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Doctor Who
S1.E3
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IMDbPro

The Unquiet Dead

  • Episode aired Mar 24, 2006
  • TV-PG
  • 45m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
Simon Callow, Christopher Eccleston, and Eve Myles in Doctor Who (2005)
AdventureDramaSci-Fi

The Doctor has great expectations for his latest adventure when he and Rose join forces with Charles Dickens to investigate a mysterious plague of zombies.The Doctor has great expectations for his latest adventure when he and Rose join forces with Charles Dickens to investigate a mysterious plague of zombies.The Doctor has great expectations for his latest adventure when he and Rose join forces with Charles Dickens to investigate a mysterious plague of zombies.

  • Director
    • Euros Lyn
  • Writers
    • Mark Gatiss
    • Sydney Newman
  • Stars
    • Christopher Eccleston
    • Billie Piper
    • Alan David
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    9.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Euros Lyn
    • Writers
      • Mark Gatiss
      • Sydney Newman
    • Stars
      • Christopher Eccleston
      • Billie Piper
      • Alan David
    • 38User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos39

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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Christopher Eccleston
    Christopher Eccleston
    • Doctor Who
    Billie Piper
    Billie Piper
    • Rose Tyler
    Alan David
    Alan David
    • Gabriel Sneed
    Huw Rhys
    • Redpath
    Jennifer Hill
    • Mrs. Peace
    Eve Myles
    Eve Myles
    • Gwyneth
    Simon Callow
    Simon Callow
    • Charles Dickens
    Wayne Cater
    • Stage Manager
    Michael Povey
    • Driver
    • (as Meic Povey)
    Zoe Thorne
    • The Gelth
    Julian Bosley
    • Zombie
    • (uncredited)
    Alan Dorrington
    • Reanimated Corpse
    • (uncredited)
    Aaron Fisher
    • Theatre Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    John Ninnis
    • Theatre Crowd
    • (uncredited)
    Owain Roderick
    • Zombie
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Euros Lyn
    • Writers
      • Mark Gatiss
      • Sydney Newman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews38

    7.49.6K
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    Featured reviews

    9MrFilmAndTelevisionShow

    Dr Who's casting is on point as usual

    I can't think of anyone who could have played Dicken's better. Just like the the future Matt Smith episode with Van Gogh, absolutely perfect casting. This episode was very intriguing indeed, I thought it was brilliant.
    7maxglen

    Creepy Victorian Gas Ghosts and Charles Dickens

    I feel like stories and serials set in the past are always a very mixed bag with who but this is definitely one of the better ones. We get the first proper horror episode of the revival and I remember being genuinely unnerved and frightened by it when I first watched it back in 05. The whole idea of setting it at Christmas and having Charles Dickens who at the time is touring A Christmas Carol mixed in with the Ghost/Aliens is a stroke of genius and really makes this one stand out. The episode isn't without fault by any means, the pacing is a wee bit strange among other things but I'd definitely recommend this one for fans of the back in time stories. I'm going to give "The Unquiet Dead" a 7.7 to a 7.8
    6warlordartos

    Unusual....Not bad, Not great either

    I had higher hopes than i should have for this episode. While it has the potential to scare the younger viewers like the Classic Who did; for the adult viewers it drags on a little too long and so loses some of the grip.

    Still an above average episode however, as it does have a catching ending
    7Xstal

    Phantasmagoria...

    It is 1869, the Doctor and Barbarella Rose materialise in Cardiff on Christmas Eve where those passed are reanimating, leaving Charles Dickens hyperventilating, and a little bit flustered and confused. What are the gas light spectral forms that raise the dead from their coffin box dorms, enlivening cadavers into zombified forms. Friend or foe, we just do not know, until Gwyneth starts to radiate and glow, breaching the rift to set up the flow, a torch to a darker side woodn't you know.
    8robertmooring-13902

    Pure Doctor Who fun

    Whilst I would consider this episode marginally superior to the episodes that precede it, it still has that same quality to it. It is slightly more fantastical and scary, although it is still child friendly, and it is a very entertaining episode.

    Related interests

    Still frame
    Adventure
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    Sci-Fi

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The rift in time and space that runs through Cardiff is a set-up to Torchwood (2006).
    • Goofs
      When Rose is locked in the room and the bodies come toward her, you can see an electric light-switch to the side of the door she's trying to get through. As the Doctor runs down the hall toward her, you can see a central heating radiator.
    • Quotes

      Driver: [as the coach races down the road after the hearse] Everything in order, Mr. Dickens?

      Charles Dickens: No it is not!

      The Doctor: What did he say?

      Charles Dickens: Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humor...

      The Doctor: Dickens?

      Charles Dickens: Yes?

      The Doctor: Charles Dickens?

      Charles Dickens: Yes.

      The Doctor: The Charles Dickens?

      Driver: Shall I remove the gentleman, Sir?

      The Doctor: Charles Dickens. You're brilliant you are! Completely one hundred per cent brilliant. I've read them all. "Great Expectation", "Olivier Twist", and whats the other one? The one with the ghost?

      Charles Dickens: "A Christmas Carol"?

      The Doctor: No, no, no. The one with the trains. "The Signalman". That's it. Terryfying, The best short story ever written! You're a genius!

      Driver: You want me to get rid of him, Sir?

      Charles Dickens: No, I think he can stay.

    • Connections
      Featured in Doctor Who Confidential: Bringing Back the Doctor (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
      (uncredited)

      Traditional

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 24, 2006 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official sites
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (United Kingdom)
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • New Theatre, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales, UK(Theatre interior)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 45m
    • Color
      • Color

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