Empire of Death (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{spoiler}}
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{{real world}}
{{real world}}
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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image                = Empire of Death teaser.jpg
|image                = I've brought your cube (EoD).jpg
|season number        = Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)
|season number        = Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)
|series episode number = 8
|series episode number = 8
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|novelisation          =  
|novelisation          =  
|doctor                = Fifteenth Doctor
|doctor                = Fifteenth Doctor
|companions            = [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]]
|companions            = [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]], [[Melanie Bush|Mel]]
|featuring            =  
|featuring            = [[Kate Stewart|Kate]], [[Christofer Ibrahim|Ibrahim]], [[Morris Gibbons|Morris]], [[Rose Noble|Rose]]
|enemy                =  
|enemy                = [[Sutekh]]
|setting              = <!--
|setting              = {{il|[[UNIT HQ, City of London|UNIT HQ]], [[2024]];|[[Remembered TARDIS]];|[[Agua Centina]];|[[England]], [[2046]]}}
|writer                = Russell T Davies-->
|writer                = Russell T Davies
|writer spoil          = [[Russell T Davies]]
|director              = [[Jamie Donoughue]]
|director              = [[Jamie Donoughue]]
|producer              =  
|producer              =  
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|series                = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|series                = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|prev                  = The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)
|prev                  = The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)
|next                  = Joy to the World (TV story)
|next                  =
|trailer              = Here are all the adventures to look forward to in Season 1! 💞 -DoctorWho
|trailer              = Here are all the adventures to look forward to in Season 1! 💞 -DoctorWho
|clip                  =  
|trailer2              = NEXT TIME - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
|clip2                =  
|clip                  = Inside the Remembered TARDIS! - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
|clip3                =  
|clip2                = The Doctor Drags Sutekh into the Vortex - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
|bts                  =  
|clip3                = Sutekh is Destroyed in the Vortex - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
}}{{you may|Empire of Death (novel)|n1=the novel of the same name}}
|bts                  = Behind the Scenes - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
'''''Empire of Death''''' will be the eighth episode of [[Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)|Season 1]] of ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]''.<ref name="Empire">{{Cite_web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1774474235752157656|title=EMPIRE OF DEATH <br />Writer: Russell T Davies <br />Director: Jamie Donoughue  <br />#DoctorWho|author=[[Official Doctor Who Twitter|@bbcdoctorwho]]|date of source=2024-03-31|archiveurl=https://archive.ph/516lL|archivedate=2024-05-29}}</ref>
|bts2                  = Bonnie Langford's Remembered TARDIS Tour - Behind the Scenes - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
|bts3                  = The INCREDIBLE actor voicing Doctor Who finale villain Sutekh - Doctor Who: Unleashed - BBC
|bts4                  = Genesis Lynea's TARDIS Tour - Behind the Scenes - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
|bts5                  = Ruby's Reunion: From Script to Screen - Behind the Scenes - Empire of Death - Doctor Who
}}{{you may|Empire of Death (novel)|Empire of Death|n1=the novel of the same name|n2=Sutekh's Empire of Death}}
'''''Empire of Death''''' was the eighth episode of [[Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023)|Season 1]] of ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]''.<ref name="Empire">{{Cite_web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1774474235752157656|title=EMPIRE OF DEATH <br />Writer: Russell T Davies <br />Director: Jamie Donoughue  <br />#DoctorWho|author=[[Official Doctor Who Twitter|@bbcdoctorwho]]|date of source=2024-03-31|archiveurl=https://archive.ph/516lL|archivedate=2024-05-29}}</ref> It finally resolved the matter of [[Ruby Sunday]]'s [[Louise Miller|parentage]], which had served as a [[story arc]] since {{cs|The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)}}, and featured her initial departure from [[the TARDIS]].
 
The return of classic [[1970s]] villain, [[Sutekh]], was fully explained, with it being retroactively established that the [[God of Death]] was able to escape his fate of being banished to [[the Void]] by latching onto [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the Doctor's TARDIS]], growing in power into a [[Titan (mythology)|new form]], and projecting a new [[Angel of Death]] - the mysterious women played by recurring actress [[Susan Twist]] - into whatever time and place it landed.
 
Unexpectedly, the story also revealed the [[Time Window]] projection of the Doctor's TARDIS - first shown in the [[The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)|previous episode]] - to be the [[Remembered TARDIS]], the setting of the spinoff miniseries, ''[[Tales of the TARDIS]]'', which debuted half a year prior. To coincide with this revelation, [[Pyramids of Mars (TotT TV story)|an additional episode of the spinoff]] - bringing its original six episode run up to seven - was broadcast on [[BBC Four]] two days prior, which presented a condensed [[omnibus]] edition of Sutekh's original debut story, {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}}, framed as a story being told by the Doctor to Ruby during the events of this episode.
 
