Mandy (Hannah Sharp): You got a zero, didn’t you?
Timmy (Alfie Field): Yeah. So?
Mandy: You’ll have to walk home then.
Timmy: Walk to London? That’s twenty decks!
Mandy: You can’t ride a Vator with a zero. You know what happens. You’ll get sent below.
Sign over the Vators: Mind the doors.
Vator: Welcome to Vatorverse. Sponsored by McClintock’s Candy Burgers.
Poem Girl (Catrin Richards): A horse and a man. Above below. One has a plan but both must go. Mile after mile, above beneath. One has a smile and one has teeth. Though the man above might say hello expect no love from the beast below.
Amy: My name is Amy Pond. When I was seven I had an imaginary friend. Last night was the night before my wedding. My imaginary friend came back.
Amy: I’m in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I’ve been dead for centuries.
The Doctor: Oh… lovely. You’re a cheery one. Never mind dead. Look at this place. Isn’t it wrong?
The Doctor: Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There’s an escaped fish.
Winder (Jonathan Battersby): Sorry to interrupt. There’s been a sighting. London Block. Oxford Street. A man.
Liz Ten (Sophie Okonedo): Did he do the thing?
Winder: Apparently.
Amy: One little girl crying. So?
The Doctor: Crying silently. I mean children cry because they want attention. ‘Cause they’re hurt or afraid. When they cry silently it’s ’cause they just can’t stop.
Amy: Where’d she go?
The Doctor: Deck 27. Apple Sesame Block. Building 54a. You’re looking for Mandy Tanner. Oo! Ah, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four go’s.
Ask her about those things. The smiling fellas in the booths. They’re everywhere.
The Doctor: Meet me back here in half an hour.
Amy: What are you going to do?
The Doctor: What I always do. Stay out of trouble. Badly.
Mandy: You sound Scottish.
Amy: I am Scottish. What’s wrong with that? Scotland’s gotta be here somewhere.
Mandy: No. They wanted their own ship.
Amy: Good for them. Nothing changes.
Liz Ten: The impossible truth. In a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do. Don’t you, Doctor?
The Doctor: You know me.
Liz Ten: Keep your voice down. They’re everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass.
The Doctor: Who says I see anything?
Liz Ten: Don’t waste time. At the marketplace. You placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?
The Doctor: No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you’d feel it. The water would move. So. I thought I’d take a look.
The Doctor: Who are you? How do I find you again?
Liz Ten: I am Liz Ten. And I will find you.
Starship UK Video: You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship. And I am talking to you because you’re entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest. Or forget. If you choose to protest understand this: if just one percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the program will be discontinued with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation—and we hope that you will—then press the forget button. All the information I’m about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here then, is the truth about Starship UK and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls.
The Doctor: And once every five years everyone chooses to forget what they’ve learned. Democracy in action.
Mandy: How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?
The Doctor: Oh, I’m way worse than the Scottish. I can’t even see the movie. Won’t play for me.
Amy: Played for me.
The Doctor: Well the difference being the computer doesn’t accept me as human.
Amy: Why not? You look human.
The Doctor: No. You look Time Lord. We came first.
Amy: So there are other Time Lords, yeah?
The Doctor: No. There were but they’re all— just me now. Long story. It was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what, I’d love to forget it all, every last bit of it. But I don’t. Not ever. ‘Cause this is what I do. Every time. Every day. Every second. This. Hold tight. We’re bringing down the government.
The Doctor: High speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel.
Amy: Where are we?
The Doctor: Six hundred feet down. Twenty miles laterally puts us at the heart of the ship. I’d say {sniffs} Lancashire.
The Doctor: It’s not a floor, it’s a— So.
Amy: It’s a what?
The Doctor: The next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go “ommmmmm”. It’s a tongue.
Amy: A tongue?
The Doctor: A tongue. A great big tongue!
Amy: This is a mouth? This whole place is a mouth. We’re in a mouth!
The Doctor: Yes yes yes! But on the plus side: roomy.
The Doctor: If this is just a mouth I’d love to see the stomach! Though not right now.
The Doctor: Right then. This isn’t going to be big on dignity.
Liz Ten: Lovely hair Amy. Shame about the sick.
Liz Ten: So. What’s the big fella doing here?
The Doctor: You’re over 16. You voted. Whatever this is, you’ve chosen to forget about it.
Liz Ten: No. Never forgot. Never voted. Not technically a British subject.
The Doctor: Then who and what are you and how do you know me?
Liz Ten: You’re a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger. M.O. consistent with higher alien intelligence. Hair of an idiot. I’ve been brought up on the stories. My whole family was.
Liz Ten: The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn’t she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!
The Doctor: Liz Ten.
Liz Ten: Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down! {shoots the weird guys} I’m the bloody queen, mate. Basically: I rule.
Amy: Doctor?
The Doctor: Oh Amy. We should never have come here.
Amy: And you always wear this in public?
Liz Ten: Undercover’s not easy when you’re me. The autographs. The bunting.
The Doctor: Yeah, but it’s porcelain. Stays on by itself because it’s perfectly sculpted to your face.
Liz Ten: Yeah. So what?
The Doctor: Oh Liz. So everything.
The Doctor: Liz. Your mask.
Liz Ten: What about my mask?
The Doctor: Look at it. It’s old. At least about two hundred years old, I’d say.
Liz Ten: Yeah. It’s an antique. So.
The Doctor: Yeah. An antique. Made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock alright. But you’re not fifty. You’re three hundred.
Liz Ten: If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then you have found your way to the Tower of London.
Liz Ten: If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the forget button. Be again the heart of this nation. Untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released. And our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision.
Amy: I voted for this. Why would I do that?
The Doctor: ‘Cause you knew if we stayed here I’d be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don’t ever decide what I need to know.
Amy: I don’t even remember doing it.
The Doctor: You did it. That’s what counts.
Amy: I’m… I’m sorry.
The Doctor: Oh I don’t care. When I’m done here you’re going home.
Amy: Why? Because I made a mistake? One mistake. I don’t even remember doing it! Doctor!
The Doctor: Yeah, I know. You’re only human.
Liz Ten: What are you doing?
The Doctor: The worst thing I ever do. I’m going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale’s brain. It should knock over his high functions. Leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly but the whale won’t feed it.
Amy: That will be like killing it.
The Doctor: Three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name ’cause I won’t be The Doctor anymore.
Amy: There must be something we can do. Some other way.
The Doctor: Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!
The Doctor: Amy, what have you done?
Amy: Nothing at all. Am I right?
Winder: We’ve increased speed!
Amy: Yeah, well you’ve stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help.
Amy: The Star Whale didn’t come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn’t have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn’t stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old and really kind and alone—your whole race dead, no future. What could you do then? If you were that old and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn’t just stand there and watch children cry.
The Doctor: Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship.
Amy: You could have killed a Star Whale.
Amy: Hey.
The Doctor: What?
Amy: Gotcha.
Amy: Shouldn’t we say goodbye? Won’t they wonder where we went?
The Doctor: For the rest of their lives. Oh the songs they’ll write. Never mind them. Big day tomorrow.
Amy: Sorry, what?
The Doctor: Well it’s always a big day tomorrow. We’ve got a time machine. I skip the little ones.
Amy: You know what I said about getting back tomorrow morning? Have you ever run away from something because you were scared. Or not ready. Or just… just because you could?
The Doctor: Once. A long time ago.
Amy: What happened?
The Doctor: Hello.
Amy: In bed above or deep asleep. While greater love lies further deep. This dream must end, this world must know. We all depend on the beast below.