Doctor Who (2005–…): Season 10, Episode 10 - The Eaters of Light - full transcript

Judy! Judy what are you doing?
Come on!

I want to hear the music!

You're going to get me in trouble.

Everyone knows there are
ghosts in the hill.

Wait! You'll hear it in a minute.

That's ghosts.

If you stay out here
listening to ghosts,

they will come
out of the hill and eat you.

They won't. They will.

And I'll get the blame.
Now, come on.

I can hear it.



Judy! No!

I'll put the story in the stone.

Judy!

Put your name there.

Doc-tor!

Doc-tor! Doc-tor! Doc-tor!

Oh, where are we now?

Aberdeen, Scotland,
2nd century AD.

You weren't complaining
when it was Mars, were you?

So why is Scotland suddenly more
important

than guarding the vault
and keeping your sacred oath?

She thinks she knows more about
Romans than me.

Oh, well that's explained
everything, thank you

You don't know more about the
Ninth Legion than me. You don't.



I read the book. I loved the book.
I read everything...

They disappeared.
Except they didn't.

They were annihilated in battle.

Then where's the big pile of bodies?

So where's the Ninth Legion?

If they'd left,
they should still be leaving.

Can you see 5,000 Roman soldiers
marching south?

Down there, by the river.

They'd have followed the river,
that's what they did.

There is so much that you don't
understand about Roman Britain.

- I got an A star.
- "Got an A star."

I've lived in Roman Britain.
Governed. Farmed.

Juggled.

And speaking as a former
vestal virgin, second class,

I can assure you...

I bet you there's
a Roman legion down there.

Hang on. Second class?

Fine. You go and check the river.

I'll go and find their last
battlefield.

Fine. I'll meet you back here
with a Roman soldier.

Yeah, but seriously - second class?

Yeah, it's a long story. Come on.

I honour you, Mother.

I honour you.

I honour all our dead.

I honour you,
Father. I honour all our dead.

I honour you, Mother.
I honour you, Father.

I honour all our dead.

5,000 Roman soldiers. Eyes peeled.

They must have left some kind of
mark on the landscape.

Burning huts, slaughtered locals,
sweetie wrappers.

Dark! Dark!

Dark!
Doctor..

Dark! Doctor!

Look, a stone cairn -
Pictish civilisation.

The bird!

What about it?

It said "dark".

Yes, well that's why we're hurrying,

because there's not much light
at this time of day.

But it talked!

Well, of course it did. It's a crow.
All crows talk.

They don't talk in the future.
Course they do.

Human beings just stopped having
intelligent conversations with them.

And they all took a bit of a huff.

Crows in the future
are all in a huff?

Course they are. Haven't you noticed
that noise they make?

It's like a mass sulk.

Come on. The sooner we get there,
the sooner we'll know the answer.

Yeah, I know, but... Picts, early
Celts. Loved stone cairns.

They built them under the ground
but close to the sky.

They think they're doors
between worlds.

Iron age churches.

What do you always find
near churches?

Women in hats.

Exactly. Human settlement.

It's all a bit damp, though,
isn't it?

It's Scotland,
it's supposed to be damp.

A Roman soldier!

I wish I'd studied Latin
so you could understand me.

I understand you.

Sorry, what?
I understand you.

But you're...
You're speaking English.

What's English?
Er, what you're speaking in.

You're speaking Latin.
I'm not.

That's Latin.
You just said that in Latin.

It's the Doctor!

Or the TARDIS, or both.
Something, a telepathic link.

Auto-translate. That's why everyone
in space speaks English.

What on earth are you
talking about?

Oh, my God, it even does lip-sync.

Who are you?
I'm Bill.

Are you from the Ninth Legion?

Yes.

Yes! Where have you been?

Don't you know? Know what?

Did you see what happened to us?

It's as if his bones
have disintegrated.

But what could do that?

A complete and total absence of
any kind of sunlight.

Death by Scotland.

No. No. It should take decades.

This happened a short while ago.

This is alien.

