Initially there was going to be one long story in which, having introduced Penne as a character he is thrown into this battle for his planet and his life. Rather, I decided to split them. Blood Brothers is a darker story with a lot more going on in it. Penne, who had only just decided to be a better man suddenly has to prove he is. Meanwhile Chrístõ proves he IS the better man, allowing himself to be taken prisoner instead of Penne and facing the dreadful execution.

It is an exercise in trust for Chrístõ’s friends, especially Bo. And trust is the issue when she has to break the bonds holding Chrístõ in the machine. This, of course, is a sequence echoed in the Unfinished Business story “None Shall Sleep” when Rose has to rescue The Doctor in the same way. Putting his trust in the women in his life is something The Doctor has done for a very long time. It starts here.

Penne’s duel with his enemy, Salaraon, is his final rite of passage to being a good ruler, now with two planets to look after. By right of conquest he now rules Adano Gran as well as Adano Menor.

Incidentally, Adano comes from a very old film that I saw years ago called A Bell for Adano. It is a fictional Italian town. Gran obviously means great or large in Italian. Menor or Meno means lesser. That Penne, lord of the lesser world becomes ruler of the greater is a little unusual but it makes sense in its own way.

And he becomes a Time Lord. I have mentioned transcending before in Unfinished Business and Theta Sigma. This was the first chance to see it happening. A Time Lord rite in detail. The same rite is shown in the New Lords of Time story, Transcending Day, but that comes later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bell_for_Adano