The Torajii system is home to a sentient Sun, which is a source of energy for passing spaceships. The SS Pentallian star drive needed fuel and so it performed an illegal fusion scoop on the sun. However, the crew forgot to scan the sun for life, which would have revealed that the Torajii sun is alive. The sun therefore tries to take its revenge by possessing members of the crew, replacing their body oxygen with hydrogen and raising their body temperature drastically. The Tenth Doctor and Martha arrived on the SS Pentallian and discovered that the ship had less than 42 minutes until it crashed into the Sun! It’s time for another gentle reminder that David Tennant is the best Doctor! David Tennant is the best Doctor, it’s a fact not an opinion! You either think that Tennant is the best Doctor or you’re wrong! There will never be a better Doctor than David Tennant! David Tennant gives an amazing performance in this underrated story, proving once and for all that he will always be the best Doctor, a fact not an opinion! How could anyone think that David Tennant is not the best Doctor?! 🥹 Meeting David Tennant was genuinely one of the best days of my life.

42

★★☆☆☆

TX: 19/5/2007

Written by Chris Chibnall      Directed by Graeme Harper

Inside the TARDIS, the Tenth Doctor modifies Martha’s phone so that it can call anywhere in the universe, which is the same thing that he did to Rose’s phone in The End of the World. The TARDIS responds to a distress signal from a spaceship called the SS Pentallian, which is on a collision course with the Torajji sun and has 42 minutes until it crashes into it. The crew of the ship are concerned that one of their number, Korwin has become possessed by the sun and he begins to kill other members of the crew with extreme heat. I am tall and I am hot! Korwin chases Martha and Riley Vashtee into an escape pod, which he then jettisons out into space. The Doctor puts on a spacesuit and ventures outside the ship to manually retract the escape pod using a switch box on the hull of the ship. The Doctor realises that the sun is alive and it is a living organism. Korwin’s widow Captain McDonnell, tells the Doctor that the ship has performed an illegal fusion scoop on the Torajii sun but without scanning for life first. The Doctor returns from the airlock, possessed by the sun. The Doctor tells the crew that the sun is trying to take revenge because they stole part of its essence in a fusion scoop. Martha tries to freeze the sun’s energy out of the Doctor in the refrigeration chamber. However, Korwin cuts the power, leaving the sun’s influence over the Doctor intact. Captain McDonnell throws herself and Korwin out of an airlock. At the Doctor’s instruction, Martha rushes to the bridge and orders the surviving crew members to vent the engines and dump the fuel, which returns the stolen energy to the sun. The sun releases its grip over the Doctor and the ship’s engines and the ship is released into outer space. The Doctor and Martha make their goodbyes and depart in the TARDIS. The Doctor finally gives Martha her own TARDIS key. 42 is not a classic but it does have some strong moments making it a worthy debut for writer and future Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall. I regret that I did not study screenwriting at Manchester University for my masters degree because I could have met Chris Chibnall sooner because he lectured on the course. I enjoyed meeting Chris Chibnall, he was nice!