'The Witch's Familiar' (Story Code 9.02) by Steven Moffat

“The Doctor is trapped. He’s a prisoner of the creatures who hate him most in the universe. Between us and him is everything the greatest warrior race in history can throw at us. We, on the other hand, have a pointy stick.” – Missy

Clara wakes to find herself tied up and hanging upside down in the rocky plains outside the Dalek city, Missy sitting nearby sharpening a wooden stick. When Clara asks how they survived the Daleks’ death rays, Missy tells her a story from the Doctor’s past, which gave her the inspiration for their escape: when the Doctor was under attack from invisible android assassins inside an ancient stone building, he found himself surrounded and outgunned. As his assailants opened fire at him from all sides, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to convert the energy from their weapons and use it to recharge the teleporter bracelet he stole from one of them, enabling him to transport himself to safety (well, almost – he then fell into a nest of vampire monkeys!). Missy did the same thing with the Daleks’ death rays, using the energy to boost her and Clara’s Vortex Manipulators (which she also did to save herself from the Cyber-Brigadier’s weapon). Missy releases Clara and tells her that the Doctor is trapped in the middle of the Dalek Empire – and it is up Clara, Missy and her pointed stick to save him. Meanwhile, Davros gloats at the Doctor’s predicament, until the Doctor grabs a nearby Dalek weapon and points it at the crippled scientist, ordering him to leave the infirmary. Hearing Davros’ warnings the Dalek Supreme and his minions track their creator’s wheelchair as it makes its way through the city; the Supreme then mobilises every Dalek, sending thousands of the evil creatures in search of the escaped Doctor. As Davros approaches the control room the Daleks move to assist him – then recoil in alarm as they realise that it is the Doctor sitting in their creator’s wheelchair! Having left Davros’ legless torso lying ignominiously on the floor of the infirmary the Doctor now has control of the scientist’s chair, a gun, and, more importantly, Davros’ personal force-field – which allows the Doctor to shrug off the Daleks’ attempts to exterminate him, before he enjoys a cup of tea. Elsewhere, Missy and Clara have reached the entrance to the Daleks’ sewers, which lead into the city. After testing the depth of the tunnel by pushing Clara in first, Missy explains that the sewer walls are coated with the remains of decaying Daleks, their putrefying fleshy forms callously discarded and left for all eternity. In the control room, the Doctor demands that the Daleks bring Clara to him safe and alive, hoping that his best friend’s death was just a trick. But then a hoard of snakes swarm up from the wheelchair and smother the Time Lord – he is under attack from Colony Sarf’s servants… In the sewers, Missy tricks Clara into setting off an alarm and then handcuffs her to it. When a Dalek comes to investigate, the crazy Time Lady stabs it with her brooch (which is made of Darkstar alloy, a gift from the Doctor for the Master and his daughter), piercing its casing. Missy’s attack allows the angry, resentful sewer mutants to swarm and ooze inside the Dalek’s casing, causing it to explode – luckily just after Missy has gotten herself and Clara clear. The Doctor awakes from a dream of the young Davros on the minefield to find himself back in the infirmary; he is unaware that Colony Sarf has secreted his snake form amongst the wires and tubes that were feeding into Davros’ wheelchair. Davros reveals that he is connected to the life force of every Dalek, keeping him alive for centuries – but now his time has finally run out. Davros tempts the Doctor with the option of destroying the Daleks, but the Time Lord hesitates, unable to bring himself to touch the power cables and commit genocide. Davros gloats at his decision, until the Doctor admits that he answered his call as an act of compassion… Having cleaned out the exploded Dalek’s casing, Missy orders Clara to get inside; she then connects the casing’s telepathic controls to Clara’s temples and seals her inside. Clara quickly acclimates to the controls, but when she tries to say her name it only comes out as “Dalek” – and when she tries to say anything pleasant or emotional, all the casing says is “Exterminate” before wildly firing its weapon, all much to Missy’s amusement. Calming down Clara, Missy makes her lead her into the city as a Dalek prisoner… Davros taunts the Doctor about his motives for leaving Gallifrey, and shows off the Confession Dial and sunglasses confiscated from the Time Lord. Retrieving his sunglasses, the Doctor admits that he saved the Time Lords from the destruction in