The Rings of Akhaten

[Autumn 1981]

(A brisk breeze plays havoc with a young man's map as he walks down a street. The Doctor is hiding behind the Beano Summer Special 1981, and the Specials 'Ghost Town' is setting the musical scene. Suddenly a dead leaf flies into the young man's face, and he staggers in surprise into the path of an oncoming car. Then an arm pulls him to safety.)

ELLIE: Oh, my stars. Are you all right?
DAVE: Yeah.

(The music changes to smoochy love theme. Later - the young couple are at a front door in the rain.)

DAVE: So, I've got something for you.
ELLIE: What?

(The dead leaf.)

ELLIE: You kept it?
DAVE: Of course I kept it.
ELLIE: Why?
DAVE: Because this exact leaf had to grow in that exact way in that exact place so that precise wind could tear it from that precise branch and make it fly into this exact face at that exact moment. And if just one of those tiny little things had never happened, I'd never have met you. Which makes this the most important leaf in human history.

(The Doctor turns his face as they kiss. Time passes. The happy couple are blessed with a little bundle of joy, who enjoys looking at a book called 101 Places To See.)

[Playground]

DAVE: Give it a kick.

(The little girl kicks a football which hits the Doctor in the face. He adopts a defensive martial arts posture.)

ELLIE: Oh, my stars! Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Fine. Marvellous. Refulgent. Possibly a bit embarrassed. That's not dangerous, is it?
ELLIE: What's not?
DOCTOR: Embarrassment.
ELLIE: Not usually. Not to my knowledge.
DOCTOR: Good. Hey. Phew.
DAVE: Mate, I'm so sorry. She wants to be Bryan Robson.
DOCTOR: No worries. My fault. No harm done. Hello there.
ELLIE: Clara.
DOCTOR: Ah. Hello there, Clara.

[Cemetery]

(A tear drops onto the other page of 101 Places To See, where it says Property Of Ellie Ravenwood, aged 11. Clara and Dave Oswald are gazing at the new headstone of Ellie Oswald, beloved wife and mother, born 11th September 1960, died 5th March 2005. The Doctor leaves them to it.)

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: She's just a girl. How can she be?

(The scanner pops up her ID from the Spaceship Alaska.)

DOCTOR: She can't be. She is. She can't be. She's not possible.

(Clara is sitting on the stairs holding her favourite book, when the TARDIS materialises outside. The doorbell rings.)

CLARA: So we're moving through actual time? So what's it made of, time? I mean, if you can just rotor through it, it's got to be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?
DOCTOR: Well, not strawberries. No. No, no, no. That would be unacceptable.
CLARA: And we can go anywhere?
DOCTOR: Within reason. Well, I say reason.
CLARA: So, we could go backwards in time.
DOCTOR: And space, yes.
CLARA: And forwards in time.
DOCTOR: And space. Totally. So, where do you want to go, eh? What do you want to see?
CLARA: I don't know. You know when someone asks you what's your favourite book and straight away you forget every single book that you've ever read?
DOCTOR: No. Totally not.
CLARA: Well, that's a thing that happens.
DOCTOR: And? Back to the question?
CLARA: Okay. So. So. So. So I'd like to see. I would like to see. What I would like to see is, something awesome.

[Asteroid]

(The Doctor guides Clara out of the TARDIS with her eyes closed.)

DOCTOR: Can you feel the light on your eyelids? That is the light of an alien sun. Forward a couple of steps. Okay. Are you ready?
CLARA: Yes. No. Yes.
DOCTOR: Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten.

(They are standing on a small ledge overlooking an asteroid belt circling a massive star.)

CLARA: It's.
DOCTOR: It is. It so completely is. But wait, there is more.
CLARA: More what?
DOCTOR: Wait, wait, wait.

(He consults his wrist watch.)

DOCTOR: In about five, four, three, two

(The asteroids move on to reveal a golden pyramid glinting on a rock closer to the sun.)

