Death Is the Only Answer
| "Death Is the Only Answer" | |||||
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| Doctor Who episode | |||||
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| Production | |||||
| Directed by | Jeremy Webb | ||||
| Written by | Children of Oakley CE Junior School | ||||
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| Series | Specials (2011) | ||||
| Length | 4 minutes | ||||
| Originally broadcast | 1 October 2011 | ||||
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"Death Is the Only Answer" is a special mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on BBC Three (as part of Doctor Who Confidential) on 1 October 2011. It was written via a "Script to Screen" competition in which junior schools were asked to write a script including the Eleventh Doctor and an enemy of his. The competition was won by the children of Oakley CE Junior School.
In the mini-episode, the Doctor's fez calls its former owner Albert Einstein (Nickolas Grace) into the TARDIS. Einstein carries a mysterious liquid which changes Einstein into an Ood.
The episode opens with the Doctor in the TARDIS reunited with his fez from "The Big Bang". While reminiscing happily about it he trips over, knocking the fez off his head and hitting a lever on the console. The fez vanishes and then Albert Einstein appears with the fez on his head. Einstein greets the Doctor and explains that he had been working on a time machine and thought he'd found the vital part of it — a mysterious liquid which Einstein believes to be "bionic fusion liquid".
The Doctor offers to run some tests on it but Einstein insists upon testing it himself and turns to walk away from the console. However, the liquid spits up at his face and changes Einstein into an Ood. For several seconds the "Albert-Ood" repeats "Death is the Only Answer", confusing the Doctor. Suddenly a white cylinder vortex appears and the "Albert-Ood" walks towards it and somehow manages to turn back into Einstein. Einstein asks to go home so the Doctor drops him off in 1945 ("18th of September, about ten o'clock"). The Doctor leaves for another adventure, while a bit of the liquid is left on the floor, moving slowly.
"Death Is the Only Answer" is the winner of BBC Learning's "Script to Screen" writing competition, which began on 28 April 2011 and encouraged children aged 9 to 11 to collaborate on a three-minute script for the Eleventh Doctor. The script also could feature a new human character and an enemy of an Ood, Judoon, Cyberman, or Weeping Angel. BBC Learning's website contained learning resources for teachers and pupils to exercise their writing skills, while Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill presented a series of videos in character as the Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams respectively. Videos were also produced with advice about how to write a good script and incorporating character and stage directions. Response to the competition was great, with 292,000 downloads of the online teaching material.
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