The End of Time – Part 1

(Cold Open)

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

[Street]

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

MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

(The Salvation Army band is playing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.)

[Church]

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

WOMAN: They call it the Legend of the Blue Box.
WILF: Oh. I've never been in here before. I'm not one for churches. Too cold.
WOMAN: This was the site of a convent back in the thirteen hundreds. It's said a demon fell from the sky, then a man appeared. A man in a blue box. They called him the sainted physician. He smote the demon and then disappeared.
WILF: That's a bit of a coincidence.
WOMAN: It's said there's no such thing as coincidence. Who knows? Perhaps he's coming back.
WILF: Oh, that would make my Christmas.

(The woman has disappeared. Wilf hears the laughter again.)

MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

[Ood Sphere]

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

DOCTOR: Ah! Now, sorry. There you are. So, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? An Ood in the snow, calling to me. Well, I didn't exactly come straight here. Had a bit of fun, you know. Travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble. You know me. It was brilliant. I saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, named a galaxy Alison. Got married. That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. And let me tell you, her nickname is no longer. Ahem. Anyway, what do you want?
SIGMA: You should not have delayed.
DOCTOR: The last time I was here you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that.
SIGMA: You will come with me.
DOCTOR: Hold on. Better lock the TARDIS.

(The Doctor points a remote key at the TARDIS. The door locks and the light flashes at it beeps.)

DOCTOR: See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like. It's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh. So how old are you now, Ood Sigma? Ah.

(He sees the Ood city.)

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

[Ood Council]

(Sitting in a circle in an ice cave.)

ELDER: Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come.
SIGMA: Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming.
DOCTOR: So. Right. Hallo.
OOD: You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join.

(The Doctor links hands with the Ood and sees the laughing face.)

MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
ELDER: He comes to us every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now.
DOCTOR: That man is dead.
ELDER: There is yet more. Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

[Nobles' home]

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

[Ood Council]

DOCTOR: What about Donna, is she safe?
ELDER: You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his Counting house.

(The Doctor is given images of a black man and his daughter being photographed.)

DOCTOR: I don't know who they are.
ELDER: And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten.

(A woman in a cage.)

DOCTOR: The Master's wife.
SIGMA: We see so much, but understand little. The woman in the cage, who is she?
DOCTOR: She was. It wasn't her fault, she was. The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you.

(The Doctor shows the Ood images from Last of the Time Lords.)

DOCTOR: The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done so it never even happened, but Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body. The Master is dead.
ELDER: And yet, you did not see.
DOCTOR: What's that?
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

(A woman picking up the Master's signet ring.)

DOCTOR: Part of him survived. I have to go!
ELDER: But something more is happening, Doctor. The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past.
DOCTOR: What do you mean?
ELDER: This is what we have seen, Doctor. The darkness heralds only one thing.
OOD: The end of time itself.
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!

(The Doctor runs outside and back to the TARDIS.)

ELDER: Events that have happened are happening now.

[Prison]

(While the TARDIS is in flight, Lucy Saxon is taken from her cell and escorted by women Prison Officers. to meet a another woman.)

GOVERNOR: Mrs Saxon. Let me introduce myself. I'm your new Governor. I'm afraid the previous Governor met with something of an accident, which took quite some time to arrange. Miss Trefusis, if you will prepare. You kept your silence well, Mrs Saxon. Your trial was held in secret, with no jury, so no one knows who Harold Saxon was, where he came from, why you killed him. Make her kneel. There are those of us who never lost faith. And in his wisdom, Harold Saxon prepared for this moment. He knew that he might die and he made us ready. Tonight, Mrs Saxon, he returns.
MASTER [OC]: Bwahahahahahaha!
(Miss Trefusis holds out the Master's signet ring. Lucy gasps.
Meanwhile, Wilf is looking out at the kitchen window at the storm while the Woman in White briefly appears on the TV screen in the other room.)
GOVERNOR: As it was written in the Secret Books of Saxon, these are the Potions of Life.

