The God Complex (TV story)

 was the eleventh episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who. It marked the departure of Amy Pond and Rory Williams as regular companions after the Doctor decided it was best if they stopped travelling and remained safe.

Synopsis
The Doctor, Amy and Rory investigate a hotel of horror where repeat business is low but the body count is high, where a mighty monster stalks the corridors and the rooms hold visions of angels, apes and creepy clowns. Who - or what - has brought them to this place? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the residents check out in grisly style?

Plot
A young policewoman, Lucy Hayward, roams the corridors of what appears to be a 1980s Earth hotel. Each room in the hotel possesses the manifestation of a fear, and each person who comes to the hotel must find their room -- after which, they begin to "praise him." Lucy is the last of her companions. Lucy's room contains a giant gorilla that she once saw in a book when she was younger; screaming, she backs out of the room. Somewhere in the hotel, a creature awakens. As Lucy continues to write about her fear, she begins to "praise him," and stands as the creature kills her.

Sometime later, the TARDIS lands in the same hotel. The Doctor is fascinated by their surroundings since, as he informs Amy and Rory, the hotel is not really a hotel at all, but something that someone has made to look like a hotel. There are pictures on the walls of various humans and aliens, each bearing their names and fears. They are suddenly confronted by two Earth humans -- Rita, a nurse, and Howie, a computer geek -- and Gibbis, a cowardly, mole-like alien from the planet Tivoli (the most-invaded planet in the universe). Rita carefully inspects the TARDIS trio, deducing that because their pupils are dilated, they have no idea what is going on either; the Doctor is immediately impressed by her cleverness and jokes to Amy that Rita will be replacing her as his companion. Rita explains to the Doctor and his companions that each room in the hotel contains "bad dreams," with Howie adding that the walls twist and move so that you never know where you're going or where you'll end up. This is confirmed when the Doctor tries to take everyone back to the TARDIS only to find that it has disappeared. When the Doctor asks Rita if there are any more people inside the hotel, Rita mentions Joe, who's a bit "tied up."

Rita, Howie, and Gibbis bring the Doctor and his companions to Joe's room, which is full of ventriloquist dummies. Joe has been tied up by the others inside the room because of his mental instability. Joe informs the Doctor that he is going to die in the hotel because "he" is going to feast. He also warns the Doctor that the same thing will happen to him, but that he must first find his room -- because there is a room in the hotel for everyone. Rather than leave Joe behind, the Doctor has his chair tied up to a cart so they can wheel him around the hotel while they search for the TARDIS or an exit. He warns the entire group to stay with someone else at all times, and avoid being drawn to a particular room.

As the group begins searching the hotel, each person begins throwing out their own theories as to what is happening and how they should act on it. Rory is powerless to keep Howie from finding his room, which contains a group of twenty-something girls who mock him for being nerdy and for his stutter. Howie begins to "praise him." Further up the hallway, Amy discovers pages of Lucy Hayward's diary, which the young woman dropped as the beast killed her. She doesn't have time to show the Doctor, however, as the beast can be heard approaching to kill Joe. Rory locates an exit door, but it goes unseen by everyone else as they scatter into various rooms to hide from the beast. Rita inadvertently enters her own room with Joe to find her father lecturing her about her grades. She also begins to "praise him." Rory, Amy, Gibbis, Howie, and the Doctor enter another room containing two Weeping Angels. Amy warns the others not to blink, but the Doctor quickly ascertains that the Angels are not real. He encourages her to set aside her fear, but Rory notes Gibbis's reaction -- he hides in a closet -- and suggests that maybe the Weeping Angels are not for Amy. The Doctor checks the corridor through the peephole and sees that the creature pursuing them is a Minotaur.

Joe manages to break free of his bindings and goes out into the corridor, smiling when he sees the Minotaur. It overpowers him and drags him away, though they are both chased by the Doctor. The Doctor is separated from Joe and the Minotaur in the winding labyrinth of corridors, but later stumbles across Joe's body.

