He Jests at Scars... (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image          = He Jests at Scars main cover.jpg
|image          = He Jests at Scars main cover.jpg
|range          = Doctor Who Unbound
|range          = Doctor Who Unbound
Line 8: Line 8:
|number          = 4
|number          = 4
|doctor          =  The Valeyard (He Jests at Scars...){{!}}The Valeyard
|doctor          =  The Valeyard (He Jests at Scars...){{!}}The Valeyard
|companions      = [[Ellie Martin|Ellie]]
|companions      = [[Ellie Martin (He Jests at Scars...)|Ellie]]
|featuring      = Melanie Bush (He Jests at Scars...){{!}}Mel
|featuring2      = Vansell (He Jests at Scars...)
|enemy          = [[Web of Time]]
|enemy          = [[Web of Time]]
|setting        = [[The Matrix]]; [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the Valeyard's TARDIS]]
|setting        = [[The Matrix]];<br/>[[The Valeyard's TARDIS (He Jests at Scars...)|The Valeyard's TARDIS]]
|writer          = [[Gary Russell]]
|writer          = Gary Russell
|director        = [[Gary Russell]]
|director        = [[Gary Russell]]
|post production = [[Jim Mortimore]]
|post production = [[Jim Mortimore]]
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|release date    = [[September (releases)|September]] [[2003 (releases)|2003]]
|release date    = 19 September 2003
|format          = 1 CD
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download
|production code = DWUN04
|production code = DWUN04
|isbn            = ISBN 1-84435-016-9
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-84435-016-2 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-253-7 (digital)
|prev            = Full Fathom Five (audio story)
|prev            = Full Fathom Five (audio story)
|next            = Deadline (audio story)
|next            = Deadline (audio story)
|producer = [[John Ainsworth]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
|epcount = 1
}}{{audio stub}}
}}{{audio stub}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the fourth ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' audio story produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. This was the first story not to feature an alternate Doctor; rather it featured [[Michael Jayston]] reprising his role as [[The Valeyard (He Jests at Scars...)|the Valeyard]], whom he had last played in 1986's ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]''. [[Bonnie Langford]] also reprised her role of [[Melanie Bush (He Jests at Scars...)|Melanie Bush]]. However, like other characters in the ''Unbound'' series, these reprisals were of alternate versions of their characters, changed by the scenario presented in the story. The events shown here touch upon what might have happened if the Valeyard had won his trial against the [[Sixth Doctor]] and then stole his remaining [[regeneration]]s.
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the fourth ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' audio story produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. This was the first story not to feature an alternate Doctor, instead featuring [[Michael Jayston]] reprising his role as [[The Valeyard (He Jests at Scars...)|the Valeyard]], whom he had last played in 1986's ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]''. [[Bonnie Langford]] also reprised her role of [[Melanie Bush (He Jests at Scars...)|Melanie Bush]]. However, like other characters in the ''Unbound'' series, these reprisals were of alternate versions of their characters, changed by the scenario presented in the story. The events shown here touch upon what might have happened if the Valeyard had won his trial against the [[Sixth Doctor]] and then stole his remaining [[regeneration]]s.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 35: Line 35:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''The woman once known as Mel is in a dungeon with dozens of prisoners, no two of the same species. The timid Nula believes Mel to be one of the gods, but the cynical Gerrof just scoffs at Mel’s arrogant attitude and her apparent belief that she is somehow better than her fellow prisoners. When Gerrof becomes too disrespectful, Mel shoots him dead where he stands just to make a point to the other prisoners. Mel is here to find the figure known as the Mighty One -- the man she once knew as the Doctor -- and to try to make him see reason. And if she can’t, she’s going to kill him.''
The TARDIS materialises on the planet [[Pakha]]. The Valeyard sends his companion, [[Ellie Martin (He Jests at Scars...)|Ellie Martin]], to collect the fabled [[Ancient Diadem]], a thing of vast and terrible power. He makes it very clear that he will leave Ellie in this place if she doesn't get the Diadem.


The TARDIS materialises on the planet Pakha, and the man once known as the Doctor -- and now as the Valeyard -- sends his companion Ellie Martin to collect the legendary Ancient Diadem, an object of great and terrible power. He is no longer the same man who once let that power slip through his fingers -- and if Ellie fails to collect the Diadem, he makes it very clear that he will abandon her here. As Ellie scales the cliff, using canisters of greganic acid to carve footholds and handholds in the rock, a Pakhar arrives to investigate the intrusion into the sacred cavern and is shocked to find two aliens trying to steal the Diadem. He is even more shocked to see that the aliens have arrived in the legendary TARDIS. The Valeyard promises to explain everything -- but as soon as the trusting Pakhar is within reach, the Valeyard snaps his neck. Ellie takes the death in her stride, but is surprised that the legendary Doctor could be so ruthless. But as he’s said before, the Valeyard isn’t really the Doctor any more.
Investigating the breach into the sacred cavern, a [[Pakhar (He Jests at Scars...)|Pakhar]] is astonished by the sight of Ellie and the Valeyard attempting to take the Diadem. The fact that the aliens have come in [[The Valeyard's TARDIS|a TARDIS]] is a further shock. Taking advantage of the creature's surprise, the Valeyard offers an explanation to calm his nerves before snapping his neck. Ellie is unphased by the death, but is shocked that the "legendary Doctor" could be so brutal. The Valeyard rebukes her shock by remarking that he is not the Doctor himself.


On the space station where the Sixth Doctor was placed on trial, Mel is speaking with the Time Lords’ new President-Elect and Co-ordinator Vansell of the Celestial Intervention Agency. The corrupt High Council has been deposed, and the Earth has been put back in its proper position in time and space. However, the Doctor has been lost; as the Fantasy Factory exploded, he rushed back to save his nemesis, and both he and the Valeyard were trapped as the Matrix collapsed around them. Nobody is quite sure what happened to the Doctor next -- and, to Mel’s consternation, Vansell admits that they don’t actually want to rescue him. It has been known for a Time Lord on the point of a regeneration to be visited by an inchoate form of their future self, but it is unprecedented for an amalgamation of their future life essences to be given actual, independent existence. If the Valeyard does defeat the Doctor in battle, he will have access to all of the Doctor’s past and future experiences and memories, and, as such, Vansell considers him a fascinating object of study.
On the [[Space Station Zenobia]], [[Vansell (He Jests at Scars...)|Coordinator Vansell]] and the new President-Elect are conversing with Mel. The High Council has fallen, and the Earth has been shifted back to its previous place in the cosmos. The Valeyard and the Doctor were caught in [[the Matrix]] as it collapsed around them. Nobody is entirely certain of what happened to the Doctor after that, nor are they sure if they want to save him. While a Time Lord, at the point of regeneration, has previously been visited by a [[Watcher (Logopolis)|Watcher]], a Watcher has never had its own independent and fully actualized existence. According to Vansell, the Valeyard's victory would make for an interesting subject of research as he might have access to all his past, present, and future experiences and memories.