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

LUCY: Listen to me. Whatever he told you, you've got no idea what you're doing.
GOVERNOR: Miss Trefusis, the catalyst.
LUCY: What are you doing? Leave me alone!

(Miss Trefusis takes a print of Lucy's lips.)

GOVERNOR: You were Saxon's wife. You bore his imprint. That's all we needed. The final biometrical signature.
LUCY: You can't bring him back. You can't!

(Miss Trefusis drops the imprint into the bowl and there is a big flash, then a light beams up and out of Broadfell Prison into the sky.)

LUCY: I'm begging you! Stop this now before it's too late!
GOVERNOR: We give ourselves that Saxon might live.

(Energy is pulled out of the Governor and her acolytes.)

LUCY: Can't you see? He lied to you. His name isn't even Harold Saxon.
GOVERNOR: And this was written also, for his name is the Master!

(The figure of the naked Master begins to appear in the column of light.)

MASTER: Never. Never. Never. Never. Never dying. Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Bwahahahahahaha! Oh, Lucy. Sweet Lucy Saxon. My ever faithful. Did the widow's kiss bring me back to life?
LUCY: You're killing them!
MASTER: Oh, let them die. They're just the first. The whole stupid, stinking, human disgrace can fall into the pit. Can't you hear it, Lucy? The noise? The drumbeat louder than ever before. The drums. The never ending drums. Oh, I have missed them.
LUCY: But no-one knew you better than I did. I knew you'd come back. And all this time, your disciples have prepared. But so have we.

(Lucy takes a small vial from a prison officer who was not an acolyte.)

MASTER: What are you doing?
LUCY: The Secret Books of Saxon spoke of the Potions of Life. And I was never that bright, but my family had contacts. People who were clever enough to calculate the opposite.
MASTER: Don't you dare. I'm ordering you, Lucy. You will obey me!
LUCY: Till death do us part, Harry!
MASTER: No!
(Lucy throws the vial at the Master and there is an explosion.
The Doctor runs out of the TARDIS to see the ruined shell of Broadfell Prison.)

[Naismith's study]

(A butler and two footmen are standing nearby as the black woman enters the panelled room. The black man is looking at footage on his laptop.)

NAISMITH: I think we might be in luck, darling. It's the footage from Broadfell Prison the night it burnt down. Take a look at this.

(A silhouette of a figure runs quickly across the flames.)

ABIGAIL: Someone survived! Do you think it's him? Oh, that would be such a Christmas present.
NAISMITH: You just leave it to Daddy.

[Gate room]

(They walk into a room lit by a domed glass roof.)

NAISMITH: Ladies and gentlemen, it seems help is at hand. Christmas is cancelled. Prepare the gate.

(An archway begins to light up.)

[Nobles' home]

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

[Outside the Nobles' home]

(Wilf gets out his mobile phone and makes a call.)

WILF: Paratroop One to Paratroop Two. We are mobilised. I repeat, we are mobilised. Rendezvous thirteen hundred hours. Over and out.

(He flags down a Sparrow Lane minibus.)

WILF: Come on! Way hey, shake a leg! Yay hey. Right then, come on, let's get going.

(The driver and the other passengers applaud as he gets on board.)

WILF: Off we go. Everybody all right? Who's got the chocolates then?

[Minibus]

WILF: He's tall and thin, wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat. Modern sort of hair, all sticky-uppy, right? Oh, and on page two, be on the lookout for a police box exactly like the old ones.
MINNIE: I got locked inside one of them. August Bank Holiday 1962.
WINSTON: Were you misbehaving, Minnie?
MINNIE: I certainly was. Way hey.
WILF: Yeah, all right, all right. Now listen, this is important. We have got to find it, right? So phone around. Phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge club? Right. Winston, you try the old boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered.
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak.
WILF: Yeah.
WINSTON: Who is he, then, this Doctor?
WILF: No, I can't tell you that. I swear. Yeah, but answer me this. Have you been having bad dreams? All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah. Well, that's why we need him. We need the Doctor more than ever.

