11.2. The Ghost Monument

Series 11 - 2018

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Series Producer: Nikki Wilson
Director: Mark Tonderai
Music: Segun Akinola

Synopsis

After being transported into space Ryan passes out. The first person he sees when he awakes on a spaceship ius Graham leaning over him. After leaving hyperspace Angstrom, pilot of the spaceship, saw them floating in space and rescued them. Angstrom tells them they are just off the Final Planet - which is out of orbit. Graham wants Angstrom to go back for Yaz and the Doctor, but Angstrom says she only saw two people, and that if they were still in space they woould be dead.

Yaz awakes on a second spaceship to the sound of the Doctor arguing with the pilot. The ship is close to shutting down. Epzo Finskad is also looking for Final Planet, the closeat name is Desolation, but it's in the wrong place. When he spots it Finskad takes the spaceship down to the planet's surface.

Angstrom's spaceship lands first and Angstrom, Ryan, and Graham step onto the dusty, barren, surface. Graham and Ryan follow Angstrom, and they are almost caught by Finskad's crashing spaceship. The Doctor and Yaz catch up with Graham and Ryan, and the Doctor welcomes them to their first alien planet and promises to get them home.

The planet seems deserted, but when an alarm sounds Angstrom and Finskad head off towards it. The Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan, follow them through the sand. After a trek they come across a tent. The inside is very lavish, and occupied by a hologramtic projection of Ilin. The Doctor asks Ilin what is going on, and he tells her she in intruding on the last ever Rally of the 12 Galaxies, with Angstrom and Finskad as the final two finalists out of 4,000 entrants. Only one person can win the prize of 3.2 trillion krin.

The final challenge is to cross the planet and find the site marked as the Ghost Monument. The winner would be transported off the planet, the loser would not. There are other rules: sabotage, injuring, or killing each other, would result in instant disqualification. The Doctor asks Ilin what the Ghost Monument actually looks like and, before he and the tent disappers, shows a hologram of the monument - on top of which sits the TARDIS.

The Doctor tells Graham, Yaz, and Ryan, about her TARDIS. They had materialised in the correct place (in space) but the planet had moved. Now she knows where the TARDIS is the Doctor and her team hurry to follow Angstrom and Finskad before they get too far away. The Doctor finds Angstrom and Finskad arguing over a boat on a lake. As they can't injure each other the Doctor manages to get them to agree to all share the boat.

One issue is the boat's engine is broken. Graham suggests he and Ryan should take a look (an engine's an engine) which gives Graham the opportunatity to talk to Ryan about his Nan. Ryan, trying to change the subject, realises the boat is solar, and that the engine is really just a battery. Once the solar panels are aligned the boat works.

The boat trip is long, giving the passengers time to rest. Once on the other side of the lake they come across the ruins of a building. As they make their way inside unseen motion detecters are tripped, activating robot guards. Using a electromagnetic pulse from a deactivated robot the Doctor manages to take out all the robot guards in one go. Venturing further into the ruins they find a way down into underground tunnels. The Doctor is puzzled. Why are there ruins, and robot guards, if there is no-one on the planet. Who are the robots guarding, and where did the people go?

In another room the Doctor finds writing on the floor left by workers who wrote they were tortured and made to find new weapons and ways of destruction for the Stenza. 

When the robor guards enter the tunnels they all start to run. They find an exit ladder that would take them to the surface, and to acetylane fields. On the surface they are found by what appear to be flying tape worms. The Doctor tells everyone to dig. Using Finskad self-lighting cigar (which lights by a click of the fingers) she sets fire to the acetylane, destryoing the tape worms.

Eventually they reach the location of the Ghost Monument, and find Ilin's tent. The rules of the rally say there can only be one winner, but at the Doctor's suggestion both Angstrom andf Finskad enter the tent together. Ilin is not happy, but does agree to honour the dual win. Reluctantly he transports Angstrom and Finskad off the planet, leaving the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan, behind.

Yaz can hear a droning noise, and the, with help from the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, the TARDIS appears, with a new exterior shell, and a new interior.
 

Regular Cast

  • Graham O'Brien: Bradley Walsh
  • Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
  • Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill

Guest Cast

  • Angstrom: Susan Lynch
  • Epzo Finskad: Shaun Dooley
  • Ilin: Art Malik
  • Voice of the Remnants: Ian Gelder

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 (HD) 2. The Ghost Monument Sunday, October 14, 2018 6:55 PM - 7:45 PM 8.67M 82

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