Mel, appalled, points out that the Valeyard they knew was a composite of the dark sides of the Doctor’s personality. What might he do if let loose, unchecked by the Doctor’s morality? Vansell assures her that the Valeyard and the Doctor are still locked in battle elsewhere in the Matrix, and in the meantime, he, Mel and the President-Elect can still use the Matrix to observe possible projections from the future, just as the Doctor presented a sequence from his own future during his trial. The three enter the Matrix through the Seventh Door to access the projection of the Vervoid adventure -- but see that, this time around, it was the Valeyard and Ellie Martin who boarded the ''Hyperion III''. And this time around, the Valeyard didn’t think of using vionesium against the Vervoids until it was too late, and every human being aboard the ship was slaughtered -- apart from the Valeyard and Ellie, who decided to cut their losses and flee, leaving the ship full of Vervoids en route for Earth.
Horrified, Mel notes that the Valeyard they were familiar with was a combination of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature. What would he do if left alone and unrestrained by the Doctor's moral scruples? Luckily, the Doctor and the Valeyard are still inside of the Matrix and thus the trio can view potential future projections. To access the projection of the Vervoid adventure, the trio used the Seventh Doctor to enter the Matrix.


Mel is appalled by what she’s seen, and puzzled by her own absence. When Vansell checks the Matrix records, he finds that Mel apparently never left Earth with the Doctor; instead, she remained in Brighton and eventually died of a brain tumour caused by overuse of a cell phone. When Vansell uses the Matrix to access the day Mel met the Doctor, they see the Valeyard send Ellie to intercept Mel just outside the Brighton police station, delaying her for a few vital seconds so that she never actually meets the Sixth Doctor. The Valeyard has just changed an aspect of his own past -- and his conversation with Ellie reveals that he’s also helped the Thals to wipe out the Daleks before they ever got out of their bunker. He is confident that, if it proves necessary, he can always go back in time to change things back the way they were.
The trio use the Seventh Door to enter the Matrix and examine the projected variation of the [[Vervoid]] adventure. They discover that, in this projection, the Valeyard and Ellie were passengers aboard the [[Hyperion III]] and every person onboard the ship died because he didn't think to use the vionesium against the Vervoids until it was too late. The only survivors were the Valeyard and Ellie, who made the decision to take their chances and flee.


The President-Elect is beginning to doubt the wisdom of letting the Valeyard run free, and Mel agrees; the Valeyard seems interested in creating chaos for its own sake. However, Vansell points out that the Time Lords themselves once sent the Doctor on a mission to destroy the Daleks, and he failed. Perhaps the Valeyard, rid of the Doctor’s spurious morality, may be more useful to the CIA. Vansell decides to watch a few more Matrix projections, and sees the Valeyard and Ellie visiting a Silurian bunker in the Galapagos islands. There, the Valeyard repairs the bunker’s alarm clock so the Silurians will wake on schedule; perhaps when the human race evolves, the Silurian civilisation will be there to welcome them, and humanity will have spaceflight by the time of the Roman Empire. When Ellie questions the wisdom of the Valeyard’s actions, he threatens to take her back where he found her -- about to be run down by a police car while protesting a highway extension. He graphically describes the agony she’ll suffer in the accident, and she is suitably cowed and stops referring to him as “the Doctor.” Satisfied, the Valeyard takes her away, once again certain that he can always return to put the Silurians back to sleep if the need arises.
Noting Mel's absence, Vansell examines the Matrix data and discovers that Mel had never left Earth with the Doctor at all. Instead, she stayed in [[Brighton]] and passed away from a [[brain tumour]]. The Valeyard had begun to change his own past, arranging things so that Mel never met the Sixth Doctor, helping the Thals wipe out the Daleks, repairing the alarm on a [[Silurian]] bunker in the [[Galapagos Islands]] so they will awake on time, and more. While the Doctor refused to change time when asked by the Time Lords, the Valeyard was willing to change the flow of history. After all, he could always go back and return things to the way they were should the need arise.


Mel has seen enough, and the President-Elect is having grave doubts about letting the Valeyard run free, but as they argue with Vansell, something terrible happens to the Matrix. When Vansell investigates, he finds that both Gallifrey and the space station have been destroyed; the Matrix is decaying, and within 60 years there will be nothing left. Vansell traces the cause to the planet Uxarius, in the year 1471 -- and sees that the Valeyard shot his way past the Primitives guarding the Doomsday Weapon and turned it on the constellation of Kasterborous. Now he’s rid himself of the interfering Time Lords, and acquired the ultimate weapon; he once foolishly rejected its power, but now he will be able to use it as a threat to force all those in the Universe to bend to his will.
While Vansell is comfortable with the Valeyard's actions, Mel and the President-elect are appalled. Their debate is cut short, as Vansell's investigation reveals that Gallifrey and the [[Space Station Zenobia]] have both been destroyed; the Matrix is deteriorating and will be completely gone in 60 years. Vansell discovers that the Valeyard managed to shoot his way past the Primitives protecting [[Doomsday Weapon|the Doomsday Weapon]] and turned it on the constellation of [[Kasterborous]] in the year [[1471]], where he finds the planet [[Uxarius]] as the source. Free of the meddlesome Time Lords, the Valeyard now has control of the ultimate weapon.