With most of the season's previously established mysteries solved, the episode ended with one last mystery still remaining; the identity of the [[Sunday family]]'s mysterious neighbour, [[Flood (The Church on Ruby Road)|Mrs. Flood]], who closed out the episode by ominously informing [[Fourth Wall|the audience]] of the Doctor's story ending in "absolute terror", before declaring "night night" to them.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
[[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] has lost, his [[Sutekh|ageless enemy]] reigns supreme, and a shadow is falling over creation. Nothing can stop the devastation... except, perhaps, one woman.<ref name="Cast">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020krd|title=Doctor Who, Season 1, Empire of Death|website name=bbc.co.uk|publisher=[[BBC]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612173403/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020krd|archivedate=2024-06-12}}</ref>
[[Sutekh]] has won, and spread his [[gift of death]] across all the universe. Holed away in a [[Remembered TARDIS]], can the [[Fifteenth Doctor]] and [[Ruby Sunday|Ruby]] find the one thing that vexes the God of Death himself, and save the day?


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
[[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] and [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] warn everyone out of the room as [[Susan Triad]] unleashes [[Sutekh]]'s [[Dust of Death]], fleeing back to [[UNIT HQ, City of London|UNIT HQ]] - [[Harriet Arbinger]] doing the same at UNIT as they fire at Sutekh, desiccating life wherever it touches bit by bit. [[Kate Lethbridge-Stewart]] and the rest of UNIT fall, a wave of dust crashing over London. As [[Flood (The Church on Ruby Road)|Mrs Flood]] watches the city, she tells [[Cherry Sunday]] to pray, to tell [[God|her Maker]] - "I will come to storm down his gates of gold and seize his kingdom in my true name", before the two dissolve into sand.
 
The Doctor and Mel enter the [[time window]], meeting [[Ruby Sunday]], the Doctor entering the [[Remembered TARDIS|TARDIS]] he finds there. A TARDIS made of memories, Ruby's memories of the TARDIS and the TARDIS's memories of itself making it real. As this TARDIS stabilises, another [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] appears behind them, a beast curled on top of it, Sutekh with his harbinger. Sutekh explains to the Doctor that he'd been hiding, cloaked around the TARDIS, for years, evolving into godhood. How he learned the Doctor's secrets and laid a trap. How he birthed angels of death in Susan Triad's image wherever they landed using the TARDIS's [[perception filter]], now ready to spread his gift of death throughout all of time and space. But the Doctor doesn't know why Sutekh is monologuing, rather than killing him - only coming to one conclusion. Sutekh is uncertain, Sutekh has doubt. Sutekh snarls at the taunt, and the trio flee into the remembered TARDIS, a patchwork mess of all the Doctor's previous TARDISes, barely able to fly without collapsing, held together with the time window and their memories.
 
As all of time and space dies, everywhere the Doctor has ever landed being a place where Sutekh's angels unleash their gift, Sutekh contemplates the one thing that frustrates him, baffles him, still - the secret Ruby carries within her. The Doctor arrives in a desolate land and meets a [[Kind woman (Empire of Death)|woman]]. He takes a [[spoon]] from her, needing metal. He stays with the woman as she dies, returning to the TARDIS, connecting the spoon to the remnants of the time window inside the remembered TARDIS. As the trio ponder why Sutekh has finally gone on the offensive, after waiting for so long, the time window shows them the answer - Sutekh couldn't make sense of [[Louise Miller|Ruby's mother]], a fact which terrified him. As Mel sits, listening, Sutekh's voice begins to infiltrate her thoughts. The time window then suggests how they might find Ruby's mother. In [[2046]] [[Roger ap Gwilliam]] made [[DNA]] testing mandatory for [[British]] citizens.
 
The trio pilot their way to 2046, to the [[Department of Health]]. Sending Mel to keep watch, the Doctor uses the screen from the time window to access the DNA database. The Doctor and Ruby find a name, comparing Ruby's DNA to the database as it [[snow (The Church on Ruby Road)|snow]]s, but Mel crumbles before Sutekh's will, re-entering the room and subduing them. Using the Doctor's TARDIS, Harriet summons the trio before Sutekh. Sutekh toys with the Doctor, tortures him, until Ruby agrees to hand over the screen from the time window that has the name of her mother. As she goes to hand the screen to Sutekh she drops it, shattering the device.
 
As Sutekh howls, Ruby leashes him with a rope, handing it back to the Doctor, each wearing an [[intelligent glove]]. The Doctor whistles for his TARDIS, a thruster below the console activating, knocking Harriet aside as she investigates, and pushing the TARDIS across the room. The Doctor and Ruby scramble inside, hooking the rope to the console. With a flip of a switch the TARDIS dematerialises, rope, Sutekh and all.
 
The Doctor, Ruby and the TARDIS fly through the [[time vortex]], dragging the god of death behind them, surveying the universe that had been rendered dead and decrepit through Sutekh's plans. The Doctor's decided - he'll bring death to the dead universe - death to death - life. On earth, UNIT members and people in the street come back to life. As the universe comes back to life, the Doctor decides that he must once again bring death, casting Sutekh back into the time vortex.
 
Back at UNIT HQ, they've retrieved the data from the time window - Ruby's mother. [[Louise Miller]]. An ordinary woman, invested with significance by people making her important, pointing not at the Doctor but at the signpost behind him, the sign that named Ruby, giving Ruby her name.
 
