7.7. The Bells Of Saint John

Series 7 - 2012/2013

Writer: Steven Moffat
Series Producer: Marcus Wilson
Produced by: Denise Paul
Director: Colm McCarthy
Music: Murray Gold

The Doctor: Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the world wide web. Stuck forever, crying out for help.
Clara: Isn't that basically Twitter?

Synopsis

All around the world millions of computers are all connecting to the Internet through Wi-Fi. Recently new Wi-Fi hotspots have been appearing along with a warning - do not click it. Clicking on the hotspot allows "them" into your computer, and they can see you. Just hope that "they" do not choose you.

In a monastery in Cumbria, 1207 AD a monk knocks on the door and tells another monk to wake the Abbott - the Bells of Saint John are ringing. The Abbott takes the monk to see the mad monk - although he's definitely not a monk. The mad monk is the Doctor, and he has been sat next to a painting of the woman twice dead - Clara Oswald - trying to divine her meaning.

In 2013 a modern day Clara Oswald is helping out a family by acting as their live-in nanny. It is a usual hectic morning, and Clara is having problems connecting to the Internet, and is on hold trying to get technical support. One of the children, Angie, says the Internet is working fine for her. As the father of the family, along with son Artie, are about to leave Clara quickly grabs a book off Artie. Summer Falls, by Amelia Williams. A book Clara has read (and tells Artie chapter 11 is best). The cover shows a girl in a dress by a waterfall.

Clara goes upstairs, still on hold, Upstairs, and tries to get on the Internet on her netbook. Back in Cumbria, 1207 AD, the Doctor hears a phone ringing. It's the TARDIS phone. He answers the phone, and hears Clara asking technical questions about the Internet. Clara had been given the number by a woman in a shop who said it was the best helpline in the Universe.

The Doctor tells her to click on the Wi-Fi button, find a hotspot she recognises and clicks on it. She sees the id "Maitland Family", but she needs a password. Angie tells her is Rycbar123. Clara struggles to remember the password. When she uses the mnemonic "Run You Clever Boy And Remember" the Doctor is shocked and quickly asks her to repeat what she said, causing her to mistype the password. She tries again, but accidentally hits a new hotspot. Downstairs Clara hears someone knocking on the door... the Doctor, still dressed in a monk's habit.

In a control centre, located in the Shard in London, Miss Kizlet has chosen Clara as a potential candidate, and tells Alexi to send a server, or Spoonhead, to upload her to the cloud. Although Clara has no computer skills Miss Kizlet tells Alexi to splice Clara a computer skills package.

The Doctor is acting strange as usual, so Clara is not keen on letting him into the house. Upstairs she can hear floorboards creaking. Clara thinks it may be Angie, but instead another young girl appears - the same girl from the cover of the book Summer Falls. The girl only repeats parts of the questions that Clara asks her. As Clara watches the girl's head spins round. The back is curved like a spoon, and reflects Clara's image.

The Doctor, having changed into his normal clothes, returns and asks Clara, over the intercom, to let him in. Clara responds by saying she does not know where she is. Using the sonic screwdriver the Doctor opens the door and finds the body of Clara on the floor. He sees the young girl and Clara being uploaded to the cloud. Using the sonic screwdriver the Doctor is able to see the what the young girls really is; a server - a mobile base station. Using Clara's netbook the Doctor hacks into the base station and is able to start reversing the upload, and Clara's consciousness is returned to her body.

The Doctor sends a message to Miss Kizlet - "UNDER MY PROTECTION - The Doctor". Upon seeing the name Miss Kizlet knows she has to inform her "client". The Doctor lets Clara rest in bed, leaving her a class of water and some Jammie Dodgers. At the same time he finds a book - 101 Places to See - the first page of which contains a leaf.

Clara awakes much later on. Opening her bedroom window it is night, and the Doctor is sitting outside with her netbook and the server. The Doctor promises her that she is safe now. Instead Clara makes herself and the Doctor a cup of tea and takes them and a chair outside. The Doctor tells her that he suspects there is something in the Wi-Fi that is harvesting human souls into a cloud. When Clara makes a joke about Twitter the Doctor realises she has been "hacked"; previously she didn't know anything about computers.

