Watching the Doctor

by RedRobyn2

The Doctor is stranded in prison, dealing with the revelations of the Timeless Child and the memories of her time travelling, all alone. Until the Tardis decides enough is enough and gathers her and some of her more recent companions to help her deal with her past and make some amends by watching her adventures. Characters watch the show, set after Timeless Child/Pre-Resolution.

27. End of Time Part 1

Hello everyone!

I know I'm very late (sorry, uni is very busy, great but hectic!). Here is is finally - the End of Time Part 1!

Hope you enjoy and see the end of the chapter for notes!

As always, please comment and let me know what you think of the chapter and story as a whole (plus suggestions for future episodes you want to see).

Thanks for reading and please enjoy!

Robyn

---

The group watched the screen waiting for the newest video's title to appear in hopes that it may give clues to what the new video would be about. After the last video they were hoping that it would be a nicer, less stressful event but knowing the Doctor's adventures that wasn't likely.

"The End of Time?" Amy read the title out loud as it appeared, face scrunched up in thought for what it could be referencing.

"Do you think that's talking about when the Tardis broke? Or when River went against the fixed point at Lake Silencio?" Rory contemplated, offering ideas. Both seemed reasonable ideas as time had seemed to break or end during both events.

The Doctor shook her head, "I don't think so. I don't know why but I don't think so. Neither of those would make sense after the last video we just watched. Most of them have had some link when things get tense." What she didn't voice was that she had her own suspicions about the video contents. She had a feeling the only video that would make sense would be her regeneration, but she wasn't going to reveal her suspicions until it was confirmed and even then, maybe not even then.

River raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, seemingly sensing that she knew more than what she was saying. "Guess we'll just have to watch and see." And with that they turned to the screen to see how the video would start.

NARRATOR [OC]: It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams. To the west of the north of that world, the human race did gather, in the celebration of a pagan rite to banish the cold and the dark. Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot, because they must. They forgot their nightmares of fire and war and insanity. They forgot. Except for one.

While the majority of the people in the room were focussed on the words spoken, suddenly feeling weary about what this video was going to be about because this wasn't sounding promising. The Doctor, however, was scowling at the screen very aware of who was narrating this mess. She'd been right about the video's contents unfortunately.

She risked a glance at the Master, knowing he would be the only one to recognise the voice and also likely guess what this video would be about. Based on the dark look that crossed over his face he had in fact recognised it. His own eyes met the Doctor's before she could look away and a silent agreement passed between the two of them. There was a lot that had happened between the two of them in this video, but in the end they had a common enemy in Rassilon.

[Street]

(Christmas time. Wilf hears an evil laugh in his head.)

"Grandad?" Donna asked bewildered by Wilf's appearance. She turned to stare down the Doctor, expecting answers.

The Doctor smiled fondly, "Wilf helped me out a lot during this mess. This video is set shortly after the last." A few people shared concerned glances, if it was set after the last video than the Doctor likely wasn't in the best mindset. At least they'd had Wilf to help them, most that knew him couldn't help but feel excited to see the man interact more with the Doctor. Donna was just curious, especially as she knew how much her grandad loved everything space.

MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
(The Salvation Army band is playing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.)

Rose and Mickey eyed the band wearily, thinking back to their Christmas just after the Doctor had regenerated into Pinstripes. Martha and Jack shared a worried glance, recognising the Master's laugh. His was going to go very badly if the Master showed up. It was always bad when the Master was around but even worse when the Doctor was in such an unstable mental state, the pair glanced concerned at the Doctor whose eyes didn't leave the screen.

[Church]

(Wilf goes inside the nearest church, where a choir is rehearsing. He notices a strange blue rectangle in the stained glass window above the altar. A woman dressed in a white suit makes him jump.)

"Of course, Wilf manages to find the church with the Tardis in the stained glass." Jack grinned, happy that Wilf seemed to be somewhere safe for the moment. He wasn't liking the direction this video was going already, he kept glancing between the Master and the Doctor, having a sneaking suggestion what this video was going to be about.

The Master, however, was focussed on the woman that had appeared next to Wilf. His head snapped around to face the Doctor, "Is that …?"

The Doctor nodded; her own expression unreadable as she watched the woman on screen. It made sense that she'd appeared to Wilf beforehand from what he'd mentioned but she hadn't actually seen her herself until near the end.

"Is that who? You know her Doc?" Graham asked the Doctor cautiously. It was always dangerous asking the Doctor about mysterious people as you never knew how much of an answer you'd get or how happy an answer it would be, but he was too curious for his own good.

"Yes, I know her." The Doctor sighed, glancing briefly at Graham before glancing across the rest of the room. "As for who she is, that's more complicated." A classical non-answer answer from the Doctor then.

WOMAN: They call it the Legend of the Blue Box.

"Of course, they do." Rose shook her head but couldn't hide the fond smile.

WILF: Oh. I've never been in here before. I'm not one for churches. Too cold.
WOMAN: This was the site of a convent back in the thirteen hundreds. It's said a demon fell from the sky, then a man appeared. A man in a blue box. They called him the sainted physician. He smote the demon and then disappeared.

"Classic. Any more details you're willing to share Doctor?" Bill grinned, she was always amazed at how easily people changed the story to fit their narrative and understandings. People from the covenant in the thirteen hundreds would never be able to understand the 'demon' had likely been an alien so they went with a story they could understand.

"Maybe later, Bill." The Doctor smiled teasingly, honestly, she could barely remember said incident it had been so long ago.

WILF: That's a bit of a coincidence.

"Or fate." Amy snorted, not really believing her own words.

WOMAN: It's said there's no such thing as coincidence. Who knows? Perhaps he's coming back.
WILF: Oh, that would make my Christmas.

The Doctor smiled sadly; the Christmas hadn't had the nice ending Wilf likely had desired but things rarely ever ended up the way one expected.

(The woman has disappeared. Wilf hears the laughter again.)
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

"Doubt it will be a good Christmas with him around." Martha muttered darkly, glaring at the Master who only smirked back smug and proud of himself. Mickey curled an arm around Martha's shoulders; more to hold her back from lunging at the Master then anything else. The Doctor grimaced, no one was going to be happy when they found out about the Master's plan.

[Ood Sphere]

(The Tardis materialises in the snowy landscape, and the Doctor steps out wearing a stetson and a lei. Ood Sigma is waiting for him.)

"The Ood?" Donna turned to the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. Those that had bad encounters with the species were a bit wary about how causal the Doctor looked on screen.

"The Ood." The Doctor nodded back decisively as if that was supposed to mean something.

DOCTOR: Ah! Now, sorry. There you are. So, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? An Ood in the snow, calling to me. Well, I didn't exactly come straight here. Had a bit of fun, you know. Travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble. You know me. It was brilliant. I saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, named a galaxy Alison. Got married. That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. And let me tell you, her nickname is no longer. Ahem. Anyway, what do you want?

There were a few snickers from the group at the comment about Queen Elizabeth the first, all knowing the story surrounding that know and knowing the Doctor on screen didn't know as much as they were suggesting they did.

River and Jack shared knowing looks; the Doctor was behaving oddly. In a way that they only did when they were in a self-destructive or avoiding mood; clearly there was far more going on than they knew so far. River had only seen this kind of behaviour from the Doctor from around Lake Silencio which only increased hr concern over this video's contents.

The Master raised a knowing eye at the Doctor which she promptly ignored.

SIGMA: You should not have delayed.
DOCTOR: The last time I was here you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that.

That killed the mood in the room very quickly, all eyes darting nervously to the Doctor who tore her own eyes away from the screen to offer some reassuring smiles to the group. This video was going to be bad in several ways, but they didn't need to worry yet.

SIGMA: You will come with me.
DOCTOR: Hold on. Better lock the Tardis.
(The Doctor points a remote key at the Tardis. The door locks and the light flashes at it beeps.)
DOCTOR: See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like. It's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh. So how old are you now, Ood Sigma? Ah.

"We've talked about this Doctor. It's not funny if you have to explain the joke." Ryan groaned, shaking his head. The Doctor just grinned at him.

(He sees the Ood city.)
DOCTOR: Magnificent. Oh, come on, that is splendid. You've achieved all this in how long?
SIGMA: One hundred years.

"That's stunning." Yaz muttered, amazed at the sight of the alien city.

"That's far too quickly." River shook her head, turning to look at the Doctor for answers, all she got was a frown and nod to the screen.

DOCTOR: Then we've got a problem. Because all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call me. Reaching all the way back to the twenty first century. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal.
SIGMA: And the Mind of the Ood is troubled.
DOCTOR: Why, what's happened?
SIGMA: Every night, Doctor, every night we have bad dreams.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say these aren't your normal kind of bad dreams." Mickey sighed, already knowing the answer - they were never that lucky.

[Ood Council]

(Sitting in a circle in an ice cave.)
ELDER: Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come.

The Master and the Doctor share an unusually serious look, having a silent conversation simply through their eyes rather than an actual conversation through their mental link. Both were thinking the same; the Ood had meant the Master, but they'd also been talking about Rassilon and Gallifrey.

The rest of the group was serious and silent for once, noticing the looks the Time Lords shared and slowly starting to connect the few puzzle pieces they'd been provided so far and they weren't painting a pretty picture.

SIGMA: Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming.
DOCTOR: So. Right. Hallo.

