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Matt Smith
The God Complex
Eleventh Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Saying Goodbye
Saying Goodbye
 The Doctor, Amy and Rory are on their way to Ravan-Skala. Legend has it that the people there are 600-feet tall. But then the TARDIS is yanked off course and drops them off in an ordinary - albeit deserted - hotel instead. "How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" asks Amy. But this hotel isn't as ordinary or as empty as it first appears…

 There's a room packed with party balloons. In another, a gorilla uses the en suite bathroom. There are clowns. And Weeping Angels. All manner of nightmares stalk the corridors. And it isn't even a hotel. It's just been made to look like one. But who would mock-up an Earth hotel? "You're going to die here," the guests are told. "Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure," replies The Doctor.



General Information

Season: Thirty Two (New Series 6)
Production Code: 6-11
Story Number: 223 (New Series: 67)
Episode Number:781 (New Series: 85)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: February - March 2011
Broadcast Date: 17 September 2011
Colour Status: HD Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)
Location: Seabank Hotel (Porthcawl, Cardiff); Manor Parc Hotel (Newport) and Bute Esplanade (Cardiff, Wales).
Writer:Toby Whithouse
Director:Nick Hurran
Producer:Marcus Wilson
Executive Producers:Beth Willis, Piers Wenger and Steven Moffat
Associate Producer:Denise Paul
Script Executive:Lindsey Alford
Script Editor:Elaine Matthews (Supervisor)
Editor:Tim Porter
Production Executive:Julie Scott
Production Manager:Phillipa Cole
Production Assistant:Charlie Coombes
Production Designer:Michael Pickwoad
Director of Photography:Owen McPolin
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Line Producer:Diana Barton
Costume Designer:Barbara Kidd
Make-Up Designer:Barbara Southcott
Cameramen:Matthew Lepper (Assistant), Simon Ridge (Assistant), Svetlana Miko (Assistant) and Joe Russell (Operator)
Visual Effects:BBC Wales Graphics
Special Effects:Real SFX
Prosthetics:Millennium FX
Stunt Co-ordinator:Crispin Layfield
Stunt Performer:Gordon Seed
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Paul Jefferies
Sound Recordist:Bryn Thomas
Music Orchestrated By:Ben Foster
Music Conducted By:Ben Foster
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Music Recorded By:Gerry O'Riordan
Music Mixed By:Jake Jackson
Title Sequence:Frame Store
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) (Departs) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) (Departs) Guest Cast: David Walliams (Gibbis), Caitlin Blackwood (Amelia Pond) Additional Cast: Sarah Quintrell (Lucy Hayward), Amara Karan (Rita), Dimitri Leonidas (Howie Spragg), Daniel Pirrie (Joe Buchanan), Dafydd Emyr (P.E. Teacher), Spencer Wilding (The Creature), Rashid Karapiet (Rita’s Father), Roger Ennals (Gorilla)Setting: Prison Spaceship Villain: Minotaur

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
781The God Complex17 September 201147'52"6.8Yes

Total Duration 48 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 6.8
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2011)76.30%  (Position = 6 out of 13)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)71.36% Lower (Position = 118 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 11 out of 39


Archives


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



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Notes


This story has been written by Toby Whithouse who is the creator and writer of the BBC Three smash-hit supernatural thriller Being Human. He has though worked on Doctor Who twice before: in 2006, he scripted Sarah Jane Smith's return to the show in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion" and last year he wrote his first story for the Eleventh Doctor, "The Vampires of Venice".

This story was originally intended to be part of Season Thirty One (New Series 5) - the Eleventh Doctor's first series. His initial idea was of a hotel with shifting rooms. Executive Produce and Showrunner Steven Moffat thought that there were too many instances in which the characters were running through corridors in that season and so Toby Whithouse contributed "The Vampires of Venice" instead. The idea to have a Minotaur as the monster came from Toby Whithouse’s love for Greek mythology.

The director for this story is a Nick Hurran - a newcomer to Doctor Who but his second story of this season (his first being "The Girl Who Waited") - so making this his second story in a row. Nick Hurran has plenty of experience working on fantasy series, however, having directed five episodes of ITV’s 2009 remake of The Prisoner, as well as dramas such as Bonekickers, Outside Edge and Boon.

