Mummy on the Orient Express ( TV story ) Mummy on the Orient Express was the eighth episode of the eighth series of " Doctor Who " produced by BBC Wales . It picked up a hanging plot thread posed in the Eleventh Doctor ' s era from TV : " The Big Bang " – a phone call placed to the TARDIS which initially appeared to be a request for help , but carried a sinister subtext veiled beneath a front that would draw out the Doctor into a trap . Writer Jamie Mathieson was approached to write the script while working on " Flatline " . He was given the title , chosen by Steven Moffat , which led Mathieson to look to Agatha Christie for inspiration . Frank Skinner ' s character was based on a friend of his , Perkins , a " train buff " from whom he acquired information about the Orient Express . The original idea for the script had far more content , with the Express visiting the " Seven Wonders of the Universe " , but this was removed due to time constraints . Brian Minchin expressed early on to Mathieson that the Mummy might force the episode to be broadcast at a later time as the BBC judged it to be too scary . Minchin had repeatedly tried to have it shown in the series trailer , but the corporation would not allow it . ( DWM 478 ) Synopsis . After their previous trip to the moon ended on a sour note , the Doctor decides to take Clara on a final trip in the TARDIS - " our last hoorah ! " The destination ? There have been many trains that took the name " Orient Express " , but there ' s only ever been one that traverses space ! However , they find their luxury trip may take an unexpected turn , when they discovery there ' s a supernatural passenger . . . Plot . In a luxurious dining car of a train , Mrs Pitt , an elderly lady , spots a man " dressed as a mummy monster " , at which point a clock starts counting down in the corner of the screen . She wants him out of her dining car , but no one else seems to see him . She calls a guard over and tries to get him to throw the man out of her dining car , but he can ' t see it either . As the clock reaches 6 seconds , the Mummy gets closer and closer to Mrs . Pitt . At 5 seconds , it has its face in hers . At 4 seconds , her granddaughter , Maisie Pitt , is starting to worry . At 3 seconds , everyone in the car is staring . At 2 seconds , Mrs . Pitt seems to be having a panic attack . At 1 second , the Mummy has his hands on her forehead . Then she collapses , dead . The Doctor lands the TARDIS in the train ' s baggage car . He steps out with Clara . Clara is dressed in a 1920s outfit , and the Doctor in a tuxedo . " There were many trains to take the name Orient Express , " he tells her , " but only one in space . " He opens the door to reveal the dining car , where there is a singer performing a jazz version of Queen ' s " Don ' t Stop Me Now " . The Doctor ushers Clara inside . As they look out a window at a nebula , the Doctor begins to tell Clara about the various planet s that used to be there thousands of years ago . Clara interrupts , apologising for her recent anger towards the Doctor . She says she could never hate him , but intends this to be their last trip together . As the Doctor mentions having had a picnic on one of the now - gone planets , Maisie overhears and calls him a liar . She says he must be , as that planet has not existed for a thousand years . Visibly distraught , she is gently ushered back to her room by guards . Clara asks Quell , the Captain , what happened and he explains Mrs . Pitt ' s sudden death , before escorting Maisie out . Later , while sharing a night cap outside their cabins , Clara and the Doctor debate whether or not there is anything suspicious about the old woman ' s death . Clara begins to have doubts about leaving the Doctor when he makes her realise that when this , their " last hurrah " , is over , she is unlikely to ever see him again . During the night , the Doctor ponders the story of Mrs Pitt ' s death and the mummy which only she could see , becoming increasing suspicious of it . Clara meanwhile is on the phone with Danny , discussing this as her last trip with the Doctor . He is relieved that at least the train is safe , which Clara seems somewhat unsure of , but nevertheless confirms . The Doctor leaves his room , stopping at Clara ' s door . He almost knocks , but instead goes on , leaving her to sleep . As soon as he disappears down the hall , Clara emerges from her room and goes to the Doctor ' s door . She knocks , but not being there he of course does not answer . The Doctor starts to poke around the engine room , where he examines the chair that Mrs . Pitt had died in . It ' s then that he meets Perkins chief engineer aboard the Orient Express . Perkins tells him that they think something else might be responsible for the deaths of some of the passengers . Having changed back into her dress , Clara again exits her room . She sees Maisie , who is coming down the hall with a determined look and a high heel shoe in hand . Clara greets her , then follows her . Maisie asks the computer for access to a room , and the computer replies , " Call me Gus . I ' m afraid this door can only be opened by executive order . " Maisie says that that ' s the room where they ' re keeping Mrs . Pitt ' s body , and that she should be allowed to see it . Clara agrees , then tells her that she has a friend who ' s really good with locks and he can open it for her . Instead , Maisie smashes the computer with her high heel shoe and the door slides open . The Doctor has sought out a passenger named Professor Emile Moorhouse , professor of alien mythology . The Doctor asks him about the Foretold - a mythical mummy . Moorhouse tells the Doctor various bits of information , including the saying : " They that bear the Foretold ' s stare have sixty - six seconds to live " , and that only they can see the creature when it does appear to them . At that moment , in the kitchen , one of the chefs catches sight of the Foretold and screams . Alerting the other kitchen crew , who , of course , can ' t see it , the chef grabs a knife and waves it around . The chef backs up towards the freezer and locks himself in it , seeing that the Foretold is on the other side of the door and can ' t get inside . But when he turns around , he comes face to face with - the Foretold , who has somehow teleported inside the freezer . As the clock ticks to 1 second , the Foretold wraps its hands around the chef , who collapses . The Doctor confronts Quell about the Foretold - using his psychic paper to masquerade as a mystery shopper to get information out of him - but Quell does not believe him . Perkins then gives the Doctor a large amount of documents and information . They meet up with Moorhouse in the engineer ' s room to watch footage of Mrs . Pitt ' s death and note the details . Maisie and Clara get into the room , but Mrs . Pitt ' s body isn ' t there . The door has closed and locked behind them . Trapped for now , they enter into conversation about why Clara is leaving the Doctor ; Maisie doesn ' t believe Clara ' s claims that her friendship with the Doctor is over . " You got on a train with him , " Maisie points out . The Doctor calls Clara , who tells him that there ' s a strange sarcophagus at the back of the room . It opens up , but there ' s nothing in there but bubble wrap . Captain Quell then apprehends the Doctor believing he is the one causing the deaths - he ' s called Head Office , and there ' s no mystery shopper . The Doctor and Quell go to a different cabin , where they find a guard writhing on the ground , shooting his gun at an invisible thing in front of him . The guard drops dead and Quell releases the Doctor , who then deduce s that the passengers are all experts and scientists in specific fields of study . They have been gathered here to study the Foretold . The inside of the room turns into a white laboratory , and most of the passengers disappear - holograms , says the Doctor , to make up the numbers . The train comes to a stop and the computer Gus reveals that the Doctor is right , and the whole Orient Express cruise was to find out more about the Foretold . Specifically : " Your goal is to ascertain the Foretold ' s true nature , probe for weaknesses with a view to capture , after which we will reverse engineer its abilities " . Gus reveals that an ancient scroll is what causes the mummy to appear . Moorhouse suddenly catches sight of the Foretold , and the Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock . Perkins sets his stopwatch for 66 seconds , and the Doctor asks Moorhouse to describe the Foretold in as much detail as he can . Moorhouse does just that , but a dead man can tell no tales , and Moorhouse collapses , as have the other victims of the Mummy . Clara calls the Doctor to tell him about some documents they found about the Orient Express . Gus tells the Doctor to terminate the call . When he refuses , Gus de - pressurises the kitchen room . Looking out the window , those in the laboratory see the lifeless bodies of the kitchen staff floating in space , and Gus warns the team that he will do this to another , random , car if someone disobeys his orders again . The Doctor ends the call . After looking at the medical history of the previous victims , they figure out that the Foretold is targeting weaker passengers first : Mrs Pitt was over a hundred years old , the chef had a blood disorder , the guard had replacement lungs , and the Professor suffered from post - traumatic stress after a car accident . Quell reluctantly tells the Doctor that he too suffers from post - traumatic stress following war service , and the Doctor confirms to him that he will be next . It isn ' t long before Quell sees the Mummy , too . The Doctor tells Perkins to start the clock . Quell describes the Foretold as much as he can and dies , like the others , in 66 seconds . Perkins realises that the reason it takes exactly that long is because the creature is in phase , and it takes " about a minute " for something to come out of phase . Therefore , the Foretold has some kind of technology allowing it to do so . Perkins reports to the Doctor that Maisie is probably next because of her