"You're so awkward." Bill shook her head but didn't bother to hide her grin, it was always good to see parts of her Doctor in their other faces.

OOD: You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join.

"I think they want you to join." Nardole muttered, earning a few snorts of amusement from the group.

"What gave you that idea Nardole?" The Doctor snarked with a grin.

(The Doctor links hands with the Ood and sees the laughing face.)
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
ELDER: He comes to us every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now.

"As they should." The Master lounged in his chair, ever the smug cat.

"I'm glad I can't remember those nightmares." Martha muttered quietly, glaring fiercely at the Master which only seemed to egg him on. Mickey squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, reading between the lines and knowing that Martha already had plenty of nightmares based on the Master.

DOCTOR: That man is dead.

"He never is." The Doctor shook her head with a sigh, but she couldn't bring herself to sound as disappointed as she probably should, sounding more annoyed or fond based on the dubious looks the rest of the room were giving her. She purposely didn't look at the Master, she didn't want to give him that pleasure, especially with everything coming up in this video (she had been rather desperate as Pinstripes back then after all).

ELDER: There is yet more. Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

Everyone ignored the Master's grumbles about not being a man, all on edge with how the video seemed to be taking a turn already and no one wanted to indulge/encourage the mad Time Lord.

[Nobles' home]

ELDER [OC]: So scared.
DOCTOR: Wilfred. Is he all right?

[Ood Council]

DOCTOR: What about Donna, is she safe?

The group all smiled fondly about the Doctor's first thought being Wilf and Donna, Donna giving him an approving/appreciative nod. It was nice to know that even after she left the Doctor still thought about her family enough, and was concerned about Wilf so much, although she would be happier if they weren't in danger in the first place.

ELDER: You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his Counting house.

"Apparently, they can't just say what's going on, they have to use riddles. Typical." Clara sighed, she knew she should expect it at this point, it was rare for them to ever just get a straight answer.

(The Doctor is given images of a black man and his daughter being photographed.)
DOCTOR: I don't know who they are.
ELDER: And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten.
(A woman in a cage.)
DOCTOR: The Master's wife.

"I'm sorry, his what?!" Yaz declared, head whipping around to face the Doctor for an explanation. Several others did the same. Jack, Martha, and the Doctor shared a look.

"Who would agree to marry him?" Bill asked incredulous. The Doctor couldn't hide her amused snort at the comment from Bill, talking quickly in a (successful) attempt to cut the Master off before he could start an angry rant.

"Lucy was part of one of his previous … schemes. She was also the one that ended up shooting him in the end." The Doctor explained briefly, not wanting to go into the whole mess with the Year the Never Was. No one had anything they could actually express in words in response to that explanation.

SIGMA: We see so much, but understand little. The woman in the cage, who is she?
DOCTOR: She was. It wasn't her fault, she was. The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you.
(The Doctor shows the Ood images from Last of the Time Lords.)
DOCTOR: The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done so it never even happened, but Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body. The Master is dead.

"It wouldn't be the first time." The Doctor muttered, referencing the number of times she had thought the Master had died during their life, only for him to show up later all smug with a new scheme. Every time she thought that was finally it, that he wouldn't be able to come back, only for him to show up again anyway. The Master had more lives than a cat and an ability to survive stronger than a cockroach.

"And it won't be the last." The Master's grin was practically feral as she turned to scowl at him.

ELDER: And yet, you did not see.
DOCTOR: What's that?
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
(A woman picking up the Master's signet ring.)
DOCTOR: Part of him survived. I have to go!

"Disappointing Doctor. Always missing the details." The Master mocked smugly. He'd prepared for most eventualities even though it had taken far more time than he would have wanted and not ended how he would have liked; still any chance to one up and mock the Doctor.

ELDER: But something more is happening, Doctor. The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past.

"That doesn't sound good." Rose grimaced; it was vague but far too ominous for her comfort.

DOCTOR: What do you mean?
ELDER: This is what we have seen, Doctor. The darkness heralds only one thing.
OOD: The end of time itself.
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
(The Doctor runs outside and back to the Tardis.)
ELDER: Events that have happened are happening now.

"Very ominous and very dramatic." Jack summarised. "Very worrying." He was glancing at the Doctor hoping that somehow, he'd be able to read something from her expressions and put the last few puzzle pieces together. He had an idea of what had happened around the Master's return but had very little idea as to what this larger threat seemed to be about, but (as usual) it didn't sound very friendly.

"That's putting it lightly." The Doctor muttered with a depreciative snort. It only served to increase the tension in the room and the group's worry.

[Prison]

(While the Tardis is in flight, Lucy Saxon is taken from her cell and escorted by women Prison Officers. to meet another woman.)
GOVERNOR: Mrs Saxon. Let me introduce myself. I'm your new Governor. I'm afraid the previous Governor met with something of an accident, which took quite some time to arrange. Miss Trefusis, if you will prepare. You kept your silence well, Mrs Saxon. Your trial was held in secret, with no jury, so no one knows who Harold Saxon was, where he came from, why you killed him. Make her kneel. There are those of us who never lost faith. And in his wisdom, Harold Saxon prepared for this moment. He knew that he might die and he made us ready. Tonight, Mrs Saxon, he returns.

"They're crazy." Bill declared bluntly, almost disbelieving. She didn't need to know much of the details to know whatever these people wanted it was to do with the Master, and that was never a good thing.

"Unfortunately." The Doctor grumbled, she'd only arrived to see the aftermath of whatever they'd done, and she was half dreading, half interested in seeing how exactly they'd brought him back.

MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
(Miss Trefusis holds out the Master's signet ring. Lucy gasps.
Meanwhile, Wilf is looking out at the kitchen window at the storm while the Woman in White briefly appears on the TV screen in the other room.)

The group all gave the Doctor curious looks as she shared a knowing glance with the Master, they were all undeniably curious to know the identity of the woman in white, especially with the way the pair f Time Lords were reacting. No one dared voice the question though.

GOVERNOR: As it was written in the Secret Books of Saxon, these are the Potions of Life.

The Doctor gave the Master an exasperated (if a little bit fond) look, "Really? What is it with you?" The almost religious resurrection/cult like group was very reminiscent of some of their older interactions, long before she'd met anyone else in the room. Some days she couldn't help but miss those old days, when their relationship was still complicated but somehow also simpler, before the bad blood became so bad, they could barely see each other straight because of it. The knowing look the Master gave her said he knew exactly what she was thinking, and she glanced away in shame.

(The signet ring is put into a bowl and blue liquids are poured over it.)

"What are they doing?" Rose asked, nervous to hear the answer she was already suspecting.

"Something very stupid and dangerous." The Doctor answered, with a grimace at the screen. She didn't like how much knowledge the Master had left behind as his back up plan, although she really should have expected something from the mad Time Lord. If there was one thing (well technically two things) that she knew about him, it was he always had a back up plan (how well they went varied), and he never died.

LUCY: Listen to me. Whatever he told you, you've got no idea what you're doing.

"They really don't." Martha grimaced, unable to stop glancing between the screen, the Doctor and Jack. It was one thing to see the Master in the room and on screen; it was another thing to see the Master who had made her life hell and tortured her family for a year, and she wasn't sure how she was going to cope. Mickey squeezed her shoulder, offering a comforting smile when she glanced up to meet his eyes. At least she had Mikey, and her friends around her this time, they were safe.

GOVERNOR: Miss Trefusis, the catalyst.
LUCY: What are you doing? Leave me alone!
(Miss Trefusis takes a print of Lucy's lips.)
GOVERNOR: You were Saxon's wife. You bore his imprint. That's all we needed. The final biometrical signature.

"How can she still have any trace of his 'biometrical signature' after so long? How long has it been?" Clara asked, confused.

"I'm just surprised someone actually wanted to kiss him. Or that he kissed anyone, he always seems too disturbed by the idea of humans to let them actually touch him like that." Donna snorted, earing a sneering glare from the Master and a small grin from the Doctor.

"To answer you're question, Clara, it's been about a year, maybe a bit longer. A Time Lords signature is a distinctive thing, hard to mask even after a short time like that." The Doctor answered, purposely not mentioning Donna's comments to avoid the inevitable fight.

LUCY: You can't bring him back. You can't!

"She's changed her tune." Jack muttered.

The Doctor elbowed him. Hard. "Leave her alone. She made some mistakes but she suffered just as much as us, she paid the price and then some. She didn't deserve what she went through." Jack put up his hands in surrender.

(Miss Trefusis drops the imprint into the bowl and there is a big flash, then a light beams up and out of Broadfell Prison into the sky.)
LUCY: I'm begging you! Stop this now before it's too late!

"I think it is too late." Ryan muttered with a grimace.

GOVERNOR: We give ourselves that Saxon might live.
(Energy is pulled out of the Governor and her acolytes.)

The group watched in silent shock as the group gave their energy to bring back the Master. They'd seen a lot of messed up things over their travels, but this certainly made the list. They couldn't understand how the group was so twisted up to actually want to bring back the Master, but there was always people like that around with crazy ideals and all too willing to go through with their mad plans.

LUCY: Can't you see? He lied to you. His name isn't even Harold Saxon.
GOVERNOR: And this was written also, for his name is the Master!
(The figure of the naked Master begins to appear in the column of light.)

Several people immediately glanced away from the screen at the site of the naked Master appearing in the light. The tension in the room rose drastically as the Master finally returned.

