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Turn Left (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
"Turn Left" is the eleventh episode of the fourth series of British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One
on 21 June 2008.
David Tennant
only makes a small contribution to this "Doctor-lite" episode as the Tenth Doctor
. The story instead focuses on the Doctor's companion, Donna Noble
(Catherine Tate
) and her encounters with the Doctor's previous companion Rose Tyler
(Billie Piper
). The episode's narrative focuses on an alternate history where the Doctor dies during the events of the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride
". The episode depicts a dystopia
caused by the Doctor's death, leaving Rose to convince Donna to save the world. The end of the episode takes place in the show's normal continuity, and features a cliffhanger that leads directly into the series finale "The Stolen Earth
".
Davies' writing and Tate's performance were acclaimed, and the episode was praised for its depiction of dystopia in a scene, characterised by the internment of a foreign citizen. The episode was the fourth most-watched programme in the week it was broadcast, with 8.1 million viewers, and the Appreciation Index of the episode was 88%, considered Excellent. The episode was one of two Doctor Who stories in that season to be nominated for a Hugo Award
in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category.
and his companion
Donna Noble
strolling through a market place on the "Chino
-planet of Shan Shen". Donna is persuaded by a fortune teller (Chipo Chung
) to examine her past: specifically, the first event that led to her encounter with the Doctor. Donna recalls an argument with her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
) at a road junction: Donna wishes to turn left to become a temporary employee
at the security firm H. C. Clements; her mother wishes for her to turn right to apply for a secretarial job at a local photocopying business. The fortune teller gives her another chance and persuades her to turn right; as she does, a large beetle attaches itself to her back.
The narrative focuses on an alternate history to the events of several previous episodes, in which Donna never met the Doctor, resulting in his death in a confrontation with the Racnoss ("The Runaway Bride
"); subsequently, in the Doctor's absence, Sarah Jane Smith
and would-be companion Martha Jones are killed during the Judoon detainment of the Royal Hope Hospital on the Moon ("Smith and Jones
"); millions of people, including the Queen, are vaporised when London is destroyed in a nuclear explosion caused by the crash of the space cruiser, Titanic ("Voyage of the Damned
") leading to martial law and the displacement of people from London and the South East; 60 million people die in the United States as an alternative location for breeding the Adipose ("Partners in Crime
"); and the Torchwood Three team are presumed killed while preventing a Sontaran invasion ("The Poison Sky
"). Throughout the episode, several characters, most notably Rose Tyler
, take an interest in the invisible beetle on Donna's back.
Rose tells Donna of their comparable roles in the Doctor's life and explains that Donna is instrumental in saving the universe. When Donna's grandfather Wilfred Mott
(Bernard Cribbins
) sees the stars go out, Donna acquiesces to Rose's request: she must travel back in time and ensure her past self turns left at the junction. With the help of a UNIT
detachment who have been analysing the crippled TARDIS, Donna is shown the creature on her back and told how to intervene once in the past. After Donna materialises in Sutton Court, Chiswick
, she realises she is too far away to influence herself directly at the junction in time; instead, she causes a traffic jam by stepping in front of a haulage truck, causing her former self to avoid the traffic by turning left, restoring the time line. As Donna is dying, Rose whispers two words for Donna to relay to the Doctor.
The episode's final scene takes place on Shan Shen, where Donna's actions cause the beetle to fall off her back and the fortune teller to flee in fear. The Doctor appears and inspects the beetle: he says that it is part of the "Trickster's brigade", creatures that change timelines in small ways. He comments that Donna's actions inadvertently created a parallel universe and compliments her unusualness; his remarks prompt Donna to recall Rose, and she repeats her final words: "Bad Wolf". Panicking, the Doctor exits the fortune teller's room to find all text rendered as "Bad Wolf". He enters the TARDIS, and after hearing its cloister bell, realises the end of the universe is imminent.
": "Midnight" featured the Doctor in the central role and "Turn Left" focused on Donna and Rose. The episode was written by the show's head writer and executive producer, Russell T Davies. He compared the main concept of the episode—life without the Doctor—to the 1998 film Sliding Doors
. Davies hoped to pose a question to the viewer: "does the Doctor cause or prevent death?". The episode focuses on the scale of deaths without the Doctor; the implicit death toll surprised Davies when he wrote the script. Lead actor David Tennant
cited the deaths that surrounded his character as a major part of the Doctor's guilt. The episode's tone phrase was "life during wartime"; Davies reflected his description by comparing the labour camps foreigners such as Rocco Colasanto (Joseph Long
) were sent to with the Nazi concentration camps of World War II
—most notably Auschwitz-Birkenau—through script directions and Wilf's expository dialogue:
Davies emphasised developing the characters of Rose Tyler
and Donna; Susie Liggat
, the episode's producer, thought Rose describing Donna as "the most important woman in the whole of creation" was therapeutic for the former character and Donna's realisation that she must die was intended as the epitome of the character's maturation.
