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Doctor Who The God Complex (2005– ) Online

Doctor Who The God Complex (2005– ) Online
2005– Matt Smith Karen Gillan Arthur Darvill Nick Hurran
Original Title :
The God Complex
Genre :
TV Episode / Adventure / Drama / Family / Mystery / Sci-Fi
Year :
2005–
Directror :
Nick Hurran
Cast :
Matt Smith,Karen Gillan,Arthur Darvill
Writer :
Toby Whithouse
Type :
TV Episode
Time :
49min
Rating :
8.1/10

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Doctor Who The God Complex (2005– ) Online

Our trio of time travelers find themselves in a very strange hotel. The Doctor quickly surmises that it's a replica of a 1980s British hotel and when they ring the bell at the check-in counter, they find themselves confronted by three others, none of whom know how they got there. They do not know that the others who were with have seemingly gone mad and are now dead. Those who remain describe the hotel as having no exits with corridors and walls that are forever changing. As well, each room is occupied by someone or something representing their greatest fear. To top things off, the TARDIS seems to have disappeared. Their encounter with a strange creature will have an impact on all of them and force the Doctor to reevaluate his relationship with Amy and Rory.
Episode complete credited cast:
Matt Smith Matt Smith - The Doctor
Karen Gillan Karen Gillan - Amy Pond
Arthur Darvill Arthur Darvill - Rory
Sarah Quintrell Sarah Quintrell - Lucy Hayward
Amara Karan Amara Karan - Rita
Dimitri Leonidas Dimitri Leonidas - Howie Spragg
Daniel Pirrie Daniel Pirrie - Joe Buchanan
David Walliams David Walliams - Gibbis
Dafydd Emyr Dafydd Emyr - P.E. Teacher
Spencer Wilding Spencer Wilding - The Creature
Rashid Karapiet Rashid Karapiet - Rita's Father
Caitlin Blackwood Caitlin Blackwood - Amelia Pond
Roger Ennals Roger Ennals - Gorilla

The pictures seen on the walls throughout the episode show various aliens the Doctor has encountered such as Silurian, a Sontaran, a Judoon and a Sister of Plenitude (cat nun).

Eager to avoid the cliché of an eerie old Victorian hotel, Toby Whithouse drew upon dreadful family vacations of his youth and instead opted for a tacky 1980s establishment.

Matt Smith called David Walliams "hilarious" and found it hard to take him seriously, as when he was in his prosthetics for the part he resembled a giant mole.

David Walliams' prosthetics took two hours to apply.

David Walliams was asked to guest-star in the episode in an email and he agreed, having been a fan of the show. He had previously been a candidate to play The Tenth Doctor.

At the time of the script read-through, Lucy Hayward's name was "Lucy Miller". It was ostensibly changed so as to avoid conflict with Lucie Miller, the long-term audio companion of the Eighth Doctor.

Toby Whithouse was more pleased with "The God Complex" than "School Reunion" and "The Vampires of Venice", his previous Doctor Who scripts, as the tone was darker which he was "more comfortable" writing.

Originally, an additional human character was Edward, a conservative blowhard who placed his faith in authority. To provide more variety, Edward evolved into the alien Gibbis, who exhibited more extreme and comical versions of the earlier character's traits.

David Walliams had been offered to play the Tenth Doctor when Christopher Eccleston left the series, but was not able to take the role due to taking his hit BBC comedy show Little Britain (2003) (TV Series) live on tour. Matt Lucas, David Walliam's comedy partner and co-creator of Little Britain (2003) (TV Series) later joined the series as Nardole, companion to The Twelvth Doctor (Peter Capaldi).

This episode takes place in 2011.

Rory's favorite car--as gifted to him from the Doctor--is a 1968-1971 Jaguar E-Type Series 2 roadster.

The Doctor's room is #11. Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor.

Amy's room is #7, which is her age when she first met (and waited for) the Doctor.

You can see the contents of the Doctor's room in the reflection of his eye.

The front door of the house The Doctor gives to Amy and Rory is painted TARDIS blue.

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" respectively. Both episodes were also written by Toby Whithouse.

The idea to have a Minotaur be the monster came from Toby Whithouse's love for Greek mythology.

Toby Whithouse wanted to illustrate examples of faith besides the purely religious. Hence Joe was associated with luck and Howie with conspiracy theories. Nonetheless, the writer 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, this would buck the often cynical trend in modern fiction of portraying devout individuals in a negative light. He considered having this character be a Christian, but felt it would be more interesting to portray a different religion, inspiring Rita's adherence to Islam.

The contents of the Doctor's room are later revealed in the Eleventh Doctor's swansong, The Time of the Doctor, where it's shown that it's the crack in reality that was the main arc in his first series.

When Amy protests the Doctor's decision to stop traveling with her and Rory, the Doctor counters, "What's the alternative? Standing over your grave?" This turns out to be foreshadowing of Amy's departure in "Angels in Manhattan," where the Doctor does in fact stand over Amy's grave after she and Rory are permanently sent back in time by the Weeping Angels.

