Sunday, 31 August 2014

Articles Last of the Time Lords Episode Breakdown



Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Colin Teague
Producer: Phil Collinson
Music by: Murray Gold
Additional music by Scissor Sisters
Broadcast 30th June 2007

ONE YEAR LATER

Freedom fighter, Tom Milligan, waits along the shoreline in the dead of night for a special package.  In coded response he waves the lamp in his hand side to side beckoning the boat to shore. The boat reaches a few feet from the shore and Martha Jones, dressed covertly like a member of the Resistance force, jumps into the shallow water, thanking the two men who delivered her safely.  She runs across the quiet beach towards Tom.  It’s been 365 days since she had last set foot on British soil.
She asks his name, impatiently, time is of the essence.  Once given, Martha explains that she has to meet with a Professor Docherty.  Tom tells her that she works in Nuclear Plant 7, and can get her inside.  But when Tom asks her why Docherty is so important, Martha informs him that it’s too dangerous to know more than that.
Tom tells her that she’s a bit of a legend, travelling across the Atlantic.
   “Martha Jones is going to save the world.  Bit late for that!” 

   “Citizens rejoice.  Your lord and master stands on high, playing track three.”
Aboard the Valiant, the Master wheels the old Doctor around the flight deck in his wheelchair to the music of ‘I Can’t Decide’ by the Scissor Sisters.  He wheels him towards a porthole and stares out at the world below.
   “It’s ready to rise Doctor, the new Time Lord Empire.”  Toclafane hover past the window as the Master fails to achieve a response from the Doctor.  “It’s good isn’t it? Isn’t it good?  Anything?”  He waves a hand in front of his fellow Time Lord’s face but no response.  As the Master stares out of the window at the Toclafane he realises how the creatures broke the Doctor’s hearts, ever since he worked out what they were.
   “They say Martha Jones has come back home!”  The Doctor turns to face the Master.  “Why would she do that?”
   “Leave her alone.”
   “You said something to her didn’t you? On the day I took control, what did you tell her?”
   “I’ve only one thing to say to you.  You know what it is.” 
The Master doesn’t want to hear and promptly pushes the Doctor in his wheelchair away from the porthole window, and while the tannoy reveals that the Valiant is reaching Zone 1 airspace, he releases his grip on the wheelchair and it rolls into a wall and stops. 
Francine Jones is cleaning around the table and chairs in the conference room while an armed guard keeps watch. 
   “Come on people, what are we doing?”  Calls the Master.  “Launch day in 24 hours.”
The Doctor signals three fingers against his leg to Francine who walks out of the room and back towards the lower deck where her family are working.  She passes Clive busy with a mop and signals 3 fingers, Clive signals the same when Tish passes him with a tray of food for Captain Jack Harkness, who has been forced to stand for the entire year, chained by the wrists to stout posts on either side, on Lower Deck 2.  Jack’s normal white t-shirt is stained a dirty brown, his face is caked in dirt but he still manages to keep his spirits up and that of Tish Jones’. 
   “Smell that sea air, makes me long for good old British fish and chips.”  He says as Tish sets down the tray.  “What do I get, cold mashed swede.  Some hotel, last time I book over the internet.”  He replies as he takes his first mouthful of food from Tish who cracks a tired smile.  She signals 3 fingers against the metal food bowl.  Jack winks his acknowledgement.

A statue of the Master stands tall on a mountainside.  Tom leads Martha safely through a quarry to view one of the shipyards.  Seeing the statue, Martha tells Tom that Saxon had his face carved into Mount Rushmore.  The shipyards cover the entire South coast of England with rocket stations, taken from buildings, cars, anything that the slaves can strip and make into the metal rockets, with their fiery red tips.
   “You should see Russia - Shipyard Number One.  All the way from the Bering Strait, there’s 100,000 rockets getting ready for war.”  Martha explains to Tom about the millions of species living out in space, who have no idea of what the Master has planned. Tom’s a little surprised that Martha would know of life on another planet, even more surprised that she’s been beyond Earth, or to the fact that she’s met Shakespeare.
From behind the statue of the Master, two Toclafane fly towards them.  Martha drops to the ground and holds her breath, while Tom gives them his identification and why he’s there.  The Toclafane upon hearing Tom’s credentials tell him that soon he’ll have plenty of work as a doctor, before flying off laughing like children.
Tom looks back at Martha. 
   “They didn’t see you.”
   “How do you think I travelled around the world?”  She lifts out the perception filter key to show him.  Martha explains to Tom how the Archangel Network has a sublevel filter that makes the Master able to hypnotise people into believing in Saxon.  The key also hid Martha from detection.
   “But I can see you.”
   “That’s because you wanted to.”
Martha insists they need to find the Docherty woman quickly, but Tom tells her that they will have to wait for the shift to change, when enquiring after the time, Martha tells him it’s nearly 3pm.

