The Lie of the Land (TV story)

 was the eighth episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. The conclusion of a three-part arc in which the Twelfth Doctor was pitted against the Monks, it saw him enter the Vault to consult, revealing his endeavour to turn her from her destructive past to a path of "good".

Synopsis
The Monks have ruled the world since humanity took its very first baby steps towards the Sun. One problem... they haven't always been there. And only Bill Potts see the truth. But where is the Doctor? And how can Bill make the rest of the world see?

Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Bill - Pearl Mackie
 * Nardole - Matt Lucas
 * - Michelle Gomez
 * Mother - Emma Handy
 * Group Commander - Beatrice Curnew
 * Alan - Stewart Wright
 * Richard - Solomon Israel
 * Giant Monk - Jamie Hill
 * Bill's Mum - Rosie Jane

Crew
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Culture

 * The Monks propagate falsehoods through Bill, and have injected themselves into all of human history. The Monks take credit for humanity's achievements.
 * The Doctor suggests he'd make some modifications to history, like ending racism, and people who talk in cinemas.
 * Although not named in the episode, altered versions of the Lascaux cave paintings, da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and the Mona Lisa appear. Each of these is altered to incorporate the Monks. Photos also appear of the Monks with Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong and Winston Churchill.

Science

 * The Doctor explains that Bill is unaffected in "Fake News Central" because they are at the eye of the storm.

Technology

 * The Vault is dimensionally transcendental, like some other Time Lord technology.
 * Missy asks for "toys" like a particle accelerator, a 3D printer and a pony, in return for her help.
 * The Monk statues around the world act as beacons for false propaganda.

Martial arts

 * Nardole performs a Tarovian neck pinch to knock out Alan. He's reached the level of Brown Tabard in Tarovian martial arts.

Philosophy

 * The Doctor had Bill write a 3000 word essay on free will, which she never completed due to the Monk invasion.

Food and beverages
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Locations

 * The Monks have erected statues cities including Bristol, New York City, Paris, Moscow, Sydney and Toronto, among others. Statues have also been erected by monuments, including Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls and Stonehenge. The Monk's pyramid/spaceship has been relocated to central London.
 * The Doctor is located on an old prison boat off the coast of Scotland.
 * Locations on Nardole's map include Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, all located in the United Kingdom. Locations around the UK include the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The Faroe Islands, highlighted as being part of Denmark, are also located north of the UK. To the north-east of the UK is a country which includes the locations Stavange, Bergen and Oslo. This is presumably Norway.

Species

 * Time Lords can apparently "fake" a regeneration, seemingly by starting the process only to abort it before any actual healing, if needed, is enacted.

People

 * Nardole won his current left hand gambling.

Music

 * Missy plays the Gnossienne No. 1 by Erik Satie and "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin.

Story notes

 * The read-through for The Lie of the Land took place on 11 January 2017, and filming took place between 16 January and 22 February.
 * Archive material from TV: Blink, Nightmare in Silver, Into the Dalek, and The Pilot is shown. By extension, Weeping Angels, Cybermen, Daleks and photos of Bill Potts' birth mother are shown in this capacity.
 * This story, along with Mission to the Unknown, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Mind of Evil, The Dæmons, The Sea Devils, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Midnight are the only nine stories to not feature the TARDIS, although she is mentioned.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * Citizens watch the Doctor's broadcasts in a Magpie Electricals shop. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern, et al.)
 * To gain Bill's trust, Nardole tells her they went to Australia on the run from "the Heather creature" (TV: The Pilot) and that space doors should go "shuck shuck". (TV: Oxygen)
 * Nardole mentions being contaminated by Raoultella planticola (TV: The Pyramid at the End of the World) and states it laid him up for six weeks.
 * The Doctor tells Bill about the creature under the Thames. (TV: Thin Ice)
 * The Doctor fakes a regeneration. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut, The Wedding of River Song)
 * previously scoffed at the idea that she had "turned good" when questioned by Clara Oswald. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice) He preferred to die than be taken "prisoner", under the Tenth Doctor's protection. (TV: Last of the Time Lords) As early as his seventh incarnation, the Doctor had vowed to one day save his friend after the Master was forced to revert following a temporary spell as the kindly John Smith. (AUDIO: Master)
 * Nardole knocks Alan out with a Tarovian neck pinch, using only his thumb. Ian Chesterton demonstrated a similar act on Ixta in TV: The Aztecs.
 * Nardole continues to hint at a cybernetic nature (TV: The Return of Doctor Mysterio, The Pilot, The Pyramid at the End of the World) when he tells the group invading the pyramid that his left hand isn't his original hand but is one that he won in a game of some sort.

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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