 This story was written by Matthew Graham. This is his second Doctor Who story as he previously wrote the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Fear Her". He also co-created Life on Mars and its sequel series Ashes to Ashes.
Directing this story was Julian Simpson who is a newcomer to the world of Doctor Who. His previous credits include directing such high-profile BBC dramas as New Tricks, Hustle, Spooks and Hotel Babylon.
The guest cast for this two-part adventure includes: Raquel Cassidy (Moving Wallpaper and Lead Balloon), Marshall Lancaster (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes and The Lakes), Sarah Smart (Five Days, Casualty 1909 and Wallander) and Mark Bonnar (Paradox, The Bill and The Trial of Tony Blair).
Raquel Cassidy, who plays the part of Cleaves in this story, and Sarah Smart, who plays the part of Jennifer in this story, have starred opposite each other before, in the 2008 Poirot mystery, "Mrs McGinty’s Dead". The drama also starred Zoe Wanamaker who played the part of Cassandra in 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World" and the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "New Earth".
Raquel Cassidy also previously appeared in the Big Finish Productions Fifth Doctor audio story "The Judgement of Isskar", where she played Mesca, and she also previously starred in the BBC television series Party Animals alongside Matt Smith about three years before he became The Doctor!
Marshall Lancaster, who plays the part of Buzzer in this story, played the character of Chris Skelton in the BBC drama Life on Mars and its sequel series Ashes to Ashes, which were co-created by Matthew Graham.
When Amy and Rory are playing darts in the TARDIS, the music in the background is "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse. Muse have also supplied many tunes to other science fiction dramas, most notably ITV and Watch’s Primeval.
The song played by Buzzer on the turntable, when the TARDIS crew arrives and later by the Gangers, is Dusty Springfield’s ‘You Don't Have to Say You Love Me’ which is an English version of the Italian song ‘Io che non vivo (senza te)’ which means ‘I, who can't live (without you)’.
The music playing in the background when the vat of The Flesh is first shown is "Flying" by Tomandandy, who composed music for the film Resident Evil: Afterlife.
The Doctor is seen, for the third time this season, covertly consulting the TARDIS computers to find out if Amy is pregnant, which, as in previous stories, keeps changing from positive to negative.
The Doctor previously visited a monastery in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Abominable Snowmen".
The material from which The Gangers are created is referred to as ‘The Flesh’. The New humans were previously referred to as that in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "New Earth".
Rory mentions that rule one with The Doctor is ‘Don't wander off’. The Doctor himself said this in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances", the 2006 Tenth Doctor "The Girl in the Fireplace" and the 2010 story "The Eleventh Hour".
The name John Smith is mentioned in "The Almost People". The Doctor has assumed this pseudonym in several stories, most notably in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Human Nature/The Family of Blood". He first used this alias in the 1968 Second Doctor story "The Wheel in Space".
While The Flesh was attempting to stabilize the Ganger Doctor we here him allude to several previous Doctors’ words.
We hear him say ‘One day, we will get back’ – a misquote of the First Doctor’s line ‘one day we shall get back... yes, one day’ from the 1963 story "An Unearthly Child".
The Ganger Doctor is also heard using the phrase ‘reverse the polarity of the neutron flow’. This was a phrase used only twice in its entirety by the Third Doctor and then commonly associated with him. (see the 1972 story "The Sea Devils" and the Twentieth Anniversary story "The Five Doctors"). This phrase has also been said twice in full by the Fifth Doctor (see the 1982 story "Castrovalva" and the 1983 story "Mawdryn Undead") and once by the Tenth Doctor (in the 2008 Proms special scene "Music of the Spheres").
He also speaks with the voices of the Fourth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor (provided by Tom Baker and David Tennant respectively), the former offering his Time Lord counterpart jelly babies. This reference to jelly babies is mostly associated to the Fourth Doctor, although in the tenth anniversary story "The Three Doctors" we find that the Second Doctor also carries a bag of the sweets.
Tom Baker was asked to record this soundbite during his recent work on the Big Finish Productions audio series, making this his first new contribution to the show proper since the final Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis" in 1981 (not including his appearance at the start of the Thirtieth-Anniversary Children In Need special "Dimensions in Time", in 1993).
The Ganger Doctor is also heard saying ‘Hello, I'm The Doctor’ in the Tenth Doctor’s voice (see "The Girl in the Fireplace").
The real Doctor is heard asking the Ganger Doctor to describe Cybermats. The Cybermats are rodent-like killers created by the Cybermen. We first saw them in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and most recently they appeared in the Adventure Games story "Blood of the Cybermen".
