Doctor Who - The Television Stories

Doctor Who - The Stories

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Partners in Crime

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Synopsis

The Adipose Spawn

Donna is determined to find The Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose.

Source: BBC DVD

General Information

Season:

Thirty (New Series 4)

Production Code:

4-1

Story Number:

190 (New Series: 34)

Episode Number:

739 (New Series: 43)

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Production Dates:

October - December 2007

Broadcast Date:

05 April 2008

Colour Status:

Colour

Studio:

BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)

Location:

Waterloo Gardens, Odeon Cinema, Welsh Gas Board Building, Dominions Arcade and Millennium Stadium (Cardiff), Caridff Bay and Picture Finance (Newport).

Writer:

Russell T Davies

Director:

James Strong

Producer:

Phil Collinson

Executive Producers:

Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies

Script Editor:

Lindsey Alford

Editor:

Mike Jones

Production Executive:

Julie Scott

Production Manager:

Tracie Simpson

Production Designer:

Edward Thomas

Director of Photography:

Ernie Vincze BSC

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG

Costume Designer:

Louise Page

Make-Up Designer:

Barbara Southcott

Cameramen:

Julian Barber (Operator) and Rory Taylor (Operator)

Visual Effects:

The Mill

Special Effects:

Any Effects

Prosthetics:

Millennium FX

Stunt Co-ordinator:

Tom Lucy

Incidental Music:

Murray Gold

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Paul Jefferies

Sound Recordist:

Julian Howarth

Sound Supervisor:

Paul McFadden

Music Performed By:

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold

Story Dedicated To:

In Memory of Howard Attfield 1947 - 2007

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companions:

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) (Rejoins) and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) (Rejoins)

Number of Acquaintances:

The Acquaintance:

Bernard Cribbins (Wilfred Mott)

Guest Cast:

Jacqueline King (Sylvia Noble), Sarah Lancashire (Miss Foster)

Additional Cast:

Verona Joseph (Penny Carter), Jessica Gunning (Stacey Harris), Martin Ball (Roger Davey), Rachid Sabitri (Craig Staniland), Chandra Ruegg (Clare Pope), Sue Kelvin (Suzette Chambers), Jonathan Stratt (Taxi driver)

Setting:

London (2009)

Villain:

Miss Foster

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
739	Partners in Crime	05 April 2008	48'29"	9.1	Yes

Total Duration

48 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

9.1

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2008)	72.17% (Position = 9 out of 11)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	70.72% (Position = 98 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	71.96% (Position = 106 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 14 out of 36

Archives

This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.

Notes

Like previous stories that have started the season proper "Partners in Crime" does not include a pre-introductory credit sequence.

"Partners in Crime" is the first story of Season Thirty (New Series 4). It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008 at 6:20 pm - the earliest time since the show's revival in 2005.

This story reintroduces comedian Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride".

This story also features the return of three other principle characters: Jacqueline King reprises her role as Sylvia Noble from "The Runaway Bride". Bernard Cribbins reprises his role as Wilfred Mott from "Voyage of the Damned". Bernard Cribbins was recalled to replace the character of Geoff Noble, who appeared as Donna's father in "The Runaway Bride", after actor Howard Attfield died. Howard Attfield had filmed several scenes for this story, but not any of the scenes for the remainder of the season. The producers decided to ‘retire’ his character out of respect. Geoff Noble’s traits were therefore transferred to the originally unrelated character Wilfred Mott and who was made to become Donna's grandfather. Howard Attfield's scenes therefore had to be re-shot with Bernard Cribbins. This story includes a dedication to Howard Attfield in the closing credits.

The big surprise for this story was a brief scene of a former companion. Played by Billie Piper she briefly reprises her role as Rose Tyler for the first time since the Season Twenty Eight finale "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", in a scene that was not included in the preview showings and press launch. This scene contains Rose's departure theme.