Right. Good-oh.

Question is,
where are the rest of them?

Just want to go back to bed.

Well, there they are.
The Ninth Legion.

Great big pile of bodies.

It's not always fun to be right.

This wasn't long ago.
Whatever did it is close by.

We need to find Bill.
Don't move! Stay where you are!

The Barbarians dug these traps
everywhere.

What was that?
It's what slaughtered the Ninth.

Can you see it?

They attacked us with a...
A thing. A monster.

There's nothing here.

I've got to go back to the others.

You said they were wiped out.

There are survivors, a handful.
I can't leave them.

Course not. We found a hiding place.
We might still be safe there.

So what was it like, this monster?
I don't know.

We deserted. We were the ones
who couldn't face it.

Roman soldiers don't run,
and we did.

What?

They're underground, by the river.
There's a carving of a fish.

Is that it? The monster?

No!

Block the entrance!
Quickly, hurry up!

How long will that hold?
Not for long.

Now bring her through, where we can
have a better look at her.

You do realise the beast now
knows where we are?

You're not one of the barbarians.
No.

So, you're the Ninth Legion?
We are what's left.

Simon should be back.

He was looking for the road.
Our route south. Did you see him?

Yeah. Well, where is he?

I'm sorry.
That creature killed him.

What is it?
That thing, where did it come from?

It killed him?

Yeah. He was covered in this,
like... black slime.

It knows where we are,
and we'll all die here, in the dark.

No-one is going to die!

Oh, for heaven's sake.

How long are you going to
keep us here?

Couldn't we have seats? What about
the Wi-Fi code, how about that?

Don't move. Don't speak.
Kar will be here soon.

Who's Kar?

The keeper of the gate. My sister.

Well, let's hope she's the brains of
the family, because there's

a big bad wolf of a monster
out there and you live in
a house of sticks.

Nice here, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, I like what you've
done with the place. Yeah.

Yeah, would you like some popcorn?
Won't take me a jiffy to make.

What are you doing?

I'm ingratiating myself.

Stop it. It's nauseating.
It's called charm.

I'm against it. I'm against charm.

Yeah, we all know that.

I said don't move! I'm rooted.

Shh! Did anybody hear that?

Do you know what that sound was?

What?

That was the sound of my patience
shattering into a billion
little pieces.

Now, there are only two things
that I need to know.

Where is my friend and what
destroyed the Roman army?

I destroyed the Roman army.

Really?

What? You, just on your own?
That's quite a trick.

I am the gatekeeper.

Gatekeeper. What gate?

Didn't you hear the call?
Where were you?

I had to find the gatekeeper's
things.

Sorry, wait a minute.

Are you the mighty warrior
that we've all been waiting for?

Where are all the grown-ups?

There was a great battle, a great
battle, and we beat the Romans.

Kar beat them.
That's all that matters.

Yes, but she's not a warrior.
She's an embryo.

What did you do?
Throw your action figures at them?

Listen, Roman...

We're not Roman.
We're not part of the Roman army.

No, we're not even slightly Italian.
I mean, I do a mean spag bol.

Let me tell you about the Romans.

They are the robbers of this world.

When they've thieved everything on
land, they'll rob the sea.

If their enemies are rich,
they'll take all they have.

If their enemies are poor,
they'll make slaves of them.

Their work is robbery,
slaughter, plunder.

They do this work
and they call it empire.

They make deserts
and they call it peace.

Yeah, but you've got to love
the indoor toilets, yeah?

They're not conquerors,
they're cowards.

They're also all dead.

There's an awful lot of dead cowards
out there,

and I don't believe
that you killed them.

Because the thing is, you said gate,

and you called yourself gatekeeper,
and you mentioned gate weapons,

so I've got to wonder -

what kind of a gate is that,
and what's on the other side?

And yes, you're absolutely right.

Right? I am extremely quick.

Listen, you are
all very, very angry,

but really you're just very scared.

For now, would you mind awfully
all just jumping out of your skins

and allowing Nardole and I to escape
in the confusion?

