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Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
"Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who
. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. The narrative continues from the final scenes of both "Last of the Time Lords
" and the mini-episode "Time Crash
", when a luxury space cruiser called the Titanic, a pastiche
of the historical ocean liner, breached the walls of the TARDIS
. The ship's captain, Hardaker (Geoffrey Palmer
), sabotages the ship shortly after the Titanic' s collision with the TARDIS. The Doctor
(David Tennant
) works with a waitress named Astrid Peth
(Kylie Minogue
) to prevent an imminent collision with Earth.
The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue
. Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue. On its original airdate, "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.31 million viewers, the highest viewing figure for Doctor Who since the 1979 serial City of Death
. It was the second most-watched programme of 2007, beaten only by the episode of EastEnders
which aired immediately after it. Critical opinion about the episode was divided; the writing and Minogue's performance were both praised and criticised.
finale "Last of the Time Lords
", when the TARDIS collided with the Titanic. To investigate further, the Doctor runs the TARDIS's self-repair programme, then boards the Titanic, where he discovers that this "ship" is not the the original Titanic from the past, but an interstellar cruiser from the planet Sto.
Modelled after the Earth ocean liner of the same name, the Titanic is orbiting present-day Earth to observe the traditions of "primitive cultures"—specifically, Christmas
. The Doctor decides to stow away, only telling waitress Astrid Peth
(Kylie Minogue
). The Doctor joins Astrid on a brief excursion to Earth, along with married couple Morvin and Foon Van Hoff (Clive Rowe
and Debbie Chazen
), an alien with a spiked red head—revealed in The End of Time
to be a Zocci—named Bannakaffalatta (Jimmy Vee
), and historian and guide Mr. Copper (Clive Swift
). The Doctor finds that the populace has fled London in fear of a third consecutive extraterrestrial attack, and only a few people remain in the city, most notably a newspaper seller called Wilfred Mott
(Bernard Cribbins
) and Her Majesty, the Queen.
Meanwhile, the ship's captain, Hardaker (Geoffrey Palmer
), dismisses the bridge officers. Citing regulations, Midshipman
Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey
) remains on the bridge. After the group returns from their excursion, Hardaker drops the vessel's protective shielding and magnetises the hull, drawing in meteors on a collision course; Frame attempts to reactivate the shields, but is shot by Hardaker. The meteors collide with the starship at three points along the starboard side. The collision kills most of the 2,000 passengers and staff on board (including Hardaker) and puts the vessel at risk of causing an extinction-level
collision with Earth, due to the nuclear storm drive powering the ship. The Doctor makes contact with the wounded Midshipman Frame, who stabilises and maintains power from the damaged engines.
En route to the bridge, the Doctor's party are repeatedly attacked by the Angel Hosts (voiced by Ewan Bailey), androids resembling angels who were programmed for supplying "tourist information", now programmed to kill survivors of the collision. Soon, Foon and Morvin fall to fiery deaths when they fall into the engines and Bannakaffalatta (a cyborg) uses all his energy in an EMP burst
to incapacitate the robots attacking their group. The Doctor breaks from the party and attempts to reach the control point for the Host, Deck 31. He is taken to the Angel Hosts' leader, former intergalactic cruiseline owner Max Capricorn (George Costigan
), who explains his evil plan to the Doctor. Bitter about being forced out of his own company, he plotted the Titanics inevitable collision with Earth to bankrupt the company. The Titanic would crash, killing all life on Earth, and subsequently the remaining owners of the company would be arrested on charges of mass murder of the human race. Capricorn, using the omni-state impact chamber on the ship, would then survive the supernova
-like explosion, escape and retire to a remote planet with his savings. To save the Doctor, Astrid rams Capricorn with a forklift, sacrificing herself by driving off a precipice into the ship's nuclear storm drive.
