History Recap / DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Wilfred's role was originally meant to be taken by Donna's father Geoff, who appeared in her debut episode. When his actor died suddenly, the producers replaced him by bringing back a bit character from one of the Christmas specials and making him Donna's grandfather. But since it seemed awfully convenient for the Doctor to just bump into his future companion's granddad in a city of eight million, this story establishe

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Wilfred's role was originally meant to be taken by Donna's father Geoff, who appeared in her debut episode. When his actor died suddenly, the producers replaced him by bringing back a bit character from one of the Christmas specials and making him Donna's grandfather. But since it seemed awfully convenient for the Doctor to just bump into his future companion's granddad in a city of eight million, this story establishe

The Master steps forward, telling the Doctor [[IronicEcho to get out of the way]]. He uses his lightning blasts to strike down the Lord President over and over again, walking forward and [[HeroicSacrifice vanishing with the other Time Lords back into the Time War]] (where the Tenth Doctor in his past will save them but only [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor remember it later]]).

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Wilfred's role was originally meant to be taken by Donna's father Geoff, who appeared in her debut episode. When his actor died suddenly, the producers replaced him by bringing back a bit character from one of the Christmas specials and making him Donna's grandfather. But since it seemed awfully convenient for the Doctor to just bump into his future companion's granddad in a city of eight million, this story establishes that the Doctor and Wilf are cosmically connected, and fate is drawing them together toward the moment of the Doctor's death.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: The Master
* TheReveal: After four series and several telemovie specials dropping hints about the Time War, we finally learn that the Doctor ended it to stop the Time Lords. Not that he had any love for the Daleks, but it's been suspicious for a while now that whole fleets and organizations of the Daleks not only survived the Doctor, but quietly thrived despite his knowledge, yet only one other Time Lord escaped. Apparently, the Doctor wasn't as bad a shot as that implied.
* RiddleForTheAges: The exact identity of The Woman. Wilfred even asks the Doctor who she is, and gets no reply.
* RunningGag: He's ''still'' not ginger.
* SanctuaryOfSolitude: Wilfred does this at the start of the episode.
* SanDimasTime:
** The Ood are very disappointed in the Doctor taking so long to come to the Oodsphere, despite... well... time travel.
--->'''Elder Ood:''' Events that have happened are happening now.
** There's also this:
--->'''Wilfred:''' Listen Doctor, if this is a time machine -- that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?\\
'''The Doctor:''' I can't go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master in the causal nexus. Understand?\\
'''Wilfred:''' Not a word.
* SayMyName: Hilariously subverted with Lucy Saxon calling the Master "Harold". That's a CrowningMomentOfAwesome all of its own.
* SceneryGorn: Blink and you'll miss it, but the establishing exterior shot of Gallifrey's capital shows the city's dome with a large hole smashed through it, smoke pouring from damaged buildings within, and the surrounding landscape littered with crashed Dalek saucers.
* SchmuckBait: "It's an open broadcast. DON'T reply, he'll know where we are."
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The gravitational and tidal forces of such a big object that close to Earth [[InferredHolocaust should have been disastrous]].
* ScrewDestiny: Strongly hinted to be why Wilfred is near the Doctor, because otherwise he'd die for real.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: PlayedForLaughs when Sylvia Noble finds the Doctor and Wilfred talking, and they both make a break for it in the TARDIS.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Time Lords, sealed away by the Doctor because their war against the Daleks had made them worse than what they fought.
* ShoutOut:
