Fixing the TARDIS

The Doctor decides that a reboot of all of the TARDIS systems is required so as to remove the damage and anomalies caused by the Flux, that occurred during their previous adventure (see "Flux"). To carry this out The Doctor and her two travelling companions, Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis, must leave the TARDIS as they will die if they stayed inside while the reboot takes place. Therefore, The Doctor plans to take them all on a holiday to an alien beach, where The Doctor has promised to tell Yasmin about her past. The Doctor initiates the reboot and the three of them flee the TARDIS as the Console Room starts to collapse behind them, emerging into what they soon discover is the basement of a storage facility instead of the alien beach.

Unbeknownst to The Doctor, the TARDIS reset has also triggered a time loop and so on exiting the TARDIS, they see that the time machine is covered in glowing orange cracks. The Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to perform a scan, finding that they are in Manchester and that it is 5 minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. Coming from Liverpool, Dan is not too pleased with their location, but The Doctor is hopeful that they will still find a good party. However, her face turns serious when she discovers a time disturbance two floors up. The Doctor sets off to investigate followed by Yasmin and Dan.

In the entrance lobby of the storage facility Sarah, the owner, is unaware of the TARDIS’ arrival. She is preoccupied leaving a message for her business partner Jeff, who has once again failed to show up to help on New Year's Eve. A regular customer, Nick who he has a crush on Sarah, then arrives asking to access his storage unit. He also confirms with Sarah what items cannot be stored at the facility. As it is very nearly midnight, and after verifying that the game of Monopoly that he is carrying is not a prohibited item, Nick heads off to his storage unit, that is on the first floor, joking that he will see her next year. While inside his storage unit Nick is annoyed when the lights suddenly go out. As he exits, he discovers a Dalek in the corridor, which promptly exterminates him. His body is soon found by The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan. Meanwhile in the lobby Sarah, while receiving a phone call from her mother, hears movement behind her. Thinking it is Nick she turns and is surprised to discover the Dalek just before it exterminates her. The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan then arrive in the lobby where The Doctor attempts to use her sonic screwdriver to jam the Dalek's weapons systems. This fails and the Dalek uses its upgraded rapid-fire energy weapon to exterminate The Doctor and her two companions.

TARDIS Repairing Itself

The TARDIS arrives in the basement of the storage facility again just before midnight on New Year's Eve and on exiting Yasmin asks where the beach is. As cracks appear on the TARDIS, like before, all three of them realise that they are experiencing déja vu, and on remembering having previously discovered Nick's dead body, they run to the first floor to avert his death but arrive to find nothing there as Nick has also experienced déja vu and has already run down to warn Sarah. But he is too late as Sarah, on discovering that there is a force-field in place around the building - meaning they cannot escape, has already headed to the fifth floor to see if the unreliable Jeff has any weapons hidden in his storage unit. She though discovers that Jeff has stored his stuff across half the floor, rather than one unit as they had agreed. Before she can investigate further, the Dalek appears. She attempts to sound authoritative and order it off her property, but it pays her no heed, exterminating her.

Down in the lobby Nick finds it empty save for the force-field. A Dalek then corners him before he is exterminated. The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan arrive and discover Nick's dead body. They also discover the forcefield and also see Sarah's corpse on one of the security monitors. The Dalek then arrives informing them that there was a time malfunction that has resulted in a repeat of the last few minutes. The Doctor mocks the Dalek for failing to kill them the first time, but this does not stop The Dalek from exterminating all three of them again.

Dalek Executioner

Time resets again - but this time to 23:53 and Nick has already gone to his storge unit. Realising that he is about to be killed by the Dalek, Sarah decides to go after him, as do The Doctor and her two travelling companions who have once again arrived in the basement. They all convene on the first floor, where Sarah suspects that the Dalek belongs to The Doctor. The Dalek then arrives forcing them all to flee in to Nick's storage unit. On discovering that Nick uses it to store items belonging to his ex-girlfriends - prompting the group to think that Nick might be a serial killer. Nick tries to reassure them that they are all still alive and that he is just keeping their stuff in case they ever ask for it back. Despite his reassurance Sarah is disgusted by this, calling it extremely weird that he does this every New Year's Eve so forcing her to work. Nick, though is upset by this - thinking that it is his fault Sarah is here and so in danger - and so without any warning he leaves the storage unit to sacrifice himself and also to hopefully buy them more time. But as The Dalek starts to burn its way through the door The Doctor is more concerned at how they are going to escape from the Dalek and so prevent being exterminated again. With time running out The Doctor quickly informs Yasmin, Dan and Sarah that there is no way out of the storage unit and so it is only a matter of time before the Dalek will gain access and fire upon them. She also informs them that she has figured out that they are in a time loop and that each reset shortens the time loop by a minute, speculating that it will collapse at midnight. They agree to meet on the fifth floor to look for weapons in Jeff's storage collection. When The Dalek finally succeeds in burning its way through the door it reveals that the time loop has been caused by the TARDIS before exterminating everyone in the storage unit.

