The Doctor, Martha, and Jack return to present-day London… only to find the Master already elected as Prime Minister. Democracy has never looked so smug.
Short Synopsis
The Master, now in the form of John Simm, has taken over Britain under the name Harold Saxon. He weaponizes politics, the media, and a fleet of deadly alien spheres to cement his power. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Martha, and Jack play a desperate game of hide-and-seek while trying to stop him. Spoiler: it doesn’t go well.
Extended Storyline
Picking up seconds after Utopia, the TARDIS team uses Jack’s handy wrist vortex manipulator to zap back to present-day London. Except — surprise! — Harold Saxon is already in power. Yes, the Master ran for Prime Minister, won, and apparently nobody thought it odd that he smiled like a shark at feeding time.
Saxon has everything in place: political control, public adoration, and a wife named Lucy who looks like she’s permanently auditioning for a perfume commercial but actually might be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Behind the scenes, he’s working with the “Toclafane” — floating murder spheres that sound like toddlers with vocoders. But more on them later.
The Doctor, Martha, and Jack immediately become Britain’s Most Wanted. The Master hijacks every television, every radio, and possibly even your toaster just to gloat in their faces. Imagine a political campaign ad but with 300% more cackling.
In classic Bond-villain fashion, the Master sets his trap: UNIT and the military chase our heroes while he preps his masterstroke (pun absolutely intended). Martha’s family is snatched up and used as leverage, because nothing says “trustworthy politician” like kidnapping your opponents’ mums and sisters.
There’s also a very fun chase sequence where the trio evade capture, all while the Master taunts them like the world’s most annoying ring-tone. Jack keeps trying to shoot things, Martha keeps being the only sensible person in the room, and the Doctor keeps fiddling with gadgets like a Time Lord MacGyver.
Eventually, the gang infiltrates the Master’s airborne command center — the Valiant, basically SHIELD’s Helicarrier but with more British flag décor. Here, the Master reveals his grand plan: the Toclafane are arriving in massive numbers, and he’s going to use them to conquer Earth. Also, he’s shrunk the Doctor’s laser screwdriver tech down to pocket-size, which is bad news for Ten.
Then comes the gut punch: the Master ages the Doctor into what looks like a shriveled raisin with a wig. Martha and Jack are powerless, the Toclafane fleet descends on Earth, and Harold Saxon cackles like a kid who just got away with stealing the cookie jar — except the cookie jar is the entire planet.
Cue end credits, with viewers screaming “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘TO BE CONTINUED’?” at their televisions.