what the SHAKESPEARE? | Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 3 "The Unquiet Dead" Reaction! 

As a reminder i’m a month ahead on patreon! So episode 9 is up there now. patreon.com/emmereacts

Emme last week: "You should go to the future, you can just read about the past anytime!" This week: Charles Dickens fights gas zombies in an 1869 funeral parlor, averting an alien invasion of Earth...

Dickens was anything but a "Scrooge." He persistently wrote about the social injustices of his day, and (so I understand) felt that Christmas Carol was overshadowing his more realistic stories. Authors of his time often had to do public readings to make ends meet, because a lack of modern copyright meant that once a book was out anybody could print and sell it, with the author getting nothing from most copies. He was just burnt out.

To give context to Cardiff, it's the capital of Wales and you'll find that the Doctor visits there a lot. The meta reason is that BBC has studios there and I think the TARDIS set was there for a while, so it just made sense to also film in the city. Now, Cardiff becomes a bit of a running joke because it's a little bit of an anti-climax as a destination. The Welsh and English have a lot of back and forth banter, and while Wales is a gorgeous country, the South around Cardiff is the lower income, slightly faded part. So Cardiff isn't bad persay, it's no worse than any city of its size really, but if a mate told you they were going there for a holiday you'd question why. And when the Doctor, with all of time and space at their disposal, keeps winding up there, it becomes amusing by its mediocrity. Does that sense?

“There are more things in heaven and hell that are dreamt of in your philosophy.” He’s quoting Hamlet, said to Horatio. ☺️

6:07 Dickens made a fortune giving theatrical recitals of his works, which were very popular with the public. When he toured the USA 1842, he made a clear profit of £20,000... that's around £1.8 million in today's money.

A navvy is a manual worker, usually hired in gangs to work on constructing railways or canals.

I've watched this episode a bunch of times and never got the joke about, "What the Shakespeare?" First time watching for you, and you got it right away. Well done! Thanks for the explanation!

Something to consider about the Doctor, particularly 9, he is heavily traumatised by the Time War, and riddled with guilt over everything he couldn't save, particularly since, according to Russel T Davies, several key episodes from Classic Who served as the starting shots of the War (of note Genesis of the Daleks and Rememberance of the Daleks) so he shares at least some of the blame for the War happening, his actions with the Gelth here are an example of his guilt overriding his common sense.

20:13 "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" was Dickens' last book, but he'd only written the first 6 of 12 planned chapters when he died, and he didn't leave any notes behind about what he'd planned for the second half of his story.

As a general rule, if the show uses the surname of someone famous in history, it's safe to assume they ARE talking about who you think they are 😉

A navvy, a softening of the word navigator was a term coined in the 18th and 19h century in Britain for the labourers that dug canals and later railways.

Her being disappointed it's Cardiff is British humour 😅

My grandmother was a scullery maid in 1901 in Hampstead and her yearly wage was probably not really that different and she was in the home of a shipping magnate.

Fun fact #1: Season 1 is the only season without a holiday special (usually it's Christmas but there are a few new years ones far down the line). This is sort of considered an unofficial Christmas episode, despite it being only the third episode ever and also aired in March. Fun fact #2: Simon Callow, the actor who plays Dickens, has played Dickens several other times on screen through his prolific career and even written about him. It seems only fitting he'd be on Doctor who to play this character. Fun fact #3: Happy 19th anniversary of modern who!!

A navvy was a navigator, the workers who built the canals and railways.

The phrase "What the Dickens" is from Shakespeare . Nothing to do with Charles Dickens.

I love a happy medium 😂

The actress who plays Gwyneth, Eve Myles, stars in the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood 5 years later. It was short lived, but had exciting episodes showing another side of the Doctor Who universe.

and now you're introduced to Doctor Who's full spectrum of stories. It can tell grounded tales of ordinary modern people dealing with the paranormal and high concept sci fi, while at the same time skipping back to the past and doing classic horror. With charles dickens! It's a family show but Doctor Who has a reputation for giving kids nightmares (the Dalek from episode 6 is literally known for making kids hide behind the sofa for their first appearance in the 60s) by flirting with the line between horror and twilight zone-esque strange tension and a very bespoke sense of whimsy. It's been doing this since the very beginning, I'd argue that it's the shows single best quality. It caters to kids by treating them like adults.

Well, according to the Bank of England, £8 in 1869 would be worth approximately £788.27 today.

It doesn't come up until much later in the series, but the TARDIS has a "butterfly compensator" that normally prevents changes to history. The "butterfly effect" is the idea that if you make a small change, like kill a butterfly while time traveling, that change will ripple across history and change everything. However, in Doctor Who, history gets changed when the plot demands it, and doesn't the rest of the time. Time is thus explained by the Doctor in a later episode as "A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff".

