History Recap / DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned

* HumanAliens: If it weren't for Bannakaffalatta or the dialogue, no one on board ''really'' looks like they're from another planet.

* NotSoDifferent: The Doctor and Astrid have a conversation about why she decided to sign up on the cruise, wanting to see different skies, rather than stay on her own boring planet, much like the Doctor did.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Rickston declaring the officer who opens a dead airlock, despite the Doctor's warnings, and insists everything will be alright, an idiot. Also, while it's mean-spirited and in bad taste, even Morvin ([[FamousLastWords as his last words]]) admits that Rickston's demand that Morvin and Foon, the two heaviest members of the group, should go last across the precarious bridge is totally sound and sensible. Finally, he's right-on when he mentions that Foon's request for the Doctor to come back across the bridge to her will just get everyone killed, and even the Doctor realizes it.

** At the same time, it's not as though he deserved comeuppance ''for anything''. His only "crime" was being greedy and rude, and by all indication, he was just an average wealthy socialite, just like almost everyone else on the ship. He didn't deserve to die any more than anyone else on board. It is the fact that the Doctor ''wishes'' he died instead of some of the others that serves as an early indication as to how dark he can get when left alone, [[YouBastard and shows that many of the audience would fall into the same traps he does later on]].

The Doctor, who's appeared aboard after his TARDIS accidentally crashed into it at the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords the last episode]], can recognize a dire portent when he sees one. He quickly repairs the damage to the TARDIS' interior and then properly materializes on board the ship, donning his tuxedo (in spite of his bad luck with wearing them) to blend in with the crowd. He befriends several of the guests on the ship, including the lovely [[Music/KylieMinogue Astrid Peth]], a [[{{Meido}} waitress]] that has taken this job to further her dream of travelling through space and seeing the stars. Although he's a stowaway, the Doctor dons his best tuxedo and poses as a passenger with privilege... Now if only his tuxedo weren't a calling card for bad luck...

The ship's historian, Mr. Copper, offers to show a group of people on board the ''Titanic'' a tour of Earth, using a teleporter system and matching bracelets for those who want to explore the planet as the ship orbits the pretty blue world. Except, Mr. Copper has very little accurate knowledge about the Earth after spending his life on Sto (and having gotten his degree from a diploma mill). The Doctor goes down with the party to London, and is concerned when he finds the normally packed streets are totally deserted. Except for the newsstand vendor on the street where they've landed, [[ChekhovsGunman Wilfred Mott]], who tells them that after two prior Christmases with alien invasions, the populace of London have chosen to flee to the countryside, leaving the shopping district a ghost town. A newscaster is reporting that the Queen is also staying put in Buckingham Palace this year to show the public that there's no reason to fear, and Wilf is probably the only other person besides her willing to take a chance. The Doctor assures him, "[[TemptingFate Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about-"]] only for him and the rest of the landing party to be instantly teleported back to the ''Titanic''. "Then again..." Wilf mutters.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Bernard Cribbins as the unidentified newspaper vendor who is revealed in the next series to be Donna Noble's grandfather, Wilfred Mott.

'''Rickston:''' Then he's a ''dead'' idiot.\\

* VillainyFreeVillain: Among the initial survivors, Rickston is an obnoxious, whiny {{Jerkass}} who isn't shy about his contempt for the other survivors and is just a punchable prick in general. However, to his credit, he never makes the situation worse for anyone and doesn't actually ''do'' anything malicious, which gives considerable weight to Mr. Copper's speech about The Doctor deciding who lives and who dies.

With Capricorn dead, the Doctor now has full command of the Host, who have defaulted to the next highest authority, and messianically spreads his arms to have the angels carry him up to... the bridge. It's time to stop the ''Titanic'' from crashing. The Doctor comforts the wounded Midshipman Frame and asks what his name is... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts to his wonderful delight]], it's [[ContinuityNod Alonso]]. With an "''Allons-y'', Alonzo!", the Doctor does everything he can with Alonzo to regain control of the rapidly crashing starliner before it creates a nuclear catastrophe, while the surviving passengers — and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Rickston]] — hang on for dear life. The Doctor really knuckles down when the ship crosses through Earth's atmosphere. He calls Buckingham Palace to have it evacuated and even manages to keep the ''Titanic'' from crashing into London. The Queen waves at him as he sails past. Poor Wilfred Mott, who still remembers what his granddaughter went through last year, shouts in outrage at the sight of the ship as those aliens threaten to antagonize the third Christmas in a row.