At a few minutes to 3pm, the Doctor puts his plan into operation.  The Master enters the flight deck and contemplates who should give him a massage, from his selection of women in his harem. 

Below deck in Level 2, Jack pulls at the metal bars securing the chains to the wall.  Grabbing a hose he slows a soldier by aiming the hot steam directly at his face.  Clive throws water on the electrics below deck, affecting the engines. 
   “CONDITION RED, I REPEAT CONDITION RED!”  The tannoy shouts alerting the Master. 
Francine collects up the Master’s coat from the table in the Conference room and tosses it to Tish who in turn gives it to the Doctor, who riffles through the pockets for the laser screwdriver and aims it at the Master.  Realising the plot the Master raises his hands.
   “I told you, I have one thing to say.”
The Master begins to laugh. 

Down below decks Clive is captured and slammed against the metal grille wall while Jack is cornered and killed by firing squad.

   “Isomorphic controls!”  The Master replies, lowering his arms as the Doctor helplessly presses the controls with no effect.  The Master takes back control and punches the Doctor, knocking him to the ground.  To prove his point he fires a laser shot at Francine, catching her in the arm and orders her to apologise.  She cries out her apology several times bitterly.
   “Unless it’s Saint Martha, siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do.”  The Master replies as a warning, as he’s helped into his jacket by his battered wife, Lucy.
He helps the Doctor into a swivel chair, and while seated on the table, pushes the seat around with his foot as he reminds the Doctor of the time he was waging a Time War, battling Sea Devils and Axons.  “He sealed the Rift at the Medusa Cascade singlehanded.  Look at him now...stealing screwdrivers!  How did he ever come to this...?  Oh yeah, me!”  The Master guffaws.
Again the Doctor wants the Master to listen, but the Master once again doesn’t wish to hear. 
   “No it’s my turn.  Revenge!  A dish best served HOT!  And this is a message for Miss Jones.”

Two spheres fly towards a desolate white brick building.  Tom cuts the fence to the shipyards chain link fence and both he and Martha run towards the same building.  Inside is Professor Alison Docherty, losing her cool with a cathode ray tube screen. 
Tom introduces them both but Docherty couldn’t care less if Martha were the Queen of Sheba. 
   “Televisions don’t work anymore.”  Martha informs her.
   “God I miss Countdown.  Never been the same since Des took over.”  Docherty ponders on the plural for Des before telling the pair that there’s to be an announcement from their Lord and Master!
Banging the screen again it flickers into life and a static black and white image appears revealing the Master addressing the world from the Valiant.

   “My people, salutations on this, the eve of war.  Lovely woman!  But I know there’s all sorts of whispers down there.”
Jack pulls at his restraints again.
   “Stories of a child walking the Earth, giving you hope.  But I ask you, how much hope has this man got?  Say hello Gandalf!”
The camera hones in on the Doctor’s face.
   “Except he’s not that old.  He’s an alien, with a much greater life span than you stunted little apes.  What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate?  All 900 years of your life...what if we could see them?”  The Master sets the laser screwdriver and aims it at the Doctor.  The screaming begins again, and Jack, Martha’s family, Martha, Docherty and Tom and the world watching, see the Doctor age until he is nothing more than a creature similar to Dobby, poking its head out from the top of the shirt. 
The Master appears a little unsure of his actions, but it soon passes as he focuses on the camera.
   “Message received and understood Miss Jones!”  The broadcast ends.

Martha smiles as despite everything, the Doctor is still alive, so there’s still Hope!

   “Fifteen satellites all around the Earth, still transmitting, that’s why there’s little resistance.  He’s still broadcasting a telepathic signal that keeps people scared.” 
   “You could just take them out.”  Tom says.
   “You could with 15 ground to air missiles, got any on you?  Besides, we’ve got enough military action with the Toclafane.”  Docherty replies.
   “They’re not called the Toclafane, that’s the name the Master made up.”
   “What are they then?”
   “That’s why I came to find you, know your enemy.”  Martha replies looking back at Docherty.  “I’ve got this.”  Martha holds up a computer disk in a case.
    “No-one’s been able to look at the sphere close up, they can’t even be damaged, except once, the lightning strike in South Africa brought one down, just by chance.  I’ve got the readings on this.” Martha held out the disk to Docherty.

Docherty slams her hand against the unit that begins to show up the readings for the Toclafane.  Tom wonders if this was why Martha travelled the world.  Docherty had heard that Martha had travelled the Earth in order to build a weapon.

The results of the Toclafane readings come up on the screen.
   :\, A current of 58 point kiloamperes, transferring a charge of 510 megajoules precisely.’

When asked if Docherty can recreate this, the professor smiles and nods.
   “Right then Dr. Milligan, we’re going to get us a sphere.”

