The Almost People (TV story)

The Almost People was the sixth story in the sixth series of Doctor Who. This episode saw the Doctor team up with himself again, but this time it isn't various different incarnations (The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors, The Four Doctors, The Eight Doctors, Time Crash), but a true duplicate of his current self.

In a major plot twist, it is revealed that Amy Pond had been replaced by a Ganger some time before The Impossible Astronaut. It also saw the real Amy Pond reappear for the first time since A Christmas Carol and revealed the true nature of the "Eye Patch Lady" Ganger Amy has been seeing.

Synopsis
As the solar storm rages, Jennifer, a Ganger driven mad by the memories of being “decommissioned”, is seeking revenge against the humans responsible. She can remember every excruciating second of every “execution” and is determined that the humans will pay. She isn’t just talking war; she’s talking revolution. As the crumbling factory fills with toxic fumes and drips lethal acid, the “Originals” wait desperately for the shuttle from the mainland to rescue them. Jennifer, however, has other ideas. Can the Doctor convince the terrified factory workers to embrace their own humanity and work with their Gangers to overcome a monster of their own making? Or will this be the day the Doctor fails to save a single life other than his companions?

Plot
The ganger Doctor begins screaming in pain, prompting the original Doctor to ascertain what is wrong. Ganger Doctor begins quoting some of the Doctor's past incarnations. This makes the Doctor realise the Flesh is having a difficult time dealing with his past regenerations, which is causing his Ganger a great deal of difficulty in stabilising into his current one. The Doctor encourages him to calm down, as the process is nearly over; Amy looks on in bewilderment as the voice of the Doctor's Ganger changes a few times to match the incarnation he is quoting.

The Ganger stops screaming and is now in the Doctor's form. Amy helps the factory workers barricade the door. The Doctor asks his Ganger to describe Cybermats to prove that he is actually him. Amy then asks the workers if there are any weapons the Gangers could get their hands on; they're a factory, so there's no need for weapons. Smoke begins seeping through the door -- the gangers are trying to force their way inside by using acid.

The two Doctors discuss the situation, amused that they can tell what the other is thinking; getting everyone's attention, they establish protocol -- simultaneously warning Amy to "breathe" -- and deduce that they will be able to escape through an air-duct. They quickly climb into the vent, escaping just as the gangers succeed in breaking into the room.

They run into the hall to discover that the acid leaking from the pipes is interacting with the stone, creating a highly potent miasma or "chokey gas". Cleaves informs them they can get to higher ground in the evac tower and radio for help. They enter and the Doctors begin working together to get the power back online. Once they have power, they can radio for help and track down Rory and Jennifer.

Amy wonders which is the real Doctor and they tell her their shoes are different -- the Doctor changed his after the Flesh scanned him. The Ganger asks "Pond" if she's satisfied and she tells him not to call her that, saying that he's almost the Doctor "which is pretty damn impressive". The Ganger takes offence to this and suggests being called "John Smith" as almost being the Doctor is like not being the Doctor. They get the power back on and Cleaves begins working the controls.

Meanwhile, Gangers Cleaves, Dicken, and Jimmy go to the factory control room, where they are able to listen to Cleaves send a transmission to the mainland from the evac tower; Cleaves requests immediate evacuation for herself, the Doctor, and the humans, and orders the gangers' incineration. Ganger Cleaves tries to intercept the transmission, but the real Cleaves cuts off this line of approach, typing and sending a password that she explains must be used in all future transmissions so that the mainland may be able to verify that it is her and not her ganger. Ganger Cleaves comments on how clever she is.

The Doctor's group tries to track Rory and Jennifer on the factory computer, but fail. Amy continues doubting both Doctors are real. Abruptly, the woman with the eyepatch appears again; Amy finally confesses the woman's presence to the Doctor, who insists she's nothing more than a "mirage," and encourages her to breathe again. The Doctor's ganger leaves, muttering that something is in his head. Cleaves yells for him to come back, but Amy says she will go after him.

Outside, Amy apologises for her earlier comments but says she's been through a lot with the Doctor, having even seen his death, which she admits to him. She then asks if the ganger could have been the Doctor who was killed at the lakeside when, suddenly, he shoves her up against a wall and repeats what each ganger says when it's decommissioned (or, rather, executed): "Why?" Frightened, Amy returns to the control room and orders the ganger to be kept away from her.

As the now-calm Ganger follows, he asks the Doctor if he heard the telepathic "Why" as well, The Doctor confirms did, but not as strongly as his twin did. The Ganger Doctor explains the Flesh is growing and wants revenge for all the Gangers that'd been decommissioned. Amy thinks the Ganger is acting on behalf of the Flesh's and says he's not the Doctor. Cleaves tells Ganger Doctor to sit down and does so without an argument, hoping to make Amy feel safe.

Meanwhile, Rory has tracked down two different Jennifers, both of whom claim to be the human Jennifer; one shows off a wound on her leg that she claims the Flesh is unable to replicate. Ultimately, the two fight, with one Jennifer dissolving the other by pushing her into a puddle of acid. Rory and Jennifer rush off to the thermostatic control room, where Jennifer insists they will be able to deal with the deadly choking gas that is filling the corridors.