Ruby and the Doctor stand outside a cafe where Louise Miller sits, the Doctor suggesting to Ruby that he leave the issue alone, Louise is happy and has had plenty of time to come see Ruby and never has. But Ruby dashes inside and sits down next to her mother. Ruby tells her mother who she is, and thanks her for giving her a better life, a safe life. Later at the Sunday residence, Louise is meeting Carla and Cherry, getting to know Ruby's life, and see photos of Ruby growing up. Ruby still wants to travel with the Doctor, wants to leave on a trip. But she's getting news about her [[William Benjamin Garnet|biological father]], and the Doctor tells her to take time with her family, that her life is with them for the time being. He promises that he'll return for her, even if he regrets not returning for [[Susan Foreman|his granddaughter]].
 
As the Doctor leaves, and Ruby and her family look at pictures, Mrs. Flood stands atop the building, talking to [[Fourth wall|the audience]]. ''"And that's how the story of the Church on Ruby Road comes to an end. With a very happy ending for little Ruby Sunday. But life goes on, doesn't it? Ruthlessly. And what happens, you might wonder, oh what happens, to that mysterious traveller in time and space known as the Doctor? I'm sorry to say his story ends in absolute terror. Night night."''


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Ncuti Gatwa]]
* [[Fifteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Ncuti Gatwa]]
* [[Ruby Sunday]] - [[Millie Gibson]]
* [[Ruby Sunday]] - [[Millie Gibson]]
* [[Kate Lethbridge-Stewart]] - [[Jemma Redgrave]]<ref name="Cast" />
* Voice of [[Sutekh]] - [[Gabriel Woolf]]
* [[Melanie Bush]] - [[Bonnie Langford]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Susan Triad]] - [[Susan Twist]]
* [[Susan Triad]] - [[Susan Twist]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Melanie Bush]] - [[Bonnie Langford]]
* [[Rose Noble]] - [[Yasmin Finney]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Kate Lethbridge-Stewart]] - [[Jemma Redgrave]]
* [[Harriet Arbinger|Harriet]] - [[Genesis Lynea]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Rose Noble]] - [[Yasmin Finney]]
* [[Morris Gibbons]] - [[Lenny Rush]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Harriet Arbinger]] - [[Genesis Lynea]]
* [[Colonel]] [[Christofer Ibrahim|Ibrahim]] - [[Alexander Devrient]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Morris Gibbons]] - [[Lenny Rush]]
* [[Corporal]] [[Alice Sullivan|Sullivan]] - [[Jasmine Bayes]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[The Vlinx]] - [[Aidan Cook]]
* [[Mrs]] [[Flood (The Church on Ruby Road)|Flood]] - [[Anita Dobson]]<ref name="Cast" />
* Voice of the Vlinx - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* [[Carla Sunday]] - [[Michelle Greenidge]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Colonel]] [[Christofer Ibrahim]] - [[Alexander Devrient]]
* [[Cherry Sunday]] - [[Angela Wynter]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Corporal]] [[Alice Sullivan]] - [[Jasmine Bayes]]
* [[Kind Woman (Empire of Death)|Kind Woman]] - [[Sian Clifford]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Mrs]] [[Flood (The Church on Ruby Road)|Flood]] - [[Anita Dobson]]
* [[The Vlinx]] - [[Aidan Cook]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Carla Sunday]] - [[Michelle Greenidge]]
* Voice of the Vlinx - [[Nicholas Briggs]]<ref name="Cast" />
* [[Cherry Sunday]] - [[Angela Wynter]]
* [[Kind woman (Empire of Death)|Kind Woman]] - [[Sian Clifford]]
* [[Amol Rajan (in-universe)|Amol Rajan]] - [[Amol Rajan|Himself]]
* [[Roger ap Gwilliam]] - [[Aneurin Barnard]]
* Colonel [[Winston Chidozie]] - [[Tachia Newall]]
* [[Bailey Sinclair]] - [[Fela Lufadeju]]
* [[Louise Miller]] - [[Faye McKeever]]
 
=== Uncredited cast ===
* [[Brindle Dee]] - TBA
* [[Fourth Doctor]] - [[Tom Baker]]{{note|Archival footage from [[TV]]: {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}} and {{cs|The Face of Evil (TV story)}}.}} (archival footage)
* [[Sarah Jane Smith]] - [[Elisabeth Sladen]]{{note|Archival footage from [[TV]]: {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}}}} (archival footage)
* [[Laurence Scarman]] - [[Michael Sheard]]{{note|Seen in archival footage from [[TV]]: {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}}. His dialogue from that scene is not included.}} (archival footage)
* [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] - [[Carole Ann Ford]]{{note|Archival footage from [[TV]]: {{cs|The Daleks in Colour (TV story)}}}} (archival footage)


