Hello everyone!

Here's the updated version of 'The Time of the Doctor'! Hope you enjoy!

Next up is Deep Breath

Thanks for reading

Robyn

As the group turned to the screen it turned black as it had done every other time, they watched in anticipation of the newest video title. They weren't let down as the next title appeared, 'The Time of the Doctor'.

"You know, I didn't think these titles could get any vaguer." Bill declared upon reading the title. The group was all glancing around at each other wondering if anyone would have any ideas about the video they were about to ask.

"I'm officially coming up blank for ideas." Clara sighed, glancing at the Doctor. There were so many things this could be about, but if it was continuing the theme of the past few videos, it wasn't likely to be very nice.

The Doctor grimaced, not liking how little clues she had to try and prepare mentally for the next video. She sighed, "Let's see what the Tardis has in store for us next." With that the video officially started, everyone watching eager, albeit nervous and apprehensive, to see who and what would be featured this time.

Tasha is talking about there being a planet that was unimportant and like many others, until they sent the universe a message. A bell rung to the stars and everyone came to see.

We see fleets of Judoon, Silurians and all other sorts circling an icy planet with the bells still ringing.

Tasha continues saying even though no one understood the message, everyone who heard it was afraid, apart from one man – the man who stayed for Christmas

The Doctor's eyes had widened dramatically upon recognising Tasha's voice, her words and the pictures showing on the screen only confirming her fears, guess she was right, and they weren't going to have a nice video. This was going to be painful to watch, the only silver lining she could think of was Amy, Rory and River getting a better understanding of why the Silence existed (which wasn't much consolation admittedly).

Clara's head had whipped around to meet the Doctor's gaze, she'd also come to the same realisation of what they were likely watching. "Is this-?" She couldn't finish her sentence, but she didn't need to for the Doctor to understand what she was asking.

"Yes." The Doctor nodded solemnly. There were so many parts to this video – there was the Church, the siege of Christmas, her eventual regeneration, and then Gallifrey-. Well, she was trying not to think about that until she had no other choice.

"Either of you going to fill us in on what we're about to watch?" Amy asked, not liking how serious the pair was looking.

Clara and the Doctor exchanged a look before answering in sync. "Trenzalore."

The Doctor winced when she heard River's sharp breath, quickly trying to clarify. "The second time kind of. Well, the first time chronologically technically. Either way, not the thing you're thinking about River." River nodded quietly, glad for that but still not confident in what the video would show. She's heard lots of rumour about Trenzalore, and none of them good.

"You've mentioned Trenzalore before." Rose said quietly, they'd seen quite a few videos at this point but Trenzalore had come up several times at this point and none of the mentions had sounded good, making the name more memorable.

The Doctor nodded, unwilling to actually answer the unsaid questions she was being asked. They'd just have to watch and see what happened.

The Doctor beams onto a spaceship holding a Dalek eyestalk. He declares he brings proof of courage an comradeship asking what them to identify themselves and why they are there.

A Dalek declares exterminate

"I don't think they're going to be very happy to see you, Doctor." Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's appearance on the ship. The room had instinctively tensed upon seeing the Dalek.

"Especially not when you're holding that." Rory added, referring to the Dalek eyestalk that Chinny was holding. Amy and Rory both felt a bit odd at seeing (who they thought of as) their Doctor, having adventures with someone else, Clara may not be on screen yet but she clearly knew what it was about. They'd seen it in the first video, but it was still odd to watch despite having literally told the Doctor to find someone else. It was also worrying with the way they were referring to Trenzalore and knowing that Clara knew the next Doctor's regeneration as well meant there was always that possibility.

"I don't think the eye-stalk matters, the Daleks are never happy to see the Doctor." Mickey snorted; arms crossed. It went the other way too, the Doctor (and them) were never happy to see Daleks.

Doctor shouts for Handles as the Daleks attack, the Doctor is finally beamed away avoiding the Dalek's terrible aim

The group let out a breath as the Doctor was finally teleported away out of danger, they didn't know who this 'Handles' was (bar Clara) but the Doctor had apparently been relying on them to get out of danger. They were just glad to see the Doctor escape unharmed, although they were curious about why the Doctor had been on the ship in the first place.

Back on the Tardis the Doctor complains about every ship he appears on shooting at him. He's talking to a damaged Cyberman's head attached to the console, telling him he'd said to put him on a ship not a Dalek ship

"Are you honestly talking to a Cyberman's head?" Martha asked in fond exasperation.

The Doctor nodded, thinking fondly of Handles. "Handles was very helpful and a great friend." She defended him, barely refraining from mentioning how long they'd spent on Trenzalore.

"Only you Doctor, only you." Martha shook her head.

He declares to not put him on a Dalek ship when he's holding a bit of broken Dalek, hitting the head with the eyestalk and only hurting himself

The group snickered at the Doctor's actions on screen, glad to see they never really changed.

Handles responds saying he did not indicate a preference. The Doctor said to use his head

"I don't think he has much choice." Ryan grinned while Yaz groaned at his joke. The Doctor grinned proudly at him too.

He takes the head off and paces, continuing to say Handles doesn't have a lot of alternatives before focusing on all the species currently circling the planet but they're not fighting, just parked and he's confused why.

Handles declares the message was received through the universe

"Message? What message?" Bill asked, glancing at the Doctor who seemed to be having a silent conversation with Clara.

"It must be important for everyone to be there and not be fighting." River declared, the thought of it was shocking quite frankly and she wouldn't believe it if she wasn't seeing it. The only time something like this had happened recently was during the mess with the Pandorica.

The Doctor bit her lip, contemplating what to say before she answered. "You'll see soon." She decided on not answering at all, knowing any clue she could give would likely give it away. The room's eyes were on her full of questioning disbelief but no one pushed the matter for the second.

The Doctor says even he can't translate the message, asking why everyone is there if they don't understand it

"The same reason you're there maybe, Spaceman." Donna raised an eyebrow at the Doctor who just grinned and waved to the screen.

Handles counters that he's there. The Doctor replies that he's OCD obviously, what's everyone else's excuse and what does the message mean

"No, you're just incapable of keeping out of trouble and not investigating mysteries, especially mysteries this big." Amy grinned at the Doctor, though it wavered a bit in thought that that habit of their usually got them into trouble. Her mind had also jumped to the mess with the Pandorica and the cracks.

The emergency phone outside the Tardis rings, he places the head back. The Doctor tells Handles to remind him he has to patch the phone back through the console unit. Handles declares information is available but when asked he just repeats the Doctor's message. The Doctor tells him to remind him later.

The group started chuckling at that, relaxing around Handles. They'd been worried initially at the sight of the Cyberman's head but he didn't seem to be violent or out to hurt the Doctor, in fact the head reminded them a bit of Nardole oddly enough.

Handles asks when, the Doctor tells him to just pick a random number, they go back an forth for a bit until Handles finally agrees

The group kept chuckling at the Doctor's attempt to explain everything to Handles, glad for the comedic relief as they all had the feeling this video wasn't going to be pleasant.

The Doctor answers the phone, bringing the handset inside. He answers with 'hello, the Tardis'

The room's eyes turned to the Doctor making her shift uncomfortable with the attention and unsure why she was getting this attention. "What?" She gave up and asked.

"Why are you answering the phone like that?" Martha asked.

"Why not?" She shrugged, not seeing nothing wrong with it. It wasn't like there were many people with that phone number in the universe, and most of them were friendly (and by most she meant about half, on a good week at least). The group rolled their eyes at her but let it go for the moment. Clara was focussed on the screen; aware this was likely where she came in to the mess.

Back on Earth, Clara is running around between cooking and laying dinner with a paper crown and Christmas cracker. She declares emergency, you're my boyfriend on the phone

The group had all glanced at Clara when the screen changed to how her, knowing she was at least aware of the video's contents (so likely apart of it) but unable to actually avoid looking at her when she did appear.

When they heard her first words Jack immediately broke out into cackles while the rest of the group started grinning at the sheer desperation and panic Clara was showing on screen, for once not in actual life-threatening danger. Clara, however, put her head in her hands and groaned, remembering the embarrassment about to occur.

"What kind of emergency requires the Doctor to be your boyfriend?" Yaz asked Clara with a grin.

Clara groaned again, ignoring the way the Doctor had joined in with Jack's cackles, "A family one."

"Understandable." Ryan nodded.

"No, it's not." Bill argued, eyes alight with mischief. "Out of everyone, you chose the Doctor as your boyfriend? I think even a stranger of the street would do a better job in a family situation."

"Hey!" The Doctor finally stopped cackling in order to protest.

"Oh, you can't talk Doctor! Remember what happened?" Clara said pointedly. Her words made the Doctor go suspiciously quiet.

"What did the idiot do?" Amy asked, eager for any blackmail material.

Clara just shook her head with her own mischievous smile and waved to the screen.

The Doctor goes ding dong, quickly agreeing even if he might be rusty in some areas but he'll glance at a manual. Clara clarifies no he's not her actual boyfriend

"Good to clarify that at the start." Donna nodded in approval. "Don't want the Martian getting any ideas."

The Doctor groaned, "I told you Donna that's not what I meant!" Referring to their age-old argument from their meeting surrounding the word 'mate'.

The turkey is not ready but the roast potatoes look done. The Doctor declares the phone call a roller coaster

"Almost as much a roller coaster as these videos." Rory remarked with a small grin. It was always reassuring to see their Doctor acting like he normally did, though the comment had a tinge of seriousness – his statement was very true.

Clara say she needs a boyfriend quickly, the Doctor declares he hopes she's nicer to the next one. Clara shuts him up, she's cooking Christmas dinner, and she accidently invented a boyfriend

"I thought that was something that only happened in like films and books, not real life." Rose chuckled, feeling a bit of sympathy for Clara's unfortunate situation.

"I panicked!" Clara tried to explain, but the blush on her face revealed her embarrassment.
DOCTOR: Yeah, I did that once and there's no easy way to get rid of an android.

The room turned to stare down the Doctor, all a bit afraid to ask. "You know what, no, I have to ask. What the hell?" Bill said.

The Doctor had been grimacing, though her eyes held a bit of a wistful look at the memories. No one noticed her glance at the Master, before she turned to answer Bill. "It's a long story." She answered simply, not prepared to open that particular can of worms anytime soon. She got a few concerned and curious looks but they all recognised this wasn't something she was going to talk about now despite the light hearted comment.

Clara corrects him, not an android, but a pretend one and said he'd be coming for Christmas dinner. The Doctor gets distracted by a new unidentified new vessel in orbit, dropping the telephone receiver

"Doctor!" Martha sighed, "You were in the middle of a conversation! You can't just drop the phone." The Doctor just smiled sheepishly holding her hands up in surrender.

"In my defence there was kind of a situation going on."

The Doctor declares he's going to visit the new ship using the Tardis this time

"You are about to land on a very likely hostile ship and outright declare who you are, aren't you?" Jack sighed.

"You really can't say anything Jack."

Clara is asking him to come to Christmas dinner and pretend to be her Christmas date. The Doctor says he missed the last part and he has to run

"Please tell me you actually went and didn't completely abandon Clara on her own." Amy asked, crossing her arms.

"I did I promise." The Doctor immediately spoke up, avoiding how the dinner had ended (and started, really the whole thing had been a mess).

The Tardis materialises on a new spaceship and the Doctor walks down the corridor carrying Handles, he says not to be scared and starts to say 'I come in peace' but he spots the Cybermen – its their ship

"That's the second time you've gone onto an enemy ship holding a piece of one of them." Mickey shook his head at the Doctor's antics.

"Apparently I don't learn my lesson." The Doctor grinned.

"Anyone here could have told you that Sweetie." River sighed, fond exasperation clear in her voice.

The Cybermen declare an alert – an intruder has been detected and starts to shoot at him. The Doctor escapes back to the Tardis, getting inside before the phone rings so he pops out to grab the phone again

The group sighed in relief at seeing the Doctor yet again escape danger for the moment. The thought slowly building in their heads – if this (some of the Doctor's fiercest enemies) weren't the focus than how bad was the actual danger going to be?

It's Clara again saying she needs him as she's cooking Christmas dinner, the Doctor argues he's being shot at by Cybermen. Clara asks why they can't do both and the Doctor agrees

"I would never recommend doing both. Preferably not getting shot at by Cybermen ever is also a good idea." Rose grimaced at the memories of all her unfortunate encounters with Cybermen. The last time she'd seen Cybermen and Dalek together had been when Torchwood One fell, and that wasn't exactly pleasant memories either.

"I agree." Clara nodded, regretting having made that comment a bit, as they had certainly ended up doing both.

In Clara's flat her family is eating starters and drinking whilst watch Strictly Come Dancing – the Christmas special so its 5pm. Linda asks how the turkey is doing and Clara nervously replies its doing well apart from being dead and decapitated. Her gran decides to drink more so Clara refills her glass

The group was all grinning at Clara's situation, although they couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy. Christmas dinner was always stressful, especially when you are making it yourself for your family, and add in Clara's fabled boyfriend, she was bound to be stressed out of her ears.

"Your grandmother knows how this is going to go." The Doctor teased Clara who just glared back.

Her dad asks if she put it in early enough, and Clara replies she put it in when he phoned her. He'd emailed her some instruction, which Clara is very aware of

"Very long and comprehensive instructions that make you feel like you don't know anything?" Amy asked nodding in sympathy and understanding.

"You too?" Clara smiled back at the Scots woman, glad for a chance to actually talk to her properly after what they'd seen in the videos and the little the Doctor had mentioned during their travels.

"Yes. My parents seem to think I don't know how to cook." Amy rolled her eyes like that was the most ridiculous things he'd ever heard.

"That's because you don't." Rory added, already bracing himself for the inevitable elbow to the side. He at least gained a sympathetic look from his daughter who understood his plight.

The Tardis materialises outside the block of flats, she runs out, losing her paper crown

"The Doctor is going to make the situation worse, isn't he?" Martha asked with a resigned grimace.

"Is that even possible?" Mickey teased.

"With the Doctor, everything's possible." Clara grimaced in confirmation. While usually the comment would be very positive and reassuring in this context it was mostly the opposite.

Clara is midst greeting when the Doctor appears – lacking any clothes, Clara quickly turns her back

A few people let out shrieked, instinctively covering their eyes at the glimpse of the Doctor sans-clothes. A few (namely Jack and River), however wiggled their eyebrows at the Doctor/winked and leaned closer to the screen while the Doctor just groaned, blushing brightly. She definitely regretted that decision now.

"Doctor!" Donna exclaimed.