Who are you?
Let me explain.

Monster!

We're looking for Bill, right?

No, we're looking for the maximum
danger in the immediate area

and walking right into it.

Yeah, but what about Bill?

If she's there, we're saving her,
if she's not, she's safe already.

Trust me,
this is not my first rodeo.

Now, they think these cairns
are gateways between worlds.

And given that they keep going on
about gates,

possibly they're right.

Oh! Oh!

The gate's opening.
Your friend won't be coming back.

The way I heard it,
the human ship was called
the Mary Celeste.

Something like that. Anyway,

the Enzomodons assumed that any
species they encountered would

communicate as they did,
by digesting each other.

The Enzomodan ambassador got through
the whole crew

and then very sadly choked
on a lifeboat So...

You're back!

They said you would probably
never come back.

I was in there for seconds.

Two days.

It's an inter-dimensional
temporal rift.

A second in there equates to days
of time on this side.

I was in there for two days?

And eight hours,
five minutes, and...

Well, that's good, then, isn't it?
Good?

Plenty of time for you to find Bill.

Oh.

I looked. They helped me look.

How hard did you look?

I think we've lost her, Doctor.

No. No, no, no.
We just don't know where she is.

Not the same thing at all. Come on!

I'll tell you about
the Lusitania later.

Oh, keep an eye out for Bill.

You have to move again.

Stay in the sunlight,
it burns off the slime.

Thanks. No problem.

Are you hungry?
Come on. You have to eat.

How much food have we got left?
Enough.

Really? Shut up, Cornelius.
Go on, eat it.

It's two days, you haven't
had anything.

I've never been lost this long,
I need to find him.

Who? The Doctor, my friend.

I don't know what I'm going to do
if I can't find him.

Well, we'll look after you.

I'll have to find my way home
somehow.

This is the safest place to be.

The beast is still out there.

You came back.
Did you know what was in there?

The gate.

A portal between dimensions, do you
know what's on the other side?

You don't know anything, do you?

You just stand around
making speeches
and waving a TV aerial about.

Shall I tell you what's in there?

No. It's called the Eater Of Light,
and we held it back.

Every generation, a new warrior went
into the gate and fought

the Eater Of Light
so it couldn't break through.

But the creature did break through.

It broke through and it destroyed
the whole Ninth Legion.

It's weak, it's nearly dead.
It will die soon.

Well, let's hope so, because there
are millions more just like it,

on the other side, and very soon all
of them will find their way

through to this dimension.

Then I'll hold them back.
You'll hold them back?

What, with your lollypop and your
kiddy face paint

and your crazy novelty
monster killing tool?

Are you holding that thing
the right way up, by the way?
I don't want your help!

But I'm all you've got.
Believe me, I'm on your side.

Come on, let's go!

We're all in this together.
You're going to be fine.

Marcus was hurt, like you, and
the sunlight healed him in the end.

I am feeling better. Good.

Yeah, don't worry, Bill.
Lucius'll look after you.

Shut up, Cornelius!

Oh, Lucius. Erm...

Right, listen, there's
something I should explain.

What?

This is probably just
a really difficult idea.

I don't like men... that way.

What? Not ever?

No. Not ever.

Only women.

Oh! All right. Yeah, I got it.

You're like Vitus, then.

What? He only likes men.

Some men.
Better looking men than you, Lucius.

I don't think it's narrow-minded,
I think it's fine.

You know what you like.

And you like both?

I'm just ordinary.
You know, like men and women.

Well, isn't this
all very... modern.

Hey, not everyone has to be modern.

I think it's really sweet
that you're so... restricted.

Cheers.
We can be friends, though.

I did save your life,
that means we're friends forever.

Yeah. I can deal with that.

Why's it going dark?
The sun's setting.

No, it's the beast.

It's circling us,
it's looking for a way in.

It's getting stronger again.
It's strong enough to feed.

Every hour of sunlight that
feeds it makes the world darker

and the beast stronger.

