06x08 - The Born Identity

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Doctor Who: Confidential". Aired: 26 March 2005 – 1 October 2011.*
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Series is described as focusing on the human element of the series, Confidential features behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series over the years of its existence.
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06x08 - The Born Identity

Post by bunniefuu »

In this week's Confidential,

the Doctor takes on some
light-headed opponents...

Headless Monk. But not.

..Amy explores her maternal side...

Can you see the resemblance?

In this episode, Amy becomes a mum.

Kissing and crying.
I'll be back in a bit.

I think Rory unexpectedly becoming
a dad will change him completely.

..And there's an end to keeping mum
when a massive secret is revealed.

I'm your daughter.

Yes!
I get to be Alex Kingston's mum.

Spoilers!
You're not allowed to hear!

I just couldn't quite believe it.
I just thought, "That's fantastic."

Welcome to Confidential.

Join us behind the scenes
as we finally close the door

on the rumours of River Song.

In the dead of night,
in a hangar near Cardiff,

the Doctor has rallied
an army of aliens

and called on his friends
to fight the mother of all battles.

It felt like...
I think this is a boys' thing,

but it felt like
you had every action figure

from all your favourite TV shows
and from all your favourite cartoons

all in one g*ng.
It's like a kind of dream team.

The child.

At all costs, we protect the child!

Last time I did this
I just had a wig on.

Now I've got swords as well!

Excellent.

I was a bit nervous before but
we had a stunt guy on set to help us

and we were k*lling these monks,

who were also stuntmen, so you were
quite free to do what you wanted.

So the first one -
bang, take her out,

and then you need to clear

and you need to move
straight in there, yeah?

'The first thing I do,
I'd speak to the director

'and find out exactly what he wants
to see, and in this case,'

it's just a sh*t of the two of them
taking out all the monks

very quickly, very slick, so I had
to choreograph it with two swords,

'which makes it
a bit more complicated for Neve,'

but she picked it up really well
and both of them are fantastic.

And action!

'At the moment, we're just
choreographing some of the action.'

We've got some guys jumping about

and potentially some b*llet hits
as well, so fairly busy.

It's him!

He's here!

It's him!

Weapons down!

Sometimes, things which appear
for only seconds on screen

take hours to fall into place.

Three, two, one, bang.

Right. Three, two, one.
The bang is for his cue.

That's your cue.
Right. OK.

So stand by for rehearsal.

And...action!

It's him, he's here!

It's him!

Three, two, one. Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

So when you've got your camera,
we'll have another rehearsal.

It's a mind game, this,
cos I'm going to hit the concrete

so I've to get the trajectory -
the angle of take-off just right

so I don't go up like that.

I want to skim the ground if I can.

It's tricky and the costume
doesn't help cos the hood

comes right down
so I can't see where I am!

Time for another take, only this
time, nothing to cushion the blow.

Are you all right?
Yeah, good. Ta.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

'This is a big episode for us.'

It's Steven Moffat concluding
the first part of Doctor Who in ,

and It's a huge episode.
We've got monsters, prosthetics,
special effects, huge CGI...

It's going to be a barnstorming
finale to the series.

The joy of this episode is also
that we're travelling

in time and space a lot.

So we were in Victorian London

and we're here
in this Demons Run facility.

We're at Stormcage for a bit.

This is the Battle for Demons Run.
The Doctor's darkest hour.

He'll rise higher than ever before
and then fall so much further.

And I can't be with him
till the very end.

We're on Dorium's planet,
the Maldovarium,

and all of these changes
are challenging

because you keep moving, you keep
going to different places, but then
that's the nature of film-making.

This series is darker, asking bigger,
more profound questions,

taking the characters,
Amy, Rory and the Doctor,

to stranger places.

But what we're giving everyone
in episode seven

is a lot of fun, a lot of monsters,
battles, spaceships, asteroids,

Cybermen, you know...
All of the things that make
Doctor Who great.

At the read-through,
it felt exciting,

that there was everything
including the kitchen sink,

with Judoon and River...

Silurians.
..and Silurians.

Warriors in Victorian times.

