The rest of The End of Time. Again, this was a very good one to type up and I enjoyed it. However I did notice that the Tenth Doctor talks through gritted teeth a LOT in this episode! It is seriously ridiculous because he does tension well enough without it (and makes him harder to understand) but never mind! Oh, and do you have any idea how hard it is to write multiple Masters?! Anyway, let’s get on with it, shall we?
Character list:
LP – Narrator/Lord President
D – The Doctor
WM – Wilfred Mott
OS – Ood Sigma
OE – Ood Elder
DN – Donna Noble
SN – Sylvia Noble
M – The Master
JN – Joshua Naismith
AN – Abigail Naismith
MH – Minnie Hooper
WK – Winston Katusi?
OB – Oliver Barnes?
ST – Shaun Temple
MS – Mickey Smith
MJ – Martha Jones
LS – Luke Smith
SJS – Sarah Jane Smith
CJ – Captain Jack
AF – Midshipman Alonzo Frame
VN – Verity Newman
JT – Jackie Tyler
RT – Rose Tyler
As ever, lots of screencaps to be found here, making this nasty if you have dial-up. I got the pictures from Sonic Biro, except for two special treats by
theanonsisters so many thanks to them!
[From Part I, the Master picks up an iron bar and begins banging on the side of a red oil drum. Four knocks.]
D [in café]: I’m going to die.

[The Master continues to bash on the drum.]
D: But I was told…
[The Master beats harder. The Doctor is looking for him in the quarry.]
D: ‘He will knock four times.’
[In the wrecked building, the Doctor stares at the Master.]
D: What is it? [breathing hard] What’s inside your head?

M [screaming victoriously]: It’s real!
[The Master is shown flying into the air before shifting to the red-eyed Ood Elder.]
OE: The darkness heralds only one thing.
[The Master uses the power to shoot bolts of lightning at the Doctor, but they strike the building behind him and the Doctor keeps walking.]
OE: The end of time itself.
[Donna, crying, clutches her head.]

DN: My head!
[Shots of Davros and the Empress of the Racnoss.]
DN: Oh, my head!
D [fiercely, tears in his eyes]: If she ever remembers me, her mind will burn and she will die!
WM: What have you done, you monster?
[The Master is standing in the Immortality Gate, grinning madly, as light passes across the Earth.]

N: And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist.
[Everyone turns into the Master.]
N: This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned.
[Titles]
[Gallifrey, in all its golden and orange glory, is shown on the screen. The camera pans up from a walkway to down at the Citadel encased in the crystal orb. However, the orb is shattered, and smoke pours from the towers of the Citadel. Dalek spaceships, like those we have seen in Journey’s End and The Parting of the Ways, litter the ground.

The Lord President leads several other Time Lords in full robes and collars along a hallway and over a raised platform. Massive doors slide open as they approach. They enter a conference room and the President takes his seat at the head of the table.]
LP: What news of the Doctor?
Time Lord: Disappeared, my Lord President.
Female Time Lord: But we know his intention. He still possesses the moment. And he’ll use it to destroy Daleks and Time Lords alike.
Time Lord: The Visionary confirms it.
Visionary [in a dreamy voice, with a little giggle, before she stares intently, her eyes wide]: Burning, falling, all of it falling! The black and pitch and screaming fire. So burning!

Time Lord: All of her prophecies say the same. That this is the last day of the Time War. That Gallifrey falls.
[The Visionary looks back down at her page and sketches circular images.]
Time Lord: That we die. [nodding] Today.
[The Lord President looks upset.]
Visionary: Ending. Ending. Ending! Ending!
Female Time Lord: Perhaps… it’s time. This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. [as the Lord President inhales a deep breath, clearly angry at the suggestion] But at its heart, millions die every second. Lost in bloodlust and insanity.

[The Visionary looks up at the Lord President, as if knowing what he plans to do.]
Female Time Lord [passionately]: With time itself resurrecting them to find new ways of dying over and over again. A travesty of life. Isn’t it better to end it at last?
[The Lord President pushes his chair back and stands, furious.]
LP [between clenched teeth]: Thank you for your opinion!
[He thrusts out his left hand, on which he is wearing a metal glove, which shoots blue power in the direction of the Female Time Lord, who screams as she fades into black smoke.]
LP [screaming]: I will not die! [glaring at everyone around the table] Do you hear me?! A billion years of Time Lord history riding on our backs. I will not let this perish. I will not! [drops back into his chair]

[There is a moment of silence, broken only by the scratching of the Visionary’s pen.]
Time Lord: There is, erm…
[He picks up a scroll from beside the Visionary and nervously gets up from his chair.]
Time Lord: There is one part of the prophecy, My Lord. [hesitates beside the Lord President] Forgive me. I’m sorry. [as he begins to unroll it] It’s rather – difficult to decipher. But it talks of two survivors. Beyond the final day. Two children of Gallifrey.
LP [desperate]: Does it name them?
Time Lord: It foresees them locked in their final confrontation. The enmity of ages, which would suggest…
LP [furiously spitting out the words]: The Doctor! [in realisation] And the Master…
Time Lord: One word keeps being repeated, my Lord. One constant word. Earth.
Visionary [with increasing urgency]: Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth…
Time Lord: The planet Earth. Indigenous species: the human race.
[The Lord President stares at the table for a moment before a projection of the Earth is shone above them in the black room.]

LP [hopeful]: Maybe that’s where the answer lies. Our salvation! [as he stands and looks at the image] On Earth.
[A male laugh echoes through the room as the camera zooms in on the projection of the Earth.
The shot cuts to the Doctor, strapped to the table that the Master was on before, a gag over his mouth and tension in his eyes and on his face. He doesn’t look frightened so much as irritated.]

M [softly, in the Doctor’s ear]: Now then, I’ve got a planet to run.
[Wilf is tied up in a chair opposite the Doctor, looking extremely distressed. The trio are in the room where Joshua and Abigail watched the initial footage of the Master escaping the ruins of Broadfell prison.]
M: Is everybody ready?
Joshua!Master: Six billion, seven hundred and twenty-seven million, nine hundred and forty-nine thousand, three hundred and thirty-eight versions of us awaiting orders.
[The Master looks impressed with his own skills and smirks in the direction of the Doctor, who is still gagged.]
President!Master [grinning]: This is Washington. As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth’s defences.
Head of UNIT!Master: Unit H.Q. Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir. [touches his hat, grinning]
Head of Chinese Military!Master: And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir!
[The Master winks at Wilf, who gives him a startled look, as if not knowing what to make of it.]

Head of Chinese Military!Master: With over 2.5 million soldiers, sir! [turns on intercom] Present arms!
[A mass of Masters in Chinese Military uniform, standing in front of the gate to the Forbidden City. All present arms.]
M: Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship. [to the Doctor, who is staring at Wilf] Nothing to say? [with mock concern, as the Doctor breathes heavily] Doctor? What’s that? [moving over to him as if worried] Pardon? [sternly, as the Doctor finally makes an unintelligible sound] Sorry?!
WM [angry]: You let him go, you swine!
M [with a sigh]: Oh, your Dad’s still kicking up a fuss!
WM [defiantly]: Yeah? Well, I’d be proud if I was!
M [holding a finger to his lips]: Hush now! Listen to your Master!