* CrushKillDestroy: Information: Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

* InconvenientSummons: The Doctor is teleported back to the ship while in the middle of a conversation with Wilfred. Right while he's trying to reassure the man nothing weird will happen, even.

* ChristmasEpisode: "Look, I don't know where you're getting your information, but you're completely wrong. [[AnAssKickingChristmas Christmas isn't a barbaric festival of blood.]] It's about love and thanksgiving and generosity and... who am I kidding, all of my Christmases are like this."

-->"Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is he? But I suppose if you could choose who lives and who dies, that would make you some kind of monster."

* RecycledInSpace: ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' [-IN SPACE-]! It's even lampshaded, since the space ship is appropriately named the ''Titanic''.

The ship's historian, Mr. Copper offers to show a group of people on board the ''Titanic'' a tour of Earth, using a teleporter system and matching bracelets for those who want to explore the planet as the ship orbits the pretty blue world. Except, Mr. Copper has very little accurate knowledge about the Earth after spending his life on Sto (and having gotten his degree from a diploma mill). The Doctor goes down with the party to London, and is concerned when he finds the normally packed streets are totally deserted. Except for the newsstand vendor on the street where they've landed, [[ChekhovsGunman Wilfred Mott]], who tells them that after two prior Christmases with alien invasions, the populace of London have chosen to flee to the countryside, leaving the shopping district a ghost town. A newscaster is reporting that the Queen is also staying put in Buckingham Palace this year to show the public that there's no reason to fear, and Wilf is probably the only other person besides her willing to take a chance. The Doctor assures him, "[[TemptingFate Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about-"]] only for him and the rest of the landing party to be instantly teleported back to the ''Titanic''. "Then again..." Wilf mutters.

Just when the Doctor and company return to the ''Titanic'' and are all set to enjoy a relaxing cruise around the Earth, the ship's captain, Hardaker, sets the [[CerebusSyndrome trouble]] into motion. He deactivates the spaceship's shields, then magnetizes the hull to purposely attract three blazing meteors so they crash against the ship. He's in league with his boss's evil plan to destroy the ''Titanic''. The captain is bound and determined to [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself]]; he's already [[SoapOperaDisease terminally ill]], and because of the life insurance being offered for his family as compensation, that's all it takes to extinguish whatever hope is left for him to keep on living and carry out this kamikaze mission. The Doctor notices the meteors and tries to alert the captain, but a steward forces him away from a system he isn't authorized to use. He rushes over to a singer's microphone and at least manages to make a few heads turn with the warning they're in danger. These smart few people follow him to safety. Midshipman [[ChekhovsGunman Alonso Frame]] tries to stop the captain from destroying the ''Titanic'', but gets shot for his efforts. The captain reaps his death wish, while many, many more people are decimated by both the resultant meteor rain creaming sections of the ship... and the once-docile Heavenly Host carrying out orders to kill off everyone on the ''Titanic''. From this point on, all hell breaks loose. The Doctor tries to mount a rescue operation, but the damage to the ''Titanic'' jars his TARDIS loose from the wreckage, where it follows its programming to head towards the nearest source of gravity, in this case Earth. Now, he has to do things the hard way and navigate everyone through the forsaken vessel while Heavenly Hosts are running amok.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Averted. The four ''Titanic'' survivors (including the Doctor) are all male, in stark contrast to the actual ''Titanic''.[[note]]On the real ''Titanic'', female survivors outnumbered male survivors by a wide margin[[/note]] Indeed, nobody in-universe makes any distinction.

Just as we exoticise other cultures, apparently, aliens exoticise ours. Or the parts of Earth culture they like, stuck together willy-nilly so that the end result is a charming Earth Christmas pleasure cruise... set aboard a spaceship recreation of Earth's most famous ship, the [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic RMS]] ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]''.

The Doctor, who's appeared aboard after accidentally crashing into it (picking up from the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords last episode]]), can recognize a dire portent when he sees one. He quickly repairs the damage to the TARDIS' interior and then properly materializes on board the ship. Sure enough, it's not long before trouble arises: the ship's mechanical servants start to malfunction and harm people. However, the calm before the storm allows him to befriend several of the guests on the ship, including the lovely [[Music/KylieMinogue Astrid Peth]], a [[{{Meido}} waitress]] that has taken this job to further her dream of travelling through space and seeing the stars. Although he's a stowaway, the Doctor dons his best tuxedo and poses as a passenger with privilege... Now if only his tuxedo weren't a calling card for bad luck...

