The Warriorship of Bill Potts

“Warriorship is a basic sense of unshakeability. 
It’s a sense of immovability and self-existing dignity rather than that you are trying to fight with something else.” 

What Doctor Who companion Bill Potts teaches viewers about foster care

The new character has the potential to shine a light on a group of children that people might not otherwise consider

Leanne Mattu

Wed 12 Jul 2017 10.12 BST 

Last modified on Tue 17 Jul 2018 11.38 BST

Fans of Doctor Who started to learn about the Time Lord’s new companion a year before her first appearance. In that time, we learned quite a bit about Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie, and much of the media focus rested on the fact that she is the first openly gay companion.

What no one knew until the first episode was broadcast is something that resonates with me on a professional level. I work at Celcis – the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland – an organisation that works to make positive and lasting improvements in the wellbeing of children and young people who, for a variety of reasons, are looked after by the state, for example in foster care – children like Bill Potts.

Viewers first find out about her circumstances in a low-key way in the first episode, when she tells her foster mother, Moira, about The Doctor: “You know you’re my foster mum? He’s like my foster tutor.”

Fostering a child with complex needs means being their advocate

I was keen to see how this aspect of Bill’s character would be received by viewers, given that media portrayals of foster families are sometimes problematic.

The first thing I noticed is that Bill is a working adult in her 20s, but still lives with her foster mother, Moira. 

Young people in care are often expected to become self-sufficient more quickly than their peers, but Bill’s situation is a nice example of the recent shift in policy that recommends young people have more gradual transitions to adulthood. 

Although we see Bill move out in episode four, this doesn’t work out, and by the sixth episode she is back living with Moira. 

I wonder how many viewers are aware that Bill’s experience isn’t the norm? How many would question the apparent ease with which Bill returned to live with her foster mother? 

In Scotland, less than 3% of young people eligible for support after leaving care remain with their former foster carers.

The media response to Bill’s family background was interesting. One review read:

Moffat’s decision to write Bill as someone who has failed to get into the university that The Doctor has been lecturing at is troubling. Why is such a bright young woman shovelling chips onto the plates of students, rather than learning alongside them? 

Such a storyline feels somewhat quaint and patronising today … it’s a shame that Moffat reinforces the notion that a person from a tough background ... will have a hard time pursuing higher education.

I can understand why the reviewer feels this was the wrong approach. Being looked after should be no barrier to accessing university, college or any other opportunity. 

It’s a sad reflection of reality, however, that the pursuit of higher education for young people who have been in care is still challenging. Bill herself tells us that she “never even applied”, although she’s “always wanted to come here”. 

We never find out why she didn’t, but lack of support or encouragement could have played a part. By reinforcing the notion that someone with Bill’s background might struggle to access higher education, I hope Steven Moffat has encouraged some viewers to wonder why that might be.

There were also some interesting comments about the relationship between Moira and Bill. One suggested Moira was “neither warm nor nurturing”. 

Another described her as “emotionally absent”, and a third as a “neglectful foster mother”. 

At first this was quite a leap to judgment, but episode six confirmed something hinted at in the first episode: Moira is oblivious to Bill’s sexuality. 

Their relationship isn’t as close as it perhaps first seemed. 

Although we find out that her mum died when Bill was a baby, we don’t know how long she has lived with Moira; perhaps, like many young people in care, Bill has moved several times and hasn’t lived with Moira long enough to develop a truly maternal level of closeness.

Children in foster care aren't waiting for a loving home – they are already in one

Andy Elvin

Bill does have a sense of connection with her biological mother, though. The Doctor, who learns that Bill has no photos of her, puts his time-travelling capabilities to good use by going back to get some. As social care professionals know, having photos may contribute to Bill’s understanding of her history and identity, which can be important for her wellbeing. 

Bill’s mum is only alluded to briefly a few times, but in episode eight Bill’s ability to focus her thoughts on her mother is vitally important.

In a speech at this year’s Scottish Institute of Residential Childcare conference, Lemn Sissay spoke about the long tradition of fictional characters from “substitute care” backgrounds, and suggested that “the kid in care is used in popular culture because they feel so much”. Bill has amazing potential to shine a (fictional, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey) light on a group of children that people might not otherwise consider.

Leanne Mattu is a research associate at the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland

[Bill's house, Bristol]

BILL:

You know you're my foster mum?

He's like my foster tutor.

MOIRA:

Am I going to have to break every bone in his body?

BILL:

It's not like that.

MOIRA:

You need to keep your eye on Men.

BILL: (sotto)

Men aren't where I keep my eye, actually....

I was a hidden treasure, 

and I wished to be known, 

so I created a creation (mankind), 

then made Myself known to them, 

and they recognised Me.

 

[Farm]

BILL:

They'll attack on both sides. I'll take the back, yeah?

ATTACK-EYEBROWS:

Yeah. This is it, I'm afraid.

So, if there's anything we ought to be saying?

BILL:

I can't think of anything. 
Can you?