trauma from Mrs . Pitt ' s death , and so the Doctor calls Clara to inform her that Maisie is next on the list . He tells her to bring Maisie to the car that he ' s in and that Gus has agreed to bring her there . Clara is greatly upset by this , telling the Doctor that she can ' t just lead Maisie to her death , but the Doctor , claiming that there is no other solution convinces her , though very reluctantly , to lie to Maisie and claim that the Doctor can help her . When Clara brings Maisie to his car , she realises that the Doctor had been hoping for trouble - Gus had tried to entice him on board before - and she is , naturally , furious after having trusted him to take them for a simple holiday . At that point Maisie screams and points , the Foretold is staring at her coldly in the doorway . The Doctor fiddles with Maisie ' s mind and scans her for her emotions of grief and trauma . When he implants those same emotions on himself , the Foretold now believes that " he " is Maisie . The Doctor sees the Foretold and Perkins starts the clock . The Doctor deduce s that the scroll is actually a flag which the mummy is protecting , and that the mummy itself is actually an ancient soldier augmented with stealth technology to allow it to kill only its victims by pulling them out of phase . The Doctor realises that the Foretold is killing the passengers because it believes the war it fought in is still going on and with one second left , the Doctor shouts : " We surrender ! " The Foretold suddenly stops , the tech inside it deactivates and it comes out of phase . With everyone now able to see it , it wearily raises its arm in a salute . " You ' re relieved , soldier , " says the Doctor quietly . With that , the Foretold shrivels into dust , and the Doctor picks up the tech that powered it from the dust . He starts to fiddle with it . Gus ' voice comes over the speakers again , congratulating them on solving the mystery , before telling them that no survivors are needed . " Ah , well , there ' s a shocker " the Doctor mutters . As Gus starts to let the air out of the cabin , the Doctor fiddles with the device . Clara and the other humans collapse . From space , the train is seen exploding . Sometime later , Clara wakes up on a rocky beach covered with a picnic blanket , with the TARDIS nearby . The Doctor , writing in the sand with a stick , greets her . He says that he was able to teleport all the passengers into the TARDIS , using the Mummy ' s animation device . He then tried to hack Gus to find out who had created him , but this triggered a security measure , causing the train to blow up so no evidence could be discovered . Then he dropped everyone off safely here , on the nearest civilized planet . Clara is impressed that the Doctor managed to save every survivor , and asks him why he didn ' t tell her straight away what he was planning to do with Maisie . The Doctor explains that he couldn ' t risk Gus getting tipped off about his plan and trying to stop it . Clara then asks him if he was just pretending to be heartless . The Doctor pauses for a bit , before asking " Would you like to think that about me ? Would that make it easier ? " He then expresses sadness at having failed to save Moorhouse and Quell , and admits that he wasn ' t even sure if he could have saved Maisie . He states that if that plan also had failed , he would have gone on to the next passenger , and then the next , and so forth , until he had found a way to defeat the Foretold . He tells Clara that sometimes , all your available choices are bad ones , but in the end you still have to choose . Back in the TARDIS , Perkins compliments the Doctor on his ship and tells him that a couple of the drive stacks need replacing . The Doctor implies an invitation for the train engineer to travel with him , so he can replace the drive stacks . Perkins politely declines , stating " that job could change a man , " to which the Doctor agrees . He and the Doctor bid each other goodbye . Clara , reflecting back on their previous conversation , asks the Doctor if he loves being the man who has to make the impossible choices all the time . The Doctor responds that it is his life . Clara then asks if it is an addiction to him , and he answers that you can ' t truly tell if something is an addiction until you have tried giving it up , something she notices he never has . Clara then receives a call from Danny , and he asks her if it that last adventure of hers is over . Clara , having decided to forgive the Doctor , lies to Danny and tells him " mission accomplished " . She then tells the Doctor that Danny just told her that he is fine with them travelling around , and so is she . The Doctor , happily surprised by her sudden change of heart , asks her if she is serious , and Clara answers that she wants to see more planets right now . The Doctor excitedly tells her about " one that ' s made entirely of shrubs " and plots a course for it . The two pull the dematerialisation lever together . Story notes . Filming locations . Limpert Bay , Saint Athan External links . " to be added "