Ship's historian Mr. Copper offers to show a group of people on board the ''Titanic'' a tour of Earth, using a teleporter system and matching bracelets for those who want to explore the planet as the ship orbits the pretty blue world. Except, Mr. Copper has ''horribly'' misinformed knowledge about the Earth after spending his life on Sto. The Doctor goes down with the party to London, and is concerned when he finds the normally packed streets are totally deserted. Except for the newsstand vendor on the street where they've landed, [[ChekhovsGunman Wilfred Mott]], who tells them that after two prior Christmases with alien invasions, the populace of London have chosen to flee to the countryside, leaving the shopping district a ghost town. A newscaster is reporting that the Queen is also staying put in Buckingham Palace this year to show the public that there's no reason to fear, and Wilf is probably the only other person besides her willing to take a chance. The Doctor assures him, "Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about-" [[TemptingFate Uh-oh...]]

Just when the Doctor and company return to the ''Titanic'' and are all set to enjoy a relaxing cruise around the Earth, the ship's captain, Hardaker, sets the [[CerebusSyndrome trouble]] into motion. He deactivates the spaceship's shields, then magnetizes the hull to purposely attract three blazing meteors so they crash against the ship. He's in league with someone's evil plan to destroy the ''Titanic'' starliner. The captain is bound and determined to [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself]]; he's already [[SoapOperaDisease terminally ill]], and because of the life insurance being offered for his family as compensation, that's all it takes to extinguish whatever hope is left for him to keep on living. The Doctor notices the meteors and tries to alert the captain, but a steward forces him away from a system he isn't authorized to use. He rushes over to a singer's microphone and at least manages to make a few heads turn with the warning they're in danger. These smart few people follow him to safety. Midshipman Frame tries to stop the captain from destroying the ''Titanic'', but gets shot for his efforts. The captain reaps his death wish, while many, many more people are decimated by both the resultant meteor rain creaming sections of the ship... and the once-docile Heavenly Host carrying out orders to kill off everyone on the ''Titanic''. From this point on, all hell breaks loose. The Doctor tries to mount a rescue operation, but the damage to the ''Titanic'' jars his TARDIS loose from the wreckage, where it follows its programming to head towards the nearest source of gravity: Earth. Now, he has to do things the hard way and navigate everyone through the forsaken vessel while Heavenly Host are running amok.

The Doctor has the usual motley collection of eccentrics around him: nice waitress Astrid (who the Doctor picks as his next companion), HappilyMarried contest winners Morvin and Foon, {{Jerkass}} Rickston Slade, Mr. Copper the alleged Earth expert, and Bannakaffalatta, the spiny red cyborg ([[FantasticRacism though don't tell anyone]]). They first try to make their way to the bridge, which is now under the inexpert, if enthusiastic, command of one Midshipman Frame, after the captain's untimely death. But one of the evil Christmas angel robots is coaxed into revealing that the ''real'' source of evil leadership is on Deck 31. Now they must defy the dying ship and the creepy angel robots to get there.

[[AnyoneCanDie Of his bunch, they are quickly picked off.]] Morvin falls to his death in a reactor, followed by Foon, who refuses to survive without her husband and decides to take the plunge, too, [[TakingYouWithMe taking a Heavenly Host with her]]. Bannakaffalatta gets over the cyborg prejudice he faced and makes a HeroicSacrifice by using his power core to disable the Heavenly Host, which drains it and causes him to perish only minutes later, saying goodbye to his crush Astrid. Mr. Copper takes Bannakaffalatta's core to use as a weapon against the Heavenly Host. Rickston [[TheLoad continues to bitch and moan and get in the way]], being insufferably selfish. The Doctor discovers that he gets to ask the Host (the robot angels) three questions by prodding around and discovering a protocol loophole that forces them to reveal information at his request, but, he wastes two of them. Eventually, Deck 31 is reached and proves to contain the ''Titanic'''s ludicrously wealthy yet cyborgified and unhappy owner, Max Capricorn, who is bent on crashing it into Earth and riding out the collision in an impact-proof chamber, in a complicated revenge scheme against the board of directors which owns the ship and locked him out of the company. And the Doctor is powerless in the arms of the robot angels, so Astrid has to take the HeroicSacrifice on herself.