** The Doctor refers to the Master as [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]].
** The Master wears a hoodie, makes ridiculously high super-jumps, has super-strength and [[ImAHumanitarian eats people]]. [[VideoGame/Left4Dead Haven't we]] [[VideoGame/{{Prototype}} seen this before?]]
** And he shoots lightning from his hands and uses it to fly around. [[VideoGame/{{Infamous}} Sound familiar?]] Some found it reminiscent of [[Film/IronMan something else...]]
** The Master's resurrection scene, with loyal followers sacrificing their bodies and the mortal enemy being brought in for a forcibly taken biological sample, is uncannily reminiscent of that of a Lord Voldemort from ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
** The scene with Captain Jack was reminiscent of the cantina from ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope''.
** So was the [[Film/ANewHope turret gunner scene]] (down to some shots being exactly the same!) with FrickinLaserBeams, and the Lord President of the Time Lords [[LaserGuidedKarma getting his comeuppance by the Master]], with electricity...
** Some viewers thought the Vinvocci spaceship looked like the ''[[Film/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy Heart of Gold]]''. Or ''[[Series/RedDwarf Starbug]]'' or ''[[Series/{{Firefly}} Serenity]]''.
** The Doctor's death, a HeroicSacrifice via massive radiation poisoning whilst sealed in a glass chamber, is rather appropriately reminiscent of the death scene at the end of ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.
** The Doctor's mention of the "Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres" may be a nod to the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse, and specifically the ''Literature/FactionParadox''.
** That gauntlet of Rassilon's looks disturbingly similar to the Resurrection Gauntlet of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''.
* SkywardScream: "'''GERONIMO!'''" Yes, the camera spins too.
* SoftGlass: Averted. The Doctor gets a lot of scratches when he breaks through the dome. Still he survives the fall.
* StableTimeLoop / TimeyWimeyBall: The drumming in the Master's head was manufactured, and actually a signal to allow the Time Lords to escape their inevitable destruction in the Time War. Keep in mind they only know to put the sound in there because their history books already say it's there, and they realize it might have been them that did it. The [[MadOracle Oracle]] helps, too.
* StealthHiBye: The Woman manages to perform this with Wilfred on a spaceship.
* SuperpowerLottery: For a guy who CameBackWrong, the Master has quite a few superpowers. However, he is [[CastFromHitPoints burning up his]] LifeForce by using them; [[InASingleBound jumping]], [[ShockAndAwe electricity powers]] and SuperStrength.
* TakeAThirdOption: The Doctor has a stark choice: shoot the Master, or shoot the President. He shoots the machine linking them.
* TearfulSmile:
** The Doctor has a particularly heartbreaking one when he goes to see Joan Redfern's great-granddaughter and she asks if, in the end, he was happy. He smiles, but he looks like he's about to cry.
** His voice is noticibly breaking as he celebrates surviving the final showdown with the Master before Wilf [[OhCrap knocks on the door]].
* TerribleTicking: The Master's drumbeat.
* ThanatosGambit: Played straight, inverted ''and'' slightly averted ''[[ZigZaggingTrope at the same time]]'', being that the Master anticipated his death (hence his refusal to regenerate) in "Last of the Time Lords", and used his subordinates to imprison his wife, (who murdered him), and took a biometric imprint from her to use as a catalyst for the AppliedPhlebotinum used to ''[[BackFromTheDead resurrect him]]''. Except his wife came up with [[ThePlan a plan of her own]], anticipating ''this scheme'', [[HeroicSacrifice and her sabotage which cost her life]], meant the Master CameBackWrong, but his scheme was otherwise successful.
* ThirdActStupidity: The Lord President. Telling the Master [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he has outlived his usefulness?]] Risky, in itself. But telling him that ''before he actually '''has''' outlived his usefulness?'' He was just asking to get zapped.
