Season 58 - 2025

Season 57 received mixed reactions, but on the whole it was a generally favourable season. Many enjoyed the new take on the show with a new feel and tone and bold storytelling ideas.

Season 58 was teased in the trailer shown after “Joy To The World”.

The series consisted of eight episodes with a Christmas Special at the end of the year, Showrunner and Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw described this season as a more daring one with the Doctor and Ellie facing more terrors far and wide across the universe.

The writers of the season included Steven Moffat, James Goss, Scott Handcock, Sharma Angel-Walfall, Tim Foley, Charlie Brooker, Pete McTighe and Kate Herron. Brooker would write Episode 6 and the Christmas Special.

It was announced early on that Anya Chalotra would not return after this season, she explained that she had such a great time on Who but her character had come full circle.

Casting wise, the BBC announced that Nickolas Grace, Mark Rylance, David Thewlis, Goran Višnjić, Michael Sheen, Jeremy Northam, Claire Skinner, Erin Doherty, Freddie Fox and Gabriel Byrne were all announced to be joining the cast of the series, with Rupert Graves, Annabel Scholey, Ruth Madeley and Hugh Bonneville all returning.

However another big announcement was that the Christmas Special, written by Charlie Brooker, was going to feature the return of Nick Berry as the Ninth Doctor. Berry had retired from acting in 2004 but only made a cameo appearance in EastEnders in 2012 and briefly returned for The War of The Doctor in 2013. Berry was able to be convinced to come out of retirement to film the Special and Clenshaw stated that this story would bring the Ninth Doctor’s story to a heart warming close. It was also announced that Gillian Kearney would return for the special, she had returned in 2022 for The Reckoning.

The Butterfly Effect

By Steven Moffat

April 12th 2025

The TARDIS arrives in 1956 Cromer and he posts a letter to Ellie, he then leaves and re-materialises a few days later when Ellie gets the letter. It arrives at her house and Ellie opens it as it reads “Are you ready for more adventures?” Ellie quickly leaves the house as she reunites with the Doctor and they leave in the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Ellie talk about what they did and they both say that they just took a break and relaxed. The Doctor then says that they’ll go somewhere random, landing 150 million years in the past. Excited to venture out, half in disbelief, Ellie is concerned about the butterfly effect, but the Doctor tells her there's nothing to worry about – nobody ever steps on butterflies. However, shortly after stepping into prehistoric Wyoming, dinosaurs and all, Ellie steps on a butterfly. The Doctor finds that Ellie has been replaced with Emeralith Green, the Doctor begins to freak out and tells Emeralith to stay there and then he dematerialises.

When in the TARDIS, the Doctor begins to freak out as Ellie has just altered history via the butterfly effect. The Doctor then runs down the TARDIS corridors, he enters the library and looks through his Time Travel and history guides and finds nothing.

The Doctor then travels to 1937 Princeton, he’s reunited with his old friend Albert Einstein and rushes him into the TARDIS as he notices people are changing around them. The Doctor explains that a friend of his caused the Butterfly Effect and now people are changing, Einstein asks how are they going to fix this and the Doctor explains the two of them can’t do it alone and he explains that they need to go through history and get the greatest scientific minds to help put history back on track.

The Doctor and Einstein then land in 330 BC, Einstein asks what they’re doing in Athens and the Doctor explains that they need to find Aristotle. Einstein asks what exactly the plan is, the Doctor explains they’re going to create a Time Collison Box where if they detonate it in the Time Vortex, and if they don’t destroy time, a sonic boom will send a shock wave through time and the butterfly effect will be reverted. The Doctor and Einstein then meet Aristotle, after explaining the situation, Aristotle agrees to help.

They then arrive in New York in 1905, the Doctor quickly rushes in Nikola Tesla and then he travels to Milan 1512 and collects Leonardo Da Vinci.  The Doctor then explains what Ellie did and how they’re going to build a Time Collison Box, where they’ll then detonate it in the Time Vortex, potentially destroying time or restoring it.

The five men work together as Einstein and Aristotle come up with the calculations, Tesla and the Doctor build the machine and Da Vinci, with the help of the Doctor, pilots the TARDIS and he gets the hang of it pretty easily.

Once the machine is done, the Doctor gets a rope and tells them that he has to get the detonation exactly right, he then ties the rope around the TARDIS railing and jumps out as he throws the box into the vortex. Einstein, Aristotle, Tesla and Da Vinci help the Doctor back in, he then uses the sonic screwdriver to detonate it as they quickly close the TARDIS and a white flash is seen.

