The God Complex

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Show Doctor Who / Series VI / Episode 12
First Broadcast 2011/09/24 - 19:30 (Link: ABC Details)
Related Links Doctor Who WikiWikipedia
Previous EpisodeThe Girl Who Waited
Next EpisodeClosing Time

A clever episode, but one that didn't really manage to fill a full 40 minutes. The premise was solid and the solution clever, but it needed a bit more I feel. And to cap it all off, it was farewell to Amy and Rory.

The TARDIS is drawn to a hotel. The Doctor determines it is a replica but cannot divine its purpose. Other people are also there; somehow transported from their daily lives. They know that each room contains someone's fear and that there is a room for everyone. And there's a monster on the loose killing them one by one.

At first the Doctor tells everyone to focus on what they believe in to overcome their fears and to stay away from their room. Oddly, there appears to be no room for Rory, just an emergency exit. The Doctor then lays a trap for the monster. He discovers it's a minotaur. Eventually the Doctor realises it's not fear, but faith, that drives the monster. It feeds on their faith and without it they die.

When the monster comes after Amy, they find her room which has Amelia waiting for the Doctor. The Doctor tells Amy it's his fault, that most people who travel with him get hurt or die. He breaks Amy's faith in him (a-la the Doctor and Ace long ago). The monster is unable to eat and begins to die. After so long it is a release.

For some reason, the age of the language perhaps, the TARDIS does not translate the minotaur's speech so the Doctor does it for us. As the minotaur dies, it tells the Doctor: "An ancient creature drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift." The Doctor agrees and consoles the minotaur. But the minotaur comes back with a beauty: "I wasn't talking about myself." The implication is, of course, that the minotaur is talking about the Doctor.

It turns out the minotaur is related to the Nimon. It seems both races have a preference for rooms and corridors that change.

We never see the contents of the Doctor's room (#11 of course), but we do hear the cloister bell ringing. The Doctor looks in and says "Of course". I wonder if we'll find out.

The episode ends with the Doctor dropping off Rory and Amy at a new home for them. He's realised he's a danger to them and that this is for the best. As Amy's puts it to Rory. "He's saving us." For mine, it was a disappointing (and unexpected) way for them to leave the show.

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