The Doctor and "Martha" survived the Battle of Canary Wharf and headed off for further adventures. Adoela is to report to Captain Jack Harkness on any other goings on, with something sinister in the background as - since I forgot to mention it last time - Jack mentions that a "Mr. Saxon" is very interested in reports when she gets the opportunity to make them. It seems that Mr. Saxon knows the Doctor quite intimately...
Before that, however, we have the events of the first half of Series 3 to handle! Namely, Catherine Tate appearing in a wedding dress in the TARDIS. The Doctor is, naturally, confused as to how she got there...and yes, the events of the episode play out pretty much the same as they do in the broadcasted one, just with "Martha" along for the ride and without the various Tennantisms or Rose references. Likely during the festivities in trolling around HC Clements, Adeola shows some familiarity with the Torchwood facility there. Even now, the Doctor is getting the hint that something isn't quite right, but he doesn't express this yet.
Smith and Jones can go pretty much the same. More of a horror element with the vampire and less comedy about it - there is no straw, the kids can be scared a little. Instead of the Doctor checking himself in and Martha meeting him, instead the TARDIS team gets called in by Mickey. While Sarah Jane is busy elsewhere (referencing her own series that, yes, still happens in this timeline), Mickey has undertaken a look into the goings on at the Royal Hope Hospital.
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| There is no straw. It's stupid. |
As broadcast originally, the Judoon get involved. However, more blood gets assimilated, including the Doctor's and we end up going the same way with the Doctor getting revived at the last second to stop the MRI and save the day.
At the end, though, Adoela shows some conflict about her duty to Torchwood, pointedly shutting off the device used to contact Jack when she was preparing to make a report.
The Shakespeare Code happens in the same vein, much as broadcast. I really enjoyed it and I really don't see any reason it would change all that much in this timeline. So Carrionites try to bring about the Millennium of Blood, Shakespeare teams up with the Doctor and "Martha" to defeat them. Adeola ends up becoming the inspiration for Shakespeare's Dark Lady, etc.
Also, Gridlock would go much the same as in the episode, though with an added change. While the Face of Boe would indeed give his greatest secret to the Doctor, he would say something before that - "I'm so sorry, old friend". This would confuse the Doctor and Adoela, the latter of which noting something familiar about the Face of Boe that she can't place. The Doctor doesn't comment on this, though he's clearly by perturbed by this.
Daleks in Manhattan...is unfortunately necessary for the narrative, so let's go. The Doctor and Adeola show up in 1930 Manhattan. Rather than Pig Men roaming the streets - because why? - there are Humans being controlled by cybernetics and an infusion of the Dalek factor as shown in the classic show. This way, it's both something that is that seems a little less completely ridiculous and something to foreshadow the Daleks' eventual attempts to create a Human Dalek. However, many beats play out the same...with the notable exception being Diagoras being shoved up the rear end of Dalek Sec.
Seriously, Russell. What the hell?
Rather, Dalek Sec possesses the body of...Lazlo. Now this might seem kind of contrived, but I also thought it was rather contrived that Lazlo was the only Pig Man who retained any spark of individuality so I decided to split the difference. This way, it seems as though Lazlo is completely gone, but that isn't entirely true as we'll see soon enough. Sec-Lazlo does proclaim, however, that is a Human Dalek and that he is their future.
Evolution of the Daleks, again, has many of the same beats. However, the Ninth Doctor is a bit less willing to help the Daleks than the Tenth. Even with Sec-Lazlo's words and the changes in the Dalek stratagem, the Doctor doesn't trust the others and only very reluctantly goes along with the plan. The Doctor does have a bit where he discusses with Sec-Lo about his existence, trying to coax the human out of him. It seems, however, that Lazlo is gone...until Tallulah gets mentioned, which seems to stir something that Sec-Lo denies.
Again, some of the same beats play out - the lightning strike (not gamma strike) leading to the creation of the Human Daleks, with the notable exception of the Doctor taking a lightning bolt to infuse the Dalek DNA with Time Lord DNA. Instead, while Adeola, Tallulah, and Frank panic about the potential Dalek army about to rise, the Doctor isn't worried. He has a plan.
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| Maybe with a less embarrassing-looking mutation? |
A plan that comes to fruition after Sec-Lo, who has not had the rest of the Cult of Skaro turn on him (yet), has the Dalek Drones attack and kidnap Tallulah. As in the episode, the Doctor brings the Daleks to the theater after tracking Tallulah there rather than Tallulah bringing them there. Sec-Lo prepares to infuse her with the Dalek factor, but cannot bring himself to do so.
The Doctor reveals why: Lazlo is stopping Sec from doing so.
The Daleks cry fowl and sic the Dalek Humans and remaining Drones onto the Doctor and company while forcing the machine to infuse Tallulah, who begins to mutate violently. Sec begins to freak out, slipping quickly into insanity and supercharges the Dalek forces with the Dalek factor. Dalek Thay and Jast intervene, but are mowed down as in the episode. Caan completes an emergency temporal shift as Sec kills off the Dalek Humans. He, in turn, is killed by the mutated Tallulah with a Dalek tommy gun. She then turns the weapon on herself, ending the threat entirely.
With Frank either having died or be too traumatized to stick around any long, the Doctor and Adeola are left among the dead...the Doctor remarking that it was, in fact, beauty that killed the beast. When Adeola asks him about the lives lost, however, he is silent. Even though he started turning over a new leaf in Series 2, it's clear that the wounds run deep. The Daleks being gone again is worth a few dead humans, as much as he might hate himself for thinking so...
The Lazarus Experiment begins with Jack sending Adeola a message - investigating the experiment of one Richard Lazarus who is on the payroll of Mr. Saxon, but hasn't been making regular reports. Learning that her and Martha's sister Tish now works for Lazarus, Adeola gets the Doctor to go under the pretense of visiting her family again. He agrees and, as in the episode, we get him getting hooked in by Lazarus' comment about changing what it means to be human. Here, again, we get pretty much what we had in Series 3 as broadcast...with some notable exceptions. Namely, Francine is able to pick out that Adeola is not, in fact, Martha.
Francine is also not visited by a mysterious man who we never see again and only exists to remind us that the finale is happening, which we already knew.
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| "Hey, have I got something in my te-" oh, wait, I already did that joke. |
At the end, Lazarus is defeated and the Doctor and "Martha" return to the TARDIS...where the Doctor catches Adeola sending a report to Captain Jack about the incident. He reveals that - yes - he has been onto her for a while and - yes - he would like an explanation. Immediately...
And that's the end of Series 3, Part 1! Liking the changes so far? Or are you waiting to leave in the comments how absolutely off-base I am? Looking forward to seeing what Jack's connection is to Mr. Saxon? Is Mr. Saxon going to be the same person he was in the actual Series 3?
...okay, that last one is a yes, but the method of getting there will be a bit different.
Keep an eye out for Part 2!
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