Original subtitles

In this episode...

...we've got a Doctor who thinks he's a Smith...

He just wants to work

at the Unified National Insurance... Team.

Oh, look at that. He's remembered it.

Nice one! Come on!

Don't know if I have! Spot the professional.

I don't know if I have.

...we've got not one, but two Ranis...

I just thought, "It's Doctor Who.

"It's the Rani. It's Anita Dobson."

I had three words in my head -

"Yes, yes, yes!"

...we've got ducks...

...an owl,

and a horse...

TRICKLING ...with a weak bladder.

LAUGHTER

And spoiler alert!

We've got an exclusive clip from the series finale.

Welcome to John Smith: Unleashed.

This is it, then.

The beginning of the end of Season Two of Doctor Who.

No, no, no, no, no, no!

What are you even talking about?!

And we're here to lift the lid on Episode Seven,

Wish World -

the first of a two-part finale brimming with elaborate sets,

multiple locations, an ensemble cast

and mind-bending VFX.

Rani-i-i-i!

Are you ready to take the plunge?

THE DOCTOR SCREAMS

Welcome to Wish World,

a parallel universe conjured by the imagination

of conspiracy theorist Conrad Clark,

last seen being sprung from jail by Mrs Flood

at the end of the episode Lucky Day.

Who are you?

Oh, I'm the governor...

...and it's your lucky day.

But what exactly is this dystopian alternate reality?

It's a partly-remembered

and a partly-invented world. It's all from Conrad's mind.

Happy morning, everyone.

He's desperately inventing a whole world.

So he's imagined very simple templates.

He's just... He's put everyone into couples.

And you're John Smith's wife. I certainly am.

And women who don't quite fit into those couples

don't quite fit into the world.

They have no role. They're alone.

They're considered to be a bit strange.

But he thinks it's natural. He thinks it's normal.

He's not from that good a home himself,

so he's trying to imagine a better home.

Morning, darling. Morning, sweetheart.

John Smith and Belinda,

they're married and they have a child together.

Having been bezzie mates with Belinda

for the past six episodes,

it was a weird transition,

but, um... fun.

Me and V thought it was very funny...

..that we were waking up in bed beside each other!

Did you see a cat? Meow!

Is that you wanting a cat? Yeah.

Yeah! Yeah!

It's like playing house with your best friend.

Seeing Ncuti be like

a dad figure was very different

to how I know Ncuti to be in real life.

Like, neither of us are grown up in any way.

In real life, we're like kids,

so it's just very funny to see us both

kind of switch into, like, parent mode.

I-is it OK out there?

Is it working?

It's all hanging on by a thread, it's not real

and it's desperately rattling at the edges.

And that is the point,

as you discover, at the end of the episode,

that's actually the Rani wanting to create a reality

that wears thin, that starts to fall apart -

that that's her plan to break the world apart

and to reach the world underneath.

So let's take you even further behind the scenes of Wish World,

a world in which the Doctor is now plain old John Smith.

Today is 11th April 2024,

and what's being filmed just behind me

is the scene where John Smith walks in to work.

Cutting it fine.

Another two minutes and you'd have been late.

I did work late last night.

Time carries no favours.

I enjoyed watching you being John Smith.

Dear John. Dear John. Yeah.

I enjoyed watching you strolling into that room

in your very sharp suit

and encompassing a different part of the character.

I thought it was really fun. Did you enjoy that?

Yeah, I did. Cos it was just so different.

And he's just so normal and so human

and has got no intention of saving the universe.

He just wants to work at the...

...Unified National Insurance... Team.

Oh, look at that! He's remembered it.

Nice one! Come on!

I don't know if I have! Spot the professional.

I don't know if I have.

PHONE RINGS

Happy morning.

Unified National Insurance Team.

How can I help?

It was a lot to get my head around,

cos you get so used to the character of the Doctor,

who just walks into rooms and decides to take charge.

Yeah.

And John is so the antithesis of that,

that it was a nice challenge.

Yeah? Yeah.

Would you be good, nine to five?

No. In an office?

