Boom Town (Doctor Who)

165 – "Boom Town"
Doctor Who episode
The Doctor dines with Margaret Blaine. The scene of the Doctor dining with his enemy was centred around exploring a moral dilemma concerning the consequences of the Doctor's actions.
Cast
Doctor Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor)
Companions Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) John Barrowman (Jack Harkness)
Others Noel Clarke – Mickey Smith Annette Badland – Margaret William Thomas – Mr Cleaver Mali Harries – Cathy Aled Pedrick – Idris Hopper Alan Ruscoe – Slitheen
Production
Directed by	Joe Ahearne
Written by	Russell T Davies
Script editor	Elwen Rowlands
Produced by	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Mal Young
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Production code	1.11
Series	Series 1
Length	45 mins
Originally broadcast	4 June 2005
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Doctor Dances" "Bad Wolf"
List of Doctor Who serials

"Boom Town" is the eleventh episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, the episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2005. It was written by executive producer Russell T Davies and directed by Joe Ahearne.

In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companions Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke). There, they discover that a recent enemy, a Slitheen named Margaret Blaine (Annette Badland), survived the events of "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" and is willing to destroy the planet to ensure her freedom.

"Boom Town" was a replacement episode for a story that was to be written by Paul Abbott, but he had to abandon the script because he had other commitments. Davies decided to write a different story centred on bringing Badland's character back from the fourth and fifth episodes in the series, as he had enjoyed her performances. Primarily, Davies wanted to explore the consequences of the Doctor's actions and question whether he had the right to sentence an enemy to death. The episode was also intended to showcase Cardiff, where the revived Doctor Who series is made, and where the episode was filmed in February 2005. "Boom Town" was watched by 7.68 million viewers in the United Kingdom and received mixed reviews from critics.