Face the Raven Doctor Who

I told you it'd work!

It very nearly ate you for dinner.

Oh, admit it. I totally saved your life.

It wasn't going to eat me.

SHE LAUGHS

I totally saved you from

having to marry that giant sentient plant thing.

That bit where I jumped over the side? That was amazing!

Hah! I knew you were impressed!

The second most beautiful garden in all of time and space,

and we can never come back here because you, Miss Oswald, decided...

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

'Clara? Finally. It's Rigsy.'

Oh. Rigsy. Hey. What's wrong?

So I have this, er...

It kind of looks like a tattoo.

'Seriously? I gave you this number for emergencies.'

It's an emergency, trust me. Just...

'Come and take a look at it. Please.'

Who said you could give out my number?

Look, look, no matter how bad it is,

we cannot take you back down your timeline just to fix a tattoo.

That's just it. I didn't get a tattoo. And it's...

It's counting down.

Sorry, what?

The tattoo - it's a number and it's counting down to zero.

Hang tight. We'll be right there.

Hurry. Please.

VWORP! VWORP!

-Did you make this human?

-Lucy? Yeah, she's mine.

Hello. Oh, Rigsy, she's gorgeous.

She's better than that. She's brilliant.

-What are you doing running round getting tattoos when there's...

-Shh!

Look, I didn't "get" anything.

I woke up this morning and it was just there. Jen noticed it.

OK, show me this tattoo you didn't get, then.

It's a tattoo. It's very boring.

No, wait. Just keep watching.

What were you doing last night?

That's just it - yesterday was a total blank.

Jen said I left the house before dawn, I missed work,

and I didn't get back till after midnight. No-one saw me all day.

Oh, that's not boring.

That is very not boring.

-GLASSES HUM

-What? What is it?

OK, Local Knowledge, you're coming with us. Bring the new human.

No! Don't bring the new human. I'll just get distracted.

If you want your extremities to stay attached,

stand absolutely still.

If not, we can provide a small bag, you can take them home at the end.

Rigsy, your phone.

It's like they've wiped it, but only the last day.

No location data, no texts, nothing.

You're sure the screen wasn't cracked before yesterday?

Mm-hm.

Oh, right, OK, here we go. Ah...

Good.

Weird.

Good and weird.

Can I...?

Oh, yes, yes. Of course.

First off...

..in the last 24 hours,

you've had significant contact with alien life-forms,

right here in the centre of London.

OK, so why don't I remember anything?

-You've been retconned.

-Huh?

-What-conned?

Amnesia drug. Your pre-frontal cortex is marinating in it.

Oh, there's something else!

Something...

Er...

not good.

Weird.

What's he doing?

He's making an effort to be nice.

There is no nice way to say you're about to die.

What?!

-Rigsy...

-No, no, no, no, don't start using my actual name now!

Call me Pudding Brain, call me Local Knowledge, whatever.

Just don't call me Rigsy.

You're going to save me. You're a doctor. That's what you do.

OK. OK...

Yes, OK, let's do this thing.

First up, stop the countdown.

526 minutes, right! OK.

Yes, you know what, Local Knowledge, I don't know who did this to you

or why. But I do almost certainly know...

..how to find them.

There have always been rumours.

Stories passed from traveller to traveller,

mutterings about hidden streets,

secret pockets of alien life

right here on Earth.

Like a smuggler's cove, only not a cove, because it's right here.

Right in the middle of the capital.

-The hidden places are in the Great British Library?

-No.

The maps are.

I never put stock in it.

London streets that suddenly disappeared from human view? No.

You lot are always overlooking things, but whole streets?

That would be excessive, even for you.

If the stories are true, though, there should be a street

on one of these old maps that no longer exists in the real world.

Like a trap street, only not.

-What did you say?

-A trap street.

You know, when someone's making a map, a, um...cartographer,

uses a fake street, throws it into the mix,

names it after one of his kids or whatever. Then if the fake street,

the trap street, ever shows up on someone else's map,

they know their work's been stolen. Clever, right?

My God. A whole London street just up and disappeared

and you lot assume it's a copyright infringement.

So we're looking for a trap street?

We're looking for a trap street and we're not going to find it here.

The glasses are tracking your eye movements.

Just keep looking straight down and...

