Doctor Who: The Reckoning - 2022

 

The Reckoning was the Centenary Special of Doctor Who as a part of the BBC 100 celebrations and would’ve starred Sacha Dhawan as the Doctor and would’ve been written by Chris Chibnall.

The BBC described the special as an "epic blockbuster special". Executive producer Matt Strevens, who joined the series alongside Chibnall, departed once production was complete. Chibnall later stated that post-production on the final special would continue into 2022 under the working title "the Centenary Special". Emily Lawrence, the visual effects editor, confirmed digital effects work was still ongoing in January 2022. Co-executive producer Nikki Wilson also left after the BBC Centenary special, after being part of the show since 2008, notably working on Olympus.

The Centenary Special was filmed throughout September 2021, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, concluding on 13 October 2021 and the Centenary Special aired on 23 October 2022 as part of the BBC's Centenary celebrations.

The BBC were keen to make the story seem as BIG as possible. As such, the BBC put a lot of effort into promoting the story, with billboards, lots of tv spots and radio adverts as The hype for Doctor Who had died down quite a lot since then and the BBC were keen to get as many fans watching as possible, even though there would be a lot of promotion for the centenary, the other two specials weren't promoted as much as this story which a lot of fans got really annoyed about as they believed the other two specials would’ve done better if they were promoted the same and not just for this one story.

The Official Trailer for Doctor Who’s, so called, “BBC Centenary Special”, was released on the Official Doctor Who YouTube Channel at 7pm on 23 September 2022. At the same time, on BBC One, just prior to the Strictly Come Dancing 2022 Launch Show, a shortened 60-second edit of the trailer aired. Prior to this trailer, it had been announced that Sophie Aldred as Ace, Gillian Kearney as Lillian Truscott, Rupert Graves and Stephen Rea as Deusmalus were returning, and the main trailer showed quite a bit of footage of each of them reprising their much-loved Doctor Who characters.

The trailer itself contained a number of reveals: firstly, the fact that Samantha Poole, former companion of the Tenth Doctor, would be making a surprise return in the special, Trevor Eve and Douglas Henshall, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, were also announced to be coming back in the special, in addition to the trailer for The Reckoning, the BBC released a poster for the episode.

The Reckoning

By Chris Chibnall

23rd October

We begin in a dark void where the sound of dripping water can be heard, we see a man in the distance as the camera pans towards him and we see this man to be Deusmalus sitting with his eyes closed and then they open.

We get a flash of memory of The Eternal Evil where he’s enraged that the Doctor defeated him and we hear a voiceover from Deusmalus telling the Doctor that “When I return, I will cause chaos on which the universe has never seen or ever will see again once it is done!” and then a light shines upon his face he looks to his left and sees a bright light in a shape of a door, he walks towards it and during this we get a flashback to the ending of the Eternal Evil where the Doctor is piloting the TARDIS and he looks a fob watch from Postruenov and we see Deusmalus run towards the door and the Doctor open the watch as Deusmalus enters the light and the Doctor hears an ominous laugh echo in the TARDIS, he turns round startled and concerned.

We then cut to UNIT HQ. We see soldiers and officers rush around and we focus on a young man running upstairs to an office and he enters it where by General Wilson turns round and asks “What’s the situation?” and the young man passes him a note, it’s from the PM and it basically reads that UNIT must be put on high alert due to the crisis and we see Wilson looking out the window as screaming is heard and we see German Luftwaffe planes, Vikings, Romans and many others fighting on the streets below. 

Then we see Ace look out the window of ‘A Charitable Earth’ and she sees the ongoing chaos and says to herself “Where are you?”

Finally, we see the Doctor in the TARDIS where the Doctor gets a distress signal and he says “Looks like someone’s in trouble, I should go and…check…” as the Doctor’s talking something changes his lips sink and his eyes begin to shut as he withers to the floor, he collapses as we cut to the titles.