Just looking around the table
and going, "My goodness,
we've got a lot of monsters."

And that feels so right
to end the season with.

Even Rory's back in action
with a very familiar look.

Look, he's a Roman Centurion again,
but he's got a bit
of an updated look.

I reckon socks and sandals
are going to catch on.
Look at that massive toe.

Can we just have a look at
how his toe hangs over the sandal.

Can I touch it?

Eurgh.

This is different, isn't it?

They've added a few
muscles on there.

They haven't added those.
That just happened when I put it on.

No, I don't think it did.

Kazza, you cannot talk
about what I'm wearing...

I know.

It's like you're in some kind
of medical dance video. Yeah. Look.

No one wants to see this.

Oh, God. Arthur's just bailed!
Now that's it.

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice
the Oval Office set.

Now a birthing chamber where Amy
has swapped her bump for a baby.

They're being held c*ptive
by baddies wanting to bait
and bring down the Doctor.

And there's a new addition
to the Doctor Who family,
who already knows her lines.

BABY CRIES

I tell you what.
What about if all you see...

if Karen was holding Harrison now,
then on action, went forward
and then brought him back.

Oh, my God!

Never mind arch villains,
this is proper scary.

In this episode,
Amy becomes a mum.

I know that we've seen her pregnant
before, but that was in a dream.

Whenever you're ready, Amy.

Oh!

THEY CHEER

You've swallowed a planet!
I'm pregnant.

You're huge!

This is definitely for real
and it's really interesting because
I'm a bit nervous around the babies.

'we've had real babies.'

Awww!

And that's it?

That's it.

We had two babies who were twins,
Madison and Harrison.

Who've we got this time?
Madison.

Madison!

'I was just so scared,'

because I've never actually
held a baby before, a real baby.

And I'm always a little bit nervous
about it, I always have been,

cos I don't have any brothers
and sisters. Maybe that's got
something to do with it.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

He's fine. Just pop him down,
slide your hand down.

Put his head down and slide
your hand out. It's all right.

In terms of acting with babies,
and filming with babies,

it's quite challenging at times
because they cry when they want to.

BABY CRIES

I wish I could tell you
that you'll be loved.

BABY CONTINUES TO CRY

That you'll be safe
and cared for and protected.

There was a lot of
just going with that and going
with whatever the baby does

and hopefully that just made it
more natural. We'll see.

Always close to the action and ready
to step in when an expert is needed

is Danielle, the twins' real mum.

'The twins are three months old.'

I believe they'd choose twins
for filming so that if one baby,

'being so young, they become tired,
restless, uncomfortable,'

they can use the other baby
for the next take.

So, Danielle,
if you could place Harrison into...

Put his head about there.

When Karen first held them
this morning, she said it was
the first time she had held a baby.

She was very, very nervous.
Probably the way I felt when I first
picked them up in the hospital.

'So I showed her how the nurses
showed me in the hospital,

'how to pick them up,
how to cuddle them,'

how to comfort them
and she's taken to it really easily.

And Karen's not the only one.

OK, so, Rory. Ready?

I'm going to take it this way.

We're going to have a real fun time.
Hello, gorgeous.

OK. Matt, if you go to first
position please. Standing by
to sh**t, guys. Here we go.

Having a real baby there
really, really helped because
you look at it and you're like,

"That is an actual baby," and I've
never really held babies before.

I held one about six months ago
and I was rubbish with it.

I had it in my lap and it was
just kind of slipping down

and I was, "Right, I think you
should take this away from me."
So I was quite nervous...

But they were twins,
they had a spare, in case...

if anything did happen, I think,
if we'd have dropped one,
there was another one as back-up.

That's how it works, right?

Oh, Mummy's back.
Hi, Mummy! Bye. Well done.

You're going to win an Oscar!

, take one.

Action.

What you are going to be, Melody,
is very, very brave.

Two minutes.

Cut there. Cut.

Making a reappearance
in this episode is an iron lady
with an eye for evil.

When I first was asked to do
the part, it was "Eye-patch lady",

which I just loved.
I thought that's even nicer.