* TimeCrash: After the Ood berate the Doctor for [[SanDimasTime taking so long]] to come see them about what's going on, he realizes that they have made ''far'' too much progress after only a hundred years since he last met them. Time is starting to break down, due to the Time Lords' plot to escape the Time War.
* TitleDrop: "For Gallifrey! For victory! For the End of Time itself!"
* TokenMinorityCouple: Martha and Mickey.
* TragicVillain: The Master. Once a happy child, best buds with the Doctor, then deliberately retroactively brain-damaged as a child by Rassilon, basically for the purpose of making a gateway.
* TrashTheSet: The Doctor's regeneration is quite explosive.
* TrailersAlwaysLie: Promotional photos showed David Tennant wearing Time Lord regalia. Guess what doesn't happen in either episode?
* UnflinchingWalk: The Doctor, as the Master's shooting lightning at him. [[{{Subverted}} Lasts until the Master actually hits him.]]
* UnseenAudience: The Narrator/Lord President is eventually revealed to be addressing the assembled Time Lords.
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Donna stuffs the lottery ticket down the front of her wedding dress. [[CallBack It doesn't have any pockets.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: The President of the High Council ("I WILL NOT DIE!"). Unusually for this trope it's seen in the character's introduction, though of course justified as it's happening at the end of the Time War.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Y'see, when the Master turned Earth's human population into his clones, their clothes didn't change with their bodies. We've now got about three billion Masters dressed in women's clothing, and we see some of them.
* VillainousRescue:
** It is Rassilon who turns all of the Master's clones back into human beings.
** The Master himself, when he attacks Rassilon and sends himself, the Time Lords and Gallifrey back into the Time War.
* VillainWorld: Earth under the rule of the Master Race.
* WeAllDieSomeday:
-->'''Doctor:''' I'm going to die.
-->'''Wilf:''' Well, so am I, someday.
-->'''Doctor:''' No, don't you dare.
-->'''Wilf:''' All right, I'll try not to!
* WealthyEverAfter: Donna, presumably, thanks to the lottery ticket.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Rassilon. Yes, your race has to survive and you're the Lord President of the Time Lords, but do you have to fuck up a kid's childhood by making him AxCrazy (and an OmnicidalManiac) because you sent a maddening signal into his brain, to escape the Time War, ''and rip apart the space/time continuum itself'' just so your people could survive?\\\
But it's a subversion: Rassilon is blatantly motivated mainly by his own personal survival above all else; the Time Lords themselves are, in his eyes, his private empire, a society he made and ordered for the express purpose of reshaping the universe to his liking. So while he presents himself to them as a WellIntentionedExtremist, in reality he is, and always was, nothing more than a raging egomaniac with a [[AGodAmI god complex]] and a DirtyCoward who would rather destroy all of creation than let himself be killed.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** Whatever became of Leela?
** Or Romana for that matter, seeing as the WordOfGod[[invoked]] says she returned to Gallifrey and became President -- possible FridgeHorror if the unnamed Time Lady we see disintegrated was her.
** Or even [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild Susan]]? The last we're told of her [[note]]in the TV series proper[[/note]] is that she vanished, and that the Seventh Doctor had no idea where she might be. Next thing we're told, the Doctor's entire family is gone. When did she leave Earth in the 22nd century?
** Also, what happened to Borusa and his bas-relief mates when Rassilon emerged?
* WhamEpisode
* WhamLine:
-->'''The Narrator/Rassilon:''' This was the day the Time Lords returned.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The Master is {{retcon}}ned into this.
* WorstWhateverEver: Coupled with ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike -- "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis WORST! RESCUE! EVER!]]" as the Vinvocci wheel the Doctor out of Naismith's house. On a hand truck. Down a flight of stairs.
* WriterOnBoard: The Obama scene.
* TheXOfY
* YouMonster: Wilfred delivers quite a heartfelt one to the Master.
-->'''Wilf:''' What is it? What have you done, you monster?