After the titles we see Wilson ordering people what to do and to detain anyone who’s dangerous to the public and then one of the soldiers whispers something in his ear, we then see him enter a meeting room where a woman sits at the end of the table looking out the window and we soon see this woman to be Ace, she gets up and shakes his hand and they talk about what they can do and how everyone needs the Doctor right now, one of the officers passes him a note and Ace asks what it is and Wilson says the population has grown to over 108 billion people, Ace looks in horror and she asks is there any way to contact the Doctor and Wilson says “Not to my knowledge.”

The Doctor then wakes up and a woman asks if he’s ok, the Doctor says yes and he walks round the console seemingly brushing off the fact someone is in his TARDIS but when he realises who’s in the TARDIS he’s shocked as he’s shocked and confused as he is reunited with Lillian Truscott.

The Doctor runs up and hugs Lillian, but after a while his happiness turns into suspicion and Lillian says “Doctor…I remember,” the Doctor asks “Remember What?” Emily replies with “I have memories of dying, how is that possible?” The Doctor looks at the TARDIS console and says “I don’t know,” The Doctor then flicks some switches and buttons on the TARDIS console and dematerialises.

The Tenth Doctor wakes up in his console room, he checks to see if he’s OK as he struggles to his feet. He looks confused and he wonders why he’s all alone, he then remembers the events of “The Land of Time” and how he stabbed himself in the hearts to save the universe, he also remembers the deaths of the Master and Samantha. He says to himself “I didn’t change, why didn’t I change?”

The Eleventh Doctor wakes up in his second console room, he gets up and thinks nothing of it how he’s just been asleep. But then he remembers the events of “The Parting of The Ways”, how he saved Holly by absorbing the Time Vortex and the Daleks being destroyed, he says “Something terrible is happening.”

The TARDIS lands at night on a street, the Doctor and Lillian step out and walk down the street as Lillian asks the Doctor what he thinks is going on to which he says that he doesn’t know and this could be a battle that he has to lose, Lillian then brings up her death and the Doctor says that it was one of the most painful moments he had ever lived through and that he never wanted to lose her, Lillian says that whatever happens to her is not important and the safety of the universe is all that matters.

The Doctor and Lillian then hear a man’s voice saying “The Dead walk to cause havoc among the living, I did warn you Doctor.” The Doctor walks onto the road as he sees a man standing in the middle of the road as Deusmalus coldly looks at the Doctor, Deusmalus mocks the Doctor about how he put his friends through hell and how his planet is under his control again. Lillian tells him to shut up and Deusmalus looks at her slyly and says “Oh Lillian Truscott, I knew what would happen to you on Gallifrey with Arkadian.” Lillian looks at him with disbelief but brushes off saying “OK, you know what happened, big deal!” The Doctor looks at Deusmalus with rage as he tells Lillian to go back to the TARDIS as Deusmalus says “Are you scared Doctor, you know what I could do and I’ve already done it.”

The Doctor stares at Deusmalus in hatred as Lillian puts her hand on the Doctor’s shoulder and the Doctor calms down a little as he says “I’ll stop you, I’ve done it before,” Deusmalus walks away and says “No you won’t,” as he turns round, snaps his fingers and disappears with a burst of electricity.

The Doctor starts walking back to the TARDIS as Lillian asks who he was and the Doctor explains who Deusmalus is, once inside the TARDIS Lillian asks what they are going to do now but the Doctor seems disinterested and beaten up about everything to which Lillian says that she’s hoping that he’s not giving up because he would never do that, the Doctor just leans over the console, he has no plan and no clue what to do next.

Ace and Wilson then talk in a UNIT meeting room as the two go back and forth on what to do, Ace says that she’s got no clue how to handle the situation and Wilson says that the government are at a loss and overpopulation is a reality.

The Tenth Doctor realises that something must be going on, he then deduces that something must’ve taken him out of time during the moment of his death. He then realises that he’s talking to nobody and he says to himself “Must’ve been a long time since I’ve spoken to someone.”

The Eleventh Doctor tries to get several readings to see if he can make sense of the situation, he tries to dematerialise the TARDIS to see if he can land on Earth and get some answers, however he becomes dizzy and collapses.

In the TARDIS the Doctor tells Lillian that he’s never been so helpless and that now he’s out of options, suddenly the Doctor gets a massive headache and falls on the floor motionless as Lillian tries to wake him up.