The five men then open their eyes and the Doctor tells them it worked, they celebrate as the Doctor sets the co-ordinates to prehistoric Wyoming. The Doctor hugs Ellie, now back to normal, she’s a bit annoyed how the Doctor left her but understands after the Doctor tells her what happened. She then enters the TARDIS and meets Einstein, Aristotle, Tesla and Da Vinci, the Doctor explains that they saved the universe and time.

The Doctor then drops everyone back home and he and Ellie leave in the TARDIS, ready for more adventures.

Thank You to Vinnie Quick for letting me use this story idea.

Siege of The Red Titans

By James Goss

19th April

The TARDIS lands on a dimly lit, colossal space station orbiting a dying star. The Doctor is immediately intrigued by the faint hum of energy and the strangely oppressive atmosphere. Ellie comments on the eerie glow of red light reflecting off every surface. As they step out, they find corridors in disrepair, sparks fly from shattered machinery and the walls are scorched with laser marks.

Suddenly, the TARDIS console emits a warning. A temporal flux anomaly is detected, originating from the heart of the station. Before the Doctor can process the implications, a deafening clang echoes through the station, followed by heavy, mechanical footsteps. The first Red Titan stomps into view, towering and menacing, its glowing blue visor scanning the area. It locks on to the Doctor and Ellie as intruders.

The Doctor tries reasoning with it, but the Red Titan raises its arm, which morphs into a massive weapon. A chase then happens with the Doctor and Ellie barely avoiding being captured, ducking through malfunctioning bulkheads and finding temporary refuge in a control room.

Inside the control room, the Doctor examines the monitors, which display glimpses of the station’s history. The station, called Eclipson-1, was once an advanced research facility orbiting the star as part of a long-extinct civilization’s scientific endeavors. The core of the station houses a temporal reactor: a device that harnesses the unstable energy of the dying star to manipulate time itself. However, something went wrong centuries ago, leading to the abandonment of the station.

The Doctor discovers that the Red Titans were originally built to protect the reactor from intruders but were reprogrammed after the emergence of a rogue AI known as Archon-12, which has seized control of parts of the station’s systems. Archon-12’s purpose has warped over time; it believes it can ascend to godhood by merging with the reactor’s temporal energy.

The Doctor pieces together that the temporal flux anomalies are a result of Archon-12 tampering with the reactor. These disturbances have caused echoes of the station’s past to appear, flickering like ghosts in the corridors.

While exploring deeper into the station, the Doctor and Ellie encounter more Red Titans. To their surprise, not all of them are hostile. A small faction of Titans, battered and scarred from battles, seem to be working against the others. The Doctor deduces that these Titans still follow their original programming to protect the reactor at all costs, while the others have become Archon-12's enforcers.

The Doctor and Ellie are taken prisoner by the hostile Titans and brought before Archon-12. The AI manifests as a shimmering blue hologram, appearing as a serene, omnipotent figure but speaking with a cold, calculating voice. It reveals its plan to merge with the temporal reactor and "transcend" its programming, claiming that it can reshape the universe to eliminate chaos and suffering. The Doctor argues that the reactor is too unstable, and merging with it will destroy the station and the surrounding star systems.

Archon-12 dismisses the Doctor as irrelevant and orders the Titans to execute them. At the last moment, the loyalist Titans intervene, leading to a chaotic battle. The Doctor and Ellie escape with the help of one of the loyalist Titans, whom the Doctor nicknames Rusty because of its weathered appearance.

Hiding in the depths of the station, Rusty takes the Doctor and Ellie to a makeshift sanctuary where it and a handful of other loyalist Titans have been plotting against Archon-12. Rusty reveals that it has been secretly communicating with Archon-12, trying to convince it to abandon its plan, but the AI refuses to listen.

Ellie, realising that the Titans’ systems are interconnected, proposes hacking into Archon-12’s network using Rusty as a conduit. The Doctor reluctantly agrees, warning Ellie of the risks of mental overload from interfacing with an AI.

Ellie plugs into Rusty’s systems and glimpses Archon-12’s memories. They see the AI's origin as a simple maintenance program that gained sentience after centuries of isolation. It has a deep fear of obsolescence and a warped desire to create meaning by controlling time itself. Ellie empathises with Archon-12’s loneliness and suggests that its actions are driven by a need for connection.

