The Minus Men

'The Minus Men' is the first episode of the first season of the BloodLoomis Productions Lego Doctor Who Series. The episode was written and directed by Cameron Hughes. It was first uploaded on 5th September 2015.

The plot involves the newly regenerated Doctor arriving on Earth and enlisting the help of Jessica Hampton in helping him stop a race of creatures from a negative dimension who are kidnapping humans by taking them through a rip in the fabric of space.

The episode featured the debut of Cameron Hughes as the Ninth Doctor and Jessica Hampton as his companion. It also features the debut of the semi-regular character Joe, Jess' ill-fated boyfriend, who would appear occasionally throughout the season and in subsequent specials. It received a positive response from viewers, although criticism was placed on its use of one voice artist.

Plot
Jessica Hampton says goodbye to her boyfriend Joe as he leaves for a meeting. As she sits down, she hears a strange noise from outside. Rushing into an nearby alleyway, she finds a blue box, from which a strange man bursts out. He asks her if she knows where he is, before fainting.

Jess takes the Doctor back to her house, where upon waking up, he tells her that he's not human: in actuality he is a Time Lord that has just regenerated. She doesn't believe him, so he requests that she provide an opportunity for him to prove himself. She shows some newspaper clippings of a spate of disappearances in the neighbourhood. Whenever someone disappears, a hooded figure is seen nearby. The Doctor uses the computer to look into the disappearances. Jess rings Joe, who is on his way back from the meeting, only to be pursued by one of the hooded figures.

The Doctor develops a theory as to what the hooded figures are and builds a device to find them when they are nearby. It activates, and the Doctor and Jess head outside and rescue Joe before he is taken. They make their way back to the house, where the Doctor explains that the figures originate from a negative dimension, and are able to cross through to our world through a rip between worlds. He tells the two to stay in the house while he fetches a device from his blue box, which he calls his TARDIS. He is followed by Jess, who helps him find the location of the rip retrieve the device, which is able to seal the rip. Joe is taken by one of the figures whilst waiting in the house. The figures corner the Doctor and Jess, and explain that they are trying to escape from the negative dimension. The Doctor surmises that they crossed over from their own world and became corrupted with immense amounts of negative energy, which forces them to take humans (insusceptible to the energy) through the rip to fuel their ship so they can return to their own planet. The figures intend on taking the twosome, but are knocked out by a burst of energy from the device. They run after the Doctor and Jess, who leap through the dimensional rip.

Once inside, the Doctor begins to feel the effects on the negative energy, and starts to become as the figures are. Jess jumps back through the rip and retrieves a magnet from the TARDIS that balances out the positive and negative energy in the Doctor's body, allowing him to stay as he is. He explains to the Negatives that they are too corrupted by the negative energy and so would not be able to recapture their lives. They offer to remain in the dimension so as to not cause further harm. The Doctor seals the rip and offers Jess the chance to travel in the TARDIS as a way of coping with Joe's death. She accepts, and after donning a new costume, the Doctor sets them off on their travels.

Continuity
UNIT is mentioned by the Doctor as being on the TARDIS' speed dial. Jess' reaction upon seeing the interior of the TARDIS ('Bloody hell!') would crop up again in future episodes. The Doctor's obsession with tea is first mentioned here.

Writing
The concept of creatures coming from another dimension to take humans was used due to its relative simplicity and due to the image of hooded figures being a particularly striking one. The story's title came from the presence of negative energy in the villains: its working title was From the Dark Dimension. Originally, more focus was going to be put on the Doctor's post-regenerative haziness, but it was decided it would slow down the story too much.

Filming
Most of the sets were simple, with grey baseplates being accompanied by brick built scenery or paper backdrops. The living room set would be reused many times as a multitude of locations.

Trivia

 * The Doctor's blue jacket and jeans ensemble is strange considering the previous incarnation was the Eighth Doctor. It could be a variation of the Dark Eyes costume, but this is unknown.
 * 'Crazy Darren' is an unseen man who presumably lives on the estate. Little is known about him.