Inside the Doctor’s mind, the Doctor walks through a dark void and asks if anyone’s there and then a familiar voice says “Looks like you need my help,” a man walks out the shadows – The Tenth Doctor. The Fifteenth Doctor is now relieved as he’s got himself to help out, but then somebody else is heard and says “You’ve got me as well, do you two think you can honestly do this on your own?” and another man walks out the shadows – The Eleventh Doctor.

The Fifteenth Doctor explains the situation and needs their help to which they both agree and the three Doctors agree to split up, the Doctor wakes up and says with optimism “Lillian, the fight’s not over just yet,” as he and Lillian smile.

The Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS lands in a desert where the Eleventh Doctor investigates and after walking up some hills he discovers it’s Gallifrey and is relieved and happy to see people in the Outsider’s village, he goes to the Citadel and walks round happily as everyone is OK. He then bumps into a woman and she asks if she’s seen the Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor is shocked as it’s Samantha Poole, the Doctor hugs her as he says “Sam, is it you? Are you ok?” Sam is confused but the Doctor brings up some adventures like the R101, Edward Grove, the Silurians and then it clicks with her. She says that only one person could know all that and then she smiles and says “It’s you Doctor. I don’t know how, but it’s you”. She then hugs the Doctor and asks how it can be him, he says that it’s a long story.

The Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS lands on Postruenov and he looks at the scanner and says “Let’s see what this place is all about,” he walks out and it’s night time with a natural light display light up the night sky, similar to the northern lights, the Doctor walks down the snowy streets and sees a statue of Deusmalus saying “He must have a serious ego problem.” He then spots the main palace of Postruenov, a larged, domed building, the Tenth Doctor breaks in and sneaks around.

In UNIT HQ Wilson starts to get frustrated as he can’t handle the pressure but Ace hears something and the TARDIS materialises and the Fifteenth Doctor and Lillian step out, Wilson asks the Doctor where he’s been and the Doctor after apologising to Wilson and having a quick little reunion with Ace explains who Deusmalus is, what he’s doing and that it will be difficult to defeat him but it can be done. Wilson explains what’s going on with historical figures, armies etc. being alive and the Doctor says that he thinks that Deusmalus has moved history to the present creating overcrowding for Earth to suffer with the crisis, he also theorises that he’s been very careful with different planets as beings such as Rassilon haven’t been put in the present.

Ace asks if he's sure that he can defeat Deusmalus and the Doctor says “I don’t know,” Wilson, Ace and Lillian give defeaten expressions but the Doctor tries to keep them optimistic by saying “But never say never, there’s always hope. Even in the darkest of situations.”

The Eleventh Doctor and Sam walk around the corridors as the Doctor is trying to find the main meeting room, Sam says that she remembers dying and then being here and she says it was a very strange feeling and the Eleventh Doctor says he brought back as well but he’s trying to find out why he’s here and why the dead are alive, they admit that they are happy to see each other again and the Eleventh Doctor says that he’s going to sort this.

The Eleventh Doctor and Sam reach the main meeting room, they meet Romana who has a brief reunion with the both of them but gets straight to the point. The Eleventh Doctor says that he already knows what’s going on and that Earth and Gallifrey are affected but Romana reveals the true extent. She gets a hologram map up of the universe and says that only certain planets are affected and everyone who ever died is now alive on those planets, she also says that only certain incarnations are affected as well so there are about ten Doctors alive in the universe at the current time and eight of his dead companions are alive at the moment as well. The Doctor is on the verge of tears, he gulps and asks “Will they go back, after this is done?” Romana says yes and the Doctor closes his eyes to hold back the tears and says “Let’s settle this.”

