Oh, my stars!
Are you all right? Yeah, I'm fine.
So I've got something for you. What?
You kept it? Of course I kept it.
Why?
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.
There.
Go on, kick it.
Oh, my stars! Are you all right?
Fine. Marvellous.
Refulgent.
Possibly a touch embarrassed. That's not dangerous, is it?
What's not? Embarrassment.
Not usually. Not to my knowledge.
Good. Hey, phew!
I am so sorry. She wants to be Bryan Robson.
No worries, my fault. No harm done.
Hello, there. Clara.
Hello there, Clara.
She's just a girl. How can she be?
She can't be.
She is. She can't be.
She's not possible.
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?
Well, not strawberries, no.
No, no, no. That would be unacceptable.
And we can go anywhere? Within reason. Well, I say reason.
So we could go backwards in time. And space, yes.
And forwards in time. And space, totally.
So, where do you want to go, hey?
What do you want to see?
I don't know. Do you know when somebody asks you what's your favourite book
and straight away you forget every single book that you've ever read?
No, totally not. Well, that's a thing that happens.
And? Back to the question. Okay.
So...
So... So...
So, I'd like to see...
I would like to see... What I would like to see is...
something awesome.
Can you feel the light on your eyelids?
Mmm-hmm.
That is the light of an alien sun.
Forward a couple of steps.
Okay.
Are you ready?
Yes. No. Yes.
Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten.
It's... Yeah, it is.
It so completely is. But wait, there is more.
More what? Wait, wait, wait.
In about five...
four...
three...
two...
What is it? The pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten.
It's a holy site for the Sun-singers of Akhet.
The who of what? Seven worlds orbiting the same star.
All of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here,
on that planet.
All life? In the universe.
Did it? Well...
it's what they believe.
It's a nice story.
Can we see it?
Up close?
I can't pay for that.
Where are they from?
Oh, you know, the local system, mostly.
And what do I call them? Well, let's see.
Ah, there go some Pan-Babylonians. A Lugal-Irra-Kush.
Uh, some Lucanians.
A Hooloovoo.
That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodonian Belt.
You don't see many of them around any more.
Ho-ho! That's an Ultramancer!
You know, I forget how much I like it here.
We should come here more often. You've been here before?
Yes, yes, yes, I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter.
Hang on!
Exotic fruits of some description.
All right, non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic.
High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder.
No?
So, why is everyone here?
Ah, for the Festival of Offerings.
Takes place every 1,000 years or so when the rings align.
It's quite a big thing, locally, like Pancake Tuesday.
Um, Doctor?
What's happening? Why is it angry?
This isn't an it, it's a she.
Dor'een, meet Clara. Clara, meet Dor'een.
Dor'een? Loose translation.
She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love, actually,
aren't you? Yes, you are.
You know, actually, she's just asking you
if you fancy renting a moped.
So, how much does it cost?
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.
That's horrible. Better than using bits of paper.
Then you pay. With what?
You're a thousand years old, you must have something you care about.
Doctor?
Are you okay?
Have you seen her? Who?
The Queen of Years. Who?
Hello?
Hey.
Are you okay? Are you lost?
Are you all right?
What are you doing? Hiding.
Why?
You don't know me?
Sorry,
actually not.
So why did you follow me? To help. You looked lost.
I don't believe you.
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.
Really? Really, really.
Can you help me? That's why I'm still here.
Because I need to hide.
Merry.
Where are you, Merry?
I know the perfect box.
Merry.
Where are you, Merry?
Merry. Merry.
What's this?
A space-shippy thing. Timey, spacey.
It's teeny.
You wait.
Oh, come on.
What's wrong?
I don't know.
I don't think it likes me.
Come on. Let me in.
Hey! Hey, little girl!
My name's Merry.
So, what's happening?
Is someone trying to hurt you? No.
I'm just scared. Of what?
Getting it wrong.
Okay, can you pretend like I'm totally a space alien and explain?
I'm Merry Gejelh.
Really not local, sorry.
The Queen of Years?
They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died.
Okay. I'm the vessel of our history.
I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend,
every song. Every single one?
Blimey, I hated history.
Now I have to sing a song in front of everyone.
A special song, I have to sing it to a god.
I'm really scared.
Everyone's scared when they're little.
I used to be terrified of getting lost.
I used to have nightmares about it.
And then, I got lost.
Blackpool Beach, Bank Holiday Monday.
About 10 billion people. I was about six.
My worst nightmare come true.
What happened?
My 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.
It doesn't matter where you are, in the jungle or the desert...
or on the moon.
However lost you might 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.
And you were never scared again?
I was scared lots of times, but...
never of being lost.
So, this special song.
What are you scared of, exactly?
Getting it wrong. Making Grandfather angry.
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.
What have you been doing?
Exploring.
Where are we going now?
Sorry, sorry. Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me.
Sorry, sorry.
Are we even supposed to be here? But are we?
Sorry.
They're singing to the Mummy in the Temple.
They call it the Old God.
Sometimes Grandfather.
What are they singing?
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.
What are they doing? These are offerings.
Gifts of value.
Mementos to feed the Old God.
Okay, what's happening? Is that supposed to happen?
Help!
Is somebody going to do something?
