Demons of the Punjab (TV story): Difference between revisions
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
[[Yasmin Khan]] is in [[Flat 34 (Park Hill)|her family's flat]] with her family, celebrating her Nani [[Umbreen]]'s birthday. Umbreen | [[Yasmin Khan]] is in [[Flat 34 (Park Hill)|her family's flat]] with her family, celebrating her Nani [[Umbreen]]'s birthday; Umbreen is slightly annoyed, as she told them to not make a big deal about it. Despite this, Umbreen tells her daughter and granddaughters that she has a gift for each of them. She hands Najia letters that her father sent Umbreen while he was away, warning her to not read the filthy bits. She then gives Sonya a flower given to her by her husband, which she can't remember why it was a gift. To Yasmin she gives a broken [[watch]], warning her never to fix it but refuses to reveal why. Yaz gets a desire to travel back in time to see her family. | ||
In the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], the [[Thirteenth Doctor]] is doing maintenance on the controls; she tells Yaz that she will not take her back in time to see her grandmother, as it risks wiping herself out of existence. Graham laughs that it's not like they take risks. The Doctor tells him in an annoyed tone that she has apologized repeatedly for the incident involving the Death Eye Turtle Army. Yaz begs the Doctor as she wants to go see what her grandmother was like in her younger days. The Doctor asks if Yaz has a time or place; Yaz tells her that Umbreen was in the Pakistani city of [[Lahore]] in the 1950s. | In the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], the [[Thirteenth Doctor]] is doing maintenance on the controls; she tells Yaz that she will not take her back in time to see her grandmother, as it risks wiping herself out of existence. Graham laughs that it's not like they take risks. The Doctor tells him in an annoyed tone that she has apologized repeatedly for the incident involving the Death Eye Turtle Army. Yaz begs the Doctor as she wants to go see what her grandmother was like in her younger days. The Doctor asks if Yaz has a time or place; Yaz tells her that Umbreen was in the Pakistani city of [[Lahore]] in the 1950s. | ||
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Despite trying to talk herself out of it once more, the Doctor relents and takes the watch from Yaz; she's attaching it to the telepathic circuits, allowing them to find the moment that it broke in Umbreen's timeline. Graham wonders how the TARDIS can be telepathic; the Doctor says that 'telepathic" is short-hand for a very complicated procedure, which is locating where anything has existed throughout the entirety of space-time. Graham seems to have understood and thanks the Doctor for explaining it clearly. | Despite trying to talk herself out of it once more, the Doctor relents and takes the watch from Yaz; she's attaching it to the telepathic circuits, allowing them to find the moment that it broke in Umbreen's timeline. Graham wonders how the TARDIS can be telepathic; the Doctor says that 'telepathic" is short-hand for a very complicated procedure, which is locating where anything has existed throughout the entirety of space-time. Graham seems to have understood and thanks the Doctor for explaining it clearly. | ||
The TARDIS arrives in | The TARDIS arrives in a countryside instead of Lahore, confusing Yaz, Ryan and Graham. The Doctor takes out her sonic screwdriver and a scan reveals that they are in the the Punjabi countryside. Suddently, they are struck by some sort of vision of dark figures and stumble into a road. There they meet [[Prem]], who is driving an [[ox]]-pulled [[cart]]. Yaz asks if he knows Umbreen, surprising him; she claims that they are family. Depsite his confusion, Prem offers them a ride in his cart. A [[sadhu]], Hindu holy man known as [[Bhakti]] walks up to them, laughing how the younger generation never use their feet to get around. Prem tells Bhakti that he hopes to see him later. | ||
The group arrive at a farm, where a young Umbreen exits the house and asks Prem who [[Team TARDIS]] is. Once he says that they are her family, Yaz claims to be a distant relative of "uncle Malik". The group then learn that Prem and Umbreen are getting married the next day, much to their confusion. Yaz is confused; her Nani had secret [[Hindu]] first husband before her grandfather? Prem's brother [[Manish]] steps out with some makeshift wooden fence posts and rope; Yaz asks if he needs help, which he accepts. Umbreen's mother [[Hasna]] steps out of the house, telling Prem and Umbreen that there's news on the radio. | |||
