The God Complex (episode)


*The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective.*

The God Complex was the second episode of Season 50 of Doctor Who. It was written by Toby Whithouse, directed by Nick Hurran and featured Samantha Bond as the Fourteenth Doctor, Montserrat Lombard as Erin Stevenson and William Moseley as Kyle Harrison.

Synopsis

The Doctor, Erin and Kyle land in a hotel of horror where repeat business is low but the body count is high, where a mighty monster stalks the corridors and the rooms hold visions of angels, apes, and creepy clowns. Who — or what — has brought them to this place? Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the residents check out in grisly style?

Plot

A young policewoman, Lucy Hayward, roams the corridors of what appears to be a 1980s Earth hotel. Each room in the hotel possesses the manifestation of a fear, and each person who comes to the hotel must find his room — after which, he begins to "praise him". Lucy is the last of her companions. Lucy's room contains a giant gorilla that she once saw in a book when she was younger; screaming, she backs out of the room. Somewhere in the hotel, a creature awakens. As Lucy continues to write about her fear, she begins to "praise him", and stands in peace as she welcomes the creature to kill her.

Sometime later, the TARDIS lands in the same hotel. Once more, the TARDIS hasn't taken the Doctor where she wants to go, which in this case is the planet Ravenscala. The Doctor is fascinated by their surroundings since, as she informs Erin and new companion, Kyle, the hotel is not really a hotel at all, but something that someone has made to look like a hotel. There are pictures on the walls of various humans and aliens, each bearing their names and fears. They are suddenly confronted by two Earth humans — Rita, a nurse, Howie, a computer geek — and Gibbis, a cowardly, mole-like alien from the planet Tivoli.

Rita carefully inspects the TARDIS trio, deducing that because their pupils are dilated, they have no idea what is going on either. The Doctor is immediately impressed by her cleverness and jokes to Erin that Rita will be replacing her as his companion. Rita explains to the Doctor and her companions that each room in the hotel contains "bad dreams", with Howie adding that the walls twist and move so that you never know where you're going or where you'll end up. This is confirmed when the Doctor tries to take everyone back to the TARDIS only to find that it has disappeared. When the Doctor asks Rita if there are any more people inside the hotel, Rita mentions Joe, who's a bit "tied up". When the Doctor asks what is keeping Joe occupied, Rita retorts, "No, I mean he's tied up."

Rita, Howie, and Gibbis bring the Doctor and her companions to Joe's room, which is full of ventriloquist dummies. Joe has been tied up by the others inside the room because of his mental instability. Joe informs the Doctor that she is going to die in the hotel; the Doctor jokes, "They certainly didn't mention that in the brochure!" Trying to get through to Joe, believing him to be possessed by an external force, the Doctor learns that "he" is going to feast. He also warns the Doctor that the same thing will happen to her, but that she must first find her room — because there is a room in the hotel for everyone. Rather than leave Joe behind, the Doctor has his chair tied up to a cart so they can wheel him around the hotel while they search for the TARDIS or an exit. She warns the entire group to stay with someone else at all times and avoid being drawn to a particular room.

As the group begin searching the hotel, each person begins throwing out their own theories as to what is happening and how they should act on it. Kyle is powerless to keep Howie from finding his room, which contains a group of twenty-something girls who mock him for being nerdy and for his stutter. Howie begins to "praise him". Further up the hallway, Erin discovers pages of Lucy Hayward's diary, which the young woman had dropped as the beast killed her. She doesn't have time to show the Doctor, however, as the beast can be heard approaching to kill Joe. Kyle locates a fire exit, but it goes unseen by everyone else as they scatter into various rooms to hide from the predator. Rita inadvertently enters her own room with Joe to find her father lecturing her about her grades. She also begins to "praise him". Kyle, Erin, Gibbis, Howie, and the Doctor enter another room containing two Lava Spiders. Erin warns the others not to touch them, but the Doctor quickly ascertains that the Spiders are not real. She encourages her to set aside her fear, but Kyle notes Gibbis' reaction — he hides in a closet — and suggests that maybe the Lava Spiders are not for any of them. The Doctor checks the corridor through the peephole, and finally gets a good view of their enemy: it's a Nimon.

