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.

28. The End of Time Part 2

Hello everyone!

And here it is - The End of Time Part 2! Hope it lives up to expectations.

Next up is Boom Town (because I love it, want to do a nine episode, and it's a simpler episode to do. After that I don't know, so keep your suggestions coming in (I do keep a track of them all).

Also, are you all excited for Doctor Who season 13 to start this Halloween (Sunday), I'm excited but apprehensive.

Anyway, another blabbering, as always I hope you enjoy and thank you for taking the time to read

Please let me know what you think of the story and the chapter (as well as put in your suggestions), as I live for comments.

Thanks and enjoy!

Robyn

---

The group didn't have to wait long as the screen immediately started playing, only showing the title 'End of Time Part 2' for a minute before the video itself started. The Tardis seemed to sense their desire for answers and for once was not making them wait to see what happened.

[Black Void]

(Gallifrey is in ruins. Only the Citadel stands inside its protective dome. The man we saw as the Narrator in part one strides across a bridge followed by two acolytes and takes his seat at the head of a table. Six time lords sit, three on each side, whilst a woman is at the far end, scribbling on parchments. The rest of the space is in darkness.)

The room watched in silent awe and horror at the rare glimpse of Gallifrey, and Gallifrey at the end of the Time War none the less. It was rare to see the home of the Doctor and Master so they were all interested to discover what part Gallifrey and Rassilon were to play in the already chaotic mess of this adventure.

The Doctor and Master shared a glance, for once united as they saw the state of their home in the final hours before they were stuck in time. Both were curious despite themselves, intrigued to find out if the Time Lords would say anything they didn't already know, but also not excited to relive their last moments together and the discovery of the source of the drumming.

RASSILON: What news of the Doctor?
CHANCELLOR: Disappeared, my Lord President.

"Bet that's annoying them." Jack grinned proudly, none of them had much love for the Time Lords, especially after seeing all they had seen in these videos, so it was always good to see the Doctor one-up 'her' people.

The Master snorted, more undignified then usual and the slightest bit find if you knew how to read him, "She was always good at that."

The Doctor gave him a pointed look for that comment, "You were often right there beside me causing trouble."

The Master returned the look with a smug grin, "But I was a lot better at not being caught."

PARTISAN: (a woman) But we know his intention. He still possesses the Moment, and he'll use it to destroy Daleks and Time Lords alike.

"The Moment?" Rose perked up, eyes narrowing as she recognised the name. "Wasn't that the weapon that looked like me? The mess with the three of you, when you saved Gallifrey?"

The Doctor nodded, eyes darting between Rose and the screen, focus not entirely on the question. "Yes, this is happening around the same time as that just at the Capitol with the Council." It took a moment for that fact to settle in with the group before they all nodded, really, they should be used to that kind of nonsense with all the time travel.

CHANCELLOR: The Visionary confirms it.
(The Visionary is the woman at the end of the table. She has henna tattoos on her face and hands.)
VISIONARY: Ending, burning, falling. All of it falling. The black and pitch and screaming fire, so burning.

"That sounds … fun." Mickey grimaced, eyeing the screen warily.

"Why can't prophecies ever be anything nice? Why do they always have to be death, destruction and despair?" Rory sighed; this wasn't reassuring them. In fact, the group was getting more tense with every moment which was an impressive feat with how tense they already were after the end of the last video.

"Life isn't nice like that." Amy shrugged, smirking a bit at the exasperated sigh her husband let out.

CHANCELLOR: All of her prophecies say the same. That this is the last day of the Time War. That Gallifrey falls. That we die, today.

"Partially right, it's the last day of the Time War, they don't die though." Bill spoke up, then hesitated, turning to the Doctor, "They don't, right?"

"No, they don't." The Doctor said quietly, her eyes focused on the Master instead of Bill. She didn't actually know what had happened in the Council room after Rassilon's plan failed, and she was sure it involved more than a few deaths but not permanent ones, not that time at least. Her answer didn't give any of them confidence that she believed what she was saying.

VISIONARY: Ending. Ending. Ending. Ending!
PARTISAN: Perhaps it's time. This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. But at its heart, millions die every second, lost in bloodlust and insanity. With time itself resurrecting them, to find new ways of dying over and over again. A travesty of life. Isn't it better to end it, at last?

"I don't think that's going to be a popular opinion." Yaz muttered, she didn't need to know much about the Time Lords and Rassilon to know that. The sarcastic comment was also helping distract her thoughts from the horrifying description of the Time war, that was not something she wanted to think about. The Doctor's people seemed to get crazier every time they appeared on screen.

RASSILON: Thank you for your opinion.
(The Lord President stands and aims his blue metal gauntlet at the Partisan. Energy strikes her, she screams and is atomised.)

Everyone winced at that, it really just went to showcase how ruthless and desperate Rassilon was. That was never a good thing, a desperate man in power didn't make good decisions and one with Rassilon's power and attitude was never going to try to help.

RASSILON: I will not die! Do you hear me? A billion years of Time Lord history riding on our backs. I will not let this perish. I will not!

"I don't think he cares about that history as much as he cares about himself." Clara stated, eyes narrowed. The Doctor and Master shared a knowing look.

CHANCELLOR: There is, er, there is one part of the prophecy, my Lord.
(The Chancellor brings a paper to the Lord President.)
CHANCELLOR: Forgive me, I'm sorry. It's rather difficult to decipher, but it talks of two survivors beyond the Final Day. Two children of Gallifrey.

The group's eyes immediately turned to look at the room's resident pair of Time Lords. "Of course, they're talking about you idiots." Donna snorted, the Doctor looked like they were about to protest before reconsidering and shrugging.

RASSILON: Does it name them?
CHANCELLOR: It foresees them locked in their final confrontation, The Enmity of Ages, which would suggest
RASSILON: The Doctor! And the Master.

"Seems you're famous." Graham raised an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"You say that like that's a good thing." The Doctor sighed, grimacing. She had left with the plan to travel and explore, not to become famous, yet here she was apparently.

CHANCELLOR: One word keeps being repeated, my Lord. One constant word. Earth.
VISIONARY: Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth.

"Of course, it's Earth. It's always Earth!" Martha threw her hands up high in the air in frustration, her time both with the Doctor and with UNIT had shown her that an abnormal amount of trouble seemed to happen on Earth.

CHANCELLOR: Planet Earth. Indigenous species, the human race.
(A projection of the planet appears above the table.)
VISIONARY: Earth. Earth. Earth.
RASSILON: Maybe that's where the answer lies. Our salvation. On Earth.

"That's not good." Ryan muttered. The group was starting to see how Gallifrey was a part of this mess and it didn't seem fair. Somehow the Doctor would have to deal with the Master's plan and Gallifrey at the same time while looking after Wilf which couldn't be easy.

[Naismith's study]

(The Doctor has been bound and gagged, strapped upright to a trolley. Wilf is tied to a chair nearby.)

"Bit of a difference in security measures." Bill grinned despite her worry about the situation, they were all very used to using humour as a coping mechanism. Was it healthy? No, would that change anything? Also, no. The Doctor grimaced at the reminder, ignoring the smirking Master in the corner.

MASTER: Now then, I've got a planet to run. Is everybody ready?
NAISMITH-MASTER [on screen]: Six billion, seven hundred and twenty seven million, nine hundred and

[Gate room]

NAISMITH-MASTER: Forty nine thousand three hundred and thirty eight versions of us

"Because one wasn't bad enough." Martha grimaced, still undeniably horrified by the thought and wishing the Doctor would escape and deal with the Master quickly.

[Naismith's study]

NAISMITH-MASTER [on screen]: Awaiting orders.
OBAMA-MASTER [on screen]: This is Washington. As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defences.
GENERAL-MASTER [on screen]: UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir.
CHINESE-MASTER [on screen]: And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over two point five million soldiers, sir. Present arms!
MASTER: Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship. Nothing to say, Doctor? What's that? Pardon? Sorry?
WILF: You let him go, you swine.

"You tell him grandad." Donna grinned proudly, all of the group feeling rather helpless with how trapped the Doctor was on screen.

MASTER: Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss.
WILF: Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was.

The Doctor smiled sadly, thinking back to her and Wilf's exchange on the spaceship before the end of this mess. She couldn't help but wonder if Wilf would still be proud if he could see her now.

MASTER: Hush, now. Listen to your Master.
(Ring, ring.)
MASTER: But that's a mobile.

"Congrats, Captain Obvious." Bill rolled her eyes, vice barely more than a mutter. She wasn't brave enough to spit it right in the Master's face, not yet, and not with how close she was sitting to him.

WILF: Yeah, it's mine. Let me turn it off.
MASTER: No, no, no, no, no. I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?

"Not everyone's under the Master's control?" Amy's eyes lit up in excitement. If not every single person on Earth was under the Master's control maybe the Doctor could get help.

"No." The Doctor shook her head, unable to stop herself from glancing at Donna, giving away the person calling Wilf for those who hadn't already made the connection. "Like I said, some people wouldn't have been turned for a few reasons, but most of them wouldn't be able to or willing to help. I imagine most of them saw what happened and hid." She couldn't exactly blame them; the Master was no small matter.

WILF: It's nobody. I tell you, it's nothing. It's probably one of them ring-back calls.
(The Master searches Wilf's pockets and finds the revolver.)
MASTER: Ooo, and look at this. Good man!
(He tosses it on the floor and gets the phone.)

The group was tense but couldn't help but let out a small breath of relief when the Master immediately discarded the revolver, he really didn't need another weapon. Still, knowing that poor Donna, without her memory, was on the other side of that call kept them all tense and stiff in their seats.

MASTER: Donna. Who's Donna?
WILF: She's no one. Just leave it.
DONNA [OC]: Gramps, don't hang up. You've got to help me.

Donna was watching the screen with scrunched up eyebrows, she couldn't remember any of this mess despite the majority of her memories having been returned to her. It was unnerving to see it without knowing what would happen, although she knew at the very least, she had survived and had not gotten majorly hurt. Though she would prefer not to going in as blind as the rest of the group.

[Alleyway]

DONNA: I ran out, but everyone was changing.

"God, Donna. That must have been terrifying." Martha breathed, feeling scared and sympathy for her friend. It was bade enough watching it like this and they were all safe and knew (mostly) what was going on. Poor Donna had no idea and nowhere to run.

[Naismith's study]

MASTER: Who is she? Why didn't she change?
DONNA [OC]: Gramps, I can't hear you.
WILF: Well, it was this thing the Doctor did. He did it to her. The Metacrisis.
MASTER: Oh, he loves playing with Earth girls. Ugh!

"Oi!" Several people protested at that comment. The Doctor, and majority of the group glaring at the Master all recognising that he was trying to mess with the Doctor (and based on what they'd seen and heard in some of these videos and in the room, he was likely jealous that the Doctor kept paying attention to everyone but him).

DONNA [OC]: Are you there?

[Gate room]

MASTER [on screen]: Find her. Trace the call.
NAISMITH-MASTER: Trace the call.
(A scientist-Master obeys.)

The group tensed further, all desperately hoping that either the Doctor would escape and save Donna or the call tracing would fail. Donna wasn't in any state to be able to fully defend herself, let alone know what she was defending herself from (not that any of them doubted Donna would put up a good fight).

[Naismith's study]

DONNA [OC]: Are you still there? Can you hear me?
MASTER: Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad.

"O, who are you calling a freak, Spaceboy!" Donna protested bristling and immediately going on the defensive, shooting a glare at the Master. The Master made an almost unnoticeable retreat in his seat and refused to meet her eyes or answer. It seemed he wasn't so brave in this room where he was sincerely outnumbered and the group had the Tardis defending them.

"Go get him Donna." The Doctor muttered quietly grinning widely at her friend stared down the Master unflinching. No one could survive Donna's ire.

WILF: Donna, get out of there! Just get out of there. I'm telling you, run!

