Jago and Litefoot cannot believe it! The Doctor has returned. Litefoot is quick to note that The Doctor is different to how he looked the last time they met. Leela mentions The Doctor has a way of changing his appearance, but Jago reckons he is a master of disguise. They learn that the alias of Professor Claudius Darke was a misdirection to protect himself from Kempston and Hardwick. Leela alerts the group that they must be going, as clouds of sand begin to swirl before them, forming into a large mob of humanoid creatures. Leela offers to stay back to fight the creatures while the rest escape, but The Doctor advises against it. Jago points out that Litefoot managed to destroy one before – but these Sandmen are more durable than before, as they are held together by a perfected surface tension. They stay in one piece even as Leela stabs one with her knife. The group use the opportunity to escape as they have a greater speed advantage. After they get away, Jago complains that he somehow got some of the sand inside his shoe. The Doctor takes one of Jago’s shoes to take a sample of the sand to figure out a way to combat the monsters. He advises the group to head for Litefoot’s pathology lab to continue their investigation.
At the pathology lab, The Doctor is studying the sand sample with a microscope. He impatiently requests a pure sample of water for an experiment. While he only needs a tiny drop, he accidently drops the glass on the sand sample, covering it in water. Sergeant Quick arrives in the lab and becomes reacquainted with The Doctor, who congratulates the officer on his promotion since their previous encounter. The Doctor confirms that the sand is a distinctive type, but he needs references to confirm his suspicions and to further deduce its origin. Litefoot suggests that they consult the British Museum’s library.
The group arrives at the Library, where the group’s incessant chatter repeatedly earns them shushes from the Library’s patrons. The Doctor and Jago’s less than pleasant interactions with the Chief Librarian earn them more shushes. Thankfully, Litefoot takes a diplomatic route and apologises for his friend’s disruptive behaviour. He requests the Librarian’s assistance in locating certain reference books and a private room to discuss their studies.
The group get their private room (Litefoot assumes it was for the benefit of the other patrons). The Doctor hopes to deduce where the sand sample originated from (and hopefully Kempston and Hardwick’s base) by studying various books relating to British soils, rock formations and sand. He mentions from his study of the sample he received from Jago’s shoe that it had a high level of clay. The Doctor finds a book that details the composition of sand and Earth as detailed by Queen Victoria’s royal inspectors – with this book, he easily pinpoints the location of the sand creatures origin at Bedfordshire. Coincidently, Litefoot points out that south of Bedfordshire is a small village called Kempston Hardwick…
The group convene at the Red Tavern, where they make plans to travel to Bedfordshire. The Doctor notes that they must be discreet about it as the two villains maybe watching them as they speak. Leela suggests they travel in the TARDIS. Unfortunately, it is not an option as he sank it in the sands of the Victoria Embankment to prevent Kempston and Hardwick from locating it, but he begins to have seconds thoughts about the idea as they have an affinity for sand. But he can recall it when necessary with his Stattenheim Remote Control, but not at the moment as Kempston and Hardwick have placed a jamming signal to prevent him from doing so. Litefoot suggests they trick Kempston and Hardwick by pretending that The Doctor and his allies are still in London. The Doctor suggests that Jago uses his theatrical knowledge to pull off a convincing group of doubles while he, Leela and Litefoot travel to Bedfordshire. Question is, how will Jago manage it?
Jago disguises himself as The Doctor using Professor Claudius Darke’s outfit, much to Ellie’s lack of faith. Ellie herself is disguised as Leela but can’t seem to get Leela’s movements and mannerisms down, even with instruction from Jago. ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ notice Kempston and Hardwick skulking the streets, and the two doppelgangers loudly talk as if they were The Doctor and Leela in hopes the villains will follow…
Kempston and Hardwick observe ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’, but don’t see Jago and Litefoot but it doesn’t matter as they’ve found their quarrel. They assume he is heading for the TARDIS, and if he is, he’ll get a shock when he discovers that the villains have already discovered it. With the TARDIS in their possession, their powers will grow exponentially, and they’ll become unstoppable. They proceed to follow ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’, unaware that they’re following their ‘doppelgangers’… With Kempston and Hardwick falling for the distraction, The Doctor, Leela and Litefoot emerge from hiding and hail a cab to St. Pancras Station.
