Who's that?
- Bed. - But Mum...
George, I won't tell you again, get into bed.
I'm going to be late for work. It's just the lift, love.
- How many more times? - Don't like it.
So, what do we do with the things we don't like?
Put them in the cupboard.
The thing. You have to do the thing, Mum.
Five times. It has to be five times.
Please save me from the monsters.
You all right now?
Come on, George, there's nothing to be scared of.
Goodnight, then, love.
How is he?
He's in bed, at least.
I'm worried about him, why is he terrified all the time?
He needs help.
- He's got us. - He needs a doctor.
Please save me from the monsters.
"Please save me from the monsters."
Haven't done this in a while.
Um, done what? What are you doing?
Making a house call.
- No of fence, Doctor... - Meaning the opposite.
...But we could get a bus somewhere like this.
The exact opposite.
Well, I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory.
Yes, it can. Course it can. Planets and history and stuff.
That's what we do. But not today, no.
Today we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe.
A child's bedroom.
"Please save me from the monsters." Who sent that?
That's what we're here to find out.
Sounds like something a kid would say.
Exactly. A scared kid. A very scared kid.
So scared that somehow his cry for help got through to us in the Tardis.
- Yeah, but you've traced it here. - Exactly.
Ah, going up.
Now, did you know that there are twice as many pets
las people here in the UK? Now, that's a lot of animals.
And we want to know how clever they are.
Now, if you were watching BBC' One on Saturday nigh;
You will have seen Rolf Harris and Kate Humble...
Hi.
Hello.
Are your mummy and daddy in or is it just you?
Okay.
- Is it about the bins? - Pardon?
Community Support, just checking up on community...based...things.
- Can I help you? - Hi.
Um, yeah, no, sorry, I was just wondering if you've had any bother
- around here? - Is everything okay?
The bins!
I can't be expected to get down all them stairs, I need new knees.
- Bother? What do you mean? - Well, I mean...
Are your neighbours nice? You get on well?
- He didn't send you, did he? - Who?
Jim Purcell. Course we get on well. I'm their landlord.
They love me, don't they?
You're the landlord?
- Not the bins, no, Miss... - Mrs Rossiter.
I thought you'd know that, being from Community Support.
Yeah. Yes, no, yes, of course.
I've already got a new hip, I'll be able to manage when I get the knees.
Up, down them stairs like Sherpa Tenzing then.
- Can I come in? - Oh.
- Course not. You could be anyone. - I could be, but I'm not.
Or maybe it's best if I come back another time.
I'm the Doctor.
We've got to find that kid.
Maybe we should let the monsters gobble him up.
Hey, any luck?
Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia and a man with 10 cats.
- What are we actually looking for? - 10 cats! Scared kid, remember?
I found, um, scary kids. Is that kinda...
Hmm, try the next floor down. Catch you later.
Okay.
Maybe it was, you know, junk mail.
What?
The message on the psychic paper, maybe it was just nothing.
Oh, right, that was quick, was it?
Claire said she'd phoned someone.
- Social Services. - Yes. Yes.
It's not easy, you know.
Admitting your kid's got a problem.
You've got a problem, I've got a problem.
I'm better connected, I'm the Doctor.
Call me Doctor. Uh, what can I call you?
- Um, Alex. - Hello, Alex.
So,
tell me about George.
A blooming mess.
I'm the only one who gives a monkey's around here any more.
Shocking.
Talking to yourself now, Elsie.
They say it's the first sign.
Oh, Lord.
Come out of there!
Don't be so ruddy horrible.
Trying to scare an old lady to death.
It's not right.
Is that you, George?
I'll tell your Mum and Dad.
Come on, you little devil. Let's see your face.
Ever since he was born, he's been a funny kid.
Funny's good, we like funny, don't we?
Well, he never cries.
Bottles it all up, I suppose.
Tell him off, he just looks at you.
- How old is he? - He was eight in January.
I mean, he should be growing out of stuff like this, shouldn't he?
Maybe.
It's got worse, though, lately?
Yeah, we talked about getting help.
You know, maybe sending him somewhere.