ATTACK-EYEBROWS:

(thinks) No.

BILL: 
But, hey er, you know how I'm usually all about women and, 
and kind of people my own age.

 

ATTACK-EYEBROWS:

Yeah?

BILL: 
Glad you knew that.

(She leaves.)

DOCTOR: 
Without Hope. 
Without Witness. 
Without Reward.

 

 

[Barn]

 

(Alit enters.)

 

BILL:

Is that it?

 

(Alit puts down something covered in a rough cloth.)

 

BILL:

I really wouldn't harm you, you know.

 

ALIT:

I know.

 

 

(But she still backs away as Bill steps forward and picks it up, then uncovers it and turns it over. It is a mirror, and her reflection reveals that she is really still Cyber-Bill.)

 

CYBER-BILL:

That is not me.

ALIT: 

I'm sorry.

CYBER-BILL: 

I am Bill Potts.

ALIT: 

I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

(She runs away and into the Doctor.)

CYBER-BILL: 

I am Bill Potts!

DOCTOR: Hey, hey, hey, hey!

(Cyber-Bill puts down the mirror.)

DOCTOR: Hello, Bill Potts.

CYBER-BILL: 

Doc-tor.

ALIT: 

I'm sorry. I gave her a mirror.

DOCTOR: 

Oh no, don't be sorry. 

You were being kind. 

Nothing wrong with kind. Jelly baby?

ALIT: Thank you.

DOCTOR: 

You're welcome.

ALIT: Bye.

DOCTOR: 

Toodle-oo.

(Alit leaves and closes the barn door behind her. We see Bill as her human self again. The Doctor has a bit of a limp.)

BILL: 

What was that, in the mirror?

DOCTOR: 

Er, a Cyberman.

BILL: 

What's a Cyberman?

DOCTOR: 

A technologically augmented human being, designed to survive in a hostile environment. 

Perfectly sound idea. 

Unfortunately all they want to do is to turn everyone else into Cybermen too. 

They go viral.

BILL: 

Why?

DOCTOR: 

They consider themselves to be an improvement, an upgrade.

BILL: 

No. Why do I see a Cyberman in the mirror?

(Long pause.)

DOCTOR:

 What do you remember?

BILL: 

There's quite a lot, you know? I was down there for ten years.

DOCTOR: 

And then one day, they took you to the Conversion Theatre. 

Do you remember that?

BILL: 

No. Bits of it. 

You turned up.

DOCTOR: 

Do you remember what they did to you?

BILL: 

Nothing. 

Look at me, I'm fine. 

I'm fine!

(But as she touches her forehead, she sees a Cyber-hand.)

DOCTOR:

 You are so strong. You're amazing. 

Your mind has rebelled against the programming. 

It's built a wall around itself. 

A castle made of you, and you are standing on the battlements, saying no. “No, not me”.

BILL: 

What are you talking about?

DOCTOR: 

All that time, living under the Monks, you learned to hang on to yourself.

BILL: 

But I'm, I'm fine. Look at me!

DOCTOR: 

Bill, what you see is not you. 

Your mind is acting like a perception filter. 

You still see yourself as you used to be.

BILL: 

Used to be?

DOCTOR: 

It won't last forever.

BILL: 

What do you mean, used to be?

(She advances, he retreats. Then she sees her shadow cast on the wall.)

DOCTOR: 

Bill, I'm sorry, but you can't be angry any more. 

A temper is a luxury you can no longer

BILL: 

Why can't I? 

Why can't I be angry?

DOCTOR: 

Bill, please!

CYBER-BILL: 

You left me alone for ten -

BILL: 

Years! Don't tell me I can't be angry!

(Her helmet weapon blasts the barn door to firewood. The children scream.)

REXHILL [OC]: Get back! You all right?

DOCTOR: Because of that. That's why. Because you're a Cyberman.

 

[Farm]

 

NARDOLE: 

Right. Everyone, back to work. 

Nothing to see here. 

Somebody broke the barn, no biggie.

Come on, defences don't build themselves

(Bill comes outside.)

DOCTOR: 

It's okay. They're just frightened.

BILL: 

People are always going to be afraid of me, aren't they? 

Aren't they?

(He wipes a tear from her Cyber-face.)

BILL: 

What is that, engine oil?

DOCTOR: 

No. It's an actual tear. 

But it shouldn't be.

MASTER: 

Doctor. Right, while you've been here chatting up Robo-Mop, me and me have been busy. 

We've found it. (Razor) 

Oh, hello, my dear. 

My God, you were so boring for all those years. 

But it was worth every day of it, for this.

DOCTOR: 

Bill, don't let him upset you.

MASTER: 

Though, didn't you used to be a woman? 

I'm going to be a woman, fairly soon. 

Any tips? Or, maybe, I dunno, old bras?

CYBER-BILL: 

I am not upset.

MASTER: 

Oh. Well, doesn't that take all the fun out of cruelty. Might as well rile a fridge. Come on, this way.