Despite Graham's nudging for the Doctor to tell Yaz they need to leave, the Doctor is still more focused on why they had that strange vision. However, she then asks if Graham and Ryan want to know what's on the radio. They go inside, overhearing about a border being established. Graham seems concerned, asking what year it is. Upon hearing that its [[1947]], the Doctor realizes that they've arrived right in the middle of the [[Partition of India]]; things are about to get a lot worse if they stay now. | |||
Yaz | At a stream, Yaz finishes helping Manish step up a small makeshift border; due to the festive colours on the rope, Yaz asks if there is a celebration going on. Manish confirms that something special is going on. The Doctor rushes up to Yaz, with Graham, Ryan, Umbreen, Prem and Hasna following. Quietly, the Doctor tells Yaz about the history that's going to unfold. Manish reveals that he got the maps dividing [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] early; he step up a border of his own to officiate where the two meet. Hasna is annoyed, as Manish's border puts her home in Parkistan; Manish says Pakistan is being creted for [[Muslim|Muslims]] to live in. However, everyone takes offense to Manish's words; Umbreen says that its a place for them to live if ''they choose to.'' At that moment, everyone is assaulted by visions again. They see "demons' on the hill above, with Hasna taking it as a sign that things are going to be worse. | ||
[[File:Thirteen Punjab.jpg|thumb|180x180px|The Doctor questions Prem]] | |||
However, [[Team TARDIS]] give chase to the demons as they vanish into the forest. Prem follows after them. They find the two demons over Bhakti, getting a screeching telepathic message not to interfere; Prem fires a shot to end the message. They vanish, with the Doctor examining Bhakti; he's dead and covered in some kind of purple dust. The Doctor then realzies Prem has seen them before. Prem claims to have seen them before, standing over the body of his older brother, Kunal while serving in [[World War II|World War Two]]. The Doctor tells Yaz and Graham to go back and explain Bahkti was found dead by them and to have his body prepared for burial. She, Ryan and Prem will look for the "demons". | |||
Tracing a teleport signature from the site of the body, the Doctor finds a metal covering in the ground; when asked what it is, she says "front door." They are teleported into some kind of ship, with only a console of some kind. The Doctor examines it with the sonic, pulling up information. Her face fills with horror; they're in a [[Thijarian Hive]] and the [[Thijarian]]s are [[assassin]]s. An image of Bahkti's face appears, meaning they were targeting him, but the reason is unknown. She pulls out a container of purple gas, which has too much data for her sonic to decipher; in short, the sonic can't tell what's in it. Then the Thijarians appear and they are forced to evacuate the hive. | |||
Out in the forest, Ryan and Prem are transported away and the Doctor notices a device on a tree nearby, a [[transmat lock]], and confiscates it. Ryan and Prem appear some distance away and Prem asks what happened. Ryan says he does not know, but the Doctor said to get out of the forest so they both run. The Doctor continues to find more locks. Back at the farm, Umbreen continues to argue in favour of her marriage. | |||
Yaz becomes discouraged when she believes she doesn't truly know her Nani, and Graham comforts her; Umbreen has yet to go through the experiences that will make her the woman Yaz knows in the future, so until then, she's basically a stranger to her. Suddenly, they hear Ryan yelling and rush to discover what is wrong. The Doctor arrives shortly after and tells them to run for the barn. Inside the barn, the Thijarians arrive and threaten everyone there with [[death]], but the Doctor drives them away with the locks. She promises to protect them all. Then the Doctor requests [[oil]], [[tree bark]], 9 [[sauce pan]]s, [[ox]] [[saliva|spit]], a [[biscuit]], and a [[chicken]] [[faeces|poo]]. She uses them to make "demon repellent". | |||
[[File:Hasna.jpg|left|thumb|180x180px|Hasna keeps trying to convince Umbreen to not marry Prem]] | |||
