The TARDIS lands in present day Cardiff, where the Doctor explains to Martha that the ship needs to refuel using a rift in time and space that runs over the city. Noting that the rift has become active recently he glances at the scanner to find Captain Jack running toward the ship.

He hurriedly moves to take off but Jack manages to grab hold of the ship. Inside the Doctor and Martha are thrown off balance as the ship accelerates to the year 100 trillion, the end of the universe. Outside Jack clings to the ship as it hurtles through the vortex and on a distant planet a group of savages sense an oncoming presence

Elsewhere on the planet a terrified human runs for is life as the savages chase after him. An elderly man some miles away, who gazes at a radar screen in his laboratory with his insect-humanoid assistant, monitors their activities and recognises the victim as another lost soul dreaming of Utopia.

A voice rings out over a nearby intercom, asking the pair about their progress in their work. The man, Professor Yana, mumbles a reply but then leaves his assistant Chan Tho to explain their situation; he instead stumbles away as a militaristic drumbeat swarms into his head. Once the intercom goes silent he returns to the radar, finding a series of uncharacteristic traces have appeared on the screen. Unbeknownst to him these traces are the TARDIS and Jack.

Inside the ship the Doctor theorises that he and his friend should leave, not even the Time Lords travelled so far into the future. However, he then breaks into a smile and in a rush of adrenalin runs outside. Martha follows and they find Jack unconscious nearby. Martha examines his body as the Doctor confesses he knows him. She claims that he is dead but suddenly he breathes in, showing himself to be very much alive.

He begins flirting with Martha and the Doctor scolds him. They give each other a somewhat frosty reception and Jack, after noting the Doctor’s regeneration, confesses he has been following the Time Lord for some time. He then tells him that he has seen the list of the dead following the battle of Canary Warf some time ago, and asks if Rose, the Doctor’s previous companion, is really gone. The Doctor explains that she is in fact safe, now living in a parallel universe, and the two embrace in their happiness, Martha somewhat less amused.

Elsewhere, the ‘Human Hunt’ continues and as the Doctor and his friends begin walking across the planet’s surface Jack explains that after the events on the Game Station the last time he met the Doctor, he used his now broken Time Vortex Manipulator to return to Earth in 1869, living through the 20th Century until he found a version of the Doctor he could happily coincide with.

The Doctor grows bored of the conversation and they move on, discovering a forgotten city built into the face of a canyon. They then encounter the hunt, and try to intervene. Soon they are confronted by the savages, who stop advancing when Jack fires a gun into the air.

The savage’s prey tells the travellers they must make it to a nearby silo in order to reach safety, and they run to find it. They arrive with the savages hot on their tails. Safely within the complex they watch as the hunters move away, swearing to return. They are then taken inside and their arrival is reported to the Professor, who is jubilant at the arrival of a scientist.

The Doctor manages to arrange for the TARDIS to be collected from the planet’s surface, and he and his friends move off into the dirty corridors of the complex, which Martha notes resembles a refugee camp. Following a young boy who now works for those who run the silo, the Doctor admires the ability of humans to survive before finding a giant rocket concealed behind a locked door. The humans are not refugees; they are passengers awaiting their departure.

The Professor arrives and rushes the Doctor to the laboratory; unaware that one of the savages has made their way into the complex. Jack and Martha introduce themselves to Chan Tho as the Doctor examines their work, a massive launch mechanism for the rocket that so far has failed to work. He tells a disheartened Professor that he has no idea how to make the machinery function correctly and then turns his attention to a shocked Martha.

Having looked inside Jack’s backpack, she discovers a severed hand encased in a jar of liquid. The Doctor recognises it as his own and recalls how he lost it shortly after his regeneration. Jack explains that it was this that allowed him to trace his friend as the Doctor tells the Professor his species; a Time Lord.

The Professor then explains that the savages are outside are called the Future Kind, and it is feared that they are what the current humans will become if they do not reach Utopia; a planet from which a call to the humans came many years ago. The Professor, who is helping to transport his people there in the rocket, remembers the work of the Utopia Project some time ago, aiming to find a way of allowing the human race to last beyond eternity, and now it appears they have succeeded. As the Doctor examines the mechanics in more detail the elderly man hears the drums again, stronger than before.

The Doctor realises that the rocket will not work, something the Professor is aware of but will not tell the others so as not to dishearten them. The Time Lord then proceeds to reverse one of the components of the maze of machinery with his Sonic Screwdriver and suddenly the system roars to life.