But she's got a name, Kovarian, now,

so she's actually a bona fide
Doctor Who villainess, I think.

This cruel cradle snatcher
is Queen Bee on Demons Run.

Her hooded henchmen and khaki-clad
clerics obey her every order.

She rules her soldiers
with a kind of steely sexuality.

She wants Amy Ponds' baby

and I like to think of her
as a woman of a certain age

who probably doesn't have
children of her own

so it's not % sure what Kovarian
is going to do or be up to.

Please, leave her.

Leave her, please. Leave her, please!

Leave her, please!

Cut it there. That was very nice.

I think the whole idea behind the
episode A Good Man Goes To w*r

was the idea that the Doctor would
go after Amy and that would be...

It doesn't happen to him very often
that someone comes at him like that,

takes someone who's very special
to him and threatens them
and endangers them.

But what if he decided, "I've got
a few favours I could call in,
I've got some really hard friends."

What would happen
if somebody messed with him

to the point where he decided to go
and recruit some people

and demonstrate the level of safety
that he can guarantee
his nearest and dearest?

. Take one.

We've been waiting a month.
He's done nothing.

Do you really think so?

There are people all over
this galaxy that owe that man a debt.

By now, a few of them
will have found a blue box
waiting for them on their doorstep.

Poor devils.

When the Doctor can't sort out
his troubles on his own,
he calls on the heavies to help out.

A hotel bar in Cardiff stands in
for Dorium's nightclub.

Who is Dorium? He's, I suppose,
a galactic black marketeer.

I see him as Arthur Daley.

He tries to keep out of the way of
trouble but he's always in trouble.

You think he's raising an army?

You think he isn't?

A baby has been stolen,
and we believe that it's Amy's baby,

so the Doctor is not
too happy about that.

He needs lots of people to help him,
and Dorium is one of those
that he calls in a favour from.

If that man is finally making
a collection of his debts,
God help you.

And God help his debtors.

Dorium's isn't the only favour
that's called in.

He just appeared. What does it mean?

It means a very old debt
is to be repaid.

Captain Harcourt, I hope some day
to meet you in the glory of battle

when I shall crush the life
from your worthless human form.

Try and get some rest.

The fact that he turns up means,
"Oh, OK, my card has come up."

No, no, no, please, not me.

You don't need me.
Why would you need me?

I'm old. I'm fat. I'm blue.

This episode takes place
on an asteroid called Demons Run

so the Doctor Who team set up camp
on a m*llitary base

and transformed a vacant air hangar.

We're here in Demons Run,
the base of the headless monks

where the Doctor is engaged
in a battle to save something
very dear to him.

You'll already know that.
You've seen the episode.

Should I give it a sense
of addressing them all?

I think you should play as though
it is going right back.
Going right back.

It's incredible.
It's large, it's noisy,

but it makes us feel the scale.

It was always important,
when we started doing this episode,
that the scale was there.

Steven had written all the way
through about the size of this army

and the scale of the task
the Doctor had to face.

What Michael and his team have
managed to achieve is quite
staggering. Just a wonderful set.

We wanted to space something
that would look suitably asteroid

and our scale would be bigger
than Star Wars. This probably is.

We've managed
to fill up a portion of it.

You've got stuff around you in
a small area. We can see the roof

and see how big the building is.

Props and people help to fill up
the set but the special effects team

are also on hand
to perform their magic.

As you can see behind me, there's
lots of different elements here

to make it look
like a spaceship hangar.

We've got some physical effects.
We've got steam.

Digger says he wants them
off the planet, then called
them back for a scolding!

It just creates that sense that
the place is alive and it gives
something moving in the sh*t.

It looks like some of the spaceships
which are made out of MDF,

makes them look like they're alive,

and some of the engines
are powering up and stuff.

Headless monk. I'm not.

Cunning twist.

No pun intended.

Today we're filming the main
revelation that the Doctor is here.

By the divine grant
of the papal mainframe herself

on this one and only occasion

I can show you the truth.

We've been waiting for him
while he gathers his army.
We haven't seen him.

The Doctor's arrived, he's posing as
one of the monks, and the character

of Colonel Manton is doing a big
speech to rouse the troops.

