'Aliens of London' Story Code 1.4 by Russell T. Davies

"Whoever these aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here a while. The question is: what have they been doing?" - The Doctor

When Rose feels homesick the Doctor takes her back to London to see her mother, promising her that only twelve hours have passed since she originally left with him in the TARDIS. However, the two time travellers are shocked to learn that twelve months have actually passed; during which time Rose’s concerned mother, Jackie, has posted flyers asking of her whereabouts, while her boyfriend, Mickey, has been under police suspicion of murdering her. After a tearful reunion, Rose finds herself unable to tell her mother where she has been, and begins to question whether or not to stay at home or continue on her travels with the Doctor; her musings are rudely interrupted by the arrival of a damaged alien spaceship plummeting towards Earth, partially destroying Big Ben before crash-diving into the Thames. As panic breaks out in the Capital, a National Emergency is declared. Unable to get through the military’s roadblocks, the Doctor and Rose return home to watch the drama unfold on television, and it is not long before they learn that the body of an extraterrestrial has been found in the wreckage and taken to nearby Albion Hospital for examination, overseen by General Asquith of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Meanwhile, at Number Ten Downing Street, concern mounts over the mysterious disappearance of the Prime Minister; Acting Prime Minister Joseph Green is forced to take over the role in an acting capacity, a situation that results in him experiencing some alarming bowel movements. He then meets up with Margaret Blaine of MI5 and Oliver Charles, the liaison for Transport – all of whom break into uncontrollable laughter. Unable to cope with the rapidly increasing party of humans at Rose’s flat, the Doctor decides to head off to witness mankind’s first contact with alien life first-hand; after leaving a key to the TARDIS with Rose, the Doctor enters his time / space vessel and departs, unaware that his ship’s dematerialisation has been witnessed by Mickey. The Doctor arrives at the hospital in time to learn from a frightened pathologist that the supposedly dead alien is very much alive; but as the pig-like creature attempts to escape from the morgue, it is shot and killed by one of the U.N.I.T. troopers stationed on the premises. Back at Downing Street, General Asquith confronts Green over his lack of leadership during the crisis, and the fact that he cancelled the gathering of the Cabinet; when Asquith then attempts to relive the acting Prime Minister of his command, Green, Blaine and Charles cast off their human forms and kill the General. As Charles takes over the General’s form, he and his associates are unaware that these events have been seen by Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. Back at Albion Hospital, the Doctor determines that the ‘alien’ is merely a fake genetically created from a normal pig – it seems that aliens are constructing aliens… Elsewhere, a furious Mickey rejoins his girlfriend, jealously gloating over the fact that the Doctor has left her; Rose races for the site of the TARDIS’s landing, followed by Mickey and her mother, and is rewarded by the arrival of the Doctor. Jackie panics and runs home, where she dials the ‘Alien Emergency Hotline’ and reports the Doctor, and her actions immediately rigger an automated system that triggers a Code Nine red alert back at Downing Street. After the Doctor uses the TARDIS’s systems to track the flight path of the alien spaceship, he finds that the vessel was originally launched from Earth, meaning that the aliens have been here for some time. Emerging from the TARDIS, the Doctor, Rose and Mickey are confronted by U.N.I.T. forces; Mickey escapes, while the Doctor and Rose are escorted to Downing Street. While the Doctor is shown into a conference of U.N.I.T.’s top extraterrestrial specialists, Rose is left with Harriet Jones. Reading the briefing notes the Doctor learns that a signal was recently detected emanating from the North Sea, but that the investigation was swiftly stopped; too late he deduces that the meeting is a trap, as ‘Asquith’ discards his human shell and reveals himself as a hideous creature that identifies itself as a Slitheen. Back at Rose’s flat, Strickland, the policeman visiting Jackie, throws off his human disguise and prepares to attack her. Meanwhile Rose and Harriet discover the body of the Prime Minister stuffed in a cupboard, but before they can act they are confronted the ‘Blaine’ Slitheen. In the conference room, ‘Green’ triggers the ID cards worn by the Doctor and his fellow attendees - electrocuting everyone in the room, and leaving them at the mercy of the alien attackers…

Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Corey Doabe (Spray Painter), Ceris Jones (Policeman), Jack Tarlton (Reporter), Lachelle Carl (Reporter), Fiesta Mei Ling (Ru), Basil Chung (Bau), Matt Baker (As Himself), Andrew Marr (As Himself), Rupert Vansittart (General Asquith), David Verrey (Joseph Green), Navin Chowdhry (Indra Ganesh), Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones), Annette Badland (Margaret Blaine), Naoko Mori (Doctor Sato), Eric Potts (Oliver Charles), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Jimmy Vee (Alien), Steven Speirs ([Asst Commissioner] Strickland), Elizabeth Fost, Paul Kasey, Alan Ruscoe (Slitheen)

Directed by Keith Boak
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive Producers Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young
A BBC Wales production

TX:
16th April 2005 @ 7.00 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Ninth Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Jackie

*Part 1 of a 2-part story

*Bad Wolf sightings: A young boy graffitis 'Bad Wolf' on the side of the TARDIS. On the BBC's fake 'Who is Doctor Who' website, the question "Why has outspoken MP Joseph Green put on so much weight recently?" is followed by a section entitled "Tell us your THEORIES" - one of the posted comments is by Glynn, who says "I agree that it's just mean to attack the man for his weight problem, especially when his recent speeches have been so, well, shall we say, unfocused. I mean, "Our nation has nothing to fear at this time except... except the Big... Bad Wolf." What was THAT about?"

*First appearance of Toshiko Sato, who will later appear in 'Torchwood'

*Music heard in this episode: 'Starman' by David Bowie