Vansell has learned his folly too late. While they were watching projections of the possible future, the Valeyard defeated the Doctor and took on the Doctor’s future incarnations as his own. Now only the Valeyard is left, and with Gallifrey gone, Vansell doesn’t have the power to go back in time and change the outcome of their fight. Mel, convinced that the Doctor’s spirit survives somewhere within the man he’s become, offers to try to reason with him. The President reluctantly offers up his personal Time Ring, and Vansell provides Mel with a staser pistol and sends her on her way. She is Gallifrey’s last hope; if she can’t defeat the Valeyard, then the Time Lords will never have existed.
Vansell has learned his folly too late. While they were watching projections of the possible future, the Valeyard defeated the Doctor and took on the Doctor’s future incarnations as his own. Now only the Valeyard is left, and with [[Gallifrey]] gone, Vansell doesn’t have the power to go back in time and change the outcome of their fight. Mel, convinced that the Doctor’s spirit survives somewhere within the man he’s become, offers to try to reason with him. The President reluctantly offers up his personal [[Time Ring]], and Vansell provides Mel with a [[staser gun]] and sends her on her way. She is Gallifrey’s last hope; if she can’t defeat the Valeyard, then the Time Lords will never have existed.


The Valeyard has decided to move the Doomsday Weapon into his TARDIS, but to do so he needs to reconfigure the interior of his ship. Thus, he requires the help of the mathemeticians of Logopolis, but unfortunately that planet was destroyed when the Fourth Doctor inadvertently took the Master there. The Valeyard decides to materialise his TARDIS in the path of its past self, knocking the Fourth Doctor off course and preventing the sequence of events that led to the destruction of Logopolis. However, something goes terribly wrong. Despite his careful calculations, the Valeyard inadvertently Time Rams his past self’s TARDIS and destroys it. The energy wave vapourises Logopolis, kick-starting the end of the Universe, but that’s small potatoes to the Valeyard, who is far more concerned with the fact that he’s just killed his past self -- thus making his own existence a temporal paradox...
In the dungeons of [[Chronopolis]], Nula tells Mel that all of the prisoners were time sensitives and the the Valeyard had wiped out the rest of the inhabitants of her home planet [[Archetryx]]. Mel had wiped off an entire species by killing Gerrof, the last of the [[Tharils]], in order to prove a point. She is saddened to realise how little she cares; this mission has made her capable of horrible things. Nula was under the impression that Mel was a Time Lord agent, but Mel confesses that the Time Lords were wiped out by the Valeyard. When the [[Morak]] guards arrive to hand out the prisoners' rations, Mel guns them down and Nula accompanies her in her escape.


''In the dungeons of Chronopolis, Mel speaks with Nula, who informs her that the dungeons contain one representative of every species capable of time travel, and that the rest of their species were eradicated by the Mighty One. Nula is from the planet Archetryx, and her fellow prisoners included an Urbankan (until he was shot trying to escape) and one of the Monan Host. Gerrof was the last of the Tharils, and by killing him to make a point, Mel has eradicated an entire species. She’s depressed to realise how little she cares; the things she’s seen since starting this mission have changed her, and not for the better. Nula is stunned when Mel casually admits that the Time Lords were the Mighty One’s first victims; when Mel arrived with her staser and her Time Ring, Nula believed that a Time Lord had finally come to save them. Most of their fellow prisoners have been beaten down and will not help Mel to fight her way out of the dungeons, but Nula offers to accompany her. The dungeons are guarded by the Moroks, the only race of time-travellers to survive their encounter with the Mighty One -- because they surrendered to him and now serve as his private army. This time, when the guards arrive to hand out the prisoners’ rations, Mel guns them down.''
A build-up of temporal distortion stops the Valeyard's TARDIS from materialising correctly as he attempts to rescue himself by going back in time and telling his earlier self not to visit Logopolis. Due to the temporal distortion, he tries to yell a warning to his previous self, but only hears a portion of it. The mention of [[Logopolis]], however, is what first motivates him to go there. Frustrated, the Valeyard leaves his TARDIS and heads back to Ellie, telling her that she is also in jeopardy since the web of Time is trying to undo the harm he has done by deleting him from history. If that occurs, she will never meet him and face the repercussions. Realising his mistake, the Valeyard chooses to go even further back in time and destroy Logopolis before the [[Fourth Doctor]] can meet {{Ainley}} and, consequently, fall off of the [[Pharos Project]]. The Valeyard destroys Logopolis with the Doomsday Weapon and returns to Uxarius as a result, but just as he starts to unwind, he gets sick once more.


The Valeyard tries to save himself by travelling back in time and warning his past self not to travel to Logopolis, but a build-up of time distortion prevents his TARDIS from materialising properly. He tries to shout out a warning to his past self, but due to the time distortion, his past self only hears part of the warning -- and the mention of Logopolis inspires him to travel there in the first place. Frustrated, the Valeyard returns to his TARDIS, and warns Ellie that she too is in danger; the web of Time is trying to repair the damage he’s done to it by erasing him from history, and if that happens then she will never meet him and will suffer the consequences.
Although Valeyard appears to stabilise once he is outside the spacetime continuum, he discovers that there are now gaps in his memory. Ellie assists in getting the unstable Valeyard back inside the TARDIS. In an effort to discover proof for her idea and potentially a solution before she and the Valeyard totally vanish, Ellie begins looking for one of the Doctor's diaries.


Desperate to put things right, the Valeyard decides to travel back even further in time and use the Doomsday Weapon to destroy Logopolis before his fourth incarnation’s visit, thus ensuring that his fourth incarnation never actually travels there and is not accidentally killed. He thus returns to Uxarius and destroys Logopolis, but just as he’s beginning to relax, he begins to feel unwell again. The obvious occurs to Ellie: the Fourth Doctor was paying a ''return'' visit to Logopolis, and the web of time is trying to unravel the Valeyard from history. What if, through sheer coincidence, the Valeyard destroyed the planet Logopolis at the very moment that his earliest self was visiting it for the first time? Ellie helps to get the unstable Valeyard back into the TARDIS, and although he seems to recover once he is outside the space/time continuum, he finds that there are now gaps in his memory. Ellie starts searching for one of the Doctor’s diaries, hoping to find evidence to support her theory -- and perhaps some way to solve the problem before she and the Valeyard vanish completely.
On a ship with Nula and Geroff, Mel has recently been taken prisoner after seeking an audience with the Valeyard. Here, Mel recognizes that the city of Chronopolis signifies that the Valeyard is still the man she always knew. Despite it's empty and crystalline appearance, it's a spitting image of [[Brighton]].


