The Rebel Flesh (Series 6, Episode 5)

Series 6, Episode 5 | 2 parts | First broadcast: 21 May 2011 | Writer: Matthew Graham | Director: Julian Simpson

Cast

  • Matt Smith as the Doctor
  • Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
  • Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams
  • Marshall Lancaster as Jimmy Wicks

Summary

At an acid-mining facility, workers routinely control disposable duplicate bodies called “Gangers,” made from a programmable substance called the Flesh, to perform dangerous tasks remotely. When a solar storm strikes and severs the connection between the Gangers and their originals, the duplicates awaken with full independence and memories of their own, setting up a volatile standoff over who has the right to exist.

Interesting Facts

  • The Flesh and its Ganger duplicates raise pointed questions about identity and personhood that echo throughout the two-parter.
  • The Doctor is revealed at the cliffhanger to have created a Ganger duplicate of himself as well, without anyone realising until the reveal.
  • This story would go on to have far-reaching consequences for the series’ larger mysteries involving the Doctor and Amy.
  • Writer Matthew Graham previously contributed the acclaimed but divisive “Fear Her” during the Tenth Doctor’s era.

References

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