The Tenth Doctor continues to look around Postruenov, eventually stumbling upon Deusmalus' old headquarters. Stating that "This seems like a good start", he ventures inside, navigating past the various changes in layout that herald Deusmalus' arrival. "Liking the look of the place?" he asks, appearing in front of him. Not one for small talk, the Doctor confronts Deusmalus about everything going on, which Deusmalus simply brushes off, stating that it is too late for even three Doctors to do anything, before forcing Ten to witness the deaths of several of his incarnations, as shown through archive footage. Meanwhile, Fifteen is seen to be hard at work trying to solve the crisis, eventually realising that if all of time has been rolled back to one point, he must figure out a way to roll time back to its original state in what he calls the "rug theory" with a laugh, prompting General Wilson to ask him to "be serious". Wanting to share his newfound knowledge with his other selves, he re-enters the TARDIS, telling Lillian to let him know if things get worse, however, Deusmalus' voice emanates over the TARDIS speaker as the interior glows red. "You really think one theory can stop me, Doctor? I think you need a reminder of who's in control." Immediately after saying that, the interior loses any of its elements, no control panel, no roundels, not even an exit.

The Doctor starts looking around for anything, anything at all. Finding a wall, he starts banging on it and calling out to General Wilson for help. Wilson, Ace and Lillian hear him, and go to help him, however, when they open the TARDIS doors, they see a standard police box interior. Deusmalus appears and Wilson states that they won’t be beaten, Deusmalus then challenges Wilson to a normal “human” fight. The two men then start to have a vicious fight, whereby Deusmalus wins but then he’s hit around the head with a baseball bat - Ace’s Baseball bat. She says that she used this on some Daleks many years ago and she always keeps it close by, Wilson, Lilllian and Ace talk about putting Deusmalus in a cell but they notice that he’s gone.

We cut back to Ten writhing in agony on the floor, however he abruptly stops. "No." he says calmly. "I reject your reality, Deusmalus." As he gets up, he manages to navigate various other reality warping traps to get to Deusmalus' throne room. Whilst there, he gets the telepathic cries for help from 15, whom we cut to see that the walls are now closing in around him. Eleven also gets this call whilst on Gallifrey, in the middle of telling Romana a plan to try and rewire the protections surrounding the Eye of Harmony so that time could in his words "crash into itself" and hopefully restore its natural flow from the deadlock Deusmalus has put it in. On hearing his Fifteenth self's cry out, he immediately stops what he is doing and begins to communicate with his future self, learning of his "rug theory" and ordering Romana to direct the power of the Matrix at the Doctor's location on Earth.

Romana is unsure about this, because it could cause heavy damage to the Capitol, but ultimately complies with Eleven. Fifteen receives the signal that the Matrix is being beamed directly towards UNIT at the same time as General Wilson, who tells everyone to stand clear. However, it doesn't seem to be enough on its own. Ten also attempts to telepathically reach out, and ultimately proves the final piece of telepathic energy needed to override Deusmalus, providing just enough wiggle room for Fifteen's TARDIS to be reverted back to how it was before. The Doctors find themselves now much more easily able to communicate, and Fifteen realises something whilst the trio and Romana are trying to come up with a plan: "I said time was being rolled back up like a rug, right? The future being brought to the present? We just used the entire consciousness of the infinite past Time Lords to bring back my TARDIS. If we're able to amplify the signal and direct it to the epicentre of all this, we might stand a chance against Deusmalus." The other Doctors agree just as Ten realises something else. He tells Fifteen to check the spacetime co-ordinates of Earth, Gallifrey and Postruenov, and upon Fifteen's doing so, they discover the three planets to be in almost a perfect triangle away from one another across the universe. "So we know where the epicentre is..." Ten muses. The two past Doctors and their companions once again share a mild reluctance to accept their fate, but ultimately agree to follow through on Fifteen's idea.

Fifteen rushes outside of the TARDIS and asks General Wilson whether they could build a "human Matrix" if he gives him some very rushed blueprints. Wilson states that it could take years, to which Fifteen responds "Make it two hours." Meanwhile on Gallifrey, Eleven receives a mocking message from Deusmalus: "I'd like to see you try."

