10 Times Doctor Who Reused Footage And Hoped You Wouldn't Notice

8. Not-So-New Earth

Doctor Who reused footage Rose Tyler The Poison Sky Midnight
BBC Studios

In Gridlock, the Doctor takes Martha to New Earth – a planet he first visited with Rose in the Series 2 story of the same name. Upon realising this, Martha is, understandably, a little narked.

Viewers could also be mistaken for feeling a sense of deja vu. Because although this story was set in the undercity of New New York as opposed to the city itself, not everything we saw of New Earth was, ahem, new.

Upon arriving in the planet’s slums, the Doctor and Martha find an info point showing the latest traffic report from Sally Calypso.

The report proceeds to show footage from above ground, and if that footage seems familiar, that's because it was ripped directly from New Earth. These are some of the very first shots we saw in that episode – such as this establishing shot, where you can clearly see the TARDIS perched on the cliff in the background.

Doctor Who Gridlock New Earth shot
BBC Studios

On this occasion though, the footage is treated with a green tinge and some good old-fashioned grain.

Perhaps the team were counting on fans noticing this one, as it’s a nice bit of continuity in its own right. But anyone who hadn’t already watched New Earth five billion times would be none the wiser.

 
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