Fear Her

176 – "Fear Her"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
Others Nina Sosanya – Trish Abisola Agbaje – Chloe Webber Edna Doré – Maeve Tim Faraday – Tom's Dad Abdul Salis – Kel Richard Nichols – Driver Erica Eirian – Neighbour Stephen Marzella – Police Officer Huw Edwards – Commentator
Production
Writer	Matthew Graham
Director	Euros Lyn
Script editor	Simon Winstone
Producer	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Series	Series 2
Length	45 minutes
Originally broadcast	24 June 2006 7:00 PM
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Love & Monsters" "Army of Ghosts"

"Fear Her" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 24 June 2006.

The episode takes part on the day of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, almost exclusively on a fictitious cul-de-sac named after the British athlete Kelly Holmes. While originally only intending to visit the ceremony, the Doctor and Rose investigate a child with the ability to make people disappear by drawing them.

Plot

The TARDIS materialises on Dame Kelly Holmes Close on the day of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. The neighbourhood is preparing for the passing of the Olympic torch-bearer, but the mood has been destroyed by the inexplicable disappearances of several local children. A council worker, Kel, also mentions that cars have been breaking down momentarily all day. The Doctor and Rose investigate and realise that the source of the problems is a solitary 12-year old girl, Chloe Webber, who is able to cause people to disappear by drawing them. The Doctor hypnotises Chloe and finds that she is possessed by an immature Isolus, an alien life-form used to travelling through space with a family of billions and which has crashed its pod to Earth due to a solar flare. The Isolus has befriended Chloe as she had a troubled childhood and it relates to her loneliness. Besides snatching people, this has also caused Chloe to draw a life-sized, exaggerated figure of her late, violent father, which briefly has become animated.

The Doctor explains that if they can find the Isolus pod and provide it power, the alien will leave Chloe. A frantic Chloe draws the TARDIS and the Doctor, trapping them both in one of her sketches, forcing Rose to try to find the pod herself. She rationalises that the pod is located on the hottest spot on the street, and is able to dig it up. With Chloe having already caused the entire crowd at the Olympic stadium to disappear and now intent on making everyone in the world disappear, Rose tries to find out how to power the pod. Thanks to visual indications from the Doctor's "picture", Rose understands that she needs to offer the pod heat mixed with emotional strength, which she does by throwing the pod towards the Olympic Torch. As the missing children start to reappear, Rose realises that so will the demon-like drawing that Chloe had made of her father. Rose and Chloe's mother are able to calm Chloe enough and the (unseen) monster disappears.

As the torch-bearer approaches the Olympic Stadium, he staggers, but the Doctor completes the run and lights the Olympic Flame, allowing the Isolus to peacefully leave Chloe's body and return home. As the Doctor and Rose walk off to watch the Games, Rose remarks that however hard they attempt, nothing will ever split the two of them up. However, the Doctor becomes uneasy and surmises that a storm is approaching.

Continuity

The episode, with its stand-alone nature, has very few links to other episodes: Torchwood is again mentioned, on the television during the scene where Chloe abducts Olympic spectators.^[1] The Doctor invokes the Shadow Proclamation which was an intergalactic code used in "Rose" to gain an audience with the Nestene Consciousness,^[2] and mentions that his dislike of cats stems from "being threatened by one in a nun's wimple", which occurred in "New Earth".^[3] The Doctor also tells Rose that he was once a father; Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, was one of the First Doctor's companions.

Production

The episode was an overcommissioned episode, which replaced a planned but unproduced script by Stephen Fry.^[4] Early drafts of this episode were titled "Chloe Webber Destroys the Earth", and later, "You're a Bad Girl, Chloe Webber",^[5] with one such draft having the episode take place on another planet.^[6]

Due to Fry's script being dropped, production of some episodes of the second series had to be rescheduled, with "Fear Her" being produced alongside "The Idiot's Lantern". The episode was filmed during late January and early February 2006, with the cold temperatures experienced during filming being explained in the plot as part of the Isolus' endothermic nature. The majority of the episode, including exterior shots and Chloe's home, was filmed in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff, with a majority of the remainder filmed in the Doctor Who studios in Newport. Dame Kelly Holmes, who was mentioned in the episode, was considered for the part of the torchbearer, but was committed to Dancing On Ice at the time.^[4]

Cast notes

Nina Sosanya and David Tennant both starred in the 2005 BBC production of Casanova, also produced by Doctor Who producer Russell T Davies.

Outside References

At the beginning of the episode, and again at the end, Chloe is singing the popular Australian nursery rhyme "Kookaburra" written by Marion Sinclair.

When he stops the scribble monster attacking Rose, The Doctor calls the object the "Go-Anywhere Creature," quipping that it "fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, (and) breaks the ice at parties." This is a reference to the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch "Jokes and Novelties Salesman". Later, the Doctor flashes the Vulcan salute when talking to Chloe.

Broadcast and DVD release

• Overnight viewing figures on first broadcast were 6.6 million, with a 39.7% audience share.^[7] The episode's final rating was 7.14 million.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Bad Wolf". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Joe Ahearne, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2005-06-11.
2. ^ "Rose". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Keith Boak, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2005-03-26.
3. ^ "New Earth". Writer Russell T Davies, Director James Hawes, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2006-04-15.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Sullivan, Shannon Patrick (2006-07-27). "Fear Her". A Brief History of Time (Travel). http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006k.html. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 
5. ^ Arnopp, Jason (19 July 2006). "TV Preview: Fear Her". Doctor Who Magazine (371): 25. 
6. ^ Russell, Gary: (2006). Doctor Who: The Inside Story. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-48639-X. , p. 230.
7. ^ Lyon, Shaun (2006-06-25). "Fear Her Overnights, Army of Ghosts Trailer". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 23 March 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070323034233/http://www2.gallifreyone.com/news-archives.php?id=6-2006#newsitemEEVEFpElFEqRfhGYmB. Retrieved 2007-04-07. 

External links

• Fear Her on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki
• TARDISODE 11
• "the thirtieth olympiad" - episode trailer
• Episode commentary by Euros Lyn, Abisola Agbaje and Steffan Morris (MP3)
• "Fear Her" episode homepage
• "Fear Her" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Fear Her" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• "Fear Her" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• "Fear Her" at Outpost Gallifrey
• "Fear Her" at TV.com
• "Fear Her" at the Internet Movie Database

Reviews

• "Fear Her" reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide