Doctor Who/Recap/2006 CS the Runaway Bride: Difference between revisions

{{quote| '''The Doctor:''' You’ve seen it out there. It’s beautiful.<br />

Just as the Doctor says a last goodbye to Rose, [[Catherine Tate|some random broad]] pops up in the TARDIS. ([[Big Finish Doctor Who/Recap/S1 E1/E01 Blood of the Daleks Part One/NEDA/Recap|Again.]]) Neither of them was expecting this. And she's wearing a wedding dress.

The plucky and rather rude bride -- onebride—one Donna Noble, of Chiswick -- demandsChiswick—demands to be put back on Earth ''right now, damn it.'' She's getting married! Unfortunately, our old friends the pilot fish (see The Christmas Invasion) have come back to help the [[Monster of the Week]] by kidnapping Donna. Fortunately, the Doctor convinces her to jump into his TARDIS out of a speeding car. Which is quite an accomplishment, seeing as the Doctor just told Donna that his last companion girl is now "gone" and she found Rose's vest in the TARDIS, meaning she's pretty convinced that the Doctor is a deranged serial killer. The (still Christmas-themed) pilot fish also crash the wedding reception, which is being held without Donna, who is rather indignant upon discovering this.

She and her fiance, Lance, go along with the Doctor to help find out what's going on. They avoid the "pilot fish" and find a Racnoss nest inside a Thames Flood Barrier, in the basement of the company where Donna temps. Which, unbeknownst to Donna, turns out to be part of Torchwood.

Turns out Donna's fiance was actually the consort of the [[Large Ham|Racnoss Empress]], who truly makes [[Evil Is Hammy]] into an art form. Lance had been feeding Donna Huron particles in order to make her a catalyst and trigger a ship. That ship will carry a whole nest of Racnoss babies in the Earth's core up to the surface of the Earth. And, in the Empress' words, "Racnoss are born starving!" That's right: they would eat everything on Earth.

The Doctor uses Huron particle trickery to save his and Donna's lives, and they rush off to work on defeating this new menace. He also shows Donna the beginning of the formation of Earth, which turns out to have formed around the gravitational field of an ancient Racnoss nest. The Empress decides that she'll need a new "key" -- and—and lucky her, she has Lance right there! One of the pilot fish grabs Donna and drags her away.

The Doctor realizes a bit too late that Donna's awfully quiet, and next thing we know, Donna and Lance are tied up in a web over the tunnel to the ship. The Empress messes with them for a bit, before she decides that she doesn't approve of Lance's treatment of Donna. So, like any sane, rational alien lady, she cuts him down -- droppingdown—dropping him into the pit for her children. She monologues a bit, before turning and revealing one of the pilot fish as a masked Doctor, who gets Donna down from the web. Guess what? The Doctor has [[Running Gag|pockets!]] The Doctor gives the Empress one last chance, but turns out to be ''very'' firm on his new "one chance only" rule he instated earlier this season. He murders the entire nest of Racnoss babies by flooding it [[No Kill Like Overkill|and setting everything on fire at the same time]], completely horrifying Donna. Oh, and draining the Thames. She tells him to ''stop and get out'', and ([[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 S30/E11 Turn Left|as we learn much later]]) does the universe a huge favor in the process.

Donna tries to come to terms with the fact that her fiance was just using her for her Huron-particle-catalyzing body. She goes home, turning down the Doctor's offer of traveling with him and leaving him alone (at least, [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 E1S30/E01 Partners in Crime|for now]]). But not before telling him he should find someone, because occasionally, he needs somebody to ''stop'' him.

=== Tropes ===

{{quote| '''The Doctor''': [[You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With|Oh, but I'm not from Mars]]. My home is far away and [[Doomed Hometown|long since lost]]. But its name lives on. ''Gallifrey''.}}

* [[Bad Santa]]: The pilot fish, [[Doctor Who/Recap/2005 CS the Christmas Invasion/Recap|again]].

** The Doctor also utilizes the Extrapolator from [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 S27/E11 Boom Town|Boom Town]].

* [[Continuity Nod]]: A rather nice one in ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]''. When the centre of the Earth becomes important to the story, Jack wonders if the Racnoss Empress is responsible.

* [[Landmarking the Hidden Base]]: The Racnoss has set up shop in an abandoned Torchwood base under the Thames flood barrier. Donna is incredulous, the Doctor (who's [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 E1S27/E01 Rose|used]] [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E5S28/E05 Rise of the Cybermen|to]] [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 S27/E12 Bad Wolf|it]]), less so.

{{quote| '''Donna''': What, there's like a secret base hidden under a major London landmark? <br />

* [[Missing the Good Stuff]]: Donna was hungover and out of town for the [[Doctor Who/Recap/2005 CS the Christmas Invasion/Recap|Sycorax]] and in the middle of nowhere in Spain for [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 S28/E12 Army of Ghosts|the]] [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 S28/E13 Doomsday|Cybermen]].