The Zygon Inversion (TV story)

The Zygon Inversion was the eighth episode of series 9 of Doctor Who.

This episode dealt with the concept of war, and the consequences of it. As the Doctor points out, no matter how many lives are lost or what destruction ensues, it always boils down to both sides sitting down for negotiation. The episode also saw the Twelfth Doctor describe the immense pain he felt while fighting in the Time War in an emotional and angry speech for the first time since his predecessor discovered that the War Doctor had not destroyed Gallifrey in The Day of the Doctor.

It did not elaborate if the human Osgood or Zygon double was still alive, instead having Bonnie fill the vacancy in the form of a replacement double for the one of the two who had been killed by in Death in Heaven. Osgood explains that she can be either version; Zygons don't need the person that they copy if their memories are unneeded. In a behind the scenes extra, Ingrid Oliver, who played Osgood, has chosen which of the original Osgood duo is left, but she kept which one she picked a secret.

Synopsis
With the splinter group of Zygons now ahead of the Doctor, there is only one thing standing in their way of obliterating the human race and taking the Earth for themselves: a moral dilemma!

Is Bonnie willing to compromise the peace already in place, just for the sake of Zygons not needing to hide, even if it means making enemies not only of humanity but of her own race?

Plot
Clara awakens in her apartment, deciding to get ready for the day; she grabs a white tube that only has black letters spelling "This is toothpaste". However, when she attempts to use it, black gunk comes out of it, making Clara drop the tube and toothbrush. Clara soon hears Bonnie's voice taunting the Doctor, finding her living room television filled with static. She quickly checks a magazine, finding it filled with gibberish, except for the words she hears Bonnie speaking; she's dreaming. Running through her apartment, Clara finds walls blocking her door and windows. In the real world, Clara spasms as if trying to wake up.

Grabbing a remote, Clara manages to tune her dream to Bonnie's consciousness, allowing what the Zygon is looking at to appear on the television screen. Bonnie has Boat One in the cross-hairs of a bazooka. Realising the Doctor is in danger, Clara knocks her television over. As a result, Bonnie's arms fly to her left the moment she fires the rocket, changing its trajectory. It flies just past Boat One, with the Doctor and Osgood noting that she missed them.

Bonnie passes this off as a spasm, reloading her bazooka. Seeing the television back up, with Bonnie is targeting the Doctor again, Clara tries to toss the television aside again but finds it stuck. Frantically thinking, Clara tries using her link with Bonnie to force her to hold off on firing another shot. Finding herself losing, Clara bites her finger, hoping to stop Bonnie; however, the Zygon gets her shot off and blows up Boat One successfully this time. Bonnie smiles at the smouldering remains of the plane falling through the sky.

Later, members of Truth or Consequences have murdered more humans in London, and covered the area with their symbol as a message. Returning to their human forms, most lounge around the area while one in the form of sanitation engineer sweeps up the remains of their victims. A man, Etoine, is running in fear with his shopping bags; he trips, losing his shopping. Fearful of what's behind him, he leaves the bags behind and runs into the nearby apartment complex. Moments later, Bonnie approaches calmly, with a smile on her face.

Etoine gets to his home and locks the door; hearing a knocking, he looks out to see Bonnie. He runs further inside, as Bonnie forces the door open; she corners him in his living room. It turns out that Etoine is a Zygon. Bonnie tells him that the humans will never accept them for who they really are and that he will be the first to make them see. Despite his pleas to leave him alone, Bonnie zaps his head, prompting Etoine to flee. She follows with a dark smile on her face. Outside, Etoine asks his fellow Zygons to help him maintain his disguise, but they ignore him. Unable to keep his human form, Etoine completely reverts back to Zygon form; hoping to avoid causing a panic, he runs into the nearest building.

Unknown to Etoine, Bonnie was merely using him as a pawn; she recorded his transformation on Clara's phone. She posts it on the internet to spread panic and paranoia among the humans, hoping to force the rest of the Zygons to join the splinter group. With this task done, Bonnie informs Truth or Consequences that she is heading to the UNIT HQ to retrieve the Osgood Box to start the war against humanity.

At the same time, Clara reviews Bonnie's memory of seeing Boat One explode on the television in her dream. She pauses it and looks closer at the scene. Two dots are seen falling away the moment the plane exploded; she smiles, realising that the Doctor parachuted away from the plane right as it blew up.

