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Demons of the Punjab

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Synopsis

A Thijarian

India, 1947. The Doctor and her friends arrive in the Punjab, as India is being torn apart.

While Yasmin attempts to discover her grandmother's hidden history, The Doctor discovers demons haunting the land.

Who are they, and what do they want?

Source: BBC Website

General Information

Season:

Thirty Seven (New Series 11)

Production Code:

11-6

Story Number:

282 (New Series: 126)

Episode Number:

846 (New Series: 150)

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Production Dates:

Broadcast Date:

11 November 2018

Colour Status:

HD Colour

Studio:

BBC Wales (Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff)

Location:

Province of Grenada, Spain; Park Hill Flats, Sheffield

Writer:

Vinay Patel

Director:

Jamie Childs

Series Producer:

Nikki Wilson

Producer:

Alex Mercer

Executive Producers:

Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens

Co-Executive Producer:

Sam Hoyle

Executive Producer for the BBC:

Ben Irving

Assistant Directors:

Lauren Pate and Sion Eirug

Script Supervisor:

Nicki Coles

Script Editors:

Fiona McAllister and Hannah Mason (Assistant)

Series Script Editor:

Sheena Bucktowonsing

Editors:

David Fisher, David Davies (Assistant), Hayley Williams (Assistant) and Martyn Western (VFX)

Colourist:

Gareth Spensley

Head of Production:

Radford Neville

Production Executive:

Tracie Simpson

Production Manager:

James DeHaviland

Production Assistant:

Ellie Simmons

Post Production Supervisor:

Ceres Doyle

Production Designer:

Arwel Wyn Jones

Director of Photography:

Sam Heasman

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG

Line Producer:

Steffan Morris

Costume Designer:

Ray Holman

Make-Up Designer:

Claire Pritchard-Jones

Cameramen:

Dan Patounas (Assistant), Scott Waller (Assistant), Sophie Hardcastle (Assistant) and Mark McQuoid (Operator)

Visual Effects:

DNEG

Special Effects:

Real SFX

Prosthetics:

Millennium FX

Special Creature Effects:

Millennium FX

Stunt Co-ordinators:

Crispin Layfield and Dani Biernat

Stunt Performers:

Belinda McGinley and Will Mackay

Incidental Music:

Segun Akinola

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Harry Barnes

Sound Recordist:

Deian Llyr Humphreys

Dubbing Mixer:

Howard Bargroff

Music Conducted By:

Alec Roberts

Music Orchestrated By:

Alec Roberts

Music Recorded By:

Olga Fitzroy

Music Mixed By:

Goetz Botzenhardt

Title Sequence:

Ben Pickles

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Segun Akinola

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Jodie Whittaker (The Thirteenth Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companions:

Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brien), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair) and Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan)

Additional Cast:

Leena Dhingra (Nani Umbreen), Amita Suman (Umbreen), Shane Zaza (Prem), Hamza Jeetooa (Manish), Shaheen Khan (Hasna), Shobna Gulati (Najia), Ravin J Ganatra (Hakim), Bhavnisha Parmar (Sonya), Emma Fielding (Voice of Kisar), Nathalie Curzner (Performance of Kisar), Isobel Middleton (Voice of Almak), Barbara Fadden (Performance of Almak)

Setting:

Pakistan-India border, Punjab (17th and 18th August 1947)

Villain:

Manish

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
846	Demons of the Punjab	11 November 2018	50'03"	7.2	Yes

Total Duration

50 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

7.2

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)

Position = 5 out of 24

Archives

This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.

Notes

This is the sixth story of Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11). It was written by Vinay Patel and directed by Jamie Childs.

In this story Yasmin Khan persuades The Doctor to take her to India to see her grandmother when she was a young woman. However, they soon become caught up in the events preceding the partition of India. The Doctor however, questions if aliens are involved in the death of a man that is killed during their visit.

This is the first story of Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11) that isn't written or co-written by Chris Chibnall.

After the premiere story, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" of this season was broadcast, it was announced that Shane Zaza, Hamza Jeetooa, and Amita Suman would be among a number of guest actors that would appear in during this season. In this story they play the parts of Prem, Manish and the younger Umbreen respectively.

