Illegal Alien (TV Story)

***Illegal Alien*** was the third serial of Season 29 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry, directed by Michael Kerrigan and starred Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor and Saskia Reeves as Guinevere Hoult.

## Synopsis

The Blitz is at its height. As the Luftwaffe bomb London, Cody McBride, ex-pat American private eye, sees a sinister silver sphere crash-land. He glimpses something emerging from within. The military dismiss his account of events — the sphere must be a new German secret weapon that has malfunctioned in some way. What else *could* it be?

Arriving amid the chaos, the Doctor and Guinevere embark on a trail that brings them face to face with hidden Nazi agents, and encounter some very old enemies.

## Cast

* The Doctor - Richard Griffiths
* Guinevere - Saskia Reeves
* Cody McBride - John Alderton
* George Limb - Sean Arnold
* Chief Inspector Patrick Mullen - Bill Bailey
* Major Lazonby - Paul Barber
* Captain Hartmann - Richard Armitage
* Wall - Terence Rigby
* Dr Peddler - David Ellison
* The Limehouse Lurker - Michael Kilgarriff
* Cyber-Leader - David Banks
* Cybermen - Mark Hardy, Brian Orrell
* Colonel T.P. Potter - David Warner
* Washington/Mama - John Grillo
* Sharkey - Phil Nice
* Caretaker - Leon Tanner
* Dr Ruth Walsh - Anne Havard
* Constable Quick - Mike Haywood
* SS Brigadier General Kraus - Donald Sumpter
* General Schumacher - Nick Orchard
* Rosemary - Rudi Davies
* Sid Napley - Peter Laxton
* Josh - Gary Martin
* Deputy Reichsführer Reinhard Heydrich - Albert Welling
* Wilkins - Norman Lovett
* Frank - David Jackson

## Worldbuilding

### The Doctor

* When he is talking about the Daleks, the Doctor's voice develops a harder edge, which disturbs Guinevere.
* The Doctor is fond of baseball and once watched a game that included Babe Ruth in 1926.
* The Doctor doubts that Captain Hartmann would be able to pronounce his given name.

### The Cybermen

* The Cybermen that were featured in the story were capable of repairing themselves.
* The Cybermen have used different types of Cybermats which attacked in different ways, such as the injection of poison and a sonic scream. The Cybermats present in the story have metal teeth used for cutting flesh.
* The Cybermen are from the 30th century, where they still have a limited control of time travel. Their time capsules reappear in TV: *Destiny*.
* A baby is among those converted by the Cybermen at the end of Part Three. It is given regular-sized Cyber-arms but has the tail of a Cybermat.
* In a similar scene a Cyber-Conversion is witnessed, in which Cybermats are used for surgical instruments.

### Individuals

* Many characters are mentioned or referenced throughout the story, fictious or otherwise, that do not appear in person including Winston Churchill (who appears in a painting), Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Admiral Canaris, General Hindenberg, Tyrus Cobb, Hack Wilson, Joshua Gibson, Babe Ruth, Darth Vader, Delores, Mary Shelley, Dr Frankenstein, Prometheus, Jack the Ripper, Joe Louis, Max Schmeling and Bogart. Sid Napley and Reinhard Heydrich, meanwhile, do not appear but receive dialogue, speaking to other characters through a wall and over a phone call respectively.

### Species

* In a moment of contemplation, the Doctor admires the achievements of some of his greatest enemies, thinking of the Daleks as the creators of amazing technology and the Sontarans as great geneticists.

## Notes

* The story introduced a sleeker, more cyborg-like design for the Cybermen that was meant to look more scary than previous iterations. It also introduced a new design for the Cybermats.
* The story received a rating of 12 when released on DVD in the UK for its minor depictions of blood and depictions of cyber-conversion.
* It was originally submitted just prior to the production of *The Curse of Fenric*. Mike Tucker and Robert Perry were asked to re-submit it for the following season as *Fenric* was also set in the 1940s.
* As part of the epilogue, a hidden chamber full of dormant Cybermen is found beneath the streets of London waiting for a call that would be eventually activated in the television story *The Invasion*.
* Part 3 of the story was dedicated to the memory of Gerry Davis, one of the Cybermen's co-creators who had died the year prior.
* *Destiny* acts as a pseudo-sequel to this story.

## Continuity

* The Doctor expresses disdain about his reputation as "the manipulator" and "the Chessmaster". (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*, et al.)
* The Doctor carries a UNIT pass dated 1980, purchased by either his third or fourth incarnation. (TV: *Spearhead from Space*, *Robot*)
* The Doctor mentions the Dalek Invasion of Earth in the 22nd century. (TV: *The Dalek Invasion of Earth*)
* Cybermen repeatedly say: "You will be like us." (TV: *The Tomb of the Cybermen*)
* At the end of this novel, even more Cybermen are found "hibernating" within the sewers. The Cybermen would later activate their invasion of Earth through hibernating in the sewers. (TV: *The Invasion*)
* A Cyber-Controller refers to the events in the Blitz as the catalyst for the plans to destroy the Doctor's time stream. (TV: *Destiny*)

## Home Video and DVD Releases

### VHS

* This story was released on VHS in 2003.

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 29 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Twenty-Ninth Season* in 2010.

### Blu-Ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 29 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 29* in the UK.