[Gate room]

NAISMITH-MASTER: She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick. Open the phone lines. Everyone on Wessex Lane. Red alert.
DONNA [OC]: What do I do?
WILF: Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!

The tension in the room spiked again quickly. The group now desperately worried for Donna who was alone and confused while being hunted by the Master's minions. Only the Doctor's unworried expression calmed them, she wouldn't be so calm if everything had ended badly, surely?

[Alleyway]

(Two Master lookalikes block Donna in.)
DONNA: There's more of them.
WILF [OC]: Donna? What's happening? Are you still there?
DONNA: They're everywhere.
CHISWICK-MASTER: Oh, I'm starving.
WILF [OC]: Look, I'm telling you to run, Donna.
CHISWICK-MASTER 2: I'm still hungry.

The group grimaced at the reminder of what had happened to the poor people at the junkyard, their desperation for something to happen and save Donna from the increasingly worsening situation. Donna herself was tense, becoming more thankful that she couldn't remember any of this.

[Naismith's study]

WILF: Just run, sweetheart.

[Alleyway]

WILF [OC]: Just run.

The room couldn't help but feel sympathy for poor Wilf who could only pray for Donna, unable to see what was happening or help her out. They could understand the helplessness, after all they were all feeling it now watching this. Thy could at least be comforted by the fact Donna was in the room safe with them here.

(All the local Masters advance on Donna.)
DONNA: It's not just them. I can see those things again. Those creatures. Why can I see a giant wasp?

"A giant wasp?" Nardole questioned, that was weird even by their standards.

Donna and the Doctor shared a wide grin and glance before turning back to the curiously watching group and speaking in sync, "Agatha Christie."

Clara raised an eyebrow, "That only gives me more questions." The grins she received from the pair told her that they knew and were enjoying it far too much.

[Naismith's study]

WILF: Donna, don't think about that. Donna, my love

[Alleyway]

WILF [OC]: Don't!
DONNA: And it hurts. My head. It keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!
(Golden energy surges from Donna, travelling along the alleyway and knocking down the Chiswick-Masters.)
DONNA: What did I
(Donna collapses.)

"Donna!" Several people exclaimed worried as she collapsed in the street after the surge of energy, but unbelievably relieved that the Master-people were dealt with. Their heads whipped around to face the Doctor knowing they were the only one with answers.

"She's alright, don't worry. A little in-built self-defence mechanism so to say." The Doctor smiled smugly.

Donna narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, unsure how to feel about that. On one hand she didn't like that the Doctor having messed with her head any more than she had with the memories, but on the other if the Doctor hadn't, she would have likely been killed or severely hurt by the Master-people there. For her own sanity she decided she didn't want to touch that at the moment.

[Naismith's study]

WILF: Donna? What was that? Donna? Donna, are you there? Donna.! Donna! Donna!
(The Doctor is smiling, and he winks. The Master goes over and removes his gag.)
DOCTOR: That's better. Hello. But really, did you think I'd leave my best friend without a defence mechanism?

The group couldn't hide their fond smiles at seeing the Doctor up to their normal nonsense, and sitting comfortably (or as comfortably as she could in the situation). It was also nice to see her regain some sense of power over the Master despite the Master seemingly having all the power.

WILF: Doctor? What happened?
DOCTOR: She's all right. She's fine, I promise. She'll just sleep.

The group let out a breath at that, glad to have their fears relieved. It wasn't nice for Donna to just be lying out in the street unconscious, but at least she wasn't hurt or in any prominent danger for the moment. It would give the Doctor and Wilf time to deal with the Master's plan and whatever Gallifrey was trying to do.

MASTER: Tell me, where's your Tardis?

"Good thing you were smart enough to hide it for once." River remarked earning a proud grin from the Doctor before she considered her wife's words again, eyes scrunched up in confusion before shooting an offended look at River who just smirked unrepentant.

DOCTOR: You could be so wonderful.
MASTER: Where is it?
DOCTOR: You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour. Because you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough.

Several people in the group shifted uncomfortable, the Doctor's almost awe towards the Master often left them feeling unsettled. They couldn't see what the Doctor saw, but they didn't know the Master as well as the Doctor did, and the majority of them didn't want to know the Master. They'd be quite happy to never see him again. Martha grimaced, looking away from the screen, the image of the Doctor crying over the Master's dead body after the Year that Never Was clear in her head.

The Doctor was smiling sadly, aware of the sudden unsettled feeling that had cloaked the room but unbothered by it, or rather unsure how to address it. She couldn't help but glance at the Master whose face was carefully schooled blank. A lot had changed since then, yet at the same time very little had.

MASTER: Would it stop, then? The noise in my head?
DOCTOR: I can help.
MASTER: I don't know what I'd be without that noise.
DOCTOR: I wonder what I'd be, without you.
MASTER: Yeah.

The room was silent as the pair of Time Lords had a staring contest; both their faces unreadable. It said a lot about the pair of them, the Doctor was focussed on the Master, and the Master in turn was focused on the 'source' of his madness.

WILF: What does he mean? What noise?
MASTER: It began on Gallifrey, as children. Not that you'd call it childhood. More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was taken for initiation, to stare into the Untempered Schism.
WILF: What does that mean?
DOCTOR: It's a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts.
MASTER: They took me there in the dark. I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums. The never ending drums.

Jack and Martha shared a glance, both thinking back to when the Doctor had first shared this story with them. Everyone else was listening closely, even though the pair of Time Lords had already vaguely told them about it before, they couldn't help but listen anytime either of them mentioned their childhoods or time on Gallifrey.

[Black void]

RASSILON: The Untempered Schism. That's when it began.
CHANCELLOR: History says the Master heard a rhythm. A torment that stayed with him for the rest of his life.
RASSILON: A drumbeat. A warrior's march.
CHANCELLOR: A symptom of insanity, my Lord.
(The Visionary taps the rhythm for them with her long fingernail on the metal surface of the table.)
RASSILON: A rhythm of four. The heartbeat of a Time Lord.

"Why am I getting the feeling that he had something to do with the drumbeat?" Rose asked, a sinking feeling in her gut. The exchange that the Doctor and Master had answered her question.

[Naismith's study]

MASTER: Listen to it. Listen.
DOCTOR: Then let's find it. You and me.
MASTER: Except. Oh. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good.
DOCTOR: What? What is?
MASTER: The noise exists within my head, and now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine. Oh. Oh, yes.

River's eyes widened as she latched onto what the Master was thinking, eyes darting to the Doctor who was too focused on the screen to notice her sudden panic. She sincerely hoped the Master wasn't planning to do what she thought he was.

(The Master's skeleton becomes briefly visible again.)
DOCTOR: The Gate wasn't enough. You're still dying.
MASTER: This body was born out of death. All it can do is die. But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said the end of time.

"Very poetic way of saying the resurrection went wrong." Bill muttered with a scowl at the Master, she hated seeing this version of the Master, it brought back too many bad memories.

DOCTOR: I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy. That's why I need your help.
MASTER: What if I'm part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away. From the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source. Oh, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was. Me!

The Master scowled at the smug look the Doctor sent him, he hated being wrong almost as much as he heated the Doctor being right.

(He slaps the Doctor.)

Immediate glares were sent to the Master.

MASTER: Where's the Tardis?
DOCTOR: No. Just stop. Just think.
MASTER: (to guard) Kill him.

The room tensed up in an instant, doubling down on their glares aimed at the Master. They knew that Wilf survived this but it was still worrying to see him being threatened like this, Donna's knuckles were white as she clenched her fists.

(A helmeted guard goes over to Wilf.)
MASTER: I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead.
WILF: Don't tell him.
MASTER: I'll kill him right now!
DOCTOR: Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone dead stupid.

The room stopped glaring at the Master and turned to give the Doctor disbelieving looks (except the Master who was now shooting the Doctor an annoyed look for that remark). The Doctor only smiled cryptically at the group, waving to the screen in answer which only served to annoy everyone.

MASTER: Take aim.
DOCTOR: You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?

"Now really isn't the time to be insulting the person threatening Wilf." Rory remarked.

"Nah." The Doctor answered complacently.

"Nah?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

The Doctor grinned wider, "Nah."

MASTER: Like what?
DOCTOR: That guard is one inch too tall.
(The guard knocks out the Master with his rifle butt, then removes his helmet to reveal a green spiky head.)

"The cacti!" Ryan cheered relieved, the rest of the group joining in. Martha and Jack gave the Master smug looks to his annoyance

ROSSITER: Oh my God, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life.
(Green Addams runs in.)
ADDAMS: Well, come on. We need to get out of here fast.
(She frees Wilf while Rossiter releases the Doctor.)
WILF: God bless the cactuses!
DOCTOR: That's cacti.
ROSSITER: That's racist!

The group was in a much better mood as the Doctor and Wilf were helped in their escape from the Master's clutches, all chuckling at the interaction between the odd group.

[Gate room]

NAISMITH-MASTER: This prophecy of yours, Doctor, where did it come from? Doctor?

[Naismith's study]

ADDAMS: Come on! We've got to get out.
ROSSITER: There's too many buckles and straps.
ADDAMS: Just wheel him.
DOCTOR: No, no, no. Get me out. No, no, no, don't. Don't! No, no, no.

The group started laughing more at the comedic sight of the Doctor being wheeled away as they continued protesting furiously.

[Gate room]

(The Doctor is wheeled across in front of the camera feed to the screen.)
NAISMITH-MASTER: What's going on? Doctor!

The Doctor couldn't help but give the Master a smug look, despite the problematic escape method, she was still getting one-up on the Master. It felt more like their old dance from the days before anyone else in the room.

[Corridor]

ROSSITER: Which way?
ADDAMS: This way.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. The other way. I've got my Tardis.
ADDAMS: I know what I'm doing.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, just just listen to me!

"They never listen." The Doctor sighed frustrated. Honestly, she wasn't sure if they would have been able to make it to the Tardis in time, but it was the principle of the matter!

[Naismith's study]

(The Master comes to as three guards run in.)
MASTER: Find him. Find him!

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: Not the stairs. Not the stairs!

[Basement corridor]

DOCTOR: Worst rescue ever!

The group was back to laughing at the Doctor's frustrations, relieved to be able to relax a bit, comfortable with the fact the Doctor was going to escape. That would give the Doctor time to plan a way to defeat the Master and deal with Gallifrey, as well as keep Wilf safer.

[Gate room]

GUARD-MASTER [OC]: Underneath the Gate room, sir.
NAISMITH-MASTER: Basement. Get him.
GUARD-MASTERS: Yes, sir.

[Basement]

DOCTOR: Just, just stop and listen to me!
(The Master runs in with armed guards.)
MASTER: Gotcha.
ADDAMS: You think so?
(She presses her wristwatch.)
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, don't!
(She, Rossiter, Wilf and the Doctor vanish.)

The room all blinked at their sudden disappearance before realisation settled in, that was a familiar kind of disappearance. The group's escape was suddenly within grasp.

"You've teleported." Mickey announced confidently.

"But where to?" Martha asked, not actually expecting an answer.

[Teleport room]

DOCTOR: Now get me out of this thing!
ADDAMS: Don't say thanks, will you.
DOCTOR: He's not going to let us go. Just hurry up and get me out!

"Time's ticking." Jack muttered, recognising the Doctor's thought process and already mentally running through all the ways the Master could locate them if the Doctor didn't stop him.

(Wilf looks out of a nearby window.)
WILF: Oh, my goodness me. We're in space!

"He'll love that." Donna smiled fondly, "Grandad always loved space." Despite the danger, despite everything, she couldn't help but be happy that he'd finally gotten his dream and been to space.

DOCTOR: Come on.
ADDAMS: All right!
DOCTOR: Oh, get a move on.
(They are on a spaceship made from very large round modules.)

