The Lady with the Lamp (episode)

The Lady with the Lamp was the tenth episode of Season 49 of Doctor Who. It was written by Toby Whithouse, directed by Metin Hüseyin and featured Samantha Bond as the Fourteenth Doctor, Montserrat Lombard as Erin Stevenson and Bernard Cribbins as Hogan Cox.

Synopsis
In 1855, behind the front lines of the Crimean War, the most famous nurse in history tends to the wounds of the sick and injured... However, when a new infection begins to take ahold, only one Doctor can help her out.

Plot
In a dark cavernous room, lined with stretches, a woman - a nurse (with a lamp in hand) - walks down an aisle between the stretches and settles down next to one young man, a soldier, Private Anderson, and like everyone else, badly wounded to the head. He smiles and tells her how good it is to see her, and it's revealed he's talking to Florence Nightingale. But, as Florence speaks to him, he suddenly enters seizure, and a pulse of light leaves Florence's lamp. Once the seizure settles down, after only a few moments, there is a notable change in Anderson - he is more rigid, his whole demeanour is different - he doesn't seem quite himself. And then - something is very noticeably different, because his iris is pitch black.

The TARDIS materialises sometime later in the hospital. The Doctor, Erin and Hogan begin to speculate as to where they are, with Hogan stating, somewhat sarcastically that they are probably in the past, judging by the smell. With a smile, the Doctor says that's excellent, as she loves history. The trio begins to explore the hospital, and they come across the rows of soldiers lying on the stretches. The Doctor identifies the uniforms, saying that they are British soldiers and they are sometime in the 19th Century. Hogan remarks that they just need to work out where they are now; Erin interjects, saying she knows exactly where they are - they are in the middle of the Crimean War. The Doctor, rather surprised asks how Erin knows this, and in response she gestures towards the other side of the room, where they see Florence Nightingale walking down the steps, complete with her famous lamp in hand.

Before the Doctor can say anything, Erin races over to Florence and grabs her hand, shaking it enthusiastically. Erin tells her how much of an honour it is to meet her, and Florence looks naturally confused and rather flabbergasted for a moment. However, soon a look of realisation overcomes her and she concludes that they must be from Britain, as she has heard word that she had become something of a celebrity back there, and then she continues to ascertain exactly as to why they are here, however.

The Doctor interjects, telling Florence, that they are nurses sent by the army to help out. Florence then looks towards Hogan, a tad confused, and Hogan tells her that he is a civil servant who has come with them to assess the situation here. Florence then looks down solemnly and remarks that the situation is grave and far worse than she believes the papers are making out back home.

Florence shows her Anderson, sedated, on a stretcher, as she explains the symptoms, and tells her that this very same infection has begun to appear among many of the different patients. She explains that it began with behavioural differences, she thought it was some kind of mental deficiency as a result of shock on the battlefield, but then she began to notice the physical differences, notably the eyeball turning black.

However, at that moment Anderson wakes up and begins to seizure again. He soon becomes violent, beginning to strangle Florence, and only with Hogan, Erin and the Doctors help, are they able to get him off Florence. During the struggle, a pulse of light exits Florence's lamp, and travels around the room, and not long after multiple other soldiers spring alive, but with an undertone of death, and then begin to seizure themselves.

The Doctor says enough is enough, and she calls out to seek contact with whatever entity is manipulating the lives of these men. Anderson begins to speak, in a high pitched voice (unlike his actual deep voice), explaining that they are called the Yarra and they are in fact merely refugees looking for a home. They explain that they face a severe overpopulation crisis on their home planet, and they have travelled to Earth through light. They replace the souls of the wounded, with their own, and take over their bodies, so they inherit those of people close to death and give them a new lease of life, but it's not entirely successful as their souls are finding it hard to adjust to the human physiology. Florence interjects and tells them that her patients aren't close to death, and perhaps they were at one point, but with her techniques, her way of nursing that stops at the route, and brings them back to health, the Yarra are in fact denying them of the rest of their lives.

But, the Yarra are displeased with this analysis, and engage full attack mode, taking over all of the soldiers in the hospital and beginning a zombie-like siege upon the Doctor, Erin, Hogan, Florence, the nurses and the rest of the hospital staff. They move from room to room, defending themselves from the onslaught of Yarra. One by one, they are picked off and they are turned having their soul replaced, until it's only the Doctor, Erin, Hogan and Florence.

Everything climaxes when a Yarra infects Erin, and she turns, her eyes becoming nothing but glossy black balls. The Doctor confronts the Yarra, angry and enraged. However, Florence tells her to calm down and suggests a negotiation with the Yarra. Meeting with Anderson, they agree that using the TARDIS, all of the Yarran souls will be transported from the humans, into what the Doctor calls, nonsentient life, such as many wild animals, for eg. cats, dogs, badgers, tigers...

After the agreement, the humans turn back to their normal selves, and with a sigh of relief the Doctor hugs Erin, happy to have her back. Florence thanks the Doctor for all her help, and the Doctor maintains that the privilege was all hers.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Samantha Bond
 * Erin Stevenson - Montserrat Lombard
 * Hogan Cox - Bernard Cribbins
 * Florence Nightingale - Emily Speed
 * Anderson - Ifan Meredith
 * Vera - Fiona Whitelaw
 * Doctor Bellew - James Foster
 * Voice of the Yarra - Daniel Barker

Crew

 * Created by Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber


 * Executive Producers - Ronald D. Moore, Jane Espenson, Ira Steven Behr and Ken MacQuarrie
 * Co-Executive Producers - Toni Graphia, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Nicholas Briggs, Matthew B. Roberts and Toby Whithouse


 * Writer - Toby Whithouse
 * Producer - Brian Minchin
 * Director - Metin Hüseyin


 * Director of Photography - Edward J. Pei
 * Production Designer - Richard Hudolin
 * Visual Effects - DNEG
 * Make-Up - Suzanne Jansen
 * Casting Director - Andy Pryor
 * Music - Bear McCreary
 * Costume Designer - Suzanne Cave
 * Edited by - Christopher Cooke


 * Historical Advisor - Tony Pollard
 * Scientific Advisor - André Bormanis


 * Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
 * Title Music - Bear McCreary
 * Title Sequence - Goodbye Kansas Studios

Memorable Quotes
To be added.

Production History

 * Filming begins - 3 February 2014
 * FIlming ends - 21 February 2014
 * Broadcast - 31 January 2015

Development
To be added.

Production

 * This episode was the sixth episode shot and was part of Block 2, as a result, it was the first episode that Bernard Cribbins shot as Hogan Cox.

Post-Production
To be added.

Reaction

 * This episode, somewhat unfortunately for writer, Toby Whithouse, was met with large controversy due to its resolution of putting the Yarran souls into 'non-sentient life'. The episode paints all animals, which aren't humans, as not being sentient, which was wildly disputed, especially amongst Vegan activist groups, who considered the assessment to be wrong and cruel.

Story Notes
To be added.

Continuity
To be added.

Home Video Releases
To be added.