"I had a reason I swear!" The Doctor declared trying to avert the storm he knew was coming. "Just watch, please." She ignored Clara's mumble of, 'please don't'.

The Doctor is unbothered, but Clara tells him to stop and not do anything. The Doctor is confused about what is wrong, Clara tells him he's naked, he's very aware and wondered if she'd notice

"Oh, so you did notice, I was wondering about that." Rory muttered a bit sarcastic.

"Oi, Roman! It's not hard to miss the lack of clothes, I'm not that stupid." The Doctor protested.

"Yes, you are. In one of the first few videos, you didn't notice you'd changed sex." Amy argued in an attempt to help her husband.

"Well Pond, changing sex is very different to noticing a lack of clothes." The Doctor argued with a huff. Amy rolled her eyes but let the topic go for the moment.

Clara asks why he's naked, the Doctor tells her he's going to church

"That explains absolutely nothing." Bill declared, eyeing the Doctor in disbelief.

"Yes, it does." The Doctor argued pettily.

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't"

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't"

"Yes, it do-."

"Woah, woah, woah." Clara interrupted the two arguing like toddlers, aware that they could likely continue all day which no one wanted to hear. "How about we just watch the video?" While stated like a question the steel in Clara's eyes told them all it wasn't a choice.

He zaps himself and is fully clothed again asking if its better. Clara is surprised at how quick it was, the Doctor tells her it's a hologram being projected straight to her visual cortex. Clara asks if he's still naked underneath, the Doctor shots back that everyone is naked underneath, Clara tells him not to say that stuff, its Christmas, now its time to meet her family

"Don't need the insightful comments, just need to never see you anywhere near naked again." Mickey grimaced.

Back at Clara's flat, Clara introduces her 'boyfriend', the Doctor enthusiastically greets them all. Linda and Clara's dad are avoiding eye contact but her gran is looking at him

Jack immediately noticed the way only Clara's gran was actually looking at the Doctor on screen and put two and two together, sending a sly wink at the Doctor. "Doctor, you dirty dog."

His comment immediately made River also connect the dots, hitting her forehead as she turned to a blushing Doctor. "Please tell me you didn't." The Doctor just offered a weak smile that was not believable in any way according to River's loud sigh.

The Doctor asks if anyone wants to play Twister. Clara asks why no one is saying hello

"What have you done this time?" Nardole muttered knowingly bit received no answer from anyone.

Her gran says hello with an empty wine glass. The Doctor says he has an idea to break the ice – suggesting he projects his clothing hologram to their visual cortexes as well

"Doctor!" Donna exclaimed, louder this time glaring at the Doctor.

"Your poor family." Rory sighed in sympathy with Clara.

"River." Amy announced, a silent order in her words. The Doctor immediately found out what that order was when River punched her in the arm.

"Ow!" She wined in protest shooting a wounded look at River then turning to the main perpetrator, aka Amy.

"You deserve it, you idiot! I know you're socially awkward and more than a bit stunted socially (and emotionally) speaking, but wearing clothes is just common sense." Amy raised an eyebrow pointedly at the Doctor. Everyone was ignoring Jack, who was just cackling away in the background.

"If it was actually common, more people would have it." The Doctor argued.

"Not the point Spaceman!" Donna stated.

"Why didn't you just do the hologram thing for everyone?" Martha sighed, looking completely resigned to the Doctor's antics despite how much it pained her. The Doctor opened her mouth, likely to started coming up with excuses and explanations but shut it audibly when Martha held up her hand. "You know what, I don't want to know."

Clara clarifies that no one but her can see his clothing, the Doctor confirms and suggests it might be causing some tension

"You think?!" Yaz asked incredulously.

Her gran asks about twister, while Clara forces the Doctor into the kitchen, apologising for him and claiming he's Swedish

"Swedish? What do you have against Sweden?" Amy laughed at poor Clara, enjoying teasing her as she knew what it was like to deal with this Doctor.

"Nothing." Clara declared with a groan, this whole situation had been embarrassing and then things had just gone downhill from there. "I just panicked and named a country so I could get him out of the room." That only made the group laugh more as she glared at the Doctor who was smiling, looking only slightly guilty.

The Doctor is distracted by the poor turkey in the oven saying its never going to work. Clara asks if he thinks it's not done yet. The Doctor jokes a good vet might give it a chance

"Doctor, give the poor woman a break." Rose offered a sympathetic look at Clara.

"Like you don't agree." The Doctor shot back.

"Oh, no, absolutely, but you've made her suffer enough." Rose declared.

Clara tells him to use an app on his screwdriver – to app it

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not how that works." Bill muttered, barely holding back a comment about old people.

"I'm pretty sure it is." Clara decided, sticking firmly to the comment her past self had made.

"Okay boomer." Ryan declared from across the room, before breaking out into laughter alongside Yaz and Bill.

"I'm not that old." Clara protested as the three snickered. She may not have been the same age as them, but she had worked in a school before. Graham just shot her an apologetic look to which she smiled back, not really that offended, and frankly enjoying the humour while there was still some to be enjoyed (the back end of this video was going to be severely lacking).

The Doctor argues saying it doesn't do turkey, that nothing does turkey, saying she'd need a time machine. He then asks why she's looking at him

"You realise that you have a time machine, right?" Rory said.

"Of course, I do Rory the Roman. But Tardises are brilliant marvels of technology and not just used for trying to save hopeless turkey Christmas dinners!" The Doctor protested, gaining several groans and rolled eyes for the

Cut to the Tardis, the Doctor is telling her she can't keep using it like this. Clara has the very uncooked turkey, asking what he means. The Doctor clarifies about missed birthdays, restaurant bookings etc and to learn how to use iPlayer

"No wonder she doesn't like you." River whistled as the Doctor listed things. The Tardis didn't really like short trips for things like that unless you were the Doctor or someone they really liked to begin with.

"She doesn't like me for many reasons." Clara grumbled, thinking back to the key incident after Danny's death, her own death causing the Doctor to be tortured and all the little snide comments she'd made over their travels. The Tardis had immediately hated her and she'd done nothing to convince the Tardis to change their mind.

Clara puts the turkey below the console – vortex cooking. The Doctor says the exposure to the time winds will either cook it or maybe just lay some eggs

"Personally, I'm hoping for the first option." Rose declared, mind drifting to the Slitheen egg incident in Cardiff although the situations weren't remotely alike.

Handles declares information available, and Clara asks what it is. The Doctor tells her its bit of Cybermen, and he'll get them to church on time

"Because that is not a worrying and confusing statement." Martha announced pointedly, earning a nod of agreement from Clara.

Handles declares he has a fault, the Doctor explains the organics are gone so its just a full set of data banks he found at Maldovar market

Jack nodded in understanding, "Fun place." The Doctor eyed him suspiciously knowing exactly what kind of place the Maldovar markets were.

Back to the snow planet from the beginning, Handles identifies the planet from analysing the message

"Oh good, we might actually get some answers." Donna sat up in anticipation before glancing at Clara, "Not that your family drama isn't entertaining."

"No please, let's move on from that mess." Clara muttered. It wasn't that she particularly wanted to see the new mess that was about to occur, but they didn't really have a choice in the matter and it was probably better to just try and get it over with rather than drag it out.

The Doctor asks what the planet is, Handles is processing, and the Doctor tells him to not rush

"Do rush, we want to know."

"Patience, Ricky." The Doctor said, a grimace on her face as she knew exactly what kind of mess the planet's 'name' would start.

Clara asks why he can't just go down and have a look, the Doctor tells her its shielded and not even the Tardis can break through

"That's some good shielding." River muttered, getting more worried by the Doctor and Clara's attitude and the continual mystery, even though she had her own suspicions of the planet's name.

HANDLES: Gallifrey.

"I'm sorry, did that thing just say Gallifrey?" Jack startled, eyes darting between the screen and the Doctor.

"That's not Gallifrey." The Master spoke up for the first time this video, eyes alight with anger leaning towards his madness, everything about his posture demanding explanations now. The Doctor knew how sensitive the topic of Gallifrey was for the Master (and her too if she was being honest, but she wasn't so she was going to ignore that thought) and figured no one was going to react well to this video. "That thing is clearly broken or delusional as that is not Gallifrey."

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a glance, a silent conversation happening over the course of a few seconds. "No, it's not."

"Then Handles is broken, right?" Rory asked cautiously, having a horrible feeling in his gut that wasn't the answer either.

"No." The Doctor answered simply, avoiding any attempts of eye contact.

"You aren't going to tell us anything, are you?" Amy crossed her arms, gaze burning a hole through the Doctor's head even as she refused to meet Amy's eyes. "You're just going to make us watch." The Doctor's stubborn silence was all the confirmation the group needed.

The Doctor asks it what is said, Handles repeats himself. The Doctor asks it what it means but Handles just confirms the planet is designated Gallifrey. The Doctor grab Handles and takes it to the scanner

The group all shot the Doctor concerned looks, aware of how sensitive a topic Gallifrey was to the Doctor especially after everything they had seen in the room. She was still determinedly avoiding their eyes, her own fixed on the screen.

The Doctor tells it Gallifrey is his home and he knows it when he sees it and the planet below is not Gallifrey. Clara asks if the Doctor is okay, the Doctor says its not Gallifrey as Gallifrey is gone (the Doctor is not okay – as normal)

"Gone?" Graham asked simply, a bit confused about the timeline now.

The Doctor sighed but reluctantly answered the question. "This was after the first video for us, so I know I'd tried to save Gallifrey, but I didn't know if I had succeeded at this point." Graham nodded in understanding, giving her such a grandfatherly look of concern that it made her hearts ache.

Clara argues unless he saved it which they thought they might have, both look out at the planet below. The Doctor answers even if Gallifrey survived it is gone from this universe and the planet below is not his home, it can't be

"That's not Gallifrey." The Master ground out, eyes ablaze and leaving no room for arguments.

"No, it's not." The Doctor answered simply and quietly.

A foghorn blasts and Clara asks what it is as they look at a giant square spaceship. The Doctor explains it's the Papal Mainframe – basically a giant flying church, it was the first ship to arrive and were the ones to shieled the planet, so they can get them down to it

"That's the church? The reason you're naked?" Rose queried, figuring the Doctor was more likely to answer questions that had nothing to do with Gallifrey at the moment.

"Yep." The Doctor nodded, injecting false cheer into her voice to try and hide the way her expression darkened in thought of both what had happened to the church and what a certain branch of the church had done.

The Doctor bows to a large holographic face as Clara asks if they're a friend, the Doctor introduces the face as Tasha Lem, the Mother Superious

"An old friend of yours?" Amy asked with a raised eye and pointed look. The Doctor really didn't bow to anyone they thought didn't deserve respect, so they really must like or at least respect this, Tasha Lem.

"Yes, a good one till the end." She sighed a bit forlorn and wistful, ignoring the underlying point to Amy's question, her thoughts to focused on Tasha Lem's fate and help throughout the events of this mess. Her words gained a few concerned looks from the group, not enjoying the wording or the Doctor's reaction to Amy's question, this really wasn't going to be a nice pain-free video apparently.

The hologram beckons them in. The Doctor says she's inviting them in as the Doctor asked her to, he then gives her a pill to swallow explaining it's her hologram projector as they can't go to church with clothes on/ The Tardis flies into the mainframe

"I think if you walked into any church on Earth naked you would be arrested." Martha said with a grimace at the thought.

"That's because 21st century Earth is boring and restrictive." Jack argued with a teasing grin and wink. "I could take some of you to the 51st century sometime and show you a good time."

"Jack!"

Clara mentions she feels like she isn't wearing anything, the Doctor agrees saying its relaxing

"Not the first way I'd describe it but kind of?" Clara admitted earning a wide grin form the Doctor.

Clara asks what the place is as they walk between two rows of military personnel, and the Doctor explains it's the Church of the Papal Mainframe – the security hub of the known universe

"Then why have we never heard of it before? I thought those space rhinos, what was it." Donna thought for a second before continuing. "The Shadow Police! Were in charge."

The Doctor smiled a bit indulgent but fondly, "The Shadow Proclamation." She corrected, "They are a police force kind of. The Church, however, was only really around in the 51st and 52nd centuries and was more of a military force." She tried to explain, earning a few (dubious) nods.

Clara clarifies it's a security church. The Doctor agrees, mention how they keep the worlds safe, and saying he venerates the exaltation of the Mother Superious

"We're just moving past that then." Nardole was promptly ignored as usual.

The Doctor bows and Clara curtseys as a male Colonel standing near the Mother Superious greets them. Alberto (the colonel) welcomes them saying their nudity is appreciated. Tasha greets them more casually with a 'hey babes', the Doctor compliments her frock, as Tasha compliments the new body.

"Definitely my kind of old friends." Jack whistled lowly, waggling his eyebrows at the Doctor.

"Jack!" The Doctor immediately protested, her cheeks slightly red. "It wasn't like that."

"Of course not, Doc."

"Jack!"

Clara reminds them she's also there

"Awkward." Bill muttered through her teeth, feeling a bit sympathetic for Clara. She felt a bit out of place during the Doctor's interactions with Missy, and not just because she knew Missy could and would kill her for no real reason.

The Doctor introduces Tasha and Clara to each other. Tasha says she'll take them to her chapel with all honours in place, no sacrifices required

"Sacrifices?" Rory perked up worried, glancing at the Doctor before rubbing his forehead. "You know what? I don't want to know."

The Doctor explains it was Tasha who shielded the planet as they walk down the corridor, asking if Tasha could sneak them onto the planet. Tasha says she has conditions, and turns to Clara saying she has confidential matters to discuss with the Doctor, asking her to excuse them for a moment

The group all raised an eyebrow at the screen, unable to decide whether Tasha just wanted to flirt with the Doctor (in which case Clara probably didn't want to be present), or if she was going to share actual important information (in which case Clara absolutely should be there).

The Doctor starts to say she can say anything she needs to in front of Clara before devolving and agreeing with Tasha, asking Clara to give them a moment. Clara jokes about them getting a room and the Doctor tells her to stop it even as Clara leaves, laughing at the boss of the psycho space nuns being so him

"You definitely have a type Doctor." River raised an eyebrow at her wife who squirmed in her seat, she knew River likely didn't actually have an issue with Tasha (their relation was very open) and was likely teasing her, but still she wasn't testing it with River's self-confidence issues on the matter.

The Doctor spluttered, "I don't have a type! I don't! What do you mean?"

Jack and River shared a look before raising an eyebrow at her in sync. Jack was the one who answered, "Your type is people that could and would kill you." His comment only made the Doctor splutter more as she tried to protest while the rest of the group snickered.