Umbreen speaks with the Doctor, Yaz and Umbreen's mum sit and speak together. Umbreen says she'll go through with the [[wedding]], and her mother adamantly protests. They need someone respectable to officiate. Remembering the Doctor, Umbreen asks her to officiate the wedding, as a doctor is a respectable position. The Doctor agrees, claiming she hadn't officiated a wedding since [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]'s and that his mother disapproved, and that the wedding was non-denominational. Elsewhere, Ryan, Graham, Prem, and Manish are playing [[playing card|cards]]. Manish appears to be winning. He argues with his brother, asking Prem not to go through with the wedding. | Umbreen speaks with the Doctor, Yaz and Umbreen's mum sit and speak together. Umbreen says she'll go through with the [[wedding]], and her mother adamantly protests. They need someone respectable to officiate. Remembering the Doctor, Umbreen asks her to officiate the wedding, as a doctor is a respectable position. The Doctor agrees, claiming she hadn't officiated a wedding since [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]'s and that his mother disapproved, and that the wedding was non-denominational. Elsewhere, Ryan, Graham, Prem, and Manish are playing [[playing card|cards]]. Manish appears to be winning. He argues with his brother, asking Prem not to go through with the wedding. | ||
In the barn, the Doctor is studying some material recovered from the hive and notes it is some of the densest organic material she has ever seen, and it contains [[carbon]], [[phosphorous]], [[oxygen]] and [[sulfur]], creating billions of [[DNA]] fragments. Suddenly she is transmatted away to the Hive. There she learns that the Thijarian world was destroyed in the assassin's absence. They claim to have become witnesses and spent 100 generations honouring their [[Thijar|lost world]]. Now they travel to witness and honour those left dead, unseen and unknown, in the wake of the Partition. Now they come to honour Prem. She asks to see how the holy man died, and they show her. | In the barn, the Doctor is studying some material recovered from the hive and notes it is some of the densest organic material she has ever seen, and it contains [[carbon]], [[phosphorous]], [[oxygen]] and [[sulfur]], creating billions of [[DNA]] fragments. Suddenly she is transmatted away to the Hive. There she learns that the Thijarian world was destroyed in the assassin's absence. They claim to have become witnesses and spent 100 generations honouring their [[Thijar|lost world]]. Now they travel to witness and honour those left dead, unseen and unknown, in the wake of the Partition. Now they come to honour Prem. She asks to see how the holy man died, and they show her. | ||
The Doctor returns | The Doctor returns at daylight, informing her friends about the Thijarians and their intent. She also reveals that Prem is to die today. Yaz sadly realizes that that's the reason her Nani didn't want to tell her about the watch; she lost Prem the very day he became her husband. Yaz asks if they can change things, but the Doctor tells her that they cannot interfere anymore than they already have; if they prevent Prem's death, Umbreen will never meet the man who would become [[Najia Khan|Najia]]'s father and by extension, erase Yaz from existence. | ||
In the morning, Ryan and Graham help Prem prepare for his wedding day; Graham jokes how Prem's best clothes are his military uniform from the war. Prem then mourns that so many around him seem to have lost their minds. [[Muslim]]s, [[Hindu]] and [[Sikh]]s, who lived together for decades are now in a frenzy, convinced their differences are more important than what unites them. Graham comforts him, saying the best they can be is good men. | |||
[[File:Wedding Punjab.jpg|thumb|180x180px|The Doctor officiates [[Umbreen]]'s first marriage]] | |||
The Doctor officiates the wedding by a small stream, at the [[border]] of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. Using her [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] she removes the rope border markers Manish had placed up earlier. She admires the certainty of Prem and Umbreen, the certainty of [[love]]. She says right now, they are the strongest people on the [[planet]], maybe even the [[universe]]. She then admits she doesn't know how to formalise the ceremony. Umbreen says she does, and picks up one of Manish's boundary ropes and asks Yaz to tie their hands. | The Doctor officiates the wedding by a small stream, at the [[border]] of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. Using her [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] she removes the rope border markers Manish had placed up earlier. She admires the certainty of Prem and Umbreen, the certainty of [[love]]. She says right now, they are the strongest people on the [[planet]], maybe even the [[universe]]. She then admits she doesn't know how to formalise the ceremony. Umbreen says she does, and picks up one of Manish's boundary ropes and asks Yaz to tie their hands. | ||
