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Jun 18, 2024 · The Pantheon on Doctor Who are powerful, nearly unbeatable gods who enjoy wreaking havoc for fun. Sutekh, the God of Death, is back and causing chaos, even tricking the Doctor with a cruel deception. Other Pantheon members like the Celestial Toymaker and Maestro have also posed threats to the Doctor and companions.
- Jack Ori
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Plot
- Cast
- Worldbuilding
- Story notes
- Continuity
- Home video releases
was the eleventh episode of series 6 of Doctor Who.
It marked the departure of Amy and Rory as regular companions after the Doctor decided it was best if they stopped travelling and remained safe. The Doctor's greatest fear is also revisited, but is purposefully left ambiguous until The Time of the Doctor.
This story refers back to the end of The Eleventh Hour, where the Doctor told Amy that knowing that he is just a madman with a box would one day save her life. However, all their adventures together had glamourised the Doctor in Amy's eyes, making him what she believed in the most. It also brought up Rory's initial opinion of the Doctor from The Vampires of Venice again, as his suspicions are confirmed that companions do put themselves in danger to impress him.
This story also marks the first time since Journey's End that the Doctor leaves his companions behind to protect them. Though unlike the previous scenario, the Doctor decides to stop while he's ahead of any potentially harmful outcomes and leave his companions to live out their lives in peace.
The Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory investigate a hotel of horror where repeat business is low but the body count is high, where a mighty monster stalks the corridors and the rooms hold visions of angels, apes, and creepy clowns. Who — or what — has brought them to this place? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the residents check out in grisly...
A young policewoman, Lucy Hayward, roams the corridors of what appears to be a 1980s Earth hotel. Each room in the hotel possesses the manifestation of a fear, and each person who comes to the hotel must find their room — after which, they begin to "praise him". Lucy is the last of her companions. Lucy's room contains a giant gorilla that she once saw in a book when she was younger; screaming, she backs out of the room. Somewhere in the hotel, a creature awakens. As Lucy continues to write about her fear, she begins to "praise him", and stands in peace as she welcomes the creature to kill her.
Sometime later, the TARDIS lands in the same hotel. Once more, the TARDIS hasn't taken the Doctor where he wants to go, which in this case is the planet Ravenscala. The Eleventh Doctor is fascinated by their surroundings since, as he informs Amy and Rory, the hotel is not really a hotel at all, but something that someone has made to look like a hotel. There are pictures on the walls of various humans and aliens including Lucy, each bearing their names and fears. They are suddenly confronted by two Earth humans — Rita, a nurse, Howie, a computer geek — and Gibbis, a cowardly, mole-like alien from the planet Tivoli.
Rita carefully inspects the TARDIS trio, deducing that because their pupils are dilated, they have no idea what is going on either. The Doctor is immediately impressed by her cleverness and jokes to Amy that Rita will be replacing her as his companion. Rita explains to the Doctor and his companions that each room in the hotel contains "bad dreams", with Howie adding that the walls twist and move so that you never know where you're going or where you'll end up. This is confirmed when the Doctor tries to take everyone back to the TARDIS only to find that it has disappeared. When the Doctor asks Rita if there are any more people inside the hotel, Rita mentions Joe, who's a bit "tied up". When the Doctor asks what is keeping Joe occupied, Rita retorts, "No, I mean he's tied up."
Rita, Howie, and Gibbis bring the Doctor and his companions to Joe's room, which is full of ventriloquist dummies. Joe has been tied up by the others inside the room because of his mental instability. Joe informs the Doctor that he is going to die in the hotel; the Doctor jokes, "They certainly didn't mention that in the brochure!" Trying to get through to Joe, believing him to be possessed by an external force, the Doctor learns that "he" is going to feast. He also warns the Doctor that the same thing will happen to him, but that he must first find his room — because there is a room in the hotel for everyone. Rather than leave Joe behind, the Doctor has his chair tied up to a cart so they can wheel him around the hotel while they search for the TARDIS or an exit. He warns the entire group to stay with someone else at all times, and avoid being drawn to a particular room.
As the group begins searching the hotel, each person begins throwing out his own theories as to what is happening and how they should act on it. Rory is powerless to keep Howie from finding his room, which contains a group of twenty-something girls who mock him for being nerdy and for his stutter. Howie begins to "praise him". Further up the hallway, Amy discovers pages of Lucy Hayward's diary, which the young woman had dropped as the beast killed her. She doesn't have time to show the Doctor, however, as the beast can be heard approaching to kill Joe. Rory locates a fire exit, but it goes unseen by everyone else as they scatter into various rooms to hide from the predator. Rita inadvertently enters her own room with Joe to find her father lecturing her about her grades. She also begins to "praise him". Rory, Amy, Gibbis, Howie, and the Doctor enter another room containing two Weeping Angels. Amy warns the others not to blink, but the Doctor quickly ascertains that the Angels are not real. He encourages her to set aside her fear, but Rory notes Gibbis' reaction — he hides in a closet — and suggests that maybe the Weeping Angels are not for any of them. The Doctor checks the corridor through the peephole, and finally gets a good view of their enemy: it's a Minotaur.
In Rita's room, the rope that is binding Joe to his chair comes loose and untied on its own, possibly through some sort of telekinetic energy. Joe runs into the corridor, smiling madly as he asks the Minotaur to come to him. It overpowers him and drags him away, though they are both chased by the Doctor. The Doctor is separated from Joe and the Minotaur in the winding labyrinth of corridors, but later stumbles across Joe's body. The Doctor tries to revive him but finds that it's no use.
