The TARDIS malfunctions. First, it crashes in Sir Isaac Newton’s (Nathaniel Curtis) apple tree in 1666. Then it lands on a spaceship at the edge of the universe. The Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) escape as the space/time machine spews flames and shuts down while playing “Wild Blue Yonder.”
The Doctor plugs in his sonic screwdriver to try to repair it while they explore a vast ship’s corridor. The Doctor accidentally activates the Hostile Action Displacement System and the TARDIS disappears. It will not return until the threat that triggered the disappearance is neutralized. The spaceship’s layout reconfigures around them. They approach a figure in the distance and find an ancient robot, but there are no other signs of life.
They split up and find deformed doppelgangers of each other called “not-things”. They take on the thoughts of the originals as well as their form. All four of them meet. The Doctor uses a human superstition about a line of salt to keep them away.
The Doctor realizes that the ship’s captain died to stop the not-things. The not-Doctor suggests that the trap is a slow self-destruct sequence and the robot is the trigger. The not-things race to stop the robot as the Doctor speeds up the countdown. Detecting the approaching end of the threat, the TARDIS returns just before the explosion.
The Doctor takes not-Donna with him by mistake, but realizes what he has done. He returns to eject the doppelganger and rescues the real Donna just before the ship explodes. They return to London and find Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), who is delighted to see them because he knew the Doctor would return and save everyone. Then a riot begins and a plane crashes.
This was the second of three 60th Anniversary Specials, written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Tom Kingsley. Bernard Cribbins had died in July, 2022, and the episode is dedicated to him. It was received with positive reviews from critics. Its small cast and limited sets caused it to be referred to as a bottle episode. Tenant and Tate used prosthetics to portray the not-things doubles and a contortionist named Tommaso Di Vincenzo, who could bend over backwards.. The robot, named Jumbo, was 3-D printed and was made of fiberglass molds controlled by five puppeteers..