The Day of the Doctor (TV story): Difference between revisions

Startled, the Doctor looks out to see a [[helicopter]] carrying the TARDIS away from the field; it's [[UNIT]]. He calls their head of Scientific Research, [[Kate Lethbridge-Stewart]], and learns that he has been summoned to the [[Tower of London]]. Kate is surprised to learn that he is on-board the TARDIS, which they thought was empty. She has it and him brought directly to the "scene of the crime". Upon arrival, he is handed sealed orders from [[Elizabeth I]] and taken into the [[National Gallery]] for proof of her credentials.  

As they walk, the Doctor explains his relationship with UNIT to Clara, who is skeptical of the Doctor having an actual job. They stop in front of an [[Gallifrey falls no more|impossible painting]], something that belongs neither on Earth nor in 2013: an oil painting in 3-D. It depicts the fall of [[Arcadia]] on the last day of the [[Time War]]. Kate tells the Doctor that there is some controversy over the work's name. It is either named "No More" or "Gallifrey Falls". The painting is a slice of frozen time, a form of [[Time Lord]] art.  

As the Daleks ravage Arcadia, the Gallifreyans are running in fear. There is little hope of survival. As children cry and the people scream, a soldier messages the [[High Council of Time Lords]]: Arcadia has fallen. He looks around and sees the Doctor's TARDIS. Then the elderly voice of the [[War Doctor]] asks him for his gun. He carves a message for both warring civilizations to see: NO MORE. As Daleks attempt to exterminate innocent Gallifreyan refugees, the Doctor's actions draw their attention away from the innocent people and lead them to the wall with the message. He launches his TARDIS through the wall at full speed, demolishing a whole brigade of Daleks. The Doctor's escape from Arcadia is witness by the one surviving Dalek of the attack, though bisected. It questions the meaning of "NO MORE". Frantically bellowing "Explain! Explain!", it does not notice a Gallifreyan soldier approaching, who shoots the Dalek with a laser round, killing it and then causing it to explode.

The High Commanders gather in the [[War Room]], planning their next moves, with the General dismissing the High Council's upcoming plans as "they have already failed". They receive the Doctor's message, calling him a madman. A Time Lady rushes in to inform the War Council that there has been a breach in the vaults. The most feared and forbidden weapon in the universe is missing: [[The Moment]]. The Doctor has stolen it, and intends to use it to end the Time War. The Time Lords have exhausted their supply of weapons, including forbidden weapons with their banning lifted out of desperation, but dared not unleash this weapon in particular because it was said to have developed sentience, and could stand in judgement of the user. The General figures only the Doctor would be crazy enough to activiate the Moment.

[[File:The Moment Is coming.jpg|thumb|left|[[The Moment]] takes the form of [[Bad Wolf (entity)|Bad Wolf]].]]

The Doctor strides across a desolate desert, a burlap sack over his shoulder. He enters a barn-like dwelling, and uncovers a complicated box, covered in gears. While he puzzles over how to open it - grumbling "why is there never a big red button?" - he hears a rustling sound. He opens the door and calls out. A girl's voice behind him reassures him that it’s "just a Wolf". Startled, he turns around: it's [[Rose Tyler]], or at least an entity in her shape. He grabs her arm and throws her out the door, only for her to appear again, sitting on The Moment. She begins questioning the Doctor as to his motives and rationalizations (though it looks like she is making fun of him). Not realizing what she is, he orders her out, and then burns his hand on the box. Impishly, she guides the Doctor to realize that she is the interface of the Moment. She can hear the Doctor's thoughts, and has chosen the form of Rose Tyler/Bad Wolf as a familiar figure from his future. War-weary and bitter, he tells her to stop calling him the Doctor: he has lost the right to bear the title. She replies that he will be the one to save the universe. He explains that the suffering of the universe is too great: he must end it. Like a conscience, she challenges his words and actions, guiding him towards his future. He will destroy the Daleks, but he will also murder his own people. As to how many children on Gallifrey will die, he has no idea. She opens a window in time, to show him the man he will become. A time fissure opens, and a [[fez]] falls out.

Kate explains that Elizabeth left the painting to prove that the orders do come from her. The Doctor breaks the seal and reads her words. "My dearest love: I hope the painting known as Gallifrey Falls will serve as proof that it is your Elizabeth that writes to you now. You will recall that you pledged yourself to the safety of my kingdom. In that capacity, I have appointed you curator of the [[Under-Gallery]], where deadly danger to England is locked away. Should any disturbance occur within its walls, it is my wish that you should be summoned. Godspeed, gentle husband."

