The Monks have been with us
from the beginning.
They shepherded humanity through its formative years,
gently guiding
and encouraging.
Like a parent clapping their hands at a baby's first steps.
They have been instrumental in all the advances
of culture and technology.
They watched proudly
as man invented the light bulb,
the telephone and the Internet.
They were even there to welcome the first man on the moon.
That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.
And they have defended u; too.
Who can forget the time the Monks defeated the Daleks?
The Cybermen, the Weeping Angels?
Two species sharing a history as happily as they share a planet.
Humanity and the Monks are a blissful and perfect partnership.
How lucky Earth is
to have an ally as powerful and as tender
as the Monks,
that asks for nothing in return for their benevolence
but obedience...
Go, go, go!
Get down!
On your knees. Hands on your heads!
Get down. On your knees. Stay down!
Search the room!
- Jane Bishop, you are charged with... - Get off me!
You are charged
with the manufacture and possession of propaganda
intended to undermine the true history.
This is in contravention of the Memory Crimes Act of 1975.
1975.
The Monks have only been here a few months...
Therefore I sentence you to 10 years in a labour camp. Take her away.
It's okay! Be a good boy for Mummy!
The Monks have only been here a few months.
Fight back. It's all lies!
Get in.
You know it's all lies.
All right. Nothing to see. Move along.
So relax.
Do as you're told.
Your future is taken care of.
Hello, Mum.
The Monks...
The Monks have only been here for six months.
I can 't remember how I escaped, Mum.
I asked for their help and then...
And then there's nothing.
And then I woke up and the Monks were here.
And they'd always been here.
You. Come with me!
Everything they told us, all that we believe now
is a lie.
But I don't understand it because no one's saying anything.
It's like they've been...
Like they've been brainwashed.
With those who would do them harm.
By implementing a swift and painless death.
Praise be the justice of the Monks.
I travelled with a man called the Doctor.
And his friend, Nardole. And I did this
to save him.
I'm trying to stay strong without them
but every day it's harder to remember what's real any more.
If you suspect a colleague,
a neighbour or a family member of being a memory criminal...
Andlknow, I know how it looks, Mum.
With all of the stuff that he's been saying on the telly,
but it's all right.
Because I know he has a plan.
One day soon, he's gonna come back and save us all.
One day...
What you doing? It's me. Nardy!
No. Wait. Shut up. Tell me something.
That first time, with the Heather creature chasing us,
where did we run away to?
Australia.
What noise do spaceship doors make?
Shook, shook. Obviously.
Oh.
Oh, God.
It happened. I knew it.
It all really happened.
- Ow! - Where have you been?
- That hurt me. That really hurt me. - I needed you.
Well, I got contaminated by that bacteria in the lab, didn't I?
I was laid up for six weeks.
If I was human, I would have died.
Right now you'd be talking to...
Come to think of it, who were you talking to?
Um, er...
My...
Uh, my, my mum.
I thought your mum
died.
You know, when you were little.
I made up a version of her.
Yeah, I talk to her all the time.
Hmm.
Oh, well, that's not that weird.
Yeah, I used to have an imaginary friend.
Till he left me for someone else.
I know. Charming.
They're doing something to us.
The Monks. I can't think straight.
It's like... They're saying they've been here forever,
and I know they haven't.
But part of me is starting to think that it's real.
Every day I have to...
I have to remind myself that everything that
you, me and the Doctor did actually happened
and it wasn't just a dream.
Why do it?
That's what I don't get.
They invade somewhere, take control,
why go to the trouble of changing the past?
However bad the situation is,
if people think that's how it's always been,
they put up with it. It's 90% of the job done.
Wait.
- You said you were ill for six weeks. - Hmm?
What you been doing since then?
Looking for the Doctor.
Have you found him?
Well, let's just say...
Yes, yes, yes. I found him.
So...
All anyone's seen of the Doctor
in the last six months
are those broadcasts he does.
He's faking it. I'm positive.
He hasn't joined the Monks.
He's being held prisoner. He's just... He's just biding his time. Waiting.
The thing is, the Monks have got some kind of scrambler
so no one can trace the broadcasts.
Lucky then that I have got this!
It traces the source of the signal and gives a map coordinate.
Cool. Where did you get it?
Found it in the TARDIS.
