Inspirations - Boom Town

At one point Episode 11 was going to be a much bigger affair. Russell T Davies had an idea for a story involving the volcanic destruction of Pompeii. As the series took shape, it became apparent that this slot would have to be a cheap one, and so the Pompeii idea was put on the backburner for later use.

(You will recall that the Doctor and Captain Jack talked about "Volcano Day" in the previous story - a left-over link to what might have followed).

Writer Paul Abbott was also being considered for this slot, but it would have been unfair to limit him with a production with little money, and he was too busy working on the first series of Shameless anyway. Apparently Abbott's idea was based around the fact that the Doctor had created Rose in an experiment to make the perfect companion.

The story title is a play on the phrase relating to a place which gains some rapid financial success - such as the settlements where gold or oil are discovered. Here it is "boom" as in economic bonus, rather than the sound of an explosion - which is just what Cardiff's new mayor is planning.

This is a sequel to the Slitheen two-parter, Aliens of London / World War Three, which featured Margaret Blaine as one of the disguised alien creatures. RTD had felt bad about not fully utilising the talents of Annette Badland, and so promised her a return with a juicier role to play in the proceedings. 

When last seen, Margaret and her relatives were in Downing Street, scrambling to get back into their body suits as a missile bore down on them.

Here we learn that she was the sole survivor, having managed to teleport herself away to the nearby Isle of Dogs. It's now six months later, and she has managed to get herself elected Mayor of Cardiff.

her plan is to build a nuclear power station in the middle of the city - one deliberately designed to blow up. The Welsh title for this project is Blaidd Drwg - Bad Wolf.

It was intended, with the finale approaching, that this was the point when the Doctor would first notice this phrase - or at least verbalise that he has noticed it cropping up a lot recently. 

The story was designed to show the TARDIS crew - including Mickey - working together as a team, prior to the finale.

It also sets up the idea that the TARDIS console can be opened up and the vortex energy it contains can be manipulated into doing whatever the plot requires - another set-up for the finale.

It was also meant to remind the audience about the Cardiff Rift in time and space, which was to play a significant role later - so it is also a sequel to The Unquiet Dead, and a prequel to the whole of Torchwood.

It was also a chance to show the Doctor having to face the consequences of his actions - hence the working title "Dining With Monsters".

The sequence at the start with Margaret speaking to the journalist whilst in the toilets was inspired by Jon Pertwee's famous saying about a Yeti on your loo in Tooting Bec being scarier than meeting one in outer space.

The planet Justicia is mentioned. This was a tie-in to the first of the new series of novels featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose which were being released in batches of three (specifically The Monsters Inside). 

In this first new series, the action did not stray far from Earth - RTD arguing that viewers would not find the Zog people of the planet Zog interesting or relatable. Alien planets like Justicia and Woman Wept are being visited, just not on screen. Despite the amount of money being thrown at the new series, this parochialism does make the 2005 series look rather cheap.

Next time - the episode is called "Bad Wolf", but we don't actually get to know who or what Bad Wolf is quite yet. Just about all the inspiration will be coming from popular TV shows - including Doctor Who...