Chaos Theory (TV story)

*"Hey Daleks! You... don't mind if I call you that? Anyway, I hear you're looking for someone? Now, I can't begin to even imagine who this person really is or why they might be so important, but what I do know - based solely on what I've heard about Daleks, mind you - is that if* you *want them, then either they're a massive threat to you* or *they can help you cause even more destruction. Now I can understand why you'd want to find them if it was any of those two cases, which begs the question. You obviously haven't killed me because you want to know what I have to say, so if I tell you that I know where to locate this person, reality is that you really can't exterminate me yet. Amiright?"*
―Amy-Mae distracting a squadron of Daleks

***Chaos Theory*** was the second episode of Series 17 of *Doctor Who*.

This episode introduced Xavier as portrayed by Dylan Sprayberry as the Seventeenth Doctor's new companion.

## Synopsis

Following a trace of unusually high amounts of energy, the Doctor and his companions find themselves on Esubeen, a vast ecumenopolis planet - and in search of something new to break up the recent monotony, they begin to lose themselves in everything that the city has to offer for weeks on end. However, they are given a rude awakening one morning when Dalek warships enter Esubeen airspace in search of a certain someone and begin attacking indiscriminately.

The already dire situation couldn't seem to get much worse; that is until the Cybermen also arrive under the same objective, triggering a tremendous battle between the two races - with the civilian population of Esubeen caught up in the middle, trying their best to fight back and survive.

Knowing that the fate of the entire planet rests on the shoulders of the person that the Daleks and Cybermen are both looking for, the Doctor must now lead his companions on a deadly mission through the grungy and neon lit streets of Esubeen to find them before either of their enemies do; in order to uncover what makes them so special in the first place and figure out how to stop this war.

And when the three of them also realise that there's the issue of both sides having technology that they shouldn't possess... well, you just know; it's gonna be chaos!

## Cast

* The Doctor - Dev Patel
* Teddy - Omari Douglas
* Amy-Mae - Mary Elizabeth Winstead
* Xavier - Dylan Sprayberry
* The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs (voice)
* The Cybermen - Patrick O'Kane (voice)

## Crew

* Writer - Natalie Robyn
* Director - Joe Ahearne

## Continuity

* The trio were recently at St Eden, having discovered Esubeen after detecting high energy traces coming from the planet and deciding to investigate. (TV: *From Out The Ashes*)
* The Daleks and Cybermen have gone to war against each other before. (TV: *Doomsday*)
* Amy-Mae recognises the Daleks from the movie poster she took her name from. (TV: *Cut!*)
* Both the Daleks and Cybermen have technology and weaponry that they shouldn't, with Teddy speculating that someone must've given it to them. (TV: *The Universe That Came Crashing Down*)
* The Cybermen use Cyber-Drones in the battle. (TV: *Ascension of the Cybermen*)
* The Doctor, Teddy and Amy-Mae learn the identity of the object that the Nikta were searching for on St Eden from the Daleks and Cybermen - that being Xavier. Unaware as to why the Nikta are after him, the Doctor invites him onboard the TARDIS for his own safety. (TV: *From Out The Ashes*, *The Universe That Came Crashing Down*)

## Story Notes

* Despite the Cybermen design being from *The Moonbase* and *The Tomb of the Cybermen*, their voices were distinctly different from the ones from those stories.
* The story behind the origin of *Chaos Theory*is a self admitted, light hearted jab at *Doomsday*, with Robyn believing the Dalek v Cyberman battle within that episode to be too heavily one sided, disappointingly rushed and poorly developed - and wanted to achieve the same premise, but to greater effect.

 **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*