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Boom

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Synopsis

Don't Move!

Caught in the middle of a devastating war on Kastarion 3, The Doctor is trapped when he steps on a landmine.

Can he save himself and Ruby, plus the entire planet... without moving?

Source: BBC Website

General Information

Season:

Forty One (New Series 14)

Production Code:

14-3

Story Number:

307 (New Series: 151)

Episode Number:

878 (New Series: 182)

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Production Dates:

March 2023

Broadcast Date:

18 May 2024

Colour Status:

HD Colour

Studio:

Wolf Studios (Cardiff, Wales)

Location:

Writer:

Steven Moffat

Director:

Julie Anne Robinson

Producer:

Vicki Delow

Executive Producers:

Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Julie Anne Robinson, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat

Production Executive for BBC Studios:

John Hamer

Executive Producer for the BBC:

Rebecca Ferguson

Commissioning Editor for the BBC:

Lindsay Salt

Co-Producer:

Ellen Marsh

Assistant Directors:

Dan Mumford (1st), Lauren Pate (2nd), Jennifer Day (3rd) and Charlie Campbell (Crowd 2nd)

Script Supervisor:

Nicki Coles

Script Editors:

Scott Handcock and Rosheed Bello (Assistant)

Editors:

Tom Hodges BFE, Emily Lawrence (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant) and Matt Nathan (VFX)

Colourist:

Gareth Spensley

Production Executive:

Steffan Morris

Junior Production Executive:

Charlotte Cox

Production Manager:

Delmi Thomas

Post Production Producer:

Ceres Doyle

Post Production Supervisor:

Liv Duffin

Location Manager:

Baljinder Sidhu

Supervising Location Manager:

Iwan Roberts

Studio Manager:

Richard Balshaw

Unit Manager:

Kyle Yates

Production Designer:

Phil Sims

Director of Production:

Emily Russell

Director of Photography:

Tobias Datum

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG/CSA

Online Editor:

Christine Kelly

Line Producer:

Mark Devlin

Costume Designer:

Pam Downe

Hair & Make-Up Designer:

Claire Williams

Cameramen:

James Chesterton ACO (Operator), Andrea Jovanovska (Trainee) and Chai Lee Tan (Trainee)

Construction:

4Wood TV & Film

Virtual Production:

Pixomondo

Visual Effects:

Goodbye Kansas

VFX Producer:

Will Cohen

VFX Supervisors:

Dave Houghton and Jim Parsons

Additional VFX:

BBC Wales Graphics

Special Effects:

Real SFX

Stunt Co-ordinators:

Andy Godbold and Derek Lea

Stunt Performers:

Ayesha Hussain, Gary Grundy, Jessica Barfoot, Lucy Fowl, Luke Gomes and Paul Joseph

Choreographer:

Jack Murphy

Incidental Music:

Murray Gold

Sound Recordist:

Alex Thompson

Re-recording Mixer:

Paul McFadden

Music Performed By:

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Music Conducted By:

Alastair King

Music Supervisors:

Ollie White and Marnie Davidge (Assistant)

Title Sequence:

Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation

Title Music:

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

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Ncuti Gatwa (The Fifteenth Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companion:

Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday)

Additional Cast:

Joe Anderson (John Francis Vater), Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy (Carson), Caoilinn Springall (Splice Alison Vater), Varada Sethu (Mundy Flynn), Bhav Joshi (Canterbury James Olliphant), Susan Twist (Ambulance)

Setting:

Planet Kastarion 3 (5th October 5087)

Villain:

Villengard

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
878	Boom	18 May 2024	44'44"	3.6	Yes

Total Duration

45 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

3.6

Archives

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

Notes

"Boom" was written by Steven Moffat, who had previously been Head Writer and Executive Producer for Doctor Who from 2010 to 2017. This story was directed by Julie Anne Robinson.

This story revolves around the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his travelling companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), arriving on an alien planet in the midst of a large-scale war. When The Doctor accidentally steps on a landmine, he is forced to come up with a solution to disarm the device before it detonates - without moving.

