Partners in Crime
- Episode aired Apr 25, 2008
- TV-PG
- 48m
With a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is ... Read allWith a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is investigating as well.With a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is investigating as well.
- Miss Foster Guard
- (uncredited)
- 1st Foster Guard
- (uncredited)
- Passerby
- (uncredited)
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Russell T. Davies(showrunner)
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHoward Attfield did film some scenes as Donna's father, Geoff Noble, but became too unwell to continue and died during filming. This episode was dedicated to him. Bernard Cribbins, who had starred in the previous episode Voyage of the Damned (2007), as a newspaper salesman named Wilfred Mott, was brought back to re-film Attfield's scenes, now establishing Wilfred as Donna's grandfather. The video release shows Attfield's scenes in a special feature.
- GoofsThe security guards shoot away the lock on the door, which they then kick down with no real effort. But the door would still be held in place by the hinges - they don't kick it with enough force to rip the hinges out, and even if they had, we can see that there's no damage on the hinge side of the door anyway to demonstrate their forcible removal.
- Quotes
[mouthing words silently and exaggeratedly]
The Doctor: Donna?
Donna Noble: Doc-tor!
The Doctor: Wh - what - w - what?
Donna Noble: Oh! My! *God*!
The Doctor: How?
Donna Noble: [pointing at her face with both hands] It's me!
The Doctor: [nodding, gesturing to eyes, then Donna] Yeah, I can see that.
Donna Noble: [pointing to where she's standing, then two thumbs up] Oh, this... is... *brilliant*!
The Doctor: [pointing thrice at Donna] W - wha - what the hell are *you* *doing* *there*?
Donna Noble: [pointing to eyes, then at The Doctor] I... was looking... for... you!
The Doctor: [points at self questioningly] What for?
Donna Noble: [miming reading the paper] Read it...
Donna Noble: [typing fingers in the air] ... on the Internet...
Donna Noble: [wiggling fingers around mouth] ... so weird...
Donna Noble: [walking fingers] ... crept along...
Donna Noble: [thumb into room, hand-as-mouth] ... heard them talking...
Donna Noble: [ducks down, comes back up, points] ... looked, ah! *You*!
The Doctor: [imperceptibly nods]
Donna Noble: [thumbs back at Miss Foster, looks, freezes] Th...
[Miss Foster has stopped talking and is staring at Donna. Miss Foster turns and looks right at The Doctor. The Doctor turns to see Miss Foster]
Miss Foster: [aloud] Are we interrupting you?
- ConnectionsEdited into Doctor Who: Turn Left (2008)
- SoundtracksTwenty Four Hours from Tulsa
(uncredited)
Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David
Performed by Dusty Springfield
Unable to return to civilian life following her adventure with The Doctor (David Tennant), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is investigating mysterious anomalies, hoping that it will provide a route back to her friend. She begins investigating Adipose Industries, a company offering weight loss pills but with a much more sinister motive. Fortunately for her, The Doctor is also interested in the inner workings of the company and it's not long before they return to a familiar routine.
Though I'm not always wild about the way that Catherine Tate plays her, I do like the dynamic of Donna with this Doctor. It shouldn't always be an unrequited love affair and having done that twice, it was time for a change. Her extended family are welcome additions too with Jacqueline King playing her mother and the great Bernard Cribbins stepping back in to replace an unfortunately ailing Howard Attfield and repurposing the character we'd seen in the Christmas special. This episode also has a small role for Jessica Gunning and casts Sarah Lancashire as the villain, riffing on the slightly dominatrixy super nanny vibe.
Whilst I want my episodes of "Doctor Who" to be funny, I felt like this one crossed the line a little too often and too far for my taste. The "a mate/to mate" line didn't really work, neither did the Wily-E-Coyote moment at the episode's resolution. The CGI on the Adipose wasn't up to scratch, nor in the window washing platform sequence and the bit of business with the twisting of the capsules didn't make much logical sense to the plot. I liked the early seeding of the season plot though, that was something that Davies' era always got right.
It's not awful, but it's a relatively unremarkable start to season four.
- southdavid
- Aug 25, 2021
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- Runtime48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1