As Kate leads the Doctor and Clara away, [[McGillop]] receives a mysterious phone call. Befuddled, he stares at the painting, wondering why he should move it.

[[File:DNA_detector_The_Day_of_the_Doctor.jpg|thumb|Ding!]]In England [[1562]], the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Queen Elizabeth I]] ride out of the TARDIS on horseback, to prove that it really is bigger on the inside. They share a picnic on a hill, after which he proposes marriage. When she joyfully accepts, the Doctor accuses her of being a [[Zygon]]. He whips out a "device that goes ding" to prove that she is a shape shifter, before realizing that it was the horse. They run for their lives, the Doctor now an engaged man. They split up in the woods, but Elizabeth is accosted by the Zygon. The Doctor runs through the woods, even threatening a rabbit before he is reunited with Elizabeth. However, a doppelganger of her appears, and he is unable to tell who is who. Suddenly a time fissure appears, and a fez falls through, shocking the Doctor and company.

Kate welcomes the Doctor and Clara to the Under-Gallery, established by Elizabeth I to house dangerous art. The Doctor notices that the floor is covered in stone dust, and asks [[Osgood (The Day of the Doctor)|Osgood]] to analyze it (with a triplicate report and lots of graphs). As they walk through the gallery, the Doctor spots a fez and immediately dons it, much to the bemusement of Clara, who wonders if he can ever go past one without wearing it (answer: no).   

Kate shows them more 3-D paintings, all landscapes, with the glass covering the floor. The Doctor notes that the glass has been shattered from the inside, and Kate says that they all contained figures, which are now missing. Suddenly, another time fissure opens. Annoyed, the Doctor faintly recalls seeing the fissure before, before realizing that the fez that had fallen through was the fez he was now wearing. Delighted, he throws the fez into the fissure and follows it. Clara tries to follow, but Kate restrains her.

The Eleventh Doctor falls through the fissure and lands in front of the Tenth. Stunned, he dons the fez himself. The Eleventh pops up and gabbles excitedly about how skinny his predecessor is, which makes the Tenth realize who he is. They incredulously pull out their [[sonic screwdriver]]s and compare them.  

As they begin bickering, the time fissure increases in intensity. The Doctor orders the two Queens to run away. They both kiss the Tenth Doctor and flee. The Eleventh shouts through the funnel to Clara. Hypothesizing that the fissure can go both ways, he tosses his fez in, but it fails to appear in Clara's time. Kate then leaves, to call one of the UNIT members to bring her the [[The Three Doctors (TV story)|Cromer file]], not noticing a dark shadow behind her.  

The War Doctor picks up the fez and steps into the fissure. Back in 1562, the two Doctors try to reverse the polarity, but the use of two sonic screwdrivers at once confuses the polarity, resulting in the War Doctor falling through, landing in front of his future selves. He jovially greets them, asking after the Doctor and mistaking them for his companions. The two older Doctors simply pull out their sonic screwdrivers, affirming their identity to their younger self. Completely unimpressed by his future incarnations, the War Doctor asks if he is going through a mid-life crisis.  

Suddenly, they are surrounded by the Queen's soldiers. They are threatened by them, but Clara's voice sounds from the fissure, allowing the Doctors to convince them that she is "The Wicked Witch of the Well". Kate has, at that point, returned to Clara. The Queen returns to the group, implying that her human counterpart is dead. She has them arrested and taken to the Tower of London (the Eleventh loudly hinting for her to take them there). The hint is picked up on by Kate, who takes Clara to the [[Black Archive]] to retrieve [[Jack Harkness]]' [[vortex manipulator]].  

Osgood and McGilop are reading the results of the analysis of the stone dust. The dust is from materials not found in the structure of the building, but common in statues. Osgood realises that the statues must have been smashed, and suddenly understands why: the inhabitants of the paintings needed a hiding place. The Zygons reveal themselves from underneath the dust cloths covering what the humans had believed were statues. The aliens accost McGilop, and corner Osgood. Osgood prays for the Doctor to save her, but instead of being killed, she is faced with her duplicate. The Zygon taunts Osgood, but she gains the upper hand by tripping the alien with her scarf, and runs.

