The Ultimate Foe (TV story)

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Did you call him... the Doctor?The Doctor

The Ultimate Foe is the title given to episodes 13 and 14, the concluding episodes of The Trial of a Time Lord, the series-long storyline that constituted Season 23. The on-screen title was simply The Trial of a Time Lord. This story marked the final appearance of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, and also marked the final appearances of The Inquisitor and The Valeyard as recurring characters. This was the last of the Master's annual appearances on the show; he wouldn't appear again until Survival in Season 26. This was the final story to which longtime scriptwriter Robert Holmes contributed.

Synopsis

The final episode in the season-long 'Trial of a Time Lord' saga, a surprise appearance of the Master reveals the treachery of the High Council of Time Lords, and that the Valeyard is not what he appears to be.

Plot

Part Thirteen

As the Keeper of the Matrix arrives in the Trial room, the Inquisitor asks the Doctor whether he has any further evidence for his defence. He says that he does not, and accuses the Valeyard's evidence of being a farrago of lies, worthy of Baron Munchausen. He maintains that the Matrix has been tampered with. The Keeper denies that it is possible, as no one may enter the Matrix without the Key of Rassilon. The Inquisitor accepts the Valeyard's argument that the Doctor's allegation is unsubstantiated. Yet the Doctor insists the evidence has been deliberately tampered with by someone who wants him dead, such as the Valeyard. With the evidence complete, the Doctor learns that the Master has gained access to his Tardis.

Two capsules are summoned to the Gallifreyan space station containing Sabalom Glitz and Melanie Bush. The Inquisitor says the only way for the Doctor to prove his allegation of evidence tampering would be to produce witnesses. Just as he is saying that would be impossible to do so, as any witnesses would be scattered through time and space, Mel and Glitz arrive in the Court Room. The Doctor and the Inquisitor asks who has sent them, and on the Matrix screen, the Master appears to announce that it is he who has done so. He is within the Matrix proving the Doctor's allegation to be true — he has obtained a copy of the Key of Rassilon. He states that justice must be done, not because he does not want to see the Doctor dead, but because he cannot countenance a rival. He stares meaningfully at the Valeyard.

The Valeyard tries to discredit anything Glitz will say by calling him a convicted criminal, but even he cannot impugn Mel's character. The Master nevertheless asks that Glitz be allowed to speak. The Doctor begins to question Glitz, who admits to being the Master's business partner. The Doctor asks about the information Glitz was trying to obtain on Ravolox, which Glitz reveals were technological secrets stolen by the Sleepers from the Matrix. The Keeper is shocked at the allegation, and Glitz says that Sleepers had found a way to break into the Matrix and take the secrets back to Andromeda. Eventually the Time Lords discovered what was happening and traced the Sleepers to their secret base on Earth. Planning to wipe out all the Sleepers, the High Council planned to use the Magnetron — a formidable device which dragged the Earth across space thereby causing a fireball nearly annihilating all life on the planet. The robot recovery mission from Andromeda then sped past Earth, and the Gallifreyan secrets were safe, However, the Sleepers managed to set up an underground survival chamber.

The Doctor gives an impassioned speech, denouncing the Time Lords as decadent and corrupt. Comparing them to the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans, he says those races are still in the nursery of evil. The Inquisitor tries to stop the Doctor's outburst, but in his fury he says that the outrage would have remained secret for centuries. The Master says that the High Council took advantage of the Doctor's blundering into the situation on Ravolox. They made an arrangement with the Valeyard — who he has always known as the Doctor — to arrange the evidence against the Sixth Doctor. In return he would receive the remainder of the Doctor's regenerations. The Master reveals the true identity of the Valeyard — an amalgamation of the Doctor's dark side somewhere between his twelfth and final regenerations. The Sixth Doctor demands the trial be brought to an immediate halt — otherwise the same person would be both prosecutor and defendant. The Inquisitor dismisses this as the inquiry's purpose is simply to determine the truth of the defendant's actions, but at this moment, the Valeyard flees the trial room.