On a beach, Osgood frees herself from her chute and notices her glasses are broken. The Doctor asks her if she has any question, to which she asks about the Union Jack on his chute; he responds that it's camouflage to blend in while he's in Brittan. He offers Osgood his sonic sunglasses in the meantime, telling her not to look at his user history; she finds the idea of sonic eye-wear silly. The Doctor tells her he once invented an invisible watch - "spot the design flaw." Osgood tells him that he's talking nonsense to distract her, one of his best-known traits. Osgood then tells him that Bonnie made the mistake of giving him a chance; if she wanted to take over Earth, she would kill him outright with a bullet between the eyes twelve times and not let him talk. The Doctor notes how oddly prepared Osgood is for that scenario; she tells him it's because she's such a big fan.

As the Doctor and Osgood trek on, she notes that it's rather odd that Bonnie didn't blow them up with her big bazooka. However, the Doctor retorts "this is us blown up by a big bazooka". Osgood explains that if Bonnie had Clara's memories, she would know better than to give him a chance as that will come back to haunt her. Realising the Doctor has gone silent because she's mentioned Clara, Osgood asks how he's feeling; the Doctor says he's still in his "hope phase". When Osgood asks him how that is, he tells her it's Hell and to change the subject.

Elsewhere, Bonnie is walking through the streets. Unknown to her, Clara uses their link to manipulate her right hand; Clara is using her phone to text. The Doctor gets the text, which says "I'm awake.' Wondering if it means a political awakening, he becomes confused as to why the Zygon is sending him propaganda if it thinks it blew him up. However, Osgood tells him that it came from Clara, telling the Doctor that she's fighting back. She asks how his hope phase is, to which the Doctor says is worse than ever. Smiling, Osgood tells him that they have a game now.

Bonnie enters the UNIT base and opens a safe behind the portrait of the Doctor's original incarnation. She briefly notices her reflection in the mirror is wrong, displaying Clara in her pyjamas from the dream, but when she goes back to check her reflection is normal. She finds a laptop inside and turns it on. A message from the two Osgoods plays, explaining that if they were captured and interrogated, they gave up the location of this laptop. However, the Osgood Box is not there; they firmly explain that it's the truth and further looking would be a waste of time. They smile, asking the watcher if they've figured out why it's called an Osgood Box. Seething with anger, Bonnie snarls and tosses the laptop to the ground, stomping on the worthless device until it's in small pieces.

Back on the beach, the Doctor and Osgood see a police car. Racing up to it, the Doctor passes himself off as "Dr John Disco", telling the officers that his plane blew up, but there's nothing to worry about. However, the officers don't appear that surprised by what he's telling them. Worrying that they may be Zygons from the splinter group Truth or Consequences, the Doctor and Osgood begin walking away. However, another pair of officers begin approaching from where they came from. Seems like the Doctor was right about the officers being Zygons; humans would be excited and endlessly questioning them.

Osgood video calls Clara's phone, surprising Bonnie that they're still alive. Taking the phone, the Doctor asks what the plan is, only for Bonnie to say she doesn't have one; he tells "you don't invade a planet without a plan; that's why they're called planets, to remind you to plan it." Bonnie asks him where the Osgood box is, winking due to Clara trying to signal the Doctor. Thinking the Zygon is flirting with him, he states "I'm old enough to be your messiah". However, Bonnie insists that she isn't winking; realising it's Clara, the Doctor tells Osgood to use the sonic sunglasses to break into a nearby van. As Clara wouldn't know morse code, the Doctor learns from her winks, which stand for "yes", that her pod is in London; he then tells Clara not to let the Zygon know what's in her mind. Boarding the van, he is told by Osgood that obviously Bonnie heard that; he smiles, knowing that - "The mind of Clara Oswald; she'll never find her way out."

At the Zygon nest, Bonnie approaches the pod holding Clara and telepathically talks to her; Bonnie appears on the TV screen in Clara's dream. Clara uses the link to force Bonnie back to Zygon form briefly. However, upon saying she's a great liar, Clara is shocked when Bonnie tells her they share a pulse and will be monitoring it to make sure she's telling the truth; one lie and Bonnie will kill her. Bonnie interrogates her, learning the Osgood Box is at the Black Archive under the Tower of London and that Clara does have access. Bonnie is then surprised to learn Clara can't give her the access, because she already has it; she has Clara's bodyprint, so she automatically has access. However, Clara taunts Bonnie, saying though she's given this information, the Zygon will still need her. "Kate" arrives, explaining the Doctor is on his way; Bonnie orders that he be copied, if possible, but disposed of.

On their way back to London, Osgood finds the video Bonnie posted on the Internet. Recognizing the location, the Doctor and Osgood head to south London shopping centre the Fleet Estate Centre. Exiting the van, the Doctor declares that London is a cradle of culture - "what a dump." Osgood counters the Doctor's comment by noting that he's spent a lot of time here for not liking the place. The Doctor points out that he also spends a lot of time almost getting killed; that doesn't mean he has to like the experience.

