Gridlock

"Gridlock" is the third episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 April 2007. It was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Richard Clark. The episode is set five billion years in the future on the planet New Earth, one of the many planets humanity had settled on. In the episode, alien time traveller The Doctor (David Tennant) and his new travelling companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) discover the remainder of humanity on the planet live in perpetual gridlock within the Motorway, a highway system beneath the city state of New New York. When Martha is kidnapped, the Doctor races to find her before she enters the dangerous "fast lane". "Gridlock" completes a loose trilogy that began with "The End of the World" and "New Earth" (2006), and contains hints at the series' story arc. The story is designed to show how the Doctor can bring hope into a world. Production of "Gridlock" took place in September and October 2006. Much of the episode was filmed in-studio and used a large amount of computer-generated imagery, so it appeared to be set in a "CGI world". Some location filming was done in Cardiff, most notably at the Temple of Peace. "Gridlock" was viewed by 8.41 million viewers in the UK and received generally positive reviews from critics. Plot The Tenth Doctor takes Martha to an alleyway in the city-state of New New York on New Earth where street vendors are selling addictive mood drugs in the form of sticky patches to help people deal with their emotions. A young couple named Milo and Cheen kidnap Martha. Once in their vehicle, they explain that Cheen is pregnant and that they needed three adult passengers with them to use the fast lane. They promise they will drop Martha off when they reach their destination ten miles away, estimated to take six years. The Doctor chases after Martha's kidnappers and arrives at the Motorway, a completely enclosed highway filled with thousands of hover vans stuck in gridlock. One of the motorists, Brannigan, helps the Doctor locate the vehicle containing Martha, which is heading towards the fast lane. The Doctor tries to call the police but gets put on hold, so the Doctor decides to try to reach Martha himself by breaking into and out of vans on the way to the fast lane.