•The Doctor - Matt Smith
•Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
•Rory - Arthur Darvill
•Lucy Hayward - Sarah Quintrell
•Rita - Amara Karan
•Howie Spragg - Dimitri Leonidas
Locations
•The Doctor mentions Majorca.
Cultural references from the real world
•One of the girls from Howie's room asks Howie, "What's 'loser' in K-K-K-Klingon?"
Foods and beverages
•The Doctor now appears to enjoy apples.
•At the time of the script read-through, Lucy Hayward's name was "Lucy Miller". (CON: Heartbreak Hotel) It was ostensibly changed so as to avoid conflict with Lucie Miller, the long-term audio companion of the Eighth Doctor.
•As had happened with other people before her, Rita is invited to become companions by the Doctor, only to die soon after.
•The Doctor fears that he will either get Rory and Amy killed or have to watch them die. These themes were also touched on in The Vampires of Venice and School Reunion.
•Both of these episodes were also written by Toby Whithouse.
•Until the beginning of series 11, this was the last episode to feature the Doctor's companions explicitly living full-time aboard the TARDIS. When Amy and Rory rejoin the Doctor later in the season and again in Series 7, they only travel with him part-time, and successor companions Clara Oswald, Nardole and Bill Potts are never depicted as full-time occupants of the TARDIS; though Clara is given a bedroom on the TARDIS and Nardole once emerges in his pyjamas, neither are outright stated to live aboard it.
•This was originally meant to be the sixth episode of Series 5, but Steven Moffat decided that the labyrinth at the heart of the narrative was too much like the Maze of the Dead, so Toby Whithouse submitted The Vampires of Venice instead. It was then meant to be the tenth episode of season six before being swapped around with •Toby Whithouse wanted to illustrate examples of faith beyond the purely religious; hence Joe was associated with luck, and Howie with conspiracy theories. He also intended to include a prominent and sympathetic character who would exhibit a more traditional faith in God. Although Whithouse was not particularly religious himself, he hoped to buck the often cynical trend in modern fiction of portraying devout individuals in a strictly negative light. He considered having this character be a Christian, but he eventually decided that it would be more interesting to portray a different religion, and opted to make Rita a Muslim.
•This is not the first time the Doctor has deliberately caused one of his companions to lose faith in him in order to save them. The Seventh Doctor emotionally devastated Ace by labelling her, among other things, an "emotional cripple" during his battle with Fenric. This was necessary in order for her to briefly abandon her belief in him, allowing the Ancient One to defeat Fenric. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
•A Rubik's cube is seen again. The Doctor threw one away while talking to George, seemingly having difficulty in solving it. (TV: Night Terrors) This time, he succeeds.
•Amy has previously encountered the Weeping Angels. (TV: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, PROSE: Touched by an Angel)
•The Minotaur's final words were a prophetic statement delivered both to and about a long-lived traveller, similar to the last words of the Face of Boe. (TV: Gridlock)
•The Third Doctor had been made to view images of that which he most feared due to the Master's Keller Machine. (TV: The Mind of Evil) In that case, he saw images of many of his enemies, as well as a world consumed by fire, based on his having recently witnessed such. (TV: Inferno)
•The Doctor says the minotaur is beautiful when he first sees it. The Tenth Doctor previously made this comment about the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform and a Clockwork Droid. (TV: Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace) Amy says the exact same thing later when the minotaur begins to take over her mind.
DVD & Blu-ray releases
•The God Complex was released in Series 6 Part Two on DVD and Blu-Ray in region 1/A on 8 November 2011, in region 2/B on 10 October 2011 and in region 4/B on 3 November 2011. •The episode was later released in the Complete Sixth Series boxset on both DVD and Blu-ray, in region 1/A on 22 November 2011, in region 2/B on 21 November 2011 and in region 4/B on 1 December 2011.
Digital releases
•In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.
Series main cast. The following tables are an overview of all the regular cast members that have appeared throughout the show since 1963. 1963–1973.
- Tyler Constable
- Evergreen Specialist
- William Hartnell (November 1963 – October 1966) BBC / Doctor Who. William Hartnell introduced the world to The Doctor with his portrayal of the Time Lord.
- Patrick Troughton (November 1966 – June 1969) BBC / Doctor Who. Patrick Troughton’s second incarnation of The Doctor introduced ‘renewal’ to the show.
- Jon Pertwee (January 1970 – June 1974) BBC / Doctor Who. Jon Pertwee played the third incarnation of The Doctor. Jon Pertwee played The Third Doctor for five series between 1970 and 1974.
- Tom Baker (December 1974 – March 1981) BBC / Doctor Who. Tom Baker portrayed the Doctor for seven series which still remains the longest tenure of all the actors to play the role.
Anglophenia. 'Doctor Who': 10 Things You May Not Know About 'The God Complex'. “The God Complex” is the second Doctor Who story in a row in which Amy Pond’s survival relies on testing her faith in the Doctor to beyond endurance.
Andrew Gunn. Director (2 Episodes) The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.
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Sci-fi drama. The TARDIS lands in a hotel where every visitor's room contains their deepest, darkest fears. What lies in wait in the Doctor's room? 48 mins.
