Ep 1. Four Hundred Dawns (1)
- TV-PG
- September 11, 1965
- 60 min
-
7.6 (7,994)
The Doctor lands the TARDIS on a planet that orbits around four suns, hence the name Four Hundred Dawns. The planet is called Messaline and is home to a massive war between two opposing armies. The Doctor realises that the two warring sides are human and are offspring of the initial settlers on the planet. The two sides have been in a perpetual war for over seven generations, and neither side remembers how the war started in the first place.
The Doctor meets a human soldier called Martha Jones and tells her he is from the future. Martha is initially skeptical but soon realises that The Doctor is telling the truth. They soon realise that The Doctor's arrival in this timeline was prophesied, and he is seen as a messiah who will end the generations-long conflict. The Doctor attempts to be neutral, but both sides see him as an opportunity to defeat the other and end the war.
The situation on Messelaine is complicated by the arrival of a deadly new weapon known as the terraforming device. The terraforming device is designed to kill all life on the planet and repopulate it with the user's species. The Doctor realises the terraforming device's creator is a scientist on the human side. He tries to convince her to stop the device's use, but she is too consumed with pride to listen to him.
Meanwhile, Martha is instrumental in discovering that one of the factions is lying about their reason for going to war. This discovery complicates things even further, and both sides ramp up their efforts to defeat the other. As the countdown for the terraforming device reaches its final hour, The Doctor, along with Martha and several key players on each side, come up with a plan to end the war once and for all.
In the end, The Doctor successfully stops the terraforming device from activating. The warring factions come to the realisation that they are essentially the same people and end the generations-long conflict. The Doctor, along with Martha, say their goodbyes and head back to the TARDIS to continue their adventures.