(But inside, Bill is crying.)

 

[Countryside]

 

BILL: Why are there so many children in that house?

DOCTOR: 

Small community, several hundred at most. 

So they keep the children together for their protection.

(He indicates the Cyber-scarecrows.)

DOCTOR: 

Those things, they make it up here sometimes. 

They try to take the children.

(He gasps and leans against a tree. Regeneration energy glows briefly in one hand.)

BILL: 

You all right?

 

DOCTOR: 

Yes, fine.

(He breaks off a dead branch to use as a walking aid.)

 

BILL: 

What was that?

 

DOCTOR: 

They target the children because conversion is easier with a younger donor. 

The brains are fresher, and because the bodies are smaller, there's less to er -

 

BILL: 

Less to what?

MASTER: 

Less to throw away.

BILL: 

You said. 

I remember, you said you could fix this. 

That you could get me back. 

Did you say that?

DOCTOR: 

I did say that, yes.

BILL: 

Were you lying?

DOCTOR: 

No.

BILL: 

Were you right?

DOCTOR: 

No. 

Bill....

BILL: 

We're not going to get out of this one, are we.

DOCTOR: 

Well, I don't know. There are always possibilities.

(Thank you, Mister Spock.)

BILL: 

No. I can feel it. In my head, the programming. 

The Cybermen are taking me over, piece by piece. 

It's like I'm hanging on in a hurricane, and I can't hang on forever.

DOCTOR: 

Bill, look, whatever it takes

BILL: 

No, I want you to know, as my friend, I don't want to live if I can't be me anymore. 

Do you understand?

DOCTOR: 

Yeah.

BILL: 

And that's not possible, is it?

DOCTOR: 

Well, I'll tell you what else isn't possible. A Cyberman crying. 

Where there's tears, there's hope. 

Come on.

VENUSIAN

Doctor Who: Venusian Karate - Inferno

NARDOLE: 

I thought you needed four arms for Venusian. 

Dr. Disco: 

I've got hidden talents, as well as hidden arms.

Can Be. That too. Technically, you need 6 arms to do Venusian, anyway.


It has many forms.


The Producer, Barry Letts was a BigTime Buddhist - for the first two uages it was "Venusian Karate" - Jon Pertwee, Barry Letts and the stunt double Terry Walsh explictly worked together and agreed to switch it to Aikido, because Aikio is purely defensive.


Its a martial art of Peace, not of War - Vulcan martial arts are likely similar to this.


What Michael Burnham gets wrong about The Vulcan Hello is that it is NOT intented to fight or destroy Klingon vessels - its Square up to them and intimidate them.

Well, you've got lots of friends. Better ones. What's so special about her?

BILL: 

Why do you want to do this? 

DOCTOR: 

She's My Friend. 

She's my oldest friend in The Universe. 

BILL: 

Well, you've got lots of friends. 

Better ones. 

What's so special about her? 

DOCTOR: 

She's different.  

BILL: 

Different how? 

DOCTOR: 

I don't know. 

BILL: 

Yes, you do. 

DOCTOR: 

She's the only person that I've ever met 

who's even remotely like me. 

BILL: 

So more than anything you 

want her to be Good? 

NARDOLE: 

Are you having an emotion? 

DOCTOR: 

I know I can Help Her. 

NARDOLE: 

Yeah. Look at that face, he's having an emotion. 

Yeah. Yes, look at that bit, yeah, he's doing emotions. 

BILL: 

Oh, leave him alone. 

NARDOLE: 

Can I take a selfie with you?

Your latest project Unearthing has gone through a number of different stages, starting off as a piece for an anthology put together by the pyschogeographer Iain Sinclair to how it stands now with these amazing photos and music by great musicians, along with yourself doing spoken word which is like performance poetry. I was wondering how much you've come full circle and returned to your days back in the Arts Lab in the late-sixties.

AM: Very much so. I suppose it could be argued that I'd never really gotten away from the Arts Lab, but certainly over this last year I have very much returned to my roots. The multi-media explosion of Unearthing rather took me by surprise, because it was such a strange project to begin with. It all really commenced with Steve Moore himself — the subject of the writing. Back in 1976 he bought a Chinese coin sword made of 108 coins all tied together and used it in this very simple magical ritual which he came up with on the spot. He used it to ask for guidance and perhaps a confirming dream. The next day, he woke up with a voice in his ear saying the word 'Endymion', which, he later found out, was the title of a John Keats poem. This started the bizarre course that Steve's life would take in many respects. It began his unusual relationship with Selene, the Greek Moon Goddess. So, in 2004, when Iain Sinclair asked if I wanted to contribute something to his London: City Of Disappearances book, I had something to write about. I'm always a sucker for anything that Iain suggests, really. 

Is Unearthing a work of psychogeography?

AM: It's more of a human excavation than the excavation of a place, but because Steve Moore has lived his entire life in one house on top of Shooter's Hill and he currently sleeps no more than four paces from the spot where he was born, it does become a work of psychogeography as well. So we do go very thoroughly into what Shooter's Hill is.