Elsewhere in the complex the humans begin making their way to the rocket, as the Professor, the Doctor and Jack hurry about their work. Outside the TARDIS arrives on a truck and the sentries abandon their posts to go inside, the Future Kind still waiting and their spy still concealed inside. Martha and Chan Tho rush along corridors making preparations for the launch, Martha wishing luck to the small boy she and her friends first met when they arrived as he rushes to take his seat inside the rocket.

In the lab the Doctor compliments the Professor on his work and then realises that for the rocket to depart someone must stay behind to make sure the system is functioning. Yana claims he is too old for Utopia but the Time Lord insists he will make it after hearing that his ship has been recovered. Looking at an image of the ship via a communication screen the drums in the Professor’s head begin beating again.

Linking the TARDIS to the launch system the Doctor asks Yana what is wrong and he explains that all of his life the drums have sounded in his head. Elsewhere Martha talks to Chan Tho, who reveals she adores the Professor but he doesn’t notice, a feeling Martha can relate to.

In a room beneath the rocket the final linkages are being made. The Professor explains that the room is flooded with radiation, and the levels inside must be kept steady. However, the Future Kind spy manages to sabotage the system and the levels rise, disintegrating the man inside. Jack tries to jumpstart the system by connecting two large live wires. The spy is killed and Jack falls to the floor from shock.

Martha tries to examine him but declares he is dead. The Doctor notes that they now need a man who cannot die to enter the room and make the linkages, and sure enough Jack reawakens, ready to help. As he prepares to enter the chamber Jack asks the Doctor how long he has knows about his immortality, and the Time Lord declares that he has known ever since he ran away.

In the laboratory, Martha explains that she, the Doctor and Jack are travellers in time and space, using the TARDIS to move around. These words begin to echo around Professor Yana’s head whilst below the rocket, the Doctor watches Jack continue to connect the couplings.

Discussing Jack’s immortality the Doctor explains that as a Time Lord he fears such anomalies, a fixed point in time and space should never happen. Jack remembers his encounter with the Daleks (another word that reverberates in Yana’s head) and the Doctor explains that Jack was made immortal by Rose, who used the power of the Time Vortex to resurrect him from death, only to let the process go too far. The Doctor asks Jack if he has ever wanted to die, but he is not sure. He thinks about the humans surviving at the end of time, and claims it inspires him.

In the laboratory Martha and Chan Tho notice the Professor’s discomfort, and ask him what is wrong. He admits his confusion concerning the concept of actual time travel, and notes how he, as a person, has never been able to keep track of time. As an example he shows them a fob watch he carries that he claims is broken. Martha recognises the device as identical to one the Doctor once used to change his own biology, causing him to become human.

Yana insists that it is broken, remembering that he was found with it as a naked child discovered on the coast of a Silver Devastation. Martha then runs below level to the rocket, where Jack has finished making the connections. He and the Doctor then begin making the final preparations as their friend arrives, explaining that the Professor has a Chameleon Ark, just like the Doctor’s.

Jack realises that it may mean the Doctor might not be the last Time Lord, but the Doctor is weary of discovering which one survived. Martha explains that Yana could not see the watch, as if fooled by a perception filter the Doctor placed on his device when becoming human. The Doctor asks if Yana can see the watch now, but Martha is not sure.

As the voices continue to echo in his head the Professor opens the watch, and as the rocket takes off the Doctor seems to sense an arrival, remembering the words the Face of Boe departed him with some time ago.

“You. Are. Not. Alone.”

Yana.

A bright light from the watch engulfs the Professor and his manner appears to change. The Doctor makes sure that the rocket has taken off safely before rushing off, only for the Professor to lock them below level, as well as opening the external gates to allow the Future Kind inside the complex. As the creatures flood inside Chan Tho protests what her colleague is doing, and tearfully aims a gun at him. He looks at her in wonder and then proclaims

“Now I can say I was provoked” And he moves towards her holding one of the live wires.

The Doctor and his friends manage to open the locked door and flee toward the laboratory, the Future Kind close behind.

Yana continues to turn on Chan Tho; angered that she never questioned him about the watch as Martha did. She apologises as he continues to approach her, claiming that his name is not the Professor, which was an invention that eventually caused him to forget who he really is:

“I…am…the Master!”

