Trama

Villa Diodati, 1816 - on a night that inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The plan was to spend the evening in the presence of literary greats - but the ghosts are all too real. And the Doctor is forced into an earth-shattering decision.

At Lake Geneva on June 1816 in, it's a dark and stormy night. Claire Clairmont looks out at the storm from inside Villa Diodati while Mary Wollenscroft Godwin tends to her baby son William, and John Polidori says that he can't bear the storm. She says that the world seems sick, and another guest, Lord Byron, sarcastically responds. Claire suggests that Byron or Polidori read something to them to awaken thrilling horror. Byron says that he has just the thing and starts reading "Tales of the Dead".

In a door upstairs, something rattles a locked door.

As Byron reads, someone knocks at the door. The valet, Fletcher, says that he'll send him away. Byron insists that he should be the one to go and greet it if it's someone infernal, and asks who will go with him. Mary, Claire, and Polidori all go with him to the door, and Polidori figures that it's Shelley amusing himself by playing a prank. Byron opens the door, insisting that there's nothing to be afraid of, and the Doctor and her companions jump back in startled fear as Byron and the others jump back as well.

The Doctor flashes her psychic papers but they don't respond to it. Ryan asks if they can come in, and Byron steps aside so they can enter. As they go through the house to take their coats to dry off, the Doctor says that it's a quality historical experience. Yasmin reminds them that it's the night the writers created "Frankenstein". The doctor reminds them not to mention "Frankenstein" to any of the writers, and Fletcher finds them and takes them to the room where the four writers are partying. They teach "the dance" and the writers gossip. While they dance, Polidori mentions that Mary goes by "Mrs. Shelley" isn't mentioned, and the rumors of Byron being separated from his wife have driven him out of England. Polidori tells Yasmin that Byron keeps company with Mary's stepsister, Claire. Once the dance ends, Graham goes to the lavatory and the Doctor suggests they write the most spine-chilling story of all time.

The nanny puts William to bed and leaves. A vase behind her flies through the air and slams into the wall.

Mary would rather dance, and Yasmin complains that the Doctor is interfering. The Doctor points out that Shelley isn't there and there's no writing.

The nanny, Elise, cleans up the shattered vase. Graham finds her while looking for the lavatory, and Elise mutters about the devil. She runs off and Graham says that he'll hold it. Behind him, a skeletal hand emerges from a painting and crawls across the floor. Graham finds his way upstairs, and a minute later comes back to where he started. Puzzled, he continues on and finds the nursery. As he leaves, a ghostly child appears behind him.

Yasmin finds Claire working at the lock on the door, and admits that she's after letters that Byron might have written about her. She wants to determine Byron's true sentiments. Yasmin suggests that Claire ask Byron, and Claire says that she has but he won't answer her questions. Claire asks Yasmin if she would change someone exciting for someone reliable and dull, and Yasmin sees the image of a girl in a flash of lightning. The image disappears, and Yasmin dismisses it as a trick of the light.

As the Doctor sonics the house, Byron recites his poetry. He says that Shelley is indisposed and won't be joining them, and explains that her "carriage" she arrived in has disappeared.

Ryan plays "Chopsticks " on the piano for Mary's amusement, and she says that she prefers to write then play. Polidori glares at them, and Mary says that he's bad-tempered because he doesn't sleep and walks at night.

Byron tells the Doctor that she wants his work in progress, his third canto. The Doctor denies it, and says that she's getting a weird vibe from the house. She's sensing that it's unrelentingly evil. Graham returns and Fletcher points out a chamber pot. Mary tells Polidori that she's tired of waiting for him to dance with him, and Polidori angrily snaps at Ryan and then challenges him to a duel. Ryan says that he's not there to fight, but Polidori tells Fletcher to be his second. Graham forbids them from dueling, but Polidori goes to get his pistol. As he leaves, he sees the crawling hand on the floor.

Mary, Graham, and Ryan peer at the creature. It leaps onto Ryan's throat and chokes him, and Mary pulls it off and throws it across the room. Fletcher hits it with a chair, smashing it, and the Doctor licks the remains and confirms that it's human and from the 15th century. Byron figures that the Doctor is from somewhere much stranger than she claims. Polidori suggests that Byron brought the evil, and Byron admits that he might have a skeleton in his chamber.

The Doctor has Byron take her to see the skeleton, and he leads her and the others to his collection of relics of war from his travels. He reveals the skeleton of a solider from the Battle of Morat, and they realize both hands are gone. Mary says that Shelley began having visions when the weather turned, images of a figure floating above the lake. The Doctor asks Byron what he meant about Shelley being indisposed, and Mary says that she believes Shelley retreated to Maison Chapuis on the shore to write. Yasmin suggests that they go there to talk to him.

Graham, goes back to the study and waits with a sleeping Polidori, and apparitions of the girl and her mother appear.