He started getting these nervous ticks, you know?
Funny little cough, blinking all the time.
But now it's got completely out of hand.
I mean, he's scared to death of everything.
- Pantophobia. - What?
That's what it's called, pantophobia.
Not a fear of pants, though, if that's what you're thinking.
It's a fear of everything. Including pants, I suppose.
In that case, sorry, go on.
- He hates crayons... - Understandable.
Old toys. He thinks the old lady across the way is a witch.
He hates having a bath, in case there is something under the water.
The lift sounds like someone breathing, it's...
Look, I don't know.
I'm not an expert.
- Maybe you can get through to him. - I'll do my best.
- Amy? - Hmm?
- Amy! Are you here? - Here.
Here! Ow!
I'm here, it's me.
- You okay? - Yeah, I think so.
What happened to the lift? We were in a lift, right?
Yeah, yeah, we were... I remember getting in and then...
What?
- We're dead, aren't we? - Hey?
- The lift fell and we're dead. - Shut up.
- We're dead. Again. - Oh, shut up.
Let's just find out where we are.
- You know, it's obvious what's happened. - Yeah?
Really? Because it's not obvious to me.
The Tardis has gone funny again.
Some time...slippy...thing.
You know, the Doctor is back there in EastEnders-land
and we're stuck here in the past.
- This is probably 1700 and something. - Yay. My favourite year.
George, you okay? What's the matter?
Oh.
Never mind.
Were you having a nightmare, son?
It wasn't a nightmare. I wasn't asleep.
- Who are you? - I'm the Doctor.
A doctor? Have you come to take me away?
No, George. I just want to talk to you.
What about?
About the monsters.
Bit neglected, wherever it is.
Let's find the front door, at least. We can work out where we are.
When we are.
- Row. - Hmm?
Look at this.
- Well, it's a copper pan. - No, it's not. It's wood.
It's made of wood and just painted to look like copper.
That is stupid.
Rory, hang on.
There's a switch.
Wow, well, not 1700 and something, then.
It's glass. It's a glass eye.
- Stop doing that. - It's not me.
- Come on. - Yeah.
Hang on.
Maybe it was things on telly.
- You know? - Right.
Scary stuff. Getting under his skin.
- Frightening him. - Uh-huh.
- So we stopped letting him watch. - Oh, you don't want to do that.
And Claire thought it might be something he was reading.
Great. Reading is great. Do you like stories, George?
Yeah? Me, too.
When I was your age, about, oh, a thousand years ago,
I loved a good bedtime story.
The Three Little Sontarans, The Emperor Daleks New Clothes,
Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday, eh?
All the classics.
Rubbish, must be broken. Hate those things.
Better tidy it away, though, eh?
How about in here?
No, not in the cupboard. Why not in there, George?
It's a...thing.
Thing we got him doing ages back.
Anything that frightens him, we put it in the cupboard.
Creepy toys, scary pictures, that sort of thing.
And is that where the monsters go?
Yeah.
There's nothing to be scared of, George.
It's just a cupboard.
Front door.
Let's try down here.
- Evening. - Oh, hi.
- How's Claire? - Good, thanks, at work.
Look, um, this really isn't a good time. Maybe later...
And the kiddie?
Good.
You know I hate to mention it, but it's that time again.
- Yes. - And you know I like my money prompt.
The thing is, I still haven't found anywhere since the shop shut
and Claire's wage only goes so far.
I thought you could, you know, come up with some sort of arrangement.
- Is that a torch? - Screwdriver.
No can do, son. I mean, if I went around...
A sonic one.
And other stuff.
- Please, may I see the other stuff? - You may.
Huh? Pretty cool, eh?
Listen to him. Isn't he awful, eh?
Don't growl at the nice man, Bernard.
He doesn't mean to upset Daddy.
- Do you? - No.
Look, son.
I know what you're thinking.
Here comes horrible Purcell, after his rent, dog on a chain.
See? Weren't expecting that, was ya?
I'm not as daft as I look.
In fact, I'm not daft at all.
Huh? That's better.
No tears from George, that's what I've heard.
