The End of Time (TV story)

"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. This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day, the Time Lords returned... For Gallifrey, for victory, for THE END OF TIME ITSELF!"

The End of Time is the title of the two-part Doctor Who special that was broadcast during the 2009–2010 Christmas season. This was be the last story for David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor prior to the character's regeneration into his eleventh incarnation, who will be played by Matt Smith. It will also be the last Doctor Who story written by Russell T Davies, who shepherded the series' return to British television in 2005 and has been the series' executive producer and chief writer since. Davies will be succeeded as executive producer and showrunner by Steven Moffat.

The title The End of Time was first attributed to this story in a trailer unveiled at the San Diego ComicCon in July 2009; it was subsequently confirmed as the proper title for Part 2 in Doctor Who Magazine #412. On 19 November, the BBC announced that both parts will carry the title The End of Time, marking the first occasion since Survival in 1989 that the same title has been used for more than one episode. .

Part 1
It is the Tenth Doctor's final journey - but his psychotic nemesis The Master has been reborn, on Christmas Eve. With both determined to cheat death, the battle ranges from the wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate, while the alien Ood warn of an even greater danger approaching, as a terrible shadow falls across the entire Universe.

Part 2
The Doctor faces the end of his life as the Master's plans hurtle out of control. With the sound of drums growing louder, and an ancient trap closing around the Earth, the Doctor and Wilf must fight alone. But sacrifices must be made, and the deadly prophecy warns: "He will knock four times."

Part 1
The Doctor arrives on the Ood Sphere, and sees that the Ood have progressed further technologically than they should have. Ood Sigma takes the Doctor to the Ood Elders who show him visions of the Master returning. He sees an old woman taking the Master's ring and he realises that the essence of the Master survived his non-regeneration during their last encounter. The Doctor rushes to Earth in the TARDIS to try and stop his arch-enemy. Since her last appearance, Lucy Saxon has been imprisoned. One of the warders is Miss Trefusis, the woman who retrieved the Master's ring. On Christmas Eve night, the prison governor brings Lucy to a chamber where it is revealed that most of the staff are fanatics of the Master who have been working ever since his apparent death to bring about his resurrection. With the help of the ring and a biometric imprint taken from Lucy, the Master reappears in a swirl of energy, but Lucy and some other warders have prepared for this eventuality and Lucy hurls a harmful potion at the Master. The Doctor arrives to find the prison obliterated by the resulting explosion.

The Master survives the blast, but his life force is left in a state of constant depletion, forcing him to drain the vitality of a number of homeless people on a desolate construction site. Like the Ood and many others on Earth, Wilfred Mott has experienced faded visions of the Master, and has been scouring London with other pensioners, under the group name the "Silver Cloak", to track down the Doctor. Wilf and the Doctor re-unite and the Doctor reveals that a prophecy has been made predicting his death. Later encountering the Master, the Doctor discovers that the drumming in his head is not a symptom of insanity, but perfectly real. A squad of troops suddenly appear, sedating and kidnapping the Master and taking him to the mansion of billionaire Joshua Naismith.

Naismith and his daughter, Abigail, are in possession of the "Immortality Gate", which has restorative powers enabling the healing of injuries and, as Naismith hopes, the resurrection of the dead. Wanting to secure immortality for Abigail, Naismith enlists the assistance of the Master to mend the malfunctioning Gate. Infiltrating the Naismith estate, the Doctor and Wilf discover that two of Naismith's staff are undercover Vinvocci, members of the race which originally owned the Gate, and that its healing abilities can extend to the whole population of any given species across a whole planet. She and her partner are pressured into explaining the Immortality Gate is a device that heals lifeforms across entire planets. The Doctor realises the Master is going to harm to the Human race and goes to stop him. He gets to the immortality gate but is captured. After the Master breaks out of his straight jacket and flies into the gateway then because he has set the gateway to Human and he is in the the machine every Human on Earth then becomes copies of the Master with the exception of Wilf who is shielded in the control room and Donna, who due to the last time she travelled with the Doctor is half human - half Timelord. However as Donna witnesses her mother and her fiancée turn into clones of the Master she starts to remember everything that was erased from her memory.