[Derelict site]

(A piece of wood is burning in an old oil can. There is a pile of bricks in the foreground and a Steven's Point charity burger van is sitting just outside an abandoned warehouse.)

SARAH: Onions with that?
TOMMO: Oh yeah, go on, pile them on. What about you, Ginger? Onions?

(Ginger shrugs. He's a black lad.)

TOMMO: He don't say much. Give him onions. He's down from Huddersfield.

(A figure in a hoodie walks towards the van.)

SARAH: Well, you look after him. And don't forget tomorrow night. The Christmas broadcast. President Obama.
TOMMO: Oh?
SARAH: He's promised to end the recession. Bad times will soon be over, Ginger.
TOMMO: Well, season's greetings to you.
SARAH: And you. Happy Christmas.

(Tommo and Ginger walk away.)

SARAH: Now, what can we get you, sir?
MASTER: Everything. I am so hungry. Bwahahahahahaha!

(Tommo and Ginger are by the brazier, eating their food.)

TOMMO: They're saying that the Presidents got this grand plan. He's going to save the world with some big financial scheme. Whatever it is, I bet it won't reach you and me.

(The Master suddenly drops down from the sky and sits behind them.)

TOMMO: Oh! Somebody's lively on his feet.
MASTER: Starving.

(The Master devours the burger far too rapidly for a human.)

TOMMO: Now, you see? That's what you don't want to do. Eat it all at once. Tempting, I know. But if you make it last, it can last all day.
MASTER: Want more. Want cheese and chips, and meat and gravy, and cream and beer, and pork and beef and fat. Great big chunks of hot, wet red.
TOMMO: Good for you, mate. Maybe we'd better be going.
GINGER: You look like that bloke. Harold Saxon? The one that went mad.
MASTER: Now isn't that funny. Isn't that just the best thing of all. The master of disguise, stuck looking like the old Prime Minister. I can't hide anywhere. He can see me. He can smell me. Can't let him smell me. Doctor, Doctor, shocked her, stopped her, got to stop the smell. The stink. The filthy, filthy stink.
TOMMO: Ginger, come with me. Right now.
MASTER: Because it's funny. Don't you see? Look at me. I'm splitting my sides.

(The Master's skeleton suddenly appears and disappears several times.)

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

(Tommo and Ginger run for the burger van.)

TOMMO: Sarah! God help us! There's this man!

(Sarah and her assistant in the van are just skeletons in clothes.)

MASTER: Dinnertime!
(The Master leaps up into the sky then swoops down on the two men. They scream, briefly.
A little later, the Doctor stands on a small cliff and sniffs deeply. The Master does the same, then picks up an iron bar and starts hitting an oil drum in a rhythm of four beats and a rest. The Doctor hears it and runs through piles of girders on the dockside until he sees the Master up against the skyline. The Master does his Incredible Hulk impression then leaps into the air. The Doctor gives chase. The Master waits for him on a pile of girders, and his skeleton briefly flashes.)
DOCTOR: Please, let me help. You're burning up your own life force.

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

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

(But the Master is nowhere to be seen.)

WINSTON: Did we do it? Is that him?
OLIVER: Tall and thin, big brown coat.
MINNIE: The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw this man heading east.
DOCTOR: Wilfred?
WILF: Yeah?
DOCTOR: (sotto) Have you told them who I am? You promised me.
WILF: No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honour to see you again.

(Wilf salutes.)

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

(Minnie gives the Doctor's bottom a squeeze.)

DOCTOR: Is that your hand, Minnie?
MINNIE: Good boy.

[Street]

(The minibus drops the Doctor and Wilf off.)

WILF: Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye.

(The minibus drives off with the rest of the Silver Cloak.)

