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Peter Capaldi
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls
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Synopsis


Saving The Doctor
Saving The Doctor
 Friendship drives The Doctor into the rashest decision of his life.

 Trapped on a giant spaceship, caught in the event horizon of a black hole, he witnesses the death of someone he is pledged to protect.

 Is there any way he can redeem his mistake? Are events already out of control? For once, time is the Time Lord's enemy…

 The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise.

 It's time for The Doctor's final battle…

Source: Radio Times


General Information

Season: Thirty Six (New Series 10)
Production Code: 10-11/10-12
Story Number: 275 (New Series: 119)
Episode Numbers:838 - 839 (New Series: 142 - 143)
Number of Episodes: 2
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: February - April 2017
Broadcast Started: 24 June 2017
Broadcast Finished: 01 July 2017
Colour Status: HD Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff)
Location: Caerwent, Wales
Writer:Steven Moffat
Director:Rachel Talalay
Producer:Peter Bennett
Executive Producers:Brian Minchin and Steven Moffat
Assistant Directors:Kieran Hayhow, Lauren Pate and Rhun Llewelyn
Script Executive:Lindsey Alford
Script Supervisor:Nicki Coles
Script Editors:Nick Lambon and Emma Genders (Assistant)
Editors:Will Oswald, Becky Trotman (Assistant) and David Davies (Assistant)
Head of Production:Gordon Ronald
Production Executive:Tracie Simpson
Production Manager:Adam Knopf
Production Assistants:Jamie Shaw, Page Woodward and Virginia Bonet
Post Production Supervisor:Samantha Price
Production Designer:Michael Pickwoad
Director of Photography:Ashley Rowe
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Line Producer:Steffan Morris
Costume Designer:Hayley Nebauer
Make-Up Designer:Barbara Southcott
Cameramen:Chris Jacobi (Assistant), Dan Patounas (Assistant), Drew Marsden (Assistant), Gethin Williams (Assistant) and Mark McQuoid (Operator)
Visual Effects:BBC Wales VFX and MILK
Special Effects:Real SFX
Prosthetics:Millennium FX
Special Creature Effects:Millennium FX
Stunt Co-ordinators:Crispin Layfield and Derek Lea
Stunt Performers:Andrew Burford, Andrius Davidenas, Freddie Mason and Troy Kenchington
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Harry Barnes
Sound Recordist:Deian Llyr Humphreys
Music Orchestrated By:Alastair King
Music Conducted By:Alastair King
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Music Recorded By:Gerry O'Riordan
Music Mixed By:Jake Jackson
Title Sequence:Billy Hanshaw
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Cybermen Originally Created By: Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis
Number of Doctors: 2
The Doctors: Peter Capaldi (The Twelfth Doctor) and David Bradley (The First Doctor) (Returns)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Matt Lucas (Nardole) (Departs) and Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts) (Departs) Guest Cast: Michelle Gomez (Missy), John Simm (The Master) Additional Cast: Oliver Lansley (Jorj), Paul Brightwell (Surgeon), Alison Lintott (Nurse), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Cybermen), Samantha Spiro (Hazran), Briana Shann (Alit), Rosie Boore (Gazron), Simon Coombs (Rexhill)Setting: Mondasian Colony Ship (Floor 0, Floor 1056 and Floor 0507) Villains: Cybermen and The Master

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
838World Enough and Time24 June 201745'33"5.0Yes
839The Doctor Falls01 July 201760'27"5.3Yes

Total Duration 1 Hour 46 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 5.2
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2017)89.50%  (Position = 1 out of 12)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 1 out of 35


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



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Notes


In this two-part story The Doctor, Bill, Nardole and Missy answer a distress call from a gigantic spaceship that is trying to escape a black hole. The Doctor must save himself and the population of the colony ship from the Cybermen, while also dealing with two different incarnations of The Master at once.

This story marks the first time that more than one incarnation of The Master has appeared on-screen at the same time, as it features both Missy, the character's latest incarnation played by Michelle Gomez, and an earlier incarnation as played by John Simm who was last seen in the 2009/2010 story "The End of Time".

This story depicted the origins of the Mondasian Cybermen who were last seen on-screen in the 1966 First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet", which was the Cybermen's debut.

This story began with what appeared to be the beginning of the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration. The regeneration would be postponed, however, as The Doctor refused to change.

This story wraps up the story-lines of several recurring characters; Bill and Heather begin their own travels through time and space, Bill leaving The Doctor (who is mortally wounded in the battle against the Cybermen) behind in the TARDIS; Nardole stays behind on the Mondasian colony ship to help Hazran and her children escape the Cybermen; The Master is forced to regenerate by Missy after she stabs him. Both agree that he then regenerates into Missy, in his own TARDIS, and he forgets the whole adventure; Missy is killed by her previous incarnation, left unable to regenerate. In their own words, they were shot in the back by themselves.