Yeah, it was in one of the drawers
with some old takeaway menus and 50 Danish Kroner.
Anyway, this is them.
- So he's at sea. - Mmm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah, the Monks have gotten him in one of the old prison boats.
Hulks, they use to call them.
So how do we get to him?
Every six weeks, all their food and fuel and stuff
gets taken to them by a supply boat.
The next delivery is in two clays' time, off the coast of Scotland.
That's our chance!
Yeah, that really has to stop.
It's happening, Mum.
I knew it would. So...
Nardole has made contact with the captain of the supply boat
that runs to and from the prison ship where the Doctor's being held.
His son is serving 10 years in a labour camp
for possession of a box of comics.
So he's no fan of the Monks.
He'll get us on board the prison ship.
Security is really tight, obviously.
But Nardole says there's not been much in way of resistance
since the Monks took over. So they're more worried
about the Doctor getting out than anyone getting in.
Get those crates moving.
But what we don't want is for them
to do a spat check on our identity papers.
Papers!
Spot check.
Nardole doesn't have any
and I'm down as university kitchen staff.
Check!
It's them.
All right, what you waiting for? We need to get this stuff on board. Chop, chop.
- Hold it. Back to work. - Come on.
After that we 're on our own.
Careful.
Doctor.
Doctor, it's me.
Guards!
What are you doing here?
Well, what does it look like? We've come to save you.
This is your doing, isn't it?
You shouldn't be here.
- I have to talk to the Monks now. - Doctor...
Stop. Don't. Don't move. They will kill you.
Stay where you are.
Epsilon. Fire.jupiter. Lily.
The Monks are on their way.
When they get here, let me do the talking.
Wait. What was that?
Did you actually just call them, you nutter?
You deserve an explanation.
Human society's...
Stagnating.
You've stopped moving forward.
In fact, you're regressing.
- Well, this isn't exactly much better. - It's safer.
Not so much for the people the Monks are killing.
The Romans killed people and saved billions more from disease.
War, famine.
And barbarism.
No, wait.
What about free will?
You believe in free will.
Your whole thing is... You made me write a 3,000-word essay on free will.
Yes, well, I mean, you had free will
and look at what you did with it. Worse than that, you had history.
History was saying to you,
"Look, I've got some examples of fascism here for you to look at.
"No? Fundamentalism?
"No? Oh, okay. You carry on."
I had to stop you, or at least, not stand in the way
of someone else who wanted to.
Because the guns were getting bigger, the stakes were getting higher.
And any minute now, it's gonna be "Good night, Vienna."
By the way, you never delivered that essay.
Because the world was invaded by zombie Monks.
And whose fault was that?
Huh? I didn't ask for my sight back.
No, you took it upon yourself to ignore me.
To do what you thought was best.
All I can say is that we are lucky
that it was a benevolent race like the Monks, not the Daleks.
Yes, I know the Monks are with us. I get that.
Yes, they play with history. I'm not exactly thrilled about that.
But they bring peace and order.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, I get it. I...
It's, it's like that time that we discovered that huge fish creature
in the Seine in Paris.
That was a coded message.
The big fish creature was under the Thames.
If I'd played along, she'd have known that I was tricking her.
Guns down.
I'm sorry, Bill. Ijust... I just...
I really wanted to make you see.
This...
This is real?
You... You're actually...
You're actually doing this.
Do you have any idea
how hard the past few months have been?
How hard it's been to hold on to the truth?
It would have been so easy to just give in
and believe their lies.
But I didn't.
I fought against it. For you!
For when you came back!
And now you're saying you've joined them.
You're helping them.
- Bill, put... Put the gun down. - I'm serious, Doctor.
We'll think of something else.
But you better tell me now...
Because if you help the Monks, then...
Nothing will ever stop them.
They'll be here forever.
It's not a trick, it's not a plan. I have joined the Monks.
Whatever it takes, I'm gonna save you from yourselves.
Good girl.
Regeneration a little bit too much?
No, I thought it was a nice touch.
Too much was Richard asking for our identity papers.
I couldn't resist it. Your face...
Well, hello?
Could somebody tell me what the hell is going on?
You did it.
The Monks are using some kind of... You know, something to control
the population. They must be.
Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to hold on to power for this long.
Now, they don't trust me yet, not completely,
and I had to just check that you weren't under the influence, testing me.
