"Doctor Who": "Can You Hear Me?" Quiz

Answer: Syria

The episode begins in Aleppo, Syria, in the year 1380. A young woman is being chased by monsters and seeks refuge. The cold open ends with her facing a large alien monster.

Aleppo, located in northwestern Syria, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Excavations date back to the sixth millennium BCE. The city has been governed by a wide range of peoples over the last 8000 years, including being invaded by the Mongols in the 13th century. In its more recent history, Aleppo has been central to the Civil War in Syria.

Answer: Sheffield

The Fam returns to Sheffield. Yaz meets up with her sister, celebrating an odd anniversary. Ryan meets up with an old friend and plays video game football, while Graham plays poker with his buddies.

Sheffield is where the Doctor met her companions during "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (2018). They have returned there several times, most notably in "Arachnids in the UK" (2018), when the city was invaded by mutant spiders.

Answer: Chagaskas

The large clawed monsters are Chagaskas, and they are created by the imagination of Tahira. She is able to control her fears and channel them to control the monsters. The Doctor uses the Chagaska to distract the immortal beings and trap them in the energy orb.

Geographically, there is a Chagaska Cove in Alaska, United States.

Tunguska is an area of Siberia in Russia that was hit by an extra-terrestrial object that exploded with enormous force in 1908.

The Graske are a group of changeling aliens that first appeared in the "Doctor Who" Universe on Christmas 2005. Chiggers are extremely small arachnids which leave nasty, itchy bites, but are not really the stuff of proper nightmares.

Answer: Zellin

Zellin was played by Ian Gelder. "Game of Thrones" fans recognize Gelder as Kevan Lannister and "Torchwood" fans know him from "Children of Earth" (2009). Gelder started acting in film and television in 1972. Zellin referred to the Eternals and the Guardians of Time, other immortals that like to exploit human beings, as well as the Celestial Toymaker.

Rakaya was the name of the female immortal, who was played by Clare-Hope Ashitey. She began acting in a 2005, and has appeared in a variety of British series.

Ashildr is the Viking girl who was made immortal by the Twelfth Doctor in "The Girl Who Died" (2015). She encounters the Doctor at the end of the universe in "Hell Bent" (2015) and takes off in a TARDIS with Clara Oswald.

Rassilon is one of the founders of Time Lord civilization, and a fairly consistent enemy of the Doctor. He sought immortality and lived a remarkably long time, even by Time Lord standards.

Answer: Tibo

Tibo is played by Buom Tihngang. He began acting in 2017. He was in the World War II drama "World on Fire" (2019) and the Shakespeare play "King Lear" in 2017.

Andrew and Fred are Graham's poker playing friends. Aaron is Ryan's deadbeat father, although he does help save the world during "Resolution" (2019).

Answer: 50 pounds vs 50 pence

The policewoman runs into Yaz hitchhiking. Apparently her sister Sonya is concerned enough to have the police try and track down Yaz. After a fairly lame pep talk, the policewoman bets that Yaz's life would be better in three years. She bets 50 pounds if she is wrong against 50 pence if she is correct. Near the end of the episode, Yaz tracks down the policewoman and pays her 50 pence.

Answer: impossible

When Tahira says the TARDIS is impossible, Yaz states that the Doctor "basically defines impossible." Considering the hundreds of miraculous escapes from death the Doctor has had over the centuries, that seems a very true statement.

Although, Clara Oswald still holds the title of "The Impossible Girl."

Answer: The Dregs from "Orphan 55"

Ryan has a nightmare in which Tibo chastises him for letting the Earth burn. He then has a flash to the human mutants from "Orphan 55" (2020).

Answer: Fears that his cancer would return

In Graham's nightmare, his cancer has returned with a vengeance. He confesses to the Doctor that even though his medical tests were positive, he has nagging fears his cancer will relapse.

The Doctor, who still has atrocious interpersonal skills, confesses she doesn't really have much to reassure him but that she would make an effort.

Answer: Charlene James

Charlene James was the writer on "Can You Hear Me?". She does have some experience with the supernatural, having worked on "A Discovery of Witches" in 2018. Her first TV writing credit dates to 2016. James is best known for her theater work, especially her 2014 play "Cuttin' It" which is about female genital mutilation. The drama won several major awards.

Emma Sullivan directed "Can You Hear Me?" She got her start in television directing on the medical drama "Doctors" in 2012. She also directed the series 12 episode "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" (2020). So the Doctor's line about "Frankenstein" was a deliberate lead-in to the next episode.

Aruhan Galieva was Tahira, the young woman from Aleppo. She is best known as a singer, although she has had some film and television appearances, including a recurring role on the medical drama "Doctors" (2017-18).

Nasreen Hussain played the semi-mysterious police woman who gave the pep talk to Yazmin. She worked in British television 2001 to 2006, then took a ten year break before returning in 2016. She generally plays either doctors or government officials.