Kate and Clara enter the Black Archive, housing the most dangerous alien tech recovered by UNIT. Its contents are so top secret that its staff has their memories modified every day. Apparently, this has happened to Clara, as she has already obtained the necessary clearance to enter the archive. They view the Vortex Manipulator, by trying to find the activation code. The Doctor has the code, but he hasn't informed UNIT of it. A scientist phones Kate, and she orders him to take a picture of some numerals (possibly the code) and text it to her. Osgood and McGilop enter the Archive, to Clara's surprise. They and Kate reveal themselves as Zygons. As they prepare to kill Clara, she sees the picture of the numerals on the phone. Taking a desperate gamble, she enters the code and travels to the past.

The Eleventh Doctor scratches the activation code onto a wall in their cell, while the other two Doctors puzzle out how to escape. The War Doctor proposes an isolated sonic shift in the door molecules in order to disintegrate the door, but the Tenth Doctor rejects the idea, saying it would take centuries to calculate the necessary formula. The War Doctor starts bickering with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, chastising them for their shame of being "grown-up". Subdued, they look at him darkly, reminding him of the day he ended the Time War (unaware that this Doctor is in the process of making that choice). The Moment reappears, unseen and unheard by the other Doctors, and urges the War Doctor to ask his future selves the question that he needs to know: How many children were on Gallifrey that day. The Eleventh Doctor claims he doesn't know, and that he's forgotten the events of that day. The Tenth Doctor bitterly states that there were 2.47 billion children that day. The Moment explains that the Tenth Doctor has become "the man who regrets" and the Eleventh "the man who forgets". They are the future of the Doctor.

The Moment reminds the War Doctor that his sonic screwdriver, at the most basic level, is the "same software - different face". He realizes that if he scans the door and implants it as a permanent subroutine in the screwdriver, it will take 400 years to calculate the formula necessary to disintegrate the door, meaning that the Eleventh Doctor's screwdriver, being essentially the same as the ones before it, has the completed calculation ready. They exuberantly congratulate themselves on their cleverness, before Clara pushes open the door, which has been unlocked the entire time. Clara chastises the three Doctors for being so obtuse, and the Queen comes in, telling them that she left the door unlocked the entire time as a test. She takes them down to the Zygons' lair to show them their plan.  

Osgood walks in the halls of the Under-Gallery, before discovering Kate trapped in a Zygon nest. She frees her, but Kate bemoans the fact that the Zygons now have control of the Black Archive.  

The Doctors and Clara follow the Queen to the lair, whereupon they discover that the Zygons intend to invade the cushier future in order to establish a new home-world. They therefore have translated themselves into stasis cubes, which are the Time Lord's three-dimensional paintings. They are freezing themselves to escape the primitive time period they are trapped in. The Tenth Doctor tries again to prove that the Queen is the Zygon version, but she reveals (to his mortification) that she is the real Elizabeth: She slew her twin in the forest and took her place as Zygon commander. She calls on the Doctor to save England, but first whisks him away to be married (with his past and future selves as reluctant witnesses, and an enthusiastic Clara).

Kate, Osgood, and McGillop confront their doppelgangers in the Black Archive. She threatens to detonate a nuclear warhead beneath the Tower in order to protect the planet, and voice-activates it, blocking her Zygon duplicate's attempts to stop the countdown. The Doctor's voice crackles on via the [[Space-time telegraph|space-time telegraph]] he had once given to [[Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|her father]], begging Kate not to detonate but she cuts him off. He tries to land, but the [[Tower of London]] is TARDIS-proof. However, the War Doctor figures out a way to get in - the stasis cubes. The Doctor calls McGillop in the past, and instructs him to bring the painting to the Black Archive.  

The two Kates fight over the detonation, both needing to agree in order to stop the detonation. Osgood begs the Doctor to save them again, as the Doctors and Clara force their way out of the painting, having frozen themselves in it earlier. The three Doctors hand the Kates an ultimatum: They trigger the memory modifiers to confuse everybody as to whether they are a Zygon or a human. Then, if they stop the detonation and create a peace treaty, they will have their memories restored. Utterly confused over their identities, the two Kates stop the detonation and negotiate a treaty.

As they hash it out, Clara speaks to the War Doctor. She figured out that he hasn't used The Moment yet, explaining that her Doctor always talked about the day he wiped out the Time Lords. She says that he would do anything to take it back, but the War Doctor remains convinced that his actions will save billions of lives in the future. The Moment has come. He tells the Moment's interface he's ready, and Clara turns to find who he's talking to; when she turns back, he's vanished.  

