The Rebel Flesh
Encyclopedia
"The Rebel Flesh" is the fifth episode of the sixth series
of the British
science fiction
television series Doctor Who
, which was first broadcast on 21 May 2011 on BBC One
and on BBC America
in the United States. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Graham
and directed by Julian Simpson, concluded in "The Almost People
".
In the episode, the TARDIS
is hit by a solar storm, sending alien time traveller the Doctor
(Matt Smith) and his companions
Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) and her husband Rory Williams
(Arthur Darvill
) to a monastery on an island on Earth in the 22nd century, which has been converted into a factory to pump acid off the island. To prevent death from the acid, the workers have utilized a "programmable matter" called the Flesh, which creates a doppelgänger
(called "Ganger") controlled by the worker. As the solar storm hits, the Gangers become independent, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory must work to prevent the two groups from breaking into a war.
Showrunner Steven Moffat
specifically asked Graham to write the episodes about "avatars that rebel", although the Flesh and the monastery were Graham's original ideas. The episode was filmed in the winter of 2010 with some location filming at Caerphilly Castle
to represent the monastery. Prosthetics were used to create the Gangers' facial features, and doubles were cast for the actors. The episode was seen by 7.35 million viewers in the UK and achieved an "excellent" Appreciation Index
of 85. Reviewers were generally positive about the episode; some praised the setting and characters but others commented that the story had not developed enough being only the first part. The computer-generated effects used for one scene was widely disapproved of.
(Matt Smith) continues the unresolved TARDIS
scan on the possible pregnancy of his companion
Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
), the TARDIS is caught in the first waves of a "solar tsunami
" and materialises on Earth in the 22nd century. The Doctor, Amy, and her husband Rory
(Arthur Darvill
) find themselves on a remote island, where a factory housed in a former castle monastery pumps a valuable, highly corrosive acid to the mainland. The skeleton crew
of the factory uses a self-replicating fluid called the Flesh from which they create doppelgänger
s of themselves, colloquially called "Gangers". The crew controls the Gangers from special control harnesses, operating the hazardous environment of the factory via the disposable bodies. The Doctor, initially posing as a weatherman, fears the worst part of the solar tsunami will strike the solar-powered factory soon, threatening those still remaining, and offers to take the crew in his TARDIS. The foreman, Miranda Cleaves (Raquel Cassidy
), refuses to shut down the factory until she receives orders from the mainland. As the solar storm begins, the Doctor races to disconnect the solar collector, but an electrical strike hits the castle, throwing the Doctor off the tower and knocking everyone inside unconscious.
When the crew awakens, they find themselves out of the control beds with no sign of the Gangers. However, their own personal belongings have been gone through and the TARDIS has sunk into acid-corroded ground. The Doctor explains that they have likely been unconscious for more than an hour and the Gangers have gained sentience. They soon discover that two of the Gangers are amongst them, posing as Cleaves and Jennifer (Sarah Smart
), when the two give themselves away by losing their facial similarities and turn pale-white. Jennifer also exhibits the ability to contort and stretch her body well beyond human limits. The Jennifer Ganger struggles with her new identity and befriends Rory who has begun to demonstrate an emotional attachment to her. The Cleaves Ganger works in secret with the other Gangers to try to kill the real humans, as the human Cleaves plans to kill the Gangers. The Doctor attempts to reunite the two sides but fails when the human Cleaves kills one of the Gangers with a high-powered electrical charge. The Gangers plan an attack, and the Doctor accuses Cleaves of killing a living being which Cleaves refuses to acknowledge. The Ganger Jennifer hunts her human counterpart to kill her. The Doctor determines that in a monastery, the safest place to be is the chapel, and directs everyone there. The Gangers, in acid-protection suits, bear down on the chapel. Rory responds to the sound of Jennifer screaming by deliberately separating from the group, against Amy's wishes. In the chapel, Amy and the Doctor discover a Ganger version of the Doctor.
" confirms that the Doctor came to the base to examine the Flesh in its early stage in order to humanely sever its connection to Amy, who was replaced by a Ganger avatar prior to the beginning of the series. He is once more seen performing a pregnancy scan on Amy which, as before, cannot come to a conclusion to whether she is pregnant. The "Eye Patch Lady" also makes another brief appearence to Amy, similar to those in "Day of the Moon
" and "The Curse of the Black Spot
". Her identity is revealed in "The Almost People" and she plays a larger part in "A Good Man Goes to War
".
