Alien babies made of human fat. Created by an alien nurse. From human fat. This is just a bit disturbing.
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This is the podcast that introduces a whole new generation to Doctor Who by watching an episode each week and discussing it from the perspective of a dad who’s seen it before, and two sons who haven’t.  

Welcome to Episode 42 covering Season 4 episode 1: Partners in Crime

Super-short Recap

This is the one where the Doctor fights a Nurse. Well, a matron. Well, Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class.

Hey, remember Donna? Well, she remembers the Doctor. She’s been investigating every strange thing she can because she’s sure he’ll show up at one of them eventually. As it happens, she and the Doctor both start investigating weight-loss company Adipose, it’s owner Mrs. Foster, and their claims of miraculous results. Something strange is happening. Donna interviews an Adipose customer and she vanishes leaving behind the weirdest smurf Donna has ever seen. The Doctor gets a ding on his fatty-watty detector and goes running after whatever it’s found.

After several near-misses, Donna and the Doctor finally, hilariously, bump into each other while discovering the evil plan behind Adipose. Turns out, the pill turns fat into cute little creatures. And Foster is really Matron Cofelia of the  Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class and the foster mother to a new generation of adipose and now her plan has to go into overdrive. The Doctor tries to stop her and eventually succeeds, thanks to Donna. In the process, the Doctor discovers the adiposian plan to eliminate Matron Cofelia and stops the inducer from turning a million London residents into albino smurfs.

Donna is ready to finally go with the Doctor, but he seems reluctant. He wants to make sure Donna is sure she wants to go. She is, so he is, so they do, but not without doing a fly-by of Wilfred Mott’s spot on the hill.

The end.

Production notes

  • Story # 189
  • Originally aired and April 5, 2008 to 9.14 million viewers
  • Written by: Russell T
  • Directed by: James Strong
  • Awards: none

Cast – the doctor who?

  • Donna Noble – Catherine Tate
    • Had her own comedy sketch show called The Catherine Tate Show.
    • Did a Comic Relief sketch as her famous character, Lauren Cooper, with Tennant playing a substitute teacher who turns out to be The Doctor.
    • She also played Nellie Bertram in The Office, one of my least favorite characters in the whole run of that show.
  • Geoff Noble – Howard Attfield
    • He was set to return as Donna’s dad and even filmed a few scenes before suddenly passing away
    • This is why we have Wilf
  • Wilfred Mott – Bernard Cribbins
    • He was a fairly famous character actor
    • We saw him in Voyage of the Damned as the newsstand operator
    • Before that episode even aired, they decided to bring him on as Wilf for the next season.
      • They inserted a line in The Sontaran Stratagem saying that he’d had the Spanish flu a year prior and that’s why he wasn’t at Donna’s wedding.
    • He was actually considered for the role of the Fourth Doctor at one point but lost out to Tom Baker

Special effects –

  • CGI
    • Adipose – these were created using software that Weta Digital created for LotR

Checklist – Well…

  • Baddie of the week
    • Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class
  • Well… count
    • Episode count – 1
      • Still alone? Yeah. Well, no.
    • Running count – 38
  • Jiberty Jaberty (tell everyone what that means)
    • Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch specifically for…
  • Jiggery Pokery (tell everyone what that means)
    • Psychic paper
      • Donna was mimicking the psychic paper with a business card
    • Sonic
      • Can lock through glass at a distance
      • He locked the controls with a sonic cage
      • Dueling sonics – screwdriver vs. pen
      • But Foster was able to deadlock the whole building
      • Cuts ropes
    • TARDIS –
      • It’s bigger on the inside… yeah yeah, I know that bit.
      • Apparently, it’s cold inside
    • Random
      • He blew on his finder-gadget like a Nintendo cartridge
  • Who was Rose
    • Still trapped.
    • Or is she
  • Who was Martha?
    • She was brilliant.
    • He destroyed half her life.
    • Must’ve been good for him.
      • Yeah, she fancied me.
      • Mad Martha, that one. Blind Martha. Charity Martha.
  • Who is Donna?
    • Her mom is on her case to make plans for her life. She says “No one is gonna come by with a magic wand and save you.”
    • She regrets not going with the Doctor
    • She’s been investigating every weird, dangerous thing knowing that eventually, he’d show up
    • She was a fool for turning down the offer to travel with him.
  • Who is Wilf?
    • He believes for sure we’ll get to Venus one day and that there are aliens out there.
    • Old army man. Has a Parachute Regiment insignia on his cap. This was actually Bernard’s cap.

Who is The Doctor?

  • He’s lonely… Talking to himself and realizes he’s alone.
  • He wears the same suit apparently
  • He’s slippery, that one. – Foster
  • He gave the Matron one chance to stop. Then, he’s going to have to stop her.
  • What’s happened? I think the Doctor’s happened
  • I figured, hot weather, cold weather, no weather. He goes anywhere!
  • He would rather NOT be on his own.

Other stuff we noticed

  • I’m not really a cat person. No, I’ve met cat people, you’re nothing like them
  • “Atmos” sticker on the cab window
  • Amazing amount of Tennant teeth in this episode
  • I’m waving at fat!

Classic Who Connection

  • Jared takes a deep dive into the sonic screwdriver

Overall impressions

  • Overall rating out of 10 –
    • Austin – 8 of 10 sonic cages
    • Corbin – 8 out of 10 snaggle teeth
    • Tripp – 8 out of 10 fat guys
    • Jared – 7 sonic devices
  • Creep Level – out of 500
    • Austin – 77
    • Corbin – 50
    • Tripp – 78
    • Jared – 375 for the creepy little fat creatures

Listener Input

  • Jared’s second segment issuing some correction to our Classic Who episode

Next Time…

Join us next time as we discuss season 4 episode 2: The Fires of Pompeii.

Noobs and the Whovian is a production of Master Closet Studios, where it’s always smaller on the inside. Your Senior Producer is Austin Reason. Our Audio Engineer is Tripp Reason. Corbin Reason is our Production Editor. Special thanks to tardis.wikia.com for the trivia and Star and the staff of the Timberglen Library in Dallas for the books.

You can find us at facebook.com/noobsandthewhovian and email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you found us, and share us with a friend.

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