And here's the End of Time Part 2 to celebrate the New Year! Happy 2025 everyone (reading it now anyway)
Next chapter is a fun one - Boom Town with the ninth Doctor
Enjoy!
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.
Gallifrey is in ruins with only the Citadel standing in a protective dome. The former Narrator moves across a bridge followed by two acolytes and takes him place at the head of the table filled with six time lords, with a woman at the end scribbling on parchment
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 (the former narrator and Lord President of Gallifrey) asks about the Doctor and the Chancellor declares he has disappeared
"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 declares they know his intentions as he has the Moment and will use to destroy both Time Lords and Daleks
"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.
The Chancellor agrees saying the Visionary confirmed it. The Visionary is the woman at the end of table and she mutters about everything falling and 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.
The Chancellor says her prophecies all say this is the last day of the Time War, the day Gallifrey falls and they all die
"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.
The Partisan suggests it is time as they are on the edge of the Time War but inside millions die and die over again in new ways, and says wouldn't it be better to end it all
"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 thanks them for their opinion and then aims his blue gauntlet at the Partisan, energy strikes her and she is atomised screaming
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 declares he will not die, the long history of the Time Lords rides on them and he will not die
"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.
The Chancellor adds there is another part of the prophecy, hard to work out but it talks about two survivors from the war, 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 asks if it names them, and the Chancellor says the prophecy talks of them as enemies, so they work out it means the Doctor and 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.
The Chancellor says that one word is repeated - 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.
A projection of Earth appears and Rassilon suggests their answer lies 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.
In Naismith's study, the Doctor has been bound and gagged and strapped to a trolley while Wilf is tied to a chair
"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.
The Master declares he has a planet to run and asks if everyone is ready as the Naismith-Master declares there are over six billion versions of them
"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.
The various Masters across the world await orders as the Master mocks the Doctor about not saying anything as he has enough soldiers and weapons to make Earth a warship. Wilf shouts for him to let the Doctor go
"You tell him grandad." Donna grinned proudly, all of the group feeling rather helpless with how trapped the Doctor was on screen.
The Master mockingly calls Wilf the Doctor's dad saying he's kicking up a fuss. Wilf declares he'd be proud if he was the Doctor's dad
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.
The Master hushes them, and then declares there's a mobile phone as he hears it ring
"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 admits it is his and says he'll turn it off. The Master says he doesn't understand as everyone in the world is him but he's not phoning him so who is
"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 says it is no one, but the Master searches his pockets and finds the revolver, calling him a good man mockingly as he throws it to the floor and grabs 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.
The Master asks who Donna is as Wilf says she is no one, Donna asks for help on the call
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.
She'd run into an alley as everyone changed
"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.
The Master asks who she is and why she didn't change. Wilf mentions it was something the Doctor did, a metacrisis, and the Master declares the Doctor loves playing with Earth girls
"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 asks if he's there and the Master demands his other selves to trace the call and find her
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).
Donna asks if he can hear her and the Master says to say goodbye to the freak
"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 shouts for her to run as Naismith-Master finds her location and puts out alert to everyone in the area. Wilf shouts again to run for her 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?
In the alley, two Master's block Donna in as Wilf asks what is happening. Wilf tells her to run again as the two Masters declares they are 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.
Wilf keeps telling her to run pleadingly
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.
The Masters advance on Donna who is starting to see things again, asking why she can 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.
Wilf tells her not to think about it as Donna shouts it hurts and her head is getting hotter and hotter. Golden energy surges from Donna and knocks the local Masters down. Donna asks what she did before collapsing
"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.
Wilf tries to ask what's going on and if she's there but gets no response. The Doctor smiles and winks infuriating the Master who removes the gag. The Doctor declares that's better and asks if he thought he'd really leave his best friend undefended
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 asks the Doctor what happened and he reassures him that she's fine, just asleep
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.
The Master asks where the Tardis is
"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'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.