[The Master glares at Wilf threateningly and then turns away before a phone suddenly rings. The Master turns to look at the Doctor questioningly. The Doctor stares at Wilf as if knowing what’s coming.]
M: But th-that’s a mobile!
WM [chuckling awkwardly]: Yeah, it’s mine. Let me turn it off.
M: No, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I’m not phoning you, so who the hell is that?!
WM [weakly, as the Master paws him to find the phone]: Nobody, I tell you, it’s nothing, it’s probably one of them ringback calls.
M [holding up a gun in a gesture of demonstration to the Doctor]: Ooh, look at this! [to Wilf] Good man!
[He tosses the gun away and continues to go through Wilf’s pockets to find the phone. The Doctor frowns as the Master pulls out the phone and stares at it.]

M: Donna. Who’s Donna?
WM [desperately trying to be casual]: She’s no one! Just leave it!
[The Master activates the phone.]
DN [tearful, terrified]: Gramps, don’t hang up, you’ve gotta help me! I ran out! Everyone was changing!
M: Who is she? Why didn’t she change?
DN [on phone]: Gramps, I can’t hear you.
WM [nodding at the Doctor]: Well, it was this thing the Doctor did. He did it to her. The meta-crisis.
M [to the Doctor, disdainfully] Oh, he loves playing with Earth Girls!
[The Doctor is staring at Wilf and then glances anxiously at the Master as if wondering what is going to happen to Donna.]
DN: Are you there? Can you still hear me?
M [to other Masters]: Find her! Trace the call!

Joshua!Master: Trace the call!
DN: Are you still there?
[The Masters triangulate Donna’s position.]
DN: Can you hear me?
[The Master turns the phone on to speaker and runs to Wilf.]
M: Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad!
WM [into phone]: Donna, get out of there!
[In tears, Donna starts to run out of the alley.]
WM: Well, just get out of there! I’m telling you, run!
[The signal triangulates on Donna’s location.]
Joshua!Master: She’s on Wessex Lane, Chiswick. Everyone on Wessex Lane, red alert.
DN: What do I do?
WM [as the Master is looking at him with a mocking expression that combines hope and misery]: Run, sweetheart! That’s all! Run for your life!
[Donna stops as a Master in a blue windcheater steps into the lane.

She turns to see a Master in a shirt wearing a blue and pink tie block the other end.]
DN [faintly]: There’s more of them.
WM [on phone]: Donna! What’s happening? Are you still there?
[As more Masters in various outfits enter the lane.]
DN: They’re everywhere!
WM: Donna!
Shirt and tie!Master: Ooh, I’m starving!

WM: Look, I’m telling you to run, Donna!
Blue windcheater!Master: I’m still hungry!
[Back in the Naismith office, the Master is smirking at the Doctor as Wilf is almost in tears.]
WM: Just run, sweetheart! Just run!
[Donna looks around as the various Masters begin to walk towards her. Her free hand creeps towards her head.]
DN: But it’s not just them.
[She catches a glimpse of a Pyrovile.]
DN: I can see those things again.
[A shot of Dalek Caan.]
DN: Those creatures!
[The Vespiform.]
DN [hysterical]: Why can I see a giant wasp?!
WM [as Donna presses her hand to her head]: Now, don’t think about that, Donna, my love! Don’t!
D [in agony]: But it hurts! My head!

[A glimpse of the Empress of the Racnoss.]
DN: It keeps getting hotter…
[A red-eyed Ood.]
DN: And hotter!
[A grinning master in a bow-tie and vest walks towards her.]
DN: And hotter! And hotter! And hotter!
[She has an image of the Doctor, drenched with water, as he was in the basement of H. C. Clements.
With a scream, Donna throws her head back as regenerative energy pours out of her in a wave of golden light.

It knocks down all the Masters, who collapse. Donna looks around in confusion.]
DN [weakly] Now what did I…?
[She faints.]

WM [in the silent room, concerned, as the Master looks at him grimly]: Donna? What was that?
[The Doctor, still gagged, is watching him. He swallows painfully, clearly upset by Wilf’s reaction.]

WM [tearfully]: Donna? Donna, are you there?
[The Master turns to glare at the Doctor, who is now smiling as if satisfied. He winks at the Master as Wilf continues to plead with his granddaughter to talk to him.
Wilf stops speaking as he sees the look on the Doctor’s face. The Master gets up and crosses the floor to the Doctor. He yanks off the gag impatiently.]
D [lightly]: That’s better! Hello! But really – did you think I’d leave my best friend without a defence mechanism? [raises his eyebrows at the Master, who sneers at him]

WM [anxious]: Doctor? What happened?
D [as the Master glares at him]: She’s all right, she’s fine. Promise. She’ll just sleep.
M [softly, threateningly]: Tell me, where’s your TARDIS?
D [thoughtful]: You could be so wonderful.
M [insistent]: Where is it?
D: You're a genius. Stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear, you really are! But you could be so much more. [longing] You can be beautiful with a mind like that. We can travel the stars. It would be my honour. 'Cause you don't need to own the universe – just see it. To have the privilege of seeing all of time and space... that's ownership enough.
[The Masters hesitates and swallows hard, as if almost tempted.]
M: W-would it stop then? The noise in my head?
D: I can help.
M [shaking his head as his eyes fill with tears]: Don't know what I'd be without that noise.
D [thoughtful]: I wonder what I'd be without you.
M [tearfully, sniffing slightly]: Yeah.

WM [interrupting the moment]: What does he mean? What noise?
[The Master turns, walking slowly towards Wilf.]
M: It began on Gallifrey.
[A shot of a small boy, the same child as was seen in The Sound of Drums, is shown walking through a darkened area of ground, lit only by torches, with an older Time Lord behind him.]

M: As children. Not that you’d call it childhood!
[The Master walks away to look out of the window as the Doctor watches him in concern. The Master sits at the desk.]
M: More a life of – duty. [glances at Wilf] Eight years old.
[The boy walks across the ground and looks back anxiously at the older man behind him, before being urged to go on.]
M: I was taken for initiation. To stare into the untempered schism.
WM: What does that mean?
D [softly]: It’s a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex itself. [painfully] And it hurts.

[The Master watching the Doctor, who is looking at him sympathetically. The Master is bitter and angry.]
M: They took me there. In the dark. We looked into time, old man.
[Again, the massive circular dish from The Sound of Drums is shown. The boy stares into the untempered schism with wide eyes.]
M: And I heard it. Calling to me. Drums. [staring at the ceiling] The never-ending drums.
LP: The untempered schism. That’s when it began.
[The same image of the circular dish is shown above the table where the Time Lords are seated.]

Time Lord: History says the Master heard a rhythm. A torment that stayed with him for the rest of his life.
LP [authoritatively]: A drumbeat. A warrior’s march.
Time Lord [nodding, his face working with distress]: A symptom of insanity, my lord.
[The Visionary repeatedly taps out four beats on the wooden table with her fingernail. It is the same pattern that the Master implanted in everyone on Earth in The Sound of Drums. The room echoes with the sound.]

LP: The rhythm of four. The heartbeat of a Time Lord.
[The Master is sitting in the chair with his head back.]
M: Listen to it. [glances at the Doctor, who is watching him with one eyebrow arched] Listen!
D [looking hopeful]: Then let’s find it. You and me.
M: Except… [as realisation hits] Oh. Oh, wait a minute! Oh, yes! Oh, that’s good!
D [worried]: What? What is?
M: The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads! Everyone on Earth can hear it! Imagine – ohhh! Oh, yes!
[The Doctor is looking at him in concern, clearly worried that another bout of insanity is about to burst out. The Master begins laughing and suddenly flashes the blue of the skeletal figure through him again.