MASTER: Never. Never. Never. Never. Never dying. Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Bwahahahahahaha! Oh, Lucy. Sweet Lucy Saxon. My ever faithful. Did the widow's kiss bring me back to life?
LUCY: You're killing them!
MASTER: Oh, let them die. They're just the first. The whole stupid, stinking, human disgrace can fall into the pit. Can't you hear it, Lucy? The noise? The drumbeat louder than ever before. The drums. The never ending drums. Oh, I have missed them.

Martha and Jack shared a look, both thinking back to the Doctor's story of the drums during their brief time on the run from the Master's forces. The majority of the group was just grimacing at the screen, all far too aware of how mad the Master was. They hated what was happening on screen but didn't expect anything else from him (and weren't sure whether the group being willing or not made it better or worst).

LUCY: But no-one knew you better than I did. I knew you'd come back. And all this time, your disciples have prepared. But so have we.
(Lucy takes a small vial from a prison officer who was not an acolyte.)

Martha perked up; she knew that the Master came back but it was reassuring to know that someone had put up a fight against it, even if it was to no avail.

MASTER: What are you doing?
LUCY: The Secret Books of Saxon spoke of the Potions of Life. And I was never that bright, but my family had contacts. People who were clever enough to calculate the opposite.
MASTER: Don't you dare. I'm ordering you, Lucy. You will obey me!

"She doesn't need to obey you! No one should obey you!" Martha snarled at the Master, who simply leaned back in his chair smug at gaining a reaction from Martha, enjoying the glares the rest of the group were sending his way. He didn't answer back though.

LUCY: Till death do us part, Harry!
MASTER: No!
(Lucy throws the vial at the Master and there is an explosion.
The Doctor runs out of the Tardis to see the ruined shell of Broadfell Prison.)

Graham whistled lowly, "That's no small explosion."

"Late as usually Doctor." Rory sighed, earning a small shrug from the Doctor. There wouldn't have been anything she could have done to stop it all even if she had arrived in time, and clearly she hadn't been meant too.

[Naismith's study]

(A butler and two footmen are standing nearby as the black woman enters the panelled room. The black man is looking at footage on his laptop.)
NAISMITH: I think we might be in luck, darling. It's the footage from Broadfell Prison the night it burnt down. Take a look at this.
(A silhouette of a figure runs quickly across the flames.)
ABIGAIL: Someone survived! Do you think it's him? Oh, that would be such a Christmas present.
NAISMITH: You just leave it to Daddy.

"Oh great, there's another group of crazies." Amy muttered, throwing her hands in the air dramatically with a sigh. The rest of the group seemed to share her exasperation. Donna had a confused look on her face, recognising the faces of the Naismith and Abigail for some reason but not able to place why.

[Gate room]

(They walk into a room lit by a domed glass roof.)
NAISMITH: Ladies and gentlemen, it seems help is at hand. Christmas is cancelled. Prepare the gate.
(An archway begins to light up.)

"The gate?" Mickey raised an eyebrow in question. "That doesn't sound good."

"It isn't." The Doctor grimaced in not-answer, earning an eye roll from the majority of the group at the Doctor's typical lack of real answer to even the simple questions.

[Nobles' home]

WILF: Just going down to the Lion. Quick little snifter. Christmas drinks. All right, ta-da.

[Outside the Nobles' home]

(Wilf gets out his mobile phone and makes a call.)
WILF: Paratroop One to Paratroop Two. We are mobilised. I repeat, we are mobilised. Rendezvous thirteen hundred hours. Over and out.

"He's up to something." Jack grinned fondly. Donna was shaking her head fondly, unsurprised at her grandad's actions.

(He flags down a Sparrow Lane minibus.)
WILF: Come on! Way hey, shake a leg! Yay hey. Right then, come on, let's get going.
(The driver and the other passengers applaud as he gets on board.)
WILF: Off we go. Everybody all right? Who's got the chocolates then?

"Love the priorities." Bill grinned, nodding approvingly.

[Minibus]

WILF: He's tall and thin, wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat. Modern sort of hair, all sticky-uppy, right? Oh, and on page two, be on the lookout for a police box exactly like the old ones.

The Doctor's face contorted, unable to decide whether she liked that description of her old face or not. Unconsciously her hand moved up to her own hair, even if it wasn't the same hair as it was back then.

The rest of the group was snickering quietly, all agreeing and enjoying the apt description of Pinstripes.

MINNIE: I got locked inside one of them. August Bank Holiday 1962.
WINSTON: Were you misbehaving, Minnie?
MINNIE: I certainly was. Way hey.

"I like her." Amy grinned.

"You would." Rory sighed, exasperated.

WILF: Yeah, all right, all right. Now listen, this is important. We have got to find it, right? So phone around. Phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge club? Right. Winston, you try the old boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered.
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak.
WILF: Yeah.
WINSTON: Who is he, then, this Doctor?
WILF: No, I can't tell you that. I swear. Yeah, but answer me this. Have you been having bad dreams? All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah. Well, that's why we need him. We need the Doctor more than ever.

"Wilf's on the case." Martha smiled fondly, glad that someone was doing something.

"How's he going to find the Doctor through a Bridge Club?" Yaz asked a bit doubtful, usually finding the Doctor was a very difficult task and not something you just achieved casually.

The Doctor smiled, "Oh you should never doubt the power of Wilf."

[Derelict site]

(A piece of wood is burning in an old oil can. There is a pile of bricks in the foreground and a Steven's Point charity burger van is sitting just outside an abandoned warehouse.)
SARAH: Onions with that?
TOMMO: Oh yeah, go on, pile them on. What about you, Ginger? Onions?
(Ginger shrugs. He's a black lad.)

The group blinks a bit at the sudden change of scene, unsure why this derelict site is relevant to anything at the minute. There was so much happening in the video so far but this seemingly had no link to the story unfolding.

TOMMO: He don't say much. Give him onions. He's down from Huddersfield.
(A figure in a hoodie walks towards the van.)
SARAH: Well, you look after him. And don't forget tomorrow night. The Christmas broadcast. President Obama.
TOMMO: Oh?
SARAH: He's promised to end the recession. Bad times will soon be over, Ginger.
TOMMO: Well, season's greetings to you.
SARAH: And you. Happy Christmas.
(Tommo and Ginger walk away.)
SARAH: Now, what can we get you, sir?
MASTER: Everything. I am so hungry. Bwahahahahahaha!

The group flinched, realising the mystery hoodie man was in fact the Master and that was why they were being shown this. The tension rose, with the Master around (especially this Master and in this state) whatever was going to happen was not going to be good.

(Tommo and Ginger are by the brazier, eating their food.)
TOMMO: They're saying that the Presidents got this grand plan. He's going to save the world with some big financial scheme. Whatever it is, I bet it won't reach you and me.
(The Master suddenly drops down from the sky and sits behind them.)
TOMMO: Oh! Somebody's lively on his feet.
MASTER: Starving.
(The Master devours the burger far too rapidly for a human.)

"That's … disturbing." Clara muttered with a grimace. From the group's expressions they also agreed.

TOMMO: Now, you see? That's what you don't want to do. Eat it all at once. Tempting, I know. But if you make it last, it can last all day.

Several people grimaced for other reasons at Tommo's words, recognising that their ife really wasn't going well if they had learned that lesson. And if their life wasn't bad enough it was about to get worse due to the Master's presence.

MASTER: Want more. Want cheese and chips, and meat and gravy, and cream and beer, and pork and beef and fat. Great big chunks of hot, wet red.
TOMMO: Good for you, mate. Maybe we'd better be going.
GINGER: You look like that bloke. Harold Saxon? The one that went mad.

Jack and Martha grimaced, mixed between glad that was all everyone else could remember about Harold Saxon, but it always made it difficult to explain anything about that Year, and sometime to connect to people who hadn't gone through that kind of trauma.

MASTER: Now isn't that funny. Isn't that just the best thing of all. The master of disguise, stuck looking like the old Prime Minister. I can't hide anywhere. He can see me. He can smell me. Can't let him smell me. Doctor, Doctor, shocked her, stopped her, got to stop the smell. The stink. The filthy, filthy stink.

"Smell him?" River raised an eyebrow at the Doctor expectantly.

The Doctor shrugged, "It's complicated." River raised her eyebrow higher. "I'll explain later." She added on, knowing that it wasn't something that River was going to let go.

TOMMO: Ginger, come with me. Right now.
MASTER: Because it's funny. Don't you see? Look at me. I'm splitting my sides.
(The Master's skeleton suddenly appears and disappears several times.)

"Well, that's not right." Nardole blinked.

"What was that?!" Rose exclaimed.

The Doctor considered the question for a moment before answering, "The resurrection was messed up, not quite complete so it had consequences. Hence the hunger and skeleton." She gestured to the screen. Rose accepted that answer but still looked disturbed.

MASTER: I am hilarious. I am the funniest thing in the whole wide world.

"You are very much … not." Ryan muttered quietly, unheard by the majority of the room.

(Tommo and Ginger run for the burger van.)
TOMMO: Sarah! God help us! There's this man!
(Sarah and her assistant in the van are just skeletons in clothes.)

"What the hell did you do to them!?" Martha snarled, leaning forward in her seat to glare at the Master, her knuckles white as she clenched her hands int fists. Mickey was squeezing her shoulder tightly in an attempt to ground her but he was also glaring at the Master (alongside the rest of the group).