I know! Focus on the buildings directly below me.

Whatever they're using, it only hides the street itself.

It prevents you from noticing there's even something missing.

They're somehow making our eyes skate right over it.

Let's call it a misdirection circuit.

RUMBLING

Clara!

SHE WHOOPS AND LAUGHS

SHE WHOOPS

Hello, London!

SHE LAUGHS

I'm good.

I'm good.

She enjoyed that...way too much.

Tell me about it. It's an ongoing problem. Here.

Keep it steady.

Just move it slowly over the grid. When we're done, we'll have a map

of the areas of the grid that Clara couldn't focus on.

So, these are the bits my eyes skated over.

OK, we split up. Clara, that way.

Local Knowledge...

Forget the way you usually look at the world.

This street's going to be hiding in plain sight.

-22, 23...

-If you see something unusual or notable,

dismiss it. Just keep walking.

But if there's a bit of London so unremarkable

that you don't even think about it...

stop.

You could very well be standing right outside a trap street.

-Count everything that you see.

-Four, five, six...

Because when you hit the area around a trap street,

it's very likely you'll lose count.

79...

80...

81...

..82.

-Huh?

-Remember - 82.

-Come along!

-82!

You'll lose count because the misdirection circuit

is creating confusion in your mind.

Details won't add up. Reality will have glitches in it.

Like when you try to read the same simple sentence three times over...

One, two, three...

..and the meaning just won't sink in.

Got ya.

Clara! Clara!

Clara!

It's off this street, I am certain.

We're very close.

We need to distract our other senses.

Clara, go back to the TARDIS. Pick up all my most annoying stuff.

PHONE BEEPS

-What happened to the stuff I asked you to bring?

-Someone called you.

Yesterday, 6am. Blocked number.

She's dead.

What is it? What are you remembering?

Rigsy, what is it?

You can't see it? There!

I see it. You?

50 minutes left.

Hoodie up, Local Knowledge. They know what you look like in there.

How come I saw it when you guys couldn't?

You were upset, weren't you?

Something slipped through the retcon memory,

something that took over your whole mind, something juicy.

So the misdirection circuit lost its power over you.

Surely people wander in here all the time, then, distracted,

-on their phones or whatever?

-Perhaps they do...

ALARM RINGS

HE GROWLS

Three at once. That's new.

Hang about.

-HE SNIFFS

-This one don't smell human.

Name, species and case for asylum. Quick as you like.

-Asylum?

-The reason you're here. The reason you need sanctuary.

Why didn't they use the protocol?

I saw through the circuit again. I saw them.

They're definitely not human.

You do know this is a refugee camp?

Yeah, of course.

-Of course he does! Now that you've told him.

-Mayor Me.

-CLARA:

-Ashildr!

-Ashildr?

That's your name. I keep telling you that.

Do you?

Infinite lifespan, finite memory - it makes for an awkward social life.

You must be Clara Oswald.

You're as beautiful as your photos.

We met.

Yes, I know. It's in my diaries.

Oh, don't look like that! I enjoyed our conversations.

I've read them many times.

OK, that's...slightly odd. But nice.

Um, hang on,

so this is where you've been. That's why he lost track of you.

Oh, come on, please. It's really cute, he thinks I don't know.

He's got this whole secret room in the TARDIS

-where he collects mentions of you.

-It's not cute.

It's surveillance.

-It's professional interest.

-Precautionary measure.

Still saving the world from me, then?

It's still here, isn't it?

He lost track of you in the early 1800s.

-I wondered if you were...

-Oh, no. I let him know I was OK.

I saw you.

No. I got your attention.

Yes, you did, and you have. Now we need your help.

Someone in this place is in control of a Quantum Shade.

HE SNARLS

-I knew I recognised that smell.

-Oh.

-CLARA:

-Ashildr? What's going on?

You.

How do you know this man?

Hang on. You did this to Rigsy?

What have you done?

This man committed a crime.

-I sentenced him.

-Sentenced him?

I also gave him enough time to return home

and say goodbye to his family.

You flooded his brain with retcon!

Till we showed up, he didn't even know he had to say goodbye.

I'm afraid no intruder leaves this place without a memory wipe.

With respect, that will include you.

Oh, the hell it will!

