City of Death Part 3
The Doctor and Romana must stop the villainous Scarlioni from using a time machine to steal the Mona Lisa and fulfill his plan to unite the splintered Jagaroth.
In this episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor and Romana find themselves in 1979 Paris, where they become embroiled in a plot by the wealthy and powerful Scarlioni to steal the Mona Lisa. Unbeknownst to them, Scarlioni is one of the Jagaroth, an ancient alien species that has survived for millions of years by splitting into multiple temporal entities. The Doctor soon discovers that Scarlioni plans to use a time machine developed by Professor Kerensky to travel through time and collect multiple versions of the Mona Lisa, which he will then sell for a vast fortune. As the Doctor and Romana try to stop Scarlioni, they encounter various obstacles, including Duggan, a mercenary who is also after the Mona Lisa. The Doctor must use his knowledge of time travel and his cunning to outwit Scarlioni and prevent his plan from coming to fruition.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
This act initiates the primary conflict, immediately plunging Romana and Duggan into the aftermath of the Mona Lisa theft at the Louvre. Their frantic escape from the museum, triggered by an alarm, establishes the immediate threat and the scale of the antagonist's capabilities. Simultaneously, the narrative introduces Professor Kerensky's unwitting involvement, as he discovers the unconscious Scarlioni, who then awakens to reveal his true, alien identity as a Jagaroth splinter, forcing Kerensky to continue his scientific work under duress. Parallel to these events, the Doctor finds himself in 1505 Florence, confronting Tancredi, another temporal splinter of the same alien entity. Tancredi elaborates on the Jagaroth's fractured existence and expresses a keen interest in the Doctor's time-traveling abilities. The Doctor, ever resourceful, attempts to disrupt Tancredi's operation by creating fake Mona Lisa panels and orchestrating an escape. This act effectively sets up the multifaceted nature of the threat, operating across different time periods, and introduces the key players and their initial objectives, culminating in both the Doctor and Romana/Duggan gaining crucial, albeit incomplete, insights into the overarching conspiracy. The act concludes with the Doctor's capture and Scarlioni's successful acquisition of the Louvre Mona Lisa, solidifying his progress.
Romana and Duggan navigate the darkened Louvre in search of the stolen Mona Lisa. Their investigation reveals disabled alarms and an unconscious guard, confirming Scarlioni's advanced infiltration. The missing painting …
Romana and Duggan investigate the darkened Salle des États, only to find the Louvre’s alarms disabled and a guard knocked unconscious. Romana spots the vacant frame where the Mona Lisa …
Romana and Duggan navigate the darkened Salle des États, discovering the Mona Lisa’s frame empty and guarded by a grid of motion sensors. Duggan’s accidental breach of the tripwire triggers …
Romana and Duggan discover the Mona Lisa has been stolen and that Scarlioni’s alarms have been disabled, leaving them vulnerable to capture. Before Scarlioni’s forces can close in, they decide …
Tancredi formally interrogates the Doctor in a concealed Florence studio, slowly revealing his fractured nature as the last surviving Jagaroth. His casual acknowledgment of time travel forces a confrontation over …
Tancredi's growing suspicion reaches a breaking point when he detects the Doctor's evasive behavior and the hidden TARDIS. After revealing himself as the last surviving Jagaroth, Tancredi orders the Doctor …
Trapped in 1505 Florence by Tancredi, the Doctor deploys a calculated deception to buy time and obscure his true intentions. While Tancredi gathers instruments of torture, the Doctor snaps a …
Scarlioni unveils the finalized blueprint of a monstrous time machine, flipping the purpose of Kerensky’s research to steal rather than eliminate temporal energy. Kerensky protests the ethical and financial scale …
Scarlioni’s henchman Hermann delivers the news that the Mona Lisa has been stolen from the Louvre, sending the Count into a triumphant frenzy. Eggering Kerensky into compliance, he reveals the …
The second act intensifies the central mystery and reveals the true, horrifying scope of the antagonist's plan. It opens with the Doctor facing torture by Tancredi in 1505, compelled to divulge the secrets of time travel. Under duress, the Doctor reveals his identity as a Time Lord. Crucially, both Scarlioni in 1979 and Tancredi in 1505 begin to suffer from overwhelming mental interference, manifesting as disembodied voices that repeatedly call out "Scaroth." This shared experience dramatically reveals their unified, fractured identity as Scaroth, the last of the Jagaroth, and hints at their ultimate goal of temporal reunification. The Doctor capitalizes on Tancredi's distraction to deftly escape his bonds and flee into the TARDIS. From the safety of his ship, the Doctor observes Tancredi fully succumbing to the Jagaroth consciousness, declaring his intention to "undo the centuries that divide me," a chilling statement that clarifies Scaroth's ambition to merge his splintered selves. Meanwhile, Romana and Duggan, piecing together the evidence, deduce Scarlioni's time-traveling activities and identify the critical technological component—a field interface stabiliser—necessary for such an endeavor. This act culminates with the Doctor returning to 1979, gravely concerned by Scaroth's declaration, and both sets of protagonists converging on Scarlioni's chateau, armed with a clearer understanding of the threat.
This concluding act of the provided segment orchestrates a direct confrontation between the protagonists and the primary antagonist, escalating the stakes to a global level. Following their separate investigations and deductions, Romana and Duggan make their way back to Scarlioni's chateau, only to be promptly captured by Hermann, Scarlioni's henchman. This immediate capture highlights the villain's preparedness and control. Simultaneously, the Doctor, having returned to 1979 and discovered Romana's note indicating her destination, also converges on the chateau, setting the stage for a potential reunion or further entanglement. Scarlioni, now fully aware of Romana's exceptional expertise in temporal engineering—knowledge he gained from the Doctor's earlier slip—reveals his understanding of her capabilities. He then presents her with an unthinkable ultimatum: cooperate with his monstrous plans to reunite his fractured self, or he will unleash a destructive force capable of obliterating Paris. This chilling threat, far beyond mere art theft, transforms the conflict from a high-stakes heist into a potential global catastrophe, highlighting the true malevolence and immense power of Scaroth, who seeks not just wealth but a fundamental alteration of his own existence through temporal manipulation. The act ends on a dramatic cliffhanger, with Romana forced to confront an impossible choice, leaving the fate of Paris, and potentially the world, hanging in the balance as the full implications of Scaroth's ambition become terrifyingly clear and immediate.
The Doctor races to investigate after Romana’s lead sends him back to Paris. Gendarmes outside the sealed Louvre confirm his worst fears—the Mona Lisa has been taken, a theft far …
The Doctor arrives at the closed Louvre and demands updates on the theft of the Mona Lisa from two gendarmes stationed outside. When informed of the gravity of the situation …