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Part 1:
The meta-bionic drive system of the Rutan's ship has gone faulty and is about to cause the ship to explode, which could wipe out half of England. The panic-stricken Doctor along with Nyssa attempts to stop it...
A knock on the door awakens Doctor Smith (the Doctor), the name his servant Alice Withers addresses him by as she has brought him breakfast in bed. He is utterly bewildered as she knows the kind of tea he likes and his favourite breakfast meal despite his claim of never having met her before. He begins asking her questions to which she gives exceedingly vague answers. It is revealed he is living in Stockbridge and that he knows Alice, even if he can't remember her in the present.
Heading downstairs, the Doctor meets and begins to question her husband Harold Withers. Harold reveals that the Doctor has always been a guest here at their Bed and Breakfast and he can't remember when the Doctor arrived. The Doctor is further puzzled that there haven't been any visitors to the village either. He says he must go looking for someone and suddenly Alice remembers that what he is doing today is exactly the same thing he was doing yesterday.
The Doctor walks through the village, noting to himself that everything is as it seems. Suddenly a young girl named Jane Potter riding a bicycle crashes into him and the Doctor has some strange flashback. He asks her if she can help him find his companion and it is revealed that Jane already knows Nyssa, surprising him, and that she is at the post office. Far off, a man undercover recognizes the Doctor and is shocked and unnerved over seeing him again.
The Doctor finds Nyssa in the post office where it is revealed that she too is mystified by their circumstance, after having arrived all the villagers claimed to have already been aware of her identity and to have known her "for as long as they can remember", whereas she is just as confused as the Doctor. She recounts their final moments aboard the Rutan ship before its imminent explosion after which she woke up here. The Doctor notes how similar Stockbridge looks to one of their previous visits, prompting Nyssa to recall Andrew Harper and wondering if she may be able to find him. The Doctor suggests that they'll head down to the local pub, the Redfern, to get some information.
At the bar, Nyssa inquires from Dudley Jackson as to the whereabouts of Andrew but he recalls no such person of that name ever having lived in the village. The Doctor asks him what year it is, and after a strange flashback, he replies that it's the 4th of August 2009... 1950. They leave. The Doctor points out the cars in the street don't have glaze and there's no antennae dishes, placing the era in either the 60s or 70s. They bump into Jane again, dressed in 1950s clothing headed to a wedding that they are unaware of. Nyssa asks her what day it is, and she replies that it's the 12th of June 1984. The Doctor notes that there's something strange going on with time. They arrive at the wedding... and the marrying couple turn out to be Alice and Harold from earlier, in their 20s. The Doctor is confounded. Just then they see a fire in the distance, realizing that the village school is on fire.
A boy named Philip has been trapped in the fire. He is rescued from the wreckage and the Doctor is brought over to try and save him, but the Doctor, after much effort, pronounces him dead on the scene... and suddenly time reverses. The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves at a funeral which was for Harold. The Doctor is utterly perplexed. They go and read the gravestone and find that Harold, Alice and Philip's names are written on the tombstone but the Doctor points out that there are no dates. Suddenly the Doctor spots a police telephone box. Thinking it's the TARDIS, they go and investigate, only to find that it is just an empty police telephone box. They use the phone and the voice on the other end says that time is winding backwards. The phone then rings, the Doctor answers, repeating the same words he had just heard unintentionally, and realizes the voice he had just heard before was him in the future. The Doctor surmises that someone doesn't want them contacting the outside world. The Doctor says time is moving too quickly and that the villagers don't realize it.
Just then, they are approached by Maxwell Edison. He says he wanted to make sure it really was the Doctor before revealing himself. The Doctor introduces him to Nyssa. Nyssa seems a little put-off by him but the Doctor assures her that Maxwell can be trusted and he does, as he claims, somehow, have some sort of supernatural "sixth sense". Maxwell explains that something is wrong in Stockbridge, as the school fire happened twenty years ago, and events seem to be occurring in non-linear order. Maxwell mentions that there are ghosts here as well. They make there way over to a spot Maxwell claims is where super-natural phenomenon are occurring. The trio observe three beings wearing spacesuits manifest and begin approaching them. The Doctor tries to warn Nyssa to stay away but suddenly they disappear, having taken Nyssa with them...
Part 2:
Three unknown entities talk amongst themselves note the weakening barrier since Nyssa has been taken and they note that the Doctor must cooperate in their plans otherwise he will die.
Maxwell and the Doctor discuss the events. The Doctor is concerned that they approached them. Time is still radically fluctuating. The Doctor tries to head to the next village and Maxwell waits for him, as he inevitably ends up back in Stockbridge, apparently unable to leave. He theorises they are trapped in a time bubble. They are greeted by Dudley who points out the decorations and Maxwell and the Doctor realize they are in yet another mixed-up time fluctuation.
From afar, the Doctor and Maxwell are suddenly caught experiencing Dudley's past, including his marriage, the abortion of his would-be child and eventual decline. Next the two experience Dudley's memories of the death of Jane. They then find themselves in Dudley's bar and he offers the two drinks. He reveals that he has experienced that flashback many times, surprising the Doctor. He also explains that they re-experience their entire lives every day in the same flashbacks. Just then someone comes to warn them about a school fire and Alice is inexplicably alive and when the Doctor questions her death, she reveals she is aware she has died but that was yesterday. The Doctor and Dudley manage to rescue one but Philip still dies, just as he did before. The Doctor tries to break the pattern but Philip dies again and suddenly they are back in Dudley's bar where he reveals that it's the same as always. Just then, they hear the telephone ringing from the old police telephone box. The Doctor answers and Nyssa replies, panicking and explains that he can see her by returning to the same place she was taken at midnight.