Tasha and the Doctor go into a private chapel leaving Clara alone. She sees a mouthless creature in a suite with three long fingers approaching her (a Silence), and calls for the Doctor

Amy, Rory and River had shot straight up in their seats all recognising the thing on screen now that they were seeing it again.

"What is that thing?" Rose asked, glancing concerned at the trio, their behaviour was worrying.

"A Silent." Amy said, eyes never leaving the screen. The rest of the group exchanged a glance but didn't ask anymore.

Inside the chapel the Doctor comments on the altar looking like a bed, Tasha turns it the other way round

"Stop flirting Doctor. There's kind of a situation going on." Martha announced with a pointed look at the Doctor.

The Doctor sits on the bed and drinks a goblet of blue liquid that Tasha give him, which he doesn't like. She then reaches across to press a panel, and a three-tone message plays out. She says the message is transmitting through all of time and space and asks what it made him feel. The Doctor questions that, and Tasha explains everyone who herd it felt an overpowering sense of fear, and pure dread

"Understandable if Gallifrey is involved." River crossed her arms, glancing concerned at the Doctor. They would all appreciate an actual explanation for everything in this video but it seemed any time they got closer they were distracted by something else.

Back in the corridor, the Silent passes a screen before reappearing. Clara asks how it works as she saw it then forgot it, the Silent moves again and she forgets it again

The group tensed upon seeing Clara back with the unfamiliar alien that seemed to terrify Amy, Rory and River. "Why can we remember seeing it?" Rory asked, glancing at the Doctor while his wife and daughter's eyes stay focussed on the screen.

The Doctor shrugged, also frowning at the screen. None of their experiences with the Silence were good. "Probably the Tardis." She guessed, seeing no other possible explanation.

"Would have been helpful earlier." Amy muttered, thinking mostly about the mess in America which may have been avoided if the Tardis could have done that for them. The Doctor gave her a small understanding look but couldn't offer any better explanations for anything.

Back in the Chapel the Doctor asks what the signal is and where its coming from. Tasha explains its coming from a level two human colony on the planet, a farm basically

"Humans. It's always humans." The Master grumbled from his corner. Of course, the Doctor couldn't find serious trouble without running into some annoying humans along the way.

He asks if anyone's gone for a look. Tasha says that if one ship goes down the rest will follow and there will be bloodshed, so it's a goo thing they got there first and shielded the planet keeping a truce by stopping them all

"That's a good reason to not let anyone down on the planet." Ryan muttered.

"But if it's just a farm then what's so important that would cause a war?" Yaz asked, mind running through several theories as fast as she could and still coming up blank.

Clara and the Doctor shared a knowing look but didn't offer any answers.

The Doctor says one of the ships could break through the defences, Tasha agrees but remined him they're all afraid and no one wants to go first. The Doctor volunteers to go first which Tasha was counting on

"You're far too predictable, Sweetie." River shook her head fondly, though her tone was tinged with nerves as she had the feeling this planet was going to be Trenzalore and her own 'trip' there hadn't been anything nice. Add in the exchanges Clara and the Doctor kept exchanging and there was no chance this video was going to be pleasant.

"Is that a bad thing?" The Doctor asked with a grin, trying not to hide her apprehensiveness for everything coming (something she'd had lots of practises over the millennium). River just raised an eyebrow, whether as an answer to her question or to tell her she doubted her confidence the Doctor didn't know.

In the corridor the Silent comes up behind Clara, scaring her, and demanding she confess

"Those things are officially horror movie creepy." Bill declared with a shiver upon seeing the Silent reaching for Clara.

"You have no idea." Amy frowned at the screen, shuffling closer to her husband who was also frowning at the screen.

"That's not worrying." Bill frowned; voice full of sarcasm. This video seemed to be getting worse with every minute, and there were so many more mysteries mounting and no answers appearing.

Clara asks what it is and why she keeps forgetting it

"Why does she keep forgetting them?" Rose asked.

"They are memory proof. You can't remember seeing them after looking away. Even if you saw a picture of them, you wouldn't remember it." The Doctor answered still frowning.

More appear and she backs up the chapel door as they advance telling her to confess

"Confess what?" Mickey asked, glancing concerned at Clara who shivered slightly at the scene on screen. The more she watched the more she was glad she couldn't remember them properly.

"I don't know. Maybe their sins? They are in a church after all." Martha theorised.

Clara is confused and turns running into the Chapel where the Doctor asks if she's okay. Having forgotten, Clara tells him everything is fine

"Not at all fine, but safer now you're away from that thing." Rory sighed relieved.

Tasha shows them her personal teleport which she can use to put them down just outside the town. She asks them to find the source of the message and report back to her in an hour, demanding the Doctor does not cause trouble down on the planet

"I don't think the Doctor's capable of not causing trouble." Donna snorted.

"I am so!" The Doctor protested.

"Did he?" Donna ignored the Doctor and turned instead to Clara.

"So much trouble." Clara grinned at Donna, the whole room grinning as the Doctor's protests fell on death ears.

The Doctor enters the teleport box styled as a confessional. He asks when he ever causes trouble and then quickly tells them not to answer that

"See even you admit it." Jack laughed as the Doctor gave up protesting, instead descending into quiet grumbles. She really couldn't say anything to that.

He draws the curtain but Tasha pulls it back, holding out her hand expectedly. She says she's not an idiot and everyone in the church is trained to see through holograms – which Clara is not enthused about

A few people offered Clara sympathetic looks, they'd mostly forgotten the whole holographic clothes thing until Tasha mentioned it, but poor Clara seemed understandably self-conscious.

She demands he give it over, saying he can't take technology of any kind onto the planet. The Doctor asks what he can do with a key, but Tasha knows he could use it to summon the Tardis

"She knows far too much which really wasn't helpful in this situation." Rose grimaced; things weren't looking promising. They'd all been hoping that the Doctor and Clara would have a backup plan when going to this mysterious planet which everyone else was scared of, but things never seemed to go their way. The Doctor just grinned mischievous, she knew that Tasha knew so she'd prepared accordingly.

He protests that the Tardis doesn't work by remote but hands it over to make her feel better. Clara goes into the other box as Tasha works the teleport, reminding them she wants them back in one hour

"You better have a plan." Amy declared shooting a sharp look at the Doctor. The Doctor just grinned at her unbothered by Amy's temper (which she knew was routed in concern and worry over what this video was going to show).

They beam into a forest where snow is falling all around them. Clara declares it cold as she shivers

"It's snowing and you have no clothes. Because things can't get worse." Graham sighed, that was so very typical. "Hey!" Both Ryan and Yaz had elbowed him (admittedly fairly gently and not as hard as they elbow each other).

"Don't say that!" Ryan exclaimed.

"You'll jinx them!" Yaz added.

"I think it's far too late for that to matter." Graham replied, ignoring the disbelieving looks the pair were giving him for his blasé attitude.

The Doctor tells her not to worry as there is a heat loss filter in the hologram shell which should kick in shortly. He focuses on the snowy town wondering what about it has left half the universe in terror and why

"That's what we're all asking." Donna threw her hands in the air in frustration.

Clara spots a stone arm sticking out of the snow, calling it cold. The Doctor tells her to stand back, but Clara is unworried saying it's just a statue

"Don't look away!" Martha exclaimed, sitting straight up in her seat in recognition. Amy and Rory had also perked up upon recognising the arm.

"They're never just statues." Amy added, her concern rising at the appearance of yet more of the Doctor's enemies.

The Doctor shouts at her to step away from it, but the hand grabs her ankle

"Don't look away!" Rory muttered, on high alert.

"What is that thing?" Bill said, eyes wide as the 'statue' moved.

"A weeping angel." Martha answered, eyes never leaving the screen.

"That explains nothing." Bill muttered but no one seemed about to explain any further, far too alert with the danger on screen.

The Doctor tells her to keep looking, don't look away not even to blink. Clara asks what it is, and the Doctor explains there is a Weeping Angel under the snow which looks like a statue but isn't, he asks if she can get her foot out

"That really didn't explain anything." Clara turned to the Doctor.

"It wasn't like we really had time for explanations!" The Doctor protested.

Clara says she can if she gets out of her shoe, the Doctor reminds her she's not wearing shoes. They pull hard and she comes free with both of them falling backwards. Angels are starting to emerge from the snowdrifts

"There's more of them, of course there's more of them." Rory muttered getting increasingly worried, unsure where he should be looking.

"Doctor?" Amy asked warily, head turned to the Doctor even as her eyes never leaved the screen. "How aren't they coming through the screen?" All she could think about was her first experience with the angels, from everything she knew about them they should be coming through the screen.

"We're all watching them so the quantum lock is activated, plus the Tardis is likely protecting us like with the Silent." The Doctor offered explanations, her own eyes not leaving the screen just in case.

"Basically, you don't know." River read between the lines and through the Doctor's nonsense.

"Can you come up with any better explanations?" The Doctor shot back, to which River just grinned cryptically.

Clara declares they're climbing out of the snow and the Doctor tells her to keep looking at all of them

"There's too many of them for you to look at." Martha said worriedly, glancing between the angels on screen in an attempt to watch them all, she couldn't quite bring herself to risk that they wouldn't come through the screen.

Clara asks why and the Doctor explains they are a quantum locked lifeform that can only move if its unobserved

"That explains why we are watching stone statues." Bill stated, with a glance at the Doctor. The rest of the group, the ones who hadn't met the weeping angels, had all been watching the screen despite not quite understanding the reason why. When the Doctor got that serious it was best to just do what they said in dangerous situations and get an explanation later.

Clara asks what they're doing there, and the Doctor tells her the same as everyone else and the must have gotten past Tasha's shield

"If they got past, what else did?" Rose's quiet question raised the tension in the room.

They're surrounded and can't keep an eye on all the Angels even as they try, the Angels advance

"They're getting far too close for comfort." Amy worried, gripping Rory's hand tightly.

Clara is panicking as she can't see with the snow in her eyes, the Tardis says he just needs to bring the Tardis down and Clara is confused as he said he can't fly it remotely. The Doctor agrees but adds it can home in on the key

"But she took your key though?!" Yaz asked, confused but hopeful that the Doctor was going to actually have a back-up plan for once. The Doctor grinned proud and waved at the screen while Clara rolled her eyes.

Clara is still confused as she reminds him Tasha took his key. The Doctor corrects her to say Tasha took one of them, and he pulls off his wig to reveal a glowing Tardis key

There were a few shrieks of surprise and hilarity at the Doctor's wig reveal. Everyone turning to face the Doctor in disbelief and question, ignoring their relief at the escape plan in favour of digging deeper into the wig.

"You shaved your head?!" Amy asked, lighting up at the possibility of blackmail material.

"Yep!" The Doctor answered unashamed, even as she tilted her head at the screen trying to get a better angle to see her shaved head. She didn't think it would suit her now.

"Why?" Donna asked in disbelief. The Doctor just grinned (in an attempt to be mysterious) and waved at the screen, ignoring Clara's giggles in the background.

The Tardis starts to materialise around them

The group let out a breath upon seeing the pair actually escape from the danger of the weeping angels, it also meant they now had an escape plan which reassured them slightly.

The Doctor declares it the old key in the quiff routine – a classic move

"I ... don't think it is?" Bill muttered confused.

He drops the wig on Handles

"That's certainly a look." Rose grinned.

The Doctor is homing on the mysterious message, he decides he enjoys the sound of that – mysterious message

"You are a toddler." Amy declared bluntly, ignoring the Doctor's pout (which really only helped her case).

Clara asks about him shaving his head, and the Doctor declares it a smart plan to get past the shield. Clara sees through him and says he got bored one night, the Doctor admits he did

"At least you admit it." Rory sighed but was clearly smiling.

Amy just mouthed the word 'Toddler' again, to the entertainment of the room and annoyance of the Doctor who immediately started to protest.

Clara asks if that's what happened to his eyebrows

Clara's comment only made the group burst out into hysterical laughter, the Doctor still spluttering from the last insult.

"You went from no eyebrows to all eyebrows." Clara pointed out with a wide grin. "You seem to have gotten the balance right this time though."

The Doctor tells her they're just delicate, before focussing on the signal source. He says hes going to turn the engines on silent to not make a fuss

The group openly gaped at the Doctor. "You never put the engines on silent." Jack whispered in shock, that only showed how serious the whole matter was if the Doctor was actually properly trying to be sneaky.

Clara tells him to put his wig back on as his ears are like rocket fins

"You have no luck in the ears department." Rose chuckled, thinking mainly back to her first Doctor.

Clara is happy to be wearing clothes again, saying its much better

"Good, you really don't need to risk hypothermia on top of everything else." Martha nodded approvingly.

Both of them are dressed for the snowy weather as the Doctor scans everything with his screwdriver. The trees are decorated with lights round the village

"It's a sweet little village. What's so sinister about it that everyone wants to destroy it?" Mickey asked, tilting his head confused at the screen as if he was trying to find a hidden weapon stash or monster on screen to justify everyone's fear.

The Doctor and Clara shared a knowing glance before the Doctor answered Mickey trying to stay vague, "It's not the town itself, it's what's in the town."

"Well, that's totally not ominous at all." Bill declared quietly, voice full of sarcasm as the tension in the room rose again, having only just calmed down after seeing Clara and the Doctor escape the angels.

The Doctor comments that its two o'clock in the afternoon but its dark so the days must be very short. He also says the message is coming from the tower. Two residents walk up to them, an the Doctor tries to greet them and says his name is probably Hank or Rock or something like that, complimenting their snow. They're both talking weird

"Why are you both talking like that?" Amy asked, normally the Doctor was all smooth (or trying to be) and pulling out the psychic paper with a believable lie, not like this. The Doctor grimaced in memory before waving to the screen in answer, she'd hated the truth field as there was so much of her life that she needed to keep secret and quiet (which was the whole reason the field was there in the first place, so she would be honest about her name) and she hated it.

The man and woman greet them.
DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I stole a time machine and ran away and I've been flouting the principal law of my own people every since. That wasn't quite what I was meant to say!
They all laugh

"You told them the truth; you never tell strangers like that the truth." Rose declared, glancing between the screen and the Doctor concerned, were they missing something?

River, however, seemed to have made a realisation about the mess the pair were in on screen. "A truth field?"

The Doctor grimaced again, nodding in confirmation. Only River, Jack, Nardole and the Master had any idea about what a truth field was but the rest of the group understood the gist based on the name (it was quite an obvious name) and the tension increased even more. They knew how much the Doctor relied on their ability to lie and keep secrets and having that ability removed wasn't going to end well.