Because these guys
never can be persuaded.

They never can be afraid.

And they never, ever can be...

Surprised?

Hello, everyone. Guess who?

Please, point a g*n at me
if it helps you relax.

That's a nice moment for me.
There's a whole crowd,

we're doing replication sh*ts of all
the army, and it's a big set piece.

There's lots of shouting and jeering

and the moment the Doctor's revealed
is priceless.

Amelia Pond!

Get your coat.

DIRECTOR: One more.

A bunch of soldiers in uniform
is no match for the Doctor.

But if that army was bumped up
big time, that could be a contest.

Over to you, visual effects.

Several of the sh*ts we did

were multiplication sh*ts
of the soldiers

around the little podium where

the monks
and the Doctor were standing.

Having seen it from up there
up there on the gantry,

we were able to designate areas
where we would put people.

In order to do that, we did a highly
polished, very technical thing

of drawing on the monitor with a pen.
So I saw the first block of people,

drew around them,

got some kind of perspectival
understanding of where they were

and therefore where the next group
of people were, drew another block,

and then third and fourth blocks.

I kind of knew where we were going
to position them

and when they cut together
they should sandwich together
to make our multiplied sh*ts.

The Doctor will fall.

CHANTING IN UNISON

Creating a packed asteroid
in a hangar is one thing,

but recreating Victorian London
in the middle of Cardiff
is quite another.

Work begins early in the day,

and the set-dressers have their
hands full to make it look spot-on.

# If I woke up in the morning

# And the world was back to front

# There was sunshine in the evening

# And the moon came out for lunch. #

We're filming Victorian London.

We have Madame Vastra, our Silurian,

coming home having been out
eating Jack the Ripper.

So we turned this little alleyway
with the help of some dirt and smoke

and some old lights and horse
and carts into Victorian London.

Move your back.

And I'm about to get squashed!

A narrow alleyway doesn't give
a lot of room for manoeuvre,

especially when
Victorian transport is involved.

The horse and cart will come down
the street, and Madame Vastra will

exit the cab, but we aren't
allowed to see that it's her.

It's a surprise that
we reveal in the house.

It's just a shape, somebody
mysterious coming through the smoke.

If we imagine you're starting
from a seated position,

then you get up and come out.

Then we pick her up
inside the house
and she reveals that she's a lizard.

Jack the Ripper has claimed
his last victim.

How did you find him?

Stringy. But tasty all the same.

I shan't be needing dinner.

And... action.

There should be some plasma pistols
somewhere. They left everything.

Then find them, boy!

She's definitely a girl.

Stop it.

With more creatures than
you can shake a stick at
answering the Doctor's call,

there's also a need
for a very different army -

the heavy a*tillery
of make-up and prosthetics.

# Oh, her eyes, her eyes

# Make the stars look like
they're not shining

# Her hair, her hair

# Falls perfectly without her trying

# She's so beautiful

# And I tell her every day. #

As you can see, you need
to draw in a whole load of green

behind my eyes and mouth.

This is a skullcap which insulates
my hair and everything

from the inside of that bigger mask,
which we'll see in a moment.

It's always great when it's
first on, before you start
getting sweaty underneath it.

Feels like a second skin,
which is nice.

# When I see your face

# There's not a thing that
I would change

# Cos you're amazing

# Just the way you are #

Once you've had it on for a little
while and it warms up into your
face. It's quite extraordinary.

You forget you've got it on.

It seems to be easier this time,
putting it all on. It all seems
to go on with a lot less fuss.

Initially, putting the mask on was
very strange, because it's not your
face in the mirror.

But I've slowly got used to it,
which is odd.

Goes on in two pieces, the back
piece that goes on. Three, actually.

Got this neck piece to match in.

# She's so beautiful

# And I tell her every day. #

You can't move your eyebrows
because you've got this huge
brow built into the costume.

So there's a lot more gurning and
stuff which one does with the mouth

which communicates
a lot more emotion.

I've got the latex skull cap you saw
being glued on earlier

and then I've got a couple inches of
foam rubber on the side of that.