== Crew ==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
{{Wales crew
|Writer=Russell T Davies
|ExecutiveProd=Russell T Davies
|ExecutiveProd2=Julie Gardner
|ExecutiveProd3=Jane Tranter
|ExecutiveProd4=Joel Collins
|ExecutiveProd5=Phil Collinson
|Producer=Vicki Delow
|Director=Jamie Donoughue
|StuntCoOrdinator=Derek Lea
|StuntCoOrdinator2=Belinda McGinley
|Stunt=Mike Denton
|Stunt2=Paul Bailey
|Stunt3=Paul Joseph
|Stunt4=Nadia Hansell
|Stunt5=Eddy Beckett
|Stunt6=Christina Low
|Stunt7=Tsvetan Paunov
|Stunt8=Chris Cordell
|Stunt9=Rosie Rowett
|Stunt10=Anna Benton
|Stunt11=Robert Jarman
|Stunt12=Anna Stephenson
|Stunt13=Jodie Saunders
|Puppeteer=Eliot Gibbins
|Puppeteer2=Josh Elwell
|2ndUnitDirector=Huse Monfaradi
|1stAD=Geraint Havard Jones
|2ndAD=Lauren Pate
|Crowd2ndAD=Charlie Campbell
|3rdAD=Jennifer Day
|FloorRunner=Jac Lewis
|FloorRunner2=Devante Fleming
|FloorRunner3=Emmy Williams
|SAWFloorRunner=Micah Joshua Brown
|BaseRunner=Jamal Price
|SAWFloorRunnerStandIn=Beyagy Demba
|FloorRunnerStandIn=Emmy Williams
|CastAssistant=Daniella Wilson
|ProductionManager=Delmi Thomas
|ProductionCoOrdinator=Sandra Cosfeld
|AsstProductionCoOrdinator=Liam Hobbs
|TravelAccommodationCoOrd=Ariana Scott
|ProductionSecretary=Adam Byard
|ProductionSecretary2=Chris Harkus
|ProductionOfficeRunner=Danilo Van-Der Nguyen
|ProductionOfficeRunner2=Rugie Begum
|ProductionAssistant=Juanee Scott
|ProducersAssistant=Lisa Elena Williams
|SAWDirectorsAsst=Abdoul Razak Ceesay
|CreativeCoOrdinator=Fabia Sinigaglia
|ExecutiveAsstTo1=Dee Brooker
|AssistedExec1a=Jane Tranter
|ExecutiveAsstTo2=Kaleigh O'Boyle
|AssistedExec2a=Julie Gardner
|ExecutiveAsstTo3=Joshua M.G. Thomas
|AssistedExec3a=Russell T Davies
|AssistedExec3b=Phil Collinson
|AssistedExec3c=Joel Collins
|LocationManager=Baljinder Sidhu
|AssistantLocationManager=Alex Moore
|AssistantLocationManager2=Shuaib Said
|UnitManager=Kyle Yates
|LocationAssistant=Robyn Selby
|LocationAssistant2=Josef Coombes
|StudioManager=Richard Balshaw
|StudioAssistant=Lloyd Di Mauro
|1stAsstAccountant=Greg Robinson
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|AsstAccountantPayroll=Aimee Bond
|AsstAccountantPayroll2=Laura Gardner
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|AccountsClerk=Amber Cripps
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|BCameraOperator=Ryan Eddleston
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|ClapperLoader2=Evangeline Davies
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|ArtDirector2=Kartik Kundan Nagar
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|ActionPropsBuyer=Tara Lily Johnston
|AssistantBuyer=Taymar Lee
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|StandbyProps=Phill Bull
|StandbyProps2=Jonathan Barclay
|PropHand=Declan Petryna
|PropHand2=Atiff Tahir
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|PropHand4=Ingo Hans
|PropHand5=Joseph Craig
|PropHand6=Jason White
|PropHand7=Matt Shrimpton
|PropHand8=Ieuan Parker
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|PropPainter=Maria Faurie
|StandbyPainter=Jessie Thomas
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|JuniorConceptArtist=Jordan Reynolds
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|CreatureFX=Millennium FX
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|CostumeDesignAsst=Charlotte Godfrey
|CostumeCoOrdinator=Anthony Williams
|PrincipalCostumeStandby=Kitty Carin-Boyd
|PrincipalCostumeStandby2=Leila Headon
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|VFXSupervisor=Dave Houghton
|VFXSupervisor2=Sebastian Barker
|VFXOnSetSupervisor=Daniel Roberts
|VFXLineProducer=Liam Tully
|VFXCoOrdinator=Siân Reynish
|VFXCoOrdinator2=Livvy Edwards
|DataWrangler=Hattie Williams
|VFXAssistant=Sarah-Hoor Aboubakar
|IrelandVFXCoProducer=Michael Garland for Grand Pictures Commissioning A Limited
|IrelandVFXTrainee=Emmett Brenna
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|AdditionalVFX=Egg VFX
|AdditionalVFX2=BBC Wales Graphics
|PostProdFacility=Gorilla (post-production)
|MusicPerformedBy=BBC National Orchestra of Wales
|MusicConductedBy=Alastair King
|OriginalTheme=Ron Grainer
|MusicSupervisor=Ollie White
|AsstMusicSupervisor=Marnie Davidge
|TitleSequence=Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation
|Character1=Sutekh
|CharCreatedBy1a=Lewis Greifer
|CoProducer=Ellen Marsh
|ScriptEditor=Scott Handcock
|Colourist=Gareth Spensley
|OnlineEditor=Christine Kelly
|VFXProducer=Will Cohen
|PostProdProducer=Ceres Doyle
|SupervisingLocationManager=Iwan Roberts
|SoundRecordist=Alex Thompson
|Re-recordingMixer=Paul McFadden
|CastingDirector=Andy Pryor CDG/CSA
|Music=Murray Gold
|Editor=Ben Drury
|DOP=Chas Bain
|ProductionDesigner=Phil Sims
|CostumeDesigner=Pam Downe
|Make-upDesigner=Claire Williams
|FinancialController=Dyfed Thomas
|LineProducer=Mark Devlin
|ProductionFinanceManager=Sean Kenneally
|FinanceDirector=Mary Furlong
|SeniorBusinessLegalExec=Ifty Khan
|HeadLegalAndBusiness=Beth Wyllie
|JuniorProductionExec=Charlotte Cox
|ProductionExec=Steffan Morris
|DirectorOfProduction=Emily Russell
|ProductionExecBBCStudios=John Hamer
|ExecutiveProdForTheBBC=Rebecca Ferguson
|CommissioningEditorBBC=Lindsay Salt
|Note=This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland.
}}


