Doctor Who series 10: Episode Guide
Episode 1: The Pilot
Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Lawrence Gough
Meet Bill Potts. She works at St Luke’s University, serving chips to students, and nothing ever, ever happens. Then, one day, she finds there’s another world beneath the one she knows. A familiar face in a pool of water, and a love that is over before it can begin, will change her life for ever – because this is the day Bill meets the Doctor.
Episode 2: Smile
Written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, directed by Lawrence Gough. Guest star: Ralph Little
In the far future, at the edge of the galaxy, there is a gleaming, perfect city. This brand-new human settlement is said to hold the secret of human happiness – but the only smiles the Doctor and Bill can find are on a pile of grinning skulls. Something is alive in the walls, and the Emojibots are watching from the shadows, as the Doctor and Bill try to unravel a terrifying mystery…
Episode 3: Thin Ice
Written by Sarah Dollard, directed by Bill Anderson
In Regency England, beneath the frozen Thames, something is stirring. The Doctor and Bill arrive at the last of the great frost fairs and find themselves investigating a string of impossible disappearances – people have been vanishing on the ice! Bill is about to discover that the past is more like her world than she expected, and that not all monsters come from outer space.
Episode 4: Knock Knock
Written by Mike Bartlett, directed by Bill Anderson. Guest star: David Suchet
Bill is moving in with some friends and they’ve found the perfect house! So what if it’s strangely cheap to rent, and the landlord is a little creepy? The wind blows, the floorboards creak and the Doctor thinks something is very wrong. What lurks in the strange tower at the heart of the building – and why can’t they find any way to enter it..?
Episode 5: Oxygen
Written by Jamie Mathieson, directed by Charles Palmer
The Doctor, Bill and Nardole answer a distress call in deep space, and find themselves trapped on board space station Chasm Forge. All but four of the crew have been murdered – and the dead are still walking! In a future where oxygen is sold by the breath, and space suits are valued more highly than their occupants, the Tardis crew battle for survival against the darkest evil of all.
Episode 6: Extremis
Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Daniel Nettheim. Guest star: Michelle Gomez
In the Haereticum (the Vatican’s secret library of blasphemy) there is an ancient book known only as The Veritas. Throughout history, anyone who has ever read it has immediately taken their own life. Now a new translation is online, and the danger is spreading. The Vatican appeals to the Doctor. Will he read The Veritas? But can even the Doctor survive the ultimate truth?
Episode 7: The Pyramid at the End of the World
Written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat, directed by Daniel Nettheim
A 5,000-year-old pyramid stands at the centre of a war zone, where the Chinese, Russian and American armies are about to clash. There are many problems with that, but the one that intrigues the Doctor is this: there wasn’t a pyramid there yesterday. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole face an alien invasion unlike any other – before conquest can begin, these aliens need the consent of the human race.
Episode 8: The Lie of the Land
Written by Toby Whithouse, directed by Wayne Yip
The world is gripped by a mass delusion and only Bill Potts can see the truth. When even the Doctor is fighting on the wrong side, it’s up to Bill to convince the Time Lord that humanity is in deadly danger. And if she can’t do that, she may just have to kill her best friend.
Episode 9: The Empress of Mars
Written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Wayne Yip
The Doctor, Bill and Nardole arrive on Mars and find themselves in an impossible conflict between Ice Warriors… and Victorian soldiers. As the Martian hive awakes around them, the Doctor faces a unique dilemma – this time the humans, not the Ice Warriors are the invaders. When Earth is invading Mars, whose side is he on?
Episode 10: The Eaters of Light
Written by Rona Munro, directed by Charles Palmer
A long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient Aberdeenshire, what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world.
Episode 11: World Enough and Time
Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay. Guest star: Michelle Gomez
Friendship drives the Doctor into the rashest decision of his life. Trapped on a giant spaceship, caught in the event horizon of a black hole, he witnesses the death of someone he is pledged to protect. Is there any way he can redeem his mistake? Are events already out of control? For once, time is the Time Lord’s enemy…
Episode 12: The Doctor Falls
Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay. Guest star: Michelle Gomez
The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise. It’s time for the Doctor’s final battle…