The episode opens with Jack, Martha and the Doctor materialising via Jack's timehopper wristband (Vortex Manipulator) and discovering that Harold Saxon is the Master and had arrived 18 months before them. Not only that, he's won the election and is Prime Minister of Great Britain.

"What this country needs, right now, is a Doctor"

Tish is working with the Master without knowing who he is.

The Master enters the cabinet room with a pile of documents, throws them in the air, then gasses his party members to death.

The scooby gang go back to Martha's place to research Saxon. Saxon's wife is accosted by a journalist who reveals that she's really there to protect her and tells her that Saxon isn't really who he says he is. His whole history is a fabrication. Unfortunately Saxon's wife already knows all this and Saxon/The Master appears and, with the help of a floating metallic ball droid called a Toclafane, kills the journalist.

(NB: Toclafane is an anagram of locate fan!)

The Master gives a speech and deliberately says the word 'medical student' while the gang are watching him on the TV. The Doctor instantly realises that it's a verbal command for a bomb and locates it with seconds to explode at the back of the TV. They run out of the apartment as it explodes and Martha starts calling her family.

Her mother tells her she should come over right away and her father is there too, but he gives the game away telling her to run.

She tries to ring Tish but the order has been given to round up the Jones Family and Tish is captured.

Martha rings Leo and the Master interrupts the call. Martha gets irate with him and the Doctor takes the phone off her to talk to the Master. They talk about the Time War and fill in a few gaps. It turns out that the Time Lords are the ones who resurrected The Master and probably gave him a new set of regenerations.

The Master sees them on a street camera and tells them to run.

They find a place where they can work in secret. Jack tells the Doctor that he resurrected Torchwood in his honour.

The Doctor creates a perception field using 3 TARDIS keys. They are now able to walk anywhere without anyone perceiving them.

They go to an airbase to see the President of the United states arrive with Unit personnel. They then use Jack's teleport bracelet to jaunt onto a military ship that's actually floating above London. Built by the Master it also contains the Doctor's TARDIS. They enter and find that it had been cannibalised to create a paradox machine. The Doctor can't stop it. They need to find the Master.

The President greets the world live then greets the Toclafane who ask for the Master, as the Doctor, Martha and Jack enter the meeting room undetected.

The Master kills the President, kills Jack, brings in Martha's captured family, then uses a minitiarised, reversed version of Professor Lazarus' machine, as well as the Doctor's biological code taken from his hand, to age the Doctor 100 years.

The Master's paradox machine activates opening a rift in space time above London and releasing 6 billion Toclafane which descend from the skies with guns blazing.

The Master orders them to remove 1/10th of the population and as they burst through people's windows and dive screaming into cities around the world, Martha uses Jacks teleport bracelet and escapes to find help.

Excellent acting by all concerned. 10 out of 10 Mr Davies.

There were a number of fan references but one that definitly had my timelord sense buzzing was the Master's line:
"People's of the Earth please attend carefully!" which is very similar to what the Master said in the classic series episode 'Logopolis' And John Simm said this line with considerable relish.

There was a lot of eye candy in this episode too. As the Master said, you've got all the demographic boxes ticked, or something to that effect. This is actually a rare situation for Doctor Who. So many non-fans have said that they're not really interested in watching the classic series as there weren't enough attractive people in them, having been spoilt by perfect teeth and other features in American programmes. Well, this story featured lots of gorgeous and handsome people so it definitely won't be disappointing for the new viewer.

David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. John Barrowman and John Simm guest star. 

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Complete 2nd Series
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