Seasons of Fear ( audio story ) Publisher ' s summary . On New Year ' s Eve , 1930 , the Eighth Doctor lets Charley keep her appointment at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore . But his unease at what he ' s done to time by saving her life soon turns into fear . Sebastian Grayle : immortal , obsessed , ruthless , has come to the city to meet the Time Lord . To the Doctor , he ' s a complete stranger , but to Grayle , the Doctor is an old enemy . An enemy that , many years ago , he finally succeeded in killing . And this is his only chance to gloat . The Doctor and Charley desperately search human history for the secret of Grayle ' s power and immortality . Their quest takes in four different time periods , the Hellfire Club , the court of Edward the Confessor , and the Time Vortex itself . And when the monsters arrive , the stakes are raised from the life of one Time Lord to the existence of all humanity . Plot . Part 1 . The Doctor at last succeeds in getting Charley to Indonesia for a long - overdue appointment . She is to meet a young man named Alex Grayle at the Singapore Hilton hotel on New Year ' s Eve — the reason she stowed away on the " R101 " airship . The Doctor has his doubts about his actions , but puts them to rest when he sees Charley happily meeting the young man at the bar . However , as midnight approaches , he is interrupted by another Grayle : the immortal Sebastian Grayle , who has come to gloat over his deeds . At some time in his past and the Doctor ' s future , Grayle killed the Doctor and allowed the Earth to be invaded . Those invaders , having conquered Earth , have become masters of time and space ; they created this timeline as an illusion , to draw the Doctor in and give Grayle a chance to gloat over him . He departs as Charley returns ; when she reveals that young Alex ' s last name is also Grayle — and indeed , he is Sebastian ' s grandson — the Doctor realises how Charley has been used . He takes her to the TARDIS , and discovers that the web of time is indeed unravelling ; but over Charley ’ s objections , he attributes it to Grayle , not to his own interference in saving her life from the " R101 " crash . Knowing that she kissed Alex , he collects a sample of Alex ' s DNA from her mouth ; the TARDIS traces it through time to the Grayle family ' s home , in England . They hurry there , and in the attic , they find a Roman amphora , which they suspect is also a clue . They head into the past . . . but first they stop off for three weeks of research . The Abbey of Felsecar keeps an extensive library . Here the Doctor finds that the Grayle name first appeared at a Roman fort in Britain in the year 305 AD . The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Charley there , and they search for Sebastian Grayle — or rather , for his Roman identity , one Decurion Sebastius Gralae . They find him praying in his tent and warn him that the Picts are about to revolt , but he brushes off the warning , insisting that he must oversee a temple ritual . The Doctor leaves Charley to search the tent and follows Gralae to the temple . Charley finds an alien communicator in the tent , used to connect Gralae to the future alien invaders . Meanwhile , at the temple , two men — Marcus and Lucilius — welcome the Doctor in . They tell him about the ritual , which re - enacts the mythical slaying of a demon bull by the god Mithras . To that end , there is a sword present which never rusts , which Mithras allegedly used in his battle . However , Gralae is moving some of the statues to new positions , which will alter the ritual ; Marcus attributes it to the Londinium - born Gralae ' s " odd ideas " . Allegedly the man considers the demon bull to have been more powerful than Mithras . As the ceremony begins , Charley calls the Doctor out and reveals the communicator , which is set only for sound ( as opposed to video ) . The Doctor takes this to mean that Gralae is still unsure of his masters ; and his wearing of armour indicates he may not yet be immortal . The communicator activates , demanding to know if the sacrifice is ready ; the sacrifice of lives will secure the first part of Gralae ' s power . In the temple , Lucilius lets Gralae take charge . Gralae breaks an amphora of bull ' s blood on the floor , then runs out and seals the door , locking everyone inside . The Doctor and Charley arrive to see a bright light surround Gralae ; the Doctor identifies it as psionic energy , focused through a black hole for channelling into Gralae . The Doctor gets the temple open and warns Marcus and Lucilius to evacuate ; they gather their men to flee the fort . However , at the gate they encounter a metal monster that threatens to exterminate them — a Dalek , though they would not know the term . They manage to destroy it and continue running . The Doctor tries and fails to reason with Gralae . Gralae vows to serve the demons that are now empowering him ; as an additional benefit , he will now outlive all his siblings and inherit his family ' s fortune . He refuses to believe the Doctor regarding what he will become , or what his masters really intend . The Doctor tells him that without the now - escaped sacrifices , his masters will not come through to this world , and Gralae will not become truly immortal , although he will live for centuries . Gralae tries to kill him , but Charley uses the rustless sword to intervene ; Gralae can ' t hurt a woman , and he backs off , but vows to kill the Doctor if he encounters him again . Charley and the Doctor also retreat to the TARDIS ; not knowing that the sacrifices have fled , the aliens are trying to transmat the victims off planet . When the transmat beam finds no target in the temple , a shockwave blasts out , destroying the fort . Part 2 . Barely escaping , the Doctor traces the transmat beam to the Ordinand system ; the layout of the system and its nearby black hole will prevent the aliens from contacting Grayle again for 750 years . Charley muses on the paradox of the situation — Grayle hates the Doctor for his interference , but there would have been no interference if Grayle hadn ' t come to gloat — but the Doctor tells her to let it go , as the logic may drive her mad . He mentions a somewhat - relevant old Gallifreyan myth about a creature called Zagreus , before dropping the thought . For now , they are going 750 years ahead , to the court of Edward the Confessor . Edward held his throne for decades by promising it to many others , causing the would - be heirs to fight each other instead of Edward . A signal from Ordinand leads directly to the court ; and a radiation detector reveals a power source nearby . Edward and Edith have just banished the Earl of East Anglia ; now they must fill his position . The likely candidate is Bishop Leofric of Exeter , who has come to visit the court , bearing gifts forged from a new metal found nearby . The Doctor is known here , and introduces Charley as " Lady Charlotte " . He leaves Charley with the king and queen , and goes to speak with Leofric , who is revealed to be Grayle . The ancient Roman has married — and buried — twelve wives ; he spent decades as a penitent monk , watching his fellows wither away . He burns with hatred for the Doctor , but knows his masters — whom he now believes to be angels — will soon destroy the world . The Doctor tries to get more information , but is interrupted when Charley collapses with fever ; she has been poisoned . The Doctor hurries her to the TARDIS , where the medical nanites will heal her ; but he leaves the door open , and Grayle follows him in . He prepares to kill the Doctor ; already he has no compunction about killing Charley or any woman , his years having changed him . The Doctor knocks him out with a hatstand . Charley suggests dropping him on an isolated world , but the Doctor refuses ; he needs Grayle as a link to his still - elusive masters — and truth be told , he pities the old man . For now , they must find out what is so special about the new metal Grayle has been mining . Carrying him out of the TARDIS , they are caught by Edith , who has them arrested ; the Doctor suspects that she doesn ' t really think he harmed Grayle , but rather is bitter over their last meeting , which did not go well . Grayle arrives at their cell and states that the king is ill , and has sent Grayle in his place to take the Doctor ' s confession . He searches the Doctor and finds the radiation detector , which buzzes when he picks it up . He then tortures the Doctor ; the Doctor endures it , until he prepares to torture Charley as well . Edith arrives , and congratulates " Leofric " for poisoning Edward ; when he is dead , she intends to bear Grayle a child who will take the throne . However , she faints ; and Grayle explains that the jewellery he gave to Edward and Edith is made from the new metal , which can kill within hours . The Doctor identifies it as plutonium — and one hundred barges of it are en route to the court , to power a machine Grayle has constructed to bring his masters here . However , just as Grayle begins to gloat over his triumph , Edith revives and Edward bursts in — both recognised the threat , and swapped their jewellery for fakes , which is why they didn ' t set off the radiation detector . Grayle flees . Edward releases the Doctor , who urges him to stop the barges from unloading . On the roof , the Doctor confronts Grayle , who receives a second burst of psionic energy , giving him more centuries of life , and time to finish and power his machine . The Doctor again tries to reason with him , but fails ; Grayle tries to throw him off the roof . Part 3 . Charley watches Grayle fall from the roof into the river — but the Doctor knows he will survive to try again to summon his masters . As well , the presence of the machine may indicate they lack the power to transport themselves . . . At any rate , the Doctor and Charley destroy the machine , and give the members of the court anti - radiation pills , and tell them how to dispose of the plutonium . Inside the TARDIS , the Doctor collapses from the delayed effects of the torture . He admits that he wasn ' t thinking of Grayle ' s immortality ; he just wanted him dead for hurting Charley . Most of all he is bothered by the fact that Grayle is willing to destroy time and space over the terms of his father ' s will — such a petty reason ! Buckinghamshire , 1806 : the TARDIS lands inside a cavern system . The Doctor must wear a rapier to fit with local customs , and he takes the rustless sword from the Roman temple . Inside the caves , they find a banquet hall , and he deduces they are in Wickham Caves , one of the strongholds of the Hellfire Club , which they have encountered in the future . In this , its original form , many celebrities attended , including president Benjamin Franklin . Grayle is here somewhere , as the cave is stocked with Minoan artefacts — Grayle is still fascinated with demon bulls . They meet one Sir Richard Martin , a guest here , and give him a quick cover story ; he takes them to the host , Sir Sebastian Grayle . Grayle is hunting with a falcon as Martin ' s daughter Lucy watches . Martin brings him a horned goblet for the evening ' s ritual , and introduces the Doctor and Charley , much to Grayle ' s delight . Grayle asks them to dine with him , and the Doctor accepts . However , at dinner , Grayle twists the Doctor ' s words into an offence that justifies a duel , and challenges him . Here , he wants not just to kill the Doctor , but to bring him down to his level . The Doctor chooses swords as his weapon . Martin refuses to watch , but Charley and Lucy attend . Lucy , sensing that the Doctor and Charley are more than they seem , confides that Grayle has proposed to her , but she intends to decline — she has another reason for being here . The duel begins . Grayle is overconfident , trusting his invulnerability ; but he finds he is wrong , as the Doctor nicks