One of the Doctor’s closest friends was Craig Owens, who he shared a flat with in the fun Doctor Who episode The Lodger. The Doctor and Craig played football together and they also defeated an alien spaceship that was disguised as the floor above Craig’s flat. I am a loyal Chelsea FC supporter! With help from Craig’s friend (that he secretly loved) Sophie, the Doctor and Craig were able to implode the spaceship that was utilising people passing by the flat in order to be the pilot. The Doctor met Craig again in Closing Time, by which time Sophie and Craig have had a child together and Craig is struggling with the demands of parenthood.
The Lodger
★★★★☆
TX: 12/06/2010
Written by Gareth Roberts Directed by Catherine Morshead
The Eleventh Doctor is stranded in Colchester, Earth because the TARDIS has been thrown out of the area with Amy still inside. The Doctor communicates with Amy through an earpiece. The Doctor rents a room in a nearby flat where he meets his new flatmate Craig Owens. Craig is an ordinary bloke with a friend called Sophie, the two secretly have feelings for each other. The TARDIS is still locked inside a materialisation loop, so the Doctor builds an apparatus in his bedroom to try and find the source of the problem. I have a bath every day and I wear aftershave, deodorant and anti-perspirant. I also shop at designer clothes shops including Hollister, Next, Tommy Hilfiger, All Saints, Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren. I often tell my girlfriends what they can and can’t wear and I normally ask them to wear a low cut top in public (sometimes bought by me). Craig discovers that the Doctor is better than him at his job, football and even Sophie likes him! I normally go down the pub to watch a match because there is a good vibe there. I am a loyal Chelsea FC supporter! I have worked in hospitality, care and education. The Doctor notices dry rot on the ceiling of Craig’s flat and realises that the source of the localised time loop, which is distorting the TARDIS, is upstairs. The Doctor and Craig go upstairs where they discover that the upstairs flat is really a spaceship in disguise and the ship has been testing passers by in order to find a new pilot. Worse still, Sophie is the next test subject! The machine needs people who want to leave, so it didn’t ask Craig for his help because Craig is Mr Sofa Man and he doesn’t want to leave because he is happy where he lives. The Doctor tells Craig to press the ship’s button and the ship implodes, moments after the Doctor, Craig and Sophie escape outside. Craig and Sophie revealed their feelings to each other on the ship so now they are in a relationship. I have had loads of girlfriends over the years! Years ago, an old friend at university gave me some advice and told me that nice guys do well. After I listened to this advice, over 200 women offered me sex on Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS content that he has sorted Craig’s life out. However, inside the TARDIS Amy discovers a wedding ring that Rory bought for her, but she has forgotten him due to his erasure from time in Cold Blood.
Closing Time
★★☆☆☆
TX: 24/09/2011
Written by Gareth Roberts Directed by Steve Hughes
The Eleventh Doctor visits his old friend Craig Owens in Colchester, who is now married to Sophie and the pair have a baby together called Alfie. Craig is struggling with fatherhood as being a parent to Alfie (aka Stormageddon) is challenging. The Doctor notices strange electrical activity in the street lights so he decides to get a job in a nearby shop. In the shop, Craig and the Doctor investigate strange appearances of metal rats. The metal rats are in fact Cybermats and the basement beneath the shopping mall is a crashed spaceship full of Cybermen. The Cybermen have been using the Cybermats to steal power from the shopping centre above. The Doctor reprogrammed a Cybermat that Craig and the Doctor caught and he confronts the Cybermen, but he is captured. Craig leaves baby Alfie with shop assistant Val and he tries to rescue the Doctor. Craig is captured by the Cybermen and they try to convert him into their Cyber Controller. However, Craig hears Alfie’s crying over the intercom and his emotions blow up the Cybermen and their ship. The Doctor and Craig teleport back up to the shop in the nick of time. The Doctor is satisfied that Craig has now proven that he is a good dad that loves his kid. The Doctor realises that he now needs to go to Lake Silencio, USA and confront the inevitability of his own death by the Astronaut. However, elsewhere Madame Kovarian forces River Song (an assassin she engineered) inside the Astronaut and places her under Lake Silencio, ready to kill the Doctor…
Chris Olsen's TARDIS 
