The Almost People (28 May 2011)

As the dopplegangers - 'gangers' for short - fight their makers, both Doctors, the real one and his ganger, try to find a way to restore the power and get everyone off the island. Both ... See full summary »

Director:

Julian Simpson

Writer:

Matthew Graham

Stars:

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Matt Smith	...	The Doctor
Karen Gillan	...	Amy Pond
Arthur Darvill	...	Rory
Mark Bonnar	...	Jimmy
Marshall Lancaster	...	Buzzer
Sarah Smart	...	Jennifer
Raquel Cassidy	...	Cleaves
Leon Vickers	...	Dicken
Frances Barber	...	Eye Patch Lady
Edmond Moulton	...	Adam

Storyline

As the dopplegangers - 'gangers' for short - fight their makers, both Doctors, the real one and his ganger, try to find a way to restore the power and get everyone off the island. Both Doctors claim to be the 100% real thing, something Emily can't quite grasp. Rory meanwhile is trying to find Jennie but when he locates her and her ganger, he can't tell them apart. Having selected one of them, they discover of a company secret forces their hand. He soon realizes he's made an error. There is another ganger in the group however.

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Plot Keywords:

episode title spoken by character

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 2011 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Cymru Wales

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

As the Doctor is transforming, you can hear Tom Baker's voice as he asks if "he" wants a jelly baby.

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Goofs

At the end when the Doctor opens up the screwdriver to disconnect Amy we cut to a view from his standing point and the screwdriver is still closed.

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Quotes

The Doctor: Dicken, remember. People are good. In their bones, truly good.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Doctor Who Theme"
(uncredited)
Written by Ron Grainer
Arranged by Murray Gold
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

User Reviews

Quality sci-fi with a shocking end

The previous episode introduced us to the Gangers; creatures made in the image of people but used as slave labour in hazardous areas; after an accident brings them to life they understandable aren't that sympathetic to their human creators. This week's episode starts with The Doctor's Ganger having difficulties due to the nature of the Doctor; it looks as if he might not survive but once the credits have rolled he is fine; although Amy does not trust him. While they are deciding if he can be trusted the group is still struggling to prevent the rest of the Gangers from breaking into the room. While this is going on Rory is finding Jen; unfortunately he finds two of them! As the two fight one falls into acid and exposed as the Ganger... it looks as if Rory is with the human Jen. As if the conflict with the Gangers wasn't enough the whole place could explode at any time so they must get out without getting killed by the Gangers or the acid.

This was a great episode with some genuinely scary moments; the pile of still living discarded Gangers was like something from a horror film; I wouldn't be surprised if it disturbed some viewers; if that didn't I'm sure that when Jen turned into a monster some younger viewers will have hidden behind the settee! After many hints at the series story arc where Amy keeps seeing a woman with an eye-patch looking through a hatch we finally learn something about her; something surprising and rather frightening. It wasn't all scares though; there was a touching scene where one of the Gangers takes a call from 'his' son and learns that he is close enough to being human that he must help the others. As is usually the case with Doctor Who the acting was great, from both the regular cast members and guest starts. It was fun seeing two Matt Smith Doctors interacting and two Jens, played by the excellent Sarah Smart, fighting. Following the shock revelation at the end I can't wait to see next week's instalment.