The Lie of the Land ( TV story ) The episode is very notable before it even aired for having one scene shown from it in the preview for all of Series 10 at the end of " The Pilot " : that being the Doctor starting to regenerate . Much like David Tennant before , after " The Stolen Earth " had aired , there were rumours and speculations that Peter Capaldi was actually leaving " Doctor Who " much earlier than he had previously announced . However " The Lie of the Land " reveals that the Doctor doesn ' t actually regenerate , as it ' s shown that Time Lord s can actually fake a regeneration by making the usual effects appear , but with no actual change in appearance happening . Synopsis . The Monks have ruled the world since human ity took its very first baby steps towards the Sun . One problem . . . they haven ' t always been there . And only Bill Potts sees the truth . But where is the Doctor ? And how can Bill make the rest of the world see ? Plot . A montage of images of events in human evolution is shown , as the Doctor does a voice over , saying that the Monks have guided humanity and helped them evolve while praising them , as a shot of the world on Earth shows that the Monks have erected giant statues of them . In a house a family is watching it , as a symbol is shown with the words " truth " underneath . Suddenly , armed men break into the house and arrest the mother for spreading information that denies the " true history " as she yells that the Monks have only been there a few months . She is sentenced to ten years in labour camp . Bill watches them in horror , as a shot of the cities on Earth show that the statues are erected everywhere . The camera cuts to the Doctor telling everyone to relax and be obedient , assuring them that their future is being taken care of with a sinister smile . In her flat , Bill sets down two mugs on a table , then concentrates . Another woman appears across the table . Bill greets her , saying , " Hello , Mum , " revealing her to be her mother . She tells her that she did not know how the Monks had invaded . The scene changes to a flashback - Bill walking in the streets , among multiple representations of the Monks , and watching as bystanders cheer at images in a television of the Monks implementing " A swift and painless death " . She remarks that it ' s like the population has been brainwashed . She says that she used to travel with the Doctor and Nardole , telling her mum that every day it ' s harder for her to remember . However , she ' s sure that he has a plan and " one day soon , he ' s going to come back and save us all " . Bill hears someone opening her door . She grabs a stool to use as a weapon , but finds that the intruder is Nardole . They scream at each other in fright . She angrily asks him where he had been , who says that he had been laid up with the bacteria for 6 weeks , having been poisoned . Nardole asks Bill who she had been talking to , and she tells him that she imagined a version of her mother who she talks to " all the time " . Bill notices that she knows the Monks haven ' t been on Earth that long , but part of her is beginning to think that it ' s real . Nardole reveals that in the time after his recovery , he ' s done some research - he ' s traced the broadcasts made by the Doctor with a device he found in a drawer in the Tardis and has thus surmised that he ' s being held in a prison ship . Luckily , the ships stop for supply every six weeks , and the next time the Doctor ' s ship does is in two days . They obtain the aid of a supply boat ' s captain , who isn ' t exactly the greatest fan of the Monks - his son got ten years in a labour camp for possessing illegal comics . After getting on the prison ship , they are stopped for a spot check ( Nardole doesn ' t have any identity papers , and Bill is university kitchen staff ) but are luckily interrupted by a Monk , who enters the room and leaves again , visibly putting off the guards and letting them go without checking Bill and Nardole ' s papers . The pair quickly head into the main part of the ship , and after a while they detect the sound of the Doctor ' s speech ; he appears to be doing another broadcast . They find him in a room , surrounded by what appears to be speeches . The Doctor , upon noticing them bursting into the room , calls for guards and then makes a telephone call to the Monks . After inquiring as to what they were doing there , the Doctor explains that the Monks are " helping " human society , which is , in fact , regressing , and any extra fatalities due to them are for the greater good ; the Romans did things like that as well , and saved billions more from disease , war , famine , and barbarism . Bill protests : " What about free will ? " She recalls him having made her write a three thousand word essay on free will . He replies that humans had free will , and they did terrible things with it . He needed to stop them , or at least not stand in the way of someone who wanted to . Besides , she never delivered the essay . When Bill objects that it was because the world was invaded by zombie monks , the Doctor smiles dryly . " And whose fault was that ? " he questions . He didn ' t ask for his sight back , but she had taken it upon herself to ignore him , to do what she thought best . At least they were lucky that it was a benevolent race , nothing like the Daleks . Bill nods , seemingly agreeing ; she replies that it was like that " big fish creature under the Seine in Paris " . The Doctor answers that it was a coded message - it was the Thames , not the Seine . If he had played along , she would have known he was tricking them . Bill appears incensed ; she takes a guard ' s gun and points it at the Doctor , explaining angrily that she ' s spent so much time looking for him , and if he really joined the Monks , they ' ve lost . When the Doctor tells her that she really has , she shoots him . The Doctor appears to regenerate , then stands up and congratulates Bill . He and his group had to make sure that she wasn ' t being controlled like the rest of the population . He just needs to make sure she isn ' t testing him , as he needs the Monks ' trust . The last six months have been spent deprogramming all the guards , talking sense into them . The plan , the Doctor explains , for testing Bill was exchanging all their ammunition for blanks . Fortunately , the person who forgot wasn ' t the one whose gun Bill took . He sends someone to explain to the kitchen staff , who he called instead of the Monks - they were going to be really confused . Nardole was in on the plot , as well , and the Doctor separates Bill from Nardole after she claims that she ' s going to beat him up . Now , he has a job for them - they are to retrieve the only person almost as smart as the Doctor , or so he claims . " Blimey , has it really come to that ? " Nardole wonders . They could have snuck back in , Bill thinks , but the Doctor being the Doctor , he appears to drive a very large ship up toward the school . By the time they got to the university , the Monks were already there . Luckily , they weren ' t heading for the office , but the vault , which contains Missy . Bill notices that by the way he and Nardole have been acting , it seemed as if they had a monster locked up in there . " I do , " the Doctor replies heavily . He introduces the two , " to be added " Crew . " to be added " Story notes . Ratings . The episode also notably had the lowest audience share of any episode since the series revived in 2005 , with only 20 . 3 % . Filming locations . " to be added " Production errors . " to be added " Home video releases . DVD releases . " to be added " Blu - ray releases . " to be added " Digital releases . " to be added "