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[Doctor Who] The Burning World
Dec. 26th, 2013 06:19 pmAfter watching Dr Who last night, most people seemed to agree that it was a pretty poor example of the breed – lazily plotted, with an unsatisfying structure. However, I ended up in a long debate with Mr Torley who thought it was pretty good.
Come now, Marc, I said. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t believe that with 24 hours you couldn’t have come up with a better plot than what was shown, which ticked all the boxes in terms of tying up loose plot threads from the series whilst also giving a gripping adventure and a send off to the latest incarnation.
I was surprised he said he couldn’t, but as I’d thrown down the gauntlet I thought it only reasonable to have a go at doing just that. Now, I’ve got to own up to not having watched much Who recently (largely because of episodes like yesterday’s), but I’ve seen a few and a lot of people I know talk about it online so as far as I’m aware, the stuff the episode needed to cover was as follows:
1) The crack in space
2) Who the Silence are, and what they’re for
3) Take the Space-church and ladypope out to leave the slate clean for the next doctor
4) The prophecy of the doctor dying on Trenzalore, during a siege, with many dead friends and foes.
5) Overcome the knotty problem of the lack of available regenerations.
If I’m wrong, I apologise, but with that in mind here’s what I’ve come up with, within 24 hours of the Christmas episode being broadcast.
The Burning World.
We open at Clara’s flat, at Christmas (despite it clearly being filmed in about August). Clara has explained her frequent periods incommunicado by telling her parents she’s got a new boyfriend and she’ll introduce him at Christmas dinner. The doctor has agreed to play along with this.
This scene may be played light. Introduce the family; pushy mum, wet and henpecked dad, slightly loopy and randy gran. Clara is stressed, running about to make sure everything is perfect, when the Tardis shows up in her spare room (not in the green outside). The Doctor is introduced to the family, more comedy. Keep the Swedish joke. Retiring to the kitchen, Clara and the Doctor discover – horror! – that she forgot to turn the oven on and the turkey and potatoes are uncooked.
Doctor: How long does it need to cook?
Clara: Hours!
Doctor: How long have we got?
Clara: Ten minutes!
Doctor: Don’t worry. I know a place.
They grab the turkey, dash into the Tardis (dotty gran sees them vanishing into the bedroom with the turkey, looks shocked and then winks) and vanish. When the door is opened again, a ravaged and fire-blasted landscape is outside.
Doctor: There you go. Find somewhere to pop it down. Ten minutes here and will cook it to a turn.
Clara looks around for something to put the tray on, and discovers a shattered Dalek carapace. Looking down, she sees a broken Cyberman head.
Clara: Doctor, what happened here? What is this place?
Doctor: Nobody remembers. It’s always just been called the burning world.
Clara points out the Dalek.
Doctor: I’m surprised nobody remembers that, though.
He pulls out his screwdriver and begins taking readings. He looks at it.
Doctor: Well, that is interesting. I’m sure I’d remember that.
Clara: What is it?
Doctor: A message. For me. And it’s being broadcast from the past.
Clara: How long ago?
Doctor: Three hundred years.
Clara: Should we –
Doctor: Yes, come on
Clara begins to pick up the turkey
Doctor: Leave that! We’ll be right back. Time machine, remember?
They hop into the Tardis and vanish, reappearing outside a colony building – something large and imposing – on a snowy night. As they look around, a group of Cybermen appear out of the snow and an exciting chase sequence take place. Just as it looks like they’re about to be captured/killed, gunfire erupts, the Cybermen are cut down and a group of soldiers appear out of the snow.
Soldier: What are you doing out, you could have been killed! Their patrols get bolder all the time!
Doctor: Hallo, I’m the doctor, who are you?
Soldier: You? The doctor? She’s going to want to know about this straight away.
Doctor: Who is?
Solider: Her (points)
On a balcony overhead we see the ladypope looking out over them. The soldiers usher the Doctor and Clara into the building. Here we meet the ladypope who explains the planet is under siege by the Cybermen and only her forces are holding them off. The Cybermen are after a source of great power found on the planet, which when we see it we discover is the crack in time. As we move through the scene, a pair of Silence arrive. The doctor looks at them, shocked, looks away, and then looks back, several times.
Doctor: That’s not right. Clara – look at them.
Clara looks. The doctor turns her away.
Doctor: Now tell me what you saw.
Clara: Two spooky aliens with really creepy faces.
