The Doctor Falls (TV story)
The Doctor Falls, written by Steven Moffat, was the twelfth and final episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It featured the departures of both Bill Potts and Nardole, and the apparent death of Missy.
Expanding on the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration teased in the previous episode, it saw him mortally wounded in battle against the Cybermen. The regeneration would be postponed, however, as the Doctor refused to change, showing the Doctor's own personal view on regeneration, and how he hates having to be different people when he grows accustomed to being in an incarnation for a long period of time, very similar to how the Tenth Doctor had grown to enjoy being the person he was in his then current incarnation.
The episode also shows the events leading to the Master's regeneration into Missy, with the male Master getting literally stabbed in the back by his female successor, and he in turn apparently killing her, this being an example of why, unlike the Doctor who has teamed up with past and future incarnations, the Master doesn't work together with any of his incarnations as he would double-cross himself for his own gain. And while the actual regeneration into Missy isn't shown this would be the last appearance of John Simm as the Harold Saxon incarnation of the Master.
The story featured several connections to the 1966 serial The Tenth Planet, including a story featuring humans from Mondas and featured appearances by the Cybermen from said planet.
More surprisingly, the episode featured the surprise return of the First Doctor, now portrayed by David Bradley (who had previously portrayed William Hartnell in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time). This marks the first time since The Five Doctors that the adult First Doctor had been portrayed outside of archive footage, with the First Doctor as a child appearing in the Series 8 episode Listen, and the second time since The Tenth Planet where the First Doctor was in a regular episode of the show, even though it was a short appearance.
Synopsis
As he struggles to resist regenerating, the Doctor prepares to make a last stand against the ever growing army of Cybermen. However, with Bill still a Cyberman and Missy gradually turning to her old ways as the Master reminds of her of who she used to be, can the Doctor convince his old friend to finally be good before he falls?
Plot
The episode opens to a group of farmers on Floor 0507 facing against the prototypes from Floor 1056, shooting them down by night to then restrain on wooden crosses by day. A school child is out in the field one morning when a shuttlepod blasts through the ground. From the rubble, a Cyberman walks out carrying an unconscious Doctor.
Sometime earlier, the Doctor awakes on top of the hospital, soon recalling how he was subdued by Missy and the Master. The Doctor, now restrained in a wheelchair, watches the two incarnations of the Master taunt him on the many deaths the Doctor has had and wanting to find out new ways to kill him. The Master and Missy dance and flirt with each other and gloat of their plan of the Cybermen converting all the humans on the ship. However the Master is stunned to find that the Cybermen are heading towards the building that they are perched on. The Doctor explains that when he was knocked down by Missy, he altered the signal of the Cybermen so they would convert two hearted beings as well, hence why they are now focusing on the Time Lord's presence. The Masters panic, Missy frantically using her sonic umbrella to lock a metal door to hold back advancing Cybermen while the Master uses his Laser screwdriver to destroy advancing Cybermen. The Doctor brags that he is the only one who is has able to stop so many Cybermen at once. Realising this, a conflicted Missy knocks the Master out and frees the Doctor from his restraints. The Doctor starts wondering which side she is on to which she admits her indecisiveness as she is confused and her other half is unconscious.
Nardole, who had commandeered a shuttlecraft, lands near the roof to help escape, but the Doctor is grabbed and electrified by a Cyberman before he boards. Bill, in her cyber form, intervenes, destroying the Cyberman with a blaster based on her head. Missy and the Master try to convince Nardole to abandon the Doctor, but Bill prevents the shuttle from leaving, grabbing the ladders until they rescue him.
They escape to a higher floor on the ship, where time moves slower. They find themselves on solar farm, where some of the humans and a large number of children protect themselves from the early Cybermen prototypes from Operation Exodus. The Doctor to recover, but he shows early signs of regeneration which he keeps from Bill. Bill finds that though she thinks she is human, she is still a Mondasian Cyberman in appearance, created by a perception filter, according to the Doctor. She sheds a tear when she realises the humans are frightened of her, and the Doctor wipes it away, noting it unusual.
Missy discovers a camouflaged lift in the nearby forest, which she suggests they can escape to the bridge, but when she calls it, it brings up an advanced Cyberman from the lower floor, which they quickly destroy. The Doctor warns that through the Cybernet, they will now have much more time to plan, and they must prepare for a battle. While Nardole discovers that the floor below this one has many fuel pipes that he can detonate as weaponry against the Cybermen, the Doctor finds a conduit to another solar on a higher floor that can be used to evacuate the children, knowing this is a fight they will likely lose. The Master and Missy decide to leave and plan to find the Master's TARDIS at the lowest floor, despite the Doctor's request to stay and help. At the lift, Missy tricks the Master into dancing with her and fatally stabs him, forcing his next regeneration. She announces she will return to help the Doctor, but when she turns her back, he fires his laser screwdriver at full blast, also fatally wounding her and disabling her regeneration. The Master comments that it is the perfect ending, they both shoot themselves in the back. They both laugh as they die.