No, I wouldn't be good. But I do enjoy it, though.

When... I loved when I was temping.

Yeah, yeah.

I found having an Excel spreadsheet

in front of me the most exciting thing.

You an Excel guy? Yeah.

A spreadsheet... A spreadsheets man, Ncuti?

I-I've worked in many a receptionist's office

and, yeah, loved it. Yeah.

It was so much fun!

Nothing ever got entered into it.

No. Productivity was low. Productivity was very low.

But... you were having a great time.

But I was happy to be there. Yeah.

You could see that channelled in your John Smith.

The old cliche says never work with children or animals.

So what did Russell write into the opening scene

of this episode?

A baby. And...

Animals. Lots of animals.

QUACKING

We had a day with ducks.

And we had an owl.

We're about to have a right hoot on set.

And we had a horse.

TRICKLING

LAUGHTER

Well, apart from the horse micturating

in the middle of the take, it was fantastic.

I happily write "six ducks",

knowing I won't be there on that day.

Knowing it's going to be chaos and a nightmare.

There was probably a duck wrangler.

Was there a duck wrangler?

There was a duck wrangler, I knew it.

One, two, three.

I wonder, is there any way to spread them out?

I'll try. Just give me a minute.

It went fine. It went absolutely fine.

Never want to film with ducks again.

OK. We'll cut. Thank you.

And if you thought that was quackers...

Hello, boys!

...added to the mix were six young children,

the aforementioned baby

and its stunt double.

Come on, then. Back to your Winnebago.

But what nobody ever tells you

is there are worse things to work with

than animals and children.

TENSE STRING MUSIC BUILDS

There are about 500 million midges.

All the midges in Wales have come here

and they're around my head.

And it's really, really annoying.

Bugs are eating us alive.

Join the dots. I'm just itching, basically.

They love our curls. They love our curls.

Unfortunately. So, yeah, they're sticking to us.

Shake around a bit, you'll see loads come off.

Yeah, I'm in disguise, hiding from the midges.

HE LAUGHS

You should see Ralph, actually,

cos he's got bites all over his face.

Oh, my God, you've got so many bites on your face.

Brilliant. Oh, my goodness. Have I? Don't think so.

Think I've got one crawling on my nose now.

Er, not quite entertaining as I thought it would be.

Um, this isn't what I signed up for.

These little flies...

...are from the pits of hell.

Let battle begin.

Right, then.

In the last episode of Unleashed,

we promised there'd be more on the bombshell reveal

that Mrs Flood was one half of a bi-generated foe

not seen on our screens in decades.

Our name is the Rani.

Although she's become A Rani,

while I'm THE Rani.

This is the arrival of Archie Panjabi as the Rani.

The Rani in the old days was played by

a fantastic actor called Kate O'Mara.

Seal it and label it.

Really phenomenal actor.

This is dedicated to her, in a way,

because she was wonderful

and created a villain all those years ago

that has lasted in Doctor Who legacy ever since.

You know, she's a great part of the show.

It's amazing that the Rani hasn't been on screen

for a million years.

Well, well, well.

The Rani.

You were expecting to see the Master?

First appearing in The Mark Of The Rani back in 1985,

opposite Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor...

I think I've got it.

You're extracting a chemical from the brain.

...the renegade Time Lady

returned in 1987's Time And The Rani,

in Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy's debut episode.

The Rani!

Stay back!

Since then, the character has appeared

in audio dramas, novels and comics,

but, aside from a brief appearance in 1993, not on TV.

So why now?

That was a villain that I really wanted to face,

and I'd asked Russell. Oh, had you?

You'd asked him? Yes.

She's so, like, fabulous. Yeah.

I want to... I want a face-off with her.

Time Lord v Time Lord. Like, how cool.

Oh, yes, Doctor...

I've always liked the Rani

and I've always thought I'd bring her back somehow.

But that was like a request.

When your lead actor requests something,

I'm here to obey.

Stepping into the iconic red suit and black boots this time around

is Emmy Award-winning actor and star of The Good Wife,

Shetland and Bend It Like Beckham,

Archie Panjabi.

