Demons of the Punjab (TV story)

Demons of the Punjab
Doctor:	Thirteenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Graham, Ryan, Yaz
Featuring:	Najia, Hakim, Sonya
Main enemy:	Manish
Main setting:	Pakistan-India border, 17-18 August 1947
Key crew
Writer:	Vinay Patel
Director:	Jamie Childs
Release details
Story number:	281
Premiere broadcast:	11 November 2018
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x51 minute episode
Official trailer
▶︎ YouTube YouTube might collect personal data. Privacy Policy UnderstoodDismiss
Doctor Who television stories
← Previous	The Tsuranga Conundrum

Demons of the Punjab was the sixth episode of series 11 of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

The episode further expanded Yasmin Khan's family, exploring her grandmother Umbreen's personal history in India during it's partition in 1947.

Synopsis

With Yaz desperate to learn more about the life of her grandmother, the Thirteenth Doctor brings her friends to the Punjab in 1947 to meet her in the past. But with a marriage unknown to Yaz on the cards and the Partition of India threatening to pull her family apart, it may not be the mysterious "demons" that are the biggest threat.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
• Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
• Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
• Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
• Nani Umbreen - Leena Dhingra
• Umbreen - Amita Suman
• Prem - Shane Zaza
• Manish - Hamza Jeetooa
• Hasna - Shaheen Khan
• Najia - Shobna Gulati
• Hakim - Ravin J Ganatra
• Sonya - Bhavnisha Parmar
• Voice of Kisar - Emma Fielding
• Performance of Kisar - Nathalie Curzner
• Voice of Almak - Isobel Middleton
• Performance of Almak - Barbara Fadden

Crew

to be added

References

The Doctor

• While participating in the pre-wedding celebrations, the Doctor mused that she never used to do this kind of thing when she was a man, a reference to her previous thirteen male incarnations.

Culture

• A Hindu wedding custom is to have the couples hands tied together during their vows.

Story notes

• For the second time this series, the usual Doctor Who theme does not play over the ending credits. In contrast to Rosa, this episode plays an Indian music inspired version of the theme.
• This episode was broadcast on Remembrance Sunday. As such it focuses on themes of remembrance.

Ratings

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

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

• The Tenth Doctor also visited India during the 1947 Partition, with Donna Noble. (PROSE: Ghosts of India)
• The Doctor mentions that she was giving points to everyone. (TV: The Tsuranga Conundrum)
• Yaz's Muslim faith was briefly touched upon before. (TV: Rosa)
• The Doctor recalls having been a man. (TV: An Unearthly Child - Twice Upon a Time)
• Graham calls the Doctor "Doc". (TV: Rosa, Arachnids in the UK, The Tsuranga Conundrum, PROSE: Dr. Thirteenth)
• The Doctor refers to the dangers of going back in time to observe family members. (TV: Father's Day)
• The Doctor states she is too kind, something her predecessor told her to be. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
• The Doctor remarks she loves weddings. Her Tenth (TV: The Runaway Bride) and eleventh incarnations held similar opinions, (TV: The Big Bang, Let's Kill Hitler) although the Eleventh Doctor remarked he was "rubbish" at his own. (TV: A Christmas Carol, The Wedding of River Song) The Twelfth Doctor hated weddings. (COMIC: The Clockwise War)
• The Doctor has attended several weddings before. (TV: Father's Day, The Big Bang, COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone)

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

Digital releases

to be added

External links

• Official Demons of the Punjab page on the Doctor Who website