"I was hungry." The Master smiled manically, like a cat that had trapped a mouse in its trap. The glares didn't let up but no one chased the answers any further, dreading the answers.

MASTER: Dinnertime!
(The Master leaps up into the sky then swoops down on the two men. They scream, briefly.

The group all grimaced, knowing the horrid fate of those poor men but unable to do something about anything. The feeling of uselessness an almost permanent consequences of watching these videos in this room.

A little later, the Doctor stands on a small cliff and sniffs deeply. The Master does the same, then picks up an iron bar and starts hitting an oil drum in a rhythm of four beats and a rest. The Doctor hears it and runs through piles of girders on the dockside until he sees the Master up against the skyline. The Master does his Incredible Hulk impression then leaps into the air. The Doctor gives chase. The Master waits for him on a pile of girders, and his skeleton briefly flashes.)

Bill glanced between both the Master and the Doctor several times before shaking her head, "You're both ridiculous."

"What do you mean by that?" The Doctor looked offended, unsure why she was being attacked like this.

"Just ridiculous." Bill shook her head, unable and unwilling to answer the Doctor.

DOCTOR: Please, let me help. You're burning up your own life force.

"Of course, the first thing you do is offer to help him." Jack muttered, eyes dark as she didn't meet the Doctor's eyes, instead glaring at the Master who looked annoyingly smug. The Doctor frowned at him but didn't say anything.

(They run again, then Wilf appears in the Doctor's way, with the rest of the Silver Cloak close behind.)

"He found you." Rory blinked, surprised at Wilf's sudden appearance.

"Grandad's stubborn and determined. The Doctor had no chance." Donna grinned proudly.

WILF: Oh, my gosh, Doctor. You're a sight for sore eyes.
DOCTOR: Out of my way!

The Doctor winced at their immediate dismissal of the Wilf, he's been desperately looking for her to help and she'd been so focussed on the Master, she'd just immediately gone to ignore him. To be fair to her, the Master was dangerous and if she could have stopped them, she would have dealt with some of the problems of that mess, but it wasn't to be.

(But the Master is nowhere to be seen.)
WINSTON: Did we do it? Is that him?
OLIVER: Tall and thin, big brown coat.
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw this man heading east.

"The whole crews here." Graham grinned, every time he saw and heard more about Wilf the more sure he would get along with the other man.

DOCTOR: Wilfred?
WILF: Yeah?
DOCTOR: (sotto) Have you told them who I am? You promised me.
WILF: No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honour to see you again.
(Wilf salutes.)

"Oh Wilf." The Doctor sighed fondly.

MINNIE: Oh, but you never said he was a looker. He's gorgeous. Take a photo.
OLIVER: Not bad, eh? Me next.
MINNIE: I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man.
WILF: Just get off him. Leave him alone, will you?
MINNIE; Hush, you old misery. Come on, Doctor. Give us a smile. That's it.
OLIVER: Hold on. Did it flash?
MINNIE: No, there's a blue light. Try again.
OLIVER: I'm all fingers and thumbs.
DOCTOR: I'm really kind of busy, you know.
MINNIE: Oh, it wont take a tick. Keep smiling.
(Minnie gives the Doctor's bottom a squeeze.)
DOCTOR: Is that your hand, Minnie?
MINNIE: Good boy.

The group burst out into loud laughter, the tension draining away temporarily in favour at laughing at the Doctor's misfortune. They could escape deadly traps but not a old lady.

[Street]

(The minibus drops the Doctor and Wilf off.)
WILF: Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye.
(The minibus drives off with the rest of the Silver Cloak.)
WILF: Over here, come on.
DOCTOR: What's so special about this place? We passed fifteen cafes on the way.
WILF: Yeah. Afternoon.

"Wilf knows something." Mickey said, noticing how determined the man seemed. It would be great if Wilf knew something and they could piece together what was actually happening with the supposed 'end of time'.

[Cafe]

WILF: Oh, we had some good times, didn't we though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun. I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night.

"I have so many questions." Yaz muttered, every time some one mentioned some other adventure they hadn't seen she just got more and more curious.

DOCTOR: Who are you?

"I thought he was Wilf?" Nardole asked, bewildered by the Doctor's random question, as were many in the room.

"Not what I meant Nardole." The Doctor sighed but didn't offer anything else leaving them to watch if the wanted answers (as was often the way).

WILF: I'm Wilfred Mott.
DOCTOR: No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours.

The Doctor couldn't help but shoot both River and Jack looks, they'd both spent a lot of time searching for her and yet Wilf had found her (several times) with very little effort.

WILF: Well, I'm just lucky I suppose.
DOCTOR: No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us.
WILF: What's so important about me?
DOCTOR: Exactly. Why you? I'm going to die.

"You can't just say things like that out of the random Doctor!" Amy berated as several people spluttered at the sudden declaration from the Doctor. They'd all suspected it, after the last video and then the Doctor's brief visit to the Ood but it was another for the Doctor to just declare it to poor Wilf.

WILF:: Well, so am I, one day.
DOCTOR: Don't you dare.

"He's not allowed too." The Doctor smiled fondly, she really needed to go visit Wilf soon.

WILF: All right, I'll try not to.
DOCTOR: But I was told. He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then

"The Master." Jack muttered, shooting the Doctor a knowing look. Of course, the Master with his drums and knocking would be worrying the Doctor with a prophecy about dying after four knocks (not that he didn't always worry the Doctor).

"That's what I thought." The Doctor nodded quietly. Jack raised an eyebrow at that, that didn't sound like a yes. Maybe for once the Master wasn't (entirely) to blame.

WILF: Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body.
DOCTOR: I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead. What?

The Doctor scoffed, glaring at her past self on screen. "So dramatic." Back then she'd been so scared of dying and now she had considered not regenerating, things had certainly changed dramatically in a (relatively) short time (minus the years in the confession dial). Her comment seemed to calm the nerves of a few people who'd been unsettled by her on screen comment about regeneration, thankfully.

(Wilf has spotted Donna outside in the street getting out of her car.)

Donna blinked at the sight of herself on screen, not having expected it although now that she thought about it, it would explain her grandad's weird behaviour and she did have vague memories of being around there. She was too focussed on herself on screen to notice the sad look the Doctor gave her.

WILF: I'm sorry, but I had to. Look, can't you make her better?
DOCTOR: Stop it.
WILF: No, but you're so clever. Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello.
DOCTOR: If she ever remembers me, her mind will burn, and she will die.

"Unless the Tardis interferes to show us movies of our lives apparently." Donna snorted, using the Doctor's famed technique of using humour to hide her pain. The Doctor gave her such a sad look, one she couldn't help but compare to a lost puppy that knew it had done something wrong and was now begging for forgiveness.

(They hear Donna speak to the traffic warden.)
DONNA: Don't you touch this car.
DOCTOR: She's not changed.

"What does that mean, Martian?!" Donna protested, eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

The Doctor held her hands up quickly in surrender, "Nothing, nothing." She tried to placate the annoyed red-head but her fond smile seemed to be ruining her attempts. Martha was laughing quietly (attempting and failing to hide her own grin behind a hand), glad to see her old friend still the same even without the memories of the Doctor.

WILF: Nah. Oh, there he is.
(A Mickey Smith lookalike meets Donna.)
WILF: Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring.

"He looks nice." Martha smiled at Donna, glad to see she was moving on with her life. Donna's fond smile at the sight of her husband said everything without the need for words.

DOCTOR: Another wedding.
WILF: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot.

"That's Temple-Noble to you, Spaceboy!" Donna protested again. The Doctor grinned and waved to the screen.

WILF: No, it's Temple-Noble.
DOCTOR: Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?
WILF: Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why.

Donna frowned at the screen, now that she had her memories back, she could think back to those moments and realised what had triggered her during them. She could only hope the Doctor would be able to solve her issue now or that the Tardis's interference would last outside this room. She enjoyed her life with Shaun, but she didn't feel quite complete without those missing memories. She really wanted those memories back, to have the chance to spend time with friends like Martha again, to be able to remember her adventures across time and space, both the good and the bad. The worst thing was she didn't know what was going to happen after they finished watching these videos, none of them did,

DOCTOR: She's got him.
WILF: She's making do.
DOCTOR: Aren't we all?
WILF: Yeah, how about you? Who have you got now?
DOCTOR: No one. Travelling alone. I thought it was better. But I did some things. It went wrong. I need
(The Doctor starts crying.)

The group's heads whipped round to the Doctor in the room; it was rare for the Doctor to cry so openly like that, let alone in a public space or around others. It said volumes about how much the Doctor trusted Wilf and also about the state of their mental health. This video wasn't going to go well if the Doctor was already in a terrible mental state and now the Master was involved, and they still had very little clue what this 'gate' was or how it was linked to the supposed 'end of time'.

The Doctor let out a deep breath, curling in on herself a bit and grounding herself via River's hand in hers. This video was going to be hard for several reasons.

WILF: Oh, my word. I'm sorry.
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.

"You can never have a normal, happy Christmas, can you?" Amy muttered, frowning.

WILF: Yeah, and you.
DOCTOR: Look at us.

"Two old men. Former soldiers dealing with life after leaving the battlefield. Grandfathers." The Doctor muttered to herself, she could see parts of herself in Wilf sometimes, but Wilf was better than she could ever be.