"Their spaceship?" Clara asked knowingly, it would make sense for how Addams and Rossiter had gotten there. The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

[Basement]

(The Master works at a keyboard.)
NAISMITH-MASTER [OC]: Open the teleport and follow him!

[Teleport room]

DOCTOR: Come on!
ADDAMS: All right.
(They finally get the Doctor free. He zaps the teleport controls with his sonic screwdriver.)

"The trusty old Sonic." Graham smiled fondly.

[Gate room]

MASTER: He's still up there. Target practice.

[Teleport room]

DOCTOR: Where's your flight deck?
ADDAMS: But we're safe. We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth.
DOCTOR: And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire.

The group immediately tensed back up, realising that they may be out of grasp of the Master but they weren't out of shooting range.

"That's a good point." Rose grimaced.

ADDAMS: Good point.
(Addams, Rossiter and the Doctor runs out. The Doctor returns to gently lead Wilf away from the window.)
WILF: But we're in space!
DOCTOR: Yep.

"Oh, let grandad have a moment, it's been a hectic day." Donna berated the Doctor.

"Bit occupied with the oncoming missiles; he can stare out into space when we aren't about to be shot down." The Doctor fought back, earning an eye roll from Donna which was her way of reluctantly agreeing.

[Gate room]

MASTER: Turn everything you've got to the skies. Find me that ship. And prime the missiles.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

GENERAL-MASTER: Open up the radar. Maximum scan.
OPERATIVE-MASTERS: Yes, sir.

[Flight deck]

DOCTOR: We've got to close it down!
ROSSITER: No chance, mate. We're going home.

"That's a terrible idea." Yaz remarked bluntly, if they just left with the Doctor and Wilf, then the Erath had little hope of escaping the Master let alone whatever plan Gallifrey was coming up with.

ADDAMS: We're just a salvage team. Local politics has got nothing to do with us. Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space the better.
DOCTOR: We're not leaving.
(The Doctor sonically sabotages the flight controls. The whole spaceship goes dark.)

"I'm guessing that's not good." Bill raised an eyebrow at the Doctor breaking the silence that had descended in the room as the spaceship went dark. The Master was also shooting the Doctor a disbelieving look, he knew she'd done something to escape being detected, but that was a bit extreme (or, in better wording – desperate).

The Doctor ignores the Master in favour of waving her hand at Bill in a 'so-so' gesture.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

GENERAL-MASTER: Anything?

[Flight deck]

(Silent running.)
DOCTOR: Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

OPERATIVE-MASTER: I'm sorry, sir. Nothing.

[Gate room]

GENERAL-MASTER [on screen]: Lost him.
MASTER: What about teleport coordinates?

[Basement]

MASTER [OC]: I need that information.
GUARD-MASTER: He's cut the link, sir.

[Gate room]

GUARD-MASTER [OC]: No trace. All dead.

The group all let out a breath at that, tension slowly leaking out of the room as the Doctor and Wilf were confirmed to have fully escaped the Master for now. At least they'd finally have time to try and plan how to deal with everything going on.

[Basement]

GUARD-MASTER: Still, open fire!
(The guards shoot up the computers.)
GUARD-MASTER: No way back now. He's stranded.

"That's an unfortunately good point." Rory remarked with a grimace. The Doctor shrugged, having no obvious way back was more manageable then being shot out of the sky.

[Flight deck]

ADDAMS: No sign of any missiles. No sign of anything. You've wrecked the place!
ROSSITER: The engines are burnt out. All we've got is auxiliary lights. Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck in orbit.
ADDAMS: Thanks to you, you idiot!

"That's really not good. Why did you do that?" Mickey asked incredulous.

"Well Ricky, it was that or get shot out of space! Personally, I prefer being alive." The Doctor remarked, arms crossed.

(Addams leaves.)
WILF: I know you, though. I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on. You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flim-flam, (Tommy Cooper impression) sort of thing? Eh? Oh, blimey.

A few people raised an eyebrow at that, the Doctor completely without a plan was not a good sight, especially with danger around every corner. Still, at least they know had the space away from imminent threats of death to try and think of something.

[Gate room]

MASTER: Night has fallen. Are we ready?

[Naismith's study]

NAISMITH-MASTER: Every single one of us is prepared.

[Gate room]

MASTER: Then we listen. All of us, across the world, just listen.

River grimaced, unhappy that her suspicions had been correct on the Master's idea. She had an unfortunate feeling she knew at least part of Rassilon's plan as well, things were slowly starting to connect in her head.

(The whole Master population of Earth holds their breath and listens.)
MASTER: Concentrate. Find the signal. There! The sound is tangible. Someone could only have designed this. But who?

"Gallifrey." Clara announced confidentially with a scowl. She turned to the Doctor expectantly, "I'm right, aren't I? That's part of their plan to try and save themselves." It wasn't like Gallifrey could go much further in her expectations, everything they'd seen in the room had just painted the Doctor's supposed home in a worse and worse light.

The Doctor hesitate before sighing and nodding, "Yes, Rassilon is responsible and it is part of the plan. But to see it all you'll just have to watch." Clara nodded at that, just glad that she'd received an answer for once.

[Black void]

CHANCELLOR: The signal has been sent. A simple task of four beats transmitted back through time, and implanted in the Master's mind as a child.

The Master glowered at the screen, still unspeakably furious at Rassilon. He may have gotten his revenge back then but it didn't feel like enough, nothing ever would for what they'd done to him.

RASSILON: Then we have a link to where the Master is right now.

"They're going to use the signal, the one the Master's amplifying, to pull themselves out of the Time Lock." River stated, with a grimace, she'd made the connection earlier but she'd been holding onto frail threads of hope that she was wrong. The Doctor's long sigh was the horrible confirmation she'd dreaded.

CHANCELLOR: But we're still trapped inside the Timelock, sir. The link is nothing more than a thought, an idea.
RASSILON: Then we need something to make the contact physical. Something so simple.
VISIONARY: So small and shining. Shining bright and cold. The tiny, tiny star, falling, falling, burning, burning, burning.
(The Lord President takes a diamond from his staff.)
RASSILON: Small enough to follow the link. And if this were on Earth.
(He throws the diamond at the image of the Earth. The Doctor is working on some wiring when he sees a bright object streaking towards the planet.)

The Doctor scowled; she hadn't made that connection back then but seeing it like this made her feel foolish. It had taken her far too long to connect all the pieces, although they had more clues with this video than she'd had, still if she'd realised sooner maybe she could have come up with a better plan.

[Naismith's study]

NAISMITH-MASTER: The sound. It's coming from above.

[Gate room]

MASTER: It's coming from the sky!

[Terrace]

MASTER: There! Find it. Get out there and find it!
(The diamond falls to Earth with a big bang.)

"Big bang for a tiny diamond." Graham whistled.

"It fell a long way." The Doctor's expression was blank, and tone serious as she watched the screen.

GUARDS: Yes, sir.

[Field]

(Two Land Rovers drive up to the burning crater. The diamond is intact, sitting at the bottom of the hole.)
GUARD-MASTER: It's a diamond, sir. Oh. The most impossible diamond. You won't believe this.

"What's special about the diamond?" Rose asked curious. Clearly it had some importance as it had been on Rassilon's staff and the way the Master was reacting to it.

The Doctor and Master shared a look that no one else could interpret. After a moment, the Doctor turned to Rose and answered, "It's a white-point star. A special type of diamond only found on Gallifrey and even then, it's incredibly rare."

[Gate room]

GUARD-MASTER [OC]: It's a Whitepoint star.

[Spaceship corridor]

WILF: Doctor? Hello? Hello? Is that you? Doctor? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, I think I'm lost.
WOMAN: And yet you are found. Events are closing. The day is almost upon us. But tell me, old soldier. Did you take arms?
WILF: I brought this. But what am I supposed to do?
WOMAN: This is the Doctor's final battle. At the end of his life, he must stand at arms, or lose himself and all this world, to the End of Time.
WILF: But he never carries guns. He doesn't do. Who are you?
WOMAN: I was lost, so very long ago.

The Doctor frowned at the screen, that was putting it lightly. She also didn't approve of the way the woman in white kept encouraging Wilf, she may have been right about the gun being needed (although not in the way anyone had expected) but she dislike dhow she'd been sneaking around behind their back. She also disliked how everyone was looking at her like she was about to die (which she was on screen, but still).

"Bit dramatic, eh?" She attempted to joke to try and stop the looks she was receiving. Sadly, it only served to make them worse.

[Teleport room]

WILF: Aye, aye. Got this old tub mended?
DOCTOR: Just trying to fix the heating.

"The heating?" Bill asked incredulous, she thought's he would have been focusing on how to stop the Master, not fixing the heating.

The Doctor grinned recognising what she was thinking, "No point in coming up with a plan to stop the Master if we freeze to death first. Space is cold, you should remember that." Her grin dipped in reminder of their treacherous walk outside Chasm Forge which had left the Doctor temporarily (thankfully) blind. Bill nodded, her expression turning serious at the reminder. The pair's exchange drew a few curious looks from the rest of the group (and a knowing one from Nardole), but no one questioned it for now.

WILF: Oh. I've always dreamt of a view like that. Hee, hee. I'm an astronaut. It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day. My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?

The group shivered at that horrifying thought, it was bad enough to think the majority of them had been turned alongside everyone on Earth, but people in their graves? Horrifying.

"He didn't." The Doctor announced, giving the Master a side-eye daring him to argue. "Only those alive, walking the Earth." That earned her a few thankful and relived nods.

Donna was frowning at the turn that Wilf's thoughts had taken; she'd thought he'd be so happy to be in space (and he was) but the danger they were in had clearly started to get to him.

DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
WILF: No, not your fault.
DOCTOR: Isn't it?

River leaned over towards her wife whose expression had turned solemn, "Not everything's your fault sweetie."

The Doctor gave a self-degrading smile and mimicked her words form the screen, "Isn't it?"

River snorted, a reaction that surprised the Doctor and startled her out of her self-depreciating thoughts. "Save some of the blame for everyone else Doctor. No one's guilt free."

WILF: Oh, 1948, I was over there. End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?
DOCTOR: I'm older than you.
WILF: Get away.

The group chuckled at Wilf's reaction; glad the pair are finally talking. Hopefully they could pull each other out of their blue moods and start a plan to stop the chaos happening on Earth.

"He didn't know?" Martha asked between chuckles, the question directed at both the Doctor and Donna.

The Doctor shrugged but Donna snorted, "I didn't exactly go home telling my mum and grandad that I was travelling space and time with an old man." Her answer drew a few laughs from the group, especially those that knew her mother or grandfather, or experienced that dilemma themselves.

"Oi!" The Doctor protested but the group ignored her.

DOCTOR: I'm nine hundred and six.

"Nine hundred and six?" Ryan's eyes widened. "This was a long time ago then."

"A lot of things were a long time ago for me, doesn't make them any less important or memorable." The Doctor shrugged, eyes distant and showing their age for once, "Though that's not always a good thing."

WILF: What, really, though?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
WILF: Nine hundred years. We must look like insects to you.
DOCTOR: I think you look like giants.

"Of course, you do, Doctor." Jack smiled fondly, his own eyes reflecting their age. The pair shared a knowing look, both united in their old age and experiences with humans.

WILF: Listen, I, I want you to have this. I've kept it all this time, and I thought
(Wilf offers his revolver to the Doctor.)

The group winced, "This isn't going to go well." Mickey muttered shooting the Doctor a knowing look.

DOCTOR: No.
WILF: No, but if you take it, you could
DOCTOR: No. You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then.
WILF: Too scared, I suppose.

"Scared isn't a bad thing." The Doctor muttered, biting her lip as she thought about where this conversation as going. This was one of her least favourite things about watching these videos (and she had a long list, both alphabetised and ranked by how much she disliked it), private conversations she thought k=no one would ever hear didn't stay private.