With Capricorn dead, the Doctor now has full command of the Host, who have defaulted to the next highest authority, and messianically spreads his arms to have the angels carry him up to... the bridge. It's time to stop the ''Titanic'' from crashing. The Doctor comforts the wounded Midshipman Frame and asks what his name is... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts to his wonderful delight]], it's [[ContinuityNod Alonzo]]! With an "''Allons-y'', Alonzo!", the Doctor does everything he can with Alonzo to regain control of the rapidly crashing starliner before it creates a nuclear catastrophe, while the surviving passengers — and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Rickston]] — hang on for dear life. The Doctor really knuckles down when the ship crosses through Earth's atmosphere. He calls Buckingham Palace to have it evacuated and even manages to keep the ''Titanic'' from crashing into London. The Queen waves at him as he sails past. Poor Wilfred Mott shouts in outrage at the sight of the ship as those aliens threaten to antagonize the third Christmas in a row.

Rickston, being an opportunistic slimeball, has pulled up his stakes in Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. Instead, he invested all his shares in Capricorn's rivals, making the ungrateful turd [[KarmaHoudini filthy rich]]. Luckily, Rickston takes the best course of action in the whole time we've known him — he ''leaves''. Mr. Copper tells the Doctor that although people like Rickston may survive, [[{{Foreshadowing}} it would be wrong to decide who lived and died]]. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars Such power would make somebody a monster. If only the Doctor didn't forget so easily.]]

** Information: The Heavenly Host's "Information" VerbalTic might be a reference to HK-47 from VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic who prefaced all of his lines with [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry descriptions of his statements]].

Just as we exoticise other cultures, apparently, aliens exoticise ours. Or the parts of Earth culture they like, stuck together willy-nilly so that the end result is a charming Old Earth Christmas pleasure cruise... set aboard a spaceship recreation of Earth's most famous ship, the [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic RMS]] ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]''.

The Doctor, who's appeared aboard after accidentally crashing into it (picking up from the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords last episode]]), can recognize a dire portent when he sees one. He quickly repairs the damage to his interior and then properly materializes on board the ship. Sure enough, it's not long before trouble arises: the ship's mechanical servants start to malfunction and harm people. However, the calm before the storm allows him to befriend several of the guests on the ship, including the lovely [[Music/KylieMinogue Astrid Peth]], a [[{{Meido}} waitress]] that has taken this job to further her dream of travelling through space and seeing the stars. Although he's a stowaway, the Doctor dons his best tuxedo and poses as a passenger with privilege... Now if only his tuxedo weren't a calling card for bad luck...

Just when the Doctor and company return to the ''Titanic'' and are all set to enjoy a relaxing cruise around the Earth, the ship's captain, Hardaker, sets the [[CerebusSyndrome trouble]] into motion. He deactivates the spaceship's shields, then magnetizes the hull to purposely attract three blazing meteors so they crash against the ship. He's in league with someone's evil plan to destroy the ''Titanic'' starliner. The captain is bound and determined to [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself]]; he's already [[SoapOperaDisease terminally ill]], and because of the life insurance being offered for his family as compensation, that's all it takes to extinguish whatever hope is left for him to keep on living. The Doctor notices the meteors and tries to alert the captain, but a steward forces him away from a system he isn't authorized to use. He rushes over to a singer's microphone and at least manages to make a few heads turn with the warning they're in danger. These smart few people follow him to safety. Midshipman Frame tries to stop the captain from destroying the ''Titanic'' but gets shot for his efforts. The captain reaps his death wish, while many, many more people are decimated by both the resultant meteor rain creaming sections of the ship... and the once-docile Heavenly Host carrying out orders to kill off everyone on the ''Titanic''. From this point on, all hell breaks loose. The Doctor tries to mount a rescue operation, but the damage to the ''Titanic'' jars his TARDIS loose from the wreckage, where it follows its programming to head towards the nearest source of gravity: Earth. Now, he has to do things the hard way and navigate everyone through the forsaken vessel while Heavenly Host are running amok.

The Doctor has the usual motley collection of eccentrics around him: nice waitress Astrid (who the Doctor picks as his next companion), HappilyMarried contest winners Morvin and Foon, {{Jerkass}} Rickston Slade, Mr. Copper, the alleged Earth expert, and Bannakaffalatta, the spiny red cyborg ([[FantasticRacism though don't tell anyone]]). They first try to make their way to the bridge, which is now under the inexpert, if enthusiastic, command of one Midshipman Frame, after the captain's untimely death. But one of the evil Christmas angel robots is coaxed into revealing that the ''real'' source of evil leadership is on Deck 31. Now they must defy the dying ship and the creepy angel robots to get there.

