Last time, the Doctors aplenty were splint up across the multiverse to recover the Key of Reality, a powerful artifact not unlike that of the Key to Time, though on a significantly higher scale.
- Jenny and her Doctor ended up helping the Doctor and Donna of another universe stop the Sontaran plot to turn Earth into a breeding planet and picked up a new companion, Private Ross Jenkins of UNIT, while also getting a fragment of the Key to Reality in the process.
- The Roseless Doctor and the Master from the universe where the Doctor died in the Time War helped the Seventh Doctor of another universe and retrieved the Renegade Dalek time controller - a disguised segment of the Key.
- The Doctor from the Empire of the Wolf universe helped out a woman named Sally Sparrow at Wester Drumlins in defeating the Weeping Angels, saving an alternate version of himself and Martha Jones in the process. When he left, however, the Wolf Doctor was unaware that he was pursued by none other than the Chronarch, who enslaved the Weeping Angels to his whims and continued his quest to dominate all of Time and Space.
With three of the six segments gathered, one wonders what will happen next. Let's find out!
While the other Doctors are undertaking their missions, the Guardian Doctor (resembling Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor) is sent out after the fourth piece. He finds himself in France, specifically Paris 1979. Someone has been tampering with time, but whom? The Doctor thinks he remembers the likely candidate, but things aren't going quite as he remembers. For one, the Count Scarloni, Duggan, Romana, and the Doctor of this universe are all dead - the latter two having been shot and killed quickly enough to stop their regeneration. The culprit? A face the Doctor doesn't find at all familiar... yet, anyway.
Yes, it seems that the Chaos Doctor (who we first met back in Part 4) managed to escape the destruction or disappearance of the Gallifrey of his universe and has been thrown through the multiverse. With his TARDIS - or, rather, the TARDIS he stole during his escape - having been severely damaged, he has been jumping randomly through time and universes and sought to come to Paris in 1979 to steal Scaroth's time experiments in the hopes of repairing his TARDIS.
The two engage in a battle of wills. The Chaos Doctor, being the older and more experienced of the two, is able to break the Guardian Doctor's will and begins to scan his mind for the information he needs. Upon finding out about the White Guardian and his plans for the Key to Reality, Chaos is just tickled pink and uses the Guardian Doctor's devices to track down and retrieve the fourth piece of the Key, disguised as the Mona Lisa herself. One down, five to go...
As for the Guardian Doctor... well, Chaos has plans...
Meanwhile, Jenny, her Doctor, and new companion Ross Jenkins go from that universe to another one during the events of The Mind Robber, an episode of the Classic Series that we haven't gone over yet in the From MadCap's Couch reviews, but that we definitely will because it's really fantastic. Probably one of the best episodes of the Patrick Troughton era for just how absolutely batshit insane it is.
In the main universe of Doctor Who, this episode had the Second Doctor (played by the aforementioned Patrick Troughton) and his companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot stuck in a parallel universe where fictional and mythological figures actually exist. The entire episode was set up by a man called the Master (this one not that one) to trick the Doctor into replacing him in his role. This at the behest of some unseen aliens who wanted to conquer Earth.
It's a long story. 1960's Doctor Who was wild.
In this universe's version of events, however, the Doctor fell into the trap and became the new Master over the Land of Fiction. However, they find the Master-Doctor in a bit of a deadlock as despite now being a character within the fiction, there is enough of his Time Lord persona still fighting through and putting the alien's plans at a standstill. The TARDIS disappears from view, and none of Jenny's Doctor's attempts to get it to return work. The TARDIS disappears from view as soon as they leave it, and none of Jenny's Doctor's attempts to get it to return work.
After a sword fight with Harry Flashman (that Ross ends by belting the man over the back of the head with his rifle butt), Jenny's Doctor, Jenny, and Ross soon find themselves in the company of a much older Jamie and Zoe, both of whom have been stuck in the Land of Fiction since the Doctor was taken over.
Jenny's Doctor, having lived through the "correct" form of events in his universe, is absolutely shattered to see his friends in such a state. He resolves to try and help his alternate former self if he even can. With help from Jamie and Zoe, the group are able to appeal to some fictional characters such as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Allan Quartermain, Arthur Dent, and Horatio Hornblower among others to fight against the Master-Doctor. Rather like the Eleventh Doctor in Nightmare in Silver, however, the Master half of the Doctor keeps a firm grip on the events and it ultimately comes down to a battle of wills between the Master persona, the Second Doctor persona, and Jenny's Doctor aiding the latter in a mental battle.
Jenny's Doctor reminds his alternate self of Jamie and Zoe, something the Master has blocked from his mind. With the Master defeated, or at least suppressed, the Second Doctor seemingly sacrifices himself to destroy the Central Computer. As he does, one of its control rods is revealed to be the piece of the Key to Reality that they need. The Land of Fiction begins to fall apart and Jenny's Doctor's TARDIS reappears. Jenny's Doctor offers Jamie and Zoe a place with them, but they both feel as though their time is up. Being the Land of Fiction has worn them down, and they think it's time that they make like their Doctor and move on... to whatever comes next.
The two TARDIS teams bid one another farewell. Jenny, her Doctor, and Ross head off as Jamie and Zoe join hands, ready to face the oblivion that comes with non-existence... only for a TARDIS to materialize around the pair. When they emerge, they find themselves restored to their youth and looking at a very broken and beaten Second Doctor. He apologizes to them for all he did while under the influence of the Master... and what is about to happen. The pair are confused until his hands begin to glow and he erupts in fire.
When the flames die down, he is a new man and the TARDIS takes them onward to... whatever comes next.
In another universe, the Wolf Doctor comes to realize he is being tracked due to a certain someone whose initials are Captain Jack Harkness using a makeshift distress signal on a coded frequency to alert him. The distress isn't to get Jack out of trouble, it's to inform his Doctor that he's in trouble. With the knowledge, the Wolf Doctor is able to effectively get out of an ambush by some Dalek ships sent ahead by the Chronarch. After doing some scans, Wolf Doctor is able to use the fact that there are other TARDISes in proximity to mask his arrival onboard the Chronoarch's ship. He gets Jack out of his cell and the two have a reunion, albeit brief as the Chronarch is aware of his alternate self being aboard.
The Wolf Doctor, in exchange, was aware that the Chronarch was aware and prepared for this eventuality...with the fast return switch. The Wolf Doctor and Jack escape, the Chronarch seething as he finds himself unable to track them due to the use of a randomizing. Jack is briefed on the situation, the Doctor informing him that the randomizer means that they can potentially be going anywhere in not only time and space, but in the whole of the multiverse as well. Jack Harkness has only one response:
"Well? What the hell are we waiting for?"
And that's where we're leaving off with Part 7. The Wolf Doctor and Jack are back together, the Chaos Doctor has managed to escape confinement on his Gallifrey and is now in the game to retrieve the pieces of the Key of Reality, and yet another Doctor has been saved from a darker timeline... and the Land of Fiction in that universe got annihilated.
Will the Chronarch be able to catch up to Jack and the Wolf Doctor? Will he learn the truth about the White Guardian's plan? Will I ever end these What Ifs on something other than a cliffhanger? Find out next time, when we dig into Part 8...
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