Outside of the unit, Milligan fires three shots into the night sky, within minutes a Toclafane appears and gives chase.  Milligan runs along a pre-planned route, meeting up with Martha and Docherty who prepares the charge.  The unwitting Toclafane falls into the trap and is electrocuted with the same charge as that of a lightning bolt.  It drops to the ground.
   “That’s only half the job, let’s find out what’s inside.”  Says Docherty.

Below deck in the cells, Francine plots to kill the Master.  “If I have to wait a hundred years, I’m going to kill the Master.”
Jack has a gun permanently directed at him as he is once again chained to the posts.
   “One day, he’ll let his guard down.  One day.”  Francine says.  “And I’ll be there.”
   “No, that’s my job.” Says Clive.  “I swear to you, I’d shoot that man stone dead.”
   “I’ll get him, even if it kills me.”
   “Don’t say that.”  Says Francine.
   “I mean it.” Says Tish, adamantly. “That man made us stand on deck and watch the islands of Japan burning.  Millions of people.  I swear to you.  He’s dead.”

The Master stands in the doorway of the Conference room with Lucy, who wears a beautiful red dress and stares towards the birdcage housing the sleeping Doctor.
   “Tomorrow they launch.”  He calls to the old man.  “We’re opening up a rift in the Braccatolian space.  They won’t see us coming.  It’s kind of scary.”
   “Then stop.”  Advises the Doctor pulling himself up.
   “Once the Empire is established.  When there’s a new Gallifrey in the heavens, then it stops.”  He says entering the room.  He pauses at the cage.  “The drumming!  The never ending drum beat.  Ever since a child, I looked into the Vortex.  It’s when it chose me.  The drumming, calling me to war.  Can’t you hear it?  Listen, it’s there now.”  The Master looks directly at the Doctor.  “Tell me you can hear it Doctor.  Tell me.”
The Doctor grips the bars of the cage and looks directly back at the Master.  “It’s only you.”
Just then, a Toclafane enters and instantly settles on the stand rising from the centre of the table.  “Tomorrow the war!  Tomorrow we rise, never to fall!”
   “You see...”  Says the Master“I’m doing it for them.  And you should be grateful, after all, you loved them so very, very much.”

At the factory Docherty using a knife begins to slit down the segments of the outer casing of the sphere.
   “It’s some sort of magnetic clamp.”  She says.  “Hold on I’ll just trip the...” Setting the knife down and removing her head light, she begins to prise it open, a segment at a time.  Inside is a shrunken head attached to wires and cables and a mouthpiece, a self sufficient life force.
   “Oh my god.”  Docherty exclaims in horror.  Martha and Tom peer at the open sphere but all three leap back in shock as the eyes snap open.  It’s alive!
   “Martha? Martha Jones?”  The Toclafane calls out.  Martha and Docherty exchange glances.
   “You know who she is?”  Tom asks curiously.
   “Sweet and kind Martha Jones.  You helped us to fly.”
   “What do you mean?” Asks Martha.
   “You led us to salvation.”
   “Who are you?”
   “The skies are made of diamonds.”
Martha recoils in horror, it can’t be him, it can’t be Creet.
   “We share each other’s memories.  You sent him to Utopia.”
   “Oh my god.”
   “What’s he talking about?”  Asks Tom.
   “What are they?” Docherty asks.
   “Martha, tell us, what are they?”  Tom demands.
Martha looks at him, at them both.  “They’re us, they’re human.  The human race in the future.” 

   “I took Lucy to Utopia.”  The Master tells the Doctor.  “The Time Lord and his human companion.  I took her to see the stars, isn’t that right.  Sweetheart?”
   “Trillions of years in the future, to the end of the Universe.”  Lucy replies as if in a trancelike state.
   “Tell him what you saw.”
   “Dying.  Everything dying.  The whole of creation was falling apart, and I thought, there’s no point, no point in anything, not ever.”
   “This is all your fault.”  The Master accuses the Doctor.

   “I’d sort of worked it out with the Paradox Machine.”  Martha explains to Docherty and Tom.  “The Doctor said before the Master came to power, he said...’When the Master stole the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the co-ordinates.  I locked it permanently.  He can only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed which is right here, right now.’   “The Master had the TARDIS, this time machine, and the only other place he could go was the end of the universe.  So...he found Utopia.”

   “You should have seen it Doctor.  Furnaces burning.  The last of humanity screaming at the dark.”  Says the Master, sombrely.

   The Utopia Project was the last hope.  Trying to find a way to escape the end of everything.”  Says Martha.
   “There is no solution.  No diamonds.  Just the dark and the cold.” Laments the open sphere.
  
   “Without human invention that had sustained them over the eons, it had turned in on them.  They cannibalised themselves.”
   “We made ourselves pretty.”
   “They regressed into children but it didn’t work.  The universe was collapsing around them.”