A roaring noise is heard and the Doctor begins to look anxious as the Master suddenly sinks to his knees.]
D: The Gate wasn’t enough! You’re still dying!
M: This body was born out of death. All it can do is die. [suddenly straightening] But what did you say to me? Back in the wasteland? You said the end of time.
D [pleading]: I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy. That’s why I need your help!
M [pointing at his face]: What if I’m part of it? Don’t you see? The drumbeat is calling from soo far away! From the end of time itself! And now it’s been amplified six billion times! Triangulate all those signals! I could find its source! Oh, Doctor. That’s what your prophecy was… Me!
[The Doctor stares at him blankly, as if he’s even more completely and utterly insane than ever before.

The Master raises his hand – and slaps the side of the Doctor’s head. The Doctor closes his eyes in pain and swallows hard.]
M [threateningly]: Where’s the TARDIS?
D [begging]: Just stop. Just think!
M [pointing at Wilf]: Kill him!
[A guard turns off the safety of his gun with a click and marches across the room to Wilf. The Master turns and follows the guard for several paces.]
M: I need that technology, Doctor! Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead.
WM [defiantly]: Don’t tell him!
M [yelling]: I’ll kill him right now!
[Wilf tenses, staring at the Master. The Doctor looks at him before speaking, his tone suddenly light and mocking.]
D: Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that, after all this time, you’re still bone dead stupid.
[The Master rolls his neck, staring almost dumbly at the Doctor.]

M: Take aim.
D [eyeing the ceiling]: You’ve got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can’t see the obvious, can you?
M [desperate to know]: Like what?
D [as if revealing a secret]: That guard is one inch too tall.
[The Master turns back sharply to look at the guard, who swings his rifle butt against the Master’s head, knocking him out. The Master collapses.
The guard removes his helmet to reveal the pointy green skin of Rossiter, the male Vinvocci.]

R: Oh my God, I hit him! I’ve never hit anyone in my life!
[The door of the room is thrown open and Addams runs in.]
A: Well, come on! [runs to Wilf’s chair and pulls out something to cut the bonds] We need to get out of here fast!
WM: God bless the Cactuses.
D: That’s Cacti!
R [indignantly]: That’s racist!
Joshua!Master [fiddling with his cuffs]: This prophecy of yours, Doctor. Where did it come from? [frowning at the apparently empty room] Doctor?
A [as she removes Wilf’s ropes]: Come on! We’ve got to get out!
R [struggling to under the ties around the Doctor as the Doctor also fights to free himself]: There’s too many buckles and straps!
A [waving her hand]: Just – wheel him!
D [panicking, as Rossiter does what she says]: No. No! No! Get me out! No! N-Don’t! Don’t!
[Rossiter pushes him past the unconscious body of the Master lying on the floor of the office. However this also pushes him past the camera so that Joshua!Master sees.]
Joshua!Master: What’s going on? Doctor!
R [as he pushes the Doctor along the hallway]: Which way?
A [striding ahead]: This way!
D [urgently]: Oh, no, no, no, no, no! The other way! Other way! Back to my TARDIS!
A: I know what I’m doing!
D [begging]: No, no, no, no. Just – just listen to meeee!

[The Master is slowly getting to his feet, clinging to his head in pain. Other Masters enter the room in guard uniform.]
M: Find him. Find him!
D [desperately]: Not the stairs. Not the stairs!
[Adams beginning running down the stairs. Rossiter pushes the Doctor down them with Wilf following.]
D: No! [incoherent noises of pain and unhappiness] Worst rescue ever!
Random!Master: Underneath the gate bridge sir!
Joshau!Master: Basement! Get him!
Guard!Masters: Yes, sir!
[The original Master leads the others into the basement.]
D: Just – just stop and listen to me!
[Addams is hurrying them all towards the computer terminal when other guard!Masters come down the opposite stairs, trapping them. The guards prepare to fire. The Master arrives and grins.]
M: Gotcha!
A: You think so?
[She brings up her arm and presses her watch, even as the Doctor protests.]

D: No, no, no, no, don’t!
[They reappear on an alien ship. The Doctor is still bouncing in the chair, struggling to get himself free.]
D: Now get me out of this thing!
A [annoyed]: Don’t say thanks, will you?
D [panicking]: He’s not gonna let us go! Just hurry up and get me out!
[Wilf, meanwhile, completely stunned, is walking towards a window that shows the view of Earth.]

D: Come on!
WM: Oh, my goodness me! We’re in space!
D: Get me out.
A: All right!
D: Get a move on!
[The camera pans back to show the massive Vinvocci spaceship, where Wilf looks suddenly tiny at one of the windows.
The Master is typing frantically on a computer.]
Random!Master: Open the teleport and follow him!
D [pedalling wildly with his feet]: Come on!
A [frustrated]: All right!
[Finally free, the Doctor bounds off the vertical table and hauls the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket as he leaps onto one of the computers, zapping it and sending off a shower of sparks. Wilf grabs his head in terror.
The Master runs from one part of the computer to another, searching for them.]
M: They’re still up there. [Anyone got a clue what the Master says here? I can’t catch it at all.]
D: Where’s your flight deck?
A: But we’re safe! We’re a hundred above the Earth!
D: And he’s got every missile on the planet ready to fire!
A [after staring at him for a moment in shock]: Good point!

[The Vinvocci take off for the flight deck. The Doctor is starting to follow them when he runs back to grab Wilf. He gently takes his arm and starts leading him in the direction that the Vinvocci have gone.]
W [weakly, pointing to Earth]: But we’re in space!
D: Yup.

[Wilf chuckles softly and follows him.
All four people run through the various hallways of the ship. Wilf is panting hard, struggling hard to keep up, but not giving in.]
M: Turn everything you’ve got to the skies! Find me that ship! And prime the missiles.
Head of Unit!Master: Open up the radar. Maximum scan.

Unit!Masters: Yes sir.
D: We’ve got to close it down!
R [staring to work the computers]: No chance, mate. We’re going home!
A [frantically putting pieces into place]: We’re just a salvage team! Local politics has got nothing to with us. Not unless it’s a carnival. The sooner we get back to Vinvocci space, the better.
[The Doctor glances over his shoulder at her and realises she means it.]
D: We’re not leaving!
[He aims the sonic screwdriver at the computer, which explodes.

The Vinvocci leap backwards as the power dies down with an electronic whine. Lights all over the ship gradually turn off.
A scanner is shown hunting through the skies for the ship. It does several passes.]
Head of Unit!Master: Anything?
[The Doctor puts away the sonic screwdriver and looks around at the other inhabitants of the ship before holding his finger to his lips.]
D: Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.
[Everyone is looking around in obvious fear of discovery. Rossiter swallows hard. Addams listens as the metal around them begins to creak with the ship starting to cool down.]
Unit!Master [ruefully]: Sorry, sir. Nothing.
Head of Unit!Master [with a deep sigh]: Lost him.
M [grimly]: What about teleport co-ordinates? I need that information!
[A guard!Master crosses to the computer and enters information.]
Guard!Master: He’s cut the link, sir. No trace, all dead. Still… [puts up gun and the other guards to the same] Open fire!
[The guards fire into the computer in the basement, destroying it. The Master almost looks sad as he hears the destruction.]
Guard!Master [satisfied]: No way back now! He’s stranded.
[Rossiter is flicking switches on the ship, trying to get machines to come back to life. Addams is peering out the window and she finally turns to the Doctor.]
A [sarcastic]: No sign of any – missiles. No sign of – anything! [turns on him] You’ve wrecked the place!
R: The engines are burned out. All we’ve got is auxiliary lights. [turns them on] Everything else – is kaput. We can’t move. We’re stuck – in orbit.
A [to the Doctor]: Thanks to you. You idiot!

