'The Ghost Monument' (Story Code 11.02) by Chris Chibnall

“Right, quick update: I’ve made a terrible mistake. We shouldn’t be here. I’m gonna fix it, and get you guys home. I promise. As soon as I’ve figured out where we are.” – The Doctor

Cast adrift in deep space, things look bleak for the Doctor and her friends. But then Graham and Ryan are saved by the timely materialisation of a space ship piloted by a woman named Angstrom, who scoops them up and brings them aboard; Angstrom is searching for a ‘Final Planet’, which that is not in orbit where it should be... Meanwhile, the Doctor and Yaz are rescued by another vessel, The Cerberus, crewed by a man named Epzo. With the antique vessel in the process of crashing into the planet Devastation below, the Doctor convinces Epzo to jettison the rear half of his ship, enabling them and Yaz to manoeuvre the main half more easily; they manage to make a crash-landing on the planet below, narrowly missing the recently-landed party of Angstrom, Graham and Ryan. Happy to be reunited with her friends, the Doctor promises to get them home safely. Hearing a klaxon, Epzo and Angstrom rush off across the arid landscape, its sandy surface strewn with tatters of charred cloth; the Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz follow them, and they soon arrive at the site of a large tent. When Graham asks why he can understand what is being said by the two aliens, the Doctor explains that the medi-pods in their ships have implanted them with translators. Entering the tent, the group find its luxurious interior occupied by a well-dressed man named Ilin - or rather his hologram, projected from a long way away. Ilin explains that Epzo and Angstrom are the final contestants in the Rally of the Twelve Galaxies; the last survivors out of four-thousand entrants competing in a race for a 3.2 trillion krin prize; they now face their final challenge: crossing the cruel planet of Desolation in just one day to reach a site designated as ‘The Ghost Monument’, which only appears once every thousand years – and while the winner takes the money, the loser is stranded. When the Doctor demands more information, Ilin shows her a hologram of ‘The Ghost Monument’: a familiar-looking blue Police Box. After the images of Ilin and his tent vanish, the Doctor informs her friends that she got them near to her space ship after all, her aim only spoiled by the planet moving out of orbit. The TARDIS’ engines are phasing in and out of space, but if the Doctor can get inside, she can get everyone home. The Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan join Epzo and Angstrom, now bickering over the rights to use the boat left by Ilin. After calming the gun-toting Epzo with the aid of some Venusian Akido, the Doctor examines the water and finds it filled with flesh-eating microbes. Meanwhile, Graham and Ryan check the vessel’s broken engine, and deduce that it is solar-powered by the planet’s three suns. Setting off across the deadly water in the boat, the Doctor puzzles over what happened to destroy all life on the planet; Epzo admits how he became so cynically self-reliant, and Angstrom reveals how winning the race will enable her to save her family, who are on the run while their planet is being systematically cleansed. The following day the boat arrives at a deserted beach. Disembarking the vessel, the Doctor and her friends follow Angstrom and Epzo, the latter looking forward to smoking his self-lighting cigar in celebration of his forthcoming win. Reaching the site of some ruined buildings, the two competitors split up and race inside. Left behind as the triple suns begin to set, the Doctor suggests a more careful approach to crossing the ruins... Making his way inside, Epzo triggers a hidden alarm, causing robot guards to materialise throughout the buildings. Surrounded by armed automatons, the Doctor is relieved to see that they are not fully-active – until Epzo destroys the one that appeared before him, causing the robots everywhere to retaliate. As the sniperbots open fire, the Doctor and her friends run for their lives, before ducking inside an empty room; they quickly surmise from the presence of a broken, gun-wielding robot and a number of human-shaped targets that they are now inside a firing range. Grabbing the dead sniperbot’s weapon, Ryan uses his ‘Call of Duty’ skills to shoot all the robots outside; but his success is short-lived, and as the robots reactivate and return fire, Ryan flees back inside the ruins. Besieged by robots, the Doctor accesses the broken bot’s systems to transmit a huge electro-magnetic pulse that temporarily deactivates every guard in the vicinity. Elsewhere, Angstrom finds Epzo struggling with a wound from the sniperbot’s gun; they are joined by the Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz, who are now following a map obtained from the broken bot. They arrive at a hatch leading down into the building’s lower levels, which in joins with a series of catacombs that run under half the planet. While Epzo takes a nap, Angstrom sees an opportunity to reach the Ghost Monument by bypassing the dangers of the planet surface; however, the Doctor is more intrigued at finding an abandoned laboratory. Deciphering a message scrawled on the floor, the Doctor learns that the Stenza (one of whom she and her friends recently encountered on Earth) have kidnapped scientists from other worlds and forced them into creating new and horrifying weapons of destruction; the entire planet Devastation was weaponised, resulting in the eventual destruction of every living creature. Hearing muffled screams, Angstrom, the Doctor and her friends rush into the corridor, where Epzo is being smothered by a murderous remnant of material; when the Doctor’s sonic proves useless, Angstrom uses her knife to free her associate. As the rags strike out at them, Graham notes seeing tatters of cloth strewn everywhere they have been. At that moment the reactivated sniperbots return, sending the Doctor and everyone running for their lives – only to discover that the guards have turned off the underground complex’s life support system. Forced into climbing back up to the surface, the party emerge into what the bot’s map calls the ‘Acetylene Fields’, where they are immediately surrounded by swirling swathes of rags – the Remnants. Getting an idea, the Doctor tells her friends to start digging into the sand with their feet. The tattered creatures read the Doctor’s mind, taunting her with talk of the “timeless child” before seizing her in their sinewy grip. At the Doctor’s instruction Graham grabs Epzo’s cigar, throwing it high into the air just as the Doctor shouts out an order to lie down. Lighting the cigar with a click of her fingers, the Doctor causes the acetylene to ignite, destroying the Remnants in the resulting fireball. Crawling from under the burning gas cloud, the Doctor and the others resume their journey across the planet... As the suns rise, they finally arrive at another tent – but there is no sign of the TARDIS. Angstrom and Epzo argue about who should be the winner – until the Doctor makes a suggestion… In the tent, the hologram of Ilin is surprised by the arrival of Angstrom and Epzo, now holding hands and declaring a dead heat; the wealthy man objects and tries to declare the last race null and void, but when Epzo threatens to find and kill him, Ilin backs down and agrees to a joint victory – then teleports himself, Angstrom and Epzo away. Left behind on the planet, the Doctor is disheartened by the absence of her ship, and apologises for letting down Graham, Ryan and Yaz. Hearing a familiar wheezing, groaning sound the Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to stabilise and summon her ship – and to her delight the TARDIS materialises nearby! The Doctor is excited to see her ship, which now boasts a new exterior – and a new-look interior too. Vowing to take her friends home, the Doctor activates the TARDIS’ controls…


Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brian), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Susan Lynch (Angstrom), Shaun Dooley (Epzo), Art Malik (Ilin), Ian Gelder (Voice of the Remnants)

Directed by Mark Tonderai
Produced by Alex Mercer and Nikki Wilson
Executive Producers Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
14th October 2018 @ 6.55 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz

*This episode did not feature a pre-title sequence; instead it ran straight into the new-look titles and theme tune