DOCTOR: I'd be proud.
WILF: Of what?
DOCTOR: If you were my dad.

The group was silent, no one looking at the Doctor in order to give her a rare moment of privacy that these videos seemed determined to take away from her. This was not something they needed to stick their noses into.

The Master, however seemed to have a different opinion, "Really? The little human pest?" He sneered at the Doctor across their mental link.

"Don't call him that! Don't call any of them that!" The Doctor snapped back at the Master, for once not bothering about giving him ammo with her reactions. "Besides, it's not like they could be any worse than our 'actual' parents."

The Master scowled at that but didn't argue anymore, he couldn't. They both knew how bad their parents were, and the Master's father had not been a kind man by anyone's standards.

WILF: Oh, come on, don't start. But you said, you were told he will knock four times and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it? The Master. That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you.
DOCTOR: Yeah.

"You're just accepting that!?" Clara snapped around to face the Doctor with a scowl.

The Doctor sighed, feeling the heavy weight of the room's eyes on her, as well as the surprised-curious-annoyed that came from her re-opened mental link with the Master. "What was I supposed to do? If it was going to happen, it was going to happen no matter what I did. That's how these things work, the more you do to avoid it the more likely it is to be the cause." She hesitated for a moment, "Besides, in the end the Master wasn't the cause for once."

Her explanation earned her several sad and dubious looks, no one quite sure how to deal with the matter as they could sense the logic in the Doctor's words, but it didn't mean they had to enjoy it.

WILF: Then kill him first.
DOCTOR: And that's how the Master started. It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse. I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long. I can't. I just can't.

The atmosphere in the room dipped drastically, everyone tensing as they recognised the Doctor's tone and attitude. It reminded them far too much of the Eyebrows just before they regenerated for any of them to be comfortable with the turn this conversation had taken.

"Sweetie." River murmured, eyes softening as she reached out to take the Doctor's hand (which had slipped out of her grip a while ago in favour of fidgeting).

The Doctor let River take her hand, but shook her head adamantly, "Don't River … please, just don't." River hesitated, frowning but reluctantly nodded her (temporary) agreement to let the matter go.

WILF: If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

"Yes, you do." Yaz declared with narrowed eyes. The Doctor may have a different face on screen but some of their habits were the same, and that tone said they did know, they just didn't like it. The Doctor sighed in answer.

WILF: Doctor, what happens?
DOCTOR: The template snaps.
WILF: What, they go back to being human? They're alive, and human. Then don't you dare, sir. Don't you dare put him before them. Now you take this. That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don't die. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die.
DOCTOR: Never.

The Doctor snorted at that comment, muttering "Always," to herself. She was quickly distracted from her depressive thoughts by the weight of angry eyes digging into the side of her head. It only took a second to pinpoint the source – Martha.

"Don't you dare tell me Mister, that you even thought about not stopping the Master." She narrowed her eyes further at the Doctor, arms crossed with Mickey leaning away from her slightly, not wanting to get in the way of her wife's anger.

The Doctor's expression was solemn and serious in order to stop Martha getting any ideas about her trying to escape those accusations. "I promise Martha, I never considered not stopping him. I admit killing him was not something in the cards unless absolutely necessary, but I was always going to find a way to stop him no matter what happened to me." The Doctor was doing her best to be completely honest, even if it wasn't what they quite wanted to hear.

Martha sighed, her expression softening a bit. "I don't suppose I should have expected anything else." She knew almost better than anyone else how blinded the Doctor got when the Master was involved in things.

MASTER [OC]: A star fell from the sky.

[Gate room]

MASTER: Don't you want to know where from?

[Flight deck]

MASTER [OC]: Because now it makes sense, Doctor.
ADDAMS: It's an open broadcast. Don't reply, or he'll know where we are.

"I think the Doctor already knew that." Nardole muttered.

"Are you seriously bad-guy monologing?" Bill asked the Master incredulous.

The Doctor snorted, "He always does that. Loves the sound of his own voice."

"Like you can talk, dear." The Master shot back.

"Oi! What does that mean!"

The pair continued to squabble as the rest of the group watched in a mix of confusion, bewilderment, and humour. Bill's eyes widened theatrically, "What have I started?" she whispered (loudly) to herself, earning sniggers from those closest to her.

Thankfully the pair of arguing Time Lords were thankfully interrupted by the video continuing to play.

MASTER [OC]: The whole of my life.

[Teleport room]

MASTER [OC]: My destiny. The star was a diamond.

[Gate room]

MASTER: And the diamond is a Whitepoint

[Teleport room]

MASTER [OC]: Star. And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift.

[Gate room]

(Scientist-Masters are working on a gizmo.)
MASTER: Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be spectacular.

"A spectacular disaster." The Doctor snorted shooting the Master a smug look, to which he scowled annoyed that she'd been right.

"That's not promising." Rory muttered.

[Teleport room]

MASTER [OC]: Over and out.
WILF: What's he on about? What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?
DOCTOR: A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet. Gallifrey. Which means it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning.
WILF: Well, I mean, that's good, isn't it? I mean, that's your people.
(The Doctor takes Wilf's revolver and runs.)

"Because that's a good way of telling Wilf that's not a good thing." Amy raised an eyebrow pointedly at the Doctor. The Doctor just shrugged, she'd been a bit distracted by the realisation that the Time Lords were coming back to try and explain her complicated relationship with her 'home'.

No one commented on the fact that this was back when the Doctor thought they'd destroyed everything, and they'd seemed so excited to get a chance to fix it all in the first video they'd seen. Yet here they'd reacted by picking up the gun, something they would never have done normally. The Doctor's relationship with Gallifrey was too complicated for any of them to understand even after all these videos.

[Gate room]

MASTER: Open up the Nuclear Bolt. Infuse the power lines to maximum.
(Two scientists swap duties in the glass booths.)
TECHNICIAN-MASTER: Nuclear bolt accelerating, sir.

The Doctor's flinch went unnoticed by everyone, none of them around to have witnessed her death and therefore they didn't know what signs to be looking for. This decision of the Master's was the reason she had died in some way.

MASTER: Send the signal back and the link becomes a pathway.
(The Master places the diamond in a bed of wires within the gizmo. It begins to transmit the four beats.)
MASTER: Come home.

Both the Maser and Doctor scowled at that, neither of them happy to relive Gallifrey's (thankfully temporary) return. The Master had been far too hyped up on his victory so far and thirsting after answers he'd been trying to find for most of his life to recognise how terrible a decision this had been.

[Flight deck]

(The Doctor runs in. The signal can be heard here.)
ADDAMS: What's that?
ROSSITER: Coming from Earth. It's on every single wavelength.

[Black void]

RASSILON: Contact. At last.

[Gate room]

MASTER: We have contact.

The tension in the room rose, all knowing how badly this could end in theory and unsure how the Doctor was going to be able to deal with both the Master and Rassilon at one time.

[Citadel]

(The Lord President addresses the serried ranks of Time Lords.)
RASSILON: Now the High Council of Time Lords must vote. Whether we die here, today, or return to the waking world and complete the Ultimate Sanction. For this is the hour when either Gallifrey falls, or Gallifrey rises!
TIME LORDS: Gallifrey rises!
RASSILON: Gallifrey rises!

"They're all crazy." Donna declared loudly.

"They're desperate." The Doctor defended, frowning. She didn't know why she was attempting to defend them, maybe left-over loyalty? Not that she'd ever had much loyalty to Gallifrey, no, the more likely source was guilt.

"You say that like there's a difference between the two." Clara spoke up, eyes dark as they always were whenever Gallifrey was brought up now. She wasn't going to ever forgive them for the Doctor's time in the confession dial, and she was sure they'd done much more to the Doctor than any of them knew.

[Flight deck]

(The Doctor is rushing around, working on bits and pieces.)

"You have a plan." Rose grinned, happy to see the Doctor finally doing something.

"80% of a plan … wait, no this was … eh, no … maybe more 75% of a plan … no … maybe? … yeah … 36% of a plan, final answer." The Doctor thought to herself, face scrunched up.

"Well, that's better than normal." Amy sighed but she was unable to hide the fond smile.

WILF: But you said your people were dead. Past tense.
DOCTOR: Inside the Time War. And the whole War was Timelocked. Like, sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble but just think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the Timelock. Don't you see? Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there.
WILF: The signal. Since he was a kid.

"He worked that out quickly." Jack's eyebrows shot up in delighted surprise. He hadn't expected for Wilf to make the connection so quickly but Wilf was good at surprising people.

DOCTOR: If they can follow the signal, they can escape before they die.
WILF: Well, then, big reunion. We'll have a party.

"Not really a matter worth celebrating." Mickey grimaced.

DOCTOR: There will be no party.
WILF: But I've heard you talk about your people like they're wonderful.
DOCTOR: That's how I choose to remember them, the Time Lords of old. But then they went to war. An endless war, and it changed them right to the core. You've seen my enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them.

"War changes people, and often not for the good. The Time Lords were already dangerous, war just made them worse." The Doctor said, face serious.

ADDAMS: Time Lords, what lords? Anyone want to explain?

"They must be so confused." Yaz grinned, the poor cactus people had no idea what mess they'd gotten themselves into.

DOCTOR: Right, yes, you. This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?
ADDAMS: Yeah, what about it?
DOCTOR: So, you've got asteroid lasers!
ROSSITER: Yeah, but they're all frazzled.
(The Doctor throws a lever and two gun alcoves open on either side of the flight controls.)

"Cool." Ryan's eyes widened at the weapons on the ship.

Graham raised an eyebrow, "How are you going to use those to stop Gallifrey and the Master?" It wasn't like they could take on Gallifrey with the small ship, hell they probably couldn't even take on the Master with those.

"Just watch." The Doctor answered, waving to the screen in answer.

DOCTOR: Consider them unfrazzled. You there, what's your name? (Addams) I'm going to need you on navigation. (to Rossiter) And you, get in the laser-pod. Wilfred.
WILF: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Laser number two. The old soldier's got one more battle.
ADDAMS: This ship can't move. It's dead!
DOCTOR: Fix the heating?
(The Doctor throws two levers forward, and the ship powers up.
ADDAMS: But now they can see us.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes!

The group was grinning, enthused with the energy the Doctor on screen was projecting. They were all very happy to see the Doctor finally making progress and have the start of a plan. Things were getting crazy but they could only hope the Doctor's plan would be able to tackle both the Master and Gallifrey.

The Master was scowling, annoyed at how easily the Doctor seemed to find a way to escape his clutches. Still, he couldn't help but be curious about what the Doctor's plan had actually been (if he even had one, who knew with the Doctor).

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

GENERAL-MASTER: Sir, we've got a fix. Hundred and five thousand miles in orbit.

"He's found you." Nardole declared.

"I know." The Doctor smirked, which with the Doctor was either really encouraging or terrible (there was usually no in between).

[Flight deck]

ADDAMS: This is my ship, and you're not moving it. Step away from the wheel.

"He's not going to listen." Amy grinned.

"They never do." Rory sighed.

DOCTOR: There's an old Earth saying, Captain. A phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need.
ADDAMS: What's that, then?
DOCTOR: Allons-y!
(The Doctor powers the spaceship down towards the Earth.)

"Of course, it is." Martha sighed, but her, Rose, Mickey, Donna, and Martha (all those that had travelled with that Doctor) couldn't hide their smiles at the familiar phrase.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

OPERATIVE-MASTER: He's moving, sir.
GENERAL-MASTER: Get a fix on him.
OPERATIVE-MASTER: He's moving very fast.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Bill declared, earning a few sniggers from the group.

[Flight deck]

(The spaceship dives through the atmosphere.)
DOCTOR: Come on! Come on!
ADDAMS: You are blinking, flipping mad.

"They're only just learning that?" Rose grinned widely.