Kempston and Hardwick ponder where ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ are heading, as they assumed he’d be heading for the Victoria Embankment. But instead they’re heading for the British Museum. Hardwick suggests they use the Sandmen to capture ‘The Doctor’, but Kempston advises against it as their minions are currently occupied elsewhere. Jago and Ellie wonder how much longer they can keep up their pretence. Jago hopes that once they get wind of their charade, Kempston and Hardwick will retreat to their base and lead them to it…
The Doctor, Litefoot and Leela arrive in Kempston Hardwick, Bedfordshire. The Doctor learns from the village that the local quarry was a thriving area up until a few months ago when the workers discovered something buried in the quarry. The landowner Lord Ampthill ordered the quarry closed. They decide to meet with Lord Ampthill at his home, only thing is… nobody has anything of him since the quarry closed and his manor is boarded up like it has been abandoned…
Kempston and Hardwick are lurking outside a pub, commenting that ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ have been inside for several hours. Hardwick wonders if the duo have snuck out the backdoor, but Kempston states he created sand copies of themselves to keep watch of the rear entrance. ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ exit the pub. ‘The Doctor’s’ voice is slurred as if he’s had a bit to drink, he suggests they make way to another pub, much to ‘Leela’s’ chagrin…
The Doctor, Litefoot and Leela smash down the boards of the manor and proceed to enter, only to find nobody home and nobody responding to any calls. Leela notes that the floor is caked in dust and deduces that no one has been here for a while. But if that’s the case, then what is that faint mechanical, thumping sound? Leela traces the sound to the library and volunteers to enter if there is danger. The library is pitch black because of the boards on the windows, but they can hear a voice calling for help and knocking. The Doctor pulls off the boards to allow natural light into the room and they discover a giant hourglass with an elderly man trapped inside with sand pouring down on him up to his neck – Lord Ampthill. The Doctor promises to rescue him, but he discovers a strange theme in the library. Hourglasses are scattered around the library. All of various sizes, undamaged and broken, and some where the sand is still running and some where the sands have run their course. Litefoot insists that they focus on rescuing Ampthill before he suffocates. Leela is way ahead of them and runs at the hourglass with a chair and uses it to smash it open, saving Ampthill’s life.
Meanwhile, ‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ become concerned that their distraction may have worked too well, as Kempston and Hardwick have made no attempts to attack or approach them. After all, its not as if they can be in two places at once. Kempston and Hardwick are equally as impatient. They believe ‘The Doctor’ must be aware of their presence by now. Kempston begins to suspect that there is something strange about their prey. Hardwick shrugs off his worries, noting that while ‘The Doctor’ may be leading them on a wild goose chase, he has left his TARDIS unprotected. After all, its not as if The Doctor can be in two places at once…but they notice that ‘Leela’ is behaving rather more sophisticated than usual…
The Doctor questions Ampthill on what he found buried in the quarry. He recalls the day when his workers discovered it. He ordered his men to dig the object out of the ground, they manage to retrieve what looked like a vessel without wheels. The Doctor deduces that they unearthed a Temperon Spacecraft, attracted to the Victorian era thanks to Elliot Payne’s time experiments, just like the TARDIS. The Temperons have rather crude method of time travel, they warp the fabric of time around them to make journeys shorter, but they long to harness the true power of time travel, hence why Kempston and Hardwick covet the TARDIS. Ampthill reveals that the two men from the craft brought the hourglasses in the library to him, seeking his help. Once he outgrew his usefulness, Kempston and Hardwick sealed him inside the hourglass. Strangely enough, Ampthill can’t remember how long he was sealed inside for. It could have been days, weeks, months maybe. The Doctor explains that they control the flow of time through measurements, like an hourglass can determine amounts of time by the volume of sand grains contained inside. Leela alerts The Doctor to something in the hourglass…
‘The Doctor’ and ‘Leela’ confront Kempston and Hardwick. ‘Leela’ half-heartedly threatens the men with…a stick…in place of Leela’s hunting knife. ‘Leela’ is violently shoved to the ground and the two villains approach ‘The Doctor, they begin to suspect that ‘The Doctor’ isn’t The Doctor. ‘The Doctor’ insists that he is the original Doctor, but Ellie warns Jago to get away while he can – the charade is over! Both men laugh and decide not to bother with the imposters, stating that they don’t have time to deal with them…but gloat that soon they’ll have all the time in the universe… Jago helps Ellie to her feet and tells her that they will now follow them…
The hourglasses glass warps to create two faces in the glass – Kempston and Hardwick. They reveal they’ve been listening to them ever since they arrived at the manor through every grain of sand in the room. The Doctor is curious as to why they don’t just use the resources in the quarry to repair their ship and leave. They want to assimilate everything around them, how they named themselves was even gleamed from the landing spot. It dawns on Leela that they must have learnt of the TARDIS’ location from Jago when he masqueraded as The Doctor, but the villains reveal they knew of where it was long ago. They even callously reveal that the events with Winnie O’Connor were a meaningless amusement to draw The Doctor into the open. Leela furiously starts to destroy the hourglasses in the room, much to Kempston and Hardwick’s amusement as their faces appear in every broken fragment. They state they’re near the end phase of their plans. With all the information at their disposal, The Doctor announces that they should return to London to put a stop to the villains once and for all. But Kempston and Hardwick have one trick up their sleeve. Just before their faces disappear from the glass, all the hourglasses in the room explode into a shower of broken glass. But that’s not the worst part, Leela notices a small shower of sand falling from the ceiling, and the door has been sealed by glass…The room has been encased in a huge hourglass!