We've got very little time.

I have to stop it. This is my fault.

I'm the keeper of the gate.
I have to put this right.

So you were supposed to guard
the gate while everyone else
went off to war.

But you had strangers at the door,
and a guard dog in the attic.
So you let the beast come through.

It was the only thing that
could defeat them.

So you thought the Eater Of Light
could destroy a whole Roman army?

It did.

And a whole Roman army could
weaken or kill the beast?

Yes.

Well, it didn't work.

You got a Roman legion slaughtered
and you made the deadliest

creature on this planet
very, very cross indeed.

To protect a muddy little hillside,
you doomed your whole world.

One man.
You think one man can save us all?

Come and meet him.
He came here to meet you.

He's met loads of people like you -
the terrified, the desperate.

And he always helps.
He always makes a difference.

There are painted barbarians up
there. They outnumber us.

There is a beast of darkness that
laid waste to an entire legion
in less than an hour.

No one man can make
a difference to that.

Maybe that's what you don't learn
when you think it takes

5,000 highly trained soldiers
to slaughter a bunch of
Scottish farmers.

Yes, one man can. And he's here.

If you're calling us cowards,
carry on.

We already ran away - we know.

You're not cowards. You're scared.

Scared is fine, scared is human.

But I'll tell you what it isn't.
It isn't a plan.

She's right. Why are you even
listening to her, Grandad?

Because no-one else is saying
anything.

We need a plan.

A real commander would have a plan.

Why did he call you Grandad?

They always call me Grandad.

I'm the command,

I'm the oldest one left.

How old are you?

18.

Right, listen to me. All of you.

I'm going up there to find
my friend.

If you come with me, I can't promise
that you won't all die.

But I can promise you this.

You won't all die
in a hole in the ground.

We have to drive it back through
and close the portal behind it.

Now, the gate only opens when
the dawn sun hits it. Why's that?

Our ancestors couldn't close
the gate completely,

but they built the cairn
to control it.

Like venting an oil gush.
If they let the portal open a few

moments every year, they stop
the whole thing ripping apart.

It's quite clever, really.

Are you sulking?

I'm remembering the dead.

Oh, right. Well, save that
for old age.

They're dead because of me.

You know, every moment you waste
wallowing about in that

happy thought means more of the
living are going to join them.

When you want to win a war,
remember this - it's not about you.

Believe me. I know.

Time to grow up, Kar.

Time to fight your fight.

How does this work?

It poisons the light
as the beast eats it.

Good. We'll need more of this.

It has optical cancellation
properties.

Now, we have one chance.

Right now it's weak,
it's injured, it's starving.

But when the sun comes up,
it will feed and grow strong.

We have to lure it back through
the portal before that happens,
before sunrise.

Now, I've got a plan.

But I need your help.

I am afraid.

Who isn't?

But you've still got to face
your beast anyway.

Can you do that?

Aye.

Shhh!

It's nothing!

It's the wind in the rocks.

Forward, centurion, keep going.

There are lots of entrances
the beast could get through.

It's a labyrinth

This is where we hear them.
The barbarians.

Right up there, up above us.

Are you sure your friend
will be with them?

Yeah. Basically, he always ends up
being boss of the locals.

How? Usually by annoying them.

What was that?

All right, centurions, stay sharp.

That's the way out.
So let's get out.

Easy, Cornelius, let's make sure we
know what we're walking into.

No. Let's go.

No! Wait!

Quick! Douse the fire! Quickly!

Shift your arse, Roman!

Close the trap door.

Block it off!
We have to block it off!

Centurions, defence formation.

It's falling back.
It's waiting.

It's waiting to feed off
the sunlight,
to grow to its full strength.

Hello. Hi.

I brought you the Ninth Legion.

Whoa, there they are.
The lost Legion of the Ninth.

Totally found them.
Yeah, you totally did.

Nardole, what happened to you?

Oh, I'm blending in.

Welcome to our land.

Scotch.

Drop your weapons.

