Plot
Picking up immediately after the end of "Utopia", the Doctor along with Jack and Martha escape the Futurekind by using Jack's vortex manipulator to return to present day London. They quickly learn that the Master has taken on the persona of Harold Saxon, and is the newly elected Prime Minister. The Master has created a phone network called Archangel which subliminally influences the population to vote for him. The three narrowly avoid a bomb placed in Martha's flat and learn that Martha's family has been arrested. The Master contacts them to gloat about his seeming victory, mentioning that he was resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Time War. The Master fled to the end of the universe and made himself human when defeat seemed inevitable. The Master reveals that the three are now England's most wanted criminals and has stripped them of any help, including sending Torchwood on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas. The Master asks the Doctor where Gallifrey is, and the Doctor responds that Gallifrey is gone and burned.
Hiding in an abandoned building, the Doctor uses parts of Martha's laptop and his TARDIS keys to create perception filters so they can move about unnoticed. He explains some of the Master's past and tells them how, as a child, the Master looked into the time vortex and was driven mad. They see a TV report that the Master is planning to reveal Earth's first contact the next day with an alien race known as the Toclafane. U.S. President Winters arrives in the UK and places the operation in the hands of UNIT, taking over the meeting from Mr. Saxon and moving it to the flying aircraft carrier Valiant. The Master accepts the changes and boards the Valiant with his wife. The Doctor, Martha, and Jack teleport aboard with the vortex manipulator and discover that the TARDIS has been converted by the Master into a Paradox Machine that is building up power to be activated at the appointed time of first contact.
The Doctor tells Martha and Jack to try and get their perception filters around the Master to reveal who he really is to humanity. They enter the bridge unnoticed, and the first four Toclafane appear on the bridge and demand to see the Master. Mr. Saxon reveals himself as the Master and orders the Toclafane to kill President Winters. The Master also reveals that he can see around the perception filters, and uses his laser screwdriver to kill Jack and age the Doctor 100 years by suspending his ability to regenerate. The Master uses genetic manipulation technology and DNA he took from the Doctor's severed hand to torment the Doctor. Jack gives Martha his vortex manipulator and tells Martha to get off the Valiant.
The Master brings Martha's family onto the bridge as the paradox machine activates. He taunts the aged Doctor about the nature of the Toclafane and his impending victory. The Paradox Machine activates and a massive rift opens above the Valiant, allowing six billion Toclafane descend from it. The Master orders the Toclafane to kill one-tenth of the Earth's population. Martha tends to the aged Doctor, and he whispers into her ear. Unable to save the Doctor, Jack, or her family she promises she will return and uses the vortex manipulator to teleport away. Martha arrives on Earth and flees into the distance as the Toclafane wreak havoc on humanity. The Master gloats about the fall of the human race and forces the Doctor to look upon his new dominion.
Read more about this topic: The Sound Of Drums
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
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And midwife Time the ripened plot to murder brought.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
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The careful Devil is still at hand with means;
And providently Pimps for ill desires:
The Good Old Cause, reviv’d, a Plot requires,
Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up Common-wealths and ruine Kings.”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)