Doctor: And you don’t want to kill them?
Clara: No.
Doctor (to ladypope): What’s going on here? How is that possible? Nobody who sees the Silence remembers them!
Ladypope: They’re the natives of this planet. We’ve never had that problem. Is that something which happens to them in the future?
Doctor: What is this planet, anyway?
Ladypope: It’s called Trenzalore.
The doctor starts, horrified. He tells Clara she’s going to have to leave. She refuses.
Doctor: You don’t understand. This is it. This is the planet where I die, and if you stay then you’ll die here too and I won’t see that happen. I die on a field of battle, surrounded by enemies, on a planet under siege. And that’s this one, here, now.
Clara: But you’ll regenerate!
Doctor: Not this time. This is it. This really is it.
Clara refuses to leave. The doctor asks the ladypope to get her soldiers to put Clara into the Tardis. An angry, tearful scene ensues. Actors get to emote. Fanfic writers everywhere are delighted. Clara is physically put into the Tardis, which dematerialises and reappears in her spare room. Clara bursts out, sobbing. Family scene (Gran: Loved you and left you, eh? Mum: I knew he was no good! Dad: Anyone hurts my little girl I'll punch him, see if I don't). The family look in surprise at the TARDIS sitting in her spare room. Difficult questions are asked...
Anyway, cut back to Trenzalore.
Doctor: Why did you call me?
Ladypope: There’s something on the other side of that crack, and the Cybermen want it. Their armies grow stronger by the day, and we’re all that stands between it and them. It’s why we called for you. We need your help. To find out what’s behind the crack in time, what is on the other side. We will hold the siege, but I don’t know how long we can do it for. Whatever it is, if the Cybermen get it, it will be a catastrophe.
The Doctor agrees to help. As he works, we are introduced to a bunch of friendly, helpful scientists and researchers – often nerdy girls in big glasses, because that’s the predictable trope Dr Who seems to follow these days. This is intercut with battle scenes of Space church soldiers fighting the cybermen – the Doctor helping at times. It’s all jolly exciting and plenty of special effects. Time clearly passes. The Cybermen whittle down the defences. It’s all getting desperate...
...meanwhile, back on Earth.
Claras family attempt to comfort her. He mum says she can do better, dad says she’ll always be his little girl, gran asks what happened to the turkey. Through her tears Clara starts hammering on the Tardis door, demanding it let her in. Her family think she’s gone mad.
Back on Trenzalore.
The defences are falling. The doctor and his team work desperately. There’s a code coming through the crack. It’s encoded into time itself!
Doctor: But only Time Lords know how to do that! That means, on the other side of the crack it must be Gallif...
The defences fail. The Cybermen enter the building.
Back on earth.
Claras despair has turned to anger. She is shouting at the Tardis now. Eventually, she has shouted herself out. She slumps to the ground at the door. Please, she whispers. If you love him as I do, take me to him.
The Tardis door opens.
Back on Trenzalore. The Doctor runs down a wobbly corridor. IN the distance, gunfire and explosions can be heard. It’s all going wrong now. He bursts into the ladypope’s chambers, where she is working on a piece of machinery.
Doctor: On the other side of the crack. It’s Gallifrey, trying to get in. They’re trying to return, trying to come back to our universe. They’re sending a message, and I know what it says.
Ladypope: What, doctor, we don’t have much time!
Doctor: The key, the password. To open the crack. It’s my name. My real name. I must say it, and be truthful. The question which must be answered.
Ladypope: Then say it! The Cybermen are closing in! We don’t have much time!
Doctor (noticing the machinery): What’s that?
Ladypope: Not now! Say the password!
Doctor: That’s a Rasillon Warhead! They were all destroyed! How did you – What are you going to-
Ladypope: Not now, Doctor! Say the password! Speak Your Name!
Doctor: Wait-
Ladypope (growing ever more angry, he voice becoming more metallic): Speak! Say it! SAY IT.
As she rants, a Dalek eyestalk extends from her forehead.
Doctor: That’s not possible. Not possible. Your memories were wiped. All recollection of me was taken from you. You can’t remember who I am.
A voice speaks from behind him. A voice the doctor knows, but had hoped never to hear again.
Voice: They have been mine since before you arrived, Doctor. It was I who sent the message. I who called you here. You wiped the mechanical minds of the Daleks, Doctor. But you could never hope to affect a superior intellect.
Slowly, the doctor turns to see his old foe: Davros.
