The Unquiet Dead ( TV story ) The Unquiet Dead was the third story in series one of " Doctor Who " . It was the first episode of the BBC Wales series to be set in the past , relative to the viewer . It was also the first since " Timelash " to feature an extended encounter with an historical figure from Earth ' s past . From a production perspective , it was significant for being writer Mark Gatiss ' first televised " Doctor Who " episode . This episode features the first appearance of the Cardiff Space - Time Rift which would reappear this series in " Boom Town " and become the initial focus of " Torchwood " . Though set at Christmas time , this story is not a fully - fledged Christmas special , constrained to the average 45 - minute format of most episodes in the revived series . However , it is the closest episode Christopher Eccleston ' s era has to an actual Christmas special , with the actor leaving the role before the end of 2005 . Instead , his successor filmed the special to close out that year . Synopsis . The dead are roaming the streets of Cardiff in 1869 when the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler arrive , just in time for Christmas . Teaming up with Charles Dickens , the TARDIS team encounter the Gelth , creatures sucked through the Cardiff Rift from the other end of the universe , their home lost . Surely inhabiting dead bodies is wrong , though ! Can both sides be helped , or are these gas eous creatures not to be trusted ? Plot . In the funeral parlour of Sneed and Company in the Victorian era , Mr Redpath grieves over the open casket holding his dead grandmother , Mrs Peace . Closing his eyes in sorrow , he does not see a blue , glowing vapour wash over the corpse and enter it . Mrs Peace ' s eyes snap open and she grabs Redpath by the throat , strangling him to death . Gabriel Sneed , the undertaker , rushes in and tries to close the lid on the reanimated corpse but she knocks him unconscious to the floor , then gets up and wanders onto the street , wailing . Some time later , Gwyneth , Sneed ' s servant girl , returns from looking after the carriage horses in the stables to find Sneed recovering from the cadaver ' s attack . This is not the first time there have been zombie incidents in the funeral home , and Gwyneth tells Sneed they need to get help . Sneed protests that it is not his fault and that they have to get Mrs Peace back before she does any damage . In the hearse , Sneed orders Gwyneth to use her clairvoyant abilities to seek out the dead woman , and Gwyneth focuses on the old woman ' s last desire : to see Charles Dickens , who is giving a reading in a music hall in town at Taliesin Lodge . Dickens himself is in a melancholic mood as he waits for his stage call . He feels old , is estranged from his family and his imagination is growing thin . He feels he has seen all there is to see . In the TARDIS , the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler are having a rough ride . As the ship shakes and they hold onto the console , the Doctor aims the TARDIS for Naples in 1860 . When they land , Rose is about to rush out when the Doctor tells her that she would start a riot in her 21st century clothing . Rose returns in more suitable attire : an off - the - shoulder gown . The Doctor admires her beauty , " considering " that she ' s human . They step into the snow - covered streets of history . The Doctor realises when he buys a newspaper that his aim was a bit off — it ' s Christmas Eve 1869 , and they aren ' t in Naples — they ' re in Cardiff . In the music hall , Dickens gives a reading of " A Christmas Carol " . Just as he reaches the point where Marley ' s face appears in Scrooge ' s door knocker , he stops short . In the audience , Mrs Pearce starts to glow blue . Vapour pours out of her mouth , and an ethereal gas with a vaguely humanoid shape sweeps around the hall , emitting ghastly screams and sending the audience into a panic . The screams attract Rose and the Doctor , as well as Sneed and Gwyneth . The vapour completely leaves the dead woman ' s body and is sucked into a gas lamp , as the body collapses . Dickens accuses the Doctor of being responsible for the illusion . Sneed and Gwyneth carry the limp body out . Rose goes in pursuit , and Sneed chloroform s her , bundling her into the hearse with the dead woman . The Doctor commandeers Dickens ' s coach . The great writer ' s protests vanish when the Doctor discovers who he is and gushes over his genius . When the Doctor tells him about Rose , Dickens chivalrously joins the chase . Rose awakes in the locked viewing gallery of the funeral parlour , just as the gas takes over Redpath ' s body . As the Doctor and Dickens arrive at the parlour and force their way in , Mr Redpath and his grandmother climb out of their coffins to menace Rose . The house ' s gas lights flicker . The Doctor realises there is something living in the pipes . He hears Rose ' s cries and breaks the door down , pulling her away from the corpses . He asks them who they are . The corpses cry that they are dying because the Cardiff Rift is failing and these forms cannot be sustained . The screaming blue vapours stream out of the dead , and the bodies collapse again . After recovering from the incident , Gwyneth pours the Doctor ' s tea just the way he likes it — that is , with two sugar s — without asking him what that is . Rose lashes out at Sneed for drug ging her , kidnapping her and locking her in a room full of zombies . The stricken Sneed explains that the house has a reputation as haunted , which is why he bought it at such a low