''In another era, on a slave ship heading for Chronopolis, two slaves named Nula and Gerrof are surprised to find that one of the new prisoners appears to be human. They’ve seen a de-horned Nimon and heard rumours that a Navarino had been captured, but they’d believed that the human species had been wiped out. The new prisoner, Mel, claims that she walked up to a building she knew the Mighty One to be in and demanded an audience with him, only to end up here. When she sees the city of Chronopolis laid out before her, she recognises it as proof that the Mighty One is who she thinks he is. It’s made of crystal and appears unpopulated, but in all other respects it’s a replica of her home, Brighton.''
In one of the Doctor’s old diaries, Ellie finds the entry she’s looking for; it seems that the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo visited Logopolis shortly after leaving the city of Kiev in the 13th century. The Valeyard must find a way to stop the First Doctor from visiting Logopolis, but as he tries to come up with a plan, Mel materialises inside the TARDIS, direct from the remains of the Matrix. She tries to speak to the man she knows as the Doctor, but he rebuffs her, insisting that the Doctor no longer exists.


In one of the Doctor’s old diaries, Ellie finds the entry she’s looking for; it seems that the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo visited Logopolis shortly after leaving the city of Kiev in the 13th century. The Valeyard must find a way to stop the First Doctor from visiting Logopolis, but as he tries to come up with a plan, Mel materialises inside the TARDIS, direct from the remains of the Matrix. She tries to speak to the man she knows as the Doctor, but he rebuffs her, insisting that the Doctor no longer exists. The Valeyard is a new man, one who intends to recover all of the weapons of mass destruction which the old Doctor would have buried away or destroyed, and use them to create a new realm in which he is the absolute ruler. But first he has more immediate concerns, and he thus intends to travel back to Kiev and kill Dodo -- using a knife which once belonged to an “artist” in Whitechapel -- in order to prevent his first incarnation from setting off to Logopolis on a pleasure jaunt. Mel can’t believe that the Doctor would do such a terrible thing... and the Valeyard thus takes the knife and casually murders Ellie, partly so he can focus on his own problems without distraction but mainly to prove to Mel that he’s not the man she knows. He then takes the Time Ring from the horrified Mel, damages it, and expels her from his TARDIS, sending her spinning off helplessly into the Time Vortex.
Ellie locates the entry she is seeking in the Doctor's old diary; it appears that the First Doctor had travelled to Logopolis in the past. The Valeyard is trying to prevent the First Doctor from going to Logopolis when Mel appears inside the TARDIS, coming straight from the ruins of the Matrix. While Mel insists that he is the Doctor, the Valeyard refuses and maintains that the Doctor she knew is long dead. He is a new man. A man that will use the powers and tools that his predecessor rebuked and use them to establish a new realm of his own design from which he alone will rule. However, since he is more concerned about the present, he plans to return to Kiev and murder Dodo in order to stop his predecessor from travelling to Logopolis. Mel refuses to believe the Doctor is capable of such a thing, so the Valeyard murders Ellie and expels Mel from his TARDIS. He snatches the Time Ring from her, destroys it, and leaves her to spin aimlessly in the Time Vortex.


This is the beginning of Mel’s long quest to track down the Doctor again, which finally ends up in Chronopolis with Nula by her side. There, Mel shoots her way into the Mighty One’s throne room, but it takes some time for him to recognise her. He remembers her at last, but can’t remember how she died; she could have died on Earth in the year 2012, or on the colony world of Heritage, or when the spaceship ''Nosferatu II'' crashed. But Mel is no longer the trusting and somewhat naïve woman he knew; she’s seen the havoc which the Valeyard has wrought throughout space and time, and knows that there’s no reasoning with him any longer. He really isn’t the Doctor; the Doctor always knew better than to go for the easy solution.
Thus begins Mel's attempt to track down the Valeyard and reunite with the Doctor, which has led her to her meeting with Nula in Chronopolis. Mel enters the Valeyard's throne room where he slowly comes to recognize her. Mel, however, is no longer the gullible and rather naive woman he once knew. Having seen the destruction he had wrought over space and time, Mel knows that there is no longer any use in trying to argue with him. He isn't the Doctor.


The Valeyard scoffs at Mel, and at Nula, who fears him yet still believes that there’s hope. Mel also believes that the presence of the prisoners is proof that the Valeyard retains some small measure of the Doctor’s morality, as he’s been keeping alive one survivor from each of the species he’s destroyed. The Valeyard scoffs and pronounces himself the lord of creation and destruction; Chronopolis is located at the very heart of the space/time vortex, and from here, he can travel through interstitial time and create or destroy at a whim. He demonstrates his power by stabbing Nula five years in the past, then snapping her neck seconds before she enters the throne room, and then restoring her to life. Mel has had enough; she’s given the Doctor a chance to assert himself, and it hasn’t happened, so she shoots the Valeyard. But he travels seconds back in time and removed the gun from her hands before she has the chance to shoot. As he laughs triumphantly, however, everything around them begins to disintegrate -- the throne room, Nula, and even the Valeyard himself seem to vanish into a void...
The Valeyard mocks Mel and Nula for holding out hope despite her fears. Mel also thinks that the captives' presence is evidence that the Valeyard still possesses some morals on account of the Doctor's practice of preserving one survivor from each race he has exterminated. As Chronopolis is situated right at the centre of the space/time vortex, The Valeyard scoffs and declares himself to be the ruler of creation and destruction. From here, he may travel across interstitial time and create or destroy at will. He stabs Nula five years in the past, snaps her neck just as she is about to enter the royal room, and then revives her. Mel shoots the Valeyard because she's had enough; she's given the Doctor enough chances to take control but he clearly would not. Before she can fire, however, he goes back in time a few seconds and takes the pistol away from her. The throne room, Nula, and even the Valeyard himself appear to disappear into a void as he chuckles gleefully, but everything else starts to fall apart.