There are holes in the ears which go
down to my actual ears.

It's weird, because I can't hear
myself speak properly,

so working out what I sound like
is interesting.

But I imagine that I'm talking
to you with a vaguely normal volume.

I'll either SHOUT...
or be a bit too quiet.

All a bit tricky.

Hello. Brown toast please,
bacon, fried egg,

sausage and mushrooms,
please. Thank you.

I got up at four o'clock this
morning, crept out of the house

before the kids woke up, though
they normally do when I leave,

and I arrived about
seven o'clock here.

All right, mate, how are you?
I'm good, mate. Long time no see.

How are you? You doing well? Good.
Up for a bit of cyber action?
Can't wait.

Nice one. Been a long time, man.

Just trying to find the trailer now
where we're getting dressed.

Good start, I'm lost already.
Thank you, mate.

This is where the magic happens.
Sexy leotard.

Like a night out at a disco, really.

It's very tight. That extra sausage
at breakfast wasn't a good idea.

Just going to get the metal on now.

Ooh, nice and soft.

Legs next. How's that feeling? Good.

Legs are being held in place
by clips on top of the thigh.

Keeps them from riding down.

The pants are held on by willpower.

Shoes next. This is the tricky bit.
Perfect, I'm in. And they're comfy.

Got to be in it for hours
so they've got to be comfy.

Arms next, once again secured
by clips discreetly hidden
inside the suit.

All right? Lovely.

So that's me done.
Hands and heads go on on set.

Time to go on set.

We try and squeeze into the seats
as best we can. Not easy in
some of this equipment.

All righty.

I've not been to this location
before. It looks very glamorous.

Nice factory. Bit of steam
coming out. Very Dr Who.

Lots of metal, bits of pipe,
sharp angles. Lovely.

So this is the set.

I haven't seen the script so I'm only
guessing - some kind of control room?

Sometimes we get
to look at the scripts,
certainly for technical reasons.

If there's stairs, for example,
these boots are a bit cumbersome,
so it's nice

to have a bit of a rehearsal
going up and down steps,

or if it's a bit of a small set,
how much shoulder room we've got.

Especially...
Today there's seven Cybermen

so we don't want to all
be bumping into each other
and knocking the set over.

And left, right,

one two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight, nine.

That's pretty neat. That's nice.

The trick is to all move as one.

So marching in time, stopping
in time, weapons up in time.

That's what makes it look good.
Being a baddie is always fun.

Helmet on, rehearsal, please.

Ready? Yes. My turn.

OK? Feeling all right? Cool.

Action! One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight!

Cut there.

Just organising the next set-up.

We're on our Cybership
and we've been hit by something.

So we'll be doing a bit
of staggering, losing our balance.

Probably get a bit of stomping done
at the same time, I'd imagine.

I'm fine.

Right, I'm going in. Bye-bye!

Action! Three, two, one,

and...boom!

STEAM HISSES

Very good, boys. Have a break. Let's
get the helmets off, please, guys.

Well done, chaps.
Brilliant. Well done.

Oh. Better than working
in an office any day.

Going to get a drink now.

Cheers!

Between us we've
played all the monsters -
Oods, Judoons, Pig Men, Cybermen...

Scarecrows, evil Santas, gold-headed
robots... We've done them all.

Weevils on Torchwood,
Slabs, you name it.

They're out there, aren't they?
They're out there.

Now, a lot of people ask me, how
does a Cyberman go to the toilet?

I'm not telling!

You're heading back
to the safety of the spacecraft...

The director is blocking out
what he wants from this sh*t. The
main character comes into the room,

and we're a little bit wary of him.
He's got something about him.

Then something's portrayed
on the screen which is not there,

but we've got
the green screen behind,

and it'll be put on there
when it comes on the TV.

Doors open on the other set.

This is about the third time
the helmet is going on, so...er...

third time lucky!

Would you like me
to repeat the question? Cut!

Go again, please.

So I've got to hand in
my plastic w*apon.

Nice one, buddy. See you soon.
Take care. Cheers, man.

So that's me finished for the day.

