The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did (TV story)

The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did was the seventh episode of the first series of Class. It saw Miss Quill get her arn removed, as promised by Dorothea Ames in Brave-ish Heart. This episode takes place during the events of the preceding story, Detained.

Whilst the previous episode was "Quill-lite", this episode featured almost nothing of the students and instead focused on Quill. It revealed that she held more of a grudge against the Rhodians than she did towards the Shadow Kin, and that she intended to get revenge on the only remaining Rhodian.

It also revealed a more sinister side to the Governors, as they forced Quill to kill a new found friend and suggested that they were expecting Quill to have died from the surgery of removing her arn.

It is also the first episode in which the Coal Hill Space-Time Rifts do not make an appearance.

Synopsis
With the gang trapped in detention and out of the way, Miss Quill accepts Dorothea's astonishing offer: to help remove the arn from her head, so she can finally reclaim her freedom.

Plot
Charlie, Ram, April, Tanya and Matteusz are out of the way in detention. Before leaving, she tells them she has things to do and does not want to be disturbed. She then locks them in the classroom, and goes to see Dorothea in the school hall. Dorothea warns her that if they proceed with the operation to remove the arn, Quill may die. Quill states that she wants to either die or have freedom. As they are discussing, a man named Ballon arrives and Dorothea says that they can begin. She takes out a device and they are all miniaturised and transported inside it.

They arrive in a mysterious forest that is clearly not on Earth. Dorothea orders Quill to remember her earliest childhood memory while Ballon charges into the forest, returning with a dead animal, which he reveals to be an arn, the first step to removing the arn in Quill's head. Dorothea explains that the device is a metaphysical engine, capable of transferring individuals into a thought or belief, in this case, the "idea of" the heaven of the arn.

Dorothea activates the device again, sending the trio to the version of hell believed by the Ballon's species, the Lorr. He reveals that he is a shape-shifter who is frozen in one form. Here, Quill and Ballon encounter the devil of the Lorr, from whom they must extract blood. Ballon fears the being, but Miss Quill consoles him with her people's concept of the "first fear" that they must overcome. Meanwhile, Dorothea contacts the Governers, claiming that the mission is not going as planned.


 * to be continued...

Cast

 * Miss Quill - Katherine Kelly
 * Charlie - Greg Austin
 * Ram - Fady Elsayed
 * April - Sophie Hopkins
 * Tanya - Vivian Oparah
 * Matteusz - Jordan Renzo
 * Dorothea - Pooky Quesnel
 * Ballon - Chiké Okonkwo
 * Quill Goddess - Spencer Wilding

Coal Hill School

 * Some of the Governors believe the tears in space-time around Coal Hill aren't accidental.
 * Posters for a Coal Hill School Orchestra concert are seen.
 * Posters for the Level Two Careers Fair can be seen.
 * Posters for the school's Sport Work Shops can be seen.
 * The Science Club is held in Lab 2A.

People

 * Miss Quill is pregnant.
 * Ballon is looking for his family.

Species

 * Arn Heaven has plants that hide when one gets too close.
 * Quill refer to the Zygons as "zygotes".
 * Ballon is a Lorr.
 * Ames says that now Quill can "force a certain Prince to wipe the Shadow Kin from the grinning, smirking face of the universe".

Poetry

 * Quill refers to the poet on Earth and quotes her poem, "Home", as saying, "no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark."

Music

 * A piano can be seen in the Coal Hill main hall, as can be seen music stands on the stage.

Philosophy

 * Miss Quill claims metaphysics aren't real.

Technology

 * The Governors detain Ballon with a special kind of handcuffs. Dorothea Ames has a key to deactivate them.
 * Miss Quill mentions trains.
 * Miss Quill gets her displacement gun back.

Science

 * Ames has a machine that is metaphysical in nature. Quill claims that metaphysics are just thought and theory.

Organisations

 * Posters for the International Women's Day Festival can be seen in the school hall.
 * The Governors keep alien prisoners.
 * The Governors study the tears in space and time.
 * EverUpwardReach calculated an 85% chance only either Ballon or Quill would survive the metaphysical trip.

Locations

 * Miss Quill wonders whether they travelled to the Peak District.
 * Arn Heaven is visited.
 * Lorr Hell is visited.
 * Rhodia is mentioned.
 * The first Quill nest is visited.
 * The Lorr homeworld is mentioned.
 * The Cabinet of Souls is visited.
 * Quill climbs out the Cabinet and into her and Charlie's house.

Businesses

 * Dorothea Ames owns a Sekonda pocket watch.

Story notes

 * "Bad Girls" by M.I.A. plays over the final moments of the episode.
 * The story takes place during the events of Detained and the beginnings and endings of both episodes are the same scenes, only this time told from Quill's perspective.
 * At seven words long, this episode shares the record for the longest televised story title to date with The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.

Ratings
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The boards with posters are seen again. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo, Detained)
 * Miss Quill again says "[she is] war itself". (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * UNIT is mentioned. (TV: The Invasion, Brave-ish Heart et al.)
 * The tears in space and time are mentioned. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die-Detained)
 * The protection of the Zygons on Earth is mentioned. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion)
 * Rhodia is mentioned. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Miss Quill says that the Cabinet of Souls is "(way) bigger on the inside", words commonly used to refer to the Doctor's TARDIS. (TV: The Runaway Bride, et al.)
 * Miss Quill mentions that the last person she kissed was a robot. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo)
 * Miss Quill lost her loved one during the war. Previously, she recognised hands of a person created from her memory, hands she held when she was a kid of a friend lost in a war. (PROSE: The Stone House)
 * Quill thoughtfully mention that they both wear forms, referring to the fact that she doesn't really look like she does. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * The Cabinet of Souls reappears. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart/Brave-ish Heart)
 * Miss Quill gets her displacement gun back. She previously wasn't able to use it, and her original such gun was crushed by Corakinus. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die et al.)
 * Dorothea Ames mention the Shadow Kin. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart/Brave-ish Heart)
 * The prison is trying to pull Charlie in. (TV: Detained)
 * Ever Upward Reach is mentioned again. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, Brave-ish Heart)

DVD releases
to be added

Blu-ray releases
to be added