Guest starring in this story, as the alien Gibbis, is actor and comedian David Walliams who is a star of the internationally-successful sketch shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me. Although this will be David Walliams' first appearance in Doctor Who proper, he memorably appeared with Mark Gatiss in three Doctor Who-themed sketches in BBC Two's Doctor Who Night back in 1999. David Walliams also previously appeared in the 1999 Big Finish Productions audio story "Phantasmagoria" where he played two separate characters - Quincy Flowers and Ned Cotton.

It has been revealed that David Walliams is a massive fan of Doctor Who and has stated he got Tom Baker to work on Little Britain because he was such a devotee of the Fourth Doctor!

This story again features Karen Gillan's cousin Caitlin Blackwood as Amelia Pond (the younger version of Amy). We last saw her in "Let's Kill Hitler" and here she recreates her waiting posture - seated on a small suitcase waiting for her ‘raggedy Doctor’ - as seen in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Eleventh Hour" - her debut story.

At the time of the script read-through, Lucy Hayward's name was ‘Lucy Miller’. It was changed so as to avoid conflict with Lucie Miller, the long-term Big Finish Productions audio companion of the Eighth Doctor.

The framed photograph of Gold that Amy checks out in the opening minutes of this story is that of Doctor Who producer, Marcus Wilson.

A Sontaran, a Silurian, a Tritovore, a Hoix, a Catkind and a Judoon also appear in photographs. (see "The Time Warrior", "Doctor Who and the Silurians", "Planet of the Dead", "Love and Monsters", "New Earth" and "Smith and Jones").

The Doctor has previously been made to view images of that which he most fears due to the Master's Keller Machine (see the 1971 Third Doctor story "The Mind of Evil") In that case, he saw images of many of his enemies and a world consumed by fire.

The Doctor identifies the creature in this story as being from a species who are close relatives to the Nimon - a technologically advanced race that resembled Minotaurs. The Nimon were defeated by The Doctor in the 1979/90 Fourth Doctor story "The Horns of Nimon" and who also appeared in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Seasons of Fear".

The Doctor fought a version of the Minotaur in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Time Monster". The 1968 Second Doctor story "The Mind Robber" also featured a form of the Minotaur along with several other mythical creatures including a unicorn.

The Minotaur is a creature from Greek myth. Part man, part bull, the being was kept in a Cretan Labyrinth.

Also making an appearance in this story are The Weeping Angels. These are Gibbis' biggest fear, and Amy mentions having encountered them. (see the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Blink" and the 2010 story "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone").

The Daleks are also mentioned. This occurred when one of the photographs show that Lady Silver-Tear's fear was Daleks.

The Doctor's exclamation 'Oh, look at you... you are beautiful!', when he sees the Minotaur, echoes his comment, 'Oh, you are beautiful!' when he saw the werewolf in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Tooth and Claw" and again whilst addressing the Clockwork Robot in the 2006 story "The Girl in the Fireplace".

Two Myths existed before this story was broadcast: It was thought that the Face of Boe would appear. This could be because to the trailer included a close-up of a Boe-like eye. This eye ended up being the minotaur creature. The second Myth was that The Weeping Angels would be the main villains. They did make a cameo, but they are not the villains.

The Doctor is again seen with a Rubik's Cube. In "Night Terrors" The Doctor is seen playing with one, when talking to George, and then throwing it away in disgust. In this story the puzzle is seen completed.

The Doctor now appears to enjoy apples – despite hating them in "The Eleventh Hour".

This is the second story in a row where one of the female characters voices a belief that she's in hell.

One of the girls from Howie's room mentions the Klingons, suggesting that Howie may have been a fan of Star Trek.

Rita becomes the latest in a line of characters who are invited to become companions by The Doctor, only to die soon after. The list includes Astrid Peth ("Voyage of the Damned") and Lynda Moss ("Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways").

Joe's verse ' Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head' is from the centuries-old children's rhyme "Oranges and Lemons".

Amy's room number was 7. Amy first met The Doctor in "The Eleventh Hour" when she was 7 years old. Karen Gillan is also the seventh multi-story companion since the show was revived in 2005.

The Doctor's room was number 11 - reflecting the fact that he is the Eleventh Doctor. This story’s episode is also the eleventh in this season.

We don't see what The Doctor’s fear is inside his room but the Cloister Bell is heard. This is part of the warning system in the TARDIS that was first heard in the 1981 Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis". His exclamation of ‘Of course it's you’ could insinuate that he saw a person in the room or he may be referring to the TARDIS itself.

The hotel setting in this story has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining", using similar composition such as long corridor shots.

