Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 72 "Silver Nemesis"

Doctor Who's 25th Anniversary Episode

It's Windsor, 1638. Lady Peinforte and her companion Richard Maynarde are in search of a Silver statue known as Nemesis. In an earlier untelevised adventure she met the seventh Doctor where she learned the secret of who he really is, his planet Gallifrey and the components of the Nemesis statue - Validium. Validium is a sentient metal created by Omega and Rassilon as a defence for Gallifrey. Somehow, some of this metal fell to Earth and was discovered by Lady Peinforte. She formed the metal into a statue of herself, and the statue told her of Gallifrey and some rudimentary secrets of time. Armed with those secrets and the Silver Arrow, she concocts a potion to transport her in time to 1988 to redezvous with the Statue.

 

In 1988, a group of neo-nazi's, led by De Flores,  are also searching for the Nemesis statue. Through uncertain contacts, they have found out an 'asteroid' containing the statue will be arriving on Earth in Windsor. Hoping to utilize the power, the Nazi's travel from South Africa to Windsor to acquire the statue. They have in their possession the Silver Bow, which given to the statue along with the Silver Arrow, will allow them to control the living metal. Whoever is in control of the Nemesis can then manipulate all of time and space.   

As the Doctor becomes involved, Ace strives to figure out what is really going on, but as per usual the Doctor is keeping his secrets. Right from the beginning they are under fire from an unknown force. They run into De Flores who immediately orders Ace's execution. But she's saved when a space craft flies overhead. Ace is thankful to whoever just "saved her life", but the Doctor tells her she'll likely live to regret it. The ship lands and Cybermen pour out of the ship, they too are looking for the Nemesis.

The Cybermen open fire, immediately decimating many of the Nazi troops. From the outskirts, Lady Peinforte fires upon the Cybermen with her arrows and is delighted to find they are effective, despite the Nazi bullets which seem to have no effect on the Cybermen. But her arrow-heads are crafted in gold, the one substance lethal to the Cybermen. With this revelation, she withdraws hoping the Nazi's and Cybermen fight each other to the death. During the course of the battle, the Doctor secretly steals the bow away from the Nazi's and the Cybermen take control of the Nemesis once it hits ground. Lady Peinforte still has the Silver Arrow.

Still believing they have the Silver Bow, De Flores forges an unsteady alliance with the Cybermen. De Flores' selling point is he and his men are immune to whatever is afflicting the Cybermen, he's unaware the gold tipped arrows are the problem. With the alliance cast, both go their separate way, though vowing to destroy the other side first chance they get. Meanwhile, Lady Peinforte is convinced she will shortly be in possession of the Silver Bow and the Nemesis. Drunk on the prospect of potential power, she begins to go mad.

Once finding the Nemesis, Lady Peinforte primes it by giving it the Silver Arrow. She believes she can easily acquire the Silver Bow and be in full control, but the Cybermen discover her and she is forced to flee. At this point, De Flores discovers he is no longer in possession of the Silver Bow, which had been stolen by the Doctor. The Cybermen dissolve the temporary alliance. De Flores claims they still need him because the Doctor will not just walk in and hand them the bow. No sooner said than done, the Doctor walks in and offers the Cybermen the Silver Bow. But it's a stalling tactic and the Doctor actually hands the Nemesis the bow, then departs as quickly as he came in, taking the Silver Bow with him.

Now that the Nemesis is fully primed, it will follow the Silver Bow. The Doctor makes his way towards an abandoned warehouse where the Cybermen have stored the "asteroid" or rocket the Nemesis fell to Earth in. Armed with some gold coins and a slingshot, Ace protects the Doctor, destroying all Cybermen that get in her way while the Doctor programmes the Nemesis to leave Earth and destroy a massive Cyber Invasion Fleet. With the Cybermen dispatched, De Flores tries to take control. But the Cyber Leader was not destroyed as Ace had hoped and kills De Flores and his last remaining man.

Lady Peinforte re-enters the scene now, still completely drunk on her potential power. She orders the Doctor to give her the Bow. The Doctor refuses so she threatens to tell the Cybermen all about the Doctor, who he really is. Not persuaded, the Doctor ignores her demand and hands the Silver Bow to a surprised Cyber Leader. The Cyber Leader reveals he doesn't care about the Doctor's origin, he only wanted the Silver Nemesis and the ultimate power. He orders the Doctor to dismiss his last command to the Nemesis and have it rendezvous with the Cyber Fleet. The Doctor asks the Nemesis if it understood the order and it says it does. The Doctor then sends it on it's way. But driven insane knowing she is not to have the ultimate power, Lady Peinforte jumps into the rocket with the Nemesis and merges with it, leaving her faithful companion behind. The Cyberleader orders they watch as the Nemesis is delivered to the Cyber Fleet. But the Doctor has tricked the Cybermen. He only asked the Nemesis if it understood the order, which it did, he didn't order the Nemesis to follow the instructions. Meeting up with the Cyber Fleet, the Nemesis destroys it. Wishing to take revenge on the Doctor, the Cyber Leader attempts to eradicate him. Realizing he can save the Doctor, Richard grabs a gold tipped arrow which had previously been shot at the Tardis, and drives it into the Cyber Leader, destroying it. The Doctor agrees to take Richard home.

Bonus Photo!

The Doctor wearing a fez, because fez's are cool. And he's even got a mop. Hmmm, could this be where Matt Smith got this from?