Later, inside the barn, Umbreen offers Manish reconciliation, | Later, inside the barn, Umbreen offers Manish reconciliation. However, Manish coldly states that he did not work the land for her; he did it for his brothers. "One who didn't come home, and one I wish didn't" Manish walks off in a huff. After that, Prem offers Umbreen his watch but drops it on the ground, where it breaks. Umbreen's mother says the day is truly cursed, but Umbreen says it is instead perfect, and that the watch is theirs forever, their own moment in [[time]]. | ||
Manish | Inside the house, Manish grabs his brother's [[rifle]]. He is surprised by the Doctor, who asks if that's how he killed Bahkti. He then points the rifle at the Doctor and warns her to take her friends and leave if they want to get out alive. The Doctor is deeply disappointed in Manish's choices; he has been poisoned by the propaganda into thinking he needs to evict Hasna and Umbreen from the land. He even went as far as murdering a holy man to prevent his brother from marrying a woman not of the same religion. Manish warns that "the future" is coming and heads off. Men on horseback are charging down the road to take their land. The Doctor warns Prem and Umbreen to run. Prem tells Umbreen to go to the house and take anything essential. | ||
In the house, Yaz finds a map of the Earth, with [[Sheffield]] marked on it. Umbreen says she just pointed to a map and that was where her finger landed, and so that is where she will go one day. | In the house, Yaz finds a map of the Earth, with [[Sheffield]] marked on it. Umbreen says she just pointed to a map and that was where her finger landed, and so that is where she will go one day. | ||
[[File:A family divided (DOTP).jpg|left|thumb|180x180px|Prem faces the real demons.]] | |||
In the barn, Prem offers to stay behind and distract the groups of thugs and tells them all to go ahead, across the [[border]] into the forest, and [[kiss]]es Umbreen goodbye. He tells the Doctor to go as well, claiming he must face these demons alone. He confronts his brother and the thugs. He recognises a man named [[Kanon]], a soldier he fought with during the war only to now see his former ally is prepared to shoot him. Nothing he says changes their minds, however, and Kanon shoots Prem, killing him. The Thijarians stand vigil, honouring Prem, as everyone flees. | In the barn, Prem offers to stay behind and distract the groups of thugs and tells them all to go ahead, across the [[border]] into the forest, and [[kiss]]es Umbreen goodbye. He tells the Doctor to go as well, claiming he must face these demons alone. He confronts his brother and the thugs. He recognises a man named [[Kanon]], a soldier he fought with during the war only to now see his former ally is prepared to shoot him. Nothing he says changes their minds, however, and Kanon shoots Prem, killing him. The Thijarians stand vigil, honouring Prem, as everyone flees. | ||
Revision as of 21:46, 6 March 2019
Demons of the Punjab was the sixth episode of series 11 of Doctor Who.
The episode further expanded on Yasmin Khan's family and heritage, exploring her grandmother Umbreen's personal history in India during its partition in 1947.
This episode reintroduces the theme of the Doctor being mistaken about the intentions of aliens involved with death. Much like Twice Upon a Time, the Thirteenth Doctor believed the aliens intended to kill, but were in fact non-hostile. The Thijarians were not killing, but instead bearing witness.
This episode also had the Doctor explain more about the specific details of how the telepathic circuits worked.
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
Yasmin Khan is in her family's flat with her family, celebrating her Nani Umbreen's birthday; Umbreen is slightly annoyed, as she told them to not make a big deal about it. Despite this, Umbreen tells her daughter and granddaughters that she has a gift for each of them. She hands Najia letters that her father sent Umbreen while he was away, warning her to not read the filthy bits. She then gives Sonya a flower given to her by her husband, which she can't remember why it was a gift. To Yasmin she gives a broken watch, warning her never to fix it but refuses to reveal why. Yaz gets a desire to travel back in time to see her family.
