8.7. Kill The Moon
Series 8 - 2014
Synopsis
After previously throwing up inside the TARDIS, and the Doctor telling her she is not special, Courtney Woods, one of the pupils Clara teaches at Coal Hill school, has become out of control. She even stole the Doctor's psychic paper to use as fake ID. Inside the TARDIS the Doctor snaps at Courtney who has brought along some anti-bacterial sprays to clean up with. Clara asks the Doctor to tell Courtney she's special.
To make her special the Doctor asks Courtney if she would like to be the first woman on the moon. When the TARDIS materialises in the year 2049 it is not on the moon, but inside an old space shuttle that is heading towards the moon. The Doctor's first concern is that the shuttle has gravity. The second is the 100 nuclear bombs in the storage area.
Moments after the shuttle crashes lands on the moon the three crew enter the storage area and find the Doctor, Clara and Courtney. The Doctor asks Captain Lundvik about the gravity, and when she says she doesn't know the Doctor reasons that the moon has somehow put on weight. The gravity is causing problems on Earth, including huge tides, and the crew are on the moon to destroy it with the bombs.
Lundvik and her crew lead the Doctor, Clara and Courtney to an old Mexican mining colony. Ten years ago the Mexicans were doing a mineral survey. No-one knows what happened to the colonists, and soon afterwards the high-tides started on Earth.
The inside the colony is full of cobwebs. Amongst the cobwebs are some of the dead Mexican crew. Henry manages to get the power back on in the colony and the computers come back up. The computer shows the Mexicans found no minerals on the moon at all. There are photos of the moon showing some of the tectonic features growing bigger, and the moon is in the process of breaking up.
On the surface of the moon Henry has been checking the area. He tries to contact Lundvik just before he is attacked. The power fails and Lundvik asks Duke to try and restore the power. In the dark they can hear scuttling and a giant spider appears. The spider detects movement and when Duke appears he is attacked. It gives the Doctor, Clara, Lundvik time to escape from the room, but Courtney is left behind and starts to float into the air.
Courtney is attacked by the spider and she reacts and sprays anti-bacterial spray on it and the spider dies. When the Doctor manages to get back into the room he scans the spider. It is not a spider but a germ that looks like a spider. He tells Courtney that she moved because the huge mass inside the moon shifted slightly.
Courtney, scared by her experience, asks to go home. The Doctor, Clara, Courtney and Lundvik return to the shuttle where the Doctor locks Courtney safe inside the TARDIS. Clara insists that if the moon had broken up in the future she would have heard about it, therefore it doesn't break up in the future, and that they should just leave. The Doctor tells her that there are some moments in time he cannot see, and this is one of them. Lundvik tells the Doctor and Clara that she, and Earth, needs them now that she has lost her crew.
On the surface of the moon, examining a cave, the Doctor is attacked by a spider and Clara kills it with Courtney's spray. Lundvik shines a light into the cave revealing hundreds of spiders. The Doctor tests another chasm with a yo-yo and it comes back up wet. The Doctor tells Lundvik it's not water - it's amniotic fluid. He tells Clara to keep Courtney safe before grabbing the spray and leaping into the chasm.
Looking back Clara sees the shuttle close to the edge of another chasm. It has moved, and as she watches it falls in. Her first concern is for Courtney who is inside the TARDIS inside the shuttle. The Doctor reappears and the three of them make their way back to the colony. The Doctor tells Clara that Courtney is safe. Clara tries to call her but does not have her number.
Courtney has been posting photos of the spiders and the Doctor onto Tumblr, and the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to trace the connection and connects Courtney's camera's phone to a monitor. The Doctor tells everyone that the moon is breaking apart because the moon is actually an egg - and it's hatching.
Lundvik's first question is how can it be killed. The Doctor, Clara and Courtney are not happy about killing the creature before it is born. The Doctor angrily tells Lundvik that if she wanted to the 100 nuclear bombs would kill the creature and the gravity of the dead body would cause the bits of the moon to pull together and stop the moon breaking up.
Lundvik has a remote for the bombs. Courtney wants to help and the Doctor tells her about some DVDs that will cause the TARDIS to be drawn to him. Clara asks the Doctor for help, but he says he cannot help and that the future path of humanity depends on the choice that is made and that it is for humanity to make that choice. When the Courtney arrives the Doctor leaves in the TARDIS.
When the moon starts top break up Lundvik is prepared to explode the bombs. Clara reasons that the Earth could survive without the moon, but Lundvik counters that if the moon breaks up and does not collide with the Earth there will still be a huge creature in space. Lundvik arms the bomb and gives a 1 hour countdown.
McKean from ground control patches into some TV satellites and appears on a screen. Using the signal Clara can transmit. She tells Earth about the moon, and asks people to turn their lights off if they want to kill the moon or leave them on to let it live. From a window they can see the Earth, and watch as all the lights go out. At the very last moment Clara hits abort on the bomb as the TARDIS materialises behind her.
The Doctor takes them all to a beach where they can see the moon break up and a winged creature appears and flies away. In it's place the creature leaves behind an egg - a new moon.
Back at school Clara says goodbye to Courtney before confronting the Doctor. The Doctor tells her that he was respecting her, but Clara says she feels far from respected. The Doctor says he thought he was helping by leaving, and Clara tells him to leave as she storms out of the TARDIS.
Regular Cast
- Clara Oswald: Jenna Coleman
Guest Cast
- Danny Pink: Samuel Anderson
- Courtney Woods: Ellis George
- Captain Lundvik: Hermione Norris
- Duke: Tony Osoba
- Henry: Phil Nice
- McKean: Christopher Dane
Original broadcast on the BBC
Channel | Title | Date | Viewers | Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
BBC 1 (HD) | 7. Kill The Moon |
|
6.91M | 81 |