A key component of the episode is the return of Rose Tyler
, portrayed by Billie Piper
. Piper's return was planned during filming of the second series
; in January 2006, Piper made a pact promising to return to film several more episodes. Davies and Piper cited her other projects—specifically, her roles as Belle de Jour
in Secret Diary of a Call Girl
, the eponymous character in the BBC adaptations of Philip Pullman
's Sally Lockhart
quartet, and Fanny Price in the ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park
—to explain that her departure was permanent. Davies created the expectation of Rose's return by mentioning her in dialogue and featuring Piper in cameo appearances in "Partners in Crime
", "The Poison Sky
", and "Midnight
".
Davies started writing the episode on 27 October 2007. He was several weeks behind schedule and had to decline an appearance at the National Television Awards
four days later to hand the script in on time. He described writing the script as "a lot harder to rip through because it needs so much construction": he admitted that the opening scene could have been three times longer than his written version, itself longer than any opening scene he ever wrote. He was cautious that his script did not clash with Steven Moffat
's two-part story "Silence in the Library
" and "Forest of the Dead
"—then scheduled to be aired as the ninth and tenth episodes—because it also contained a parallel world. Davies was delayed due to the death of Howard Attfield, who portrayed Donna's father Geoff, and the difficulty of writing Rose's expository dialogue; he had to rush the script's ending to ensure it was ready to film. He finished the script on 2 November so the rest of the production team could prepare the episode for filming.
Davies explained the episode's climax—the effects of Rose's warning—in the companion episode of Doctor Who Confidential
. The words caused no inherent harm; "Bad Wolf" acts as a warning sign for the Doctor, and Rose's invocation of the phrase signals that the parallel universes Rose and the Doctor inhabit are collapsing into each other. Davies declined to state whether the episode was part of the series finale; he preferred to stay out of the imminent fan debate. The episode was described by Doctor Who Magazine
as "partly acting as a prelude to the two-part series climax".
. The beetle's normal Earth-like appearance was deliberate; prosthetic designer Niell Gorton thought that familiarity would ease the narrative and cited the cat nuns from "New Earth
" and the Judoon
from "Smith and Jones
" as examples. The prosthetic was made using fibreglass and fitted on a harness to not burden Catherine Tate's performance. The episode's director Graeme Harper
explained in the episode's commentary that only psychic characters such as Lucius from "The Fires of Pompeii
" were aware of the beetle's existence.
The Doctor refers to this creature as one of the "Trickster's brigade"; the Trickster (Paul Marc Davis
) is a recurring enemy in Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures
whose modus operandi
is to alter history by changing pivotal moments. Russell T Davies explicitly links the Time Beetle to this villain from Sarah Jane, and in Doctor Who Confidential, a clip from the Sarah Jane episode
in which the Trickster threatens to go after the Doctor is shown. This events of this episode amount to his fulfilment of that promise.
, Cardiff
. Scenes set on "Monday 25 [June 2007]"—specifically, Donna preparing to turn at the junction, and her future self racing to ensure she turns left—were filmed between 27 November and 29 November, in the order they were aired. A double had to portray Tate in the car; Tate did not have a driving licence. Donna's race to prevent herself from turning right was filmed on St Isan Road in Cardiff, which was locked off for safety concerns. During the evenings of the 27th and the 28th, scenes on Wilfred's allotment in Leeds were filmed; and on 29 November, Rose's second meeting with Donna and Piper's cameo in "Partners in Crime" were filmed.
The first studio scene—Donna in the fortune teller's room—was filmed on 30 November 2007, on a redressed Torchwood Hub set at the show's Upper Boat Studios
. The outdoor scenes in Shan Shen—comprising Tennant's entire contribution to the episode—were filmed on 1 December 2007 in Splott
and near the Cardiff Royal Infirmary. The shoot was marred by difficulties: rain delayed redressing the alley from the hanzi banners and posters to the Bad Wolf versions; and several extras left at lunchtime because of a misunderstanding over their payment. The final scene filmed on the day was the Doctor's examination of the Time Beetle in the fortune teller's room. The scenes in the country hotel were filmed in Portkerry on 3 December 2007.
The scenes in the terraced street in Leeds
were filmed in Machen Street, Penarth
, on 4 December and 5 December. The cast listened to The Pogues
' "The Wild Rover
" and Queen
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
" before singing the songs themselves. Graeme Harper
decided to focus on Jacqueline King
in the scene when her character, Sylvia Noble, stares vacantly in a despondent manner as Donna talks to her; Harper considered the scene to be "Jacqueline's moment" and thought the scene would be more powerful if the focus was kept on one character. The outdoor scenes were filmed on 5 December: the Colasanto family being sent to a labour camp was filmed during the day; and the ATMOS devices ejecting exhaust fumes was filmed in the evening.
