Apollo 23 was the eighth serial of Season 43 of Doctor Who. It was written by Justin Richards, directed by John Ainsworth and starred Liam Cunningham as the Eleventh Doctor & Sheridan Smith as Sally Ryder.
Synopsis[]
An astronaut in full spacesuit appears out of thin air in a busy shopping centre. Maybe it's a publicity stunt.
A photo shows an immaculately-dressed woman in her best shoes lying dead at the edge of a crater on the dark side of the moon – beside her beloved dog 'Poochie'. Maybe it's a hoax.
But as the Doctor and Sally find out, these are just minor events in a sinister plan to take over every human being on earth. The plot centres on a secret military base on the moon – that's where Sally and the TARDIS are.
The Doctor is back on Earth, and without the TARDIS there's no way he can get to the moon to save Sally and defeat the aliens.
Or is there? The Doctor discovers one last great secret that could save humanity: Apollo 23.
Plot[]
To be added.
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Liam Cunningham
- Sally Ryder - Sheridan Smith
- Donald Babinger - To be added.
- Mandy - To be added.
- Becky Starmer - To be added.
- Dr. Gyles Winterbourne - To be added.
- Sgt. Rickman - To be added.
- Captain Marty Garrett - To be added.
- Albert Smoth - To be added.
- General Adam Walinski - To be added.
- Dr. Candace Hecker - To be added.
- Graham Haines - To be added.
- Agent Jennings - To be added.
- Captain Jim Reeve - To be added.
- Colonel Cliff Davenish - To be added.
- Professor Charles Jackson/Androparg - To be added.
- Major Andrea Carlisle - To be added.
- Prisoner Nine - To be added.
- Nurse Phillips - To be added.
- Liz Didbrook - To be added.
- Private Dyson - To be added.
- Daniel Bardell - To be added.
- Pat Ashton - To be added.
- Lars Gregman - To be added.
- Commander Raraarg - To be added.
Crew[]
To be added.
Worldbuilding[]
- The Doctor mentions T-Mat, which was an important technology used in the Second Doctor story TV: The Seeds of Death.
- UNIT and The Pyramid are mentioned, as well as detailed files regarding the organisation's dealings with previous incarnations of The Doctor.
- Agent Jennings says he'd have recognised the Doctor if he was older. Given he has read both the UNIT and The Pyramid files, this implies he was expecting either the Third, Eighth, or the Thirteenth Doctor.
Notes[]
To be added.
Continuity[]
- The Doctor says he has witnessed many deaths, referring to the fact that death and bloodshed follow in the footsteps of each of his incarnations. (TV: Warriors of the Deep, Resurrection of the Daleks)
- UNIT and the The Pyramid are referred to. In the former, there appears to be a reference to the Third Doctor.
- The Doctor says he got his Mars-Venus license. (TV: Robot)
- Once again, the Doctor instructs someone not to call him 'Doc'. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler, The Five Doctors, The Twin Dilemma, The Ultimate Foe)
- Professor Jackson refers to the "Keller Process" in relation to the "treatments" he's giving the prisoners. (TV: The Mind of Evil)
- Agent Jennings' boss is called Control, who turns up in a number of Past Doctor Adventures, including PROSE: The King of Terror.
- The spacesuits the Doctor and Sally wear (with large translucent bubble helmets) are similar to those the Doctor and his companions wore in TV: The Moonbase.
- The fuel used in Apollo 23 is the M3 Variant designed by the British Rocket Group for the Mars Missions as seen in TV: The Ambassadors of Death.
Home video releases[]
DVD[]
- This story along with the other stories in Season 43 were released as Doctor Who: The Complete Forty-Third Season in 2007.
Blu-ray[]
- This story along with the other stories in Season 43 were later released as Doctor Who: The Complete Forty-Third Season on Blu-ray.