The Master asks if the noise would stop and the Doctor says he can help. The Master declares he doesn't know what he'd be without the noise and the Doctor says he wonders what he'd be without the Master
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 asks what they mean by noise and the Master explains that on Gallifrey as eight-year-old kids they are taken to stare into the Untempered Schism as initiation. The Doctor explains it is a gap into the fabric of reality and you see the Time Vortex itself which hurts. The Master says he looked and heard it calling him with 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.
In the void, Rassilon declares it started at the Untempered Schism as the Chancellor reports that the Master is said to have heard a rhythm, a drumbeat, a symptom of insanity. Rassilon declares it 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.
In Naismith's study, The Master says to listen to it as the Doctor says they can find it together. The Master has an idea as the noise is now in six billion heads, everyone can hear it
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 flashes and the Doctor says the gate isn't enough as he's still dying. The Master declares the body was born from death and then asks what he said to him earlier – 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.
The Doctor recalls something is returning as he was shown a prophecy and needs the Master's help. The Master asks what if he is part of it, and orders his clones to triangulate the signal and find the source, declaring the prophecy was him
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. Jack shifted in his seat but River put a hand on his arm, shaking her head slightly. Not now.
The Master asks where the Tardis is again as the Doctor tells him to stop and think. The Master orders a guard to kill Wilf
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 to Wilf as the Master declares he needs the Tardis and to tell him or Wilf dies. Wilf says not to tell him as the Master pushes. The Doctor declares the most impressive thing about the Master is he's still completely stupid after all this time
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.
The Master orders the guard to take aim as the Doctor continues saying he has six billion pairs of eyes but can't see the obvious
"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."
The Doctor declares the guard is one inch too tall, then the guard knocks the Master out with his rifle butt and removes his helmet to reveal Rossiter without his shimmer
"The cacti!" Ryan cheered relieved, the rest of the group joining in. Martha and Jack gave the Master smug looks to his annoyance
Rossiter is stunned as he's never hit anyone in his life, Addams also runs in and declares they need to get out of there quickly. Addams frees Wilf as Rossiter gets the Doctor. Wilf declares God bless the cactuses as the Doctor corrects his plural and Rossiter declares it 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.
Naismith-Master enters asking where the Doctor's prophecy came from but is greeted by them being gone. Rossiter declares there are too many buckles and straps and Addams says to wheel him as the Doctor protests rapidly
The group started laughing more at the comedic sight of the Doctor being wheeled away as they continued protesting furiously.
The Doctor is wheeled out in front of the camera feed and the Naismith-Master see asking what is going on
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.
Addams and Rossiter take them one way as the Doctor argues to go the opposite to his Tardis, but Addams says they know what she's doing, ignoring the Doctor who is shouting to listen to them
"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!
The Master runs into the study with guards shouting to find the Doctor. The Doctor protests the stairs and declares it the worst rescue ever as they get to the basement
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.
The Master figures out they are in the basement, and the Master runs in with several guards declaring he has them. Addams presses her wristwatch as the Doctor protests and the four escapees 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.
In the teleport room the Doctor demands to be freed and Adams grumbles about him not saying thank you. The Doctor tells them to hurry up as the Master won't let them go
"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 a window and is shocked to see they are 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.
The Doctor hurries Addams on as we get a look at a spaceship made of 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.
The Master works at a keyboard and demands they open the teleport and follow then. The Doctor is finally freed and zaps the teleport controls with his sonic screwdriver
"The trusty old Sonic." Graham smiled fondly.
The Master declares they are up there, target practise. Up in space, the Doctor asks where their flight deck is as Addams argues they are safe as they are a hundred thousand miles above Earth. The Doctor points out the Master has every 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 admits that is a good point as they all run out. The Doctor returns to lead Wilf away from the window who is still stunned about being in space
"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.
The Master orders them to find the ship and primes the missiles. On the flight deck the Doctor says they have to close it down as Rossiter declares no way and they are going home
"That's a terrible idea." Yaz remarked bluntly, if they just left with the Doctor and Wilf, then the Earth had little hope of escaping the Master let alone whatever plan Gallifrey was coming up with.
Addams says they are a salvage team and they have nothing to do with local politics so they need to get back to Vincocci space. The Doctor declares they aren't leaving and sabotages the flight controls with his sonic making the whole spaceship 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.