Oh, for goodness' sake!
We don't have time for this!

Stay back!
Lucius! Stop it!

Are you their champion now?

There is no time for fighting!
Exactly.

We never wanted to fight.

We lived in peace, and then you
came and laid waste to

everything and everyone we loved.

All you understand is war.

No. He understands.

Don't you?
And now he's wondering why.

You speak Latin? I don't!

Neither do I. Not a word.

And I don't speak whatever
they speak either.

It's him.

It's you, isn't it?
Yes. It's me.

Something to do with the TARDIS,
maybe? Telepathic field?

So now that we all understand
each other, how do we all sound?

You sound like children.
You sound like children, too.

You all do.
Is this what happens?

When you understand what everyone
in the universe is saying,

everybody just sounds like
children.

There are exceptions.

Thank you very much. Not you.

OK, kids, pay attention.

She slaughtered your legion.

You slaughtered everything
that she loves.

Now you all have a choice.

You can carry on slaughtering
each other

till no-one is left standing,
or you grow the hell up!

Because there's a new war now.

I think these creatures
are light-eating locusts.

Looking for rents and cracks
between worlds

to let themselves into
dimensions of light.

Once they break through, they eat.

They will eat the sun,

and then they will eat the stars.

And they will keep eating

until there are no stars left.

So, whose side are you on now?

Because as far as I can see,
there's only one side left.

If it helps,

I do have a plan.

It feeds on light but it
homes in on sound.

So what's going to happen?
It's simple.

Bit of noise,
lure the beast here,

Drive it back through the gate.

But how do we keep it there?
I mean, you said,

all those things are going to
come through, right?

They can only come through
one at a time. I know.

That's why guarding the gate worked.

One Pict in there,
fighting it off for a few minutes,

that adds up to 60 or 70
years out here -

I get it, yeah, and then the next
one goes in.

But what do we going to do
this time?

Or are you going line up Picts

sacrificing themselves until
the end of the world?

I've got a better idea this time.

Which is the part you never
tell me. Don't I?

I probably just get interrupted.

This is worse than jazz.

Nothing, there's nothing.

Maybe it won't come.

- Hello.
- Hello.

Hello.

Doctor!

No, no. Nardole.

It's probably a bit tricky for you,
that, innit?

Nar.

Lovely. Hello!

Monster!

Sorry?

Monster!

There!

Oh!

It's coming! It's here!

Get ready!

Channel the light!

Keep it here!

We've got to hold it here
till sunrise.

Keep it there! Keep it there!

Turn it, the sun is rising!

Back! Back to the void!

It'll only stay open as long
as the sunlight's on it.

Give me your weapon.
What are you doing?

This is the clever bit.
Well, tell me.

The gate has to be guarded,
there's no other way.

The trouble is, human life spans,
they're tiny.

They're hilarious. You get
used up too quickly.

So what's the answer?
Go on, figure it out.

The answer is me. I go on for ages.

I don't even really die,
I regenerate.

I can hold that gate
till the sun goes out.

No, you can't!

Course I can, I'm going to.

This is not your job.

No, it isn't, Bill. It's who I am.

I've been standing by the gates
of your world,

keeping you all safe,
since you crawled out of the slime.

I'm not stopping now!
Doctor, please!

Listen! The TARDIS will take you
home, return journeys are easy.

Listen to me! Leave the instruments
on the current setting,

just hit them with a spanner.

The weapon. Now. No.
Give it to me. Come on.

You'll be safe, tomorrow you'll be
farming. You can name a cow
after me.

What about the other gates
that you have to guard?
What about the vault?

The vault will never exist,
if I let those things come through.

Then someone else better stop them.
Nobody else can!

I can.

What are you saying?

Time to grow up, Doctor.
Time to fight my fight.

I'm sorry, no.

No-one else can do this,
not like I can.

We can.

I'm ready.
I'll guard the gate with you.

I'll fight by your side.

Awesome! Brilliant!
You'll be a hero for two seconds.

And then the whole solar system
will be devoured.