CLARA: What is it?
DOCTOR: The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten. It's a holy site for the Sun Singers of Akhat.
CLARA: The who of what?
DOCTOR: Seven worlds orbiting the same star. All of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet.
CLARA: All life?
DOCTOR: In the universe.
CLARA: Did it?
DOCTOR: Well, it's what they believe. It's a nice story.
CLARA: Can we see it? Up close?

[Bazaar]

(With a wide range of alien species, although they are all upright bipeds.)

CLARA: Where are they from?
DOCTOR: Oh, you know, the local system, mostly.
CLARA: What do I call them?
DOCTOR: Well, let's see. Ah! There go some Panbabylonians. A Lugal-Irra-Kush. Some Lucanians. A Hooloovoo. Ah! Qom VoTivig.

(They exchange a greeting that concludes with a pelvic thrust.)

DOCTOR: That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around any more. Oh! That's an Ultramancer. Do you know, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often.
CLARA: You've been here before?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter.

(He dashes off through the crowd.)

CLARA: Hang on!

(He has found a basket of blue glowing globes.)

DOCTOR: Exotic fruit of some description. (scans) Right. Non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic. High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder.

(Clara tries it.)

DOCTOR: No?
CLARA: So, why is everyone here?
DOCTOR: For the Festival of Offerings. Takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align. It's quite a big thing, locally, like Pancake Tuesday.

(Clara encounters an alien with teeth, who snarls like a dog. The TARDIS translation circuit not working for Clara yet?)

CLARA: Oh! Er, Doctor?

(The Doctor sounds like a Yorkshire terrier.)

CLARA: What's happening? Why is it angry?
DOCTOR: This isn't an it, it's a she. Dor'een, meet Clara. Clara, meet Dor'een.
CLARA: Doreen?
DOCTOR: Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love actually, aren't you? Yes, you are. No, actually, she's just asking if we fancy renting a moped.
CLARA: So, how much does it cost?
DOCTOR: Not money. Something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here. Psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold.
CLARA: That's horrible.
DOCTOR: Better than using bits of paper.
CLARA: Then you pay.
DOCTOR: With what?
CLARA: You're a thousand years old. You must have something you care about.

(Clara turns around. The Doctor takes out his sonic screwdriver then puts it back in his pocket and walks off.)

CLARA: Doctor? Doctor?

(A young girl runs round the corner.)

CLARA: Are you okay?

(The girl runs on. Then two tall men arrive on the scene.)

CHORISTER: Have you seen her?
CLARA: Who?
CHORISTER: The Queen of Years.
CLARA: Who?

(The men split up to search. Clara follows the girl.)

[Storeroom]

CLARA: Hello?

(Something bangs and make her jump. Then the girl appears.)

CLARA: Hey. Are you okay? Are you lost?

(The girl runs off. They find each other further on.)

CLARA: Are you all right? What are you doing?
MERRY: Hiding.
CLARA: Oh. Why?
MERRY: You don't know me?
CLARA: Sorry. Actually not.
MERRY: So why did you follow me?
CLARA: To help. You looked lost.
MERRY: I don't believe you.
CLARA: I've got no idea who you might be. I've never been here before. I've never been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help.
MERRY: Really?
CLARA: Really really.
MERRY: Can you help me?
CLARA: That's why I'm still here.
MERRY: Because I need to hide.

(Black smoke materialises into three possible robots. A voice whispers in the air.)

VOICE: Merry. Where are you, Merry?
CLARA: I know the perfect box.

(Merry takes Clara's hands and they dodge around the items in the storeroom.)

VOICE: Merry, where are you? Merry. Merry.

[Bazaar]

(Clara hides Merry behind her as people pass by, then they go to the TARDIS.)

MERRY: What's this?
CLARA: A space-shippy thing. Timey, spacey.
MERRY: It's teeny.
CLARA: You wait.

(But the doors don't open for her.)

CLARA: Oh, come on.
MERRY: What's wrong?
CLARA: I don't know. I don't think it likes me. Come on, let me in.

(Merry runs around the back of the TARDIS.)