WILF: Over here, come on.
DOCTOR: What's so special about this place? We passed fifteen cafes on the way.
WILF: Yeah. Afternoon.

[Cafe]

WILF: Oh, we had some good times, didn't we though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun. I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
WILF: I'm Wilfred Mott.
DOCTOR: No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours.
WILF: Well, I'm just lucky I suppose.
DOCTOR: No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us.
WILF: What's so important about me?
DOCTOR: Exactly. Why you? I'm going to die.
WILF: Well, so am I, one day.
DOCTOR: Don't you dare.
WILF: All right, I'll try not to.
DOCTOR: But I was told. He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then
WILF: Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body.
DOCTOR: I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead. What?

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

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

(They hear Donna speak to the traffic warden.)

DONNA: Don't you touch this car.
DOCTOR: She's not changed.
WILF: Nah. Oh, there he is.

(A man meets Donna.)

WILF: Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring.
DOCTOR: Another wedding.
WILF: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot.
WILF: No, it's Temple-Noble.
DOCTOR: Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?
WILF: Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why.
DOCTOR: She's got him.
WILF: She's making do.
DOCTOR: Aren't we all?
WILF: Yeah, how about you? Who have you got now?
DOCTOR: No one. Travelling alone. I thought it was better. But I did some things. It went wrong. I need-

(The Doctor starts crying.)

WILF: Oh, my word. I'm sorry.
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.
WILF: Yeah, and you.
DOCTOR: Look at us.
WILF: But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. I mean, look. Wouldn't she make you laugh again? Good old Donna?

(Donna and Shaun drive away.)

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

[Abandoned warehouse]

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

MASTER: I had estates. Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now.
DOCTOR: All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed?
MASTER: I am so hungry.
DOCTOR: Your resurrection went wrong. That energy. Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself.
MASTER: That human Christmas out there. They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat, and flesh, and grease, and juice, and baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot. It's so hot.
DOCTOR: Stop it.
MASTER: Sliced. Sliced. Sliced.
DOCTOR: Stop it.
MASTER: It's mine. It's mine. It's mine to eat and eat and eat.
DOCTOR: Stop it. What if I ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me.
MASTER: Oh yeah?
DOCTOR: I've been told something is returning.
MASTER: And here I am.
DOCTOR: No, something more.
MASTER: But it hurts.
DOCTOR: I was told the end of time.
MASTER: It hurts. Doctor, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
MASTER: Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen.

(We can hear the four beats of the start of the Doctor Who theme being played out by an iron bar on an oil drum somewhere.)

DOCTOR: I can't hear it.
MASTER: Listen.

(The Master mind-melds with the Doctor. The Doctor hears the beats and pulls away.)

MASTER: What?
DOCTOR: But
MASTER: What!
DOCTOR: I heard it. But there's no noise. There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?
MASTER: It's real. It's real. It's real!

(The Master flies off and the Doctor runs after him.)

[Derelict site]

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

(A bright light shines down on the Master, then a second one illuminates the Doctor. A pair of SAS types come down on ropes, grab the Master and inject him with something to knock him out.)

DOCTOR: Don't!

(Others fire their guns at the Doctor to make him stay back, and the Master is hoisted up into the helicopter. The Doctor runs.)

DOCTOR: Let him go!

(The Doctor is shot in the back.)

[Nobles' home]

(Noddy Holder is screaming out his most famous song while Wilf opens a present. It is a book - Fighting the Future, by Joshua Naismith.)

DONNA: Now then, steady on. It's never too early for margaritas, that's what I say. I forgot to get lemons so I used oranges instead. It's all fruit, same difference.

(Sylvia has opened her present, an item of clothing.)