The Doctor stands in front of the Moment, a big red button to push. The interface questions him once more, trying to convince him of his goodness. He doesn't believe he is worthy of the name "Doctor", losing all hope for himself and his people. The interface reminds him of his hope as his future selves step out of their TARDISes. They join him at The Moment, ready to support the man who was the Doctor more than anybody else. They prepare to push the button together, but Clara tearfully objects. She never pictured the Doctor actually pushing the button, despite the fact that she knew he did it.  

A brilliant new idea dawns on the Doctors. The intent of the Moment worked: The Doctor saw the future he needed to see. He exclaims that he could kiss "Bad Wolf girl", which catches the Tenth's attention. They change their minds about using the Moment. Instead, they intend to freeze Gallifrey in a moment in time, slipped away in a pocket universe. The Daleks will be exterminated in their own crossfire, and the universe will believe that the two races destroyed each other.  

Another message appears before the High Command: GALLIFREY STANDS. The three Doctors race in their TARDISes towards Gallifrey, and transmit to the War Room. Three transmissions, each showing a different Doctor, appear. They explain their mad plan to save Gallifrey. They position themselves around the planet equidistantly, and prepare to freeze it through the stasis cubes. The General objects, claiming that the calculations would take centuries, but the Doctor is well prepared for the task. After all, he's had centuries to think about it.  

[[File:8_and_7_Time_War.jpg|thumb|The Doctors protect Gallifrey]]At that, ten more phone boxes fly around the planet, and all the past incarnations of the Doctor come together to save Gallifrey – even a [[Twelfth Doctor|thirteenth incarnation]] from the Doctor's days yet to come. As the Daleks increase their attack upon seeing the thirteen TARDISes, the High Command gives their blessing, and the Doctors save the planet and the Daleks destroy themselves.

Back in the National Gallery, they muse on the ambiguity of whether their plan succeeded. The mysterious painting remains an enigma to the three Doctors, another thing lost to time. The War Doctor bids a fond farewell to his replacements, who finally address him as "Doctor": a man finally worthy of the title, even if he only knows it briefly. The War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor won't be able to retain the memory of these events until they occur to their Eleventh incarnation, as the time lines are out of sync. The War Doctor pilots his TARDIS away, noticing that his body has worn thin again. [[Regeneration]] energy begins to overtake the War Doctor, but he is not alarmed in the least. He only hopes the change will leave him with less conspicuous ears this time and smiles peacefully as his [[Ninth Doctor|next regeneration begins]].

The Tenth Doctor questions his successor as to "where they're going"; he relents and reveals that they are destined to die on [[Trenzalore]], in battle. He tells himself that the future is in good hands, and with a smile, he starts to step into his TARDIS, before expressing his desire to change their final destination, as "I don't want to go." He leaves, the Eleventh Doctor remarking "[[The End of Time (TV story)|he always says that]]."

Clara asks the Doctor if he would like to sit to look at the painting for a little while. He smiles, asking how she knew. Clara kisses him on the cheek and tells him that she always knows - it's his sad old eyes. As she steps into the TARDIS, she mentions that an old man, possibly the [[Curator (The Day of the Doctor)|Curator]], was looking for him.

The Doctor muses out loud that he would be a great curator. He could call himself "the Great Curator", retire and become the curator of this gallery. A very familiar voice affirms that he really might. The astonished Doctor looks over to see a very familiar face standing next to him. An old man who greatly resembles the Fourth Doctor speaks to him of the painting, which he says he acquired under most unusual circumstances. He tells the Doctor that its two names are actually one: ''[[Gallifrey Falls No More]]''. The Doctor realises that he was successful, and Gallifrey was indeed saved. The mysterious man reveals that it is simply "lost", and that the Doctor has a lot to do. The Eleventh Doctor concludes that he has a mission, the mission of a lifetime: he must find Gallifrey and return it and all its people to the universe.

Later, the Doctor speaks of his dreams, as he is seen to walk through the TARDIS console room. He says that he finally realises where he has been travelling all this time: home. He simply has taken the long way around. As he exits the TARDIS in the dream, the Doctor joins his past selves gazing up at the magnificent planet in the sky, determined to find and save his home once and for all.