Ashildr, given we're all going to forget this conversation anyway,

perhaps you could tell us what happened here yesterday

to necessitate a death sentence?

Fine, I'll show you.

Mr Kabel, Mr Rump.

Permit them entry.

No!

You've already endangered one of my friends.

I want your personal guarantee you will not endanger another.

Shut up, I can handle myself.

I guarantee the safety of Clara Oswald.

She will be under my personal protection. That is absolute.

If that's your wish, Mayor Me.

This way.

Murderer.

What did you say?

Murderer.

He called me a murderer.

So you're still calling yourself Me, then?

-Me?

-Mayor Me.

Mayor is a title. I give myself a title for the same reason you do,

-Doctor - something to live up to.

-Difficult, isn't it?

-How long have you been here?

-Since Waterloo.

-The battle?

-No, the station. Really, Doctor.

Tread carefully while you're here.

Some of your greatest enemies are within a few feet of you.

As far as you're concerned, this is the most dangerous street in London.

Fascinating. Now, can we skip to the part where you want Rigsy dead for some reason?

WOMAN: It's him! He's back!

It's best we get him inside first.

Murderer. You're not welcome here.

They look at me as if they want to kill me themselves.

-Don't want your kind round here.

-Murderer!

HISSING

Like I said, it's best we get inside.

Filthy murderer!

Wait, Clara.

Look.

This misdirection circuit of yours is remarkable.

The cloaking device that hides the street,

makes everyone look like humans.

It's no device.

It's the Lurkworms.

Quite something, aren't they?

The light is a telepathic field.

It normalises everything you see,

places it within the compass of your expectations, your experiences.

You can bypass them, of course.

Ow!

Don't worry. We're perfectly safe.

Yes, a phrase I find is usually followed by

a lot of screaming and running and bleeding.

I brokered a truce. We have strict rules against violence here.

Rules every creature must abide by

if they wish to remain on the street.

-Get away from us!

-Don't want your kind round here.

What's better, that they're in here with me, peaceful and cooperative,

or out there on Earth like the Zygons?

We haven't had an act of violence on this street for 100 years,

until yesterday, when your friend here attacked

one of our most vulnerable residents.

How did Rigsy even get in?

I mean, we barely managed it, and we knew what we were looking for...

She was found at the entrance of the street.

No weapon on the scene,

but the cause of death is likely the head wound.

-Seems she was knocked to the cobblestones.

-"Seems"?

You've sentenced Rigsy to death

yet you don't know exactly what's going on?

He was found over the body.

My people were angry, frightened. I had to act.

-This is ridiculous, this is...

-What was her name?

Anah.

We're keeping her here until someone can take her home for burial.

She's a Janus!

She escaped slavery. She fled here with her child.

-The child. A daughter?

-No. A boy.

Is that bad?

No, it's not bad, it's just unhelpful.

A daughter might've seen who killed her mother.

The female Janus is psychic.

One face sees into the future,

the other looks behind her, into the past.

I think we saw her son outside.

Clara, what if I did do it?

I mean, I wouldn't have meant to hurt her, but...

What if I wandered in and saw what she really looked like?

What if I freaked?

You didn't just wander in here.

You were called here at 6am by a number from a mystery phone.

There is no way you did this.

So, what then? You think someone called him here? Set him up?

-Yes!

-FROM OUTSIDE:

-Mayor!

Obviously! Which means

one of your pet aliens out there is the real killer.

-BANGING ON DOOR

-I just need to talk to her.

-Excuse me. I'm sorry.

Yes. Please, go. It's not like we've got a ticking clock or anything.

Mayor, I beg of you, please...

41 minutes.

Lock me up, throw us out, anything but this.

Please. I only took it to save her.

How many minutes left?

Two, Madam Mayor.

This man stole medical rations.

He broke a rule of the street and he stole from all of you.

And yes, I can remove the chronolock.

But I won't.

Our rules keep us safe.

Give it to me.

Please.

Tell me I can have it. One word. Say it.

Say yes.

I did this to save you, you silly old thing.

You really think I could lose you now?

-RIGSY:

-What's happening?

It's called a Quantum Shade. It's kind of a spirit.

Once it's bound to a victim,

you could flee across all of time and all of the universe,

it would still find you.

RAVEN CAWS

Don't run. Stay with her.