the Time War against the Daleks – and to his surprise, Davros says he happy for him. The crippled scientist weeps, and, turning off his electronic eye, opens his real eyes so that he can see the face of his nemesis... As prisoner and escort, Missy and Clara arrive in the Dalek control room; here the wily Time Lady demands to see Davros, and offers up Clara as a gift-wrapped present. Back in the infirmary, the Doctor wires up Davros’ wheelchair to boost his ancient enemy’s energy levels enough to enable him to see one last sunset on Skaro, a world his creations rebuilt after it was destroyed. To fulfil the debt he owes to the little boy he once abandoned on a battlefield, the Doctor decides to give some of his regeneration energy to Davros; however, when the Time Lord grabs the wires he is seized and held in place by Colony Sarf, allowing Davros to drain all the regeneration energy he can into both himself and his Daleks! In the control room, all the Daleks surrounding Missy and Clara stop, and become awash in Time Lord energy... A revitalised Davros recalls an ancient Time Lord prophecy: ‘The Hybrid’, a creature made from two warrior races – something Davros has now created, half Dalek and half Time Lord, all thanks to the Doctor. Just then Missy arrives, and on seeing the trapped Doctor she shoots the cables with a Dalek weapon, freeing her friend and killing Colony Sarf in the process. In the control room, the Dalek Supreme and its cohorts awake, renewed and more powerful – Davros’ experiment has succeeded! Missy wakes the Doctor, who grabs the Confession Dial and then begins counting down from three. Davros ignores him – until the Doctor reaches “one”, and an earthquake rocks the city. The Doctor reveals that he knew Davros’ plan all along: the Dalek city is now under attack from the all the mutants in the sewers, who have also been revitalised by his regeneration energy, and who are now out for revenge! As the city begins to fall under the onslaught from below, the Doctor and Missy run for their lives, until they come face-to-face with another Dalek. Realising it is Clara, Missy tells the Doctor that it is the Dalek that killed his friend, and encourages him to destroy it. But when the creature keeps repeating that it is a Dalek and then starts talking of mercy, the Doctor falters, suspecting a trick. The Doctor tells the Dalek to open the casing, and is elated when he sees Clara sitting inside. Furious at Missy’s deception, the Doctor tells her to run, and then sets about freeing Clara. With the city crumbling into the sewers, the Doctor and Clara arrive in the control room, which is now falling apart. The Dalek Supreme and his minions instantly open fire, but their attack just bounces off their enemies. The Doctor explains that the TARDIS’ force field is protecting them – his time-space ship wasn’t destroyed, merely displaced by its Hostile Action Dispersal System, and all it needs to recombine is some help from the Doctor’s sonic. When Clara points out that the Doctor no longer has a sonic screwdriver the Time Lord just grins – he now has sonic sunglasses! As the TARDIS reforms around the Doctor and Clara, the Daleks fall under the attack from the mutants they cast away. Missy finds herself surrounded by Daleks; but she is unconcerned – she has a very clever idea…

Later, the Doctor and Clara watch from a nearby hill as the Dalek city explodes and collapses into the ground. The Doctor wonders how Clara’s Dalek casing could say “mercy” – how did that emotion get into the Daleks’ DNA? Suddenly realising, the Doctor races for the TARDIS… which rematerialises back on the battlefield, seconds after the Time Lord abandoned the young Davros. Declaring that he has come back to save his friend, the Doctor raises a Dalek gun and announces that he will exterminate – but not Davros, instead the Doctor opens fire on the hand mines, destroying them all in an act of mercy. With the young Davros now safe, the Doctor leads the boy home…


Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Jenna Coleman (Clara), Michelle Gomez (Missy), Julian Bleach (Davros), Joey Price (Boy [Young Davros]), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Daleks), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek)

Directed by Hettie MacDonald
Produced by Peter Bennett
Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
26th September 2015 @ 7.45 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara

*The BBC managed to spoiler some viewers by transmitting a trailer for this episode twelve hours before the first part of the story, 'The Magician's Apprentice', was broadcast!

*A special compilation of 'The Magician's Apprentice' and 'The Witch's Familiar' was shown the day after, on 27th September at 3.15 pm on BBC 1 and BBC 1 HD