In the TARDIS, the Thirteenth Doctor is doing maintenance on the controls; she tells Yaz that she will not take her back in time to see her grandmother, as it risks wiping herself out of existence. Graham laughs that it's not like they take risks. The Doctor tells him in an annoyed tone that she has apologized repeatedly for the incident involving the Death Eye Turtle Army. Yaz begs the Doctor as she wants to go see what her grandmother was like in her younger days. The Doctor asks if Yaz has a time or place; Yaz tells her that Umbreen was in the Pakistani city of Lahore in the 1950s.
Despite trying to talk herself out of it once more, the Doctor relents and takes the watch from Yaz; she's attaching it to the telepathic circuits, allowing them to find the moment that it broke in Umbreen's timeline. Graham wonders how the TARDIS can be telepathic; the Doctor says that 'telepathic" is short-hand for a very complicated procedure, which is locating where anything has existed throughout the entirety of space-time. Graham seems to have understood and thanks the Doctor for explaining it clearly.
The TARDIS arrives in a countryside instead of Lahore, confusing Yaz, Ryan and Graham. The Doctor takes out her sonic screwdriver and a scan reveals that they are in the the Punjabi countryside. Suddently, they are struck by some sort of vision of dark figures and stumble into a road. There they meet Prem, who is driving an ox-pulled cart. Yaz asks if he knows Umbreen, surprising him; she claims that they are family. Depsite his confusion, Prem offers them a ride in his cart. A sadhu, Hindu holy man known as Bhakti walks up to them, laughing how the younger generation never use their feet to get around. Prem tells Bhakti that he hopes to see him later.
The group arrive at a farm, where a young Umbreen exits the house and asks Prem who Team TARDIS is. Once he says that they are her family, Yaz claims to be a distant relative of "uncle Malik". The group then learn that Prem and Umbreen are getting married the next day, much to their confusion. Yaz is confused; her Nani had secret Hindu first husband before her grandfather? Prem's brother Manish steps out with some makeshift wooden fence posts and rope; Yaz asks if he needs help, which he accepts. Umbreen's mother Hasna steps out of the house, telling Prem and Umbreen that there's news on the radio.
Despite Graham's nudging for the Doctor to tell Yaz they need to leave, the Doctor is still more focused on why they had that strange vision. However, she then asks if Graham and Ryan want to know what's on the radio. They go inside, overhearing about a border being established. Graham seems concerned, asking what year it is. Upon hearing that its 1947, the Doctor realizes that they've arrived right in the middle of the Partition of India; things are about to get a lot worse if they stay now.
At a stream, Yaz finishes helping Manish step up a small makeshift border; due to the festive colours on the rope, Yaz asks if there is a celebration going on. Manish confirms that something special is going on. The Doctor rushes up to Yaz, with Graham, Ryan, Umbreen, Prem and Hasna following. Quietly, the Doctor tells Yaz about the history that's going to unfold. Manish reveals that he got the maps dividing India and Pakistan early; he step up a border of his own to officiate where the two meet. Hasna is annoyed, as Manish's border puts her home in Parkistan; Manish says Pakistan is being creted for Muslims to live in. However, everyone takes offense to Manish's words; Umbreen says that its a place for them to live if they choose to. At that moment, everyone is assaulted by visions again. They see "demons' on the hill above, with Hasna taking it as a sign that things are going to be worse.
However, Team TARDIS give chase to the demons as they vanish into the forest. Prem follows after them. They find the two demons over Bhakti, getting a screeching telepathic message not to interfere; Prem fires a shot to end the message. They vanish, with the Doctor examining Bhakti; he's dead and covered in some kind of purple dust. The Doctor then realzies Prem has seen them before. Prem claims to have seen them before, standing over the body of his older brother, Kunal while serving in World War Two. The Doctor tells Yaz and Graham to go back and explain Bahkti was found dead by them and to have his body prepared for burial. She, Ryan and Prem will look for the "demons".