It has been seven years since Steven Moffat last delivered a Doctor Who script, his last being "Twice Upon a Time". He was invited to return to the show by the incumbent showrunner, Russell T Davies, after his own return to Doctor Who.

This story is Steven Moffat’s 50th episode and 40th story for the show so making him one of the show’s most prolific writers.

Steven Moffat has been described as one of the show’s great masters and has written some of the most popular stories. So the expectation for this story was high and promised to be one of the true highlights of Season Forty One (New Series 14).

Historically, his one-word story titles have been some of the cleverest and most cerebral in the show’s history (these include "Blink" and "Listen").

As well as previously running the show Steven Moffat has previously written stories for Russell T Davies during his first time as showrunner. However, Steven Moffat's return marked this story as the first that a previous showrunner for Doctor Who has returned to write a story for a successive showrunner. This story is also the first story in which Russell T Davies is not credited as a writer for the show since his return with "The Star Beast".

It has been revealed that Steven Moffat was inspired to write this story from a scene in the first episode of the 1975 Dalek story "Genesis of the Daleks" in which the Fourth Doctor steps on a landmine while traversing a battlefield on the planet Skaro.

When conceptualising this story, Steven Moffat felt that The Doctor managed to escape from the predicament in "Genesis of the Daleks" a little too easily and wanted to expand on this concept to span a whole story. He also hoped to create a suspenseful story, feeling that it was one genre the show had not previously explored.

Steven Moffat has stated that he began writing a rough version of this story in late 2021 before officially telling the production office he had accepted Russell T Davies’ offer. He also revealed that after writing the first 12-14 pages of the script, he believed the story didn't start in the proper place and so decided to start afresh.

This story features a previously unannounced appearance by Varada Sethu, who portrayed the part of Mundy Flynn. Varada Sethu had previously been announced as a future travelling companion for the next season. Varada Sethu later revealed that she was not cast for Season Forty Two (New Series 15)) until well after this story had completed filming. Russell T Davies confirmed that Varada Sethu's companion character would not be Mundy Flynn but he has suggested that there would be an eventual connection between the two characters. Steven Moffat compared the appearance to that of Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald, a former companion of the Twelfth Doctor who was announced as a companion and who appeared as a slightly different, although connected character, a year earlier than expected.

Susan Twist portrayed the face on the screen of the Ambulances depicted in this story. Susan Twist has also made appearances in other stories in this season as seemingly disparate characters (as a tea lady in the previous story "The Devil's Chord" and as a hiker in the following story "73 Yards"). Susan Twist was also cast as Mrs Merridew in last season’s Fourteenth Doctor story "Wild Blue Yonder". The remainder of the cast for this story was made up by: Joe Anderson, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, Caoilinn Springall, and Bhav Joshi.

This story is considered to be a bottle episode as it was filmed entirely on two sets built at Wolf Studios in Wales and featured a limited cast.

The read-through for the story took place on the 1st March 2023. Steven Moffat assumed the role of Executive Producer and led meetings that determined the tone of the story before filming began.

This story was filmed in the third production block along with "Space Babies". Director Julie Anne Robinson chose to film this story scene-by-scene rather than out of order as typically done. She also chose to film longer takes than what is usually done - some of which lasted up to seven minutes.

The production team needed a crater with which they could film for up to 20 days. They considered filming on-location and scouted many quarries including Parys Mountain in Wales. Production Designer Phil Sims ultimately decided to build the set on a soundstage at Wolf Studios to avoid the possibility of inclement weather.

The encampment set was constructed on the backlot at Wolf Studios and utilised shipping containers and the external wall of the actual studio as a backdrop. The remainder of the fictional alien planet was made using computer-generated imagery that was viewed on a large LED display.

The Doctor confirms that ‘The Doctor’ is not his real name and that he is not even a real doctor.

The Doctor confirms having been a father, something his tenth incarnation told Rose Tyler in "Fear Her" and Donna Noble in "The Doctor's Daughter".