CLARA: Hey. Hey, little girl.
MERRY: My name's Merry.

(Clara sits with Merry round the back of the TARDIS.)

CLARA: So, what's happening? Is someone trying to hurt you?
MERRY: No. I'm just scared.
CLARA: Of what?
MERRY: Getting it wrong.
CLARA: Okay. Can you pretend like I'm totally a space alien and explain?
MERRY: I'm Merry Gejelh.
CLARA: Really not local. Sorry.
MERRY: The Queen of Years? They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died.
CLARA: Okay.
MERRY: I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend, every song.
CLARA: Every single one? Blimey. I hated history.
MERRY: And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone. A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared.
CLARA: Everyone's scared when they're little. I used to be terrified of getting lost. Used to have nightmares about it. And then I got lost. Blackpool beach, Bank holiday Monday, about ten billion people. I was about six. My worst nightmare come true.
MERRY: What happened?
CLARA: The world ended. My heart broke. And then my mum found me. We had fish and chips, and she drove me home and she tucked me up and she told me a story.
ELLIE [memory]: It doesn't matter where you are, in the jungle or the desert or on the moon. However lost you may feel, you'll never really be lost. Not really. Because I will always be here, and I will always come and find you. Every single time. Every single time.
MERRY: And you were never scared again?
CLARA: Oh, I was scared lots of times, but never of being lost. So, this special song. What are you scared of, exactly?
MERRY: Getting it wrong. Making Grandfather angry.
CLARA: And do you think you'll get it wrong? Because I don't. I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think you, Merry Gejelh, will get it very, very right.

(Merry hugs Clara. Then they go back into the bazaar and reunite Merry with the Chorister, who puts a lei around Merry's neck and gently leads her away. The Doctor appears at Clara's elbow, eating one of the blue glowing fruit.)

DOCTOR: What have you been doing?
CLARA: Exploring. Where are we going now?

[Pyramid]

(The changing over of the chanters, so one man is always kneeling before the dais. On the dais is a sealed glass case containing a mummified being seated on a throne.)

CHORISTER: Sleep, my precious, sleep. Lay down, my warrior. Rest now, my king.

[Amphitheatre]

(Merry is lead out into a semicircular amphitheatre facing the pyramid asteroid. The tiered seating is full behind her as she steps up onto a small pedestal. The Doctor and Clara run in.)

DOCTOR: Shush, shush. Sorry. Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me.
CLARA: Sorry, sorry.

(They find a space to sit.)

CLARA: Are we even supposed to be here?
DOCTOR: Shush.
CLARA: But are we?
DOCTOR: Shush! Sorry.

(Merry looks around at Clara, who smiles back, then starts to sing.)

MERRY: Akhaten

[Pyramid]

CHORISTER: Lay down, my king

(The door behind him slides up. He gets up and walks out.)

CHORISTER: Sleep now eternal. Sleep, my precious king. Lay down

[Amphitheatre]

MERRY: O god of Akhaten

(The Doctor is reading a leaflet.)

DOCTOR: They're singing to the Mummy in the Temple. They call it the Old God. Sometimes Grandfather.
MERRY: O god of Akhaten
CLARA: What are they singing?
DOCTOR: The Long Song. A lullaby without end to feed the Old God. Keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation.

(The congregation hold out their hands.)

CLARA: What are they doing?
DOCTOR: Those are offerings. Gifts of value. Mementoes to feed the Old God.

(The offerings dissolve into sparkles.)

MERRY: O god of, O god of, O god of Akhaten
CHORISTER: Sleep, my precious king.

(A whole chorus starts up amongst the congregation.)

DOCTOR: Lay, lay down

(Something rumbles in the Pyramid. Both Merry and the Chorister stop singing.)

[Pyramid]

CHORISTER: Old God, protect us. Old God, protect us.

[Amphitheatre]

(An energy beam lifts Merry off her pedestal and transports her through the space to the Pyramid.)

CLARA: Okay, what's happening? Is that supposed to happen?
MERRY: Help!
CLARA: Is somebody going to do something? Excuse me, is somebody going to help her?