The etymology of the place name?

AM: Absolutely. Well, right back to the basic geology of how it formed. Apparently it was just because of a chalk fault that collapsed on the north side of the hill and that's what created the Thames Valley. So without that, no river Thames, no London. And yet it's this fairly isolated little hill, and there are lots of strange little places on it. We look into the place, but it's more an excavation of Steve's peculiar life which crosses into all sorts of different areas and crosses over with my life to a certain degree. It was certainly an odd little story that was self-referential. I've often found that if you write self-referential stories that feedback into your actual life then all sorts of weird things start to happen, or at least appear to start happening. Then Mitch Jenkins called round. I hadn't seen Mitch for years, but he told me he'd got to a point in his photography career where he was pretty much at the top of his field. He was bored of getting all these commissions to re-touch the irises of the latest American TV star, so he asked if I had any pieces of text that he might be able to turn into a series of photos. The only thing I had lying round was Unearthing. I said, 'Look, this is a bit big and unwieldy but there might be something in there.' Mitch came back in a state of excitement, saying that he wanted to realise it as this huge book of photographs. I said, 'Sounds good to me.'

How did it expand from that into music?

AM: Mitch said he'd been talking to the people at Lex records and they suggested all these wonderful musicians, which sounded fantastic. I came to this studio and recorded the various passages which the music was then composed around.

The piece has this ending where you describe sending the first draft of the piece to Steve and the instructions that he had to follow on opening the envelope. You read it, or listen to it, for the first time with him...

AM: He first read it exactly as it's described in Unearthing itself. I sent it to him in an envelope with the ending already written that was actually telling him to go out for a walk around this neighbourhood, and he did. He went all the way round to the burial ground and stood with his back to it, as I'd already described in my creepy self-referential story. He said he felt very weird.

Well, you would, wouldn't you!?

AM: He did actually feel a shudder run through him when he was standing with his back to the burial ground and since then his life has changed drastically. Unearthing itself was a big part of that in that there were people Steve had known for decades, and lived with in the case of his brother, who did not know how very, very strange he is. The thwarted love interest in the story read it and she was quite upset by it at first, but their relationship and their friendship recovered and became a lot stronger and healthier because of it. Steve has a new love interest. His brother contracted motor neurone disease just after Unearthing had come out and a couple of weeks ago Steve finally buried his ashes in the back garden. I was there with a number of the characters from the story. And, yes, this will eventually lead to a sequel. I have told Steve that I want to write a story called Earthing...

Would it be right to say that he's your best friend and he's been crucial to your career in a lot of ways? How did you first meet him?

AM: Oh yeah. Well, this was a different world, a long time ago. It would have been around 1967, so I would have been 13 and I was a comic fan. Every Saturday I'd go out and buy all of the Marvel or DC comics that had been shipped over from the States as ballast. And I would also buy the very few interesting British comics that were around then, which were mainly published by Odhams. They used to re-print black and white versions of the American Marvel titles. And there was an announcement in one of the issues of Fantastic that their new tea boy, Sunny Steve Moore, had got together with some friends and had put on the first UK comic convention. Now, I was probably too young to attend that, but I became an associate member, which meant that I paid some money and got all the literature. And in one of the fanzines that came in my introductory package there was an actual address for Steve Moore. I basically began stalking him and wrote him a couple of letters and we began a correspondence that has lasted for years. When I was starting out he was an invaluable help. When I decided to move from being a cartoonist to being a writer, it was Steve who read through my early scripts and told me to lose half the words and gave me a lot of pointers on how to do it. And then later it was him who inspired me to become a practising magician. In many ways, he's completely ruined my life!

Breeders

DOCTOR: 

Nardole, I want you to lead the evacuation. 

NARDOLE: 

What? No. 

DOCTOR: 

There's another solar farm on floor 502. 
There should be enough livestock in the cryogenic chamber 

NARDOLE: 

You need me with you. 

(The Doctor downloads everything on the laptop into his sonic screwdriver and shuts the lid.) 

DOCTOR: 

Thanks for all the software. I will take it from here. 

NARDOLE: 

Sir, with respect, I'm worried about your plan. 

DOCTOR: 

Plan? What plan? 

NARDOLE: 
I think as soon as this place is evacuated, you're going to blow the whole floor, killing as many Cybermen as you can. 

DOCTOR: 
No. No, course not. I won't do that until I've left. 

NARDOLE: 
Liar! It can't be done remotely. 

DOCTOR: 
You couldn't do it remotely. 

NARDOLE: 
Neither could you. 
And more to the point, you are not sending me up there to babysit a load of smelly humans. 

DOCTOR: 
Yeah? Well, I'm afraid that's exactly what I'm doing. 

NARDOLE: 
Huh? This is me we're talking about. 
Me. You know what I was like. 
If there's more than three people in a room, I start a black market. 

