In Cardiff, Gwen and Ianto react in horror as the United Nations surrenders on behalf of Earth.  In Ealing, Sarah Jane has wrung herself out, silently holding Luke as the Daleks shout orders outside.  It's Wilf holding Sylvia in Chiswick.  As Rose stares into nothing, defeated, her attention is caught by an electronic beeping that sounds scarily like the ta-ta-ta-tat of the Master's Archangel drumbeat.

"Can anyone hear me?  The subwave network is open - you should be able to hear my voice. Is there anyone there?"  Wilf's laptop is open, and a figure can just be made out through the static.

"I know that voice," Rose says, cautiously going to the laptop.  So do I, and I'm beside myself with squee, because I love this character.

Sarah Jane isn't as excited.  Blowing off the signal as "some poor soul calling for help,"  she barely bothers to look up while Mr. Smith tries to sharpen the image.

Jack is equally unimpressed.  When Gwen points out the signal and tries to pull it in, he says "The whole world's crying out.  Just leave it."

"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" snaps Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister.  "Now stand to attention, sir!"

"Who is that?" Jack asks, running to the monitor, so Harriet goes through her introduction, including showing her ID.

"I know who you are," Jack admits with a smile.

In the Noble house, Rose is leaning into the screen.  "Harriet, it's me!
It's me!" She turns in frustration to the Nobles.  "She can't hear me, have you got webcam?"

"She won't let me." Wilf points to Sylvia. "She says they're naughty."

It's cheesy, it's manipulative, and I'm loving every second as the music rises and Harriet continues to pull together the defeated companions though sheer force of personality.  "Sarah Jane Smith... are you there?"

"Yeah... yeah, that's me!" a re-energized Sarah replies, running forward.

Satisfied, Harriet starts tapping on her keyboard, and the computer screens divide into quarters. One is Harriet's apartment, one is the Hub, one is Sarah Jane's attic, but the fourth... "the fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through."

"That's me!" a joyous Rose shouts. "Harriet, that's me!"  Harriet boosts the signal and...

"Martha Jones!" Jack laughs as Martha fills the final quadrant.

"Who's she?" Rose asks, pouring gasoline on a two-year shipper war. "I want to get through!"

Martha is explaining that Project Indigo must have used some form of telepathy as its coordinates, because she returned to the one place she most wanted to be - her mother's house.  "But then it was like the laptop turned itself on."

"That was me," Harriet says, raising her ID again, but Martha also knows who she is.

"I thought it was about time that we all met, considering the current crisis," Harriet says, starting to perform introductions.  It turns out that Torchwood and Sarah Jane have been aware of each other, but Sarah Jane has been keeping her distance because she doesn't like all those guns around Luke.  This must be the first time that they've actually seen each other, though, because Jack promptly flirts with Sarah Jane, who coos back.  I'm thrilled beyond belief - I'd love to see those two getting together. 

Harriet, not so much. "Not now, Captain," she sighs, introducing Martha as "former companion to the Doctor."

"Oi, so was I!" Rose protests, throwing a lit match after that fuel.

Harriet explains that she has "sentient software" that will find "anyone and everyone who can help contact the Doctor."  That explains why Rose is in on the loop even if she can't talk back.  It's undetectable outside the network, so the Daleks can't hear them.  Harriet says she developed it, but it had been created by the "Mr. Copper foundation."  (For those counting the shout-outs, he was the survivor of the fake Titanic crash who was left on Earth with a million quid.  It's nice to know he made something of his life.)

"What we need is a weapon," Jack says.  Torchwood Three must not have access to the huge weapon Harriet used in Christmas Invasion, and all Martha has, aside from Project Indigo, is the Osterhagen key.

Harriet promptly orders her to never use is and answers Jack's questions with "forget about the key, and that's an order."  Well, there's a clue that it'll be useful by the end of the story.  (Osterhagen, by the way, is an anagram of "Earth's gone."  The German fans also pointed out that it is one letter off from the German for "Easter Bunny," which makes for some seriously whacked-out theories about next week.)

A wary Sarah Jane points out that the Doctor deposed Harriet. 