The Masters can't find them, and the Doctor's cut the link so they don't have anything to track, not even the teleport coordinates
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.
A guard-Master shoots the computers stopping the Doctor from teleporting back, declaring him 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.
Addams says there is no sign of missiles or anything and he's wrecked the place. Rossiter adds the engines are burnt out and all they have is auxiliary lights, they're just stuck in orbit. Addams isn't happy about it, calling the Doctor an 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 and Wilf says he knows the Doctor and he has a plan right, always got a trick up his sleeve
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.
Back on Earth, the Master declares night has fallen asking if they are ready, they are. He says they will listen, all over the world just listening
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 of the Master Earth listens and the Master tells them to concentrate and find the signal. The noise is tangible and had to have been designed but by 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 hesitated 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.
Back in the void, the Chancellor declares the signal has been sent back in time and four beats implants 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 says they have a link to the Master 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.
The Chancellor argues they are still trapped in the time-lock and Rassilon agrees they need something to make physical contact. He takes a diamond from his staff and throws it to Earth declaring it small enough to follow the link to Earth as the Visionary mutters about a tiny star falling and burning. The Doctor is working on some wiring when he spies a bright object falling to Earth
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.
The Master realises the sound is coming from the sky and orders his clones to find it. The diamond falls to Erath 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.
Guard-Masters find the crater where the diamond is intact at the bottom, they report back saying he won't believe it
"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."
It is a white-point star. In the spaceship, Wilf tries to find the Doctor as he is lost, the woman from earlier finds him declaring events are closing in and asking if he took arms. Wilf said he did but what is he supposed to do. The woman says it is the Doctor's final battle and he must either stand at arms or lose himself and the world all to the End of Time. Wilf argues the Doctor doesn't carry a gun and asks who she is, she declares she was lost a long time 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 disliked how 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.
Wilf finds the Doctor in the teleport room asking if he's fixing it – the Doctor is trying to fix the heating
"The heating?" Bill asked incredulous, she thought 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 says he always dreamed of a view like this, and points out it is dawn over England, a new day. He turns more solemn as he says his wife is buried and he may not see her again, he asks if they were changed 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.
The Doctor apologises and Wilf says it isn't his fault, the Doctor isn't so sure
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 points out somewhere he was in 1948 as a Private before saying the Doctor doesn't want to listen to an old man's tales. The Doctor says he's older than Wilf, stunning the man
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.
The Doctor declares he is 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 asks really before saying they must look like insects to him at that age, the Doctor counters they 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 offers the revolver to the Doctor saying he wants him to have it as he kept it all this time
The group winced, "This isn't going to go well." Mickey muttered shooting the Doctor a knowing look.
The Doctor refuses and points out Wilf had it in the mansion and could have shot the Master, Wilf suggests he was too scared
"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 no one would ever hear didn't stay private.
The Doctor then declares he'd be proud if Wilf was his 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 remembers the Doctor said he would die when he knocks four times, saying it is the Master that is going to kill him, as the knocks are the ones in his head. The Doctor agrees
"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 tells the Doctor to kill him first. The Doctor argues that's how the Master started and he isn't innocent himself as he's taken lives and then got cleverer and manipulated people into take their own. He says he thinks sometimes that Time Lords live too long
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 asks what happens to all the people if the Master dies, the Doctor lies that he doesn'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 pushes and the Doctor admits the template snaps. Wilf tells him to not dare put the Master before all of humanity, ordering him to take the gun and save his life. Wilf declares him a wonderful man and says he doesn't want him to die. The Doctor says 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.
The Master opens a broadcast and shares that a star fell from the sky, asking if the Doctor wants to know from where and saying it all makes sense now. Addams says it is an open broadcasts and to not reply or he'll know where they 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 interrupted by the video continuing to play.
The Master continues saying the star is a diamond is a white-point and he's been working all night on it. He says he can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline asking if the Doctor gets it and saying to keep watching as it will 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.