WILF: But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. I mean, look. Wouldn't she make you laugh again? Good old Donna?
(Donna and Shaun drive away.)
WILF: Eh?

"You need someone Doctor, you always need friends." River murmured softly, leaning in close to her wife as she squeezed her hand. The Doctor swallowed, knowing exactly how true that was, and yet every time she whisked some young person away to see all of time and space, they came back older and with trauma, and that was only if they came back at all.

NARRATOR: And so it came to pass that the players took their final places, making ready the events that were to come. The madman sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve. While his saviour looked upon the wilderness, in the hope of changing his inevitable fate. Far away, the idiots and fools dreamt of a shining new future. A future now doomed to never happen. As Earth rolled onwards into night, the people of that world did sleep, and shiver, somehow knowing that dawn would bring only one thing. The final day.

"I'm liking this narrator less and less." Bill grimaced, things were sounding less and less promising every time the narrator spoke up.

"He's wrong either way. The Earth didn't end in 2009." Ryan offered, possibly in an attempt to comfort the group who were getting more unnerved as the chaos continued to unfold.

No one noticed the intense look the two Time Lords exchanged.

[Abandoned warehouse]

(Night. The Doctor walks towards the Master, who fires bolts of energy at him from his hands. He misses, and sets fires burning behind the Doctor. The third try hits the Doctor squarely in the chest, stopping him moving forward. Finally the energy stops and the Doctor falls to his knees. The Master catches him, then lets him fall to the ground.)

The group watched the 'fight' between the Time Lords. Several people gave the Master unnerved looks, feeling very glad that the Master could not shoot bolts of energy out of his hands normally. They turned to glares when they saw the Master hit the Doctor in the stomach and then let him fall to the floor.

MASTER: I had estates. Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now.

No one spoke a word as they got a rare mention of the Doctor and Master's time as children. It was very rare for either Time Lord to openly offer any information about their childhood, what Gallifrey was like when they were young or their families, essentially anything from before they left the first time. Yet, these videos had been giving them more insights into their early lives than they'd ever had before.

DOCTOR: All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed?

Martha nodded approvingly at the Doctor, glad that she wasn't getting distracted or focusing too much on her old friend rather than the monster he'd become. Martha would openly admit she'd never be able to understand the Doctor and Master's relationship, she doubted anyone ever would fully understand it.

MASTER: I am so hungry.
DOCTOR: Your resurrection went wrong. That energy. Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself.
MASTER: That human Christmas out there. They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat, and flesh, and grease, and juice, and baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot. It's so hot.

"That's incredibly disturbing." Clara grimaced; she was oddly glad she'd met the Missy version of the Master. At least she was more put together, mad in a different way at times and no less unpredictable and dangerous but not like this hoody-wearing maniac.

DOCTOR: Stop it.
MASTER: Sliced. Sliced. Sliced.
DOCTOR: Stop it.
MASTER: It's mine. It's mine. It's mine to eat and eat and eat.
DOCTOR: Stop it. What if I ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me.

"You're trying to team up with him!?" Mickey exclaimed, giving Martha's shoulder a squeeze in comfort; she couldn't be enjoying this.

The Doctor sighed, giving Mickey a knowing but unregretful look. "Whatever happening was serious and had to do with time. The Master was the only one who had the same understanding of time, and it was unlikely his resurrection was a coincidence." She gave a pointed glare at the Master, "And if he was with me, I was better placed to deal with anything he tried."

MASTER: Oh yeah?
DOCTOR: I've been told something is returning.
MASTER: And here I am.
DOCTOR: No, something more.

"Hear that Master? Everything doesn't revolve around you." Jack smirked at the Master. The Master glared back.

MASTER: But it hurts.
DOCTOR: I was told the end of time.
MASTER: It hurts. Doctor, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?

"No one else could." The Doctor offered an empathetic look at the Master, she'd never been sure what to think about the drums but this mess had proven they had been real the whole time and very much a purposeful choice by Rassilon.

"I don't need your pity Doctor!" The Master spat at the Doctor; hackles raised as he sat up straighter in his armchair.

"It's not pity!" The Doctor protested but the Master only sneered more, unbelieving.

DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
MASTER: Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen.
(We can hear the four beats of the start of the Doctor Who theme being played out by an iron bar on an oil drum somewhere.)
DOCTOR: I can't hear it.
MASTER: Listen.
(The Master mind-melds with the Doctor. The Doctor hears the beats and pulls away.)

The room all glanced between the screen and the pair of Time Lords having an intense stare off in the room. This video was giving then new insights into their relationship and into the mental link the pair had mentioned briefly before. No one knew what to say.

MASTER: What?
DOCTOR: But
MASTER: What!
DOCTOR: I heard it. But there's no noise. There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?
MASTER: It's real. It's real. It's real!
(The Master flies off and the Doctor runs after him.)

"You didn't believe him?" Rose asked quietly.

The Doctor glanced at the Master briefly, he raised an eyebrow in question at the Doctor, also curious about the answer. "After so many years, I doubted him. We'd shared a mental link for centuries and I'd never heard it before. No one else had ever experienced something similar, I thought it was a part of his insanity."

"Are you calling me insane, Dear?" The Master asked, face now blank.

This time the Doctor didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"Good."

[Derelict site]

MASTER: All these years, you thought I was mad. King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? What is it?

"Nothing good." The Doctor muttered.

"Promising." River sighed, overhearing the Doctor's words.

(A bright light shines down on the Master, then a second one illuminates the Doctor. A pair of SAS types come down on ropes, grab the Master and inject him with something to knock him out.)
DOCTOR: Don't!
(Others fire their guns at the Doctor to make him stay back, and the Master is hoisted up into the helicopter. The Doctor runs.)
DOCTOR: Let him go!
(The Doctor is shot in the back.)

"I'm guessing those crazy people in the mansion?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow. She was unable to hold back a wince at seeing the Doctor get shot in the back though.

"Got it in one." The Doctor grimaced, she wasn't particularly bothered by being shot, more annoyed than anything. It would hardly be the first time she'd been shot (by any stretch of imagination), and it had meant the Naismiths had gotten a head start (as had the Master) which had almost led to disaster.

[Nobles' home]

(Noddy Holder is screaming out his most famous song while Wilf opens a present. It is a book - Fighting the Future, by Joshua Naismith.)
DONNA: Now then, steady on. It's never too early for margaritas, that's what I say. I forgot to get lemons so I used oranges instead. It's all fruit, same difference.

The group smiled, enjoying the more peaceful moment between Donna and her family. It was a nice break from the tense atmosphere and danger mounting around the Doctor and Master, still it left them feeling a bit off kilter with the sudden change of scene.

(Sylvia has opened her present, an item of clothing.)
SYLVIA: Oh, now that's lovely. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. Love from Donna. Did you keep the receipt?

"Ah, family Christmases." Martha snorted, some things didn't change.

DONNA: Yes, I did. Come on, Gramps. You've been a right misery ever since you got up. Do you like it then, the book?
WILF: Joshua Naismith? I mean, what'd you get me this for?
DONNA: I don't know. I just saw it in the shop and thought of you. It just felt like the sort of thing you should have.

"Well, that makes a bit more sense, but it also doesn't. What's going on Spaceman?!" Donna turned around to glare at the Doctor with an expecting expression.

The Doctor smiled fondly, having expected Donna's questions. "The knowledge from the metacrisis is still there somewhere, just hidden to protect you. Something must have sneaked through, and you unconsciously picked up on it."

"Basically, you're just guessing." Donna summed up with a raised eyebrow. The Doctor shrugged.

"Isn't she always." River laughed, earing a pout from her wife, and laughs from the rest of the room.

SYLVIA: Oh, now look at that. That's from Charlie Morton. Isn't that rude?
(They laugh at a Christmas card.)

[Gate room]

NAISMITH: If you would, Mister Danes.
(Danes the butler removes the gag from the Master. He is otherwise securely fastened to a large chair-like structure.)

"They're not taking chances with you." Bill blinked at the restraints on the Master. The Master gave a feral grin, which unnerved the Doctor. She couldn't figure out if he was thinking about how they did underestimate him or the Doctor's own turn in those restraints, neither made her feel very confident.

MASTER: I'm starving.
NAISMITH: You've my daughter to thank for this. It's all her idea. She heard rumours of Harold Saxon, his disciples, his return. It's the sort of thing she finds rather thrilling.
ABIGAIL: And I was right. He's back. The very man we need, and he's here. Oh, this is going to be wonderful.

"They're completely insane." Rory shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't even be surprised anymore and yet he always was.

[Nobles' home]

SHAUN: Aye, aye. Here are the presents. I'm sorry, I couldn't afford much, but not for long, if President Obama ends the recession tonight. Come here.
(Shaun hugs Donna.)
WILF: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Keep it quiet, you lot, It's the Queen's Speech. Now come on, sit down. Show respect. Come on.
SHAUN: Merry Christmas, Mister Mott.
(Shaun kisses Wilf.)
WILF: Thank you. Will you behave! You, honestly. All right now. Whoa, she's on, she's on. It's our sovereign.
(Wilf salutes the television, the broadcast slows down then the woman in white briefly appears.)

"Doctor?" Yaz asked, turning slowly to look at the Doctor hoping for an answer for who the woman in white was. The Doctor pursed her lips and shook her head, she wasn't answering that one, at least not yet.