An initial wave of Cybermen arrive, but using Nardole's tricks with the explosives, they are able to make the humans appear more powerful, forcing the Cybermen to retreat and develop a new plan, giving the humans more time. Against Nardole's protests, the Doctor sends him to help evacuate the children, intending to stay alone to fight the Cybermen. Bill also insists on staying with the Doctor. With all the humans evacuated, the Doctor ignites all the pipes below the floor, engulfing it all in a wave of destruction. All the Cybermen are killed, but the Doctor is severally wounded. Bill, still as a Cyberman, comes to mourn over the Doctor's body, but suddenly she finds herself out of the Cyberman suit, seemingly human, thanks to Heather ("The Pilot") who found her by her tear and restored her to be like she is now. They take to the Doctor's body to the TARDIS, and Heather, as the Pilot, directs the TARDIS to a new location, while offering Bill to live out a different life, and Bill accepts. Before leaving Bill sheds a tear on the Doctor, but does not wipe it away, saying "Where there's tears, there's hope."
The TARDIS lands in an icy planet. The Doctor wakes up and starts regenerating. He tries fighting it off, recalling the last words of some of his previous incarnations. He controls the regeneration, angrily stating that he does not want to change again. He steps outside into the snow and yet again his regeneration starts. The Doctor screams no and stops the regeneration by shoving his fists into the snow, again stating he will not change. Suddendly in the distance he hears a voice mocking his words. The stranger's voices asks for the Doctor's identity. The stranger states that while the Doctor may be a Doctor, he "is the Doctor, the original you may say". Much to the Doctor's shock and surprise the stranger is revealed to be his first incarnation.
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
- Bill - Pearl Mackie
- Nardole - Matt Lucas
- Missy - Michelle Gomez
- The Saxon Master - John Simm
- Hazran - Samantha Spiro
- Alit - Briana Shann
- Gazron - Rosie Boore
- Rexhill - Simon Coombs
- Heather - Stephanie Hyam
- Voice of the Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
- The Doctor - David Bradley
Crew
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin |
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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
- Nardole pilots a shuttle labelled SL-16.
Music
The song heard when Missy and The Master are dancing on the rooftop is Midnight, the Stars and You by Al Bowlly.
Story notes
- This marks David Bradley's first appearance as the First Doctor in a DWU television story. Bradley previously portrayed a fictionalised version of William Hartnell, the original actor to portray the First Doctor, in the non-DWU docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, in which Bradley reenacted scenes from several First Doctor serials.
- The Doctor's mention of Marinus as a planet on which the Cybermen originated (COMIC: The World Shapers) is another rare instance of the TV series directly referencing expanded universe material.
Ratings
3.75m (UK overnight figures)
Filming locations
to be added
Production errors
Continuity
- The Doctor recalls last seeing Missy's predecessor heading to Gallifrey, deducing that the Time Lords cured his "little condition" before kicking him out. (TV: The End of Time)
- The Master gloats over his dominion to a wheelchair bound Doctor just as he did with the aged Tenth Doctor during the Year That Never Was, (TV: Last of the Time Lords) and to a restrained Doctor upon the rise of the Master Race. (TV: The End of Time)
- The Doctor notes the Cybermen have risen naturally from Mondas (AUDIO: Spare Parts, TV: The Tenth Planet) Telos, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Cybermen) Earth, (TV: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel) Planet 14 (TV: The Invasion) and Marinus. (COMIC: The World Shapers)
- The Doctor recounts his various victories over the Cybermen: on Telos where he sealed them into their ice tombs, (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen) Voga, (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen), Canary Wharf (TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday) and Planet 14. (COMIC: The World Shapers, TV: The Invasion) He states: "Every single time, you lose, even on the Moon". (TV: The Moonbase).
