Master commandeers UNIT driver for TARDIS
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Master orders a driver to load the Doctor's TARDIS onto a lorry and instructs him to enlist a guard for assistance. The driver complies, acknowledging the order.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calmly authoritative, with a hint of smug satisfaction at his ability to control the situation with minimal effort.
The Master stands in the UNIT corridor, his presence commanding yet unobtrusive, as he locks eyes with the driver. With a few precise words, he hypnotizes the driver into compliance, reducing him to a mindless tool. His posture is relaxed but authoritative, his voice low and measured, ensuring the driver repeats his orders without question. The Master’s actions are calculated, demonstrating his ability to manipulate UNIT personnel with ease, turning their own infrastructure against them.
- • Secure the Doctor’s TARDIS for his own use or to deny the Doctor access to it.
- • Demonstrate his superiority over UNIT and the Doctor by infiltrating and subverting their operations.
- • UNIT personnel are weak and easily controlled through hypnosis.
- • The Doctor’s TARDIS is a critical asset that must be seized to gain leverage over the Doctor.
Emotionless and detached, operating purely as an extension of the Master’s will.
The UNIT driver stands motionless in the corridor, his eyes glazed and his voice monotone as he repeats the Master’s commands verbatim. His body language is stiff, devoid of independent thought or resistance, as he becomes a puppet under the Master’s control. He shows no sign of recognition or hesitation, fully compliant with the Master’s orders to load the TARDIS onto the lorry and enlist a guard’s help.
- • Follow the Master’s orders without question, as his hypnotic control has erased his own autonomy.
- • Facilitate the loading of the TARDIS onto the lorry, as directed.
- • The Master’s commands are absolute and must be obeyed without hesitation.
- • His own will and identity are subordinate to the Master’s control.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Doctor’s TARDIS is the central object of this event, serving as the strategic prize the Master seeks to seize. Though not physically present in this brief exchange, its mention as the target of the driver’s hypnotic orders underscores its critical role in the narrative. The TARDIS represents the Doctor’s power, mobility, and escape—assets the Master aims to deny or exploit. The driver’s compliance in loading it onto the lorry foreshadows its imminent theft, a move that will cripple the Doctor’s ability to respond to the Axos threat or escape the Master’s schemes.
The UNIT Army Lorry is referenced indirectly in this event as the vehicle the driver is ordered to use for transporting the TARDIS. Though not physically depicted, its mention as the target location for the TARDIS highlights its role as a tool of UNIT’s logistics—now hijacked by the Master. The lorry symbolizes the infiltration of UNIT’s operational infrastructure, as the Master repurposes it to serve his own ends. Its involvement foreshadows the broader corruption of UNIT’s resources and personnel under the Master’s influence.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The UNIT corridor serves as the tense arena for the Master’s hypnotic takeover of the driver. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, casting a sterile glow over the linoleum floors, while alarms blare in the background—a remnant of the Axos crash and the chaos unfolding within UNIT. The corridor, typically a space of order and military discipline, becomes a battleground of psychological warfare, where the Master’s presence disrupts the institutional norms. The narrow confines amplify the intimacy of the confrontation, as the driver’s compliance is extracted in a matter of seconds, underscoring the vulnerability of UNIT’s personnel and infrastructure.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
UNIT is indirectly but critically involved in this event, as the Master exploits its personnel and infrastructure to further his own agenda. The driver, a representative of UNIT’s operational capacity, is reduced to a puppet under the Master’s control, demonstrating the organization’s vulnerability to psychological manipulation. The event highlights UNIT’s reliance on the loyalty and autonomy of its members—qualities the Master effortlessly strips away. By hijacking the driver’s compliance, the Master turns UNIT’s own resources against it, foreshadowing broader systemic corruption.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The Master orders driver causing Harker and the soldier to confine the team."
Doctor Reveals Axonite’s True Nature"The Master orders driver causing Harker and the soldier to confine the team."
Harker Confines the Doctor’s TeamKey Dialogue
"MASTER: You will load the Doctor's Tardis onto your lorry. You will need some help."
"DRIVER: I will need some help."
"MASTER: Get the guard to give you a hand."
"DRIVER: The guard."
"MASTER: Now."