   “Then the Master came with his wonderful time machine to bring us back home.”
   “But that’s a paradox.  If you’re the future of the human race, then you come back to murder your ancestors, you should cancel yourselves out. You shouldn’t exist.”
   “And that’s the paradox machine.”  Replies Martha.

Inside the cannibalised TARDIS the Master works on his project and laughs at his ingenuity.

Aboard the Valiant the Master continues to tell the Doctor about his plans.
   “Only my Masterpiece, the living TARDIS, strong enough to hold the paradox in place allowing past and the future to collide in infinite majesty.”
   “But you’re changing history.” Growls the Doctor.  “Not just Earth, but the entire universe.”
   “I’m a Time Lord, I have that right.” The Master replies pompously.
   “But then why come all this way just to destroy?”
   “We came backwards in time, altogether, the brand new Empire, lasting one hundred trillion years.”
   “With me as their master, Time Lords and humans combined.  Hadn’t you always dreamt of that, Doctor?”

   “What about us, we’re the same species, why do you kill so many of us?”  Asks Tom.
   “Because it’s fun!”  The sphere laughs maniacally. 
Tom shoots it dead!

The Master rises from his chair and faces the Doctor in his cage.  “The human race, the greatest monsters of them all.”  As he walks away towards Lucy, he stops and turns.  “Night then!”

   “I think it’s time we heard the truth Miss Jones.”  Says Docherty some time later, in her own quarters.  “Legend says you travelled the world to find a way of killing the Master.  Tell us is it true?”
Martha sits in silence for a moment or two before opening up. 
   “Just before I escaped, the Doctor told me.”  She pauses again.  “The Doctor and the Master, they’ve been coming to Earth for years, and they’ve been watched.  There’s UNIT, there’s Torchwood, all studying Time Lords in secret.  And they made this...”  Martha explains opening up the case that cradles a weapon.  A hand gun with four cylindrical metal rods that when loaded contain four coloured bottles of poison.
   “All you need is to get close.”  Says Tom.  “I could shoot the Master with this.”  He says raising his pistol. 
   “Actually.”  Docherty places her hand over Tom’s arm.  “You can put that down now, thank you very much.”
   “It’s not so easy to kill a Time Lord.”  Martha goes on to explain.  “They can regenerate, literally bring themselves back to life.”
   “Ahh the Master’s immortal. Wonderful!”  Sighs Docherty.
   “Except for this,” Martha shows the pair the four chemicals that slot into the gun.  “Inject him, it kills a Time Lord – permanently.”
Tom looks at the weapon.  “Four chemicals? You’ve only got three.”
   “Still need the last one, because the components of this gun were kept safe, scattered across the world and I found them.  San Diego, Beijing, Budapest and London.”
Docherty takes great interest in the weapon.
   “And where is it?”  Tom asks.
   “There’s an old UNIT base near London.  I’ve found the access codes Tom, you’ve got to get me there.”
   “You can’t go across London in the dark, it’s full of wild dogs, we’ll get eaten alive.  We can wait till the morning and go with the medical convoy.”
   “You could spend the night here.”  Offers Docherty but Tom declines, telling her they can stay in Bexley for the night at the slave quarters.  He thanks her for her help and heads for the door.
Martha thanks her too and kisses her on the cheek.  As Martha is about to leave Docherty asks her: “Could you do it? Could you actually kill him?”
   “I’ve got no choice.”  Replies Martha.
   You might be many things but you don’t look like a killer to me.” 
Martha lingers for a moment before leaving with Tom.

Through the darkened city streets, Tom and Martha keep to the shadows and move with stealth, avoiding the armed soldiers patrolling the empty streets.
Inside the slave quarters, Martha meets the civilians, huddled together, cold and hungry.  Tom tells her of their living conditions, how in each house there are 100 people packed in and sent away each morning to work in the shipyards.
  “Are you Martha Jones?”  Calls out one slave.
  “Yeah that’s me.”
   “Can you do it, can you kill him.  They said you could kill the Master.  So can you, tell us you can do it, please.” 
The cacophony of pleas from the slaves surrounds Martha until Tom asks them to let her be.  But Martha tells him it’s fine, if they want her to talk, she will.

At the Nuclear Unit Professor Docherty pulls open the mesh frame door containing a High Voltage box revealing an Archangel Network communication device.
   “Access Priority One.  This is Professor Alison Docherty.”
   “State your intent.” 
   “First of all I need to know about my son.”
   “State your intent.”
   “Is my son still alive?”
   “State your intent.”
Docherty considers for a moment.  “I have some information for the Master concerning Martha Jones.”