The broadcast ends and Wilf asks what he means. The Doctor explains a white-point star is only found on one planet – Gallifrey, so it means the Time Lords are returning. Wilf suggests that is a good thing as it is his people but the Doctor takes the 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.
The Doctor ignored the Master's pointed look.
On Earth, the Master orders clones to open the nuclear bolt and infuse the power lines to maximum
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.
The Master places the diamond in a bed of wires and it transmits the four beats, as he declares the link become a pathway as he sends the signal back, saying 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.
The Doctor runs into the flight deck where they can hear the signal. Rassilon declares they have contact at last
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.
Rassilon addresses the High Council of Time Lords saying they must vote to either die or return and complete the Ultimate Sanction. They all shout 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.
In the flight deck the Doctor is rushing around working on stuff
"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 says the Doctor had mentioned his people were dead and the Doctor explains the Time War was time-locked – sealed in a bubble – and nothing can get in or out apart from something that was already there. Wilf works out it is the signal since the Master 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.
The Doctor declares if they follow the signal the Time lords can escape before they die. Wilf says it will be a big reunion and they can have a party
"Not really a matter worth celebrating." Mickey grimaced.
The Doctor declares there will be no party and Wilf argues he's always talked about his people like they're wonderful. The Doctor explains that is how he chose to remember them, the Time Lords of old but endless war changed them, and Wilf has seen his enemies but 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 is very lost and wants an explanation asking what lords
"They must be so confused." Yaz grinned, the poor cactus people had no idea what mess they'd gotten themselves into.
The Doctor brushes her off and checks it is a salvage ship which Addams confirms. The Doctor says that means they have asteroid lasers, Rossiter argues they're frazzled, but 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.
The Doctor has unfrazzled them and tells Addams to man the navigation and tells Rossiter and Wilf to get in the laser-pods. Addams argues the ship can't move as it is dead, but the Doctor flips a couple more levers and the ship powers up. Addams points out they can be seen now which the Doctor cheerfully agrees with
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, as who knew with the Doctor).
A Master clone has a fix on them 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).
Addams declares it is her ship and he isn't moving it, telling him to step away from the wheel
"He's not going to listen." Amy grinned.
"They never do." Rory sighed.
The Doctor tells Addams there is an old Earth saying of great power and wisdom – Allons-y! The Doctor powers the spaceship towards 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.
Another Master clone declares he's moving too fast to get a fix on to another clone
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Bill declared, earning a few sniggers from the group.
The spaceship dives into the atmosphere as Addams declares the Doctor completely mad
"They're only just learning that?" Rose grinned widely.
Rossiter asks what the lasers are for and the Doctor points out they are for the missiles as they need to fight off the whole 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.
A clone declares the NATO defences are coordinated and awaiting command. The Master declares he doesn't need the Doctor as soon he'll have Time Lords to spare, ordering the clones to launch the missiles and take him out
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. His history should have proven that would never happen.
They launch the missiles as Wilf and Rossiter take their seats in the gunner's domes. Wilf asks how it works
"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 explains the tracking is automatic and to 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.
Addams says they have incoming and the Doctor says to open fire as he skims the ocean, dodging missiles
"And I thought the way you drive the Tardis was bad." River raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who grinned unrepentant.
Lots of shouting and exclamations as Wilf shoots down a missile, he says he wishes Donna could see him 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.
More missiles are launched and they keep destroying them
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.
The front window gets blown in as the Doctor tells Addams to lock the navigation on the Naismith mansion, England
"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.
A clone points out they are heading straight for the Master who declares it is too late as the Time Lords 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.
In the void, Rassilon walks past two Time Lords who have their faces covered with their hands, one is the woman Wilf has been seeing
"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 declares a vote was taken and only two are against it so they will stand as monuments to their shame like the Weeping Angels of old. He declares the children of Gallifrey return to the universe, to Earth as he raises his staff and they vanish in a bright light. The gate fills with the 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.
The spaceship is getting close to the house, and Addams asks if they are going to stop, the Doctor doesn't answer
"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 to 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."
Wilf says the Doctor said he was going to die, as Addams shouts what, Wilf continues asking if its all of us, saying he won't stop him but is this it?