The Doctor, Glitz, the Inquisitor and the Keeper follow him out but the Valeyard is nowhere to be seen. The Keeper suggests that the Valeyard may have had a copy of the key to the "Seventh Door" of the Matrix. Unlocking the door, the Doctor and Glitz enter into the fictional reality that is the Matrix.

The Doctor finds himself in a darkened city street. He hears the maniacal laughter of the Valeyard but he is nowhere to be seen. He hears children singing and people laughing, but again he does not see a living soul. As he examines a barrel, a hand emerges and grabs his throat choking him. At this moment, Glitz arrives and runs to his rescue. The Doctor is unable to tell if the experience was real or imaginary. He says that the only logic at work in the Matrix is that there is no logic at all. Glitz presents him with a note from the Master, telling him where the Valeyard has his base — the Fantasy Factory, proprietor J. J. Chambers. They look up and see a building with a huge illuminated sign "The Fantasy Factory". A harpoon is hurled from the building and hits Glitz in the chest.

The Master tells the Inquisitor that most of the evidence that had been presented was in fact true. However, Peri survived the events on Thoros Beta and became King Yrcanos's queen.

Glitz survives as he was wearing a life preserver. The Doctor says the Valeyard is playing games, trying to humiliate the Doctor. Glitz wants to leave the Doctor to his fate, but the Doctor tells him as the only witness to events, the Valeyard would be forced to track him down and kill him. He grudgingly agrees to help the Doctor.

The Inquisitor asks the Master if he has any proof of his allegation that the Doctor and Valeyard are in fact the same person, to which he replies he should examine the High Council. It was they who set up the travesty of the Trial to cover up their own involvement. She asks him his concern in the matter — to which he says that the Doctor is well matched against himself in his battle. Mel calls him utterly evil, which he takes as a compliment. He thinks the Valeyard will win, but hopes that the battle might result in their mutual destruction. The Master chuckles with malevolent glee at the thought of destroying the Doctor and destabilising the High Council of Time Lords, a great result for a renegade like him.

In the Fantasy Factory, the Doctor is confronted by a quill writing clerk who proceeds to studiously ignore him. When the Doctor rings his bell, the clerk asks if he has an appointment to see Mr. Chambers. The Doctor says he will be expected, and the clerk asks for his and Glitz's names. The clerk informs them that there will be many forms to be completed before they can move onto the next stage of processing. To the clerk's dismay, the Doctor and Glitz burst into the next room without an appointment. In the next identical room, they see an identical clerk, but this one is expecting them. He informs them that the very junior Mr Popplewick is not permitted to expect anyone. The Doctor tells this clerk that the proprietor is expecting them, to which he sharply replies that the junior Mr Popplewick is not permitted to expect anyone. The Doctor asks the clerk if there is anyway to expedite the procedures, but the clerk sees no need to speed up what he considers a perfect system. The Doctor tells him that the proprietor wants him dead, and finally defeated, the clerk admits that the Doctor has found the one weakness in the procedure. The clerk gives the Doctor a form, asking him to sign away his remaining lives to Mr Chambers should he meet an unforeseen accident within the factory. Knowing that the Valeyard can kill at any time anyway, the Doctor signs it.

Directed to the waiting room, the Doctor finds himself alone in a deserted wasteland. Again he hears the Valeyard's maniacal laughter, and out of the grave, hands reach up and grab the Doctor by the ankles. He refuses that what is happening is real, but more and more hands reach up and grab him, and the Valeyard's voice tells him this is not an illusion, not this time. The Doctor is slowly dragged beneath the ground...


Part Fourteen

Glitz arrives to rescue the Doctor and sees just his ankles sticking out of the ground. He grabs a shoe but it comes away. He hears the Doctor's voice coming from below, and the Doctor rises from the ground. The whole scenario had been an illusion. The Valeyard appears and taunts the Doctor. The Doctor asks him why he wants him dead, and why he is going to such extraordinary lengths to kill him. The Valeyard tells him that by destroying the Doctor, and with unlimited access to the Matrix, nothing will be outside his reach. The Valeyard disappears, and an oncoming cloud of nerve gas forces the Doctor and Glitz to run.

In the trial room, the Inquisitor and Mel look on helplessly. Mel tries to grab the key from the Keeper so that she might enter the Matrix herself, but he trips her over in the attempt.