Go on, give us a smile. There's a brave little soldier.
Bit rusty at this. Anyway...
Let's open this cupboard, eh? Now there's nothing to be...
Off the scale. Off the scale.
Off the scale.
All I want is my £350.
Simple as that.
Goodnight.
Come on, son, come on.
Right, sorry about that.
- So, have you got this thing open yet? - No! No, no, no, no, no.
- You don't want to do that. - Why?
Because George's monsters are real.
Oh, at last.
What is it?
No door knob.
Wooden pans, a massive glass eye and now no door knob!
And this clock.
- What? - Look, the hands. They're painted on.
You're supposed to be a professional.
I'll never get him to sleep now. You're so...
- Irresponsible. - No, Alex. Responsible. Very.
Cupboard bad. Cupboard not bare. Stay away from cupboard.
And there's something else. Something I've missed. Something...
staring me in the face.
Look, I'd like you to leave, please. You're just making things worse.
Will you stop making tea? I want you to leave!
- No. - What?
What do you mean, no?
Leave. Get out.
Now, please.
Look, maybe this was a bad idea. We should sort out George ourselves.
You can't.
No one's going to tell us how to run our lives.
I don't care who you are or what wheels have been set in motion, we'll sort it.
I'm not just a professional, I'm the Doctor.
What's that supposed to mean?
It means I've come a long way to get here, Alex, a very long way.
George sent a message. A distress call, if you like.
Whatever's inside that cupboard is so terrible, so powerful,
that it amplified the fears of an ordinary little boy
across all the barriers of time and space.
- Eh? - Through crimson stars and silent stars
and tumbling nebulae like oceans set on fire,
through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought
and a whole, terrible, wonderful universe of impossibilities.
You see, these eyes, they're all lies.
And one thing I can tell you, Alex.
Monsters are real.
You're not from Social Services, are you?
First things first. You got any Jammie Dodgers?
Please. I don't like being on me own.
Is there anyone here?
Please.
Help me.
- You hear that? - Yeah.
Wait.
They're getting closer.
"They"?
Oh, it's just a... It's a dummy. Oh, it's just a dummy.
This is weird.
Yes, says the time-travelling nurse.
Yeah, um, let's just leave that for come on.
# Tick-tock goes the clock.
# And others shall be born.-. #
What is it with these photos?
Anyway, good, nice tea. Nothing like a cuppa but...
Decision, should we open the cupboard?
- What? Well... - Should we?
Got to open the cupboard, haven't we? Course we have.
Come on, Alex, Alex, come on,
how else will we ever find out what's going on here?
- Right, but you said... - Monsters, yeah, well, that's what I do,
breakfast, dinner and tea. Fight the monsters, so this,
this is just an average day at the office for me.
Okay, yeah, you're right.
Or maybe we shouldn't open the cupboard.
- Eh? - We have no idea what might be in there.
How powerful, how evil that thing might be.
- We don't? - Come on, Alex, Alex, come on.
Are you crazy? We can't open the cupboard.
- God, no! No, we mustn't. - Right.
- That settles it. - Settles what?
Going to open the cupboard.
There's nothing on.
Never anything on, is there, Bernard?
Bergerac, God help us. 30 years old, that.
Where's the boxing? There's meant to be boxing on.
Looks we're going to have to watch that film again.
What the... Hold on a minute.
This is not...
Help me, Bernard. Oh!
Ah!
Oh!
I don't understand. It has to be the cupboard.
The readings from the sonic screwdriver, they were...
You...
- How old is George, Alex? - What? How old?
- Yes. How old is George? - Well, I told you, he just turned eight.
- So you remember when he was born, then? - Of course.
Of course you do. How could you not?
You and Claire, Christmas Eve, 2002, right?
What? Oh, yeah.
A couple of weeks before George was born.
Tell me about the day he arrived, must have been wonderful.
Well, it was the best day of my...
- life. - Sure?
- Yes. - You don't sound sure.
What are you trying to say?
Look, I don't like this. I told you before, I want you to go.
- What's the matter, Alex? - I can't...
Oh, no.