Send me with them, I'll be selling their own spaceship back to them once a week. 

Please, I would rather stay down here and explode. 

You go and farm the humans. 

DOCTOR: 

Listen. One of us has to stay down here and blow up a lot of silly tin men, and one of has to go up there and look after a lot of very scared people, day after day, for the rest of their lives, and keep them safe. 

Now the question is this, Nardole. 

Which one of us is stronger? 

(Long pause.) 

NARDOLE: Damn. 

DOCTOR: My condolences. 

NARDOLE: 
I'm going to name a town after you. A really rubbish one. 

DOCTOR: 
Oh, I'm counting on it. 

NARDOLE: 

And probably a pig. 

Young lady, you're coming with me. No arguments. 

May I remind you I'm still empowered to kick your arse. 

BILL: 

You'd have to go back down there to that hospital and find it, then. 

NARDOLE: 

Look, Bill 

BILL: 

My arse got kicked a long time ago, and there's no going back. 

(she stands next to the Doctor) 

All I've got left is returning the favour. 

NARDOLE: 
Oh, great. So she's allowed to explode. 

DOCTOR: 
Are you sure? 

BILL: 
You know I am. 

NARDOLE: 
I don't know what to say. 

BILL: 
You'll think of the right words later. 

NARDOLE: 
Doctor. Bill. 
(starts to leave) 
You're wrong, you know. Quite wrong. I never will be able to find the words.

Sentry - The Warrior Who Guards The Gate

DOCTOR: 

Now, there are only two things that I need to know. 

Where is my friend, and what destroyed the Roman army?
 

(The girl who had been chasing Bill enters, holding a stick with lots of pointed axe heads thrust through it and a red circular thing in a wicker frame.) 

KAR: 

I destroyed the Roman army.
 

DOCTOR: 

Really? What, you, just on your own? 

That's quite a trick.
 

KAR: 

I'm the Gatekeeper.
 

DOCTOR: 

Gatekeeper. What gate?
 

BAN: 

Didn't you hear the call? 

Where were you?
 

KAR: 

I had to find the Gatekeeper's Things.

  

DOCTOR: 

Sorry, wait a minute. 

Are you the Mighty Warrior that we've all been waiting for? Where are all the grown-ups?
 

KAR: 

There was a Great Battle. 

A Great Battle, and We beat The Romans.
 

BAN: 

Kar beat them. That's all that matters.
 

DOCTOR: 

Yes, but she's not a Warrior. 

She's an embryo. 

What did you do, throw your action figures at them?
 

KAR: 

Listen, Roman.
 

DOCTOR: 

We're not Roman. 

We're not part of the Roman army.
 

NARDOLE: 

No, we're not even slightly Italian. 

I mean, I do a mean spag bol.
 

KAR: 

Let me tell you about The Romans. 

They are The Robbers of This World. 

When they've thieved everything on land, they'll rob The Sea. 

If their enemies are rich, they'll take all they have. 

If their enemies are poor, they'll make slaves of them. 

Their work is robbery, slaughter, plunder. 

They do this work and they call it Empire. 

They make deserts and they call it Peace.
 

DOCTOR: 

Yeah, but you've got to love the indoor toilets, yeah?
 

KAR: 

They're not conquerors, they're cowards.
 

DOCTOR: 

They're also all dead.

There's an awful lot of dead cowards out there, and I don't believe that you killed them. 

Because the thing is, you said gate, 

you called yourself Gatekeeper, 

and you mentioned Gate weapons. 

So I've got to wonder, what kind of a gate is that, and what's on the other side?

DOCTOR: 

Now, they think these Cairns are gateways between Worlds.

 And given that they keep going on about gates, possibly they're right. 

(Outside, Kar grabs Nardole.) 

NARDOLE: 

Ooo! Ooo! No, but...

KAR: 

The Gate's opening. 

Your friend won't be coming back. 

(Nardole is now in Pictish garb, including a plaid and the face markings, and lecturing five villagers. The Doctor comes out of the Cairn.) 

NARDOLE:

You're back! 

They said you would probably never come back. 

DOCTOR: 

I was in there for seconds.
 

NARDOLE: 

Two days. 

(The Doctor thinks about this.)
DOCTOR: 

It's an inter-dimensional temporal rift. 

A second in there equates to days of time on this side. 

I was in there for two days? 

NARDOLE: 

And eight hours, five minutes, and...

DOCTOR: 

Well, that's good, then, isn't it? 

NARDOLE: 

Good? 

DOCTOR: 

Plenty of time for you to find Bill. 

NARDOLE: 

Oh. I looked. They helped me look. 

DOCTOR: 

How hard did you look? 

NARDOLE: 

I think we've lost her, Doctor. 

DOCTOR: 

No. No, no, no. 

We just don't know where she is. 

Not the same thing at all. Come on. 

 KAR: 

You came back. 

DOCTOR: 
Did you know what was in there? 

KAR: 
The Gate. 

