The Year That Never Was

The Year That Never Was was a year which, due to the destruction of the technology which made it possible, never occurred for a majority of the population of Earth but was remembered by a few people who witnessed it. It was set between May 2008 and 2009, and was when the new Time Lord Empire was being created on Earth by the Master.

Background

In the year 2008 Harold Saxon became Prime Minister of Great Britain following the downfall of Harriet Jones. Unknown to the people of Great Britain Harold Saxon was actually a Time Lord called the Master, and enemy of the Doctor. He claimed to have established contact with aliens called the Toclafane and planned a formal greeting for them. However President-Elect of the United States Arthur Coleman Winters informed the United Nations who transferred the greeting of the Toclafane to the UNIT airship, the Valiant.

On the day of the connection with the Toclafane, the Master revealed his true intentions to the people of Earth. He had the Toclafane kill Winters and then ordered them to begin the attack of Earth, slaughtering one tenth of the population. He took the Doctor, Jack Harkness, Francine Jones, Clive Jones and Tish Jones captive. However, Martha Jones manages to escape by teleporting to Earth with Jack's Vortex Manipulator. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Occupation of Earth

The Master had enslaved the human race with the intention of using them to build weapons in preparation for war against the rest of the universe. The Master wished to turn Earth into New Gallifrey and create a new empire stretching across the universe, lasting "one hundred trillion years". This was done by the use of the TARDIS, which he turned into a paradox machine, creating a temporal paradox between the End of the Universe and the last place the TARDIS landed. (DW: The Sound of Drums) This was due to the Doctor fusing the coordinates on the TARDIS so he would know where to find the Master. (DW: Utopia)

Master's actions on Earth

The Master imposed an enitirely dictatorial and despotic regime apon the Earth, himself at the head of it. He used the Toclaphane as a military force, law enforcement, and secret police. Though he at first slaughtered 600 million people purely for his own sadistic amusement, it is evident that human population -- possibly through intensive breeding; it is likely that he desired a large labour force -- recovered over the following year: the humans vastly outnumber the Toclaphane, despite their numbers being roughly equal at the time of the Master's take-over.

The people of Earth were subject to torture and genecide during this period, conducted on an apparently random basis. There were also many indirect economic and social problems, largely casused by lack of public services and indifferent Government. The people suffered severe over population, often with many families crammed into a single house, and economic and technologial regress occured massively in the neglected urban centres; one citizen claimed that London was "full of wild dogs" by night.

Also during this year, the Doctor realised that the Toclafane were actually the humans from the future.

Resistance

Head of the resistance was Martha Jones who became renowned among the human race for travelling across the world and evading capture from the Master. One of the more notable escapes was the flight from Japan. She had escaped the Valiant using the vortex manipulator given to her by Jack Harkness and witnessed the slaughter of one tenth of the population of Earth. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Many legends developed around Martha Jones and the purpose for her travelling the world. The most common belief held by people was that she travelled across the world in search of a weapon. Another belief held by the people was that Martha Jones was the only one who could kill the Master.

Members of the resistance include Tom Milligan, Leo Jones (Martha's brother) and Professor Alison Docherty, who betrayed Martha to the Master in return for information about her son.

A small resistance also existed on the Master's headquarters, the Valiant, headed by the Doctor. Members of this resistance included Francine Jones, Clive Jones, Tish Jones and Jack Harkness. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Eve of War

The Eve of War was the day before the Master planned to go to war against the rest of the universe. He chose this day to transmit a warning to Martha. He used his laser screwdriver to age the Doctor to his actual age of 900 years. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Revolt on Earth

Martha Jones was captured on the Eve of War and taken to the Valiant to be executed as the Master wished for the Doctor to see her die. The Master transmitted to all of Earth so that they too could witness the death of Martha. However she reveals that she had traveled the universe to spread the word about the Doctor as part of the plan they both made when the Master took control to use the Archangel Network against him.

She explained that she told them that if they think at one word, at one time and at one moment they could defeat the Master. When the Master's countdown to war reaches zero the people of Earth began to chant the Doctor's name. Lucy Saxon and the soldiers also began to chant the Doctor's name.

The Doctor was rejuvenated to his normal form and briefly became god-like, towering over the Master. This is one of the Master's greatest fears. The Doctor then says he forgave the Master for his behavior, another of the Master's fears. He attempted to escape using the vortex manipulator he had taken from Martha but the Doctor took hold of him, transporting them to a cliff overlooking the missiles field.

Meanwhile Martha Jones and her family took control of the Valiant, preventing the Master from launching the fleet. However the Toclafane began to descend on the Valiant to protect the paradox machine. Jack Harkness and two soldiers attempted to take control of the paradox machine. As he cannot die, Jack is able to get past the Toclafane and destroy the paradox. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

The Doctor managed to talk the Master into handing over the black hole converter, as the Doctor states that the Master could never bring himself to kill himself, even to spite him. They are transported back to the Valiant. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Outcome

As the paradox machine used to subvert a temporal paradox was destroyed, time began to reverse to the point when the paradox first took effect thereby allowing the year to occur was destroyed. As a result the events of the year did not actually happen for the majority of the population of Earth. Time was reset to a few moments after the murder of President-Elect Winters. The only people with memories of the year were those on the Valiant: the Doctor, the Master, Jack Harkness, Lucy Saxon (the Master's companion), Martha Jones, Francine Jones, Clive Jones, Tish Jones, and the soldiers aboard the Valiant.

The Master once again attempted to escape but was stopped by Jack who, along with Clive, Tish and Francine, wished to execute the Master for his crimes. However the Doctor took control of the situation, announcing that he planned to leave Jack and Martha to "keep" the Master in TARDIS. The Doctor had previously offered this to the Master but he had refused. (DW: The Sound of Drums) The Master was shot by Lucy, and refused to regenerate despite the fact the Doctor begged him to do so, therefore committing suicide just to spite him. The Master took this as a final victory over the Doctor, and died. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Negative effects of the Year being erased

Theoretically speaking, anyone who had been on board the Valiant at the time the paradox machine was activated but was elsewhere at the point it was destroyed would have been obliterated by the negation of the Year, as the Valiant and its occupants were the last remnants of the Year. Similarly, anyone who had been outside the Valiant at the time the paradox machine was activated but on board when it was destroyed would now exist in two versions - one who had never experienced the Year and one who had. This point, however, is moot as there is no indication that any major (or minor) character fell into this circumstance.

Behind the scenes

The Story of Martha, scheduled for publication in December 2008, will fill in and chronicle Martha's activities during this year.