As Ryan, Claire, and Yasmin go through the house, Mary says that the images Shelley described were burn. They apparently go in circles, returning to where they started.

The Doctor tells Byron and Claire that whatever the presence is, it's probably not demonic. Mary asks her if her "vibe" is still there, and Claire says that it won't let her think and she needs to get out of the house. They leave the room... and find themselves back in it.

Yasmin, Ryan, and Mary keep returning to the same corridor, and Mary figures the house is turning against them. An image appears briefly, William cries in the distance and Mary tries to go through to him, but finds herself back with Ryan and Yasmin.

Elise goes to the nursery and finds the windows open. As she closes them, she sees a light out on the lawn. After a moment, she closes the drapes and goes back to the baby.

Polidori gets up and walks through a wall as an astonished Graham looks on.

The Doctor keeps returning to the room with Byron and Claire, and Byron says that it's like a dream.

Mary calls out to Elise, asking if she has William.

Graham runs out of the room and comes face to face with the two apparitions. The Doctor and the others call out and they hear each other via the fireplace chimney. The apparitions disappear, and Graham says that he lost Polidori. Graham describes Polidori, but the Doctor insists that he's not dead. Polidori arrives in their room, still waking in a trance, and the Doctor confirms that he's still alive but his mind has shut down. She realizes that Polidori t3eleports as well as walked through walls, and figures that Polidori is dreaming and they aren't. Polidori can't see the illusion, and she reaches out and realizes the wall is imaginary. She suggests that it's a perception filter, and tells everyone to close their eyes and clear their minds.

Mary does so and realizes that their minds are being deceived. She finds a door and opens it, and Ryan and Yasmin follow her to where William's room is. The room isn't there, and they feel their way to the nursery. There's a skeleton in the crib, and when Mary screams Polidori wakes up. the Doctor tells him that he showed the way to get out of the room.

The Doctor leads Polidori, Byron, and Claire to the hallway. She steps to the door that she knows is there, and opens it but slams into an invisible wall. They return to Byron's study and the others join them, and they find Byron's collection of bones moving on their own. Ryan suggests that Shelley never showed up because he couldn't get in. When he notes that the place is folding in on itself, the Doctor figures something is turning the house into a panic room. 1816 was a y ear without a summer, supposedly because of ash from volcanic eruptions, and the Doctor suggests that something came there and created a major disturbance. Mary looks out the window and sees the flowing light, just floating around. The Doctor says tit's pushing through, and it's a t4raveler moving through time... and it's trying to get in.

The figure manages to enter the doorway and asks if the Doctor is the Guardian. The Doctor and her companions realize that it's a lone incomplete Cyberman, Ashad, and Yasmin repeats Jack's warning not to let it have what it wants. The Cyberman advances on them and the group barricade the door. The Doctor tells her that a Cyberman is an organic being replaced with mechanical parts, and the process drives it insane. The Doctor figures that whatever Ashad came for is hidden in Villa Diodati, and she needs to find it before it does.

Fletcher calls to Byron, and Ashad hears it and goes after the valet.

The Doctor says that she needs to find what Ashad is looking for, and refuses to let her companions with her in case they become Cybermen as well. She tells her companions not to follow her and leaves.

Ashad grabs Fletcher and asks if he's the guardian. Fletcher says that he's the valet and Ashad throws him aside, then hears William crying. The Cyberman follows the noise and finds Elise hiding with William in a chest. he knocks her aside, picks up William, and tells it not to be afraid because he will be like them.

Mary wonders what happens if Ashad passed through a wall and attacks them. Yasmin points out the Doctor only told them not to follow her, and suggests that they split up.

The Doctor confronts Ashad and offers to help him find what he's looking for. Ashad says that the Doctor isn't as primitive as he expected, and the Doctor tells him he's not as cyborgy as she expected. The Cyberman realizes that the Doctor has met his kind before, and she is in a heightened state of anxiety. The Doctor notes that the Cyberman is incomplete, and it tries to blast her but realizes his blaster is out of energy. Ashad attacks her, and the Doctor says that it isn't her time and maybe they're supposed to work together. Undeterred, Ashad continued attacking her.

One group--Mary, Yasmin, Ryan, and Byron--find a room filled with pages of Shelley's writings.

The other group--Polidori, Claire, and Graham--find a coal hatch leading down to the cellar. They go down into the cellar

Ashad calls down Lightning to strike Villa Diodati, recharging the Cyberman. Once it is fully charged, it says that's better.

Graham and the others discover that there's no way out. Claire's candle blow out and warns the others that there is something there with them.