Filming continued with a night shoot on 6 December; scenes inside and outside the pub on Christmas Day were filmed in The Conway pub in Pontcanna
before relocating to a nearby park to film scenes contemporary with the events of "The Poison Sky". Thompson Park was originally scheduled for the shoot; the location was changed at short notice to Sophia Gardens because Tate was suffering from a mild case of influenza
. The final scenes to be filmed—the scenes in the makeshift UNIT base—were filmed in a decommissioned steel factory in Pontypool
, on 7 December and 8 December. Filming for the episode was completed with pick-up shots in January 2008.
Because the episode had a low budget, it relies heavily on stock footage and pre-existing graphics: the Titanics descent into Buckingham Palace
and the American television report of the populace being transformed into Adipose utilised footage from "Voyage of the Damned" and "Partners in Crime", respectively; and images of the Racnoss Webstar and the ignited sky were already created by The Mill
. The episode's small budget impeded production; Davies wanted the TARDIS prop to be on fire until he was reminded that he was writing "the cheap episode".
score of 88: considered Excellent. It was the fourth most-watched programme of the week, the highest position a regular episode of Doctor Who had ever achieved to that point: the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned" was the second most-watched television program on Christmas Day; and "The Stolen Earth
" and "Journey's End
" were second and first, respectively. Among readers of Doctor Who Magazine
, the episode was voted the second-best story of the fourth series, behind "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End", with an average rating of 8.81/10; and the episode was the fourth best-received episode of the fourth series among members of the Doctor Who Forum, with an approval rating of 88.0%.
Monsters Within Stephen James Walker, a writer of reference works on Doctor Who, included an extensive analysis and review of the episode in his "unauthorised guide to Doctor Who's fourth series
," Monsters Within. Walker attributed the episode's origin as an allusion to other prominent alternate history works, such as It's a Wonderful Life
and Sliding Doors, and applauded the mention of the Trickster as an "unexpected but welcome cross-franchise reference". He was surprised that the format of a "companion-lite" episode followed by a "Doctor-lite" episode had not been attempted before because he thought it was an "ideal compromise".
He thought that Tate portrayed the "unenlightened" version of Donna far better than in "The Runaway Bride", describing her acting as "far removed from the totally unappealing character she was to start with". Most of his analysis of Donna was in conjunction with analysis of Davies' writing; he lauded the parallels between the maturation of Donna in the fourth series and of the alternate Donna in "Turn Left" as "brilliant writing".
Walker dedicated a large portion of his analysis to Rose. He thought that Billie Piper was "distinctly below par", citing her gaunt and malnourished appearance, new hairstyle, and slight lisp as reasons why her acting was not her finest. He criticised her role in the episode as been "far less well worked out" than Donna's, being inquisitive about several concepts: why Rose was shocked when she heard the Doctor had died, but later being knowledgeable about Donna's history and destiny; whether if Rose was travelling between universes or just time-travelling; why Rose herself didn't convince Donna to turn left instead of sending Donna on a suicide mission; why Rose didn't change her clothes between her appearances; and why Rose refused to tell anyone her name. He noted the allusion to the concept of the power of names previously referred to in "The Shakespeare Code
", "Last of the Time Lords
", and "Silence in the Library
", but ultimately theorised that the reason was so Davies could set up the episode's cliffhanger.
Walker described the episode as "quite adult [for a family drama], venturing into some unexpectedly dark territory at times". He commended Davies for "highlighting the contrasting aspects of human nature" in the aftermath of the disaster: the positive side represented by Wilfred's "Blitz spirit" and the "good humoured" and "morale-boosting" sing-along; and the negative side is represented by resentment from the Nobles' new neighbours, Sylvia's depression, and, most notably, the internment of foreign citizens in labour camps. He continued by comparing Colasanto's internment to Donna calling him Mussolini
several scenes before; he felt that the internment cast the jibe in an "even worse light". Walker thought that the country's transformation into a fascist dictatorship was a "veiled political point" written by Davies; he cited "the population of the Daily Mail
-reading home counties
forced to experience living as refugees and asylum seekers" and UNIT troops aiming at unarmed civilians as reasons why the episode was "the most subversive [the show] has ever been".
Closing, Walker congratulated director Graeme Harper for demonstrating "his incredible versatility" in directing the vastly different "The Unicorn and the Wasp
" and "Turn Left", and wrote that any concerns about the plot were "overshadowed" by the script's "inventiveness, intelligence, and sheer boldness". He finished by calling the episode "one of the most extraordinary in Doctor Whos long history". Walker ranked the story as his fifth-favourite episode of the fourth series: between "Silence in the Library" and "Midnight
".
gave the episode four stars out of five. Comparing it to Sliding Doors
and discussing the trope of alternate histories, he thought the concept was overused, but "an intriguing endeavour" and that Davies balanced frivolity and "bleak darkness".
Describing the writing as "powerful ... for a family show...Wilf poignantly remembers the similar horrors he has experienced in the last World War". Of Piper's acting, he compared her accent to "[having] her mouth numbed with local anaesthetic".