This story has been written by Steven Moffat and was directed by Rachel Talalay. This is the third story that she has directed. Her first, the 2014 story "Dark Water/Death in Heaven", brought Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and Michelle Gomez’s Missy together for the first time.

This story marked the return of John Simm as the Master, acting alongside Michelle Gomez's Missy. The BBC confirmed, on the 6th April 2017, that John Simm would be returning as The Master during this season, appearing alongside his successor for the first multi-Master television story in the show's history. Previously, there have been multi-Master stories in the audio dramas, books, and comics but this is the first multi-Master story on television.

John Simm’s incarnation was first seen in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Utopia" when the character (as played by Derek Jacobi) regenerated on the planet Malcassairo.

John Simm is heard to say, about his return to the show as The Master, ‘I can confirm that it’s true, thanks to the power of time travel I’m back. It’s always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can’t wait for you all to see what The Master gets up to in the next series’.

Steven Moffat, writer and Executive Producer revealed ‘Nothing stays secret for long on Doctor Who but you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what The Master is up to and how he makes his return to face The Doctor. It’s been a huge pleasure to have fan favourites John Simm and Michelle Gomez face to face in the same role! It’s not often you get to see a solo personality clash’.

The read-through for this story took place on the 21st February 2017 with filming starting on the 24th February 2017. Filming concluded on the 7th April 2017. However the final scene, involving David Bradley, was filmed as part of the filming of the Christmas Special in June 2017.

The Doctor again employs Venusian Aikido, a form of unarmed combat much-favoured by the Third Doctor who was forever getting into scrapes that forced him to use it. It appears to be similar, if not the same, as Venusian Karate, which The Doctor discussed on a number of occasions. (Later, he did mention ‘Venusian Aikido’ directly in stories such as "Inferno", "Colony in Space", "The Mutants", "The Green Death" and "The Time Warrior"). In the Target novelisations of the 1970’s adventures, it was customary for any reference of The Doctor’s prowess in Venusian Aikido to be joined with a reminder that he was one of the few two-armed beings in the universe to have mastered the discipline!

The topic of The Doctor's ‘real name’ is discussed (see "The Name of The Doctor"). The Doctor again states how he actually likes being asked ‘Doctor Who’ (see "The Bells of Saint John"). Missy also claims to know The Doctor's real name; previously, River Song possessed this knowledge (see "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead") and Clara Oswald briefly did so before a time reset in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS".

The line spoken by Missy ‘Hello, I’m Doctor Who...’ is a reference to a common misconception that the central character is named ‘Doctor Who’ and indeed, when the first two Dalek stories were adapted for the big screen, Peter Cushing played that scourge of the Daleks, owner of the TARDIS and brilliant scientist, Dr. Who! But in the show the words have been used as a question as opposed to an actual name for The Doctor. A memorable exception occurred in the 1966 First Doctor story "The War Machines" when WOTAN is heard to say ‘Doctor Who is required!’. While in the 1966/1967 Second Doctor story "The Highlanders", The Doctor introduces himself as 'Doktor von Wer' (German for 'Doctor of Who'); in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Underwater Menace", The Doctor signs a note with 'Dr. W.'; and, in the 1971 Third Doctor story "The Dæmons", The Doctor introduces himself as 'the great wizard Qui Quae Quod' (Latin variations of 'Who'). It is also worth noting that unusually the Third Doctor’s second story was called "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and the fifth episode of the 1965 First Doctor story "The Chase" was entitled "The Death of Doctor Who". However, it does seem like a bit of an in-joke and from the 1970 Third Doctor story "Doctor Who and the Silurians" to the Twentieth Anniversary Special "The Five Doctors", The Doctor's car Bessie's plate read WHO 1, while in the 1989 Seventh Doctor story "Battlefield" it read WHO 7; in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose", a website called whoisdoctorwho.co.uk asks 'Who is Doctor Who?'. In this story even though Missy claims that 'Doctor Who' is The Doctor's real name, she also explicitly says she calls herself 'Doctor Who' to head off the usual response heard when The Doctor introduces himself and people reply, 'Doctor who?'.

The Master also refers to The Doctor as ‘Doc’. The Doctor's first incarnation had previously taken umbrage at being addressed like that (see "The Five Doctors").

The Doctor refers to him and The Master meeting at the Time Lord Academy (see "Terror of the Autons", "The Sound of Drums" and the BBC Books' The Past Doctors Stories novel "Divided Loyalties"). The Doctor and Missy also mention how they chose their names that day, as well as making other promises (see "The Sound of Drums" and "The End of Time").