WILF: Eh?
WOMAN [on TV]: Events are moving, Wilfred.
WILF: Eh?
WOMAN [on TV]: Faster than we thought.
WILF: Oi, can you see that?

"It was definitely just grandad." Donna muttered; she hadn't heard this the first time. In fact she could barely remember much about this day but she had a feeling she'd find out why that is.

DONNA: Frankly, I'd tell Her Majesty it's time for trouser suits.
WILF: No, no, no, no. That's not the
WOMAN [on TV]: Only you can see. Only you stand at the heart of coincidence.
WILF: Why, what have I done?
WOMAN [on TV]: You're an old soldier, sir. Only you were too late. The war was won and passed you by.
WILF: I did my duty.
WOMAN [on TV]: You never killed a man.

"That's not a bad thing." The Doctor announced, eyes sad yet proud of Wilf.

WILF: No, I didn't. No, I did not, no, but, don't say that like it's shameful.

"You tell her grandad." Donna nodded proudly.

WOMAN [on TV]: The time will come when you must take arms.
WILF: Who are you?
WOMAN [on TV]: Tell the Doctor nothing of this. His life could still be saved, so long as you tell him nothing.

The Doctor blinked at that. She hadn't known there'd been any chance of her not regenerating that day, not if she was to save Wilf (and it had never been an option to just let Wilf die).

(Wilf goes to his bedroom and pulls an old suitcase out from under his bed. In a box, wrapped in a piece of cloth, is his old service revolver. Something is thrown against his window. Wilf looks out to see the Doctor returning to his Tardis.)

"The Docs not going to like that." Jack whistled lowly, referring to the gun that Wilf carried, they all knew the Doctor had a big no-guns rule.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" The Doctor elbowed Jack in the side, annoyed.

"Hey! You let Silver Fox over thee call you that!" Jack protested, waving to Graham in a purposely dramatic fashion.

"Grahams allowed. You're not!" The Doctor retorted.

River sighed, shaking her head (reluctantly fondly) at the pair of them, "Could you stop arguing like children so we can actually get on and watch this?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Yes, River."

[Outside the Nobles' home]

DOCTOR: I lost him. I was unconscious. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away.

"Still confused by the whole smelling thing." Bill crinkled her nose up in confusion, unbale to decide on a word to describe her feelings on that idea.

WILF: Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?
DOCTOR: You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?

"Well, he's run into you, so of course he's seen something odd." Amy grinned teasingly.

The Doctor rolled her eyes at her, "You know that's not what I meant."

"Do I?" Amy purposely annoyed the Doctor, earning a long sigh of suffering from her husband and daughter-in-law.

WILF: Well, there was a
DOCTOR: What? What is it? Tell me.
WILF: Well, it was. No, it's nothing.

"It was probably something." Clara declared.

DOCTOR: Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something.
WILF: Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book.
DOCTOR: What book?
WILF: His name's Joshua Naismith.
(Wilf shows the book to the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: That's the man. I was shown him by the Ood.

"It's all starting to connect." Yaz perked up, eyes shining as they always did on an adventure and they found a lead.

"It is?" Ryan asked a bit bewildered.

"Things are becoming as clear as mud." Yaz nodded, earning a groan from Ryan and Graham.

WILF: By the what?
DOCTOR: By the Ood.
WILF: What's the Ood?
DOCTOR: They're just the Ood. But it's all part of the convergence. Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna.

"I think you're just confusing him more." Martha sighed but she couldn't help the fond smile from growing on her face. She felt a bit better with the Master temporarily out of the picture and under restraints, and the Doctor and Wilf working together and getting closer to figuring out what was actually going on.

SYLVIA: Dad, what are you up to? You. But. Get out of here.
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.
SYLVIA: Merry Christmas. But she can't see you. What if she remembers?

"So British! Polite enough to say merry Christmas before continuing with her demands for you to leave!" Jack laughed, earning annoyed glares from the British population of the room (aka everyone outside of the aliens).

DONNA [OC]: Mum, where are those tweezers?
SYLVIA: Go.
DOCTOR: I'm going.
WILF: Yeah, me too.
SYLVIA: Oh no, you don't.
DONNA : (at the back of the house) Mum? Gramps?
SYLVIA: Dad, I'm warning you.

"He's certainly not listening." Mickey grinned.

WILF: Bye, see you later.
DONNA: (at the back of the house) Bit old for hide and seek.
SYLVIA: Stay right where you are.
DOCTOR: You can't come with me.
WILF: You're not leaving me with her.

"Good argument." Rory conceded.

SYLVIA: Dad!
DOCTOR: Fair enough.
DONNA [OC]: Mum?
SYLVIA: Just you listen to me. I forbid it. Get out of there!
(The Tardis dematerialises.)
SYLVIA: Doctor, bring my father back right now! Come back here! Come back here, I said! Come back!
DONNA: Are you shouting at thin air?
SYLVIA: Yes. Possibly, yes.

The room burst out into laughter at that. Donna was cackling as she shook her head at her mother, "I thought she was mad! Shouting at air like that, honestly! Of course, the Doctor's to blame."

"Oi! It was just as much Wilf's fault." The Doctor protested but was barely heard over everyone's laughter (her own included).

[Tardis]

DOCTOR: Naismith. If I can track him down. Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?
WILF: I thought it'd be cleaner.

"Good on you, Wilf!" Jack grinned proud of the old man.

DOCTOR: Cleaner? I could take you back home right now.
WILF: Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?
DOCTOR: I cant go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?
WILF: Not a word.

"You rarely do. Best thing to do is just nod along and pretend you do." Rose snorted, she was by no means stupid but the Doctor was fond of overcomplicating things and using made-up words or overly fancy scientific terms to make everything sound far more complicated than it was. She thought it made the Doctor feel smarter.

DOCTOR: Welcome aboard.
WILF: Thank you.

[Gate room]

(Joshua and Abigail Naismith enter, followed by the Master in a strait-jacket.)
NAISMITH: Demonstrate.
(Electricity surges across the Gate.)

"What is that thing?" Graham asked confused.

"I'm going to make an educated guess and say that's the gate." Clara spoke up, gaining a nod from the Doctor.

MASTER: Oh, that's not from Earth.
NAISMITH: And neither are you. A perfect combination, don't you think?

"So, they're not completely ignorant. Just very stupid." Bill nodded with lips pulled tight, that was never a good thing. People who thought they were smart always tended to underestimate the danger thinking they had it under control.

ROSSITER: Er, excuse me, sir. If I could check the basement? We're getting fluctuation on the power cords.
NAISMITH: Of course.
ROSSITER: Miss Addams, if you could bring the calibration statistics.
(The two scientists leave.)

"They're up to something." River decided, something feeling not quite right about the pair of scientists. She was also combing through her mental records to try and place what the gate was or could be yet she kept coming up blank which was frustrating her.

[Basement]

ROSSITER: Who the hell is he? What if he finds out? An expert, they said. Well, what sort of expert? Who is he?
ADDAMS: I don't know. According to the records, Harold Saxon was Prime Minister of this stupid country. I am choking in this thing. I'm sorry.
(Miss Addams presses her wristwatch and she transforms into a green skinned biped with spikes instead of hair.)

"She's a cactus!" Graham exclaimed shocked.

"They're Vincocci actually, and they find it very offended to be compared to cacti." The Doctor corrected, but a smile was tugging at her lips. "But yes the look a lot like Earth cacti."

ADDAMS: Oh, by the saint's, that's better. Oh, these people are so flat.

"It's better than being …spikey!" Donna shot back at the screen, feeling offended at the comment. She shot a glare at the Doctor who had started to snicker because she'd been talking to the screen. The Doctor stopped snickering pretty quickly after that.

(Rossiter transforms himself, too.)
ROSSITER: But what do we do? We were so close. We almost had it working.
ADDAMS: What if this visitor is some sort of genius? Well, think about it. We're hijacking this project. Maybe we can use him too? Harold Saxon, or whatever he is, might be exactly what we need.

"I don't think he's what anyone needs." Martha scowled, she could see several ways everything could rapidly fall apart and she liked none of them, especially with the gate's purpose still undiscovered.

[Gate room]

NAISMITH: The Gate was found inside a spaceship buried at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was moved to an institute known as Torchwood, but when Torchwood fell, let's just say I acquired it.

"It's always Torchwood." The Doctor sighed, she'd missed this explanation the first time around and been far too busy regenerating to find out more details afterwards.

"We weren't that bad." Jack protested, looking actually offended (and a touch sad at the reminder of Torchwood).

"Torchwood Three under your command wasn't the worst, but Torchwood one was terrible. You can't argue that point Jack." The Doctor glanced briefly at Rose and Mickey who had been around for the fall of Torchwood One.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "You know I'd almost think that was a compliment, Doctor." The Doctor rolled her eyes at that but let it go knowing that was Jack's way of accepting her apology and agreeing about Torchwood One.

MASTER: I like you.
NAISMITH: Thank you.
MASTER: You'd taste great.

"Disturbing imagery." Yaz muttered to herself, Ryan, the only one to have heard her nodded along silently.

"I bet she's taking that thank you back." Mickey snorted.

NAISMITH: Mister Danes?
DANES: The visitor will be given food.
(The footmen bring in a covered dish. It is an entire large roast chicken. The Master rips it to pieces and devours it without ceremony in triple quick time.)