SYLVIA: Oh, now that's lovely. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. Love from Donna. Did you keep the receipt?
DONNA: Yes, I did. Come on, Gramps. You've been a right misery ever since you got up. Do you like it then, the book?
WILF: Joshua Naismith? I mean, what'd you get me this for?
DONNA: I don't know. I just saw it in the shop and thought of you. It just felt like the sort of thing you should have.
SYLVIA: Oh, now look at that. That's from Charlie Morton. Isn't that rude?

(They laugh at a Christmas card.)

[Gate room]

NAISMITH: If you would, Mister Danes.

(Danes the butler removes the gag from the Master. He is otherwise securely fastened to a large chair-like structure.)

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

[Nobles' home]

SHAUN: Aye, aye. Here are the presents. I'm sorry, I couldn't afford much, but not for long, if President Obama ends the recession tonight. Come here.

(Shaun hugs Donna.)

WILF: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Keep it quiet, you lot, It's the Queen's Speech. Now come on, sit down. Show respect. Come on.
SHAUN: Merry Christmas, Mister Mott.

(Shaun kisses Wilf.)

WILF: Thank you. Will you behave! You, honestly. All right now. Whoa, she's on, she's on. It's our sovereign.

(Wilf salutes the television, the broadcast slows down then the woman in white briefly appears.)

WILF: Eh?
WOMAN [on TV]: Events are moving, Wilfred.
WILF: Eh?
WOMAN [on TV]: Faster than we thought.
WILF: Oi, can you see that?
DONNA: Frankly, I'd tell Her Majesty it's time for trouser suits.
WILF: No, no, no, no. That's not the
WOMAN [on TV]: Only you can see. Only you stand at the heart of coincidence.
WILF: Why, what have I done?
WOMAN [on TV]: You're an old soldier, sir. Only you were too late. The war was won and passed you by.
WILF: I did my duty.
WOMAN [on TV]: You never killed a man.
WILF: No, I didn't. No, I did not, no, but, don't say that like it's shameful.
WOMAN [on TV]: The time will come when you must take arms.
WILF: Who are you?
WOMAN [on TV]: Tell the Doctor nothing of this. His life could still be saved, so long as you tell him nothing.

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

[Outside the Nobles' home]

DOCTOR: I lost him. I was unconscious. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away.
WILF: Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?
DOCTOR: You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?
WILF: Well, there was a
DOCTOR: What? What is it? Tell me.
WILF: Well, it was. No, it's nothing.
DOCTOR: Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something.
WILF: Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book.
DOCTOR: What book?
WILF: His name's Joshua Naismith.

(Wilf shows the book to the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: That's the man. I was shown him by the Ood.
WILF: By the what?
DOCTOR: By the Ood.
WILF: What's the Ood?
DOCTOR: They're just the Ood. But it's all part of the convergence. Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna.
SYLVIA: Dad, what are you up to? You. But. Get out of here.
DOCTOR: Merry Christmas.
SYLVIA: Merry Christmas. But she can't see you. What if she remembers?
DONNA [OC]: Mum, where are those tweezers?
SYLVIA: Go.
DOCTOR: I'm going.
WILF: Yeah, me too.
SYLVIA: Oh no, you don't.
DONNA : (at the back of the house) Mum? Gramps?
SYLVIA: Dad, I'm warning you.
WILF: Bye, see you later.
DONNA: (at the back of the house) Bit old for hide and seek.
SYLVIA: Stay right where you are.
DOCTOR: You can't come with me.
WILF: You're not leaving me with her.
SYLVIA: Dad!
DOCTOR: Fair enough.
DONNA [OC]: Mum?
SYLVIA: Just you listen to me. I forbid it. Get out of there!

(The TARDIS dematerialises.)

SYLVIA: Doctor, bring my father back right now! Come back here! Come back here, I said! Come back!
DONNA: Are you shouting at thin air?
SYLVIA: Yes. Possibly, yes.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Naismith. If I can track him down. Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?
WILF: I thought it'd be cleaner.
DOCTOR: Cleaner? I could take you back home right now.
WILF: Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?
DOCTOR: I cant go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?
WILF: Not a word.
DOCTOR: Welcome aboard.
WILF: Thank you.