"You better not even think about it Space boy!" Donna growled at the Doctor who rapidly raised her hands in 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. Not Wilf. Never." Donna narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, looking for any hint of deceit, apparently, she couldn't find anything as she nodded her ascent.
Naismith-Master looks out the window at the approaching spaceship and tries to warn the Master who tells him not now as the Time Lords approach
"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 second, opening the hatch in the floor and jumps out through the glass dome, revolver in hand. He lands hard on the marble floor, dropping the gun and unable to stand up. The Time Lords have arrived, five of them as the gate is replaced by white space with raised 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 Gallifrey 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 greets the Doctor and Master and declares they have gathered for the end
"He's pretentious." Bill decided.
The Doctor snorted, "That's one word for him."
On the spaceship, Addams grabs the controls as Wilf tells them to turn it around and land. Addams argues they aren't going in there as Wilf shouts he isn't leaving the Doctor alone so to 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.
In the gate room, the Doctor tells them to listen to him, and they 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 declares it fitting that their salvation comes from their most infamous child. The Doctor argues the Master isn't saving him, asking if they've realised 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 shifted uncomfortable, determined to forget that exchange had just occurred as it sounded uncomfortably like flirting, and that really wasn't something any of the group wanted to think about more than they had to.
The Master hushes him telling them to look around as he's transplanted himself into every human being and can do the same with every Time Lord, saying how much better Rassilon will look as him. Rassilon holds up his metal gauntlet, it glows and the humans return to being themselves as the Master protests furiously
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 orders mankind to their knees and they 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.
The Master argues it is fine as they said salvation, pointing out he saved them and to not forget it
"You're like an excited puppy, desperate for its 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 declares the approach begins as the Master asks what approach. The Doctor reminds him that something is returning and does he ever listen as the prophecy said something not someone. The Doctor explains to the Master that they aren't bringing back the species but Gallifrey itself. 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 bit 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."
At the Noble's home Shaun asks where Donna is upon being himself again
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 approaching planet makes the Earth shake and things fall off the shelves
"Really not good." Ryan muttered.
Outside the Noble's, people are panicking as Gallifrey fills the sky and Sylvia and Shaun shout for Donna. On the spaceship, Addas declares they are getting out of there as the whole planet will be knocked out of the orbit. Rossiter asks about the Doctor as Addams point out 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).
In the gate room, people run out as the Master tries to say he's on the Time Lord's side and he gets the credit. Wilf pushes in the room, telling people to get out the way and calling for the 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 hammers on the door of hic locked glass booth asking for help, and Wilf goes into the open booth letting the man out as the Doctor shouts not to. The technician runs but Wilf is now trapped
"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.
The Master suggests it is fantastic that the Time Lords are restored
"That's never fantastic." Clara muttered, her disdain for the species growing with ever video they watched.
The Doctor says he wasn't there at the end of the War, he didn't see what was born and if they break the time-lock than everything comes through – Daleks, the Nightmare Child, Horde of Travesties, and many others. He declares the war was hell and that is what the Master has done, allowed hell to descend on Earth
"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 just be how they'd done it that they needed to worry about.
The Master declares it his kind of world as the Doctor tries to get them to listen that even the Time Lords won't survive. Rassilon declares they will initiate the Final Sanction and the end of time will come at his hand, the rapture will open 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.
The Master declares it suicide
"You know you're insane when even the Master thinks you're crazy." Bill snorted.
Rassilon continues saying they will become creatures of consciousness, free of bodies and time, and creation cease to be. The Doctor tries to tell the Master this is what they were doing in the last days of the war and why he 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.
The Master asks to be taken with them and join them in glory. Rassilon denies him, calling him a disease, albeit of their own making
"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 scowling anyway. The Doctor was quiet, knowing any remark would be taken badly at the moment.
The Doctor gets to his feet and aims the gun at Rassilon
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 warns him to chose his enemy well as the Master is alone compared to many of the Time Lords. The Master argues Rassilon is the president and if he kills him, the Doctor could have Gallifrey. The Doctor turns and aims the gun 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.
