Oh Hell, It's Tari (TV story)

*"Kept the beard then, did you? Last time we met, just before you regenerated, you said that if you got a beard in your new life, you'd shave it off."
"You're joking, aren't you? He's obsessed with it!"
"Yeah, but... it doesn't matter! Could we have this conversation when there isn't a huge creature fighting its way up through the belly of the ship?"*
―Tari Ackerman, Jayanna IX and the Seventeenth Doctor

***Oh Hell, It's Tari*** was the twelfth episode of Series 19 of *Doctor Who*. Whilst being able to be viewed as a standalone, this episode acted as a prequel for *Whatever Happened to the Crew of the SS Dahlia?*

This episode was also known for the surprise appearance of Sixteenth Doctor companion, Tari Ackerman as played by Taj Atwal.

## Synopsis

Tari, an old friend of the Doctor's, has been recruited onboard the SS Dahlia, a research vessel which traverses across the innermost depths of space itself. What exactly it specialises in isn't necessarily anything special, either. In fact, it's led Tari to question why she was even selected to partake in the expedition in the first place - until she found out just what sinister path the supposedly ethical experiments were taking.

Locked up in the bowels of the ship, chained up and silenced, is a creature like no other.

A creature subject to so much experimentation, it remains as little more than a joke. A parody of what could've been, or as the crew are soon to find out, the birth of one of the most horrifying and destructive entities bred by the likes of humankind itself. A plant based lifeform that’s protecting a rare artefact and so takes on the DNA of anything it eats to do just that...

Of course, these aren't Tari's only queries either - because the Doctor alongside his good friend; Jayanna have arrived, here to save humanity from the likes of this foul creature. But the Doctor is dead.

Right?

## Cast

* The Doctor - Dev Patel
* Jayanna - Jodie Comer
* Tari Ackerman - Taj Atwal
* Aurora Zharor - TBC

## Crew

* Writer - Max Amato
* Director - Owen Harris

## Continuity

* Tari is working for the Galactic Census once again. (TV: *Happy Families*)
* Tari hasn't seen the Doctor since "that business on Gallifrey with the Master and Kesavix." She wonders why the Doctor never came back to find her, he states that would've been difficult to explain everything and that it was best for both of them to move on. (TV: *Blood On Their Hands*)
* She claims that she knew about regeneration - and could've handled it like she has just done - the Doctor replies that the relationship between her and the Master was nowhere near as close; so the personal effect was lessened. Further elaborating, the Doctor muses over his own relationship with the Master, referring to them in the past tense. (TV: *The Privy Conquest*)
* The creature causes the SS Dahlia to crash - by smashing into the engine. Its corpse would later be found by Mosdra alongside a younger Doctor and Jayanna. (TV: *Whatever Happened to the Crew of the SS Dahlia?*)
* The Doctor invites Tari onboard the TARDIS once again, only this time, she refuses, stating she has a good life to go back to at home. (TV: *Happy Families*)

## Story Notes

* *Oh Hell, It's Tari* was originally advertised as *Phytoid Flesh*, in order to hide the surprise of Tari's return. The true title wasn't revealed until the episode credit in the opening title sequence; something that confused many fans and required clarification from the official Doctor Who twitter account.
* Originally episode thirteen, *Oh Hell, It's Tari* was later swapped with *Cryptomnesia* to become episode twelve.
* This episode replaced another episode by Amato called *An Electrifying Truth*, which was eventually released on audio as a lost story.

 **Series 19** | Regular Episodes | *The Skithra Entitlement* • *Work Hard, Die Hard* • *Doctor Who and the Dalek Paradigm* / *Escape of the Paradigm* • *Out of Sight, Out of Mind* • *Whatever Happened to the Crew of the SS Dahlia?* • *Meeting at Zaggit Zagoo* • *Planet TARDIS* • *Glittering Spheres* • *Submerged* • *Mechanical Heart* • ***Oh Hell, It's Tari*** • *I Predict a Riot* • *Doctor Who and the Moonmen* / *I Am The Doctor* • *Cryptomnesia* • *Final Destination*