He lunges at her with the wire as the Doctor, Martha and Jack arrive at the door of the laboratory, finding it locked. The Master meanwhile removes a disk from a nearby computer screen, which he claims contains Utopia, another invention. He tries to sever the connection between the TARDIS and the launch system but is shot by the dying Chan Tho.

The Doctor opens the door and enters as the Professor stumbles into the ship, carrying the Doctor’s severed hand with him. He used a deadlock seal to lock out the Doctor, who tries to reason with him whilst Martha and Jack try and hold back the Future Kind.

The Master curses being shot by an insect and a girl, but then realises that if the Doctor can have a young, strong body, so can he.

“The Master…reborn”

He staggers to a halt, explosions of light filling the room from his head and hands. His face warps and changes and he screams in agony, as the Doctor watches light pour from the TARDIS windows. Jack and Martha continue to struggle with the door as the Master, now a young slim man, runs manically about the console.

He opens a communication link and talks to the Doctor, his voice becoming recognisable to Martha. The Doctor begs him to stop and think but it falls on deaf ears. The Master begins to take off and although the Doctor zaps the TARDIS with the Sonic Screwdriver, causing sparks to fly from the console, the ship departs, leaving Jack and Martha still fighting to hold the door closed against the Future Kind and the Doctor standing alone.

Having repaired Jack’s broken Time Vortex Manipulator the Doctor, Martha and Jack return back to Earth in present-day London. Visibly shaken by their ordeal they make their way to a main street whereupon the Doctor insists that they will have arrived in the same time zone as the Master.

Jack notes that the Master will have regenerated and as the Doctor observes a nearby tramp tapping out a rhythmic beat on a mug a giant screen above them reveals Harold Saxon, the newly elected Prime Minister. The Doctor recognises him instantly as the Master and after kissing his wife Saxon addresses the cameras around him, concluding:

Mr Saxon walks through the halls of Downing Street, casually greeting his new employee Tish Jones. He enters the cabinet room and declares the work of government will begin, throwing files of paper up into the air. Failing to crack a smile from any of his ministers he suddenly launches a verbal attack on his employees, branding them traitors for joining him only when the political votes moved into his favour. As a reward he gasses them, watching as they choke before tapping out a rhythmic beat on the table.

The Doctor, Martha and Jack return to Martha’s flat. After noting that it is only four days after the Time Lord met his her, Martha listens to the first half of an answer machine message from Tish but switches it before she can reveal where she has got a new job.

In Downing Street journalist Vivian Rook sails through security to interview Saxon’s wife Lucy, bribing her with promises of a positive image in the morning papers. She agrees but once they are alone Vivian suddenly becomes very serious, claiming that she believe the entire world to be in great danger, all because of Harold Saxon.

Whilst the Doctor accesses Saxon’s website on Martha’s laptop, Vivian declares that his entire biography is a fake, his name is missing from all archives until eighteen months previously, when the Archangel network was launched. Lucy claims she knows nothing of such activities, and after Vivian begs her for any knowledge that might expose her husband, she admits she did once have doubts, but she has made her choice.

Suddenly Saxon reveals himself in the corner of the room, confirming that Harold Saxon is an invention. Vivian asks who he is and he tells her he is the Master.

“And these are my friends”

Suddenly two floating metal orbs appear before him. He begins to lament about the approaching drumbeat as the devices close in on Vivian, childishly noting her fear of them. Rotating weapons appear from within them and Saxon and Lucy rush out, blocking out her screams of pain. Lucy appears to fear the fact that Vivian was unaffected by Archangel, but her husband comforts her.

“Tomorrow morning, I promise. That’s when everything ends.”

In Martha’s flat Jack is puzzled at how the Master could create such an extensive biography, and theorises that he may have used the TARDIS to travel back decades in time. The Doctor dismisses the idea, claiming that before the ship left them in the year one hundred trillion, he fused the coordinates so the ship could only travel between then and the present day, with only eighteen months leeway.

Both Martha and Jack admit they seemed drawn to Saxon, and Martha claims it was something in his voice. The Doctor notices that she is tapping out the same rhythm he saw the tramp tapping in the street, but she appears not to notice it. Suddenly an announcement is made on the television, the Prime Minister talking about recent alien activity and the government secrecy surrounding it.

He then claims that he will hide nothing, and reveals that a new species has contacted him, the same floating balls that attacked Vivian Rook. He names them as the Toclafane, a race who will launch first contact with mankind the following morning. He then talks of every man and woman taking their place in history, be they a lorry driver, a farmer…or a medical student.