A late change came when executive producer Beth Willis voiced her concern that the story relied too much on abstract concepts. To take better advantage of the hotel setting, Toby Whithouse introduced the notion of there being a room assigned to each denizen which contains his or her worst nightmare. This was partly inspired by his work on Being Human (2008), where the third season premiere had depicted characters in Purgatory and suggested the notion that every person has his or her own version of Hell.

Steven Moffat originally pitched the episode to Toby Whithouse for the previous series with the idea of a hotel with shifting rooms. However, as production continued, Moffat thought that there were too many instances in which the characters were running through corridors in that series, so Whithouse wrote "The Vampires of Venice" instead.

Toby Whithouse originally envisioned Amy and Rory moving into an idyllic cottage, reflecting the fairytale theme which Steven Moffat had woven into the Eleventh Doctor's era.

One of the rooms seen is called the "Pasiphae Spa." In Greek mythology, the mother of the Minotaur is called Pasiphae. The monster in this episode is modeled after the Minotaur.

The symbols on the computer, when the prison reverts to it's original shape, are the same as the ancient language in the Satan Pit 2 parter from series 2.


User reviews

Bloodfire

Bloodfire

The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in what appears to be a 1980's style hotel, but there's a twist, they aren't on Earth, and someone's gone to lots of trouble to make it look like Earth. They meet people also trapped in the hotel, the rooms switch around, one of the 'guests' Rita explains that the rooms have bad thing in them. The bad things in the rooms being people's worst nightmare, but worse one by one they go mad and start to 'praise him,' they begin to see the light and allow themselves to be taken willingly.

Favourite scene perhaps is Joe, who is tie up and surrounded by the Archie Andrews style puppets, they are so creepy, 'gottle o' geer!' 'Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here come a chopper to chop off your head.' Dolls a few weeks ago, puppets this....

For some reason I particularly love the music in the God complex, it feels very old school. (anyone that knows the 70's And then there were none will get the vibe.)

I adore David Walliams, but I didn't like the character they had him playing, why hide that face? Favourite character has to be Rita, she provides the fun and the tears, would have loved to have seen more of Rita. What a brilliant performance from Amara Karan. The ending feels a little like Curse of the Black spot.

What was behind the Doctor's door, the master? his mum? the war Doctor? interesting..

All in all I truly love the God Complex, an episode that plays on fears, it feels like a throwback. The monster looks like it could have fought with Tom or Sylvester. It all fits together nicely, love it. 9/10
Dagdalas

Dagdalas

Graeme Harper holds the distinction of being the only director of the 1963-1989 Doctor Who to also direct episodes in the BBC Wales revival series. His signature shot in DOCTOR WHO is the weird point of view shot, a distorted image seen through the eye of a Dalek or an askew magnifying glass for a sense of weird emotional impact. Although he did not direct this episode, writer Toby Whithouse and director Nick Hurran have produced an episode that evokes that sort of image, with weird traveling shots and Hitchcockian Down-the-stairwell shots to evoke the fears that people feel, for which deep and abiding faith is the only shield..... and when that faith is broken, they either die or grow up.

Toby Whithouse's script is quite good, but may only be accessible to a dedicated fan of the show. It examines, as have other episodes in this season, the faith and attitudes and, yes, the hungers of the Doctor and the people who travel with him. The Doctor seeks out companions because he is lonely and needs someone to admire him -- a normal and natural set of urges. His companions get to see amazing and brilliant places and times. They also provide an emotional access for the viewer -- it's rather difficult to identify with a nine hundred year old alien.

It's a brilliant life, but by no means a safe one and this season has been investigating the risks and psychology behind the characters, and reaching towards an unhappy conclusion, in a series of episodes that have been growing more and more terrifying. In the previous episode, Rory Williams reproached the Doctor for his habit of not checking out the dangers of where he goes. In this episode, the question is approached much more directly and the Doctor finds himself in the unenviable position of having to be an adult and making sure the kids are safe and capable of taking care of themselves.

It's an episode that sits deep inside the history and mythos of DOCTOR WHO. Toby Whithouse, whose best outing in the new series is the second season's "School Reunion" throws in references to the classic series' "Horn of Nimon" serial to excellent effect. It will not, however, be particularly accessible to the casual viewer or even the dedicated viewer who is only familiar with the current series. I enjoyed it, but it will not be to everyone's taste.
Sarin

Sarin

I never paid any attention to Doctor Who until I developed a massive crush on David Walliams circa 2010. When I found out he was doing this episode, I asked a friend who had cable to DVR it for me. I went on to watch a fair portion of the Matt Smith series, some of the Tennants (not as crazy about his Doctor--too children's entertainer-ish for me) and all the Capaldis (definitely my Doctor) but this is still my favorite episode. Probably because I prefer horror to science fiction, and this is a really well-crafted piece of horror filmmaking. I also like "The Lazarus Experiment" a lot, though it's more of an homage to classic horror than a genuine thriller in its own right, as this is.