----
->''Vale decem\\
Honore res quara\\
Emerio\\
Alter altera\\
Vale decem\\
Emerio\\
Alter\\
Alteri te\\
Vale decem\\
Vale stragem\\
Vale temptua\\
De glorio''
----

The Master is inside Naismith's head. No, he's inside ''everyone's'' head. Every human on Earth. The Doctor gets Wilf to a locked-down isolation chamber, getting the Master out of his head, but he's only one person. Less than a minute later, the Gate finishes powering up, and every single human on Earth, save Wilf (in the isolation chamber) and Donna (who's not entirely human anymore) are turned into clones of the Master. He's the {{President|Evil}}. He's newsreader Trinity Wells. He's Naismith and Naismith's daughter. [[MesACrowd He's everyone]]. Earth is now populated by six ''billion'' Masters. The human race has become... "[[IncrediblyLamePun the Master race]]". And upon seeing a transformation this bizarre, Donna starts to remember....

* BigEater: The Master, since he CameBackWrong.

** A shout-out by way of special effect. The effect used when the Immortality Gate and Rassilon transform humans into the Master Race and vice versa is a callback to the [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who TV Movie]]. At one point in the movie, when the Master is attempting to take over the Doctor's remaining lives, his head begins shaking in a super-fast motion, interlaced with split-second cuts of the Doctor's head on the Master's body. The overall effect is almost identical, though somewhat less polished, than the one used in the 2009 specials.
** Also Rassilon's plan to escape the Time War by ascending the Time Lords to beings of pure consciousness beyond Time itself is reminiscent of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit the Beast]]'s nature as a being of thought who existed "before time". This also indicates just how far the Time Lords had fallen, and why the Doctor would go to such lengths to stop them.

** "He will knock four times". The Doctor is well aware of his impending doom and how little time he has left, and so he goes and wanders the Universe for several years before finally deciding to meet his end. All the whilst he keeps saying he is going to die.

* DeusExMachina: In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]] it was established that Donna will die if she remembers her time with the Doctor, there's an entire scene dedicated to how important it is that she never remember. In this episode a year later, it's revealed that the Doctor was being somewhat melodramatic as he had in fact installed a buffer to prevent her from suffering any harm whatsoever if and when she remembers.. and just forgot to tell her family. In fact the act of remembering her previous life is actually pretty beneficial as it knocks out a bunch of master clones with no ill effects whatsoever.

* EvilerThanThou: Rassilon, surprisingly. While in the Creator/BigFinish audio books, Rassilon was shown to be a kind of Gallifreyan Hitler, futzing around with all the lesser species to give them Time Lord characteristics and eliminating anyone who stood in his way, here he manages to thwart the Master's plan with ''a flick of his wrist''.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: AVERTED. The Doctor is initially unwilling to save Wilf at the cost of his own life, protesting that it's not fair and he could do so much more. While he eventually does so, the Tenth Doctor's last act is to whimper "I don't want to go."

* GenreSavvy: Mr Naismith seems to have a pretty good idea of how far to trust his new technician:
-->(''gate powers up, the Master leans back and [[PsychoticSmirk smirks]]'')\\

-->'''The Master:''' [[IronicEcho You never]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter would]], you [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays coward]]. (''pause'') Go on then. Do it!

* GoneHorriblyRight: The Master

** Not to mention the Doctor's own HeroicSacrifice to save Wilf.
** Who, it need be mentioned, was only in need of saving because he ''himself'' [[HeroicSacrifice was trapped]] after freeing a scientist.

** The Master to the Doctor, contemptuously: "You never would, you coward."

** And let's not forget a big one from way back when the Sixth Doctor was on trial on Gallifrey that seems particularly chilling in retrospect.

The Master steps forward, telling the Doctor [[IronicEcho to get out of the way]]. He uses his lightning blasts to strike down the Lord President over and over again, walking forward and [[HeroicSacrifice vanishing with the other Time Lords back into the Time War]] (where the Tenth Doctor in his past will save them but only [[Recap/TheDayOfTheDoctor remember it later]]).

Back in the mansion, the Master moves onto Plan B: Unable to take over the Time Lord's bodies the same way he did the humans, he simply plans to celebrate the Time Lords' return and have them owe him one. The Doctor tells him that the Master wasn't there during the final days of the War. He tells him that Gallifrey not only had a host of leftover Daleks, but [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties]], [[EldritchAbomination the Nightmare Child]], and the [[ParadoxPerson Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres]]; all about to break free and descend upon the Earth. The Master is a-OK with that scenario until the Doctor reminds him that even the Time Lords can't survive all of them at once.

The Master steps forward, telling the Doctor [[IronicEcho to get out of the way]]. He uses his lightning blasts to strike down the Lord President over and over again, walking forward and [[HeroicSacrifice vanishing with the other Time Lords back into the Time War]].

* ContrivedCoincidence: The Doctor [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] his constant encounters with Wilf, suggesting something is forcing them together. Turns out it's because [[spoiler:Wilfred is the man who "kills" this version of the Doctor.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: The Doctor [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] his constant encounters with Wilf, suggesting something is forcing them together.