- Oh, this is scary. - No, Alex, this is scary.
Claire with baby George, newborn, yes?
- Yes. - Less than a month after Christmas.
- So? - So, look, look. Claire's not pregnant.
- What? - Not pregnant.
Well, of course not. Claire can't have kids!
- Say that again? - We tried everything.
She was desperate. As much IVF as we could afford but...
Claire can't have kids.
How...
How can I have forgotten that?
Who are you, George?
It's not possible. This isn't...
George?
George!
George, what's going on? Are you doing this?
What's happening?
Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters.
- George! - Please save me from the monsters.
Please save me from the monsters.
- George! Ah! - Please save me from the monsters.
Please save me from the monsters.
George! Help!
Please save me from the monsters.
George!
Why aren't there any lights? I miss lights.
You don't really miss things till they're gone, do you?
It's like what my Nan used to say,
"You'll never miss the water till the well runs dry."
- Rory. - Except lights, not...
Not water. Lights are great, aren't they?
I mean, if this place was all lit up, we wouldn't be worried at all.
Rory! Panicking a bit.
- Yeah, yeah, sorry. - Yeah.
Help me! Please!
Keep them away from me. Keep them away.
# Tick-tock goes the clock
# And dolls can shine with fear.
# Tick-tock until the day.. #
I take it all back. Panic now.
Don't run away.
We want to play...
George! George, don't do this. We want to help you, George!
We went... We went into the cupboard.
We went into the cupboard.
How can it be bigger in here?
More common than you'd think, actually. You okay?
- Where are we? - Obvious, isn't it?
- No! - Doll's house.
We're inside the dolls house.
- The dolls house? - Yeah, in the cupboard, in your flat.
- The dolls house. - No, look.
- Slow down, would you? - Look, wooden chicken.
Cups, saucers, plates, knives, forks, fruit.
The chicken's wood, so...
we're either inside the dolls house
or this is refuge for dirty posh people who eat wooden food.
Or termites. Giant termites trying to get on the property ladder.
No. That's possible. Is that possible?
Look, will you stop?
What is he? What is George?
And how could I forget that Claire can't have kids, how?
Perception filter.
Some kind of hugely powerful perception filter
convinced you and Claire, everyone, made you change your memories.
Now, what could do that?
Just a mirror.
Lock it!
There isn't a lock.
No, no, no, no!
Come on!
Move, move, move.
So, Claire can't have kids and something responded to that.
Responded to that need. What could do that?
I thought you were the expert, fighting monsters all day long. You tell me.
Oi, listen, mush, old eyes.
Remember? I've been around the block a few times. More than a few.
They've knocked down the blocks...
I've been round and rebuilt them as bigger blocks.
Super blocks.
I've been round them as well. I can't remember everything.
- Doctor. - It's like trying to remember the name
of someone you met at a party when you were two.
Doctor, the lift.
I can't just plump for Brian, like I normally do.
- Doctor, listen. - Shh, what's that?
It's the lift. It's the sound that the lift makes.
George is scared stiff of it.
We can't stay in here. We've got to get out!
Uh, how?
Take control, Rory. Take control of the only thing we can.
Letting them in.
- Letting them in? - Surprise them.
We open the door and we push past them. Kick them, punch them, anything, okay?
Time to play!
- Okay. - Okay.
# Tick-tock goes the clock #
Go on!
- Amy, come on. - # Tick-tock until the day.. #.
- Rory, Rory! - Amy! Get off.
# Tick-tock goes the clock
# And all the years they cry
# Tick-tack and all too soon
# You and I must die #
Five times.
The lights. It's happening five times.
It's like one of George's habits.
We have to switch the lights on and off five times.
- Now you're getting it. - What do you mean?
What do you tell George to do, Alex, with everything that scares him?
Well, put it in the...cupboard.
Exactly. And George isn't just an ordinary little boy,
we know that now. So, anything scary he puts in here.
Scary toys, like the dolls house. Scary noises, like the lift.
Even his own rituals have become part of it.
A psychic repository for all his fears.
But what is he?
Oh, my God.