DOCTOR: You two. What did I say? Lasers.
ROSSITER: What for?
DOCTOR: Because of the missiles. We've got to fight off an entire planet.

"You know what, they're right. You're absolutely insane." Rory blinked at the Doctor, gaping. He shook his head in an attempt to shake his shock, to some degree of success.

"Aren't we all?" The Doctor grinned manically.

"Speak for yourself." Mickey snorted, Graham and Ryan nodded along. The trio received doubting looks from the rest of the group.

[Gate room]

GENERAL-MASTER [on screen]: All NATO defences coordinated, sir, awaiting your command.
MASTER: I don't need him. Any second now, I'll have Time Lords to spare. Take him out. Launch missiles!

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the Master, not even needing to say anything out loud or across the mental link. The Master scowled in answer. He never thought the Doctor would hear his (admittedly pathetic) attempts to convince himself he didn't need the Doctor, or his naivety to think the Time Lords would ever accept him.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

GENERAL-MASTER: Launch missiles.
OPERATIVE-MASTERS: Missiles launching in three, two one, zero.

[Laser pods]

(Wilf and Rossiter take their places in the transparent gunner's domes.)
WILF: Hey! How does this thing work?

"That's not promising when you're about to be shot at by the world's missiles." Ryan declared; he was a little bit jealous of Wilf. He wouldn't want to be in that situation (his own encounters with the Master were bad enough), but a chance to fire those cool looking guns on that ship, it was hard to not be jealous.

ROSSITER: The tracking's automatic. Just deploy the trigger on the joystick.

"Good, it's simple enough then." Yaz nodded relived, it wouldn't be any good if Wilf couldn't operate the guns.

[Flight deck]

ADDAMS: We've got incoming.
ROSSITER: Look at this one! Oh, my God!
DOCTOR: You two, open fire!
(The Doctor skims the ocean, dodging the missiles.)

"And I thought the way you drive the Tardis was bad." River raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who grinned unrepentant.

ROSSITER: Oh, my word!
WILF: Whoa. Whoa!
ROSSITER: No, no, no, no, no!
DOCTOR: Open fire! Come on, Wilf!
(Wilf shoots down a missile.)
WILF: Whoo! Oh, I wish Donna could see me now.

"I can see it grandad." Donna muttered, unusually quiet but with so much feeling. Here Wilf was in a crazily dangerous situation with so much to think about and yet he still found time to think about her. Only Wilf.

[UNIT HQ Geneva]

GENERAL-MASTER: Second wave. Launch missiles.
OPERATIVE-MASTER: Yes, sir.

[Flight deck]

ADDAMS: And there's more. Sixteen of them. Oh, and another sixteen.
DOCTOR: Then get on the rear gun lasers! You two, open fire! Now!
ROSSITER: Yes!
DOCTOR: No, you don't!
(They keep destroying missiles.)

The group was grinning, energised by the winning streak the rag-tag group was on. They were all nervous to see what the Doctor's plan to stop both Gallifrey and the Master was, thinking it couldn't be anything good as the Doctor was supposed to die based on what everyone had been saying. They were happy living in temporary ignorance, and celebrating the missile destruction.

WILF: Come on!
DOCTOR: Come on! Fire!
(The front window gets blown in.)
WILF: Whoa! Wow!
ROSSITER: Yes!
DOCTOR: Lock the navigation.
ADDAMS: Onto what?
DOCTOR: England. The Naismith mansion.

"Are you going to ram them?" Clara asked in disbelief, almost as a joke (although you could never be quite sure with the Doctor).

"Not quite." The Doctor answered cryptically. The group exchanged looks, this couldn't end well.

[Gate room]

GENERAL-MASTER [on screen]: He's heading straight for you.
MASTER: But too late. They are coming.

The Doctor scowled, he was right she'd been too late, it was very lucky she'd managed to stop it in the end.

[Black void]

(The Lord President walks past two Time Lords who have their faces covered with their hands. One man, one Woman. The Woman.)

"She's definitely a Time Lord then." Martha narrowed her eyes at the screen.

Mickey nodded, "But why are they covering their faces like that?" He glanced at the Doctor who purposely schooled her face blank. Amy, Rory and Martha were all staring at the pair of Time Lords trying to work out why the gesture was familiar.

RASSILON: The vote is taken. Only two stand against, and will stand as monument to their shame, like the Weeping Angels of old. Now the vanguard stands prepared, as the children of Gallifrey return to the universe. To Earth. (He raises his staff and they vanish in a bright light. The Gate fills with that light.)

"The Weeping Angels!?" Amy exclaimed, eyes widening as she makes the connection. Her head whipped around to face the Doctor at lighting speed. "Are you telling me … that Weeping Angels are shamed Time Lords?" Her voice was quiet and serious despite her earlier exclamation.

The Doctor and Master shared a long look before the Doctor turned back to the group who were all watching eagerly awaiting answers. "There were rumours … stories really … that over time … something happens to Time Lords that were shamed and banished like that. But that was before our time, when Rassilon was in charge the first time around."

"So, you don't know." Rory summarised.

The Doctor grimaced, "I try not to think about it for good reasons."

"We're coming back to this." Martha added her voice to the matter.

The Doctor's resigned sigh of, "Do we have to?" was ignored.

[Flight deck]

DOCTOR: Destination?
ADDAMS: Fifty kliks and closing. We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though. Doctor? We are going to stop?

"He's hopeful but doubtful." Rose said, raising her own eyebrow in question at the Doctor (who only looked away).

"He's spent a few hours with the Doctor and learnt how crazy they are." Mickey snorted.

"I'm surprised it took that long." Jack grinned teasingly.

"What are you trying t say Harkness?" The Doctor shot Jack a pointed look (although, if you looked closely, you'd see her lips twitching).

"Oh nothing, Doc."

"Don't call me Doc."

"I'd never … Doc."

[Gate room]

MASTER: Closer! And closer! And closer!

[Flight deck]

WILF: Doctor? Doctor, you said you were going to die.
ADDAMS: He said what?
WILF: But is that all of us? I won't stop you, sir. But is this it?

"You better not even think about it Space boy!" Donna growled at the Doctor who rapidly raised her hand sin surrender, not chancing Donna's anger for a second.

"I didn't!" She immediately spoke up, then her voice got quitter and more sincere, "I didn't consider it, I swear Donna, not even for a second." Donna narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, looking for any hint of deceit, apparently, she couldn't find anything as she nodded her ascent.

[Gate room]

(Naismith-Master is looking out of the window at the approaching spaceship.)
NAISMITH-MASTER: I think I should warn you
MASTER: Not now!

"I think you should listen to what he wants to say." Nardole commented.

"Shut up egg!" The Master snarled, scowling at the screen (and in a very childish huff, for those that could read him well, namely the Doctor).

"Oi, leave him alone. It's your own fault." The Doctor defended Nardole.

(The Doctor pulls the spaceship's nose up at the last moment, then opens a hatch in the floor and, with the revolver ready, jumps down through the glass dome. He lands hard on the marble floor. He cannot hold the revolver and he cannot stand up. The five Time Lords have arrived - the Gate has been replaced by a white space with raised up two steps.)

The room was silent for several moments, all just staring open mouthed at the scene on the screen, of the Doctor in the shattered glass unable to even pull himself up yet.

Surprisingly, it wasn't River that exploded in anger first, for once it was Donna. "You did what! That's your brilliant plan?!"

"I never said it was a brilliant plan." The Doctor tried to protest, earning herself a bunch of furious glares and concerned looks from the group.

"Don't interrupt me!" Donna stared down the Doctor until she slunk down in her seat, mouth firmly closed. "You have everyone's lives at risk, my grandad is in more danger than most, and you decide to just throw yourself out a moving ship and through a glass window? Did you even think about if that was possible to survive – no don't speak yet – or did the Master and Gallifery being involved just completely remove your common sense? What would have happened if you had just died there? Did you ever think about that?" Throughout Donna's rant, the Doctor kept shrinking further into herself, at the end Donna raised an eyebrow as a way to tell her she could finally speak up and defend herself.

"You're right." The Doctor said quietly, eyes stuck on the floor in an attempt to avoid everyone's eyes which she could feel staring into her still. "I wasn't thinking, and I was running out of time to stop Gallifrey. I … I don't really have a defence." She floundered, trying to think back to her thought process back then and coming up blank. She finally looked up and met the eyes of the room, "Can we please just move on?" The silence in answer to her question allowed the video to continue even if they did have any protests.

RASSILON: My Lord Doctor. My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end.

"He's pretentious." Bill decided.

The Doctor snorted, "That's one word for him."

[Flight deck]

(Addams grabs the controls.)
WILF: Just turn it round. Land it!
ADDAMS: We are not going in there.
WILF: I am not leaving that man on his own. Not today. Land it!

"You tell him grandad." Donna nodded determinedly and proud. The Doctor needed someone with them more than ever if the last couple of videos was anything to go off of.

[Gate room]

DOCTOR: Listen to me. You can't!

"Did you really thought that'd work?" Yaz asked the Doctor, more curious than anything.

The Doctor sighed, "No, it very rarely works and neither the Master or Rassilon are the type to ever listen but I still had to try."

RASSILON: It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child.
DOCTOR: Oh, he's not saving you. Don't you realise what he's doing?

"Always interfering and trying to ruin my plans." The Master sighed needlessly dramatically.

"Someone has to." The Doctor replied. The group shifter uncomfortable, determined to forget that exchange had just occurred as it sounded uncomfortably like flirting, and that really wasn't something nay of the group wanted to think about more than they had to.

MASTER: Hey, no, hey! That's mine. Hush. Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mister President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me.
(The Lord President holds up his metal gauntlet. It glows and everyone who looks like the Master goes through the head blur thing again.)
MASTER: No, no, don't. No, no, stop it! No, no, no, don't!
(Finally, everyone on Earth is restored to themselves.)

The humans in the room let out an audible breath at seeing everyone returned to their normal selves, at least that was one problem dealt with even if there was still the Master themselves and Rassilon to contend with. The Doctor didn't have to think of a way to reverse the process, and could now focus on the mess unfolding in front of them.

RASSILON: On your knees, mankind.
(The people obey.)

The group immediately went from celebrating to scowling at the screen, it seemed they'd gone from one Time Lord trying to control them straight to another.

MASTER: No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation. I still saved you. Don't forget that.

"You're like an excited puppy, desperate for it's master's approval. And yet you're still missing the bigger picture." River remarked (rather coldly), eyes dark as she glared at the Master.

The Master, who immediately snarled at the insult. "You take that back!" He scowled darkly, pointing a finger at River after discovering some force was keeping him in his chair and stopping him from actually attacking her. It seemed the Tardis was finally revealing what she meant when she said she'd ensure they were all safe from the Master.

"And now you sound like a toddler." River shot back calmly. The Master's face only darkened; his expression unspeakably furious.

"River." The Doctor reprimanded, a silent 'stop it', even as she refused to look at the Master. River nodded slightly, an agreement if not a bit reluctant. She'd finally gotten fed up of having to watch the Master continuously torment and mock her wife and she was letting that anger get the better of her.

RASSILON: The approach begins.
MASTER: Approach of what?
DOCTOR: Something is returning. Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something.
MASTER: What is it?
DOCTOR: They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now.
(A big burning planet appears close to the Earth.)

"I take everything back about wanting to see your planet, Doc." Graham spoke eyes wide at the sight of the planet coming uncomfortably close to Earth.

"That can't be good, Gallifrey that close to Earth. Doctor?" Rory asked, eyes never leaving the screen.

"It's not." The Doctor answered bluntly.

"Oh great, thanks. Was expecting a it of reassurance there, but of course it's the one time you decide to be blunt." Rory muttered mostly to himself until Amy elbowed him in the side. "Shutting up now."

[Nobles' home]

SHAUN: Donna. Where's Donna?