So you...
You haven't turned, you're not working for them?
No, of course not.
I spent the last six months planning
and also recruiting all these chaps.
De-programming them, one by one. Talking some sense into them.
And there's loads of them, I could do with a Strepsil.
But I shot you.
Yes, well, that was the plan, you see?
Everyone exchanged their ammo for blanks.
Did you forget, David?
You forgot?
Well, that would have really blown the plan, wouldn't it?
But you called the Monks.
I called the kitchen. Oh...
Could you pop down and explain it to them?
They're gonna be really confused.
And you were in on this, too?
Oh, it was partly his idea.
Oh, my...
- God, I'm gonna beat the... - No, no, no...
She keeps hitting me. She been doing it the...
No, come on, come on. We've got to band back together again.
Now, lovely as it is
to have you on board, literally and metaphorically,
we're going to need some help.
So, who we gonna get?
The only person I know almost as smart as me.
Oh!
I see.
Blimey. Has it really come to that?
Mum, it's me. We 're coming back.
We could have snuck back in,
but the Doctor being the Doctor...
Halt!
By the time we got back to the university,
the Monks were waiting for us. Of course.
We weren't headed to his office, though.
Even so, the Doctor was nervous, Mum. I could tell.
He had to do this, he said.
He had to open the vault.
Over to the containment field, please!
This...
This is just a woman.
God, the way you and Nardole have been carrying on
I thought we had some kind of monster in here or something.
I do.
Missy... Bill.
Bill. Missy, the other last of the Time Lords.
Wait a sec.
Why have you got a woman locked in a vault?
'Cause even I think that's weird and I've been attacked by a puddle.
She's going cold turkey from being bad.
I want to ask if you've had any dealings with the Monks before.
Of course.
I've had adventures, too.
My whole life doesn't revolve around you, you know.
Did you defeat them?
I did.
How?
I've got some requests.
I want some new books.
Some toys. Like a particle accelerator,
3D printer and a pony.
I don't think that you really grasp what's going on here.
Nice people generally don't haggle over the fate of a planet.
I once built a gun out of leaves.
Do you think I couldn't get through a door if I wanted to?
I'm here.
All right? I'm engaging in the process.
Okay.
Yeah, we can... We can get those things for you.
C'est super.
So.
What have we got so far?
They hold onto power by targeting the part of the brain
specifically to do with memory and perception. Correct?
- Right? - Getting warm.
Fingers tingling.
But they target it with what exactly?
How do they sustain it?
How do their lies infiltrate the brains of billions?
Is it some kind of airborne psychoactive?
No, no, no, no. That's very cold, very cold.
Something that's constantly
being fed to the populace.
Constantly consolidating its hold. Is it in the water?
God, no. It's freezing, freezing.
Absolutely freezing. Couldn't be colder.
Very, very chilly. So, so chilly. Oh, come on.
I'm bored.
You haven't been to see me in six months.
No one has, not even that bald bloke who looks like an egg.
What, you left her alone in here for six months?
I was in prison for six months.
Start at the beginning.
How do they get a foothold on a planet?
Some idiot asks for their help.
Well, not just any idiot.
I mean, it has to be a properly consenting human mind.
A pure request.
One without agenda or ulterior motive.
It's them.
That person creates a psychic link,
which forms an anchor that keeps the Monks in power.
They are the lynchpin.
Scalding, ow.
But the brain waves of one person wouldn't be powerful enough
to contain an entire planet.
The statues.
As soon as they got here, the Monks put up statues
in every town square
and every park, and every playground.
You're on fire, you're literally on fire,
so caliente. That's Spanish for "hot".
The statues are transmitters.
They boost the signal and beam it out all around the world.
Boom! You've exploded.
Now all you have to do is
find whoever opened to door to the Monks in the first place.
- Say I already have. - Oh.
Oh, well, then you are sorted.
Just kill them.
That weakens the Monks' grip on the world.
No, no.
No, no, that can't right.
There are planets that the Monks have ruled for thousands of years.
It's passed on through the bloodline.
Usually the lynchpin goes on to lead a normal life,
have their own family, and the link is passed down through the generations.
But the Monks must have worked that out. They've been doing this for millennia.
Why? I mean, if the link is passed on,
then the Monks stay in charge.
Through, they think, ruthlessness and efficiency.