- A gun? You've got a gun? - It's not a gun.
What?
I've got to invent a setting for wood. It's embarrassing.
Run!
Don't run away. We just want to play.
Massive psychic field, perfect perception filter and that need,
that need of Claire's to...to...
Stupid Doctor! Ow!
George is a Tenza. Of course he is.
- He's a what? - A cuckoo.
A cuckoo in the nest. A Tenza, he's a Tenza.
Millions of them hatch in space and then, woof!
Off they drift, looking for a nest.
The Tenza young can sense exactly what their foster parents want
and then they assimilate perfectly.
- George is an alien? - Yep.
But he's our child!
Of course he is. The child you always wanted.
He sensed that instinctively and sought you out.
But something scared him.
Started a cycle of fear, it's all completely instinctive.
Subconscious. George isn't even aware that he's controlling it.
So, we have to make him aware. George!
George, you are the only one who can stop this, but you have to believe.
You have to believe. You have to know you're safe.
I can't save you from your monsters, only you can.
George, listen to me!
Rory!
- Doctor! - Where's Amy?
Oh, no.
George! George, you have to face your fears! You have to face them now.
You have to open the cupboard.
We'll all be trapped here forever in a living death.
George. George, listen to me.
George. George, listen to me!
George!
Please. George, you have to end this.
End this, end this. End it now!
George.
You did it.
Hey, it's okay, it's all okay now.
Everything's going to be fine.
# Tick-tock.
- No. - # Goes the clock... #.
No, no, no, no!
George, you created this whole world.
This whole thing. You can smash it.
You can destroy it.
Something's holding you back. Something's holding him back.
Something.
- Who are you? - I'm the Doctor.
A doctor? Have you come to take me away?
That's what it is. That's what the trigger was.
He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted.
That someone was going to come and take him away.
Well, we... We talked about it.
Yeah, and he heard you.
Alex, a Tenza's sole function is to fit in, to be wanted,
and you were rejecting him.
We just couldn't cope. We needed help.
Yes, but George didn't know that. He thought you were rejecting him.
He still thinks it.
How can we keep him?
- How can we? He's not... - Not what?
He's not...
human.
No.
Dad!
Whatever you are, whatever you do,
you're my son.
And I will never,
ever, send you away.
Come on, George.
Oh, my little boy.
Dad.
My little boy.
Dad.
Oh, dear.
Must be them tablets.
Oh.
Oh, dear.
- Was I...? - Yeah.
All right, stay still.
Or I'll come and get you.
Hi.
Hello! You're Claire, I expect.
Claire.
How do you feel about kippers?
Uh...
They sent someone, about George.
- It's all sorted. - Yeah, we had a great time, didn't we?
- Yeah. - See? He's fine.
What, just like that?
Yes.
Trust me.
- Doctor, wait. - Sorry, yes, bye.
No, no, you can't just... I mean...
It's sorted, you sorted it. Good man, Alex. Proud of you.
What, that's it?
Well, apart from making sure he eats his greens
and getting him into a good school, yes.
Yeah, but is he going to...
I don't know, sprout another head or three eyes or something?
He's one of the Tenza, remember.
He'll adapt perfectly now. Eh!
Be whatever you want him to be.
Might pop back around puberty, mind you. Always a funny time.
Kippers are getting cold.
Come on, you two. Things to do.
People to see, whole civilizations to save.
- You feeling okay? - Um, I think so.
Well, it's good to be all back together again.
In the flesh.
Come on.
Now, did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff?
- Yeah. - Where do you want to go?
- Um... - Mind's gone blank.
Well, I have just been turned into a wooden dolly.
Excuses, excuses.
It's tough, though. It's like being given three wishes.
The whole universe.
The universe is... Ooh!
- Three wishes. Ali Baba. How about that? - #Tick-tock goes the clock
# The cradle man, he rocked her #
# Tick-tock goes the clock
# Even for the Doctor #.
Where am I?
You're in a faster time stream.
- Amy. - You didn't save me.
So, I have to choose, which wife do I want?
Which one's Amy 1?
As they touch you, you go to sleep.