The Eleventh Doctor and Samantha go to leave, only to be confronted by Romana on what exactly to do. The Doctor responds that as far as he is concerned, the matrix beam they fired at Fifteen’s TARDIS was successful in reverting the changes. “If you amp up the power and fire it at the epicentre of the co-ordinates, we might stand a chance. Wait for my signal.” He then tells 15 to send the coordinates of Earth, Gallifrey and Postruenov to the Capitol to speed things along, whilst he and Samantha head to Postruenov in the TARDIS. Meanwhile, Ten begins to head off and try to build a matrix on Postruenov with some tech in a control room he found earlier. However, when he goes to leave the room he is in, the door disappears. He runs for two other exits, only for the original door to reappear and the others to disappear. Deusmalus once again appears in front of him to taunt him, saying that he knows what the Doctor is thinking, and that he cannot get to any of the necessary technology in time to really make a difference. 

The Tenth Doctor asks Deusmalus why all of this has had to happen, Deusmalus explains that he was bored with Postruenov. He says that on the planet he won many battles, but in the end he wanted to have a thrill that Postruenov could never give him. He says that the Universe being in misery and torment has been a better thrill then he could’ve ever asked for and he will not stop now, he begins to taunt the Tenth Doctor about Samantha before Ten tells him to shut it. Deusmalus then says that he’s not looking at the positives, he tells the Doctor to forget the misery and the pain as this is a second chance to travel with Samantha but the Doctor says that even he couldn’t do that. Just Deusmalus goes to try and eliminate Ten, Eleven arrives and confronts him. He confronts Deusmaulus and they say that they’ve figured out a plan to stop him, Deusmalus says that you only get one trick with the gods and he’d like to see them try as he snaps his fingers and disappears, Ten thanks him but Samantha walks out of the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS and they hug saying how great it is to see each other again, but Eleven interrupts saying that they need to build a matrix device on Postruenov.

The Fifteenth Doctor is in mid-build alongside Ace and Lillian, the two companions chat about their times in the TARDIS and all the adventures they’ve seen and joke along the way. Fifteen says that now is not a time for jokes and they both apologise, Lillian goes off to see if she can help Wilson and Ace talks to the Doctor about what’ll happen after this. The Doctor explains once everything is done, the dead will go back to being dead. Ace asks him if he can justify that but Fifteen has a meltdown and he eventually says “I loved them all, but they can’t live again.” We then get archive footage and deepfake shots of Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric, David, Lillian, Leela, Sam, Mike, Shelly and Daniel dying as we cut back to Fifteen crying and being comforted by Ace.

Lillian overhears everything whilst she’s testing a couple of parts on the matrix, and asks if there is another way; a way where she can stay alive, if not for her sake then for the Doctor’s. Fifteen looks up, having only just stopped crying and shakily tells her that although he would want there to be another way, there simply isn’t one that wouldn’t risk overcomplicating the universe to the point of collapse. This is their only chance, and when everything returns to normal, if it does, then nobody gets an exception. Lillian is clearly mentally struggling with this information, so the Doctor brings her in for a hug if only for a moment before Lillian asks if the machine seems like it’s up and running. The Doctor looks over at it and replies, “Yes, though maybe one or two last tweaks are in order.” 

The Tenth Doctor and Samantha are working on a matrix machine on Postruenov where they talk about how they first met on the R101 and everything that followed as a result, she tells the Doctor about her memories of dying and asks the Doctor what he did after that. The Tenth Doctor trying to hide what he did to the Izons just tells her that he defeated them but ended up dying, the Eleventh Doctor walks in after hearing what he told Samantha and tells her what he actually did and wiped out mostly everyone on the planet and they both argue. Eleven explains that he had to carry that guilt with him for a long time and the Tenth Doctor argues with him telling him there wasn’t any other way but Eleven shoots back telling him that he’s the Doctor, they’re both the Doctor and he should’ve found a better way. Samantha then interrupts and has a go at both of them, telling them that they did a terrible thing but they’re still the Doctor and they can put things right by finishing off the machine, the Doctors look at each other and reluctantly put their arguing to one side.

Deusmalus walks near a mountain top, he looks at this pocket watch under a sky surrounded by a nebula. He laughs to himself, knowing that there can’t possibly be a way for the Doctors to stop what’s going.