But if the lynchpin dies
and the link isn't passed on and the Monks get booted off the planet,
well, they just chalk it up to experience.
No, it's okay.
- I want to speak to her. - Yes.
So, when you defeated the Monks, that's how you did it.
Well, at this point, all that was left of the bloodline was a wee girl.
And I just pushed her into a volcano.
It's me.
The lynchpin is me.
Awkward.
So you are saying I have to die?
No, if you were just to die,
then everyone's false memories would have to fade,
and that could take ages.
It's actually better if you keep breathing,
if your brain just keeps transmitting,
well, nothing.
That would blot out the residue false memories.
What would be left of me?
You'd be a husk.
Completely and irrevocably braindead.
You couldn't even get on Celebrity Love Island.
Even if that was the truth, the fact that you're suggesting it shows
that there's been no change.
No, no point.
We don't sacrifice people, it's wrong.
Because it's easy.
You know, back in the day, I'd burn an entire city to the ground
just to see the pretty shapes the smoke made.
I'm sorry your plus one doesn't get a happy ending.
But like it or not, I just saved this world because I want to change it.
Your version of good is not absolute.
It's vain, arrogant, sentimental.
But if you are waiting for me to become all that,
I'm going to be here for a long time yet.
What did she say?
- Nothing. - There's a way to defeat them.
There is. Well, there is, but not that.
Come on.
You knew she was gonna say something like this.
That's why you needed me back.
You could've escaped from that ship.
You could've started something to defeat the Monks without me.
I wanted you back by my side because it's the safest place in the world.
Can someone... What did she say?
She said it's me.
I asked the Monks for help, started all of this.
So I have to be the one to finish it.
The only downside is if that's what we do...
Well, it's not worth me starting any long books.
Okay, we'll let's,
uh, put a pin in it for now,
as they say, and
see if we can think of something else.
You said the safest place for me was by your side.
That's what's protecting the Monks.
It's why their plan works.
The cathedral, the Monks' headquarters.
Oh, yes.
We're gonna have to break in there.
Why?
Somewhere in there, the Monks must have some kind of a machine
that creates and broadcasts the myths of their history.
The ones that are powered by, carried by, fed by
your brainwaves.
So, we get in, I plug myself into it,
and replace the signals that they are receiving with my brainwaves
and beam out the true history of the world.
Oh-ho, yes.
I can even throw in some other stuff.
The things that I could change just by thinking.
Racism, people who talk in cinemas.
Are you sure? This will be an incredibly sophisticated transmitter,
powerful enough to beam highly detailed propaganda
to the entire world 24 hours a day,
and you're gonna plug your brain into it?
I know, it doesn't stand a chance.
That's odd. There's no Monks guarding the entrance.
Come away from the window.
How many Monks were there?
Oh, about 12 Monks in there.
Twelve?
Well, you have to admit that is ever so clever.
You see?
Another way they hang onto power is to create a myth
that they're here in greater numbers than they really are.
Beam's stronger here, isn't it?
You can almost hear it.
So hard to hang onto any thought of life before the Monks.
Yes, and it's going to get stronger
the closer we get to the transmitter.
The lies are gonna become more convincing.
You'll want to turn around.
You won't know what you're doing here,
or why you are working against the Monks.
Now, have you all got your stereo headphone, eye thing?
Yeah. You never told us what we needed these for.
Ah, this is where you come in.
The Monks are not our friends.
They have invaded Earth and made its people slaves.
They cling on to power by means of a powerful transmitter
broadcasting myths and lies that suggest they have always been here.
In fact, they have only been here a few months
and have falsified and manipulated our history.
Our mission is to interrupt their broadcast
and replace it with the true history of Earth,
which will weaken and undermine the Monks' power.
The Monks are not our friends.
They have invaded Earth and made its people slaves.
They cling on to power by means of a powerful transmitter
broadcasting myths and lies that suggest they have always been here.
- In fact... - Take cover!
They've only been here a few months
and have falsified and manipulated our history.
Our mission is to interrupt their broadcast
and replace it with the true history of Earth,
which will weaken and undermine the Monks' power.
The Monks are not our friends.
They have invaded Earth...
Are you okay?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
I think it's my... Oh, oh... Doctor!
It's in here.
Ooh.
Everything all right, Alan?
You tricked us.