DOCTOR: 
A portal between dimensions. 
Do you know what's on the other side? 
You don't know anything, do you. 
You just stand around making speeches and waving a TV aerial about. 

DOCTOR: 
Shall I tell you what's in there? 

KAR: 
No. It's called the Eater Of Light, and we held it back. 
Every generation, a new warrior went into the gate and fought the Eater Of Light so it couldn't break through. 

DOCTOR: 
But the creature did break through. 
(Kar nods) 
It broke through and it destroyed the whole Ninth Legion. 

KAR: 
It's weak, it's nearly dead. It will die soon. 

DOCTOR: 
Well, let's hope so, because there are millions more just like it on the other side, and very soon all of them will find their way through to this dimension. 

KAR: 
Then I'll hold them back. 

DOCTOR: 

You'll hold them back? 

What, with your lollipop and your kiddy face paint and your crazy novelty monster killing tool? 

Are you holding that thing the right way up, by the way? 

KAR: 

I don't want your Help! 

DOCTOR: 

But I'm all you've got.

DOCTOR: 

It's getting stronger again. It's strong enough to feed. 

Every hour of sunlight that feeds it makes The World darker, and The Beast stronger. 

We've got very little time.
 

KAR: 

 I have to stop it. 

This is my fault. I'm the Keeper of the Gate. 

I have to put this right. 

DOCTOR: 

So, you were supposed to guard The Gate while everyone else went off to war. 

But you had strangers at The Door, and a guard dog in the attic, so you let The Beast come through. 

KAR: 

It was the only Thing that could defeat Them. 

DOCTOR: 

So you thought the Eater Of Light could destroy a whole Roman army. 

KAR: 

It did. 

DOCTOR: 

And a whole Roman army could weaken or kill The Beast.
 

KAR: 

Yes. 

DOCTOR: 

Well, it didn't work. 

You got a Roman legion slaughtered, and you made the deadliest creature on This Planet very, very cross indeed. 

To protect a muddy little hillside, you doomed your whole world. 

[Cavern]

 

LUCIUS: 

One Man? 

You think One Man can save Us all?
 

BILL: 

Come and meet him. 

He came here to meet you. 

He's met loads of people like you. 

The terrified, the desperate. 

And He always Helps. 

He always makes a difference. 

LUCIUS: 

There are painted barbarians up there. They outnumber us. 

There is a Beast of Darkness that laid waste to an entire legion in less than an hour. 

No One Man can make a difference to that. 

BILL: 

Maybe that's what you don't learn when you think it takes five thousand highly trained soldiers to slaughter a bunch of Scottish farmers. 

Yes, One Man Can. 

And He's Here.
 

THRACIUS: 

If you're calling us cowards, carry on. 

We already ran away. 

We know. 

BILL: 

You're not cowards. 

You're scared. 

Scared is fine. 

Scared is human. 

But I'll tell you what it isn't. 

It isn't a plan.
 

LUCIUS:

 She's right.

THRACIUS: 

Why are you even listening to her, Grandad?
 

LUCIUS: 

Because no one else is saying anything. 

We need a plan. 

A real commander would have a plan. 

BILL: 

Why did he call you Grandad? 

LUCIUS: 

They always call me Grandad.

 I'm in command. 

I'm the oldest one left. 

BILL: 

How old are you? 

LUCIUS: 

Eighteen. 

BILL: 

Right, listen to me, all of you. 

 I'm going up there to find my friend. 

If you come with me, I can't promise that you won't all die. 

 But I can promise you this. 

You won't all die in a hole in the ground. 

[Round house]

(Night.) 

DOCTOR:

 We have to drive it back through and close The Portal behind it. 

 Now, The Gate only opens when The Dawn Sun hits it. 

Why is that? 

BAN: 

Our ancestors couldn't close The Gate completely, but they built the cairn to control it. 

NARDOLE: 

Ah, like venting an oil gush. 

If they let the portal open a few moments every year, they stop the whole thing ripping apart. 

It's quite clever, really. 

DOCTOR: 

Are you sulking? 

KAR: 

I'm Remembering The Dead. 

DOCTOR: 

Oh, right. 

Well, save that for old age. 

KAR: 

They're dead because of Me. 

DOCTOR: 

You know, every moment you waste wallowing about in that happy thought means more of The Living are going to join Them. 

When You Want to Win a War, Remember This :-

It's Not About You.

Believe Me, I know. 

Time to grow up, Kar. 

Time to fight Your Fight. 

(He takes the red mirror-like object she carries.) 

DOCTOR: 

How does this work? 

BAN: 

It poisons The Light as The Beast eats it. 

DOCTOR: 

Good. 

We'll need more of this. 

It has optical cancellation properties. 

Now, we have one chance. 

Right now it's weak, it's injured, it's starving. 

But when The Sun comes up, it will feed and grow strong. 

We have to lure it back through the portal before that happens, before sunrise. 

Now, I've got a plan, but I need your Help.
 

KAR: 

But I'm afraid. 

DOCTOR: 

Who isn't? 

