Partners in Crime

Episode aired Apr 25, 2008
TV-PGTV-PG
48m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

6.8K

YOUR RATING

Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

With a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is ... Read allWith a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is investigating as well.With a new weight-loss pill tested in London by Adipose Industries, The Doctor goes to investigate the sinister truth behind the product, only to find out that his old friend Donna Noble is investigating as well.

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

6.8K

YOUR RATING

Director
- James Strong
Writers
- Russell T. Davies(showrunner)
- Steven Moffat(showrunner)
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Photos27

Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate in Doctor Who (2005)

Catherine Tate and David Tennant in Doctor Who (2005)

Trivia
Howard Attfield did film some scenes as Donna's father, Geoff Noble, but became too unwell to continue and died during filming. This episode was dedicated to him. Bernard Cribbins, who had starred in the previous episode Voyage of the Damned (2007), as a newspaper salesman named Wilfred Mott, was brought back to re-film Attfield's scenes, now establishing Wilfred as Donna's grandfather. The video release shows Attfield's scenes in a special feature.

Goofs
The security guards shoot away the lock on the door, which they then kick down with no real effort. But the door would still be held in place by the hinges - they don't kick it with enough force to rip the hinges out, and even if they had, we can see that there's no damage on the hinge side of the door anyway to demonstrate their forcible removal.

Quotes
[mouthing words silently and exaggeratedly]
The Doctor: Donna?
Donna Noble: Doc-tor!
The Doctor: Wh - what - w - what?
Donna Noble: Oh! My! *God*!
The Doctor: How?
Donna Noble: [pointing at her face with both hands] It's me!
The Doctor: [nodding, gesturing to eyes, then Donna] Yeah, I can see that.
Donna Noble: [pointing to where she's standing, then two thumbs up] Oh, this... is... *brilliant*!
The Doctor: [pointing thrice at Donna] W - wha - what the hell are *you* *doing* *there*?
Donna Noble: [pointing to eyes, then at The Doctor] I... was looking... for... you!
The Doctor: [points at self questioningly] What for?
Donna Noble: [miming reading the paper] Read it...
Donna Noble: [typing fingers in the air] ... on the Internet...
Donna Noble: [wiggling fingers around mouth] ... so weird...
Donna Noble: [walking fingers] ... crept along...
Donna Noble: [thumb into room, hand-as-mouth] ... heard them talking...
Donna Noble: [ducks down, comes back up, points] ... looked, ah! *You*!
The Doctor: [imperceptibly nods]
Donna Noble: [thumbs back at Miss Foster, looks, freezes] Th...
[Miss Foster has stopped talking and is staring at Donna. Miss Foster turns and looks right at The Doctor. The Doctor turns to see Miss Foster]
Miss Foster: [aloud] Are we interrupting you?

Connections
Edited into Doctor Who: Turn Left (2008)

Soundtracks
Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa
(uncredited)
Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David
Performed by Dusty Springfield

User reviews31

Review

Featured review

The surprisingly pleasing return of Donna Noble

Despite serious misgivings concerning the return of Catherine Tate's Donna Noble to the Tardis, I found myself eating humble pie as this episode gained momentum.

"Partners in Crime" brings a whole new dynamism to the series, demonstrating what fans have always known...that "Doctor Who" is capable of changing every few years. From the pleasingly re-energised starting sequence which harks back to the time-tunnel of earlier Doctors to the climax, every scene in this episode was a delight.

Providing welcome comic relief to the series after the doom-and-gloom of the last few tales, this opening to "Series 4" has fantastic chemistry between Tennant and Tate, another appearance from the television legend that is Bernard Cribbins, and a wonderfully comic turn from Sarah Lancashire.

Tennant reminds me a little of Bruce Campbell, with his energetic, enthusiastic and wide-eyed portrayal of the Time Lord. He's clearly extremely comfortable in the role and I dearly hope he decides to stay around for quite some time, no pun intended.

The effects in "Partners in Crime" are largely first class and the latest alien creation, the Andipose, are the cutest beings yet to appear in the long history of the series.

9 out of 10. I haven't had so much fun watching an episode of "Doctor Who" for quite some time. Marvellous family entertainment.

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