Meanwhile: The Tardis materialises and Clara and her parents step out. Her parents are dumbfounded by what they’re seeing. Suddenly they are surrounded by Daleks and Space Church soldiers with dalek eye stalks.
Back to the Doctor. A line of Dalek-ed space-church soldiers march in, holding the friendly scientists and Silence from earlier as prisoners.
Doctor: None of this is possible. You died in the crucible!
Davros: You think you can change time, change history, and have it all your own way? You took Gallifrey to another universe....and things changed after that. The entire Dalek fleet destroyed in its own crossfire? You believed that? Some lived who would have died, others died who would have lived. Actions have their effects doctor. A price always must be paid.
Several Daleks sweep in, pushing Clara and her parents before them. They are restrained by soldiers.
Doctor: Clara! I sent you away!
Clara’s Mum: I think you were lying when you said you were Swedish.
Davros: You always bring them, don’t you? I bring soldiers...you bring shields. How many have died to save you? Adric? River? Astrid? Always them...and never you. Well, not this time. My fleet gathers, the cybermen fall (cut to shots to Daleks slaughtering the Cybermen)...and you...You have a choice to make.
Doctor: To answer the question...to speak the truth...
Davros: Or to die.
Doctor: If Gallifrey returns...
Davros: (As he speaks, cut to outer space, where Dalek ships are blinking out of hyperspace around the planet) The Time Lords will be unprepared for our fleet. We shall ambush them and finish what we began. The Cybermen wished for the power they thought the crack represented. But we want what it truly is. The chance for our revenge. Say your name.
Doctor: You’ll kill me no matter what I do.
Davros: True. (Monologuing) But if you do as I command, your friends shall live. Choose between their lives, or the lives of the Time Lords because if you do not say your name, here and now, I shall burn this world. Every living thing on her surface will be consumed in an inferno which will last centuries. The Rasillon Warhead shall tear open time itself and not even the memory of the inhabitants of this planet shall remain. Not only will they all die; it will be as if they had never been, and those few, pathetic survivors scratching out their existence on other worlds will be made shadows in the mind, only to dwindle to their final, forgotten death.
Doctor: The warhead...
Davros: A weapon which destroys memory itself, Doctor. Tearing a hole in time through which all that they were shall fall, forever lost. Tell me now: who shall it be used upon? Gallifrey? Or your friends on this planet?
Doctor: You can’t do this, Davros.
Davros: (Pointing at the friendly, geeky scientists and the Silence). Kill them.
The Daleks execute the prisoners. This is a nasty scene. The hostages are gunned down mercilessly, one by one.
Doctor: Nooooo!
Davros: I assume you have made your choice, Doctor. So be it. You shall indeed die. But before I kill you, you shall watch the deaths of those you love. (The ladypope steps forward and activates the Rassilon Warhead. A countdown begins.
Davros raises his metallic claw. Lightning plays around his fingers. He points at Clara.) Last chance, Doctor.
Doctor: Davros, I beg of you.
Davros: Begging never worked on me, Doctor. You know that. Perhaps as you watch this time, you will learn.
Clara’s Dad wrestles himself free of the dalek-ed soldier holding him.
Clara’s Dad: Nobody threatens my little girl!
Clara’s Dad PUNCHES DAVROS IN THE FACE. Audiences around the country cheer. The Dalek-ed soldiers are thrown into disarray by this. The doctor grabs the Rassillon Warhead.
Doctor: Run!
They dash out of the room. As they run, a wild Dalek shot catches the Doctor. Exciting pursuit music, wobbly corridors, blah, blah.
Clara’s Mum: Andrew! That was a very dangerous, rash thing to-
Clara’s Dad: Maureen, for once in your life just shut up!
They arrive at the Tardis, stumbling in and closing the doors just ahead of pursuit. The doctor slams the Rasillon Warhead onto the console and works at it, feverishly, weakly.
Clara: Doctor, are you all right?!
Doctor (Pausing): Actually...no.
The Doctor slips down, before pulling himself up and working at the warhead again.
Clara: Just jettison it!
Doctor: I can’t! It’s primed! If it goes off, the Silence, you, your mum, your dad, all gone. It’s now or never. If I can just reverse the polarity...
He waves his magic wand, sorry, sonic screwdriver about like he does. The red light on top of the device turns to green just as the countdown reaches zero. The Doctor is engulfed in a wave of pure, white light.
Cut.