Martha nodded approvingly, "Good, first thing he does is think about you Donna. You found yourself a good one."

Donna smiled, uncharacteristic calm and quiet, "I know."

(The tidal forces of the new planet make the Earth shake. Things fall off shelves.)

"Really not good." Ryan muttered.

[Outside the Nobles' home]

(People are panicking as Gallifrey fills the sky.)
SHAUN: Donna? Donna! Donna!
SYLVIA: Oh, Doctor. Please!

[Flight deck]

ADDAMS: We're getting out of here. This whole planet's going to be knocked out of orbit.
ROSSITER: What about the Doctor?
ADDAMS: Well, he said he was dying.

"Of course, they're leaving." Mickey sighed, well there goes that hope of any back up, only Wilf would charge in to help apparently.

The Doctor shrugged, "What can you expect? This isn't their mess to deal with. It would be unfair to drag them into it any further." She was just thankful they'd helped as much as they had (if not reluctantly in places).

[Gate room]

(The people run from the room.)
MASTER: But, I did this. I get the credit. I'm on your side.
(Wilf pushes his way in.)
WILF: Come on, get out of the way. Get out of the way! Doctor?

The group was conflicted on seeing Wilf enter. On one hand, the Doctor now had back up they could trust, but on the other, Wilf was now in danger again.

(A technician is hammering on the door of his locked glass booth.)
TECHNICIAN: Help me, please. Somebody, please.
WILF: All right! I've got you, mate. I've got you.
(Wilf goes into the open booth.)
DOCTOR: Wilf, don't. Don't!
(Wilf unlocks the other booth.)
WILF: I've got you. Come on. Go on.
(The freed technician runs.)

"Oh granddad." Donna sighed fondly, of course he would help the poor technician. No one else really thought much of the exchange apparent from it showing how good Wilf was. The Doctor however was just watching the screen with an unreadable expression.

MASTER: But this is fantastic, isn't it? The Time Lords restored.

"That's never fantastic." Clara muttered, her disdain for the species growing with ever video they watched.

DOCTOR: You weren't there in the final days of the War. You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell. And that's what you've opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending.

"I don't know what half of that means, but I know enough to know I don't want that anywhere near Earth." Amy declared; expression serious. The group could at least be confident that whatever the Doctor had done, they'd managed to get rid of Gallifrey and stop that fate from occurring. It would juts be how they'd done it that they needed to worry about.

MASTER: My kind of world.
DOCTOR: Just listen! Because even the Time Lords can't survive that.
RASSILON: We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart.

"You may be crazy Doctor, but he's just insane." Jack said, tone serious as he watched the screen. The Doctor had mentioned Rassilon's fate after this several videos ago (or that's what he thought that exchange had been) and he was suddenly not feeling very sorry for the guy.

MASTER: That's suicide.

"You know you're insane when even the Master thinks your crazy." Bill snorted.

RASSILON: We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be.
DOCTOR: You see now? That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them.

"That's why you stole the Moment. Why you decided to end the Time War." Rose whispered in shock, the pieces snapping into place all at once.

The Doctor nodded solemnly. "If I hadn't, they would have attempted to unleash this plan and destroy everything in Rassilon's insane attempt to gain immortality, to become a kind of god." That put a new spin on the first video they'd watched; it hadn't just been the Doctor getting sick of the war and trying to stop it. It had been the Doctor trying to stop the Time Lords insane plans of destruction and save tens of billions (if not more), just at the cost of billions of their people. Not that that was a small cost, but they could see how the Doctor has reached the conclusion that the Moment was the only answer, still they couldn't help but be glad the Doctor had thought of a way around both problems and saved everyone in the end.

MASTER: Then, take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory.
RASSILON: You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. No more.

"Even your own people don't want anything to do with you." Martha muttered quietly, she was unsure herself whether it was an angry dig at the Master or a more pitying remark. She hated the Master and no pity story would ever stop that, not after everything he'd done to her and her family but she couldn't help but feel the smallest stirs of pity for the straight rejection he'd just received.

The Master was scowling in his seat, whether he'd heard Martha no one knew, the scene on screen was enough reason for him to be cowling anyway. The Doctor was quiet, knowing any remark would be taken badly at the moment.

(The Doctor is on his feet, aiming the revolver at the Lord President.)

The group was silent as they watched the Doctor take arms against the Rassilon. They hadn't expected the Doctor to actually use the gun even if they had dashed off with it after he'd figured out that Gallifrey was involved. If there was ever a sign that the Doctor was in a bad mindset it was them taking up arms.

RASSILON: Choose your enemy well. We are many. The Master is but one.
MASTER: But he's the President. Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours.
(The Doctor turns and aims at the Master.)

If the Doctor taking up arms surprised the group, them twisting around to aim it at the Master was another level of shocking. Martha shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable about her accusations of the Doctor refusing to deal with the Master; the Master race was dealt with and here the Doctor was still aiming a gun at them.

MASTER: He's to blame, not me. Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it.
(The Doctor aims at the Lord President again.)

"They're both playing with you." Jack said, eyes worried as he couldn't see anyway the Doctor could get out of this one. "You're stuck in the middle."

"Between a rock and a hard place." Rory added, tone serious. Any left over feeling of victory from the Doctor and Wilf's flight back to Earth was rapidly dwindling away in the face of the insurmountable odds the Doctor was against.

MASTER: Exactly. It's not just me, it's him. He's the link. Kill him!
RASSILON: The final act of your life is murder. But which one of us?

"You can't let them win, Doctor. You always find another way … you have to." Yaz declared, eyes determined even as her voice started to waver at the end. The Doctor gave her a sad smile which she really wasn't sur show to interrupt.

(Behind the Lord President, the Woman lowers her hands and looks over the Doctor's shoulder. He turns back to face the Master.)

The group was desperate to know who this woman was, especially with the expression that had overtaken the Doctor's face upon seeing her for the first time but they knew if they asked, they weren't guaranteed to get an answer and if they did it was likely to be a long winded one which they didn't want to delay finding out how the Doctor dealt with everything. For now, they'd leave the matter alone but they mentally added it to the list of questions they wanted to ask.

DOCTOR: Get out of the way.
(The Master moves and the Doctor shoots the diamond in its gizmo. The link explodes and the Time Lords are sucked away.)
DOCTOR: The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell.

"You tell him Doc!" Graham cheered. The whole group was 'whooping' and cheering as the Time Lords were sucked away. The Doctor had succeeded through the use of the gun but in a very Doctor-ish way. The Master race was dealt with and Gallifrey would be sucked back into the Time Lock until the future-Doctor would save them into the time freeze-painting method.

VISIONARY [OC]: Gallifrey falling! Gallifrey falls!
RASSILON: You'll die with me, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I know.

The cheer in the room from the Doctor's victory vanished in an instant at the resigned tone from the Doctor. They'd all known that his death/regeneration was coming this video but the thought was still daunting and unpleasant. You couldn't exactly describe watching one of your friends die (usually painfully) as a fun experience.

"You gave up." Clara shook her head, doe eyes unbearably sad and disappointed.

The Doctor smiled sadly, "What else was I supposed to do? I knew I was going to die and Rassilon was determined, the day had been saved and it was my time to die."

"You shouldn't just accept it." Rose nearly begged.

"'Don't go gently into the night', huh." The Doctor grinned without any joy; fake smile prominent as she tried to brush off the concern her friends were displaying. Seeing her attempts of humour failed to distract them (they were all far too used to the Doctor's strategies to fall for it) she sighed, fake smile dropping into a blanker expression. "Can we just move on? This is hardly anything new or important, it was a long time ago."

"To quote a wise idiot, 'just because it was a long time ago doesn't mean it isn't important." Donna raised an eyebrow, her own tone serious and softer than usual. The Doctor pouted slightly (though she would deny it) at the use of her own words against her, still no one argued and the video continued.

(Rassilon aims his gauntlet at the Doctor. The Woman covers her face again.)

"Typical, abandons you as soon as she can." The Master scowled muttering angrily, angry on the Doctor's behalf. He'd been far too distracted during the mess to actually notice the woman, let alone realise who it was (she'd regenerated since he'd seen her last) bit the video and the Doctor's reaction had made it obvious.

The Doctor sighed disappointingly at the Master who stared back unrepentant. The rest of the room watched the exchange curious, the mystery of the woman seemed to keep expanding.

MASTER: Get out of the way.
(The Doctor steps back and the Master attacks the Lord President with his energy.)

The group blinked as the Master protected the Doctor, it was a rare occasion of seeing the pair work together and a reminder that if the actually worked together as friends and not enemies, very little would be able to stand in their way.

"You're protecting them." Amy said shocked.

The Master smirked. He wasn't enjoying them seeing him protect the Doctor but he could easily play this off, "I wasn't going to let the idiot get in the way of my revenge." Several people nodded, accepting that without question (as it was more believable than the Master actually caring), most shot the Master dubious looks but let him get away with it. The Doctor, however, couldn't hide her small grin and shot a nod of thanks to the Master when no one else was looking. He rolled his eyes, but she noticed the small upward twitch of his lips.

MASTER: You did this to me! All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!
(Rassilon is forced to his knees. The Time Lords and the Master disappear in a bright light and Gallifrey fades away from the sky. The people rejoice.)

As does the group in the room, they were high on the feeling of victory. The Master was gone, everyone was fixed and Gallifrey was out of the picture; there was no danger left to deal with. Despite the supposed victory there was an underlying feeling of apprehension; after all the Doctor was still supposed to die.

No one spared a thought for how the Doctor got back out of the time lock before the Doctor returned during the confession dial mess; it was the Master they'd learned better to underestimate him. As much as they hated to admit it, he was much like the Doctor in that matter.

DOCTOR: I'm alive. I've. There was. I'm still alive.
(Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock.)

The room all felt like they been doused in ice cold water as they heard the familiar four knocks. For a moment they feared the Master had somehow manged to come back through the time lock, but no it was poor Wilf knocking on the glass door.

"Oh, no. Grandad." Donna muttered, what had once been a safe place away from the danger was now somehow the death that the Doctor had been forewarned about.

WILF: They gone, then? Yeah, good-o. If you could let me out?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
WILF: Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise.

"He set it to overload." Mickey realised; eyes wide as he shot up in his seat. The others quickly made the same connection, having a similar reaction. They all quickly worked out what was about to happen and that persistent feeling of helplessness only rose to choke them again.

DOCTOR: The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload.
WILF: And that's bad, is it?

"For everyone else, no. For the person in that room, very." Ryan declared with a worried glance at the Doctor.

DOCTOR: No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing.

"I'm going to guess that's a lot." Yaz said, voice rising at the end to suggest it was still a question that she wanted an answer to.

"Unfortunately." The Doctor grimaced, it was certainly up there in terms of one of her most painful deaths. Not the most, but fairly high in the scheme of things.

WILF: Oh. Well, you'd better let me out, then.
DOCTOR: Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off.
(The sonic screwdriver.)
WILF: I'm sorry.
DOCTOR: Sure.
WILF: Look, just leave me.

"You better not!" Donna exclaimed, shooting up in her seat to glare at the Doctor who instantly raise her arms in surrender, an almost instinct at this point when faced with the red-head's fury.

"I wouldn't I swear Donna." She quickly spoke, voice calming, "I promise Donna, I'd never. Not Wilf." Donna sighed but accepted that, she hadn't doubted it for a second but it was her first instinct upon hearing her grandad's words.

DOCTOR: Okay, right then, I will. Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes. Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time.
WILF: No really, just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time.
DOCTOR: Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair! Oh. Oh. I've lived too long.
WILF: No. No, no, please, please don't. No, don't! Please don't! Please!
DOCTOR: Wilfred, it's my honour. Better be quick. Three, two, one.