== Worldbuilding ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
*The [[Kind woman (Empire of Death)|kind woman]] is from [[Agua Centina]], a lush planet turned to dust by the [[death wave]]s. It had at least one [[opera house]].
*[[Sutekh]] is revealed to have been latched onto the TARDIS since the events of ''Pyramids of Mars''. Like [[Rose Tyler]] ''(TV: [[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]), Sutekh was'' exposed to, and obtained [[Bad Wolf (entity)|god-like power]] from, the Time Vortex. River Song and Martha Jones were previously shown to have been altered in some way by exposure to the Time Vortex.
*[[Flood (The Church on Ruby Road)|Mrs Flood]] alludes to plans she has, and refers to [[Cherry Sunday]] as a "little woman". She is last seen standing on a rooftop promising that the Doctor's story will "end in absolute terror".
*The Doctor mentions that his death would be an "extinction event".
*The Doctor reveals a hope to once again reunite with Susan Foreman.
 
=== Brands ===
* Buses in London have advertisements for ''[[The Bloomsbury Gazette]]'' and ''[[Foxglove & Co]]''.
* Ruby meets her mother at [[But First... Coffee]].
* The coffee shop has taps for [[Hammond's Premium Beer]], [[Whole Island Premium Export Ale]], and [[Loftus Ale]].
* A poster in the coffee shop advertises [[Academy Coffee Shop]].


== Notes ==
== Story notes ==
* The title of the episode was revealed on the [[Official Doctor Who Twitter|official ''Doctor Who'' Twitter account]] on [[31 March (releases)|31 March]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]].<ref name="Empire" />
* The title of the episode was revealed on the [[Official Doctor Who Twitter|official ''Doctor Who'' Twitter account]] on [[31 March (releases)|31 March]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]].<ref name="Empire" />
* It shares its title with a [[2004]] [[Empire of Death (novel)|novel]] from the [[Past Doctor Adventures]] series.
* It shares its title with a [[2004]] [[Empire of Death (novel)|novel]] from the [[Past Doctor Adventures]] series.
Line 72: Line 421:
* Davies shared words from the episode in his column on two occasions: first "[[kingdom]]", "[[gold]]", "[[Tigella]]";<ref name="DWM 592">''[[Letter from the Showrunner]]'' - [[DWM 592]]</ref> later "terror, [[dust]], [[pizza]], [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]], [[death]], [[opera]]".<ref name="DWM 598">''[[Letter from the Showrunner]]'' - [[DWM 598]]</ref>
* Davies shared words from the episode in his column on two occasions: first "[[kingdom]]", "[[gold]]", "[[Tigella]]";<ref name="DWM 592">''[[Letter from the Showrunner]]'' - [[DWM 592]]</ref> later "terror, [[dust]], [[pizza]], [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]], [[death]], [[opera]]".<ref name="DWM 598">''[[Letter from the Showrunner]]'' - [[DWM 598]]</ref>
* Davies told ''[[Radio Times]]'' that there were aspects of the story he had been "thinking of for 40 or 50 years".<ref name="50 years">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-finale-fifty-years-newsupdate/|title=Doctor Who boss says finale contains scenes he's been planning for 50 years|author=Morgan Jeffery|date of source=2024-04-30|website name=RadioTimes.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430202350/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-finale-fifty-years-newsupdate/|archivedate=2024-04-30}}</ref>
* Davies told ''[[Radio Times]]'' that there were aspects of the story he had been "thinking of for 40 or 50 years".<ref name="50 years">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-finale-fifty-years-newsupdate/|title=Doctor Who boss says finale contains scenes he's been planning for 50 years|author=Morgan Jeffery|date of source=2024-04-30|website name=RadioTimes.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430202350/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-finale-fifty-years-newsupdate/|archivedate=2024-04-30}}</ref>
*On [[22 May (releases)|22 May]], UK cinematic screenings of this episode and ''[[The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)|The Legend of Ruby Sunday]]'' were announced for the night of [[21 June (releases)|21]] and [[22 June (releases)|22 June]], with ''Empire of Death'' set to screen at midnight, the same time as the overall global release.<ref name="Cinema">{{cite_web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-season-14-finale-cinema-screening-newsupdate/|title=Doctor Who's final 2 episodes of season 14 to be screened in UK cinemas|author=David Craig|date of source=2024-05-22|website name=RadioTimes.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522183625/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-season-14-finale-cinema-screening-newsupdate/|archivedate=2024-05-22}}</ref>
* On [[22 May (releases)|22 May]], UK cinematic screenings of this episode and ''[[The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)|The Legend of Ruby Sunday]]'' were announced for the night of [[21 June (releases)|21]] and [[22 June (releases)|22 June]], with ''Empire of Death'' set to screen at midnight, the same time as the overall global release.<ref name="Cinema">{{cite_web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-season-14-finale-cinema-screening-newsupdate/|title=Doctor Who's final 2 episodes of season 14 to be screened in UK cinemas|author=David Craig|date of source=2024-05-22|website name=RadioTimes.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522183625/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-season-14-finale-cinema-screening-newsupdate/|archivedate=2024-05-22}}</ref>
** The episodes were separated by a 15 minute interval followed by a message from [[Millie Gibson]] thanking the audience for coming.
* [[Gabriel Woolf]], [[Aneurin Barnard]], [[Amol Rajan]], [[Tachia Newall]], [[Fela Lufadeju]], and [[Faye McKeever]] were omitted from the advance cast list.<ref name="Cast">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020krd|title=Doctor Who, Season 1, Empire of Death|website name=bbc.co.uk|publisher=[[BBC]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612173403/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020krd|archivedate=2024-06-12}}</ref>
* A special episode of Tales of the TARDIS was released the night before this episode aired. It appears to take place during this episode, while the Doctor shows Ruby the events of The Pyramids of Mars on the portable screen.
* Footage taken from {{Cite source|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}} is edited to replace its depiction of the [[Time Vortex]] with the version introduced in {{Cite source|The Star Beast (TV story)}}.