The group returns to the hotel banquet hall with Joe's body, which the Doctor examines. Amy tries to comfort Gibbis by mentioning that she's met the Weeping Angels and thought the room was for her; however, she knows that the Doctor will find a way out of the mess they're in because he's never let her down, not even when she was a child and she thought he'd left her behind. Gibbis smugly mentions that since the Weeping Angels were for him, her room must still be somewhere in the hotel. The thought unnerves her.

The Doctor tells Rita that there is no medical explanation for Joe's death -- his organs simply stopped, as though all of his faiths and fears were taken from him. Rita confesses that she believes the hotel is Jahannam, the Muslim's idea of hell, though she is apparently unfazed by this and by the Doctor's confession that Gibbis is an alien. Amy remembers Lucy's diary pages and shows them to the Doctor, who reads them as Howie begins to praise the Minotaur, which awakens somewhere in the hotel. The Doctor promises not to leave Howie, who is afraid of being eaten, though Gibbis angers him by suggesting that perhaps the Minotaur would leave the rest of the group alone if they were to sacrifice Howie to him. Rita nobly offers to stay with Howie, but the Doctor rejects this and berates Gibbis, insisting that "no one else will die today." Realizing that the beast feeds on fear, the Doctor tells the others that they must do whatever they can to fight the fear off, even if it means embracing their faith. As Amy wonders what their next move is, the Doctor slyly explains that they're going to catch the monster.

Using a speaker through which Howie's voice is projected, the Doctor manages to lure the Minotaur into the hotel spa, as Amy, Rita, and Rory lock the doors from the outside to trap it. The Doctor begins speaking to the Minotaur, who claims that the "warden" takes people and places them in the hotel, and that it makes them ready by replacing their fear. The Minotaur is miserable in its present state, but will not tell the Doctor how to fight him.

Meanwhile, Gibbis keeps watch over Howie in the reception area, but Howie taunts Gibbis into releasing him. He freely roams the hotel, drawing the Minotaur -- which manages to escape the spa by knocking Rory out -- to him. The Doctor goes off in pursuit. Amy and Rita stay behind to look after Rory, but Amy finds herself drawn to Room 7 and opens the door. Rita is not quick enough to stop her from seeing what lies inside. Meanwhile, the Doctor locates Howie's body; the others arrive shortly after, with Gibbis claiming that Howie got free and overpowered him.

Later, Rory finds the Doctor admiring Howie's picture, which has been added to the wall alongside the others. Rory admits that he hasn't found his door yet, which the Doctor takes to mean that Rory isn't afraid of anything -- something that Rory confirms, saying, "After all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS, what was left to be scared of?" The Doctor sadly notes that Rory spoke in the past tense. Later, they lay Howie's body out in the banquet hall next to Joe's.

The Doctor meets Rita on the stairwell and informs her that he is close to getting them out of the hotel. When Rita wonders why the Doctor has made it his responsibility to save them -- noting that he has quite a "God complex" -- the Doctor sadly looks down to Amy, obviously guilty for bring her and Rory to a place where they are in danger. He invites Rita to travel with him once they escape the hotel and leaves her, but after he departs, she begins to "praise him" and goes off on her own.

While the Doctor searches for the hotel security room, he stumbles across his own door, Room 11, but is hardly surprised by what he sees inside. Rita continues wandering the hotel; when the Doctor finally locates the security room, he spots her on the footage and questions what she's doing. He uses one of the room phones to contact her, realizing that she has begun to "praise him" and is now trying to get as far away from the others to keep them from harm. Knowing that the Doctor cannot rescue her no matter what, she asks to die in private because she wants him to remember her the way she was -- before she was robbed of her faith. As the Minotaur rounds the corner towards her, she hangs up on the Doctor, who heeds her last request and shuts off the security camera just as she is about to be killed.

The Doctor, devastated by Rita's death, destroys the hotel lobby in anger while the others listen. He begins to revise his theory, knowing that Rita wasn't afraid of her death and therefore the beast could not possibly feed on fear. Gibbis berates the Doctor for continuing to promise action without result; when Amy jumps to his defense, the Doctor realizes the truth. The Minotaur feeds on faith, not fear. Howie believed in conspiracies; Rita was a Muslim; Joe was a gambler who believed in luck; and Gibbis believes in the continued presence of invaders who will tell him what to do. The Doctor has inadvertently helped the Minotaur to thrive by insisting that his companions reject their fear and fall back on their faith, which the Minotaur then takes and converts into a consumable form. He tells a confused Rory that the TARDIS was pulled to the hotel -- which is, in fact, an alien prison -- because of Amy's faith in the Doctor. Amy suddenly begins to "praise him."