%%
%% Crowning Moments of Awesome are listed at Awesome/DoctorWho
%% Crowning Moments of Funny are listed at Funny/DoctorWho
%% Crowning Moments of Heartwarming are listed at Heartwarming/DoctorWho
%%

%%
%% Epileptic Trees are listed at WMG/DoctorWhoNewSeries, WMG/DoctorWhoSeries4 or WMG/DoctorWhoWithSpoilers
%%

%%
%%%We no longer collect Fetish Fuel.
%%%Foe Yay belongs in FoeYay/DoctorWho
%%

%%
%% Examples of Nightmare Fuel, accidental or otherwise are listed at NightmareFuel/DoctorWho
%%

%%
%% Examples of Wild Mass Guessing are listed at WMG/DoctorWhoNewSeries, WMG/DoctorWhoSeries4 or WMG/DoctorWhoWithSpoilers
%%

** So was the spaceship scene with FrickinLaserBeams, and the Lord President of the Time Lords [[LaserGuidedKarma getting his comeuppance by the Master]], with electricity...

->''"'''''''I don't want to go.'''''''"''
-->-- '''The Tenth Doctor''' says his FamousLastWords.

* EnemyMine / TheSadisticChoice: The Doctor has to choose between killing either the Master or the other Time Lords, with each side egging him to shoot the other. He ultimately went with the downfall of the Time Lords, with the Master taking them down with him.

** The Doctor's mention of his marriage to Queen Bess is a CallBack to the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], where the Queen arrives and instantly declares the Doctor to be her enemy, [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor for reasons he didn't remember at the time]].

** The Doctor's mention of his marriage to Queen Bess is a CallBack to the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], where the Queen arrives and instantly declares the Doctor to be her enemy, [[NoodleIncident for reasons he didn't know at the time]].

[[caption-width-right:350:The Master's back, sporting the latest "crazy hobo" look.]]

'''WARNING! THERE MAY BE UNMARKED SPOILERS!'''

** Lucy Saxon looks ''good'' in her prison getup.

*** The Moment is finally shown to be the ultimate, sentient Time Lord weapon in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]."

The Doctor takes one last walk around the TARDIS, stopping just as the music reaches a pause before the crescendo before speaking his last words: "I don't want to go." Visibly distraught, his head and hands begin to glow, as they had a few times before, but this time they won't fade away, growing with intensity before violently erupting. The energy [[TrashTheSet severely damages the TARDIS]] and sends it toward Earth in a tailspin. Moments later, the Doctor's regeneration completes and we are introduced to Creator/MattSmith for the first time as the Eleventh Doctor.

He goes through the typical self-examination common of all new Doctors, making sure he still has legs, hands, lots of fingers ("ooooh!"), his now longer hair ("I'm a ''girl?!''"), that he isn't a girl ("No. No, I'm not a girl!") and his hair colour ("''Still'' not ginger!"). The burning, crashing TARDIS reminds him of imminent death (again) and he jumps on to the controls with manic glee, yelling "Geronimo!!" as the screen cuts to the credits.

** The Doctor's mention of his marriage to Queen Bess is a CallBack to the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], where the Queen arrives and instantly declares the Doctor to be her enemy, [[NoodleIncident for reasons he didn't know at the time]].

* DeusExMachina: In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]" it was established that Donna will die if she remembers her time with the Doctor, there's an entire scene dedicated to how important it is that she never remember. In this episode a year later, it's revealed that the Doctor was being somewhat melodramatic as he had in fact installed a buffer to prevent her from suffering any harm whatsoever if and when she remembers.. and just forgot to tell her family. In fact the act of remembering her previous life is actually pretty beneficial as it knocks out a bunch of master clones with no ill effects whatsoever.

* DontExplainTheJoke: The Doctor rather desperately tries to explain to Ood Sigma why locking the TARDIS like a car with remote locking is funny. Leading to a nice little moment where the Doctor unwittingly echoes the Master's "It's a gas mask" scene: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E12TheSoundOfDrums Funny? No? Little bit?]]"