The Doctor, slumped against the console. Clara leans over him.
Clara: Did we win? Is that it?
Doctor: We won. (He shakes with pain). But what Davros said, there’s always a price to be paid.
Clara: You’ll be all right? Can’t you regenerate?
Doctor: It's the cells. Time Lord cells know. They remember how often you’ve done it, and they’ll only do it a certain number of times. And I’ve got none left. I’m sorry, Clara. This is it.
Clara: What about the Silence?
Doctor: You remember them now?
Clara nods
Doctor: It never happened, then. The burning world. It never will happen. The Silence won’t be forgotten. But I do have some bad news.
Clara: What?
Doctor: Your turkey still won’t be cooked.
The Doctor dies. Clara backs away, in tears yet again. Her parents comfort her. And then, against all expectation...the doctor begins to glow. Light streams forth from him. He changes...into a new incarnation.
Clara: (Laughing through her tears) But...you said...
Doctor(Patting the Rasillon warhead): I said Time Lord cells remember. It was a long shot, but it looks like it worked. I made mine forget.
Clara: Forget?
Doctor: My cells. They remembered how often I’d regenerated. I think their memory...might not be what it was. But whose is?
Clara: So you start again? And other twelve times?
Doctor: Ah, you see...I don’t know if they’ve forgotten them all. But...
Clara: But?
Doctor: I expect I’ll find out, sooner or later.
Clara laughs.
Doctor: Still, I’ve got one question for you.
Clara: What?!
Doctor (indicting the Tardis console): You wouldn't happen to remember how to fly this thing, do you?
TITLES
CODA
After the titles.
The family Christmas dinner, with the doctor present. The conversation makes it clear Clara’s mum and dad have no memory of events.
Clara’s Mum: So, er, Doctor. What are you a doctor of, precisely?
Doctor: Science, mostly.
Clara’s Mum: Mostly?
Clara’s Dad: Anyway, Doctor What? You never did tell us your name?
Clara’s mum: Yes, what is your name?
Doctor: My name?
Clara: Yes, why not? Go on. What’s the worst that could happen?
The Doctor smiles, and opens his mouth to answer. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? Clara’s Gran interrupts, and the moment is lost, forever.
Clara’s Gran (Looking at the Doctor) Don’t you think he’s a bit old for you, dear?
Clara: Oh, that doesn’t worry me. It just means time is on my side.
END.
Come now, Marc, I said. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t believe that with 24 hours you couldn’t have come up with a better plot than what was shown, which ticked all the boxes in terms of tying up loose plot threads from the series whilst also giving a gripping adventure and a send off to the latest incarnation.
I was surprised he said he couldn’t, but as I’d thrown down the gauntlet I thought it only reasonable to have a go at doing just that. Now, I’ve got to own up to not having watched much Who recently (largely because of episodes like yesterday’s), but I’ve seen a few and a lot of people I know talk about it online so as far as I’m aware, the stuff the episode needed to cover was as follows:
1) The crack in space
2) Who the Silence are, and what they’re for
3) Take the Space-church and ladypope out to leave the slate clean for the next doctor
4) The prophecy of the doctor dying on Trenzalore, during a siege, with many dead friends and foes.
5) Overcome the knotty problem of the lack of available regenerations.
If I’m wrong, I apologise, but with that in mind here’s what I’ve come up with, within 24 hours of the Christmas episode being broadcast.
The Burning World.
We open at Clara’s flat, at Christmas (despite it clearly being filmed in about August). Clara has explained her frequent periods incommunicado by telling her parents she’s got a new boyfriend and she’ll introduce him at Christmas dinner. The doctor has agreed to play along with this.
This scene may be played light. Introduce the family; pushy mum, wet and henpecked dad, slightly loopy and randy gran. Clara is stressed, running about to make sure everything is perfect, when the Tardis shows up in her spare room (not in the green outside). The Doctor is introduced to the family, more comedy. Keep the Swedish joke. Retiring to the kitchen, Clara and the Doctor discover – horror! – that she forgot to turn the oven on and the turkey and potatoes are uncooked.
Doctor: How long does it need to cook?
Clara: Hours!
Doctor: How long have we got?
Clara: Ten minutes!
Doctor: Don’t worry. I know a place.
They grab the turkey, dash into the Tardis (dotty gran sees them vanishing into the bedroom with the turkey, looks shocked and then winks) and vanish. When the door is opened again, a ravaged and fire-blasted landscape is outside.