IT CAWS

Don't go!

Why do they always run?

Help me, somebody, please!

At least give him a merciful death.

Do you think a Cyberman fears a merciful death?

Help me, please!

Peace on this street depends on one thing.

To break it in any way is to face the raven.

Please help me!

HE PANTS

HE SCREAMS

PEOPLE GASP

RAVEN CAWS

I have no wish to harm your friend if he's innocent, Doctor.

Question anyone. Examine the body.

But it's not me you need to convince of Rigsy's innocence.

It's them.

CROWD MURMURS

OK, we split up. Cover more ground.

I'm good cop, you're bad cop.

No, no, we don't have to... Can I not be the good cop?

-Doctor, we've discussed this. Your face.

-Oh, yes.

Forget about cops. Forget about finding the real killer.

You heard Ashildr. All we have to do is persuade these creatures

that it isn't Rigsy. And fast.

BABY CRIES, ON PHONE

Ssh! Ssh!

'She's been like this all day.'

Listen, you be good for your mum, OK?

I'm doing my best to get home to you guys.

-'She won't stop crying.'

-Yeah, I know.

Yeah, she can probably tell you're upset.

Rump?

It's Rump, isn't it?

That man's wife. She said something.

"Give it to me, tell me I can have it." What did she mean?

Two ways to survive a Quantum Shade.

The Shade's master removes the chronolock...

..or you can give it to someone else.

Give it? You can just...

No, you can't just push it on someone. It's not that simple.

It has to be taken willingly. The death's already locked in.

You can pass it on, but...you can't cheat it.

You're serious? You actually expect me to give you my death sentence?

Ssh! Go on, I've always wanted a tattoo.

-You know, something small. Discreet.

-Clara. Cut it out.

Weren't you listening? I'm under the Mayor's personal protection.

And it's absolute, apparently. Look, she controls the raven,

so I will never have to face it. This is clever.

But this is putting you in danger.

No, this is us talking the opposition into their own trap.

This is Doctor 101. We're buying time.

We get all the aliens on our side in the next half an hour,

and then we reveal I've got the chronolock, not you, and boom!

We buy ourselves more time to find the real killer.

The Doctor would never let you do this.

Doctor 102 - never tell anyone your actual plan.

He'll have a tantrum when he finds out.

And then, when we confront Ashildr,

she'll want to take the chronolock off just to shut him up.

What happens if you don't go home tonight to Jen and Lucy, eh?

If you never go home?

You really want your little girl growing up without a father

just because he wouldn't take a risk?

You trusted us to save you, so trust us. Come on.

OK. All right.

How do we do this, then?

Well, I was kind of hoping that would be it.

I say I want it, you say, "You can have it" - done deal.

Hey, turn around, let me see.

CAWS

So this is your life, then? Bouncing around time, saving people?

No, not every day.

Sometimes Jane Austen and I prank each other.

Oh, she is the worst. I love her.

Take that how you like.

Are you sure it wasn't someone from the street?

I've told you already there wasn't anyone up that end of the street

except Anah and the human.

I've identified 27 different species on this street so far,

15 of whom are known for aggression.

Why is it so hard to believe one of them is capable of murder?

Capable of murder? Yeah. Capable of killing Anah? No.

Why not? What's so special about her?

It was the way she looked at you. Like she understood.

One glance into your past and she felt it all.

Every battle, every loss.

So you just want the human dead, is that it?

You don't get it, do you?

If the human didn't do it, that means one of us did it,

which means folks start pointing fingers, turning on each other,

and once we turn on each other in here, that's it.

I might as well be back in a war zone.

-So you'll just let Rigsy die?

-To keep the peace? Yeah, I will.

Your friend, acting like he was all scared of us, calling for a doctor.

-A what?

-I know. The cheek of it!

Humans can survive losing entire limbs

-and I'm supposed to believe he...

-Shut up! Shut up.

The other thing you said, the second thing - what,

you said he was scared and...

And he asked the Mayor to call HIM a doctor.

-Poor Anah, dead at his feet, and...

-Shh!

Did he say "a doctor" or "the doctor"?

This is very, very important.

THE doctor. There was nothing wrong with him, mind.

It was all just your standard human lies...

Clara gave you my number for emergencies.