As the Master steps out of the gateway he tells the Doctor that he has turned the Humans into the "Master Race" as he looks round and everyone is the Master. As the Doctor looks round and every Master is laughing at him.

As the camera fades to black, the Narrator claims the Master and his removal of Humanity is only a small part of an approaching conflict. The Narrator then appears on-screen and it is revealed that he is a Time Lord by way of his robes and he is addressing a large hall of fellow Time Lords and Time Ladies, who shout, "For Gallifrey! For victory! For the end of time itself!"

Part 2
Part two begins with a flashback to the last day of the Time War. The Time Lord Council has foreseen that the Doctor will have the opportunity to end the war by destroying both Daleks and Gallifrey, and will use that moment to do so. The President is adamant he will not allow himself or his race to die. An opportunity exists to prevent this, which involves placing Gallifrey and many other terrors in a Time Lock, and retrospectively implanting a link to the Master during his early childhood – the four-beat drum rhythm that has tormented the Master all his life. The connection can then be used to call back Gallifrey at a later time. They also send a diamond only found on Gallifrey to Earth as a further link, to be found by the Master at the time.

On Earth, the Master threatens to kill Wilfred if the Doctor will not show him the TARDIS. The pair are saved by the Vinvocci, and all teleport to the orbiting Vinvocci ship, the Doctor destroying the ship's systems to prevent their detection. The Master broadcasts a message that he has found the diamond, and that it can only mean the Time Lords are returning. The Doctor, having repaired the ship, returns to Naismith's mansion, to find he is too late. The Master is there, and so are the Time Lord Council. The action of the machine is reversed, restoring all humans and leaving only the original Master standing. Gallifrey begins to materialise near Earth, fulfilling the prophecy that "it" (a previously unspecified entity) is returning. The Master reveals he had planned to replicate himself into Time Lord bodies too, but is told by the Doctor that many other terrible things were sealed in the Time Lock as well – the reason for the destruction – and these are all returning too.

The Time Lord President reveals they had planned this moment since the Time War, that all creation and all of time will be destroyed and the Time Lords will become pure consciousness. The Master begins to realise that the Time Lords had planned to use his life as a means for them to escape their inevitable death, at the cost of creation itself.

After agonizing over who to shoot – the Master, or the Lord President (revealed moments later as Rassilon, founder of Time Lord society) – the Doctor finally targets the diamond which is anchoring the Time Lords outside the time lock, and the Master in return uses his superhuman powers to blast the Lord President back into the Time War. There is a bright flash of light, and the Time Lords, the Master (as he used up the last of his life force), and (somewhat slower) Gallifrey, are gone.

The Doctor struggles to his feet, not quite able to believe he has survived. Then in the moment he finally feels safe, he hears four hesitant knocks, the sound that portends his death. Wilfred is trapped in a radiation containment device and wants to be let out and can only be released at the cost of the Doctor's own life; fulfilling the prophecy that "he" (an unspecified person) will knock four times and the Doctor will die. After debating with himself as to whether he is willing to sacrifice his own life for Wilf's, he concludes he may have lived too long, releases Wilfred, and receives a massive level of radiation poisoning. Although he survives initially, the effects on his body show that his regeneration has started. He takes Wilfred home and brief scenes show him helping his major past companions in turn, including Donna who becomes married to her fiance, the final scene showing him staggering back to the TARDIS. As he collapses Ood Sigma appears to him, to tell him that the entire Universe would sing for him. Pushed on by this, he reaches the TARDIS, which he sets in motion, before his regeneration into the eleventh Doctor occurs in an unusually violent manner, shattering the TARDIS windows and setting the interior on fire. He gleefully clings to the controls as the TARDIS, console room still in flames in some places, plummets towards the Earth.