The factory computer picks up a visual of Rory and Jennifer on their way to the thermostatic room, which greatly confuses Cleaves; there is no way to clear out the air there, it controls the temperature gauge for the acid. Knowing they need to be rescued and brought to the evac tower, the Doctor gives the sonic screwdriver to his ganger and sends him off to accomplish this mission with Buzzer's supervision. When both Cleaves and Amy argue that the ganger should stay behind, the Doctor insists that they must trust him.

In the thermostatic chamber, as she previously failed to shut off the thermostatic regulators due to not being a human, the Ganger Jennifer tricks Rory into doing so in her place. With the underground cooling vents shut off, the acid will boil and incinerate the factory; the lives of everyone there, human, Ganger and Time Lord are in danger.

Exploring the monastery, the Doctor's ganger and Buzzer discover the real Jennifer's body, deducing that she'd died shortly before their arrival; when the ganger has his back turned, Buzzer knocks him unconscious - Cleaves' orders. Buzzer is subsequently killed by Jennifer's ganger when he discovers her comforting a pile of discarded Flesh.

In the evac tower, the computer registers a rise in temperature, forcing Cleaves to change the rescue spot. However, before she can give the password to confirm her request, the computer dies. The Doctor deduces a blood clot in Cleaves' brain is slowly killing her; she then realises the Doctor is an alien when he mentions it's operable off Earth. They decide to leave the evac tower and turn the regulators back on. In the meantime, Ganger Cleaves, who has deduced the password, calls the transport and reroutes it.

Meanwhile, the other gangers discover the ganger Doctor and convince him that he is one of them and should join in the fight. He tells them he's John Smith and goes with them.

Elsewhere, the Doctor's group arrives in the thermostatic regulator room. The Doctor and Cleaves try getting the machine to turn back on, but it's too late; a chemical chain reaction has started and they have less than an hour before the factory is reduced to nothing but a puddle of acid. With the machine exploding, they are forced to run away and to seek the rescue shuttle.

The Doctor's group reunites with Rory, who informs them that Jennifer has discovered a secret tunnel beneath the crypt -- which also doubles as the acid room -- which they can use to escape to the TARDIS. When they reach the acid room, however, Rory and Jennifer's ganger lock the group inside; Rory is oblivious to Jennifer's true intentions, merely hoping to convince the group of the gangers' right to live. As Rory becomes more uncertain of what they're doing, Jennifer reveals herself to be a ganger and drags him away before he can release the others.

In the dining hall, Rory yells at Jennifer for tricking him; she's completely different from how she was before. He then wonders about the real Jennifer and the Ganger Doctor tells him that she is indeed dead.

In the acid room, they have lowered a lid on the boiling liquid to buy time. Jimmy is less then willing to believe it will work, but the Doctor says if he has a better plan, he's all ears and willing to take him to a planet where everyone is literally.

Back in the dining hall, Rory tries to leave to help the others; however, he is ordered by the Doctor's ganger to stay as the holographic phone rings. Jimmy's young son, Adam, is calling to speak to his father. Ganger Doctor speaks to Adam and then asks Ganger Jimmy to speak to his Adam; he's just as much as Adam's father as the real Jimmy. Emotional, the Ganger runs off to release everyone. Jennifer snarls at Ganger Doctor, telling him he tricked Jimmny into an act of weakness. When the Doctor explains that this was only an "act" of humanity, Jennifer flees; the other gangers also experience a change of heart.

Jimmy's ganger is too late, however; unlocking the door of the crypt, he is horrified to see Jimmy get hit in the chest by acid spitting out from beneath the lid of the tank. The Doctor scans Jimmy with the sonic screwdriver and sadly informs the group that the acid has already reached his heart. As Jimmy dies, he asks his ganger to answer his son's call and be his father now. The Doctor and the remaining group follow Jimmy's ganger back to the dining hall, where he wishes Adam a happy birthday; he is also delighted when the Doctor informs Adam that Jimmy will be coming home that day.

The group takes off running through the monastery as the roof begins to cave in; they are pursued by a deranged and mutated Jennifer, who has taken the form of an elastic Flesh monster. Though they manage to find a safe chamber, the door at the end of the passage will not shut, and so Dicken sacrifices himself to close it. The Doctor and Cleaves's ganger use their bodies to barricade the second door as the TARDIS crashes through the ceiling behind them. Cleaves, Jimmy, and Dicken's ganger are ushered into the TARDIS by Rory.

Amy calls for the Doctor to return to the TARDIS, with his ganger suggesting perhaps Amy thinks he should stay instead; the Doctor maintains he's staying to keep the door shut and reveals he's the ganger -- he and the Doctor switched shoes to prove the two races are not so different. The Doctor gives the sonic to his ganger, who exchanges an emotional farewell with an apologetic Amy. He whispers to Amy, saying to push, but "only when she tells you to". They enter the TARDIS and leave. The Gangers realise using the sonic to destabilise the Flesh will kill them too; however, the Doctor optimistically hopes to return. Opening the door, they activate the sonic and all three Flesh beings collapse.