Clara adds she's an English teacher from Earth who ran off with a man from space that she has a crush on

Martha, Rose and Jack all shot Clara sympathetic understanding looks as the room all realised what she was going to say. The Doctor shuffled uncomfortable in her seat, she'd largely tried her best to ignore Clara's going crush on her back then and she knew the young woman was well over it now, but it was something else to have it thrown back in her face unexpectedly like that.

The woman (Marta) tells them it might be best to stop talking until they get used to it, the Doctor asks what it is. Marta asks what their names were again, and Clara describes herself as someone with a bubbly personality hiding a bossy control freak

"You admitted it! Hah!" The Doctor pointed at Clara, enjoying the statement in a way she couldn't the first time (and enjoying it now before everything went down the drain later).

"I did no such thing." Clara argued back, purely to annoy the Doctor.

"You did! It was on screen. Everyone else heard it, right?" The Doctor turned to the rest of the group for support missing the mischievous smile and mouthed words Clara was sending them behind the Doctor's back.

"Hear what?" Martha chimed in, her lips twitching with her urge to smile as the Doctor's excitement was quickly replaced with confusion.

"I didn't hear anything, what are you talking about Doctor?" Amy spoke up, trying her best to be serious despite the strong urge to laugh.

"I think you must be hearing things Doctor." Rose added, giving a false concerned look at the Doctor.

"But, but ... what?" The Doctor asked, looking perplexed if a not suspicious. She turned to her wife for support. "You heard Clara say that right, River?"

"Say what, sweetie?" River answered back, face straight and the best liar of the group by a mile. "Clara didn't say anything just then. Are you sure you're okay?"

"What!?" The Doctor's expression was so bewildered that the group couldn't hold their laughter back anymore, exploding into chuckles and cackles as the Doctor slowly realised what had happened and started pouting again. "I hate all of you."

"No you don't, Sweetie."

"No, I don't." The Doctor sighed.

The Doctor also declares he's wearing a wig, then figures out it's a truth field which he hasn't seen in years

"Quaint they say. Which means they hates the idea and wants to leave now." Jack said giving the Doctor a knowing look, he couldn't exactly say he liked truth fields himself particularly but he could guess how much the Doctor disliked (and likely feared) them.

No one but the Doctor (who had been listening, paying particularly close attention to her this video) heard Clara's mutter of, "I wish he'd left."

The man (Abramal) tells them no one can lie in the town, especially so close to the tower, before the couple start to walk away. The Doctor asks if that makes life difficult, Marta says no while Abramal says yes

"There's a story there." Mickey grinned mischievously, Martha nudged him in the side for his remark.

The Doctor asks what the town is called. The town is called Christmas

"Who names a town Christmas?" Donna exclaimed, looking disgusted at the idea.

"Why not?" The Doctor argued back.

"Why not? What do you mean, why not?" Donna raised an eyebrow, "It's a terrible name for a town."

"Are there any good names for places? What makes a name a good one?" The Doctor debated, getting more thoughtful towards the end, "You know there's a place in Scotland called Dull which, funnily enough, is paired with a town called Boring in America. Pairing towns, who thought of that? It's a cute idea, the town equivalent of a pen pall -."

"You're getting distracted." River interrupted her wife knowing they would never get anywhere if they allowed the Doctor to keep rambling away. She knew her wife well and realised it was also a likely distraction technique to stall them from watching the rest of the video, and it wasn't going to work this time.

Clara asks how a town can be called Christmas, and the Doctor says he doesn't know before bringing up Easter Island, he says he's almost doesn't want to know what's wrong. Three tones sing out across the roof tops

"That is ... a fair point." Rory offered on the topic of Christmas and Easter as place names.

No one missed the silent conversation that the Doctor and Clara seemed to be having, their faces only becoming more troubled as they got closer to the tower, things were looking worse every moment and they were still no closer to any answers.

At the tower they find a familiar crack. The Doctor asks what took it so long, while Clara asks what's wrong as it's only a crack in the wall. It's Amy's crack in the wall from Eleven's first adventure

"The crack?" Amy had shot up in her seat, her knuckles white as she clutched her fists hard, poor Rory's hand still holding one. "How is it there? I thought we sealed them?" She shot out questions rapid fire, both Rory and River looking equally worried as the rest of the room sat watching confused. The last time they'd seen the crack on screen (and only time) was the initial one in little Amelia's bedroom and no one had properly explained them then either.

"We did. It was ... scar tissue for lack of better words, a left over remains of the initial explosion. It left a weakness in the fabric of the universe." The Doctor tried to explain, frowning as she spoke.

"A weakness that would allow Gallifrey to return." River finished the Doctor's sentence, her own frown clear on her face.

The Doctor nodded grimly, she turned to the group at large to give a better explanation aware of how confused they were. "The cracks in space/time like the ones we saw in Amelia's bedroom were caused by the Tardis exploding in another reality, sort of?" She paused for a moment, all the time bending and re-setting had gotten a tad confusing even for her at points. She hurried to continue upon seeing the group's horrified faces, "It was fixed don't worry! But it left some marks like hear and I think it is responsible for why people don't remember previous alien encounters on Earth like the Daleks moving Earth and those other planets." The last comment was largely directed at Rose, Mickey, Martha and Jack, knowing the others would have no idea about what she was talking about.

"That could explain some things." Jack nodded thoughtful, if not concerned by the idea of the Tardis exploding. He'd definitely been confused by Earth's ability as a collective to forget/ignore alien invasions.

"Knowing the Tardis, we'll likely see the whole mess later." The Doctor sighed, already resigned to it even as she dreaded the idea.

The Doctor said he knew it wasn't over; Clara asks what it is, and the Doctor tells her it's a split in the skin of reality

"It looks like the wall is grinning at me and I hate it." Bill declared, glaring at the screen.

"How is a wall grinning bad?" Mickey asked the young woman who looked at him like he'd said something stupid.

"Grinning can be evil! Just think of the Joker, it's that kind of grin." Bill protested, arms flailing around in the air as emphasis.

As he touches it there's a flash through of previous times seeing the crack, before the Doctor declares it a tiny piece of the 26th June 2010, the day the universe blew up. Clara declares she missed that

"I think we all did." Martha muttered, eyes never leaving the screen as it showed other times the Doctor had encountered the crack.

"It wasn't something you wanted to be there for." Rory grimaced at the memories, killing his wife and protecting her body for two thousand years had held a place in his nightmares ever since.

The Doctor tells her he fixed it, which Clara thinks is good. Then the Doctor explains, claiming it was the Tardis that technically blew it up so he felt responsible. He then declares he thinks someone is trying to get through to their universe from outside, he then says it all makes sense

"Well at least it makes sense to someone!" Donna exclaimed frustrated. "Now are you going to share for everyone else in the room, Spaceman!" To further Donna's frustration the Doctor simply shook her head and pointed to the screen, earning a death glare from the red head.

Clara is (understandably) confused. The Doctor poses a hypothetical – if you were trying to break through a wall you'd chose a weak spot, so someone trying to break through to this universe you'd use the crack. He then corrects himself to change his wording to break back through, he turns to Handles asking why he said Gallifrey

"This is Gallifrey trying to get back through into the main universe after escaping the Time War as a painting." Jack connected the dots, getting even more tense and nervous about where this video was going. It was never a pleasant video when Gallifrey was involved – just think about the Timeless Child mess and the Doctor's time in the Confession Dial.

The Doctor nodded grimly, attention turning to Yaz as the young woman's face scrunched up in confusion. "But they didn't get back. The guy said in that other video, after your confession dial-." She hesitated before saying confession dial glancing concerned ta the Doctor who just nodded at her to continue, expression blank. "The guy said they didn't get back, that they were stuck at the end of the universe. So, what happens here because they don't come through, right?"

Clara and the Doctor simply exchanged a glance as the rest of the group grew tenser and tenser all reading into the silence of the two that had actually been there on Trenzalore.

Handles declares the message analysis shows it to be Gallifreyan in origin. Clara says Gallifrey was gone, but the Doctor corrects her to say it was in another universe. The message is coming through and so is the truth field – its all the Time Lords

"Why are they sending through a truth field? What do they want to know so desperately?" Martha asked, piecing more and more of the puzzle together like many of the others in the room.

"The answer to the question." The Doctor answered cryptically, tone dull as she watched the screen. She didn't regret not letting Gallifrey through there, it had never been an option in reality but she couldn't deny she did, a small part of her did regret defending them for so long. She hated the part of other mind that whispered that to her.

The Doctor takes a round disk from his trouser pocket, explaining to Clara that it's the Seal of the High Council of Gallifrey which he'd stolen of the Master in the Death Zone (during the Five Doctors) and he can use it to decode the message

"Why do you just have that in your pocket?" Rory asked at the same time several other questions were asked.

"The Death Zone?" Ryan blinked.

"You just kept it?" The Master asked the Doctor, annoyed and frustrated at the resurgence of the memory. That had not been a good day, five Doctors for him to save and they had all ignored and abandoned him in the end despite his genuine attempts to help them (with a small bit of evil on the side, yes, but he had honestly been there to save the Doctor too).

The Doctor glanced between the three, deciding which questions to answer. "I thought it would be useful." She directed at Rory, she'd slipped it in her pocket when she heard Handles say Gallifrey, aware it may be helpful to getting out of trouble. Then she turned to Ryan, "Yes, the Death Zone. That was the mess with five of me, and honestly you don't want to know. Maybe the Tardis will show us later." She glanced at the Master for a second before going back to ignoring him and facing the screen instead.

"Five of you." Clara snorted, "Sounds like a nightmare."

"Sounds like a good time."

"Jack!"

He puts the seal on Handles and he decodes the message, declaring it a request for information. The question is being projected though all of time and space on a repeating cycle. The Doctor mutters the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight.

"The question? The reason the Silence took Melody?" Amy asked, head snapping round to face the Doctor, realising now why they were watching this video, as everything seemed to be connecting, and eager for more answers as to why her baby was stolen from her. The Doctor's slight nod was the confirmation she needed, eyes immediately going back to the screen as she waited to finally hear what the question was.

Handles warns them the translation will be available to al lifeforms in range (ask everyone around the planet) before telling them the question (on repeat): Doctor who?

Everyone hears it, and back on the Papal Mainframe Tasha demands to be patched through to the Doctor immediately

"So much for not causing trouble." Jack quipped in an attempt to hide his worry as the situation only became worse. Now everyone would be out for the Doctor's head (not that most of them weren't before). The group had all noticeably tensed up, no one wanting to ask a question as it would likely only delay them finding out the answers they were craving.

Back at the tower:

DOCTOR: A question only I could answer. A truth field to make sure I'm not lying. If I give my name, they'll know they've found the right place and that it's safe to come through.

"I hate everything about this." Rose declared quietly, there seemed no way of winning for once, even for the Doctor.

"That's why the Silence was so eager to kill you?" Rory asked, tone serious. He sounded like he'd already figured it out but was hoping the Doctor would tell him he was wrong.

The Doctor shrugged, playing nonchalant. "If I'm dead I can't answer the question and bring back Gallifrey." The way River nudged her in the side showed her wife's opinion on her self-depreciating humour.

"But you don't want to bring back Gallifrey!" Donna exclaimed, looking prepared to find a way to enter the screen or time travel so she could shout at everyone.

"Yes, but no one's just going to take my word on that. They wanted to destroy the planet just in case, as killing me had already failed, although they weren't going to stop trying that plan too." The Doctor sighed; her own tone unusually serious despite her continuous attempts at humour that no one seemed to appreciate based on their glares. She'd accepted all this a long time ago, only Clara had any sort of preparation for the mess, and no one was taking it well.

"I hate everything about this." Rose declared quietly, repeating her words firmly.

Clara asks what happens if he answers the question and they come back through. The Doctor doesn't answer, instead giving her a short round device and telling her to take it back to the Tardis and put it in the charger slot for the sonic

"You're avoiding the topic." Nardole pointed out.

"No, I'm not, shut up Nardole." The Doctor shot back.

"You're trying to get rid of Clara." Amy realised; recognise the technique the Doctor had used on her during the whole mess with Sexy. The Doctor's blank look and Clara's annoyed one told her exactly how right she was.

Clara asks why, the Doctor answers her first question, telling her it will be hell if the Time Lords come back with half the universe watching to open fire. He then asks her to please go to the Tardis and do what he says

"The Time War part 2." Jack said, voice full of dread. He was aware that clearly hadn't happened (he would have known about it, and like Yaz said – Gallifrey hadn't come back through) but he was hating how close it had come to happening and how the Doctor was being put in an impossible situation with no escape.

Clara runs, as Tasha appears as a large holographic face in the sky demanding he face her

"She's not happy with you." Martha muttered, dread creeping in. How was the Doctor going to get out of this one?

Clara reaches the Tardis and puts the device into the charger as asked

Clara scowled at the Doctor, hating them for having put her through this. She understood his reasoning, but she had wanted to be there, to help him and he'd kept turning her away. The Doctor wouldn't even look at her when she glanced their way.

The Doctor goes up to the bell chamber of the tower, and he says there's one thing he needs from her, asking what the planet is called. Tasha tells him it's called Trenzalore

If possible, the room tensed further, all recognising the name. It had taken them a while for the connections to be made between the Doctor and Clara's earlier comments and the fist video they'd watched, but they'd finally done it.

"The planet where you die." Rose said bluntly, glare practically daring the Doctor to lie to her.

The Doctor sighed, feeling the weight of the whole room's eyes on her and the mental prodding from the Master. "Yes, but I already said I'm passed that. I wouldn't be here if I had died there." She tried to point out, hoping no one would make that last connection. She was trying her best to fortify her mental shields to stop the Master peeking into her mind as all she could think about was the memories of her regeneration.

The sound of Amy's sharp inhale of breath told the Doctor her hope was falsely placed and someone had worked it out. "Not if you regenerated. You could die on Trenzalore and still be here If you regenerated." The Doctor avoided any eye contact as Amy's words settled on everyone. "Tell me I'm wrong, Doctor. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I can't." She whispered so quietly no one heard.

"Tell me, Doctor! Tell me!" Amy persisted, getting angrier as the Doctor said nothing and kept their gaze on the floor.

"I can't!" the Doctor finally burst out; hands white as she clenched them into fists. "I can't." She added quieter at the end. Silence met her declaration, and she finally glance dup taking in everyone's horrified, disbelieving and grieving expressions before darting her eyes away to face the screen again, unable to deal with the emotions everyone was projecting. "Can we just move on? This ... this was a long time ago for me." No one said anything so the video continued, the group all tensed enough they were liable to snap.