The Fifteenth Doctor does not seem to wear a regular outfit like his predecessors. The only constant so far in The Doctor's attire are the rings on his fingers.

The Doctor mentions that fish fingers and custard is his favourite dish. This dish was first mentioned as The Doctor’s favourite, as revealed by the Eleventh Doctor in "The Eleventh Hour" and again in "Let's Kill Hitler".

Snow is again seen falling around Ruby when she is in peril. This has happened to her several times (see "Space Babies" and "The Devil's Chord") with The Doctor once more noting the significance of this when she was left, as a baby, outside the church in "The Church on Ruby Road".

In this story The Doctor encounters Anglican Marines who are members of The Church. He reveals that he will be ‘popping in’ on them occasionally. The Eleventh Doctor had many encounters with their members, such as during the events in "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone", "A Good Man Goes to War" and "The Time of The Doctor".

This story expanded on the concept of a fictional company called Villengard that manufactures weapons, which was first mentioned in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" that was also written by Steven Moffat.

The Doctor has been to Villengard before. This occurred, when he was known as the War Doctor, in the comic "The Whole Thing's Bananas". The Ninth Doctor also mentioned Villengard to Captain Jack Harkness in "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances". The Twelfth Doctor later found the planet in ruins in "Twice Upon a Time".

The Doctor mentions that he once attempted to disarm an inactive Villengard smartmine for a bet. He failed to disarm the mine so losing the bet.

The Doctor is heard singing The Skye Boat Song. The Second Doctor can be heard playing this song on his recorder in "The Web of Fear". The Master also is heard singing this song in "The Power of The Doctor". This song dates back to an adaptation of the Gaelic song from 1782.

The poem about the President's wife does not exist in real life - it references a quote from Missy in "The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar" where she tells Clara Oswald that she cared about him ‘since the night he stole the moon and the President's wife’. The Twelfth Doctor also recounted ‘stealing and losing the moon’ during "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent".

The Doctor breaks the fourth wall again when he is seen saying direct to the camera (and so the viewer): ‘we all melt away in the end’. The Doctor has broken the fourth wall before. This first occurred during the seventh episode of the 1965/66 First Doctor story "The Daleks' Master Plan" called "The Feast of Steven" and several times after.

This story had an overnight viewing figure of 2.04 million during its broadcast on BBC One. Despite being the highest-viewed programme on BBC One for the day this story was down almost 200 thousand viewers from the previous story, "The Devil's Chord".

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first story in which Russell T Davies is not credited as a writer for the show since his return in the previous season.

The first time that a previous showrunner has returned to write a story for a successive showrunner.

Story Images

Show Text

Splice

John Francis Vater

Carson

Activating a Mine

The Doctor

Ruby Sunday

John Francis Vater's Hologram

Mundy Flynn

Ambulance

Ruby is Shot

Canto

Saying Goodbye

Quote of the Story

'We all melt away in the end. But something stays. Maybe the best part. A sad old man once told me, 'What survives of us, is love'.'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	The Complete Fourteenth Series Box Set	August 2024	BBCDVD 4588	Photo-montage	DVD boxed set containing 7 stories from New Series 14 along with the 2023 Christmas Special "The Church on Ruby Road"
Blu-Ray	The Complete Fourteenth Series Box Set	August 2024	BBCBD 0601	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 7 stories from New Series 14 along with the 2023 Christmas Special "The Church on Ruby Road"
Blu-Ray	The Complete Fourteenth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	August 2024	BBCBD 0602	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 7 stories from New Series 14 along with the 2023 Christmas Special "The Church on Ruby Road"

In Print

No Book Release

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview

Issue 603 (Released: May 2024)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companion

The Fifteenth Doctor

Ruby Sunday

On Release

DVD Cover

VIDEO

Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

Blu-Ray Steelbook Cover

VIDEO

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 603

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Fifteenth Doctor

Season 41 (New Series 14)

References

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