Mark Wright of The Stage
gave a favourable review of the episode. He referred to his review of "Midnight", when he said that it was Davies' best script so far and wondered if Davies would better it with the last three episodes, and wrote that the episode "possibly just nudges ahead" of "Midnight". Wright explained that "Turn Left" struck resonance with him because the episode highlighted how important the Doctor is to the fictional universe. His review praised Tate's acting as Donna before she met the Doctor as a "real character performance" which exemplified Tate's multi-faceted portrayal. His main points of criticism were the appearance of Rose and the Time Beetle prosthetic: he was "non-plussed" about Rose's reappearance, but he admitted that Piper was an "integral part of the early success of new Who"; and he thought the prosthetic beetle was "an unconvincing lump of plastic" and was reminiscent of the classic series' low budget. He closed his review by saying the episode "says as much about Doctor Who’s past as well as its future", and looked forward to the last two episodes of the series.
Travis Fickett of IGN
gave the episode a 7.8/10 rating. Characterising the episode as "the quiet before the storm, the seemingly innocuous bottle episode that ends up being the precursor to a slam-bang conclusion", he wrote that the episode "gets the job done", specifically praising Tate for her ability to "carry the weight of the episode". He highlighted the cliffhanger of the scene—when the Doctor realises that Donna met Rose, and subsequently deduces the universe is in danger—as the best moment in the episode; he wrote that it was "a great moment, and sets up a premise suitably large for Davies' farewell episodes." He criticised two major points of the episode: he thought the beetle prosthetic did not look convincing, and undermined Donna's questions of why people were looking at her back; and he thought the episode was Davies' highlight reel, reminiscent of someone reminding the viewer of an event and then moving to the next slide. Closing, he wrote that there was a sense that "something was missing from the proceedings", but commented that the episode "serves as a good set up for the two-part climax of season four".
Simon Brew of cult television blog Den of Geek said "Turn Left" was "really really good". It allowed Tate and Cribbins to act more flexibly; and that other supporting actors could learn from Cribbins' contribution to the episode. Brew was critical of Piper's acting, the beetle prosthetic and that Tate occasionally acted like characters from her eponymous show
.
"This was still an intriguing episode, very well handled. The continual shifts in the tone of the script worked a treat, as every time it looked like things were being allowed to lighten, things once again took a turn for the worse. And it’s setting up a potentially corking concluding double bill, for not only the series, but also RTD’s four-season story arc.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
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...
. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 21 June 2008.
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...
only makes a small contribution to this "Doctor-lite" episode as the Tenth Doctor
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...
. The story instead focuses on the Doctor's companion, 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,...
(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...
) and her encounters with the Doctor's previous companion Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
). The episode's narrative focuses on an alternate history where the Doctor dies during the events of the 2006 Christmas special "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...
". The episode depicts a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
caused by the Doctor's death, leaving Rose to convince Donna to save the world. The end of the episode takes place in the show's normal continuity, and features a cliffhanger that leads directly into the series finale "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
".
Davies' writing and Tate's performance were acclaimed, and the episode was praised for its depiction of dystopia in a scene, characterised by the internment of a foreign citizen. The episode was the fourth most-watched programme in the week it was broadcast, with 8.1 million viewers, and the Appreciation Index of the episode was 88%, considered Excellent. The episode was one of two Doctor Who stories in that season to be nominated for a Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category.
Plot
The episode begins with the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
and his 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...
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,...
strolling through a market place on the "Chino
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
-planet of Shan Shen". Donna is persuaded by a fortune teller (Chipo Chung
Chipo Chung
Chipo Chung is a Tanzanian-born actress raised in Zimbabwe. She currently lives in London.-Background:Chipo Chung was born as a refugee in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is half-Zimbabwean and half-Chinese. She spent her first two years in refugee camps in Mozambique with thousands of young people...
) to examine her past: specifically, the first event that led to her encounter with the Doctor. Donna recalls an argument with her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
Jacqueline King
-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
) at a road junction: Donna wishes to turn left to become a temporary employee
Temporary work
Temporary work or temporary employment refers to a situation where the employee is expected to leave the employer within a certain period of time. Temporary employees are sometimes called "contractual", "seasonal", "interim", "casual staff", "freelance", or "part-time"; or the word may be shortened...
at the security firm H. C. Clements; her mother wishes for her to turn right to apply for a secretarial job at a local photocopying business. The fortune teller gives her another chance and persuades her to turn right; as she does, a large beetle attaches itself to her back.
The narrative focuses on an alternate history to the events of several previous episodes, in which Donna never met the Doctor, resulting in his death in a confrontation with the Racnoss ("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...
"); subsequently, in the Doctor's absence, Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
and would-be companion Martha Jones are killed during the Judoon detainment of the Royal Hope Hospital on the Moon ("Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
"); millions of people, including the Queen, are vaporised when London is destroyed in a nuclear explosion caused by the crash of the space cruiser, Titanic ("Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
"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...
