The Rebel Flesh
As the solar storm hits, the Gangers become independent, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory must work to prevent the two groups from breaking into a war.
The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a remote island, where a factory housed in a former 13th century castle monastery pumps a valuable, highly corrosive acid to the mainland.
The Doctor, initially posing as a weatherman, fears the worst part of the solar tsunami will strike the solar-powered factory soon, threatening those still remaining, and offers to take the crew in his TARDIS.
"The Almost People" confirms that the Doctor came to the base to examine the Flesh in its early stage in order to humanely sever its connection to Amy, who was replaced by a Ganger avatar prior to the beginning of the series.
[4] Her identity is revealed in "The Almost People" and she plays a larger part in "A Good Man Goes to War"[1][6] and "The Wedding of River Song".
[8] In the early drafts of the script, there were "so many copies of people running around the place" which made the story too confusing, so Graham and the production crew worked to make it more rational.
[10] Scenes outside and inside the monastery were filmed at Caerphilly Castle,[10] previously used in Doctor Who in "The End of Time"[12] and "The Vampires of Venice".
Most of the shots showed either the character or their Ganger speaking over their counterpart's shoulder, as only the backs of the doubles' heads were made to look similar to the actors.
Dan Martin, writing for The Guardian, said that "The Rebel Flesh" "is particularly satisfying" though it seemed that not much had happened due to its being the first part of a two-part story.
He noted that Matt Smith gave a more restrained performance that suited the feel of the episode, and also praised the advantage taken with the location filming for the monastery.
[22] IGN's Matt Risley rated the episode 8 out of 10, saying it delivered "a solid and traditional Whovian tale, albeit one at its best", though it was "nothing groundbreaking" yet.
He went on to praise the supporting cast that "managed to sell both their flawed human originals and their progressively bonkers ganger counterparts" as well as the setting.
[23] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy gave the episode four out of five stars, saying that "The Rebel Flesh" "strikes a satisfying balance between the humorous and the horrific" from the cold open.
He commended Graham for handling the two-part structure by using extra time to explore the characters and themes, and thought the highlight of the episode were Rory's scenes with Jennifer.
[24] SFX magazine reviewer Richard Edwards gave the episode four out of five stars, saying it "looks fantastic" and praised the choice of the abbey as the factory, which blew "the cliché of a futuristic industrial setting apart immediately, and [made] you feel like you’re watching something new."
His complaint was that it "truly [felt] like half a story in the way the best Doctor Who two-parters don't", though he said it managed to plant intriguing strands for the conclusion.
