Inspirations - Bad Wolf

 

The first half of 2005's Series 1 finale is very much inspired by contemporary TV shows - which were highly popular in 2005. 

The episode opens with the Doctor waking up to find himself in the Big Brother House.

This reality TV series was created by John De Mol in 1997, and within a year or two there were national versions all over the globe. The UK version was screened on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2010. It was relaunched by Channel 5 in 2011. As well as the version for "ordinary" folks there is also a "celebrity" version - both finally came to an end in 2018.

The basic premise was that a disparate group of fame-hungry people would be forced to live together for a number of weeks, watched constantly by cameras. The viewers would vote out their least favourite housemates each week - with the last person winning the prize. Some winners went on to become TV presenters and / or to feature in a string of other increasingly desperate reality shows.

The original C4 version was presented by Davina McColl, who features here as the voice of the Davina-Droid. The House is based on the one seen in the series, and a new, but recognisable, arrangement of the theme music has been used.

The Doctor sits in a big red chair, of the sort usually seen in the diary room on the show.

Rose finds herself in a deadly version of The Weakest Link. This early evening quiz was hugely popular on the BBC, and in 2007 there was a Doctor Who special - which sadly did not include Billie Piper.

The presenter is former journalist and TV critic Anne Robinson. This also began in 2000, and ended in 2017. Robinson features as the voice of the Anne-Droid, which is based on her appearance - red hair and dressed in black.

Captain Jack, meanwhile, is trapped in a version of the fashion series What Not To Wear. Another BBC show, it was launched in 2001. The presenters were Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, who appear here as androids Trin-E and Zu-zanna. They left after the fifth season, and it ended in 2007.

The premise of this show was that people would get a complete fashion make-over. As with both series above, there was the occasional celebrity version.

Two other series mentioned, but not seen, are Stars In Their Eyes and Groundforce.

In the first, members of the public got to portray their favourite pop stars, singing one of their songs whilst dressed like them. This was an ITV series, which ran from 1990 to 2006. This has just been revamped as Starstruck. Once again there was the odd celebrity special, and one for children.

Groundforce was a BBC gardening show, in which people's gardens were given a surprise makeover.

As far as Doctor Who itself is concerned, there are a couple of references to the series' past. 

When the Controller is first seen, she is linked up to various pipe or tubes, and we see that these make a hexagonal pattern after she is teleported away. These are visual references to the Dalek Emperor from The Evil of the Daleks - a hint as to its reappearance the following week.

Even before we see the reflection of a Dalek move towards the Controller, fans of the classic series know where she is just from the sound effects. We hear the "Dalek Heartbeat" sound. This has been used for Dalek control room backgrounds ever since 1963.

Bringing things up to date, the action takes place in the same location as The Long Game, and we find out that the current situation on Earth came about because of the Doctor's actions in that story.

Satellite 5 is now known as The Game Station, and it is being run by the Bad Wolf Corporation. This gives the episode its title, but it won't be until next week that we discover just who or what this is...