[She storms off.]
WM [trustingly]: Yeah, I know you, though. I bet you’ve got a plan, haven’t you? Eh? Come on! You’ve always got a trick up your sleeve! A nice little bit of the ol’ ‘Doctor flim-flam haa-ha’ sort of thing! Hey? [becoming anxious, as the Doctor simply glances at him] Oh blimey.

[The Master walks through the Immortality Gate, his fingers steepled and pressed to his lips, deep in thought. He looks at Joshua!Master.]
M: Night has fallen. Are we ready?
Joshua!Master: Every single one of us is prepared.
M: Then we listen! All of us. Across the world. [closes his eyes] Just listen!
[All of the other Masters close their eyes.]
M: Concentrate. Find the signal.
[The sound of the four knocks becomes louder and the original Master’s eyes snap open.]

M: There! The sound is tangible. Someone could only have designed this! [confused] But who?
[The Time Lords are still seated at the table.]
Time Lord [breathless]: The signal has been sent. The simple task of four beats, transmitted back through time and implanted in the Master’s mind as a child.
LP [grimly satisfied]: Then we have a link to where the Master is right now!
Time Lord [nervously]: But we’re still trapped inside the Time Lock, sir. The – the link is nothing more than – a thought! An idea!
LP [angrily]: Then we need something to make the contact physical! Something… so simple…
Visionary: So small and shining. Shining bright and cold. A tiny, tiny star falling. Falling. Burning. Burning. Burning!
[The Lord President is handed a massive rod with a shining silver object at one end of it.]
LP [as he looks at the silver object]: Something small enough to follow the link. And if [pulls out the diamond] this were on Earth…

[He hurls the diamond towards the projection of Earth.
On the Vinvocci ship, the Doctor is pulling at various wires and cables, trying to get the ship started again. He looks up at Earth in time to see what appears to be a shooting star over the planet.

Joshua!Master is also looking up at the sky.]
Joshua!Master: Sir, it’s coming from above!
[The Master is also looking up.]
M: It’s coming from the sky!
[The Masters all run outside. The Master points at the shooting star.]
M: There! Find it. Get out there and find it!
Guard!Masters: Yes sir!
[There is a loud boom and the ground shakes as it crashes to Earth. Jeeps pull up beside a blazing pile of rubble and guards get out, directing lights into the burning ground. Finally one of the guards spots the gem on the ground.]
Guard!Master: It’s a diamond, sir! Oh, the most impossible diamond! You won’t believe this… [as the Master listens in shock] It’s a white point star!

[A smile flickers over the Master’s face and tears form in his eyes as he looks upwards and starts to laugh in pure joy. He flashes from normal to skeletal and back.]
WM [faintly]: Doctor? Hello? Hello? [walks down one of the passages in the Vinvocci ship and peers into the shadows] Is that you?
[He is drawn towards a white light at the end of the passage.]
W [nervously]: Doctor? Anyone? Anyone?! Oh, I think I’m lost!
[The woman appears beside him.]
Woman: And yet you are found.
[Wilf stares at her in confusion and fear.]
Woman [tremulously]: Events are closing. The day is almost upon us. But tell me, old soldier, did you take arms?

[Wilf pulls the gun out of his pocket.]
WM: I brought this. But – what am I supposed to do?
Woman: This is the Doctor’s final battle. [her face working with emotion] The end of his life. He must stand at arms. Or lose himself and all this world to the end of time.
WM: But he… he never carries guns. He doesn’t – didn’t… Who are you?
Woman: I was lost. So very long ago.
[Wilf looks down at the gun in his hands, placing his fingers around it, but not resting his index finger on the trigger. His knuckles are white with the force of his grip. Then he looks up at the woman again and finds she’s gone. He looks around for her, raising the gun slightly, as if trying to protect himself.
The Doctor, his glasses on, is working to get wires fit for use. He looks up as Wilf hesitantly enters the room.]
WM: Aye-aye. Got this old tub mended?
D: Just trying to fix the heating.

[Wilf groans a little as he sits down nearby.]
WM [waving at the window]: I’ve always dreamt of a view like that.
[The Doctor glances at Wilf and smiles a little as he celebrates where he is, rapping his hands on his knees.]
WM: Hee-he! I’m an astronaut! [points at the Earth] There’s dawn over England – look! Brand new day. [pauses for a moment] My wife’s buried down there. I might never visit her again now.
[The Doctor is examining the machine, but looks up as Wilf turns to him.]
WM: D’you think he changed them? In their graves?
D [regretful]: I’m sorry.
WM [shaking his head a little]: No, not your fault.
D [won’t accept this]: Isn’t it?
[Wilf watches him for a moment before looking back at the Earth, pointing at it.]
WM: Ooh, 1948, I was over there. End of the mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot I was. Stood on this rooftop…
[The Doctor removes his glasses with a deep sigh, perhaps not wanting to hear something that reminds him of his own experiences in war.]

WM: In the middle of a skirmish. Like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Heh. Yeah, you don’t wanna listen to an old man’s tales, do you?
D: I’m older than you.
WM: Get away.
D [calmly, perhaps a little amused]: I’m 906.
WM [wonderingly]: What, really though?
D [nodding, although he looks as if he’s mentally calculating]: Yeah!
WM [in awe]: Nine hundred years! We must look like insects to you.

D [quietly]: I think you look like giants.
[Wilf reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out the gun, presenting the butt to the Doctor.]
WM: Listen, I… I want you to have this. I kept it all this time, and I thought…
[The Doctor has folded his arms, drawing back a little as he shakes his head.]
D: No.
WM [fumbling]: No but… if you take it, you could…
D [firmly]: No.
[Wilf lowers the gun and stares at it.]
D [understandingly]: You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then.
WM [looking almost embarrassed]: Too scared, I s’pose.
D: I’d be proud.
WM [confused]: Of what?
D [tearing up]: If you were my dad.

WM: Now come on, [as the Doctor smiles at him] don’t start. [finger pressed to his mouth, thinking hard] But you said… you were told ‘he will knock four times’ and then you die. Well, that’s him, isn’t it? The Master? The noise [taps his temple] in his head. The Master is gonna kill you.
D [softly, accepting]: Yeah.
WM [offering gun again]: Then kill him first.
D [raising eyebrows]: And that’s how the Master started.
[Wilf lowers the gun again, realising.]
D: It’s not like I’m an innocent. I’ve taken lives. [tearful] Then I got worse – I got clever. [bitter at his own actions] Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think the Time Lord lives too long. [eyes the gun and shaking his head] I can't, I just can't.
WM [helpless]: If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?
D [shaking his head]: I don't know.

WM [insistent]: Doctor, what happens?
D [speaking precisely]: The template snaps.
WM: What, they go back to being human? [as the Doctor nods] They're alive? And human? Then don't you dare, sir! [furious and bitter] Don't you dare put him before them! Now you take this. That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. [tearfully] And p-please don't die, you're the most wonderful man on Earth. I don't want you to die.
[As the Doctor gives him a look of sympathy and loss, Wilf takes the Doctor’s hand and places it on the gun.