Tracing a teleport signature from the site of the body, the Doctor finds a metal covering in the ground; when asked what it is, she says "front door." They are teleported into some kind of ship, with only a console of some kind. The Doctor examines it with the sonic, pulling up information. Her face fills with horror; they're in a Thijarian Hive and the Thijarians are assassins. An image of Bahkti's face appears, meaning they were targeting him, but the reason is unknown. She pulls out a container of purple gas, which has too much data for her sonic to decipher; in short, the sonic can't tell what's in it. Then the Thijarians appear and they are forced to evacuate the hive.
Out in the forest, Ryan and Prem are transported away and the Doctor notices a device on a tree nearby, a transmat lock, and confiscates it. Ryan and Prem appear some distance away and Prem asks what happened. Ryan says he does not know, but the Doctor said to get out of the forest so they both run. The Doctor continues to find more locks. Back at the farm, Umbreen continues to argue in favour of her marriage.
Yaz becomes discouraged when she believes she doesn't truly know her Nani, and Graham comforts her; Umbreen has yet to go through the experiences that will make her the woman Yaz knows in the future, so until then, she's basically a stranger to her. Suddenly, they hear Ryan yelling and rush to discover what is wrong. The Doctor arrives shortly after and tells them to run for the barn. Inside the barn, the Thijarians arrive and threaten everyone there with death, but the Doctor drives them away with the locks. She promises to protect them all. Then the Doctor requests oil, tree bark, 9 sauce pans, ox spit, a biscuit, and a chicken poo. She uses them to make "demon repellent".
Umbreen speaks with the Doctor, Yaz and Umbreen's mum sit and speak together. Umbreen says she'll go through with the wedding, and her mother adamantly protests. They need someone respectable to officiate. Remembering the Doctor, Umbreen asks her to officiate the wedding, as a doctor is a respectable position. The Doctor agrees, claiming she hadn't officiated a wedding since Einstein's and that his mother disapproved, and that the wedding was non-denominational. Elsewhere, Ryan, Graham, Prem, and Manish are playing cards. Manish appears to be winning. He argues with his brother, asking Prem not to go through with the wedding.
In the barn, the Doctor is studying some material recovered from the hive and notes it is some of the densest organic material she has ever seen, and it contains carbon, phosphorous, oxygen and sulfur, creating billions of DNA fragments. Suddenly she is transmatted away to the Hive. There she learns that the Thijarian world was destroyed in the assassin's absence. They claim to have become witnesses and spent 100 generations honouring their lost world. Now they travel to witness and honour those left dead, unseen and unknown, in the wake of the Partition. Now they come to honour Prem. She asks to see how the holy man died, and they show her.
The Doctor returns at daylight, informing her friends about the Thijarians and their intent. She also reveals that Prem is to die today. Yaz sadly realizes that that's the reason her Nani didn't want to tell her about the watch; she lost Prem the very day he became her husband. Yaz asks if they can change things, but the Doctor tells her that they cannot interfere anymore than they already have; if they prevent Prem's death, Umbreen will never meet the man who would become Najia's father and by extension, erase Yaz from existence.
In the morning, Ryan and Graham help Prem prepare for his wedding day; Graham jokes how Prem's best clothes are his military uniform from the war. Prem then mourns that so many around him seem to have lost their minds. Muslims, Hindu and Sikhs, who lived together for decades are now in a frenzy, convinced their differences are more important than what unites them. Graham comforts him, saying the best they can be is good men.
The Doctor officiates the wedding by a small stream, at the border of India and Pakistan. Using her sonic screwdriver she removes the rope border markers Manish had placed up earlier. She admires the certainty of Prem and Umbreen, the certainty of love. She says right now, they are the strongest people on the planet, maybe even the universe. She then admits she doesn't know how to formalise the ceremony. Umbreen says she does, and picks up one of Manish's boundary ropes and asks Yaz to tie their hands.
Later, inside the barn, Umbreen offers Manish reconciliation. However, Manish coldly states that he did not work the land for her; he did it for his brothers. "One who didn't come home, and one I wish didn't" Manish walks off in a huff. After that, Prem offers Umbreen his watch but drops it on the ground, where it breaks. Umbreen's mother says the day is truly cursed, but Umbreen says it is instead perfect, and that the watch is theirs forever, their own moment in time.