So how did it happen, then, Archie?

How are you sat here as a very famous

Doctor Who character, back reincarnated as the Rani?

I was just sitting at my desk one day,

and then I got a message, saying,

would you like to be in Doctor Who?

I thought, "Ooh, that could be interesting,

"but what's the character?" Yeah.

And they said, "The Rani."

And I thought, "Wow! Oh, wow!"

And the Rani obviously means queen,

and all I could think about...

Honestly, the first reaction was

my entire Indian community would be so over the moon,

because the Rani is queen

and I'm married to Raj. Yeah.

The king. So I thought that would be lovely.

And I just thought, "It's Doctor Who.

"It's the Rani. It's Anita Dobson."

I had three words in my head -

"Yes, yes, yes!"

And what's it been...

Has it sort of lived up to your expectations?

It's superseded it. Has it?

I mean, look at this. This is my palace.

Our palace.

Yes, ma'am. Yeah.

ALL LAUGH

Archie Panjabi is amazing.

I mean, the charisma

and the presence that she holds in the room.

And she's so, so lovely. She's so cool.

SHE SNAPS FINGERS

Nice of you to join us, Doctor.

Like, when I was younger, there weren't

a lot of South Asian actors on screen,

and she was one of them.

And I always looked up to her.

I thought she was stunning and sassy and smart.

The Rani's relationship with Mrs Flood is quite funny,

cos they're both the Rani

and she considers herself

a lot more superior to Mrs Flood

and treats her very badly.

It's very... It's not very nice.

Sandwich, obviously.

But it does also make you laugh...

Oh. Right.

...cos they're both so funny when they're together.

Yous two go everywhere together now.

Is this a new thing? Yes.

It's sort of happening, isn't it, slowly?

We feel like we've known each other for...

...ever. ...ever.

It's very strange. Yeah.

Cos this afternoon, you're filming the bit where...

We moved the same.

Did you see that? Yeah.

Yeah. We even say things at the same time.

Finish each other's sentences.

Yes, we do, don't we? Yeah. Yeah.

I was so excited. I couldn't wait to meet her

and then I suddenly panicked and thought,

"What if we don't click? What if there's no magic?"

And then she walked onto the set

and it was like... SHE SNAPS FINGERS

...there it was. Yeah.

It could be said that you sprang from my loins.

That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard.

Every Doctor Who set has its challenges,

be it a retro Unit set,

a peasant cabin in the Bavarian woods,

or a palace made of bones,

although none of those were the most challenging in this episode.

That accolade goes to this set.

We are in central Cardiff

and we have created the Camp of the Dispossessed,

which is an area where everyone with a disability,

he kind of has sort of forgotten about

and they get sort of placed in this place.

So obviously because of the storyline,

all our supporting artists,

they're all people with visible and non-visible disability,

So we... Another reason why we selected this location

is obviously because it's fully accessible and workable

for people with all their different specific needs and requirements.

So it's been a really interesting challenge,

trying to make a location that's sort of...

That's not just serviceable for a standard film crew,

but also for people who've got

slightly more specific needs and requirements.

Morning, Winnie, love. Another day in Paradise.

So I am what they call an access coordinator.

So it's my responsibility to work with the production

as a whole to make sure any cast or crew

or production team member

who's deaf, disabled or neurodivergent,

work with them and put any access requirements in place.

And that could be anything from a ramp to the front door

to a quiet room in the production office.

It's all about making the entire process

accessible to people who are disabled.

I am crowd AD-ing and also SA-ing

because, er... I'm a crew member with disability.

So they asked me to help out with all the SAs.

As well as acting as well.

They clearly heard the words "camp" and "disabled"

and thought, "Let's call Ben." HE LAUGHS

You know what? Having an access coordinator on set

makes everything so much easier.

All of those little things that other people might not notice,

the people who it's meant for will

and I think that's really special.

So it was about, "OK, um...

"let's have different coloured tents."

Because if you were visually impaired

or you were blind or nearly blind,

but you could see a bit of colour,

if you had all the tents in one colour,

as a blind person or visually-impaired person,

you'd knock into things.