DW has many rules concerning time travel. Foremost are two: Rule#1: If Events that are fixed in history, ie. officially recorded - for example, the sinking of the Titanic - cannot be changed. Events that are not fixed - for example, the appearance of the Gelth - can be changed, although those changes can cause a ripple through time. Rule#2: Rule#1 can be ignored by the writers whenever they goddamn well feel like it.

Back then Christmas was more like Halloween and people used to tell each other spooky stories.

such a fun episode. And, I have to pay the compliment: your sweaterthing is really cool. My instant reaction was "woa, that's awesome."

Awesome reaction. Fun fact, I live not far away from where these are recorded. Cardiff is significant since largely for that reason, I suppose?

Be patient. The show will certainly explore the consequences of time travel and paradoxes. PS Nice to have a reactor who obviously knows some Dickens, but perhaps you didn't know he did start writing "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", but it was unfinished when he died so hadn't got to the blue elementals bits ... No paradox there.

It's been a while since I watched Doctor Who. I didn't realize until now just how early on some very important themes and symbols were introduced that would be carried throughout the rest of the series.

Odd fact: most of the scenes set in London during this series were filmed in Cardiff, but most of the scenes set in Cardiff here were filmed in Swansea!

Cardiff is the capital of Wales. English people stereotypically regard it a as bit of a backwater where nothing interesting happens. Doctor Who is filmed there so the setting for this episode is a bit of nod to that.

Cardiff is in wales

As an old Dr Who fan I love being able to enjoy thiscwith you as you never seen this before xx

FYI that pronunciation of "gaseous" is standard in Britain, it's not incorrect.

You don't know how much I look forward to your reactions

Billie Piper was 23 when this was filmed, so in a way you're right about how old Rose looks :)

Whereas Naples is farther away from Rose's home, Cardiff is in Wales, on the same island. I guess it didn't really feel like traveling to her, hence her expression when she found out that they had landed in Cardiff instead of Naples.

It's Doctor Who, we can go anywhere, any time. Let's go to Cardiff. It's cheaper to film there.

I still remember this episode from when I was growing up!

Navvy is short for navigational engineer. They built the railways in England at that time

omg first rebels and now doctor who!! you have good taste

I was able to see the Doctor's adventures up until the middle of the 12th Doctor's run, which was when it stopped streaming where I watched the episodes. It's nice to see your reactions while I am able to rewatch them.

Welcome to the UNIVERSE of Doctor Who! You are in for a trip of several lifetime!!!

_The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ is pretty good. It was being printed chapter by chapter in a periodical of the time, and he died before he finished writing it, leading to almost a century and a half of theorising. It has been adapted as a movie and a musical and there are several versions of the novel finished by assorted authors.

Why are they called navvies? Who were the navvies? The word 'navvy' came from the 'navigators' who built the first navigation canals in the 18th century, at the very dawn of the Industrial Revolution. By the standards of the day they were well paid, but their work was hard and often very dangerous.16 May 2018

Welsh and even I’d be disappointed if I landed in Cardiff I can’t lie.

Admittedly, I'm not very good at determining people's age by appearance, but I always thought Billie Piper playing Rose was plausible as a 19-year-old. The actress was only slightly older than that (21-22 at the time of filming) and if you look back at her music videos from when she was a teen pop star she looks basically the same.

You’ll meet other famous people as we go. One of my personal favorites in fact. But you’ll have to wait to find out who.

When this one aired, THIS was the sort of plotline I was hoping for. Teaming up with Charles Dickens to close a Stargate? Sign me up!

"What the dickens" doesn't refer to the author, although it's still a good joke. I think it's believed to refer to the Devil. Amusingly, I've just found out it was actually used by Shakespeare in one of his plays! 😆

One of the things the series was originally supposed to do was teach kids, aka the target audience, about history in an innovative and engaging way... like meeting Dickens.

Wonderful reaction Emme!! I am so excited to be on this journey with you!! Best wishes and much love always!! 🙂❤

After your reaction to this one with Dickens Im especially looking forward to a certain episode later down the line.

Navvy: a labourer or navigational engineer… typically one employed to make a railway, road or canal.

What in the Dickens is going on here...

I agree with Temeraire...I've only seen the first season of Torchwood and it's great.Even if you only watch the five episode arc "Children of Earth",which completely freaked me out...I'm sure you'll enjoy it.Just a suggestion..

The universe in Doctor Who corrects for small paradoxes, especially when time travelers are involved. Things would just adjust to make sure Rose would still be born. It's the bigger paradoxes, or small paradoxes that happen in a weak point in time, that trouble happens.

THANKS for this!!! Good point about the Shakespeare/Dickens exclamation!!!

I subscribed to rewatch doctor who with you!