Ashad says it can tell from the energy readings that the Doctor is not the host, and the "Cyberium" has selected another host. The Doctor has no idea what the Cyberium is, and Ashad says that it will find it and remove it. As it scans the room, more lightning strikes the house and Ashad glows with energy. it then says that every atom of the Earth was once a living man. Mary and Byron hear Ashad reciting the words, and realizes that the words are Shelley's.

Claire tells Graham and Polidori that she felt something in the darkness, breathing on her. They go the room where she was and find Percy inside. he apologizes, saying that he tries to hide it, and explains that he's the guardian.

Ashad says that he seeks Shelley but he is fortified against him. The Doctor suggests that they split up and search, and runs off. She finds William lying on the floor, and picks him up as Yasmin, Mary, Byron, and Ryan arrive. Mary takes her baby, while Byron finds Fletcher's corpse. Polidori and Claire arrive and say that Graham is in the cellar with Shelley, and the Doctor tells the writers to hide. She insists that they're not supposed to die and they can't unravel anything else, and warns that history is vulnerable. Mary gives William to Byron and then goes to see Shelley.

In the cellar, the Doctor sonics Shelley and realizes that something is cloaking him. Shelley says that he's trying to protect the Cyberium. Ashad teleports into the cellar, and Shelley concentrates and sends it back upstairs. As Ashad roars in fury, Shelley explains that he's changing some of the house and sent Ashad away, but it has its own will. Mary arrives, insisting that she couldn't hide, and goes to Shelley. The Doctor links minds with Shelley and sees him out walking alone. He saw a glimmer on Lake Geneva and fished it out, and realized it was a piece of metal that entered his body.

Shelley says that he returned but no one could see him. The glimmer--the Cyberium--hit itself in him and hid Shelley within the villa. When it thought it would be discovered, it altered everyone's perceptions. Shelley saw figures in his head and tried to transcribe them, but he couldn't understand them. He sought solitude in the cellar, and the Doctor explains that the Cyberium contained the future history of all Cybermen. Shelley says that the Cybermen built an army and left a trail of rage throughout the universe.

The Doctor warns that the Cyberium will burn out Shelley's mind if it stays within him much longer. She explains that the Cyberium contains all of the Cybermen's stratagems, and sent it back through time in an attempt to change the future. Ashad tries to break through, and the Doctor tells Shelley to let it through. Yasmin reminds her of Jack's warning not to give Ashad what he wants, and the Doctor says that they can't let Shelley die because of his influence on history. She says that the world they came from won't exist if Shelley died, and refuses to sacrifice them. Her companions save nothing, and the Doctor says that it's up to her to choose whether she watches people die now or in the future. She admits that sometimes even she can't win, and Shelley begs her to help them.

Ashad arrives and tells Shelley to release what he holds. He says that the Cyberium must execute the host to escape, and the Doctor tells Ashad that that the Cyberium isn't obeying him. When Ashad says that he will execute Shelley, Mary asks what his name is. She says that she sees the man who spared William, and asks Ashad if he was a father before. Ashad admits that he was, and Mary says that he loved once and were loved in return. She figures he doesn't wish to kill and offers her hand, and Ashad takes it. He says that he spared William was because he's a useless runt. He explains that he slit his children's throats when they joined the resistance, and he will kill them all the same way.

The Doctor tells Shelley that she's sorry and mind-merges with him. Shelley images himself drowning, and the Cyberium leaves his body. They find themselves with Byron, Polidori, and Claire, and the Doctor says that releasing the Cyberium reset the house. She says that the Cyberium is choosing her and it enters her body. Ashad tells her to surrender the Cyberium or he'll execute her, and the Doctor says that the Cyberium won't execute her without a fight.

Ashad commands his ship to shred the planet. The Doctor says that Earth didn't die in 1816, but realizes that she can't take the chance. Ashad tells them that the Cybermen are inevitable, and the Doctor agrees and releases the Cyberium. Ashad takes it and disappears, Daylight shines in, an d the Doctor says that she pushed Shelley's mind to his future death, tricking the Cyberium into letting him go. She asks for Shelley's forgiveness, and explains that she put the future in the greatest danger. Saving Shelley is step one of her plan, and step two is fixing the mess she created in step one. They have to travel to the future to stop Ashad from rebuilding the Cyber Army, and asks Shelley to give them the symbols he saw in his mind.

Before the Doctor and her companions leave, they gather with the writers on the shores of Lake Geneva. When Byron suggests that she and Claire retire to somewhere private, Claire tells him that after all of his belittlements, his spell over her is broken. Meanwhile, Shelley and Mary thank the Doctor for help. She tells them to not lose hope. As the group returns to the TARDIS, Graham wonders where the apparitions came from. The Doctor suggests that ghosts might exist.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor tells her companions that they don't need to come with her because humans and Cyber Armies don't mix. They insist on going with her.

Later, Byron recites his poetry to the other writers, talking about a dead world and darkness, and how she--the Doctor--was the universe.