| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Friends on a Train was the fifth episode of Season 52 of Doctor Who. It was written by Jane Espenson, directed by Mick Jackson and featured Adjoa Andoh as the Fifteenth Doctor, Daniel Adegboyega as Pete Fletcher, Shelley King as Sally Brennen and Jane Wymark as Annie Downes.
Synopsis
On the journey to a romantic getaway to Paris for the night, Sally and Annie find themselves knee deep in danger, as a stray Sontaran starts lurking the carriages of the Eurostar. Luckily for them, the Doctor and Pete find themselves there, but are they exactly welcome?
Plot
To be added.
Cast
- The Doctor - Adjoa Andoh
- Pete Fletcher - Daniel Adegboyega
- Sally Brennen - Shelley King
- Annie Downes - Jane Wymark
- Laxruax - Dan Starkey
- Bill - Asif Khan
- Train Driver - Hazel Altherton
- Conductor - Daniel Joseph Woolf
Crew
- Created by Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber
- Executive Producer - Jane Espenson
- Co-Executive Producers - Adrian Hodges, Toby Whithouse, Sarah Dollard and Pete McTighe
- Director of Photography - Ivan Strasburg
- Production Designer - Richard Hudolin
- Visual Effects - DNEG
- Make-Up - Suzanne Jansen
- Casting Director - Andy Pryor
- Music - Bear McCreary
- Costume Designer - Glenne Campbell
- Edited by - Justine Wright
- Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
- Title Music - Bear McCreary
- Title Sequence - Peter Anderson Studios
- Sontarans created by Robert Holmes
Memorable Quotes
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Background Information
Production History
- To be added.
Development
- When realising the episode, Jane Espenson had aimed to have the episode complete a few goals:
- It had to move the Doctor’s character in a more Doctor-ish direction.
- It had to reintroduce both Sally and Annie, and make them companions.
- It had to feature a big-name returning monster. That big-name returning monster was decided to be a lone Sontaran.
- The episode had to be rushed out, due to the production and release schedule.
- It was also decided that the episode would all take place in one location, on a train. For the novelty, and also claustrophobia of it, Espenson decided to set it on the Eurostar, travelling through the Eurotunnel.
- The other change in this episode is the Doctor’s costume. The Doctor’s main look, with her t-shirt and leather jacket was scrapped, on order from high, as it was considered to gritty and dark, and according to one ‘problematic’ account “too black”. The Doctor’s costume was therefore redesigned, giving her a brown pinstriped suit, which followed the same general layout of her original costume, with a t-shirt underneath, followed by the brown suit jacket over the top, as the leather jacket had done beforehand.
Production
- To be added.
Post-Production
- To be added.
Release
- To be added.
Reaction
- This episode received a 7-Day Viewing Figure from BARB of 6.48 million viewers. It ranked at 9th over the week, which changed to 8th when the 28-Day Figures came out, putting the episode at 6.91 million viewers.
Story Notes
- To be added.
Continuity
- To be added.
Home Video Releases
To be added.