If u remember the first episode the dr is a time lord, he can see or feel the vibrations of the future and past, he can feel when hes allowed to change the future or not... in time and space there are "fixed points" that always have to happen and you cant CANT change those, things will be BAD....and yes u will see in a coming season what happens if he tries....

Theatre scenes filled in the New Theatre Cardiff....

Emme Who tuesday! This episode is really cool. I really liked that supernatural things were explained with science, to me, this was the first time that ever happened and I thought that was fascinating. Great reaction, Emme. You never fail to make me laugh, especially with that start LMAO.

Billie Piper was 23 years old at the time of filming her character Rose is 19.

'Alien' in 18th and 19th century English often meant 'foreigner' coming from its latin meaning 'a stranger' or strange. Thus you read of 'Aliens Acts' or 'Aliens and Sedition Acts' in Federalist America or Victorian Britain. Consider 'Homo sum, Humani nil a me alienum puto' (Terence) - I am a man. I think / consider nothing that is human foreign to me'.

8:14 Mee-ow! 😆

Hi Emme, I just discovered your DW reactions last week and I'm excited to get in on the ground floor. I know there are many who disagree with me, but I never really cared for the first season. I think it get much better starting in season two, but your reactions are very enjoyable, so I'm along for the ride. Thank you for taking us along with you.

this one is a classic, various plotpoints inserted

Thank you, Emme! ⏳

Torchwood, anagram of Doctor Who, what I hear you say, just you wait, unless you know already.

The change in pronunciation for the word gaseous doesn't surprise me. Language changes and evolves over time, sometimes really fast, but usually slowly. Over the course of a few hundred years, the English language underwent something called the Great Vowel Shift. It's kind of fascinating. You can find plenty of RU-vid videos about it if you are interested in learning more.

11:23 Eight pounds a year in 1869 would be about 1193 pounds today, or about $1500 U.S. She probably also gets free food and lodging, but that's still not very much!

6:08 😂.

Without verging into spoilers, I can say that at least some of your questions _will_ get answered in later episodes this season.

Timelords are acausal tey can tell what can and cant be changed

I remember I was bored with this episode in 2005 and stopped watching. Only returned a year later, but now the good episodes of season 1 are my favorites ever.

By this point the Doctor is 900 years old…

The Doctor is over 900 years.

Doctor Who always plays fast and loose with ripple effects in the space-time continuum, and time travel rules in general. When it suits the story, it's important. When it doesn't, it's ignored.

Nothing against Cardiff persay, but it is in Wales😁

The Rift has its own spinoff, so to speak.

Glad you enjoyed this story. For me, it’s certainly the best of the three so far. The next episode divides a lot of fans. Personally I don’t get the dislike, and I think most of that stems from some schoolboy humour in it, which seemed out of step from what we’d already seen in the opening 3 episodes. Hopefully you will appreciate the actual story and not dwell on the schoolboy humour. Loving your reactions so far.

Victorians ate corpses so like this was an average Tuesday

Billie Piper is amazing.

You'll find that the TARDIS doesn't always take him where he wants to go, but where he needs to go.

☝🫤 17:13

(Sneed gets his neck snapped) I think it's gone a little bit wrong.

Ok. I gave it 2 episodes before i subscribed. Im a huge whovian. You get picky. But its really fun watching with you.

Hi @emme just wondering why theres 15 videos listed in this playlist, but i can only see 3?

Later on you could try ‘Torchwood’ series, loosely connected to Dr Who.

Hello 👋🏻. This isn’t supernatural, no horror monsters. Everything is science or sci fi, meaning aliens or advance technology.

Serenity?

There was no streaming in 2005. If you missed it on Saturday night, you had to watch the repeat on Sunday or Friday night.

£8 in 1860 was about £850 in 2024, but it would buy you a whole lot more than you'd get for £850 today.

Just wait till you see some of the other historical figures they meet in the coming seasons ......

Please stop mentioning anything about a Torchwood series and let plots really play out first. This includes key moments/things/ideas/whatever and characters upcoming too that we know. We know what’s important. But remember what was a surprise to you, and SHHH. It’s just not fair to her. There was no reason to bring anything up. The word isn’t a spoiler in itself, but still… why go there? It wasn’t mentioned. Don’t clarify the name, characters, plot arcs, anything. Right now the only thing that Emme or the general public can see on IMDB is there’s a spinoff called Torchwood. What does that mean? Right now? Who knows! 🤫🤫🤫🤐🤐🤐. Looking up Eve Myles will also give away too much. The Torchwood series can be watched after a few seasons have passed. They’ll totally explain at the right time, no worries. That’s all I will add.

Wasn't 'alienist' a name for people who study those with mental disorders, around the late 1800s?

whats with the getting arrested in your outtro?

Cardiff the best place in the wordl

It's fascinating seeing an American trying to tell the English how to pronounce things in English, the King's English, or at the time of release the Queen's English.

Perfect 😊

❤❤❤