The Doctor is seen offering a jelly baby to a small girl. Although most commonly associated with the Fourth Doctor, the Second Doctor and the Seventh Doctor enjoyed jelly babies and the Eighth Doctor went a step further, using them as a distraction whilst battling The Master in San Francisco. Much later, in the 2014 story "Mummy on the Orient Express", we saw the Twelfth Doctor carrying jelly babies around in a very fancy case - much smarter than the old paper bag he’s now reverted back to! In the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords" it was revealed that The Master carried a bag of jelly babies around and he even offered one to his wife before tucking into one himself!

Whilst discussing ways in which The Doctor has ‘died’ - in other words, events that have triggered a regeneration - Missy states ‘I know you’ve fallen’. She knows this because, as an earlier incarnation of The Master, she witnessed this event in the 1981 Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis". Whilst derailing The Master’s plan to gain dominion over the entire cosmos, The Doctor tumbled from a radio telescope and plummeted to the ground. This fall resulted in his transformation into the Fifth Doctor.

The Doctor resists the idea of change and presumably believes this is the final end, declaring that wherever the TARDIS has brought him, he is staying. The final episode of the 1967 Second Doctor story "Evil of the Daleks" was broadcast exactly 50 years to the day before the second episode of this story was first shown. In that early story The Doctor’s closing words were ‘The end. The final end’.

The Doctor has resisted regenerating in previous stories - namely when nearing the end of his fifth incarnation ("The Caves of Androzani") and tenth incarnation ("The End of Time").

As he begins regenerating The Doctor is heard to say ‘I don't want to go’. These are the exact same words the Tenth Doctor said before he regenerated in "The End of Time". They were also the last comment he made to the Eleventh Doctor before leaving him in "The Day of The Doctor". Coincidentally, David Bradley, playing William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, uttered the same line when his character is contemplating stepping away from Doctor Who, which in the show itself, resulted in the very first regeneration.

The words ‘When The Doctor was me’ are a fragment of the last thing the Eleventh Doctor ever said to Clara Oswald. Aboard the TARDIS, about to become the Twelfth Doctor in "The Time of The Doctor", he promised her ‘I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear, I will always remember when The Doctor was me’. He is also heard to say ‘it's starting. I'm regenerating’, the final words the Tenth Doctor stated before his aborted regeneration in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End"). The Twelfth Doctor also shouts ‘no!’ repeatedly while his regenerative energy flairs up. These were the final words the Second Doctor said in "The War Games".

Just before The Doctor starts to regenerate we see a succession of former companions and friends. The Fourth Doctor had similar visions moments before regenerating at the end of the "Logopolis". Back then he too heard them saying his name. On that occasion, moments before, The Doctor had a flashback of enemies, the first of which was The Master, gloating ‘Predicable as ever, Doctor’. In this story, his fellow Time Lord is not the first face he ‘sees’ but in the succession of flashbacks, Missy’s is the slightly separate, final one.

In the sequence of flashbacks the Twelfth Doctor recalls Rose Tyler from the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways", Martha Jones from the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks", Donna Noble from the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Partners in Crime", Jack Harkness from the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Utopia", Madame Vastra from the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "The Name of The Doctor", Jenny Flint from the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "The Crimson Horror", Sarah Jane Smith from the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", Amy Pond from the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon", River Song from the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang" and Clara Oswald from the 2014 Christmas Special "Last Christmas" - despite having her wiped from his memories in the 2015 story "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent".

This story features a cameo of the First Doctor, portrayed by David Bradley. He had previously played William Hartnell, the original actor to play the First Doctor, in the 2013 Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.

David Bradley has appeared in Doctor Who before, playing the sinister Solomon in the 2012 Eleventh Doctor story "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship". He also provided the voice of the Shansheeth in The Sarah Jane Adventures story, "The Death of The Doctor", which featured the Eleventh Doctor and Jo Jones (aka Jo Grant). But in the world of Doctor Who he is better known for his peerless portrayal of William Hartnell. Here he plays the First Doctor, complete with the character’s familiar cloak, hat and habit of gripping his lapels. His appearance in this story posed the question as to where in the First Doctor's timeline do we join him and what will happen when these two incarnations of The Doctor collide?

The Doctor has met previous incarnations of himself before (see "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors" and "The Day of The Doctor").

The line ‘You may be a Doctor, but I am The Doctor... The original you might say!’ is a mixture of two lines previously spoken by The Doctor. In the 1974 Fourth Doctor story "Robot", shortly having regenerated, The Doctor told Harry Sullivan, ‘You may be a Doctor, but I am The Doctor. The definite article, you might say!’ While in the Twentieth Anniversary special, "The Five Doctors, when Tegan asks who the First Doctor might be he replies tetchily, ‘I might be any number of things, young lady. As it happens, I am The Doctor. The original, you might say!’.