So you'll see there's different tents in different colours

and then there's ribbons round about.

We looked at the access, how to get into the tent,

how to get out, because tents, I don't know if you noticed,

but they have a lip at the bottom.

So if you were in a wheelchair, you couldn't get into it.

So it's all about making the whole thing accessible.

You know what? It looks really beautiful.

I could spend a weekend here.

How nice! Everyone just having a nice little jolly.

It feels really colourful and vibrant. And to see

so many disabled people just living like that,

I'm thinking, "Oh, actually, that could be real."

It's... it's...

...quite moving, in a way, how happy everybody is as well.

Yeah, what a great place to film.

Just tell me what the hell is going on.

When you're disabled, you know that, with just a few

access requirements put in place,

it makes such a big difference. It means you can turn up

and you can be creatively brilliant.

So when we make our film and TV industry

accessible, we open ourselves up

to lots of very talented people.

Still to come on Doctor Who: Unleashed...

...we go dancing with the stars...

What's with you and dancing?

I'm telling you, they'll have me on Strictly next.

...production designer Phil Sims reveals

the inspiration behind the awesome Bone Palace...

There's a lot of bird references in it,

a lot of avian references.

OK, that's interesting. Why did you go bird?

We just thought they looked cool. We just thought...

...and spoiler alert - we've got an exclusive clip

from the season finale.

But first...

So, every week on Doctor Who: Unleashed,

I do some work experience with a different department

that make Doctor Who happen. And this week

I'm with the script team and with Molly on the script team

and I think their job is actually

one of the most stressful on set.

Why? Let's go find out.

Marker. And... action.

OK, Molly, let's start right at the basics.

Hello. Well, hello.

Yes, that is basic. That's a good basic start.

Hello. Yeah. My manners. Yes. Thank you very much.

Tell me about the script team. What do they do?

What do you do? What's your job title?

My job title is a little bit of a mouthful.

OK, that's a good start. Yes.

I am the trainee assistant script supervisor.

Trainee assistant script supervisor.

I am indeed, yeah. It is a bit of a mouthful.

It is, a little bit, yeah. What do they do?

They assist the script supervisors!

Molly assists script supervisor Richard Pask.

Between them, they have some serious responsibilities.

It's their job to keep detailed notes of dialogue,

action, continuity and all the slate

and scene numbers.

On top of all that, during filming,

they have to closely monitor what's happening

to check no dialogue is missed

and that the movements and the eyelines

of all the actors match, take after take after take.

And what's with the stopwatch?

We help out Production with timings of the day -

when we start, when we finish, when we call for lunch,

how much of the episodes that we've shot already,

like 15 minutes in,

20 minutes in, whether we're overrunning.

So before we start shooting, we have to time the script.

Right. We come up with a guess,

a guesstimate of how long the episode is going to take

and then we try and match that as much as possible.

Occasionally, Molly has to deliver some bad news.

I've seen some of your colleagues go in

with scripts in hand, asking for scenes to be redone

so the scripts match the writing.

That's a big part of the job as well.

A big part of the job

is learning when to go in and when not to.

So it's a lot of talking with the director, like,

"Oh, the line maybe changed a little bit here,"

or, "Should I go in and change it?

"Should we remind the actors what the line is?"

That kind of thing.

And sometimes it's a yes, and sometimes it's a,

"Oh, it doesn't matter." "It's not a big deal." Yeah.

So, were you always interested in drama growing up,

or was it sci-fi that you liked, or what was it?

Well, sir, it was actually a behind-the-scenes episode

of Doctor Who that I watched

when I was a kid. Was it?

"That's what I want to do."

And here you are, behind the scenes of Doctor Who.

It's like a real full circle. Exactly.

I bought some books. I read them.

And I was doing lots of running jobs on short films

and I just said, "Hey, can I either shadow," or sometimes,

when they don't have a script supervisor,

like, "Can I give it a go?" Amazing.