In the Matrix, the Doctor and Glitz find a cottage in the wasteland, and stumbling inside, it dematerialises. It is the Master's TARDIS. The Master tells the Doctor he wants him to annihilate the Valeyard. The Valeyard, with all of the Doctor's abilities but none of his moral qualms, would make him a formidable force of evil, greater than the Master. Also, if the Valeyard killed the Doctor, it would rob the Master of that personal pleasure. The Doctor is mentally assaulted by the Master, leaving him in a catatonic state. The TARDIS materialises outside the fantasy factory. Using the zombified Doctor as bait, the Master and Glitz hide in the shadows. The Valeyard emerges on a balcony, with the Doctor in plain sight. The Master shoots at him with his Tissue Compression Eliminator, but its beams simply deflect off the Valeyard. The Valeyard hurls exploding quills at them and re-enters the factory building. The Master flees leaving Glitz and the Doctor behind.

Mel's voice is heard calling out to the Doctor, rousing him from the catatonic state. Following her voice he seemingly leaves the Matrix and re-enters the trial room. The Inquisitor tells him that he owes the Court an apology. She tells them that charge of genocide is supported by his own evidence. Replaying the scenes of the Vervoids' destruction, Mel tells the Court that the scenes are exactly as she witnessed them. The inquisitor tells the Doctor that he has been found guilty of genocide, and that he is sentenced to death. The Doctor says that he accepts the verdict…

However, in the real Trial room, the last scene is revealed to be taking place within the fictional realms of the Matrix. Mel disturbed by what she has seen and rails against the non-interference of the Time Lords present. Grabbing the Key from the Keeper she arrives for real in the Matrix. She sees the Doctor being led to his execution on a horse-drawn carriage. She tells him that the trial was an illusion, but he had already realised that — he wanted to force a confrontation with the Valeyard.

The Master tries to hypnotise Glitz so that he will lead the Doctor to the Valeyard. The hypnotism fails, but the Master uses something guaranteed to persuade the rogue — a huge chest full of treasure. He enters in the Fantasy Factory and finds the secrets he thought had been destroyed on Ravolox. Mr Popplewick catches him looting, and tells him that the Ravolox secrets were a copy, and what Glitz is holding is the master tape. Also in the factory, the Doctor finds a list of Time Lords — all the members of the supreme court of appeal. The Doctor realises the list is written in his own handwriting. Glitz manages to "persuade" Popplewick to take him to Chambers, and finding the Doctor, takes him along.

In the court yard, Popplewick hands the secrets over to Glitz. Glitz asks him not to tell the Doctor and Mel he betrayed them. As Glitz walks away, Popplewick tries to shoot him, but his gun is not loaded. The Master arrives, and he and Glitz return to the TARDIS.

In another building, the Doctor is admiring a steam-driven machine when Popplewick arrives and goes to search for Chambers. When he is unable to do so, the Doctor and Mel grab a hold of him, and the Doctor peels away Popplewick's mask to reveal the Valeyard. The Doctor realises that Popplewick was the Valeyard because of his own penchant for Grand Guignol. Mel opens a door marked danger, behind which is a device which she recognises as a megabyte modem. The Doctor corrects her, it is a maser. The Valeyard is using it as a particle disseminator, with which he plans to murder all the members of the court through the matrix screen in the trial room.

In the trial room, the Keeper of the Matrix brings the Inquisitor serious news. The High Council has been deposed and there is insurrection on Gallifrey. The Master appears on the matrix screen to give an edict. He offers to impose order with his control over the matrix, but anyone who disobeys him will be executed. In his TARDIS, he loads the matrix secrets master tape into the time machine's systems, but the tape has been booby-trapped with a Limbo Atrophier, which causes both he and Glitz to be pushed back against the TARDIS walls, unable to move.

Mel runs into the trial room to warn the Time Lords of the impending danger. The Inquisitor says that the screen cannot be switched off without the Keeper of the Matrix present, so Mel tells them to run for their lives. The Doctor sabotages the maser, but balls of energy shoot from the matrix screen where the Time Lords are cowering. The Doctor believes he has set the machine to self-destruct but the Valeyard tells him that it will in fact feedback into the Matrix. As the balls of energy swirl around the fantasy factory, the Valeyard collapses over the maser. The fantasy factory explodes.