Mel suddenly finds herself standing in the console room of the TARDIS -- and the real Valeyard is cowering in the corner, literally afraid to move. Chronopolis has vanished like the phantom it was; the TARDIS was using the last dregs of its energy to generate possibility projections, to keep the Valeyard safe from himself. The quivering Valeyard reveals that he’s travelled back and forth through time, meeting his past and future selves, changing his own past and the past of the Universe so many times that he no longer knows what, if anything, is real. All the Valeyard ever wanted was to be real himself, but when he got the chance, he squandered it by wantonly destroying other possibilities. The changes he made cascaded through Time until he could no longer keep track of them himself, and his only choice was to hide away inside the TARDIS, protected by the illusion of an impenetrable fortress which would keep everyone out. Chronopolis only resembled Brighton to Mel because the Valeyard had made it in the image of his home, and when Mel arrived she saw it as her own home.
He demonstrates his power by stabbing Nula five years in the past, then snapping her neck seconds before she enters the throne room, and then restoring her to life. Mel has had enough; she’s given the Doctor a chance to assert himself, and it hasn’t happened, so she shoots the Valeyard. But he travels seconds back in time and removed the gun from her hands before she has the chance to shoot. As he laughs triumphantly, however, everything around them begins to disintegrate -- the throne room, Nula, and even the Valeyard himself seem to vanish into a void...


Mel realises that the TARDIS has frozen her and the Valeyard in place with its internal force fields, as the Valeyard is now literally afraid to move, fearing that any action he makes will ripple through the web of time and perhaps destroy the entire Universe. Mel never left the TARDIS; her experiences of the past ten years have all been part of the projections. But now the TARDIS has run out of power, and it can no longer maintain the illusion. It may take the Universe millions of centuries to recover from the damage which the Valeyard did to it -- and now Mel is trapped with the Valeyard, since her Time Ring is programmed to take her only to him, and the TARDIS itself can’t take her anywhere. The TARDIS’ symbiotic link with its owner is all that’s keeping it alive, and the TARDIS is all that’s keeping the Valeyard alive -- and Mel will now be trapped here with the two of them, unable to move for all eternity.
The actual Valeyard is cowering in the corner, physically unable to move, and Mel finds herself standing in the console room of the TARDIS. The TARDIS was spending the last of its energy to create potential projections in order to protect the Valeyard from himself when Chronopolis vanished like the ghost it was. The trembling Valeyard explains that he has been through time several times, meeting his previous and future selves and altering both his own past and the past of the universe so many times that he is unsure of what, if anything, is genuine. The only thing the Valeyard ever desired was to exist in actuality, but when given the chance, he wasted it by willfully obliterating alternative possibilities.
 
The changes he made cascaded through Time until he could no longer keep track of them himself, and his only choice was to hide away inside the TARDIS, protected by the illusion of an impenetrable fortress which would keep everyone out. Chronopolis only resembled Brighton to Mel because the Valeyard had made it in the image of his home, and when Mel arrived she saw it as her own home.
 
The Valeyard now fears that any movement he takes would cause ripple effects across the fabric of time and potentially end the universe. Mel realises that the TARDIS has frozen both her and the Valeyard in place with its internal force fields. Since all of Mel's experiences over the previous ten years have been projected, she has never left the TARDIS. The TARDIS can no longer sustain the illusion since it is now out of power. The Universe may need millions of years to heal from the harm the Valeyard caused it. Mel is stranded with the Valeyard since the TARDIS can only carry her so far and her Time Ring is set up to take her just to him. The only thing keeping the TARDIS alive is its symbiotic connection with its user, and the TARDIS is the only thing keeping the Valeyard alive. Mel will now be locked here with the two of them, unable to move for all of eternity.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
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* [[Pakhar (He Jests at Scars...)|Pakhar]] / Tannoy Voice / Matrix Voice - [[Gary Russell]]
* [[Pakhar (He Jests at Scars...)|Pakhar]] / Tannoy Voice / Matrix Voice - [[Gary Russell]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Clayton Hickman]]
* Writer & Director - [[Gary Russell]]
* Executive Producer - [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Music and Sound Designer - [[Jim Mortimore]]
* Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[John Ainsworth]]
* Script Editor - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* The [[megabyte modem]] is mentioned twice.
* The [[megabyte modem]] is mentioned twice.
* [[Steven Taylor]], [[Dodo Chaplet]], [[Peri Brown]], [[Evelyn Smythe]], [[Ace]], [[Hex]], [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] and [[C'rizz]] are mentioned.
* A [[time ram]] is accidentally initiated by the Valeyard to the [[Fourth Doctor]], when attempting to keep his younger self from reaching Logopolis with {{Ainley}}.
* A [[time ram]] is accidentally initiated by the Valeyard to the [[Fourth Doctor]], when attempting to keep his younger self from reaching Logopolis with {{Ainley}}.
* Mel is given a [[Melanie Bush's Time Ring (He Jests at Scars...)|Time Ring]].
* Mel is given a [[Melanie Bush's Time Ring (He Jests at Scars...)|Time Ring]].
* In various [[alternate timeline|alternative timelines]], Mel died of a brain tumour on [[Earth]] in [[2012]], on the colony planet Heritage in the [[61st century]], and in the crash of the spaceship ''[[Iceworld|Nosferatu II]]'' while travelling with [[Sabalom Glitz]].
* The Valeyard tells Mel the names of various companions which whom the Doctor might have travelled in another timeline: [[Peri Brown]], [[Evelyn Smythe]], [[Ace]], [[Hex]], [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] and [[C'rizz]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* The title is a reference to the line from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'': "He jests at scars, that never felt a wound." The title of the previous [[Doctor Who Unbound]] audio ''[[Full Fathom Five (audio story)|Full Fathom Five]]'' was also a Shakespearean quotation. Both stories are also about dark versions of the Doctor.
* The title is a reference to the line from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'': ''"He jests at scars, that never felt a wound."'', which is quoted directly in and thematically relevant to the story. The title of the previous [[Doctor Who Unbound]] audio, ''[[Full Fathom Five (audio story)|Full Fathom Five]]'', was also a Shakespearean quotation. Both stories are also about dark and tragic versions of the Doctor.
* This story marked the first appearance of [[the Valeyard]] in an audio drama. Jayston later reprises the role in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Trial of the Valeyard (audio story)|Trial of the Valeyard]]'' in [[2014 (releases)|2014]].
* This story marked the first appearance of [[the Valeyard]] in an audio drama. Jayston later reprises the role in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Trial of the Valeyard (audio story)|Trial of the Valeyard]]'' in [[2014 (releases)|2014]].
* This audio drama was recorded on [[26 June (production)|26 June]] [[2003 (production)|2003]].
* This audio drama was recorded on [[26 June (production)|26 June]] [[2003 (production)|2003]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
* The Valeyard mentions [[Hex]] and [[C'rizz]] among the companions with whom the Doctor might have travelled. This foreshadows their respective introductions in ''[[The Harvest (audio story)|The Harvest]]'' and ''[[The Creed of the Kromon (audio story)|The Creed of the Kromon]]''.
* The Valeyard mentions [[Hex]] and [[C'rizz]] among the companions with whom the Doctor might have travelled. This foreshadows their respective introductions in ''[[The Harvest (audio story)|The Harvest]]'' and ''[[The Creed of the Kromon (audio story)|The Creed of the Kromon]]''.
* This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download only.
* The story was reissued in the audio anthology ''[[Unbound: 1 - 8 Collected|Unbound: 1-8 Collected]]'' in [[September (releases)|September]] [[2022 (releases)|2022]].


