DOCTOR WHO IN DETAIL

The Doctor is travelling alone, the first time for a long time. The Doctor is repairing some of the systems and has the defences down as the front of a ship crashes into the TARDIS. A rubber ring falls from the ship bearing the name Titanic.

The Doctor sets the TARDIS to materialise aboard the Titanic. Dressed in a tuxedo and trainers, the Doctor wanders around the ship. Christmas music is playing in the background. This is a different Titanic, though; this one is orbiting above the Earth.

As Christmas is a time of celebration on Earth the Captain of the ship allows the crew time off, but newly qualified midshipman Frame refuses to leave as the regulations state that there must be two officers on the bridge.

The Doctor learns, from one of the Heavenly Host, that the Titanic, named after one of the most popular ships on Earth, is en route from the planet Sto, in the Casivanian Belt. The designation was chosen by Max Capricorn, and as it is talking the Host the Doctor is talking to develops a fault, and is taken away for repair.

One of the waitresses, Astrid Peth, bumps into one of the guests and breaks the glasses she was carrying. Whilst the guest, Rickston Slade, is rude to Astrid, the Doctor stops to help.

The Doctor joins Movrin Van Hoff and Froon on a shore leave party to Earth. The Doctor grabs Astrid and uses his psychic paper to get himself and Astrid onto the shore leave party. There is guide, Mr Copper - the ship's historian, but his information is very wrong - even though he has a first class degree in Earthonomics, from Mrs. Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners. On Earth, the streets are deserted. After the past problems at Christmas with the Sycorax, and the Racnoss, everyone has left for the country.

At the same time three meteors are on a collision course with the Titanic. Midshipman Frame wants to power up the shields, but the Captain tells him to stand fast. The guests have no idea about the approaching meteors, but a power fluctuation causes the shore leave to be cut short. When the Doctor uses a panel to examine the systems he notices the meteors on a collision course. When the midshipman tries to put up the shields the Captains pulls a gun out and shoots at him. Back on the Titanic the Doctor urges everyone to get to the lifeboats.

The Doctor isn't believed, and is taken away. All the transporters go down, and a small meteorite smashes through one of the windows. The Captain waits as the meteorites get closer, and finally strike the starboard side. As fires and chaos breaks out, the Doctor does his best to help people, including Astrid. When things calm down one of the Lieutenants opens a door and is sucked out into space.

The Doctor plans to use the TARDIS to take all the passengers to safety. The problem is that the TARDIS has been sucked out into space. In such an event the TARDIS is programmed to lock on to the nearest centre of gravity - the Earth.

On the lower decks the robots have been reprogrammed and now only have one function: to kill. On the bridge, only Frame is alive. The Doctor manages to communicate with him, and asks about the state of the engines, which are powering down. The Titanic is equipped with a nuclear storm drive and if the ship collides with Earth the explosion would destroy all life.

The Doctor starts to lead a group of guests through the ship, although the way is blocked. Bannakaffalatta and Astrid manage to make it through a small gap, and the Doctor and the guests start to make the hole bigger.

Down in the kitchen there are six survivors. They contact Frame, and Frame tells them there are sixty other survivors across the ship. The kitchen doors are jammed, until robot Host arrive. The kitchen staff ask the Host to clear a path, but the Host aren't accepting orders. As Frame watches the kitchen staff life signs disappear, as they do across the ship.

One of the Host is with the Doctor and the guests he is with. They scramble though some debris, with no help from Rickston, and the Doctor learns from the host where the command source is: deck 31. The Doctor asks Frame to check deck 31. There is a shielded area that blocks all the scans on the deck.

The Doctor's party make it to the engines. The only way across is a small walkway that has buckled. No-one is looking forward to it, but as the Doctor points out, it is a way across. There are railings, but they are weak, and Morvin falls into the engines. As the Host approaches, Rickston rushes across. He trips in the middle and nearly falls. The Doctor helps people to cross the walkway. The Host can fly, and appear in the engine room. The Host use their halos to attack the guests. Bannakaffalatta is really a cybrog, and uses an electromagnetic pulse to destroy the Host. The power drain is too much, and he can't be recharged.

The Doctor asks a surviving Host for information, and it complies and tells the Doctor that there is a plan to destroy the Earth, and that the Host have orders to leave no witnesses. As the Host prepares to kill, a grief stricken Froon attaches a rope to the Host and jumps into the engines, taking the Host with her.

The Doctor gives his sonic screwdriver to Rickston and orders him to open the next door, and gives Mr. Copper and Astrid instructions to get back to the upper decks as he prepares to go to deck 31. Meanwhile the engines fail, leaving 8 minutes before the Titanic enters Earth orbit. While Mr Copper, Rickston and Astrid make their own way, using the EMP transmitter from Bannakaffalatta to destroy host, the Doctor makes his way to deck 31, and encounters more host. Using logic the Doctor manages to convince the Host to take them to their leader.

The survivors make their way to the upper decks, and Astrid asks Frame to divert power so she can use a teleport to go to deck 31, where the Doctor has been taken to see the Host's ultimate authority - Max Capricorn. Max had been hiding inside an Omnistate impact chamber, strong enough to survive anything - even a ship wreck.

Max is a cyborg living in a society that hates cyborgs, running his company for 176 years using a hologram as a disguise. Max Capricorn Cruiseliners was failing, and the board forced him out. In revenge, the plan was to crash the Titanic into Earth, therefore the business would be ruined, and the board would be jailed for mass murder, whilst Max in his chamber would survive, and when retrieved from the wreckage could retire.

Max can remotely control Titanic's functions, and cancels the engines. As the Host prepare to kill the Doctor, Astrid appears and uses a forklift to push Max into the engines. During the struggle the brake lines are cut, and both Astrid and Max plunge into the engines.

As the ship starts to plunge towards Earth more explosions and fires start. With Max dead, the Doctor reprograms the Host to fly him up through the engines to the control deck, where Frame was sealed in - until the Doctor breaks in. The Doctor and Frame both battle to regain control of the Titanic. Realising where Titanic is going to hit Earth, the Doctor calls Buckingham Palace and orders them to evacuate. The Doctor manages to regain control in time, using the heat of re-entry to fire up the storm drive, and the Titanic flies over the top of Buckingham Palace.

After the events only three people survived: Midshipman Frome, Mr. Copper and Rickston Slade. The ship is stabilised, and help is on the way. Mr. Copper realises he will spend time in jail for his fraudulent degree. Using the teleport the Doctor and Mr. Copper teleport to Earth, where the Doctor tries to correct some of Mr. Copper's information, and is reunited with the TARDIS.