The group grimaced at that, not enjoying the sight of the Master tearing the chicken to pieces so easily. It all felt a bit like a disturbing metaphor and left them feeling unsettled for the contents of the rest of the video.

NAISMITH: Anyway, the device came equipped with it's own power supply. A Nuclear Bolt. One technician remains in charge of the feedback twenty four hours a day, and the power feeds through to the Gate, where it encourages some sort of cellular regeneration. Miss Collins was our test subject. She carried some burns as a result of an accident when she was a child, down her left side. If you could?
(Miss Collins steps forward and shows her left arm.)
NAISMITH: The Gate mended her. Thank you.

"It heals people?" Amy raised an eyebrow at that. It all seemed too … simple and un-weapon like for it to seem true. The Naismiths didn't seem like the kind to invest so much time, money and energy into a healing gate, not without an ulterior motive.

"A healing gate powered by nuclear power." Rory grimaced, "That doesn't seem safe."

"It's not." The Doctor answered (to which part she was referring – the gat not being for healing or not being safe no one knew).

"Great, really reassuring." Rory sighed, not really knowing what else he had expected.

MASTER: But what do you want it for?
NAISMITH: We calculate that if this device can be fully repaired by your good self, it can restore the body forever. Hence it's given title. The Immortality Gate. Because that's what I want. Not for me, but for my daughter. I want her never to die. My gift to her. She will be immortal.

"And there's the ulterior motive." Rose sighed.

"Immortality? Of course, it is, what is it with humans and immortality?" Nardole muttered mostly to himself.

Jack snorted, "Trust me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be." The Doctor couldn't help but wince at that reminder of Jack's condition.

ABIGAIL: Abigail. It means bringer of joy.
(Rubbish, it means Father's joy.
The Tardis materialises in the stable block. The Master smells it.)
MASTER: Better get to work.
(He uses the computer keyboard.)

"Not telling your masters that their security's been breached?" Martha sneered at the Master, purposely trying to get under his skin to calm herself (she knew it was wrong but couldn't bring herself to regret it because it was the Master, and if anyone deserved it, he did).

The Master smirked back, leaning back in his seat, purposely not rising to her bait (although if anyone looked closely, they'd see his fingers twitching). "Oh, but then that would mess with my plans. The Doctor always bring chaos with them after all, and chaos is just what I need in moments like that." The Doctor grimaced at the thought that she'd unknowingly played right into the Master's hands.

[Stables]

WILF: We've moved. We've really moved!
DOCTOR: You should stay here.
WILF: Not bloody likely.

"Grandad's too stubborn for that." Donna snorted.

"Runs in the family."

"Oi! Spaceman!"

DOCTOR: And don't swear. Hold on.
(The Doctor points the key at the Tardis, which disappears.)
DOCTOR: Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. That's the last thing we need.

The Master raised an eyebrow at the Doctor for that one, not willing to admit out loud that it had been a clever play on the Doctor's half, she was smug enough about it as it was.

[Mansion grounds]

(Wilf and the Doctor hide from a patrol.)
WILF: That book said he's a billionaire. He's got his own private army.

"Of course, he does." Clara sighed, "Why are all the crazy ones rich?" No one had an answer for her.

DOCTOR: Down here.
(The Doctor opens a small door in an archway.)

[Gate room]

(Rossiter is back in human form.)
ROSSITER: Miss Addams, we're getting encouraging results from the ratio-foldback. Can you confirm?

[Basement]

ADDAMS: (also human) The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place.

"I doubt they'll be saying that long." Graham said.

Yaz nodded thoughtfully, "Does beg the question of what they want the gate for though." She looked hopefully at the Doctor for answers. The Doctor only smiled fondly before waving to the screen.

[Gate room]

ADDAMS [OC]: The shatterthreads have harmonised, the fibre links intensified

[Basement]

ADDAMS: And the multiple overshots have triplicated.
DOCTOR: Nice Gate.
WILF: Hello. Sorry.
DOCTOR: Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place.

"You like the word 'shimmer', don't you?" River sighed at her wife fondly, fixing her with a knowing look.

In response the Doctor only had one word (and a wide grin). "Shimmer!"

ADDAMS: I'm sorry? What's a Shimmer?
(The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at her.)
DOCTOR: Shimmer.
(Addams turns green.)
WILF: Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus.

"Fair reaction." Rory snorted, several people in the group chuckling at Wilf's reaction to the aliens. To be fair to the older man, he was a lot less used to weird things and aliens then the group in the room were.

ROSSITER [OC]: Miss Addams?

[Gate room]

ROSSITER: Miss Addams? If you'll just excuse me.
(Rossiter leaves.)
NAISMITH: Now, please don't imagine I'm a slave-driver. We can resume work on Boxing Day, Mister Saxon.

"I doubt he's going to take that well." Jack muttered, meaning both the misnaming and the suggestion to stop working.

MASTER: My name is the Master.
(The Master has completed his work. He presses enter and the lights dim. A wormhole develops inside the Gate.)

"That's really not good." Bill muttered; eyes wide as the gate activated. The whole room was on edge, all waiting for the storm they all knew was just about to hit (the Master however was leaning back in his chair all smug, and ready to relive his (brief) moments of glory, and the Doctor was just sighing, personally she wasn't excited to relive any of this).

NAISMITH: Oh, excellent. Excellent! Mister Danes?
DANES: The visitor will be restrained.
MASTER: What? But I repaired it.
NAISMITH: I'm not an idiot. Don't let him anywhere near that thing.

"No, you're definitely an idiot. Just not for that small thing." Rose decided with a grimace.

[Basement]

DOCTOR: He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?
ROSSITER: What are you doing here?
(Without turning around, the Doctor points the screwdriver at Rossiter.)
DOCTOR: Shimmer!

River shook her head fondly at her wife, glad to still see her smiling (even a little) as things got tenser.

(Rossiter turns green.)
DOCTOR: Now, tell me quickly, what's going on? The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?

"Skeletor?!" The Master sat up straight in his chair, shooting the Doctor an incredibly offended look even as the rest of the group burst out into loud laughter. The Doctor just laughed with them (unable to stop comparing the Master to an offended cat in her head).

[Gate room]

(Danes locks the Master back into his strait jacket.)
NAISMITH: Your reputation precedes you, sir. I have no doubt you've laid traps. Perhaps explosives. A means of escape, or murder. But everything you've done to the Gate will be checked and double-checked before anyone stands inside.

"They're not stupid but they are idiots." Amy declared.

Rory just looked at silently for several minutes before sighing, "I hate how that made sense."

[Basement]

ROSSITER: But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational.
DOCTOR: Who are you, though? 'Cause I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red.

The Doctor frowned, sad at the reminder of Bannakaffalatta, that was another adventure she had no desire to relive anytime soon (and it had also been a solo adventure on Christmas. Maybe Amy was onto something, Christmas never seemed to go well for her).

ADDAMS: No, that's a Zocci.
ROSSITER: We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different.

"Of course, of course. Red cacti are different to green cacti." Ryan nodded along, looking like he had no clue what he was saying.

ADDAMS: And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship.

"Of course, it's theirs. That would explain why they're interested in it." Clara nodded, things starting to make more sense now. They were just glad that Addams and Rossiter didn't seem malevolent and were actually just helping the Doctor and Wilf (if a bit grumpily).

DOCTOR: But what does it do?
ROSSITER: Well, it mends. It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better.
DOCTOR: No, there's got to be more. Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal.
WILF: So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?
ADDAMS: More or less.

"Why's it so big then?" Nardole asked. The Doctor waved to the screen in answer with a grimace on her face, if only she's been just slightly quicker to put the pieces together. She ignored the smug and knowing look the Master was sending her.

WILF: Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?
DOCTOR: Oh, good question. Why's it so big?
ADDAMS: It doesn't just mend one person at a time.
ROSSITER: That would be ridiculous.
ADDAMS: It mends whole planets.
DOCTOR: It does what?
ADDAMS: It transmits the medical template across the entire population.
(The Doctor runs through the corridors.)

"You've figured out the Master's plan." Martha said, no shred of doubt in her voice just dread and resignment.

"Unfortunately." The Doctor answered.

"It's nothing good." Another statement from Martha.

"When is it ever?"

[Gate room]

NAISMITH: But it's time for the broadcast. The President's grand initiative. You might want to see this, sir. Proof that the human race can mend it's own problems.
AMN News [on TV]: And now, anticipation is rising as we go live to Washington. Here, on Christmas Day, the President has promised an instant and radical solution to the worldwide depression. Barack Obama will lead us all into a new age of prosperity.

[White House press room]

SPOKESWOMAN [OC]: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
OBAMA: Id like to speak briefly about the state of our economy

"Why are we getting the president's speech, I think the gate and the Master's plan is a bit more important." Rose queried, face worried (as was everyone's) as they desperately tried to work out the Master's plot. The only answer she got was the Doctor's grimace.

[Gate room]

DOCTOR: Turn the Gate off right now!
DANES: At arms!
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device.

"They're not going to listen to you, Doctor." Donna pointed out.

"I know, I know." The Doctor sighed, "I still had to try."

MASTER: Oh, like that was ever going to happen.
(The Master throws off the strait jacket and leaps over their heads on pillars of energy from his hands, into the Gate.)
MASTER: Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now.
DOCTOR: Deactivate it. All of you, turn the whole thing off!
MASTER: Bwahahahahahaha!

