The Rebel Flesh (TV story)

The Rebel Flesh was the fifth story of the sixth series of Doctor Who. Like many previous stories, it saw the Doctor duplicated and it was the second time the Eleventh Doctor was copied following The Eleventh Hour.

It was notable for the first use of motion control cameras since The Mysterious Planet, and for containing the first instance of motion control use on actors, rather than inanimate models, in Doctor Who history.

Synopsis
A solar tsunami sends the TARDIS hurtling towards a futuristic factory on Earth, where human doppelgangers are used to mine dangerous acid.

A second wave hits and the "Gangers" separate. They can remember every second of their "originals'" lives and feel every emotion they've ever experienced. But are these memories stolen or have they been bequeathed? Are the Gangers merely faulty machinery that must be shut down or are they living, breathing, sentient beings? Can the Doctor convince the terrified humans to accept these "almost people" and prevent an all-out civil war before the factory explodes?

Plot
On an island in the 22nd century, Jennifer, Buzzer and Jimmy walk in an abandoned monastery. They enter a room and open a large vat, making sure their acid suits are fully closed, to reveal a large amount of acid. Jennifer accidentally pushes Buzzer into the vat, but they seem more concerned with the loss of the suit than Buzzer, who is surprisingly unconcerned. As Jennifer and Jimmy leave, Buzzer enters the hallway they've begun walking down with no suit, though he is still seen melting in the vat of acid.

In the TARDIS, the Eleventh Doctor is still scanning Amy for pregnancy, and getting strange readings while she and Rory play darts. The Doctor asks them if they'd like to go for fish and chips while he takes care of something else, but Amy objects to the idea. The TARDIS gets hit by a solar tsunami, which lands them on the same island seen earlier. The Doctor notices a supply pipe, and deduces that it's there to pump acid to the mainland. They enter the monastery and go into a room full of harnesses where people are sleeping. They are quickly surrounded by exact doubles of the people in harnesses. Claiming to be from the meteorological department, the Doctor warns them a bigger solar wave than the one they just survived is on the way. The Doctor asks to see their "critical system".

Miranda Cleaves, the boss, leads them to a vat of 'flesh'; fully programmable matter which can replicate any living organisms. All the workers in the room but Jennifer are flesh, controlled by the real people in the harnesses. The site is too dangerous; they were losing a worker every week. With flesh 'gangers', they can mine the site without putting anyone in danger. The Doctor is concerned by their low opinion of the flesh, scans the flesh with his screwdriver and touches it. As Jennifer steps into the harness, the Doctor, Amy and Rory watch flesh pour into a tub. The liquid flesh drains, leaving an exact copy of Jennifer.

Cleaves refuses to let the team leave the island. The Doctor notes that the factory runs on solar energy and there will be a power surge when the wave hits. Tthe solar energy is absorbed by the weather vane, so the Doctor heads to the roof, where he is knocked unconscious to the ground as the solar storm hits. Acid pipes leak everywhere, including near the TARDIS, which begins to sink into the ground. As the power surges, the gangers switch between full human forms and their semi-flesh forms.

The Doctor wakes on the roof to see the vane gone and its stump smoking. The Doctor greets Cleaves, who is deeply shaken and worried for her team. He says they've been out for an hour, rather than a few minutes as Cleaves believed. Amy and Rory return to the harness room to find everyone awake. Jennifer is in a state of shock, and Rory comforts her. The Doctor and Cleaves join them. Cleaves says that the gangers should have returned to pure flesh, but is interrupted by someone playing Jimmy's records. The gangers are controlling themselves.

The group run to the dining hall, where they discover that someone has been searching. The Doctor explains that the gangers were searching for confirmation of their identities. The workers have trouble accepting that they gave their identities away, and that all their possessions are equally the possessions of their gangers. Jennifer feels ill and heads to the toilets, quickly followed by Rory.

In the toilets, Jennifer vomits up flesh while Rory is looking away. Terrified that she is a ganger, she disappears into one of the cubicles. Rory steps in front of the sink she vomited in. Jennifer's arm extends and punches through the cubicle door, aiming for Rory but missing him. Her neck extends through the hole in the cubicle door, and she tells Rory to "just let us live!" Rory runs out of the room.

In the dining hall, the Doctor heats food as Jimmy talks about arming themselves and the Doctor's odd calm behavior. The Doctor asks Jimmy if he's a violent man. Jimmy says no. The Doctor says that if Jimmy is not violent, there is no reason to believe his Ganger is. The Doctor hands Cleaves a hot plate, but she doesn't feel it. He explains that her nerve endings aren't what they should be, and reassures her that she'll stabilise. Cleaves turns away, and turns back with a flesh face, revealing herself as a ganger and runs out. Amy remembers Rory and goes to find him with Jimmy and the Doctor. They arrive at the toilets and realise that Jennifer is a ganger. The Doctor says that, though they aren't violent. They are scared,. He needs to talk to them if he's going to fix it. He runs off to get the TARDIS, and Amy goes to look for Rory.