Just then the Doctor suddenly finds himself at Alice and Harold's house where Alice is now dying as opposed to Harold. The Doctor is highly perplexed but Harold says they just go on and get used to it. The Doctor, however, questions that if he knows she will be fine tomorrow, why is he still crying? Harold thinks it is the payment for living in what he claims is heaven, but the Doctor thinks that this Stockbridge is quite the... contrary. Suddenly time fluctuates again and now the roles reverse. The Doctor questions Alice now. Next, he questions Maxwell, and why he doesn't seem so bothered by the current situation. Maxwell reveals that he gets to revisit his happiest memories and that, mirroring the words of Harold and everyone else, it is "the price they pay". Interrogating Maxwell further, he learns about the Lord and Lady of the Manor. It becomes cold and the Doctor starts off.
The three entities note the recent change of events amongst themselves again, saying that the Doctor should never be permitted to leave.
The Doctor and Maxwell head to Wellsworth Woods and although Maxwell tries to stop him, the Doctor continues on. The mysterious beings in environment suits appear and approach them. One of them turns out to be Nyssa who tells the Doctor he has to make physical contact to leave with her but Maxwell stops him. The doctor, frustrated and confused, demands to know why Maxwell stopped him, when he reveals that if he goes they will all die since they are really the ghosts. The beings from earlier, who had disguised themselves as residence of Stockbridge, appear and tell the Doctor he is to meet the Lord and Lady of the manor.
The Doctor berates the patrons of the village as they believe they have been granted eternal life. Just then, he is presented to the Lord and Lady of the manor. The Lady turns out to be Nyssa and the Lord turns out to be none other than the Doctor, or at least, his future self...
Part 3
Nyssa awakens after having just been taken from the forest, except still in the forest, and it is not midnight but broad daylight outside . She is greeted by a kind woman and a team of other people.
The Doctor is shocked to be meeting his future self but refuses to believe that the being standing in front of him is him. It is revealed that they can't let the Doctor go because if he does leave then the events that caused the Lord of the manor to become what he is now will never have occurred.
Nyssa probes the woman who has seemingly rescued her for answers. The woman introduces herself as Lizzie Corrigan and reveals that she and the team are part of Psychic Investigation Group, PIG for short.
The Doctor chats with the Lord and Lady of the manor. He is taken to the oldest part of the manor, first built by the Lord and Lady of the manor and recognizes warp-core engines amidst the land, indicating the Rutan ship survived.
Lizzie reveals that they are investigating Stockbridge, since it just seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet since WWII and couldn't be found. All that appeared on maps was a point that couldn't be found.
The Doctor realizes that he managed to avert the explosion through the metabolic fail-safe of the ship's drive, and a stasis field was created that could allow the pilot to repair it... or else retreat. Meanwhile Lizzie explains that it started when people began experiencing hallucinations when they came near to the outskirts of where Stockbridge would have been. Meanwhile two villagers approach for asking for which the Lady mentions that the people in the village stay alive by being stuck in their final day before death. The Lady reveals she must feed on their past in order to sustain herself, which is what causes them to continue reliving their past every day. The Doctor argues with Maxwell, telling him that to the Lord and Lady they are nothing but nourishment.
Dudley's memory is feasted upon and as they are distracted by their feasting, the Doctor quietly slips away. Lizzie explains that to them, Nyssa still seemed a ghost but seemed very corporeal so they managed to save her. Next Nyssa discovers that while inside the ghosts appear every day inside, outside it's every couple hours. Lizzie then gets a call saying that the largest PSI surge has just been detected and they're going to check it out.
The Doctor and Maxwell go look at the hyper-spatial warp-core engine. He explains that it requires massive power and uses it to figure out that the time bubble is breaking down, hence why time is dilating and it will eventually pop. Lizzie and Nyssa arrive on site and she explains to Nyssa how they enter the time bubble. Nyssa suggests they use the psychic energy to try contact the Doctor and volunteers herself. The Doctor and Maxwell discover that someone is trying to break through the bubble eat Wellswood (PIG), which he explains is dangerous and cause destabilization. The Lord and Lady, trying to search for the Doctor, have a vision of the imminent destruction of the time bubble (without it they will cease to exist) and decide to seek help from someone else. Nyssa on the outside uses the psychic energy to contact the Doctor through the police box telephone, telling him to come to Wellswood at midnight, the same message the Doctor had heard earlier in his point of view. Nyssa also reveals she felt Veridius' presence. The Doctor and Maxwell are trapped by the villagers, recognizing them as not belonging. Outside, PIG prepares to enter. Nyssa puts on an environmental hazard suit and enters with Lizzie and others. She sees the Doctor and the scene from earlier plays out and she tries to get the Doctor out but Maxwell stops them. The same scenario as before plays out but the storm inside inside the time bubble is becoming worse.
Nyssa recommends they try again and Nyssa manages to make another opening, where they spot the Doctor and Maxwell. The two make it out through the opening. The Doctor tells them to turn the machine off so they don't destroy the planet. The Lord and Lady panic as the time bubble is collapsing. They speak with Veridius about how to stop this and what to do, who tells them to expand the time bubble to consume the whole world.
Part 4
notes:
phillip was thought to be playing agame of cowboys and indians
space time trap brought into existence milton keyens?
time bubble
ginger beer
groundhoy day bill murray referenced by maxwell edison
psychic energy discovered in the 19th century
joke about maxwell saying dumb thing inspiring smart guy to come up with solution; doctor "does this" and fakes it showing it doesnt work and says he watches too much tv