But you've still got to face Your Beast anyway. 

Can you do that? 

KAR: 

Aye. 

It's a Labyrinth. 

DOCTOR: 

Hello. 

BILL: 

Hi. I brought you The Ninth Legion. 

(Currently in a small defensive square fending off the Picts.)
 

DOCTOR: 

Whoa, there they are. 

The Lost Legion of the Ninth.
 

BILL:

Totally found them. 

DOCTOR: 

Yeah, you totally did. 

(Nardole waves between bites of something.) 

BILL: 

Nardole, what happened to you? 

NARDOLE: 

Oh, I'm blending in. 

(Scots) Welcome to our land. Scotch. 

KAR: 

Drop your weapons. 

DOCTOR: 

Oh, for goodness' sake! 

We don't have time for this. 

LUCIUS: 

Stay back! 

BILL: 

Lucius, stop it! 

KAR: 

Are you their Champion now? 

BILL: 

There is no time for fighting! 

DOCTOR: 

Exactly. 

KAR:

 We never wanted to fight. 

We lived in peace, and then you came and laid waste to everything and everyone we loved. 

All you understand is War. 

BILL: 

No, he understands. 

Don't you? 

Now he's wondering why. 

LUCIUS: 

You speak Latin? 

KAR: 

I don't. 

BILL: 

Neither do I. Not a word. 

And I don't speak whatever they speak either. 

It's him. It's you, isn't it? 

DOCTOR: 

Yes, it's me. 

BILL: 

Something to do with the TARDIS. 

Maybe, telepathic field? 

So now that we all understand each other, how do we all sound? 

LUCIUS: 

You sound like children. 

KAR: 

You sound like children too. 

DOCTOR: 

You all do. 

BILL: 

Is this what happens when you understand what everyone in the universe is saying? 

Everybody just sounds like children? 

DOCTOR: 

There are exceptions. 

NARDOLE: 

Thank you very much. 

DOCTOR: 

Not you. 

Okay, kids, pay attention. 

She slaughtered your legion. 

You slaughtered everything that she loves.

Now, you all have a choice. 

You can carry on slaughtering each other till no one is left standing, 

or you grow the hell up! 

Because there's a New War now. 

I think these creatures are light-eating locusts, looking for rents and cracks between worlds to let themselves into Dimensions of Light. 

Once they break through, they eat. 

They will eat The Sun, and then they will eat The Stars. 

And they will keep eating until there are no stars left. 

So, whose side are you on now? 

Because as far as I can see, there's only one side left.
 

DOCTOR: 

They can only come through one at a time.
 

BILL: 

I know. 

DOCTOR: 

That's why guarding the gate worked. 

One Pict in there, fighting it off for a few minutes, that adds up to sixty or seventy years out here. 

BILL: 

I get it, yeah, and then the next one goes in. 

But what do we going to do this time? 

Or are you going line up Picts sacrificing themselves until the End of The World? 

DOCTOR: 

I've got a better idea this time. 

BILL: 

Which is the part you never tell me. 

DOCTOR: 

Don't I? 

BILL: No. 

DOCTOR:

I probably just get interrupted. 

(The musicians start up, repeating the same short theme from the top of the show. Bodhran, tin whistle which I hope is made of wood really, and there should be a small harp in there too.) 

NARDOLE: 

This is worse than jazz. 

[Outside the Cairn]

 

NARDOLE: 

Maybe it won't come.
 

(He sees a crow on a rock.)
 

NARDOLE: 

Hello. 

CROW: 

Hello. 

NARDOLE: 

Hello. 

CROW: Doc-tor! 

NARDOLE: 

No, no. Nardole. 

It's probably a bit tricky for you, that, innit? 

CROW: 

Nar. 

NARDOLE: 

Lovely. 
Hello! 

CROW: 

Monster! 

NARDOLE: 

Sorry? 

CROW: 

Monster! 

(And flies off as feet stomp by the small fires set along the ceremonial route to the Cairn then breaks into a gallop.)

BAN: 

There! 

NARDOLE: 

Oh! 

[Inside the Cairn]

 

NARDOLE: 

It's coming!
BAN:

 It's here! 

DOCTOR: 

Get ready! 

(Lucius takes the 'tv aerial' weapon from Ban.)
 

DOCTOR: 

Channel The Light! 

(Lots of those quartzite prisms are held up to colour and focus the light rays from the torches onto the beast. That stops it dead and annoys it.) 

DOCTOR: 
Keep it here! We've got to hold it here till sunrise.


(Other Picts poke at it with their 'tv aerials'.)
 

DOCTOR: 

Keep it there! Keep it there! 

(Lucius slashes at the tentacles with his sword. Dawn breaks over the mountains and shines down the passageway.) 

DOCTOR: 

Turn it, The Sun is rising! 

(The Doctor focuses the biggest mirror onto its head.)
 

DOCTOR: 

Back! Back to the void! 

(The rear wall opens and the beast backs through, then disappears into the vortex.) 