Guest star Sarah Lancashire is perhaps best known by UK audiences for playing Raquel in over 170 episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She also appeared alongside Christopher Eccleston and Season Twenty Nine (New Series 3) supervillain John Simm in the BBC drama Clocking Off.

This story has no clear antagonist – as the Adipose are in a different style to the regular "big and scary" monsters. They were created using the software Massive, commonly used for crowd sequences in fantasy and science fiction films including The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Miss Foster's Sonic Pen is the latest in a long line of sound-based devices to feature in Doctor Who. Others include Sarah Jane Smith's Sonic Lipstick, Captain Jack Harkness' Sonic Blaster and, of course, The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver. The Doctor also used a sonic lance in 1985's "Attack of the Cybermen", while the Ice Warriors used Sonic Canons.

The name 'Adipose' comes from the name for the energy-storing fatty tissue found inside humans and animals.

Exterior shots of Adipose Industries were filmed at the Welsh Gas Board Building in Cardiff's city centre. For health and safety reasons, David Tennant was prohibited from performing his own stunts in the window cleaning platform.

The scene where Donna and The Doctor investigate Adipose took thirty shots to complete and was filmed in a loan company's call centre in Cardiff's outskirts on an early Sunday morning, with the company's telephonists serving as extras.

The end of this story contains a trailer for the next story "The Fires of Pompeii".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the first chapter of the fourth series of Doctor Who Confidential, "A Noble Return" presented by Anthony Head.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first true story of Season Thirty (New Series 4).

Catherine Tate's first full story as official companion, Donna Noble.

The official introduction of regular supporting character Wilfred Mott, as Donna Noble's grandfather, (played by Bernard Cribbins)

The official introduction of regular supporting character Sylvia Noble (played by Jacqueline King).

Billie Piper's first appearance in the show, as companion Rose Tyler, since she left at the end of Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.

First reference to "ATMOS".

Story Images

Show Text

Donna Noble

An Adipose

Donna Locates The Doctor

The Doctor

Weight Loss - The Adipose Way

Partners in Crime

Miss Foster

The Adipose Spawn

The Mothership

Rose Tyler

Inside the TARDIS

Waving Goodbye

Quote of the Story

'He's still out there, somewhere. And I'll find him Gramps. Even if I have to wait a hundred years; I'll find him.'

Donna Noble

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	Partners in Crime - The Fires of Pompeii - Planet of the Ood	June 2008	BBCDVD 2605	Photo-montage
DVD	The Complete Fourth Series	November 2008	BBCDVD 2609	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
CD	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 4	October 2008	SILCD1275	Photo-montage	Music by Murray Gold
DVD	Series 1 - 4 Box Set	October 2009	BBCDVD 3058		Boxed set containing all 43 stories on 23 Discs
Blu-Ray	The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)	December 2013	BBCBD 0242	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
DVD	The Complete Fourth Series (2014 Re-release)	August 2014	BBCDVD 3968	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 11 stories
DVD	The Complete David Tennant Years Box Set	November 2014	BBCDVD 4000	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all 37 stories on 26 Discs
Blu-Ray	The Complete Fourth Series Box Set	August 2015	BBCBD 0264	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 11 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Fourth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	August 2019	BBCBD 0467	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 11 stories
Blu-Ray	Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection	November 2023	BBCBD 0582	Photo-montage	Boxed set containing all Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories upscaled to high definition

In Print

No Book Release

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview	Issue 394 (Released: April 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - Review	Issue 395 (Released: May 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 470 (Released: March 2014)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 596 (Released: November 2023)
Doctor Who DVD Files	Volume 22 (Released: November 2009)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions/Acquaintance

The Tenth Doctor

Rose Tyler

Donna Noble

Wilfred Mott

On Release

DVD Cover

VIDEO

Complete Series DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Cover

AUDIO

Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)

Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

VIDEO

Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

VIDEO

Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

VIDEO

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 394

Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 395

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 470

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 596

Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 22

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Tenth Doctor

Season 30 (New Series 4)

References

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