was originally to write a single episode for the previous series
, but bailed out late in that series' production because he did not have enough time to write the script. He then received an e-mail from showrunner Steven Moffat
, who asked him to write for the next series; Graham agreed. When the two met, Moffat said he would like the episodes to lead into the mid-series finale
and that it should deal with "avatars that rebel". Initally worried this may seem too similar to the film Avatar, Graham went on to create the Flesh. Graham wanted the Gangers to be scary, but not monsters who wanted "to take over the world for the sake of it". He wanted them to appear relatable as humans who deserve rights. Moffat suggested that the avatars work in a factory; attempting to make it different from other factories featured in Doctor Who, Graham proposed to set the story in a monastery, an idea of which Moffat greatly approved. The monestary was inspired by the film The Name of the Rose
, while the Gangers were influenced by The Thing; Graham described it as "The Thing in the context of The Name of the Rose".
In the early drafts of the script, there was a problem distinguishing the characters from their duplicates, and Graham and the production crew worked to make it more rational. The episode also contains a subplot in which Rory helps and protects Jennifer as she is scared and affected by the Gangers, which proved a twist in Amy and Rory's relationship. Karen Gillan enjoyed the twist. Amy had previously always had Rory "in the palm of her hand" and a different side of the character was shown as she experienced the same emotions Rory felt when she seemed interested in the Doctor. Arthur Darvill also thought it gave Rory a chance to "man up" and be a hero by protecting someone.
for "The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People" took place on 12 November 2010. It was then filmed around late November and early December. The cold temperatures at the time were a challenge and caused discomfort. The crew were concerned that the cast, particularly the three lead actors, would fall ill as their costumes were not designed for such weather conditions. Even so, the cast remained healthy. Scenes outside and inside the monestary were filmed at Caerphilly Castle
, previously used in Doctor Who in The End of Time and "The Vampires of Venice
", as well as some of the spin-off Sarah Jane Adventures
episodes.
The actors each played their respective Gangers, with prosthetics applied to their faces for when the duplicates' faces reverted to the original material of the Flesh. Moffat wanted the Gangers to appear like "eyeball matter": white with small capillaries running through them. For the scenes in which both the character and their respective Ganger was in the same shot, a double for each of the actors was used. The doubles were required to be the same height for camera height purposes, and wore wigs and other make-up to allow the back of their head to appear the same. Most of the shots showed either the character or their Ganger speaking over their counterpart's shoulder.
The episode also contains some music from the real world. In the beginning when Amy and Rory are playing darts inside in the TARDIS and the Doctor runs a pregnancy scan on Amy, the song "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse
is playing in the background. The Gangers also play "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
" by Dusty Springfield
.
previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor
audio drama The Judgement of Isskar
where she played Mesca, the Sixth Doctor
audio drama Recorded Time and Other Stories
and the Fourth Doctor
audio drama Destination Nerva
. Cassidy also previously starred in the BBC TV series Party Animals
alongside Matt Smith. Marshall Lancaster previously appeared on Life on Mars
and its spin-off series Ashes to Ashes
, both co-created by writer Matthew Graham.
on 21 May 2011 and on the same date in the United States on BBC America
. In the UK, the episode achieved an overnight rating of 5.7 million with an audience share of 29.3%. When cosolidated ratings were calculated, it was reported that 7.35 million viewers had watched the episode, making it the sixth most-watched episode on BBC One for the week. It received an Appreciation Index
of 85, considered "excellent".
, said that "The Rebel Flesh" "is particularly satisfying" though it seemed that not much had happened due to it being the first part of a two-part story. He praised Graham's "believable world" and "well-drawn" characters of Cleaves, Buzzer, and Jennifer. He later rated it the seventh best episode of the series, though the finale
was not included in the list. The Telegraph
reviewer Gavin Fuller called it "a very traditional-style Doctor Who story". He noted that Smith gave a more restrained performance that suited the feel of the episode, as well as the advantage taken with the location filming for the monestary. Radio Times
critic Patrick Mulkern considered the episode to be an improvement from Graham's only other Doctor Who episode, "Fear Her
", though it had "failed to enthral" him. In contrast to Martin, Mulkern said that Graham's characters were not "showing many life signs yet" with the exception of Jennifer, who was "marginally sympathetic".
IGN
's Matt Risley rated the episode 8 out of 10, saying it delivered "a solid and traditional Whovian tale, albeit one at its best", thought it was "nothing groundbreaking" yet. He went on to praise the supporting cast that "managed to sell both their flawed human originals and their progressively bonkers ganger counterparts" as well as the setting. However, he questioned Rory's willingness to protect Jennifer, as he thought Rory would have learned from his experiences with death to be more careful. Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy
gave the episode four out of five stars, saying that "The Rebel Flesh" "strikes a satisfying balance between the humorous and the horrific" from the cold open
. He commended Graham for handling the two-part structure by using extra time to explore the characters and themes, and thought the highlight of the episode were Rory's scenes with Jennifer. However, he criticised the CGI used in some scenes, although he called the prosthetics used for the Gangers "impressive", as well as the episode for ending in "a damp squib of a cliffhanger" that was "clearly too telegraphed throughout the episode".