Martha sits a quarter of the way up the staircase in the slave quarters and tells the people a story.
   “I travelled across the world, from the ruins of New York to the fusion mills of China, right across the radiation pits of Europe.  And everywhere I went I saw people just like you, living as slaves.  And if Martha Jones became a legend, then that’s wrong, because my name isn’t important.  There’s someone else, the man who sent me out there, the man who told me to walk the earth.  His name is, the Doctor.   He has saved your lives so many times and you didn’t even know he was there.  He never stops, he never stays, he never asks to be thanked.  But I’ve seen him.  I know him.  I love him!  And I know what he can do.”

Suddenly a slave bursts into the house.
   “It’s him, oh my god it’s him.  It’s the Master, he’s here.”
   “But he never comes to us, he never walks the ground.”
   “Hide her!”
Martha is covered with work coats as she lies flat against the staircase, gripping the banister spindle, fear etched across her face.

The Master and his uniformed and armed squad walk the dark streets of Bexley, he calls out to Martha.  The Toclafane are also patrolling.  Tom primes his pistol and peers out of the letter box at signs of trouble.
   “He walks among us.  Our Lord and Master!” 
   “Martha!  Martha Jones, I can see you!”  He says in a childish voice. “Out you come little girl, come and meet your master.”  Still Martha doesn’t show.  “Anybody?  Nobody? No.  NO?  Men, positions.  I’ll give the order, unless you surrender.”  The Master waits.  “Ask yourself, what would the Doctor do?”

Beneath the coats on the stairs, Martha stops fearing the Master, she takes hold of the perception key and lifts it over her head.  She glances at the people around her, and walks past them, and places her hand on Tom’s shoulder before she leaves. 
Martha steps out into the night air to rapturous applause by the Master. 
   “Oh yes!  Very well done!  Good girl!  He trained you well.  Bag!  Give me the bag.”  He instructs.  Martha takes a step towards the Master but he insists she remains where she stands and simply tosses the bag towards him.  Armed with his laser screwdriver he destroys the bag in one solid blast.
   “And now good companion, your work is done.”  He aims the laser screwdriver directly at Martha, who braces herself for the end.  Tom runs from the house, distracting the proceedings, he yells as he runs towards the Master, weapon primed but is shot down by the laser meant for Martha and is killed instantly.
The Master laughs yet Martha remains impassive. 
   “But you, when you die, the Doctor should be witness.”  He feels the cool air on his face.  “Almost dawn, Martha.  And planet Earth marches to war.”