DOCTOR: 

It'll only stay open as long as the sunlight's on it. 

Give me your weapon. 

BILL: 

What are you doing? 

DOCTOR: 

This is the clever bit. 

BILL: 

Well, tell me. 

DOCTOR: 

The Gate has to be Guarded. 

There's no other way. 

The trouble is, human life spans, they're tiny. 

They're hilarious. 

You get used up too quickly. 

So what's the answer? 

Go on, figure it out. 

The answer's Me. 

I go on for ages. 

I don't even really die, I regenerate. 

I can hold that gate till The Sun goes out. 

BILL: 

No, you can't. 

DOCTOR: 

Course I can. 

I'm going to. 

BILL: 

This isn't your job. 

DOCTOR: 

No, it isn't, Bill. 

It's Who I Am. 

(He moves away from the opening to speak to Bill, and Kar moves towards it.) 

DOCTOR: 

I've been standing by the gates of your world, keeping you all safe, since you crawled out of the slime. 

I'm not stopping now. 

BILL: 

Doctor, please. 

DOCTOR: 

Listen. The TARDIS will take you home. 

Return journeys are easy. 

BILL: 

Listen to me. 

DOCTOR: 

Leave the instruments on the current setting. 

Just hit them with a spanner. 

(to Kar) The weapon. Now. 

KAR: 

No. 

DOCTOR: 

Give it to me. Come on. You'll be safe. 

Tomorrow you'll be farming. 

You can name a cow after me. 

BILL: 

What about the other gates that you have to guard? 

What about the Vault? 

DOCTOR: 

The Vault will never exist if I let those things come through. 

BILL: 

Well, then someone else better stop Them. 

DOCTOR: 

Nobody else can. 

KAR: 

I can. 

DOCTOR: 

What are you saying? 

KAR: 

Time to grow up, Doctor. 

Time to fight My Fight. 

(The Picts hold the Doctor back at spear point.) 

DOCTOR: 

I'm sorry, no. 

No one else can do this, not like I can. 

LUCIUS: 

We can. I'm ready. 

I'll guard The Gate with You. 

I'll fight by your side. 

DOCTOR: 

Awesome. Brilliant. 

You'll be a hero for two seconds, then the whole solar system will be devoured.
 

KAR: 

Stop him.
(Spears point at the Doctor's throat.) 

KAR: 

This is my destiny, my fight.

DOCTOR: 

Out of my way. Now! 

LUCIUS: 

We'll take it in turns. 

DOCTOR: 

Two of you can't hold the gate. 

THRACIUS: 

Two of them? 

I'm counting more than two. 

The Legion of the Ninth stands ready to serve. 

DOCTOR: 

Oh, stop being brave. 

I can't bear brave people. 

BAN: 

I'll put The Story in The Stone. 

I'll put Your Name in The Air. 

They'll see it for hundreds of years, and they'll know Your Name forever. 

KAR: 

Good. 

(They hug) 

Ready? 

DOCTOR: 

No. Listen to me! 

No, listen ...
(A stocky Pict clouts the Doctor over the head, and he falls. Bill picks up his lens.) 

BILL:

 You're wrong, Doctor. It's their destiny, not yours. 

NARDOLE: 

Sorry. You're going nowhere. 

(Nardole binds the Doctor's wrists. Bill gives Kar the lens.)
DOCTOR: 

Bill! Bill, stop it! 

BILL: Quickly! Quickly! 

LUCIUS: 

Soldiers of the Ninth, advance! 

KAR: 

Come on!
(Two Legionnaires lead Kar into the vortex, and the musicans follow. Lucius looks back at Bill and smiles before he disappears. Then the hilltop shakes.) 

[Outside the Cairn]

(Bill comforts the sobbing Ban, who has a crow perched on his hand.) 

BAN: 

Kar. 

She's holding The Gate. 

Remember, Her Name is Kar. 

CROW: 

Kar! 

BAN: 

Kar. 

CROW: 

Kar! Kar! 

 (flies off) 

NARDOLE: 

There, you were wrong. 

The Crows aren't sulking. 

The Crows are remembering.
 

CROW: 

Kar! Kar! Kar!
(They walk off across the moorland.)

DOCTOR: 

All right, I was wrong. 

I didn't know what really happened to the Ninth Legion.
 

BILL: 

No, we were both wrong about that.
 

DOCTOR: 

They were never really missing. 

They've always been Here. 

The Ninth Legion and the Keeper of The Gate, 

Seizing The Day 'til The Sun Goes Out. 

Holding Back The Dark. 

(He unlocks the TARDIS. A snatch of Pictish music.)
 

DOCTOR:

 What? 

BILL:

I thought.... Do you hear that? 

I thought I could hear the music, but I can't, can I. 

They're in another Time.
 

DOCTOR: 

Music's funny like that.

 "Sir, what are your orders?"

"There's only one order, lieutenant. 

We hold."

- Larkin and Captain Sisko