Closing Time (TV story)

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You may be looking for the Torchwood Magazine short story.

Closing Time was the twelfth episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who. It saw the reappearance of the Mondasian Cybermen on present day Earth since Silver Nemesis instead of their Cybus counterparts. It also saw the return of Craig Owens from the previous season, but this time as an official companion. The question of who is inside the astronaut suit that kills the Doctor at Lake Silencio is also answered.

Synopsis

In the last few days of his life, the Doctor decides to pay a farewell visit to his old friend Craig Owens. However, he soon discovers a mystery in the local paper; people are going missing. Also, a silver rat has been seen scuttling around the shadows of a department store and somewhere close by, the Cybermen wait.[1]

Plot

At a department store in Colchester, two saleswomen ring up the final customers of the night. When one of the saleswomen, a girl called Kelly, laments being late for her date, the other, Shona, offers to cash up and clean out the changing rooms for her. The lights in the department store flicker ominously as Kelly leaves. As Shona clears out the messy changing rooms, she sees that someone is still using the stall at the far end; after repeated warnings that the store has closed, she pulls back the curtain and screams in terror when she sees a Cyberman standing inside.

Sophie prepares to leave for a weekend holiday, though she expresses some unease at leaving Craig in charge of the house, nervously informing him that his parents and her mum and "innocent people" may call to check up on him. Craig resents the implication that he can't cope on his own, and so when the doorbell rings after Sophie's departure, he believes she's returned to remind him of something else; he opens the door shouting that he can cope on his own, only to be surprised when he sees the Doctor standing on the porch. The Doctor claims he's just popped around to say hello, and is about to leave again when he notices the porch light flickering. His suspicions raised, he forces himself into the house and, despite Craig's repeated requests to be quiet, uses the sonic screwdriver to ascertain that Craig is, in fact, not alone. As he explores the upper floors of the house, he storms into one of the bedrooms to discover a crying baby -- it is Alfie, Craig and Sophie's son.

The Doctor sits in the kitchen, watching as Craig tries to calm the still crying Alfie. Craig admits he can't cope on his own because Alfie cries all the time; the Doctor remedies the problem by shushing Alfie, who immediately quiets. Craig continues to request parenting hints, and so the Doctor -- who speaks baby -- informs him that Alfie prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All, and that he refers to Sophie as "Mum," Craig as "not Mum," the Doctor as "also not Mum," and everyone else as "peasants." Craig wonders why the Doctor has come, refusing to believe that he's merely making a social call; he suspects that the Doctor has sensed some alien presence, and insists that he checked the upstairs when they moved into their new house, and that their next-door neighbours on both sides are humans. The Doctor, however, is merely on a bit of a farewell tour, and Craig is his last stop; nevertheless, as they converse, he is troubled by a story he sees in the newspaper. After Craig comments that the Doctor has his "noticing face" on -- which he has nightmares about -- the Doctor departs with another goodbye. As he returns to the TARDIS, he continues to pick up on the flickering lights.

The following day, at the same department store where Shona and Kelly work, the Doctor has achieved a job in the toy store, and is demonstrating various toys to excited children. Craig arrives with Alfie, and is visibly confused by the situation. As he tries to explain himself, the Doctor notices a small robotic gadget whiz around the shop. It seems to be what he's been looking for, and Craig continues to persist with the idea that the Doctor is in town to investigate something. The Doctor finally relents, telling Craig of various people who have gone missing in recent days and that the power fluctuations coincide with these disappearances. The Doctor escorts Craig and Alfie out of the store to broken lift, which he repairs with the sonic screwdriver. Once inside, the Doctor explains that someone has been using a teleport relay inside the shop, and that the CCTV footage has been wiped. Suddenly, the elevator appears to dissolve around them, though Craig is not immediately aware of it, believing it to be another power issue. The Doctor, however, can see that they have inadvertently stumbled upon the aforementioned teleport, and are now onboard an alien spaceship. He tries to distract Craig by claiming to love him, but as a Cyberman approaches them from behind, Craig becomes aware of what's happened. The Doctor manages to return them safely to the shop and close the teleport, allaying Craig's fears by insisting that they are only friends.

The Doctor realises the threat posed and orders Craig to take Alfie and leave Colchester, but Craig knows the safest place for him and his son is next to the Doctor. The Doctor is flattered by Craig's trust in him, and so he allows Craig to stay and help him investigate. He tells Craig to look around, notice everything, and ask questions, suggesting that people will be more open to talking to him because he has a baby -- this, after all, is why the Doctor usually brings a human companion with him. The two separate. The Doctor has considerable success with Val, a chatty perfume saleswoman who mentions a silver rat with glowing red eyes. Craig is less successful, as his attempts to talk to Kelly are misconstrued as harassment and he accidentally knocks over a lingerie display while trying to escape the wrath of store security. The Doctor manages rescue Craig and happily converses with both Kelly and George, the security guard. Kelly mentions that Shona didn't turn up for work, leading the Doctor to suspect that Shona has gone missing as well.

The two men look through the changing rooms where Shona was last seen. Craig is furious that, in following the Doctor's orders, he has humiliated himself in front of his son. The Doctor tells Craig that Alfie thinks he should believe in himself more. He uses the sonic to scan the changing room and deduces that a Cyberman took Shona the night before. The "silver rat" that Val saw earlier is a Cybermat, an infiltrator that's been responsible for the electrical fluctuations; it is harvesting power. The Doctor, who doesn't understand why the Cybermen would target a shop as opposed to a nuclear power station, decides to capture the Cybermat. Craig becomes suspicious as to why aliens only turn up in Colchester when the Doctor is around. While the Doctor claims that it's merely coincidence as Craig goes to change Alfie, he notices Amy and Rory walking in his direction from across the shop, though they aren't aware of his presence. A little girl stops Amy and asks for her autograph. As the Doctor hides to prevent them from seeing him, he notices Amy's photo on a perfume ad; the perfume is called "Petrichor," for the girl who's tired of waiting.

That night, the Doctor and Craig remain in the store after it closes and wait for the Cybermat, which the Doctor manages to capture easily enough. Meanwhile, in the basement, George is inspecting the fuse boxes when he is attacked by a Cyberman. The Doctor and Craig hear his screaming. The Doctor immediately rushes to his aid, but is knocked out by one of the Cybermen; however, he is not killed because the Cyberman he confronted was weak and made of spare parts. Upon regaining conciousness, the Doctor finds Craig looking over him. He expresses confusion as to how the Cybermen have managed to travel, seeing as he shut down the teleport relay and it should've taken them days to repair it.

They return to Craig's house. As the Doctor examines the Cybermat more closely, Craig tells him he's going to get more milk, leaving the Doctor in charge of Alfie. Alfie begins crying as soon as Craig leaves, and the Doctor leaves the Cybermat unattended to go comfort him. The Doctor tells Alfie to save his tears for later, because he has his whole life to look forward to and he can be anything he wants. The Cybermat, which has reactivated itself, sneaks up behind the Doctor, who temporarily stuns it with the sonic and escapes outside with Alfie. However, as he moves to go back into the house, he realises that the door has locked behind him and he has dropped his sonic inside. Craig returns from the shop, not realising the danger, and is attacked by the waiting Cybermat. The Doctor, hearing Craig's cries for help, crashes through the back window and rescues him; they comicaly subdue it.

Later, as the Doctor reprograms the Cybermat, Craig wonders about its presence. The Doctor doesn't understand why the Cyber-ship needs so much power and why the conversions of the missing people haven't been completed. He continues to feel guilt for letting Craig stay to help him, referring to himself as a selfish man who puts people in danger. Craig reminds the Doctor that, if not for him, the entire planet would be in absolute ruin, leading the Doctor to sadly inform him that he will not be around for much longer -- his time is running out, and he is set to die tomorrow. However, when he turns back, he sees that both Craig and Alfie have fallen asleep and apparently not heard a word he's said.

The following morning, the Doctor leaves with the Cybermat and returns to the shop. When Craig awakes, he discovers a message from the Doctor saying that he's gone to stop the Cybermen. As Sophie calls and leaves a message, explaining that she will be home soon, Craig hurriedly readies himself and Alfie to go and help the Doctor because, as Craig explains to Alfie, he wouldn't have him or Sophie if not for the Doctor's help.

At the department store, the Doctor deduces that some method of secondary transport must exist; ultimately, he discovers a passageway behind the mirror in the changing room where Shona was taken. He follows the passageway down below the Earth to a crashed Cyber-ship. While he investigates the control room, he is confronted by one of the Cybermen and explains what he believes happened: the Cyber-ship crashed centuries earlier with no survivors, but when the town council began laying cables, the Cybermat activated and tunnelled to the surface to begin salvaging enough power to restore the ship's systems. The Cyberman explains that they will reemerge when they are ready, and they will convert the planet. The Doctor offers them a choice: deactivate themselves or be deactivated. As he prepares to make good on this threat, a second Cyberman appears and holds him in place. Though the first Cyberman claims the Doctor will be their new leader, the second recognises that his binary vascular system makes him incompatible; instead, they will use him for parts and discard what they don't need.

Craig appears (having left Alfie in Val's care back in the shop) and threatens the Cybermen with a price gun, which he makes out to be a weapon. As the Doctor orders Craig to leave, one of the Cybermen recognises Craig's compatibility and declares him their new leader. They begin preparing him for conversion, despite his protests. As the process begins, the Doctor pleads with Craig to think of Alfie and finally, as a last resort, declares that he is going to die tomorrow but he doesn't mind if Craig can "prove him right." However, Craig is unable to escape or resist, and the Doctor can only watch as the Cyber-armour assimilates Craig entirely.

Above, Alfie seems to sense the danger Craig is in and begins to cry; this sound is picked up on the Cyber-ship and heard by all onboard. As the Cybermen declare that Craig's conversion is complete, something changes. Craig's emotional systems begin to reboot themselves and suddenly, his faceplate begins to split down the middle, finally springing open to reveal Craig still intact. As he fights his way out of the armour to get to Alfie, the Doctor realises that Craig's rejection of the conversion triggered a feedback loop, which has made the Cybermen begin to feel everything they cut out of themselves -- which will lead to a very big explosion. As the realise that the way they came in is cut off, the Doctor remembers the teleport and fuses it back together. As they dematerialise, the Cyber-ship explodes.

In the shop above, the lift doors open and Craig runs out, calling for Alfie. As the Doctor proudly informs Craig that Alfie has given him a "ten out of ten," Craig boasts about blowing the Cyber-ship up with love. Though the Doctor initially begins to explain the exact process in its technical terms, he ultimately concedes that Craig indeed blew it up with love. Later, as Craig converses with Val -- who has mistakenly believed the entire time that Craig and the Doctor are together -- he realises that the Doctor has disappeared. He returns home to find the house spotless, with the Doctor preparing to leave. The Doctor happily reveals that Alfie prefers the name Alfie now, and is calling Craig "Dad" instead of "not Mum." Craig realises that something is wrong and offers to help the Doctor in any way he can, but the Doctor is certain that no one can help him; he merely asks if Sophie will mind if he helps himself to some of her TARDIS-blue envelopes. Craig also gives the Doctor a Stetson before leaving.

Sophie returns home to find the house spotless, and though Craig insists that nothing happened all weekend, Sophie is astonished as Alfie happily calls out the word "Doctor"; Sophie now is sure their old freind most have been there. The Doctor, meanwhile, returns to the TARDIS, passing a trio of schoolchildren playing in the street. They stop their game and stare at him in wonder. He introduces himself, informing them that he was there to help and they're very, very welcome.

River under Lake Silencio, waiting for the Doctor

At the Luna University in the 52nd century, River Song reads these accounts of the Doctor's last days, opening her TARDIS diary to a page that contains only the date and time of his death. Madame Kovarian steps out of the shadows chanting a mysterious nursery rhyme that she claims has to do with the Doctor. As River tries to remember who the woman is, Kovarian orders her not to bother because they've been far too "thorough" with her memory. Two of the Silence appear behind River; Kovarian introduces them as her "owners," even referring to River as Melody Pond. River is astonished that Kovarian knows who she truly is, prompting the woman to evilly declare that she made River who she is -- the woman who kills the Doctor. As River protests, two members of the Church enter the library carrying an Apollo astronaut's suit. They inject River with a sedative, which causes her to lose consciousness.

When River awakes, she is horrified to find herself submerged below the surface of Lake Silencio in the Apollo astronaut's suit -- left to await the Doctor.

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

  • The Doctor mentions that a robot dog is "not as much fun as I remember" referring to K9.
  • The Doctor can make people quiet by simply saying "shh!" Craig suggests this is hypnosis.
  • The Doctor tells Craig that he has forgotten his identity before. (DW: Doctor Who (1996))
  • The Doctor says "Oh you've redecorated, I dont like it." That was previously said by the second Doctor in DW: The Three Doctors and again in DW: The Five Doctors.

Cybermen

Cultural references from the real world

  • When the Doctor tries to deactivate the Cybermat and discovers it has shielding, he says to Craig "Don't worry. I have an app for that", parodying the slogan used by Apple to advertise the iPhone's versatility.
  • When the Doctor is flying the toy helicopter, he says "It goes up-diddley-up, it goes down-diddley-down." This is a line from the theme song of the movie Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

Fashion and clothing

  • The Doctor buys Craig a papoose to carry Alfie in.
  • Craig gives the Doctor a Stetson as a parting gift. The Doctor is later shown wearing this in DW: The Impossible Astronaut when he brings everyone together in America before his death.

Individuals

  • It seems Amy has become famous; she is seen giving an autograph to a little girl.
  • Sean and Melinda are mentioned.
  • Kovarian does not appear to be affected by the Silence's ability to make people forget their existence. This will be later shown to be because of her eye drive. (DW: The Wedding of River Song)
  • River Song does not remember Kovarian or the Silence from her childhood.

History

Television series

  • Craig asks if the Cybermen's teleport is like "beam me up" from Star Trek. This is the second consecutive episode to feature a reference to Star Trek.

Theories and concepts

  • Posters seen by the Doctor in the department store indicate that Amy has taking up a modelling career. She is seen advertising a fragrance named "Petrichor".

Story notes

  • Working titles were Carry-On Lodging, Everything Must Go, The Last Adventure and Three Cybermen and a Baby. (REF: The Brilliant Book 2012)
  • Given that in The Impossible Astronaut the different versions of the Doctor give their ages as 909, and 1103, the Doctor has lived for approximately one hundred and ninety four years between these two episodes. Writer Gareth Roberts confirmed in an interview that this is indeed two hundred years after DW: The God Complex for the Doctor, and that he spent these years "waving" at Amy and Rory through history books. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut)
  • Taking in consideration that during the next episode (DW: The Wedding of River Song), time actually seems to pass (since events take place) unregarding of the fact that it nominally remains 5:02 PM on 22 April 2011 it may be that it was 5:02 PM on 22 April 2011 for a relative time of 200 years and the Doctor, being a Time Lord, is aware of that fact.
  • Part of the nursery rhyme that was heard DW: Night Terrors is sung by Madame Kovarian, with some new lines added.
  • Closing Time is the first episode produced by Denise Paul, who has been Associate Producer for several Eleventh Doctor stories.
  • This is the first time since the series revival in 2005 that episode 12 has not been part of a multi-part story written by the head writer, although the end of this episode does set up the series finale.
  • This is the first television story to feature a Cybermat since the Fourth Doctor story DW: Revenge of the Cybermen. They had been redesigned though, with biological teeth and gums.
  • This is the first single-parter episode in which River Song appears. Her appearance, however, does link directly into the next episode.
  • This is also the first regular-season episode since the series revival in which the Doctor does not have an ongoing companion with him at some point.
    • Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were, however, credited in the opener as they had been during the rest of the season. This marks the first time in the series that any actor's name has appeared in the opening credits for less than one minute of on-screen appearance.
    • The BBC America and Space broadcasts also retained the opening sequence narrated by Amy Pond.
    • Arthur Darvill (Rory) doesn't have any lines in this episode.
  • Based on interpretations of dialogue in the episode, a case can be made for Craig to be considered a companion, as the Doctor indirectly refers to him as one.
  • The "app" for disabling the Cybermat used one of the "bonus sounds" found on the toy version of the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver, unheard on the show until now.
  • During one of the scenes, BBC Radio 1's Greg James was visible behind Craig. Greg James named his character "Carlos".
    File:GREGJAMES.png
    To the left of Craig, BBC Radio 1's Greg James
  • This is the first television story since the series revival in which the Cybermen are not armed with any type of weaponary. The Cybermen who are seen have visible gaps in their forearm armour where they would normally have blasters and they are not seen electrocuting anyone.
  • This is the second time where Craig's affection for someone has saved the day. In DW: The Lodger , Craig's love for Sophie motivates his desire to stay where he is, enabling him to destroy the alien Time Machine. In this case, his love for his son enables him to defeat the Cybermen.
  • When the Doctor asks if the Cyberman would take the humans out with six Cybermen, they claim they could take them out with one Cyberman.
  • The date on Craig's newspaper is 19 April 2011, three days before the events of DW: The Impossible Astronaut. This has caused confusion regarding Amy and Rory's appearance in the episode. The name of Amy's perfume, Petrichor, and her celebrity status imply that the events take place after DW: The God Complex. If the paper is correct, then for Amy and Rory this would be three days before they are supposed to meet the Doctor in Utah. Given the time needed to cross the Atlantic and find Lake Silencio, it seems unlikely that this is the case. Alternatively, the Doctor may have dropped off Amy and Rory at their new home (presumably near Colchester) at a point in time prior to when their younger selves had left Leadworth for Utah.
  • This is the third time that the Cybermen have appeared in the penultimate episode of a series.
  • Lynda Baron (Val) previously played Captain Wrack in DW: Enlightenment. Years earlier, in 1966, she recorded the original song "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" for the soundtrack of DW: The Gunfighters.

Ratings

  • UK Overnight: 5.3 Million
  • Final: 6.93 million

Myths

  • Craig Owens may travel in the TARDIS.[2]This proved false.
  • Craig Owens has had a baby.[3]This proved true.
  • The events in the department store, etc. take place on or about 21st April 2011. A blow-up of the newspaper seen in the episode has the date of April 19, 2011.

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

Prequel

A brief prequel was filmed featuring Craig, Sophie and Alfie. However, unlike other Series 6 prequels this one wasn't released online prior to the episode. Instead, it was given the title Up All Night and released as the fifth chapter of the DVD/Blu-ray exclusive mini-episode DW: Night and the Doctor in the Series 6 DVD/BD box set in November 2011.

Timeline

For the Doctor

For River Song

For Amy and Rory

Home video releases

Series6.2DVD.jpg

The episode will be released on DVD and Blu-ray shortly after the airing of episode 13.[4]


Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-series-6-autumn-preview-20767.htm
  2. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/little-shop-of-horrors-16182.htm
  3. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/hello-cyber-matt-16302.htm
  4. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/series-6-dvd-releases-15635.htm


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