Cast

 * Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
 * Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
 * The Master (and the "Master Race") - John Simm
 * Wilfred Mott - Bernard Cribbins
 * Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
 * Rassilon - Timothy Dalton
 * The Woman - Claire Bloom
 * Joshua Naismith - David Harewood
 * Sylvia Noble - Jacqueline King
 * Lucy Saxon - Alexandra Moen
 * The Visionary - Brid Brennan
 * The Second - Joe Dixon
 * The Partisan - Julie Legrand
 * Verity Newman - Jessica Hynes
 * Mickey Smith - Noel Clarke
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
 * Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
 * Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
 * Minnie Hooper - June Whitfield
 * Oliver Barnes - Barry Howard
 * Shaun Temple - Karl Collins
 * Addams- Sinead Keenan
 * Alonso Frame - Russell Tovey
 * Rossiter- Lawry Lewin
 * Time Lord/Leader of Council - Roger Bailey
 * Miss Trefusis - Sylvia Seymour
 * Governor - Teresa Banham
 * Nerys - Krystal Archer
 * Mr Danes - Simon Thomas
 * Σ|Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey
 * Ood Voices - Silas Carson
 * Ood Elder - Ruari Mears
 * Voice of Ood Elder - Brian Cox
 * Voice of Judoon - Nicholas Briggs
 * Trinity Wells - Lachele Carl
 * Winston Katusi - Allister Bain
 * Tommo -Pete Lee-Wilson
 * Abigail Naismith - Tracy Ifeachor
 * Bev - Eirlys Bellin
 * Serving Woman - Lacey Bond
 * Teenager - Max Benjamin
 * Ginger - Dwayne Scantlebury
 * Neighbour - Jeanie Gold
 * Graske - Jimmy Vee
 * Sontaran - Dan Starkey

Crew
to be added

Airdates
On 1 December 2009, the BBC officially confirmed that Part One will air on 25 December 2009, followed by Part Two on 1 January 2010.

Both BBC America and the Canadian Space network have confirmed plans to air the two parts during the Christmas season. Part 1 airs on BBC America on 26 December 2009, followed by Part 2 on 2 January 2010. In Canada, Space has announced that both Part 1 and 2 will air on 2 January 2010. Airdates for Australia and New Zealand have yet to be announced as of 1st January 2010, although ABC1 in Australia is expected to show it in 2010.

Story Notes

 * This will be David Tennant's last appearance as the Doctor and also Matt Smith's first appearance.
 * The second part is confirmed to be 75 minutes, four minutes longer than DW: Voyage of the Damned. Thus it will be the new holder of the title of third longest single episode, behind the 85 minute long DW: TV movie and the 90 minute long DW: The Five Doctors.
 * David Tennant has revealed that not all the episode will be set on Earth.
 * With this, his final Doctor Who story, Davies will have written or co-written no less than ten consecutive episodes (this number counts two-parters as separate and also includes a mini-episode, but does not include Torchwood), an unprecedented accomplishment in the history of the franchise.
 * This is the first story of more than one episode since DW: Survival to have one overarching title. It is unknown if this is one-off or will be continued under Steven Moffat.
 * The Time Lords return after their apparent destruction in the Last Great Time War. This is their first appearence onscreen since DW: Trial of a Time Lord nearly 20 years eariler, except for a flashback in DW: The Sound of Drums.
 * This is, along with DW: The Deadly Assassin, DW: TV Movie, DW: Army of Ghosts, and DW: Human Nature and are the only Doctor Who stories to feature narration which is a part of the narrative.
 * There is no traditional celebrity cameo in the story. Instead, a stand-in plays US President Barack Obama and stock audio from a speech of his is dubbed in.
 * The opening credits list David Tennant, John Simm and Bernard Cribbins. Simm is the first person to be credited in the opening credits for playing a villain.
 * Despite this being David Tennant's last regular Doctor Who story, he filmed scenes for SJA:The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, after the production of this story.
 * In the Doctor Who Confidential for this episode, the TARDIS in the opening titles bears the St. Johns Ambulance badge, a nod to the Eleventh Doctor.
 * The continuity announcement before part 2 was voiced by the Tenth Doctor, and was the last time the Christmas ident featuring him was used.
 * Russell T Davies comfirmed in the commentaire for part 2 that the scene were Captain Jack is in a alien bar is in a city named Zagizalgul in the planet Zog.