=== Myths ===
=== Myths ===
Line 78: Line 431:


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
''to be added''
 
* One Central Square, Cardiff
* Principality Stadium, Cardiff
* Barry, Vale of Glamorgan


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
''to be added''
''BBC UK overnight ratings: 2.25 million.''


=== Production errors ===
=== Production errors ===
Line 88: Line 444:


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
{{Section cleanup|Those parentheticals need to be changed into proper BTS-focused sentences. The parentheticals are being phased out Wiki-wide.}}
 
* The Doctor asks how Sutekh survived his apparent death seen in [[TV]]: {{cs|Pyramids of Mars (TV story)}}
== Home media releases ==
* The Remembered TARDIS manifests and is sustained by stories told by Ruby Sunday.
''to be added''
* Mel discovers the Sixth Doctor's ascot and coat. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
* Like many other objects in the remembered TARDIS, the [[fire extinguisher (The Angels Take Manhattan)|fire extinguisher]] originated from another story, namely [[TV]]: {{cs|The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)}}.
* The Doctor reminds Mel of the time they met [[Albert Einstein]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time and the Rani (TV story)|Time and the Rani]]'')
* The Doctor mentions some of the time periods he has visited, including [[1066]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Meddler (TV story)|The Time Meddler]]''), [[1999]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'') and [[2005]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'').
* The Time Window shows the TARDIS landing on [[Ribos]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Ribos Operation (TV story)}}), in [[Rassilon]]'s tomb on [[Gallifrey]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Five Doctors (TV story)}}), on a beach on [[Thoros-Beta]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|Mindwarp (TV story)}}), in [[Paradise Towers]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|Paradise Towers (TV story)}}), on ancient Earth ([[TV]]: {{cs|City of Death (TV story)}}), [[San Francisco]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Doctor Who (TV story)}}) [[Bad Wolf Bay]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Journey's End (TV story)}}) [[Cardiff]], above [[Torchwood Three]]'s hub, ([[TV]]: {{cs|Utopia (TV story)}} at the base of the [[Statue of Liberty]], [[New York]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)}}) [[Mercy, Nevada]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|A Town Called Mercy (TV story)}})
* The Doctor observes that [[Venus]] ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Voyage to Venus (audio story)}}), [[Telos]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Attack of the Cybermen (TV story)}} et al.), [[Karn]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}}), the [[Ood Sphere]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Planet of the Ood (TV story)}}) and [[Skaro]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)}}, etc.) are dead. Mel is familiar with the [[Dalek]]s; [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Juggernauts (audio story)}} had shown her meeting them on the planet [[Lethe]].
* The Doctor says that the TARDIS’s [[perception filter]] extends to a distance 66.7 [[metre]]s, which Ruby immediately says is [[73 yards]]. She doesn’t know how she knows that, but 73 yards was the distance the mystery woman kept from Ruby in [[TV]]: {{cs|73 Yards (TV story)}}. The Doctor also comments that “Funny things happen at 73 yards. People say that you can see things.” 73 yards was also the distance of the nearest CCTV camera to the church in Ruby Road, as reported by Harriet in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Legend of Ruby Sunday (TV story)}}.
* When monitoring the locations where life has been restored, the Doctor mentions [[Vortis]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Web Planet (TV story)}}), [[Vox (Empire of Death)|Vox]], [[Tigella]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Creature from the Pit (TV story)}}), [[Messaline]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)}}), [[Calufrax]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Pirate Planet (TV story)}}), [[Spiridon]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Planet of the Daleks (TV story)}}), [[Telos]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Tomb of the Cybermen (TV story)}} et al.), [[Shan Shen]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Turn Left (TV story)}}), and the [[Ood Sphere]] ([[TV]]: {{cs|Planet of the Ood (TV story)}}).
* Like previous stories of this season, a character breaks the fourth wall, in this case Mrs. Flood. (TV: The Church on Ruby Road, TV: The Devil's Chord)