") leading to martial law and the displacement of people from London and the South East; 60 million people die in the United States as an alternative location for breeding the Adipose ("Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime (Doctor Who)
"Partners in Crime" is the first episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced comedienne Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride"...
"); and the Torchwood Three team are presumed killed while preventing a Sontaran invasion ("The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
"). Throughout the episode, several characters, most notably Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
, take an interest in the invisible beetle on Donna's back.
Rose tells Donna of their comparable roles in the Doctor's life and explains that Donna is instrumental in saving the universe. When Donna's grandfather 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...
) sees the stars go out, Donna acquiesces to Rose's request: she must travel back in time and ensure her past self turns left at the junction. With the help of a UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
detachment who have been analysing the crippled TARDIS, Donna is shown the creature on her back and told how to intervene once in the past. After Donna materialises in Sutton Court, Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, she realises she is too far away to influence herself directly at the junction in time; instead, she causes a traffic jam by stepping in front of a haulage truck, causing her former self to avoid the traffic by turning left, restoring the time line. As Donna is dying, Rose whispers two words for Donna to relay to the Doctor.
The episode's final scene takes place on Shan Shen, where Donna's actions cause the beetle to fall off her back and the fortune teller to flee in fear. The Doctor appears and inspects the beetle: he says that it is part of the "Trickster's brigade", creatures that change timelines in small ways. He comments that Donna's actions inadvertently created a parallel universe and compliments her unusualness; his remarks prompt Donna to recall Rose, and she repeats her final words: "Bad Wolf". Panicking, the Doctor exits the fortune teller's room to find all text rendered as "Bad Wolf". He enters the TARDIS, and after hearing its cloister bell, realises the end of the universe is imminent.
Writing
"Turn Left" is a "Doctor-lite" episode: a low-budget production that features the Doctor in a reduced role. Instead of the episode also featuring Donna in a reduced role, "Turn Left" was written to complement "MidnightMidnight (Doctor Who)
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed much more emphasis on the role of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor than in the rest of the fourth series, with the...
": "Midnight" featured the Doctor in the central role and "Turn Left" focused on Donna and Rose. The episode was written by the show's head writer and executive producer, Russell T Davies. He compared the main concept of the episode—life without the Doctor—to the 1998 film Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The music was composed by David Hirschfelder...
. Davies hoped to pose a question to the viewer: "does the Doctor cause or prevent death?". The episode focuses on the scale of deaths without the Doctor; the implicit death toll surprised Davies when he wrote the script. Lead actor 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...
cited the deaths that surrounded his character as a major part of the Doctor's guilt. The episode's tone phrase was "life during wartime"; Davies reflected his description by comparing the labour camps foreigners such as Rocco Colasanto (Joseph Long
Joseph Long (actor)
Joseph Long is an actor. He has appeared in numerous BBC television productions including Doctor Who, Ashes to Ashes, The Bill and East Enders, He has also appeared in film, for instance in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers as film director Carlo Ponti. He portrayed Bernardino Drovetti in the...
) were sent to with the Nazi concentration camps of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
—most notably Auschwitz-Birkenau—through script directions and Wilf's expository dialogue:
Davies emphasised developing the characters of Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
and Donna; Susie Liggat
Susie Liggat
Susie Liggat is a British television producer. Her career had predominantly been as a first assistant director, in which capacity she worked on popular series such as Teachers, Black Books, and Casanova, until she became a producer in 2006...
, the episode's producer, thought Rose describing Donna as "the most important woman in the whole of creation" was therapeutic for the former character and Donna's realisation that she must die was intended as the epitome of the character's maturation.
A key component of the episode is the return of Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
, portrayed by Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
. Piper's return was planned during filming of the second series
Doctor Who (series 2)
The second series of British science fiction series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "New Earth" on 15 April 2006...
; in January 2006, Piper made a pact promising to return to film several more episodes. Davies and Piper cited her other projects—specifically, her roles as Belle de Jour
Belle de Jour (writer)
Brooke Magnanti is a research scientist, blogger, and writer, who, until her identity was revealed in November 2009, was known by the pen name Belle de Jour. While completing her doctoral studies, between 2003 and 2004, Magnanti supplemented her income by working as a London call girl...
in Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a British television drama broadcast on ITV2 from 2007-2011 based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous "Belle de Jour," starring Billie Piper as Belle, a high-class London call girl. The series was written by Lucy Prebble, who is also known as the author of The...
, the eponymous character in the BBC adaptations of Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
's Sally Lockhart
Sally Lockhart
Veronica Beatrice "Sally" Lockhart is a fictional character in a series of books by Philip Pullman.- Background :The character of Sally Lockhart first appears in The Ruby in the Smoke, a play Pullman wrote for performance by a secondary school. In the play, sixteen-year-old Sally Lockhart attempts...
quartet, and Fanny Price in the ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park (2007 TV drama)
Mansfield Park, an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name, premiered on 18 March 2007 on the UK network ITV at 9 p.m., as part of their Jane Austen Season. It was filmed at Newby Hall, North Yorkshire, England. It made its TV debut in Canada on 23 December 2007 and in the...