- The Doctor reminds Bill how she remembered the truth during the reign of the Monks. (TV: The Lie of the Land)
- The Doctor reiterates his dislike of guns, (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Doctor's Daughter, The Impossible Astronaut, The Curse of the Black Spot) despite having used them several times. (TV: Day of the Daleks, TV: The Invasion of Time, TV:Hell Bent)
- Nardole reminds Bill that he is still allowed to "kick [her] arse". (TV: Extremis)
- Nardole mentions how he used to be a black market dealer before meeting the Doctor, (TV: The Husbands of River Song) and further indicates he is a cyborg (TV: Oxygen, The Eaters of Light, World Enough and Time)
- Missy is able to provide the Master with a dematerialisation circuit by telling him to always carry a spare, similar to how the Tenth Doctor told the Fifth Doctor how he could stop the TARDIS exploding. (TV: Time Crash)
- Missy telling her previous incarnation she loved being him also mirrors a sentiment of the Tenth Doctor, as he expressed such to his fifth incarnation. (TV: Time Crash)
- The Doctor reiterates River's words that Nardole once spoke to him from her diary. (TV: Extremis)
- Bill is reunited with Heather in the form of sentient oil. (TV: The Pilot)
- Missy uses her sonic umbrella. (TV: World Enough and Time)
- The Master asks the Doctor if he has ever burned to death. Although the Doctor hasn't, the Master has. (TV: Planet of Fire) Missy says that she knows the Doctor has literally fallen to his death as the Fourth Doctor regenerated as a result of falling off the Pharos Project's radio telescope. (TV: Logopolis) The Master asks if the Doctor has ever drowned, which he did while fighting the Racnoss in an alternate timeline. (TV: Turn Left).
- The Master uses a modified laser screwdriver. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
- The Master once again moves the Doctor around in a wheelchair. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
- The Doctor has a brief recall of some of his past companions from his ninth incarnation onwards, just before his body attempts to regenerate. The Fourth and Fifth Doctor similarly had this occur to him. Likewise, the last face he sees is the Master's. (TV: The Caves of Androzani, Logopolis)
- He recalls Rose Tyler from Bad Wolf, Martha Jones from Daleks in Manhattan, Donna Noble from Partners in Crime, Jack Harkness from Utopia, Vastra from The Name of the Doctor, Jenny Flint from The Crimson Horror, Sarah Jane Smith from The Stolen Earth, Amy Pond from The Impossible Astronaut, River Song from The Pandorica Opens, and even Clara Oswald from Last Christmas.
- When waking up after his pre-regeneration flashbacks, the Doctor says "Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!". They were the first words of the Fourth Doctor after regenerating. (TV: Robot). He said the same statement after he woke up in the TARDIS during TV: Listen.
- As he begins regenerating, the Doctor says "I don't want to go", the exact same words his tenth incarnation said before regenerating. (TV: The End of Time) He also reiterates the last lines of his eleventh incarnation, (TV: The Time of the Doctor) as well as the final words the Tenth Doctor stated before his aborted regeneration. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
- The Doctor resists regenerating. He has previously done this when nearing the end of his fifth (TV: The Caves of Androzani) and tenth incarnations. (TV: The End of Time)
- The Doctor offers people jelly babies. (TV: The Three Doctors, Robot, et. al)
- The Master refers to the Doctor as "Doc". The Doctor's first incarnation had previously taken umbrage at being addressed like that (TV: The Time Meddler, The Five Doctors), as did his sixth (TV: The Twin Dilemma, The Ultimate Foe) and tenth (TV: Dreamland)
- It was revealed Heather gave her tears to track Bill, explaining how Bill was still able to cry despite being a Cyberman. (TV: World Enough and Time)
- The cyber-converted Yvonne Hartman, who had managed to retain her free will after conversion, also displayed the ability to cry; however, she cried oil rather than actual tears like Bill. (TV: Doomsday)
- The Doctor meets his first incarnation. He has met this version of himself on numerous previous occasions. (TV: The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Day of the Doctor)
- The Doctor and Bill both recite the line "while there's tears, there's hope" at different points in the story. A similar line, "while there's life, there's hope," served as the final words of the Third Doctor in TV: Planet of the Spiders, while trying to console a crying Sarah Jane Smith.
- As the Doctor leaves the TARDIS the Cloister Bell is heard ringing.
- The Twelfth Doctor, and later the First Doctor, describe themselves as "the Doctor, the original you might say." The First Doctor previously said this exact phrase in TV: The Five Doctors, the first and only other televised story to feature the First Doctor portrayed by an actor other than William Hartnell.
- Bill was strong enough to survive the cyber-conversion process while retaining her humanity, largely in part due to the strong attachment she had to her deceased mother. (TV: The Pilot et al)
- Yvonne Hartman and Mercy Hartigan were also able to retain their consciousness following their conversions. (TV: Doomsday, The Next Doctor)
- The Doctor had previously encountered a version of Clara Oswald who had been strong enough to survive a Dalek conversion process and retain her humanity, she too had few memories of the conversion and believed she was still human. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)
- Craig Owens had previously been able to resist a cyber-conversion due to his strong love for his son overpowering a damaged cyber-ship's conversion equipment. (TV: Closing Time)
Home video releases
DVD releases
to be added
Blu-ray releases
to be added
Digital releases
to be added
External links
- Official The Doctor Falls page on the Doctor Who website
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