The Doctor suddenly realises something is wrong and turns the television around to reveal a bomb strapped to it. He, Martha and Jack flee to the road outside as the windows give way to a massive fiery explosion. Martha tries to phone her family encase they are in trouble, despite the Doctor’s warnings.

She speaks to her mother, unaware that her mother is being watched by one of Saxon’s henchmen. She grows suspicious when Francine declares she and Clive are going to live together again, and after her father reveals that he and his ex-wife are not alone, Martha dashes to her car. As the henchmen tackle Clive and place him in a van Martha, the Doctor and Jack speed to help.

However, upon their arrival the henchmen open fire on the car and they are forced to rush away, as Francine is thrown into the van as well and Tish is abducted inside Downing Street. Martha blames the Doctor for what has happened and after ditching the car she phones her brother Leo, who is in Brighton with his son.

He appears safe and well but before Martha can tell him to hide the Master interrupts the conversation, swearing that he will find her eventually. The Doctor takes his friend’s phone and speaks to his nemesis, calling once again by his chosen name. He asks whom the Toclafane really are, knowing the name to be no more than a fairytale.

He then reveals that Gallifrey is gone, along with the Time Lords and most of the Daleks. The Master remembers being resurrected to help the Time War, only to flee in terror and hide at the end of the universe. He appears to relish the prospect of being the destroyer of two civilisations, to be like a God.

The Doctor asks him to leave the Earth but Saxon claims it is too late, and talks of the drumming inside his head, the constant drumming he can hear everywhere, the same beat the Doctor heard in the street and in Martha’s flat. The Doctor demands to know what Saxon has done, but receives no response, instead watching a television in a shop window as it claims that he and his friends have been labelled public menaces. On Saxon’s orders they run, realising that the Master as taken control of everything.

As the world’s media report the news of first contact, the Master watches a different programme; the Telebubbies. He marvels at what he views as a masterful piece of evolution, as one of the Toclafane appears in the room. It asks if “the machine” is ready, and he claims it will be prepared at 8:02 the next morning.

“The world is waiting.”

That night, in an abandoned warehouse Martha arrives having visited a fish and chip shop. With no further news on her family the Doctor tells his friends about the Master. Once his friend, he recalls how every Time Lord child, at the age of eight was taken to the Un-tempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality. Each child stood and faced the power of the time vortex. He explains that some were inspired, some ran away…and some went mad.

Himself one of the children that ran away, the Doctor sits as Jack receives a message on his Vortex Manipulator. He is forced to reveal that he now works for Torchwood, but protests that he rebuilt it following the battle of Canary Warf, doing so in the Doctor’s honour.

The file is a message from Vivian Rook, automatically sent following her death. An attached document relates to the Archangel network, a global communications network covering every mobile phone. The Doctor patches into it and reveals the same rhythm the Master spoke of being played inside the phone, a hypnotic message to all; calling for them to vote for Saxon, to believe in him. It is this that hides his true identity, even from the Doctor.

Now knowing how the Master is controlling everyone, the Doctor has a way to fight back. Dismantling the phone he adapts the TARDIS keys of himself and his companions to create a miniature perception filter, drawing attention away from whoever holds it. With the keys on string hung around their necks the trio then take to the streets, unseen and unheard.

Soon after, the American President arrives in England to confront Mr Saxon. He declares that UNIT now has control of the first contact, warning that Saxon will be removed from office if he does not take the situation sensibly. Due to first contact being disallowed of sovereign soil the event will now take place on the aircraft carrier Valiant. He departs as Saxon reveals to his wife Lucy that he has already made plans for such a situation; he has a private jet ready to take them onboard.

Lucy departs but the Master remains, seemingly unaware that the Doctor, Martha and Jack are watching events unfold from a corner of the airstrip. Soon a police van arrive containing the Jones family (except Leo), and they are dragged outside. Jack considers using the perception filter to attack Saxon but the Doctor insists that the Master is his problem.

“I’m not here to kill him. I’m here to save him.”

Jack uses his Time Vortex Manipulator to locate the Valiant and the trio teleport themselves onboard. Arriving at dawn the next day, Martha discovers that the ship is not floating on the sea, it is an airbase. Above deck Saxon and his wife arrive as the President makes the final preparations for the televised first contact. The Prime Minister then reveals to his wife that the Valiant was made to his design; he knows every detail of it.