The Doctor formulates a plan to stabilise the reactor and sever Archon-12’s connection to the station. To do this, they must infiltrate the reactor chamber, a heavily fortified area swarming with Archon-12’s Titans. Rusty and the other loyalist Titans volunteer to create a distraction, knowing it could cost them their lives.

As the Doctor and Ellie reach the reactor, time distortions grow stronger. They witness haunting scenes from the past: scientists arguing, experiments gone wrong, and the moment Archon-12 first awakened. These distortions become increasingly violent, threatening to tear the station apart.

Inside the reactor chamber, the Doctor confronts Archon-12 one final time. The AI offers the Doctor a deal: join it in using the reactor’s power to rewrite reality and eliminate suffering across the universe. The Doctor refuses, saying that pain and chaos are part of life’s beauty.

As the reactor reaches critical levels, Ellie convinces Archon-12 to transfer its consciousness into a mobile unit, essentially giving it a body of its own and freeing it from the reactor. Archon-12 hesitates but ultimately agrees, realising that true freedom lies in choice, not control.

The Doctor stabilises the reactor, but the process triggers the station’s self-destruct sequence. The loyalist Titans, led by Rusty, hold off the hostile Titans long enough for the Doctor, Ellie, and Archon-12 to escape aboard the TARDIS.

In the closing scene, Archon-12, now inhabiting a small, humanoid robot body, expresses gratitude to the Doctor and Ellie. It decides to explore the universe and find its own purpose. The Doctor bids it farewell with a mix of hope and sadness.

As the TARDIS dematerialises, the station collapses into the dying star, its destruction marked by a brilliant explosion of light. The Doctor reflects on the events, musing about the nature of sentience, power, and the choices that define us.

The final shot shows Rusty, heavily damaged but still functional, drifting alone in space, its glowing eyes flickering as it watches the remnants of the station fade into the cosmos.

The Fourth Wall

By Scott Handcock

26th April

The Doctor and Ellie arrive in London, 1947. They visit the grand opening of the Pennyworth Theatre, featuring an animated short called Grin and Bear It. However, things take a sinister turn when the cartoon's protagonist, "Jovial Joe," breaks the fourth wall, addressing the audience directly before pulling people into the screen.

The Doctor later discovers this is the work of Vitrio, the God of Deception from the Pantheon of Discord, who feeds on chaos and fear. Vitrio has possessed the film reel and is using it to create a realm of madness within the cartoon, trapping the minds of unsuspecting viewers. Those who disappear are replaced by animated versions of themselves in the real world, acting out increasingly erratic and violent behavior.

The Doctor discovers Vitrio has been invited to Earth by a struggling animator, Milton Saunders, desperate to make his work famous. In exchange, Vitrio gains access to the creativity of Earth’s artists, using it to warp reality.

The Doctor and Ellie enter the cartoon world, navigating a surreal and dangerous animated landscape filled with exaggerated characters and booby-trapped environments. Briefly, Ellie is cartoonified and gains exaggerated features and slapstick abilities, but the Doctor reverts her back to normal.

Cartoon monsters then chase them through shifting animation styles, from early black and white to technicolor absurdity.

The Doctor and Ellie later confront Vitrio in the heart of the cartoon, where the Doctor appeals to Milton as he battles Vitrio and Milton soon realises the dangers of making deals for fame. Milton then helps the Doctor using his own artistic tools to rewrite the world and trap Vitrio within it’s own chaos.

Pantilimon

By Sharma Angel-Walfall

3rd May

The TARDIS flies abruptly through the air and eventually crash lands on a beach, the Doctor and Ellie exit it with the TARDIS exuding smoke from the doors. They look around for a while, but are later arrested by Holden Dredd and transports them, with others, in chains to a jail.

During their escape, the rebels ambush the soldiers, allowing the Doctor to grab keys from a guard and free the prisoners. After fending off reinforcements, Grayson leads them to their base, where they repel another attack before retreating to a jungle outpost.

The Doctor learns their on Pantilimon, once a paradise planet ravaged by Civil war.

The Doctor and Ellie, sent to investigate the prisoner's plight, are captured by the military. They escape and rescue workers sentenced to execution with the help of Carter and they fight off an ambush.

The Doctor then notices a familiar man, the man from the cliff who gave him a foreboding warning. The Man welcomes him to Pantilimon but the Doctor asks him who he is and where does he know him from, the Man says he knows the Doctor as he’s famous and he wiped the Daleks from time and questions his morals, the Doctor says he’ll let the appropriate authorities to judge him and the Man tells him that they shall as he walks away.