With the Angel Hosts' help (the Doctor had tricked Capricorn into making him his apprentice; thus, the Hosts now respond to him), the Doctor reaches the bridge, where he uses the heat from entry into the Earth's atmosphere to start the ship's secondary auxiliary engines, the primary nuclear storm drive having shut down, stabilising the ship and narrowly avoiding a collision with Buckingham Palace
. The Doctor realizes that Astrid was wearing a teleport bracelet to reach him on deck 31, which, on an emergency code, backed-up her molecular pattern; however, the damaged system can only partially regenerate her. The Doctor reluctantly allows her to dissipate into atoms, so she can fulfil her dream of exploring the universe, saying: "You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying.". The party then amicably part ways, vowing not to forget the Doctor's and Astrid's actions. The Doctor and Mr. Copper teleport to Earth and find the TARDIS landed, unharmed. An estatic Mr. Copper, in possession of a credit card
which he loaded with a million pounds using the system from the ship, is left by the Doctor to live on Earth, since the ensuing investigation is bound to reveal his fraudulent position.
's creative director, about her appearing in the show. Executive producer Julie Gardner
replied that Minogue could guest star if her schedule was free. Minogue officially registered her interest on 26 March 2007 and was subsequently given a one-off role as the Doctor's companion
. Minogue's appearance would allow the show to easily transfer the lead companion role from Martha Jones
(Freema Agyeman
) to "Penny"—the intended companion for the fourth series, eventually replaced by Catherine Tate
as Donna Noble
—and provide a "big name" star to appear in the Christmas special. Her casting was first reported in the News of the World
in April 2007. Davies initially dismissed the story, but Baker and Minogue contemporaneously confirmed she would star in the show. Her role was officially confirmed on 3 July 2007. Both Minogue and Doctor Who had acknowledged each other before: "The Idiot's Lantern
" mentions Minogue as a real person; and Baker, a fan of Doctor Who, included aspects of the classic series in Minogue's tours: the Raston Warriors (from The Five Doctors
) in the Fever
tour; and the Cybermen in the Showgirl
tour.
Clive Swift and Geoffrey Palmer have had previous roles in the classic series. Swift portrayed Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks
, while Palmer played Undersecretary Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians
, and an administrator in The Mutants
. Jessica Martin
had played Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
. In addition, Bernard Cribbins played Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., the second Doctor Who feature-film adaptation starring Peter Cushing
as well as Arnold Korns in the audio play Horror of Glam Rock
.
" image, similar to a "1950s [...] cinema usherette". Five costumes were made for different scenes and Minogue's stunt doubles, and each part of each costume was made separately to keep Minogue's role secret. After filming, Minogue told Page that the costume was "the most comfortable [she] had worn in years".
". The character of Astrid Peth
was written for Minogue; Davies later stated that Minogue was a "very exceptional case": he considered writing a role specifically for one actor "dangerous territory" because the desired actor may be unavailable or decline the part. In early drafts of the episode, Astrid did not die; Davies decided Astrid's death was necessary to allow Minogue focus on her musical career. Davies described the original nature of her death—falling over a precipice during a fight with Capricorn—as "fleeting". He intensified the scene by changing Max from mobile to cybernetic and Astrid's attack from an altercation to a fork-lift truck. Davies felt the revised scene was "such a beautiful image" and romanticised Astrid's "ultimate sacrifice".
Davies based the episode on the traditional disaster film
format. He was highly influenced by the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure: he considered "[turning] the spaceship upside down" before cutting the concept for monetary constraints; and the character of Foon Van Hoff (Debbie Chazen
) was heavily based on Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters
). He diverged from the trope in its climax; the format of Doctor Who dictated the requirement of an antagonist: Max Capricorn, whose plan was to sabotage the ship as part of an insurance scam. Davies based the portrayal of Kansas
in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
as an analogue for Sto. The plot also borrows heavily from the 1998 computer game Starship Titanic
, which was conceived by former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams
.
The episode includes several references to outside the show's fictional universe: the episode is dedicated to Verity Lambert
, Doctor Whos founding producer, who died on 22 November 2007, a day before the show's forty-fourth anniversary; and the malfunctioning Host stuttering over the name "Max" is a reference to 1980s virtual presenter Max Headroom
; Davies inserted references to other Doctor Who episodes in the script: he emphasised society's increasing awareness of aliens and the tradition of London's consecutive Christmas attacks in the script, describing the latter as "becoming a bit of an in-joke"; the Doctor's use of the catchphrase "allons-y Alonso" in the episode when he helps Frame stabilise the ship continues a running gag originating in "Army of Ghosts
"; and the Host continue the thematic motif of angels. Angels previously appeared in "Blink
", where the antagonists of the episode were Weeping Angels
, and in "The Sound of Drums
" and "Last of the Time Lords
", where the Master
's communication network was called the "Archangel
Network". Despite angels being the antagonist in two episodes that aired close to each other, which dismayed writer and executive producer Russell T Davies when he read Steven Moffat
's script for "Blink", the Host are functionally different as subordinate "robot butler
s".
and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay
. Tennant filmed his scenes in the area on 16 and 17 July. The last use of the Coal Exchange was on the 18th; scenes depicting the ship's collision with meteors were filmed on that day.