Entering the Centre, they find several piles of dead people. The Doctor asks Osgood for her first name, but she asks for his name; going with "Basil", the Doctor learns her full name is Petronella Osgood. Not liking it, he tells her they should stick to what they had. They see Etonie hiding near by, and give chase when he runs at the sight of them. Cornered, Etoine explains he was just defending himself; he didn't want to kill those humans. Having trouble keeping his human form due to the zap Bonnie gave him, he says he didn't want to be a part of their war. They try offering help; however, he thinks they may be more of Bonnie's stooges. Not wanting to live under the rule of Truth or Consequences, Etoine kills himself out of fear. Kate arrives with two guards, telling the Doctor and Osgood that she knows where the nest is; it's also where Clara's pod is. The Doctor is elated by the news, telling Kate to lead the way.

At the Black Archive, Bonnie skips to the storage room. Smiling, she tells Clara it is so much fun being her, as she just got waved through for simply looking like Clara Oswald. Behind her, two disguised Zygons are wheeling Clara's pod after Bonnie. However, the moment she enters the room, her smile fades at the sight of the Osgood Box.

At the Zygon nest, Kate attempts to show the Doctor where Clara's pod is, only to find it missing. However, the Doctor then realises that he just walked into a trap; the guards turn back into Zygon form. Bonnie calls the Zygons, explaining that she found out why it's called an Osgood Box - there's two of them. "Operation Double, two Osgoods; what did you expect?" the Doctor laughs. Bonnie has Clara awakened, but learns she doesn't know which of the boxes is the right one; Clara points out that Bonnie should have already known this because their minds are linked. When Bonnie threatens to kill Clara to force his cooperation, the Doctor explains the blue one will revert the Zygons to normal, while the red one kills them. However, much to Bonnie increasing anger, there are two buttons in both boxes, and both say Truth and Consequences. He refuses to tell which button does which, making Bonnie order his execution.

However, Kate shoots the Zygons dead instead. A surprised Doctor asks who she is, to which Kate says "I'm me". When the Zygon attacked her back in New Mexico, Kate emptied her gun into it and took its place to get close to Bonnie. Kate apologises to the Doctor, knowing he isn't a fan of killing, but would approve of it if done in self-defence. She then smashes the communicator, asking who Osgood is; Osgood states she is herself. Kate then wonders if that means she's human or Zygon; however, Osgood firmly tells her that she is Osgood and no-one else. The Doctor tells them they don't have time for this; they need to get to the Black Archive.

At the Black Archive, Bonnie is pondering her next move. Clara tells her that she can't win; however, Bonnie voices the fact that she doesn't care. The Doctor, Osgood and Kate arrive, with the Doctor asking to be let to take the boxes away; without them to cause any more senseless slaughter, they can move on to forgiving and forgetting about Truth or Consequences' attempt to break the ceasefire. However, Bonnie is defensive, believing that she won't be forgiven for all the deaths she caused.

Kate goes over to the red box, ready to use it to defend the human race, while Bonnie goes to the blue one, ready to liberate the Zygons. The Doctor tells them Bonnie's box will either cause the Zygons to revert to their true forms for an hour or cancels their ability to change form, thus making them human for good; Kate's box will either release "imbecile's gas" (a gas poisonous to Zygons created by Harry Sullivan) into the atmosphere or detonate the nuclear warhead beneath the Black Archive, destroying London.

"There are safeguards beyond safeguards. I did this on a very important day for me. This ceasefire will stand." the Doctor declares to both Kate and Bonnie.

The Doctor asks Bonnie what it actually is that she wants, to which she answers: war. He then asks her to paint a picture of what the future will be like; will there be music, jobs, etc? As she can't give an answer, the Doctor scolds her, telling Bonnie that she's like every other tantruming child; she doesn't actually know what she wants. He further asks what will Bonnie do once everything is right and just, with all "the bad guys" gone, what will protect her "glorious revolution" from the next, because there will still be rebels in any species. When Bonnie says that they will continue to win, the Doctor says that they might, but NOBODY wins for long.

With both Kate and Bonnie willing to press their buttons on the gamble of a 50-50 chance, the Doctor can't resist making fun of the situation like a game show announcer; he then snaps at them, yelling that isn't a game, but a scale model of every single war in the universe's history. The Doctor continues, saying no matter how right you feel at the beginning, you don't know who's going to die, whose families are going to be torn apart, whose lives are ruined forever. This situation right now in the Black Archive is what it every single war always boils down to; what both sides should have done at the very beginning: "Sit down and talk!"

