Doctor Who – Can You Hear Me?

By: Ellie Dolan-Yates

In 1380 Aleppo, Syria we see Tahira (Aruhan Galieva) make it back to the hospital just in time as someone is threatening to cut her hand off for stealing! She tries to, once again, warn one of the nurses Maryam (Sirine Saba) about the creatures that appear at night. However, just like everyone else, she doesn’t believe her. This soon changes though when one of the creatures wraps its creepily long fingers and claws around her mouth and takes her!

In present-day Sheffield we watch The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) drop off Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) seventy-seven minutes late and arranges to meet them at lunchtime the next day. However, as soon as Yaz, Ryan and Graham go their respective ways The Doctor is already missing them. She decides to use the TARDIS to skip straight to the next day, but the vessel seems to have a mind of its own. As The Doctor hears eerie growling, a creepy man dressed in black (Ian Gelder) appears and quickly disappears behind her. She doesn’t see him though. She uses the TARDIS to find the source of the growl and discovers that it came from 1380 Aleppo. Since she has until lunchtime the next day, she goes to investigate.

Due to The Doctor’s ironic inability to time keep, Yaz is late for lunch with her family and has missed the chance to see her parents. She is surprised to learn that her sister, Sonya (Bhavnisha Parmar), can now cook. Meanwhile, Ryan is visiting his friend Tibo (Buom Tihngang), but Tibo tells him that this isn’t a good time. He seems very down and anxious. Ryan persuades to let him in though on the basis that he’s brought chip. Tibo lets Ryan in and uses multiple locks on his door behind them. Graham is playing cards with a couple of friends. He is explaining how travelling on “cruises” is helping him cope with the loss of his late wife Grace when he gets a telepathic message from a woman (Clare-Hope Ashitey) who appears to be trapped.

The Doctor arrives in Aleppo to find Tahira cowering from one of the creatures. The Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to scan the creature but can’t get any readings from it. Centuries in the future, Ryan is reveling in the glory of scoring a last-minute screamer to beat Tibo on FIFA. Noticing that Tibo isn’t himself, Ryan goes to the kitchen to make him a cup of tea. The kitchen is a mess which prompts Ryan to ask Tibo if he’s okay. Tibo is reluctant to talk to Ryan about finding things difficult. He thinks he’ll laugh, but he eventually tells Ryan that he keeps having nightmares of a man watching him. He also sees this man outside and at night in his bedroom. Ryan tells Tibo that he believes him and Tibo asks Ryan if he’ll sleep over.

As they eat Yaz tells Sonya that they don’t have to keep marking this anniversary but doesn’t allude to what the anniversary is for. Yaz suggests that they should watch a “sofa movie” and Sonya agrees as long as Yaz doesn’t fall asleep. Yaz says she never does, but sure enough the scene cuts to Sonya placing a blanket over a sleeping Yaz. A phone rings and a distant voice says, “I didn’t know who to call. We need help.” Yaz is dreaming of standing in the middle of a country road with a policewoman (Nasreen Hussain) standing behind her. She wakes after seeing a young girl. A sinister laugh sounds and the creepy man is stood behind the settee. When Yaz asks him who he is he disappears. In Tibo’s flat the man appears. His fingers detach from and float above his hand. One of them sticks in a sleeping Tibo’s ear. Ryan approaches to confront the man, but he vanishes taking Tibo with him.

Back in Aleppo we see The Doctor concludes that whatever creatures have attacked the hospital have made everyone disappear. Tahira tells The Doctor that her family were killed when she was seven years old and she was let into the hospital a few weeks ago due to not doing too well. During their conversation The Doctor receives a phone call from each of the fam back in Sheffield explaining what’s happened to them. On her way to the TARDIS she finds a hair from one of the creatures. She takes it and Tahira with her. She also tells Tahira to prepare to have her mind blown. Once The Doctor has her fam back she uses the TARDIS to analyze the hair from the creature, but is confused when the TARDIS tells her that the creature never existed. Yaz and Ryan realize that the man they saw was the same one and The Doctor uses a makeshift telepathic communicator device to hook Graham up to the TARDIS. Considering what is placed on his head looks like it was made by a five-year-old, Graham is rightly apprehensive. But The Doctor needs to see what Graham saw in order to find where and who the message came from. After a few sparks and “ouches” from Graham, the TARDIS plots a course to the source of the message.