Excuse me, is somebody going to help her?
Why are we walking away?
We can't just walk away.
This is my fault. I talked her into doing this.
Listen.
There is 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.
I need something precious. Well, you must have something.
All the places you've seen, there must be something.
This, and I don't want to give it away because it comes in handy.
You're a thousand years old and that's it, your spanner?
Screwdriver.
It's my mum's.
Merry!
Brakes! Brakes!
Okay, time to let go.
I can't. Clara, you have to.
Why? Because it really hurts.
Sorry.
Oh, that is interesting. A frequency modulated acoustic lock.
The key changes ten million, zillion, squillion times a second.
Can you open it? Technically, no.
In reality, also no. But still...
let's give it a stab.
How can they just stand there and watch?
Because this is sacred ground. And she's a child.
Yeah, and he's a god. Well, he is to them, anyway.
I don't know what to do next.
What happens?
Merry! Merry, hold on! We'll be there soon!
Doctor? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Oh, hello. Hello what?
The sonic's locked on to the acoustic tumblers.
Meaning? Meaning, I get to do this.
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?
Leave! You'll wake him.
Really quite extraordinarily heavy.
Clara? Uh-huh.
Merry, we need to leave.
No!
Go away. Not without you.
You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong.
And now this has happened. Look what's happened.
You didn't get it wrong. How do you know?
You don't know anything.
You have to go. Go now, or he'll eat us all.
Well, he's ugly.
But, you know, to be honest...
I don't think he looks big enough. Not our meat, our souls.
He doesn't want you,
he wants me.
If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up, too.
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.
Yes. I see.
Right. Clara's right.
Absolutely never going to happen.
Did you just lock us in? Yep.
With the soul-eating monster? Yep.
And is there actually a way to get out?
What? Before it eats our souls?
Ideally, yeah. Possibly.
Probably.
There usually seems to be.
Doctor...
why is he still singing?
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.
That's it, then?
Song's over?
The song is over.
My name is Chorister Rezh Baphix,
and the Long Song...
ended with me.
That's it, then. Song's over.
Ah, look at that! You've woken him!
It's awake? What's it doing?
Oh, you know, having a nice stretch.
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 story.
She didn't say story, she said soul.
Same thing.
A 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.
Stop it. You're scaring her. Good. She should be scared.
She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means.
Do you know what it means, Merry?
A god chose me.
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 him.
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.
So, if I don't...
then everyone else... Will be fine.
How?
There's always a way.
You promise?
Cross my hearts.
Having a nice stretch?
Something's coming. What's coming?
The Vigil.
And what's the Vigil?
If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon...
Yes?
It's their job to feed her to Grandfather.
I'm sorry!
Don't you dare.
Yeah, stay back. I'm armed.
With a screwdriver.
Clara.
The sonic.
You know all the stories.
You must know if there's another way out.
There's a tale. A secret song.
The Thief of the Temple and the Nimmer's Door.
And the secret songs open the secret door?
How does it go? Can you sing it?
Go!
Doctor!
Where did they go?
Grandfather's awake.
They're of no function any more.
Well, you could sound happier about it.
Actually, I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo.
More of a semantics mix-up, really. What boo-boo?
I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't.
It was just Grandfather's alarm clock.
Sorry, a bit lost.
Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God? Unfortunately, yes.
Oh, my stars.
What do we do?
Against that? I don't know.
Do you know? I don't know.
Any ideas? But you promised.
You promised. I did. I...
I did promise. 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.
I say leg it. Leg it where, exactly?
I don't know. Lake District? Oh, the Lake District's lovely.
Let's definitely go there. We can eat scones.
They do great scones in 1927.
You're going to fight it, aren't you? Regrettably, yes.
I think I may be about to do that.
It's really big. I've seen bigger.
Really? Are you joking?
It's massive. I'm staying with you.
No, you're not. Yes, I am. I can assist.
No, you can't.
What about that stuff you said?
We don't walk away.
No. We don't walk away.
But when we're holding on to something precious, we run.
We run and run, 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.
Any ideas?
No, didn't think so.
Righty-ho, then.
Lordy.
Isn't he frightened?
I think he is.
I think he's very frightened.
I want to help. So do I.
Okay, then.
That's what I'll do.
I will tell you a story.
Can you hear them?
All these people who've lived in terror of you and your judgment.
All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves,
sacrificed themselves, to you.
Can you hear them singing?
Oh, you like to think 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've lived a long life
and I have seen a few things.
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 madman.
And I have watched
universes freeze and creations burn.
I have 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!
And I will always come and find you.
Every single time.
We don't walk away.
Still hungry?
Well, I brought something for you.
This.
The most important leaf in human history.
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.
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 were all my mum's.
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.
And infinity is too much...
even for your appetite.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
It looks different.
Nope. Same house, same city, same planet.
Ha-hey! Same day, actually. Not bad.
Hole in one!
You were there.
At mum's grave. You were watching.
What were you doing there? I don't know. I was just...
making sure. Of what?
You remind me of someone. Who?
Someone who died.
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 somebody else.
I'm not going to compete with a ghost.
No.
They wanted you to have it.
Who did? Everyone.
All the people you saved.
You. No one else.
Clara.