Bonnie accuses the Doctor of setting up the entire problem; however, he retorts that it's HER fault because she caused this rebellion. They then get into an argument about what's fair; the Doctor tells her that unfairness is a part of life. However, Bonnie still refuses to stand down, claiming that she will be punished for her revolution. The Doctor chides her, comparing her to a child thinking that they're unforgivable. He then tells her something that she didn't foresee; he forgives her, after all the horrible things that the splinter group has done. He goes on to explain that the only way to break the senseless cycle of cruelty and hatred is having the ability to forgive others for their mistakes.

When Bonnie says the Doctor could never understand her situation, the Doctor is incredulous, he tells her that this little squabble isn't a war; he fought in a bigger war than she will ever know. Growing angrier and traumatised as he remembers, the Doctor tells her that he did more horrible things that she can imagine and when he closes his eyes, he can still hear the countless screaming of the victims. Clara closes her eyes in response, having seen the Time War herself and knowing of the true horror the Doctor's seen. He tells Bonnie that what you do with this pain is to hold it tight until it burns your hands and you say: "No-one else will ever have to live like this. No-one else will ever have to feel this pain."

Kate, moved by the Doctor's agony, closes the box, which the Doctor quietly thanks her in relief. The Doctor turns to Bonnie and smiles, knowing he's persuaded her; when asked how he knows, the Doctor tells her that she has the disadvantage of having Clara's face and the Doctor knows when he's won her over. Bonnie then asks him if the boxes are empty; he confirms this, telling her that she only figured this out by starting to think like him - "it's hell, isn't it?" However, Kate is less than amused; they know the boxes are empty now, so this can't work twice. Telling Kate that she's said that 15 times, the Doctor wiped her memory with the device in the ceiling; Bonnie's guards also had the memories wiped. In short, Bonnie was not persuaded 15 times, so the Doctor kept erasing everyone memories to get a good result.

Closing her box, Bonnie asks why her memory was spared; Osgood tells Bonnie that it's because she's part of their team now. Bonnie asks how the Doctor knew she would side with him. He tells her it's the same thing that happened to him; he let Clara Oswald get into his head. The Doctor explains that he once planned to use a similar box to bring an end to a terrible war because he thought it was the only way. However, thanks to Clara, he was able to come up with a better solution. Bonnie looks at Clara with a smile. The Doctor smiles at Bonnie, telling her that once Clara gets in your head, "she never leaves."

Bonnie returns to her nest, telling her comrades the revolution is over and that they're safe. She then abandons Clara's form, returning to her true Zygon self. Outside the nest, the Doctor asks Osgood to travel with him; however, she turns him down, saying that she needs to be around to make the Nightmare Scenario work out like this again. Per the Doctor's request, Clara hugs Osgood on his behalf. However, the Doctor is left bewildered that Osgood never thought of what the TARDIS stood for; he tells her it stands for "Totally And Radically Driving In Space". Clara boards the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor to take her on another adventure.

The Doctor tells Osgood that he needs to know which she is: human or Zygon? Osgood smiles, telling him that she will answer that one day. To the Doctor's shock, another Osgood walks up, telling him that the day will be when the answer doesn't matter. The two of them explain that it wouldn't be okay to use Clara's face when there's a vacancy for an Osgood. Both of them say that it doesn't matter which is Osgood and which is Bonnie, only that Osgood lives. "You're a credit to your species, Petronella Osgood." the Doctor tells them. However, the Osgoods correct him, stating they are a credit to both species. Smiling, he turns to the TARDIS, but turns back; the Doctor states he's a fan of their work.

Back in the TARDIS, Clara asks the Doctor if he thought she was dead for a while. Solemnly, the Doctor states "Longest month of my life". Clara laughs, saying it could have only been for a few minutes. Pulling a lever, the Doctor tells Clara to let him be the judge of time.

After the TARDIS departs, both Osgoods decide to get ice cream before heading back to work.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
 * Kate - Jemma Redgrave
 * Etoine - Nicholas Asbury
 * Zygons - Aidan Cook, Tom Wilton, Jack Parker

Uncredited cast

 * Voice of the Zygons - Nicholas Briggs
 * Police Officer 1 - Ben Nash
 * Police Officer 2 - Jon Davey

Locations

 * The Fleet Estate Centre is visited.
 * The block of flats that Etoine lives in is called Meelfe House.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor jokes to Osgood that his real name is "Basil".
 * The Doctor jokes that, as he is over 2000 years old, he is old enough to be Bonnie's Messiah.
 * The Doctor jokes around with Bonnie, using puns, calling himself "Doctor Pun-tastic".
 * The Doctor escapes the plane in a parachute with a Union Flag on it.
 * The Doctor once created an invisible watch, which had an obvious design flaw.
 * The Doctor keeps a browser history in his sonic sunglasses and advises Osgood not to look at it.
 * Osgood says that if she wanted to kill the Doctor, she would do so quickly by shooting him in the head, twelve times if necessary, referring to his regeneration cycle.