So when you wake up with a weird tattoo on your neck

and no memory of the last 24 hours

the first thing you do is call the Doctor.

"Call the Doctor."

But you find yourself accused of murder on a strange alien street

in the middle of London? Only they've taken your phone

so you beg the woman in charge to call me instead.

She knew you and I were friends. So why did she lie?

-Unless she had something to hide.

-Murderer!

There's something very wrong here and we're running out of time.

There's 12 minutes left. I'm not giving up yet.

Clara, even if one of them knows something,

they're not going to come forward. The way they look at me...

The way they look at you?

What?

SHE KNOCKS

Hey. Wait.

Everyone here is weird around us because of Rigsy. But not you.

You look at me and the Doctor like you're confused.

Like you're curious.

-I don't know what you mean.

-You do.

You know Rigsy is innocent

because you can look into his past and you can see it.

Can't you?

She dressed you as a boy to protect you, but really you're a girl.

You have the gift.

It is no gift. I'm safe as a boy.

This is the first place I've ever been safe,

and you want me to throw it away?

To admit what I am?

The Mayor - what is she up to?

It's nothing good, is it?

I can't see everything...

..but she thinks she's doing the right thing.

They usually do.

If what Ashildr is doing is harmless,

then we'll just walk out of that door.

No-one will know of your abilities. But if it's not...

I don't know what she means to do.

No, I'm trying! But I can't see it.

I can't see it because it involves you.

When I look at you, I can't tell your past from your future,

and there's so very much of both.

This isn't about Rigsy. It's about me.

WHISPERING ECHOES

-DISTORTED:

-She couldn't just ask you here.

She needed a mystery.

You can never resist a mystery.

She's afraid.

Afraid of what? Of whom?

I can't see.

I'm sorry.

CAWS

You! Hold your tongue. We've got ten minutes left!

Ashildr said Anah was being taken home for burial.

But the Janus burn their dead.

Is that true?

So, look, Ashildr got it wrong. What does it matter? Come on!

-There's something about this tech...

-Doctor, we don't have time!

What is it?

It looks like medical data.

But it can't be. She's dead - she isn't breathing.

This thing is a stasis pod.

If you're dead, it's a kind of fancy refrigerator.

But if you're alive...

HEARTBEAT ..it simply keeps you that way.

She's alive?

She's alive.

Well, get her out! Get her out of there!

There must be a way to unlock it -

-something basic, something simple I'm missing.

-A keyhole!

-A keyhole would be very handy, yes, but...

-No, no, a keyhole! Look!

I'll find her. I'll get the key.

No, Anahson, stay here.

There's a reason the Mayor's gone AWOL.

She means for us to release your mother,

but she doesn't want us to use her key.

She wants to use mine.

The TARDIS? That's what this is about?

Doctor, wait!

This girl needs her mother.

Doctor!

I can't... CLICKING

-What's it doing?

-CLANG!

Mum!

Mum? Are you OK?

-ASHILDR:

-She'll be perfectly fine in a few moments.

I assure you.

There are easier ways to steal a key, you know.

I don't want your TARDIS. That's not what this is about.

Rigsy, come here, I'll remove your chronolock.

What is this, Ashildr? You can't possibly think it'll keep me here.

It's not a restraint.

-It's a teleport bracelet.

-What?

I'll give you time to say goodbye. Don't worry. No-one will be hurt.

Where are you sending me?

I made a deal to protect the street.

They take you, I take the key so you can't be traced.

I do as they tell me, and the street is safe.

They? Who are "they?"

One more thing.

Your confession dial.

They have other means of procuring it,

but I understand it's likely to be on your person.

Please, no resistance.

You've already lost.

What is it?

In your terms, my last will and testament.

-How does it work?

-I've no idea.

Well, thank you anyway.

Rigsy, your neck.

Clara, what are you playing at? The chronolock!

Take the teleport off him first!

I don't have it, I'm telling you. Clara does!

No...

No, you didn't.

Go on, then. Take it off.

Clara, you didn't...!

I had no idea she'd do something so stupid.

I swear, I never meant for anyone to get hurt.

What were you thinking, sacrificing yourself?

I wasn't sacrificing anything!

It was strategy. backup plan, to buy us more time.

-Who told you to give it to her?

