History Recap / BigFinishDoctorWhoUnboundE2SympathyForTheDevil

The world is a very different place. Much of downtown London, for example, has been replaced by a rather large crater thanks to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs UNIT thwarting a plan to wipe humanity from existence to replace them with dinosaurs]]. Captain Mike Yates, in a HeroicSacrifice, volunteered to be sent back in time and blow up the New Earth Society's equipment. Sadly, no one believed Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's account of events, and he had no scientific explanation to back up his story. The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace plastic purges]] of the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons 1970s]] further damaged his career. (Although ironically, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Stahlman's Gas]] is [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking considered a hot commodity and quite useful]].) The Brigadier was forced to retire and eventually ended up as a bartender in Hong Kong.

What if, after his [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames conviction by the Time Lords]], the Doctor regenerated into a different Third incarnation? And accidentally arrived in Hong Kong in 1997, instead of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace next to UNIT base during the first Auton invasion]]?

** Doris is never mentioned by Lethbridge-Stewart, implying that she either left him due to his horrible career at UNIT, died from the disasters, or perhaps never even married at all.

* FixFic: A little bit of it for Mike Yates, who is remembered as a hero.

** Doris is never mentioned by Lethbridge-Stewart, implying that she either left him due to his horrible career at UNIT, or died from the disasters.

* CreditsGag: The Doctor comments that he needs to get new shoes. [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie These shoes... they don't fit at all]].

* InferredHolocaust: Loads, considering all the events the Third Doctor wasn't around to prevent. The ending takes the cake though.

* BrokenBird: Leftbridge-Stewart ''really'' didn't have a good career.

** Doris is never mentioned by Leftbridge-Stewart, implying that she either left him due to his horrible career at UNIT, or died from the disasters.

* AlanSmithee: The actor playing the Master is credited as "Sam Kisgart", an anagram of [[Creator/MarkGatiss his actual name]] -- not because he disliked it, but as a [[MythologyGag homage]] to the original series' attempts to hide Anthony Ainley in the credits of his era as the Master.

* AlanSmithee: The actor playing the Master is credited as "Sam Kisgart", an anagram of [[Creator/MarkGatiss his actual name]] -- not because he disliked it, but as a [[MythologyGag homage]] to the original series' attempts to hide Anthony Ainsley in the credits of his era as the Master.

Ke Le, as it turned out, died in the crash. And regenerated. Into MarkGatiss. (Which means he's [[HilariousInHindsight ginger]].) The Doctor immediately recognises him as his old Academy classmate, and is very unimpressed to learn that he's now calling himself the Master.

The Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years; the Ke Le machines require these parasites in order to run, but the others used have gotten their fill of minds. With a fresh one, he'd be able to negotiate a much greater power base - however, the presence of the Doctor changes things. The Master tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride off Earth) in exchange for destroying the parasite, then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of blowing the Doctor's TARDIS free of Earth. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: The Master, as per usual; however, it's deconstructed a bit in that without the Doctor to sort him out or his TARDIS to fall back on, he has ''two'' governments on a hanhunt for him. The Doctor is all too aware of it too.

* ForWantOfANail: A great deal; a few years missed by the TARDIS has turned Earth into a CrapsackWorld. Notably, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil we get to see what happened should the Keller Machine have succeeded]]. [[GoneHorriblyWrong It goes right...but then goes wrong. Very wrong.]]

The Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years; the Ke Le machines require these parasites in order to run, but the others used have gotten their fill of minds. With a fresh one, he'd be able to have a much greater power base - however, the Doctor changes things. He tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride off Earth) in exchange for destroying the parasite, then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of blowing the Doctor's TARDIS free of Earth. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

Meanwhile, in China, an international incident unfolds, as [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the Ke Le units, now granted their memories back, go insane and start firing at UNIT and the crowd of civilians]], [[NiceJobFixingItVillain just as the Master knew they would]]...

* ForWantOfANail: A great deal; a few years missed by the TARDIS has turned Earth into a CrapsackWorld. Notably, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil we get to see what happened should the Keller Machine have succeeded]]. [[GoneHorriblyWrong It goes right...but then goes wrong.]]