A shapeshifting prison plucking individuals out of their lives is a similar premise to that of Cube.

The Doctor had previously visited a strange realm which was a prison for a single individual in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Holy Terror".

The Minotaur's final words were ‘An ancient creature drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless shifting maze. Such a creature, death would be a gift and accepted’. This is a prophetic statement delivered both to and about a long-lived traveller, similar to the last words of the Face of Boe in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Gridlock". It also foreshadows The Doctor's final death (see "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon").

The Doctor is forced once again to break a companion’s faith in him. This repeats a previous event in 1989 Seventh Doctor story "The Curse of Fenric" when The Doctor is forced to break Ace's faith in him.

The Doctor is heard saying to Amy at the end of "The Eleventh Hour" that he is definitely a ‘Mad Man with a box’ and that understanding this could save her life. These are the exact words he uses to save her from the Minotaur.

This story is the third time in the show where The Doctor has forced his companions to leave the TARDIS. Previous occurrences being: Susan, in the 1964 First Doctor story "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", and Sarah Jane Smith in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Hand of Fear".

This story contains an error. This occurs when The Doctor enters the room, containing the ventriloquist dummies, a boom microphone is visible in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar.

Following on after this story, on BBC3, was the eleventh chapter of the sixth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "Heartbreak Hotel" it was presented by Russell Tovey and looked into the making of this story.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first mention of The Nimon in the revived television series and the first for 31years - since the 1979/80 Fourth Doctor story "The Horns of Nimon".

 Elaine Matthews' first involvement in the show as Script Editor.


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
Lucy Hayward
Lucy Hayward

The TARDIS materialises in what appears to be a contemporary Earth hotel. The Doctor and his two travelling companions, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, begin to investigate. The Doctor is certain that they are somewhere fascinating and he soon recognises that they have arrived in an alien structure specifically designed to take on the appearance of a hotel.

They then meet a group of three humans; Rita, Howie and Joe. They also meet the alien Gibbis - a cowardly, mole-like alien from Tivoli. Each of them having previously been taken from their routine lives and have now found themselves in the hotel. The four explain that there is a creature in the hotel that consumes others. It does this by enticing them to enter one of the many rooms in the hotel which contains their greatest fears, upon which they become brainwashed to ‘praise him’ and allow themselves to be taken.

The Doctor also discovers that the hotel is inescapable, its doors and windows walled up, and its halls and rooms can change on a whim. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory soon find that the TARDIS has also disappeared and The Doctor warns them all from opening any door they are drawn to, for fear of being possessed by whatever they discover inside them.

The Doctor
The Doctor

Despite this warning Amy, Howie, and Gibbis enter a room, so as to escape from the mysterious creature, only to discover it full of Weeping Angels. The Doctor arrives and reveals that the Weeping Angels are not real but are just harmless illusions. Upon seeing Gibbis' reaction to the Weeping Angels, Amy realises that it wasn't her room, but his, as the Weeping Angels were the only creatures to invade Tivoli and try to kill rather than conquer the inhabitants. Gibbis however, unnerves Amy by telling her that her room is still somewhere in the hotel.

As The Doctor tries to ascertain the situation Joe, who is already possessed, is drawn away from the group and is killed by the creature, that The Doctor has deduced is an alien Minotaur. Howie then becomes possessed after entering a room against The Doctor's warnings. His room contains attractive girls who mock him for being nerdy and stuttering.

Rory, Amy and Rita
Rory, Amy and Rita

The Doctor devises a plan to confront the Minotaur by using the hotel’s speaker system to broadcast Howie's voice so as to lure and then trap the Minotaur in the same room as The Doctor. On talking to the Minotaur, The Doctor learns that the hotel is a prison that has trapped the Minotaur for eons and the creature wishes for this to end but the prison keeps it alive.

Terrified of the Minotaur, Gibbis lets Howie go so allowing the creature to chase Howie down. He is killed before The Doctor can save him. Rita and The Doctor bond privately, with him offering to take her through time and space once they escape. However, she has been hiding her own devotions to the Minotaur and separates herself from the remaining survivors to avoid putting them in danger when the Minotaur comes for her. The Doctor is distraught and full of grief when, despite The Doctor trying to find Rita before she is taken by the creature, she is caught by the Minotaur and so follows the same fate as Joe and Howie.