-Nobody did! I did! Rump said...

-What exactly did Rump say?

-He said the death is locked in.

You can pass it on, but...

But what?

But...

But you can't cheat it altogether.

CAWS

Clara, you didn't tell me that!

Give it back to me, now.

She can't.

Clara, I made a contract with the Shade

when I put the chronolock on Rigsy.

I promised it a soul and only I can break that contract.

When you took it from him, you changed the terms.

You cut me out of the deal.

RAVEN CAWS

We can fix this. Can't we?

We always fix it.

No.

But you can.

Fix this. Fix it now.

It... It's not possible. I can't.

Yes, it is, you can, and you will, or this street will be over.

I'll show you and all your funny little friends to the whole laughing world.

I'll bring UNIT, I'll bring the Zygons.

Give me a minute, I'll bring the Daleks and the Cybermen.

You will save Clara, and you will do it now,

or I will rain hell on you for the rest of time.

Doctor, stop talking like that.

-You can't.

-I can do whatever the hell I like.

You've read the stories, you know who I am.

And in all of that time,

did you ever hear anything about anyone who stopped me?

I know the Doctor. The Doctor would never...

The Doctor is no longer here! You are stuck with me.

And I will end you, and everything you love.

-Doctor, for God's sake, will you stop?

-No!

I did this, do you hear me? I did this. This was my fault.

-I don't care.

-Liar. You always care. Always have.

Your reign of terror will end

-with the sight of the first crying child and you know it.

-No, I don't.

I do.

Listen... If this is the last I ever see of you, please...

..not like this.

DISTANT CAWING

Is there anything you can do?

I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry, I...

Time's short. Yes or no?

No.

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

-Well, if Danny Pink can do it, so can I.

-Do what?

Die right. Die like I mean it. Face the raven.

No, this isn't happening, this can't be happening.

Maybe this is what I wanted.

Maybe this is it. Maybe this is why I kept running.

Maybe this is why I kept taking all those stupid risks.

-Kept pushing it.

-This is my fault.

-This is my choice.

-I let you get reckless.

Why? Why shouldn't I be so reckless?

You're reckless all the bloody time! Why can't I be like you?

Clara, there's nothing special about me. I'm nothing

but I'm less breakable than you. I should have taken care of you.

-I never asked you to.

-You shouldn't have to ask.

RAVEN CAWS

PEOPLE SCREAM

-Clara, if I'd known, I'd...

-Don't. Shut up.

-But...

-Really, Rigsy, shut up.

If you feel guilty about this, even for one minute, I...

CAWING

You.

Now, you listen to me.

You're going to be alone now, and you're very bad at that.

You're going to be furious and you're going to be sad,

but listen to me. Don't let this change you.

No, listen. Whatever happens next...

..wherever she is sending you, I know what you're capable of.

You don't be a warrior.

Promise me.

Be a Doctor.

-What's the point of being a Doctor if I can't cure you?

-Heal yourself.

You have to. You can't let this turn you into a monster. So...

..I'm not asking you for a promise. I'm giving you an order.

You will not insult my memory.

There will be no revenge.

I will die, and no-one else, here or anywhere, will suffer.

What about me?

If there was something I could do about that, I would.

I guess we're both just going to have to be brave.

Clara...

Everything you are about to say, I already know.

Don't do it now. We've already had enough bad timing.

RAVEN CAWS

Don't run.

Stay with me.

Nah.

You stay here.

In the end, everybody does this alone.

-Clara...

-This is as brave... as I know how to be.

I know it's going to hurt you, but...please...

..be a little proud of me.

Goodbye, Doctor.

RAVEN CAWS

CAWS

Let me be brave.

Let me be brave...

SHE GASPS

SHE EXHALES

I'm sorry, Doctor.

I truly am.

CONTROLS BEEP

What Clara said about not taking revenge -

do you know why she said that?

-She was saving you.

-I was lost a long time ago.

She was saving you.

I'll do my best. But I strongly advise you to keep out of my way.

You'll find it's a very small universe when I'm angry with you.

BRACELET BEEPS

This whole place is designed to terrify me.

I know you. I've seen you before.

If you were any part in killing her and you're not afraid,

then you understand nothing at all.

I am the Doctor, I'm coming to find you

and I will never, ever stop.