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, factory workers Jennifer, Buzzer, and Jimmy move through the monastery. They enter a small chamber containing one large, circular vat filled with acid; they all wear acid suits to protect them from this. Jennifer is perplexed by the acid readings, leading Buzzer to tease her; in response, she accidentally pushes him into the vat, though both Jennifer and Jimmy seem more concerned about the loss of the acid suit. As they leave, Buzzer enters the hallway they've begun walking down and angrily confronts them; however, he is still seen melting in the vat of acid.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor scans Amy for pregnancy and continues to get uncertain readings. He asks Amy and Rory if they'd like to go for fish and chips while he takes care of something else, but Amy objects to beign dropped off and asks to stay with the Doctor. Before this issue can be resolved, the TARDIS is hit by a solar tsunami and forced to land on the factory island in the 22nd century. Noticing an exposed supply pipe, the Doctor deduces that the factory is responsible for pumping deadly acid to the mainland. Entering the monastery, the group trips an alarm and flees to a chamber where they spot five harnesses, four of which are occupied by sleeping workers; however, the factory's "security" quickly surrounds them, with the time travelers realizing that they are exact doubles of the people sleeping in the harnesses. Claiming to have been sent by the meteorological department, the Doctor warns them that a solar flare -- bigger than the one they've just survived -- is on its way, and they're all in danger. When the foreman, Miranda Cleaves, appears unconcerned, the Doctor requests to see her "critical system."



Cleaves leads the travellers to a vat of Flesh -- fully programmable matter which can replicate any living organism. All of the workers in the room, apart from Jennifer, are Flesh "gangers," controlled by the real people who are sleeping in the harnesses. The site is far too dangerous, and they were losing workers every week; therefore, the military commissioned the creation of the gangers, who could mine the site and interact with the acid without putting anyone in danger. The Doctor is concerned by their low opinion of the Flesh, but intrigued by its function; he scans it with the sonic screwdriver and reaches out to touch it. Jennifer is ordered to her harness by Cleaves; the time travellers watch as the liquid Flesh drains to form an exact copy of Jennifer. The Doctor reminds Cleaves of the impending solar flare, but she refuses to allow her team to leave the island.

Investigating with Amy and Rory, the Doctor notes that the factory runs on solar energy; when the wave hits, there will be a debilitating power surge. Determined to prevent it, the Doctor heads for the roof to deactivate the weathervane, which absorbs the solar energy; however, despite his best efforts, he arrives too late and is knocked unconscious, falling to the ground as the solar storm hits. The acid pipes burst and leak everywhere, eventually causing the TARDIS to sink below ground. As the power surges, the gangers switch between their full human forms and semi-Flesh forms.

The Doctor awakes to see the weathervane gone and its stump smoking. Going off in search of the others, he finds Cleaves, who is deeply shaken and concerned for her team. They move back into the monastery, with the Doctor asking Cleaves how long they'd been unconscious; when she replies a few minutes, he insists that it has been at least an hour, and that a lot could happen in an hour. Amy and Rory awake on the floor of the Flesh room and return to the harness chamber, where they find the rest of the team shaken after the power surge. Jennifer is in a state of shock, and Rory comforts her. The Doctor and Cleaves eventually join them. Cleaves informs the group that the gangers should have melted into their pure Flesh forms, but the Doctor is uncertain -- especially as Jimmy's records start to play throughout the monastery. The gangers are controlling themselves now.

The group runs to the dining hall, which has been ransacked; the Doctor explains that the gangers were merely searching for confirmation of their identities. The gangers have trouble accepting this and believe themselves to be in danger, with Buzzer citing previously recorded cases of gangers going crazy; however, the Doctor shrugs this suggestion off. Jennifer begins to feel ill and rushes to the toilets, closely followed by Rory. In the toilets, Jennifer vomits up Flesh while Rory has his back turned; terrified to realize that she is a ganger, she disappears into one of the cubicles. As Rory steps in front of the sink and spots the Flesh, Jennifer's arm punches through the door of the cubicle and narrowly misses hitting Rory in the face, demonstrating tremendous elastic ability. Her neck also extends through the hole in the door, and she screams, "Let us live!" as Rory runs out of the room.