Clara asks what the thing is doing, asking it the Doctor is doing a clever thing. The Tardis engines are starting

"A clever thing but not a good thing." Clara glared at the Doctor who looked back unrepentant and unregretful of her choices back then. She knew that Clara had wanted to help but she couldn't take the risk that Clara would have been killed in a fight, and she spent 900 years defending Christmas – humans don't live that long, and she couldn't lose Clara like that.

Back at the tower, Tasha tells the Doctor if he says his name the Time Lords will return. The Doctor tells her is they do, they'd come in peace

"Unlikely." The Master snorted, eyes locked on the Doctor who was doing her best to ignore him. She couldn't help but be furious at him, she'd spent 900 years protecting Trenzalore and Gallifrey only for him to go and destroy it in the end over a stupid secret he'd found buried in the Matrix. A secret they couldn't even confirm or find more details on.

Tasha tells him it won't matter as they'll meet a war that will never end, a new Time War, and she points out the Doctor already knows that.

Back at the Tardis the engines stop and Clara runs out only to find herself back outside her block of flats on Earth

The room turned to glare at the Doctor. They had already made the connection that they were going to send Clara away, but they still couldn't help but direct a bit of their anger (anger at the situation the Doctor was in mostly rather than anger actually at the Doctor) towards them.

"You're not even going to try and let her help you?" Martha asked shaper than she intended.

"I couldn't, I had a good idea of what was going to happen, and it was far too dangerous." The Doctor argued back.

"All our travels with you are potentially dangerous, what makes this so different?" Martha countered, although her determination wavered as she knew this was different to most of their usual adventures.

"Everyone would be outright trying to kill me and/or destroy the planet. I couldn't risk Clara getting caught in the crossfire." The Doctor stated, unwavering in her determination and unwilling to argue about it anymore. She'd made the only decision she could have.

Clara is furious, saying for him to not dare, but the Tardis starts to dematerialise when she puts her key in the lock

Jack and Martha both whipped around to face the Doctor as they realised what had happened to Clara, but the Doctor cut in before they could start speaking. "No, it's not like with Jack. The Tardis was actively trying to shake Jack off. As much as the Tardis disliked Clara, she'll protect her here." The rest of the group shot the trio questioning looks, but didn't get any answers as Jack and Martha visibly calmed down from their spiralling panic. Clara got the faint idea that she had been lucky with that move.

Back at the tower, the Doctor protests saying the Time Lords are asking for his help. Tasha tells him if he helps them, war will be the result, and she can't let that happen at any cost. She warns him if he speaks his name the world will burn. The Doctor tells her the planet is protected

"Don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're about to do." River practically pleaded with the Doctor, knowing exactly what her wife was like and how she would react in this situation.

"I won't then." The Doctor answered in an attempt to be funny, but it fell flat as River glared at her. She really hated her the Doctor's tendency to always chose to save people sometimes, especially when it put the Doctor in so much danger.

He rings the singular bell, and the residents gather as the Doctor emerges from the tower. He declares that he has news - Christmas has a new sherif, greeting them all as he introduces himself as the Doctor

"You're going to protect the town." Donna said, it was a statement not a question. They all knew how the Doctor got when innocents where in danger and she could do something about it.

"I know you're skilled any all that Boss, but that's a lot of aliens out to kill you, even for you." Mickey added on, sitting up straighter. The Doctor didn't say anything, expression blank as her eyes never left the screen which only severed to worry the group more.

At the Papal Mainframe Tasha makes a declaration to everyone that the siege of Trenzalore has begun, and she's changing the church's dedication to silence. The Doctor can't say his name and war will not come. Silence will fall.

Amy, Rory and River all flinched at the familiar words. Why Melody/River had been taken from them now made more sense, but they still hated the whole mess (that had never been liable to change) and now they hated the reason too. Why couldn't anyone see that the Doctor was never going to bring Gallifrey back, then new the outcome of that, they just wanted to protect the planet? But no one was ever going to take that at face value, all too scared of the consequences and possibilities to ever risk it. All too scared of the Doctor.

Tasha narrates, declaring in the time that followed the Papal Mainframe tried to maintain peace between the Doctor and his enemies

"Narration?" Bill blinked. "How much time passed?" The Doctor's avoidance of the question and Clara's sadness, almost grief, made the group even more concerned (and that was hard to do at the moment).

At the border of the town, a set of vehicle tracks appear in the snow as a Sontaran declares them undetectable. The Doctor uses his screwdriver to reveal the upper half of two Sontarans

"Sontarans." Jack stated, that was yet another previous enemy of the Doctor that had appeared in the video. The whole universe really was watching the planet.

"Potatoes." Ryan muttered to himself.

The other Sontaran warns his commander that their invisibility cloak is compromised, the commander asks what's wrong, but the other one doesn't know as he can't see it

"They aren't the brightest, are they?" Rose smiled a bit, though it was hard to find humour in such a terrible situation and the Doctor kept avoiding looking at anyone which only made it worse.

The semi-invisible vehicle blows up and the Church of the Papal Mainframe apologises for their deaths

"At least they're polite about it." Nardole nodded approvingly. The rest of the group turned disbelieving looks at him, before deciding they didn't want to get into an argument with the weird little cyborg.

Tasha narrates again, declaring in the days and years that passed the Doctor stuck to his word and stayed on Trenzalore protecting it. There is a group of Weeping Angels with mirrors in front of them, a note saying 'with love, from the Doctor' on them

"Years!?" Amy picked up on Tasha's sentence immediately, eyes darting concerned to the Doctor as dread crawled in and settled in her stomach. The last time the Doctor had refused to answer how long she'd been somewhere it had been her confession Dial where she'd been tortured for 4.5 billion years.

"Years." Clara nodded, glancing at the Doctor but not giving away anything else to the group. She was too busy coming to the realisation that both times the Doctor had gone through long stays in one place (longer than a century at least) she had been around, and she despised that fact.

Tasha continues saying over the years his enemies would try new, strange, ways to enter the town of Christmas. A group of kids are playing blind man's bluff, the blindfolded boy wanders around before he hears timber creaking, asking is he's getting warmer. He removed the blindfold to find a wooden cyberman, and quickly runs away

"A wooden Cyberman?" Mickey asked, looking bamboozled by the idea. He'd had a lot of experience with the Cybermen between the fall of Torchwood One and his time on the parallel reality but that was truly strange.

"Tasha was still keeping most technology out of Trenzalore, they had to improvise." The Doctor shrugged, eyes still not leaving the screen. She was wondering which encounters were going to be shown, and mentally debating how long it would be until everyone realised how long she'd been on Trenzalore.

Barnable (the boy) warns the town there's another one as the cyberman's flame thrower misses him. He rings the alarm bells and townsfolk appear, he keeps shouting for the Doctor declaring there's another one

"Another one? They seem pretty used to their home being invaded. How long has it been happening?" Rory queried, only to receive no reply. Clara had no idea about when things happened outside of her few visits and the end, and she didn't want to share the little she did know just yet, so she was just watching eager to see everything she'd missed the first time even as she hated the memories it brought up.

The Cyberman declares incinerate, and the Doctor – much older, and leaning on a cane – comes out of the tower which he lives in

"You're ageing." River's eyes widened, head snapping to face her wife who had retreated in on herself in the middle of the sofa they shared. Jack and the Master had made the same connection as River and were both staring at the Doctor in shock (although the Master's was hidden from everyone bar the Doctor who knew how to read him).

"Wait, I thought the Doc didn't age? I mean she didn't in her confession Dial." Graham asked confused and radiating grandfatherly concern.

"No, she does, it just takes a lot longer than humans. In the confession dial she was dying over and over so didn't get the chance to visibly age like this. For him to have aged visibly like that means it must have been centuries for him." Jack chimed in with an explanation, voice serious and full of concern for the Doctor who seemed to be having a staring contest with the Master.

"They aren't worth it! They were never worth it! Why do you insist on being a bumbling hopeful fool and keep protecting those monsters!" The Master ranted having broken through a hole in her mental shields. She knew it had only been a matter of time, as the Master was far more skilled than her in those matters, but she'd been hoping to keep him out a bit longer.

"It wasn't about Gallifrey, Koschei." The Doctor answered, the calm eye in the middle of the Master's furious storm. "I was protecting the town which was full of innocents. Gallifrey was never in real danger, as no one would be able to go through the crack and find them. I was protecting Trenzalore."

"Those pitiful humans weren't worth it either. No one is worth you. How many of them did you see die over the centuries? You outlived them all anyway, why couldn't you just save yourself that pain!" The Master continued to rage, words reaching a crescendo before silence reigned across the mental link, and he offered a final comment. "It's always the humans. You'd do anything to protect them, but you'll never do the same for yourself. Or for me, Theta."

"Koschei-." The Doctor tried to start, unsure what she was going to say but unable to say nothing, but the Master had already retreated from the link, sealing it tight from his side. The Doctor sighed deeply, eyes turning back to the screen as she ignored the weight of everyone's eyes on her. Just when she thought things couldn't get more complicated it seemed the Master wanted to prove her wrong as always.

The Cyberman declares the Doctor is required. The Doctor just throws a wooden toy rifle to Barnable warning him to not leave it in the rain again but it's working fine again. He then tosses a wheeled toy to another kid saying he'd fixed the wheels and antigravs

"You fix toys, really?" Martha raised an eyebrow at the Doctor before shaking her head. Of course, the idiot fixed kid's toys when he wasn't defending the town from constant invasion.

"You've always had a soft spot for children." Amy whispered quietly thinking back to the Star Whale and Star ship UK.

The Doctor pointedly didn't look towards the Master whose gaze was burning into the side of her head, she also didn't meet River's concerned gaze. Both knew far too much about her and children, the Master more than anyone, but she'd shared a few snippets with River over the years.

A girl asks about the antigravs and the Doctor admits he might have gone a bit far. He then actually focuses on the cyberman, asking what they have today, before saying he likes the wooden Cyberman

"Well, no one else does." Mickey muttered.

He limps over to the Cyberman, declaring it low tech to avoid alerting upstairs, after a moment stand off the Doctor zaps it with his screwdriver before it raises its arms

The group let out a breath of relief at seeing the Doctor still had his sonic screwdriver despite the tech ban. Even a lone Cyberman could be damaging when unprepared or unaware, but the Doctor hadn't lost their skill despite the ageing (and apparent limp) and was prepared.

The Doctor declares his screwdriver the only piece of technology allowed as he got it in before the truce. He explains he sent an instruction to the Cyberman's weapon to reverse and fire out backwards, declaring they are in a truth field so he isn't lying but the Cyberman can scan his screwdriver to verify that's what he did. The Cyberman verifies the signal

"You just warned it! All it has to do is turn the flamethrower around, Doctor!" Jack pointed out, turning a disbelieving look at the Doctor. He knew they liked to brag but that was just stupid.

"Just watch Jack." The Doctor smiled mischievously, finally looking away from the screen to face Jack.

The Cyberman turns its weapon around and fires the flamethrower through its own chest

"What?" Jack blinked confused; he'd grown tenser at seeing the Cyberman do exactly what he'd said but that wasn't how it was supposed to end (not that he wasn't glad). The Doctor just waved at the screen.

The Doctor declares he should have mentioned his screwdriver doesn't work on wood, and tells him to send a message to his friends – the Doctor stays

Jack groaned feeling for stupid for having forgotten the thing with the sonic and wood. Really the Doctor's plan had been genius, even when unable to lie they were able to save the day using their words and their sonic, just not in the typical fashion.

The village celebrates. Tasha narrates again, declaring the town celebrated each victory

The group smiled softly at seeing the Doctor interact with the town, especially the children. Glad to know he wasn't completely alone throughout the centuries, thought the pain of watching everyone slowly age and die around you was arguably worse than loneliness. It was also nice to see a place actually recognise the Doctor for what they did.

The Doctor is sharing stories, as Tasha continues to narrate saying the Doctor appeared to forget he'd lives any other life

The Doctor frowned at Tasha's words, eyes crinkling up in a bit of confusion and disagreement. "I never forgot; I just didn't think about it." She mumbled to herself, only River and Jack next to her hearing it, both sharing a concerned glance over her head as they were both aware why she didn't think about anything but his life on Trenzalore.

The Doctor pins up drawings kids had done of his defeating enemies within the tower

"That's sweet." Rose muttered, and it was, if not also very depressing to think about how many battles the Doctor had gone through and, how many of those kids he'd watched age and die.

Tasha adds the people of Christmas loved the man who stayed for Christmas. The Doctor is teaching the kids his dance – the drunk giraffe – telling them to commit as they don't need to be cool. The kids are having fun, and end up hugging him

"Honestly, Doctor. You need to stop corrupting impressionable children with your terrible dance skills." Amy sighed, attempting the Doctor's tactic of humour to hide her concern for her best friend.

"My dance skills aren't terrible!" The Doctor protested, but snuck a sad smile at Amy, understanding what she was doing.

"We've discussed this Sweetie, yes they are." River interjected to prevent an argument.

The Doctor asks Barnable how his father's barn is, Barnable tells him he fixed the leak but its bigger on the inside now. The Doctor tells him to keep that part quiet or everyone else will want the same

"Doctor." River sighed exasperated with her wife's antics even as her heart tightened at the thought that even under siege the Doctor was still doing little things to help people, he'd found something he'd enjoyed doing (fixing things) and stuck around for once (albeit not completely by choice).

There's a noise, and Barnable asks what it is – the Tardis is trying to materialise

The group had all recognised the Tardis immediately, glancing at Clara before back to the screen. They'd all been wondering where the Tardis and Clara had been for these apparent centuries but no one had voiced that question.

The Doctor asks where it's been for the last three hundred years

"300 years." Rose choked out, eyes darting immediately to where the Doctor sat, blank faced and avoiding eye contact again. They'd already worked out he'd been there centuries, but it was something else to actually put a number on it. None of them could imagine fighting a siege for so long, not that most of them physically could (human ageing and all).

Barnable asks what it is, the Doctor explains its his ship, the Tardis. Barnable asks if he's leaving

"Yes. Are you finally leaving?" Bill asked, a hint of pleading in her voice. She knew they'd figured out the Doctor was going to 'die' (regenerate) on Trenzalore (and into the Doctor she knew) but she was still hoping they were wrong, and the Doctor could get away now. The Doctor smiled sadly at her and wave at the screen but Bill already knew the answer was no.

The Tardis finished materialising with Clara on the outside holding her key in the lock. The Doctor taps her with his cane

Both Martha and Jack let out a breath at seeing Clara alive and (mostly) unharmed clinging to the side of the Tardis. They'd believed the Doctor she would be okay, but it was still good to actually see it.