Jago and Ellie follow Kempston and Hardwick to a tunnel that descends beneath the Thames. They witness Kempston and Hardwick meeting with the doppelgangers they planted behind the pub earlier. Jago, knowing the odds are now against them, instructs Ellie to return to the Red Tavern to leave a message for The Doctor…and to remember him should he perish in the ensuing escapade, as he prepares to camp out and keep watch for the villains…
The Doctor and his allies gather the tables within the hourglass to create a ramp with the bookcase at the top to contain the sand flowing down upon them. The bookcase is being held back by one singular chair, once it breaks under the weight, it will cascade down the ramp and smash into the glass and shatter it. Unfortunately, it barely cracked the glass…but moments later, more cracks appear in the glass until it eventually shatters. Much to the delight of the group. The Doctor instructs Ampthill to instruct his men in twenty-four hours to destroy the ship, dilute the sand and scatter it. He now knows that Kempston and Hardwick are after more than just his TARDIS, as the Temperon Empire is a rapidly expanding one that assimilates any form of technology their race comes across, its within the realm of possibility that they’ve targeted Earth for invasion. With those stakes in mind, The Doctor states that they must hurry back to London immediately.
Jago has fallen asleep in a puddle while keeping watch. Fortunately, he is stirred by Ellie and Sergeant Quick, who is quick to dryly make witticisms about how Jago’s disguise as ‘a down on his luck vagrant’ would’ve fooled the villains. As far as Jago is concerned, Kempston and Hardwick are still in the tunnel, as he hasn’t been awoken beforehand. Quick offers to join Jago in investigating the tunnel, but Jago advises against it as he feels its best to wait for The Doctor to return. But Quick and Ellie muse that The Doctor might not return for a while. So the trio decide to venture inside the tunnel, Jago albeit reluctantly…
The Doctor, Leela and Litefoot return to London and try to hail a cab to take them to the Red Tavern, but its rush hour and the cabs are fully booked. They manage to stop one, but the driver informs them he’s already got a booking…until Leela threatens to disembowel him…
Jago, Quick and Ellie venture into the tunnel. They see something faint in the distance, Quick offers to lead and the tunnel widens into an open area where they come across the Sandmen digging away in the centre. Kempston and Hardwick are also here, as well as multiple sand clones. From out of the shadows, The Doctor, Litefoot and Leela emerge. They explain that they got Ellie’s message at the Red Tavern, hence how they located them. The Doctor reveals that the Sandmen are digging for the TARDIS, the excess sand from the digging is used to create more Sandmen, thus bolstering their forces. While The Doctor explains the purpose of the Temperon’s clones, Jago hears a faint woman’s voice calling to him, and he quietly leaves the group to investigate. The Doctor instructs Quick and Ellie to return to the surface and round up as many officers as they can, for insurance. The Doctor turns to Litefoot and begins to explain his plan, only now they notice that Jago has disappeared…
Henry finds the origin of the voice – Abigail Woburn! He tells her she needs to leave as it is incredibly dangerous, but she came to warn him about how he’s being deceived by ‘Professor Darke’. But Jago informs her that he’s The Doctor – his friend! Abigail pleads that The Doctor is a villain who could destroy the world! She asks what The Doctor is planning as their lives could depend on it. Jago becomes suspicious and turns the questions on her. How did she know where to find him? How does she know about The Doctor? Abigail becomes agitated and angrily demands what The Doctor knows about Kempston and Hardwick. Jago is taken aback that she knows who their enemies are, and it sadly dawns on him. She immediately regains her composure and assures Jago she loves him. Jago now realises the truth and chokes that it makes the truth about Abigail harder for him to accept. Kempston and Hardwick morph out of the sand next to Abigail, who commend Jago for realising the truth about her. Abigail begs once more for Jago to tell her The Doctor’s plan. Litefoot arrives and tells Jago he’s been watching the whole exchange. Kempston and Hardwick demand to know the plan once more. If they don’t, they’ll destroy Abigail. Litefoot taunts them by stating that The Doctor isn’t as transparent as to reveal his grand scheme to anyone, and that they are in no position to threaten them, as The Doctor will defeat them. He drives home the final nail by stating that Woburn is the name of an abbey in Bedfordshire! Abigail begs Jago to divulge the plans for her sake, but Jago chokes that he can’t save her because she never existed. Litefoot quietly leads Jago away and back to The Doctor and Leela. Kempston and Hardwick heartlessly destroy Abigail, but not before stating to the villains that she was more than sand…she was loved…