[Bazaar]

CLARA: Why are we walking away? We can't just walk away. This is my fault! I talked her into doing this.
DOCTOR: Listen. There's one thing you need to know about travelling with me. Well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts. We don't walk away.

(He talks to Dor'een.)

DOCTOR: I need something precious.
CLARA: Well, you must have something. All the places you've seen, there must be something.

(The sonic screwdriver.)

DOCTOR: This. And I don't want to give it away, because it comes in handy.
CLARA: You're a thousand years ole and that's it? Your spanner?
DOCTOR: Screwdriver.

(Clara takes off one of her many rings.)

CLARA: It's my mum's.

(She gives it to Dor'een.)

[Space]

(They zoom off towards Merry in the space moped.)

CLARA: Merry!

(But just as her and Clara's finger's touch, she is dragged into the Pyramid and the door slams shut.)

CLARA: Brakes! Brakes!

(They crash land.)

[Outside the Pyramid]

DOCTOR: Okay, time to let go.
CLARA: I can't.
DOCTOR: Clara, you have to.
CLARA: Why?
DOCTOR: Because it really hurts.
CLARA: Sorry.

(The Doctor scans the entrance to the Pyramid.)

DOCTOR: Oh, that's interesting. A frequency modulated acoustic lock. The key changes ten million zillion squillion times a second.
CLARA: Can you open it?
DOCTOR: Technically, no. In reality, also no, but still, let's give it a stab.

[Pyramid]

CHORISTER: Do not wake from slumber. Old God, never wake from slumber.

[Outside the Pyramid]

CLARA: How can they just stand there and watch?
DOCTOR: Because this is sacred ground.
CLARA: And she's a child.
DOCTOR: And he's a god. Well, he is to them, anyway.

[Pyramid]

(Merry walks past the Chorister to look at the Mummy.)

CHORISTER: Do not wake from slumber. Old God, do not wake from slumber. Rest your weary, holy head and cast our lives asunder. Do not wake from slumber.
MERRY: I don't know what to do next. What happens?

(The Mummy's eyes glow red. Merry screams.)

[Outside the Pyramid]

CLARA: Merry! Merry, hold on! We'll be there soon. Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, hello.
CLARA: Hello what?
DOCTOR: The sonic's locked on to the acoustic tumblers.
CLARA: Meaning?
DOCTOR: Meaning I get to do this.

[Pyramid]

(The door rises. The Doctor seems to be pushing it via the sonic screwdriver. He stands underneath it to hold it open.)

DOCTOR: Hello there. I'm the Doctor, and you've met Clara. She was supposed to be having a nice day out. Still, it's early yet. Are you coming, then? Did I mention that the door is immensely heavy?
MERRY: Leave. You'll wake him.
DOCTOR: Really quite extraordinarily heavy.

(The Doctor is pushed to his knees.)

DOCTOR: Clara?

(Clara enters the Pyramid.)

CHORISTER: Old God, never wake from slumber.
CLARA: Merry, we need to leave.
MERRY: No. Go away.
CLARA: Not without you.
MERRY: You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong. And now this has happened. Look what happened!
CLARA: You didn't get it wrong.
MERRY: How do you know? You don't know anything. You have to go! Go now, or he'll eat us all.
CLARA: Well, he's ugly. But you know, to be honest, I don't think he looks big enough.
MERRY: Not our meat, our souls.

(Merry touches her temples and purple energy sticks Clara to the Mummy's glass box, with her back to the occupant.)

MERRY: He doesn't want you. He wants me. If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too.
DOCTOR: Yes, and you don't want that, do you? You want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back.
MERRY: Yes.
DOCTOR: I see. Right. Clara's right. Absolutely never going to happen.

(The Doctor rolls out from underneath the door, and just grabs his sonic screwdriver before the door slams down upon it.)