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
Line 100: Line 464:


== Footnotes ==
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}


=== Citations ===
{{reflist|2}}
{{DWTV}}
{{DWTV}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:2024 television stories]]
[[Category:2024 television stories]]
[[Category:Fifteenth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Season 1 (Doctor Who 2023) stories]]
[[Category:Osiran stories]]
[[Category:UNIT television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2024]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2046]]
[[Category:Stories set in alternate timelines]]

Latest revision as of 02:46, 22 November 2024

Empire of Death
Gallery
RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the novel of the same name or Sutekh's Empire of Death.

Empire of Death was the eighth episode of Season 1 of Doctor Who.[1] It finally resolved the matter of Ruby Sunday's parentage, which had served as a story arc since The Church on Ruby Road [+]Loading...["The Church on Ruby Road (TV story)"], and featured her initial departure from the TARDIS.

The return of classic 1970s villain, Sutekh, was fully explained, with it being retroactively established that the God of Death was able to escape his fate of being banished to the Void by latching onto the Doctor's TARDIS, growing in power into a new form, and projecting a new Angel of Death - the mysterious women played by recurring actress Susan Twist - into whatever time and place it landed.

Unexpectedly, the story also revealed the Time Window projection of the Doctor's TARDIS - first shown in the previous episode - to be the Remembered TARDIS, the setting of the spinoff miniseries, Tales of the TARDIS, which debuted half a year prior. To coincide with this revelation, an additional episode of the spinoff - bringing its original six episode run up to seven - was broadcast on BBC Four two days prior, which presented a condensed omnibus edition of Sutekh's original debut story, Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"], framed as a story being told by the Doctor to Ruby during the events of this episode.

With most of the season's previously established mysteries solved, the episode ended with one last mystery still remaining; the identity of the Sunday family's mysterious neighbour, Mrs. Flood, who closed out the episode by ominously informing the audience of the Doctor's story ending in "absolute terror", before declaring "night night" to them.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Sutekh has won, and spread his gift of death across all the universe. Holed away in a Remembered TARDIS, can the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby find the one thing that vexes the God of Death himself, and save the day?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and Mel warn everyone out of the room as Susan Triad unleashes Sutekh's Dust of Death, fleeing back to UNIT HQ - Harriet Arbinger doing the same at UNIT as they fire at Sutekh, desiccating life wherever it touches bit by bit. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and the rest of UNIT fall, a wave of dust crashing over London. As Mrs Flood watches the city, she tells Cherry Sunday to pray, to tell her Maker - "I will come to storm down his gates of gold and seize his kingdom in my true name", before the two dissolve into sand.

The Doctor and Mel enter the time window, meeting Ruby Sunday, the Doctor entering the TARDIS he finds there. A TARDIS made of memories, Ruby's memories of the TARDIS and the TARDIS's memories of itself making it real. As this TARDIS stabilises, another TARDIS appears behind them, a beast curled on top of it, Sutekh with his harbinger. Sutekh explains to the Doctor that he'd been hiding, cloaked around the TARDIS, for years, evolving into godhood. How he learned the Doctor's secrets and laid a trap. How he birthed angels of death in Susan Triad's image wherever they landed using the TARDIS's perception filter, now ready to spread his gift of death throughout all of time and space. But the Doctor doesn't know why Sutekh is monologuing, rather than killing him - only coming to one conclusion. Sutekh is uncertain, Sutekh has doubt. Sutekh snarls at the taunt, and the trio flee into the remembered TARDIS, a patchwork mess of all the Doctor's previous TARDISes, barely able to fly without collapsing, held together with the time window and their memories.

As all of time and space dies, everywhere the Doctor has ever landed being a place where Sutekh's angels unleash their gift, Sutekh contemplates the one thing that frustrates him, baffles him, still - the secret Ruby carries within her. The Doctor arrives in a desolate land and meets a woman. He takes a spoon from her, needing metal. He stays with the woman as she dies, returning to the TARDIS, connecting the spoon to the remnants of the time window inside the remembered TARDIS. As the trio ponder why Sutekh has finally gone on the offensive, after waiting for so long, the time window shows them the answer - Sutekh couldn't make sense of Ruby's mother, a fact which terrified him. As Mel sits, listening, Sutekh's voice begins to infiltrate her thoughts. The time window then suggests how they might find Ruby's mother. In 2046 Roger ap Gwilliam made DNA testing mandatory for British citizens.