[Gate room]

(Joshua and Abigail Naismith enter, followed by the Master in a strait-jacket.)

NAISMITH: Demonstrate.

(Electricity surges across the Gate.)

MASTER: Oh, that's not from Earth.
NAISMITH: And neither are you. A perfect combination, don't you think?
ROSSITER: Er, excuse me, sir. If I could check the basement? We're getting fluctuation on the power cords.
NAISMITH: Of course.
ROSSITER: Miss Addams, if you could bring the calibration statistics.

(The two scientists leave.)

[Basement]

ROSSITER: Who the hell is he? What if he finds out? An expert, they said. Well, what sort of expert? Who is he?
ADDAMS: I don't know. According to the records, Harold Saxon was Prime Minister of this stupid country. I am choking in this thing. I'm sorry.

(Miss Addams presses her wristwatch and she transforms into a green skinned biped with spikes instead of hair.)

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

(Rossiter transforms himself, too.)

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

[Gate room]

NAISMITH: The Gate was found inside a spaceship buried at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was moved to an institute known as Torchwood, but when Torchwood fell, let's just say I acquired it.
MASTER: I like you.
NAISMITH: Thank you.
MASTER: You'd taste great.
NAISMITH: Mister Danes?
DANES: The visitor will be given food.

(The footmen bring in a covered dish. It is an entire large roast chicken. The Master rips it to pieces and devours it without ceremony in triple quick time.)

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

(Miss Collins steps forward and shows her left arm.)

NAISMITH: The Gate mended her. Thank you.
MASTER: But what do you want it for?
NAISMITH: We calculate that if this device can be fully repaired by your good self, it can restore the body forever. Hence it's given title. The Immortality Gate. Because that's what I want. Not for me, but for my daughter. I want her never to die. My gift to her. She will be immortal.
ABIGAIL: Abigail. It means bringer of joy.
(Rubbish, it means Father's joy.
The TARDIS materialises in the stable block. The Master smells it.)
MASTER: Better get to work.

(He uses the computer keyboard.)

[Stables]

WILF: We've moved. We've really moved!
DOCTOR: You should stay here.
WILF: Not bloody likely.
DOCTOR: And don't swear. Hold on.

(The Doctor points the key at the TARDIS, which disappears.)

DOCTOR: Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the TARDIS. That's the last thing we need.

[Mansion grounds]

(Wilf and the Doctor hide from a patrol.)

WILF: That book said he's a billionaire. He's got his own private army.
DOCTOR: Down here.

(The Doctor opens a small door in an archway.)

[Gate room]

(Rossiter is back in human form.)

ROSSITER: Miss Addams, we're getting encouraging results from the ratio-foldback. Can you confirm?

[Basement]

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

[Gate room]

ADDAMS [OC]: The shatterthreads have harmonised, the friable links have densified...

[Basement]

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

(The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at her.)

DOCTOR: Shimmer.

(Addams turns green.)

WILF: Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus.
ROSSITER [OC]: Miss Addams?

[Gate room]

ROSSITER: Miss Addams? If you'll just excuse me.

(Rossiter leaves.)

NAISMITH: Now, please don't imagine I'm a slave-driver. We can resume work on Boxing Day, Mister Saxon.
MASTER: My name is the Master.

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

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

[Basement]

DOCTOR: He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?
ROSSITER: What are you doing here?

(Without turning around, the Doctor points the screwdriver at Rossiter.)

DOCTOR: Shimmer!

(Rossiter turns green.)

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

[Gate room]

(Danes locks the Master back into his strait jacket.)