Inside the house, Manish grabs his brother's rifle. He is surprised by the Doctor, who asks if that's how he killed Bahkti. He then points the rifle at the Doctor and warns her to take her friends and leave if they want to get out alive. The Doctor is deeply disappointed in Manish's choices; he has been poisoned by the propaganda into thinking he needs to evict Hasna and Umbreen from the land. He even went as far as murdering a holy man to prevent his brother from marrying a woman not of the same religion. Manish warns that "the future" is coming and heads off. Men on horseback are charging down the road to take their land. The Doctor warns Prem and Umbreen to run. Prem tells Umbreen to go to the house and take anything essential.
In the house, Yaz finds a map of the Earth, with Sheffield marked on it. Umbreen says she just pointed to a map and that was where her finger landed, and so that is where she will go one day.
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In the barn, Prem offers to stay behind and distract the groups of thugs and tells them all to go ahead, across the border into the forest, and kisses Umbreen goodbye. He tells the Doctor to go as well, claiming he must face these demons alone. He confronts his brother and the thugs. He recognises a man named Kanon, a soldier he fought with during the war only to now see his former ally is prepared to shoot him. Nothing he says changes their minds, however, and Kanon shoots Prem, killing him. The Thijarians stand vigil, honouring Prem, as everyone flees.
Back on the TARDIS, Yaz worries if Umbreen managed to escape; if Umbreen died then, Yaz will fade away. The Doctor tells a stunned Yaz that her grandmother made it out alive, and will eventually end up in Sheffield.
At Flat 27, Yaz speaks with her Nani. Umbreen notices the design on Yaz's hands, saying it isn't much good but asks if the wedding was at least any good. Yaz affirms, her Nani not knowing it was her wedding she had seen. Yaz asks her if she is happy with how her life turned out. She says she is happy with it because it gave her Yaz, Yaz's mum and sister and offers to tell her the story about the watch if she really wants to know. Yaz says she no longer wants to know about the watch and tells her Nani she loves her.
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 Cuzner
- Voice of Almak - Isobel Middleton
- Performance of Almak - Barbara Fadden
Crew
| Executive Producers Matt Strevens and Chris Chibnall | ||||||||||||
| Co-executive producer Sam Hoyle | ||||||||||||
| Series Producer Nikki Wilson | ||||||||||||
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| 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. |
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor awards Ryan a gold star but quickly remembers she forgot about points.
- While participating in the pre-wedding celebrations, the Doctor muses that she never used to do this kind of thing when she was a man, a reference to her previous thirteen male incarnations.
- As such, she mentions her body-gender regeneration ability.
- The Doctor can officiate weddings, having previously officiated Albert Einstein's.
TARDIS
- The Doctor mentions the TARDIS' telepathic circuits and says that any object amasses all sorts of fragmentary spatio-temporal particles through its life and the TARDIS can read it like date stamps.
Culture
- The people of Punjab speak Punjabi.
- A Hindu wedding custom is to have the couples hands tied together during their vows.
- A Muslim wedding custom is for the groom to give a prized possession to the bride, a so-called mahr.
- Henna is body art used to celebrate weddings in the Punjab. They are mehndi sun patterns.
- Umbreen says doctor is respectable.
- The men are playing cards.
- Prem mentions how Muslim, Hindu and Sikh used to live together.
- Hasna calls Umbreen bheti. She in turn uses the same term talking to Yasmin.
People
- Umbreen's husband took her dancing every Wednesday.
- Umbreen gives Sonya a pressed yellow daffodil.
- Graham mentions his bucket list.
- Bhakti is a Sadhu and believes that walking the lands serve a better purpose than driving.
- Yaz says she is Uncle Malik's third cousin's younger sister. Umbreen says there are loads of Uncle Maliks.
- The Radio announcer says that after much delay, and amid escalating communal violence, Lord Mountbatten has finally released the specific details of the borders which will separate India and Pakistan.
- Prem owns a rifle.