Ratings

 * Part one ~ 10.0 Million - According to unofficial overnight figures. It achieved 42.2% of the audience share behind Eastenders and the Royle Family.

Filming Locations
to be added

Rumours

 * It was rumoured that Martha and Mickey would not appear, however this was proved false.
 * Prior to the BBC's official announcement in mid-November, it was unclear whether Part 1 and Part 2 would both carry the same title (as prior to this only the title of Part 2 had been confirmed by the network). Following the broadcast of DW: The Waters of Mars, Russell T. Davies was quoted in the media as saying the title of Part 1 would have six words, leading to speculation over what it might be before it was announced that the two chapters would share the title The End of Time. The original name for the first part was "The Final Days of Planet Earth" but this was changed by Davies as he felt that it didn't fit the episode as a title.
 * It was hinted by Russell T. Davies that Donna Noble and/or Wilfred Mott will die, mentioning "Donna's final words" and speaking grimly of Wilf's fate in The End of Time; the plot summary mentions that sacrifices will be made. Neither died
 * It was rumoured that Harriet Jones will re-appear, but as of December 2009, nothing has been confirmed. She was also apprently killed of in DW: Journey's End. She did not appear, not even in flashback. However, Claire Bloom resembles her, so it is likely that the Harriet Jones rumor started due to someone mistaking her for Penelope Wilton.

Trailers

 * A teaser trailer was shown at Comic-Con 2009. The voiceover is provided by Timothy Dalton.


 * "It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had a bad dream". An unknown person laughs after this. We then see multiple clips, including those of the Tenth Doctor, what may be a crazed Ood, Donna Noble, Wilfred Mott, Sylvia Noble and Shaun Temple, Then The Master with his head rising (Fans speculated this was the Ninth Doctor), David Harewood as Joshua Naismith, and a hooded man. The mood is very dark. The voice of Miss Trefusis says, "He returns". Then the Master is shown, with a dyed, blonde hair. He says, "My name is the Master". The tag line at the end of the trailer is "The End of Time", "Christmas 2009".


 * A trailer has been shown at the end of DW: The Waters of Mars after its broadcast, RTD has said in DWM Issue 415 that a well known Hollywood actor will be voicing an alien in the episodes and has be heard in the trailer. It is unknown if this will be Timothy Dalton (who has been confirmed as playing a character called The Narrator) or another famous actor. This actor was revealed in the 5th-11th Dec issue of Radio Times to be Brian Cox.


 * The trailer at the end of Waters of Mars depicts the Master laughing insanely and somebody screaming silently, the Doctor on what appears to be a spacecraft or possibly in the immortality gate, an Ood saying "Every night, Doctor, we have bad dreams", Joshua Naismith in a large house, the Doctor on a construction site, the Doctor talking to Wilf in a cafe, Donna, an explosion in the middle of a town and the Doctor falling over, Lucy Saxon in prison, the Doctor in Naismith's mansion, Wilf closing his eyes as if he doesn't want to see the thing in front of him, the Doctor holding someones hand, the Master on a construction site in a black hoodie, the Doctor saying "I'm going to die", Donna on her phone crying or screaming as the camera zooms in on her eyes, the Doctor on a construction site, the Master's eyes, the Master saying "My name is the Master", the Doctor on a construction site with a load of explosions and electricity, the Master laughing and his flesh phasing out, revealing his skeleton beneath, and the Doctor staring with his face full of horror. A voice plays over the trailer: "Because a shadow is falling over Creation, and something vast is stirring in the dark... the darkness heralds only one thing... the end of Time itself."


 * A specially packaged preview of the first episode will be shown as part of the BBC Children in Need telethon on Friday 20th November. It was originally rumoured that the pre-credits teaser would be shown; however, Russell T Davies has confirmed in DWM Issue 415 that this sequence is too plot heavy to be broadcast out of context.