"He did," Harriet admits, "and I wondered about that for a long time, if I was wrong.  But I stand by my actions."  At this point I don't care if she's fictional, I don't care if I'm the wrong nationality, I want to stand up and salute her.  It's controversial, but I always thought that Harriet did the right thing for the right reasons in Christmas Invasion.  Knowing that she still holds the courage of her convictions and that she has quietly worked for the day that she predicted back then, "when the Earth is in danger and the Doctor did not appear" makes me so incredibly proud of her.

(One of the more bizarre rumors leading into this episode was that Harriet had become so twisted with hate for the Doctor that she had deliberately sold out the Earth - that she was, in fact, the scarlet Dalek.  Having that in the back of my brain only made me that much prouder that her character remained only the more determined to be a defender of Earth when no one else, apparently even the fandom, had confidence in her.)

Martha explains that she has a phone that should always get through, but she still can't contact the Doctor.

"Nor me" Rose complains, and takes a flamethrower to the fuel on the shipping war by adding, "and I was there first!"  It's especially selfish and inaccurate considering that Rose knows that Sarah Jane came before either of them.

Harriet explains that she wanted to gather them all together as "the Doctor's Secret Army" (the comparisons to Dumbledore's Army in Harry Potter were being made before the evening was over).  Together, they could find a way to find the Doctor.

Jack, heartened, technobabbles that the power of the rift could be used to boost Martha's phone signal.  Luke points out that Mr. Smith can patch every single telephone to call the same line to further amplify the call.  (This seems a rather needless shout-out to Last of the Time Lords and everyone shouting "Doctor, Doctor!" all at once.)

Ianto sees the flaw in the plan.  Won't the Daleks see the signal if it's boosted that much?

Harriet calmly explains that she'll ensure that the signal appears to be coming from her apartment.  The Daleks will get her, but her life isn't important, not when the people are being slaughtered on the streets.

"Marvelous woman," Wilf enthuses.  "I voted for her."

"You did not," Sylvia snipes.

There's a montage of people typing in a flurry while Ianto minces (sorry, that is the only accurate word!) over to the rift manipulator with the world's largest extension cord.  The telephone number is clearly shown on both Martha's mobile and Mr. Smith's screen; while Rose, Wilf, and Sylvia dial their mobiles, a couple thousand people not on the television do as well.

On this world, it's an out of service number.  On the telly, Martha's old cell phone rings and the Doctor makes a quick lash-up of stethoscope, cell phone, and TARDIS console to follow the signal in.

The Daleks see it; the orders go out to pinpoint the origin and exterminate it.

"I warned you, Supreme One," the voice in the shadows says.  "Just as Dalek Caan foretold, the Children of Time are moving against us."  (Best. Name. Ever!  Even if it sounds faintly like an 80s rock band.)

The Hub and Mr. Smith are both exploding in showers of sparks.  Rose holds her cell phone up, whispering "Find me, Doctor.  Find me!"

Gwen warns Harriet that the Daleks are coming but Harriet stays at her post, masking the transfer of the network to the Hub until the last second.  And it is a second - onboard the burning TARDIS, the Doctor shouts that the phone call is coming one second into the future.

The Daleks are blowing out the side of Harriet's building as she transfers control to the Torchwood Hub.  "Captain, you're in charge now.  And tell the Doctor from me that he chose his companions well.  It's been an honor."

There's one last comedy bit as Harriet shows her ID to the three Daleks gliding up behind her.  "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yes-we-know-who-you-aaaare."

And then there's no comedy at all.  Calm, controlled, and defiant to the last, she says, "Oh you know nothing of any human.  And that will be your downfall."

For a moment the Daleks pause.  Then a gun moves and Harriet Jones' quadrant of the computer screens snaps to static as the sound of Dalek weapons is heard.

There has been a long discussion about this in the fandom.  Some see it as part of an anti-feminist agenda; yet another strong woman who must be humbled by death like Mrs. Moore on the alternate Earth. Others see an ageist agenda in the same thing. Personally, I feel it is very much in character and a wonderful scene. The first episode where we met Harriet, she was ready to die to stop the Slitheen.  It's the same thing now - despite the routine of constantly introducing herself, she was a woman of rock-solid convictions.  No matter what the Doctor threw at her, she remained proactive in her work to defend the Earth.  Like Jack, I salute Harriet.  She is going down as a soldier, as much a hero as General Sanchez, whose last act was to die defending Martha.