So a real self-starter, then, Molly. You were like,

"That's the thing I want to go and do,"

did all your own research

and here you are. And here I am,

on Doctor Who, behind the scenes.

That's so brilliant!

Right, time for me to step in

as the assistant to the assistant script supervisor.

As night falls

and rehearsals begin...

SHOUTING

...Richard and Molly are on hand to liaise with the director

and help the actors double-check their lines.

So if they're getting the lines wrong,

you want to make sure they're getting the lines right

here as well as later. Yeah.

We don't want panic. We don't want panic.

Nobody wants panic. No, no, no.

Let's turn over A and B.

With the cameras about to roll, Molly and I will be monitoring

the action from a small tent side of set.

In-between takes, I listen to what the director's saying

so that I can put down on my notes

if there's anything that he liked or didn't like.

So you're eavesdropping? Yes. All the time.

Eavesdropping!

Everything you hear.

The more information you can put down, the better.

Set and... action.

You recognised your husband's doubt

because you've been expressing doubt yourself.

That's what it does, Mrs Smith. It contaminates.

It breeds. It festers. And it's my job to cut it out.

Doctor! Probably I had doubt! Don't make her ashamed of me!

Tell her I love her!

Take her away.

Missed that line.

Want to come, see if we have time?

Yes, I'll come.

Oh, no...

Come on.

...time to deliver some bad news.

Back to one, so we go again straight away. Thank you.

Er, so, erm,

I'm just passing on notes.

Obviously, I'm just learning. So in your line, can you please

remember to also say, "Look after her"?

So don't forget that line, please.

OK. Thank you very much.

A beautiful performance, though, really moving.

Oh, thank you, thank you. That's not your job.

I was just giving you a...

That's actually not our job. We're not allowed to do that.

Am I not?

Shall we go back to the tent?

OK. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

"Just look after her," is that line.

OK, take two.

Doctor! Probably I had doubt! Don't make her ashamed of me!

Look after her! Tell her I love her!

She nailed it words-wise there, though.

Every single word as written.

Well done, Vee. Cut, perfect.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Very good work. Anita, V.

Action! Bringing to life the wish world of Conrad's imagination

allowed the production design team to go to town on the sets.

It also got me all excited when I first saw them.

Right, OK. Now, this is a space

that I know of and you know of

as Unit headquarters.

It's the ultra-modern,

full-of-jazzy-tech place where

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Jemma Redgrave, sort of

runs the show,

but it's been transformed. Oh, wow.

Look how different it looks! Firstly, you can't see this,

but this feels different, because it's springy.

This is a carpet. And before, it was

all, like, super slick.

But look at those!

This is what people used to type on. Not any more.

Obviously, it's been transformed to, like,

mid-20th-century vibes.

Jemma, for you, who spends a lot of the time in this room,

it must be an odd sensation being here

and seeing it look like this. I think it looks magnificent.

Doesn't it look great? Doesn't it look like

an episode of Mad Men? It does, yeah.

Slightly. With a sort of UNIT twist. Absolutely.

I want to know if Jonah's seen these,

because if I was him, I'd be thrilled

and a bit freaked out at the same time.

It's odd seeing you in a suit, though,

not in your big body armour. I know.

I mean, it looks fresh. It does? It does look fresh.

It's the first day, actually, in this.

What did you feel like when you walked in here?

Because this is your home. When you're on set filming,

this is where you spend most of your time. It looks

totally different. Completely different.

We walked in this morning. We just did, like, a triple take.

Like, what is going on? Yeah, it's beautiful.

While the retro Unit set evokes 1950s nostalgia,

the Bone Palace is a brilliant

sci-fi meets Gothic horror mashup.

I love this. This is the one set that we've done

where it's been entirely sculpted.

So we've had a brilliant team of sculptors...

It's so clever... ..transforming it into a bony palace.

There's a lot of bird references in it,

a lot of avian references.

OK. That's interesting. Why did you go bird?

We just thought they looked cool.

We just thought they looked great.

There's lots of sort of beaks and bird skulls.

And, actually, you know, we looked at ostrich bones,

ostrich feet, and that's kind of where these feet came from

at the base of the pillars in the Bone Palace.