The group listened to the Doctor's emotional rollercoaster of a speech in dread, they all knew how this was going to end and they could do nothing about it but watch. The only way they could honour the Doctor's sacrifice was by being brave enough to watch it.

The Doctor scowled at how winey she had sounded, so self-absorbed, going on and on about how she didn't deserve to die. She knew if Donna wasn't confident that they'd take Wilf's place and they hadn't spoken so quickly then Donna would have had her head for even suggesting Wilf wasn't important. She felt guilty enough about that as it was, no one was unimportant, let alone Wilf.

She was annoyed with herself for how she'd been wasting time when Wilf was in danger; and her time alone after Donna left should have shown how badly she did on her own. This death, this regeneration had been a long time coming and she'd just been too caught up in her grief to really see it.

(The Doctor quickly goes into the open booth and unlocks Wilf's side. Wilf runs out and red light floods the Doctor's booth. It hurts a lot. The Doctor curls up into a ball. Then the power shuts down. After a few moments, the Doctor gets up.)

Several members of the group looked away, unable to see the Doctor in so much pan as they clearly were. Others couldn't look away. The Master had schooled his expression blank, he hadn't known exactly what happened after he'd left but he'd found out eventually the Doctor had died soon after sending Gallifrey away again, he'd just never known quite how soon after.

Jack grimaced in sympathy, he knew first-hand how terrible dying of radiation poising was and couldn't help but reach out to squeeze ethe Doctor's shoulder in sympathy and a sort of morning that only the two of them really understood. The Doctor nodded at him in understanding, eyes ancient even as the rest of her face revealed nothing.

"Thank you." Donna said, quiet but oh so loud in the silence of the room. Her expression was grieving yet thankful as she waited until the Doctor met her eyes. It earned her a small genuine smile.

"Anytime." The Doctor answered sincerely.

River sighed, "I hope not, Doctor. You die enough as it is."

Recognising the escape that River was offering, the Doctor was able to out on a semi-convincing grin, "You can't say much River. Besides dying 13 times across about 2000 years isn't too bad when you really think about it." She shrugged, hoping they could move past this quickly, it wasn't exactly something she wanted to linger on for long. She ignored the pointed look that River shot her (she was conveniently not mentioning that this was the second time she'd died within about fifty years; she hadn't had her ninth or tenth faces long in the scheme of things really).

WILF: What? Hello.
DOCTOR: Hi.
WILF: Still with us?
DOCTOR: The system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput. Oh. Now it opens, yeah.
(The Doctor comes out of the booth.)

"How are you not regenerating?" Amy asked, confused and more than a bit worried. She was working hard to supress that little tinge of hope that maybe the Doctor wouldn't regenerate at all, even though she knew it was useless to think that.

"You're putting it off. Holding it back." River realised, eyes alight in worry and anger in a way that she could have only inherited from Amy.

"That's bad right? I'm pretty sure you mentioned that was bad before." Bill asked, eyes darting between River 9who was growing increasingly angry) and the Doctor (who was avoiding eye contact and shrinking in her seat).

It was the Master that answered though, "Very." His tone was serious, no hint of mocking for once as his eyes were focused unflinching on the Doctor.

The Doctor was fidgeting under the weight of the disapproving looks from her wife and oldest friend/enemy, she knew exactly how bad it was and yet had done it anyway (wasn't she just a glutton for punishment?)

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, but I still had things I needed to do." She tried to explain, her attest made the pair narrow their eyes further. They were (unintentionally) a united front for once which was no less than terrifying, she could hardly deal with one of them on a good day. "Please, can we just watch."

"Fine, but we're coming back to this." River stated firmly.

"Add it to the long list." Jack muttered earning a glare from River.

WILF: Well, there we are, then. Safe and sound. Mind you, you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there.
(The Doctor rubs his face and the cuts vanish.)
WILF: But they've. Your face. How did you do that?
DOCTOR: It's started.
(Wilf hugs the Doctor.)

"Grandad's hugs are a cure in themselves." Donna said quietly, still in some state of shock and awe of the Doctor's sacrifice. She knew he would have done it for just about anyone, and certainly nay of them in the room, but it was still no small thing.

"That they are." The Doctor nodded with a sad smile, yet another point to add to the list of reasons she should visit Wilf again soon, "That they are indeed."

[Nobles' home]

(Donna is out cold on the settee.)
SHAUN: It's no good. She's freezing. How long was she lying there? It's like hypothermia. Try them again.
SYLVIA: I did, it's engaged. Everyone's dialling 999. I can't get through.

"It must be chaotic. People waking up I strange places and with no idea what happened." Rose said with a frown, that would be a fun one to try and explain.

"Imagine having to be the person to explain why so many missiles have disappeared." Mickey grinned. Very thankful that had not been his job, their timing on going freelance was probably very good looking at this mess.

SHAUN: We've got to do something. Wake her up. Donna? Can you hear me? Donna?
(Sylvia hears the sound of the Tardis materialising outside. Donna opens her eyes.)

"Of course, you open your eyes when you hear the Tardis." Martha smiled fondly, the rest of the group following after her. That was one thing they'd never fort, the sound of the Tardis as it materialised, a sound that meant hope, that meant adventure, that meant far off worlds. One that meant a dear friend had come to visit.

"Some things even a mindwipe can't erase." The Doctor breathed to herself in quiet awe and joy, maybe there was some hope for Donna to keep her memories after all.

SHAUN: Donna? It's me. I'm here. You're safe. You're home.
DONNA: But I was. What happened? Did I miss something again?

"Glad I missed that mess honestly. Would have preferred to not take a nap outside though!" Donna exclaimed shooting a glare at the Doctor who looked bewildered about why she was getting the blame.

"Eh? How's that my fault?" The Doctor protested as the rest of the group watch don with fond smiles at the happier exchange between the two friends.

"You're the one who put that self-defence in my head, matey-boy. You're not getting out of this one!"

"You're the one who ran outside! And it was to protect you!" Thankfully the video started to play, interrupting the pair before they could really start.

[Outside the Noble's home]

(Sylvia runs to the front door and sees Wilf and the Doctor come out of the Tardis.)
DOCTOR: Oh, she's smiling. As if today wasn't bad enough. Anyway, don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. I'll see you again, one more time.

"Always a scary sight when they're smiling like that." Jack grinned, trying not to linger on the Doctor's last words.

WILF: What do you mean? When's that?
DOCTOR: Just keep looking. I'll be there.
WILF: Where are you going?
DOCTOR: To get my reward.

That earned the Doctor a few raised eyebrows to which she just shrugged with a small sile, waving to the screen in answer.

[Abandoned factory]

(Martha and Mickey Smith are running from explosions.)

Martha and Mickey blinked at their unexpected appearance on screen before realisation settled in, they shared a knowing look ignoring the way everyone else in the room had turned to look at them confused. The air had the sudden feeling they knew what the Doctor's 'reward' was.

MICKEY: I told you to stay behind.
MARTHA: Well, you looked like you needed help. Besides, you're the one who persuaded me to go freelance.

"Freelance?" Rose asked curious with a wide grin at the pair's dynamics on screen. She'd been surprised that they'd got married but they were clearly a good pair and she was glad that they were both finally happy.

"Left UNIT, decided to do our own thing." Mickey explained with a smile, "Still help out on occasions when UNIT calls, but yeah the two of us do our own thing."

"Better hours, and travel." Martha added with a laugh, sharing a grin with her husband.

"Arguably worse pay." Mickey finished what was clearly an old joke between the pair with his own laugh.

MICKEY: Yeah, but we're being fired at by a Sontaran. A dumpling with a gun. And this is no place for a married woman.
MARTHA: Well then, You shouldn't have married me.

"Old fashioned ideals Mickey Mouse. No one will be happy with you for that one." Jack teased.

"Oh, shut it Captain Cheesecake." Mickey rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the grin that snuck onto his face.

"Hey! That's Captain Beefcake to you."

(A Sontaran - Commander Jask, apparently - is on a catwalk behind them with a clear shot, when the Doctor hits him on the probic vent with a hammer. )
MICKEY: If we go in here and down to the factory floor, and down past that corridor, then he won't know that we're here.
MARTHA: Mickey.
(She sees the Doctor on the catwalk.)

"Bet that was a shock." Clara smiled sympathetically at the couple, "This old lump turning up out of the blue."

"You could say that again." Martha matched her smile. The Doctor got the distinct feeling she was missing something there.

MARTHA: Mickey.
MICKEY: Hey!
(They hug to the sound of the Tardis dematerialising.)

"Could have at least said hello." Martha shot the Doctor a small glare, the best ways he could deal with the grief that had struck her again upon watching the exchange. She'd known somewhere deep in her soul back then that the Doctor had been saying goodbye and she'd never been able to shake it.

"I promise Doctor Smith, next time I'll say hello." The Doctor promised with a small smile, both knowing there was still a strong chance there may not be a next time. And if not for their time in this room, there certainly wouldn't have been.

[Bannerman Road]

(Young Luke Smith is on the phone.)

"Who's that then?" Nardole asked confused. He thought the Doctor was saying goodbye to people but he didn't know this one.

The Doctor smiled bright and proud, "Luke Smith. Sarah Jane's oldest. He's off at university now, a bright lad who's going to do amazing things."

LUKE: That was the maddest Christmas ever, Clive. Mum still doesn't know what happened. She got Mister Smith to put out this story saying that Wi-Fi went mad all across the world, giving everyone hallucinations. I mean, how else do you explain it? Everyone with a different face

Martha grinned, "Sarah Jane on the case as ever. What would we do without her?" She and Mickey and occasionally Jack) had had more than one delightful afternoon of coffee and conversation with Sarah Jane, sharing stories both from doing and after their time with the Doctor.

"Oh, stars only know." The Doctor smiled fondly.

(Luke crosses the road without looking, and the Doctor drags him away from being run down.)
LUKE: But it's you! You're

"Poor lad, must have been a shock. Almost got hit by a car and runs into someone he thought he'd never see." Graham remarked, very glad the Doctor had been there to save Luke.

(The Doctor walks back to the Tardis.)
LUKE: Mum! Mum!
SARAH: What? What is it?
LUKE: It's him. It's the Doctor.
(The Doctor waves goodbye.)

The group watched the Doctor say goodbye to Sarah Jane, all wondering who would be next on the Doctor's goodbyes.

[Alien bar]

(Complete with Raxacoricofallapatorian, Graske, and a little Adipose. Jack Harkness is drinking alone and that Murray Gold song is being sung.)

"Of course, it's Jack." Mickey shook his head, don't know why he thought it could have been anyone else.

"And of course, Jack's in a bar." Rose grinned teasingly at Jack who managed to hid his wince. This had been shortly after losing Ianto and his grandson for him, the Doctor appearing and disappearing again had not been the best way to end the night.

JUDOON: Cho no fro jo ko fo to do.
SINGER: I'm a country girl, I ain't see a lot, but you came along and my heart went pop. You took a little street car to my heart
(The barman puts a piece of paper in front of Jack.)
BARMAN: From the man over there.
(Jack looks up and sees the Doctor.)

"Really going for the silent and mysterious type, hey Doc?" Jack tried to joke but it fell a bit flat as the Doctor shot him a knowing look. She hadn't known back then just when she'd stumbled on Jack in his time line (over then it was after the Year that Never Was) but she'd found out since then and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for just leaving like that (not that she had much choice with her limited time).

SINGER: And an apple of love fell off my apple cart. You looked at me, my heart began to pound. You weren't the sort of guy I thought would stick around.
(The paper says, his name is Alonso. A young man in Edwardian naval uniform sits next to Jack.)

"Good old Alonso." The Doctor smiled fondly, and if there was a hint of grief in her voice no one questioned it.

SINGER: Hey, but it don't have to be eternally. My bad, bad angel put the Devil in me! You put the Devil in me.
(Jack salutes the Doctor then turns to the young man.)
SINGER: You lured me in with your cold grey eyes.
JACK: So, Alonso, going my way?
ALONSO: How do you know my name?
JACK: I'm kind of psychic.

