EMPIRE OF THE MOFFS
One year and Eighteen Days aftertheValeyard's takeover and decimation ofEarth, the Earth (Sol 3) is closed from space traffic as it is enteringextinction. On a beach on the coast ofEngland,Peppa PiquedirectsLuke'sboatin. He returns to the UK for the first time since theMoffinvasion, having travelled the world. He tells Peppa he has to talk to a ProfessorLouise McNashand asks her why she is allowed to travel. She says it is because she is adoctor. Luke is happy he is travelling with a doctor. Peppa tells Luke that he has become a legend around the world as the one person who can kill the Valeyard, and asks her if this is true. He does not answer him.
The Valeyard enters the deck of Thunder, singing and dancing toScissor Sisters' "I Can't Decide". He kissesAnastasia, who shows signs of physical abuse, before taunting the agedSeventeenth Doctorby dancing around the room with him. He says there is one day until launch.
The Doctor refuses to speak. He only responds when the Valeyard mentions that Luke has apparently returned to England. He tells the Valeyard to leave him alone. The Valeyard tries to force him to talk more but knows that the "Moffs" broke the Doctor'sheartswhen he realised what they are. The Doctor says he has just one thing to say, and the Valeyard knows what it is, but the Valeyard walks away.Moirais forced to be a waitress for the Valeyard.AlanandKiraare also working on Thunder. Kira's job is to feedJenny, who is chained to the "naughty step". Kira gives Jenny a hand signal to explain her plan, and Jenny winks in acknowledgement.
Luke and Peppa walk up a hill and see an enormous statue of the Valeyard at the top of it; Luke comments that the Valeyard has even carved himself into nearly every mountain. Looking out at the miles of countryside in front of them, they see thousands of spaceships being built. Luke explains that thousands more are being built across the world,all the large countries like Russiabeing turned into big shipyards, and that the Valeyard is preparing for war with the rest of theuniverse. Suddenly, two Moffs arrive and demand an explanation for Peppa's travelling. She presents identification that he is allowed to travel and the Moffs taunt her and move on. Peppa asks Luke how the cubes didn't notice him, and he reveals that he is still wearing hisTARDIS keyperception filter, and that is how he has managed to travel the world.
Kira continues to spread his hand signal of three fingers, indicating that they will rebel at 3:00 pm. As the Valeyard picks agirlto give him a massage and insults Anastasia, Jenny manages to break free of her chains, Alan pours water over all the technology and equipment, and Moira throws the Valeyard'slaser screwdriverto the Doctor. He points it at the Valeyard and says once more that he only has one thing to say and that the Valeyard knows what it is. The Doctor tries to use the screwdriver against the Valeyard, but it refuses to function for him. The Valeyard, who was never worried, simply laughs at the Doctor. Jenny is stunned again by the Valeyard's guards. The Valeyard explains that the screwdriver has isomorphic controls and it only works for him, before taking it back and punching the Doctor to the floor. He demonstrates by torturing Moira and forcing her to apologise. She does so and the Valeyard warns everyone that siding with the Doctor is not recommended, whether he be evil or good. The Valeyard continues to insult the Doctor and decides to take his revenge.
Luke and Peppa arrive at Professor McNash's workplace. She is trying to fix atelevisionso they can watch a transmission from the Valeyard. They are successful, and the Valeyard speaks to the world. He comments that he has heard that tales of Luke have given the remaining humans hope, but asks them how much hope the Doctor has, and on camera ages the Doctor with the laser screwdriver a further 5000 years. On the television, the Doctor appears to be dead, and the transmission ends with a word of warning to Luke to surrender. On Thunder, a tiny, disfigured creature emerges from the Doctor's clothes: a thousand-year aged Doctor. Luke is undisturbed, saying he knows the Doctor is still alive.
Luke tells Professor McNash that he came to see her so that they can catch themselves a cube: she has a CD containing the data of a Moff struck down by lightning inSouth America. Professor McNash manages to produce enoughelectricityto simulate the conditions. Peppa attracts attention by pulling out agunand firing a few rounds into the air. A Moff comes flying towards them, and Professor McNash activates the field to disable it. They prepare to find out what is inside.
The Valeyard and Anastasia visit the Doctor in the night, with the Doctor suspended in a cage. The Valeyard proclaims that tomorrow they will open up a hole in the Forinone Galaxy. The Doctor wants him to stop. The Valeyard indifferently responds that once an empire has been established, when there is a new Gallifrey in the heavens then it will stop. When a Moff enters, the Valeyard chastises the Doctor that he should be grateful: above all, he is doing this for them, and the Doctor, after all, "loves them very, very much."
Upon examining the cube thus captured, Luke, Peppa, and Professor McNash make a horrifying discovery: the cubes contain the conscious remains of thehumansfrom the year100 trillion. Luke is horrified when the Moff quotes youngZoon, whom she met onNobia, telling him that there was noSalvation, only more darkness and cold.
Meanwhile on Thunder, the Valeyard explains that the humans cannibalised and regressed themselves, becoming the child-like Moffs. The Valeyard brought them back in time usingthe TARDIS, which could only travel between 100 trillion and here. The contradiction of the Moffs killing their own ancestors is made possible by theparadox machinebuilt by the Valeyard. The Doctor is shocked that the Valeyard is changing the history of not just Earth but the entire universe. The Valeyard sardonically claims as a Time Lord he has that right. The Doctor questions why he would come all this way just to destroy. The Valeyard says that the Doctor wouldn't. The Moffs claims they have come back in time to build an empire lasting one hundred trillion years, with the Valeyard as their ruler.
