Web Animation / Death Comes to Time

In one reality, the journey ends with an unlucky Seven.

The one that nearly ended it all.

A Doctor Who webcast, which serves as a potential finale for Doctor Who. It was broadcast in 2001 and also released as an audio drama. It features The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and The Brigadier.

Death Comes to Time was intended to lead into a new series following Time Lord the Minister of Chance, voiced by Stephen Fry. A longer The Minister of Chance series was finally released in 2013, but with a new Minister. Both of these are largely regarded as an Alternate Continuity by the fandom and the official sources alike, though it gives one explanation of why the 7th Doctor in the TV Movie is travelling alone.

It is also notable for revealing that "Time Lord" is not just some fancy moniker- here, the race actually possesses the power to be lords of time. But because these are story-breaking powers, this is why this is only seen at the prospective end of the series.

A small minority seem to still consider this the end of Doctor Who, with the TV Movie and revived series as Fanon Discontinuity.

---

Tropes:

• Alien Invasion: From Time Lord-hunting vampire Nessican, General Tannis learns of Earth, a remote planet with barely any defences. He later pays it a visit; broadcasts across all media, and demands surrender. UNIT, forewarned by the Doctor, feed Tannis's Gunships a disabling virus, and, on Salisbury Plain, overwhelm the landing Canisian assault forces.
• And I Must Scream: The Doctor revokes the Minister's TARDIS, leaving him stranded on Santine, among the bodies of those killed through his actions, to “face himself”. For ever.
• Arc Words:
  • "Until death comes to time."
  • "Why have the power if you don't use it?"
• The Big Guy: Antimony, while gentle in demeanour, thumps people who threaten the Doctor.
  The Doctor: {aside} Alright, laddie - now you can bash him.
• Bittersweet Ending: Tannis' attack on Earth is stopped, Tannis is defeated but in the process the Doctor has apparently died and the age of the Time Lords is over.
• Call-Back: UNIT emerging from behind the Moon looks back to their first appearance in The Invasion, where the Cybermen had a fleet behind the Moon.
• The Chessmaster: Tannis. Not only is he a general/dictator with plans to conquer the universe, but he is also very aware that the Time Lords will come after him (he is one himself), so he acts very carefully so as not to do anything that breaks the laws of time while plotting the downfall of the Time Lords. Even his seeming defeat during the Minister's Unstoppable Rage is, in fact, part of his plan.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The Minister seems harmless, but once inside the Canisian base he quickly and expertly messes up the Canisian communications system, makes their commanding officers go for each other's throats, and escapes. It's all in a day's work for a Time Lord.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Tannis:
    Premier Bedloe: You're preparing a coup!
    Tannis: What would you do if I were? Complain to the Dictator Society?
  • The Minister has his moments too:
    Captain Carne: What are they?
    The Minister: Quantum dice. The sort of thing the other children played with while you were being harshly potty-trained.
• Death of the Old Gods: Happens at the end. Though the Time Lords are not fully wiped out, their time has apparently passed.
• Gentleman Snarker: The Minister. And he is played by Stephen Fry.
  Captain Carne: Identify yourself!
  The Minister: I'm the Minister; I've come to join the resistance. As I said, I'm unarmed, so if you could get the shouting done, arrest me and take me to your leader, we might save some time.
• Grand Finale: For the Doctor.
• God's Hands Are Tied: The reason why the Doctor, and other Time Lords, can't just stop Tannis. If the Time Lords use their powers it disrupts the Universe. When the Doctor finally uses his powers he dies.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The Doctor does this to stop Tannis killing Ace.
• Ink-Suit Actor: The animated characters look like their voice actors.
• A Lesson in Defeat: What Ace's mission to Anima Persis turns out to be.

• Malignant Plot Tumor: Some people consider the Ace becoming a Time Lord plot this, as it means we don't see enough of the Doctor in what is supposed to be his Grand Finale.

• Mugged for Disguise: Or rather killed for disguise, when a Vampire uses a Policeman's uniform to escape.
• Naïve Newcomer: Antimony is nervous about going to Earth because he thinks there are dinosaurs there.
• Our Vampires Are Different: 2 appear.
• Reality Warper: According to this story Time Lords are this, contradicting what we earlier saw of Time Lords, where they were Sufficiently Advanced Aliens.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: It turns out the Doctor built Antimony so as to have a companion who would always stay with him. Antimony himself doesn't know this, however.
• Sadist: General Tannis takes frivolous glee in acts of mass destruction. He later slowly shoots Antimony to death, all the while taunting the Doctor about his inability to save his mechanical son.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Minister uses his powers against Tannis, even though this disrupts the Universe.
• Self-Poisoning Gambit: Not harmful to The Doctor but he defeats a vampire by letting it bite him after he's drank holy water.
• Smug Snake: General Tannis.
• Unstoppable Rage: The Minister will not use his powers wantonly, but when Sala dies he explodes with anger, apparently obliterating the Canisian ground forces and causing some of their ships to explode in orbit.
• Weaksauce Weakness: The Vampire drinking the Doctor's blood after the Doctor has eaten garlic kills him.

---