Back home to Bournemouth.

Every time you come here,
it's like coming to a proper job,

so you know everybody and you're
working with the same people.

It's a really close-knit
community feel, it's fun.

Everyone gets on well
and everyone knows each other.

'It's a very happy
working experience.'

Another fun day at the office! Bye!

Why are they called
the Headless Monks?
They can't really be headless.

As you all know,
it is a Level One heresy,

punishable by death, to lower
the hood of a Headless Monk.

# Off with your head

# Dance till you're dead

# Heads will roll

# Heads will roll
Heads will roll

# On the floor... #

These guys can never be persuaded.

These far-from-friendly friars

have all sacrificed their heads
and souls in devotion

to their single-minded faith.

They never can be afraid.

# Oh

# Dance, dance till you're dead

# Heads will roll

# Heads will roll

# Heads will roll on the floor

# Dance, dance, dance
till you're dead. #

The headless monks began as a text -
it's the absolute truth -

when we were sh**ting
the Angels two-parter last year.

We were desperate to find a location
for the museum where Amy and the
Doctor had to be,

and Piers texted me and said,
"It looks very, very like a church.
You ought to put dialogue in

"to indicate this place
is meant to be a church."

So I texted back,
"The Doctor is saying,

""Final resting place of
the Headless Monks."" They were born.

I love museums! Yeah, great.
Can we go to a planet now?

Big spaceship, Churchill's bunker,

you promised me a planet!
This isn't any old asteroid.
It's the Delirium Archive -

the final resting place
of the Headless Monks -
the biggest museum ever.

There's obviously a running
thing in the Dr Who universe
at the moment -

a lot of the armies in the future
are actually sort of churches,

are ecclesiastical, which seems
odd and weird, but that's exactly
what the past was like.

We're living in a slightly odd time,
in a slightly odd place,

that we think that churches
aren't normally quite m*llitary.

So I just thought
they might go back that way.

The Headless Monks
are like the ultimate one -

they're like the SAS -
the really, really tough one.

They're so hard they don't
bother with brains at all.

Creating the look
of the Headless Monks

had the costume department
saying a few prayers.

That's better! Is it? God, yes.
How did you do that?

I just put it
round the back of your head.

It's pretty much what you'd expect
a monk to look like.

You know, the basic robe with a hood.

In order for them to be headless,
obviously,

there's a point where
we have the reveal - the hoods
are pulled back and you get to see

the full horror
of what happens to the victims.

So Millennium have created
for us a shoulder piece

which will sit on actors
who are shorter in height
than the average actors,

and on top of that sits...

It's almost like a hat
that sits on top,

which is the tied-off neck piece.

Then the robes are draped around it,
and hopefully,

gives the impression
that it's a headless body.

You're not supposed
to stare at them.

If they think you're
trying to see under their hoods,
they'll k*ll you on the spot.

Spoilers! Not allowed to hear!

Tension on set is mounting.

The crew are filming the key scene,
which is being kept under
the tightest of wraps.

It's the cliff-hanger we've been
building the whole series towards,

and we're trusting you guys
to keep it quiet.

So please, please, don't let it
get out of the building. Thank you.

Today we're sh**ting the last
scenes of episode seven.

It's something that,
from conception, Stephen's
been very keen to keep a secret.

The script we issued for the
read-through and to production
had a false ending

and only a select few
have had the real ending.

In fact, two of our crew members
who are married,

one has the real ending,
one doesn't.

It's been kept that secret!

My husband, as Confidential viewers
probably aren't aware,

my husband is the boom op on this.

He was one of the select few

that were issued with this very
confidential, top-secret page.

I had to hand the page to him
in an envelope.

He wouldn't let me see it.

Talk about keeping
the episode secret!

We're on this m*llitary base

where we all had to go through
high security to get in,

and there was no way that anybody
was going to let that secret out.

One of the problems with trying
to keep a secret on a TV programme

is that you mass distribute
copies of the script,

hand them out to relative strangers
and they leave them in cars and
trains, and that's just me.

It's very difficult to keep a secret.

Then you perform them out
loud in front of even more strangers.
How do you keep a secret?