cost . The Doctor tells him that the house was built on top of the Rift , a crack in space - time that ' s growing . These entities are from across the universe . Dickens is sceptical , refusing to believe there are ghosts in the gas pipes . The Doctor informs them that dead bodies release gas when they decompose , making ideal vehicles for these gaseous aliens . Dickens tells the Doctor , shakily , that if what he has seen is true , then perhaps his entire life , spent fighting against injustice and for social causes in what he thought was the real world , has been for nothing . The Doctor tries to reassure him that the real world is still the same ; there ' s just " more " than Dickens thought . Rose talks to Gwyneth , finding out she was taken in by Sneed when she was twelve , after her parents died . The two girls initially get along well . Gwyneth sees the future in Rose ' s mind but is shocked when she sees the things Rose has experienced with the Doctor . She apologises , admitting her clairvoyance and saying her abilities have been growing stronger recently . The Doctor has been listening , and surmises that Gwyneth ' s abilities are due to her growing up in this house over the Rift . She is the key . He suggests they hold a séance . Gwyneth summons the aliens , who speak through her . They identify themselves as the Gelth , a species whose bodies were destroyed in the Last Great Time War , which left them facing extinction in a gaseous state . The few Gelth remaining need to come through the Rift and take over dead bodies to survive . Rose is repulsed by the idea , but the Doctor insists they help . Gwyneth will stand at the spot of the Rift down in the morgue and allow the Gelth to use her as a bridge . Rose continues to protest . She knows the Gelth do not succeed , because the future does not have walking dead , but the Doctor tells her that time is constantly in flux . The future can be rewritten . Nothing is safe . In any case , Gwyneth wants to help her " angels " . The Doctor warns the Gelth this is only a temporary solution — once they possess the bodies , he will take them to another place where they can build permanent ones . However , when Gwyneth stands at the Rift and the Gelth begin to come through her , the numbers are " a few billion " — much more than they originally implied . They show their true colours . Only dead corpses are not enough for them . They will kill to supply themselves with more hosts and occupy the planet . Gwyneth stands motionless at the position of the Rift as the Gelth stream in . Sneed demands Gwyenth to stop , only to have his neck snapped by a reanimated corpse and be taken over . Dickens , overwhelmed , flees as the Doctor and Rose are backed into a corner . The Doctor apologises to Rose that she is going to die over a century before she was born , but she assures him that she wanted to come . The Doctor and Rose hold hands as they prepare to go out fighting together . He tells Rose he is glad he met her ; she replies the same and they share a final smile . Outside , Dickens sees a pursuing Gelth get sucked into a gas lamp on the street with a scream . Suddenly , he has an idea . He rushes back into the house , turning off the flames and turning up the gas . He goes into the morgue , doing the same , explaining to the Doctor what he is doing : these creatures are gaseous , so the moment the house is filled with gas , the Gelth will be sucked out of the corpses like poison from a wound . This is precisely what happens ; the Gelth pour out of the collapsing corpses , screaming and swirling around in the confines of the morgue . The Doctor tells Gwyneth to send them back , but she says she is only strong enough to hold them here . She takes out a box of match es from her apron , but Rose won ' t let her carry through . The Doctor tells Dickens to get Rose out before the two succumb to the gas fumes . He tries to convince Gwyneth to leave the Gelth to him . As he touches her neck , however , he discovers the truth and leaves . Gwyneth lights a match , and the house and the Gelth are consumed in an explosion . The Doctor tells Rose that when he checked Gwyneth ' s pulse , he realised she was dead — and probably had been from the moment she stood in the Rift . Rose does not understand , because Gwyneth spoke to them and saved them . In response , Dickens quotes Shakespeare : " There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy " ( Hamlet : Act I , scene v ) . Rose looks sadly at the ruins of the funeral home and mournfully states , " She saved the world . . . a servant girl . No one will ever know . " Dickens thanks the Doctor as they stand in front of the TARDIS . The things he has seen tonight have given him hope there is more to learn . He plans to patch things up with his family and finish " The Mystery of Edwin Drood " , identifying the murderer as a blue elemental to warn humanity of the Gelth . He asks the Doctor if his book s will last . The Doctor assures a smiling Dickens his work will last . . . forever . Inside the TARDIS , Rose asks if Dickens writing about what they just experienced will change history . The Doctor tells her that Dickens will never get to write his story ; he dies the following year , and " The Mystery of Edwin Drood " will never be finished . Right now , though , they have made him more alive than he has been in a long time . Dickens watches in wonderment as the TARDIS fades away before his eyes . He laughs out loud and walks through the streets of Cardiff , wishing everyone a Merry Christmas , and exclaiming , " God bless us , everyone ! "