Cast: Charles Dickens (Simon Callow), Gabriel Sneed (Alan David), Gwyneth (Eve Myles), Redpath (Huw Rhys), Mrs. Peace (Jennifer Hill), Driver (Meic Povey)

Crew:
Writer: Mark Gatiss, Script Editor: Elwen Rowlands, Director: Euros Lyn

Synopsis: The Doctor and Rose meet Charles Dickens and in a Cardiff funeral parlour they encounter the mysterious Gelth, a creature which lives within the gas pipes and has deadly plans for humanity.

'The Unquiet Dead' Background and Summary: This story was another 'first' in the history of the revival of Doctor Who: It was the first story of the new series not be to written by executive producer and head-writer Russell T Davies, and as such was extremely important. It demonstrated two very significant things: Firstly that the pace and unfamiliar style of Rose and The End of the World were purely down to the writing of Russell T Davies and secondly, that this more 'traditional' Doctor Who story was generally more appealing and more popular than the opening two stories.

Drawing strongly on the atmosphere of The Talons of Weng-Chiang and general themes of The Image of the Fenhal, the writer Mark Gatiss took the brief outline provided by Russell T Davies and created a wonderful story which felt more like 'classic' Doctor Who than anything produced after the 1970s. Whist the first two stories of this season were comparable to very little seen before in Doctor Who, the idea of an alien apparition in a historical setting is a successful format in Doctor Who as seen in The Time Meddler, The Time Warrior and The Talons of Weng Chiang. Tthe general feel of The Unquiet Dead owes as much to the Big Finish Audio dramas as it draws on ideas from Winter for the Adept, Storm Warning, Medicinal Purposes and of course Mark Gatiss' own Phantasmagoria - a title which is referenced by Dickens early in the story.

What Gatiss' story shows is that Doctor Who can remain very close to its roots and still appeal to a large audience. Whereas Russell T Davies opening two stories were fast, frivolous and occasionally immature, The Unquiet Dead is gentler, darker and altogether more mature and the audience appreciation was extremely positive. The BBC noted on its website that feedback was full of praise from parents who were delighted that their children were scared by the same programme that they had been. Whilst Rose and The End of the World are each filled with great one-liners, excellent scenes and stunning set pieces, they don't somehow become more than the sum of their parts. The Unquiet Dead on the other hand is not packed so extensively with quips and 'moments' but succeeds because it satisfies every person who was beginning to wonder if the new series of Doctor Who could produce a story that would have sat comfortably in the heart of any successful season from the past.

Classic Series Influences and References:

• Dickens asks "What is this Phantasmagoria?" which is the title of Mark Gatiss' first Big Finish Audio story.
• The Doctor refers to witnessing the siege of Troy which he did in The Myth Makers.
• The Doctor mentioned World War V. In The Talons of Weng-Chaing, to which this story owes a lot, the Doctor mentions the near-start of World War VI.
• Living from childhood near a rift in the space/time continuum as a cause of 'psychic' ability in humans is also explored in Image Of The Fendahl.
• The Doctor's directions for Rose to find the wardrobe are an echo of the Fourth Doctor giving Leela directions to the VIP suite in The Invasion of Time.