Episode 7: ‘Kill the Moon’
Air date: Saturday 4 October 2014, 8.30pm.
Written by Peter Harness.
Directed by Paul Wilmshurst.
Guest cast: Hermione Norris, Ellis George, Tony Osoba, Phil Nice, Christopher Dane.
Official synopsis: “In the near future, the Doctor and Clara find themselves on a space shuttle making a suicide mission to the Moon. Crash-landing on the lunar surface, they find a mining base full of corpses, vicious spider-like creatures poised to attack, and a terrible dilemma. When Clara turns to the Doctor for help, she gets the shock of her life.”
Peter Harness: “I might have worried a little about making it too dark. But I don’t feel I did – it’s more challenging than Doctor Who sometimes is, but I think it’s good for audiences and writers to be outside of their comfort zone sometimes.”
Peter Harness: “They filmed in Lanzarote, which has these incredible volcanic vistas and craters; it looks a lot like the surface of the Moon – and it’s where, I think, they trained a lot of the original Apollo astronauts.”
Peter Harness: “Perhaps more than any episode so far this series, we’ll see just how alien this new Doctor is. By the end of this episode – and I know we say this kind of thing a lot, but believe us – things will never be the same again. I still don’t know how people will take it. I’ve never see the Doctor do something like this before.”
Steven Moffat: “In the near future, The Doctor and Clara arrive on a decrepit shuttle making a suicide mission to the Moon. Crashing on the lunar surface, they find a mining base full of eviscerated corpses, spider-like creatures scuttling about in the dark, and a terrible dilemma.”
Hermione Norris: “I did an episode of Doctor Who, which I did for [my son] actually because I couldn’t have turned down an episode of Doctor Who. And I don’t know if I’m allowed to say anything – I think you have to sign the Official Secrets Act! He’s extraordinary, Peter [Capaldi] – just watching him I was interested to see what he would do.”
Steven Moffat: “Proper drama. It’s quite a big statement of where we are now with the show. And there’s a callback to a past episode.”
Hermione Norris: “It’s exciting to be part of such an iconic show, and one that my kids can watch!!!”
Steven Moffat: “It’s a testament to the quality of Peter Harness’s intense and emotional script, that we’ve been able to attract an actress of the brilliance of Hermione Norris. And for the first time since 1984, the Doctor Who production team is heading to Lanzarote. The Doctor is returning to the scene of an old adventure – but there have been sinister changes since his last visit.”
Peter Harness: “It’s an honour to be telling a rather crazy story for Clara and a wonderful new Doctor.”