Aboard the Valiant, all are assembled in the Conference room as Martha is pushed forward by two armed guards.  She walks up the centre of the room, first glancing at her parents, then to Jack, detained by an armed guard, and then to the Doctor, who despite his predicament welcomes her back with a knowing smile.  The Master turns to face her and she him, stopping at the foot of the steps, awaiting her fate.
   “The teleport device.”  The Master demands.  “In case you thought I’d forgotten.”
Martha fishes out Jack’s Vortex Manipulator, from her pocket and tosses it up to the Master.  
   “And now, kneel.”  He orders of Martha who does as she’s asked.  “Down below, the fleet is ready to launch.  Two thousand ships set to burn across the universe.”  The Master calls to order.  “ARE WE READY?”
   “The fleet awaits your signal, rejoice!” replies a voice over the tannoy.
   “Three minutes to align the Black Hole Convertors.”
The countdown begins from 181 seconds.
   I never could resist a ticking clock.”  The Master smiles.  “MY CHILDREN ARE YOU READY?”
   “WE FLY AND BLAZE AND SLICE!” They reply in unison.
   “At zero, to mark this day, the child Martha Jones will die.  My first blood.  Any last words?”  He laughs.  “No? Such a disappointment this one.  In days of old Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex.  This one’s useless.”  He primes the laser screwdriver.  “Bow your head.”  He instructs Martha.  “And so it falls to me,”  (124 seconds)  “as Master of all, to establish from this day a new order of Time Lords.  From this day forward...”
Martha laughs.
   “What?  What’s so funny?”
   “A gun?”
   “What about it?”
   “A gun in four parts.”  Martha continues looking up at the Master.
   “Yes, and I destroyed it.”
   “A gun in four parts scattered across the world, I mean come on, did you really believe that?”
   “What do you mean?”  The Master asks.
   “As if I would ask her to kill.”
   “It doesn’t matter; I got her exactly where I want her.”  The Master says.
   But I knew what Professor Docherty would do.  The Resistance knew about her son.  That’s why I had to come, know your enemy.  I told her about the gun, so she would get me here.  At the right time.”  Martha says.
   “But you’re still going to die.”  Laughs the Master.
   “Do you know what I was doing, travelling the world?” 
   “Tell me.”  The Master humours her.
   “I told a story, that’s all.  No weapons, just words.”  (60 seconds)  “I did just what the Doctor said.  I went across the continents, all on my own and everywhere I went, I found the people and I told them my story.  I told them about the Doctor and I told them to pass it on, just spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor.”
   “Faith and hope, is that all?”  The Master grows tired of the tale.
   “No, because I gave them an instruction, just as the Doctor said. Use the countdown.’ (30 seconds)
   “Nothing will happen.  Is that your weapon? (17 seconds) Prayer.”
   “Right across the world, one word, just one thought at one moment.  But with 15 satellites...” 
The Master suddenly sees a flaw with his plans of domination.  “What?”
   “The Archangel Network.”  Says Jack.
   “A telepathic field, binding the whole universe together.  (8 seconds)  All of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time.  (5 seconds) and that word is DOCTOR.”
The Master rises to his feet as the countdown reaches zero.  A bluish white glow emanates to his left as the Doctor begins to rejuvenate, returning to his younger self.
   “Stop it.  No no no you don’t...”
Jack moves forward, closes his eyes and utters the Doctor’s name, followed by others in the room, including Lucy and Martha, repeating over and over.  Across the world millions of people do the same, from all walks of life, strengthening the telepathic field, enabling the Doctor return back to his former self.
   “Stop this right now.  STOP IT.”
   “I’ve had the whole year to tune myself into the psychic network, intricate it’s matrices.”
   “I ORDER YOU TO STOP!”  Shouts the Master but his words go unheeded. 
Mass chants across the world echo throughout the network, blowing the illusion of Harold Saxon, breaking the link.
   “One thing you can’t do is stop them thinking.” 
Martha and Jack laugh happily to see their Doctor return to normal. 
   “Tell me the human race is degenerate now.”  The Doctor is wrapped in a glow of psychic energy and rises off the ground, hovering towards the Master.  “When they could do this.”
Martha takes her leave and rushes to the warming and welcoming embrace of her family. 
The Master undefeated, raises his laser weapon at the Doctor and fires at him, but it merely bounces off the protective shield surrounding him.  Undeterred he turns the weapon on the Jones family but the Doctor using psychic energy snatches the weapon from the Master’s grasp sending it sprawling across the floor. 
The Master yells at the Doctor about how unfair he’s being.
   “And you know what happens now.”
   “NO.”  The Master doesn’t want to hear it.  He backs away, stumbling down the steps and back against the wall, a manic fear upon his face.  “NO!  NO!”  He waves the Doctor away as if batting flies, before cowering in the foetal position, whimpering, as the Doctor walks over to him, crouches down beside him and wraps his arms around him.
   “I forgive you.”
Within the protective embrace of the Doctor, the Master realises he still has one more weapon in his arsenal.
   “My children.”
   “PROTECT THE PARADOX!”  The Toclafane head back in a mass exodus towards the Valiant and the paradox machine. 
The Doctor leaps to his feet and gives Jack the order, the Captain with a squad of soldiers runs to the TARDIS as the Toclafane make a beeline for the ship. 

With the Doctor’s back turned from him, the Master pulls out the teleport device in order to make his escape, but the Doctor is one step ahead, and they tussle for the device, teleporting out of the ship and onto the ground below, near to the ship yards primed and ready to fire across the universe. 
   “Now we end this Doctor.”  The Master yells as he stands near the edge of the cliff at his rockets of destruction below.  “NOW IT ENDS.”

Jack runs with a crew through the levels to the TARDIS while Martha and Tish look at the controls on the bridge to try and stop the advancement of spheres. 

   “We’ve got control of the Valiant, you can’t launch.”
   “Oh but I’ve got this.”  The Master unbuckles the watch from his wrist. “The black hole converter, inside every ship, if I can’t have this world, Doctor, then neither can you.  We shall stand upon this Earth together as it burns.” 

Three Toclafane protect the TARDIS as Jack and the squad arrive and open fire.  Nothing penetrates the hard exterior shell of the sphere.  The swarm of Toclafane converge on the Valiant.  Jack realises he’s got no choice but to fight the spheres alone and runs towards their blades and lasers, firing his gun till he reaches the ship. 

   “Weapon after weapon after weapon, all you do is talk and talk and talk.”  Says the Doctor as he walks slowly towards the Master, maintaining eye contact.  “But after all these years, and all these disasters, I’ve always had the greatest secret of them all – I know you.  Explode these ships, you kill yourself, that’s the one thing you could never do.”  The Doctor holds out his hand for the Black Hole converter.  “Give that to me.” 

The Master hands the watch to the Doctor.

Jack cut to ribbons finally enters the TARDIS and catches his breath.  Then without further delay, opens fire on the Paradox Machine, destroying it.  The actions cause disruptions on the ground, and both Time Lords lose their balance.  The Doctor grapples with the Master for the VM and both return to the Valiant. 