One week of filming was conducted primarily at an industrial complex in Pontypool
which provided the sets for Deck 31—Capricorn's refuge and command centre—and the various stairwells and corridors of the ship. Scenes on Deck 31 were filmed on 19 and 20 July. A double, Danielle de Costa, operated the fork-lift truck because Minogue didn't have the required license. Shooting was staggered as a result of Tennant's departure: 21 July focused on the supporting characters; and 23 July focused on Tennant. The aftermath of the meteor strike was filmed between 25 July and 27 July.
Filming returned to the Exchange in Swansea to film two more scenes: The denouément of the episode was filmed on 28 July; and the pre-credits sequence on 30 July. The most important day of filming was on 31 July 2007: an evening location shoot of the party's arrival in London. Before filming commenced, Minogue covered her death scene above a chroma key
mattress. The scene in London commenced filming at sunset in Cardiff city centre. For security concerns—specifically, protecting Minogue—the street was sealed off for the first time since the show's revival in 2005.
Filming finished in the first two weeks of August 2007: the closing scene was filmed in Cardiff Docks on 1 August; Hardaker's death was filmed at Upper Boat on 2 August; scenes in the ship's kitchen was filmed on 3 August; and scenes on the bridge were filmed on 6—8 August. The last day of filming was on 21 August 2007; cameo scenes by BBC reporters Jason Mohammad
and Nicholas Witchell
were filmed at BBC
's broadcasting houses in Llandaff
and London.
, arranger Ben Foster
, and singer Yamit Mamo make cameo appearances as part of the ship's band. Mamo, primarily a soul
singer, was approached by Gold after his friends saw her performing, and she unconditionally accepted his offer. She performed the songs "My Angel Put the Devil in Me" and "The Stowaway" on the third series soundtrack
. The latter was specifically composed for this episode and was recorded in September 2007 at AIR Studios in London
. The song features everyone who was present in the studios during recording as backing vocals. "The Stowaway" continues the tradition of a Christmas song from "The Christmas Invasion
" ("Song for Ten") and "The Runaway Bride
" ("Love Don't Roam"). The song was influenced by Irish folk music, and contrasts the upbeat "under deck" feeling with melancholy lyrics about unrequited love. The episode features a new version of the theme tune during its credits, comparable to Peter Howell
's version from the 1980s, which contains a new bass line, drums, and piano.
which aired after "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.9 million viewers. The viewing figure is the highest for the new series, exceeding the previous record set by "Rose
". The figure is also the highest for Doctor Who overall since 1979, specifically, the final episode of "City of Death
". The episode's Appreciation Index
rating was 86 ("excellent"), above the average score of 77 for drama programmes, and was the highest Index rating for any programme shown on terrestrial television
on Christmas Day. Although not filmed in HD the BBC aired it on BBC One HD
Wednesday 29 December 2010 having up-scaled the program to HD and also included Dolby Surround sound. This is the Second Doctor Who episode to have been up-scaled in the United Kingdom.
This special first aired in Canada on Space in April 2010.
The episode was criticised by Millvina Dean
, the last survivor of the 1912 Titanic sinking, who stated that it was "disrespectful to make entertainment of such a tragedy." The organisation Christian Voice
expressed offence at the religious imagery of a scene in which the Doctor is lifted through the ship by robot angels, believing the messianic
portrayal of the Doctor as "inappropriate"; however, in April 2008, vicars were encouraged to use the same scene to "illustrate themes of resurrection, redemption and evil" to young people.