The Doctor is proved correct when time resets itself again and it is 23:54 - one minute later than before. But when Nick arrives in the lobby, Sarah proposes that they ignore The Doctor’s plan as she feels that it is The Doctor's fault they are in this mess and so cannot be trusted. Nick reluctantly agrees as they head to the basement while The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan head to the fifth floor in the lift. Dan though decides to get out at the lobby to hopefully distract the Dalek for a while - joking that there had better be another time loop for him to come back to. He encounters the Dalek and for a short while is able to prevent being exterminated. However, as Dan mocks the Dalek, it realises that Dan has been trying to delay it locating and exterminating The Doctor - it then manages to exterminate Dan.

Meanwhile in the basement, Nick confesses that he visits the storage facility every New Year's Eve because he has a crush on Sarah and he knows that she is guaranteed to be there, as Jeff always lets her down. To Sarah's horror, Nick is then exterminated by a second Dalek. Pursued by the Dalek, she flees to a large, heavy rusted door that she knows is an exit from the storage facility. Sarah though finds that even though it is not blocked by the force-field she is unable to open the door before she is exterminated. Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, The Doctor and Yasmine explore and find a room which appears to be where Jeff lives. They also find a room filled with dangerous weapons that The Doctor realises could be used against the Daleks. A Dalek then appears and reveals that it is a member of a squad of Executioner Daleks that, after detecting the TARDIS' energy signature, has been dispatched to execute The Doctor for her crimes in wiping out the Dalek war fleet using the Flux. Despite The Doctor stating that she just hijacked the Sontaran’s plan, the Dalek exterminates them both anyway.

Yasmin, The Doctor and Dan

Time resets itself again and it is 23:55. The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan head straight to the lobby where The Doctor berates Sarah for not sticking to the plan and so risking all their lives. Sarah attempts to go and rescue Nick, as he usually dies around 5 minutes to midnight, believing that if he doesn't make it past the starting point of the next loop, he will not be there when it resets. The Doctor also decides to go and find Nick herself. Nick though has managed to outwit the Daleks when he is trapped between two of them in a corridor. He does this by ducking down when both Daleks fire at him so destroying each other. Returning to the lobby The Doctor convinces them that they have to make a plan to be outside the building at midnight, using the door in the basement as there means to escape from both the Daleks and the time loop. She also reveals that the Daleks are learning from the previous loops and that they must do this as well in order to anticipate the Dalek's next moves. She comes up with the idea to use her sonic screwdriver to bounce their life signals around the building so the Daleks don't know where they are. The Doctor then has another flash of inspiration stating that Sarah needs to ask her mother to phone 10 seconds before midnight so that she can fool the Daleks. It is not long before three Daleks arrive and they are all exterminated once more.

It is now 23:56 and in the lobby before Sarah can escape a Dalek materialises behind her. She runs to the lift but the Dalek destroys the lift controls and she is left trapped inside the lift, powerless and is exterminated. Meanwhile the lights go out completely in Nick's storage unit. He tries to leave using a torch but is promptly exterminated by another Dalek. In the basement, it is also pitch black and The Doctor decides to find the others alone using her sonic screwdriver as a torch. Dan and Yasmin are left by the TARDIS but the Daleks soon arrive and they are exterminated again. The Doctor is also exterminated when she discovers Sarah's body in the lift.

Time slips by another minute and The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan uncover more of Jeff's stuff in the basement, boxes of presumably illegal fireworks. This gives The Doctor the idea to create a trap that will bring down the storage facility when the fireworks are fired upon by the Daleks. Yasmin goes to find Sarah and Nick bringing them both to the basement before the Daleks realise that The Doctor has misdirected them. With the group assembled in the basement, The Doctor announces that they are going to the use the next and penultimate loop as a decoy, doing the exact opposite of the plan so that the Daleks will not be able to predict their intended actions. They then wait to be exterminated by the Daleks - which duly happens.

Nick and Sarah

It is 23:58 and Sarah takes the lift to the top floor, calling her mother to tell her she loves her, in case she doesn't make it out of the situation. When she gets to the top floor a Dalek exterminates her. Nick, in his storage unit, tricks a Dalek into destroying his ex-girlfriends belongings - thanking them for the therapy before the Dalek exterminates him. Meanwhile The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan await the Dalek’s arrival in Jeff's living space and are exterminated for what they hope is the last time.

With just one minute to go before midnight everyone puts The Doctor’s plan into action. Sarah calls her mother and asks for her to phone back at 10 seconds to midnight, despite her protestations that the lines will be busy. She gives the phone to The Doctor and Yasmine, and flees with Nick through the basement door. The Doctor and Yasmin transport Jeff’s hazardous material to the basement and set it up around the fireworks, while the Daleks are searching in the wrong place. The Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to place life signals behind the mass, before fleeing, via the basement door, to join the others outside. The Daleks soon arrive in the basement just as Sarah's mother calls. Using her sonic screwdriver The Doctor remotely answers the call. Triggered by hearing Sarah's mother calling her phone, the Daleks fire on the explosives so destroying themselves along with the whole building.

As fireworks soar over the wreckage The Doctor, Yasmin and Dan find the rejuvenated TARDIS in the rubble. Inside The Doctor promises to take them to find the lost treasure of Flor de la Mar, while outside Sarah and Nick decide to travel the world together. As they start their new life together, the TARDIS can be seen flying across the sky behind them.