The Doctor asks what she's doing there, Clara is a bit stunned as she declares she was in space. The Doctor corrects her saying she was in the time vortex, and the Tardis must have extended the force field. He adds no wonder she was late as she was carrying Clara around. They walk away from the Tardis

Clara shivered a bit at the memory of her time in the vortex, she couldn't really remember much thankfully, but she was very grateful for the Tardis's protection. It did hurt her heart to think she was part of the reason the Tardis had arrived late though, maybe if the Tardis had gone back immediately the Doctor wouldn't have gotten attached and left? She knew she was grasping at straws and the Doctor would have always stayed but she couldn't help but think about it.

Clara declares he tricked her, the Doctor said he saved her. Clara is annoyed he didn't even say goodbye, and the Doctor argues he's furious with her as Clara counters she's not talking to him. They laugh and hug

The group smiled a bit sad and wistful as the pair hugged it out. They were glad to see them back together even though the reunion was bittersweet with the whole 300 years late thing and the Doctor's regeneration hanging over their heads (all of them unable to stop thinking about how the Doctor was going to die). The Doctor always did better with a companion to offer help and advice and temper their anger when they went too far, but they knew Clara wouldn't have survived those 300 years and they'd seen what the Doctor would go through for Clara.

At the tower Clara looks around the drawings and his workbench, muttering about the Doctor fixing toys and fighting monsters

"What else would I be doing?" The Doctor asked Clara quietly with a small smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes.

The Doctor mentions the turkey isn't done yet, and Clara asks if its still asking questions, the Doctor tells her it never stopped. He then tells her to follow him upstairs as its almost time – time for dawn, as the light only lasts a few minutes, and she doesn't want to miss it

"Like at the Arctic circle in winter." Yaz muttered, the change in moods almost startling. It was calmer and quiet and honestly felt like the Doctor was saying goodbye to Clara.

He carries Handles up the stairs where a small fire is burning at the top of the tower. The Doctor explains it's a standoff, they can't attack in case he releases the Time Lords, and he can't leave as they'll burn the planet to the ground to stop the Time Lords. He declares it could have been worse, asking if Handles is comfy.

"Of course, your only companion is the Cyberman head." Amy muttered, that was so typical Doctor, and she hated how she was almost feeling thankful for Handles. The group was all watching trying not to get enchanted by the softer atmosphere, all reading through the Doctor's bravado after years of practise and far too scared of what was still to come.

The Doctor tells him to take it easy, explaining to Clara Handles is getting old and he's doing his best for him, but he can't get the parts, adding he knows the feeling

The group flinched at the reminder of the Doctor's ageing but couldn't help but be thankful for Handles; the Doctor didn't do well without a companion, and it seemed Handles had been doing a decent job. Clara watched the screen quietly, reading a lot more into the whole situation now that she knew how it ended (not that she hadn't been able to see through the Doctor's attempt to placate her back then), and couldn't help but think if she had survived, she would have died a long time before leaving the Doctor grieving and alone as well as fighting. She still hated his trickery, but she understood his intentions which only left her conflicted.

The Doctor is roasting marshmallows on the fire, Clara asks where he got them, and the Doctor tells her he has a supplier, adding the pink ones are the best

"A supplier?" Martha asked with a suspicious look, they could all guess who his supplier was.

"You're at a constant siege and the supplies you want are marshmallows?" Mickey asked confused but aware he shouldn't be, that was such typical Doctor behaviour.

"They're important." The Doctor shrugged simply, answering Mickey but ignoring Martha's question for now.

Handles declares he has a fault, but the Doctor tells him he's just dreaming and he needs to hang on as the suns coming up soon. Handles keeps declaring he has a fault, and the Doctor encourages him to survive one more dawn, saying he can do it, he just needs to hang on

"Don't give me feelings for a Cyberman head, come on." Bill muttered, heart sinking as she could feel what was about to happen. She hated Cyberman with a burning passion after what had happened to her, so she really wasn't prepared to like the head that the Doctor had apparently been using as a friend for 300 years, but here she was.

Handles calls for his attention, reminding the Doctor of his message from the beginning of the adventure – that he needs to patch the telephone back through the console. Handles' lights go out as the Doctor asks him to come back, before telling him thank you and he's done well. The sun rises and the birds sing

The group was quiet, giving a moment for Handles. They may have not known him, or particularly liked the idea of him but he had mattered to the Doctor, and the last thing they needed was someone pestering them or asking a question at this moment. They could all see her curled up on herself between Jack and River, staring sadly at the screen. Grief clear on her face and didn't want to imagine how many nights alone the Doctor had sat up at the tower and talked to Handles. They couldn't deny how beautiful the sunrise was though, and how it was almost perfect for the moment – a new dawn approaching at the cost of the night.

The Doctor asks Clara what she thinks of his new place, saying he comes up the tower for a few minutes each day to remind himself what he's protecting. Clara says its beautiful, asking why he sent her away. The Doctor says if he hadn't, he would have buried her a long time ago

Clara flinched at the blunt statement, she'd spent a long time denying that fact, telling herself he wouldn't have stayed there if she'd stayed but he would have done it either way. The group watched the screen quietly, not wanting to intrude on what was supposed to be a private moment between the pair.

CLARA: No, you wouldn't. I would never have let you get stuck here.
DOCTOR: Ha! Everyone gets stuck somewhere eventually, Clara. Everything ends.

"You're very melancholy." Jack attempted a smile, but it fell remarkably flat. This conversation and atmosphere, while appearing disarming at first, was more dangerous almost than the actual danger of the invasion.

"I'm old Jack." Everyone noticed the use of present tense, not I was old, but I am old. Through these videos they'd seen the Doctor's attitude to their existence take major hits and it seemed this was another time when they'd truly thought about death and come to accept it. It also seemed the Doctor was now still thinking about it. River and Jack shared a look, they'd need to talk to the Doctor again soon.

Clara says except him. The Doctor asks if she's been paying attention, saying he's an old man now. Clara argues he won't die, he'll just change and come back with a new face. The Doctor corrects her saying not forever, he can only change twelve times meaning thirteen versions of him, thirteen Doctors

"Oh." River said quietly, coming to the realisation of something that should have been obvious, something she'd already known. Of course, the Doctor thought they were on their last regeneration already, no wonder he'd been accepting death – he didn't have a choice and only had time to think about it as he slowly aged alone.

Clara says he's number eleven, but the Doctor corrects her reminding her of Captain Grumpy (the war Doctor) saying he may not have used the name the Doctor, but he was still a regeneration. Clara corrects herself saying he's number twelve. The Doctor mentions his tenth-self regenerated and kept the same face once, saying he had vanity issues at the time

Everyone nodded at the reminder of the War Doctor although most were confused by the reference to the meta crisis, Rose and Donna both noticeably perking up at the mention of him while Jack, Mickey and Martha nodded along again.

The Doctor says it's been twelve regenerations, he can't do it again and this is where he ends with this face and this version of him. He reminds her they saw this planet in the future – all the graves and one was his

"So that's Doctor Eleven but face thirteen." Amy talked through her thoughts out loud, getting a small nod from the Doctor in confirmation. "But you didn't know about the Timeless Child thing then, so what happened with your regeneration?" The others quickly released where Amy was going with her train of thoughts, if the Doctor wasn't supposed to be able to regenerate had they known they could, or had it been a surprise? How did they explain it?

Clara watched concerned as the Doctor sighed; a deep exhaustion clear on her face even as she answered. "Gallifrey." While they were tempted no one asked any further questions all too aware of how sensitive a topic Gallifrey was and how delicate a mood the Doctor was in to want to risk pushing any buttons.

The sun is setting. Clara tells him to change the future, but the Doctor tells her he can't

"We didn't need too." The Doctor said, aiming her words mostly at Clara who understood what she was talking about. "We just didn't know it then. The joys of time travel, eh?" Her attempt of a joke was met with Clara's doe eyes projecting enough sadness to make both her hearts ache and leave her speechless, she quickly turned back to the screen.

Clara says he has the Tardis back. The Doctor laughs, asking if she thinks he's just going to fly off and abandon everyone

"That was never an option." River said softly, stuck between being fond and proud of her wife's stubbornness and morals, and sad at what it always brought the Doctor – pain.

Clara answers of course not, but he's been protecting the town for over three hundred years saying surely it someone else's turn. The Doctor tells her there is no one else to protect it

"What happens when you die?" Rose asked, quiet but firm in her question. "If there's no one else and you are going to die eventually, how does the town survive that?"

Clara and the Doctor exchanged another look, this time Clara answered with a bittersweet smile, "Gallifrey and the Doctor."

Clara tells him its not going to be him forever and it will end the same way no matter what he does. The Doctor tells her every life he saves is a victory. Clara asks about his life, saying just once has he not earned the right to think about himself? She then apologises adding it was the wrong thing to say, and they shouldn't be having an argument

"No, someone needs to be the voice of reason and actually bring up these thoughts." Rory shook his head, offering Clara a small smile.

The Doctor tells her he's been having that argument with himself for the last three hundred years. Clara adds he didn't have the Tardis, and the Doctor agrees that made it easier to stay, yes

"You wouldn't have left them even if you could have, not without finding a solution." Jack said, understanding in his eyes as he watched the Doctor. Despite how much the Doctor said it, the whole group knew he wouldn't have left Trenzalore to its destruction.

There's thunder in the dark sky and Tasha's holographic face appears in the sky, calling for the Doctor

"How is she still alive?" Ryan asked confused. It had been three hundred years, and he (like many of the others) had just assumed she was human or similar enough to humans to have a similar lifespan.

The Doctor just smiled fondly, although it was tempered with a bit of grief at what she knew was about to be shown. He likely wouldn't have survived as long as she had without Tasha and the Church's help. "She was against ageing." She simply answered, smiling in memory of her old friend and yet another person he had lost on Trenzalore.

Tasha requests a parlay between the Doctor and the Church of Silence promising the Doctor safety. The Doctor says he'll be right up but refuses the lift that Tasha offers in favour of his own. Clara remarks on the fact its dark already and the Doctor tells her the suns gone down, and everything ends sooner than you think

The group couldn't help but shift uncomfortable, that statement seemed far too foreboding and like foreshadowing. While Clara on screen was less able to see it (but not completely blind), they were all far too aware of how the Doctor had already accepted his death, wherever and however it may come. They were also nervous about this 'parlay', Tasha had seemed mostly friendly but that had been 300 years of siege before, and they only felt dread in their stomachs which didn't fill them with confidence.

The Doctor spots a small hand peaking round the Tardis, finding Barnable who's worried about the Doctor coming back, the Doctor promises he will

"He's adorable." Martha muttered but couldn't help think that the Doctor was either going to have to watch him age and die or would be killed. Either way there was no happy ending to this story, not really.

Clara says Tasha hasn't aged much as they arrive at the Papal Mainframe, the Doctor tells her Tasha is against ageing

"That doesn't explain how she does it though." Jack said, grinning at the Doctor though it was a bit weak, "Any tips you can share with me?"

The Doctor just smiled back, her own smile weak with sadness bleeding through, "You'd have to ask her." Jack had the horrible thought that doing that was likely impossible without a lot of time travel.

Tasha tells them to approach while a Silence tells them to confess

Amy, River and Rory were immediately on alert upon seeing the Silent again, they could never forget anything they'd gone through or the moon landing chaos despite literally having to forget the alien's existence every time they weren't looking at them.

Clara asks what they are, the Doctor informs them they're confessional priest, popular ones as they're genetically engineered so you forget everything you told them. It's gone so Clara asks who, and Doctor tells her exactly

"Kinda smart but very creepy." Bill declared, she wasn't sure she'd ever want to confess anything to those guys (not that she usually went to church at all or anything, let alone this church).

In the chapel Tasha places a box in front of the Doctor which he looks inside as she asks if he's satisfied. He asks where the pink ones are but Tasha tells him he's hyper enough. Clara remarks on them having little chats in the middle of a siege. Tasha agrees saying the siege can't continue, the Doctor adds it can't end either

Clara and the Doctor shared a long look, holding a silent conversation as they braced themselves for what was to come. Clara couldn't help but be curious bow often the Doctor met up with Tasha, who was likely the Doctor's only other constant apart from Handles. And with the way he was so fond of Handles, Clara got the feeling it wasn't often he got to have a chat with Tasha and just forget the siege.

Elsewhere in the Papal Mainframe a Dalek demands a report. A colonel raises her head revealing her and all her companions have eyestalks on their foreheads

"Oh no." Rory muttered; eyes wide as he went on full alert upon seeing the familiar Dalek puppet signs. Their time at the Dalek Asylum not exactly fond memories, despite how it had helped fix his marriage with Amy.

"What the hell?" Yaz asked, her own experience with Daleks was limited but that was creepy and ... just wrong.

"Dalek puppets." Amy explained. "Which means they've infiltrated the Church."

"Which means Clara and the Doctor are in danger. Again." Yaz finished the sentence, she didn't need to know details to know that.

The colonel reports the Time Lord has entered the trap. Everyone has been converted, Silence included

"Wait, didn't the Daleks forget you?" Rory asked, the prominent Asylum memories reminding him of that. "Oswald, Souffle Girl, Clara, whatever. She deleted you from their memories?"

The Doctor nodded with a grimace even as the others watched perplexed. Clara was frowning mostly as she tried to remember it, she only had vague memories from her fractured selves and that one wasn't particularly clear which, from between what the Doctor had said and her trip to Skaro with Missy, she was glad about. "It didn't last long sadly. When they infiltrated the Church, they got their memories back." The Doctor explained, with a kind of 'what can you do?' shrug. It had been nice, if not a bit weird, while it lasted.

In the chapel Tasha asks the Doctor why he came to Trenzalore, the Doctor tells her he came and nothing can change that fact, not that it stopped her from trying

"It was always supposed to happen, so it did." River sighed, all too aware of how time travel often turned out.

"Are you talking about fate?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at River, "Didn't think you believed in all that."

River shrugged, "Who needs fate when you have time travel, paradoxes and fixed points?" She tried to joke, gaining an understanding smile from her wife.

Tasha corrects him saying it wasn't her, but the Kovarian chapter that broke away and travelled through his timeline to stop him getting to Trenzalore. The Doctor realises it was them that blew up the Tardis, Tasha adds they also created the cracks in the universe that the Time Lords are calling through. The Doctor calls it a destiny trap – you can't change history you're a part of

"Wait! No, no, no." Amy spoke up, eyes staring straight into the Doctor and daring her to lie. "So not only did they steal Melody to raise as a weapon, but they also caused the cracks in space to start with and was the reason we had to deal with the Pandorica mess."