In Rita's room, the rope that is binding Joe to his chair comes loose and untied on its own, possibly through some sort of telekinetic energy. Joe runs into the corridor, smiling madly as he asks the Nimon to come to him. It overpowers him and drags him away, though they are both chased by the Doctor. The Doctor is separated from Joe and the Nimon in the winding labyrinth of corridors but later stumbles across Joe's body. The Doctor tries to revive him but finds that it's no use.

The group returns to the hotel banquet hall with Joe's body, which the Doctor examines. Erin tries to comfort Gibbis by mentioning that she encounters the Lava Spiders and thought the room was for her; however, she knows that the Doctor will find a way out of the mess they're in because she's never let her down. Gibbis smugly mentions that since the Lava Spiders were for him, her room must still be somewhere in the hotel. The thought unnerves her.

The Doctor tells Rita that there is no medical explanation for Joe's death — his organs simply stopped, as though all of his faiths and fears were taken from him. Rita confesses that she believes the hotel is Jahannam, the Muslims' idea of hell. She is, however, completely unfazed by this and by the revelation that Gibbis is an alien. The Doctor tries to assure Rita that her theory is incorrect and that she is still alive but to no avail. Erin recalls Lucy's diary pages and presents them to the Doctor, who reads them as Howie begins to praise the Nimon. "Praise him." The Nimon in question awakens at the words.

The Doctor promises not to leave Howie, who is afraid of being eaten, though Gibbis angers her by suggesting that perhaps the Nimon would leave the rest of the group alone if they were to sacrifice Howie to him. Rita nobly offers to stay with Howie, but the Doctor rejects this and berates Gibbis, insisting that "no one else will die today." Theorising that the beast feeds on fear, the Doctor tells the others that they must do whatever they can to fight the fear off, and to dig deep, to find and embrace their faith. As Erin wonders what their next move is, the Doctor slyly explains that they're going to catch the monster.

Using a speaker through which Howie's voice is projected, the Doctor lures the Nimon into the hotel spa, as Erin, Rita, and Kyle lock the doors from the outside to trap it. The Doctor begins speaking to the Nimon, who claims that the "warden" takes people and places them in the hotel, which houses "tailored-made hell" for each of its victims. Once confronted by their fear, the victims begin worshipping it. The Nimon explains that it has lived for so long that it has forgotten its own name. As victims just keep on showing up and its instincts are too hard to resist, the creature has lived a long, miserable life, now consisting purely of instinct and routine. He wishes to end it, and at last get some peace.

Meanwhile, Gibbis keeps watch over Howie in the reception area, but Howie taunts Gibbis into releasing him. He freely roams the hotel, drawing the Nimon — which escapes the spa by knocking Kyle out — to him. The Doctor goes off in pursuit. Erin and Rita stay behind to look after Kyle, but Erin finds herself drawn to Room 7 and opens the door. Rita is not quick enough to stop her from seeing what lies inside. Meanwhile, the Doctor locates Howie's body; the others arrive shortly after, with Gibbis claiming that Howie got free and overpowered him. The Doctor gives him an angered look of disapproval. Gibbis, guilty, chases after the group in hopes of forgiveness.

Later, Kyle finds the Doctor admiring Howie's picture, which has been added to the wall alongside the others. Kyle admits that he hasn't found his door yet, which the Doctor takes to mean that Kyle isn't afraid of anything, to which Kyle replies that of course he’s afraid of something, but he just doesn’t cling onto his fears, and instead he walks through them because it hurts less.

Later, they lay Howie's body out in the banquet hall next to Joe's.