In the dining hall, the Doctor heats up a plate of food as Jimmy suggests arming themselves against the gangers. The Doctor wonders if Jimmy is a violent man; when Jimmy replies in the negative, the Doctor explains that there is no reason to assume his ganger will be. The Doctor hands Cleaves the plate, though she doesn't react to this until he mentions that it is hot, at which point she drops it. Confused as to why she didn't feel the heat before, the Doctor calmly explains that her nerve endings aren't what they should be, but that she'll stabilize soon enough. Cleaves turns away; when she turns back, she reveals her Flesh form and runs out, screaming. The Doctor is also able to identify Jennifer as a ganger, though she hasn't returned, prompting him and Amy to go off in search of Rory, guided through the dangerous monastery by Jimmy. Arriving at the toilets, the Doctor insists that the gangers aren't violent, but scared and angry, and he needs to talk to them if he is going to fix what has happened. They continue through the monastery, but find many of the corridors blocked by leaking acid puddles. The Doctor proposes going to fetch the TARDIS and rushes of; Amy also goes off on her own to search for Rory. Jimmy returns to the dining hall and sends Buzzer and Dicken off to retrieve the acid suits.

Rory finds Jennifer's ganger in the locker room; she insists that she is Jennifer Lucas, not a mere factory part. She takes offense when he asks her where the real Jennifer is, and takes on full human form while yelling that she is just as real as the "other" Jennifer. Rory comforts her, accepting her and earning her trust.

Prior to fetching the TARDIS, the Doctor returns to the vat of Flesh and scans it once more before leaving. The tub fills with Flesh, and slowly, a mouth takes shape in the liquid, whispering, "Trust me." Upon reaching the TARDIS, the Doctor is disappointed to find that it has almost completely sunk below ground; additionally, the nearby acid melts through his shoes, forcing him to abandon them and return to the monastery. Meanwhile, all of the gangers -- apart from Jennifer -- have gathered in the acid room with the acid suits.

While searching, Amy is horrified to see the woman with the eyepatch yet again; not long after, Rory and Jennifer's ganger discover her, and they are all joined by Buzzer and Dicken. The two factory workers are pleased to have found Jennifer, but Amy is quick to inform them that this is her ganger. Rory becomes defensive, shouting that no one will touch her. They return to the dining hall, where Jimmy, Buzzer, and Dicken interrogate Jennifer's ganger about what she has done to the "real" Jennifer; Amy insists that they should do nothing until the Doctor arrives.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has discovered the gangers hiding out in the acid room and convinces them to cooperate with the humans; he leads them back to the dining hall, observed from afar by a contemptuous Miranda Cleaves, who has been hiding out ever since the solar storm. Reaching the dining hall, the Doctor requests replacement shoes and reminds everyone that the gangers are truly alive; they can't be changed. Jimmy expresses some disdain until his ganger reveals his shared memories of his son's birth; they appear to reach some sort of unspoken truce, even volunteering to go and find Jennifer and Cleaves together. However, before they can depart, the real Cleaves storms the room, brandishing a probe; she refuses to work with the gangers, electrocuting Buzzer's ganger when he advances on her to pry the probe away from her. The Doctor is furious; Buzzer's ganger had a human heart, and Miranda stopped it. Having witnessed Buzzer's murder, Jennifer loses her faith in Rory, concluding that humans can't be trusted; when Cleaves turns on her with the probe, Rory jumps on her, wrestling it away from her as the gangers flee, terrified. The Doctor lectures Cleaves for ruining their chances of working together, prompting Cleaves to arrogantly respond that it's "us or them." Returning to the acid room, Jennifer's ganger repeats this -- "us or them."

Sensing that the gangers will launch an attack as retribution for Buzzer's death, the Doctor suggests hiding out in the monastery's most secure room -- the chapel, which happens to contain the Flesh vat. Despite Amy's protests, Rory separates himself from the group and goes off in search of Jennifer. As the gangers advance on the chapel, the Doctor and his companions barricade themselves inside; however, the Doctor is quick to sense someone else's presence in the room and refuses to focus on the situation at hand. As Amy lectures him, the Doctor's voice rings out from the shadows. A semi-Flesh ganger of the Doctor steps into the light, 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 Wicks - Mark Bonnar
 * Buzzer Edwards - Marshall Lancaster
 * Jennifer Lucas - Sarah Smart
 * Miranda Cleaves - Raquel Cassidy
 * H. 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 11 July 2011.