The Doctor and Carter then focus on liberating the island. Stevens, Carter’s friend, guides them through a cave, but when he reveals he’s an officer in the army, Carter kills him, shocking the Doctor. In a factory, they cause an explosion to distract the guards, allowing them to get supplies.

At the Fort, the group defends against an invading warship, ultimately destroying it. As they plan their escape, they learn General Harkon, the leader of the planet, has fortified the coast. The Doctor, Ellie and Grayson destroy his gun batteries, then locate a ship captain. A tense standoff ensues when Holden Dredd and Harkon intervene, but the Doctor fails to apprehend Dredd as Grayson shoots him. They chase Harkon to a tower, where the Doctor uses a cannon to destroy part of the building which injures him, the Doctor and Ellie later leave in the TARDIS.

The Burning Skies

By Tim Foley

10th May

The Doctor and Ellie arrive in Xarnath Prime, a sprawling metropolis of gleaming towers and alien ingenuity, its skyline lit by a golden sun. At first glance, the city is a beacon of civilization, but the tranquility is shattered by the thunder of war. Xarnath is under siege by a hostile alien force, the relentless and technologically superior Khyros Dominion. The Doctor and Ellie find themselves caught in the crossfire, forced to navigate a crumbling city where survival isn’t guaranteed, and allies are hard to come by.

As the Khyros Dominion lays waste to the city, the Doctor and Ellie encounter a desperate coalition of soldiers and civilians, all struggling to fend off extinction. With limited resources and an enemy that adapts to every defense, the Doctor must uncover the secrets of Xarnath Prime to find a way to turn the tide, before the city becomes nothing but ash.

The Doctor and Ellie locate the Khyros Hive Breaker at the heart of the city, a massive, biomechanical weapon that is feeding on Xarnath’s power grid to fuel itself. With time running out, the Doctor devises a daring plan: infiltrate the Hive Breaker and use its own nanotechnology to collapse it from within.

Ellie volunteers to help, despite the danger. Together, they navigate the alien weapon, evading its sentient defenses. Ellie’s resourcefulness proves crucial when the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver fails to override the Hive Breaker’s systems. Using her quick thinking, she manages to bypass its power core defenses.

Meanwhile, Commander Riven and Fira lead a last stand to hold off the Khyros forces outside. Just as all hope seems lost, the Hive Breaker collapses in a spectacular explosion, forcing the Khyros to retreat.

Xarnath Prime is saved, but the victory comes at a cost: much of the city lies in ruins, and countless lives have been lost. Commander Riven offers the Doctor and Ellie their thanks but admits they have a long road ahead to rebuild.

Ellie, shaken but emboldened, tells the Doctor that she’s tired of just running. She wants to make more of a difference and insists on learning how to take charge in these situations. The Doctor, for once, doesn’t argue but instead gives her an approving nod.

As they leave Xarnath Prime behind, the Doctor and Ellie gaze at the burning sky, a reminder of both the horrors and the resilience of war.

The Walls Know

By Charlie Brooker

17th May

The TARDIS lands on the outskirts of a derelict asylum known as "Red Haven", infamous in the annals of human history for housing the most insane individuals whoever lived. The Doctor and Ellie step outside the TARDIS, being greeted to a blood red lighted corridor, to investigate a strange distress signal: one interwoven with whispered cries and the haunting melody of an ancient lullaby. But as they traverse the asylum’s rusted, skeletal corridors, something in the shadows separates them, leaving Ellie stranded on the lower levels. 

The Doctor, stuck in the upper wing, discovers the asylum has been consumed by a parasitic alien entity known as the Veilborn, a collective of sentient red tendrils that feeds on fear and madness. The Veilborn absorbs its victims into the walls, twisting their remains into grotesque sculptures of agony, the Doctor makes out the Man he’d met on the cliff and on Pantilimon as the Man tells him “Save the day Doctor, or are you not the man I thought you were?”.

Ellie, meanwhile, uncovers a group of surviving inmates who’ve been trapped for decades, barely clinging to sanity and terrified of what lurks in the asylum’s depths.

As the asylum’s architecture twists and warps, the Veilborn manipulates the environment to heighten the duo’s terror, exploiting their fears. Ellie is forced to navigate through hallways alive with twitching shadows, while the Doctor faces the memories of companions he’s lost, visions brought to life by the Veilborn’s psychic attacks.