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Vansell was introduced in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Sirens of Time (audio story)|The Sirens of Time]]'' and also appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties (novel)|Divided Loyalties]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Neverland (audio story)|Neverland]]''. Three other alternative versions of the character were depicted in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Reborn (audio story)|Reborn]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Disassembled (audio story)|Disassembled]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Annihilation (audio story)|Annihilation]]''.
* Ellie complains that the Valeyard criticises her for carrying weapons unless it suits him. In the proper timeline, the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s companion [[Ace]] frequently raises similar objections. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'')
* An alternative version of Ellie Martin appeared in the [[Sarah Jane Smith (audio series)|''Sarah Jane Smith'' audio series]].
* The Valeyard implies that he's picked up a weapon which belonged to [[Jack the Ripper]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Matrix (novel)|Matrix]]'')
* Time Rings first appeared in [[TV]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]''.
* Vansell observes the Valeyard and Ellie onboard the ''[[Hyperion III]]'' in the place of the Sixth Doctor and Mel in the proper timeline. The Valeyard leaves [[Travers|Commodore Travers]] and his entire crew dead, as well as leaving the "[[Vervoid|augmented aubergines]]" to their own devices. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]'')
* The concept of a time ram first occurred in [[TV]]: ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]''.
* Vansell compares the Valeyard to the inchoate form of a [[The Watcher (Logopolis)|Watcher]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') but claims that it is unprecedented for such a being to achieve independent sentience, implying either that the Time Lords are unaware of the existence of [[Cho-Je]] or that he was something else entirely. ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'')
* Ellie complains that the Valeyard criticises her for carrying weapons unless it suits him. In the proper timeline, the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s companion [[Ace]] frequently raises similar objections. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', et al)
* The Matrix’s projection of the Sixth Doctor’s missed encounter with Mel is inconsistent with their actual first encounter in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Business Unusual (novel)|Business Unusual]]''; they didn’t meet at the police station, but the previous day, when the Doctor took her friend Trey Korte back home before realising that he was staying with Mel. However, this story does take place in an alternative timeline, and it is possible that the Valeyard had already changed history in some other way, perhaps erasing Trey or the Nestenes from history.
* The Valeyard implies that he’s picked up a weapon which belonged to [[Jack the Ripper]], a probable reference to [[PROSE]]: ''[[Matrix (novel)|Matrix]]''.
* Vansell observes the Valeyard and Ellie onboard the ''[[Hyperion III]]'' in the place of the Sixth Doctor and Mel in the proper timeline. The Valeyard leaves [[Travers|Commodore Travers]] and his entire crew dead as well as leaving the "[[Vervoid|augmented aubergines]]" to their own devices. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)|Terror of the Vervoids]]'')
* Vansell compares the Valeyard to the inchoate form of the [[The Watcher (Logopolis)|Watcher]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') but claims that it is unprecedented for such a being to achieve independent sentience, implying either that the Time Lords are unaware of the existence of [[Cho Je]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'') or that he was something else entirely.
* Vansell refers to the Time Lords once sending the Doctor on an ultimately unsuccessful mission to destroy the [[Dalek]]s after the Valeyard has altered history by giving the [[Thal]]s a formula to wipe out the Daleks before their creation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
* Vansell refers to the Time Lords once sending the Doctor on an ultimately unsuccessful mission to destroy the [[Dalek]]s after the Valeyard has altered history by giving the [[Thal]]s a formula to wipe out the Daleks before their creation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'')
* Nula is from the planet [[Archetryx]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'')
* Nula is from the planet [[Archetryx]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'')
* The Valeyard intends to stop his [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnation]] from destroying [[Logopolis]] and to steal [[The Master's TARDIS (He Jests at Scars...)|the Master's TARDIS]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'')
* The Valeyard intends to stop his [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnation]] from destroying [[Logopolis]] and to steal [[The Master's TARDIS (He Jests at Scars...)|the Master's TARDIS]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'')
* The [[First Doctor]], [[Steven Taylor]] and "[[Dodo Chaplet|an extinct bird]]" visited Logopolis after leaving [[13th century]] [[Kiev]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Bunker Soldiers (novel)|Bunker Soldiers]]'')
* The [[First Doctor]], [[Steven Taylor]] and "[[Dodo Chaplet|an extinct bird]]" visited Logopolis after leaving [[13th century]] [[Kiev]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Bunker Soldiers (novel)|Bunker Soldiers]]'')
* In various [[alternate timeline|alternative timelines]], Mel died of a brain tumour on [[Earth]] in [[2012]], on the colony planet Heritage in the [[61st century]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Heritage (novel)|Heritage]]'') and in the crash of the spaceship ''[[Iceworld|Nosferatu II]]'' while travelling with [[Sabalom Glitz]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]'')
* Vansell observes the Valeyard and Ellie visiting a [[Silurian]] bunker in the Galapagos Islands. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Bloodtide (audio story)|Bloodtide]]'')
* Vansell observes the Valeyard and Ellie visiting a [[Silurian]] bunker in the Galapagos Islands, as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and his companion [[Evelyn Smythe]] did on [[19 September]] [[1835]] in the proper timeline. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Bloodtide (audio story)|Bloodtide]]'')
* The Valeyard berths his TARDIS at "the exact [[Centre of the Time Vortex|centre of the space-time vortex]]", where all timelines meet. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Party Animals (comic story)|Party Animals]]'')
* The Valeyard tells Mel the names of various companions which whom the Doctor might have travelled in another timeline (namely, the proper timeline): [[Peri Brown]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of Fire (TV story)|Planet of Fire]]''), [[Evelyn Smythe]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Marian Conspiracy (audio story)|The Marian Conspiracy]]''), [[Ace]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]''), [[Hex]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Harvest (audio story)|The Harvest]]''), [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]'') and [[C'rizz]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Creed of the Kromon (audio story)|The Creed of the Kromon]]'')
* The Valeyard and Ellie retrieve [[the Diadem]] from a ravine on [[Pakha]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy]]'')
*