—to explain that her departure was permanent. Davies created the expectation of Rose's return by mentioning her in dialogue and featuring Piper in cameo appearances in "Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime (Doctor Who)
"Partners in Crime" is the first episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced comedienne Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride"...
", "The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
", and "Midnight
Midnight (Doctor Who)
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed much more emphasis on the role of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor than in the rest of the fourth series, with the...
".
Davies started writing the episode on 27 October 2007. He was several weeks behind schedule and had to decline an appearance at the National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
four days later to hand the script in on time. He described writing the script as "a lot harder to rip through because it needs so much construction": he admitted that the opening scene could have been three times longer than his written version, itself longer than any opening scene he ever wrote. He was cautious that his script did not clash with 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 two-part story "Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
" and "Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
"—then scheduled to be aired as the ninth and tenth episodes—because it also contained a parallel world. Davies was delayed due to the death of Howard Attfield, who portrayed Donna's father Geoff, and the difficulty of writing Rose's expository dialogue; he had to rush the script's ending to ensure it was ready to film. He finished the script on 2 November so the rest of the production team could prepare the episode for filming.
Davies explained the episode's climax—the effects of Rose's warning—in the companion episode of Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly...
. The words caused no inherent harm; "Bad Wolf" acts as a warning sign for the Doctor, and Rose's invocation of the phrase signals that the parallel universes Rose and the Doctor inhabit are collapsing into each other. Davies declined to state whether the episode was part of the series finale; he preferred to stay out of the imminent fan debate. The episode was described by Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
as "partly acting as a prelude to the two-part series climax".
Time Beetle
The "Time Beetle", which was responsible for the creation of the parallel timeline, was described in the episode's script as "a huge black beetle... shiny carapace, spindly black legs moving and flexing, mandibles clacking together". Its design was influenced by the Giant Spider of Metebelis 3 that clung to Sarah Jane Smith's back in Planet of the SpidersPlanet of the Spiders
Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...
. The beetle's normal Earth-like appearance was deliberate; prosthetic designer Niell Gorton thought that familiarity would ease the narrative and cited the cat nuns from "New Earth
New Earth
"New Earth" is the first episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 15 April 2006. It is a sequel to the first series episode "The End of the World", and brings back its villain who was thought to be destroyed, Lady Cassandra, as...
" and the Judoon
Judoon
The Judoon are a fictional extraterrestrial species of mercenary police from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs. They first appeared in the episode Smith and Jones in 2007....
from "Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
" as examples. The prosthetic was made using fibreglass and fitted on a harness to not burden Catherine Tate's performance. The episode's director Graeme Harper
Graeme Harper
Graeme Harper is a British television director. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he is the only person to have directed episodes of both the original run and revived run of the programme...
explained in the episode's commentary that only psychic characters such as Lucius from "The Fires of Pompeii
The Fires of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
" were aware of the beetle's existence.
The Doctor refers to this creature as one of the "Trickster's brigade"; the Trickster (Paul Marc Davis
Paul Marc Davis
Paul Marc Davis is a British actor who has appeared on Doctor Who and two of its spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures .-Biography:...
) is a recurring enemy in Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
whose modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
is to alter history by changing pivotal moments. Russell T Davies explicitly links the Time Beetle to this villain from Sarah Jane, and in Doctor Who Confidential, a clip from the Sarah Jane episode
Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? is the fifth story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the seventh and eighth episodes of the show's first series...
in which the Trickster threatens to go after the Doctor is shown. This events of this episode amount to his fulfilment of that promise.
Filming
The episode was primarily filmed in the seventh production block between 26 November and 8 December 2007, alongside filming of "Midnight". The first scenes were filmed in Bay Chambers, Cardiff; the housing office where Donna's family was relocated to Leeds was filmed in a storage area adjacent to the photocopying business. The following evening saw filming of Rose and Donna's first meeting in ButetownButetown
Butetown is a community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early nineteenth century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. Scenes set on "Monday 25 [June 2007]"—specifically, Donna preparing to turn at the junction, and her future self racing to ensure she turns left—were filmed between 27 November and 29 November, in the order they were aired. A double had to portray Tate in the car; Tate did not have a driving licence. Donna's race to prevent herself from turning right was filmed on St Isan Road in Cardiff, which was locked off for safety concerns. During the evenings of the 27th and the 28th, scenes on Wilfred's allotment in Leeds were filmed; and on 29 November, Rose's second meeting with Donna and Piper's cameo in "Partners in Crime" were filmed.
The first studio scene—Donna in the fortune teller's room—was filmed on 30 November 2007, on a redressed Torchwood Hub set at the show's Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios is a television studio complex operated by BBC Wales and based in Upper Boat, a village on the outskirts of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The studios were officially opened on 27 July 2006 by Welsh Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, for the purpose of producing Doctor...