The Master argues Rassilon is to blame not him, then realises the link is in his head so killing him would break the link and Gallifrey would go. He calls the Doctor a coward saying he never would before goading him to do it. The Doctor turns to aim at Rassilon 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 leftover 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.
The Master encourages it saying Rassilon is also the link and to kill him. Rassilon declares the final act of the Doctor's life is murder but who will he kill
"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 sure show to interrupt.
Behind Rassilon, the woman lowers her hands and looks over the Doctor's shoulder, the Doctor turns again 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.
The Doctor tells him to get out the way, the Master does and he shoots the diamond in the machine making the link explode and the Time Lords are sucked away. The Doctor declares the link is broken and Rassilon is going back to the Time War, back to 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.
The Visionary cries Gallifrey falls as Rassilon declares the Doctor will die with him, the Doctor knows
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 aim the gauntlet at the Doctor as 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) but 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.
The Master tells him to get out the way, which the Doctor does, and the Master attacks Rassilon 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.
The Master shouts they did this to him, they made him, shouting out the drumbeat. Rassilon is forced to his knees before him, the Master, and all the Time Lords vanish in a bright light and Gallifrey fades from the sky. People celebrate in the streets
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 very like the Doctor in that matter.
The Doctor is shocked he's alive before knock, knock, knock, knock. Wilf knocks on the glass door
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 says they're gone then, and asks to be let out as the glass chamber is making some 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.
The Doctor explains the Master left the nuclear bolt running so its overloading. Wilf says that's bad, right
"For everyone else, no. For the person in that room, very." Ryan declared with a worried glance at the Doctor.
The Doctor says all the excess radiation goes into the chamber and is contained, all five hundred thousand rads
"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 says he better be let out then and the Doctor explains its gone critical so you touch any control and the radiation floods, adding even the sonic would set it off. Wilf apologise and says to leave him
"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 redhead'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.
The Doctor rants about Wilf having to go in there and get stuck as that's who Wilf is. Wilf says to leave him again as he's an old man who's had his time. The Doctor continues saying Wilf isn't important but he himself could do so much more, and it's not fair before realising he's lived too long. Wilf begs him not to but the Doctor declares it his honour and they better be quick
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.
They quickly open the booth, Wilf runs out and red light floods the Doctor's. He curls into a ball in pain and the power shuts down, after several moments he 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 mourning 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 asks if he's still with them and the Doctor explains the system is dead and he absorbed it all. The door easily opens now and he exits 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 (who 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 says they're safe and sound and mentions he's not looking great, pointing out some scars. The Doctor rubs his face and the cuts vanish, Wilf asks how and the Doctor says 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."
At the Noble's, Donna is unconscious on the settee and Shaun is worried about how cold she is. Sylvia is trying to call 999 but it's engaged as everyone is calling so she can't get through
"It must be chaotic. People waking up in 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.
Sylvia says they have to do something and tries to talk to Donna. Then she hears the sound of the Tardis materialising outside and 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 reassures Donna as she asks what happened and if she missed 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 watched on 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.
Sylvia runs out the door to find Wilf and the Doctor come out the Tardis. The Doctor declares Sylvia is smiling as if the day wasn't bad enough, he then says goodbye to Wilf and he'll see him 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 asks what he means and when but the Doctor just says to look and he'll be there. Wilf asks where he is going and the Doctor says to get his reward
That earned the Doctor a few raised eyebrows to which she just shrugged with a small smile, waving to the screen in answer.
In an abandoned factory, Martha and Mickey are running from explosives
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 pair had the sudden feeling they knew what the Doctor's 'reward' was.
Mickey says he told her to stay behind but Martha argues he looked like he needed help and he's the one that convinced her 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 argues they are being fired at by a Sontaran – a dumpling with a gun – so this isn't the place for a married woman. Martha says he shouldn't have married her then
"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 is on the catwalk behind them with a clear shot when the Doctor hits him on the probic vent of his helmet with a hammer. Mickey is outlying the plan to get around them when Martha 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.
She points him out to Mickey and then he leaves. They hug as they hear the Tardis dematerialise
"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.