This story marks the first time, since "The Five Doctors", that the First Doctor, as an adult, has been portrayed outside of archive footage. The First Doctor did appear as a child in the 2014 story "Listen".

Once again The Doctor witnesses a companion suffer a mortal injury (see "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" and "Face the Raven"), only for technology to be used to arrange for them to stay alive.

In this story Bill is converted into a Cyberman. This is not the first time that someone close to The Doctor has become a Cyberman: Jackie Tyler, in a parallel world, was converted into a Cyberman in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"; Yvonne Hartman in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday"; while in the 2014 story "Dark Water/Death in Heaven" Danny Pink is converted into a Cyberman. A Cyberman version of The Brigadier is also seen at the end of that two-part story who, after rescuing his daughter Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, is seen shooting Missy. A similar fate also occurred to Oswin when she was converted into a Dalek (see "Asylum of the Daleks").

The Doctor tries to remember if he ever had a female incarnation. All incarnations of The Doctor up to and including the Twelfth are accounted for in "The Day of The Doctor", so the answer would appear to be no. This isn't the first time, however, that a question mark has been raised over past incarnations of The Doctor and whether all are indeed accounted for (see "The Brain of Morbius").

The Doctor criticises Bill for eating a bacon sandwich when arguing about Missy's morality. This echoes an earlier conservation between the two in "The Pilot" when The Doctor stated ‘Hardly anything’s evil. Most things are hungry. Hungry can look a lot like evil from the wrong end of the cutlery. Do you think your bacon sandwich loves you back?’.

Nardole mentions how he used to be a black market dealer before meeting The Doctor (see "The Husbands of River Song") and further indicates he is a cyborg (see "Oxygen" and "The Eaters of Light").

The Doctor reiterates River Song's words that Nardole once spoke to him from her diary (see "Extremis").

Blue-skinned humanoids are seen again (see "The End of the World", "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang" and "Oxygen").

Missy is heard to state that nothing comes out of a black hole but she is with someone who did just that. In the 1973 Tenth Anniversary story "The Three Doctors" two incarnations of The Doctor (The Second Doctor and the Third Doctor), several of his friends, his car and UNIT HQ are all transported into a black hole – and more specifically, the anti-matter domain of Omega. All of them made it back to Earth!

Missy not remembering being on the spaceship in her previous incarnation echoes how the Eleventh Doctor, in "The Day of The Doctor", didn't remember meeting his other selves until ‘time caught up’. In that story, the War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor, along with all other incarnations involved, did not retain memories of saving Gallifrey until the Eleventh Doctor went through that adventure himself.

Missy comedically remarks on the age gap between The Doctor and his companions. The Dream Lord made a similar remark in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "Amy's Choice".

Missy is heard to tell The Master ‘I loved being you’. The Tenth Doctor said the exact same thing to the Fifth Doctor when they meet in 2007 mini-story "Time Crash" also written by Steven Moffat.

The Master is heard to say that he loves disguises - a fondness which dates back to his debut appearance in the 1971 Third Doctor story "Terror of the Autons" when he posed as a telephone engineer. In the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Time-Flight" he became a genie-like figure called Kalid, in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Castrovalva" he adopted the guise of the kind and elderly leader, the Portreeve, and in "Utopia" his disguise as Professor Yana was so convincing even he believed that was who he was! In the 1971 Third Doctor story "The Dæmons" he put on a pair of glasses and a dog collar and claimed to be the Reverend Mr Magister. The Doctor though was able to see through his cunning disguise.

In this story The Master adopts the guise of Razor so Bill would not recognise him from his time as Prime Minister in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords", under the alias Harold Saxon. The Master also mentions being ‘someone's former Prime Minister’.

The Doctor’s early friendship with The Master has been referenced in many stories, but details of their time at the Academy together - as mentioned in this story - are sparse. However, in the 1971 Third Doctor story "Terror of the Autons", a fellow Time Lord pointed out to The Doctor that ‘His degree in cosmic science was of a higher class than yours’. The slightly dismayed Doctor retaliated by saying ‘I was a late developer!’.

The Doctor mentions The Master's desire to destroy the universe rather than explore it, as they had initially promised (see "Last of the Time Lords" and "The End of Time").

The Master has allied with the Cybermen before (see "The Five Doctors", "Dark Water/Death in Heaven").

When The Master unmasks himself, an alarm bell in the background sounds in time with a drumbeat. The drumbeat is also heard when he enters the operating theatre alongside Missy. The Master has had an association with drums before (see "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums", "Last of the Time Lords" and "The End of Time").