Doctor: There you go. Find somewhere to pop it down. Ten minutes here and will cook it to a turn.
Clara looks around for something to put the tray on, and discovers a shattered Dalek carapace. Looking down, she sees a broken Cyberman head.
Clara: Doctor, what happened here? What is this place?
Doctor: Nobody remembers. It’s always just been called the burning world.
Clara points out the Dalek.
Doctor: I’m surprised nobody remembers that, though.
He pulls out his screwdriver and begins taking readings. He looks at it.
Doctor: Well, that is interesting. I’m sure I’d remember that.
Clara: What is it?
Doctor: A message. For me. And it’s being broadcast from the past.
Clara: How long ago?
Doctor: Three hundred years.
Clara: Should we –
Doctor: Yes, come on
Clara begins to pick up the turkey
Doctor: Leave that! We’ll be right back. Time machine, remember?
They hop into the Tardis and vanish, reappearing outside a colony building – something large and imposing – on a snowy night. As they look around, a group of Cybermen appear out of the snow and an exciting chase sequence take place. Just as it looks like they’re about to be captured/killed, gunfire erupts, the Cybermen are cut down and a group of soldiers appear out of the snow.
Soldier: What are you doing out, you could have been killed! Their patrols get bolder all the time!
Doctor: Hallo, I’m the doctor, who are you?
Soldier: You? The doctor? She’s going to want to know about this straight away.
Doctor: Who is?
Solider: Her (points)
On a balcony overhead we see the ladypope looking out over them. The soldiers usher the Doctor and Clara into the building. Here we meet the ladypope who explains the planet is under siege by the Cybermen and only her forces are holding them off. The Cybermen are after a source of great power found on the planet, which when we see it we discover is the crack in time. As we move through the scene, a pair of Silence arrive. The doctor looks at them, shocked, looks away, and then looks back, several times.
Doctor: That’s not right. Clara – look at them.
Clara looks. The doctor turns her away.
Doctor: Now tell me what you saw.
Clara: Two spooky aliens with really creepy faces.
Doctor: And you don’t want to kill them?
Clara: No.
Doctor (to ladypope): What’s going on here? How is that possible? Nobody who sees the Silence remembers them!
Ladypope: They’re the natives of this planet. We’ve never had that problem. Is that something which happens to them in the future?
Doctor: What is this planet, anyway?
Ladypope: It’s called Trenzalore.
The doctor starts, horrified. He tells Clara she’s going to have to leave. She refuses.
Doctor: You don’t understand. This is it. This is the planet where I die, and if you stay then you’ll die here too and I won’t see that happen. I die on a field of battle, surrounded by enemies, on a planet under siege. And that’s this one, here, now.
Clara: But you’ll regenerate!
Doctor: Not this time. This is it. This really is it.
Clara refuses to leave. The doctor asks the ladypope to get her soldiers to put Clara into the Tardis. An angry, tearful scene ensues. Actors get to emote. Fanfic writers everywhere are delighted. Clara is physically put into the Tardis, which dematerialises and reappears in her spare room. Clara bursts out, sobbing. Family scene (Gran: Loved you and left you, eh? Mum: I knew he was no good! Dad: Anyone hurts my little girl I'll punch him, see if I don't). The family look in surprise at the TARDIS sitting in her spare room. Difficult questions are asked...
Anyway, cut back to Trenzalore.
Doctor: Why did you call me?
Ladypope: There’s something on the other side of that crack, and the Cybermen want it. Their armies grow stronger by the day, and we’re all that stands between it and them. It’s why we called for you. We need your help. To find out what’s behind the crack in time, what is on the other side. We will hold the siege, but I don’t know how long we can do it for. Whatever it is, if the Cybermen get it, it will be a catastrophe.
The Doctor agrees to help. As he works, we are introduced to a bunch of friendly, helpful scientists and researchers – often nerdy girls in big glasses, because that’s the predictable trope Dr Who seems to follow these days. This is intercut with battle scenes of Space church soldiers fighting the cybermen – the Doctor helping at times. It’s all jolly exciting and plenty of special effects. Time clearly passes. The Cybermen whittle down the defences. It’s all getting desperate...
...meanwhile, back on Earth.
Claras family attempt to comfort her. He mum says she can do better, dad says she’ll always be his little girl, gran asks what happened to the turkey. Through her tears Clara starts hammering on the Tardis door, demanding it let her in. Her family think she’s gone mad.