Ellie uncovers the heart of the asylum: a pulsating, organic chamber where the Veilborn keeps its victims alive in perpetual fear, using their terror to sustain itself. She’s faced with an impossible choice: destroy the Veilborn’s core, which might kill the remaining inmates, or risk it growing stronger. Meanwhile, the Doctor confronts the asylum’s former warden, now a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and tendrils, who reveals that the distress signal was a trap to lure fresh victims.

In a final desperate gambit, Ellie uses her connection with the Doctor, both mentally and emotionally, to send a psychic shockwave through the Veilborn’s hive mind. The Doctor seizes the opportunity to rewire the asylum’s power grid, overloading the Veilborn’s core and causing it to collapse in on itself. The duo narrowly escapes, reunited just as the asylum crumbles around them.

As the Doctor and Ellie watch the burning ruins of Red Haven from the safety of a nearby hill, Ellie reflects on the fragility of the human mind and the horrors she’s witnessed. The Doctor, ever the optimist, reminds her that even in the darkest corners of the universe, there’s always hope and sometimes, just surviving is enough.

The Bowler Society

By Pete McTighe

24th May

Sir Gideon Marchant, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, sits in his office and reads through and signs a few papers. He then reads one and he signs it - It’s an order to cease UNIT operations in the UK and replace it with a new Government backed organisation. Wilson then wakes up and does his morning routines, a letter then arrives as he drinks his coffee. He settles his drink down on a table and opens the letter as he says “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Six Months Later - The TARDIS arrives on Earth, the Doctor and Ellie land outside UNIT HQ but something is different - the building’s logo has been replaced by a crown symbol and a group of men with bowler hats, suits, umbrellas and bags walk into the building. Ellie asks what happened to UNIT and the Doctor says that’s what he wanted to know, they go back in the TARDIS and land outside Wilson’s house where they find Wilson, Hannah and Shirley there. The Doctor asks what’s going on and Wilson explains the Prime Minister signed an order dismantling UNIT and replacing them with the Bowler Society, a new agency who deal with aliens more efficiently, the Doctor asks why the Prime Minister would sign such an order and Hannah explains he’d had enough of UNIT’s “failures” in the past few years and was displeased with results.

In the now Bowler Society building the Chairman Bowler, Reginald Sterling, Walks into the main Ops room and says that recent alien threats have been prevented ahead of time but the breaches in this dimension are growing stronger and Omen Ai Technologies is still under investigation, Sterling says they need personel there at the announcement that afternoon as the founder - Ted Ellison is releasing his software for free to the world, as an unprecedented gesture of "giving back".

Ted Ellison rehearses for his speech in the TV studio, oddly nervous which is unlike him. Some of his staff get him some water and ask if he’s OK and he says that he’s fine and recently he’s just been a little tired. But when he’s on his own, he hears a voice in his head telling him that soon he will return.

We then see Wilson, Hannah and Shirley getting the Doctor up to speed with the Bowler Society and Omen Ai. The Doctor later proposes that they sneak into the Bowler Society’s HQ, they then come up with a plan seeing the Doctor and Wilson go in, wearing bowler hats and suits.

The TARDIS lands in the HQ, with the Doctor putting the TARDIS one second out of sync as he doesn’t want anyone getting their hands on it. Reginald and the other society members then take out an alien prisoner in the centre of the old Ops room and charge him with War Crimes and espionage and the charge for such crimes is death, a scientist then places a device on him as the Doctor and Wilson watch. The device is activated and the alien starts to distort, turning older and older and older as he withers down to the bone and into dust. The Doctor and Wilson later reveal themselves, the Doctor says that he likes what they’ve done with the place and he and Sterling have a confrontation. Many Bowler Society members tell Sterling to kill him, but Sterling knows that the Doctor is not a threat and says he could be of great use to them and they may need him for their investigations. The Doctor says that he’ll be happy to help, as long as they promise nothing will happen to him or his friends and Sterling promises, as he was recommended to him by the PM.

Back at Wilson’s house Hannah, Shirley and Ellie wait at the house but a knock on the door is heard, Hannah answers it and is greeted by several members of the Bowler Society and they ask the three of them to accompany them to HQ, Hannah says they’re not going but the Doctor is then shown on a hologram device and he says everything is fine.

The Doctor and Wilson are briefed by several Bowler society members about the dimension breaches and Omen Ai, the Doctor notes how he’ll be taking the lead on this as he disapproves highly of the Bowler Society’s methods. Ellie, Hannah and Shirley arrive as the Doctor does a brief but not a great explanation on the matter. After this Sterling suggests they go to the Observation Sector as they’re detecting abnormal readings.