On a camera Alexi and Miss Kizlet are able to observe the TARDIS and Clara's house on a CCTV camera. Using a tablet computer Miss Kizlet is able to adjust Alexi's IQ in order to find a way to get hold of the Doctor and Clara. The Doctor sees a man standing by a street light, and tells Clara to get inside the TARDIS as more house lights are turning on. People are turning on the lights, but the Wi-Fi is turning on the people. All around London other lights are going out, and an aircraft is heading towards them.

The Doctor materialises the TARDIS onto the plane. The people on the plane are all unconscious, including the cabin crew. Even though he can't fly a plane the Doctor pulls on the controls and the plane lifts back into the air. The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to block the plane's in-air Wi-Fi and the cabin crew awaken as he and Clara leave.

The Doctor tells Clara that the TARDIS is a space craft, and a time machine. He takes Clara to breakfast. The TARDIS materialises on the banks of the Thames, and the Doctor and Clara go into London via a motorcycle that the Doctor keeps in the TARDIS. Using cameras, CCTV and Wi-Fi connected, Miss Kizlet is able to observe the Doctor and Clara.

The Doctor uses Clara's netbook to hack the operating system of the Wi-FI, but cannot establish a physical location. Clara tells the Doctor to get coffee whilst she hacks the system to get the location within five minutes. Inside the cafe people start acting strange, saying random comments. Miss Kizlet is able to control people at will to talk to the Doctor.

Outside Clara is able to hack the control centre in the Shard and take pictures of the staff using the webcams. Linking this to their social networking profiles she finds out where they are working - the Shard, floor 65. Clara tells the Doctor what she has found, but the Doctor is actually a server, and this time it successfully uploads Clara to the cloud.

The Doctor heads off on the bike to the Shard. Miss Kizlet locks down the Shard, but the Doctor's bike is fitted with anti-grav, and he is able to drive up the side of the Shard and smash into Miss Kizlet's office. The Doctor tells Miss Kizlet to download Clara, but she says Clara is fully integrated; she cannot be downloaded individually. The Doctor offers Miss Kizlet "motivation" to release everyone from the cloud. The Doctor is not actually the Doctor; it's the server from the cafe. The Doctor is controlling it, and uploads Miss Kizlet to the cloud. Once fully integrated the only way out is to release everyone.

Inside the control centre <> is not prepared to download the entire cloud to release one person. Using the tablet in Miss Kizlet's office the Doctor server uses it to raise Mahler's obedience. When Miss Kizlet orders him to release her he does so by downloading everyone in the cloud. All around the world people's consciousnesses return to their bodies.

The Doctor summons UNIT, and they take control of floor 65 in the Shard. Miss Kizlet is still in her office and speaks to the client - the Great Intelligence - one last time. The Great Intelligence, during it's time in the Wi-Fi, has grown, and controls Miss Kizlet, making her hit a "factory reset" button that reverts all the people's consciousnesses in the Shard back to when they were taken - leaving Miss Kizlet a child inside an adult's body.

The Doctor returns Clara back to her house, and for her life continues as normal. The following day the Doctor returns; he is still curious about Clara. The Doctor invites Clara to join him. She asks the Doctor to come back tomorrow.

