The End of Time (TV story)

"This was the day the Time Lords returned... For Gallifrey, for victory, for THE END OF TIME ITSELF!"

- Rassilon

The End of Time is a two-part Doctor Who special that was broadcast during the 2009–2010 Christmas season. This was to 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 is also the last Doctor Who story written by Russell T Davies.

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 death during their last encounter. The Doctor rushes to Earth in the TARDIS to try and find him. Meanwhile 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 dreams 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.

The Narrator claims the Master and his removal of Humanity is only a small part of an approaching conflict. The Narrator is revealed as a Time Lord he is addresses a large hall of fellow Time Lords and Time Ladies, who shout, "For Gallifrey! For victory! For the end of time itself!"

Part 2
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. After the new Doctor remarks on his new body, he gleefully clings to the controls of the TARDIS as it plummets towards the Earth.

Cast

 * Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
 * Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
 * The Master/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
 * Alonso Frame - Russell Tovey
 * Minnie Hooper - June Whitfield
 * Oliver Barnes - Barry Howard
 * Shaun Temple - Karl Collins
 * Addams- Sinead Keenan
 * 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
 * Abigail Naismith - Tracy Ifeachor
 * Bev - Eirlys Bellin
 * Serving Woman - Lacey Bond
 * Teenager - Max Benjamin
 * Ginger - Dwayne Scantlebury
 * Graske - Jimmy Vee
 * Sontaran - Dan Starkey
 * Winston Katusi - Allister Bain
 * Tommo -Pete Lee-Wilson
 * Neighbour - Jeanie Gold

Crew
to be added

Story Notes

 * This will be David Tennant's last appearance as the Doctor and also Matt Smith's first appearance.
 * The second part is 75 minutes, four minutes longer than DW: Voyage of the Damned. Thus it is 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.
 * The person who knocks four times was Wilf.
 * 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 commentary for part 2 that the scene where Captain Jack is in an alien bar is in a city named Zagizalgul in the planet Zog.
 * Since this episode was filmed before Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane and Luke's appearance and clothes make them look like how they appeared in Series 2. They look the same as they always do, whether on Doctor Who, or The Sarah Jane Advetnures.
 * Russell T Davies has said in an interview that The Tenth Doctor's death was planned out in mind since David Tennant was signed on for the role, Davies also heavily implied had Tennant not played The Tenth Doctor would have died a different way.

Airdates

 * Part 1 - 25th of December
 * Part 2 - 1st of January
 * 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.

Ratings

 * Part 1 ~ 10.0 Million - According to unofficial overnight figures. It achieved 42.2% of the audience share behind Eastenders and the Royle Family.
 * Part 2 ~ 10.4 Million - According to unofficial overnight figures.

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. 

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 incorrectly 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 flies 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: Journey's 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. The Time Lords did have a connection/relationship with the mystical Sisterhood of Karn.)


 * It is said that Martha is married to Mickey but isn't she supposed to be married to Tom Milligan? Russell T. Davies said Martha's relationship with Miligan was more just a boyfriend, but she grew much close to Mickey throughout time.


 * 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.' Also, the Judoon does appear to look suspiciously at the Raxacoricofallapatorian as it walks by. And it is a bar; it's not uncommon for suspicious characters to be there.)


 * Why did the TARDIS explode during the regeneration scene? This hasn't happened before. (The Doctor clearly said he never wanted to go, so he was fighting the regeneration. Also, it takes much longer for the Doctor's facial feature to change as well. Also probably because he was holding the energy in so long that it was building up until it exploded from him.  In Journeys End, when the Doctor was going to regenerate, because maybe we wasn't holding any energy back it was less powerful, which is why nothing exploded like this time.)


 * Why did the Doctor choose to meet Verity Newman, a descendant of Joan Redfern, and not Redfern herself? The Doctor has already caused Redfern a great deal of heartache and he likely does not wish to reopen old wounds.


 * It was stated in the "Meet the Doctor" section of Doctor Who Annual 2006 that the President of the Time Lords during the Time War was Romana - Rassilon is not mentioned. As mentioned by Rassilon in the narration at the end of Part 1, the Master's action had a great consequence.


 * If the Doctor had enough time to visit his past companions after being affected by Earthly nuclear radiation couldn't he instead use that time to go to some hospital far off into the future and cure himself so to speak? He knows his regeneration is coming, he has accepted it, and the damage has been done.


 * If the Doctor saw Rose from 2005, Wouldn't that create a paradox due to the fact Rose has not met the Doctor yet. The Doctor stayed in the shadows at the end, not wanting Rose to see his face. Also, it was a fleeting encounter so it is unlikely she would remember the face anyway.


 * The Master seems to mispronounce Rassilon's name when he is attacking him. He appears to shout: "Now, into hell, Rassilonth!" The pronunciation of names by the actor is not really relevant to the story


 * What was accelerating the Ood's evolution? The acceleration can be explained by the fact that their development was held back several hundred years by the Humans. Since the Master eliminated the entire Human species, any damage the humans did to the Ood in the future was also prevented However, this does not explain why the acceleration remained after the Doctor fixed the timeline. The Ood did say that time was damaged/broken in Part 1, and hence suggested it allowed them to send a signal through time, however, since the Doctor and the Master fixed time, this still does not explain Ood Sigma's ability to appear to the Doctor in 2005, yet it is possible that this appearence was from further in the future than the 100 years post-DW: Planet of the Ood signal that the Doctor received in DW: The Waters of Mars.


 * As Rossiter is climbing into the mining laser pod while the Vinvocci ship is under fire from the missles, his face is the colour of human skin, instead of the traditional Vinvocci green. The green coloring on the Vinvocci skin was enhanced in post-production. They simply missed a sequence.


 * The room with The Gate was shaking because of Gallifrey coming closer, but then it stopped shaking when the Doctor picked up the gun. Why was this? A directorial issue, to emphasise the importance of the Doctor picking up the gun.


 * Rassilon's personality is nothing like it was in the DW: The Five Doctors, and since when is he evil? Rassilon has always been portrayed as an ambiguous character at best. His personality could have changed with regeneration, and been additionally hardened by the Time War. Although not necessarily evil, there has been previous reference made that Rassilon had a dark component to his persona.


 * Why is a piece of music from 1930's Earth playing in a space cantina? Some aliens are interested in Earth culture.


 * If the Doctor's sonic screwdriver could easily manipulate Vinvocci technology, why couldn't it open the door to the radiation-booth, or damage/shutdown the Immortality Gate?

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), Dalek Caan, Davros and the Supreme Dalek (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
 * Donna's neighbour who appeared throughout Series 4 is finally given a name in part one, Sally.

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.
 * It will also be released along with The Waters of Mars in February.