The group flees through the hotel as the Minotaur approaches to take Amy, and find themselves hiding in her room. The Doctor is astonished to see that Amy's fear is a vision of her seven-year-old self waiting for a Doctor that she believes will never return for her. Amy begins to feel the Minotaur changing her, and the Doctor suddenly insists that he can't save her. He laments having stolen her childhood and leading her to her death, which he claims to have always known would happen because it always does. Requesting that she forget her faith in him, he insists that he really is "just a madman with a box," and that it's time to see each other as they really are. Calling her Amy Williams, he tells her that it's time for her to stop waiting. Though the Minotaur has managed to break into the room, it weakens as Amy's faith in the Doctor is dismantled. The hotel dissolves around them, revealing an automated alien prison cell. The prison floats through space, kidnapping people with belief systems so that their faith may be converted into food for the creature. Amy reminds the Doctor that because the hotel showed him a door, he must believe in something, though he neglects to tell her what this is. The dying Minotaur passes a message to the Doctor, expressing his pity for "an ancient creature drenched in bloodshed," because "for such a creature, death would be a gift." The Doctor believes the Minotaur is referring to itself, but with its dying breath, the Minotaur suggests that it was referring to the Doctor. It subsequently dies, and the group prepares to leave in the TARDIS. After dropping Gibbis off, the TARDIS materializes in a neighborhood in 20th century England. Stepping outside, the Doctor presents Amy and Rory with keys to one of the houses in the row. While Rory steps inside to fetch champagne, Amy speaks to the Doctor privately, as she knows that he is leaving them behind. When she questions why, the Doctor explains that it's because she's still breathing; he doesn't want to wait until she's dead and he's left standing over hers and Rory's graves. After a tearful goodbye, the Doctor departs. Rory returns in time to see the TARDIS dematerializing, and wonders where the Doctor's gone. Amy merely replies that he is saving them.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Amelia Pond - Caitlin Blackwood
 * Lucy Hayward - Sarah Quintrell
 * Rita - Amara Karan
 * Howie Spragg - Dimitri Leonidas
 * Joe Buchanan - Daniel Pirrie
 * Gibbis - David Walliams
 * PE teacher - Dafydd Emyr
 * The Creature - Spencer Wilding
 * Rita's Father - Rashid Karapiet
 * Gorilla - Roger Ennals

Cultural references from the real world

 * Joe sings "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head". This is from the centuries-old nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.
 * One of the girls from Howie's room mentions the Klingons.
 * The 1980s hotel setting is similar to the one in The Shining
 * A shapeshifting prison plucking individuals out of their lives is a similar premise to that of Cube.
 * The Doctor runs back and forth through the shifting hallways and doors of the hotel, reminiscent of the chase scenes in Friz Freleng and Scooby-Doo cartoons.

Foods and beverages

 * The Doctor now appears to enjoy apples. (DW: The Eleventh Hour)

The Doctor

 * The Doctor says he lead Amy "by her hand to her death", saying it always happens. It's a reference to how his companions always leave him if they do not choose to leave of their own will.

Individuals

 * Amy's room number was 7, a reference to her age when she first met the Doctor.
 * The Doctor's room number was 11, a reference to the fact that Matt Smith is the Eleventh Doctor and that this story is the eleventh of the 2011 series. A similar "11' reference occurred in the eleventh episode of series 5. (DW: The Lodger)
 * The Doctor says he has doctorates in both medicine and in cheese-making.
 * When they first arrive, the Doctor accidentally refers to Rory as Mickey, a possible reference to Mickey Smith, a former companion.

Species

 * The Minotaur is a distant cousin of the Nimon.
 * A Sontaran, a Silurian, a Tritovore, a Hoix, a Catkind and a Judoon appear in photographs.
 * One of the photos show Lady Silver-Tear's fear was Daleks.
 * The Weeping Angels are Gibbis' biggest fear, and Amy mentions having encountered them.