Making their way through the bowels of the ship, the Doctor suddenly sense something and runs off, Martha and Jack in tow. They find themselves in a hold containing the TARDIS. Joyfully they step inside, only to find that the Master has cannibalised the ship to create a Paradox Machine, ready to trigger at 8:02. He realises they must act quickly, before announcing that he has a plan to stop the Master.

Moments later the televised broadcast begins, with President Winters giving the address. He discusses the moral benefits of first contact as the Doctor and his friends arrive, with the Doctor aiming to place one of the perception filters around Saxon’s neck in order to cancel out the Archangel signal.

Soon the Toclafane arrive, and President Winters introduces himself. However, the creatures are unsatisfied and demand to see the Master. Saxon then chooses his moment and takes the floor, taking control and ordering the Toclafane to kill the President. They do so and the Doctor makes a run to attack, only to be caught by Saxon’s guards. Revealing that the perception filter doesn’t work on him, the Master looks on at Martha and Jack, who runs to attack him only to be shot down by the Time Lord’s Laser Screwdriver.

The Doctor begs him to calm down and offers to help stop the drumming sound in his head. However the Master has other ideas, and asks the Doctor to recall the experiments of Professor Lazarus, who managed to alter the aging process. He explains that the technology is now held within his Laser Screwdriver, and with the Doctor’s biological pattern obtained from his severed hand, the Master can now manipulate the process to his own will.

He aims the device at the Doctor and fires, causing him to writhe in agony. As the torture progresses Jack hands Martha his Vortex Manipulator to teleport herself to safety, before watching as the Doctor falls to the floor, and old man. As the Jones family are brought on deck he demands to know what the Toclafane are but the Master simply replies

“Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break”

The Toclafane ask if the machine is ready and after announcing to the nearby television camera that the end of the world is about to follow, the Master finally declares

“Here come the drums!”

And as the TARDIS roars to life the sky above the Valiant tears open. Six billion Toclafane descend on the Earth, entering every home and building they can find. Upon the orders of the Master they wipe out one tenth of the population, and as the screams and cries for help ring through the communications system of the ship, Martha looks around in dismay.

She leans close to the Doctor, who whispers something in her ear, and after glancing from her family, to the Doctor, to Jack, she tearfully activates the Vortex Manipulator, teleporting away from the Valiant and back down to Earth. She arrives on a hillside outside London and watches as the Toclafane swarm into the city, setting it alight.

“I’m coming back” she snarls and then runs off into the distance, whilst high above her the Master, Lucy and the aged Doctor look on at the devastation below.

“So it came to pass that the human race fell and the Earth as no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as master of all. And I thought it good…”

One year later, the Earth has been labelled as one facing terminal extinction, the planet is closed.

On a beach in England Dr Tom Milligan watches as Martha Jones arrives on a small boat. Running ashore they greet each other, Martha claiming she needs him to take her to Professor Doherty. He agrees and they walk together, Milligan lamenting about the stories he has heard of his new companion.

“Martha Jones, they say, she’s gonna save the world.”

They go to Tom’s lorry and get inside, driving away as Milligan recalls another legend, that she is the only one who can kill the Master.

Dawn soon comes and onboard the Valiant the Master is jubilant. Dancing around to music he kisses his wife, insults Francine his new maid, and toys with the Doctor, wheeling the old man about in a wheelchair. He stations him beside a window and claims that the new Time Lord Empire is nearly ready to rise.

He notes that after working out what the Toclafane really are some months ago, the Doctor’s hearts were broken, and then tells him that Martha Jones has arrived back in Britain. He demands that the Doctor tell him what it was he whispered in her ear before she left but the aged Time Lord instead claims that he has only one thing to say to the Master, and his nemesis already knows what it is.

Instead of listening he announces to his crew that launch day will occur in twenty-four hours. However, he is unaware that behind his back the Doctor gives a secret message to Francine, holding three fingers out as she passes him. She does the same as she ventures below deck, passing her husband Clive. The enslaved workman then passes the message to Tish, another of the Master’s maids and she in turn gives it to Jack, who has been chained up as a prisoner.

Far below them, in the desolate landscape of England, Milligan and Martha arrive at one of the giant shipyards, constructing huge war ships and preparing them for battle, each with their own black-hole converter. Martha recalls visiting Russia, the largest of the yards with a hundred thousand ships ready to rage war on the universe.