The only thing I don't like about this episode was the decision to give David that hideous prosthetic naked mole rat face. He does manage to work quite a bit of expression through it, but yecch. Also it gives him a glaring plasticky mask-voice, which takes you out of whatever illusion the mask was intended to create. In a way it was a failure of imagination. David is something of a special effect in and of himself and I don't think he needs latex on his face to convince us he's from another galaxy.
Ziena

Ziena

This episode was creepy from its opening when we see a police woman running along the corridors of a strange hotel that seems to be stuck in the '80s; that is until she enters a room containing a man in a gorilla suit when she exclaims 'Praise him!'. Soon the Tardis lands in the hotel and when The Doctor, Amy and Rory get out to explore they meet another group who claim that it is impossible to leave the hotel and that the rooms and corridors keep rearranging. The Doctor suggests that they can all escape in the Tardis but when they return to where he left it, it has vanished. It is explained that somewhere in the hotel everybody will find a room containing their deepest fear and once you have found it you will soon be killed! It isn't long before people do indeed start to die.

This episode may have lacked spectacular special effects but it made up for the lack of spectacle with a more subtle atmosphere of creepiness. The monster wasn't the best design but the way it caught its prey was interesting and scary. There is also a nice twist near the end, which I won't spoil… I just hope the assumed conclusion is just teaser! The regular cast did a fine job; I particularly liked the emotion between Karen Gillan and Matt Smith in the final scene, of the guest stars the most notable were Amara Karan who did a good job as Rita and comedian David Walliams who played an alien from the most frequently invaded planet in the universe.
Quynaus

Quynaus

DOCTOR WHO is a unique show but isn't exactly an original one . The whole premise of the series owes a massive debt to HG Wells and the differing eras tend to homage other inspirations . Jon Pertwee's debut season is pure QUATERMASS whilst the early Tom Baker stories are a homage to Hammer horror . This shouldn't be viewed as a criticism since the above two eras show he programme as its very best

The God Complex is a case in point . It's not very original as it rips off the myth of the Minotuar and features Orweell's room 101 as a plot device where people are imprisoned with their greatest fears . It's certainly one of the most enjoyable episodes of the Moffat era since it doesn't get caught up in pretentious timey wimey time paradox .It's also an episode that feels in keeping with the spirit of Moffat's predecessor . The characterisation is some what clichéd and shallow with a geeky computer nerd scared of girls , a humanoid descended from a non primate mammal , an ethnic minority character with a career etc but again this shouldn't be taken as a criticism , more of a tradition

Where the episode is less successful is that it spends the first half building up to the revelation of the monster which is a technique almost as old as the show itself going all the way back to the first Dalek story in 1963 . The problem with this once the monster is let out of the bag the mystery and suspense used for its revelation means it doesn't have the same impact after first viewing . The episode also suffers from the mawkish scene of the Doctor holding the monster's hand as it dies which smacks of RTD at his most manipulative , as is the scene where the Doctor bids goodbye to his companions . Cue Amy Pond with saw dust running down her cheeks but don't worry about Ms Gillan because she'll be back for the Christmas special so her appointment at the job centre will be delayued for another few weeks

All in all this is a pretty good episode . By no means a classic but much better than most than those produced by Steven Moffat . It's no coincidence that much of the enjoyment of watching this is due to the fact that it's a standalone episode devoid of a running thread and timey wimey nonsense that destroyed much of the first half of season six
Zeueli

Zeueli

This is a strange episode. The TARDIS is brought to a setting which appears to be a mid Twentieth Century hotel where each guest has a room which holds their 'phobia' or deepest fear. A beast roams the hotel killing those who have faced their fear after somehow getting them to transmit their faith in what they believe in towards him. The initial fear scene is not great featuring a lame pantomime style gorilla but some of the scenes do give you the creeps.

The best thing about this episode is the creepy, scary aspects. It clearly tries to evoke The Shining with the hotel corridors and has many horror cliches which while not original are effectively unsettling. The weirdness of the episode is a mixture of good and not so good while the ideas presented are also a mixed bag. The themes of faith and fear are interesting but those themes are not explored entirely coherently. The interactions between all the characters makes for some good scenes and there is pleasant humour. The script and acting are good quality and the direction and all production values are good. Along with the creepiness that makes for an entertaining episode with some thoughtful ideas. However, when the reveal happens in the end revealing what is really going on it does not really ring all that true. Why would anyone imprison a creature but allow victims to continue to be brought to it to 'feed' it? Why if the beast is so sad and not really malicious does it continue to pursue and feed on people?

An additional issue I had personally with this was the scene where the Doctor tries to shake Amy's faith in him. This episode is not written by Steven Moffatt, it is written by Toby Whithouse but I feel this episode reveals a shared need that Moffatt and Whithouse seem to have to portray the Doctor as someone who uses people and is a dark, dangerous character. It comes across as if they are telling us that we should not have faith in the Doctor ourselves as viewers and should see him as an ambiguous character with questionable morals. This episode is just one of many Moffatt era stories that seem to chip in to this theme.

Overall, the horror elements and weird drama make this pretty enjoyable so I rate it 7.5/10. Decent but not as great as it could have been.
Marilace

Marilace

Creepy as frack and I'm pretty sure the entire episode is making fun of Christians. Love Doctor Who- favorite show- but this episode creeps me out almost more than The Satan Pit!