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The Zygon Invasion (TV story)

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Revision as of 21:10, 8 April 2016 by Tybort (talk | contribs) (→‎Zygons: No, and no. Truth and Consequences, a small portion of radicals, started taking over the world.)
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The Zygon Invasion was the seventh episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

It served as a sequel to events set up in the 50th Anniversary Special The Day of the Doctor, having a beginning sequence dedicated to the relative plot point of this story.

The episode saw the return of Osgood, curiously after her death in the series 8 finale Death in Heaven, with this episode revealing that before Missy's Cyberman invasion, Osgood and her Zygon duplicate had gotten so identical to each other that they refused to say which was the Zygon and which was the human, making it unknown which Osgood was actually killed by Missy.

It is effectively the second "companion-lite" story in a row as Clara is revealed to have been kidnapped and replaced with a Zygon duplicate called Bonnie.

It also continued the thematic concept of the Doctor apparently facing death, with the end of the episode setting up yet another opportunity for the Doctor to reflect on his mortality.

Synopsis

A long time ago, the Doctor made a deal in the Tower of London. 20 million Zygons walk among us, in human form, living undetected in peace and harmony. But cracks are showing in this delicate peace. Humans and Zygons are disappearing. In city apartment blocks, lifts are going missing, and far below the streets of Britain, alien pods are growing in secret caverns. To top it all off, UNIT's scientific advisor, Osgood, sends a desperate message to the Doctor - but since Osgood is long dead, how is that even possible?

The Doctor, Clara and UNIT must scatter across the world in a desperate bid to set her free. But in a world of shape-shifting aliens, who can you trust? And can the world be saved before it's too late?

Plot

Once upon a time, three of the Doctor's incarnations -the War, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors formed a peaceful negotiation between UNIT and the survivors of the Zygons. This allowed a treaty for asylum to be granted to the Zygons, allowing them to peacefully coexist on Earth with humans, so long as they took human form. On video, the two Osgoods explain the situation about the peace treaty. They explain that they are making this message in case one or both Osgoods die, which later happens.

Later, in New Mexico, the surviving Osgood is seen fleeing from an attack in the town Truth or Consequences, despite being previously murdered by Missy. Osgood hides under a desk inside a police department; she readies to call the Doctor, but decides to text once she hears footsteps. The moment Osgood sends the text, a Zygon grabs her.

Inside the TARDIS, the Twelfth Doctor is rocking out "Amazing Grace" on his electric guitar. Hearing the console beeping, he stops playing and rushes over to the monitor to see an incoming message from Osgood: "Nightmare Scenario." The Doctor looks on grimly, realising that a break in the ceasefire has finally come.

The Doctor is next seen sitting on a swing in a park, trying to call Clara; not wanting to draw attention, he code names himself "Doctor Disco" in his messages. Noticing two little girls, the Doctor attempts talking to them; it's revealed that they're the Zygon high command, Jemima and Claudette. However, at that moment, the Doctor receives a call from Kate Stewart; he attempts to make her see that it's only a splinter group of Zygons wanting war, not the entirety of the race. Unfortunately, at that moment, the leaders are captured by the splinter group, Truth or Consequences. Left with nothing to do, the Doctor decides to go in to UNIT for more resources.

Meanwhile, Clara is leaving for work and checks her phone, to discover that the Doctor has left over 127 messages on her phone. She starts to listen to her voicemail, but finds a child crying on the stairs of her apartment complex. Learning that he cannot find his parents, Clara follows Sandeep back to his apartment, finding it empty; however, the moment she turns around, the child's parents appear, saying nothing is wrong despite the boy's screams. Clara is concerned by this, but is next seen leaving without much of a care; she calls the Doctor, asking if he seriously called himself "Doctor Disco?"

In the meantime, the Doctor learns about the current situation: the splinter group is holding Osgood hostage in order to get information on the "Osgood Box". Kate also explains that there have always been two Osgoods, the human and the Zygon, ever since the ceasefire, while the Doctor says that "both of them" were real. Deciding to use his status as President of Earth, the Doctor takes his presidential plane Boat One to Turmezistan, near a Zygon-occupied village, hoping to find where Osgood was taken and prevent all-out war. Arriving in the Zygon-occupied village, the Doctor informs his UNIT troops to avoid killing as much as possible as they are going to need someone to negotiate with. Unfortunately, the troops are tricked by the Zygons, who take the form of their loved ones, and vaporised. Given only ten minutes before UNIT begins bombing the Truth or Consequences splinter group, the Doctor searches the now empty Zygon base, finding Osgood tied up in the cellar; they barely manage to escape as the bombing begins early. A Zygon returns to kill them and gets knocked out by the debris, allowing easy capture.

Elsewhere, Clara assists the London UNIT branch; they discover the lift in her flat has been secretly modified by Zygons to lead to their underground nest. Unfortunately, it is revealed Clara is a Zygon; when she visited the flat early, she was captured and impersonated by a Zygon named Bonnie. Bonnie orders the murder of all the UNIT troops present.

At the same time, Kate is investigating what cased the Zygons to attack. Finding an officer in the New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences called Norlander, Kate learns a Zygon had trouble keeping its form, leading to panic. However, Kate then discovers that she's talking to a Zygon, who reverts to its true shape to kill her. Moments, later "Kate" confirms UNIT in North America has been neutralised to Bonnie.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Osgood chat on the plane, which is heading back to the United Kingdom. The Doctor believes that Osgood is human, and not Zygon, as Zygons need the original person they're copying alive to maintain their disguise. However, Osgood reveals that she can be either one (but won't tell which she is), since Zygons only use that method for spying on enemies; if they don't need to copy personalities, Zygons can keep someone's form without the original being alive.

The Doctor interrogates the Zygon, learning that an all-out war is the only thing the splinter group wants; they have infiltrated numerous countries now. At that time, Bonnie is watching the plane fly by; she puts together a rocket launcher, and takes aim. The Doctor calls Clara, only to get Bonnie, learning that he's talking to the leader of the splinter group Truth or Consequences. However, the Doctor immediately realises the danger, warning Osgood. Bonnie launches the rocket, saying good-bye to the Doctor.

Cast

Uncredited cast

Crew

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.


References

The Doctor

Clara

Osgood

Zygons

Story notes

  • The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour shot of Osgood and the Doctor, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.15 p.m. Osgood is snatched by aliens, prompting a round-the-world rescue mission".
  • The "Clara" in most of this episode is a Zygon duplicate, making this the second consecutive episode in which Clara has a brief appearance.
  • Peter Capaldi and Rebecca Front previously worked together on The Thick of It.
  • The strong subtext in the story concerning contemporary immigration and terrorism has been noted by many commentators and reviewers, and has been widely discussed on social media.

Ratings

  • BBC One Overnight: 3.87 million
  • BBC America Overnight: to be added
  • Final UK ratings: 5.76 million

Filming location

Production errors

  • Right after she gives the Doctor a mock salute as he boards the presidential plane, Jenna Coleman can be seen sneezing, but the scene continues without interruption.

Continuity

 
The mythical boxers appear briefly. (COMIC: The Glorious Dead)

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

External links

References

  1. ↑ Think I was just left off the credits of Doctor Who just now. I did the Zygon voices. If I'm mistaken, apologies. Credits move so fast ;-) - Nicholas Briggs on Twitter
  2. ↑ Credited on the DVD and Blu-ray version, but not on broadcast.
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