Elsewhere, the Doctor explains exposure to the TARDIS engines permanently stabilised Jimmy and Dicken, turning them into true human beings. Jimmy is dropped off at home, where he reunites with his son. The Doctor gives Cleaves medicine to cure the blood clot, and drops her and Dicken off at an Army press conference about the incident; he encourages her to spread the word about the gangers, and not to let their deaths be in vain. Amy worries about what will happen to them, but the Doctor merely tells her to breathe.

She is confused, but suddenly doubles over in pain; Rory and the Doctor bring her back to the TARDIS, where the Doctor informs the couple that she is going into labour. The Doctor orders Rory to step away from her, which he reluctantly does. Amy looks on, terrified. The Doctor explains their trip to the factory was not unintentional: he needed to see the Flesh in its early stages so he could learn how to stop the signal -- to Amy. He says no matter where she is, they'll find her. Rory watches in horror as the Doctor points the sonic at Amy and she dissolves into a puddle of Flesh.

Amy wakes up to find herself imprisoned in a medical capsule, dressed in a white hospital gown. A panel in the ceiling slides away, revealing the woman with the eyepatch, seen by her Ganger, who informs Amy that she is nearly ready to pop and that the "little one" is on its way. Looking down, Amy is horrified to see that she is heavily pregnant and due to give birth at any minute. The woman cruelly instructs her to push as Amy screams, going into labour.

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
 * Madame Kovarian - Frances Barber
 * Adam - Edmond Moulton

The Doctor

 * The Doctor (posing as the Ganger Doctor) begins calling himself "John Smith", an alias often used by the Doctor.
 * To test his copy's memory, the real Doctor asks the Ganger Doctor to describe Cybermats.

Story notes

 * The episode's working title was Gangers.
 * While the episode premiered in the UK on 28 May, the US premiere was delayed one week to prevent a drop in viewership over the Memorial Day weekend. A Good Man Goes to War also aired one week late as a result.
 * This two-part story is thematically similar to the Series 5 two-parter DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. In both stories the Doctor attempts to broker a peace between two lifeforms on Earth, only to have the truce shattered by mistrust on both sides.
 * This is the ninth time the actor playing the Doctor has portrayed a different character in the same story. This previously happened with:
 * William Hartnell (The Chase and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
 * Patrick Troughton (The Enemy of the World)
 * Tom Baker (The Android Invasion and Meglos)
 * Peter Davison (Arc of Infinity and The Caves of Androzani)
 * David Tennant (Journey's End)
 * N.B. Although Edmund Warwick was credited with playing the android Doctor in "The Chase", some shots of the android were of William Hartnell.

Ratings

 * 6.72 million

Myths

 * Whilst the Ganger-Doctor is stabilising, he briefly adopts the Fourth Doctor's voice. It was believed that this was recorded specially by Tom Baker, at the time recording a series of audio dramas for Doctor Who, but this was proven incorrect.

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * When the TARDIS falls through the ceiling, the doors are facing away from the camera. The Ganger Doctor then comments on how "she does like to make an entrance." However, when cut back to the TARDIS (at the same angle as before), the doors are now facing the camera.
 * When the Ganger-Doctor and Ganger-Cleaves face off against the mutated Jenny, both the sonic screwdriver and Cleaves' acid suit dissolve into flesh material, despite neither being made of the flesh.

Continuity

 * While the Flesh was attempting to stabilise Ganger Doctor, he began shouting:
 * "One day, we will get back. Yes, one day," as the First Doctor did. (DW: An Unearthly Child)
 * "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow," a phrase used only twice in its entirety by the Third Doctor, but which became commonly associated with him. (DW: The Sea Devils, The Five Doctors)
 * "Would you like a jelly baby?" in the manner and voice of the Fourth Doctor (specific audio clip from DW: The Robots of Death).
 * "Hello, I'm the Doctor," as the Tenth Doctor did (specific audio clip from DW: The Girl in the Fireplace).
 * Also, the Doctor's dislike of looking back on his lives is shown by his Ganger after quoting the Tenth -"No, let it go. We've moved on".
 * Amy tells the original Doctor (thinking it be the Ganger Doctor) about her viewing his death two hundred years in his future. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut)
 * When Rory and the Ganger Jennifer lock the Doctor and the others in the acid room, the Doctor shouts at Rory angrily through the window, calling him "Roranicus Pondicus". Amy called Rory's Auton duplicate "Roranicus" when he told her his name. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
 * In earlier episodes of Series 6, the Doctor's TARDIS was unable to confirm if Amy was pregnant or not. Considering it was scanning Amy's Ganger rather than Amy herself, this gives an explanation for why it was confused about her pregnancy. Although the real Amy was pregnant, the Ganger Amy was not but could still feel the real Amy's pregnancy due to them being the same person. This also explains why Amy never showed any signs of being heavily pregnant in earlier episodes.

Home video releases
This story was 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 Rebel Flesh and A Good Man Goes to War on 11 July 2011.