Both Amy and The Doctor are also lured to look into two specific rooms. But Rory is unaffected because he has no strong faith in anything - hence the reason all he sees are exits throughout the hotel that the others cannot see. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Gibbis then regroup, and The Doctor surmises that the three who have already been killed, by the Minotaur, believed that some higher fate controlled their lives. That by being exposed to their fears in their room they looked to their faith for answers. The Minotaur was then able to take control by breaking their faiths and converting this energy into a form that it could consume.

Gibbis and Howie
Gibbis and Howie

The Doctor then becomes concerned when Amy suddenly begins praising the Minotaur. As the Minotaur comes for Amy, The Doctor and the others grab her and take her to the room she was entranced by. Inside, they find an illusion of the 7 year old Amelia Pond sitting on her suitcase staring at the stars still waiting for the return of her ‘Raggedy Doctor’ (see "The Eleventh Hour"). Realising that it is Amy's faith in The Doctor that is being challenged he breaks Amy's faith in himself. He does this by admitting his own faults and stating that he is just as fallible and that how most who come with him die or get hurt. That he is not a hero, but a mad man in a box, and that it is time they saw each other for who they are and that she is Amy Williams. With her faith in The Doctor broken the Minotaur outside the door collapses to the floor.

With the Minotaur dying, the hotel is revealed to be part of a large simulation. The Doctor identifies it as being a prison ship, and the Minotaur as a relative of The Nimon – an alien species that feeds off the faith of others and who need people to worship them in order to survive. The spaceship’s automated systems having provided it ‘food’ by bringing aboard beings that had a strong faith. The Doctor realises that Joe was a gambler, who believed in luck; Rita was a Muslim; Howie was a conspiracy theorist, who believed the government controls everything, while Gibbis believes that his planet is going to be invaded again but has survived so far due to the extreme pacifism of his species. The Doctor also realises that it was Amy's faith in him was the cause of their arrival on the spaceship.

After the Minotaur dies, The Doctor finds his TARDIS nearby and offers Gibbis a lift home. He then takes Rory and Amy back to Earth, giving them a house and Rory's dream car as a goodbye present. While Rory goes inside the house The Doctor explains to Amy that he can't keep putting them in danger and that it is best for the two of them to stop travelling with him otherwise their faith in him will ultimately lead to their deaths.

After saying goodbye The Doctor sets off alone in the TARDIS. As Amy watches the TARDIS dematerialise Rory comes out of the house, with a bottle of Champagne, to discover the TARDIS and The Doctor gone. It is left to Amy to explain to him that The Doctor is saving them.

 
The Dummys
The Dummys
The Clown
The Clown
Weeping Angels
Weeping Angels
Riat and Amy Hiding in a Room
Riat and Amy Hiding in a Room
 
The Morgue
The Morgue
The Minotaur
The Minotaur
The Prisin Revealed
The Prisin Revealed
Amy Watches The Doctor Depart Without Her
Amy Watches The Doctor Depart Without Her




Quote of the Story


 'There's a room here for everyone. Doctor. Even you. And in it is the very worst thing in the galaxy.'

Joe



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
Series 6 Part 2: - Episodes 8-13October 2011BBCDVD 3429Photo-montage
Video
Blu-Ray
Series 6 Part 2: - Episodes 8-13October 2011BBCBD 0152Photo-montage
Video
DVD
The Complete Sixth Series Box SetNovember 2011BBCDVD 3430Photo-montageDVD boxed set containing all 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Sixth Series Box SetNovember 2011BBCBD 0153Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing all 12 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete Sixth Series Box Set (Limited Edition)November 2011BBCDVD 3564Photo-montageLimited Edition DVD boxed set containing all 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Sixth Series Box Set (Limited Edition)November 2011BBCBD 0193Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all 12 stories
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 6December 2011Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)December 2013BBCBD 0242Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
Video
DVD
The Complete Sixth Series (2014 Re-release)August 2014BBCDVD 3970Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 12 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Sixth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)August 2020BBCBD 0505Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 12 stories


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 438 (Released: September 2011)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 439 (Released: October 2011)
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 440 (Released: November 2011)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 534 (Released: February 2019)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
Matt Smith
The Eleventh Doctor

   

Karen Gillan
Amy Pond
 
Arthur Darvill
Rory Williams
   




On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Cover
Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Ltd Edition DVD Box Set
Ltd Edition DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO



Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 438
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 438

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 439
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 439

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 440
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 440

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 534
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 534

Marvel Comics
   


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