SFX magazine reviewer Richard Edwards gave the episode four out of five stars, saying it "looks fantastic" and praised choice of the abbey as the factory, which blew "the cliché of a futuristic industrial setting apart immediately, and [made] you feel like you’re watching something new." Like Jeffery, he said the visual effects were "generally pretty good" but criticised the CGI used for Jennifer's special abilities. Keith Phipps on The A.V. Club
graded it as a "B" and called it "just a pretty good episode". His complaint was that it "truly [felt] like half a story in the way the best Doctor Who two-parters don't", though he said it managed to plant intriguing strands for the conclusion.
Doctor Who (series 6)
The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011 and the final six episodes from August to October. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill continued their roles as The Doctor, Amy...
of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, which was first broadcast on 21 May 2011 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
in the United States. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim....
and directed by Julian Simpson, concluded in "The Almost People
The Almost People
"The Almost People" is the sixth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2011...
".
In the episode, the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
is hit by a solar storm, sending alien time traveller the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith) and his companions
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) and her husband Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
) to a monastery on an island on Earth in the 22nd century, which has been converted into a factory to pump acid off the island. To prevent death from the acid, the workers have utilized a "programmable matter" called the Flesh, which creates a doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
(called "Ganger") controlled by the worker. As the solar storm hits, the Gangers become independent, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory must work to prevent the two groups from breaking into a war.
Showrunner Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
specifically asked Graham to write the episodes about "avatars that rebel", although the Flesh and the monastery were Graham's original ideas. The episode was filmed in the winter of 2010 with some location filming at Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle is a medieval castle that dominates the centre of the town of Caerphilly in south Wales. It is the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in Britain after Windsor Castle...
to represent the monastery. Prosthetics were used to create the Gangers' facial features, and doubles were cast for the actors. The episode was seen by 7.35 million viewers in the UK and achieved an "excellent" Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 85. Reviewers were generally positive about the episode; some praised the setting and characters but others commented that the story had not developed enough being only the first part. The computer-generated effects used for one scene was widely disapproved of.
Synopsis
As the DoctorEleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith) continues the unresolved TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
scan on the possible pregnancy of his companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
), the TARDIS is caught in the first waves of a "solar tsunami
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
" and materialises on Earth in the 22nd century. The Doctor, Amy, and her husband Rory
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
) find themselves on a remote island, where a factory housed in a former castle monastery pumps a valuable, highly corrosive acid to the mainland. The skeleton crew
Skeleton crew
A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency and, at the same time, to keep vital functions operating.- Uses :...
of the factory uses a self-replicating fluid called the Flesh from which they create doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
s of themselves, colloquially called "Gangers". The crew controls the Gangers from special control harnesses, operating the hazardous environment of the factory via the disposable bodies. The Doctor, initially posing as a weatherman, fears the worst part of the solar tsunami will strike the solar-powered factory soon, threatening those still remaining, and offers to take the crew in his TARDIS. The foreman, Miranda Cleaves (Raquel Cassidy
Raquel Cassidy
Raquel Josephine Dominic Cassidy is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her television roles as Susan Gately in Teachers , the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, and Mel in Lead Balloon, as well as her various stage works.-Filmography:-Selected...
), refuses to shut down the factory until she receives orders from the mainland. As the solar storm begins, the Doctor races to disconnect the solar collector, but an electrical strike hits the castle, throwing the Doctor off the tower and knocking everyone inside unconscious.
When the crew awakens, they find themselves out of the control beds with no sign of the Gangers. However, their own personal belongings have been gone through and the TARDIS has sunk into acid-corroded ground. The Doctor explains that they have likely been unconscious for more than an hour and the Gangers have gained sentience. They soon discover that two of the Gangers are amongst them, posing as Cleaves and Jennifer (Sarah Smart
Sarah Smart
Sarah Smart is an English actress.Smart was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Her career started as a child, notably in the television series Woof!. She is best known for a series of well-regarded television roles including Virginia Braithwaite, daughter of a lottery winning family in...
