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Time Heist was the fifth episode of the eighth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.
Synopsis
The Doctor and Clara receive a mysterious phonecall, and find themselves with lost memories in a maximum security bank. Their job: to rob the bank, but they don't know what they are stealing and why.
Plot
The Doctor tries to convince Clara to come with him for a day sightseeing via the TARDIS but she is about to go on a date with Danny Pink. As she is about to leave, the TARDIS phone rings, despite both knowing that very few beings in the universe have access to that. The Doctor goes to answer the phone, and suddenly the two find themselves in a strange chamber suffering from memory loss along with two others, Psi, and Saibra; both also have suffered memory loss. A briefcase on the table opens to reveal plans by "The Architect", who instructs them to rob the Bank of Karabraxos, the most impregnable bank vault in the universe with numerous levels of security. The group takes tools provided in the cases and flee the room as guards come after them.
They work their way back into the main floor of the vault, with Saibra using the identity of a bank customer to get them in. They witness another customer, accused by the bank manager, Ms. Delphox, of stealing from the bank, having his brain scanned and then turned to "soup" by a Teller, an alien with powerful psychic abilities that is said to be the last of its kind. The Doctor, Clara, Psi, and Saibra continue to follow the Architect's plan, finding more cases with useful items left by the Architect as they get closer to the main vaults. At one point, they collect six devices whose purpose the Doctor claims he does not know. Part of the plan requires them to pass through the cage where the Teller is kept in near-hiberation, but it picks up on Clara's brainwaves. The Doctor helps Clara break out of the Teller's scan and has the group flee the room, but Saibra is caught in the scan. The Doctor gives her one of the devices, telling her it is an atomic disintegrator, a more humane way to die than the Teller's brain scan. She activates the device and disappears.
As the three continue to the vault, they find that Ms. Delphox has released the Teller to chase them down. Psi stays behind to help cover their tracks and open the vault; he, too, opts to use one of the disintegrators when he is caught by the Teller. The Doctor and Clara eventually reach the main vaults, and, as a solar storm begins to strike the surface of the planet, the Doctor realizes this was a time heist - to bring them to the vault at this moment when the storm's activity would cause the main vault to automatically open. They locate two safe boxes indicated by the Architect, one containing a device that can restore Psi's memories, and the other a formula to stabilize Saibra's genetics. However, as they look for the final safe box location (in the Private Vault), they are caught by Ms. Delphox. She takes the stolen goods and leaves, ordering her guards to kill them. The Doctor and Clara are surprised when the guards turn out to be Saibra and Psi - the disintegrators were really teleporters. The Doctor gives the two of them the items from the vault as their payment, but realises they still need to find the Private Vault. Psi leads them into the depths of the bank as the storm intensifies on the surface.
At the Private Vault, they find that it is the quarters of Ms. Karabraxos, surrounded by treasures from around the galaxy. The Doctor realises Ms. Delphox is just a clone of Karabraxos, and she has no problem sending her clone to be incinerated. Inspiration strikes the Doctor, and he writes the number to the TARDIS telephone, and that he is a time traveler, on a piece of paper and gives it to Karabraxos, who is hastily packing her treasures before the storm wipes out the bank. She departs from the vault, but the Doctor reminds her to give him a call if she has any regrets. Shortly after she leaves, the Teller arrives, and the Doctor convinces him to scan his mind to find the memories that were blocked.
In a flashback, an elderly and dying Ms. Karabraxos calls the Doctor on the TARDIS in Clara's flat, and tells him of her regret. The Doctor is then shown preparing all the elements of the time heist, revealing that he himself was the Architect. The goal of the plan was to bring the Teller, who was telepathically linked to Karabraxos, to the Private Vault after she left, so as to allow him to unlock a combination safe. Inside, they find another alien of the same species as the Teller, chained within the safe but otherwise unharmed; the Doctor recalls that they have the six teleport devices allowing them all to escape the bank before it is destroyed. The Doctor takes the two aliens to a habitable planet to live out their lives, and then returns Saibra and Psi to their homeworlds. Finally, the Doctor returns them to Clara's flat moments after they have left to allow Clara to continue on her date.
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
- Clara - Jenna Coleman
- Psi - Jonathan Bailey
- Saibra - Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Ms Delphox - Keeley Hawes
- Guard - Mark Ebulue
- Mr Porrima - Trevor Sellers
- Suited Customer - Junior Laniyan
- The Teller - Ross Mullan
Uncredited
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
Individuals
- The bank has wanted posters for a Sensorite, Androvax, the Gunslinger, a Terileptil, John Hart, Abslom Daak, an Ice Warrior, the Slitheen family, a Weevil and The Trickster.
Races and species
- Psi and Saibra identify as human variants: augmented human and mutant human respectively.
Story notes
to be added
Ratings
to be added
Filming locations
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- The Doctor notes that Clara got his phone number from "a woman in a shop." (TV: The Bells of Saint John, TV: Deep Breath)
- The Doctor, Clara and Saibra have their memories wiped by a memory worm. (TV: The Snowmen).
- The TARDIS cannot be piloted properly in the wake of a solar storm. (TV: The Rebel Flesh)
- The Doctor makes a remark that implies some degree of self-hatred. (TV: Amy's Choice)
- When telling The Teller about his memories, he mentions the Fourth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor or Second Doctor by their scarf and bowtie respectively.
- The Doctor sarcastically calls Clara his "boss". (TV: The Crimson Horror)
- A bank staffed by clones of it's owner was encountered by the Doctor's former companion Bernice Summerfield, who like the Doctor came there to steal something. (AUDIO: Glory Days)
Home video releases
DVD releases
Blu-ray releases
to be added
External links
to be added