The Doctor recalls last seeing Missy's predecessor heading to Gallifrey, deducing that the Time Lords cured his 'little condition' before kicking him out (see "The End of Time").

The Master once again moves The Doctor around in a wheelchair and is seen gloating over his dominion to a wheelchair bound Doctor just as he did with the aged Tenth Doctor during the 2007 story "Last of the Time Lords", even calling him ‘grandad’.

This is the fourth time The Doctor has witnessed the 'genesis' of some form of Cybermen (see "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel", the Big Finish Productions audio story "Spare Parts" and the comic strip story "The World Shapers").

The return of the original Mondasian Cybermen was announced on the 6th March 2017.

When Cyber Bill weeps, the single tear leaking from her mesh eye forms a visual echo of the teardrop in the corner of the traditional Cyber-eye.

The Cybermen have been shown before to cry and feel pain (see "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday" and "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"). In this story the surgeon explains that the headpiece of the cyber-suit acts as an emotional inhibitor so Bill won't care about the pain.

It was revealed that Heather gave her tears to track Bill, explaining how Bill was still able to cry despite being a Cyberman. In the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday" the cyber-converted Yvonne Hartman, who had managed to retain her free will after conversion, also displayed the ability to cry; however, she cried oil rather than actual tears like Bill.

When The Doctor aborts the start of his regeneration he is heard to mention the Sontarans, ‘Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!’ These were almost the first words spoken by the Fourth Doctor, seconds after he regenerated. The Twelfth Doctor, in the 2014 story "Listen", has also said them before - immediately after waking up, apparently in a state of confusion.

Bill remarks on how Gallifreyans differentiate gender by calling themselves ‘Time Lords’ and ‘Ladies’ (see also "Dark Water/Death in Heaven").

At the end of this story, as The Doctor leaves the TARDIS, the Cloister Bell is heard ringing. "Logopolis" was the first story where the Cloister Bell was heard to chime. This is an ominous sign as The Doctor once described the Cloister Bell as ‘a sort of communications device reserved for wild catastrophes and sudden calls to man the battle stations!’.

Missy is able to provide The Master with a dematerialisation circuit by telling him to always carry a spare, similar to how the Tenth Doctor told the Fifth Doctor how he could stop the TARDIS exploding ("Time Crash").

This story contains a number of references to places and planets, some of which relate to previous Cyberman stories. These include: Mondas - the Cyberman's home planet which is shown on a screen. Mondas first appeared in the Cybermen’s debut story, "The Tenth Planet", where its similarity to Earth planet was so great, observers could scarcely believe it, initially claiming ‘There must be some reflection off Earth!’. The Cybermen revealed the name of their home world and one of the humans spluttered ‘Mondas? But isn't that one of the ancient names of Earth?’. The Cybermen from Mondas, as seen in "The Tenth Planet", were strikingly similar to those in this story; Another planet that is mentioned is Telos. This planet has sometimes been called ‘The home of the Cybermen’. This world held a slumbering ‘colony’ of Cybermen which was awoken - and later defeated by the Second Doctor - in the 1967 story "The Tomb of the Cybermen"; A more unexpected reference is The Doctor’s mention of Marinus. This planet has only been visited once onscreen, in the 1964 First Doctor story "The Keys of Marinus". Curiously, that story made no mention of the Cybermen as The Doctor would not encounter the Cybermen in this show until over two years later. However, the plot of the Sixth Doctor comic strip "The World Shapers", by Grant Morrison, takes place on the planet Marinus and has the Voord evolving into Cybermen; Less is known about Planet 14. Way back in 1968, during the Second Doctor story "The Invasion", the Cyber Planner stated that The Doctor and his companion had ‘been recognised on Planet 14!’ adding, ‘They are dangerous and must be destroyed!’; In the forest The Doctor also namechecks the planet Voga - the so-called ‘Planet of Gold’ where the Fourth Doctor faced the Cybermen in the distant future in the 1975 story "Revenge of the Cybermen". In that story The Doctor defeated his old foes by using gold (which is deadly to some Cybermen) and later, ordering the Vogans to crash a rocket into the Cyber Ship; Canary Wharf was the London location where The Doctor engineered the defeat of the Daleks and Cybermen when the two sides fought during the events of the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday". The Doctor used the ‘void stuff’ (a kind of background radiation) which contaminated the invading Cybermen as a kind of magnet, enabling him to drag them and the Daleks into the void itself. Or, as Mickey Smith put it when summarising the ingenious plan: ‘So, you’re sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell!’; The Doctor even states ‘Even on the moon’. In the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Moonbase" The Doctor foiled an invasion by organising for the Gravitron (a device that manipulated gravity and the weather on Earth) to be activated in such a way as to send the Cybermen helplessly into space. The action of this story took place on the lunar surface in the year 2070.