), when the two give themselves away by losing their facial similarities and turn pale-white. Jennifer also exhibits the ability to contort and stretch her body well beyond human limits. The Jennifer Ganger struggles with her new identity and befriends Rory who has begun to demonstrate an emotional attachment to her. The Cleaves Ganger works in secret with the other Gangers to try to kill the real humans, as the human Cleaves plans to kill the Gangers. The Doctor attempts to reunite the two sides but fails when the human Cleaves kills one of the Gangers with a high-powered electrical charge. The Gangers plan an attack, and the Doctor accuses Cleaves of killing a living being which Cleaves refuses to acknowledge. The Ganger Jennifer hunts her human counterpart to kill her. The Doctor determines that in a monastery, the safest place to be is the chapel, and directs everyone there. The Gangers, in acid-protection suits, bear down on the chapel. Rory responds to the sound of Jennifer screaming by deliberately separating from the group, against Amy's wishes. In the chapel, Amy and the Doctor discover a Ganger version of the Doctor.
Continuity
"The Almost PeopleThe Almost People
"The Almost People" is the sixth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2011...
" confirms that the Doctor came to the base to examine the Flesh in its early stage in order to humanely sever its connection to Amy, who was replaced by a Ganger avatar prior to the beginning of the series. He is once more seen performing a pregnancy scan on Amy which, as before, cannot come to a conclusion to whether she is pregnant. The "Eye Patch Lady" also makes another brief appearence to Amy, similar to those in "Day of the Moon
Day of the Moon
"Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
" and "The Curse of the Black Spot
The Curse of the Black Spot
"The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Stephen Thompson, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
". Her identity is revealed in "The Almost People" and she plays a larger part in "A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
".
Writing
Matthew GrahamMatthew Graham
Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim....
was originally to write a single episode for the previous series
Doctor Who (series 5)
The fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 3 April 2010 with "The Eleventh Hour" and ended with "The Big Bang" on 26 June 2010. The series was led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, who took over after the departure of Russell T Davies. The...
, but bailed out late in that series' production because he did not have enough time to write the script. He then received an e-mail from showrunner Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
, who asked him to write for the next series; Graham agreed. When the two met, Moffat said he would like the episodes to lead into the mid-series finale
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
and that it should deal with "avatars that rebel". Initally worried this may seem too similar to the film Avatar, Graham went on to create the Flesh. Graham wanted the Gangers to be scary, but not monsters who wanted "to take over the world for the sake of it". He wanted them to appear relatable as humans who deserve rights. Moffat suggested that the avatars work in a factory; attempting to make it different from other factories featured in Doctor Who, Graham proposed to set the story in a monastery, an idea of which Moffat greatly approved. The monestary was inspired by the film The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose (film)
The Name of the Rose is a 1986 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco. Sean Connery is the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Christian Slater is his apprentice Adso of Melk, who are called upon to solve a deadly mystery in a medieval...
, while the Gangers were influenced by The Thing; Graham described it as "The Thing in the context of The Name of the Rose".
In the early drafts of the script, there was a problem distinguishing the characters from their duplicates, and Graham and the production crew worked to make it more rational. The episode also contains a subplot in which Rory helps and protects Jennifer as she is scared and affected by the Gangers, which proved a twist in Amy and Rory's relationship. Karen Gillan enjoyed the twist. Amy had previously always had Rory "in the palm of her hand" and a different side of the character was shown as she experienced the same emotions Rory felt when she seemed interested in the Doctor. Arthur Darvill also thought it gave Rory a chance to "man up" and be a hero by protecting someone.
Filming and effects
The read-throughRead-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
for "The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People" took place on 12 November 2010. It was then filmed around late November and early December. The cold temperatures at the time were a challenge and caused discomfort. The crew were concerned that the cast, particularly the three lead actors, would fall ill as their costumes were not designed for such weather conditions. Even so, the cast remained healthy. Scenes outside and inside the monestary were filmed at Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle is a medieval castle that dominates the centre of the town of Caerphilly in south Wales. It is the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in Britain after Windsor Castle...
, previously used in Doctor Who in The End of Time and "The Vampires of Venice
The Vampires of Venice
"The Vampires of Venice" is the sixth episode in the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 8 May 2010. It was written by Toby Whithouse, who previously wrote "School Reunion". Rory Williams returns to the series in this episode, this time...
", as well as some of the spin-off Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
episodes.
The actors each played their respective Gangers, with prosthetics applied to their faces for when the duplicates' faces reverted to the original material of the Flesh. Moffat wanted the Gangers to appear like "eyeball matter": white with small capillaries running through them. For the scenes in which both the character and their respective Ganger was in the same shot, a double for each of the actors was used. The doubles were required to be the same height for camera height purposes, and wore wigs and other make-up to allow the back of their head to appear the same. Most of the shots showed either the character or their Ganger speaking over their counterpart's shoulder.
