The Beast Below (TV Story)

***The Beast Below*** was the second serial of Season 45 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Andrew Gunn and starred Robert Carlyle as the Twelfth Doctor & Sheridan Smith as Sally Ryder.

## Synopsis

For Sally Ryder's first trip in the TARDIS, the Doctor brings his new companion to the 33rd century, where all of the United Kingdom's citizens live onboard Starship UK, searching for a new home amongst the stars as the Earth is being roasted by solar flares. However, the Doctor soon finds something amiss onboard the vessel. The citizens appear to fear "the smiling fellows in the booths" and ignore crying children. What is going on? What secrets does Starship UK hold at its depths, and who is hiding them? Soon, the Doctor is forced to make an impossible choice. No matter what he chooses, death is the only outcome.

## Cast

* The Doctor - Robert Carlyle
* Sally Ryder - Sheridan Smith
* Liz 10 - Olivia Colman
* Hawthorne - Terrence Hardiman
* Mandy - To be added
* Timmy - Alfie Field
* Morgan - Christopher Good
* Peter - David Ajala
* Poem girl - Catrin Richards
* Winder - Jonathan Battersby
* Voice of Smilers / Winder - Chris Porter

## References

### The Doctor

* The Doctor tells Sally that he is the last of the Time Lords.

### Individuals

* The Smiler praises Mabel, Alfie, Tabitha, Ranjit, Chloe, Ben and Mandy before calling Timmy a "bad boy".

### Theories and Concepts

* The Vators resemble and use the London Underground logo, as well as warn people to "mind the doors" ("mind the gap").
* The message shown in the voting booths resembles older 20th century BBC news broadcasts.

## Story Notes

* Olivia Colman is credited as "Liz 10" on-screen, and as "Liz" in *Radio Times*.
* A cut line, would have stated that there were other nation-ships and that there used to be travel between them, but that *Starship UK* sealed off its "borders" several decades ago.
* Like in *The Army of the Dead*, the resolution to the main problem of the plot is solved by an action people at first believed would cause another effect, and so tried to avoid. Nancy tried to avoid Jamie for fear of becoming infected by the Empty Child, whilst Liz 10 always chose to forget since she believed releasing the star whale would destroy *Starship UK*.
* Steven Moffat regarded this as his least favorite episode he wrote, calling it a bit of a mess. In 2019, he has mellowed his opinion down as revealed on an Instagram post, with the encouragement of Russell T Davies.
* The set for the whale's tongue was challenging for both the art department and the actors. With guidance from the stunt co-ordinator, Robert Carlyle and Sheridan Smith were required to slide down a short slide before dropping six feet. Smith stated that this was the "most bizzare" moment of filming for her.
* For the opening scene in which the Doctor holds Sally's ankle while she is suspended in space, Sheridan Smith was hoisted on wires above the TARDIS prop in front of a greenscreen while a wind machine created the effects of being in space.
* Many of logos used on board the Starship UK parody the BBC logo and idents used in the early 1960s.
* In the original script, the Doctor and Liz 10 did not meet properly until she rescued him and Amy in the overspill pipe.
* Sheridan Smith put in some of her own wonder at the set into Sally's actions when she admires the street for the first time.

## Continuity

* The advent of the Earth being rendered uninhabitable by solar flares not long before the 30th century was also why humans entered suspended hibernation in Space Station Nerva. (TV: *The Ark in Space*, *The Sontaran Experiment*)
* The First Doctor also encountered humans escaping to another planet on a spaceship due to the imminent destruction of the Earth. There, the Doctor also concluded he was on a spaceship through the vibrations detected in the ground. (TV: *The Ark*)
* Liz Ten mentions that the Twelfth Doctor had a relationship with the "Virgin Queen", (TV: *The Shakespeare Code*) that he was an old drinking buddy of Henry XII, and that he had tea and scones with "Liz 2". (TV: *Silver Nemesis*)
* The Doctor mentions that the Time Lords came before the human race. (TV: *Genesis of the Daleks*, *The Trial of a Time Lord*, et al.)
* The voting message resembles that of the "elections" on Varos. (TV: *Vengeance on Varos*)
* The Doctor tells Sally he once ran away from somewhere. (TV: *An Unearthly Child*, *The War Games*, *Remembrance of the Daleks*)

## Home video releases

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 45 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Forty-Fifth Season* in 2009.

### Blu-ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 45 were later released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Forty-Fifth Season* on Blu-ray in 2009.