Josiah Samuel Smith's reign of terror
Con man Josiah Samuel Smith manipulates people and takes control of a village with his mechanical prison, using cult-like tactics against the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and others.
Arc Timeline
Season 26
18 eventsMrs. Pritchard and the maid deliver a tray of food to a confined creature deep in the cellar of Gabriel Chase. The housekeeper’s methodical cruelty is clear as she uses …
Reverend Ernest Matthews forces urgent entry into Gabriel Chase, bypassing etiquette and dismissing protocol to confront Josiah Samuel Smith. His abrupt arrival, marked by impatience and implied scholarly rivalry, sets …
The Doctor and Ace explore the attic of Gabriel Chase, finding a macabre collection of preservative chemicals and taxidermy supplies. The Doctor identifies their purpose while Ace jokes about the …
The Doctor and Ace arrive at Gabriel Chase to confront Josiah Samuel Smith about the taxidermy conspiracy, but the tension escalates when Ace recognizes the house itself as the source …
Josiah Samuel Smith orders Nimrod to force open Redvers Fenn-Cooper’s jammed door as savage light and screaming pour from within. The Doctor warns against staring into the revealed chamber and …
Josiah descends the stairs attempting to maintain control of the conversation with the Doctor. When pressed about Ace’s disappearance the Doctor reveals his awareness of Josiah’s lies regarding the ship’s …
The Doctor seizes upon the sudden activation of the mansion’s stained glass wards, which begin pulsing ominously at the top of the stairs. With the alarm shrieking through the halls, …
Ace’s struggle with Josiah’s containment systems escalates catastrophically. A misjudged strike smashes a golden wall screen, rupturing hidden ductwork and flooding the cellar with hissing, iridescent gas. Josiah’s experiments and …
Josiah’s control slips as the Doctor escalates taunts about his failing experiments and cowardice, goading him into rash action. The crystal rods lower under orders from Josiah’s shaken accomplices, but …
Josiah’s patience finally snaps as the Doctor’s taunts about the husks push him to brandish a revolver. Sensing the escalation, the Doctor acts quickly, exposing the steam vent and directing …
The Doctor’s decisive counter to Josiah’s experiment—redirecting a steam vent’s scalding rush into his face—grants Ace the opening to seize his revolver. But the mansion’s forces now turn against Josiah: …
Ace and the Doctor emerge from the lift into the entrance hall to find Josiah rapidly succumbing to his own horrific transformation. Josiah orders his staff to secure the house …
The Doctor brings Inspector MacKenzie into the drawing room, attempting to keep him calm as questions mount about Josiah’s sudden disappearance. MacKenzie’s sharp observations about the mansion’s emptiness and the …
Mrs. Grose delivers a rigidly corseted Victorian gown to Ace, hoping to reshape her rebellious companion into the era's mold. Ace rejects the restrictive attire with visible disgust, her horror …
The Doctor navigates a delicate balance in the drawing room, deflecting Inspector MacKenzie’s demands for information about the missing household while covertly awakening Ace and testing Nimrod’s hypnotized state. The …
Nimrod erupts into the drawing room, seizing Ace to confront the encroaching supernatural forces he claims to understand. His cryptic invocations of paleolithic hunts and the Burning One crack under …
The cellar control room becomes the epicenter of chaos as Control, the disembodied entity, frantically manipulates the spaceship's console through the husks while pleading for its own liberation. The desperate …
The corridor of the mansion, heavy with forgotten grandeur, becomes the site of a sudden breakthrough. The Inspector, already rattled by the oppressive atmosphere, fiddles with a door hidden behind …