 * The Doctor arriving on the Ood Sphere dressed in his brown suit, wearing a cowboy hat and necklace of flowers. Ood Sigma is waiting for him, the Doctor is in a funny mood, Ood Sigma tells the Doctor he "should not have delayed", the Doctor replies that he's not going to go rushing to his death. The Doctor follows Sigma to a city built by the Ood. Sigma reveals that it has been a hundred years since the Doctor's last visit. The Doctor looks around in surprise and says that they could not have advanced that much in such a small amount of time (showing themselves to the Doctor in another time, building the city, telepathy). Sigma continues to say that the Ood mind is troubled, and every night they have bad dreams. Sigma then takes the Doctor to the Ood Elder (an Ood dressed in white with a larger brain) who is talking more to himself than anyone else saying it is returning and he is returning and they are returning, The Ood tell the Doctor to join them. The Doctor sits down and holds hands with them. The Doctor sees the image of the Master laughing. He says defiantly and darkly "That man is dead".


 * A new trailer was released on the 16th December, immediately after the Never Mind the Buzzcocks Doctor Who special, in which David Tennant was the host, with Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins as panellists.


 * A shot of the planet Earth, before cutting to the Doctor and the Ood circle, where, after seeong a vision of the Master, declares "that man is dead", the Master with his hood up, with a blond woman announcing "Tonight, he returns", the Master with a red collar around his neck, stating that "My name...is the Master", the Doctor saying how "...a part of him survived", the Master announcing "...never dying, the never ending drums, can't you hear it, the noise, the drumbeat, louder than ever before!", with shots of sparks flying from the TARDIS console, Donna on the phone and walking back slowly as if in fear, Lucy Saxon, the Doctor, the Master being resurrected, culminating with the Master hitting the Doctor in the chest with a lightning bolt. It ends with the Ood Elder stating that "Time is bleeding...the darkness heralds only one thing...the end of time itself".


 * A preview clip for The End of Time part 2 depicts the Time Lords during the Time War. A Time Lady known as The Visionary tells prophecies of the Time Lords losing the Time War, and another debates whether the Time Lords have lived long enough, before she is erased by the Narrator as he shouts I will not die!" The clip also showns partially-destroyed Gallifrey in ruins, and several Time Lords discussing the Doctor around a table in a darkened room, presumably hiding from the war and the Daleks.


 * An alternate trailer for Part 2 depicts the Doctor stating "Sometimes I think a Time Lord can live too long", a voiceover saying how "The day is almost upon us. This is the Doctor's final battle" a scene of Wilf using a advanced gun turret, Wilf handing the Doctor his gun as he says, sobbing "I don't want you to die", a window smashing open with great force, the Master saying "This is going to be...spectacular!", The Narrator chanting "Gallifrey rises!" to his fellow Time Lords, the Doctor informing Wilf that the Time Lords are returning, the Narrator stating "At last, we are gathered, for the end", with shots of the Master circling a room, and the Doctor looking terrified.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * When the Master is restored to life, it is with a growth of facial hair, which he did not have prior to his death. (He had stubble when he regenerated into the Harold Saxon version of the Master, so arguably he is simply returning to the "default state" of this regeneration.)


 * He also has blonde hair. (Episode commentary said he dyed his hair blonde in order to make himself look less like "Harold Saxon".)


 * Both Lucy's voice and personality seem dramatically different. (Since Lucy has been in jail she has had time to think about her actions with the Master, and has seen how evil he was. Arguably, the first inklings of this "new" personality occur as far back as DW: Last of the Time Lords when she shoots and kills the Master.)


 * How does the sight of the Master make Donna remember? She has never met him before. (In DW: Journey's End, Donna gained all of the Doctor's memories and knowledge. She is thus well acquainted with the Master despite never having met him in person before.)


 * Barack Obama's name is pronounced wrong by Trinity Wells, who as an American news anchor would be well-versed in how to say the President's name. (Just because she is an American news anchor does not mean she has to pronounce names correctly all the time, it has been known for newsreaders to make mistakes.)