Suddenly they are approached by two Toclafane, who interrogate Milligan and demand to see his ID. He produces a permit to travel and they move on, apparently neglecting Martha. She explains that she holds a perception filter and shows Tom her adapted TARDIS key.

Again they move on in search of Professor Doherty whilst up above them in the Valiant the Doctor’s plan is about to take action. The Master enters the bridge in time for his daily massage (much to the disgust of his wife) and as time approaches three o’clock, Jack manages to break free of his chains, running to try and escape but to little avail.

Clive tries to sabotage the ship’s engines and in the confusion Francine and Tish help the Doctor steal the Laser Screwdriver. He aims it at the Master and again claims he has only one thing left to say to him, but his nemesis is one-step ahead, refusing to listen and confiscating the device, explaining that only he can operate the controls.

He puts the Doctor back in his wheelchair and recalls the past glory of his prisoner, deciding that it is time he exacted his revenge.

Down below Martha and Milligan arrive at the workplace of Doherty, who is watching a transmission from the Valiant. It shows the Master addressing Martha, inviting her to watch as he suspends the Doctor’s ability to regenerate, turning him into tiny frail creature, nine-hundred years of age.

The transmission is cut off but Martha is not deterred, instead she talks to Doherty about the Toclafane, wanting to find out what is inside each floating globe. She reveals that the creatures are vulnerable to high levels of electricity, and soon they are in the process of catching one.

Milligan acts as bait and lures one toward Doherty and Martha, who have set up a high-energy bolt of electricity. The Toclafane is zapped and falls to the ground, deactivated.

Whilst the Doctor is held in a cage on the Valiant the Jones’ are locked in a cell, each of them swearing that eventually they kill the Master, even at the sacrifice of themselves. On the bridge the Master announces that the next day his ships will launch to declare war. He speaks to the Doctor and tells him again of the drumming inside his head, which began when he first looked inside the vortex, calling him to war.

A Toclafane arrives and the Master claims that he is carrying out such plans for them, and that the Doctor should be grateful.

“After all, you love them…so very very much”

Down below Doherty manages to open the globe and inside she uncovers a withered face, which is still very much alive. It talks to Martha and she realises that it is the remains of the small boy she met shortly before the Master was unleashed, one of the refugees seeking Utopia.

The Master explains to his prisoner that he and Lucy travelled back to the end of the universe, where the last humans, as part of the Utopia Project, began cannibalising themselves in order to survive. He used the TARDIS to create a paradox, allowing the future humans to travel back in time, wipe out the human race and adapt it to be a strong warrior race, capable of lasting for eternity.

The changing of history on such a huge scale; with the Master heading the new empire sickens the Doctor, but he can only watch as the Master leaves the bridge with a parting shot:

“The human race. The greatest monsters of them all.”

On Earth, Doherty recalls a legend that claims Martha searched the world for a way to kill a Time Lord, and sure enough she tells them that over the years organisations such as UNIT and Torchwood have gained a lot of information about the Doctor and the Master, and have constructed capable of killing a Time Lord stone dead. She produces the weapon and explains that the four chemicals needed to arm the device are scattered across the world, she has found three but needs to reach London to locate the fourth.

She and Milligan then depart to find the final chemical, leaving Doherty alone. She casts her suspicions on Martha’s ability to kill and as they make their way to a safe house on an abandoned street not far away, she contacts the Valiant with important information regarding Martha Jones.

In the house, which is crammed full of people living as slaves, Martha tells everyone about the Doctor, the man who has saved their live so many times but will never be thanked. She talks warmly of him as she confesses her love for him, but is cut off as the Master arrives outside. He walks slowly along the street, flanked by Toclafane and armed soldiers. He calls for Martha to reveal herself and threatens to slaughter the entire street unless she surrenders.

Sure enough she concedes, and steps outside. Upon his orders she throws down her bag containing the Time Lord gun and he destroys it with the Laser Screwdriver. He then aims the device at her but Milligan runs out to save her, and the Master kills him instead. The Time Lords then decides that the Doctor should be present at her death and soon she is taken onboard the Valiant, as outside the light of dawn breaks.

The Doctor looks on from his cage as his friend is led forward. The Master confiscates her Time Vortex Manipulator and sets a countdown for the launching of the Time Lord fleet. He prepares to kill her but she simply laughs at him. She reveals that the gun was a fake, a cover story to make sure she was caught and brought onboard the Valiant at the right time.