Aboard things are changing, the Valiant is unstable, papers are flying all over the place.  Outside of the ship, the Toclafane disappear in a haze.  Martha loses her balance on the Bridge and falls into the arms of the Doctor.  Both are pleased to see the other.  As the changes begin to happen outside of the ship, time being reset, the Doctor instructs everyone to get down on the ground.  He holds onto Martha and laughs excitedly.
The Master clings to the railings.  A pistol slides up towards Francine.  People on the ground are blown backwards, until they vanish completely.  The world is being reset, returned to busy, bustling cities full of people, full of life.  The shipyards disappear, the land returns to lush green fields and countryside.  All is back to normal.

The Doctor jumps to his feet once everything has settled and looks out of the Bridge windows. 
   “The paradox is broken, it’s all gone back, one year, one day and two minutes past eight in the morning.”
   “This is UNIT central, what’s happened up there.  We just saw the President assassinated.”
   “Just after the President was killed but just before the spheres arrived.  Everything back to normal.  Planet Earth restored.  None of it happened, the rockets, the terror, it never was.”  Says the Doctor.
   “What about the spheres?”
   “At the end of the universe.”  He replies.
   “But I can still remember it.” Says Francine.
The Master slowly gets to his feet.
   “We’re at the eye of the storm.  The only ones who will ever know.”  The Doctor pauses, then spies Martha’s Dad and bounds over like an eager puppy.  “Oh hello, you must be Mr Jones, we haven’t actually met.”
The Master makes a break for the exit, as Jack arrives at the doorway.  He grabs a hold of the Master and frogmarches him back into the room.
   “Woah there big fella, you don’t want to miss the party.  Cuffs!”  he orders, and with the Masters hands behind his back snaps a pair of cuffs on.  “So what do we do with this one?”  He asks the Doctor.
   “We kill him.”  Says Clive.
   “We execute him.”  Says Tish.
   “NO, that’s not the solution.”  Says the Doctor. 
   “Oh I think so.”  Says Francine, the gun from the ground, firmly in her hands, tears in her eyes at the treatment she and her family have been put through for a whole year. “Because all those things, they still happened, because of him. I saw them.”
The Master goads her into pulling the trigger.
The Doctor manages to talk Francine out of it, telling her that she’s better than this.  Francine crumbles, lowering the gun and the Doctor comforts her before handing her over to Martha. 
   “You still haven’t answered the question.  What happens to me?”  The Master spits contemptuously.
   “You’re my responsibility from now on.  The only Time Lords left in existence.”
Jack strides over to the Doctor. “Yeah but you can’t trust him.”
   “No, the only safe place for him is the TARDIS.”
   “You mean you’re just gonna keep me?”  Says the Master.
The Doctor nods.  “If that’s what I have to do.”  He turns to face Jack.  “It’s time to change.  Maybe I’ve been wandering for too long.  Now I’ve got someone to care for.”
A shot rings out and the Master staggers back, bent over.  The Doctor rushes to his aid gently easing him down onto the ground.  Lucy Saxon holds the smoking gun, still in what appears to be a hypnotic state.  Jack orders her to drop the gun and slowly and carefully takes it from her. 
Cradled in the Doctor’s arms the Master once again laments on being shot by a female.
   “I didn’t see her.”  Admits the Doctor.
   “There you go, dying in your arms, happy now?”
   “You’re not dying, don’t be stupid, it’s only a bullet, just regenerate!”  The Doctor says.
   “NO.”
   “One little bullet, come on.”
   “I guess you don’t know me so well.  I refuse.”
   “Regenerate, just regenerate, please.  Please just regenerate, come on.”
   “And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?”
   “You’ve got to, come on.  It can’t end like this. You and me, all the things we’ve done.  Axons, you remember the Axons, and the Daleks.”  The Doctor tears up.  “We’re the only two left, there’s no-one else. REGENERATE!!!”
   “How about that, I win!”  Says the Master.  He struggles against the pain of the wound but also the pain in his head.   “Will it stop Doctor, the drumming.  Will it stop?”
The Master’s eyes close and he dies in the Doctor’s arms.  Stricken by grief at being the last of his kind, the Doctor openly displays his emotions and cries against the Master’s dead body while those onboard can only watch.

In a remote part of the world, the Doctor lights the funeral pyre containing the Master.  It burns fiercely.  After a while the Doctor casts away the burning torch and walks away.

In a park minding her own business, Alison Docherty is approached by Martha Jones and given a bunch of flowers. 
   “Just to say, I don’t blame you.”
   “But who are you?”  Asks Docherty.