The Doctor has tears in his eyes, but he pushes the gun away.]
D: Never.
[Wilf sobs aloud.]
And on to Part IV
Character list:
LP – Narrator/Lord President
D – The Doctor
WM – Wilfred Mott
OS – Ood Sigma
OE – Ood Elder
DN – Donna Noble
SN – Sylvia Noble
M – The Master
JN – Joshua Naismith
AN – Abigail Naismith
MH – Minnie Hooper
WK – Winston Katusi?
OB – Oliver Barnes?
ST – Shaun Temple
MS – Mickey Smith
MJ – Martha Jones
LS – Luke Smith
SJS – Sarah Jane Smith
CJ – Captain Jack
AF – Midshipman Alonzo Frame
VN – Verity Newman
JT – Jackie Tyler
RT – Rose Tyler
As ever, lots of screencaps to be found here, making this nasty if you have dial-up. I got the pictures from Sonic Biro, except for two special treats by
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
[From Part I, the Master picks up an iron bar and begins banging on the side of a red oil drum. Four knocks.]
D [in café]: I’m going to die.

[The Master continues to bash on the drum.]
D: But I was told…
[The Master beats harder. The Doctor is looking for him in the quarry.]
D: ‘He will knock four times.’
[In the wrecked building, the Doctor stares at the Master.]
D: What is it? [breathing hard] What’s inside your head?

M [screaming victoriously]: It’s real!
[The Master is shown flying into the air before shifting to the red-eyed Ood Elder.]
OE: The darkness heralds only one thing.
[The Master uses the power to shoot bolts of lightning at the Doctor, but they strike the building behind him and the Doctor keeps walking.]
OE: The end of time itself.
[Donna, crying, clutches her head.]

DN: My head!
[Shots of Davros and the Empress of the Racnoss.]
DN: Oh, my head!
D [fiercely, tears in his eyes]: If she ever remembers me, her mind will burn and she will die!
WM: What have you done, you monster?
[The Master is standing in the Immortality Gate, grinning madly, as light passes across the Earth.]

N: And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist.
[Everyone turns into the Master.]
N: This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned.
[Titles]
[Gallifrey, in all its golden and orange glory, is shown on the screen. The camera pans up from a walkway to down at the Citadel encased in the crystal orb. However, the orb is shattered, and smoke pours from the towers of the Citadel. Dalek spaceships, like those we have seen in Journey’s End and The Parting of the Ways, litter the ground.

The Lord President leads several other Time Lords in full robes and collars along a hallway and over a raised platform. Massive doors slide open as they approach. They enter a conference room and the President takes his seat at the head of the table.]
LP: What news of the Doctor?
Time Lord: Disappeared, my Lord President.
Female Time Lord: But we know his intention. He still possesses the moment. And he’ll use it to destroy Daleks and Time Lords alike.
Time Lord: The Visionary confirms it.
Visionary [in a dreamy voice, with a little giggle, before she stares intently, her eyes wide]: Burning, falling, all of it falling! The black and pitch and screaming fire. So burning!

Time Lord: All of her prophecies say the same. That this is the last day of the Time War. That Gallifrey falls.
[The Visionary looks back down at her page and sketches circular images.]
Time Lord: That we die. [nodding] Today.
[The Lord President looks upset.]
Visionary: Ending. Ending. Ending! Ending!
Female Time Lord: Perhaps… it’s time. This is only the furthest edge of the Time War. [as the Lord President inhales a deep breath, clearly angry at the suggestion] But at its heart, millions die every second. Lost in bloodlust and insanity.

[The Visionary looks up at the Lord President, as if knowing what he plans to do.]
Female Time Lord [passionately]: With time itself resurrecting them to find new ways of dying over and over again. A travesty of life. Isn’t it better to end it at last?
[The Lord President pushes his chair back and stands, furious.]
LP [between clenched teeth]: Thank you for your opinion!
[He thrusts out his left hand, on which he is wearing a metal glove, which shoots blue power in the direction of the Female Time Lord, who screams as she fades into black smoke.]
LP [screaming]: I will not die! [glaring at everyone around the table] Do you hear me?! A billion years of Time Lord history riding on our backs. I will not let this perish. I will not! [drops back into his chair]

[There is a moment of silence, broken only by the scratching of the Visionary’s pen.]
Time Lord: There is, erm…
[He picks up a scroll from beside the Visionary and nervously gets up from his chair.]
Time Lord: There is one part of the prophecy, My Lord. [hesitates beside the Lord President] Forgive me. I’m sorry. [as he begins to unroll it] It’s rather – difficult to decipher. But it talks of two survivors. Beyond the final day. Two children of Gallifrey.
LP [desperate]: Does it name them?
Time Lord: It foresees them locked in their final confrontation. The enmity of ages, which would suggest…
LP [furiously spitting out the words]: The Doctor! [in realisation] And the Master…
Time Lord: One word keeps being repeated, my Lord. One constant word. Earth.
Visionary [with increasing urgency]: Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth. Earth…
Time Lord: The planet Earth. Indigenous species: the human race.
[The Lord President stares at the table for a moment before a projection of the Earth is shone above them in the black room.]

LP [hopeful]: Maybe that’s where the answer lies. Our salvation! [as he stands and looks at the image] On Earth.
[A male laugh echoes through the room as the camera zooms in on the projection of the Earth.
The shot cuts to the Doctor, strapped to the table that the Master was on before, a gag over his mouth and tension in his eyes and on his face. He doesn’t look frightened so much as irritated.]

M [softly, in the Doctor’s ear]: Now then, I’ve got a planet to run.
[Wilf is tied up in a chair opposite the Doctor, looking extremely distressed. The trio are in the room where Joshua and Abigail watched the initial footage of the Master escaping the ruins of Broadfell prison.]
M: Is everybody ready?
Joshua!Master: Six billion, seven hundred and twenty-seven million, nine hundred and forty-nine thousand, three hundred and thirty-eight versions of us awaiting orders.
[The Master looks impressed with his own skills and smirks in the direction of the Doctor, who is still gagged.]
President!Master [grinning]: This is Washington. As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth’s defences.
Head of UNIT!Master: Unit H.Q. Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir. [touches his hat, grinning]
Head of Chinese Military!Master: And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir!
[The Master winks at Wilf, who gives him a startled look, as if not knowing what to make of it.]

Head of Chinese Military!Master: With over 2.5 million soldiers, sir! [turns on intercom] Present arms!
[A mass of Masters in Chinese Military uniform, standing in front of the gate to the Forbidden City. All present arms.]
M: Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship. [to the Doctor, who is staring at Wilf] Nothing to say? [with mock concern, as the Doctor breathes heavily] Doctor? What’s that? [moving over to him as if worried] Pardon? [sternly, as the Doctor finally makes an unintelligible sound] Sorry?!
WM [angry]: You let him go, you swine!
M [with a sigh]: Oh, your Dad’s still kicking up a fuss!
WM [defiantly]: Yeah? Well, I’d be proud if I was!
M [holding a finger to his lips]: Hush now! Listen to your Master!