== External links ==
== External links ==
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Latest revision as of 03:11, 13 March 2024

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audio stub

He Jests at Scars... was the fourth Doctor Who Unbound audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. This was the first story not to feature an alternate Doctor, instead featuring Michael Jayston reprising his role as the Valeyard, whom he had last played in 1986's The Ultimate Foe. Bonnie Langford also reprised her role of Melanie Bush. However, like other characters in the Unbound series, these reprisals were of alternate versions of their characters, changed by the scenario presented in the story. The events shown here touch upon what might have happened if the Valeyard had won his trial against the Sixth Doctor and then stole his remaining regenerations.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

What if... the Valeyard had won?

The thing about meddling with time is that one moment something is real, the next, it's been erased. Probability becomes just a possibility. Established truth becomes a theoretical falsehood. Like dominoes, as one timeline falls, the others come cascading down around it. You can engineer new timelines, new possibilities, but before long, the distinction between what is, what was, what might be and what never can be becomes blurred.

Out of this grow myths, lies and legends. The Doctor was one such legend, but no one knows whether he truly ever existed. Well, not now they don't. The Mighty One, ruling the multiverses from the eternal city of Chronopolis, has made sure of that.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The TARDIS materialises on the planet Pakha. The Valeyard sends his companion, Ellie Martin, to collect the fabled Ancient Diadem, a thing of vast and terrible power. He makes it very clear that he will leave Ellie in this place if she doesn't get the Diadem.

Investigating the breach into the sacred cavern, a Pakhar is astonished by the sight of Ellie and the Valeyard attempting to take the Diadem. The fact that the aliens have come in a TARDIS is a further shock. Taking advantage of the creature's surprise, the Valeyard offers an explanation to calm his nerves before snapping his neck. Ellie is unphased by the death, but is shocked that the "legendary Doctor" could be so brutal. The Valeyard rebukes her shock by remarking that he is not the Doctor himself.

On the Space Station Zenobia, Coordinator Vansell and the new President-Elect are conversing with Mel. The High Council has fallen, and the Earth has been shifted back to its previous place in the cosmos. The Valeyard and the Doctor were caught in the Matrix as it collapsed around them. Nobody is entirely certain of what happened to the Doctor after that, nor are they sure if they want to save him. While a Time Lord, at the point of regeneration, has previously been visited by a Watcher, a Watcher has never had its own independent and fully actualized existence. According to Vansell, the Valeyard's victory would make for an interesting subject of research as he might have access to all his past, present, and future experiences and memories.

Horrified, Mel notes that the Valeyard they were familiar with was a combination of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature. What would he do if left alone and unrestrained by the Doctor's moral scruples? Luckily, the Doctor and the Valeyard are still inside of the Matrix and thus the trio can view potential future projections. To access the projection of the Vervoid adventure, the trio used the Seventh Doctor to enter the Matrix.

The trio use the Seventh Door to enter the Matrix and examine the projected variation of the Vervoid adventure. They discover that, in this projection, the Valeyard and Ellie were passengers aboard the Hyperion III and every person onboard the ship died because he didn't think to use the vionesium against the Vervoids until it was too late. The only survivors were the Valeyard and Ellie, who made the decision to take their chances and flee.

Noting Mel's absence, Vansell examines the Matrix data and discovers that Mel had never left Earth with the Doctor at all. Instead, she stayed in Brighton and passed away from a brain tumour. The Valeyard had begun to change his own past, arranging things so that Mel never met the Sixth Doctor, helping the Thals wipe out the Daleks, repairing the alarm on a Silurian bunker in the Galapagos Islands so they will awake on time, and more. While the Doctor refused to change time when asked by the Time Lords, the Valeyard was willing to change the flow of history. After all, he could always go back and return things to the way they were should the need arise.

While Vansell is comfortable with the Valeyard's actions, Mel and the President-elect are appalled. Their debate is cut short, as Vansell's investigation reveals that Gallifrey and the Space Station Zenobia have both been destroyed; the Matrix is deteriorating and will be completely gone in 60 years. Vansell discovers that the Valeyard managed to shoot his way past the Primitives protecting the Doomsday Weapon and turned it on the constellation of Kasterborous in the year 1471, where he finds the planet Uxarius as the source. Free of the meddlesome Time Lords, the Valeyard now has control of the ultimate weapon.

Vansell has learned his folly too late. While they were watching projections of the possible future, the Valeyard defeated the Doctor and took on the Doctor’s future incarnations as his own. Now only the Valeyard is left, and with Gallifrey gone, Vansell doesn’t have the power to go back in time and change the outcome of their fight. Mel, convinced that the Doctor’s spirit survives somewhere within the man he’s become, offers to try to reason with him. The President reluctantly offers up his personal Time Ring, and Vansell provides Mel with a staser gun and sends her on her way. She is Gallifrey’s last hope; if she can’t defeat the Valeyard, then the Time Lords will never have existed.

In the dungeons of Chronopolis, Nula tells Mel that all of the prisoners were time sensitives and the the Valeyard had wiped out the rest of the inhabitants of her home planet Archetryx. Mel had wiped off an entire species by killing Gerrof, the last of the Tharils, in order to prove a point. She is saddened to realise how little she cares; this mission has made her capable of horrible things. Nula was under the impression that Mel was a Time Lord agent, but Mel confesses that the Time Lords were wiped out by the Valeyard. When the Morak guards arrive to hand out the prisoners' rations, Mel guns them down and Nula accompanies her in her escape.