You tried to make us believe the Monks were invaders.
How could you say that?
They've always been here.
- You know that. - Uh-huh.
Uh, oh, I see.
The Monks are our friends.
I won't let you hurt them.
I'll die first.
I'll kill you first.
Tarovian neck pinch.
Yeah, I studied their martial arts for a while, actually.
Yeah, reached a level of Brown Tabard.
Yeah, can't do it with this hand, though.
Kind of bugs me. Course, this wasn't my original hand, as you know.
I won this in a game of... Uh, yeah... Let's...
Trek on.
Fake news central.
I can think.
They're not in my head, why is that?
We're in the eye of the storm.
Guard the doors.
I can't be interrupted.
Boo!
Not necessary.
Okay, he's out. Let's do this.
It's working. The Monks are disappearing.
Oh, I didn't agree to this.
What's happening?
It's fighting back. It's blocking me.
Countering every move.
Look.
Oh, no, no, no.
Doctor!
I wanted to do it before you woke up.
But I had to say goodbye.
Bill, whatever you're planning, there's no need for this.
Let me try again. He caught me unawares.
Cup of tea, I'll get my second wind.
Even your brain couldn't stand another roasting like that.
So we'll find another way. Let me talk to Missy again.
We have the answer, Doctor, please.
I don't want our last conversation to be this.
I don't want this to be our last conversation.
Well, goodbye, Doctor.
Thank you.
God, it was worth it.
Bill...
Bill, no don't. Bill, Bill, Bill...
Bill, it will kill you. Bill...
It's too powerful...
Bill, I... I order you!
I'm ordering you not to do this, Bill!
Nardole, untie me!
Nardole, untie me now!
Bill, don't do this.
Okay...
I don't usually let someone erase my brain on the first date, but
seeing as it's you...
Argh! Ugh!
Ahh...
Oh, no...
No, no... No, no, no!
They're hijacking her memories.
Infecting them like a virus.
Just reinforcing the lies.
She's died for nothing.
Come on, there must be a way to shut this thing down!
Hello, Mum.
Doctor, look.
You clever, brilliant, ridiculous girl.
Look at that.
All the pictures I gave you.
I thought I was just being kind but I was saving the world.
Bill, if there's any of you left in there, listen.
You have to keep thinking about your mum,
the memory you created.
Her voice, her smile, the Monks can't get near it.
Fill your mind with it.
Push it into every corner.
Bill!
Mum.
She's filling its mind
with one pure, uncorrupted, irresistible image.
Now it's broadcasting it to the world because it can't help it.
All those years you kept it alive inside you.
An isolated subroutine in a living mind.
Perfect. Untouchable.
She 's a window an the world without the Monks.
Absolutely loved, absolutely trusted.
And that window is opening everywhere.
A glimpse of freedom.
But a glimpse is all you need.
The lie is breaking.
Bill's mum, you just went viral.
You did it, you broke the signal.
What are the Monks gonna do?
What oppressors always do when they realise who's really in power.
They run.
This is exciting, isn't it?
You know, kind of, it's like a turning point.
Humans have learnt that they can overthrow dictators
and stuff, they just...
They just have to band together.
Well, it's not quite as simple as that.
You, appalling hair.
This thing that we are sitting on, what is it?
Uh, we thought they were just like filming something here or something.
Thank you, very helpful, now go away or something.
You see? The Monks have erased themselves.
Humanity is doomed to never learn from its mistakes.
Well, I guess that's part of our charm.
No, it's really quite annoying.
Anyway, I mustn't keep you.
Three thousand words
on the mechanics of free will, now six months overdue.
Why do you put up with us, then?
In amongst seven billion,
there's someone like you.
That's why I put up with the rest of them.
I keep remembering all the people I've killed.
Every day I think of more.
Being bad.
Being bad drowned that out.
I didn't know I even knew their names.
You didn't tell me about this bit.
I'm sorry, but this is good.
Okay.
There were humans on Mars in Victorian times?
No, there weren't.
Friday asked for my help.
In return for what?
Halt!
This could be the entrance to an Ice Warrior hive.
Friday has been using you all along.
His aim is to get back to Mars and find his queen.
Rise, my Ice Warriors.
Rise!
I daresay the British army is more than a match
for a bunch of upright crocodiles.
You don't stand a chance against the Ice Warriors.