This story's closing theme was arranged after the style of Punjabi music by this season's composer Segun Akinola.

The story was filmed in the Province of Granada in Spain.

This is the second story of Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11) in which its title may be considered to have a double meaning, following "The Woman Who Fell to Earth". In this case, ‘Demons’ may refer to the Thijarians or the Hindu thugs who kill Prem, as he refers to them as demons.

While participating in the pre-wedding celebrations, The Doctor muses that she never used to do this kind of thing when she was a man, a reference to her previous male incarnations.

The Doctor can officiate weddings, having previously officiated Albert Einstein's.

The Doctor is heard to state that she is too kind, something her predecessor told her to be in "Twice Upon a Time".

Yasmin's Muslim faith was briefly touched upon before in "Rosa".

Graham O'Brien is heard calling The Doctor ‘Doc’ as he has done previously in "Rosa", "Arachnids in the UK" and "The Tsuranga Conundrum".

This story has The Doctor explain more about the specific details of how the telepathic circuits in the TARDIS function when we witness her using them to find a specific place and time in relation to one of her companions (see "Listen" and "Dark Water/Death in Heaven").

This story further expanded on Yasmin Khan's family and heritage, exploring her grandmother Umbreen's personal history in India during its partition in 1947.

The Tenth Doctor also visited India during the 1947 Partition, with Donna Noble in the BBC novel "Ghosts of India" written by Mark Morris.

The Doctor again incorrectly assumes malicious intent from aliens present at people's deaths. Much like "Twice Upon a Time", The Doctor believed the aliens intended to kill, but they were in fact non-hostile. The Thijarians were not killing, but instead bearing witness.

The Doctor lists several things she needs to those around her to get her in order to solve the matter at hand. The Eleventh Doctor did the same in the White House in the 2011 story "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon").

The Doctor refers to the dangers of going back in time to observe family members. Though this time, it is not as disastrous as for Rose Tyler in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Father's Day".

The Doctor has attended several weddings before and in this story she is heard to remark how she loves them. The Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor held similar opinions, (see "The Runaway Bride", "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang" and "Let's Kill Hitler") although the Tenth Doctor remarked, in the 2007 story "Blink" that he was ‘rubbish’ at his own. By contrast, the Twelfth Doctor hated weddings (see the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story "The Clockwise War").

The Doctor states that the people with her are under her protection. The Eleventh Doctor voiced a similar sentiment multiple times (see "The Eleventh Hour", "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe", "The Bells of Saint John" and "Nightmare in Silver").

For the second time in this season, the usual Doctor Who theme tune does not play over the end credits. In contrast to "Rosa", this story has an Indian music inspired version of the theme.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first Doctor Who story to be written by Vinay Patel.

The first story of Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11) that isn't written or co-written by Chris Chibnall.

Story Images

Show Text

Older Umbreen

The Doctor is Attacked

Younger Umbreen

The Two Brothers

Bhakti

Prem

A Thijarian

Realisation

The Wedding Ceremony

Manish

Manish Prepares to Kill Prem

The Thijarians Honoring Prem

Quote of the Story

'Ordinary people who've lived here all their lives, whipped into a frenzy to be part of a mob. There's nothing worse than when ordinary people lose their minds. We've lived together for decades, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh, and now we're being told that our differences are more important than what unites us. Like we learned nothing in the war. I don't know how we protect people when hatred's coming from all sides.'

Prem

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set	January 2019	BBCDVD 4296	Photo-montage	DVD boxed set containing 10 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set	January 2019	BBCBD 0437	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 10 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	January 2019	BBCBD 0455	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories
CD	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 11	January 2019		Photo-montage	Music by Segun Akinola

In Print

No Book Release

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview	Issue 531 (Released: December 2018)
Doctor Who Magazine - Review	Issue 533 (Released: January 2019)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions

The Thirteenth Doctor

Graham O'Brien

Ryan Sinclair

Yasmin Khan

On Release

Complete Series DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Cover

AUDIO

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 531

Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 533

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Thirteenth Doctor

Season 37 (New Series 11)

References

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