She recalls the Doctor’s last words to her before she left one year ago: “Use the countdown”, and reveals that the true point of her travels was to tell her story, to spread the Doctor’s name. The Master is sceptical but Jack, who is now onboard the bridge, points out that every human is telepathically linked to the Archangel network. Martha has organised for every human to think the Doctor’s name at the climax of the countdown, and sure enough as the clock reaches zero the withered form of the Doctor begins to glow.

The Master looks on in horror as the creature grows. All over the world the Doctor’s name is chanted, and soon he reverts to his normal self, claiming he too is now linked to the psychic network. The Master tries to fire at him with the Laser Screwdriver but it is no use, the Doctor is too powerful. He confiscates the device and bears down on him with his final message:

“I forgive you”

Above the Earth the Toclafane swarm to protect their paradox, with Jack rushing to dismantle the device in the TARDIS. The Master tries to teleport back to the Earth but the Doctor follows, watching as he threatens to destroy the Earth using the black-hole converters in every ship, with the two of them still on the planet’s surface.

As Jack fights to reach the TARDIS and the Toclafane approach the Valiant, the Doctor turns on his nemesis, claiming that despite the Master’s schemes he has always held the most powerful weapon – he knows his enemy. He realises that the Master would never destroy himself and orders him to hand over the trigger to the black-hole converters.

Jack makes his way into the ship and opens fire on the paradox machine. The cannibalised central console explodes in flames as the Master and the Doctor fight for control of the Time Vortex Manipulator once more and beam back onto the Valiant. The airbase rocks and the Doctor announces that time is reversing.

Sure enough the skies begin to swirl, the Time Lord ships fade and the Master’s Empire is destroyed as the turn of the world reverses. Across the Earth people continue in their lives, unaware of what has happened. The Doctor explains that they have returned to 8:02am the preceding day, just after President Winters was killed but before the Toclafane arrived.

However, everyone onboard the Valiant still remembers and as Jack returns to the bridge, Francine pulls a gun on the Master. Tortured by the knowledge of what he did she prepares to fire, urged on by the man himself. The Doctor tries to reason with her and manages to stop her, claiming responsibility for the Master himself. He decides that he will be locked away in the TARIDS, he realises that it is time to stop travelling, now he has someone to care for.

Suddenly a gunshot rings out and the Master falls to the floor, as Lucy Saxon stands over him. The Doctor rushes to help and urges him to regenerate, but he refuses, claiming the Doctor doesn’t know him as well as he thought. The Doctor urges him again, his eyes filling with tears. The Master merely laughs:

“I win.”

With his last words he wonders if the drumming inside his head will stop and suddenly his eyes close, leaving the crying Doctor alone. The last of the Time Lords.

Some time later he stands on the Earth, the Master’s body before him on a funeral pyre. He sets it alight and watches as the flames rise into the night sky before walking away, unaware that some time later someone else arrives at the smouldering monument, picking up the Master’s Gallifreyan ring from the ashes.

Not long after he stands in Cardiff Bay with Martha and Jack, who has decided that it is time to leave. With a year to think about his life he has decided his place is with his team in Torchwood. The Doctor dismantles his Time Vortex Manipulator to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble and before he leaves the Time Agent asks about the future, pondering what could happen to his complexion in the if he were to live for a million years.

He laughs at his own vanity then recalls joining the Time Agency from his home in the Boeshane Peninsula and his nickname at the academy; The Face of Boe. He walks away as the Doctor and Martha watch him go, stunned.

The two friends then return to London, where Martha’s family are reunited with Leo. The Doctor waits inside the repaired TARDIS and eventually Martha enters. He begins talking excitedly of where they could go next but his companion has other ideas. She has decided that with a family to look after she cannot travel with him any more. He thanks her for her help and they embrace, before she leaves the ship and steps outside.

Suddenly she thinks of something and goes back inside, recalling a friend of hers who was once infatuated with a flatmate, but her feelings were never reciprocated. She recalls advising her to move on, and it is time for her to do the same with the Doctor. She hands him her mobile phone and tells him that as soon as it rings he should return to her.

“I’ll see you again mister.”

She departs once again and as the Doctor sets the TARDIS in motion. Walking alone around the console he flicks at the various switches, until suddenly there is the sound of an alarm, the wall before him is blown away and he is thrown to the floor.

He looks up to find the front of an ocean liner embedded in the side of the TARDIS, and scrambles to reach a buoyancy aid that has fallen from the vessel. He turns it over to reveal the name of the ship: the Titanic.