Gareth McLean
, who reviewed a preview screening for The Guardian
s TV and radio weblog, appreciated the episode's use of "the disaster movie template" and came to a favourable overall conclusion: "For the most part, The Voyage of the Damned is absolutely smashing." Its main flaw, in his view, was the "blank and insipid" acting of Kylie Minogue. James Walton of The Daily Telegraph
gave the episode a positive review, summarising it as "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation". Alex Clark of The Observer
commented that the death toll was rather high, but he still thought the episode was "an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention". Harry Venning of The Stage
concluded his positive review of the episode by stating it "was well up to Doctor Whos impeccably high standards". Doctor Who Magazine
placed two of the deaths in the episode in its list of the top 100 deaths in the history of the show. Bannakaffalatta's death, a self-sacrifice to save the Doctor's party, was placed in the "top 20 tearjerkers" category. Astrid's death was given the title of "Doctor Whos all-time greatest death scene", commenting it "ticks boxes in all of our main categories [(gruesome, scary, self-sacrifice, tearjerking, surprising)]", and "her death would truly make a glass eye cry." Tim Teeman of The Times
gave the episode a negative review, stating that "It was boring, despite the endless dashing about and CGI
flimflam." The Daily Mirror commented the episode had "some brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd
-esque imagery", "great baddies", and "neat jokes", but lamented that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster."
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. The narrative continues from the final scenes of both "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" and the mini-episode "Time Crash
Time Crash
"Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need...
", when a luxury space cruiser called the Titanic, a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the historical ocean liner, breached the walls of the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
. The ship's captain, Hardaker (Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
), sabotages the ship shortly after the Titanic
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
(David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
) works with a waitress named Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth is a fictional character played by Kylie Minogue in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor who appears in the episode "Voyage of the Damned", which was first broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007...
(Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
) to prevent an imminent collision with Earth.
The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
. Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue. On its original airdate, "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.31 million viewers, the highest viewing figure for Doctor Who since the 1979 serial City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
. It was the second most-watched programme of 2007, beaten only by the episode of EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
which aired immediately after it. Critical opinion about the episode was divided; the writing and Minogue's performance were both praised and criticised.
Synopsis
The episode continues from the end of the third seriesDoctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
finale "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
", when the TARDIS collided with the Titanic. To investigate further, the Doctor runs the TARDIS's self-repair programme, then boards the Titanic, where he discovers that this "ship" is not the the original Titanic from the past, but an interstellar cruiser from the planet Sto.
Modelled after the Earth ocean liner of the same name, the Titanic is orbiting present-day Earth to observe the traditions of "primitive cultures"—specifically, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. The Doctor decides to stow away, only telling waitress Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth is a fictional character played by Kylie Minogue in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor who appears in the episode "Voyage of the Damned", which was first broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007...
(Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
). The Doctor joins Astrid on a brief excursion to Earth, along with married couple Morvin and Foon Van Hoff (Clive Rowe
Clive Rowe
Clive Rowe is a British actor, probably best known for his role as "Duke" in BBC Children's drama The Story of Tracy Beaker. Rowe grew up in Shaw, Lancashire, in the parish of East Crompton and attended St. James Primary School...
and Debbie Chazen
Debbie Chazen
Debbie Chazen is an English actress. She is most famous for playing the roles of Annie in the BBC comedy The Smoking Room, Big Claire in Mine All Mine and various roles in the BBC sketch show Tittybangbang....
), an alien with a spiked red head—revealed in The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
to be a Zocci—named Bannakaffalatta (Jimmy Vee
Jimmy Vee
Jimmy Vee is a British actor and stunt performer, who has played a number of Doctor Who monsters and aliens. He is a dwarf, standing 3' 8" tall.He has appeared in the following episodes of Doctor Who:...
), and historian and guide Mr. Copper (Clive Swift
Clive Swift
Clive Walter Swift is an English character comedy actor and songwriter. He is best known for his role as character Richard Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances. He is less known for his role as character Roy in the British television series The Old Guys...
). The Doctor finds that the populace has fled London in fear of a third consecutive extraterrestrial attack, and only a few people remain in the city, most notably a newspaper seller called Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
(Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
) and Her Majesty, the Queen.
Meanwhile, the ship's captain, Hardaker (Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
), dismisses the bridge officers. Citing regulations, Midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey
Russell Tovey
Russell George Tovey is an English actor with numerous television, film and stage credits. Tovey is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural drama Being Human which started in 2008...