The Doctor flees and makes it back to the court room. There the Inquisitor tells him that all the charges have been dropped, and to the Doctor's relief, that Peri survived and is living as a warrior queen with King Yrcanos. She asks if the Doctor will stand for Lord President, but he suggests that the Inquisitor should stand instead. He asks that when the Master and Glitz are recovered, that the Time Lords show some leniency towards Glitz. He and Mel depart in the TARDIS with Mel threatening the Doctor with a regime of strict exercise and carrot juice.

As the Inquisitor departs the trial room, she gives instructions to the Keeper of the Matrix. But as he looks up at the camera, he gives a evil chuckle, and is revealed to be the Valeyard...

Cast

Crew

References

Individuals

  • Sabalom Glitz and Melanie Bush are brought to the space station by the Master.
  • The Master previously entered the Matrix using a duplicate key, and has been watching the whole trial.
  • The Valeyard and the Master have had contract.
  • The Valeyard was promised the Doctor's remaining incarnations by the High Council. He is an amalgamation of all the Doctor's evil, and is between the Doctor's twelfth and final incarnation.

Time Lords

  • The Doctor says, looking around at the Time Lords "In all my travelling throughout the universe I have battled against evil, against power mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core. Power mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans... Cybermen, they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt."
  • The Keeper of the Matrix carries the Key of Rassilon.
  • The High Council have been deposed, and insurrectionists are running amok in the Capitol.
  • Sensory overload causes Time Lords to fall into a catatonic state.

Technology

Story Notes

  • This was Colin Baker's last appearance as the Doctor, though he was unaware of it at the time of filming. Baker was fired by the BBC. He was invited to come back for a final four-part story which would have ended in his regeneration, but he declined the offer.
  • Originally, Robert Holmes was to have written both episodes, but he took ill and died before he could do so. Script editor Eric Saward finished the second episode from Holmes' notes, but the original plan to end the story, and the 23rd season, on a cliffhanger leaving the battle between the Doctor and Valeyard unresolved, was rejected by John Nathan-Turner. As chronicled in the "making of" documentary included with the 2008 DVD release of the story, this led to a falling out between Saward and Nathan-Turner and Saward resigned his position as script editor. Nathan-Turner commissioned Pip and Jane Baker on short notice to compose a concluding episode.
  • This story was also known as Time Inc.
  • Part Fourteen is around half an hour long; when editing of it was completed it was discovered that it had considerably overrun, but John Nathan-Turner was able to gain permission for the series' slot to be extended by five minutes for the week of its transmission so that most of the recorded material could be retained.
  • A brief clip of Peri is seen at the story's conclusion, when it is revealed that she has not in fact been killed but has escaped to become the consort of King Yrcanos. According to commentary by Colin Baker on the 2008 DVD release, this conceit was the result of him idly asking a production team member if Peri had "really" died in Mindwarp, coupled with negative audience reaction to the character's apparent death. The same commentary also includes Nicola Bryant's generally unfavourable reaction as she watches the scene for the very first time.
  • At the very end, the Valeyard breaks the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera and laughing.
  • This is the last onscreen appearence of the Time Lords. They would be killed off in Series 1, in the aftermath of the Last Great Time War, leaving the Doctor as the sole survivor. They returned four years later in The End of Time.

Ratings

Numbers in refer to the individual parts of this story.
  • Part Thirteen (1) - million viewers
  • Part Fourteen (2) - million viewers

