Tick-tock goes the clock — and somewhere in 1920s London, someone’s wound up a few too many secrets.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and Rose arrive in 1926 and discover that London’s high society is hiding more than just skeletons in the wardrobe. There’s a sinister clockwork assassin on the loose, a missing prince, and a cat who’s probably seen too much.
Extended Storyline
Fresh from their adventures in space and time (and with the TARDIS still making that comforting wheezing groan like an asthmatic walrus), the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler materialize in the middle of London’s Roaring Twenties. It’s a time of glamour, jazz, and a general refusal to admit that the Great War was only a few years ago.
They soon cross paths with Lady Mellissa Heart — posh, beautiful, and about as trustworthy as a smiling Dalek. There’s also a mysterious Russian servant named Aske, a clockwork man who looks like someone took a grandfather clock and decided it needed more murder, and a young boy named Freddie who knows far too much for his age.
Before long, the Doctor realizes they’re caught in a web of espionage, royal intrigue, and mechanical mayhem. Someone’s planning to assassinate the Prince of Wales (no, not that one), and the gears are literally turning toward disaster. The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver is handy, but when your enemy runs on springs and precision engineering, things get a bit… wound up.
As the clues pile higher than Rose’s 1920s hairdo, the Doctor uncovers a tale of revenge, deception, and a rather tragic twist of identity. The Clockwise Man himself turns out to be more human than expected — which, naturally, makes it all the more heartbreaking when the Doctor has to stop him. By the time the dust settles, our favorite Time Lord has prevented a royal disaster, restored order to the timeline, and possibly ruined one or two historical tea parties.
Rose, meanwhile, gets her first real taste of being stranded in the past — and learns that even when everything looks proper and polite, the world is still one bad cog away from falling apart.