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The Doctor Falls (TV story)

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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

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

  • Nardole pilots a shuttle labelled SL-16.

Template: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

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.

Continuity

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

Digital releases

to be added

External links

Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=The_Doctor_Falls_(TV_story)&oldid=2369891"
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