Act 1: The Doctor vs. The Master, Round 1
It was on the planet Skaro that my old enemy the Master was finally put on trial. They say he listened calmly as his list of evil crimes was read... and sentence passed. Then he made his last--and I thought somewhat curious--request. He demanded that I, the Doctor, a rival Timelord, should take his remains back to our home planet, Gallifrey. It was a request they should never have granted...
The movie begins with the above monologue by the Eighth Doctor, setting the tone for the coming drama. We then are greeted with a scene inside the TARDIS, the Doctor's flying time machine. Sylvester McCoy reprises his role as the Seventh Doctor in these opening minutes, securing the Master's remains inside a Sonic-Screwdriver-locked box before relaxing in an armchair, listening to music as he reads--what else?--H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.
But then, something causes the music record to start skipping...and a great rumble shakes the ship, shattering the Doctor's teacup and his moment of reverie. Hurrying over to the locked box, the Doctor sees that it is broken open. The Master isn't dead! And not only that, he's slithering in a ghostly, goopy snake-form toward the controlling mechanism of the TARDIS itself!
Before the Doctor can catch him, the Master has already wreaked havoc inside the TARDIS mechanisms, causing it to spin out of control. The Doctor has no choice but to land the TARDIS on the closest planet--Earth.