CLARA: Did you just lock us in with the soul eating monster?
DOCTOR: Yep.
And is there actually a way to get out?
DOCTOR: What? Before it eats our souls?
CLARA: Ideally, yes.
DOCTOR: Possibly. Probably. There usually seems to be.
CLARA: Doctor, why is he still singing?
CHORISTER: Old God, rest your weary, holy head.
DOCTOR: He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep, but that's not going to happen. He's waking up, mate. He's coming, ready or not. You want to run.

(The Chorister stops chanting.)

DOCTOR: That's it, then. Song's over.
CHORISTER: The song is over. My name is Chorister Rezh Baphix, and the Long Song ended with me.

(The Chorister touches a button on a bracelet, and he disappears.)

DOCTOR: That's it, then. Song's over.

(The Mummy roars.)

DOCTOR: Ah ha! Look at that.
MERRY: You've woken him.
CLARA: It's awake? What's it doing?
DOCTOR: Oh, you know. Having a nice stretch.

(Hammering on the glass trying to break out.)

DOCTOR: No, we didn't wake him. And you didn't wake him, either. He's waking because it's his time to wake, and feed. On you, apparently. On your stories.
CLARA: She didn't say stories. She said souls.
DOCTOR: Same thing. The soul's made of stories, not atoms. Everything that ever happened to us. People we love, people we lost. People we found again against all the odds. He threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul. The soul of the Queen of Years.
CLARA: Stop it. You're scaring her.
DOCTOR: Good. She should be scared. She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means. Do you know what it means, Merry?
MERRY: A god chose me.
DOCTOR: It's not a god. It'll feed on your soul, but that doesn't make it a god. It is a vampire, and you don't need to give yourself to it. Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Gejelh. And there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste.
MERRY: So, if I don't, then everyone else
DOCTOR: Will be fine.
MERRY: How?
DOCTOR: There's always a way.
MERRY: You promise?
DOCTOR: Cross my hearts.

(Merry releases Clara. The Mummy has broken a hole in the glass.)

CLARA: Having a nice stretch?

(The asteroid rumbles.)

CLARA: Something's coming.
MERRY: The Vigil.
DOCTOR: And what's the Vigil?
MERRY: If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon
DOCTOR: Yes?
MERRY: It's their job to feed her to Grandfather.

(A puff of black smoke, and the three robotic beings appear.)

MERRY: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
CLARA: Don't you dare.
DOCTOR: Yeah, stay back. I'm armed. With a screwdriver.

(The lead Vigil sends out an acoustic blast that knocks it out of the Doctor's hand, then another that sends him somersaulting backwards. Clara is also thrown against the wall. They are both briefly knocked out. The Vigils lead Merry forward.)

DOCTOR: Clara. Sonic.

(Clara gets the screwdriver and throws it to the Doctor. He sets up a shield against the Vigil's weapon and Merry runs back to Clara.)

CLARA: You know all the stories. You must know if there's another way out.
MERRY: There's a tale. A secret song. The Thief of the Temple and the Nimmer's Door.
CLARA: And the secret songs open the secret door? How does it go? Can you sing it?

(Merry sings a series of notes and a door slides up in the wall just beyond the Vigils and the Mummy.)

DOCTOR: Go!

(Clara and Merry run outside. Clara looks back to see the sonic shield fail.)

[Outside the Pyramid]

CLARA: Doctor!

(The Mummy breaks free of its glass prison. An energy beam fires at the sun.)

VOICE: Where are you? Where are you?

(The Vigils disappear.)

CLARA: Where did they go?
DOCTOR: Grandfather's awake. They're of no function any more.
CLARA: Well, you could sound happier about it.
DOCTOR: Actually, I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo. More of a semantics mix-up, really.
CLARA: What boo-boo?
DOCTOR: I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't. It was just Grandfather's alarm clock.
CLARA: Sorry, a bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?
DOCTOR: Unfortunately, yes.

(The sun is getting rather active.)