"Really Harkness?" Martha laughed, that was so typical Jack that it almost hurt to watch. The end of this video was really a rollercoaster of emotions.

ALONSO: Really?
JACK: Yeah.
ALONSO: Do you know what I'm thinking right now?
JACK: Oh, yeah.
SINGER: My bad, bad angel, you put the devil in me.

"That's far more than I wanted to know." Bill muttered with a grimace

[Bookshop]

VERITY: No, it's not just a story, no. Every word of it's true. I found my great grandmother's diary in the loft, and she was a nurse in 1913, and she fell in love with this man called John Smith. Except he was a visitor from another world. She fell in love with a man from the stars. And she wrote it all down.
(She signs the book for the young man. A Journal of Impossible Things, by Verity Newman, who is the spitting image of her great-grandmother Joan Redfern)

"Who is that Doctor?" Yaz asked quietly, sensing the shift in tone.

Martha sighed, giving the Doctor a sad look but letting her answer for herself, "A past life, and a lost possibility." That answered none of their questions yet no one fought for more, all ale to tell this was a sensitive matter that she wouldn't speak any more about, not anytime soon.

MAN: Thank you.
(The next book is presented for signing.)
VERITY: And who's it for?
DOCTOR: The Doctor.
VERITY: To the Doctor. Funny, that's the name he used.
(She looks up at him.)
DOCTOR: Was she happy in the end?
VERITY: Yes. Yes, she was. Were you?

"And you don't answer." Amy muttered with a pointed look shot in the Doctor's direction. The Doctor's focus is on the screen.

[Outside a church]

(The bells are ringing for the end of a wedding ceremony. Donna and Shaun are married.)

"You were at my wedding!?" Donna's head whipped around to the Doctor. She was happy he was there really, just in a bit of shock and sad that she hadn't seen him. That she didn't have her memories and he couldn't have sat in the front row and been his annoying self as she got married to her husband.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." The Doctor smiled knowingly.

WILF: You look lovely. Come here.

"You really do Donna." Martha smiled at her friend.

"Thank you. I only wish you could have been there." Donna replied, both women sharing a sad look. They were both missing the easy friendship that had sprung up between them and hopeful that f Donna retained her memories they'd be able to build it back up properly.

(He kisses them both.)
WILF: Everybody, three cheers. Hip, hip
ALL: Hooray!
WILF: Hip, hip
ALL: Hooray!
WILF: Hip, hip
ALL: Hooray!
DONNA: Right, come on then, you lot. This photo is just with friends. Come on. And I want all of you in it. Come on. That's it. Well, friends, and Nerys. Oh, I'm only joking. Oh, look at her.
NERYS: You made me wear peach.
DONNA: That's because you are a peach. Furry skin, stone inside, going off.

The group burst out into laughter at that, happy for the distraction from the underlying fact that the Doctor was saying goodbye because they were dying. "Only you, Donna." Martha laughed cheerfully.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Okay, smile.
ALL: Cheese!
MINNIE: How about it, Wilfred?
WILF: Eh?
MINNIE: Well, it's never too late.
WILF: Will you behave, Minnie. Honestly.
MINNIE: I'm going to catch that bouquet.
WILF: Oh, dear.

"Did she get it?" Yaz asked with a wide grin.

"Thankfully not." Donna laughed.

(Sylvia sees the Doctor and the Tardis just outside the lych gate.)
SYLVIA: Dad.
(They go over to him.)
WILF: And here you are, eh? Same old face. Didn't I tell you you'd be all right? Oh! They've arrested Mister Naismith. It was on the news. Crimes undisclosed. And his daughter. Both of them, locked up. But I keep thinking, Doctor, there's one thing you never told me. That woman. Who was she?

"Good to hear about the Naismiths." Rory nodded approvingly, glad they hadn't manged to slip away unnoticed and continue any of their crazy plans.

DOCTOR: I just wanted to give you this. Wedding present. Thing is, I never carry money, so I just popped back in time, borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geoffrey Noble, his name was. Have it, he said. Have that on me.
(Sylvia is nearly in tears.)

"Your dad?" Rose asked Donna quietly, voice full of sympathy and understanding. Donna was in a similar state to her mother, staring the Doctor down until she met her eyes and mouthed a 'thank you'. She had no idea the significance of that envelope back then but it held so much more meaning now.

Nobody missed how the Doctor had avoided the question about the woman but nobody wanted to spoil the moment, so they kept their questions to themselves, determined to ask and actually get an answer at the end.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Smile!
(Wilf gives the envelope to Donna.)
DONNA: Oh, don't tell me, it's a bill. Just what I need, right now. A lottery ticket? What a cheap present. Who was that? Still, you never know. It's a triple rollover this week. I might get lucky. Oi, Shaun! Come on, we're on a tight schedule. Oxtail soup at two thirty.
(Wilf salutes the Doctor before he leaves.)

"I bet you got very lucky." Bill said open mouthed. The group turned to the Doctor with raised eyes, that felt very close to breaking some rules.

The Doctor shrugged but didn't even bother to try to hide their proud grin which only made the group shake their heads fondly.

[Powell Estate]

ROSE: I'm late now. I've missed it. It's midnight. Mickey's going to be calling me everything. This is your fault.

The room went silent as they realised who was next on the Doctor's list of goodbyes. Rose's head whipped around to face the Doctor at record speed as her eyes widened dramatically, she'd forgotten all about this but knowing what she knew know it made so much more horrifying sense.

"But … how?" Mickey asked in shock. That couldn't possibly be Rose from when the Doctor knew her, she was trapped in a parallel universe after all.

"Time traveller remember?" The Doctor answered quietly, everything she needed to say within those words.

JACKIE: No, it's not. It's Jimbo. He said he was going to give us a lift, then he said his axle broke. I can't help it.
ROSE: Get rid of him, Mum. He's useless.
JACKIE: Listen to you, with a mechanic. Be fair, though. My time of life I'm not going to do much better.
ROSE: Don't be like that. You never know. There could be someone out there.
JACKIE: Maybe, one day. Happy New Year.
ROSE: Happy New Year! Don't stay out all night.
JACKIE: Try and stop me.
(They walk in opposite directions. Rose turns when she hears the Doctor grunt with pain.)

"Doctor." River said pointedly, recognising immediately why the Doctor was in so much pain. They'd been putting this regeneration off for far too long.

"Not know River." The Doctor waved her off not unkindly, eyes focused on the screen. She knew she'd get scolded later but she really couldn't deal with that right now.

ROSE: You all right, mate?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ROSE: Too much to drink?
DOCTOR: Something like that.

"Nothing like that." Rose muttered to herself. This was a whole new perspective on everything. It was weird looking back at her younger self and knowing what was to come for her.

ROSE: Maybe it's time you went home.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ROSE: Anyway, Happy New Year.
DOCTOR: And you. What year is this?
ROSE: Blimey, how much have you had? 2005, January the first.
DOCTOR: 2005. Tell you what. I bet you're going to have a really great year.

"An unforgettable and brilliant year that I wouldn't miss for anything." Rose grinned before considering something, her smile tuning teasing. "Although we did miss quite a bit."

"Don't remind me." Mickey groaned, that had been a bad time with everyone thinking he was guilty for Rose's disappearance and no one willing to listen to his crazy story about the Doctor.

ROSE: Yeah? See you.
(Rose runs off. The Doctor staggers painfully back towards the Tardis.)

The group winced and watched quietly as the Doctor staggered back to the Tardis in agony. Those that had had a goodbye were thankful but feeling some guilt that they had (unintentionally and not exactly willingly) contributed to the Doctor's suffering.

SIGMA: We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending, but the story never ends.

[Tardis]

(Golden energy streams from his hand. He sets the Tardis going.)

"Really need to stop regenerating in the Tardis." The Doctor muttered to herself in an attempt to distract her from what was coming. No wonder the Tardis had chucked her out in the atmosphere last time, must hurt to have that much energy thrown into you.

DOCTOR: I don't want to go.
(The golden energy regenerates David Tennant, and starts a lot of fires in the Tardis. He turns into a gangly hyperactive drink of water with a long fringe of hair dangling over one eye. Well, I suppose at least Matt Smith does look slightly alien.)

"And there's Chinny." Amy declared, voice sad and fond. Grieving a face she never knew, even as she was excited to see the one she knew so well. She'd asked the Doctor before how he'd ended up crashing in her back garden but (in typical Doctor style) he'd always given vague answers. Now she knew, and she wasn't sure she was any better off or happier for knowing.

DOCTOR: Legs. I've still got legs. Good. Arms. Hands. Ooo, fingers. Lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair. I'm a girl! No. No. I'm not a girl. And still not ginger. And something else. Something important. I'm, I'm, I'm

"Brilliant priorities." Clara sighed fondly. The newly regenerated Doctor was always a sight to see (or rather hear), as they tended to speak utter nonsense for a while.

(Bang!)
DOCTOR: Ha! Crashing!
(The Tardis is plummeting back down to Earth.)
DOCTOR: Ha, ha! Whoo hoo hoo! Ah! Geronimo!

"And you crashed in Amy's Garden." Rory finished.

The Doctor nodded; bright smile fitted to her face. "Right again Roman." Rory raised an eyebrow at the obviously fake smile but didn't comment, needing a moment for the events of the video to finally settle in as the screen went blank. He wasn't the only one.

After several moments of contemplative silence, the companions shared looks, all daring the other to be the one brave enough to ask. Somehow it seemed Donna was the one to get voted to ask (likely as Wilf had been involved).

Mimicking her grandfather, she stared down the Doctor and asked the question they all wanted the answer to. "Who was she Doctor? The woman."

The Doctor sighed, closing her eyes tightly for a moment to ground herself, she'd known this was coming yet she couldn't help but hope it wouldn't. "You really want to know?" She was met with an army of nods from across the room. The Master watched quietly from his corner, almost forgotten.

Finally, the Doctor answered. "She was my mother."

The group blinked at that, all having come up with varying theories ranging from an old lover, to a child, a friend or a cousin, but none had thought of the Doctor's mother. The idea seeming almost absurd, it was always weird to think about the Doctor as a child and her family back then.

"Your mother?" Amy asked for confirmation quietly, looking at her own daughter quickly.

The Doctor nodded; expression schooled to an attempt of nonchalance. "Yes. Not what you'd consider a good mother, at least by human standards. We leave our parents at eight after all and don't really see them again much until adults, and even then …" She took a breath and seemed to decide to not go down that root, instead clapping her hands together with a shrug, "Been a long time since I'd seen her before that, hadn't even really known she'd survived the war. Was never particularly close anyway."

The silence hung in the room, uncomfortable as no one knew what to say to that glimpse of the Doctor's childhood. Every time it was mentioned, the picture painted only got worse. Clara couldn't help but think to the little boy in the barn all alone and scared of the dark and wonder where his mother had been then.

The Doctor's thought had taken a different turn. If the Timeless Child thing was true, had her mother known? She must have surely. Had her mother been Tecteun? Perhaps feeling guilty for what she'd done, or was Tecteun someone else. Was Tecteun even still around when she'd been born this time around? There were so many questions and she couldn't help but feel she would never get answers to so many of them no matter how hard she looked, not that that would stop her.

Fidgeting with how uncomfortable the tension in the room had gotten, everyone too distracted by all they'd seen and the latest revelations to really know what to say, the Doctor decided to speak up and move them on. "Well then. How about one more than a break? Hopefully the Tardis is nice and gives us a calmer video." She couldn't help but aim that last sentence to the ceiling. She was hoping the Tardis was still listening and would hear her plea, after the last three videos she really needed a break.

When no one argued or spoke up, she turned back to the screen ready to see what awaited them next on their adventures through her past.