- When the Doctor detects no life signs in the Hive, she suggests the Thijarians could be shopping, catching a movie or bowling.
- Prem's older brother Kunal fought with him in war.
- Hasna mentions her husband and parents.
- Kisar and Almak decided to give up their assassin past after their own planet's unwitnessed destruction.
Species
- The TARDIS team previously almost got killed by a Death-Eye Turtle Army.
- An ox pulls Prem's cart.
- The Thijarians are also known as the "Assassins of Thijar".
- Armed men are riding in on horses.
Food and beverages
- Umbreen celebrates her birthday with a shop-bought chocolate cake with nuts in it, decorated with stars made of dark, white and light chocolate.
- The Khans are drinking coffee, tea and water.
- Cinnamon buns and chocolate fudge are also being served.
Technology
- Sonya is using her Iphone.
- The sonic screwdriver detects Kordian waves, meaning an octonic engine is nearby.
- The Doctor's sonic screwdriver locates a transmat doorway to a Thijarian Hive.
- The Thijarians use Miniaturised transmat locks to create transmat barriers.
Vehicles
- Umbreen has been conditioned to a wheelchair in her older days.
- Prem drives an ox cart and the Doctor requests ox spit.
Chemicals
- For her science experiment, the Doctor needs oil, water, tree bark, a saucepan, nine containers, an old newspaper, a touch of ox spit, a chicken poo and a biscuit. Although the biscuit is for her and not for the experiment.
- The purple dust is made up of carbon, phosphorous, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and calcium all combining into billions of DNA fragments.
Business
- Umbreen was the first Muslim woman to work in a textile mill in South Yorkshire.
- Prem is a flower merchant.
Locations
- Umbreen lived in Lahore, Pakistan in the 1950s.
- The TARDIS lands in Northern Punjab.
- Graham says they come all the way from England.
- Prem was in war in Singapore.
- The homeworld of Thijar was destroyed, killing billions of inhabitants.
- One of the armed men fought with Prem in Siam.
Events
- The TARDIS team has landed on the 17 August, 1947 during the Partition of India.
Story notes
File:Doctor Who Theme (Demons of the Punjab) Doctor Who Series 11
- 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 is the first episode of Series 11 that isn't written or co-written by Chris Chibnall.
- This episode was broadcast on Remembrance Sunday and the centenary of the armistice that ended the First World War. As such it focuses on themes of remembrance.[1]
- This is the second episode of Series 11 in which the title may be considered to have a double meaning, following The Woman Who Fell to Earth. In this case, "Demons" may refer to the Thijarians or the Hindu thugs who kill Prem, as he refers to them as demons.
- This episode marks the first time the six crystals around the TARDIS console are shown moving while in-flight. The tips of the six crystals move in rhythm with sinking and rising of the crystal pillar in the console, seemingly "pulling" the pillar up, giving a more "organic" feel to the control room. While in this episode we only glimpse one of the crystals moving in the blurred-out background as the Doctor is talking to Yaz, we see the crystals moving properly in Kerblam!.
Ratings
Filming locations
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- The Doctor pilots the TARDIS again using the telepathic circuits to find a specific place and time in relation to one of her companions. (TV: Listen, Dark Water)
- The Tenth Doctor also visited India during the 1947 Partition, with Donna Noble. (PROSE: Ghosts of India)
- The Doctor lists several things she needs to those around her to get her in order to solve the matter at hand. The Eleventh Doctor did the same at the White House. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut)
- The Doctor mentions that she was giving points to everyone. (TV: The Tsuranga Conundrum)
- The Doctor awards gold stars to her companions. (AUDIO: The Sonomancer)
- 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) Though this time, it is not as disastrous.
- 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 Tenth Doctor remarked he was "rubbish" at his own. (TV: Blink)
- By contrast, 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)
- The Doctor states that the people with her are under her protection. The Eleventh Doctor has voiced a similar sentiment multiple times. (TV: The Eleventh Hour, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, The Bells of Saint John, Nightmare in Silver)
- The Doctor incorrectly assumes malicious intent from aliens present at people's deaths. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
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