"Yes." The Doctor answered, meeting the Scottish woman's eyes. She wasn't sure what else she could to say to that, the Church, Kovarian in particular, had been a major part of Amy's whole life without her even knowing half of it.

Tasha says they engineered a psychopath to kill him, the Doctor comments on how he married her and wouldn't be there alive without River

The Doctor grinned happily at her wife, that was one of the few good things to come out of this mess (even if she would have loved for Amy and Rory to raise their baby like normal), alongside actually meeting and travelling with Amy and Rory. River smiled back, dread crawling up her throat as she realised, they were only getting closer and closer to watching the Doctor die again, she'd seen it a few times now (several in person and on screen) but it was never going to be an easy thing to just watch and be able to do nothing about.

Tasha says she isn't interested in changing history, but she wants to change the future. She tells them about the Daleks and how they're preparing for war and attacked the Mainframe itself three days ago. Clara asks how they stopped them. Tasha says they didn't, it was a slaughter

"Oh no." Mickey connected the dots, "She's a puppet too." The room tensed as they registered Mickey's words, Clara and the Doctor were in far more danger than they'd thought (and they'd already thought the pair were in a lot of danger).

The Doctor asks why she didn't call him as he would have helped. Tasha says she tried, but died in the room screaming his name

"You need to get out of there, Doctor." Martha declared, eyes wide in concern as she watched the screen.

Tasha remembers she died, commenting how its funny what slips your mind. The Doctor begs her to fight it but a Dalek eyestalk comes out of her head as the real Dalek enters

"Not good, not good at all." Rory muttered, eyes darting around all the Daleks as he tried to think of ways the Doctor and Clara could escape – was this where the Doctor died?

The Dalek tells him to step away from Dalek-Tasha. The Doctor remarks they shouldn't even know who he is the Dalek tells him they got the information from Tasha's corps. The Doctor says she wouldn't have told them how to get through the forcefield, she would have died first; the Dalek tells him she did, several times

The group was silent for several minutes, looking down at the floor to pay their respects for Tasha Lem. Yet again, someone they barely knew and yet someone that the Doctor trusted and considered a friend, someone who had helped the Doctor when they needed it and had died (several times) to keep his secrets and help protect him. In contrast, the Doctor hadn't looked away from the screen, focussing on one of the last images of his friend and couldn't help the thought of how Tasha was another name to add to the long list of people she had let down and hurt.

The Doctor tells the Dalek it better kill him then, goading him before adding a 'before you do'

"Stop it." Martha snapped at the Doctor, drawing the whole room's attention at the uncharacteristic attitude.

"Stop what?" The Doctor asked softly, treading lightly, an angry Martha was a scary Martha.

"Stop telling Daleks to kill you. This is the second time that I know of, but knowing you, you've done it more than that. Just stop screaming at the pepper pots that already want to kill you to do it!" Martha ranted, concern lacing with her anger. The Doctor's mental state was so fragile, and she acted like a see saw half the time that Martha was scared this was another suicidal moment from the Doctor.

The Doctor glanced around the room, spying concerned looks (for both her and Martha) and angry looks from those who had heard her say similar stuff, before focusing back on Martha. "I'm sorry." She offered quietly in an attempt to actually be sincere. "I promise, it's not like Manhattan. I have a plan for once, I swear."

Martha stared at her for several minutes, trying to find any sign of deception before slowly nodding er acceptance of that for the moment.

He sonics the message into the room, and the question is heard repeating. The Doctor tells them it will take ages for him to die, he's tough, and he'll have plenty of time to answer the question, asking them what happens then

The group sighed in relief; it may be a stale mate but that was much better than the imminent death the pair were facing before.

Dalek-Tasha grabs Clara from behind, energy flowing over her hands

"No!" Several people protested, eyes darting to check that Clara was still alive and well with them as 'Tasha' grabbed Clara on screen.

The Dalek warns him he'll die in silence or Clara will die. The Doctor shouts at them to kill her and see if he cares, asking what they're going to do next. The Dalek comments on Time Lord betrayal

The group's heads all whipped around to face the Doctor in disbelief, they knew he didn't mean it but to hear the Doctor even lie about it was shocking. Things had taken a turn for the worst all over again, and they were desperate to know how they escaped.

Clara says they'll kill her anyway so what is the difference, she'd not afraid she'll leave that to them

The group cheered quietly for Clara's bravado even if they could hear the slight shaky-ness in her voice. Unfortunately, they'd all been in similar positions at some point (if not at several points) but couldn't help but feel proud of Clara who seemed still semi-new at travelling with the Doctor in the video.

The Doctor goads Dalek-Tasha saying Clara is a real woman, but Tasha was spineless with her pointless church, asking why he relied on her and you should never trust a nun to do his work. Tasha regains control, releasing Clara and slapping the Doctor before blasting the Dalek into flames

"That was your plan." Rose realised with relief, "Snap Tasha out of it. Risky." The Doctor nodded, indescribably thankful that she knew Tasha as well as she thought she had, and that Tasha was as strong willed as she was. They would have both been killed there otherwise.

The Doctor kisses Tasha as the eyestalk goes back into her head leaving a scar. The Doctor comments on how Tasha could never resist an argument, Tasha tells him to kiss her when she asks, they flirt

River raised an eyebrow at her wife who was smiling up at her sheepishly, hand twitching in their urge to move. The Doctor knew she hadn't done anything wrong (stars know how many people River kissed let alone married) but was still nervous despite herself. Thankfully, River's stern expression broke upon seeing how nervous the Doctor actually was, offering a reassuring smile to show she'd just been teaching.

River leaned closer to her wife, so she could whisper in the Doctor's ear. "Is she a good kisser, Sweetie?

The Doctor immediately went bright red, struggling to actually gather her words for a minute as River only grinned wider, "Not as good as you." The Doctor finally managed to stammer out, wanting to tell her rapidly beating hearts to stop it, she really shouldn't be this nervous and lovesick with her wife still.

"Right answer." River grinned back as the Doctor gulped, not even wanting to glance over to see Amy and Rory's expressions.

The Doctor asks if she can get them back to the Tardis, Tasha agrees as long as they're quick as the Dalek in her is waking again. The Doctor tells her to fight, Tasha says she can't, the Doctor orders her to win saying she'd been fighting a psychopath inside her whole life

"Oh Doctor." River sighed, feeling a bit of sympathy for Tasha. The Doctor had been trying to project River's struggles onto Tasha a bit and the situations weren't quite compatible enough.

The Doctor and Clara get in the confessional teleport booths. Tasha warns them the forcefield will only hold for a bit before decaying, and there were breaches already. The Doctor says it's not a siege anymore but a war, and it sup to Tasha to fight the Dalek inside and out, saying he knows she can do it

"Just lovely, because things can always get worse." Graham sighed as the situation deteriorate further even as the pair escaped.

"You did jinx it, Graham." Ryan reminded him with Yaz nodding along as Graham sighed again, this time aimed at the pair's antics.

Tasha says she sees, he has his Tardis back and now he's going to fly away. The Doctor thanks her but Tasha tells him it wasn't for him but for peace, telling him to fly away

The Doctor frowned sadly as she realised that would be the last time she'd ever see Tasha, and in the end, Tasha had thought (or maybe hoped) she would leave Trenzalore to its destruction while she escaped.

The Tardis lands and a bell dings, the Turkey is finally done

"That feels like so long ago." Clara sighed, meaning both during the actual mess and watching it. Things were coming to a close now, she could feel that much even if she knew there was several centuries of fighting still to go for the Doctor.

Clara asks if he wants some, the Doctor agrees saying he even has Christmas crackers

"You can have an actual Christmas dinner in the town of Christmas." Martha smiled weakly, they could all feel that things were coming to an end, and they all knew how things were ultimately going to end for once (if albeit vaguely).

Clara asks for one thing, for him to look at her with his big sad eyes so she can see he's telling the truth when he tells her he'll never send her away again. The Doctor tells her he'll never send her away again

Amy narrowed her eyes at the Doctor's tone and expression, glancing at Clara only to find the young woman staring down the Doctor with her sad doe eyes. "Rule 1: The Doctor lies."

Clara kisses him on the cheek before going to get the turkey. The Doctor is looking at a picture of Barnable on a scanner. The Doctor puts the device into the charger as Clara removes the turkey from the vortex cooker. She comes back up the stairs, but the Doctor is nowhere to be seen. She goes outside only to find herself back in front of her block of flats as the Tardis dematerialises behind her

"You did it again." Donna said, staring the Doctor down. At this point they all understood the Doctor's fears but to lie to Clara's face like that? That wasn't okay by any stretch of imagination, and they could all feel the cold dread creeping in as they guessed there was about to be another time skip.

"Yes." The Doctor answered back, expression and tone blank as she went back to avoiding everyone's gaze. She couldn't bear to even glance at Clara who's eyes she could feel wearing a hole into her soul. On screen everyone could see the heartbreak and sadness in the young woman's eyes as she watched the Tardis dematerialize.

At Christmas, Barnable asks why he brough the Tardis if he's not leaving. The Doctor tells the boy it's a reminder, saying he might leave tomorrow, or the day after

"No, you wouldn't." Clara muttered, gaze darting between the Doctor and screen. They needed to have a proper talk about everything and soon.

More time passes and metal Cyberman attack as the villagers run while Papal troops and Silents fight back. Tasha is narrating again, saying that the Doctor's enemies came to the fields of Trenzalore as this was the Doctor's winter. She adds that when all the other races left or burned it was only the Church of the Mainframe that stood in the Dalek's way. The Doctor and Silence, old enemies, fought side by side at Trenzalore

"You thought with the Silence?" Rory exclaimed, looking a bit offended at seeing it.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that." The Doctor sighed, she hadn't had a choice back then but could understand why Rory (and Amy who was making similar faces beside her husband) hated the idea. The rest of the group was more focused on the relief at knowing it was only the Daleks left fighting, that narrowed the numbers and enemy types down significantly.

Back at Clara's flat, the Christmas dinner is not a happy one. Linda is commenting how there's other fish in the sea while her dad remarks that he doesn't think Clara wants to talk about it

The group couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Clara, having to go back to her family meal knowing the danger and situation the Doctor was in but having no way to go back or to help him. It didn't help that Linda was badgering her over her fake 'boyfriend' who was likely the last person she wanted to think about.

"I'm sorry Clara." The Doctor whispered quietly, but loud enough for the young woman to hear it.

Clara was silent for a few minutes, just watching the Doctor before she spoke up. "I know you are you always are. But it's rarely for the right reasons and it doesn't stop you from doing it again." The Doctor just nodded, unsure what to reply with when Clara only spoke the truth.

Linda is still talking; the gran declares the crackers terrible which Linda bought thinking them classy. The gran says they don't have jokes, only poems which Linda thinks is more dramatic

"This is a bit of a disaster of a dinner." Bill declared as the group turned their attention (thankfully away) from Clara and to the crackers. "Eh, no offence." She shot to Clara with a wince.

Clara just smiled in understanding; it had been a disaster really. "No offence taken."

Clara's gran declares she likes jokes, and Clara asked her for a joke, Linda is still trying to talk about her list of suggestions, Clara says they're not

"Probably never." Clara added for herself on screen.

Her dad asks the gran to share the story about how she met her husband, the story with the pigeon. Clara's gran starts by saying they met on a pier on a rainy day, her dad tries to cut in to say not that one, the one with the pigeon

"Pigeon? What is it with your family and flying hazards?" The Doctor tried to joke feebly, referring to the leaf that had led to her parent's meeting.

"Must be a curse." Clara smiled back, equally weak but appreciating the distraction.

Clara's gran continues anyway saying she'd seen him so many times, always looking beautiful just standing there. Her dad still tries to correct her to the pigeon in the restaurant, asking if she remembers. Her gran is still talking, saying she wanted everything to stop and nothing to change ever. Clara starts crying

The Doctor curled in on themselves more as they saw Clara crying, all she'd wanted was to protect her but she couldn't even do that right it seemed.

Her gran adds she wished he could just keep standing there, so beautiful but it was a long time ago. Clara hugs her. Linda remarks on crying at Christmas as Clara apologises, but her gran just says she hopes she made a wish

The group shuffled a bit awkward, this felt like a very private moment they were intruding on, and something Clara would have likely never shared. They couldn't help but hope though, all wanting her to make it back to the Doctor.

They hear the time rotor and Clara gets up to look out the kitchen window to see the Tardis appear. Her dad asks what's wrong, and she tells them to stay put, putting a cracker on the table and leaving

The group were all smiling, small smiles but genuine ones, as they saw Clara rushing for the Tardis. All hoping the Doctor was inside, but knowing the worst was still to come. They couldn't help but grin at the sight of the cracker though, maybe Clara and this Doctor could have just one last Christmas.

The Doctor isn't inside the Tardis, but Tasha is. Clara asks about her being able to fly the Tardis. Tasha tells her flying the Tardis is easy, it's the Doctor she never mastered. Clara asks what happened to him

The tension in the room increased tenfold upon seeing Tasha in the Tardis, all of them ignoring her comment in favour of focusing on Clara's question. The video was coming to an end, they could feel that in their hearts, but they still had the Doctor's regeneration to go and the Doctor still had to find a solution to the problem.

In Christmas, everything is in flames and people are running around. Clara asks what she is supposed to do, Tasha tells her the Doctor shouldn't die alone, and to go to him

"Why are you dying?" Amy asked quietly, voice a bit hoarse as it fully started to sink in that she was going to have to watch her best friend die.

"I'm old." The Doctor answered simply, honestly, it was one of her nicer deaths. Dying of old age, even while under siege, was less painful than being shot or poisoned or falling or any other thing she'd dies from over the millenniums.

At the tower the Doctor is working on a wooden dog, he calls for Barnable when he hears someone, Clara corrects him to her. The Doctor is old, with thin grey hair as he drops the toy and looks round from his chair

"How long have you been there?" Rose asked so quietly the Doctor almost didn't hear it. Everyone's hearts were slowly shattering to pieces, and they weren't sure how they were going to actually deal with the regeneration itself.

The Doctor considered if she should answer for a moment, before making the mistake of meeting Rose's eyes, which were filled with a deep sadness that she couldn't help but sigh before deciding to answer. "900 years."

"900 y-." Rose couldn't even finish her sentence, hoarse. To think the Doctor had spent that long defending Trenzalore alone, that was how old her first Doctor had said he was and even then, she'd though him old.

Clara says hello, and the Doctor asks if she was always that young, Clara tells him that was him. He kisses her hand

Several people felt tears welling in their eyes at the pair's soft interactions. Everyone, both the pair on screen, and those in the room knowing the Doctor's time was up.

