Nightshade (TV Story)

***Nightshade*** was the third serial of Season 29 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Chris Clough, and starred Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor and Saskia Reeves as Guinevere Hoult.

## Synopsis

Professor Nightshade - tea time terror for all the family, and the most loved show in Britain. But Professor Nightshade's days are long over, and Edmund Trevithick is now just an unemployed actor in a retirement home, fondly remembering his past.

It's the same through the entire village of Crook Marsham - people are falling prey to their memories. At first harmlessly, and then, the bodies begin to turn up.

The Doctor and Ace arrive on the scene - but, with the Doctor planning his retirement, it may be time for Professor Nightshade to solve one last case.

## Cast

* The Doctor - Richard Griffiths
* Guinevere - Saskia Reeves
* Trevithick - Andrew Keir
* Vijay - Ahsen Bhatti
* Holly - Amanda Mealing
* Jack - Christopher Timothy
* Lawrence - David Savile
* Robin - Jonathan Firth
* Professor Hawthorne - Trevor Bannister
* Betty - Brigit Forsyth
* Jill - Elizabeth Power
* Constable Lowcock - David Ellison
* Abbot Winstanley - Simon Jones
* James - Huw Higginson
* Tim - Simon McBurney
* Win - Roberta Kerr

## Worldbuilding

### The Doctor

* The Doctor thinks of Susan almost every day now.
* The Doctor's departure from Gallifrey was observed.

### Individuals

* Jack remembers trips to Ilkley Moor with Win.
* Bayles began working as a butcher in 1938.
* Betty Yeadon blamed herself for the death of her brother Alfred Beadle, whom she had encouraged to enlist in the military.
* Mr Pemberton was consumed by the Sentience.
* Dr Shearsmith was one of the first people to disappear.
* The son of Valentine Walton was killed in 1644.
* Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski, was murdered by Charles Manson and his "family". Guinevere read about it in one of her mother's True Crime books.
* James Reynolds was nicknamed Debbie Reynolds
* Thomas Edward Hawthorne once walked a hundred miles to hear Oswald Mosley speak.
* Peter Dimmock read football scores on Sportsview.
* Tim Medway spent the last two Christmases alone, watching Alastair Sim on television.

### Locations

* Marsham Castle was built in 1156.
* The Doctor lands the TARDIS in an alien planet with a dusky purple sky and three moons.

### Astronomy

* The characters refer to features of space such as Andromeda, Bellatrix, black holes, supernovae and galaxies.

### Television Series

* *Nightshade* was a science fiction series produced by the BBC. Edmund Trevithick starred as the titular professor from 1953 to 1958.

### Food & Drink

* The Doctor drinks either ginger beer or (less likely) Guinness.

## Notes

* Characters named Dr Shearsmith and Mr Pemberton are mentioned (but do not appear), a possible reference to Gatiss' fellow *The League of Gentlemen* co-creators and co-stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.
* Mark Gatiss has stated that the fictional series *Nightshade* was designed as a tribute to *Quatermass*, a BBC science fiction series of the 1950s which had a great influence on *Doctor Who*, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. Given the implication in TV:*Remembrance of the Daleks* that the eponymous Bernard Quatermass is a real person in the *Doctor Who* universe, it is possible that *Nightshade* would in effect serve to replace *Quatermass*. If that were the case, it is similar to the relationship between *Doctor Who* and *Professor X*. Furthermore, Trevithick mentions that he starred in several Hammer horror films in the 1950s. Hammer produced film adaptations of the first three *Quatermass* serials between 1955 and 1967.

## Continuity

* The Doctor refers to enrolling Susan in Coal Hill School in 1963 (TV: *An Unearthly Child*) whilst he was still in possession of the Hand of Omega. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* The Doctor mentions the TARDIS' food machine. (TV: *The Daleks*, *The Edge of Destruction*)
* The Doctor refers to Susan's departure from the TARDIS. He later recalls saying, "One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye, Susan. Goodbye, my dear." (TV: *The Dalek Invasion of Earth*)
* Trevithick says to the Doctor, "When I tell you to run, run." (TV: *The Power of the Daleks*, et al.)
* Susan Foreman is not the Doctor's biological granddaughter. (TV: *Lungbarrow*)

## Home Video and DVD Releases

### VHS

* This story was released on VHS in 2002.

### 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.