The Doctor previously visited another space colony that orbited a black hole in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit".

The Master's line comparing the scenario to being more like a 'Genesis of the Cybermen' is a reference to the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Genesis of the Daleks", which showed The Doctor being sent, by the Time Lords, to the creation of the Daleks. Following the success of "Genesis of the Daleks" a story entitled "Genesis of the Cybermen" was planned, but was never produced.

It is revealed that due to time dilation, time is slower on one end of the spaceship than on the other. Therefore The Doctor has to travel to a different time zone of the same location to rescue his companion, who waits for him, but he arrives too late. This also occurred to Amy Pond in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Girl Who Waited".

The Doctor is seen using his sonic screwdriver as a marker pen.

Nardole is seen taking a selfie with The Doctor.

The Doctor is heard to say that going on an adventure is something he and Bill do on Saturdays, just as Wednesday used to be his day for adventures with Clara Oswald (see "The Bells of Saint John").

The Doctor is heard to say ‘Without hope. Without witness. Without reward’. The Doctor spoke these exact words in "Extremis".

The Doctor and Bill both recite the line ‘while there's tears, there's hope’ at different points in this story. This line is similar to a comment made by The Doctor, while trying to console a crying Sarah Jane Smith, in the final part of the 1974 Third Doctor story "Planet of the Spiders". In that story the frail and damaged Third Doctor sees one of Sarah Jane’s tears as she weeps, thinking he is about to die. Poignantly, he murmurs, ‘A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry. While there’s life there’s...’ But he does not have the strength to finish the sentence with possible the word ‘hope’ and moments later he becomes the Fourth Doctor. In this story Bill quotes the Twelfth Doctor’s ‘where there’s tears’ line back to him. In "Planet of the Spiders", the original line becomes the last thing The Doctor says to his companion whereas in this story it is the last thing his companion says to him.

Nardole tells the farming community to 'Remember the Alamo' as they shore up the farmhouse's defences. The Alamo Mission was overrun by General Santa Anna's troops in 1836, and 'Remember the Alamo' became a rallying cry for the independent troops which later defeated the Mexican Army to form the Republic of Texas.

Missy calls the human community 'The Waltons', a reference to the American television series The Waltons, a show about an impoverished farming family during the Great Depression.

The Doctor reminds Bill how she remembered the truth during the reign of the Monks (see "The Lie of the Land").

The Doctor again reiterates his dislike of guns (see "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky", "The Doctor's Daughter", "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon", "The Curse of the Black Spot") despite having once willingly used one (see "Heaven Sent/Hell Bent").

The song heard when Missy and The Master are dancing on the rooftop is called Midnight, the Stars and You by Al Bowlly.

The clock on the hospital is seen ticking towards one o'clock (or thirteen), away from twelve, shortly before The Doctor is severely injured. Clocks have previously been seen as an indication of The Doctor's impending regeneration (see "The Time of The Doctor").

The title of the first part of this story comes from the opening line of the 17th Century work To His Coy Mistress, a metaphysical poem by Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), ‘Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime’. This is not the first episode title to have been drawn from the verse with a later line running ‘I would /Love you ten years before the Flood...’.

The 'Next' trailer at the end of the first episode is in the middle of the end credits. Unlike the majority of stories for this season where they were shown before the end credits started.

The second episode premiered on the eleventh anniversary of the first episode of the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Army of Ghosts/Doomsday". This is appropriate as the events of "The Army of Ghosts/Doomsday" are referenced when The Doctor taunts the Cybermen about Canary Wharf.

On the original HD broadcast, on BBC Scotland, a technical fault led to sound problems which rendered the dialogue inaudible for the final five minutes of the second episode. This occurred as Bill was seen leaving the TARDIS to the end credits.


Show Only the First 50 Story Notes >>>>



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first time that more than one incarnation of The Master has appeared on-screen at the same time.

 The first appearance of the Mondasian Cybermen since they were last seen on-screen in the 1966 First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet", which was the Cybermen's debut.

 This story marks the first time, since "The Five Doctors", that the First Doctor, as an adult, has been portrayed outside of archive footage.

 The first Doctor Who story to feature the First Doctor, portrayed by David Bradley.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 John Simm's last involvement in the show playing the part of The Master.

 Michelle Gomez's last appearance in the show as Missy (AKA The Master).

 Lindsey Alford's last involvement in the show as Script Editor.

 Emma Genders' last involvement in the show as Script Editor.