[The Master glares at Wilf threateningly and then turns away before a phone suddenly rings. The Master turns to look at the Doctor questioningly. The Doctor stares at Wilf as if knowing what’s coming.]
M: But th-that’s a mobile!
WM [chuckling awkwardly]: Yeah, it’s mine. Let me turn it off.
M: No, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I’m not phoning you, so who the hell is that?!
WM [weakly, as the Master paws him to find the phone]: Nobody, I tell you, it’s nothing, it’s probably one of them ringback calls.
M [holding up a gun in a gesture of demonstration to the Doctor]: Ooh, look at this! [to Wilf] Good man!
[He tosses the gun away and continues to go through Wilf’s pockets to find the phone. The Doctor frowns as the Master pulls out the phone and stares at it.]

M: Donna. Who’s Donna?
WM [desperately trying to be casual]: She’s no one! Just leave it!
[The Master activates the phone.]
DN [tearful, terrified]: Gramps, don’t hang up, you’ve gotta help me! I ran out! Everyone was changing!
M: Who is she? Why didn’t she change?
DN [on phone]: Gramps, I can’t hear you.
WM [nodding at the Doctor]: Well, it was this thing the Doctor did. He did it to her. The meta-crisis.
M [to the Doctor, disdainfully] Oh, he loves playing with Earth Girls!
[The Doctor is staring at Wilf and then glances anxiously at the Master as if wondering what is going to happen to Donna.]
DN: Are you there? Can you still hear me?
M [to other Masters]: Find her! Trace the call!

Joshua!Master: Trace the call!
DN: Are you still there?
[The Masters triangulate Donna’s position.]
DN: Can you hear me?
[The Master turns the phone on to speaker and runs to Wilf.]
M: Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad!
WM [into phone]: Donna, get out of there!
[In tears, Donna starts to run out of the alley.]
WM: Well, just get out of there! I’m telling you, run!
[The signal triangulates on Donna’s location.]
Joshua!Master: She’s on Wessex Lane, Chiswick. Everyone on Wessex Lane, red alert.
DN: What do I do?
WM [as the Master is looking at him with a mocking expression that combines hope and misery]: Run, sweetheart! That’s all! Run for your life!
[Donna stops as a Master in a blue windcheater steps into the lane.

She turns to see a Master in a shirt wearing a blue and pink tie block the other end.]
DN [faintly]: There’s more of them.
WM [on phone]: Donna! What’s happening? Are you still there?
[As more Masters in various outfits enter the lane.]
DN: They’re everywhere!
WM: Donna!
Shirt and tie!Master: Ooh, I’m starving!

WM: Look, I’m telling you to run, Donna!
Blue windcheater!Master: I’m still hungry!
[Back in the Naismith office, the Master is smirking at the Doctor as Wilf is almost in tears.]
WM: Just run, sweetheart! Just run!
[Donna looks around as the various Masters begin to walk towards her. Her free hand creeps towards her head.]
DN: But it’s not just them.
[She catches a glimpse of a Pyrovile.]
DN: I can see those things again.
[A shot of Dalek Caan.]
DN: Those creatures!
[The Vespiform.]
DN [hysterical]: Why can I see a giant wasp?!
WM [as Donna presses her hand to her head]: Now, don’t think about that, Donna, my love! Don’t!
D [in agony]: But it hurts! My head!

[A glimpse of the Empress of the Racnoss.]
DN: It keeps getting hotter…
[A red-eyed Ood.]
DN: And hotter!
[A grinning master in a bow-tie and vest walks towards her.]
DN: And hotter! And hotter! And hotter!
[She has an image of the Doctor, drenched with water, as he was in the basement of H. C. Clements.
With a scream, Donna throws her head back as regenerative energy pours out of her in a wave of golden light.

It knocks down all the Masters, who collapse. Donna looks around in confusion.]
DN [weakly] Now what did I…?
[She faints.]

WM [in the silent room, concerned, as the Master looks at him grimly]: Donna? What was that?
[The Doctor, still gagged, is watching him. He swallows painfully, clearly upset by Wilf’s reaction.]

WM [tearfully]: Donna? Donna, are you there?
[The Master turns to glare at the Doctor, who is now smiling as if satisfied. He winks at the Master as Wilf continues to plead with his granddaughter to talk to him.
Wilf stops speaking as he sees the look on the Doctor’s face. The Master gets up and crosses the floor to the Doctor. He yanks off the gag impatiently.]
D [lightly]: That’s better! Hello! But really – did you think I’d leave my best friend without a defence mechanism? [raises his eyebrows at the Master, who sneers at him]

WM [anxious]: Doctor? What happened?
D [as the Master glares at him]: She’s all right, she’s fine. Promise. She’ll just sleep.
M [softly, threateningly]: Tell me, where’s your TARDIS?
D [thoughtful]: You could be so wonderful.
M [insistent]: Where is it?
D: You're a genius. Stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear, you really are! But you could be so much more. [longing] You can be beautiful with a mind like that. We can travel the stars. It would be my honour. 'Cause you don't need to own the universe – just see it. To have the privilege of seeing all of time and space... that's ownership enough.
[The Masters hesitates and swallows hard, as if almost tempted.]
M: W-would it stop then? The noise in my head?
D: I can help.
M [shaking his head as his eyes fill with tears]: Don't know what I'd be without that noise.
D [thoughtful]: I wonder what I'd be without you.
M [tearfully, sniffing slightly]: Yeah.

WM [interrupting the moment]: What does he mean? What noise?
[The Master turns, walking slowly towards Wilf.]
M: It began on Gallifrey.
[A shot of a small boy, the same child as was seen in The Sound of Drums, is shown walking through a darkened area of ground, lit only by torches, with an older Time Lord behind him.]

M: As children. Not that you’d call it childhood!
[The Master walks away to look out of the window as the Doctor watches him in concern. The Master sits at the desk.]
M: More a life of – duty. [glances at Wilf] Eight years old.
[The boy walks across the ground and looks back anxiously at the older man behind him, before being urged to go on.]
M: I was taken for initiation. To stare into the untempered schism.
WM: What does that mean?
D [softly]: It’s a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex itself. [painfully] And it hurts.

[The Master watching the Doctor, who is looking at him sympathetically. The Master is bitter and angry.]
M: They took me there. In the dark. We looked into time, old man.
[Again, the massive circular dish from The Sound of Drums is shown. The boy stares into the untempered schism with wide eyes.]
M: And I heard it. Calling to me. Drums. [staring at the ceiling] The never-ending drums.
LP: The untempered schism. That’s when it began.
[The same image of the circular dish is shown above the table where the Time Lords are seated.]

Time Lord: History says the Master heard a rhythm. A torment that stayed with him for the rest of his life.
LP [authoritatively]: A drumbeat. A warrior’s march.
Time Lord [nodding, his face working with distress]: A symptom of insanity, my lord.
[The Visionary repeatedly taps out four beats on the wooden table with her fingernail. It is the same pattern that the Master implanted in everyone on Earth in The Sound of Drums. The room echoes with the sound.]

LP: The rhythm of four. The heartbeat of a Time Lord.
[The Master is sitting in the chair with his head back.]
M: Listen to it. [glances at the Doctor, who is watching him with one eyebrow arched] Listen!
D [looking hopeful]: Then let’s find it. You and me.
M: Except… [as realisation hits] Oh. Oh, wait a minute! Oh, yes! Oh, that’s good!
D [worried]: What? What is?
M: The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads! Everyone on Earth can hear it! Imagine – ohhh! Oh, yes!
[The Doctor is looking at him in concern, clearly worried that another bout of insanity is about to burst out. The Master begins laughing and suddenly flashes the blue of the skeletal figure through him again.