The episode also contains some music from the real world. In the beginning when Amy and Rory are playing darts inside in the TARDIS and the Doctor runs a pregnancy scan on Amy, the song "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
is playing in the background. The Gangers also play "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" is the title of a 1966 hit recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield which proved to be her career record reaching #1 UK and #4 US: the song subsequently charted in the UK via remakes by Elvis Presley , Guys 'n' Dolls and Denise Welch with Presley's version...
" by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
.
Cast notes
Raquel CassidyRaquel Cassidy
Raquel Josephine Dominic Cassidy is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her television roles as Susan Gately in Teachers , the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, and Mel in Lead Balloon, as well as her various stage works.-Filmography:-Selected...
previously appeared in the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
audio drama The Judgement of Isskar
The Judgement of Isskar
The Judgement of Isskar is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:The Key to Time must be sought again, due to the Doctor's carelessness during its last assembling...
where she played Mesca, the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
audio drama Recorded Time and Other Stories
Recorded Time and Other Stories
Recorded Time and Other Stories is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. As the 150th release, it is made of four one-part stories, by different authors, rather than the usual multi-part serial...
and the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
audio drama Destination Nerva
Destination Nerva
Destination Nerva is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions.Tom Baker played the Fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981...
. Cassidy also previously starred in the BBC TV series Party Animals
Party Animals (TV series)
Party Animals is a British television drama series screened on BBC Two in 2007. It was produced by World Productions, the makers of No Angels and This Life....
alongside Matt Smith. Marshall Lancaster previously appeared on Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
and its spin-off series Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
, both co-created by writer Matthew Graham.
Broadcast and reception
"The Rebel Flesh" was first broadcast on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 21 May 2011 and on the same date in the United States on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
. In the UK, the episode achieved an overnight rating of 5.7 million with an audience share of 29.3%. When cosolidated ratings were calculated, it was reported that 7.35 million viewers had watched the episode, making it the sixth most-watched episode on BBC One for the week. It received an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 85, considered "excellent".
Critical reception
"The Rebel Flesh" received generally positive reviews by critics. Dan Martin, writing for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, said that "The Rebel Flesh" "is particularly satisfying" though it seemed that not much had happened due to it being the first part of a two-part story. He praised Graham's "believable world" and "well-drawn" characters of Cleaves, Buzzer, and Jennifer. He later rated it the seventh best episode of the series, though the finale
The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
was not included in the list. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
reviewer Gavin Fuller called it "a very traditional-style Doctor Who story". He noted that Smith gave a more restrained performance that suited the feel of the episode, as well as the advantage taken with the location filming for the monestary. Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
critic Patrick Mulkern considered the episode to be an improvement from Graham's only other Doctor Who episode, "Fear Her
Fear Her
"Fear Her" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 24 June 2006.The episode takes part on the day of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, almost exclusively on a fictitious cul-de-sac named after the British athlete...
", though it had "failed to enthral" him. In contrast to Martin, Mulkern said that Graham's characters were not "showing many life signs yet" with the exception of Jennifer, who was "marginally sympathetic".
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Matt Risley rated the episode 8 out of 10, saying it delivered "a solid and traditional Whovian tale, albeit one at its best", thought it was "nothing groundbreaking" yet. He went on to praise the supporting cast that "managed to sell both their flawed human originals and their progressively bonkers ganger counterparts" as well as the setting. However, he questioned Rory's willingness to protect Jennifer, as he thought Rory would have learned from his experiences with death to be more careful. Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave the episode four out of five stars, saying that "The Rebel Flesh" "strikes a satisfying balance between the humorous and the horrific" from the cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
. He commended Graham for handling the two-part structure by using extra time to explore the characters and themes, and thought the highlight of the episode were Rory's scenes with Jennifer. However, he criticised the CGI used in some scenes, although he called the prosthetics used for the Gangers "impressive", as well as the episode for ending in "a damp squib of a cliffhanger" that was "clearly too telegraphed throughout the episode".
SFX magazine reviewer Richard Edwards gave the episode four out of five stars, saying it "looks fantastic" and praised choice of the abbey as the factory, which blew "the cliché of a futuristic industrial setting apart immediately, and [made] you feel like you’re watching something new." Like Jeffery, he said the visual effects were "generally pretty good" but criticised the CGI used for Jennifer's special abilities. Keith Phipps on The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
graded it as a "B" and called it "just a pretty good episode". His complaint was that it "truly [felt] like half a story in the way the best Doctor Who two-parters don't", though he said it managed to plant intriguing strands for the conclusion.