Stop him!

This is my destiny. My fight.

Out of my way. Now!
We'll take it in turns.

Two of you can't hold the gate.

Two of them?
I'm counting more than two.

The Legion of the Ninth
stands ready to serve.

Oh, stop being brave.
I can't bear brave people.

I'll put the story in the stone.
I'll put your name in the air.

They'll see it for
hundreds of years.

They'll know your name forever.
Good.

Ready?

No, listen to me! No, listen!

You're wrong, Doctor.
It's their destiny, not yours.

Sorry. You're going nowhere.

Bill! Bill, stop it!
Quickly! Quickly!

Soldiers of the Ninth! Advance!
Come on!

What's that? What's happening?

Too many of them going through at
once. This place is unstable.

We need to get out of here. Now!

I know you're inclined to
bear a grudge,

so just remember I know about
10% of your secrets.

The dark secrets.

And I'm the only one in the TARDIS
who knows where the tea cakes are.

Kar.

She's holding the gate.
Remember. Her name is Kar.

Kar!
Kar.

Kar! Kar!

You were wrong.
The crows aren't sulking.

The crows are remembering.

Kar! Kar! Kar!

I'm sorry, Doctor, but you have
a vault to guard.

You can't take on every fight.

All right. I was wrong.

I didn't know what really happened
to the Ninth Legion.

No, we were both wrong about that.

They were never really missing.

They've always been here.

The Ninth Legion
and the Keeper of the Gate.

Seizing the day till the sun goes
out. Holding back the dark.

What?

I thought... Did you hear that?

I thought I could hear the music.
But I can't, can I?

They're in another time.

Music's funny like that.

Right, shall we go back home?

Time you were guarding that vault,
we don't want Missy getting
any ideas.

Oh, one should always try to
avoid those.

Hello!

You lot were ages,
I was getting ever so worried.

How did you get out of the vault?

So, what do we do,
how did this happen?

It's all right, Nardole, she's been
doing some work for me.

Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I assumed they knew.

Should I have stayed below decks?

No, no, no. It's fine.

She's supposed to be in the vault.

How were the engines?

Better than you deserve.
You are naughty.

Do you ever do basic
maintenance?

No, but I've got a plan for that.
What?

You.

Seriously? What, she's doing
chores for you now?

Sir, I must to protest in
the strongest, most upset
terms possible.

Don't make me go squeaky voiced!

Do relax, you two. I'm biolocked
out of the controls.

I can't even get through
those doors.

I'm as much a prisoner here
as I am in the vault.

No, you most certainly are not.

Doctor, seriously, why did you
let her out?

I think you may be forgetting
how we got home from Mars.

What, so now you trust her?

No, so now he's getting TARDIS
maintenance for free.

Let's not get carried away.

So what have you been up to?
Did you watch us?

Some of it. A little bit.
What did you think?

Oh, is she reviewing us now?

All those little people,
trapped in a hill, fighting forever.

Is that really up to your
bleeding heart standards?

Well, they're not trapped and
they're more than just fighting.

And there's music. Always music.

Well, team, who's going to
help me hide his gee-tar?

See, that's what I'm trying to teach
you, Missy.

You understand the universe,
you see it, you grasp it.

But you've never learned to
hear the music.

I don't even know why I'm crying.

Why do I keep doing that now?
I don't know.

Maybe you're trying to impress me.

Yes, probably some devious plan.

That sounds about right.

The alternative would be much worse.

Really?

The alternative is that
this is for real.

And it's time for us to become
friends again.

Do you think so?

I don't know. That's the trouble
with hope.

It's hard to resist.

I pick a scenario, we drop her down
into it and we see how she does.

Hello, I am that mysterious
adventurer in all of time and space,

and these are my disposables.

Promise you won't get me killed.

I said this was a bad idea.

A 400-mile ship reversing away
from the gravitational pull

of a black hole.

So sorry, but you're the reason
that they're coming.

What are they?

A Mondasian Cyberman!

Give us a kiss.