Back on Earth, Fifteen tells Wilson that the matrix is complete, and that he sent the co-ordinates of where to fire it to all UNIT computers when he sent it off to Gallifrey, “just to make things a bit easier”. Wilson can see that the Doctor isn’t mentally coping, and attempts to make sure things are all right. The Doctor smiles and tells him that he appreciates the concern, but there isn’t much more time for this at the moment, and that once he’s done what needs to be done, he will hopefully feel much better. He tells Wilson to guard the device and fire it when he gives the go-ahead, only for a soldier to run in and inform Wilson that they’ve been overrun. When Wilson asks by whom, the soldier responds that various historical factions are attacking “Romans, Normans, Redcoats, you name it”. The Doctor once again reaffirms to Wilson that he must protect the matrix and under no circumstances is anybody not on UNIT personnel to get anywhere near it, before he and Lillian start heading off. When General Wilson asks the Doctor where he’s going, the Doctor responds “Back to where this all started.”, before shutting the door of the TARDIS and dematerialising. The Doctor lands on Postruenov soon after and rushes into Deusmalus’ headquarters to see his other selves having almost finished the matrix. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors begin to argue again and then Fifteen gets involved, Lillian and Samantha tell all them to stop and they theorise that they’re arguing because they all replace each other and that change is the root of all their problems. The Doctors silently nod to each other and they all apologise to each other as Fifteen explains that for them change isn’t something that can be considered easy. The Doctors then work together to finish off the matrix and power it up, they all leave in the TARDISes and communicate through their console rooms as they say that they need to go to Gallifrey.

Outside in the city of London, the streets are plagued by anarchy. Ace, Wilson and a few soldiers try to fight several historical soldiers outside UNIT HQ, we see Ace and Wilson teaming up as people start running away due to the anarchy.

On Gallifrey the TARDISes land in the Capitol, the Doctors step out and Fifteen asks if they remember their deaths. Ten and Eleven recount their deaths in ‘The Land of Time’ and ‘The Parting of The Ways’, Fifteen says that he’s been having visions of his death and perhaps he’s remembering future events. The Three Doctors, along with Lillian and Sam, walk into Romana’s office where they power up the Matrix, all three planets are now linked but Fifteen says that something still isn’t right.

Ace and Wilson fight the historical soldiers with UNIT and they both tell each other their suspicions that something is wrong and the Doctors should’ve done it by now, but Wilson says that he hopes they all know what they are doing. As they talk explosions go off as British WW2 tanks make their way down the street, a UNIT soldier tells Wilson that the situation is getting worse as a WW1 fighter plane crashes not too far from them which sends Wilson and Ace flying off their feet, Wilson is about to get killed by a Roman soldier before Ace knocks him out. Wilson is helped up as he says that the Doctor taught Ace well, to which she acknowledges it.

The Fifteenth Doctor brings up an idea about bringing all the dead onto one planet or into their own little dimension to spare the universe of more misery and torment, the Tenth Doctor says that even if that was ever possible that dimension would need to be in the best situation for everyone. The Eleventh Doctor then brings up that it would take too long for them to put all the dead in the universe onto several planets or into a dimension or multiple, as well as the planets needing to have enough space for all the trillions of lives that have been brought back.

Deusmalus sits on a bench on a clifftop somewhere, he looks at his pocket watch as he feels that something is wrong and he closes his watch and gets up from the bench.

Fifteen says that they’re missing something, the Doctors then brainstorm ideas and such and try to deduce if they missed a calculation, a segment to the matrix, anything. Romana suggests perhaps that Deusmalus is a key, but Fifteen disregards it and says that they need to put things right. Ten explains that the event is affecting everything, everywhere all at once and Eleven says that if they can’t solve this then that means the universe will be in everlasting agony forever, with disease, war, famine, overpopulation and suffering will be constant. The Fifteenth Doctor then rubs his hands through his hair, almost panicking as he tries to figure out a solution but anything he suggests is shut down and he admits that they can’t fix this. The Tenth Doctor then says that even if they were going to do this then could they really justify it as they’d be taking away so many lives everywhere, all at once. The Eleventh Doctor jumps in, he says that he’s surprised where he’s standing on the situation as he caused a similar mess long ago. The Fifteenth Doctor slams his fist down onto Romana’s desk and shouts, he says that it no longer matters as Gallifrey is here now and the Time Lords survived and they need to worry about what’s happening now. 