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

[Basement]

ROSSITER: But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational.
DOCTOR: Who are you, though? 'Cause I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red.
ADDAMS: No, that's a Zocci.
ROSSITER: We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different.
ADDAMS: And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship.
DOCTOR: But what does it do?
ROSSITER: Well, it mends. It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better.
DOCTOR: No, there's got to be more. Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal.
WILF: So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?
ADDAMS: More or less.
WILF: Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?
DOCTOR: Oh, good question. Why's it so big?
ADDAMS: It doesn't just mend one person at a time.
ROSSITER: That would be ridiculous.
ADDAMS: It mends whole planets.
DOCTOR: It does what?
ADDAMS: It transmits the medical template across the entire population.

(The Doctor runs through the corridors.)

[Gate room]

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

[White House press room]

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

[Gate room]

DOCTOR: Turn the Gate off right now!
DANES: At arms!
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device.
MASTER: Oh, like that was ever going to happen.

(The Master throws off the strait jacket and leaps over their heads on pillars of energy from his hands, into the Gate.)

MASTER: Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now.
DOCTOR: Deactivate it. All of you, turn the whole thing off!
MASTER: Bwahahahahahaha!
NAISMITH: He's inside my head.
DOCTOR: Get out of there!

(The Master's blast of energy knocks the Doctor down.)

WILF: Doctor! Doctor, there's, there's this face.
DOCTOR: What is it? What can you see?
WILF: Well, it's him. I can see him.
AMN NEWS [on TV]: There's something wrong. It seems to be affecting the President.

(The President of the United States has his face in his hands. The Doctor goes to the computer and tries to shut down the Gate.)

DOCTOR: I can't turn it off.
MASTER: That's because I locked it, idiot.
DOCTOR: Wilfred! Get inside. Get him out.

(The Doctor enters one of a pair of glass sided cubicles, and Wilfred swaps places with a technician in the other.)

DOCTOR: Just need to filter the levels.
WILF: Oh, I can see again! He's gone.
DOCTOR: Radiation shielding. Now press the button. Let me out.
WILF: You what?
DOCTOR: I can't get out until you press the button. That button there.

(Wilf does. Wilf's cubicle is now Locked and the Doctor's is Open.)

MASTER: Fifty seconds and counting.
DOCTOR: To what?
MASTER: Oh, you're going to love this.

[Basement]

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

[Gate room]

(Wilf's phone rings. He pulls the revolver out of his pocket instead.)

WILF: Hello? Oh, Gawd. Donna?
DONNA [OC]: Where are you?

[Nobles' home]

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

[Gate room]

WILF: Can't you see anything?

[Nobles' home]

DONNA: I can see them.

[Gate room]

DONNA [OC]: That's bad enough.

(Wilf's phone beeps for a call waiting.)

WILF: Not now, Winston.
WINSTON [OC]: Wilfred.

[Outside flats]

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

[Gate room]

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

(A blast of energy moves out from the Master and the Gate, and spreads across the entire planet. Everyone's face becomes blurred except for Donna and Wilf, and the Doctor of course.)

DOCTOR: You can't have.
WILF: What is it?

[Nobles' home]

DONNA: But they've changed.

(Sylvia and Shaun are now both the Master.)

DONNA: Granddad, that's like, like the sort of thing that happened before.

(Donna remembers enemies from her adventures.)

DONNA: My head. Oh, my head! Oh, my head!

[Gate room]

WILF: Doctor? She's starting to remember.

(Everyone's face resolves into the Master's.)

WILF: What is it? What have you done, you monster?
MASTER: Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?
NAISMITH-MASTER: Or to me?
ABIGAIL-MASTER: Or to me?
DANES-MASTER: Or to me?
SECURITY-MASTER: Or to us?
AMN NEWS-MASTER [on TV]: Breaking news. I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!

[White House press room]

OBAMA-MASTER: I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!

(The audience of Master's applauds him.)

OBAMA-MASTER: Ooo, financial solution. Deleted. Ha ha!

[Gate room]

MASTER: The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race. Bwahahahahahaha!
NARRATOR [OC]: And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his greater role in events. For this was far more than humanity's end.

[Citadel]

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

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

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