lift they are recaptured at the top of the lift shaft. Meanwhile , in Colonel Stark's office, Lord Azlock, a Viperox, tells the Colonel, "If you fail me, your world will pay the price!"
The lift has taken the Doctor, Cassie and Jimmy into a hanger which contains the spaceship that crashed at the beginning of episode one. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to open a door in the ship and they run into it in the confusion. The Doctor escapes by piloting the ship and smashing through the walls of the hanger. They are pursued by two fighter jets and the Doctor loses control and crashes the saucer near an abandoned mining town called Solitude. Colonel Stark orders the Doctor to be recaptured as he wants to know how he can fly the ship, while Lord Azlock deduces that he may be an alien.
Exploring an abandoned building in Solitude, Jimmy is pulled into a hole in the floor of a backroom by a Viperox. The Doctor and Cassie follow and find themselves in the old mines. Captured, Jimmy is questioned by Lord Azlock about the Doctor. Before he can answer the Doctor emerges from hiding and confronts Lord Azlock. Lord Azlock states that he is not interested in the Earth but is only seeking "an enemy of our kind". Before the Doctor can find out who he means, Cassie, who has freed Jimmy, effects an escape by starting a fire with an oil lamp.
Cassie, Jimmy and the Doctor then stumble across a large number of Viperox eggs, which the Viperox typically use to hatch an army. Looking up, they are confronted by the huge Viperox Queen, which is laying the eggs. Behind them, their Viperox pursuers are bearing down. The Doctor, Cassie and Jimmy escape through the mine tunnels in a mine railway cart. The Doctor loosens the screws in the tunnel supports with his sonic screwdriver causing the roof to cave in. When the cart finally exits the mine the three are greeted by Mr. Dread, Mr. Fear, Mr. Terror and Mr. Apprehension - the robotic "Alliance of Shades" agents that chased the Doctor, Cassie and Jimmy out of the diner.
The four robots are then destroyed with arrows penetrating their backs by way of a surprise attack from Jimmy's Native American Grandfather "Night Eagle", who turns out to be familiar with the alien happenings of the area. Night Eagle and his colleagues bring them to a cave where an alien by the name of Rivesh Mantilax is kept - the husband of the alien they met in the Dreamland base. He tells the story of how his people fought the Viperox and lost years before.
The Doctor promises he will try to get them home, just as Colonel Stark enters the cave and thanks the Doctor for leading the army to the alien, proclaiming the Doctor has helped him to save the world; to which the Doctor replies: "For the first time in 900 years, why does that feel like bad news".
Rivesh Mantilax reunites with his wife Seruba Velak in Area 51, accompanied by the Doctor, Stark, Jimmy and Cassie. The alien tech found in the diner turns out to be a genetic weapon designed by Rivesh Mantilax to destroy the Viperox. The device can only be used by Rivesh Mantilax's DNA, and he is also the only on that can change the code to attack other beings, hence why Lord Azlok wanted it. The Doctor and Stark run down to the room where Rivesh and Seruba are, but find that Seruba is cradeling Rivesh. She reveals that Azlok has mortally injured him and he is dying. However, Surbua says there was something the ship that could revive him, but Stark says that anything found in the ship was stored in the Area 51 vault.
The Doctor, Cassie, Jimmy, Seruba and Stark arrive at the vault, and the Doctor asks Jimmy and Cassie to find the TARDIS back at Dry Springs. Inside the Vault, the Doctor and Seruba go and look for the device they need. Meanwhile, in the Viperox lair Azlok gets the Viperox Queen to release her newly hatched brood, so that they will destroy the whole town. Back in the Vault, the Doctor comes across the Skorpius Flies, a carnivorous alien brain with alien flies hovering round the brain. Seruba tells the Doctor she has found the device that could revive Rivesh, but the Skorpius Flies chase after them until the Doctor finds a crate and hides inside.