Lillian says that they don’t learn, they’re the Doctor - a man who has saved the universe so many times and this time shouldn’t be any different, Samantha agrees and says that a long time ago she declared: “He was the most amazing man she’d ever known.” and that the Universe needs that man right now.

The Tenth Doctor has a tear in his eye as he remembers when she said that, he says that even if that is him he couldn’t fix this. The Eleventh Doctor agrees as he says that this time they’ve lost. 

Fifteen’s eyes widen as he says “Me.” As he realises what he’s saying, Ten says absolutely not as Eleven also realises and says that Deusmalus likely set up everything so that if they worked something out then there would be a catch to restore everything back to normal, Fifteenth says that he must sacrifice his life to save the universe and wishes that another way could’ve been possible.

Fifteen walks over to all of them and says a fond farewell to them all, before getting to the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. Both Doctors ask him what do they do after they change and Fifteen says “Heal” with a simple smile as he runs out the office into his TARDIS.

The Fifteenth Doctor pilots his TARDIS, but all of a sudden the roundels flash erratically and the console sparks and smokes. The controls fight against him as Deusmalus appears in the console room, both men have a brutal fist fight as they fight over the console. The Console sparks again as the doors to the TARDIS open, the two men slide towards the door as the Doctor grabs hold of the doors and Deusmalus grabs the Doctor’s foot, the Doctor says “It…ends…now!” as he kicks Deusmalus into the vortex and climbs back into the TARDIS.

The TARDIS lands on Postruenov as the Doctor wires himself into a machine as he activates it, his body lights up in regeneration energy as he screams in agony. It goes on for a while and then it stops, the Doctor gets the machine off him and falls to his knees.

Across the universe people start to disintegrate, it’s a beautiful but sad moment. On Earth, Ace and Wilson look as the historical soldiers disintegrate and everyone looks confused.

On Gallifrey the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, along with Lillian and Sam, stand together as they remember their adventures together and the Eleventh Doctor says “Never be Cruel.” and the Tenth Doctor says “Never be Cowardly.”  Lillian and Sam look confused as both men look at each other and say “Our Promise.” as they disintegrate, leaving Romana and a few others in the room.

The First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Thirteenth Doctors also disintegrate. 

The Fifteenth Doctor gets up, alone in a world where a universe has been put back to normal as he stumbles toward the TARDIS. He walks inside as he dematerialises, the TARDIS flies slowly through the vortex as it eventually lands. The Doctor begins to walk back as he says to the console “Look after the next one.”

The Doctor finds a seaside cliff to regenerate upon. He says a fond farewell to his current self before saying to his next self,  he regenerates into his next incarnation. After the explosive regeneration finishes, resulting in a change in his clothes, the first thing the Doctor does upon emerging from his regeneration is check his teeth, and as soon as he does the Doctor immediately realises something is not right: he realises out loud in a very familiar voice and accent that he actually knows the feeling of his new teeth. Alarmed by this, the newly regenerated Doctor begins to examine his new body. Recognising his new hands before noticing much to his confusion that his predecessor's clothing has also completely been altered by the regeneration, as soon as the Doctor feels the shape of his new face he realises exactly why his new body feels so familiar: much to his shock he has regenerated into a body virtually identical to his twelfth incarnation. The Old Doctor can only exclaim in amazement and utter confusion, "What? What? What?!"

And that concludes Doctor Who: The Reckoning, it was positively praised by the fans and received a 7.5/10 rating on IMDB. The story would have 5.06 million viewers on the night of broadcast making it a success in the eyes of the BBC, the story was seen as a good end to the Chibnall and Dhawan era with both men receiving praise for their eras.

With 2023 on the horizon, the 60th Anniversary was highly anticipated with three specials, a new spin off show, the third and final season for Doctor Who: After Travels and many more.

Thank you for Our Holy Leader Sylvester McCoy for helping me write this story.