A build-up of temporal distortion stops the Valeyard's TARDIS from materialising correctly as he attempts to rescue himself by going back in time and telling his earlier self not to visit Logopolis. Due to the temporal distortion, he tries to yell a warning to his previous self, but only hears a portion of it. The mention of Logopolis, however, is what first motivates him to go there. Frustrated, the Valeyard leaves his TARDIS and heads back to Ellie, telling her that she is also in jeopardy since the web of Time is trying to undo the harm he has done by deleting him from history. If that occurs, she will never meet him and face the repercussions. Realising his mistake, the Valeyard chooses to go even further back in time and destroy Logopolis before the Fourth Doctor can meet the Tremas Master and, consequently, fall off of the Pharos Project. The Valeyard destroys Logopolis with the Doomsday Weapon and returns to Uxarius as a result, but just as he starts to unwind, he gets sick once more.

Although Valeyard appears to stabilise once he is outside the spacetime continuum, he discovers that there are now gaps in his memory. Ellie assists in getting the unstable Valeyard back inside the TARDIS. In an effort to discover proof for her idea and potentially a solution before she and the Valeyard totally vanish, Ellie begins looking for one of the Doctor's diaries.

On a ship with Nula and Geroff, Mel has recently been taken prisoner after seeking an audience with the Valeyard. Here, Mel recognizes that the city of Chronopolis signifies that the Valeyard is still the man she always knew. Despite it's empty and crystalline appearance, it's a spitting image of Brighton.

In one of the Doctor’s old diaries, Ellie finds the entry she’s looking for; it seems that the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo visited Logopolis shortly after leaving the city of Kiev in the 13th century. The Valeyard must find a way to stop the First Doctor from visiting Logopolis, but as he tries to come up with a plan, Mel materialises inside the TARDIS, direct from the remains of the Matrix. She tries to speak to the man she knows as the Doctor, but he rebuffs her, insisting that the Doctor no longer exists.

Ellie locates the entry she is seeking in the Doctor's old diary; it appears that the First Doctor had travelled to Logopolis in the past. The Valeyard is trying to prevent the First Doctor from going to Logopolis when Mel appears inside the TARDIS, coming straight from the ruins of the Matrix. While Mel insists that he is the Doctor, the Valeyard refuses and maintains that the Doctor she knew is long dead. He is a new man. A man that will use the powers and tools that his predecessor rebuked and use them to establish a new realm of his own design from which he alone will rule. However, since he is more concerned about the present, he plans to return to Kiev and murder Dodo in order to stop his predecessor from travelling to Logopolis. Mel refuses to believe the Doctor is capable of such a thing, so the Valeyard murders Ellie and expels Mel from his TARDIS. He snatches the Time Ring from her, destroys it, and leaves her to spin aimlessly in the Time Vortex.

Thus begins Mel's attempt to track down the Valeyard and reunite with the Doctor, which has led her to her meeting with Nula in Chronopolis. Mel enters the Valeyard's throne room where he slowly comes to recognize her. Mel, however, is no longer the gullible and rather naive woman he once knew. Having seen the destruction he had wrought over space and time, Mel knows that there is no longer any use in trying to argue with him. He isn't the Doctor.

The Valeyard mocks Mel and Nula for holding out hope despite her fears. Mel also thinks that the captives' presence is evidence that the Valeyard still possesses some morals on account of the Doctor's practice of preserving one survivor from each race he has exterminated. As Chronopolis is situated right at the centre of the space/time vortex, The Valeyard scoffs and declares himself to be the ruler of creation and destruction. From here, he may travel across interstitial time and create or destroy at will. He stabs Nula five years in the past, snaps her neck just as she is about to enter the royal room, and then revives her. Mel shoots the Valeyard because she's had enough; she's given the Doctor enough chances to take control but he clearly would not. Before she can fire, however, he goes back in time a few seconds and takes the pistol away from her. The throne room, Nula, and even the Valeyard himself appear to disappear into a void as he chuckles gleefully, but everything else starts to fall apart.

He demonstrates his power by stabbing Nula five years in the past, then snapping her neck seconds before she enters the throne room, and then restoring her to life. Mel has had enough; she’s given the Doctor a chance to assert himself, and it hasn’t happened, so she shoots the Valeyard. But he travels seconds back in time and removed the gun from her hands before she has the chance to shoot. As he laughs triumphantly, however, everything around them begins to disintegrate -- the throne room, Nula, and even the Valeyard himself seem to vanish into a void...

The actual Valeyard is cowering in the corner, physically unable to move, and Mel finds herself standing in the console room of the TARDIS. The TARDIS was spending the last of its energy to create potential projections in order to protect the Valeyard from himself when Chronopolis vanished like the ghost it was. The trembling Valeyard explains that he has been through time several times, meeting his previous and future selves and altering both his own past and the past of the universe so many times that he is unsure of what, if anything, is genuine. The only thing the Valeyard ever desired was to exist in actuality, but when given the chance, he wasted it by willfully obliterating alternative possibilities.

The changes he made cascaded through Time until he could no longer keep track of them himself, and his only choice was to hide away inside the TARDIS, protected by the illusion of an impenetrable fortress which would keep everyone out. Chronopolis only resembled Brighton to Mel because the Valeyard had made it in the image of his home, and when Mel arrived she saw it as her own home.

The Valeyard now fears that any movement he takes would cause ripple effects across the fabric of time and potentially end the universe. Mel realises that the TARDIS has frozen both her and the Valeyard in place with its internal force fields. Since all of Mel's experiences over the previous ten years have been projected, she has never left the TARDIS. The TARDIS can no longer sustain the illusion since it is now out of power. The Universe may need millions of years to heal from the harm the Valeyard caused it. Mel is stranded with the Valeyard since the TARDIS can only carry her so far and her Time Ring is set up to take her just to him. The only thing keeping the TARDIS alive is its symbiotic connection with its user, and the TARDIS is the only thing keeping the Valeyard alive. Mel will now be locked here with the two of them, unable to move for all of eternity.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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