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The Plot

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Missy, Nardole and Bill
Missy, Nardole and Bill

The Doctor decides to test if Missy can turn good, despite Bill Potts' objections. Along with Bill and Nardole they answer a distress call and arrive in the TARDIS on a giant colony spaceship that is reversing away from a black hole. They are soon met by a blue skinned humanoid named Jorj who, fearing creatures that are arriving by the lift, holds them at gunpoint and demands to know which one of them is a human. Bill admits to being human. But, despite The Doctor's pleas, Jorj shoots Bill in the chest, mortally wounding her. The lift then arrives and humanoid figures, wearing masks and hospital gowns, exit and take Bill's body away claiming that they can restore her. As the lifts departs, to the lower levels of the spaceship, The Doctor telepathically tells Bill to wait for him.

The Doctor, Missy, and Nardole learn from Jorj that a few days ago, some of the human bridge crew had gone down to the lower level of the spaceship to start the engine reversal but they never returned. Jorj claims the spaceship was otherwise empty some days ago, but Nardole discovers there are actually thousands of life forms in the lower levels. They are the descendants of the first crew and, due to time dilation from the black hole, time moves faster at the spaceship's lower levels than the bridge. The Doctor incapacitates Jorj and, along with Missy and Nardole, departs below in a lift. As they leave the bridge Nardole, states that it has been ten minutes for them but he wonders how long Bill has been living below, to which The Doctor replies he hopes that they aren't too late.

Bill awakens in a hospital, where she finds that she has been fitted with a mechanical device that serves as her replacement heart. Razor, one of the hospital's employees, takes a liking to Bill and so shows her around. He explains that some of the patients are waiting to be ‘upgraded’ for Operation Exodus, to escape the polluted air of the spaceship's lower levels. He also explains to her how time passes really slow for them compared to the top. He shows her a live feed of the upstairs, which Bill then spends her time watching despite its extremely slow pace. Months go by with Bill eventually being put to work cleaning the hospital while plagued by The Doctor's message to wait for him.

Bill Is Shot
Bill Is Shot

As more time passes Bill eventually convinces Razor to take her to the elevators so she can be transferred back upstairs. However, Razor tricks Bill into becoming the subject for the next ‘upgrade’. Unable to escape a surgeon remarks how the headpiece that he will fit on her head will inhibit emotion so she won't care for the pain of the process.

The Doctor, Nardole and Missy soon arrive, having come down the lift. While The Doctor and Nardole explore the hospital Missy tries to determine the origin of the colony ship. She finds that the spaceship is from the planet Mondas - the home world of the Cybermen.

The Patients
The Patients

Razor approaches Missy and insists that she has been here before, and that The Doctor will never forgive her for what she did to Bill. When she denies it, Razor removes his disguise, revealing himself to be The Master, Missy's previous incarnation. Meanwhile The Doctor and Nardole find an operating theatre where a Mondasian Cyberman, from when The Doctor first encountered them, emerges from a closet. Backing away, The Doctor confirms he means no harm and asks for Bill's location. To his horror, the Cyberman asserts that it is Bill. Missy, accompanied by The Master, then arrive - the latter surprising The Doctor. The Master explains they are all witnessing the genesis of the Cybermen. Bill, as a Mondasian Cyberman, tells The Doctor that she waited for him. While underneath the Cyberman’s face cover, Bill sheds a tear.

The Master and Missy restrain The Doctor, However, unknown to them he had earlier managed to change the Cybernet to perceive Time Lords as convertible humans. On the roof of the hospital they soon find themselves besieged by Cybermen. Missy knocks out The Master and frees The Doctor, who wonders whose side she is actually on. Nardole then arrives in a commandeered shuttlecraft, but The Doctor is electrified by a Cyberman before he can escape. Missy and The Master try to trick Nardole into abandoning The Doctor, but the Cyberman, that was Bill, prevents the shuttle from leaving by grabbing onto the ladder until she and The Doctor are aboard.

The shuttlecraft takes them to a higher floor on the colony ship, where time moves slower. They find themselves on a solar farm where a human community, with a large number of children, protect themselves from early Cybermen prototypes from Operation Exodus. The time on the new level allows The Doctor to recover but he starts to show early signs of regeneration which he manages to suppress. Bill regains her human consciousness through her strength of will, despite still being a Cyberman. She perceives herself as being fully human until Alit, one of the children, gives her a mirror, so revealing the truth that Bill is a Cyberman. Bill sheds a tear when she realises the humans are frightened of her. The Doctor wipes it away, noting it is very unusual for a Cyberman to show such emotion.