The Doctor and Leela are pulling off the wooden supports holding up the tunnel. Litefoot warns them that the Sandmen are behind them. With one last tug, the supports collapse blocking the tunnel behind them, as planned as it has now separated them from the Sandmen and the villains. The Doctor warns Kempston and Hardwick they’ll never have the TARDIS and that they should leave Earth. Kempston and Hardwick state its futile as they’ll simply burrow their way through the sand and eventually find it themselves, so to save any further waste of time, the Timelord should just teach them its secrets, in exchange for his life and his friends. The Doctor refuses their offer. Kempston and Hardwick shamefully admit they’ll just have to get rid of them. After all, their barricade won’t keep them safe. The Doctor quietly reveals that this is part of his plan. As the Sandmen morph out of the tunnel walls and ceiling and surround them. The Doctor confidently calls out to the villains, asking would they like to know how he’s beaten them. The Doctor explains that he can just defeat them…by dissipating their forms to a point where they are barely even alive. Suddenly, water begins to drip from the ceiling. The Doctor corrects himself, he doesn’t plan to dissipate the villains…but dilute them…Thanks to the Sandmen using sand and mud from the ceiling to enter the enclosure, they’ve weakened the structure of the ceiling allowing water to pass through slowly. Kempston and Hardwick begin to panic as the ceiling starts to crumble and a cascade of water bursts through, sweeping away the villains and their minions to their deaths…Kempston and Hardwick angrily proclaim they’ll drown with them! The Doctor links hands with his friends as they prepare to face the mighty torrent of the Thames rushing towards them. But The Doctor has one last ace up his sleeve, with Kempston and Hardwick gone he can use his Stattenheim Remote Control! He does so and a familiar whooshing noise echoes through the water. The TARDIS materialises around them, saving them from drowning.
The group retire to The Red Tavern to celebrate saving the world. Quick asks if Kempston and Hardwick are truly gone, but the Doctor assures him they are, washed away by the sands of time. Quick takes his leave to inform his men of the danger passing and bids the group good day. The Doctor further assures the group that Lord Ampthill will order his men to destroy the ship and dissipate the sand, the TARDIS is safe and Leela’s time ring is operational once more – she can return to Gallifrey. On that note, Leela says her farewells to Jago, Litefoot, Ellie and The Doctor, and prepares to leave…
The Doctor, Jago and Litefoot walk to the Victoria Embankment to the TARDIS. He sweetly asks his ship if she missed him, to which Litefoot informs The Doctor its just a box. The Doctor furiously repeats Litefoot’s comment, to which Jago tries to smooth over the comment by saying it could store nice costumes and props, only to press The Doctor’s buttons further. The two men comment that they do find it impressive now that they’ve been inside the ship after it rescued them from the tunnel. The Doctor thanks the two men as he states he couldn’t have done it without them. Jago and Litefoot modestly state they were only helping an old friend, but The Doctor corrects them by stating they saved the world. They inquire as to where the Doctor is headed next, to which he has no idea! But that’s so exciting! But there is an easier way for the two heroes to find out…come with him! Both men are taken aback by the offer. A chance to travel through time and space? Both men don’t even have to ponder the offer and they excitedly follow The Doctor inside.
The moment they enter the TARDIS. Jago asks how it can contain a huge space within a small box, but doesn’t get a response. He assumes it’s done with mirrors. The Doctor asks the men where they would like to go, or more specifically when would they like to go? The universe is their oyster! The moment the TARDIS dematerialises, the console room violently shakes and the console explodes repeatedly as The Doctor explains hurriedly that they’ve entered a time storm and that they’re about to land!