A roaring noise is heard and the Doctor begins to look anxious as the Master suddenly sinks to his knees.]
D: The Gate wasn’t enough! You’re still dying!
M: This body was born out of death. All it can do is die. [suddenly straightening] But what did you say to me? Back in the wasteland? You said the end of time.
D [pleading]: I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy. That’s why I need your help!
M [pointing at his face]: What if I’m part of it? Don’t you see? The drumbeat is calling from soo far away! From the end of time itself! And now it’s been amplified six billion times! Triangulate all those signals! I could find its source! Oh, Doctor. That’s what your prophecy was… Me!
[The Doctor stares at him blankly, as if he’s even more completely and utterly insane than ever before.

The Master raises his hand – and slaps the side of the Doctor’s head. The Doctor closes his eyes in pain and swallows hard.]
M [threateningly]: Where’s the TARDIS?
D [begging]: Just stop. Just think!
M [pointing at Wilf]: Kill him!
[A guard turns off the safety of his gun with a click and marches across the room to Wilf. The Master turns and follows the guard for several paces.]
M: I need that technology, Doctor! Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead.
WM [defiantly]: Don’t tell him!
M [yelling]: I’ll kill him right now!
[Wilf tenses, staring at the Master. The Doctor looks at him before speaking, his tone suddenly light and mocking.]
D: Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that, after all this time, you’re still bone dead stupid.
[The Master rolls his neck, staring almost dumbly at the Doctor.]

M: Take aim.
D [eyeing the ceiling]: You’ve got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can’t see the obvious, can you?
M [desperate to know]: Like what?
D [as if revealing a secret]: That guard is one inch too tall.
[The Master turns back sharply to look at the guard, who swings his rifle butt against the Master’s head, knocking him out. The Master collapses.
The guard removes his helmet to reveal the pointy green skin of Rossiter, the male Vinvocci.]

R: Oh my God, I hit him! I’ve never hit anyone in my life!
[The door of the room is thrown open and Addams runs in.]
A: Well, come on! [runs to Wilf’s chair and pulls out something to cut the bonds] We need to get out of here fast!
WM: God bless the Cactuses.
D: That’s Cacti!
R [indignantly]: That’s racist!
Joshua!Master [fiddling with his cuffs]: This prophecy of yours, Doctor. Where did it come from? [frowning at the apparently empty room] Doctor?
A [as she removes Wilf’s ropes]: Come on! We’ve got to get out!
R [struggling to under the ties around the Doctor as the Doctor also fights to free himself]: There’s too many buckles and straps!
A [waving her hand]: Just – wheel him!
D [panicking, as Rossiter does what she says]: No. No! No! Get me out! No! N-Don’t! Don’t!
[Rossiter pushes him past the unconscious body of the Master lying on the floor of the office. However this also pushes him past the camera so that Joshua!Master sees.]
Joshua!Master: What’s going on? Doctor!
R [as he pushes the Doctor along the hallway]: Which way?
A [striding ahead]: This way!
D [urgently]: Oh, no, no, no, no, no! The other way! Other way! Back to my TARDIS!
A: I know what I’m doing!
D [begging]: No, no, no, no. Just – just listen to meeee!

[The Master is slowly getting to his feet, clinging to his head in pain. Other Masters enter the room in guard uniform.]
M: Find him. Find him!
D [desperately]: Not the stairs. Not the stairs!
[Adams beginning running down the stairs. Rossiter pushes the Doctor down them with Wilf following.]
D: No! [incoherent noises of pain and unhappiness] Worst rescue ever!
Random!Master: Underneath the gate bridge sir!
Joshau!Master: Basement! Get him!
Guard!Masters: Yes, sir!
[The original Master leads the others into the basement.]
D: Just – just stop and listen to me!
[Addams is hurrying them all towards the computer terminal when other guard!Masters come down the opposite stairs, trapping them. The guards prepare to fire. The Master arrives and grins.]
M: Gotcha!
A: You think so?
[She brings up her arm and presses her watch, even as the Doctor protests.]

D: No, no, no, no, don’t!
[They reappear on an alien ship. The Doctor is still bouncing in the chair, struggling to get himself free.]
D: Now get me out of this thing!
A [annoyed]: Don’t say thanks, will you?
D [panicking]: He’s not gonna let us go! Just hurry up and get me out!
[Wilf, meanwhile, completely stunned, is walking towards a window that shows the view of Earth.]

D: Come on!
WM: Oh, my goodness me! We’re in space!
D: Get me out.
A: All right!
D: Get a move on!
[The camera pans back to show the massive Vinvocci spaceship, where Wilf looks suddenly tiny at one of the windows.
The Master is typing frantically on a computer.]
Random!Master: Open the teleport and follow him!
D [pedalling wildly with his feet]: Come on!
A [frustrated]: All right!
[Finally free, the Doctor bounds off the vertical table and hauls the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket as he leaps onto one of the computers, zapping it and sending off a shower of sparks. Wilf grabs his head in terror.
The Master runs from one part of the computer to another, searching for them.]
M: They’re still up there. [Anyone got a clue what the Master says here? I can’t catch it at all.]
D: Where’s your flight deck?
A: But we’re safe! We’re a hundred above the Earth!
D: And he’s got every missile on the planet ready to fire!
A [after staring at him for a moment in shock]: Good point!

[The Vinvocci take off for the flight deck. The Doctor is starting to follow them when he runs back to grab Wilf. He gently takes his arm and starts leading him in the direction that the Vinvocci have gone.]
W [weakly, pointing to Earth]: But we’re in space!
D: Yup.

[Wilf chuckles softly and follows him.
All four people run through the various hallways of the ship. Wilf is panting hard, struggling hard to keep up, but not giving in.]
M: Turn everything you’ve got to the skies! Find me that ship! And prime the missiles.
Head of Unit!Master: Open up the radar. Maximum scan.

Unit!Masters: Yes sir.
D: We’ve got to close it down!
R [staring to work the computers]: No chance, mate. We’re going home!
A [frantically putting pieces into place]: We’re just a salvage team! Local politics has got nothing to with us. Not unless it’s a carnival. The sooner we get back to Vinvocci space, the better.
[The Doctor glances over his shoulder at her and realises she means it.]
D: We’re not leaving!
[He aims the sonic screwdriver at the computer, which explodes.

The Vinvocci leap backwards as the power dies down with an electronic whine. Lights all over the ship gradually turn off.
A scanner is shown hunting through the skies for the ship. It does several passes.]
Head of Unit!Master: Anything?
[The Doctor puts away the sonic screwdriver and looks around at the other inhabitants of the ship before holding his finger to his lips.]
D: Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.
[Everyone is looking around in obvious fear of discovery. Rossiter swallows hard. Addams listens as the metal around them begins to creak with the ship starting to cool down.]
Unit!Master [ruefully]: Sorry, sir. Nothing.
Head of Unit!Master [with a deep sigh]: Lost him.
M [grimly]: What about teleport co-ordinates? I need that information!
[A guard!Master crosses to the computer and enters information.]
Guard!Master: He’s cut the link, sir. No trace, all dead. Still… [puts up gun and the other guards to the same] Open fire!
[The guards fire into the computer in the basement, destroying it. The Master almost looks sad as he hears the destruction.]
Guard!Master [satisfied]: No way back now! He’s stranded.
[Rossiter is flicking switches on the ship, trying to get machines to come back to life. Addams is peering out the window and she finally turns to the Doctor.]
A [sarcastic]: No sign of any – missiles. No sign of – anything! [turns on him] You’ve wrecked the place!
R: The engines are burned out. All we’ve got is auxiliary lights. [turns them on] Everything else – is kaput. We can’t move. We’re stuck – in orbit.
A [to the Doctor]: Thanks to you. You idiot!