 * At several points during the story the Master flys away simply by jumping. However, later on, he flys away by blasting lightning at the floor, pushing him upwards. If he can "fly" by jumping, what was the need for the lightning? (To show the Doctor what he was capable of. Also, the Master is insane.)


 * When talking about their previous encounters, Wilf mentions his paintgun although the Doctor wasn't there when he shot the Dalek.( It's possible that Wilf informed the Doctor of his encounter with the Dalek while they were waiting for Donna to awake in DW: Journey's End.)


 * The Doctor refuses to go and say hello to Donna, but he did so in DW: Journeys End, and nothing happened. (He was testing that he wiped all memory of him from her memory during Journey's End, this time he did not want to chance it again, as you see in later scenes, all her memories come back and she is in pain.)


 * In previous episodes featuring the Time Lord society, they have not used a Visionary or a religious member to help them with their problems, and where did the Visionary come from? The threat of their entire civillisation being destroyed calls for drastic needs, and the Visonary's idenity will most likely be revealed in Part 2.


 * It is said that Martha is married to Mickey but isn't she supposed to be married to Tom Milligan? There is no real indication of the amount of time that has passed between Martha's engagement to Tom Milligan in Series 4 and the scene with her and Mickey seen in this episode. This could have taken place months, maybe even years after the events of the core story of the episode. That's plenty of time for Martha's relationship with Tom to go south, to fall in love with Mickey, and to get married. Additionally, while Martha is on a Honeymoon during the events of Children of Earth, it's never explicitly stated who she's married.


 * What are the Judoon doing in the space cantina? Aren't they supposed to be law enforcement? Even law enforcers, and thugs might desire a relaxing drink sometimes.


 * How did the Doctor know where Captain Jack Harkness was? Since the Doctor was able to track down Naismith earlier through the TARDIS, he probably did the same here.


 * The Raxacoricofallapatorian in the bar is wearing a compression collar, that would mean he/she is a criminal. The assumption there is that only criminals use the compression collar. We have seen very little of the Raxacoricofallapatorian race and there may be perfectly legitimate reasons to use such a device.


 * Why did the TARDIS explode during the regeneration scene? This hasn't happened before. Because of the immense amount of radiation the Doctor absorbed before regenerating. This gave his regeneration a much more destructive force. It also could have had to do in part with how long the Doctor held in the regeneration energy before the process began.

Continuity

 * The fall of Torchwood is mentioned (DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday) and/or (TW: Children of Earth)
 * The Master returns, and there is flashbacks to the events of DW: Last of the Time Lords, which briefly include Martha Jones, Francine Jones, and Captain Jack Harkness.
 * The Immortality Gate was previously referenced in SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, as "the Gate"
 * When Donna remembers the Doctor several things from her time with him appear, included are Empress of the Racnoss, (DW: The Runaway Bride), the Adipose (DW: Partners in Crime), Ood (DW: Planet of the Ood), the Suit Creature (DW: Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead), the Vespiform (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp), Sontarans (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/ The Poison Sky), a Pyrovile (DW: The Fires of Pompeii) and Davros (DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End). The Judoon (DW: The Stolen Earth) can also be heard in her memories.
 * Alonso Frame (DW: Voyage of the Damned) is sitting next to Jack, who appears depressed, in an alien bar, and the Doctor hints they should start a realtionship, following his loss of Ianto Jones. (TW: Children of Earth)
 * The Doctor mentions Joan Redfern to her granddaughter Verity, asking if she was happy after "John Smith" had gone, referencing the events of DW: Human Nature/ The Family of Blood.
 * The song My Angel Put the Devil in Me first heard in DW: Daleks in Manhattan.
 * The circumstances of the Tenth Doctor's regeneration echo that of the Ninth: Absorbing a massive amount of energy into his body, in order to save the life of another. (DW: Parting of the Ways)
 * The Doctor previously suffered near-lethal radiation poisoning DW: Planet of the Spiders

DVD Release

 * It has been announced that the four specials plus The Next Doctor will be released in North America on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a box set on 2nd February 2010.