'42' (Story Code 3.7) by Chris Chibnall

"Burn with me!"

With Martha now officially travelling in the TARDIS, the Doctor decides to upgrade her mobile phone in the same way that he did for Rose. Answering a distress call, the TARDIS materialises in the Taraji system, aboard the cargo transporter S.S. Pentallion. After puzzling at the performance of the vessel’s venting systems, which are busily working at full strength, the Doctor and Martha meet the ship’s crew, led by captain Kath McDonnell. When the heat in the venting room increases beyond human tolerance, the Doctor and Martha find themselves cut off from the TARDIS; they are then surprised to learn that the Pentallion is about to crash into a nearby sun in just forty-two minutes… An act of sabotage has stopped the crew from accessing the ship’s control systems, and their only salvation lies in the auxiliary control room, which is situated behind a series of computer-sealed bulkheads. While Martha assists crewman Riley Vashtee in answering the security questions that will override the doors, the Doctor helps with McDonnel’s husband, Hal Korwin – the man responsible for the sabotage of the Pentallion’s systems, who seems to be infected by a mysterious, outside force. With Korwin’s body temperature rapidly increasing, the crew place him inside a stasis chamber in the medical centre. The ship’s heat shields begin to fail, as the Pentallion continues on its collision course, with sunfall in just thirty-two minutes… While the Doctor suggests using the ship’s generators to jump-start the engines, Martha calls her mother for help in answering a particularly tricky security question. In the medical centre, Korwin’s body undergoes a strange transformation; after reawakening and vaporising the ship’s doctor, Abi Lerner, with a blast from his glowing eyes, Korwin dons a welding mask and then disappears into the ship’s corridors; it isn’t long before he murders a second crewman, Erina Lessak… Concerned that McDonnel’s husband has been taken over by a deadly parasite, the Doctor begins a search for the killer; however, he and the others are too late to prevent the death of a third victim, Dev Ashton. Ashton’s corpse also becomes infected, and, after putting on a similar welding mask, he tries to attack Martha and Riley; when the two head for the safety of an escape pod, the possessed Ashton immediately begins to activate the pod’s systems, programming it to plummet into the sun below. Learning of his companion’s peril, the Doctor races to her rescue. Having tampered with the Pentallion’s systems in order to prevent any progress with the ship’s engines, Korwin confronts his wife, blaming her for the current situation. Crewman Orin Scannell hits the captain’s husband with a blast of coolant, freezing him to death – an act that also affects Ashton, who is about to attack the Doctor. However, Ashton manages to recover in time to launch the pod containing Martha and Riley, sending its two frightened occupants spiralling into the raging inferno below. With just seventeen minutes until the ship’s destruction, the Doctor vows to save his friend… McDonnel goads Korwin into following her, and manages to push him into the stasis booth, freezing his body to absolute zero. The Doctor formulates a dangerous plan to rescue Martha, and after donning a spacesuit he heads out one of the airlocks. With just twelve minutes and fifty-five seconds to go, Martha calls her mother to tell her she loves her – unaware that a mysterious woman is sitting in her mother’s living room, monitoring her call… As the Pentallion’s heat shields drop to just ten percent capacity, the Doctor manages to activate the external controls on the ship’s hull, magnetising the bulkhead and drawing Martha’s escape pod back towards the vessel. Looking into the fiery mass below, the Doctor realises that the sun itself is alive… Martha rejoins the Doctor, but her joy is interrupted by the realisation that the outside force has possessed him; his eyes afire, the Doctor tells Martha that the sun is alive – the crew of the Pentallion neglected to check for signs of life when they mined its surface for fuel, and it is now angry at being violated… McDonnell and Orin continue to open the secure bulkheads. Frightened that he could be manipulated into killing those aboard the ship, the Doctor instructs Martha to put him into the stasis chamber immediately; however, as the machine’s systems begin to freeze the possessed Time Lord, Korwin’s corpse comes alive and shuts down the ship’s engines; the resultant power drain begins to defrost the Doctor’s body, throwing him into agony. With just four minutes and forty-seven seconds to sun-fall, the Doctor frantically instructs the crew to release the Pentallion’s fuel supply, which contains the trapped sun particles. McDonnel confronts Korwin and admits her culpability; embracing what remains of her husband, she activates the airlock behind her, sending them both to their death in the fiery abyss below… While the Doctor tries to fight the sun’s possession of his body, Riley and Orin manage to open the final door and enter the auxiliary control room, only to find that the systems are non-operational; as the countdown reaches one minute six seconds, Martha joins them and orders the venting of the engines to dump the ship’s fuel back into the sun. With the solar mass returned to its place of origin, the Doctor is released from the sun’s control and the ship comes back under control; the last reserves of fuel kick-start the Pentallion’s engines, allowing the vessel to achieve escape velocity just two seconds before destruction. A short while later, after a distress call has been sent out to the authorities, Martha kisses Riley goodbye and joins the Doctor in the TARDIS. The Doctor instructs Riley and Orin to ensure that the sun is protected, and, having set course for somewhere cool, he gives his travelling companion her own key to the ship. Martha calls her mother to apologise for her earlier behaviour; hanging up, Francine Jones turns to the mysterious woman in her house, who tells her that Mr Saxon is grateful for her cooperation…

David Tennant (The Doctor), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Michelle Collins (Captain Kath McDonnell), Adjoa Andoh (Francine Jones), William Ash (Riley Vashtee), Anthony Flanagan (Orin Scannell), Matthew Chambers (Hal Korwin), Gary Powell (Dev Ashton), Vinette Robinson (Abi Lerner), Rebecca Oldfield (Erina Lessak), Elize du Toit (Sinister Woman)

Directed by Graeme Harper
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive Producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
A BBC Wales production

TX:
19th May 2007 @ 7.15 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha

*This episode was originally scheduled for 12th May, but was held back a week due to transmission of 'The Eurovision Song Contest'