him . The rustless sword draws the alien power out of Grayle , reducing him to mortality ; if it touches him long enough , he will feel all of his centuries of life . The Doctor offers him mercy , but he refuses , and tries to stab the Doctor with a dagger . The others intervene in the fight , but Grayle takes Lucy as a hostage and rides away , intending to sacrifice her for his masters . Martin figures out where Grayle will take Lucy . He tells the Doctor of a strange device in a cave ; the entrance is blocked , but one can enter through its chimney . As they go there , the Doctor tells Charley that the sword is pure iron , which is often cited as a defence against magic . Inside the cave , Grayle chains Lucy to a stone . The Doctor and Charley come down the chimney , but too late — the transmat is active . It pulls a travel pod through time and space , and the Doctor recognises it ; he knows who Grayle ' s masters are . Charley frees Lucy ; but Grayle opens the pod , releasing the Nimon onto Earth . Part 4 . The Nimon are weak from their journey ; they have sent ahead of them a binding energy oscillator to drain the life from their victims . However , Grayle finds that the oscillator — the horned goblet — is missing , along with many other items . Martin and Lucy are not what they seem ; they are con artists , and have robbed him . He hurries after Martin , leaving the Doctor , Lucy , and Charley locked in with the Nimon . The Doctor takes advantage of the Nimon ' s weakness to examine its travel pod ; it requires power from Grayle ' s machine , but can be piloted independently . He explains to Charley and Lucy that the Nimon spread from world to world like a plague , consuming everything before continuing on — but Earth , being a time and space nexus , will let them conquer all of time and space . A Nimon scout must have given rise to the Mithras legend . They must be stopped before they can regain their strength . Grayle catches Martin and recovers the goblet , then pushes Martin down the chimney , killing him . The falling body distracts the Nimon , and the Doctor recovers some of the gold coins Martin had stolen . He gets Charley and Lucy into the pod , then pilots it to the cavern beside the TARDIS . He then pilots the TARDIS into the time corridor to block any more Nimon from arriving ; but this is not without risk , for he remembers Grayle in Singapore saying that the Doctor died at a distance . That event may happen here . Grayle arrives with the goblet , allowing the Nimon to consume the other members of the Hellfire Club . They begin to summon more Nimon , but find the corridor blocked . With Grayle , they recover the travel pod and pilot it into the corridor , then materialise in the TARDIS . The Doctor knows they are now a threat , and so he gives Lucy a message for Charley ; then he opens the doors . The Nimon are swept into the vortex , but so is the Doctor . Grayle closes the doors ; and he is able to use the TARDIS communicator to get instructions from the Nimon . He pilots the TARDIS out of the corridor . Although Grayle has won , he feels cheated by not getting to gloat over the Doctor ; therefore he plans to request the false timeline that led the Doctor here in the first place , so he can gloat over him . As Charley mourns the Doctor , Lucy gives her his last message : " Fast return switch , three times fast . " Lucy distracts Grayle , allowing Charley to carry out the instructions . Grayle catches on , but it ' s too late ; the TARDIS is in motion . Nevertheless , he draws his flintlock pistols , and takes Charley and Lucy hostage . The Doctor anticipated this course of events ; before the Nimon arrived on the TARDIS , he programmed the TARDIS to create a tunnel to preset coordinates . He manages to arrive ahead of the Nimon , landing in the Roman fort where it all began , just prior to his previous visit there . He warns Lucilius and Marcus that the demon bull is returning , and must be defeated ; Lucilius takes the rustless sword from the temple . The Doctor heads for Gralae , realising that at this early point , Gralae is praying not to the Nimon , but to Mithras , seeking a sign . The Doctor summons him out to witness the battle preparation ; and as Gralae has never met him yet , he takes the Doctor for a messenger of Mithras . He pleads for forgiveness , and the Doctor gives him the gold coins ; this will allow him to buy out his commission and purchase a villa , and thus marry the woman he loves . Thus the source of his turn to evil is averted . The Nimon are still en route . As they arrive , Lucilius leads the attack , and cuts them down . Five dozen Romans die in battle , but all five Nimon are killed . The TARDIS then arrives , and the older Grayle comes out . Gralae is appalled at his older self , who treats the women badly and dismisses his love for his bride - to - be as foolishness . Grayle intends to kill the Doctor even though he himself is still mortal at the moment ; but before he can do so , Gralae stabs him to death , so as to prevent himself from becoming Grayle . The Doctor then tells him to destroy the Nimon communicator , and evacuate before the transmat begins . History is now correcting itself , although Charley ' s memories are now confused . Some she will remember as dreams or stories . The Doctor returns Lucy to her own time , then takes Charley to Singapore , 1931 , although the TARDIS still seems reluctant to go there . He insists that it is still nothing to do with his saving Charley from death on the " R101 " — but time may prove him wrong . IN 1806 , Lucy arranges Martin ' s funeral , but is shocked to find him alive . They are interrupted by the arrival of Charley Pollard — but it is not really Charley . Something hungry has entered the universe and is dangerous to the universe ' s continued existence . As Lucy is touched with chronon energy as a byproduct of her time travel , and Martin is the product of a paradox , the creature consumes them both .