. The outdoor scenes in Shan Shen—comprising Tennant's entire contribution to the episode—were filmed on 1 December 2007 in Splott
Splott
Splott is a district in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. Splott is characterised by its once vast steelworks and rows of tightly...
and near the Cardiff Royal Infirmary. The shoot was marred by difficulties: rain delayed redressing the alley from the hanzi banners and posters to the Bad Wolf versions; and several extras left at lunchtime because of a misunderstanding over their payment. The final scene filmed on the day was the Doctor's examination of the Time Beetle in the fortune teller's room. The scenes in the country hotel were filmed in Portkerry on 3 December 2007.
The scenes in the terraced street in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
were filmed in Machen Street, Penarth
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
, on 4 December and 5 December. The cast listened to The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
' "The Wild Rover
The Wild Rover
The Wild Rover is a popular folk song whose origins are contested.According to Professor T. M. Devine in his book The Scottish Nation 1700 - 2000 the song was written as a temperance song. The song is found printed in a book, The American Songster, printed in the USA by W.A...
" and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
" before singing the songs themselves. Graeme Harper
Graeme Harper
Graeme Harper is a British television director. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he is the only person to have directed episodes of both the original run and revived run of the programme...
decided to focus on Jacqueline King
Jacqueline King
-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
in the scene when her character, Sylvia Noble, stares vacantly in a despondent manner as Donna talks to her; Harper considered the scene to be "Jacqueline's moment" and thought the scene would be more powerful if the focus was kept on one character. The outdoor scenes were filmed on 5 December: the Colasanto family being sent to a labour camp was filmed during the day; and the ATMOS devices ejecting exhaust fumes was filmed in the evening.
Filming continued with a night shoot on 6 December; scenes inside and outside the pub on Christmas Day were filmed in The Conway pub in Pontcanna
Pontcanna
Pontcanna is a western district of the city of Cardiff, Wales. Its area is bounded approximately by Llandaff Fields to the north, the Riverside district and Cowbridge Road to the south, the River Taff to the west and the district of Canton to the east.Pontcanna is a very well to do area of wide...
before relocating to a nearby park to film scenes contemporary with the events of "The Poison Sky". Thompson Park was originally scheduled for the shoot; the location was changed at short notice to Sophia Gardens because Tate was suffering from a mild case of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
. The final scenes to be filmed—the scenes in the makeshift UNIT base—were filmed in a decommissioned steel factory 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....
, on 7 December and 8 December. Filming for the episode was completed with pick-up shots in January 2008.
Because the episode had a low budget, it relies heavily on stock footage and pre-existing graphics: the Titanics descent into 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...
and the American television report of the populace being transformed into Adipose utilised footage from "Voyage of the Damned" and "Partners in Crime", respectively; and images of the Racnoss Webstar and the ignited sky were already created by The Mill
The Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
. The episode's small budget impeded production; Davies wanted the TARDIS prop to be on fire until he was reminded that he was writing "the cheap episode".
Ratings
"Turn Left" was watched by 8.09 million viewers—35% share of the total television audience—and received an Appreciation IndexAppreciation 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...
score of 88: considered Excellent. It was the fourth most-watched programme of the week, the highest position a regular episode of Doctor Who had ever achieved to that point: the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned" was the second most-watched television program on Christmas Day; and "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
" and "Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...
" were second and first, respectively. Among readers of Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, the episode was voted the second-best story of the fourth series, behind "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End", with an average rating of 8.81/10; and the episode was the fourth best-received episode of the fourth series among members of the Doctor Who Forum, with an approval rating of 88.0%.
Monsters Within Stephen James Walker, a writer of reference works on Doctor Who, included an extensive analysis and review of the episode in his "unauthorised guide to Doctor Who's fourth series
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
," Monsters Within. Walker attributed the episode's origin as an allusion to other prominent alternate history works, such as It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
and Sliding Doors, and applauded the mention of the Trickster as an "unexpected but welcome cross-franchise reference". He was surprised that the format of a "companion-lite" episode followed by a "Doctor-lite" episode had not been attempted before because he thought it was an "ideal compromise".
He thought that Tate portrayed the "unenlightened" version of Donna far better than in "The Runaway Bride", describing her acting as "far removed from the totally unappealing character she was to start with". Most of his analysis of Donna was in conjunction with analysis of Davies' writing; he lauded the parallels between the maturation of Donna in the fourth series and of the alternate Donna in "Turn Left" as "brilliant writing".