Regular Cast

  • Clara Oswald: Jenna-Louise Coleman

Guest Cast

  • Nabile: Manpreet Bachu
  • Paul: Sean Knopp
  • The Abbott: James Greene
  • Angie: Eva De Leon Allen
  • Artie: Kassius Carey Johnson
  • George: Geff Francis
  • Miss Kizlet: Celia Imrie
  • Mahler: Robert Whitelock
  • Alexi: Dan Li
  • Little girl: Danniella Eames
  • Pilot: Antony Edridge
  • Barista: Fred Pearson
  • Waitress: Jade Anouka
  • Newsreader: Olivia Hill
  • Man with chips: Matthew Earley
  • Child reading comic: Isabella Blake-Thomas
  • The Great Intelligence: Richard E. Grant
Uncredited:
  • Yuki: Mayumi Kochi
  • Man in Paris: Neville Kidd
  • Donald: Douglas Kirby
  • Sam: Matt Hemmerich
  • Maitland Mum: Lamorna Waters
  • Older Monk: David Bailey
  • Monks Guarding Paul: Jeremy Harvey, Richard Husband
  • Double for Clara: Charlotte Parsonsson
  • Monks Guarding Burial Chamber: Simon Fowler, Shaun Lucas
  • Cloud Workers: Caroline Harrison, Rebecca Anderson, Marina Bailbara, Nicola Rogers, Kalibar Kaur-Mann, Hannah Tidd, Sarah Marinos, Bella Winder, David Stock, Harry Burt, Philip West, Darius Walker, Darren Swain, Allan Gill, Gary George
  • Spoonhead: Tim Reid
  • European Business Fliht Passengers: Alan Reid, Dan Gaisford, Howard Howell, Michael Barkhordar, Dennis Gregory, Tim Beech, Dean Hennessy, Paul Dawkins, Tim Brown, Mark Snowden, Richard Powell, Phil Brown, Greg Bennett, Emma Rogers, Lisa Smoult, Francisca Garcia, Alice Ward, Volenté Lloyd, Laura Bridgewater, Patricia Dichler, Amanda Stahl, Helen Irving, Lynette Thorpe, Rebecca Donovan-Morgan
  • Attendant/Hand Double for Clara: Elena Allsopp
  • Double for the Doctor: Ian William
  • Co-pilot: Mark Andrews
  • Tourists/Londoners: Tomas Hunt, Robert Vasco, Paul Bailey, Ashley Keohane, Loucas Louca, Kwabena Amponso, Igor Urdenko, Saleh Mohammed, Vince Bishop, Mei Chin Lim, Catherine Chong, Rota Minhas, Ewa Murphy, Marina Michel, Georgie Parkin, Lindsey Morgan, Sylvia Maharaj, Simone Plummer, Millie Brown, Abimbola Sodeke, Antonia Davies, Albert Chong
  • Street Performers: Xavier Huerga, Allin Kempthorne, Phoenix Stewart
  • Children: Edie Ireton, Ogechi Mere, Ikechi Mere, Zara Ramtohul-Akbur, Jessica Thornton, Rebecca Hughes, Tomas Avo, Ashley Ob
  • Chaperones/Passers-by: Linda Matthews, Dawn Thornton
  • Riding Double for the Doctor: Matt Doman
  • Double for Miss Kizlet: Charlotte Parsonsson
  • Double for Alexei: Ian William
  • American Tourist Couple: Dave Whitlam, Elaine Lanighan
  • Stunt Double for the Doctor: Andy Godbold
  • Stunt Double for Clara: Dani Biernet
  • European Couple: Lina Ferrer-Fort, Antoni Ferrer-Fort
  • Punters: Champa Morgan, Marquita Stokes, Katherine Hay, Ying Qin, Anne Lyken-Garner, Nina Takel, Ling Cheung, Elaine Caulfield, Rossana Ubaldi, Lana Boocock, Dorothy Hood, Richard Atkin, Richard Parry, Keith Ruby, Christo Pandit, Eugene Henderson, Michael Britton-Jones, Philip Bailey, Chris Shalders, Lyle Legall
  • Hotel Porter: Rahim Mastafa
  • Waitress: Claire Delaney
  • Businessman: Vinod Soni
  • UNIT Soldiers: Marcus Elliott, Andrew Cross, Ian Hilditch, Alistair Sanderson, Chester Durrant, Sion Price, Jon Davey, Steve Grant

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 (HD) 7. The Bells Of Saint John Saturday, 30 March 2013 18:15 - 19:00 8.44M 87

Click here to show repeat broadcasts on the BBC

Studios

  • BBC Roath Lock Studios: FF82
  • BBC Roath Lock Studios: Studio 1
  • BBC Roath Lock Studios: Studio 2
  • BBC Roath Lock Studios: Studio 3
  • BBC Roath Lock Studios: Studio 4
  • BBC Television Centre, London

Outside Locations

  • Beatty Avenue, Roath, Cardiff
  • Cardiff Streets
  • Ecubed Solutions, MOD St Athan, St Athan, Barry
  • Eurostar
  • Fforest Fawr, Heol-Y-Fforest, Taffs Well
  • Grange St Paul's Hotel, Godliman Street, London
  • London: Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Horseguards' Parade, The Mall, Admiralty Arch
  • Paris, France
  • Queen's Walk, Southbank, London
  • San Francisco, California, USA
  • Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
  • Southerndown Beach, Beach Road, Dunraven Park
  • St Pancras Station, London
  • St Thomas Street, London
  • Welsh National Assembly Building, Pierhead Street, Cardiff