What would Donna Noble’s life have been like if she hadn’t met The Doctor? The former temp might regret having her fortune told on the planet Shan She. As her world collapses, Donna finds help from a mysterious blonde woman – a traveller from a parallel universe. But are she and Rose too late to save the universe from the approaching darkness?
Rose’s last encounter with The Doctor was in Doomsday, but she has been glimpsed in the episodes Partners In Crime, The Poison Sky and Midnight, as well as being mentioned by The Doctor several times since her departure.
Donna’s dad is mentioned in this episode, it is implied that he has passed away. In real life Howard Attfield, who played Donna’s father in The Runaway Bride, passed away shortly after beginning filming for Partners In Crime, Bernard Cribbins was brought in as a replacement character, playing Wilfred Mott. Wilf’s first appearance in Voyage of the Damned is mentioned here, although at the time the character was not envisioned as being Donna’s grandfather.
The words ‘Bad Wolf‘ were a recurring theme in the first series, and were finally explained in Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, and has been mentioned several times since.
The tool The Doctor’s dead body is clutching when it is wheeled by on a stretcher is of course his trusty Sonic Screwdriver, first seen in Fury From The Deep.
The Doctor claims the beetle on the Donna’s back is part of the “Trickster’s Brigade”, the Trickster was a key character in the ‘Sarah Jane Adventures’ story Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?, which also dealt with the theme of time being changed. The idea of a creature being stuck on someone’s back, and also the fact it is not always plainly visible, is similar to the Metebelis arachnids in Planet of Spiders.
A circle of mirrors was seen in Kinda, it was used to expose the Mara.
As is routine for post-2005 Doctor Who, a “NEXT TIME” trailer for the next episode is shown at the end of the episode.