[She storms off.]
WM [trustingly]: Yeah, I know you, though. I bet you’ve got a plan, haven’t you? Eh? Come on! You’ve always got a trick up your sleeve! A nice little bit of the ol’ ‘Doctor flim-flam haa-ha’ sort of thing! Hey? [becoming anxious, as the Doctor simply glances at him] Oh blimey.

[The Master walks through the Immortality Gate, his fingers steepled and pressed to his lips, deep in thought. He looks at Joshua!Master.]
M: Night has fallen. Are we ready?
Joshua!Master: Every single one of us is prepared.
M: Then we listen! All of us. Across the world. [closes his eyes] Just listen!
[All of the other Masters close their eyes.]
M: Concentrate. Find the signal.
[The sound of the four knocks becomes louder and the original Master’s eyes snap open.]

M: There! The sound is tangible. Someone could only have designed this! [confused] But who?
[The Time Lords are still seated at the table.]
Time Lord [breathless]: The signal has been sent. The simple task of four beats, transmitted back through time and implanted in the Master’s mind as a child.
LP [grimly satisfied]: Then we have a link to where the Master is right now!
Time Lord [nervously]: But we’re still trapped inside the Time Lock, sir. The – the link is nothing more than – a thought! An idea!
LP [angrily]: Then we need something to make the contact physical! Something… so simple…
Visionary: So small and shining. Shining bright and cold. A tiny, tiny star falling. Falling. Burning. Burning. Burning!
[The Lord President is handed a massive rod with a shining silver object at one end of it.]
LP [as he looks at the silver object]: Something small enough to follow the link. And if [pulls out the diamond] this were on Earth…

[He hurls the diamond towards the projection of Earth.
On the Vinvocci ship, the Doctor is pulling at various wires and cables, trying to get the ship started again. He looks up at Earth in time to see what appears to be a shooting star over the planet.

Joshua!Master is also looking up at the sky.]
Joshua!Master: Sir, it’s coming from above!
[The Master is also looking up.]
M: It’s coming from the sky!
[The Masters all run outside. The Master points at the shooting star.]
M: There! Find it. Get out there and find it!
Guard!Masters: Yes sir!
[There is a loud boom and the ground shakes as it crashes to Earth. Jeeps pull up beside a blazing pile of rubble and guards get out, directing lights into the burning ground. Finally one of the guards spots the gem on the ground.]
Guard!Master: It’s a diamond, sir! Oh, the most impossible diamond! You won’t believe this… [as the Master listens in shock] It’s a white point star!

[A smile flickers over the Master’s face and tears form in his eyes as he looks upwards and starts to laugh in pure joy. He flashes from normal to skeletal and back.]
WM [faintly]: Doctor? Hello? Hello? [walks down one of the passages in the Vinvocci ship and peers into the shadows] Is that you?
[He is drawn towards a white light at the end of the passage.]
W [nervously]: Doctor? Anyone? Anyone?! Oh, I think I’m lost!
[The woman appears beside him.]
Woman: And yet you are found.
[Wilf stares at her in confusion and fear.]
Woman [tremulously]: Events are closing. The day is almost upon us. But tell me, old soldier, did you take arms?

[Wilf pulls the gun out of his pocket.]
WM: I brought this. But – what am I supposed to do?
Woman: This is the Doctor’s final battle. [her face working with emotion] The end of his life. He must stand at arms. Or lose himself and all this world to the end of time.
WM: But he… he never carries guns. He doesn’t – didn’t… Who are you?
Woman: I was lost. So very long ago.
[Wilf looks down at the gun in his hands, placing his fingers around it, but not resting his index finger on the trigger. His knuckles are white with the force of his grip. Then he looks up at the woman again and finds she’s gone. He looks around for her, raising the gun slightly, as if trying to protect himself.
The Doctor, his glasses on, is working to get wires fit for use. He looks up as Wilf hesitantly enters the room.]
WM: Aye-aye. Got this old tub mended?
D: Just trying to fix the heating.

[Wilf groans a little as he sits down nearby.]
WM [waving at the window]: I’ve always dreamt of a view like that.
[The Doctor glances at Wilf and smiles a little as he celebrates where he is, rapping his hands on his knees.]
WM: Hee-he! I’m an astronaut! [points at the Earth] There’s dawn over England – look! Brand new day. [pauses for a moment] My wife’s buried down there. I might never visit her again now.
[The Doctor is examining the machine, but looks up as Wilf turns to him.]
WM: D’you think he changed them? In their graves?
D [regretful]: I’m sorry.
WM [shaking his head a little]: No, not your fault.
D [won’t accept this]: Isn’t it?
[Wilf watches him for a moment before looking back at the Earth, pointing at it.]
WM: Ooh, 1948, I was over there. End of the mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot I was. Stood on this rooftop…
[The Doctor removes his glasses with a deep sigh, perhaps not wanting to hear something that reminds him of his own experiences in war.]

WM: In the middle of a skirmish. Like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Heh. Yeah, you don’t wanna listen to an old man’s tales, do you?
D: I’m older than you.
WM: Get away.
D [calmly, perhaps a little amused]: I’m 906.
WM [wonderingly]: What, really though?
D [nodding, although he looks as if he’s mentally calculating]: Yeah!
WM [in awe]: Nine hundred years! We must look like insects to you.

D [quietly]: I think you look like giants.
[Wilf reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out the gun, presenting the butt to the Doctor.]
WM: Listen, I… I want you to have this. I kept it all this time, and I thought…
[The Doctor has folded his arms, drawing back a little as he shakes his head.]
D: No.
WM [fumbling]: No but… if you take it, you could…
D [firmly]: No.
[Wilf lowers the gun and stares at it.]
D [understandingly]: You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then.
WM [looking almost embarrassed]: Too scared, I s’pose.
D: I’d be proud.
WM [confused]: Of what?
D [tearing up]: If you were my dad.

WM: Now come on, [as the Doctor smiles at him] don’t start. [finger pressed to his mouth, thinking hard] But you said… you were told ‘he will knock four times’ and then you die. Well, that’s him, isn’t it? The Master? The noise [taps his temple] in his head. The Master is gonna kill you.
D [softly, accepting]: Yeah.
WM [offering gun again]: Then kill him first.
D [raising eyebrows]: And that’s how the Master started.
[Wilf lowers the gun again, realising.]
D: It’s not like I’m an innocent. I’ve taken lives. [tearful] Then I got worse – I got clever. [bitter at his own actions] Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think the Time Lord lives too long. [eyes the gun and shaking his head] I can't, I just can't.
WM [helpless]: If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?
D [shaking his head]: I don't know.

WM [insistent]: Doctor, what happens?
D [speaking precisely]: The template snaps.
WM: What, they go back to being human? [as the Doctor nods] They're alive? And human? Then don't you dare, sir! [furious and bitter] Don't you dare put him before them! Now you take this. That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. [tearfully] And p-please don't die, you're the most wonderful man on Earth. I don't want you to die.
[As the Doctor gives him a look of sympathy and loss, Wilf takes the Doctor’s hand and places it on the gun.

The Doctor has tears in his eyes, but he pushes the gun away.]
D: Never.
[Wilf sobs aloud.]
And on to Part IV
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