Rory finds Jennifer's ganger. She tells him she is Jennifer Lucas, not a mere factory part. She takes offence when Rory asks her where the real Jennifer is, and she takes on full human form while yelling that she is just as real as the "other" Jennifer.

The Doctor returns to the vat of flesh and scans it again before leaving. The tub fills with flesh, and drains enough to reveal a mouth that says "Trust me." The Doctor returns to where he left the TARDIS to find only the top inches above ground; the acid on the ground is melting his shoes, and he abandons what is left of them before he melts. Meanwhile, all the gangers except for Jennifer have gathered with the remaining acid suits.

While searching for Rory, Amy sees the Eye Patch Lady. Rory and Ganger Jennifer find Amy, as do Buzzer and Dicken.They return to the main room with Jimmy. The Doctorarrives with the rest of the gangers, in full human form. Before beginning his usual attempt at persuading them all to co-exist, the Doctor asks for replacement shoes. He explains that the gangers are now truly alive, and that can't be changed. The real Cleaves enters, refusing to work with the gangers, and electrocutes Ganger Buzzer with a battery. The Gangers conclude that the humans can't be trusted and run out. Cleaves tells the humans that it's war. Ganger Jennifer tells the gangers the same thing when she regroups with them.

The humans take refuge in the Ganger-manufactory. Rory goes in search of Jennifer as the Gangers began to advance on them. Blocking the door, the Doctor notices that there is another presence in the room. Amy tries to get the Doctor to focus on the situation at hand, but the Doctor's voice comes from the shadows. An unfinished Ganger of the Doctor steps out of the shadows, adjusting his bowtie as he says "Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Jimmy - Mark Bonnar
 * Buzzer - Marshall Lancaster
 * Jennifer - Sarah Smart
 * Miranda Cleaves - Raquel Cassidy
 * Dicken - Leon Vickers
 * Eye Patch Lady - Frances Barber

The Doctor

 * The Doctor says he wears size ten shoes and that his feet are quite wide.

Earth Locations

 * Jimmy and Buzzer refer to an incident on the Isle of Sheppey, in which an electrical surge resulted in a Ganger animating and killing its former controller.

Foods and Beverages from the real world

 * The Doctor suggests dropping Amy and Rory off on Earth for fish and chips.

Music from the real world

 * Rory recalls that his mother enjoyed Dusty Springfield.

Story notes

 * Matthew Graham, who wrote this episode, is the co-creator of the series Life on Mars and its sequel series, Ashes to Ashes. Marshall Lancaster, who appears in this episode, plays the character of Chris Skelton on both of these shows.
 * By the conclusion of this episode, the entire active TARDIS crew has either had or been a duplicate of themselves, although this is not fully revealed until later (DW: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, The Almost People).
 * The scene involving the Doctor's investigation of an acid pipe outside the factory is reminiscent of the Doctor's investigation of tyre treads on Androzani Minor in DW: The Caves of Androzani.

Music

 * When Amy and Rory are playing darts, the music in the background is "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse.
 * The song played by Buzzer on the turntable when the TARDIS crew arrives and later by the Gangers is Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me", her version of the Italian song "Io che non vivo (senza te)".
 * The music playing in the background when the vat of The Flesh is first shown is "Flying" by Tomandandy.

Ratings

 * 7.35 million (34.1% market share)

Myths

 * The TARDIS will be cloned. Incorrect.

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * The positions of the two cards on top of the card pyramid slightly alter between shots.

Continuity

 * The Doctor previously visited a monastery in his second incarnation. (DW: The Abominable Snowmen)
 * The Eye Patch Lady reappears. (DW: Day of the Moon, The Curse of the Black Spot)
 * The Doctor states, when informed that it has only been an hour, that "alot of things can happen in an hour. An entire planet can be turned inside out in an hour..." (DW: Doctor Who)
 * The use of the original humans going into harnesses, eyes-closed, to help create a Ganger clone, is very similar to what Martha Jones does with her clone in DW: The Sontaran Stratagem.
 * The material from which the Gangers are created is referred to as "the flesh", the new humans were previously referred to as that in DW: New Earth.
 * The TARDIS is still confused as to whether Amy is pregnant. (DW: Day of the Moon)
 * Rory mentions that rule one with the Doctor is "Don't wander off". The Doctor himself said this in DW: The Girl in the Fireplace, DW: The Empty Child and DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * The Doctor has previously encountered "doubles" of himself in DW: The Chase, The Massacre, The Enemy of the World, Meglos, Arc of Infinity, Journey's End, The Eleventh Hour, and The Big Bang.
 * Jennifer jokes that Buzzer has two left feet. Uncle, a character from the previous episode, literally had two left feet. (DW: The Doctor's Wife)

Home video releases
Released as Series 6 Part 1 with The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon, The Curse of the Black Spot, The Doctor's Wife, The Almost People and A Good Man Goes to War on 11th July 2011.