At Bannerman Road, a 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 is talking about it being a crazy Christmas to his friend Clive and that his mum doesn't know what happened but got Mister Smith to put out a story about the Wi-Fi going mad and giving everyone hallucinations. He says how else would they explain everyone having 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 grabs him out the way to stop a car hitting him, Luke is shocked declaring it's him
"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 as Luke calls for his mum, Sarah Jane appears asking what it is and Luke tells her it is 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.
At an alien bar, Jack Harkness is drinking alone
"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.
The barman puts a piece of paper in front of Jack saying it's from a man over there, Jack looks up to see 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).
The paper says his name is Alonso and 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.
Jac salutes the Doctor before turning to the young man, asking Alonso if he's going his way by name. Alonso asks how Jack knows his name and Jack claims he's 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 asks if he knows what he's thinking right now, Jack says oh yeah (they're going to have a fun night)
"That's far more than I wanted to know." Bill muttered with a grimace
At a bookshop, Verity is signing books that she wrote based on her great grandmother's (Joan Redfern) diary which she found in the loft. She was a nurse in 1913 who fell in love with a man names John Smith who came from the stars.
"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 able to tell this was a sensitive matter that she wouldn't speak any more about, not anytime soon.
The Doctor is next in line to have his book signed. Verity asks who it is for and the Doctor says his name which amuses Verity a that is the name he used in the book. She looks up at him and realises. The Doctor asks if she was happy in the end and Verity says she was, asking if he was. He doesn't answer
"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, bells are ringing for the end of a wedding – it's Donna and Shaun's
"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 declares Donna looks lovely and kisses them both
"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 if Donna retained her memories they'd be able to build it back up properly.
The wedding party all cheer as Donna drags off her friends for a photo, joking a photo of friend and Nerys. Nerys complains about being made to wear peach as Donna says it is because she is 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.
Minnie asks Wilf, saying its never too late and Wilf tells her to behave. Minnie goes off to try and catch the bouquet to Wilf's worry
"Did she get it?" Yaz asked with a wide grin.
"Thankfully not." Donna laughed.
Sylvia sees the Doctor and Tardis jus outside the gate, and points him out to Wilf, they both go over. Wilf says he still has the same face and informs the Doctor they arrested Naismith and his daughter with undisclosed crimes. He adds he keeps thinking about the woman, as the Doctor never said who she was
"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.
The Doctor ignores the question, saying he wanted to give them a wedding present. He says he never carries money so popped back in time and borrowed a quid off a lovely man – Geoffrey Noble, and he said to have it, on him. Sylvia is almost 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.
Wilf gives the envelope to Donna who isn't impressed with a lottery ticket as it is a cheap present but says you never know as she might get lucky with the triple rollover this week. 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.
On the Powell Estate, Rose is worried about being late as it is midnight and she missed it. She says Mickey is going to call her and says it is her mum's (Jackie) 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 argues it was Jimbos fault as he was going to give them a lift but his acle broke, Rose says to get rid of him as he's useless, Jackie argues she isn't going to do much better at this point in her life. Rose says not to be like that as you never know, they exchange happy new years before they split. When Jackie is gone, Rose turns around after hearing the Doctor grunt in 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 asks if he is alright, and if he's had too much to drink, the Doctor says 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 declares it might be time he went home and wishes him a happy new year. The Doctor asks what year it is, and Rose asks how much he's drank but says January 1st 2005. The Doctor bets she'll have a really good year
"An unforgettable and brilliant year that I wouldn't have missed 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 runs off with a see you, and the Doctor staggers painfully back to 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.
Ood sigma appears and says they will sing the Doctor to sleep, the universe will, as his song is ending but the story never ends. In the Tardis, golden energy comes from his hands as 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.
He regenerates and sets off several fires in the Tardis, we see his new regeneration – Chinny/eleven
"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.
The Doctor takes stock of himself, briefly thinking he is a girl and then is disappointed he's not a ginger, he says there's something else, something important
"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.
With a bang, the Doctor realises he is crashing and the Tardis plumets to Earth as he shouts 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.