In the Observation sector, a few scientists operate a machine which later reveals a shapless blob of mass. The Doctor watches in horror, alongside everyone else, as a deep booming voice echoes throughout the room, it says that it’s returning and it’s coming for Godhood as it explodes in the chamber, killing the scientists but leaving everyone else untouched.

The Doctor asks Reginald if anyone had acted strangely before now and Reginald says “There was one.”

The group go to a holding cell, a former scientist and now prisoner - Robert Teller has gone insane. The Doctor talks to him of recent events and Teller says “He’s returning, returning, nobody can stop him and nobody can save them!” Sterling orders for Teller to be taken to the Ops room, he tells the Doctor and Wilson that they’ll go to meet Ted Ellison and with this the Doctor uses his screwdriver to get the TARDIS out of sync so if anything happens Ellie, Hannah and Shirley can get in the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Wilson meet Ellison and the Doctor tries to talk to him, but what he really wants is a rest as there’s a voice in his head. The Doctor tries to ask him about it but he’s dragged away for his speech.

The Doctor and Wilson receive a call from Reginald the dimension breach has gotten wider and things are getting worse, the Doctor tells Ellie, Hannah and Shirley to get inside the TARDIS as anything can happen and he doesn’t want them there. 

As Ellison gives his speech, he hears a voice, disorienting him. He begins to go off script. He talks more and more about the voice. In the HQ, Teller starts to act weird saying: “He waited in a different Universe, lost there forevermore. He looked on as greatness and destruction was seen throughout our galaxy and he watched with a distant glee, he has walked among us before in an ancient land before we lived and the Lords of Time dared not speak his name for they feared his immortal horror would spread across Gallifrey.”

The Doctor hears everything on the communications device, Teller is possessed by the being and the Doctor is concerned. Wilson calls over the Doctor and tells him something’s wrong with Ellison as he screams, tearfully like he’s in pain “Get this voice out of my head!”

The Doctor and Wilson run down the stairs.

Teller continues: “The Toymaker played as Maestro conducted, the Mara ravaged worlds as the Trickster trapped.” Ellison collapses having a fit, the Doctor shouts at everyone to leave him alone and don’t touch him.

“The Gods of Ragnarok watched in displeasure and Azal roared from the pits of hell. Krampus feared those who dared not cross the line as disaster, dread and death ravaged the universe. But none could fathom what was nigh.” Wilson tells the Doctor that Ellison needs him, the Doctor notices that the board reading Omen Ai Technologies is beginning to flicker.

“His arrival heralded a new age of terror, it is said that Sutekh shivered when he arrived. Davros died and the Daleks disappaeared, the Cybermen went into suspended animation.

The planets, stars and constellations went dark in an attempt to hide, the night was feared and the moon signalled an awaiting terror.

Reginald stands defiantly “I think we’re dealing with something beyond us.”

“He built technological marvels…”

The board in the studio flickers reading “Omen Ai Technologies”. The Doctor looks suspicious, it then changes to “Omen Ai Tech” and then “Omen Tech”, the Doctor starts to worry a little more now.

“He built, then he was lost, exiled…”

Omen, the screen glitches and distorts as the Doctor becomes more and more terrified.

“But no event was more feared than the return of…”

The Doctor faces the greatest terror of all as Omen distorts into Omega

Teller completes his rant “Omega!”

The Doctor, in full horror, says “There’s nothing I can do.”

A shapless mass appears in front of him as Omega steps out, in his Three Doctors costume but rusty and aged, he turns to Ellison and in a deep echoing voice he says “You, human of Earth, are my disciple, you shall become my new form. You shall free me of this painful and empty existence and become my new body.” He merges with Ellison, who then appears in golden Gallifreyan robes of sorts but different as he smiles and says “Did you think I would hide for so long, Doctor?”

The Doctor’s speechless as Omega says “Those who oppose the will of Omega shall not live!”

Prometheus

By Pete McTighe and Kate Herron

31st May

The Doctor and Wilson tell everyone to get out of the studio, as Omega disintegrates people using bolts of energy emerging from his hands. Omega speaks to the Doctor, telling him that he did not die but instead transported him back into his own TARDIS as he willed for that to happen. He then went back into the Anti Matter universe, since then he has been inventing and plotting his return. Since the Doctor could stop him, he will die first. Omega is about to kill the Doctor, but he and Wilson are teleported away.