In Cardiff, leaning against the railing overlooking the Plass, with the Senedd and the red bricked building behind them, Captain Jack Harkness, the Doctor and Martha stand in quiet contemplation.
   “Time was every single person here knew your name.  Now they’ve all forgotten you.”  Says Martha.
   “Good.”
Jack takes his leave.  “Back to work.”  He says ducking through the railings.
   “I really don’t mind though.  Come with me.”  The Doctor offers, after letting bygones be bygones.
   “I had plenty of time to think, that past year – the year that never was.”  Jack casts a glance towards his base.  “And I kept thinking about that team of mine.  Like you said Doctor – Responsibility!”  He says looking back at Martha and the Doctor.
   “Defending the Earth, I can’t argue with that.”  The Doctor suddenly takes hold of Jack’s wrist strap and makes some adjustments amidst Jack’s protests.
   “Hey I need that.”
   “I can’t have you walking around with a time travelling teleport.  You could go anywhere, twice, second time to apologise.”
   “And what about me, can you fix that?”  Jack asks.  “Will I ever be able to die?”
   “Nothing I can do.  You’re an impossible thing Jack.”
Jack laughs in agreement.  “Been called that before.”  He steps away from the pair and turns back to salute them both, winking at Martha.  “Sir!  Ma’am!”  He receives a salute back from them both.  “But I keep wondering, what about ageing? Cos I can’t die but I keep getting older.  The odd little grey hair, you know.  What happens if I live for a million years?” 
Laughing the Doctor replies: “I really don’t know.”
Jack laughs again, admitting vanity.  “Sorry, yeah, I can’t help it.  I used to be a poster boy back as a kid in the Boeshane Peninsula, tiny little place.  I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency.”  He impresses the Doctor and Martha“They were so proud of me.  The face of Boe they called me.”  Jack laughs.  “I’ll see you.”
He leaves Martha and the Doctor stunned. 
   “NO!”
   “Can’t be.”
   “Definitely not, no.”
Both laugh at the possibility.

Inside Martha’s Mum’s house the family relive the horrors of the year that never was.  It’s not easy for them to recover quite as quickly as the Doctor or Jack, or Martha for that matter.  Francine glances out of the window at the Doctor beside his ship, she smiles back at him before returning to her family.  The Doctor returns to his ship and walks around the console before resting back on the seat, feet on the controls.

A few moments later, Martha exits the house.  She makes a phone call to the hospital, requesting Dr Tom Milligan and is immediately put through.  She smiles as she hears his voice, but hangs up before speaking.  Composing herself, she enters the TARDIS.  The Doctor immediately leaps off his seat and begins the usual wild ramble around the console, offering Martha distant planets or back through Earth history to Charles II or Henry the Eighth. 
   “I know, Agatha Christie, I’d love to meet Agatha Christie, I bet she’s brilliant!”  The Doctor calms down when he realises Martha isn’t as excited as he is to fly off into the distant sunset.  “OK?”
Martha smiles and nods.  “I just can’t.”
   “Yeah.”
   “I spent all these years training to be a doctor and now I’ve got people to look after.  They saw half the planet slaughtered and they’re devastated.  I can’t leave them.”
   “Course not.”  The Doctor grins.  “Thank you.”  He embraces her.  “Martha Jones you saved the world.”
   “Yes I did.  I’ve spent a lot of time with you, thinking I was second best, but you know what? I’m good.”  She laughs.  “Are you going to be alright?”
   “Always, yeah!”  The Doctor lies.
   “Bye!”  Martha says kissing the Doctor’s cheek and stepping from the ship.  But a moment’s pause and she returns.  “Cos the thing is, it’s like my friend Vicky, she lived with this bloke...”  Martha explains.  “She loved him, she did, she completely adored him, spent all day long talking about him.”
   “Is this going anywhere?”
   “Yes.” 
The Doctor nods apologetically and lets her continue.
   “Cos he never looked at her twice, I mean he liked her, and she wasted years of her life.  While he was around she didn’t look at anyone else.  And I told her, I said to her time and again, ‘Get out!’  So this is me, getting out.”  She dug into her pocket and threw a spare phone to the Doctor who caught it deftly“Keep that, cos I’m not having you disappear.  Cos if that rings, when that rings, you’d better come running, do you hear?”
   “Got it.”
   “I’ll be seeing you again, Mister.”
The Doctor grins at Martha as she leaves.  He returns to his console as Martha returns to her family.  The Doctor sets a course for a new destination.

As the fire continues to burn, the Master’s ring falls into the ashes and is collected up by a woman wearing red nails.  The Master is heard laughing into the darkness.

As the Doctor flicks switches on the console, the boom of a ships’ horn bellows throughout the TARDIS.  The Doctor is thrown off his feet and falls between his seat and the rail behind it.  A life belt rolls into view.  Surprised the Doctor turns it over to reveal the name of an unfortunate ship.  The Titanic!
   “WHAT?”



The End!

©BBC Doctor Who 1963
©BBC Torchwood 2006

  






No comments:

Post a Comment