In the town, a Dalek seeks the Doctor. Back up the tower, the pair wish each other a Merry Christmas. They try to pull a cracker, but the Doctor isn't strong enough

Amy managed to choke back a sob at seeing the Doctor unable to pull the cracker, she'd never seen the Doctor this weak, and she was hating it.

Clara reassures him that its okay, helping him pull the cracker. The Doctor asks if there's a joke, but Clara reads the slip of paper and it's a poem – Extract from Thoughts on a Clock by Eric Ritchie junior

"Those crackers are so boring, the ones with the jokes are the best." The Doctor spoke in a last-ditch attempt to reassure the sombre room. It didn't work.

"Cracker jokes are your level of humour." River smiled sadly at her wife, reaching out to grab one of the Doctor's hands, more to reassure herself than the Doctor.

The Doctor continues asking if it's a knock knock joke, calling them the best. Clara doesn't think it is, but the Doctor encourages her to read it.

CLARA: And now it's time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now. The clock is striking twelve's.

"Fate." Jack declared, eyeing the Doctor with concern. He couldn't help but compare this Doctor to the forcibly aged one during the Year that Never Was, they were both feeble and in horrible positions but still the Doctor. The Doctor smiled back softly, a glint in her eye telling Jack she knew where his thoughts had gone. She understood the note now, she had back then in fact, she'd just been in denial and putting on a brave face for Clara.

The Doctor doesn't get it, they're interrupted by a Dalek demanding the Doctor as a giant ship hovers over the village

"Your time is up." Rory announced sadly, holding his wife closer to him. They'd both seen the Doctor die before but this? This was final, no trickery nothing, their Doctor was dying and burning to be replaced with the next. The same person but not at the same time.

A young man runs in warning them they're here; the Daleks and they want the Doctor. The Doctor calls him Barnable, the young man corrects him saying he isn't Barnable, but the Doctor continues saying he has a plan

The group all took shuddering breaths as they realised it had been about 600 years since Barnable died, yet the Doctor still remembered him. It only severed to show how feeble his state was in the video, it would almost be a mercy for him to regenerate, but there was still the issue of the Daleks.

After the young man leaves, the Doctor reveals he doesn't actually have a plan, but people like it when he says that. Clara asks what he's going to do, and the Doctor says he doesn't know, maybe talk very fast and hope something good happens, that's generally how it works. He adds not this time though, this is it.

Clara protests that but the Doctor reminds her they saw the future, and this is how it all ends. Clara demands he changes it, to do what Tasha said and change the future. The Doctor says he might have been able to once, when there were Time Lords, but not anymore

"You've just given her an idea." River noticed the gleam in Clara's eyes, or maybe she was projecting her own thoughts onto the screen. She had an idea, but Clara needed to have worked it out too, and hope it worked.

The group's hope was slowly rising even as they knew that no matter if the Doctor beat the Daleks, they were still going to regenerate. That was just how this story ended, a bittersweet ending.

The Daleks are by the Tardis trying to locate the Doctor. Back at the tower:

DOCTOR: No. You're going to stay here. Promise me you will.
CLARA: Why?
DOCTOR: I'll be keeping you safe. One last victory. Allow me that. Give me that, my impossible girl. Thank you. And goodbye.

A few people had to hold back sobs at that declaration, unable to stop themselves from thinking about times they were in similar positions with their Doctor, and mentally pleading with Clara to think of a plan as the Doctor wasn't going to apparently.

He wipes her tears away and totters up the stairs, he declares the problem with the Daleks is that they take so long to say anything, and he'll probably die of boredom before they shoot him. The Daleks say he is required

There were a few weak chuckles at the Doctor's last attempts for humour, but they were all tense to really appreciate it, already grieving the Doctor on screen.

Clara goes to the crack in the wall demanding them to listen and help him, help him change the future and do something.

CLARA: You've been asking a question, and it's time someone told you you've been getting it wrong. His name, his name is the Doctor. All the name he needs. Everything you need to know about him. And if you love him, and you should, help him. Help him.

Clara turns away and the crack shuts. She breaks her promise and runs outside to join the chaos of the villagers and the Daleks who are looking up at the Doctor in the bell chamber

"The Time Lords don't love anyone but themselves." The Master spoke up, uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the screen. He'd seen the Doctor die several times, ben the cause (indirectly) a few times too but it was like rubbing salt on the wound to see the Doctor die protecting Gallifrey (again indirectly). "But they need the Doctor still." And that wasn't bitter at all. The Time Lords wouldn't risk losing their Timeless Child if they couldn't help it, wouldn't miss the opportunity to make the Doctor feel indebted to them if they could. Rassilon would never miss this opportunity. To think, if Gallifrey hadn't interfered or the Doctor hadn't been the Timeless Child he would have never seen the Doctor again after his brilliant 'Master Race' plan.

"I hate Gallifrey." Clara started, uncomfortable with her words on screen. She understood the Doctor's relationship with Gallifrey so much better now, and they didn't deserve the Doctor's love or protection, but they certainly owed the Doctor everything. "But they were the only ones that could help."

The Doctor offered a grateful smile at Clara, she'd missed this the first time around, although Clara had told her vaguely about it later. She was grateful with Clara but conflicted with Gallifrey. She knew it was likely another manipulation from Rassilon, but would she have been able to regenerate otherwise? She probably wouldn't have even tired, thinking she couldn't, and that would have gotten the town and Clara destroyed, so as furious and terrified and sick and conflicted as she felt towards Gallifrey, she could help but also be thankful, thankful they'd inadvertently saved Clara and the day. She just hated how Rassilon took credit for 'gifting' her regenerations he'd maybe helped steal from her in the first place.

Up in the bell chamber the Doctor apologises for being slow, saying he's not at his best at the moment. The Daleks declare he is dying. The Doctor agrees, saying they've been trying to kill him for centuries but here he is dying of old age. He adds if you want something done to do it yourself

"They can't beat you, even now." Jack smiled sadly, his mind drifting to the Game Station when they'd been outnumbered by Daleks with no way to win, where the Doctor had also regenerated.

The Dalek tells him he will die, and the Time Lords will not return

"Wrong and wrong." The Doctor mumbled. The Time Lords had returned just not to that place and time, and not for long thanks to the Master who was raging away silently in his corner. She couldn't actually read his thoughts because he'd pulled his shields so tight, but she could feel the whirlwind of emotions and rage swirling around in his head even from across the room.

The Doctor realises they still aren't brave enough to actually shoot him, they're all worried he has something up his sleeve, but he tells them to go ahead as he has nothing this time

"You do, you just don't know it." Clara smiled sadly, knowing it wouldn't be long now.

The Doctor smiled back, "Thanks to you."

The Daleks attack, flying and firing at troops on the ground as the townsfolk scream. The crack opens in the sky and golden regeneration energy enters the Doctor's mouth, his eyes widen in surprise and his hands begin to glow

The group felt hope blossom in their chests, things were finally looking better for the Doctor. Even if he was going to regenerate, and he was, he would take down the Daleks with him and save Trenzalore from destruction like he had spent 900 years trying to do.

The Dalek declares this is the end of him and he will die. The crack disappears

Amy let out a slow breath as the crack disappeared, the last crack in the fabric of the universe and it was finally gone. It was reassuring to see.

The Dalek continues saying the rules of regeneration are known and he's used all his lives. The Doctor asks id they just mentioned the rules and offers advice, never tell him the rules! The Daleks declare an emergency as the Doctor is regenerating

"The panic in their beady eye stalks." Mickey grinned, it was always good to see the Daleks on the retreat and panicking as the Doctor destroyed all their plans.

Amy laughed with a slightly bittersweet edge at seeing her Doctor, her Raggedy man about to die, "You never liked rules." The Doctor grinned in agreement.

The tower clock strikes twelve and the Doctor is already feeling more youthful despite his looks. The Doctor declares it regeneration number thirteen, saying they're breaking some serious science here and its going to be a whopper

"And it was." Clara grinned at the Doctor; she would always miss her first Doctor, but she had also loved Eyebrows who she had spent longer with. Bill was also grinning, excited to see her Doctor appear on screen for the first time (chronologically) even as she grieved the Doctor on screen that she hadn't met.

The Daleks cry to exterminate the Doctor as the Doctor asks if they think they can stop him, adding if they want his life to come get it. He winds up his arm and fires a stream of energy from his hand at the Daleks. Clara helps usher villagers inside

The Doctor nodded to Clara thankful she'd taken the initiative to protect the citizens while they had dealt with the Daleks. Clara nodded back, lips twitching towards a small smile.

The Doctor continues firing energy as Clara gets survivors inside, and remains of Daleks go flying. The Doctor wishes them love from Gallifrey as he sends a massive blast of energy to the Dalek Mothership above. The shockwave kills the remaining Daleks and even shakes the Tardis as it moves out the town to the countryside. Silence falls

"That is scarily destructive." Martha muttered as they watched the Doctor obliterate and army of Daleks and then the mothership with his regeneration energy. It was times like this she was very grateful the Doctor was on their side.

Later, Clara leads people out to look at the wreckage as she calls for the Doctor. She spots the Tardis' eternal emergency telephone hanging off its hook and puts it back before going inside

The group looked a bit confused, both by the drastic change of tone again, and by the phone, but they largely waved the phone off as unimportant, figuring it had been knocked out of place by the shockwave. Clara, however, was all too aware of the importance of that phone hanging like that, bringing her hands up to her face to hold back a sob. She'd really needed that phone call; without it she would have likely left the Doctor and that would have been one of the biggest regrets in her life.

In the Tardis, the Doctor's village clothes are scattered on the floor and a nearly empty bowl of fish finger and custard is on the console. She hears footsteps on the stairs and looks up to find eleven, now looking young and wearing a bowtie smiling at her

"Oh, Doctor." Amy whispered, tears shining in the corner of her eyes as she squeezed Rory's hand tightly upon the sight of the fish fingers and custard and the younger Doctor wearing a bow tie.

He says hello, and Clara comments on him being young again saying he hasn't changed his face. The Doctor laughs, saying its started and he can't stop it now, he's just been reset before a whole new regeneration cycle

Any hope the group had felt upon seeing the younger Doctor was swiftly dashed, everyone tense with anticipation for the actual regeneration even as their hearts broke and they mourned for the Doctor on screen. It didn't matter if they'd known that face personally or not, it was still the Doctor, and they were still dying, at least this time there was someone with him as opposed to Eyebrows regeneration into the Doctor in the room with them.

He finishes the custard, as he continues to say its taking a bit longer. He starts the Tardis' engines as he adds it all just disappears, everything you are gone in a moment like breath on a mirror, any moment now he's coming. Clara asks who's coming, the Doctor says the Doctor is as Clara protests that he is the Doctor. The Doctor agrees saying he always will be

Rose couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Clara, understanding too well what it was like to have to watch your Doctor change into someone new and have to relearn them, it was a hard thing to do. They seemed so similar at times and a completely different person at others.

The group was now all silent watching the Doctor's last few minutes unfold, weak smiles on some faces as the Doctor remained brave just for Clara, while others had just given in and tears were pouring down their faces.

His hands are growing, as he says times change and so must he. The Doctor sees a young Amelia Pond run up the stairs laughing

That was the last straw for Amy who let out a sob upon seeing the Doctor hallucinating little Amelia. Her heart shattering as she realised, even in his final moments the Doctor had been thinking about her. Glancing at Rory she could see his eyes shining with unshed tears, they were holding each other close. With River's regeneration they hadn't had time to properly mourn but here they had too much time, and this death was final.

The Doctor calls for Amelia, as Clara asks who Amelia is

Clara smiled through her tears, glancing to Amy despite the blurry vision. She hadn't been able to see the Doctor's hallucinations the first-time round (obviously) but they made more sense now, and she couldn't help compare it to how 'she'd' appeared to give back the Eyebrow's memories before he had regenerated.

DOCTOR: The first face this face saw. We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.

Most people had given up on maintain their composure at this point, giving in to the tears as they listened to the Doctor's heart felt speech. The Doctor herself was one of the few with dry eyes, she was leaning forward to listen to her old self's last speech. It seemed she often found wisdom in the face of death, and his words were a good reminder for herself now.

He sees a vision of a familiar red-haired woman with black painted fingernails walk down the stairs to him. Amelia wishes her Raggedy man goodnight

Through her sobs and tears, Amy managed to send a small smile in the Doctor's direction. "It was a good story, wasn't it?"

"Oh, one of the very best, Amelia Pond." The Doctor smiled back softly.

They touch each other's cheeks before she disappears, the Doctor removes his bowtie and drops it to the floor as his face is pained

River clutched the Doctor's hand tighter upon seeing him drop the bowtie he had been so very obsessed with back then. Her own eyes were shining with tears, but none had fallen yet, her hearts aching as she watched him regenerate, it all felt so different to the other times she'd watched him 'die'.

Clara begs him not to change

"I had too." The Doctor offered softly to Clara; aware she'd never got to say anything back then.

"I know. I know." Clara mumbled through tears. "I know." That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

The Doctor jerks back and then we see twelve – tall, grey haired, piercing blue eyes and Scottish burr. Twelve and Clara stare into each other's eyes before he jerks back and forward again

And with that it was over, the new Doctor, the familiar Eyebrows, appearing on screen for the first time (chronologically). Some people tried to clean up their tears and stop their sobs, others just letting out the emotions that had been building up in them for several videos now.

The Doctor declares he has a new kidney, adding he doesn't like the colour. Clara is confused, before the Tardis lurches from side to side, she then asks what's happening. The Doctor declares they're likely crashing, Clara asks what they're crashing into, and the Doctor just tells her to stay calm. He then says he has one question; does she know how to fly the Tardis?

A few people gave weak chuckles at the Doctor's erratic behaviour, unable to stop comparing it to the other regeneration they'd seen on screen near the start of their time in the room. The Doctor looked around the room as the screen turned blank to signal the end of the video.

"I really need to stop flying the Tardis when I regenerate. That's three times and I've crashed each time." She muttered to herself, purposely loud in an attempt to distract people from the events of the video. It was also a serious thought but knowing her she probably wasn't going to stop doing it.

Her comment earned some feeble smiles, emotions still running high. The Doctor sighed, deciding for once she was the most emotionally stable person in the room (which never happened. The Master was quiet in his corner, not looking at her, but he never counted). "How about we take a five-minute break just to calm down and then we'll carry on." As the group nodded in various states of mental distress, she silently pleaded with the Tardis to make the next video a nice, calm one.