Doctor Who/Recap/S28/E13 Doomsday

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< Doctor Who‎ | Recap‎ | S28
I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you.
—Rose

The episode begins with a variant of the final scene of Army of Ghosts as the four Daleks leave the void ship, accompanied by something they refer to as the Genesis Ark. These four are a Dalek special forces team known as Cult of Skaro, designed to think like the Daleks' enemies in order to more efficiently battle them, and, most unusually for Daleks, they all have individual names (Sec, Thay, Jast and Caan). Sec orders Thay, Jast and Caan to extract information from Torchwood scientist Dr. Singh, who was trapped in the room with Mickey and Rose and who offers himself. The extraction process kills him, and Sec sends Thay to investigate their surroundings.

Thay soon comes upon a group of Cybermen and Sec realizes that Earth is already being invaded. The Cybermen offer to join forces with the Daleks, but Sec refuses and Thay effortlessly kills the Cybermen near it, with the Cybermen's weapons unable to even penetrate the Dalek forcefield. The Cybermen tell Thay that the Daleks have declared war on the Cybermen, but Sec responds that it will not be war but "pest control" and saying that the 5,000,000 Cybermen would not stand a chance against a single Dalek, much less four. Deciding to test those odds against her own experience, Rose mentions one single Time Lord against four Daleks. The Daleks cringe in fear.

While talking with the Doctor, the Cyber Leader is quite suddenly killed by an parallel universe strike-team led by Jake. He takes the Doctor back to his dimension and reunites him with that dimension's Pete Tyler, who found out about their version of Torchwood and used its resources to battle the Cybermen. Knowing they were losing, the Cybermen jumped dimensions when the void ship weakened the barrier between worlds. Pete reveals that his Earth is undergoing the early stages of catastrophic global warming, and the Doctor tells him it's because of the constant crossing of the barrier. The Doctor says he can seal the breach permanently, and that he has a plan to do so.

Rose has realised that the Daleks need her or Mickey to open the Genesis Ark, because of the (harmless) void energy they have absorbed while time travelling. When Mickey questions why the Daleks don't open it themselves, Sec reveals that it's actually Time Lord technology which needs the one thing Daleks can't provide: skin contact. Sec demands that Rose open it; she refuses and recounts to Sec how she used the power of the Time Vortex to kill the Dalek Emperor. The Doctor makes his entrance at this point, but doesn't recognize the Genesis Ark for what it is. He uses his sonic screwdriver to activate detonation charges that blow the doors to the room, allowing their temporary Cybermen allies in to battle the Daleks alongside Torchwood and generally creating one hell of a battlefield.

Mickey stumbles and accidentally touches the Ark while escaping, and the Daleks take it outside. It opens and begins disgorging millions of Daleks who attack the Cybermen and normal humans indiscriminately. The Doctor finally realizes the Ark was a prison ship and, like the TARDIS, is much larger on the inside.

The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Pete encounter Jackie, and she and the parallel Pete have an awkward moment before embracing. The Doctor explains his plan by stating that anything which crosses dimensions becomes saturated with the energy of the void, and that by opening the breach between the worlds into the void instead of world-to-world, everything with that energy will be pulled into the void, after which the breach will seal itself forever. This means all the Cybermen and Daleks, but unfortunately also means the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jake and Pete. The Doctor says that he can use some purloined Torchwood items to keep himself safe but is unwilling to risk Rose's life.

From this point on, Rose's actions closely mirror the previous season's finale: Pete takes Rose to safety back across the barrier. Rose, however, immediately uses the transportation device Pete put on her to return to the Earth dimension, and tells the Doctor she will never leave him. They activate the ghost shift device, which begins drawing in all the Cybermen and Daleks, with Dalek Sec realizing what is happening and using an emergency time travel device to escape. One of the handles that controls the device slides out of position and Rose leaves her anchor to pull it back into place, once again saving the world... only to lose her grip and fall toward the breach. Pete reappears for an instant and grabs Rose before she reaches it, then takes her back to his dimension as the breach seals itself. Rose completely breaks down as she realizes she can never see the Doctor again.

Several months later in the alternate dimension, Rose awakens from hearing the Doctor calling to her in a dream. Pete, Jackie and Mickey believe her and they follow the signal to Norway, ironically, a place called Bad Wolf Bay. There Rose sees an image of the Doctor, who tells her that he managed to find one more small breach between the universes, but that he had to trigger a supernova and use its energy just to have enough power to talk to her. He tells her that the breach will close permanently in two minutes, and they share a final conversation, with the Doctor telling her that she and Jackie are missing and presumed dead, and Rose surprising the Doctor by telling him that Jackie and Pete have got together and Jackie is three months pregnant. She breaks down in tears and finally tells the Doctor that she loves him. The Doctor replies that she deserves to know how he feels about her. He takes a deep breath, says her name once more, and gets halfway through "I --" before the connection's gone.

A heartbroken Rose is consoled by Jackie, while in the Earth dimension the Doctor stands motionless in the TARDIS with tears running down his cheeks. He slowly begins to regain his composure and somewhat lackadaisically operates the TARDIS, then looks up and sees a woman in a wedding dress demanding to know where she is, to the Doctor's complete surprise.

Note: Series 1 of Torchwood (as well as Ianto's flashback in series 2's "Fragments") begins sometime after this episode.