That's very clever, isn't it? Yeah.

Get rid of the wife.

I mean, it was epic. You know,

the attention to detail, to the different bones that they used

to create the structure, it was just beautiful.

It was beautiful, but also very, very creepy.

It feels like you're in a dead animal.

SHE SHOUTS

But then there's this massive disco ball

that was also there!

Wait, did someone say disco ball?

Do you want to work some magic? Oh, yeah. Watch this.

Do some magic. Alan, can you turn on the disco ball, please?

Oh! STEFFAN GASPS

Oh, my...

You have the power in your hands.

In my hands. Doesn't it look good?

That is cool. Is that the coolest thing we've done

on Unleashed in nearly two series' worth? Maybe.

Definitely during my interviews.

Saturday Night Femur, anyone?

Music!

Towards the end of the episode, John Smith and the Rani

link up for a dance

for old times' sake.

We danced once upon a time. you and I,

at the siege of Persephone.

This feels like a bit of deja vu for the 15th Doctor.

What's with you and dancing now?

I know.

I'm telling you,

they'll have me on Strictly next.

Not for the first time, Ncuti had to

dust off his dancing shoes and cut some rug.

Two Time Lords meeting again in the middle of a waltz...

...as you do,

just so calm. It was brilliant.

Brilliant. What a brilliant baddie.

So you've ticked off, now, you've done

your '60s dancing, you've now waltzed.

We've now waltzed.

So you're nearly on the whole Strictly line-up there.

You've danced with a Strictly judge.

I know, I know.

Just a trend here. I'm just saying.

It's a trend.

It's a trend. It's a trend.

Choreographer Jack Murphy,

who we met in last season's The Devil's Chord

and Rogue, is back to make sure

Ncuti and Archie's waltz stays in step.

You're here again,

doing another dance in Doctor Who. Can't get enough of it.

What a pleasure. What a privilege.

It's more intimate than the work you've done

on the series, I suppose.

So how does that change your work,

rather than doing one of those big numbers

or the Bridgerton-style stuff?

This is really what my career's based on,

because primarily I've worked on plays.

This is taking me home, really.

So I'm very, very... Busman's holiday for you.

It is a busman's holiday,

if you want to put that away, Steffan, yes.

But I'm very happy to ride that bus.

Absolutely!

Jack Murphy's such a character.

He just... You know, he understands dance,

but he also understands performances.

And so what was really helpful in having him

was doing the dialogue and the dance.

And he told me how impossible it was

and it was a little bit this,

but I did get to spend some time with...

Yeah, he was humouring me.

That was hard. I mean, harder for Archie.

Archie had that long speech to do,

was listening to the music as well

at the top of the dance.

Because I'm still John Smith at this point,

so he doesn't really know what he's doing.

So she was leading in six-inch heels while giving a speech

whilst also listening to music. It was...

And she smashed it.

People said we were lovers.

Can you remember?

What Archie Panjabi's doing at the moment is

unbelievably difficult. Until you've tried it,

you wouldn't know. I mean, if you're at home,

try dancing and talking at the same time. And it's actually

quite hard, isn't it? Ohhh! Well, yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes! This is why you've been able

to have a career, Jack, because you've got to teach people

to do it. And have to find a way of expressly doing it,

you know, find the quickest way of doing it,

because you kind of... It's all about repetition.

And is the idea that the dance becomes second nature, then?

Totally. So that they're not even thinking about it.

It becomes kinaesthetic. It's in the muscle memory.

It's a drama. Mm-hm.

It's not a dance show, so I mustn't indulge

in where I would like to take it.

Less swizzling.

Yeah. And I have to kind of then go,

"Ooh, I'm not going to be judged on

"the fact that, actually, there's a simplicity to it." Yes.

We should go again, guys. Sorry!

In the Doctor Who Season Two finale...

OK. Let's repeat chapter one.

Is it working?

We need to move a little faster.

Sweet little Desidirium. If only you were older,

you could imagine such complicated things.

Instead... I've got you.