The TARDIS lands in deep space in the distant future. Graham says that it’s nothing like what he saw. As The Doctor looks around a screen is activated, showing the planets that Graham saw. The Doctor explains that the two planets should be colliding, but they’re not. She zooms in on the monitor and notices an orb between the two planets. Graham asks her to zoom in further as he thinks there’s something inside it. Sure enough, Graham gets another telepathic message from the trapped woman. As everyone concentrates on the monitor, Yaz notices a section of detached fingers! The Doctor finds that the fingers are broadcasting a signal to the woman in the orb. After a bit more scanning, The Doctor finds that the tech is keeping the orb between the two planets and includes a quantum fluctuation lock with billions changing of combinations and concludes that the orb is a prison. Yaz notices that Tahir is missing.

Tahir has come across Maryam and others who appear to be asleep whilst stood up with their hands cuffed above their heads. One of the creatures from Aleppo roars and bangs against a screen. The creepy man appears and explains that he created the Chagaska, based on Tahir’s worst fears. The team appear and Yaz orders the man to release everyone. At this, he detaches him fingers. Yaz is back in the middle of the country road, the young girl in front of her telling her to “do it right this time” she won’t be calling anyone. She tells Yaz she’s weak and nobody is coming. Yaz looks around to see the policewoman behind her again. This all appears to have been brought on by the creepy man putting her to sleep along with the others. Ryan dreams about seeing an old and grey Tibo who says he’s been waiting his whole life for Ryan to come back. As flames roar around them, Tibo explains that the Earth is burning. Graham dreams that he is in hospital and Grace (Sharon D Clarke) tells him that his cancer is back and he only has a couple of hours to live. She asks him why he didn’t save her.

The Doctor is figuring out how to unlock the prison when she notices that the others aren’t there. She is approached by the creepy man who explains he is Zellin. The Doctor doesn’t believe it as Zellin is a God. Zellin tells her that the eternals have their games and that this dimension is perfect for one. He explains that he molds his form to extract nightmares from the scared and vulnerable. He transmits them to the woman trapped between the planets. Zellin tells The Doctor that the best thing about humanity is the “cruelty of their own minds directed towards themselves” telling them they’re “incapable” and “unworthy.” An alarm sounds and The Doctor tells Zellin she’s used his own technology to set his prisoner free. However, Zellin knew The Doctor would come and work out how to do just that. In fact, The Doctor has released the most powerful and dangerous prisoner she could have. In an animated scene the prisoner explains that she is Rakaya- an immortal who was imprisoned when the people of the two worlds her and Zellin pitted against each other grew wise to the nature of their Gods and imprisoned her between the planets. Zellin tells The Doctor that feeding Rakaya with the pain of others kept her sane. Zellin and Rakaya head to Earth to feed on nightmares.

The Doctor dreams about being on Gallifrey with the “timeless child.” She wakes and frees herself and the others from their sleep. The Doctor tells Tahira that the Chagaska couldn’t kill her because she created them. The Doctor says she has lots of plans to do the impossible and stop the two Gods, but she needs to identify which one is going to work. As Rakaya is feeding on nightmares down on Earth, Zellin explains that the growl they have just heard is a creature he’s created calling across the timewaves. Rakaya says she wants to see it. They materialize in 1380 Aleppo and The Doctor welcomes them. She tells Zellin she’s smarter than he thought. The Doctor tells them that humans are magnificent for facing down their fears, doubt and guilt everyday whilst still prevailing. She tells Tahira to show them how strong she is and Tahira controls the Chagaska. Yaz tells the immortals Tahira has conquered her fear. The Doctor teases them with the orb. As she throws it in the air, the Earth shakes. The Doctor apologizes and after thanking them for lending a “helping hand,” she uses the detached fingers against the immortals to trap them in the orb with the Chagaska.

In Sheffield we see Tibo tells Ryan that he could have told him where he’s been going. Ryan convinces Tibo to talk about his feelings. We see him talking with others about his anxieties and depression. Yaz lets her mind wonder to the time she was found in the middle of nowhere by a policewoman. The policewoman talks to her about being bullied at school and feeling alone. The policewoman tells Yaz to find her in three years time and she’ll give her £50 if things haven’t got better. If they have improved then Yaz owes her 50p. Present day Yaz shows up at the policewoman’s house to give her 50p. Graham confides in The Doctor about his worries over becoming sick again. He says it never leaves him. The Doctor says she’s too socially awkward to say anything reassuring so she’ll walk away until she thinks of something she should have said. Ryan wonders aloud to Yaz how long they’ll be away from their family and friends for whilst travelling with The Doctor. The Doctor interrupts them to tell them they might want to change clothes as they’re going to meet Frankenstein…