The Crimson Horror
| 237 – "The Crimson Horror" | |||||
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| Doctor Who episode | |||||
Official Poster from the BBC Website.
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| Production | |||||
| Directed by | Saul Metzstein | ||||
| Written by | Mark Gatiss | ||||
| Produced by | Marcus Wilson | ||||
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| Incidental music composer | Murray Gold | ||||
| Series | Series 7 | ||||
| Length | 45 minutes | ||||
| Originally broadcast | 4 May 2013 | ||||
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"The Crimson Horror" is the eleventh episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Saul Metzstein.
In 1893, Silurian Madame Vastra, her human wife Jenny Flint, and their Sontaran butler Strax are asked to investigate "The Crimson Horror", a mysterious cause of death in which victims are found dumped in the river with bright red skin. Superstition states that the retina retains the image last seen by the person (an "optogram"), and they are shocked to find that not only did this really happen, but that the latest victim had seen the Doctor. They travel to Yorkshire, where Jenny infiltrates Sweetville, a utopian community led by Mrs Gillyflower and the never-seen Mr Sweet. Mrs Gillyflower preaches about the coming apocalypse to encourage people to come, using as an example of their doomed and corrupt society her blind daughter Ada, who had been beaten by her late husband.
Jenny discovers the Doctor, who is chained up and exhibits red skin and a stiff stature. At his silent direction she puts him into a chamber to reverse the process. Once restored, he explains to Jenny that he and Clara had arrived in Yorkshire and were also investigating the mystery of "The Crimson Horror". They had also joined Sweetville to investigate, but learned that they were to be preserved to survive the apocalypse. The process did not work on the Doctor because he was not human, and he was saved from being destroyed by Ada, who affectionately called him "my monster" and had hidden him from her mother. The Doctor finds the preserved Clara in one of Sweetville's houses and manages to reverse the process on her. Meanwhile, Vastra recognises that Sweetville is using the venom of a prehistoric red leech that was a major pest to her people. The Doctor and Clara confront Mrs Gillyflower, who reveals that she plans to launch a rocket to spread the poison all over the skies; everyone on Earth will die except those "perfect" people she had preserved, who will then start over to make a better world. "Mr Sweet" is also revealed to be a red leech from Vastra's prehistoric times that has formed a symbiotic relationship with Mrs Gillyflower. The Doctor berates Mrs Gillyflower for experimenting on Ada to get the preservation formula right. Ada, overhearing this, angrily advances towards her mother, giving Clara time to smash the controls. However, Mrs Gillyflower holds a gun to Ada's head and heads into the rocket silo, which has been disguised as a chimney, to reach the secondary control.
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