Missy, Cyber Bill and The Master
Missy, Cyber Bill and The Master

Missy discovers a camouflaged lift in the nearby forest but, when she summons it, it brings up an advanced Cyberman from the lower floor, which they quickly destroy. Missy suggests they can all use the lift to escape to the bridge and The Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor warns them that the time dilation below affords the Cybermen more time to develop and strategise and so they must prepare for a battle.

Nardole discovers that the floor below the one they are on has many fuel pipes that could be detonated remotely and so could be used as a weapon against the Cybermen. The Doctor also finds a conduit to another solar farm on a higher floor that can be used to evacuate the children. The Master and Missy meanwhile, decide to leave and plan to find The Master's TARDIS at the lowest floor, despite The Doctor's impassioned plea for them to stay and help.

An initial wave of Cybermen then arrive, and using Nardole's tricks with the explosives, they are able to make it seem that the humans appear more powerful. This forces the Cybermen to retreat and develop a new plan, giving the humans more time. Knowing this ploy has only served to delay their inevitable defeat, The Doctor instructs Nardole to lead the children to a solar farm on another floor and to then look after them. Against Nardole's protests The Doctor intends to stay alone to fight the Cybermen but Bill insists on staying with The Doctor to fight the Cybermen.

Cyber Bill
Cyber Bill

At the lift, Missy betrays The Master and fatally stabs him, forcing his next regeneration to begin, where he will regenerate into her. Leaving The Master inside the lift Missy says she will return to stand with The Doctor. An appalled Master, however, fires his laser screwdriver at her once her back is turned. The intense full blast fatally injures Missy and disables her regeneration. Each of them laugh as she starts to die and the lift doors close with The Master inside.

With all the humans evacuated, The Doctor engages the final wave of Cybermen by igniting all the pipes below the floor, engulfing everything in a wave of destruction. All the Cybermen are killed, but The Doctor is severally wounded. Bill, still as a Cyberman and the sole survivor, comes to mourn over The Doctor's body, but suddenly she finds herself out of the Cyberman suit, seemingly human. Heather (who she met in "The Pilot") appears from a nearby puddle. Heather explains that she located Bill through the tears that she had placed on her and has transformed Bill into an entity like herself. They take The Doctor's body into the TARDIS, and Heather pilots the TARDIS to a new location. Heather then offers Bill to live out a different life and to explore the universe, which Bill accepts.

Unaware of what has happened to Bill, The Doctor regains consciousness and starts regenerating. He tries fighting it off, recalling the last words of some of his previous incarnations in his confusion. He manages to control the regeneration, angrily stating that he does not want to change again, hating the fact that he must become someone else. He steps outside the TARDIS, into a snowy landscape, and fully halts the regenerative process by shoving his fists into the snow. He then hears a voice in the distance stating the same words of not changing. The Doctor calls out to the person and from out of the snow the stranger appears and asks for The Doctor's identity, which he confirms. The stranger replies that while The Doctor may be a Doctor, he 'is The Doctor, the original you might say'. Much to The Doctor's shock and surprise the stranger is revealed to be his first incarnation - the First Doctor.

 
The Master
The Master
Missy, The Master and The Doctor
Missy, The Master and The Doctor
Fighting the Cybermen
Fighting the Cybermen
Missy is Shot by The Master
Missy is Shot by The Master
 
The Doctor is Shot
The Doctor is Shot
Heather
Heather
Regeneration?
Regeneration?
The 'Original' Doctor
The 'Original' Doctor




Quote of the Story


 'The Doctor? Oh, I don't think so. No, dear me, no. You may be a Doctor, but I am the Doctor. The original, you might say!'

The First Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
Doctor Who Series 10 Part 2 Box SetJuly 2017BBCDVD 4203Photo-montageDVD boxed set containing 5 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who Series 10 Part 2 Box SetJuly 2017BBCBD 0395Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing 5 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete Tenth Series Box SetNovember 2017BBCDVD 4224Photo-montageDVD boxed set containing 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Tenth Series Box SetNovember 2017BBCBD 0406Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Tenth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)November 2017BBCBD 0421Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Tenth Series Box Set (Limited Edition UK Exclusive Steelbook)November 2017BBCBD 0421Photo-montageLimited Edition (UK Exclusive) Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 12 stories


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 513 (Released: July 2017)
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 514 (Released: August 2017)
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 515 (Released: September 2017)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

Peter Capaldi
The Twelfth Doctor

David Bradley
The First Doctor
   

Matt Lucas
Nardole
 
Pearl Mackie
Bill Potts
   




On Release

DVD Part 2 Box Set
DVD Part 2 Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Part 2 Box Set
Blu-Ray Part 2 Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition (UK Exclusive) Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition (UK Exclusive) Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   


Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 513
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 513

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 514
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 514

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 515
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 515

Marvel Comics
   

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