You just have to try
and keep it as best you can.

Steven's a showman, he loves it.

He tells Beth and I, you know,

very little compared
to most writers.

He claims it's part of his process,

and if he tells us then it will
fade in his imagination somehow,

but it's actually
because he's a big tease.

It feels like our job
to try and protect it.

You know, it is about
the element of surprise... Hi.

Who's he?!

Oddly enough, it is more
than fun, keeping secrets
from the people you work with

and the actors who play them,
and your co-executives
and Piers and Beth.

It's more serious than that.

I could just tell them
everything in advance,

but then they'll pick up a script
and they won't know if they like it.

If they know everything,
it'll seem predictable.

I won't be able to assess
whether it's clear enough,

or if the secrets
are kept well enough, because
they're already too in the know.

Steven had written
a separate little scene,

which was the real scene,

but in the script that the crew
and everybody had been given

there still wasn't the reveal.

It was...
The information that I gave,

so to speak, was false.

It's a more fun show if you watch it
not knowing what's coming.

With most of the cast
and crew being kept in the dark,

there's lots of speculation
about what the secret might be.

We've had so much speculation here

that I'm not really sure
what we all think any more.

We've thought
of every possible eventuality.

I'd like it to be that River Song
is the Doctor reincarnated.

The Doctor and River somehow,
Amy and the Doctor...

That's what I've got
fingers crossed for.

Or his mother.

Yes.

I think River Song
is the Doctor's past love.

I think they're the same person.
But that's my opinion.

It's only a guess.

River Song is
the Doctor's mother-in-law.

River Song is Amy's mum.

Same hair colour.

I don't know, it could be wrong.

We'll wait and see!

Actually, because we were
filming in this enormous hangar

and there was a kind of
generator noise over the top,

a lot of them couldn't even hear when
I actually was saying who I was.

They still
couldn't hear what was going on!

Carry on!

Till the next time!

Amy and Rory, I know where
to find your daughter,

and on my life she will be safe.
River, get them all home, will you?

- Doctor...
Where are you going?

No!

Where did he go?
what did you tell him?

Amy, you have to stay calm.

Tell me what you told the Doctor!

Amy, no, stop it! It's OK,
Rory, she's fine. She's good.

It's the TARDIS translation matrix.

It takes a while to kick in
with the written word.

You have to concentrate.

I still can't read it.
That because it's Gallifreyan.

It doesn't translate.

But this will.

It's your daughter's
name in the language of the forest.

I know my daughter's name!

Except they don't have
a word for "pond",

because the only water
in the forest is the river.

'There's a piece of cloth
inside the cot,'

and that says my name,

but on the actual cot,
I think it's his name.

It's the Doctor's cot,
but is it only the Doctor's cot?

Um...

Yes, that's all I can say.

How many babies
have been in that cot, basically?

The Doctor will find your daughter,
and he will care for her,

whatever it takes.

And I know that.

It's me.

I'm Melody.

I'm your daughter.

So River Song is Amy's daughter!

I couldn't believe that
when I read that in the script,

I really couldn't.

I mean, it's the best, yes!
I get to be Alex Kingston's mum.

When Steven Moffat first told me
the truth about River Song,

I just thought,
"You clever so-and-so.

"You are... You're amazing."

One of the dangers of a reveal,

one of the dangers of whipping
the cover off a secret

is that you've just got an answer.
You say, "Well, that's what it is."

"Is it door one, two or three?"
Well, it's door two.

You have to have a reveal,

you have to have an answer that
is as complicated as the question.

You have to actually say,
"Oh, now that that's the case,

"we're in even more trouble."

So the answer
is as good as the question,

and it's as troubling as
the question, and is not final.

I don't actually want to end
the story, that would be bad.

It was a relief also knowing that
finally I wouldn't have to hold on
to that secret any more,

'and that the others wouldn't
have to try and bribe me
any more either.'

Now it's finally revealed,
and she's Amy's daughter,

Amy and Rory's little girl.
So that is just the best.

I don't think they'd
dared believe

that the reality would be
that I was their daughter.

But I am.
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