) remains on the bridge. After the group returns from their excursion, Hardaker drops the vessel's protective shielding and magnetises the hull, drawing in meteors on a collision course; Frame attempts to reactivate the shields, but is shot by Hardaker. The meteors collide with the starship at three points along the starboard side. The collision kills most of the 2,000 passengers and staff on board (including Hardaker) and puts the vessel at risk of causing an extinction-level
Extinction event
An extinction event is a sharp decrease in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. They occur when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation...
collision with Earth, due to the nuclear storm drive powering the ship. The Doctor makes contact with the wounded Midshipman Frame, who stabilises and maintains power from the damaged engines.
En route to the bridge, the Doctor's party are repeatedly attacked by the Angel Hosts (voiced by Ewan Bailey), androids resembling angels who were programmed for supplying "tourist information", now programmed to kill survivors of the collision. Soon, Foon and Morvin fall to fiery deaths when they fall into the engines and Bannakaffalatta (a cyborg) uses all his energy in an EMP burst
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
to incapacitate the robots attacking their group. The Doctor breaks from the party and attempts to reach the control point for the Host, Deck 31. He is taken to the Angel Hosts' leader, former intergalactic cruiseline owner Max Capricorn (George Costigan
George Costigan
-Early life:Costigan was born in Portsmouth and grew up in Irlams o' th' Height and Weaste in Salford. He attended St. Augustine's C of E Primary School on Bolton Road in Pendlebury, then Wardley Grammar School on Mardale Avenue in Wardley near Swinton.-Career:...
), who explains his evil plan to the Doctor. Bitter about being forced out of his own company, he plotted the Titanics inevitable collision with Earth to bankrupt the company. The Titanic would crash, killing all life on Earth, and subsequently the remaining owners of the company would be arrested on charges of mass murder of the human race. Capricorn, using the omni-state impact chamber on the ship, would then survive the supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
-like explosion, escape and retire to a remote planet with his savings. To save the Doctor, Astrid rams Capricorn with a forklift, sacrificing herself by driving off a precipice into the ship's nuclear storm drive.
With the Angel Hosts' help (the Doctor had tricked Capricorn into making him his apprentice; thus, the Hosts now respond to him), the Doctor reaches the bridge, where he uses the heat from entry into the Earth's atmosphere to start the ship's secondary auxiliary engines, the primary nuclear storm drive having shut down, stabilising the ship and narrowly avoiding a collision with Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. The Doctor realizes that Astrid was wearing a teleport bracelet to reach him on deck 31, which, on an emergency code, backed-up her molecular pattern; however, the damaged system can only partially regenerate her. The Doctor reluctantly allows her to dissipate into atoms, so she can fulfil her dream of exploring the universe, saying: "You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying.". The party then amicably part ways, vowing not to forget the Doctor's and Astrid's actions. The Doctor and Mr. Copper teleport to Earth and find the TARDIS landed, unharmed. An estatic Mr. Copper, in possession of a credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
which he loaded with a million pounds using the system from the ship, is left by the Doctor to live on Earth, since the ensuing investigation is bound to reveal his fraudulent position.
Casting
During the third series press launch in March 2007, the production team was approached by Will Baker, Kylie MinogueKylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
's creative director, about her appearing in the show. Executive producer Julie Gardner
Julie Gardner
Julie Gardner is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who and its spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
replied that Minogue could guest star if her schedule was free. Minogue officially registered her interest on 26 March 2007 and was subsequently given a one-off role as the Doctor's companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
. Minogue's appearance would allow the show to easily transfer the lead companion role from Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
(Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
) to "Penny"—the intended companion for the fourth series, eventually replaced by Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
as Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
—and provide a "big name" star to appear in the Christmas special. Her casting was first reported in the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
in April 2007. Davies initially dismissed the story, but Baker and Minogue contemporaneously confirmed she would star in the show. Her role was officially confirmed on 3 July 2007. Both Minogue and Doctor Who had acknowledged each other before: "The Idiot's Lantern
The Idiot's Lantern
"The Idiot's Lantern" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 27 May 2006.-Plot:...
" mentions Minogue as a real person; and Baker, a fan of Doctor Who, included aspects of the classic series in Minogue's tours: the Raston Warriors (from The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
) in the Fever
Fever (Kylie Minogue album)
Fever is the eighth album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released 1 October 2001 by Parlophone Mushroom Records, and Capitol Records. Minogue began work on the album in 2001, working with famous songwriters and producers like Cathy Dennis, Rob Davis, and Tom Nichols, moving into a...
tour; and the Cybermen in the Showgirl
Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour
Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour is a concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Minogue was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during the tour, but she was forced to cancel the tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer...
tour.