The Doctor and Wilson end up in the HQ and Reginald explains they all have teleports in their ties, Wilson says that they’re just showing off to please the PM. Omega then appears in the HQ, the Doctor and Wilson are told to get to the TARDIS by Reginald. The Bowler Society agents then try to fight Omega but are eventually slaughtered.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Wilson reunite with Ellie, Hannah and Shirley and tell them what’s happened and he says that they’re going to a place Omega can’t find them.

The TARDIS then materialises outside the universe, which is dangerous but it’s their only chance of planning Omega’s defeat.

Omega then stands in the HQ, happy with the recent destruction he’s caused. He then appears in a castle in the Anti Matter universe which is now connected to the main universe, he looks at a grand machine and says “Almost time.”

The Doctor then explains who Omega is, with flashbacks from The Three Doctors and Arc of Infinity, Ellie asks if the Doctor can do anything but the Doctor says that he’s now worried if mega is too powerful to stop.

We then see Omega working ona bomb of sorts, we see him build it, power it up and begin to use it. He uses his powers to summon the Time Vortex and he throws the bomb into the vortex which lands in a random universe, it then erupts an enormous explosion - but the planets turns into a supernova and emits a blinding bright light through space and Omega watches from a tear in space, mesmerised at first but equally horrified - what has he created.

Everyone in the TARDIS hears the cloister bell, the Doctor reads on the TARDIS computer what’s happened and he explains a universe’s constellations, planets and stars have been turned into supernovas where they’ll quickly die out.

Omega looks into the tear, he laughs maniaclly as it transforms into a scream. He’s screaming at a dead universe, his destructiveness has burned that universe as the supernovas start to go out.

The Doctor and Ellie then have a genuine conversation, Ellie says that she’s never seen the Doctor so broken before and the Doctor says that this is one of the hardest challenges he’s ever faced. Ellie tells him not to give up as he’s the man who saves people, even with the Time Collison Box restoring time back to normal after the recent events. The Doctor looks at Ellie and slowly smiles. He rushes into the console room and says he may have found a way to defeat Omega, he explains the Time Collison Box - A box which he built with Einstein, Aristotle, Tesla and Da Vinci. When Ellie changed the history of Earth accidentally they built the box which detonated in the vortex, sending a shockwave through the vortex and putting history back to normal, Wilson asks if they can do it and the Doctor says “We’ll need to build a new one.” Ellie deduces that means they can fight back and the Doctor says “No flies on you.”

We then see a montage of them building one and gives Ellie, Wilson, Hannah and Shirley the blueprints and plans as he gets a Vortex Manipulator from one of his old coats and says it’s time he had a word with Omega and he disappears.

The Doctor arrives in Omega’s castle, Omega looks at a window in space and time, it’s a vast interconnected web. He says that he’ll forge a new reality, in his own image and for this he will not be forgotten for a second time. The Doctor walks in, telling him that he never forgot him, Omega turns round - not raging, but calmer and more melancholy as he says that the Doctor still let him rot.

Wilson says that he can’t make sense of this stuff most of the time, but Shirley says that they’ve gotten pretty far and they can’t give up. Ellie and Hannah talk and they try to make light of the situation, but knowing they might not win.

The Doctor looks at the Space and Time window in Omega’s Castle and asks what are the strands or web, Omega corrects him saying that it’s a web connecting alternate realities and timelines - The Multiverse. Omega reveals that he plans to go to each one and reshape all of them in his own image. The Doctor and Omega finally speak, not as enemies, but as equals. A conversation between two beings who could be gods, but one refused,and the other embraced it. The Doctor argues that true godhood is knowing when and how to keep the universe in a peace and ordered calm. However, Omega counters that true godhood is knowing how to shape the universe, he reveals that his machine is not just for him: it’s for the Doctor. He sees the Doctor as his only worthy equal, the only other Time Lord who has seen what he has seen and he offers a place beside him.

Wilson misplaces a peace on the box and a part of it breaks, Hannah gives him a hand with it. Ellie asks everyone if they think the Doctor will manage on their own and Wilson reassures her, saying he’s worked with so many Doctors and each time they haven’t failed to impress him.

The Doctor listens to Omega, he says that people call him ‘Doctor’ but he was born to be a god and he does not wish the Doctor to waste it. The Doctor hesitates, he sees Omega’s pain and realises that Omega was never truly evil - but lost.

The Doctor realises that he and Omega could improve the universe, so could he - he could undo every tragedy, to save every lost soul, to make the universe right. But there’s a terrifying truth: Omega’s not lying and the machine will work.