Tropes

  • And I Must Scream: See Fridge Brilliance below.
  • Arc Words: "Bad Wolf" from last season has apparently been scattered among the multiverse too; the bay where the Doctor projects his image ends up being in Norway, and its name translates to Bad Wolf Bay.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Rose says to the Daleks, "You want to know what happened to the Emperor?" Dalek Sec is completely shocked. "The-Emperor-SURVIVED?!" For the rest of the conversation... see below.
  • Badass Boast: What Rose said to the Daleks:

Rose: "If these are going to be my last words then you're going to listen. I met the Emperor. Then I took the time vortex and poured it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? God of all Daleks and I destroyed him."

    • Also, Daleks:

Cyberman: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?
Dalek Sec: Four.
Cyberman: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek Sec: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek!

  • Bigger on the Inside: The Genesis Ark.
  • Blatant Lies: Jackie proclaiming there has never been anyone else after Pete died. It's clear no-one believes her either.
  • Buffy-Speak: The stuff from the void is eloquently called ... void stuff.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Dalek Caan, who plays almost no part in the episode, comes back in a huge way in Evolution of the Daleks and even more so in Journey's End.
  • Cool vs. Awesome: After all these years: Daleks vs Cybermen.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: Five million Cybermen vs Four Daleks (with a prison ship full of reinforcements) vs One Doctor. Guess who wins.
    • However, the Daleks managed to kill all but 28 people in Canary Wharf, so it's sort of a hollow victory. In the case of the Cybermen though, they luckily don't go very far in their plan.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Pete saving Rose's life at the very last second.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: ALL the dialogue exchanged between the Daleks and Cybermen.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: In "Doomsday", Daleks vs. Cybermen. Or: Daleks and Cybermen vs. Torchwood.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The Cyber Leader is confused by humanity's refusal to accept its offer of surrender. The Doctor informs it that accepting the surrender would destroy everything that makes humanity... well, human.
  • Eviler Than Thou: Cybermen? Bad. Daleks? Worse.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Cybermen versus Dalek.
  • Flat What: There aren't many other reactions you can have when you have to deal with never saying "I love you" to a woman you can never, ever see again only to discover that a belligerent bride has somehow appeared on your spaceship.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Either on the part of the Doctor or the writers, depending on your perspective. After all these years, he realises the reason for the Daleks' distinctive voice:

The Doctor: ... sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything. Ever. From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone... That explains your voice. No wonder you scream...

Cyberman: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?
Dalek: FOUR.
Cyberman: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek: WE WOULD DESTROY THE CYBERMEN WITH ONE DALEK!
...
Rose: Five million Cybermen, easy. One Doctor? Now you're scared.

Pete Tyler (to the Doctor): That's your problem.

Yvonne Hartman: I did my duty for Queen and country. I did my duty. I did my duty. Oh God ... I did my duty! *scream*

  • Mood Whiplash: The ending. Shot of the Doctor with tears running down his face, he turns around and...

Doctor: *sees woman in a wedding dress* What?
Woman: *turns around, makes sound of shock*
Doctor: What?
Woman: Who are you?
Doctor: But...
Woman: Where am I?
Doctor: What?
Woman: What the hell is this place?!
Doctor: ...what?

Jackie: This is your fault! You and your Torchwood! You killed us all!
Yvonne: I did my duty -- for Queen and Country! I did my duty...I did my duty...oh, God...I did my duty!

  • My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: "The female's heartbeat has increased!"
  • Never Found the Body: It's the story of how Rose Tyler died because they never found her body in the original universe.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mickey accidentally touches the Genesis Ark during a Dalek / Cybermen / human scuffle. Subverted; the Doctor actually thanks Mickey since the Daleks would've probably tried to open the Ark by force anyway, which would've resulted in some pretty spectacular collateral damage.
  • No Except Yes: "This is not war! THIS IS PEST CONTROL!"
  • Not So Different: The Cybermen propose an alliance (the two species are both types of cyborgs, after all) but it doesn't happen. Daleks are just too genocidal to play nice.
  • Number of the Beast: Very subtle. After Rose comes back from the parallel universe and asks what she can do to help, the Doctor says she can enter the co-ordinates (specifically, the coordinates to Hell) and tells her to "set them all to six."
  • Oh Crap: The Daleks visibly recoil when Rose tells them the Doctor is in Torchwood Tower.
  • Pair the Spares: Specifically, pair the corresponding widowed parallel universe counterparts. (That's Jackie and Pete, if that was too confusing for you.)
  • Patriotic Fervor: Not even assimilation can remove Yvonne's love for Queen and Country!
  • Prison Ship: The Genesis Ark.
  • Red Shirt: Poor Dr. Singh.

Dalek: WHICH OF YOU IS LEAST IMPORTANT?

Rose: I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you.

  • You Just Told Me: As a Dalek and a Cyberman engage in a verbal pissing contest to get the other to identify first, the Dalek finally says "Daleks do not take orders!", to which the Cyberman responds "You have identified as Daleks."
  • You Shall Not Pass: Yvonne after her upgrade. Cybermen are climbing up a stairwell, but she appears with a big gun.

Yvonne: You will not pass.
Cybermen: What is the meaning of this?
Yvonne: You will not pass.
Fires, screams of cybermen
Yvonne: I did my duty for Queen and Country.I did my duty for Queen and Country.

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