As UNIT slowly realises that an international incident is being engineered under their noses and that they've accidentally caused ''global nuclear war'', the Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years. He tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride back to Gallifrey), then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of spontaneously unlocking the Doctor's TARDIS. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

* ForWantOfANail
* InferredHolocaust

* SealedEvilInACan

The Third Doctor -- played by Creator/DavidWarner -- lands in 1997 Hong Kong moments after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]]. He quickly realises that his TARDIS is in lockdown, and that the Time Lords have rather violently removed his memory of how to repair it. When he just happens to meet Lethbridge-Stewart at his bar, the two are quickly caught up in UNIT's investigation of a nearby crashed ''invisible'' Chinese ship. UNIT, who are ''not'' happy to have Lethbridge-Stewart meddling in their affairs again, eventually reveal that they want to investigate the crashed ship before Hong Kong officially becomes Chinese territory... which is the next day. UNIT's commanding officer, Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (DavidTennant!), desperately tries to find the UN scientist who defected to China, and who was rumored to be on the crashed plane... a man only known as Ke Le.

The Third Doctor -- played by DavidWarner -- lands in 1997 Hong Kong moments after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]]. He quickly realises that his TARDIS is in lockdown, and that the Time Lords have rather violently removed his memory of how to repair it. When he just happens to meet Lethbridge-Stewart at his bar, the two are quickly caught up in UNIT's investigation of a nearby crashed ''invisible'' Chinese ship. UNIT, who are ''not'' happy to have Lethbridge-Stewart meddling in their affairs again, eventually reveal that they want to investigate the crashed ship before Hong Kong officially becomes Chinese territory... which is the next day. UNIT's commanding officer, Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (DavidTennant!), desperately tries to find the UN scientist who defected to China, and who was rumored to be on the crashed plane... a man only known as Ke Le.

What if, after his [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames conviction by the Time Lords]], the Doctor regenerated into a different Third Doctor? And accidentally arrived in Hong Kong in 1997, instead of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace next to UNIT base during the first Auton invasion]]?

The Doctor quickly realises that his TARDIS is in lockdown, and that the Time Lords have rather violently removed his memory of how to repair it. When he just happens to meet Lethbridge-Stewart at his bar, the two are quickly caught up in UNIT's investigation of a nearby crashed ''invisible'' Chinese ship. UNIT, who are ''not'' happy to have Lethbridge-Stewart meddling in their affairs again, eventually reveal that they want to investigate the crashed ship before Hong Kong officially becomes Chinese territory... which is the next day. UNIT's commanding officer, Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (DavidTennant!), desperately tries to find the UN scientist who defected to China, and who was rumored to be on the crashed plane... a man only known as Ke Le.

Ke Le, as it turned out, died in the crash. And regenerated. Into MarkGatiss. The Doctor immediately recognises him as his old Academy classmate, and is very unimpressed to learn that he's now calling himself the Master.

As UNIT slowly realises that an international incident is being engineered under their noses, the Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years. He tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride back to Gallifrey), then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of spontaneously unlocking the Doctor's TARDIS. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

As UNIT slowly realises that an internationl incident is being engineered under their noses, the Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years. He tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride back to Gallifrey), then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of spontaneously unlocking the Doctor's TARDIS. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

The Doctor quickly realises that his TARDIS is in lockdown, and that the Time Lords have rather violently removed his memory of how to repair it. When he just happens to meet Lethbridge-Stewart at his bar, the two are quickly caught up in UNIT's investigation of a nearby crashed Chinese ship. UNIT, who are ''not'' happy to have Lethbridge-Stewart meddling in their affairs again, eventually reveal that they want to investigate the crashed ship before Hong Kong officially becomes Chinese territory... which is the next day. UNIT's commanding officer, Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (DavidTennant!), desperately tries to find the UN scientist who defected to China, and who was rumored to be on the plane... a man only known as Ke Le.

The Master turns out to be after a SealedEvilInACan (well, a jar) which has been kept safe by chanting monks for 150 years. He tries to bargain with the Doctor (fix his TARDIS for a ride back to Gallifrey), then immediately tries to steal the Doctor's TARDIS as soon as they get close to it. His plan fails spectacularly when the Doctor pretends that Lethbridge-Stewart's bar is his TARDIS, and the Master is stuck with a lot of English ale instead of an interdimensional spaceship. The Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart drag the SealedEvilInACan close enough to a bomb to neutralise it, and the explosion has the added benefit of spontaneously unlocking the Doctor's TARDIS. He and Lethbridge-Stewart take off together for new adventures.

What if, after his [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames conviction by the Time Lords]], the Doctor regenerated into a different Third Doctor? And accidentally arrived in Hong Kong in 1997, instead of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace next to UNIT base]]?

* JumpedAtTheCall
* LuckyTranslation: The Doctor introduces himself in Chinese as "Hu" (the lion), "Hu" (the fox) or "Hu" (he who heals the sick).
* SealedEvilInACan

The first of two Unbound stories (followed by [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoUnboundE8MastersOfWar "Masters Of War"]] taking place in the same AlternateUniverse.