The Doctor meets Rita on the stairwell and informs her that she is close to getting them out of the hotel. When Rita wonders why the Doctor has made it her responsibility to save them — noting that she has quite a "God complex" — the Doctor sadly looks down to Erin, obviously guilty for bringing her and Kyle to a place where they are in danger. She invites Rita to travel with them once they escape the hotel and leaves her, but after she departs, she begins to "praise him" and goes off on her own.

While the Doctor searches for the hotel security room, she stumbles across his own door, Room 14, and is hardly surprised by what she sees inside. Unlike the others, who heard voices telling them to praise the Nimon, the Doctor's will proves stronger, allowing her to not fall, victim. She appears well aware that this was going to be the fear inside her room all along and maintains her composure. The Doctor stares at it hauntingly- this fear has troubled her for so long she knows she will confront it again once and for all. She addresses it grimly, "Of course. Who else?" The Doctor quietly shuts the door to his room and tacks a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the knob.

Rita continues wandering the hotel; when the Doctor finally locates the security room, she spots her on the footage and questions what she's doing. She uses one of the room phones to contact her, realising that she has begun to "praise him" and is now trying to keep everyone safe. Knowing that the Doctor cannot rescue her no matter what, she asks to die in private because she wants her to remember her the way she was — before she was robbed of her faith. As the Nimon rounds the corner towards her, she hangs up on the Doctor, who heeds her last request and shuts off the security camera just as she is about to be killed.

The Doctor, devastated by Rita's death, destroys the hotel lobby in anger while the others listen. She begins to revise her theory, knowing that Rita wasn't afraid of her death and therefore the beast could not possibly feed on fear. Gibbis berates the Doctor for continuing to promise action without result; when Erin jumps to her defence, the Doctor realises the truth;

The Nimon feeds on faith, not fear.

Howie believed in conspiracies, Rita was a devout Muslim, Joe was a gambler who believed in luck, and Gibbis believes in the continued presence of invaders who will tell him what to do. The Doctor has inadvertently helped the Nimon to thrive by insisting that his companions reject their fear and fall back on their faith, which the Nimon then takes and converts into a consumable form. She tells a confused Kyle that the TARDIS was pulled to the hotel — which is, in fact, an alien prison — because of Erin's faith in the Doctor. Erin suddenly begins to "praise him".

The group flees through the hotel as the Nimon approaches to take Erin and find themselves hiding in her room. Erin begins to feel the Nimon changing her, and the Doctor suddenly insists that she can't save her. She laments leading her to her death, which she claims to have always known would happen because it always does. Requesting that she forget her faith in her, she insists that she really is "just a madwoman with a box". She tells her that it's time for her to grow up. Though the Nimon has broken into the room, it weakens as Erin's faith in the Doctor is dismantled.

The hotel disguise dissolves around them, revealing an automated alien prison cell. The prison floats through space, kidnapping people with belief systems so that their faith may be converted into food for the creature. Erin reminds the Doctor that because the hotel showed her a door, he must believe in something, though she neglects to tell her what this is. The dying Nimon passes a message to the Doctor, expressing his pity for "an ancient creature drenched in the blood of the innocent", because "for such a creature, death would be a gift." The Doctor believes the Nimon is referring to itself, but with its dying breath, the Nimon suggests that it was referring to the Doctor. It subsequently dies, and the group prepares to leave in the TARDIS.

As the Doctor, Erin and Kyle take Gibbis back home in the TARDIS, Erin confronts the Doctor about what she said. The Doctor just tells Erin that it was all a lie, and act to make her lose her faith in her, but Erin asks if that’s really true. She then asks her how many people have died who have travelled with her, to which the Doctor solemnly gulps “too many”.

Cast

Crew

Created by Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber

Nimon created by Anthony Read

Memorable Quotes

To be added.

Background Information

Production History

To be added

Development

To be added

Production

To be added

Post-Production

To be added

Reaction

Consolidated BARB Rating - 8.21m

Story Notes

To be added.

Continuity

To be added

Home Video Releases

To be added.