CLARA: Oh, my stars. What do we do?
DOCTOR: Against that? I don't know. Do you know? I don't know. Any ideas?
MERRY: But you promised. You promised!
DOCTOR: I did. I did promise.
MERRY: He'll eat us all. He'll spread across the system, consuming the Seven Worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars.
CLARA: I say leg it.
DOCTOR: Leg it where, exactly?
CLARA: Don't know. Lake District?
DOCTOR: Oh, the Lake District's lovely. Let's definitely go there. We can eat scones. They do great scones in 1927.
CLARA: You're going to fight it, aren't you.
DOCTOR: Regrettably, yes. I think I may be about to do that.
CLARA: It's really big.
DOCTOR: I've seen bigger.
CLARA: Really?
DOCTOR: Are you joking? It's massive.
CLARA: I'm staying with you.
DOCTOR: No, you're not.
CLARA: Yes, I am. I can assist.
DOCTOR: No, you can't.
CLARA: What about that stuff you said. We don't walk away.
DOCTOR: No. We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow. Now, off you pop. Take the moped. I'll walk.

(The Doctor walks around to face the sun, which has the appearance of eyes and mouth.)

DOCTOR: Any ideas? No, didn't think so. Righty-ho, then.

(Clara returns with Merry to the amphitheatre to watch.)

DOCTOR: Lordy.

[Amphitheatre]

MERRY: Isn't he frightened?
CLARA: I think he is. I think he's very frightened.
MERRY: I want to help.
CLARA: So do I.

(Merry gets onto her pedestal and starts singing.)

MERRY: Rest now, my warrior. Rest now

[Outside the Pyramid]

(The Doctor can hear her voice.)

DOCTOR: Okay, then. That's what I'll do. I'll tell you a story.

[Amphitheatre]

(The crowd joins in with Merry.)

ALL: Please, wake up. And let the cloak of life cling to your bones.

[Outside the Pyramid]

DOCTOR: Can you hear them? All these people who've lived in terror of you and your judgement? All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you. Can you hear them singing? Oh, you like to thing you're a god. But you're not a god. You're just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow. So, come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you've got a big appetite, because I have lived a long life and I have seen a few things.

(Energy tendrils reach out to the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: I walked away from the last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. I've watched universes freeze and creations burn. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on, then. Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!

(The face on the sun rolls in on itself and releases the Doctor.)

[Amphitheatre]

MERRY: Wake up. Wake up.

(The sun has a series of internal explosions as the Doctor falls to his knees.)

ELLIE [memory]: And I will always come and find you. Every single time.
DOCTOR [memory]: We don't walk away.

[Outside the Pyramid]

(Clara zooms back to him on the moped. The face on the sun has returned.)

CLARA: Still hungry?

(She opens 101 Places To See and takes out the leaf.)

CLARA: Well, I brought something for you. This. The most important leaf in human history. The most important leaf in human history.

(The sun smiles.)

CLARA: It's full of stories, full of history. And full of a future that never got lived. Days that should have been that never were. Passed on to me.

(An energy tendril reaches for the leaf.)

CLARA: This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day we live. An infinity. All the days that never came. And these are all my mum's.
DOCTOR: Well, come on then. Eat up. Are you full? I expect so, because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been. There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other.

(The leaf turns into energy.)

DOCTOR: And infinity's too much, even for your appetite.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

(Clara opens the door.)

CLARA: It looks different.
DOCTOR: Nope. Same house, same city, same planet. Hey! Same day, actually. Not bad. Hole in one.
CLARA: You were there. At mum's grave. You were watching. What were you doing there?
DOCTOR: I don't know. I was just making sure.
CLARA: Of what?
DOCTOR: You remind me of someone.
CLARA: Who?
DOCTOR: Someone who died.
CLARA: Well, whoever she was, I'm not her, okay? If you want me to travel with you, that's fine. But as me. I'm not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. I'm not going to compete with a ghost.
DOCTOR: No.

(He holds out the ring she gave to Dor'een.)

DOCTOR: They wanted you to have it.
CLARA: Who did?
DOCTOR: Everyone. All the people you saved. You. No one else. Clara.

(Clara takes the ring and leaves the TARDIS. The Doctor looks very serious as he closes the door.)

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

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