Back on Trenzalore.
The defences are falling. The doctor and his team work desperately. There’s a code coming through the crack. It’s encoded into time itself!
Doctor: But only Time Lords know how to do that! That means, on the other side of the crack it must be Gallif...
The defences fail. The Cybermen enter the building.
Back on earth.
Claras despair has turned to anger. She is shouting at the Tardis now. Eventually, she has shouted herself out. She slumps to the ground at the door. Please, she whispers. If you love him as I do, take me to him.
The Tardis door opens.
Back on Trenzalore. The Doctor runs down a wobbly corridor. IN the distance, gunfire and explosions can be heard. It’s all going wrong now. He bursts into the ladypope’s chambers, where she is working on a piece of machinery.
Doctor: On the other side of the crack. It’s Gallifrey, trying to get in. They’re trying to return, trying to come back to our universe. They’re sending a message, and I know what it says.
Ladypope: What, doctor, we don’t have much time!
Doctor: The key, the password. To open the crack. It’s my name. My real name. I must say it, and be truthful. The question which must be answered.
Ladypope: Then say it! The Cybermen are closing in! We don’t have much time!
Doctor (noticing the machinery): What’s that?
Ladypope: Not now! Say the password!
Doctor: That’s a Rasillon Warhead! They were all destroyed! How did you – What are you going to-
Ladypope: Not now, Doctor! Say the password! Speak Your Name!
Doctor: Wait-
Ladypope (growing ever more angry, he voice becoming more metallic): Speak! Say it! SAY IT.
As she rants, a Dalek eyestalk extends from her forehead.
Doctor: That’s not possible. Not possible. Your memories were wiped. All recollection of me was taken from you. You can’t remember who I am.
A voice speaks from behind him. A voice the doctor knows, but had hoped never to hear again.
Voice: They have been mine since before you arrived, Doctor. It was I who sent the message. I who called you here. You wiped the mechanical minds of the Daleks, Doctor. But you could never hope to affect a superior intellect.
Slowly, the doctor turns to see his old foe: Davros.
Meanwhile: The Tardis materialises and Clara and her parents step out. Her parents are dumbfounded by what they’re seeing. Suddenly they are surrounded by Daleks and Space Church soldiers with dalek eye stalks.
Back to the Doctor. A line of Dalek-ed space-church soldiers march in, holding the friendly scientists and Silence from earlier as prisoners.
Doctor: None of this is possible. You died in the crucible!
Davros: You think you can change time, change history, and have it all your own way? You took Gallifrey to another universe....and things changed after that. The entire Dalek fleet destroyed in its own crossfire? You believed that? Some lived who would have died, others died who would have lived. Actions have their effects doctor. A price always must be paid.
Several Daleks sweep in, pushing Clara and her parents before them. They are restrained by soldiers.
Doctor: Clara! I sent you away!
Clara’s Mum: I think you were lying when you said you were Swedish.
Davros: You always bring them, don’t you? I bring soldiers...you bring shields. How many have died to save you? Adric? River? Astrid? Always them...and never you. Well, not this time. My fleet gathers, the cybermen fall (cut to shots to Daleks slaughtering the Cybermen)...and you...You have a choice to make.
Doctor: To answer the question...to speak the truth...
Davros: Or to die.
Doctor: If Gallifrey returns...
Davros: (As he speaks, cut to outer space, where Dalek ships are blinking out of hyperspace around the planet) The Time Lords will be unprepared for our fleet. We shall ambush them and finish what we began. The Cybermen wished for the power they thought the crack represented. But we want what it truly is. The chance for our revenge. Say your name.
Doctor: You’ll kill me no matter what I do.
Davros: True. (Monologuing) But if you do as I command, your friends shall live. Choose between their lives, or the lives of the Time Lords because if you do not say your name, here and now, I shall burn this world. Every living thing on her surface will be consumed in an inferno which will last centuries. The Rasillon Warhead shall tear open time itself and not even the memory of the inhabitants of this planet shall remain. Not only will they all die; it will be as if they had never been, and those few, pathetic survivors scratching out their existence on other worlds will be made shadows in the mind, only to dwindle to their final, forgotten death.
Doctor: The warhead...
Davros: A weapon which destroys memory itself, Doctor. Tearing a hole in time through which all that they were shall fall, forever lost. Tell me now: who shall it be used upon? Gallifrey? Or your friends on this planet?