* AssholeVictim: Averted: the liar who conned his way into a job [[note]] Who, to be fair, isn't really that bad a guy [[/note]] and the callous, self-centered businessman not only survive, but they are the only survivors in the Doctor's party. The other, mostly decent, people all perish. It's discussed:

-->'''The Doctor:''' "It really does that?"

* ChestBlaster: Bannakaffalatta produces an EMP from his chest to take out several Robot Angels at the cost of his life.

-->'''The Doctor:''' ''[with his eyebrows in his hair]'' 'Scuse me? ''[Mr. Copper looks at him]'' Sorry, sorry, but, um... where did you get all this from?\\

* FallenAngel: When the Host remove their halos to use as weapons, the posts that held the halos remain, looking like devil horns.
* FantasticRacism: Sto has a thing against cyborgs. At least they are allowed to marry now.

** Without engine power, the ''Titanic'' will crash into Earth because of its gravity.

* ItsQuietTooQuiet: The Doctor knows something's off when Mr Copper's party lands on what is meant to be a crowded London street and it's eerily deserted. Then he finds from Wilf that the populace have fled because they don't want to risk a third alien invasion at Christmas.

** When the Doctor gets to meet Max for real, the same tooth twinkles with the "my name is Max" bit. "It really does that?"

Ship's historian Mr. Copper offers to show a group of people on board the ''Titanic'' a tour of Earth, using a teleporter system and matching bracelets for those who want to explore the planet as the ship orbits the pretty blue world. Except, Mr. Copper has ''horribly'' misinformed knowledge about the Earth after spending his life on Sto. The Doctor goes down to London, which is all but totally deserted. Can you blame 'em? They've had two Christmases visited by angry extraterrestrials, and are now wise about the holiday season's knack for insane alien activity. Apart from the Queen and a news reporter, London's a ghost town. But there is one friendly face still kicking around. He's a newsstand owner. Meet Wilfred Mott. He's going to be an important fella later. At the moment, he's an ordinary person whom the Doctor takes a liking to. Wilf is keeping vigil in the city like the brave Queen, even though the rest of London is running scared. The Doctor assures him, "Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about."

[[TemptingFate Uh-oh...]]

[[AnyoneCanDie There are deaths.]] Morvin falls to his death in a reactor, followed by Foon, who refuses to survive without her husband and decides to take the plunge, too, [[TakingYouWithMe taking a Heavenly Host with her]]. Bannakaffalatta gets over the cyborg prejudice he faced and makes a HeroicSacrifice by using his power core to disable the Heavenly Host, which drains it and causes him to perish only minutes later, saying goodbye to his crush Astrid. Mr. Copper takes Bannakaffalatta's core to use as a weapon against the Heavenly Host. Rickston [[TheLoad continues to bitch and moan and get in the way]], being insufferably selfish. The Doctor discovers that he gets to ask the Host (the robot angels) three questions by prodding around and discovering a protocol loophole that forces them to reveal information at his request, but, he wastes two of them. Eventually, Deck 31 is reached and proves to contain the ''Titanic'''s ludicrously wealthy yet cyborgified and unhappy owner, Max Capricorn, who is bent on crashing it into Earth and riding out the collision in an impact-proof chamber, in a complicated revenge scheme against the board of directors which owns the ship and locked him out of the company. And the Doctor is powerless in the arms of the robot angels, so Astrid has to take the HeroicSacrifice on herself.

* GenreSavvy: After two prior alien invasions at Christmastime, the citizens of London have wisened up and chosen to flee to the countryside.

* HumanAliens: Apart from Bannakaffalatta, does anyone on board ''really'' look like they're from another planet?

-->'''The Doctor:''' ''[with his eyebrows in his hair as he knows it's all incorrect]'' 'Scuse me? ''[Mr. Copper looks at him]'' Sorry, sorry, but, um... where did you get all this from?\\

'''Mr. Copper:''' ''[Utterly flabbergasted]'' ... H-how much?\\

'''The Doctor:''' ''[Handing the card back]'' Yes, you have.

* RidiculousExchangeRate: Apparently the galactic currency is this compared to Earth; not know the currency exchange rates, Mr. Copper typed what he thought was a low amount into the computer programming the credit card to give his tourist party enough to buy some souvenirs. It turns out to be worth a lot more than he was expecting: