The Lodger (TV story): Difference between revisions

[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] materialises in a park in [[Colchester]]. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] pops his head out and realises they have not arrived at the [[Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista]], apologising to [[Amy Pond|Amy]] for the mistake. Before he can pull his head back in to set the proper course, a force pushes the Doctor outside and closes the door. As the Doctor picks himself up, he watches as the TARDIS dematerialises with a screaming Amy still inside.  

Later, a young man enters a house to help an elderly gentleman calling to him for assistance, so he goes up to the top floor flat. In the flat below, [[Craig Owens]] and his friend, [[Sophie (The Lodger)|Sophie]], discuss their plans for the evening. She points out that a rot on the ceiling is growing. Sophie receives a call from her friend [[Melina (The Lodger)|Melina]], who is upset over a recent break-up. She packs up her things, ready to go comfort her friend. However, Sophie subtly tries to have Craig ask her to stay, but Craig points out that they're only having [[pizza]]. Once she has gone, Craig tells himself to confess his love for Sophie the next time he sees her. The doorbell rings; believing it Sophie who has forgotten her keys (as usual), he opens the door, saying, "I love you."  However, he then realises it's not Sophie at the door, it's the Doctor — "Oh, that's good to know, cause I'm your new lodger".

When Craig wonders where the Doctor's luggage is, the Doctor assures him that it will materialise if all goes according to plan, confusing Craig even further. Meanwhile, the TARDIS has attempted another landing, but fails. Inside the console room, Amy screams and grips the console as the equipment backfires and sends up sparks. The TARDIS vanishes again.

After enjoying the omelettes, Craig wonders where the Doctor learned how to cook. The Doctor says [[Paris]], in the [[18th century]], then corrects himself until he says the recent [[20th century]]. Craig wonders if the Doctor is told he's weird and the Doctor responds by telling him people never stop. Nevertheless, he agrees to let the Doctor move in and gives him a set of keys.  

That night, the Doctor contacts Amy through an earpiece. The Doctor gravely informs her that whatever is preventing it from materialising properly is big — scary big. He goes on to explain that he can't use higher technology like the [[sonic screwdriver]], or else he will risk alerting whoever lives in the second story flat to his presence and he can only use the earpiece because anyone else hearing their conversation will think he's saying complete gibberish. Meanwhile, a young woman is lured into the flat by a man who calls for her help.  

While the team celebrates its win, Sean says that with the Doctor, they'll annihilate the other teams. The Doctor mistakes this for actual [[kill]]ing and begins to give a speech, but then realises his mistake and offers his assistance in football whenever they need it. Just then, everyone apart from the Doctor becomes stuck in another time loop as an older woman is lured into the second story flat. The TARDIS simultaneously begins to shake violently, but the zigzag plotter does not work this time. The Doctor informs Amy of his concern that unless he discovers what is causing the persistent time loops, she and the TARDIS could be thrown off into the [[time vortex]] with no hope for return.

That night, when Craig is about to confess his love to Sophie, she observes that the rot stain on the ceiling has gotten bigger since she last mentioned it. The couple is then interrupted by the Doctor, who asks Craig where the "on switch" is on a regular screwdriver. Furthering Craig's frustration, Sophie invites the Doctor to join them for a glass of [[wine]]. While the Doctor continues inspecting a variety of electrical wires for the scanner, Sophie tells him of her dreams to go to [[Africa]] and work with animals. The Doctor utilises reverse psychology to make Sophie admit that she doesn't want to keep working in the call centre, thereby inspiring her to look at care programs that will send her abroad. As Craig walks Sophie out, they talk about her dream and what could be keeping her here, but with both unable to express their love, Sophie leaves. Unbeknownst to them, the "person" upstairs has overheard them and light crackles from behind the door.

Elsewhere, the Doctor has returned to his room and finishes the scanner, but the readings for the second story appear normal, a fact which disturbs him. Over the earpiece, Amy complains that something being too normal is odd to ''him''. Taking the snide remark in stride, the Doctor orders Amy to look up the building schematics while he recruits a spy. As Craig returns to the apartment, he dismisses the Doctor's earlier warning and touches the rot stain on the ceiling, only to pull his hand back in pain.

The next morning, the Doctor has prepared breakfast for Craig, but finds him in a near-death state in his bedroom. He hits Craig's chest to make him breathe, mixes a remedy to reverse the enzyme decay, and encourages him to get some rest. Craig protests, as he has a business meeting to attend, but soon falls asleep. Waking up mid-afternoon, Craig is horrified that he missed the business meeting and rushes off to work, however, upon arrival, he finds that the Doctor has taken his place — not only is he rudely dealing with Craig's clients with the approval of Craig's boss, but he also presented Craig's efficient business plan at the company meeting, amazing everyone. Sophie brings the Doctor some [[tea]] and tells Craig that she is going to be able to start working with animals as a volunteer, but Craig — who is too angry with the Doctor to realise what he is saying — insists that he is fine with this, disappointing her. Craig is told to return home by the Doctor as he still looks pale, but it is actually his anger making him look ill. Upon returning home, Craig has had enough of the Doctor's mysteries and takes a spare key to the Doctor's room, unlocking it and discovering the scanner the Doctor has constructed.

The Doctor returns home at the end of the day and happens upon a cat that he sent upstairs. The cat tells the Doctor that there are many people up there who have never come back down. Craig, who is playing darts, overhears the Doctor and looks out the peephole to see the Doctor speaking to the cat as though it were perfectly normal. He then orders the Doctor to leave. Knowing that he can't leave without discovering the truth of the second lodger, the Doctor head-butts Craig to telepathically reveal his history and his true intentions, and shows Craig a note that was left to him by Amy, though he admits that "his" Amy hasn't written it Yet.

Sophie comes to the flat to speak to Craig, but is drawn upstairs by a little girl asking for help. A time loop ensues, but now that Craig possesses the Doctor's knowledge, he is immune to it and realises what it means: someone is dying upstairs. He and the Doctor rush out, finding Sophie's keys in the lock to the flat and realising that the person who has been lured up to the flat is her; as they are about to enter the flat, however, Amy contacts the Doctor with the building schematics. She assures him that he can't possibly be upstairs because there ''isn't'' an upstairs. Opening the door to the flat, Craig and the Doctor discover that it is, in fact, an alien spaceship.

Sophie comes out of the shadows, screaming as an invisible force pulls her towards the control console. The Doctor manages to deactivate it. A [[hologram]] materialises inside the room, explaining that it is functioning as an auto-pilot. the spaceship crashed and the captain is dead, so the hologram is now testing humans in search of a suitable replacement. However, the humans are unable to handle the stress of the controls and have burnt up, thereby causing the rot stain on Craig's ceiling. The Doctor calls it a ''stupid'' auto-pilot because it is unable to learn from its mistakes. Realising that the Doctor is an alien, the hologram begins pulling him to the console, thinking he is the correct pilot. Amy suggests that perhaps the Doctor could fly the ship safely, but the Doctor explains that he is too much for the ship and if he were to touch the console, it would not only blow up the ship, but the entire solar system.  

The Doctor remembers Craig's previous encounter with the "lodger", and deduces that Craig was told he wasn't needed because Craig possesses no desire to leave, Sophie, on the other hand, was pinpointed by the hologram as suitable as soon as she expressed some desire to travel to Africa. The Doctor encourages Craig to touch the console and focus on the reason he doesn't want to leave — Sophie. Craig confesses his love to Sophie and begs her to stay. She calls him an idiot and tells him that she loves him, too, before slamming her hand on top of his. This shuts the ship down, but also causes it to implode. The trio narrowly escapes into the street, where they see the entire top floor vanish. Craig is confused as to why the passers-by did not notice the top of the flat vanish. The Doctor explains that there was no upstairs, as a [[perception filter]] tricked their memories.