The trio pilot their way to 2046, to the Department of Health. Sending Mel to keep watch, the Doctor uses the screen from the time window to access the DNA database. The Doctor and Ruby find a name, comparing Ruby's DNA to the database as it snows, but Mel crumbles before Sutekh's will, re-entering the room and subduing them. Using the Doctor's TARDIS, Harriet summons the trio before Sutekh. Sutekh toys with the Doctor, tortures him, until Ruby agrees to hand over the screen from the time window that has the name of her mother. As she goes to hand the screen to Sutekh she drops it, shattering the device.

As Sutekh howls, Ruby leashes him with a rope, handing it back to the Doctor, each wearing an intelligent glove. The Doctor whistles for his TARDIS, a thruster below the console activating, knocking Harriet aside as she investigates, and pushing the TARDIS across the room. The Doctor and Ruby scramble inside, hooking the rope to the console. With a flip of a switch the TARDIS dematerialises, rope, Sutekh and all.

The Doctor, Ruby and the TARDIS fly through the time vortex, dragging the god of death behind them, surveying the universe that had been rendered dead and decrepit through Sutekh's plans. The Doctor's decided - he'll bring death to the dead universe - death to death - life. On earth, UNIT members and people in the street come back to life. As the universe comes back to life, the Doctor decides that he must once again bring death, casting Sutekh back into the time vortex.

Back at UNIT HQ, they've retrieved the data from the time window - Ruby's mother. Louise Miller. An ordinary woman, invested with significance by people making her important, pointing not at the Doctor but at the signpost behind him, the sign that named Ruby, giving Ruby her name.

Ruby and the Doctor stand outside a cafe where Louise Miller sits, the Doctor suggesting to Ruby that he leave the issue alone, Louise is happy and has had plenty of time to come see Ruby and never has. But Ruby dashes inside and sits down next to her mother. Ruby tells her mother who she is, and thanks her for giving her a better life, a safe life. Later at the Sunday residence, Louise is meeting Carla and Cherry, getting to know Ruby's life, and see photos of Ruby growing up. Ruby still wants to travel with the Doctor, wants to leave on a trip. But she's getting news about her biological father, and the Doctor tells her to take time with her family, that her life is with them for the time being. He promises that he'll return for her, even if he regrets not returning for his granddaughter.

As the Doctor leaves, and Ruby and her family look at pictures, Mrs. Flood stands atop the building, talking to the audience. "And that's how the story of the Church on Ruby Road comes to an end. With a very happy ending for little Ruby Sunday. But life goes on, doesn't it? Ruthlessly. And what happens, you might wonder, oh what happens, to that mysterious traveller in time and space known as the Doctor? I'm sorry to say his story ends in absolute terror. Night night."

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

This episode was produced with the support of incentives for the Irish film industry provided by the Government of Ireland.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The kind woman is from Agua Centina, a lush planet turned to dust by the death waves. It had at least one opera house.
  • Sutekh is revealed to have been latched onto the TARDIS since the events of Pyramids of Mars. Like Rose Tyler (TV: The Parting of the Ways), Sutekh was exposed to, and obtained god-like power from, the Time Vortex. River Song and Martha Jones were previously shown to have been altered in some way by exposure to the Time Vortex.
  • Mrs Flood alludes to plans she has, and refers to Cherry Sunday as a "little woman". She is last seen standing on a rooftop promising that the Doctor's story will "end in absolute terror".
  • The Doctor mentions that his death would be an "extinction event".
  • The Doctor reveals a hope to once again reunite with Susan Foreman.

Brands[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • One Central Square, Cardiff
  • Principality Stadium, Cardiff
  • Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

BBC UK overnight ratings: 2.25 million.

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section needs a cleanup.

Those parentheticals need to be changed into proper BTS-focused sentences. The parentheticals are being phased out Wiki-wide.

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Empire of Death (TV story)/Gallery

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Archival footage from TV: Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"] and The Face of Evil [+]Loading...["The Face of Evil (TV story)"].
  2. ↑ Archival footage from TV: Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"]
  3. ↑ Seen in archival footage from TV: Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"]. His dialogue from that scene is not included.
  4. ↑ Archival footage from TV: The Daleks in Colour [+]Loading...["The Daleks in Colour (TV story)"]

Citations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 @bbcdoctorwho (2024-03-31). EMPIRE OF DEATH
    Writer: Russell T Davies
    Director: Jamie Donoughue
    #DoctorWho    . Archived from the original on 2024-05-29.
  2. ↑ Letter from the Showrunner - DWM 589
  3. ↑ Letter from the Showrunner - DWM 592
  4. ↑ Letter from the Showrunner - DWM 598
  5. ↑ Morgan Jeffery (2024-04-30). Doctor Who boss says finale contains scenes he's been planning for 50 years. RadioTimes.com. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30.
  6. ↑ David Craig (2024-05-22). Doctor Who's final 2 episodes of season 14 to be screened in UK cinemas. RadioTimes.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-22.
  7. ↑ Doctor Who, Season 1, Empire of Death. bbc.co.uk. BBC. Archived from the original on 2024-06-12.
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