The Unicorn and the Wasp
- Episode aired Jun 13, 2008
- TV-PG
- 45m
With a 1926 dinner party turning into a murder mystery, The Doctor and Donna Noble get the chance to meet Agatha Christie on the eve of her well-known 9-days disappearance.With a 1926 dinner party turning into a murder mystery, The Doctor and Donna Noble get the chance to meet Agatha Christie on the eve of her well-known 9-days disappearance.With a 1926 dinner party turning into a murder mystery, The Doctor and Donna Noble get the chance to meet Agatha Christie on the eve of her well-known 9-days disappearance.
- Christopher
- (uncredited)
- Footman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Gareth Roberts
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBecause of Agatha Christie appearing as a central character in the story, references are made throughout the dialogue to her works. Donna and others drop the names of several of Agatha's works: Why Didn't They Ask Evans, Murder on the Orient Express, N or M, Nemesis, Cards on the Table, Cat Among the Pigeons, Dead Man's Folly, They Do It With Mirrors, Appointment with Death, Sparkling Cyanide (also known as Death Remembered), Endless Night, Crooked House, and Murder at the Vicarage. Also, the book that Lady Eddison reads in a flashback is another Agatha Christie work, 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.'
- GoofsThe story does not accurately depict what happened to Agatha Christie in 1926. However, The Doctor tells Donna that time is "in flux" due to the alien presence. This excuse is often used to explain minor alterations to history within the Whoniverse.
- Quotes
[the Doctor makes muffled noises while making a shaking motion]
Donna Noble: I can't understand you! How many words?
[the Doctor holds up one finger]
Donna Noble: One! One word! Shake, milk-shake, milk! Milk! No? Not milk! Um, shake, shake, shake! Cocktail shake! What, d'you want a Harvey Wallbanger?
The Doctor: Harvey Wallbanger?
Donna Noble: Well, I don't know!
The Doctor: How is Harvey Wallbanger one word?
Agatha Christie: What do you need Doctor?
The Doctor: Salt! I was miming salt! I need salt! I need something salty!
[Donna grabs a bag from the counter]
Donna Noble: What about this?
The Doctor: What is it?
Donna Noble: Salt!
The Doctor: That's too salty!
Donna Noble: Oh, that's too salty!
Agatha Christie: What about this?
[Agatha hands the Doctor a jar and he upends it, eating the food]
Donna Noble: What's that?
Agatha Christie: Anchovies.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Doctor Who Confidential: Nemesis (2008)
The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) rock up at a country estate in 1926 - just in time for it to turn into a murder mystery weekend. This is apt because the guest of honour is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) who, together with the Doctor and Donna settle in to interrogate the suspects and identify the killer. But things take a more bizarre turn when Donna is attacked by a giant wasp.
Generally, I think the wasp element is the only bit that lets the episode down. It's not a great special effect and it's odd that sometimes it seems like it's an instinctual killer, when it tries to murder Donna - but at others, kills by human methods, such as pushing a gargoyle off a roof. It's a fun and funny episode around it though. Fenella Woolgar is a good Christie and is joined by Felicity Kendal and Tom Goodman-Hill as well as that early appearance for Felicity Jones long before a Galaxy far far away came calling. It's actually quite clever too, with its explanation for why things are happening as well as some of the more common tricks in the books of the age to disguise what was actually happening - a time spent bedridden to hide a pregnancy, for example.
A definite upturn in the season.
- southdavid
- Jan 27, 2022
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Llansannor Court, Court Drive, Llansannor, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK(Eddison Manor - exterior, drawing room, sitting room and staircase)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color