Doctor: You can’t do this, Davros.
Davros: (Pointing at the friendly, geeky scientists and the Silence). Kill them.
The Daleks execute the prisoners. This is a nasty scene. The hostages are gunned down mercilessly, one by one.
Doctor: Nooooo!
Davros: I assume you have made your choice, Doctor. So be it. You shall indeed die. But before I kill you, you shall watch the deaths of those you love. (The ladypope steps forward and activates the Rassilon Warhead. A countdown begins.
Davros raises his metallic claw. Lightning plays around his fingers. He points at Clara.) Last chance, Doctor.
Doctor: Davros, I beg of you.
Davros: Begging never worked on me, Doctor. You know that. Perhaps as you watch this time, you will learn.
Clara’s Dad wrestles himself free of the dalek-ed soldier holding him.
Clara’s Dad: Nobody threatens my little girl!
Clara’s Dad PUNCHES DAVROS IN THE FACE. Audiences around the country cheer. The Dalek-ed soldiers are thrown into disarray by this. The doctor grabs the Rassillon Warhead.
Doctor: Run!
They dash out of the room. As they run, a wild Dalek shot catches the Doctor. Exciting pursuit music, wobbly corridors, blah, blah.
Clara’s Mum: Andrew! That was a very dangerous, rash thing to-
Clara’s Dad: Maureen, for once in your life just shut up!
They arrive at the Tardis, stumbling in and closing the doors just ahead of pursuit. The doctor slams the Rasillon Warhead onto the console and works at it, feverishly, weakly.
Clara: Doctor, are you all right?!
Doctor (Pausing): Actually...no.
The Doctor slips down, before pulling himself up and working at the warhead again.
Clara: Just jettison it!
Doctor: I can’t! It’s primed! If it goes off, the Silence, you, your mum, your dad, all gone. It’s now or never. If I can just reverse the polarity...
He waves his magic wand, sorry, sonic screwdriver about like he does. The red light on top of the device turns to green just as the countdown reaches zero. The Doctor is engulfed in a wave of pure, white light.
Cut.
The Doctor, slumped against the console. Clara leans over him.
Clara: Did we win? Is that it?
Doctor: We won. (He shakes with pain). But what Davros said, there’s always a price to be paid.
Clara: You’ll be all right? Can’t you regenerate?
Doctor: It's the cells. Time Lord cells know. They remember how often you’ve done it, and they’ll only do it a certain number of times. And I’ve got none left. I’m sorry, Clara. This is it.
Clara: What about the Silence?
Doctor: You remember them now?
Clara nods
Doctor: It never happened, then. The burning world. It never will happen. The Silence won’t be forgotten. But I do have some bad news.
Clara: What?
Doctor: Your turkey still won’t be cooked.
The Doctor dies. Clara backs away, in tears yet again. Her parents comfort her. And then, against all expectation...the doctor begins to glow. Light streams forth from him. He changes...into a new incarnation.
Clara: (Laughing through her tears) But...you said...
Doctor(Patting the Rasillon warhead): I said Time Lord cells remember. It was a long shot, but it looks like it worked. I made mine forget.
Clara: Forget?
Doctor: My cells. They remembered how often I’d regenerated. I think their memory...might not be what it was. But whose is?
Clara: So you start again? And other twelve times?
Doctor: Ah, you see...I don’t know if they’ve forgotten them all. But...
Clara: But?
Doctor: I expect I’ll find out, sooner or later.
Clara laughs.
Doctor: Still, I’ve got one question for you.
Clara: What?!
Doctor (indicting the Tardis console): You wouldn't happen to remember how to fly this thing, do you?
TITLES
CODA
After the titles.
The family Christmas dinner, with the doctor present. The conversation makes it clear Clara’s mum and dad have no memory of events.
Clara’s Mum: So, er, Doctor. What are you a doctor of, precisely?
Doctor: Science, mostly.
Clara’s Mum: Mostly?
Clara’s Dad: Anyway, Doctor What? You never did tell us your name?
Clara’s mum: Yes, what is your name?
Doctor: My name?
Clara: Yes, why not? Go on. What’s the worst that could happen?
The Doctor smiles, and opens his mouth to answer. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? Clara’s Gran interrupts, and the moment is lost, forever.
Clara’s Gran (Looking at the Doctor) Don’t you think he’s a bit old for you, dear?
Clara: Oh, that doesn’t worry me. It just means time is on my side.
END.