The Eye Patch Lady again makes three brief appearances, through a sliding hatch. First shocking Amy as she explores the castle looking for Rory ("The Rebel Flesh"), then when she is in the control room with The Doctor and the Ganger Doctor ("The Almost People") and finally right at the end of this story. This mysterious character was first seen in "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon" and has also made brief appearance in "The Curse of the Black Spot".
Like many previous stories, this story saw The Doctor duplicated. Other instances of duplication of The Doctor in the show have been: the 1965 First Doctor story "The Chase", the 1966 story "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve", the 1967/68 Second Doctor story "The Enemy of the World", the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "The Android Invasion", the 1980 Fourth Doctor story "Meglos", the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Arc of Infinity", the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" and 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Eleventh Hour".
In the "The Chase" the Daleks made a robot Doctor which looked exactly like the First Doctor and almost succeeded in killing the Time Lord and his friends, but The Doctor interrupted the Daleks’ scheme by removing some of the robot’s circuitry, rendering it useless.
A double of the First Doctor also appeared in the "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve". In this story, which was set in France in 1572, the Abbot of Amboise proved to be The Doctor’s doppelganger!
In the "The Enemy of the World" the Second Doctor’s doppelganger was the cruel and powerful Salamander. This character was defeated but he tried to escape in the TARDIS. However, the time machine took flight with the doors open and The Doctor’s double was inexorably pulled into the time vortex.
In the "The Android Invasion", The Doctor confronted a robot version of himself created by the evil Kraals. In "Meglos" the Fourth Doctor also fought Meglos, who bore an uncanny resemblance to the Fourth Doctor.
In "Arc of Infinity", Omega took the form of the Fifth Doctor. A Time Lord called Commander Maxil also appeared in that story. He was played by Colin Baker who later took the role of The Doctor... so it could be argued that the Sixth Doctor’s doppelganger was actually seen before he was!
In the Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" The Doctor’s hand, that was severed during The Doctor’s fight with the Sycorax (see the 2005 Tenth Doctor story "The Christmas Invasion"), is rejuvenated when the TARDIS is attacked and energy flows between it and Donna Noble so forming a new Doctor.
While the Eleventh Doctor also came face-to-face with his own face when Prisoner Zero took his form in his 2010 debut story "The Eleventh Hour".
The Doctor isn’t the only character to have met his own double. Sarah Jane Smith’s double, in the "The Android Invasion", was a killer robot that was identical to her in almost every respect... Luckily, it didn't fool the Fourth Doctor though! While in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Black Orchid" Nyssa, met her doppelganger - the genial Ann Talbot.
The 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Androids of Tara" featured former companion Romana. The story didn’t just feature her doppelganger - Princess Strella - but an android version of the princess meaning actress Mary Tamm got to play three roles in one story!
"The Rebel Flesh" marked the final appearance of Amy Pond’s Ganger and the return of the original Amy Pond. According to Executive Producer Beth Willis, Amy Pond’s Ganger has been acting in place of the original Amy Pond since the beginning of this season. At the very end of this story the original Amy is shown to be in labour. The Doctor has performed numerous inconclusive pregnancy tests on Amy since "Day of the Moon".
Believing she is talking to The Doctor’s Ganger, Amy is heard informing the ‘real’ Doctor of his future self’s death as seen in "The Impossible Astronaut".
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The positions of the two cards on top of the card pyramid slightly alter between scenes; Despite giving it to his Ganger, The Doctor still has his sonic screwdriver; When the TARDIS falls through the ceiling, the doors are facing away from the camera. We then cut to a shot of The Doctor’s Ganger commenting on how ‘she does like to make an entrance’. Then we see the TARDIS again (at the same angle as before) but the doors are now facing the camera.
"The Rebel Flesh" premiered on 21 May 2011 which is the sixth anniversary of the broadcast of "The Empty Child", the first full-length Doctor Who story written by Steven Moffat.
The cliffhanger at the end of this story is followed by a ‘To Be Continued’ caption, rather than including the customary ‘Next Time’ trailer within the end credits. The ‘To Be Continued…’ caption was first used during the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel".
Following on after each episode of this story, on BBC3, were the fifth and sixth chapters of the sixth series of Doctor Who Confidential. These being "Double Trouble" and "Take Two". They were presented by Russell Tovey and they looked into the making of this story.
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The Firsts:
Tom Baker's first new contribution to the show proper since the final Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis" in 1981.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Julian Simpson.
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(Position = 12 out of 13)
(Position = 185 out of 241)
