The Doctor spends centuries guarding a backwater planet that’s actually the most important planet ever, fights all his enemies at once, eats questionable turkey, and finally regenerates into Peter Capaldi with a speech that broke hearts across time and space.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor discovers a young boy trapped on a battlefield — and realizes it’s Davros, future creator of the Daleks. Horrified, he abandons him. In the present, Missy reappears with news: Davros is dying and wants to see the Doctor one last time. Clara and Missy team up to find him, only to wind up prisoners of the Daleks. The Doctor, riddled with guilt, makes a dramatic entrance that involves tanks, shades, and a guitar. Because why not.
Extended Storyline
We open on a war zone — not just any war, but a confusing mess of trenches, explosions, and “hand mines” (yep, the ground is littered with hands that grab you by the ankles and drag you under). A terrified boy is stranded, pleading for help. The Doctor arrives, sonic screwdriver in hand, ready to rescue him. But then the boy says his name: Davros.
Yes. That Davros. Future creator of the Daleks, wheelchair-bound mad scientist, nightmare fuel in a lab coat. And the Doctor, confronted with the prospect of saving the child who will one day unleash the worst monsters in the galaxy, falters. He can’t bring himself to kill him… but he also can’t save him. So he does the one thing the Doctor should never do: he abandons the child. Cue gut punch.
Fast-forward to the present. Planets are going missing, the stars are flickering out, and the galaxy is buzzing with the news: Davros is dying. The Doctor’s oldest enemy wants a final conversation before the end. To make sure the Doctor gets the memo, Davros sends his best messenger — Colony Sarff, a man who is literally a writhing pile of snakes cosplaying as a humanoid. Charming.
Meanwhile, Missy makes a spectacular return. She freezes planes across Earth mid-air (because subtlety is boring), then arranges a sit-down with Clara. Her reveal? She’s not dead (shocker), she’s still fabulous, and she has the Doctor’s Confession Dial — essentially his last will and testament. Which means, if the Doctor thinks he’s about to die, things are serious.
Clara, being Clara, immediately partners up with Missy to find the Doctor. It’s the snarkiest buddy comedy never commissioned: Clara, the morally conflicted schoolteacher, and Missy, the psychotic Mary Poppins, jetting off to medieval Essex to track down their Time Lord. And where do they find him? Oh, just in a medieval castle, standing on a tank, shredding an electric guitar while introducing himself to the locals as “Doctor Funkenstein.” Subtlety, once again, is not the order of the day.
The party doesn’t last long. Colony Sarff shows up to collect the Doctor, Clara, and Missy and drags them all to Skaro — the Dalek homeworld. Davros, hooked up to life support, greets the Doctor with all the warmth of a bitter ex ready to gloat. Their conversation is heavy, loaded with history: “Did you abandon me, Doctor? Did you leave me to die as a child?” It’s one of those rare Dalek stories that isn’t just pew-pew explosions, but an emotional reckoning.
Meanwhile, Clara and Missy are imprisoned by the Daleks. Which is fun, because Missy immediately starts taunting them, flirting with them, and casually reminding everyone that she’s just as dangerous as the Doctor — only far less stable. Clara, of course, tries to figure a way out, but let’s be honest: no one out-sass-es Missy in a Dalek dungeon.
The episode ends on one of Moffat’s favorite tricks: a devastating cliffhanger. The Daleks seemingly disintegrate Clara and Missy, the TARDIS is destroyed, and the Doctor is left defenseless on Skaro. Davros watches with delight as the Doctor contemplates the consequences of his choices. And then, in a twist of bitter irony, the Doctor returns to the battlefield of his past — holding a Dalek weapon, ready to exterminate the child Davros.
Roll credits. Cue audience screaming.