The group watched in horror as the Master escaped his bindings and ran into the gate; his plan, whatever it was, unfolding right in front of them and the Doctor too ate to stop him. The Master in the room was practically giddy watching his past-self succeed (even for a while).

NAISMITH: He's inside my head.
DOCTOR: Get out of there!
(The Master's blast of energy knocks the Doctor down.)
WILF: Doctor! Doctor, there's, there's this face.

"Not good, not good at all." Bill muttered. Voicing the thoughts of the whole room as they watched the disaster evolve, all waiting for the final punch.

DOCTOR: What is it? What can you see?
WILF: Well, it's him. I can see him.
AMN News [on TV]: There's something wrong. It seems to be affecting the President.
(The President of the United States has his face in his hands. The Doctor goes to the computer and tries to shut down the Gate.)
DOCTOR: I can't turn it off.
MASTER: That's because I locked it, idiot.

The Doctor glared at the Master who only stuck his tongue out at her childishly, but uncaring in his triumph. He was far too smug for anyone's comfort, looking like the cat that had got the cream. Of course, the Doctor had to have tried, it wouldn't be the first time the Master had forgotten to do a simple as preventative measure like that before and they both knew it.

DOCTOR: Wilfred! Get inside. Get him out.
(The Doctor enters one of a pair of glass sided cubicles, and Wilfred swaps places with a technician in the other.)

The Doctor grimaced at the sight of what would later be her death room, that was twice they'd both gone into those chambers, and she sincerely hoped she didn't have to go in one again anytime soon. Dying by radiation poisoning wasn't pleasant (and she died by it more than once so she'd definitely know).

DOCTOR: Just need to filter the levels.
WILF: Oh, I can see again! He's gone.
DOCTOR: Radiation shielding. Now press the button. Let me out.
WILF: You what?
DOCTOR: I can't get out until you press the button. That button there.
(Wilf does. Wilf's cubicle is now Locked and the Doctor's is Open.)
MASTER: Fifty seconds and counting.
DOCTOR: To what?
MASTER: Oh, you're going to love this.

"I doubt that." Jack grimaced, alternating between glaring darkly at the Master and watching the screen worriedly. He had a horrible feeling he knew what was about to happen.

[Basement]

ROSSITER: He was hiding the codes. He's extrapolated the Gate's power a million times over.
ADDAMS: But it's not affecting us.
ROSSITER: He's set the template for human!

"Of course, he has." Mickey grimaced, hand moving to hold Martha's hand and squeezing it tightly to offer them both comfort.

[Gate room]

(Wilf's phone rings. He pulls the revolver out of his pocket instead.)
WILF: Hello? Oh, Gawd. Donna?
DONNA [OC]: Where are you?

"I don't remember this." Donna frowned confused. "I don't remember this at all."

"You wouldn't." The Doctor said tone serious and sad which only served to worry Donna more.

[Nobles' home]

DONNA: It's Mum and Shaun. Something's wrong with them.
SYLVIA: There's this face.
WILF [OC]: But wait a minute. I mean, what about you?

[Gate room]

WILF: Can't you see anything?

[Nobles' home]

DONNA: I can see them.

[Gate room]

DONNA [OC]: That's bad enough.

"Why did it not affect me, whatever it was?" Donna asked, shooting the Doctor a look saying 'you will answer me, this is not a choice'.

"The metacrisis protected you, just as it sent you the message about Naismith, you had just a touch of non-human in you for the gate to not affect you." The Doctor answered, knowing Donna well enough to know she meant every silent word in that look of hers and it was safer to answer her now than face her wrath.

(Wilf's phone beeps for a call waiting.)
WILF: Not now, Winston.
WINSTON [OC]: Wilfred.

[Outside flats]

WINSTON: Those dreams. I can remember that face.
YOUNG MAN: There's a face in my head.
WINSTON: Wilfred, it's everyone!

"What's his plan?" Yaz muttered to herself, still just unable to connect the last dots on the Master's plan, why could everyone see his face? What did her gain out of it?

[Gate room]

DOCTOR: What is it, hypnotism? Mind control. You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?
MASTER: Oh, that's way too easy. No, no, no. They're not going to think like me, they're going to become me. And, zero!

"Become you?!" Martha exclaimed horrified by the thought. The rest of the group shared her horror but there was nothing they could do but watch the past unfold in front of their eyes.

(A blast of energy moves out from the Master and the Gate, and spreads across the entire planet. Everyone's face becomes blurred except for Donna and Wilf, and the Doctor of course.)
DOCTOR: You can't have.
WILF: What is it?

"Bit slow there dear?" The Master smirked smugly at her. The Doctor glared back but didn't rise to the bait, satisfied that she had stopped him and unwilling to entertain him and prolong his victory as he clearly wanted.

[Nobles' home]

DONNA: But they've changed.
(Sylvia and Shaun are now both the Master.)

"Oh god." Donna muttered, hands up to her mouth in horror. She was suddenly feeling very glad she couldn't remember this.

DONNA: Granddad, that's like, like the sort of thing that happened before.
(Donna remembers enemies from her adventures.)
DONNA: My head. Oh, my head! Oh, my head!

"Donna!" Martha exclaimed. Her head whipped around to face her friend in worry, all thoughts about the Master abandoned in favour of concern over the state of Donna.

[Gate room]

WILF: Doctor? She's starting to remember.
(Everyone's face resolves into the Master's.)
WILF: What is it? What have you done, you monster?
MASTER: Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?
NAISMITH-MASTER: Or to me?
ABIGAIL-MASTER: Or to me?
DANES-MASTER: Or to me?
SECURITY-MASTER: Or to us?
AMN NEWS-MASTER [on TV]: Breaking news. I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!

The group let out a quiet breath in horror as the Master's plan revealed itself, and it was oh so much worse than anything they could have thought of. Everything seemed to be going wrong. The Master was everyone, Donna was in trouble, Wilf and the Doctor were trapped, no help was coming, and they still had this supposed 'end of time' to worry about.

[White House press room]

OBAMA-MASTER: I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!
(The audience of Master's applauds him.)
OBAMA-MASTER: Ooo, financial solution. Deleted. Ha ha!

[Gate room]

MASTER: The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race. Bwahahahahahaha!

River gave the Master a searching look for a moment, long enough to unsettle him and wipe away the triumphant grin on his face. "What?" He snapped at her, not liking the silent judgement.

"You're jealous." River finally declared.

The Master spluttered in shocked protest as the rest of the room made the same connection as River had. "I am not!" The Master finally managed to cobble together words enough to verbally protest.

"Yes, you are." River answered calmly and confidently, before turning to her wife, and squeezing her hand in comfort (both for her benefit and if she made sure the Master was watching, then hey, that was just for her to know).

The Master continued to splutter; his good mood successfully ruined for the moment. He slunk back in his seat, practically putting to anyone that could read him well enough.

NARRATOR [OC]: And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his greater role in events. For this was far more than humanity's end.

Both the Master and the Doctor scowled at that, both understanding all too well what Rassilon was nattering on about and hating it. The rest of the group however, was listening carefully awaiting the reveal of this 'end of time' and whoever this narrator was.

[Citadel]

NARRATOR: This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned. For Gallifrey.
TIME LORDS: For Gallifrey!
NARRATOR: For victory!
TIME LORDS: For victory!
NARRATOR: For the end of time itself!
TIME LORDS: For the end of time itself!

"What?!" Several people exclaimed at once, their horror over the Master's plan being swiftly overtaken by their shock over the mention of Gallifrey. Their heads all whipped round to the Doctor awaiting answers as the screen went blank signalling the end of the video (for now).

"Gallifrey's involved?" Clara scowled, "Because things can't get any worse." The Doctor winced at that but couldn't find it in herself to quite disagree.

"Hold up." Bill put her hand in the air after a moment of silence, everyone taking a second to digest the fact that Gallifrey was now involved in the mess (despite it being seemingly impossible on the Doctor's timeline, but wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey as the Doctor liked to say). "Does that mean we were all the Master?"

The group grimaced at that, all coming to the same realisation as Bill announced it. The Doctor winced again but did answer, "Yes, everyone on Earth, excluding Donna, Wilf, myself, Jack, and any one non-human would have been turned into the Master."

There were several loud grumbles and disgusted mumbles at that idea, several people shivering in horror, an all very glad they couldn't remember it.

"Does anyone want a break?" The Doctor asked after a few quiet moments. Quite frankly she was hoping to delay the inevitable disaster that was going to be showing in the second part of the video, but she had no luck this time.

Martha spoke up for the group, "Honestly Doctor, I just want to watch and get this over with. We can have a break after the net video. I want to be happy that I'm myself again and not the Master." Nodding in understanding to that the Doctor leaned back in her seat a bit, carefully keeping her face blank to hide the grimace at the thought of all to come.

As she settled back, the screen tuned black and the words, 'End of Time Part 2', appeared. They were going straight back into the chaos.

---

Well, hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think (I love reading your comments!)

Also, a few things. One, I have a weeks holiday in a couple of weeks so hopefully I'll be able to pre-write a couple of chapters so there won't be as long a wait between chapters next time.

Also, any ideas for who you want the woman in white to be? I know Moffat said it was meant to be the Doctor's mother, but meh. I'm tempted to leave it up to interpretation, but I'm open to you're suggestions.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say (I think).

So thanks! And once again, hope you enjoyed (sorry about the wait)!