Clive Swift and Geoffrey Palmer have had previous roles in the classic series. Swift portrayed Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks
Revelation of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 23 March and 30 March 1985...
, while Palmer played Undersecretary Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Doctor Who and the Silurians is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from January 31 to March 14, 1970. The story is the first appearance of a recurring family of Earth-dwelling reptiles...
, and an administrator in The Mutants
The Mutants
The Mutants is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1972....
. Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is an actor and comedian. She is probably best known for her work as an impressionist and voice artist on the television series Spitting Image, impersonating the voice of Her Majesty The Queen. She also appeared on Yorkshire Television's 3-2-1 in the 1980s with impressionist Aiden J...
had played Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 1989.-Plot:...
. In addition, Bernard Cribbins played Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., the second Doctor Who feature-film adaptation starring Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
as well as Arnold Korns in the audio play Horror of Glam Rock
Horror of Glam Rock
Horror of Glam Rock is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions and was broadcast on BBC 7 on 14 January 2007.-Plot:...
.
Minogue's costume
Minogue met designer Louise Page four times during pre-production to discuss her costume. Page rejected a long dress because it was atypical to Minogue; she instead elected for a "cigarette girlCigarette girl (person)
Cigarette girl refers to a person that sells or provides cigarettes from a tray held by a neck strap. They may also carry cigars, and many novelty items like lighted roses, lighted jewelry, and lighted yoyo's on their trays....
" image, similar to a "1950s [...] cinema usherette". Five costumes were made for different scenes and Minogue's stunt doubles, and each part of each costume was made separately to keep Minogue's role secret. After filming, Minogue told Page that the costume was "the most comfortable [she] had worn in years".
Writing
The episode was primarily written by Russell T Davies after Minogue was cast; Davies described his pitch to Minogue as "buskingBusking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
". The character of Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth is a fictional character played by Kylie Minogue in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor who appears in the episode "Voyage of the Damned", which was first broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007...
was written for Minogue; Davies later stated that Minogue was a "very exceptional case": he considered writing a role specifically for one actor "dangerous territory" because the desired actor may be unavailable or decline the part. In early drafts of the episode, Astrid did not die; Davies decided Astrid's death was necessary to allow Minogue focus on her musical career. Davies described the original nature of her death—falling over a precipice during a fight with Capricorn—as "fleeting". He intensified the scene by changing Max from mobile to cybernetic and Astrid's attack from an altercation to a fork-lift truck. Davies felt the revised scene was "such a beautiful image" and romanticised Astrid's "ultimate sacrifice".
Davies based the episode on the traditional disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
format. He was highly influenced by the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure: he considered "[turning] the spaceship upside down" before cutting the concept for monetary constraints; and the character of Foon Van Hoff (Debbie Chazen
Debbie Chazen
Debbie Chazen is an English actress. She is most famous for playing the roles of Annie in the BBC comedy The Smoking Room, Big Claire in Mine All Mine and various roles in the BBC sketch show Tittybangbang....
) was heavily based on Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
). He diverged from the trope in its climax; the format of Doctor Who dictated the requirement of an antagonist: Max Capricorn, whose plan was to sabotage the ship as part of an insurance scam. Davies based the portrayal of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
as an analogue for Sto. The plot also borrows heavily from the 1998 computer game Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic is a computer adventure game designed by Douglas Adams and made by The Digital Village. It was released in 1998. It takes place on a starship of the same name which has undergone "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" and crash landed on Earth on its maiden voyage .The player...
, which was conceived by former Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
.
The episode includes several references to outside the show's fictional universe: the episode is dedicated to Verity Lambert
Verity Lambert
Verity Ann Lambert, OBE was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture, and for her association with Thames Television...
, Doctor Whos founding producer, who died on 22 November 2007, a day before the show's forty-fourth anniversary; and the malfunctioning Host stuttering over the name "Max" is a reference to 1980s virtual presenter Max Headroom
Max Headroom (character)
Max Headroom is a fictional British artificial intelligence, known for his wit and stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled voice. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton in the mid nineteen eighties, and portrayed by Matt Frewer as "The World's first...