Myths

to be added

Filming Locations

  • Camber Sands, Camber, East Sussex
  • Gladstone Pottery Museum, Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
  • Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, East Sussex
  • BBC Television Centre (TC1), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • Mel leaves with the Doctor at the end of this story, despite being from the Doctor's future. This is extremely odd, since it dramatically increases the probability that this "older" Mel will encounter her younger self at some point, and fall victim to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect. This possibility was neatly sidestepped by the following story, Time and the Rani. Since it immediately depicts the regeneration of the Sixth Doctor, there is presumably a wide gap between it and Foe. The arrival of the Seventh Doctor instantly mooted any televised treatment of the asynchronicity between the Sixth Doctor and Mel. Nevertheless, the issue has been addressed in other media. In the novelisation there is an epilogue in which the Doctor returns Mel to his own future self, who then embarks on the journey that leads to Lakertya. This assumption was followed in the MA: Time of Your Life, where writer Steve Lyons posited that the younger Sixth Doctor immediately took Mel back to his older self. The issue of the Doctor's knowledge of Mel prior to their first meeting is examined in PDA: Business Unusual, while the fact of there being a substantial interval between this story and Time and the Rani has been addressed through the myriad of novels and audio dramas featuring the Sixth Doctor, yet taking place between the trial and his official first meeting with Mel. An alternative assumption is made by The Universal Databank which speculates that the events of the Trial destroyed the future timeline Mel was from.
  • Given that article 7 cannot be ignored, and the Doctor is definately guilty of it, the inquisitor is remakably quick to let the Doctor off. He did just save her life, amongst others.
  • Just why does the Valeyard dress up as Mr Popplewick? As the Doctor said it was a part of the Valeyard's nature
  • How does no-one notice the Valeyard switching places with the Keeper of the Matrix? . You really have to be looking for it to be the Valeyard as it is not incredibly obvious. (Intriguingly, when the Valeyard talks to the Inquisitor immediately before the reveal, it sounds like James Bree rather than Michael Jayston.)
  • No-one attempts to stop Mel entering the Matrix the second time. Actually, the Keeper does by attempting to trip her again but was too early and Mel was expecting it. It can't be seen very well on camera.
  • Why does the Doctor take Glitz into the Matrix with him? Like the Doctor said, two people make the Valeyard's job harder.
  • Why do they land at different times when they went through together? There is a time difference between the real world and the Matrix as stated in DW: The Deadly Assassin when the Doctor has been in the Matrix for well over half an hour at least yet he is only in there for between 4-5 minutes as stated by Engin.
  • How does Glitz and the Master manage to escape the Matrix? The Time Lords release them as the Doctor said.
  • Although Mel never directly heard the Doctor saying that the he opposed the evidence of the Matrix, the parts that she does here would be more than enough to give her that idea - so the doctor's logic doesn't really work.
  • The Valeyard should realise that if the Doctor dies, he will cease to exist. The Valeyard is an amalgamation of the Doctor, not a definitive future.
  • The Doctor says that he cant produce witnesses because they're throughout time and space, but what about Leela? There is no guarantee that Leela is still on Gallifrey, or even still alive, depending on the Time difference.
  • Why does the Master use the bauble to attempt to hypnotise Glitz, rather then his usual method of looking him in the eyes?

Continuity

DVD and Video Releases

DVD release

Video Releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Ultimate Foe

Released:

  • UK October 1993 (Released with the other Trial of the Timelord stories in a Tardis-shaped tin with a random picture of one of the (then) seven Doctors on the base)
  • US October 1993 (Same as the UK release except packed in a cardboard box in honor of Doctor Who's 30th anniversary)
  • Australia October 1993

DVD release

Novelisation

Ultimate Foe TOATL novel.jpg
Main article: The Ultimate Foe (novelisation)

External Links

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According to one account, the Master had the appearance of Roger Delgado while on Gallifrey. According to another, he had Anthony Ainley's likeness. According to another one, the one with James Dreyfus's appearance was the incarnation who ran away from Gallifrey.

Divided Loyalties, A Brief History of Time Lords and The Legions of Death feature, or otherwise acknowledge, the War Chief, but in the process contradicted the notion put forward by other stories that he was an incarnation of the Master.

One account suggests that the incarnation portrayed by Roger Delgado may be the same as the one portrayed by Peter Pratt while some others distinguish them.

According to one account, the incarnation portrayed by Gordon Tipple is the one portrayed by Anthony Ainley, while some others state that the Ainley one was already lost by then.

While fighting to extend his life at the end of his regeneration cycle, many bodies were possessed by the Beevers incarnation, but all kept somehow reverting to his real being until he finally regenerated into the MacQueen one. Hence, these sections cannot be strictly chronological
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