At the Area 51 base Stark is informed that they are getting reports of Viperox attacks. He orders a row of Tanks to block the Viperox off. The Doctor and Seruba shuffle out of the vault inside the crate so the flies won't notice. Meanwhile, Cassie and Jimmy are driving along with the TARDIS on the back of Jimmy's pickup truck when the Viperox shove their way through the ground into their path. Jimmy manages to swerve and drives off while the Viperox chase after them. Helicopters fly over head and fire at flying Viperox. Stark is annoyed that they are losing, when Lord Azlok storms in and tries to get the truth of where the Doctor is.
The Doctor and Seruba have escaped the vault and drive a Jeep to the base, where they see that it's under heavy attack. The Doctor is worried until Jimmy and Cassie show up with the TARDIS. The TARDIS materialises in the room in Area 51 where Rivesh is dying. In the nick of time, Seruba revives Rivesh. The Doctor asks for the device to be activated and Rivesh relishes the thought of killing the Viperox. However, the Doctor warns him not to detonate it, or it will completely wipe the Viperox out.
He reinstates his beliefs and tells him that no-one should have the power to exterminate an entire species. Rivesh returns the favour of his revival and trusts the Doctor with the device. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on it and then he rushes into the TARDIS and grabs a cable. At that moment, Azlok holds Jimmy hostage at the entrance to the TARDIS, threatening to kill him if the Doctor detonates it. The Doctor says he isn't going to set it off and explains that one day the Viperox will become a peace-loving race. The Doctor connects a cable from the TARDIS console to the device and unleashes a deafening soundwave that affects all the Viperox in the area. A furious Azlok vows that the Doctor's time will come, before he and the rest of the Viperox retreat and flee from Earth.
After the attack, Stark thanks the Doctor and Seruba and Rivesh leave in their ship. The Doctor leaves the weapon with Stark in case the Viperox ever return, and Stark warns them to keep quiet about the events. The Doctor suggests that Cassie and Jimmy clear up the Viperox mess. As the TARDIS departs, Cassie and Jimmy hold hands.
Continuity
The Sarah Jane Adventures story Prisoner of the Judoon featured an alien who downloaded the designs for the Roswell UFO crash and rebuilt it for himself. The ship looked exactly like the ship seen in this story. The ship's power core in the SJA episode resembled the disguised "fusion power bar" in this story.[citation needed]
Production
The animation style used in this short is pose to pose as opposed to the first animated short, The Infinite Quest which was animated charicatures.
Cast notes
Georgia Moffett guest-starred as Jenny in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Daughter," and is the real-world daughter of Peter Davison who portrayed the Fifth Doctor from 1981-1984. She portrayed Tanya Webster in the audio drama Red Dawn with Davison reprising his role as the Fifth Doctor, and she narrated the Tenth Doctor audio-book Snowglobe 7.
Lisa Bowerman played the Cheetah Person Karra in the 1989 Doctor Who serial Survival (the last serial of the classic series to be broadcast). Since 1998, she has also played Bernice Summerfield in the ongoing Big Finish audio drama series and in occasional Doctor Who audio stories. Veteran actor David Warner has also appeared in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.
Reception
SFX magazine praised the show for its story but was slightly disappointed with the stiff animation: "In a year of Doctor Who specials this little gem deserves to be embraced as every bit as special as its live action counterparts. And that's saying something, considering the CG animation is, to put it politely, basic. But Dreamland is a perfect example of that old adage that a decent story is more important than flashy visuals."[9]
References
- ^ "Doctor Who: Dreamland Animation Blog". BBC. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ a b c Doctor Who Magazine issue 415
- ^ a b McEwan, Cameron K (25 May 2009). "Doctor Who: Animated Series On The Way". Den of Geek. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Into the Land of Dreams", Doctor Who Magazine #414 (Nov 2009)
- ^ "Jimmy Stalkingwolf". BBC Dreamland Animation Blog. 2009-10-30. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ "Night Eagle!". BBC Dreamland Animation Blog. 2009-10-10. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
- ^ "Press Office - Network TV Programme Information BBC Week 49 Saturday 5 December 2009". BBC. 2004-02-10. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ a b "Press Office - First look at new animated Doctor Who". BBC. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
- ^ Dave Golder (3 December 2009). "TV REVIEW Doctor Who "Dreamland"". SFX Magazine. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
External links
- Dreamland on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
- Dreamland at the BBC Doctor Who homepage