Series 1 (2005)
Episode title: The Unquiet DeadFeaturing: Ninth Doctor
Companions: Rose Tyler
First shown: 9th April 2005
Related articles: Gelth
Guide: The episode begins with the Doctor attempting to show Rose the past, by taking her to 1860’s Naples, but the TARDIS has other plans and takes them to 1869’s Cardiff instead. While they land, Rose is sent to the wardrobe department to find clothes that would blend in well rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. Meanwhile, in a local funeral parlour, run by Gabriel Sneed and his servant girl Gwyneth, the corpse of the late Mrs. Peace has been taken over by a blue vapour. Mrs. Peace kills her mourning grandson, Mr. Redpath, before lurching away into the streets of Cardiff, emitting a wailing shriek as glowing blue vapour escapes from her mouth. Gwyneth uses her psychic abilities to locate Mrs. Peace and learns that she is living her last desire before her death of seeing Charles Dickens read at a nearby music hall. However, during the performance the blue vapour again escapes from Mrs. Peace’s mouth, scaring the audience and attracting the attention of the Doctor and Rose. As the blue vapour disappears into the pipes in the building, Gabriel and Gwyneth arrive to retake the corpse, but are questioned by Rose, who is then knocked unconscious with chloroform.
Dickens accuses the Doctor of ruining his performance, but the Doctor manages to turn Dickens opinion of him after gushing about his literary genius. Learning that adventure is also afoot, Dickens agrees to assist the Doctor. Rose wakes up at the funeral parlour, along with the bodies of Mrs. Peace and Mr. Redpath, who also wake up. The Doctor and Dickens arrive to rescue her, forcing their way into the parlour, the Doctor attempts to question one of the bodies. He determines that the funeral parlour was built on a rift in space and time, with the blue vapour being beings that are attempting to cross over the Rift. They are able to use the corpses of humans for a short period of time but they are not sustainable for long periods of time. Meanwhile, Rose talks to Gwyneth, who reveals her psychic ability, an ability attained from living in the parlour on the Rift since her parents died when she was young. The Doctor decides to use this ability to hold a séance in order to directly communicate with the beings trying to cross over the Rift. In doing this, the Doctor discovers the beings are called the Gelth, a race whose bodies were destroyed in the Time War. In an attempt to fix this, the Doctor offers the Gelth the use of the human corpses as a temporary measure until he can take them to a new place where they can build new bodies.
Using Gwyneth as a bridge across the Rift, the Gelth begin to cross over, but the number of them is far greater than previously anticipated. The Gelth’s true motive is revealed to be their intention to kill the living humans to give themselves more hosts and take over Earth. One of the Gelth-animated bodies kills Gabriel by strangulation, while Dickens flees and the Doctor and Rose become trapped in the basement. Outside the parlour, Dickens realises that the Gelth were affected by the gas and returns to the house, extinguishing the lamps and turning the gas on full. This process forces the Gelth to abandon the corpses and the Doctor attempts to persuade Gwyneth to force the Gelth back through the Rift, but she cannot and nor can she leave with the Doctor and Rose. Instead she produces a box of matches from her apron with the intention of igniting the gas, killing the Gelth and herself. The Doctor determines that Gwyneth was already dead and that the process in becoming a bridge for the Gelth was fatal. The Doctor, Rose and Dickens all flee the building as Gwyneth ignites the match and the building is engulfed in flames, killing the Gelth. As the Doctor and Rose head back to the TARDIS, Dickens thanks them and makes a commitment to patch things up with his family and finish his latest novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” with a changed ending from the uncle being the murderer, to a supernatural being. As the Doctor and Rose leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor notes that Dickens would die within the year leaving the novel unfinished, but they made him feel more alive than he’d ever been. The Doctor and Rose give their goodbyes and disappear while a delighted and astounded Dickens walks through Cardiff’s streets, greeting everyone he passes with his quote from “A Christmas Carol” – “God bless us, everyone!”