Walker dedicated a large portion of his analysis to Rose. He thought that Billie Piper was "distinctly below par", citing her gaunt and malnourished appearance, new hairstyle, and slight lisp as reasons why her acting was not her finest. He criticised her role in the episode as been "far less well worked out" than Donna's, being inquisitive about several concepts: why Rose was shocked when she heard the Doctor had died, but later being knowledgeable about Donna's history and destiny; whether if Rose was travelling between universes or just time-travelling; why Rose herself didn't convince Donna to turn left instead of sending Donna on a suicide mission; why Rose didn't change her clothes between her appearances; and why Rose refused to tell anyone her name. He noted the allusion to the concept of the power of names previously referred to in "The Shakespeare Code
The Shakespeare Code
"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was...
", "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 "Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
", but ultimately theorised that the reason was so Davies could set up the episode's cliffhanger.
Walker described the episode as "quite adult [for a family drama], venturing into some unexpectedly dark territory at times". He commended Davies for "highlighting the contrasting aspects of human nature" in the aftermath of the disaster: the positive side represented by Wilfred's "Blitz spirit" and the "good humoured" and "morale-boosting" sing-along; and the negative side is represented by resentment from the Nobles' new neighbours, Sylvia's depression, and, most notably, the internment of foreign citizens in labour camps. He continued by comparing Colasanto's internment to Donna calling him Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
several scenes before; he felt that the internment cast the jibe in an "even worse light". Walker thought that the country's transformation into a fascist dictatorship was a "veiled political point" written by Davies; he cited "the population of the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
-reading home counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
forced to experience living as refugees and asylum seekers" and UNIT troops aiming at unarmed civilians as reasons why the episode was "the most subversive [the show] has ever been".
Closing, Walker congratulated director Graeme Harper for demonstrating "his incredible versatility" in directing the vastly different "The Unicorn and the Wasp
The Unicorn and the Wasp
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the 7th episode in the revised fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 19:00. Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the...
" and "Turn Left", and wrote that any concerns about the plot were "overshadowed" by the script's "inventiveness, intelligence, and sheer boldness". He finished by calling the episode "one of the most extraordinary in Doctor Whos long history". Walker ranked the story as his fifth-favourite episode of the fourth series: between "Silence in the Library" and "Midnight
Midnight (Doctor Who)
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed much more emphasis on the role of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor than in the rest of the fourth series, with the...
".
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics, many citing the power of Tate's performance. Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital SpyDigital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave the episode four stars out of five. Comparing it to Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The music was composed by David Hirschfelder...
and discussing the trope of alternate histories, he thought the concept was overused, but "an intriguing endeavour" and that Davies balanced frivolity and "bleak darkness".
Describing the writing as "powerful ... for a family show...Wilf poignantly remembers the similar horrors he has experienced in the last World War". Of Piper's acting, he compared her accent to "[having] her mouth numbed with local anaesthetic".
Mark Wright 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...
gave a favourable review of the episode. He referred to his review of "Midnight", when he said that it was Davies' best script so far and wondered if Davies would better it with the last three episodes, and wrote that the episode "possibly just nudges ahead" of "Midnight". Wright explained that "Turn Left" struck resonance with him because the episode highlighted how important the Doctor is to the fictional universe. His review praised Tate's acting as Donna before she met the Doctor as a "real character performance" which exemplified Tate's multi-faceted portrayal. His main points of criticism were the appearance of Rose and the Time Beetle prosthetic: he was "non-plussed" about Rose's reappearance, but he admitted that Piper was an "integral part of the early success of new Who"; and he thought the prosthetic beetle was "an unconvincing lump of plastic" and was reminiscent of the classic series' low budget. He closed his review by saying the episode "says as much about Doctor Who’s past as well as its future", and looked forward to the last two episodes of the series.
Travis Fickett of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a 7.8/10 rating. Characterising the episode as "the quiet before the storm, the seemingly innocuous bottle episode that ends up being the precursor to a slam-bang conclusion", he wrote that the episode "gets the job done", specifically praising Tate for her ability to "carry the weight of the episode". He highlighted the cliffhanger of the scene—when the Doctor realises that Donna met Rose, and subsequently deduces the universe is in danger—as the best moment in the episode; he wrote that it was "a great moment, and sets up a premise suitably large for Davies' farewell episodes." He criticised two major points of the episode: he thought the beetle prosthetic did not look convincing, and undermined Donna's questions of why people were looking at her back; and he thought the episode was Davies' highlight reel, reminiscent of someone reminding the viewer of an event and then moving to the next slide. Closing, he wrote that there was a sense that "something was missing from the proceedings", but commented that the episode "serves as a good set up for the two-part climax of season four".
Simon Brew of cult television blog Den of Geek said "Turn Left" was "really really good". It allowed Tate and Cribbins to act more flexibly; and that other supporting actors could learn from Cribbins' contribution to the episode. Brew was critical of Piper's acting, the beetle prosthetic and that Tate occasionally acted like characters from her eponymous show
The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
.
"This was still an intriguing episode, very well handled. The continual shifts in the tone of the script worked a treat, as every time it looked like things were being allowed to lighten, things once again took a turn for the worse. And it’s setting up a potentially corking concluding double bill, for not only the series, but also RTD’s four-season story arc.