Story notes

 * At the time of the script read-through, Lucy Hayward's name was "Lucy Miller". (CON: Heartbreak Hotel) It was ostensibly changed so as to avoid conflict with Lucie Miller, the long-term audio companion of the Eighth Doctor.
 * Rita becomes the latest in a line of characters who are invited to become companions by the Doctor, only to die soon after.
 * David Walliams previously played Quincy Flowers and Ned Cotton in BFA: Phantasmagoria.
 * The Doctor fears that he will either get Rory and Amy killed or have to watch them die. These themes were also touched on in The Vampires of Venice and School Reunion respectively. Both episodes were also written by Toby Whithouse.

Ratings

 * UK Overnight: 5.2 Million
 * UK Final: 6.77 Million

Myths

 * The room with young Amelia is the room containing the Doctor's fear. False. This myth originates from numerous reviews and interpretations of the episode, however the door clearly is not #11, nor is the Do Not Disturb sign visible on the door handle.

Filming locations

 * Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl (Lobby, Bar, Stairwell)


 * Upper Boat Studios (Corridors, Rooms)

Production errors

 * As the group climbs the stairs (all six of them), the edge of the TARDIS was visible. (To see this, look to the mid-right of the screen in this shot. The TARDIS' bottom can just be seen) (11:15)
 * When the Doctor and the gang enter the room containing the ventriloquist dummies, a boom mic is visible in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar (07:16).
 * The Doctor claims that the windows have brick walls on the other side, but many have the reflection of the sun on them.
 * When the minotaur bursts into Amelia's room, Rory literally disappears. He's seen riding the door as it flies back, and then vanishes. Assuming he is knocked unconscious, he would have to be physically attached to the door in some way to not push it closed as he falls to the floor.
 * Lucy Hayward opens the door to Room 214, then Room 215, then Room 214 again.

Continuity

 * The distinct sound of the Cloister Bell can be heard in the Doctor's room.
 * This is not the first time the Doctor has deliberately caused one of his companions to lose faith in him in order to save them. The Doctor emotionally devastated Ace by labelling her, among other things, an "emotional cripple" during his battle with Fenric. This was necessary in order for her to briefly abandon her belief in him, allowing The Ancient One to defeat Fenric DW: The Curse of Fenric.
 * A Rubik's cube is seen again. The Doctor threw one away in DW: Night Terrors when talking to George.
 * Amy has previously encountered the Weeping Angels. (DW: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, NSA: Touched by an Angel)
 * The Minotaur's final words were a prophetic statement delivered both to and about a long-lived traveller, similar to the last words of the Face of Boe. (DW: Gridlock) It also foreshadowed the Doctor's death. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut)
 * In BFA: The Holy Terror, the Sixth Doctor similarly visited a world designed to imprison an individual, namely Eugene Tacitus.
 * The Doctor had previously been made to view images of that which he most feared due to the Master's Keller Machine. (DW: The Mind of Evil) In that case he saw images of many of his enemies, as well as a world consumed by fire, based on his having recently witnessed such. (DW: Inferno)
 * The Doctor says the minotaur is beautiful when he first sees it. The Tenth Doctor previously made this comment about the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform and a Clockwork Droid. (DW: Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace) Amy says the exact same thing later when the minotaur begins to take over her mind.
 * The Doctor previously encountered a fictional Minotaur (DW: The Mind Robber), as well as the real historical figure, which was a transformed human. (DW:The Time Monster)
 * The Doctor said to Amy at the end of DW: The Eleventh Hour that he was definitely a "mad man with a box" and that understanding this could save her life. Here, he uses those exact words to save her from the minotaur.
 * This is not the first time that the Doctor has offered companionship to a medical student who has impressed him by being level-headed and clever in a crisis. (DW: Smith and Jones)
 * One of the rooms contains what appears to be a cross Physical Education teacher. Rory mentions having had a sadistic PE teacher. (DW: The Doctor's Wife)

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: DW: The Girl Who Waited
 * This story occurs before: IDW: Silent Knight

Home video releases
The episode will be released on DVD and Blu-ray shortly after the airing of episode 13.