Narrative Web
S20E11
· Mawdryn Undead Part 3

Transmitter erupts in flames on Obelisk Hill

The Doctor and Turlough stand helpless as the transmitter roars to critical failure, smoke billowing from its cracked casing. The Doctor registers horror as the device erupts in a violent burst, severing their connection to the TARDIS. With Earth’s protective embrace shattered, the air grows colder and sharper, the landscape suddenly forbidding. Turlough calls out in alarm but the damage is done—both are cast adrift at Obelisk Hill, every mechanism meant to secure their survival now reduced to smouldering wreckage. The catastrophe forces immediate adaptation, thrusting the newly regenerated Doctor into a survival crisis amid escalating temporal threats. key_dialogue: [ TURLOUGH: Bang! goes the transmitter. DOCTOR: Oh no. ]

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

1

The transmitter malfunctions and explodes, thwarting the Doctor's plan to recall the Tardis, leaving him and Turlough stranded on Earth.

hope to despair ['Obelisk Hill']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
The Fifth Doctor
Time Lord
 primary

Dread over the loss of connection mixed with instinctual drive to stabilize the situation despite their unstable regeneration.

The Doctor remains static but horrified, registering the transmitter’s failure with a visceral response. Their rapid evaluation of the situation is evident in their startled reaction, immediately recognizing the severity of the rupture.

Goals in this moment
  • • stabilize the situation immediately
  • • understand the full implications of the failure
Active beliefs
  • • Time technology is inherently fragile under stress
  • • Urgent action is required to prevent greater temporal rupture
Character traits
horrified assessing measured
Follow The Fifth …'s journey
Turlough
Schoolboy
 primary

Exposed tension and frustration masking deeper vulnerability about being stranded without control.

Turlough stands alert and reactive, shouting an immediate warning to the Doctor as smoke begins to billow from the failing transmitter. His sharp tone signals urgency and frustration over the breakdown of their lifeline.

Goals in this moment
  • • warn the Doctor about the imminent failure
  • • alert others to the danger before it fully materializes
Active beliefs
  • • Technology they rely on is dangerously unreliable
  • • Acting quickly may avert total disaster
Character traits
reactive sharp-tongued urgent
Follow Turlough's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
TARDIS Transmat Control Panel

The transmitter smokes and fractures, its internal mechanisms failing under pressure and the Doctor’s unstable regenerative state. It erupts violently, destroying the link to the TARDIS and severing their temporal tether, leaving both stranded.

Before: Operational but showing signs of strain with smoke …
After: Destroyed in a violent burst, reduced to smoldering …
Before: Operational but showing signs of strain with smoke beginning to rise from its casing.
After: Destroyed in a violent burst, reduced to smoldering wreckage with no functional capacity.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Obelisk Hill Monument Site

Obelisk Hill’s stark, high-altitude terrain becomes a hostile and isolating environment as the transmitter fails. The landscape’s oppressive atmosphere intensifies, closing in on the stranded time travelers with nowhere to turn for refuge.

Atmosphere Hostile and isolating with thick, biting air and a sense of claustrophobic exposure
Function Site of forced adaptation and survival crisis
Symbolism Embodies the fragility of security and the precariousness of the Doctor’s temporal anchoring
Access None, but the environment feels impenetrably hostile
Biting metallic air Smoke and embers from the failed transmitter

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

No narrative connections mapped yet

This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph

Part of Larger Arcs

The temporal crisis aboard the alien vessel—unintended consequences of regeneration interference, transmat misuse, and temporal paradoxes threatening all time and space