Clara

 * Clara has apparently unfettered access to the Black Archive and is one of the only individuals with this.
 * Clara is aware of the Osgood Box and, it is implied, is aware of there having been two Osgoods at one time.
 * The newspaper in Clara's dream that she checks to ensure she's dreaming reads gibberish, indicating that to her it holds no significance.
 * Clara exhibits sufficient willpower to control Bonnie's actions, and even cause the Zygon to lose human form briefly.

Osgood

 * Osgood's first name is revealed to be Petronella.

Zygons

 * The Zygons have a communication device that works the same way a phone does.

Bonnie

 * Bonnie is compared to a child having a tantrum by the Doctor.
 * Bonnie is nicknamed "Zygella" by the Doctor.

Conflict

 * The Doctor likens Bonnie's proposed war on humanity to a game compared to the scale of the Time War.

Cultural references

 * The Doctor affects an American accent and briefly impersonates a stereotypical game show host.
 * The concept of a box containing a secret that was revealed after the contestant chooses which button to push was an aspect of the real-life Truth or Consequences TV game show.

Story notes

 * The same day as the previous episode aired, a plane was bombed in a way reminiscent of the cliffhanger. Harness was worried that this might cause the second part of the story to be delayed, so asked TARDIS Eruditorum author Elizabeth Sandifer to do an occult ritual to keep things in the show's favour, just in case.
 * Bonnie and Clara can be told apart by their hair. Clara's is kept down, while Bonnie keeps hers up.

Ratings

 * BBC One Overnight: 4.13 million
 * BBC America Overnight: to be added
 * Final UK ratings: 6.03 million

Filming location
Maelfa Shopping Centre, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff

to be added

Production errors

 * When the Doctor, Clara, and Osgood arrive at the TARDIS, the Doctor is a few feet away from it. In the next shot, he is standing right next to it.
 * When the pod lid is taken off you can see Clara's hair is messed up but when the Doctor is talking to Bonnie and Kate her hair is brushed and neat.

Continuity

 * The painting of the First Doctor in the Unit Safe House opens to reveal a safe. (TV: The Zygon Invasion)
 * In her dream, Clara hears Bonnie's last words for the Doctor before firing the missile launcher, as well as the missile being fired. (TV: The Zygon Invasion)
 * Kate Stewart explains that she survived her encounter with a Zygon by firing "five rounds rapid," a phrase used by her father. (TV: The Dæmons)
 * The Doctor uses his iPhone again. (TV: The Zygon Invasion) He and Bonnie at one point communicate using Facetime. (TV: Before the Flood)
 * Boat One is blown up again. (TV: Death in Heaven)
 * Bonnie watches the video filmed by the Osgoods. (TV: The Zygon Invasion)
 * The naval surgeon who invented the anti-Zygon gas Z-67 is named Sullivan. (TV: Terror of the Zygons, The Zygon Invasion) The Doctor calls him an imbecile, just as he once did in his fourth incarnation. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)
 * Clara urges Bonnie to kill her by saying "go on, then", when Bonnie threatens her. She previously did the same with the Half-Face Man, a trick she, in turn, learned from Courtney Woods. (TV: Deep Breath)
 * Clara says she's a great liar. (TV: Death in Heaven)
 * The Black Archive is revisited and the memory-eraser is reactivated. The beginning of the peace-treaty is also mentioned. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
 * The battle helmet of a Mire is in the Black Archive. (TV: The Girl Who Died)
 * The Doctor recalls the intense pain of his experiences in the Last Great Time War. Furthermore, the Osgood Boxes are directly based off the Moment to reflect the way his war incarnation struggled not to use its destructive potential. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
 * The Doctor says that he can still hear the screams of those who suffered when he closes his eyes. Kahler-Jex was also affected by his actions in such a way. (TV: A Town Called Mercy)
 * Clara performs a "dream check" to gauge the state of her reality when she wakes up. (TV: Last Christmas)
 * The Doctor mentions an invisible watch he once made. (TV: The Caretaker)

Blu-ray releases
to be added