Peppa asks the captured Moff why it wishes to kill its own ancestors. The Moff responds, "Because it's fun", and laughs maniacally. Peppa is sickened and horrified by this and shoots it dead.
McNash asks Luke if the rumours about her are true and Luke reveals a gun developed byTorchwoodandUNIT, purportedly able to kill aTime Lordand prevent the ensuingregeneration. Luke has retrieved three of the four chemicals needed for the gun from their hiding places around the world and has returned toLondonto find the fourth. After Luke and Peppa depart for a shelter inBrixtonto hide, McNash (who is desperate for information regarding her missing son) reveals their whereabouts to the Valeyard.
The Valeyard comes to Earth's surface to capture Luke, killing Peppa, destroying the special gun and taking her back to Thunder. He intends to execute her before the Doctor and her family, at the moment his fleet is launched.
But when that moment comes, as the clock counts down, Luke starts to laugh out loud, prompting the Valeyard to angrily demand to know what he finds so funny. Luke now reveals the real reason he travelled the globe: it wasn't for a fictional anti-regeneration gun, with the Doctor himself pointing out that he would have never asked Luke to kill, nor was it to fight back; but merely to talk. He told everyone about the Doctor; specifically, she told everyone to think of the Doctor at the same time the Valeyard plans to launch his fleet. It is revealed that when the Doctor whispered to Luke in the previous episode, he said: "Use the countdown." McNash's betrayal was planned — engineered by Luke so that he would be brought on board Thunderto rejoin the Doctor. Combined with the Valeyard'sNimja Network, which the Doctor has had an entire year to tune to the frequency of, this has the effect of charging the Doctor with the combined psychic energy of the people of Earth. This enables the Doctor to restore his youthful physiognomy and end the Valeyard's control. The combined psychic energy gives the Doctor great power and he is not only able to restore himself with it, but it shields him and temporarily grants himtelekinesiswith which he removes the Valeyard's laser screwdriver from his hand. As the Valeyard cowers against a wall, the Doctor says the words the Valeyard was terrified to hear: "I forgive you".
With the Valeyard out of the picture, Jenny rounds up some soldiers to destroy the paradox machine but is delayed by the Moffs. The Valeyard, usingJenny's vortex manipulator, teleports himself and the Doctor to Earth, threatening to detonate his fleet of ships, as each one has a black hole converter inside, and take the Earth with it. The Doctor knows that the Valeyard would never kill himself, as the Doctor would. The Doctor manages to teleport both himself and the Valeyard back to Thunderjust as Jenny destroys the paradox machine; this causes all time to reverse. Time reverses to the moment of the Paradox machine's activation, just after theUS Presidentwas killed and just before the Moffs arrived. All those on Thunderwill remember the events of the previous year due to being at "the eye of the storm," but nobody else will know of the Valeyard's reign of terror in "the year that never was". The Valeyard tries to run but ends up running straight into Jenny who recaptures him.
The Valeyard, now defenceless, is handcuffed and stands before the Doctor. The Doctor announces that, since the Valeyard is not only a Time Lord, but a splinter of himself, he is the Doctor's responsibility and will be imprisoned on board the TARDIS. Moira Morgan is talked out of shooting the Valeyard, but Anastasia Hyde, with a glazed expression, seizes a gun herself and shoots him. Rather than be a prisoner for the rest of his lives, the Valeyard lets himself die, refusing to regenerate despite the Doctor's desperate pleas. Just before dying in his Good Self's arms, the Valeyard tells the Doctor "we will meet again, whether it be in [the Valeyard's] future or past,", and with a smile says, "I win," before dying, leaving the heartbroken Doctor in uncontrollable tears for his lost adversary, now once again left as the last of the Time Lords.
The Doctor cremates the Valeyard's body on a pyre. He takes a burning torch and ignites the pyre, fire quickly swallowing up the Valeyard's remains. After watching his evil self burn up in front of him, he strides away from the funeral ceremony with a bitter look in his eyes.
In Cardiff, the Doctor has found Jenny's TARDIS disguised as a shed, and takes Jenny's vortex manipulator to keep him from having two time machines. When Jenny protests, the Doctor rebuffs him by saying, "that's your father's orders, understand,", and Jenny nods and says "yes," and bids farewell to the Doctor and Luke, before getting into her TARDIS and dematerialising away.
With his TARDIS repaired, the Doctor is ready to move on. Luke, however, has decided to stay so he can look after his family and finally qualify as a medical doctor. He gives the Doctor his phone so they can keep in touch and says that they will see each other again. Luke promises that he's going to call him again, and when he does, he'd better come running. As he heads out of the TARDIS, he parts with the words, "I'll see you again, mister." The Doctor smiles fondly at him and watches Luke leave.
While the TARDIS takes off, events flash back to the Doctor cremating the Valeyard. Nothing appears to be different. However, after he leaves, the Valeyard'ssignet ringdrops out of the flames and lands on the ground, flaked with ashes.A female hand wearing red nail polishtakes the Valeyard's emerald ring from the burnt-out pyre, while the Valeyard's malevolent laughter echoes in the background.
The Doctor sets the TARDIS controls — until he gets a message on the TARDIS monitor screen, telling him hd has an incoming teleport. He exclaims, "What... What?!?", before a Kerb!am Robot — holding a parcel — teleports into the TARDIS, telling the Doctor he has a delivery. The Doctor responds flatly, "What."