; Davies inserted references to other Doctor Who episodes in the script: he emphasised society's increasing awareness of aliens and the tradition of London's consecutive Christmas attacks in the script, describing the latter as "becoming a bit of an in-joke"; the Doctor's use of the catchphrase "allons-y Alonso" in the episode when he helps Frame stabilise the ship continues a running gag originating in "Army of Ghosts
Army of Ghosts
"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who which was first broadcast on 1 July 2006...
"; and the Host continue the thematic motif of angels. Angels previously appeared in "Blink
Blink (Doctor Who)
"Blink" is the 10th episode of the third series of the new production of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat; the episode is based on a previous short story written by...
", where the antagonists of the episode were Weeping Angels
Weeping Angels
The Weeping Angels are a fictional ancient race of aliens from the Doctor Who television series, featured in the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink", and the Eleventh Doctor episodes "The Time of Angels", "Flesh and Stone" and in a cameo appearance in Series 6's "The God Complex"...
, and in "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" and "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
", where the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
's communication network was called the "Archangel
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
Network". Despite angels being the antagonist in two episodes that aired close to each other, which dismayed writer and executive producer Russell T Davies when he read Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
's script for "Blink", the Host are functionally different as subordinate "robot butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
s".
Filming
Filming primarily took place between 9 July and 11 August 2007; the first scene filmed depicted the group being accosted by the Host while crossing over the engines. On 12 July, Tennant's mother, Helen McDonald, began to succumb to her cancer. Filming was rescheduled to allow Tennant to be present when she died and was buried; she died on 15 July and was buried on 21 July. During Tennant's absence, scenes in the Titanics reception area were filmed at the Exchange in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
. Tennant filmed his scenes in the area on 16 and 17 July. The last use of the Coal Exchange was on the 18th; scenes depicting the ship's collision with meteors were filmed on that day.
One week of filming was conducted primarily at an industrial complex in Pontypool
Pontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....
which provided the sets for Deck 31—Capricorn's refuge and command centre—and the various stairwells and corridors of the ship. Scenes on Deck 31 were filmed on 19 and 20 July. A double, Danielle de Costa, operated the fork-lift truck because Minogue didn't have the required license. Shooting was staggered as a result of Tennant's departure: 21 July focused on the supporting characters; and 23 July focused on Tennant. The aftermath of the meteor strike was filmed between 25 July and 27 July.
Filming returned to the Exchange in Swansea to film two more scenes: The denouément of the episode was filmed on 28 July; and the pre-credits sequence on 30 July. The most important day of filming was on 31 July 2007: an evening location shoot of the party's arrival in London. Before filming commenced, Minogue covered her death scene above a chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
mattress. The scene in London commenced filming at sunset in Cardiff city centre. For security concerns—specifically, protecting Minogue—the street was sealed off for the first time since the show's revival in 2005.
Filming finished in the first two weeks of August 2007: the closing scene was filmed in Cardiff Docks on 1 August; Hardaker's death was filmed at Upper Boat on 2 August; scenes in the ship's kitchen was filmed on 3 August; and scenes on the bridge were filmed on 6—8 August. The last day of filming was on 21 August 2007; cameo scenes by BBC reporters Jason Mohammad
Jason Mohammad
Jason Mohammad , is a British radio and television presenter.-Biography:Mohammad was born and raised in Cardiff, going to school at Glyn Derw High School...
and Nicholas Witchell
Nicholas Witchell
Nicholas Newton Henshall Witchell is an English journalist. He is the current diplomatic and royal correspondent for BBC News...
were filmed at BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's broadcasting houses in Llandaff
Broadcasting House (Cardiff)
Broadcasting House Cardiff is the purpose-built headquarters for BBC Cymru Wales' radio, television and online services, situated in north Cardiff...
and London.
Music
Composer Murray GoldMurray Gold
Murray Gold is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio.-Television:Gold has been nominated for a BAFTA four times in the category Best Original Television Music, for Vanity Fair , Queer as Folk , Casanova and Doctor Who...
, arranger Ben Foster
Ben Foster (orchestrator)
Ben Foster is a British composer, orchestrator and conductor who is best known for his work as an orchestrator on the BBC series Doctor Who.- Career :...