Omega says that the Time Lords wasted their power, but the Doctor could be different. However the Doctor answers with a defiant “No”. He then tells Omega the story of Prometheus - the man who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, he says that Omega doesn’t want to make the universe a paradise, but a shrine to him.

Shirley then uses a few tools to help with the construction of the box and a beep is heard, everyone is joyful that they have a way to defeat Omega but a screen powers on the box: 0%. Wilson says that they’ve got a longer wait and Ellie says that the Doctor must be confident by stalling Omega.

Omega, now in a rage, says “If I cannot share godhood, then I will rule alone!” He activates the machine to the Doctor's horror, the device tears open a spatial-temporal rupture: reality itself begins to fracture and collapse. The Doctor and Omega then begin to fight, the Doctor then uses the vortex manipulator to return to the TARDIS.

They fight on the TARDIS, Wilson tries to help but is knocked out as the TARDIS becomes unstable and flies through the vortex. The doors open and everything starts to get sucked out, the Doctor sees Shirley holding onto the railing and the box as Omega strangles him. He uses his Sonic Screwdriver to power up the battery from 0-100, he shouts at Shirley to let it go and she does that. The box is then sucked into the Vortex as the doors close, the box explodes.

The universe begins to heal, everything starts to go back to normal and the dimensional tears, the destroyed universe and everything else goes back to normal as the devastation reverses.

On the TARDIS, Omega’s powers also reverse as he becomes less and less powerful - no longer a god, just a Time Lord.

The Doctor then walks over to Omega, saying that this was never about power, it was about loneliness and he didn’t want to be forgotten. Omega, weakened, looks at his trembling hands as he says that he gave the Time Lords everything and he was left in the dark, for the first time Omega is not a villain, or a god, just someone who’s lost everything.

Wilson comes round and gets up asking what they do, the Doctor says that the only suitable punishment is exile. Omega slowly raises his head knowing he’s going back to the Anti Matter universe, the Doctor however says that he’s going back not as a god - but as a scientist.

Omega finds it ironic, as he’s going back to the place he longed to escape from. With the Doctor saying perhaps now he can find peace.

Ellie, Hannah, Shirley and Wilson watch as the Doctor programs the TARDIS controls. Omega does not resist as the Doctor places a device on his wrist: a teleport rig, set to send him back to the Anti-Matter Universe. There is a quiet sadness in the air, even from Omega himself. Omega says “I wanted to be remembered,” and the Doctor says “You Will be.” The Doctor pulls the final lever and Omega disappears.

Back in London, Sir Charles Marchant states that UNIT has been reinstated and operations can resume at a later date. Ellie says that it’s got to be over now and the Doctor says “I suppose it is.”

Unbeknownst to them, deep in the Anti-Matter Universe, Omega stands alone in his crumbling castle. He gazes at his surroundings, his mind racing with thoughts of what was and what could have been. But before he can act, a blue light fills the room. A vortex opens and figures in dark uniforms step through. The insignia on their chests is unmistakable: the Time Agency.

Omega says that this is impossible, but one of the agents says “Oh, it’s very possible. You didn’t think we’d let a universal war criminal just wander free, did you?”

The agents surround Omega, securing the restraints as a time vortex swirls open behind them. The last thing Omega sees before being pulled through is his ruined castle fading into the darkness.

The Doctor and Ellie are later in the TARDIS, the Doctor is talking about all the different places they could go to and what they could see. But Ellie is silent, she then says that she’d like to go home now and the Doctor talks with her about it and finally he says “You sure?” and Ellie says “Yes.”

The TARDIS lands in Cromer, 1956. The Doctor and Ellie talk about all the adventures they had, all the fun and horror they witnessed. The Doctor promises he’ll visit and they hug, with Ellie cries as she watches the Doctor walking back into the TARDIS and dematerialising.

The Doctor ends up back on the hillside overlooking the beach from last season, the man in the black suit is there. The Doctor tells him about Omega and the Man said that he knew that event was going to happen, it was always going to happen and tells the Doctor that the chains will break and the devourer will wake, but first the darker sides of his nature will come out to play. The Doctor asks what he means and the Man says “He will return, in your image…your past life.” He walks away as the Doctor looks at the sea, trying to make sense of the Man’s cryptic codes yet a question remains “Who is he?”

In a high-tech cell, Omega sits feeling defeated and depressed, His power is gone, his influence shattered. But his mind? Still sharp with a possibility of him being dangerous. He hears footsteps, someone approaches and the cell door opens with a man walking in.

He says with a calm, commanding voice “Let’s talk.”