, and singer Yamit Mamo make cameo appearances as part of the ship's band. Mamo, primarily a soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer, was approached by Gold after his friends saw her performing, and she unconditionally accepted his offer. She performed the songs "My Angel Put the Devil in Me" and "The Stowaway" on the third series soundtrack
Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 3
Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 3 is a soundtrack album that was released on 5 November 2007, containing incidental music that was used throughout the third series of the BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who...
. The latter was specifically composed for this episode and was recorded in September 2007 at AIR Studios in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The song features everyone who was present in the studios during recording as backing vocals. "The Stowaway" continues the tradition of a Christmas song from "The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
" ("Song for Ten") and "The Runaway Bride
The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)
"The Runaway Bride" is a special episode of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor...
" ("Love Don't Roam"). The song was influenced by Irish folk music, and contrasts the upbeat "under deck" feeling with melancholy lyrics about unrequited love. The episode features a new version of the theme tune during its credits, comparable to Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Peter Howell is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop....
's version from the 1980s, which contains a new bass line, drums, and piano.
Broadcast
Overnight figures estimated that the episode's Christmas Day broadcast was watched by 12.2 million viewers. The final viewing figures were 13.31 million viewers with a peak of 13.8 million, the second highest audience for any programme during 2007: the episode of BBC soap EastEndersEastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
which aired after "Voyage of the Damned" was watched by 13.9 million viewers. The viewing figure is the highest for the new series, exceeding the previous record set by "Rose
Rose (Doctor Who)
"Rose" is the first episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Keith Boak, the episode was first broadcast on 26 March 2005....
". The figure is also the highest for Doctor Who overall since 1979, specifically, the final episode of "City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
". The episode's Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
rating was 86 ("excellent"), above the average score of 77 for drama programmes, and was the highest Index rating for any programme shown on terrestrial television
Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom is, traditionally, the method most people in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man used to receive television...
on Christmas Day. Although not filmed in HD the BBC aired it on BBC One HD
BBC HD
BBC HD is a high-definition television network provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
Wednesday 29 December 2010 having up-scaled the program to HD and also included Dolby Surround sound. This is the Second Doctor Who episode to have been up-scaled in the United Kingdom.
This special first aired in Canada on Space in April 2010.
Criticism and review
Millvina Dean
Elizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean was the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, which occurred on 15 April 1912. At 2 months and 13 days of age, she was also the youngest passenger on board the ship....
, the last survivor of the 1912 Titanic sinking, who stated that it was "disrespectful to make entertainment of such a tragedy." The organisation Christian Voice
Christian Voice (UK)
Christian Voice is a Christian pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of...
expressed offence at the religious imagery of a scene in which the Doctor is lifted through the ship by robot angels, believing the messianic
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
portrayal of the Doctor as "inappropriate"; however, in April 2008, vicars were encouraged to use the same scene to "illustrate themes of resurrection, redemption and evil" to young people.
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean is a Scottish journalist who writes for The Guardian newspaper and on Soap operas for the Radio Times magazine.McLean graduated with an MA in English from the University of Aberdeen, working at The Scotsman newspaper as a Feature Writer from 1997 until he began writing as a TV Critic...
, who reviewed a preview screening for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s TV and radio weblog, appreciated the episode's use of "the disaster movie template" and came to a favourable overall conclusion: "For the most part, The Voyage of the Damned is absolutely smashing." Its main flaw, in his view, was the "blank and insipid" acting of Kylie Minogue. James Walton of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
gave the episode a positive review, summarising it as "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation". Alex Clark of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
commented that the death toll was rather high, but he still thought the episode was "an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention". Harry Venning of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
concluded his positive review of the episode by stating it "was well up to Doctor Whos impeccably high standards". Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
placed two of the deaths in the episode in its list of the top 100 deaths in the history of the show. Bannakaffalatta's death, a self-sacrifice to save the Doctor's party, was placed in the "top 20 tearjerkers" category. Astrid's death was given the title of "Doctor Whos all-time greatest death scene", commenting it "ticks boxes in all of our main categories [(gruesome, scary, self-sacrifice, tearjerking, surprising)]", and "her death would truly make a glass eye cry." Tim Teeman of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
gave the episode a negative review, stating that "It was boring, despite the endless dashing about and CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
flimflam." The Daily Mirror commented the episode had "some brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
-esque imagery", "great baddies", and "neat jokes", but lamented that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster."