1 Welcome to issue VII of Cosmic Masque. Yes it’s hot on the heels of issue VI—kind of like the old saying about buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along right after each other. This gets Cosmic Masque onto its new schedule, with three issues throughout 2019, in March, June and September, with the Annual due De- cember/January. Celestial Toyroom continues monthly of course. COSMIC MASQUE 1 1977

Inside this issue we have a nice selec- Our facsimile of the original Cosmic tion of reviews and fiction not to men- Masque from 1977 is available to buy tion an exclusive interview with Re- from our eBay site—click here to view Generation Who convention organiser Oni Durrant. The cover is a excellent piece of artwork by Marshall Tankers- ley. If you get the chance to check out his stuff, please do. I’m very grateful for the pieces he has submitted to us here at DWAS.

If there’s anything you’d like to send in, whether it be artwork, fiction or feedback you can get in touch by email to: [email protected] or even by post. We love hearing from you.

Grant and Ian have got to have a little break for this issue, lucky fellas! Hope- fully they don’t mind me hijacking their publication for a bit.

Enjoy this issue. Rik

2 There are four variants of issue one to collect, with covers by Alice X Zhang, Will Brooks, Christopher Jones and Si- mon Myers.

Titan Comics: Some will pick up the cover that they Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor particularly like, others will collect all

four. As for me, I’m just waiting for Titan Comics’ line of Doctor Who issue two. I need to know what hap- books have so far done an excellent pens next! job of capturing the essence of the era of Doctor Who that they are repre- senting and ‘Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor’ issue one is no exception.

Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who Script Editor 1987-1989) delivers an excellent script which captures the characters superbly. The artwork by Christopher Jones and Marco Lesko is gorgeous, stunning and beautiful and deserves to be in a gallery.

This story takes place following the Big Finish ‘Lost Stories’ series and has a little ‘previously’ section at the begin- ning, to provide a catch-up. However it’s not essential that you’ve listened to them in order to enjoy the comic.

The Counter-Measures team from Re- membrance of the Daleks make a re- turn as supporting characters. It’s good to see them again and observe how they now interact with Ace and the

Doctor. Visit Titan and see the Doctor Who

range by clicking here Fans of Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor will revel in this story and be taken back to Click here to buy from Amazon UK this enjoyable period of the show’s history.

3 concur and couldn’t have said it better myself. The issue is absolutely gor- geous. My only negative is that the main cover isn’t to my liking, and jars Titan Comics: with the rest of the issue. Having said Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor that this issue has 13 variant covers to choose from so if like me, the main I am a big fan of art and comics so I’m one isn’t to your liking, choose anoth- always cautious when I’m going to re- er. I’ve gone with Rachel Stott’s cover, view a comic book as I am very critical. as I am totally in love with her artwork.

However following my initial read of If you’re a Doctor Who fan who has issue 1 of The Thirteenth Doctor issue never read the comics, this is the per- 1, I was impressed and thought I’d fect time to start. If ’ you re a comic have a quick gander at reviews else- book fan who never got into Doctor where. Blogtor Who said: Who, this book will smoothly guide you into one of the greatest fictional “What makes this first issue really universes in existence. Either way, this shine is the seamless translation of the is one book newcomers and old fans Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham from alike are sure to enjoy. screen to page. Rachael Stott and Enri- ca Eren Angiolini’s artwork, in conjunc- The Thirteenth Doctor comics are off tion with Jody Houser‘s writing, per- to a great start, I look forward to these fectly capture each of these characters’ continuing adventures. likenesses and mannerisms. Every pan- el in this issue is breathtaking, thanks to Angiolini‘s vibrant colours and Stott‘s incredible attention to detail. The talent of this creative team shines through particularly strongly in their rendering of the new TARDIS control room. Somehow it appears even more beautiful and ethereal than it does on screen. We see that the new console features a twenty-sided die, which more geeky readers such as myself will recognise as being used in games of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a small detail that brilliantly captures the Thir- teenth Doctor’s wonderful nerdiness.”

I’m quoting this because I completely 4

5

Visit Titan and see the Doctor Who range by clicking here

Click here to buy from Amazon UK

tive plastic case to avoid scratches and dust etc.

The certificates are numbered so you know where in the chain your coin is. This coin is the first official collectible Doctor Who coin. Produced by the If the NZ Mint continues with these, I New Zealand Mint, it celebrates series hope they can live up to the standard 10, the Twelfth Doctor, and key charac- set here. ters from the 2017 series: Bill, Missy, the Master, Nardole and the Cyber- To buy in the UK click here. men. The coin is presented in a modern, styl- To buy in New Zealand and world- ish case which incorporates images of wide, click here. the TARDIS. The matching, numbered Certificate of Authenticity is inside— 10, 000 have been produced world- wide.

Holding this box in my hand, it is a wonderful creation and beautifully dis- played. You can remove the coin and certificate if you wish. It is in a protec-

6 and snatched him away from the last seconds of Gallifrey into the space- time vortex. As the Doctor stared at the console room ceiling, he still heard the The Doctor of War stumbled through screams. Fire. Cities shrouded in the Gallifreyan desert towards the smoke. Civilisations torn. Planets splin- TARDIS. In the final few steps his legs tered, death and destruction raging threatened to fail him altogether, and through time and space. He forced his he flung his arm towards the blue box eyes shut to block out the nightmare to steady himself. Home. After endless visions, but there was no escape. Will war, horror, and destruction, he was it never end? finally home. The back of his throat Time passed in disjointed chunks as he clenched painfully tight, and, bent al- slept or slipped into unconsciousness, most double, he vomited into the and then stretched out to fill eons as sand. he stared into the void. Eventually, his No more. The Time War was over. body demanded attention. Water, He dragged his sleeve across his food, care. He shut himself down and mouth, but nothing could wipe away refused to open his eyes. The pain the acrid taste of this bitter victory. A barely faded. The screams would not deep ache burned in his chest as he stop. pushed the door open. The coolness of “No more!” He flung his hands over his the console room should have been a ears as he lay feverish on the floor of comfort after the relentless heat, but his ship. there was no comfort for him. Not to- After an indeterminable amount of day, not ever. He’d used the Moment time his body was so weakened that to stop the most destructive war in all he thought—even wished—death creation: Time Lords against Daleks. would take him. More than anything And he’d killed every last man, woman he wanted oblivion, not the great and child on Gallifrey to do it. cheat of the Time Lords, starting over He sank to his knees on the console again in a burst of golden light. room floor. He deserved nothing but Even as his hearts longed for eternal damnation, burning forever in this box, silence, he was jerked to his feet like a alone. His chest was dull and heavy, as marionette, power crackling through if a metal fist had cracked his ribs open nerve endings, torrents of chemicals and was squeezing on what remained raging through his veins. of his hearts. He fought. “No! Let me go,” he im- Could he die of broken hearts? The last plored the universe. But, deep down, of the Time Lords sank to the floor and he understood. The universe had plans resolved to find out. for him yet. The heat started in his fin- The TARDIS, contrary and unreliable as gertips, and then crawled up his arms. she often was, saw her thief in pain, This was his punishment. The not-girl 7 with the name of a flower had told him the day. He found himself striding to- so. He was doomed to live, and hear wards it. Maybe he could at least get the screams of Gallifrey’s children over some peace and quiet. and over. “How may I serve you?” The Ood serv- Every cell in his body exploded, a bil- ing behind the bar flung a tea towel lion tiny supernovae, the purging gold over their shoulder as they spoke in a light nailing him to an invisible cross, soft, almost lyrical voice. building inexorably towards the pri- The Time Lord pulled himself into a mordial reshuffle. No escape for him barstool and looked uncertainly at the into the cold, sweet darkness of death. Ood, who drew a bottle out from un- His fate was rebirth. der the bar. “It is my experience that The golden aura faded. The new man, there’s no day that cannot be made a alert, angry, tore off the brown leather little easier by a glass of vermillion jacket and flung it to the floor. He brandy.” The bar tender poured the dashed to the dressing room, grabbed bright red liquid into a glass, leaving a the first things he laid his hands on, a curl of steam rising delicately from the black leather jacket and dark trousers, bottle’s top. and scrambled into them. Without He eyed the glass. He’d never turned even glancing in the mirror, he re- to drink to drown his sorrows before, turned to the console room and blindly not once. But, came a small voice at punched in coordinates with one the back of his mind, you’ve never thought in mind. He had to make the wiped out your own civilisation before, screams stop. either. For the first time in a lifetime *** there was no one depending on him, It was a fine irony that the TARDIS had no war to fight, no planets to save. No brought him to a planet full of happy one to answer to but himself. He was families, an intergalactic theme park, alone, and it was probably better that no less. Perhaps in some kind of bi- way. He picked up the glass and took a zarre way his time ship had reasoned deep swig of the fiery drink. that the squeals of happy children on A woman, wearing deep red robes and fairground rides would make him feel the thinnest of smiles, heaved herself better. It didn’t. He stood it for as long onto a barstool beside him. She stared as he could by keeping his head down with suspicious eyes, as if to assure and walking. Then he passed the roller- herself this man really was who she coaster—the biggest on this side of the believed him to be. Then she nodded. Oshara Nebulae. He wanted to fling his “So, it is done.” hands over his ears to blot out those “Go away, Ohila.” screams. He cursed under his breath. “Hmmm.” She looked at his almost- This was making things worse, not empty glass. “Running away again?” better. Up ahead was a bar, with mer- “Nope. Not running. Staying firmly in cifully few customers at this time of this seat. Trying to drink in peace.”

8 “Hiding in a bottle is still running Maybe one day he’d forgive them. But away.” not today. “Is it? Well, maybe I am.” He raised his “I only want one thing, Ohila. One glass with a sardonic smile. “Cheers.” small thing from the universe; and He gulped the drink in one, slammed after what I’ve been through is that the glass on the bar, and waved at the really so much to ask?” bartender. “Another.” “And what is that?” “It’s not over,” Ohila said. “To be left alone.” He turned away, “I think it is. I was there,” he shot back. took another long swig from his glass, He raised his finger over the bar coun- and stared at the row of bottles behind ter, and mimicked a downward press. the counter. If he started at one end, “I pressed the button.” he could probably take a shot from “I mean your life.” each one and then stagger back to the “That’s a matter of opinion.” He turned TARDIS and sleep for a month. sharply on Ohila, but she didn’t flinch. If that was running away, then so be it. “I’m sick of your meddling. You should *** have left me dead after that crash, but Clara Oswald frowned at the console no, you and your bloody elixir had to as she laid in coordinates for the sec- bring me back. And turn me into him.” ond most beautiful garden in the gal- For a moment, he was back in the cave axy. She’d have to be careful to arrive on Karn, the exquisite unrending of his before the time she got banned, of DNA, wrenching him back to life, course, and the Diner-TARDIS taking worse than regeneration and his first her where she actually wanted to go glimpse at the Untempered Schism was more a matter of luck than a re- rolled into one. He flicked his fingers at flection of her hastily gleaned piloting Ohila. “Clear off.” skills. Ohila narrowed her eyes, but said She’d just left Me at a spa planet in the nothing. She placed a black leather Terrelion cluster after another row. wallet on the bar and slid it at him. It had started innocently enough, with He ignored it. “Why are you really Me joking, “You’re not stalking him here?” again, are you?” “To deliver a gift from the Sisterhood.” It was hard for Clara to see the funny She inched the leather wallet further side, when her heart felt like it was toward him. He shoved it directly back. breaking. She tried to pretend she did- Nothing could atone for what he’d n’t, but she missed the Doctor. done and no gift could erase the Sister- “I’m not stalking him! I just worry hood’s role in it. At the back of his about him being on his own, that’s all. mind, he knew he was being unfair. I like to know where he is. There’s no The Sisterhood knew what had to be harm in it.” done and they did it. The universe did- Me wouldn’t let it drop. “You’ll risk the n’t need a doctor. It needed a warrior. safety of the whole universe, just be-

9 cause you miss your friend? For God’s here. She spotted a bar. No point sake, Clara, we have a TARDIS. We can drinking, of course, as her body would go anywhere, do anything. You can’t reset in an instant. But at least she keep doing this!” might find company. So they had agreed to cool off sepa- She jolted to a halt a few feet from the rately. Clara planned to go back to the bar’s door. There it was, clear as day. second most beautiful garden in the That magic blue box, his TARDIS, universe for a contemplative walk and parked between a rubbish bin and a consider how she wanted to spend her wall. life. It was just so hard to let the Doc- “Oh my god.” She considered turning tor go. away. That would probably be the The console made a chirping, twitter- right thing to do. But her feet were ing noise. fixed to the floor. More than that, they “This isn’t where I wanted to go,” Clara were taking her toward the TARDIS. said, double checking the coordinates. Tentatively, she pressed her fingers to “What are you up to?” A series of re- the outer shell. It tingled just the way peated frequencies played out over she remembered. She rubbed the TAR- the com panel, sounding like space- DIS key she still wore on a chain static. “What’s that?” It was no use around her neck between her thumb expecting an answer. She’d have to and forefinger. “Hello, dear,” she said take a look around to find out. quietly. “I’d better not stay.” She stepped out into a galactic theme In response, the door opened. park. Screaming children whizzed “Oh.” Clara knew she shouldn’t, but down brightly coloured slopes on giant who could resist? Not Clara Oswald. hovering doughnut rings. A big wheel She stepped inside and gasped. The filled the skyline, and a host of alien layout was different than ’she d ever races—some she recognised, some she seen it. Darker, and the console still didn’t—surrounded her in a throng of had tiny drifts of steam wafting from happy families. the panels, as if it had only recently She decided to stay for a while, changed. watched the anti-grav bike display, A tightness pulled at the back of her wandered through the monster zone, neck, as realisation hit her. If the TAR- and took a ride on the biggest roller DIS had changed, that meant he had, coaster she’d ever seen. But with no too. Her hand flew to her heart. Did adrenaline in her system there was no that mean he was gone? Her knees thrill. Sometimes the chronolock felt trembled. She rarely cried these days. like a punishment, holding her flat in a Perhaps the emotional numbness of steady state. her chronolocked state prevented After the rollercoaster she decided to tears. Maybe it was that she’d already find somewhere to sit and try to fath- cried an ocean, and there were no om out why the Diner had brought her tears left to spill. But, hot tears threat-

10 ened her now. She always imagined fleeting images, a maelstrom of memo- she’d see the Doctor one last time, and ries from her dizzying moments in his to find him now, moments too late, time stream, blurred at the edge of her well that was too cruel. senses. Then, she saw the sand scattered on Clara paused in the bar’s doorway, the floor, and the brown leather jacket eyes flitting around the room: a serving with a sonic screwdriver tucked in be- Ood behind the bar, a blue-skinned tween the folds. She picked it up. It Telorian trader finishing up a green wasn’t his, but she’d seen it before; in and yellow cocktail, a curl of smoke a prison cell under the Tower of Lon- hanging above the empty glass, and don. A smile played on the corner of there he was, slumped on a barstool, her lips, hope lifting her heart, her feet wearing a black leather jacket and breaking into a dash of their own ac- blue, blue eyes. It might have been the cord as she rushed to the console and afternoon sun streaming through the checked the most recent coordinates. window, but it seemed there was a Yes! He’d just come from Gallifrey. The blush of gold on his cheekbones. day the Time War ended. This wasn’t “Doctor,” she whispered. her Doctor’s TARDIS, and he wasn’t her He swilled a glass of something in his Doctor yet. So there was still time, still hand. His blue eyes were bleak, dis- a chance that she would see her silver tant, raw pain rippling beneath his haired Doctor again. She let that skin. He might have left his old coat thought dance through her for a mo- crumpled on the TARDIS floor, but the ment, as she clutched the sonic screw- shadow of war still clung to him. He driver close to her chest, until an in- had the look of a man blotting out a sistent bleep started up on the con- million screams. sole. Intrigued, Clara checked its Clara steeled herself and walked over source. It was the same irregular sub- to him. With the most casual tone she space signal that had brought her here. could muster, she indicated the empty Something was wrong on this planet. stool beside him. “Is this seat taken?” Wrong enough for two TARDISes to “Yes.” show up. Slowly, Clara realised some- Clara sat down anyway. thing else. The Doctor had just been He glanced at her. “Do I know you?” he through unimaginable horror. Ending asked, slurring his words and swaying the Time War but destroying his own on the barstool. people. And he’d done it alone. This It took a moment for Clara to realise Doctor needed a friend more than ev- he was drunk. Her eyes widened slight- er. ly. This was new. Clara had seen the Without a clear plan, in fact with very Time Lord’s fury shake civilisations, little thought at all, Clara dashed out of and she’d seen him weep, kissing her the TARDIS. Would she even recognise hand on the Trap Street and begging him? Of all his lives, she’d echoed least her to stay. She’d seen him joyful, with with his ninth. All she had were 11 the full flush of adventure coursing “You’re going to rely on that, one day,” through his veins, and she’d seen him she chided him. bored stiff by some minor detail he He snorted. “I’ve managed nine hun- didn’t care about. Clara had seen him dred years without it. Can’t see me regal in a red velvet jacket and naked needing it now.” as the day he was born. “You’d be surprised,” she said. She But she’d never, ever imagined seeing jumped off the barstool, scooped it up him off-the-wall drunk. and slipped it into the pocket of his He squinted at her. “You look human, leather jacket. except for the frankly disturbing lack of “Look, what do you want?” he said, bodily functions.” irritably. “In case you haven’t noticed, Clara opened her mouth, with no idea I’m in a long-term relationship with what to say. Most people were at least this barstool.” polite when they noticed, as Me put it, Clara straightened her shoulders. her difference. “There’s something wrong here. Can’t He laughed. “How’d that happen you feel it?” She leaned in toward him, then?” He paused, and then turned conspiratorially. He never could resist back to his drink. “Do you know what? a mystery, and perhaps this would I don’t want to know.” shake him to his senses. “There’s an Clara smiled stiffly. His casual indiffer- odd signal bouncing about on sub- ence stung. She stuck out her hand space frequencies. My . . . my ship anyway. “I’m...” then she paused. She picked it up.” His TARDIS did too, that hadn’t thought that through either. must be why he’d ended up here, but She could hardly introduce herself as in the Doctor’s current state, it was Clara Oswald. In the end, she settled anyone’s guess if he’d noticed. on the first name that came to mind. “Oh, a strange signal,” he said. For a “I’m Dinah. You got a name?” moment Clara’s heart lifted. Then he “Nope,” he said without turning his picked up his glass and took another head. swig. “Not interested.” Clara picked up the psychic paper from Clara tried to reign in her annoyance. the bar in front of him. “Says here He believed he’d just destroyed his you’re the Doctor. Advice and assis- entire race. He was entitled to feel sor- tance obtainable immediately.” ry for himself. She put a hand on his He snatched it from her, and squinted arm, wishing she could tell him that at it blearily. “What is that anyway?” one day everything would change; that “Psychic paper,” Clara said. Didn’t he when he wasn’t faced with that terri- know? He’d never told her where he ble burden alone, he would make a got it. She just assumed he’d always better choice. But that was in his fu- had it, but now he stared at it as if he’d ture. He had a lot to live through be- never seen it before. He shoved it fore he got there. away in disgust. It fell to the floor. In all the time they travelled together,

12 he never once mentioned meeting her “Look, I know you’re hurting. But you in a bar, but given his current state of don’t just give up.” inebriation, a lapse in memory wasn’t He turned on her angrily. “You know altogether surprising. nothing about me. Believe me, you “I can see you’re not in a good place don’t want to.” right now,” she said, careful not to re- Clara felt the universe shift, as if some veal she knew too much. “But hiding in deep wrongness had seeped into this a bottle’s not the answer.” version of reality. This wasn’t how the “Seems like the perfect answer to me,” Doctor was supposed to behave. he said, grinning stupidly. “Doctor, please. This isn’t you,” she Clara wasn’t fooled, not for a minute, pleaded. “You can’t be like this!” but she needed an angle. She let her The darkness in his eyes made her take eyes wander around the room. They an involuntary step back. landed on an info-screen on a wall be- “I don’t know what you think you hind the Doctor. Her gaze fixed on the know about me. I don’t even care. This image with growing horror. A scene of is who I am now.” He leaned toward mass panic unfolding in the theme her, lowering his voice, measuring his park. People screaming and running. words with a terrible finality. “Leave. She leaned over the bar and asked the Me. Alone.” barkeeper to turn up the volume. Clara took another step back toward “Reports are coming in of unusual ac- the door, her head spinning, not tivity in Madrigil City’s Adventure wanting to believe this was the man Zone. We have unsubstantiated claims she’d known. “Well I’m not going to sit of…” the newscaster paused, as if she by and watch this happen!” she said, had problems believing the story being furious and choked at the same time. piped to her, “um, the attractions “Do what you like, small human,” she coming to life.” heard him mutter. Ears ringing, she “Look!” Clara exclaimed. “I told you!” turned and ran back towards the park. She jabbed a finger at the screen. Sure- *** ly this would break the Doctor’s dour The Doctor watched the woman go, mood. “People might die!” with her too large eyes and too few life His next words turned Clara cold. signs. Was this who he was now? The “People die all the time,” he said, turn- man who didn’t care? The man who ing his face away, as if he cared not sat back and got drank while people one single jot for the scene of terror panicked in the park right next to him? unfolding on the screen. How much lower was there for him to Survivor’s guilt was one thing, but this go? He didn’t know anymore. He callousness was something else. Clara closed his eyes, pressed his hands to wanted to slap him, to jolt him to his his temples, and wished the screams senses. In that moment, she had never would stop. missed her Doctor so much. She forced *** her words to stay calm, her tone even. Clara pushed her way blindly through 13 the crowds toward the Adventure she knew the sort of trouble that Zone. All around, people were running, would entice a TARDIS, then the police shouting, some clutching children, or army were probably out of their some splattered in deep, rich, purple depth. How could he do nothing? Her blood. All were terrified. She ran Doctor would never sit and watch this through options in her head. First, she happen, no matter how angry or lost needed to find the source of the sig- he felt. In the face of impossible odds, nal— he fought harder. Clara shivered, re- Clara stumbled to a stop, to avoid membering the trap street, and how knocking down a small girl who stood, he’d kissed her hand so tenderly. crying, in her way. She was about four She looked down at Aerial, and re- or five, with delicate green skin and membered her own words that day. elfin-pointed ears. Clara bobbed down “Your reign of terror will end with sight as people continued to shove and of the first crying child and you know buffet them. This child was in danger it.” of being swept away in the crowd. Clara crouched down to meet the little “What’s your name?” Clara shouted. girl’s haunted eyes. This child had seen “Aerial.” something terrible; she felt sure of it. “I’m Dinah,” Clara said. “I’m a bit lost. “I think my friend can help. He’s a doc- Are you lost too, Aerial?” tor. He’s the Doctor, and he’s a good “Yes,” the girl whimpered. man. The trouble is he’s really sad right Clara could barely hear her. Men, now and I think he’s forgotten about grown men, buffeted past them in a being the Doctor. Could you tell him panicked run. Clara caught the girl’s what happened to you? It might help hand, as much to stop herself being him remember who he is. And then knocked off her feet as anything. Aerial he’ll help us.” Clara hoped it would clutched at Clara’s hand tightly, sniffing turn out to be true. unhappily, anchoring herself to the The crowds were thinning now as peo- first friendly grown-up she found, as a ple streamed to the exits and out of sea of people swarmed around them. the park, but Clara guided Aerial “Shall we get out of this crowd?” The against the flow, back towards the bar. girl nodded again and let Clara guide The Doctor hadn’t moved. He stared her away from the desperate press of directly at the bottles at the back of people to a quieter spot by a candy the bar, the empty glass still in front of floss stand. him. “Do you know where your parents Clara marched up to him. “Aerial has are?” got something to tell you and you will Aerial shook her head. listen,” she said firmly into his ear. Clara looked around at the scattered He looked down at the child. debris; knocked over bins, abandoned Clara squeezed the little girl’s hand. bags. No security guards or police that “Tell my friend what happened.” she could see. No one to help. And if Aerial began in a high voice with her 14 eyes wide open. “There was a bad much better than Daddy. He has ordi- noise. No one else could hear it, except nary ears, like you.” She reached out a me and Mummy.” She put her hands hesitant hand and touched his ear. over her ears. “I did this. Mummy said The Doctor looked up at Clara. she had to go check down in the base- “Narrows it down.” ment because she works here and Clara knew she had him. He was back that’s where her stuff is. She told me in the game. and Daddy to go straight home.” Aeri- At that moment a man ran into the al’s eyes started to water. bar, clutching a small phone-like object Clara watched the Doctor watching the that beeped as it approached the little child. His face began to soften, his lips girl. “Aerial!” loosening, his head tilting very slightly “Daddy!” to one side. That was a look she recog- “Are you okay?” He clutched Aerial to nised. Curiosity. his chest, and cast a wary glance at “What happened next?” Clara prompt- Clara and the Doctor. ed. “This nice lady looked after me.” The Aerial shook her head and tensed her little girl glanced up at Clara with a little shoulders. smile. “Can you be brave and tell us?” Clara “Thank the gods. Thank you,” he said whispered, glancing up at the Doctor. to Clara. “The sound got really loud, and that’s “Is Mummy back?” Aerial asked. when the monsters came alive. Every- “No honey, not yet.” He looked strick- one laughed at first. But Daddy said it en and turned to Clara. “It’s madness wasn’t a joke. A man… he was laughing out there. Everything started moving, and laughing, and... the monster bit his the exhibits. People thought it was arm right off. Then everyone was part of the show, but… it was car- shouting and screaming and I lost my nage...” He shuddered. daddy.” The little girl choked, and tears The Doctor asked, “Where did your flowed down her green cheeks. wife go?” Clara prayed as hard as she ever had. “Down to the basement under the The Doctor got off his stool. He looked main communications relay. She said hard at Clara. Then he squatted in there’d been a rogue signal all week front of Aerial. “Is your mummy Ori- and it was suddenly amplified. Do you lien?” know what’s going on?” Aerial nodded. The Doctor’s face, for a moment, al- “I bet she has these brilliant ears, just most cracked a smile. “Haven’t a clue.” like you.” The Doctor gently touched Clara’s spirits rose. This was more like the tips of the girls pointed ears as he it; the Doctor with a mystery to chew spoke. on. She nodded and smiled a little through “Look, we need to go,” the man went her tears. “Mummy and me can hear on. “My wife might be back home by

15 now. The transmission towers must all der her breath. She’d promised her- be down. I can’t call her. But thank you self: no regrets, no emotional reac- for taking care of Aerial.” tions. Louder, she said, “Probably best Clara watched Aerial and her father not to ask. You know, paradox, tem- hurry away. She turned to the Doctor. poral instability.” “You’ve sobered up.” “Someone taught you well,” he said, “I’ve suppressed the alcohol in my sys- while waving the screwdriver above his tem. It’ll probably catch up with me head. “Aha!” later, so we better get a move on.” He approached a door, labelled “High “Okay, so where do we start?” Clara Voltage – Danger of Death: Do not En- saw that familiar gleam in his eye, and ter.” Grinning, he sonic-ed the lock finally felt she was getting somewhere. open and stepped through. “Basement.” He started off across the The room was dark, so Clara retrieved room. “Just this once, mind you. Soon a small torch from her pocket. She as this is done, I’m coming right back swept the beam across the floor, and to my barstool.” then stepped around the corner to Clara hurried after him. “Oh, my Doc- investigate further. tor,” she said under her breath. It was The Doctor, busy checking an instru- good to be with him again. ment box of some sort, looked up and The basement was dark with the cloy- called, “Don’t wander—” then he ing, musty smell of basements the uni- seemed to change his mind and mum- verse over. bled, “Do what you like.” “What are we looking for?” Clara Clara found switch and flipped on the asked. lights. The room held an array of “We need to find the source of the equipment. Along one wall was a bank signal. There must be a relay around of computers, with an odd small back here somewhere.” The Doctor sighed black box connected by a tangle of in irritation.“ I really need my—” wires to a control panel. The display Clara grinned and held up the sonic read 3.00. That didn’t seem right. screwdriver. “Doctor, I think you should look at The Doctor snatched it. “How?” He this,” Clara called. narrowed his eyes. “You got in my At that moment, a muffled cry came ship. No one does that.” from behind a side door. “Perhaps she thought you needed a “Someone’s trapped,” Clara exclaimed. friend.” “Dinah,” the Doctor called, backing “Everyone seems to think they know around the corner, his voice low and what I need,” he said darkly. He urgent. scanned the area, and without looking Then she saw what he was backing her way, he added, “So, Dinah, do we away from: a beetle the size of a St travel together then?” Bernard, with far too many legs, a “From time to time,” Clara replied un- shiny black body, and pincers swiping

16 and snapping at the air as it scuttled it must have jarred her shoulder, but forward. Then she heard more she didn’t flinch or cower. There was shouting and thumping, as if someone another jolt, and a crack as the crea- was banging the door with their feet. ture pulled the metal leg into its jaws, Three high-pitched beeps came from splintering it from the plastic base. Di- her left, jerking her attention from the nah shoved the remains of the chair at beetle back to that box. The numbers the beetle’s head. It’s eyes glowed red started moving: 2.59, 2.58... Clara and it rattled and hissed as it scuttled swore under her breath. A countdown. back across the floor. In her experience, countdowns were “Keep it busy while I do something never counting down to anything about that,” the Doctor yelled, jabbing good. a finger at the bomb. He set about un- She looked at this new-old Doctor. He tangling the wires. It was a homemade was in his element: she could almost device: the power source from a de- see his brain whirring; back away from funct android and the wiring from the the beetle while analysing its origin, core of a plasma coil, all bundled to- figure out how to defuse that bomb, gether with some T-64 explosives. and then break into that cupboard. It Small, but powerful. Easily enough to would all come together in some glori- collapse this basement. He’d handled ously muddled, haphazard Doctor-y so many weapons of destruction these plan. Oh, how she missed this! She past years, most of them a million moved closer to him, and without times more powerful than this fire- thinking, grasped his hand. work. The accusing screams of a gener- He looked at her in surprise, but then ation of children blasted his ears, sear- grinned and said, “Hello.” ing flames burned cities in his mind. Clara smiled too, feeling more alive This tiny bomb was a dust mote in a than she had in a good long while. “So, giant’s eye. Did it really matter if he Doctor,” she said. “How are we going defused it or not? He’d fought the Da- to win?” leks so hard and so long, yet there had *** been no victory. Gallifrey still fell. He The Doctor dodged as the beetle could close his eyes and let this timer snapped its huge claws at his legs. run down. Perhaps he’d splinter into a “Can you keep that busy?” he said to million pieces and regeneration would- the woman who had called herself Di- n’t be possible. He could fall into the nah, and hadn’t breathed in or out abyss. No more. once since he’d met her. He let that Then he looked at Dinah, desperately pass; she was a riddle for another day. smashing the beetle with the remains The clock read 2.09. of a chair. Did she deserve to die be- Dinah grabbed a chair and swung it cause he was war-weary? And little with a gutsy swipe. The beetle Aerial, waiting at home for her Mum- snatched one of the chair’s legs in its my. He shook his head. The Doctor of pincers and jerked back. She yelped, as 17 War could do nothing to save the chil- hefty tug. dren of Gallifrey, but he could do The countdown froze at 0.02. something about this. In a last desperate effort to keep the The timer flicked around to 1.24. beetle’s jaws at bay, Dinah wedged her He neutralised the power source by foot into its belly. reversing the polarity of the magnetic The Doctor left the defused bomb on flux, but in response the clock beeped the bench and grabbed the first thing once and counted down faster. he saw—a fire extinguisher—and “Doctor!” Dinah yelled, “A little help?” swung it at the beetle with gusto. It The beetle had backed her into a cor- made contact with a solid thud. The ner. Most of the chair was scattered blow flipped the beetle and sent it across the floor in bits. Dinah held tight hissing across the floor on its back. to one single leg. Dinah cast him a relieved, perhaps “A little busy here!” the Doctor yelled even admiring, look and then she back. The clock read 0.43 He yanked laughed aloud. Her smile brightened the wire joining the power source to the gloomy basement. It had been a the T-64 and held his breath. long time since ’ he d seen anyone The countdown continued. smile, and certainly not at him. He’d The beetle snapped and clicked, pin- spent too long digging in dark places, ning Dinah to the wall, snatching at her haunted by the battle-weary eyes of with vicious claws. She flung her face soldiers desperate for answers he did- from side to side as she tried to hold it n’t have. He’d forgotten what it was back with the chair leg. From the cor- like to have a friend. ner of his eye, he registered an odd The banging on the door and muffled ridge down the creature’s back. Filing cries continued. that away in his brain for later he He thrust the fire extinguisher at Dinah turned back to the bomb. Still ticking. and set to the door with his sonic 0.16. There must be more than one screwdriver. All things considered, he connection to the power source. He mused, flicking the settings to release tipped it over to look at the underside. the code on the door mechanism, this Sure enough, another wire. He tugged was much more fun than sitting on a it. barstool with a vermillion brandy for It didn’t move. company. The door beeped open. In- With a crack, Dinah’s last defence side, a green-skinned woman lay on snapped in two. “Doctor!” Dinah the floor, mouth, hands, and feet screamed. She thrust the broken chair bound, legs raised mid-kick. leg aside. “Hello,” he said. “You must be Aerial’s 0.09. Cursing, he loosened the arc- mum. I’m—” he paused. Who was he solder attaching the wires to the now? Not the warrior; that terrible battery with the sonic screwdriver. chapter was done. Perhaps it was time Here goes nothing. He gave the wire a to move forward. “I’m the Doc—” The

18 word felt odd in his throat, like an old Why didn’t you say so?” He grabbed shoe that had gone brittle through the handle of the sturdiest-looking decades of neglect. Did he even know broom and dashed back to Dinah. Then how to be the Doctor again? he popped his head back into the cup- Beside him, Dinah slammed the fire board, grinning. “You might want to extinguisher into the beetle’s head as get out of the way.” it bore down on her. The Doctor turned back to Dinah. The The woman on the floor made a fire extinguisher was jammed against muffled cry. Whoever he turned out to her chest pinned there by the snapping be, he couldn’t leave Dinah and this beetle. With a furious yell he swung woman to be chomped by a giant bee- the broom at its underbelly. It flew tle, so he stepped into the cupboard across the floor and landed on its back, and yanked her to her feet. immediately rocking on its shell, legs “Umph tyf mf!” scrabbling to right itself. “Eh? Oh!” He released the ropes bind- “You took your bloody time!” Dinah ing her feet, and was about to start on yelled. her hands and gag, when Dinah The Doctor gaped at Dinah. “We swear screamed. now?” The beetle pinned her to the wall “It starts to happen!” Dinah took her again. Thrusting her head to one side place beside him, and shoved the bee- as its huge black mandibles snapped at tle towards the now-vacant cupboard her face, she yelled, “Doctor!” with the fire extinguisher. His brain snapped back into action. The Doctor watched her from the cor- Bomb defused, captive freed. Now to ner of his eye, bashing away at the stop the bug from ripping his new monster. She was smiling, despite the friend limb from limb. This cupboard danger. Just the sort of woman he would contain the snapper nicely. should travel with. If he was going to Dragging Aerial’s mum out with him, travel with anyone again, of course. He he searched for a weapon. “I need hadn’t decided. something to shove it with.” The still-half-bound captive took her The captive shuffled back into the cup- place beside him and added a few well board. -timed kicks to the effort. Bit by bit, “Oi, get out of there, I’ve got a plan,” they pushed, prodded, and bumped the Doctor yelled. the snapping beetle back towards the There was a muffled “Oom!” from the cupboard. cupboard. “On three. One big shove and then I’ll Dinah yelled, “A little help, please!” get the door,” the Doctor said. “One, The Doctor followed the captive, who two, three!” Dinah thrust the extin- was trying to point—with her hands guisher, Aerial’s Mum shoved with the behind her back—at the corner. sole of her shoe, and together they “Oom!” swept the thrashing beetle over the The Doctor understood. “Ah! Broom! 19 threshold. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one with The Doctor grabbed the door and an identity crisis. slammed it shut. A black antenna “Ashreld,” said the woman, and pulled slashed back and forth, trapped be- herself up to her full height. “I’m in tween the door and the frame. He charge of communications for the shouldered the door shut, severing the park.” antenna, and then used his sonic “Are you?” The Doctor flicked a switch screwdriver to lock the door tight. The to test the range on the transceivers antenna continued to wiggle on the and the communication equipment. floor. He picked it up, turning it over in “What’s the corporate full-scale alien- his hands. It was the same black all the encroachment countermeasure poli- way through. Fascinating. He’d seen cy?” something like this before... “Er, well, actually I’m more technical He turned back to Dinah, who was un- support.” Ashreld’s face flushed a little doing the rope around the Orilien greener, and her shoulders slumped. woman’s wrists with a remarkable de- “No one would listen. I’ve been trying gree of skill. to tell the operations manager all week He pointed at the ropes with the an- something’s wrong.” tenna. “Do a lot of this, do we?” The Doctor shrugged sympathetically. “Fighting monsters and getting tied “Bureaucracy. Kills you every time.” up? You could say that.” “I finally got her to come down here, He continued to take readings from and she tied me up and shoved me in the communications array, but every the cupboard,” Ashreld said indignant- time Dinah glanced his way, there was ly. “She’s obviously in on it.” Ashreld something in her eyes he couldn’t fath- tapped the bench. “You found my om. Her mouth curled into the faint bomb, then?” echo of a smile that seemed happy and “Your bomb?” Dinah exclaimed. sad all at once. Perhaps that’s where “Yes. I thought if I destroyed the signal he went wrong, trying to do it all at its source...” alone. Perhaps what you need most as “Great plan,” the Doctor said, wiggling you run across the universe is a hand the antenna at Ashreld. “You don’t to hold. Those deep eyes of hers held a understand something, so you try to story; maybe one day he’d find out blow it up?” what it was. Dinah put her hand on his arm. The Orilien woman finally spat the gag “Doctor, whatever’s doing this is run- out of her mouth. “Thank the gods.” ning havoc in the park. It’s hell out “Thank the Doctor,” Dinah said, nod- there.” She squinted at him, and then ding in his direction. “I’m—” she added, “You know what’s going on, paused. He stopped fiddling with the don’t you?” communications array and glanced up This mysterious woman from his fu- as she finished,“ —Dinah.” ture, with the pretty eyes and sad smile, really did know him well. But 20 how? “Are you going to tell me how sad smile. The Doctor tracked her as we know each other?” she walked across the room. Still no “Nah,” Dinah said. “Now spill. Have vital signs; that was really odd. He you seen this before?" shook his head. She was right; proba- “A long time ago.” He passed her the bly best if he didn’t know. antenna, interested to see what she’d Dinah picked up the bomb from the make of it. “What’s up with this?” bench. “Is this safe now?” She gave it an experimental twang and “Yep.” then looked at the end where it had She walked over and stood in front of broken off. “It’s...like plastic.” him. What was she up to? Still smiling, “Living plastic.” she tugged his leather jacket, pulled “Aerial said all the exhibits came to open his pocket and popped the bomb life...” inside. “Never hurts to have a Plan B, “You saw my daughter? And my hus- though, eh, Doctor?” band?” Ashreld exclaimed. “We don’t need a bomb, we need anti- “They got out of the monster zone. plastic,” he said firmly. No more red They went home. They’re safe.” Dinah buttons. There had to be a better way. squeezed Ashreld’s arm. There were no winners in the Time “If I know this lot they’ll be looking for War. The Nestene were collateral dam- a new home. The Nestene Conscious- age—just like the children of ness.” He took the antenna back from Gallifrey—of a war they didn’t start. Dinah. “I couldn’t save their planet.” His hands clenched into fists, and, for a So many planets he couldn’t save, in- moment, the screams returned. cluding his own. Gallifrey’s shining Ashreld was talking, but her voice mountains and the silver leaves that sounded far away. “Anti-plastic? What made the forests seem to burn in the in the three moons is that?” early morning light. Gone. All gone. The Doctor’s head started to swim. He He rubbed the back of his neck and wouldn’t be able to suppress the alco- closed his eyes. A flash of orange hol in his system forever, but he could burned the back of his eyes. A billion hold it back just long enough to get screams rang in his ears. this job done. “That doesn’t give them the right to “Doctor?” Dinah said. “Have you got wreak havoc on mine.” Ashreld jerked some?” him back to the present. Her voice dragged him back. “No, but I “No, it doesn’t, he agreed. “But I think can make it. Then we just need to find we should talk to them before we re- the Nestene Consciousness and ask sort to blowing them up, don’t you?” them politely to clear off.” Dinah stepped in between the Doctor Dinah smiled, and he noticed again and Ashreld and held up her hands. how she lit up that dim basement. “Oh, absolutely. I’m all for sitting down “Come on, then,” she said. “Let’s go and talking,” she said, with that same make some anti-plastic.” Then she

21 tapped his pocket. “Better hang on to The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. “That that, though, just in case.” could work. If we follow the signal we *** should be able to find the Nestene Clara led the way out of the basement control vat and —” and back up the stairs. All in all, things “Blow it up?” Ashreld said hopefully. were going well, she decided. The Doc- “Talk to it,” the Doctor said firmly. tor had seemed to accept her name “With a vial of anti-plastic in reserve— was Dinah, or, at least, he wasn’t ques- just in case,” Clara added, under her tioning her about her identity. Not be- breath. She’d travelled with the Doctor ing eaten by a giant beetle and not too long, and knew the universe too being blown up was a good after- well, to blindly give anything the bene- noon’s work around the Doctor. She fit of the doubt, no matter what his glanced back at him and couldn’t help post-Time War ideals held him to. but smile. He certainly had a knack for They paused at the top of the base- finding trouble, in any lifetime. He ment stairs. The concourse was empty spoke animatedly to Ashreld as they now, the running, screaming people climbed the stairs. gone. Only a flipped-over trash can “We need to work out where the sig- and a child’s lost teddy bear in the cen- nal came from,” he said. “Would you tre of the pavement remained. recognise it if you heard it again?” Ashreld took out what Clara presumed “Yes, I think I would,” Ashreld replied. was her telephone. “No signal,” she “But, like I said, it stopped a few hours said. “The park relay must be down.” ago.” She shoved it back in her pocket and “Not a problem. The TARDIS can track surveyed the scene. it.” Clara realised that Ashreld must be “You can’t. It’s just not there any- terribly worried about Aerial and her more,” Ashreld said, with a touch of husband. “I’m sure they got home impatience. “That’s why I tried to blow safely,” she said, trying to sound reas- up the equipment before it could start suring. “Come on, the sooner we deal up again and propagate through the with this, the sooner you can get park.” She shook her head. “We’ll nev- home.” er find it, unless you’ve found a way to Ashreld nodded. “Aerial heard it first. defy the laws of causality and scan yes- Her hearing’s even better than mine.” terday’s EM emissions.” Ashreld She looked up abruptly. “Speaking of laughed, as if she was a little afraid he which...something’s coming. We might actually might mean what he’d said. want to —” “He never lets little things like the laws Clara heard it seconds later: a roar, of time and space stop him. I expect he and then the thud, thud, thud of foot- can piggyback a temporal P-wave and steps, rapidly closing in. “What’s down trace the signal back to its origin.” there?” she asked, nodding in the di- Clara said. rection of the sound. But Clara ’ didn t have to wait for an answer. She saw a 22 sign directing the families to the park’s beetle, the intruder’s movements were newest attraction, The Land that Time jerky, not fluid. Forgot. “It’s not going to eat us. It hasn’t got a “I don’t suppose the prehistoric period stomach. More plastic,” the Doctor of this planet was populated by butter- said. flies, was it?” she asked. “An angry plastic monster can still do The Doctor looked at her scornfully. plenty of damage,” Clara yelled. “Don’t be daft. They had proper, slav- “Come on!” She dragged him out of ering, great proto-reptiles, like any self the concourse and towards the bar -respecting early geological epoch.” where he’d parked his TARDIS. “Well, that’s a relief,” Clara said. The creature’s thick tail thwacked into “Wouldn’t want butterflies to flutter us a wall, sending a shower of dust into to death, now would we?” the air. Its claws were as black as a “Have you two finished? Because I dark star and made a scrabbling, think now would be a good time —” scratchy noise against the marble floor Ashreld began. as it changed direction. The footsteps crashed closer. The The terrasaur thundered towards ground shook under Clara’s feet. them. As the Doctor opened the door Remembering his unhealthy fascina- to the TARDIS, Clara could see the tion with prehistoric creatures, she doubt in Ashreld’s eyes, and took a tugged the Doctor’s hand. He stood flash of guilty pleasure in knowing stock-still. A mighty reptile, tall as a what would come next. bus and almost as long, dinosaur-like “Never mind what it looks like,” she with its long tail thrashing, crashed cried. “Just get in!” around the corner. “But —” “Fantastic,” the Doctor said with a “It’s stronger than it looks, trust me,” wide grin. Clara said, and shoved Ashreld through “No,” Clara said, yanking on his arm. the door after the Doctor. She closed it “It’s not fantastic.It ’s dangerous!” behind her, and then skipped past “Terrasaur,” said Ashreld. “Aerial has a Ashreld as the Orilien remained rooted stuffed one at the end of her bed.” to the spot. Clara took a place next to “Wonderful. Now I know what’s going the Doctor, by the console, and they to eat me I can die happy!” Clara both stood, arms folded, watching shouted. Ashreld’s face. It opened its jaws, jerked up on its “It never gets old, does it?” Clara said back legs, and roared. Clara expected to the Doctor. the blasting breath to stink of rotting Ashreld opened and closed her mouth meat, much like the dinosaur on the several times. Thames that had swallowed the TAR- The Doctor sighed. “Just once, though, DIS many years before. But the roar I’d like to see someone who appreci- sounded like a recording, and, like the ates the philosophical and mathemati-

23 cal implications of trans-dimensional edges curling upward, on a plate by a engineering, rather than just standing Bunsen burner. Next to that was a there like a goldfish.” hole in the bench. Clara peered down, Clara looked at him sceptically. “Good and down, and down. The hole must luck with that.” have gone through several decks. Ashreld found her voice. “How... how “What have you been up to?” she does all this fit in… a little blue box?” asked. “Well, I’m glad you asked, Ashreld—” “Trying to create anti-metal to eat Da- “Doctor,” Clara interrupted, “perhaps lek casing. It didn’t work. Just kept you could save the lecture in non- eating through everything.” Then he Euclidian hyperspectral geometry until added indignantly to the air. “I asked we’ve sorted out the killer plastic rag- you to tidy up!” ing through a family play area?” “Who’s he talking to?” Ashreld whis- “Fair enough. Anti-plastic. We need pered to Clara. the non-organic, organic chemistry lab. “Oh, his ship. He does that.” Last time I checked, it was next to the Ashreld shook her head. “Um, I feel Jacuzzi and sauna.” like I’ve fallen down the sperquil hole “You have a sauna? You kept that qui- into the Land of Wonders.” et!” Clara said. There were plenty of “Maybe you have, Ashreld,” Clara re- times, after they got lost in mist- plied, sympathetically. She remem- covered swamps of Degalas, or when bered the day she first burst into the she fell into that pool of sentient slime TARDIS. She accused the Doctor of on Grennex Major—to name but a trying to tempt her into a snog box, few—when a Jacuzzi would have been but it turned out to be so much more. just the thing to ease her aching Oh, she tried to keep hold of a normal bones. life, go to work, keep her own friends The Doctor just shrugged and headed and just see him on Wednesdays, but out of the console room. Clara tugged he was like an addiction. Soon, Ashreld’s arm. “We better keep up. I Wednesdays were not enough. She once took a wrong turn and spent the thought they would run forever. But night in the console room with seven everything ends. A wave of sadness different versions of myself.” threatened to sweep through her. She “What?” forced herself back to the present. “Long story. Come on.” “What do you need?” Clara’s voice The non-organic, organic chemistry lab seemed faint to her own ears, so she was, much like the rest of the sentient cleared her throat and tried again. time ship, a baffling array of highly ad- “Doctor, what do you need to make vanced technology and quirky style. anti-plastic?” There were round things on the wall, “Mainly, peace and quiet. You seem to microscopes and beakers on the know a lot about how things work bench, and a half-eaten sandwich, its around here. Do you think you could

24 use a temporal P-wave to scan yester- “Okay. I can backtrack using the P- day’s EM planetary emissions?” wave and scan everything that’s been “That’s a good idea,” Clara said, drily. broadcast over the past 24 hours. Then “I suppose if I look in that cupboard I’ll we can pinpoint where it went.” She find a chrono-sensitive radio receiver.” raised her voice to get the Doctor’s The Doctor shrugged, as if to say, ‘It’s attention. “We can use the TARDIS to the TARDIS,’ and he set to work rum- get above the park, can’t we?” maging in a locker labelled ‘Samples.’ With a steaming vial in his hand, he Clara opened the nearest cupboard. looked up from his bench. “Rather not. Sure enough, there was an oblong con- The Nestene will soon notice any ad- traption with a row of buttons beneath vanced tech hovering above their a dial on the front and a frequency heads. Better to track them on foot tracker on the top. She pulled it out. and keep the element of surprise.” “So, what, the very thing we need is *** right here?” Ashreld said. “This isn’t Less than an hour later, Clara, the Doc- the Land of Wonders, it’s the House of tor, and Ashreld strode across the de- Miracles,” serted concourse again. The Doctor Clara stood up, clutching the device. carried two vials of freshly synthesised “The TARDIS has a mind of her own. anti-plastic in his pocket. She hardly ever does what you want. Clara surveyed the empty podiums she But she always gives you what you passed. It was the middle of the day need.” She put the scanner down on a now. An hour earlier the park had bench on the far side of the lab, giving been packed full of happy families, the Doctor’s ever-growing pile of children running, eating the frizzed chemicals, in tiny pots and vials—and corn, high on sparking soda and the some disturbing orange goo—a wide excitement of the best family day out berth. He’d taken off his black jacket, in the sector. Now, everything was ee- rolled up his sleeves, and started work rily silent. with a big grin. Most of the exhibits that had no doubt Ashreld noticed Clara watching the delighted Aerial this morning —from Doctor. “Do this a lot, you and him?” prehistoric creatures to laughing “Not lately.” Clara forced a smile. “We clowns—were missing. The ground used to. But you know what they say, was littered with the evidence of the all good things—” frenzied rush to escape: a red scarf, a “—are over too soon?” purple sippy cup with a unicorn on the Clara laughed. “Something like that. side, and an abandoned backpack with Come on, help me get this set up. In its contents scattered over the ground. which EM band did you notice the Ashreld pulled her comms unit from transmission?” her pocket again. She shook it in frus- “It was right at the low end for radio tration when it didn’t work. Clara real- waves, around three kilohertz.” ised part of her must be longing to

25 rush home and make sure Aerial and gone...” Ashreld said hopefully. her husband were safe. Clara stared at her and shook her “What will they do, these Nestenes?” head. “Never happens.” She turned to Ashreld asked the Doctor. the Doctor. “What are we looking “The creatures from the park are just for?” foot soldiers. I expect they’ve already The Doctor, for his part, blinked sever- replaced key figures in your govern- al times and staggered slightly. ment. They’ll be staging a full-on take- Clara grabbed him around the waist over as we speak.” and motioned to Ashreld. “Help me.” “The military will do something. I They managed to get him propped mean, they’ll realise where the crea- against the wall. tures came from.” “Doctor?” Clara prised open his eye- “True. We better get a move on be- lids and peered into his electric blue fore the army arrives to mess things eyes. Striking eyes, she noted. Very up,” the Doctor said. “Dinah, have you blue. established the P-wave?” The Doctor He batted her hand away irritably.“ It’s nodded at the shoe-box sized scanner the alcohol. I need to get my system Clara had constructed. to produce more specialist macro- “Yeah, I’m routing it via the TARDIS phages to deal with the booze in my temporal carrier waves. I’ve found the blood.” He grinned stupidly at her. entry point of the signal, I just need “Do we have good times together, you to...” She hurried a few paces forward. and me?” “I think it’s this way.” Clara led the Her heart ached as he asked her that way through the park, past a still car- question. She closed her eyes for a ousel and an empty stall that sold hot moment. “The best,” she said quietly. dogs and soda, with its door flapping There was no time to fall into nostal- gently in the breeze. The device gave gia or pity. They had an invasion to off a series of beeps, speeding up thwart. She gripped his shoulder. “You when the signal was stronger and need to sober yourself up.” slowing down when she strayed off “I’m doing it.” After a moment or two, the path. The beeps sounded closer he shook his head. “That’s better. It’s and closer together, and, finally, Clara only a temporary, mind. I’ll have to stopped as the rapid beep, beep, beep, sleep it off sooner rather than later.” beep became a continuous tone. She “So, we’re looking for a big vat of liv- looked up at the building in front of ing alien plastic in the cellar of the her. She’d stopped right in front of the House of Horrors,” Clara said, taking a House of Horrors. step towards the entrance, feeling the “The invading alien space goo is never rush of adventure grip her. “Same old, underneath the gift shop, is it?” she same old,” she said. “Just the Doctor said. and his friends fighting monsters and “Perhaps the exhibits have already saving planets.”

26 *** “Okay, okay,” Ashreld’s shoulders Clara stepped into darkness, still slumped. “Where do we start?” clutching the radio transceiver. It “We need to find the basement,” Clara crackled and hissed with static. She said in a determined tone, leading turned the dial until she heard a reedy Ashreld gently forward by the arm be- voice. fore she could change her mind. “Of course, you have full authority on “Uh, stairs are by the fire exits at the the ground, Major Simms, but I urge back,” Ashreld said. you to think carefully before using a “Lead on, MacDuff,” the Doctor said blast of that magnitude. The casualties cheerily. in the surrounding town would create Clara followed close behind, and a, ah, difficult PR situation.” hoped Ashreld was up to playing the “PR’s your job. Leave me to do mine,” role of the avenging hero. the Major snapped back. The line went Cobwebs and luminous paintings of dead. ghouls and ghosts adorned the walls. Clara looked up at Ashreld. “Who’s this So far, fairly standard scare-the-kids Major Simms?” haunted house fare; nothing too terri- Ashreld ran her hands through her fying. Then Clara caught movement in hair. “Oh, no. Smash-It Simms. He the corner of her eye. At least, she wiped out a whole native colony to thought so. Then, a dragging noise, shut down a riot that started after one perhaps feet shuffling and scraping on of his officers shot a young native the floor. She quickened her pace. man.” She took a step back toward the A deep clang of chains behind. Ashreld front door. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to get froze, flinging her hands to her super- Aerial and Benj away.” sensitive ears. The Doctor gripped her arm. “There’s Clara pushed her gently forward. no time. The best chance to save your “Keep going,” she urged. Nothing good family is stopping the Nestene. Then ever came from standing still in situa- the monsters will deactivate and tions like this. Simms won’t need to blow anything “Ah. Okay,” Ashreld muttered. up.” Clara gave a reassuring pat on the Ashreld still looked uncertain. Clara back. “You’re doing great.” She re- squeezed her arm. “You get Aerial and membered very well the exhilarating your husband away, then what? What fear of being plunged into the Doctor’s about your neighbours? And all the world, where the impossible became kids at Aerial’s school?” the everyday, and forgotten childhood “I don’t know...” terrors burst into life. Clara could see the indecision on her They pressed on through the darkness. face. “Think about it, Ashreld! How are Something long and thin brushed light- you going to tell Aerial all her friends ly against her face. Clara batted it are dead?” away. What the hell was that? She

27 reached upwards and closed her fin- Ashreld beside her, shaking. Clara tried gers around… fabric. It was just strands to grip her hand, but Ashreld backed of cotton hanging from the ceiling. She away. Another shadowy shape moved laughed, the high-pitched laugh of re- closer to the door, blocking their way. lief, not humour. It was nothing dan- The radio in Clara’s pocket hissed and gerous and, to prove it, she swept the a voice crackled. rest of the strands away with a wide “This is Alpha Grenada to Echo Base. I stroke of her arm. Perhaps Ashreld had have eyes on hostiles massing at the been right and the ghouls really were park gates.” gone. “What are they doing?” came a reply Ashreld led them on. The Doctor was over the radio. close behind. Very close, Clara noticed. “Hard to say, sir, but if they leave the So close, in fact, she felt his hand on park and get into the city, we’ll have a her shoulder. much bigger problem on our hands.” “Doctor, is that you?” she whispered. “Stand by for deployment run.” The “Me, what?” he said from a few paces hissing stopped and the radio fell si- further back. lent. Through the gloom, she looked down “That doesn’t sound good,” Clara said. to see a pale hand with slender fingers, She sensed Ashreld inching further ending in long, black fingernails resting away. “Where are you going?” Clara lightly on her shoulder. Not the Doc- hissed at the Orilien woman. tor’s hand at all. Ashreld’s face seemed grey. She She screamed and leapt away, barrel- tugged her hands through her hair. “I ling forward into Ashreld. can’t. I’m sorry, Simms will take out “What’s wrong?” Ashreld’s voice was a the whole town to stop those crea- full octave higher than before. tures spreading. I’ve got to get my “Nothing. Keep going! That way. To- family away before—” wards the door!” Clara urged, pushing “No, Ashreld—” Clara cried, but the Ashreld forward through the black- Orilien was disappearing into darkness. ened exhibit. “Doctor, where are you?” “We have to stick together!” “I’m right here,” he said. The figures in front of the door began She moved towards the sound of his to stir, moving forward in awkward, voice as if it were a beacon. If she jerky movements. could just find something solid in this The Doctor held tight to Clara’s hand. nightmare landscape, she’d feel better. “Let her go.” She clutched hold of his leather jacket “She’ll never get out of the park on her tight. When she had him in her grasp, own!” she turned to look for Ashreld. Indis- The Doctor’s voice sounded very old to tinct shapes closed in, black silhouettes her then, as he said, “Time was I and shadows, nightmare visions in the thought I could save everyone. Now I dark. Then she felt more than saw know that’s not true. Let her go. We

28 save who we can.” its chin—turned towards them. It took He was right. He’d taught her that in a step forward, followed by a figure their time together. They saved who wrapped in dirty rags. Clara reminded they could. While there was a breath her panicked mind they were plastic, of air in his lungs he never gave up, but not supernatural phantasms. But, try sometimes the only choices were bad as she might, she couldn’t tear her ones. He still had to choose. She eyes off the vampire’s bloody fangs, or turned her attention back to the night- the werewolf’s snarling jaws. It felt mare shapes, lurking in the darkness. grotesquely real. Through the low light, she could just Claws scrabbled and scraped on the make a vampire’s sharp teeth and the floor. She felt the Doctor’s grip on her lumbering form of a wolf-man, all hand tighten. Could this be it? Surely standing between them and the base- they couldn’t die here? She knew he ment. didn’t die here, because years from “These guys look more agile than the now he would ring on her doorbell others,” Clara said. dressed in a monk’s habit. But she also “Those were foot soldiers. This is the knew the laws of time were in con- elite guard,” the Doctor said. There stant flux. Anything that might happen was almost something cheery in his could happen. Trap street or not, the tone. final full stop on the last page of her Clara squinted at him. “Do you have a story could be falling into place right plan, Doctor?” now. “Yeah, I’m gonna clear that lot out of The wolf poised, ready to spring, fangs the way and then you are going to talk bared. to the Nestene.” He pressed one of the Then, a flash of steel. Ashreld ran to- vials of anti-plastic into her hand. wards them, and thrust a sword into “They’ll tear you apart!” She looked her hands. desperately around for a weapon. “Will these help?” she said, shoving a Even a fire extinguisher would do, but flail towards the Doctor, adding, there was nothing near. “Exhibits.” Ashreld herself gripped the Clara gripped the Doctor’s hand tight- handle of a blood-stained axe. ly. She saw his grin through the gloom, “I thought you left,” Clara said, relief and remembered other smiles on washing over her. Ashreld was all right. different faces; always with the same More than that, the Orilien woman hearts beating underneath. She was was fighting back. sure of one thing: she wouldn’t let him “I tried. But I couldn’t do it. You were face this alone. “We’ll do it together,” right. We stop this, we save everyone.” she said. Ashreld swung the axe at the vampire In the half-light, the vampire’s face, as and chopped its arm clean off. The pale as death itself—with blood vampire, thrown off balance, stag- smeared around its mouth and down gered towards the wall.

29 The wolf leaped. Clara plunged the deep vat, about the size of a large Ja- sword deep into its chest. It jerked for- cuzzi, smoked and fizzled in the centre ward, slashing with razor sharp claws of the room. and Clara realised she had done as “That’s foul!” Ashreld said, choking. much good as impaling a shop window “What is?” Clara asked. Ashreld’s eyes dummy. were watering and even the Doctor “Help me,” she called, “shove it into had wrinkled his nose. there.” Clara pointed at a wall covered “It’s like burning rubber,” Ashreld said. with loose padding, over bricks, de- The Doctor looked at Clara sideways. signed to save scared kiddies from “You can’t smell anything, can you? bumps, but she had another use in “I don’t want to talk about it,” she mind. “Can you destabilise the atomic said. structure in the wall behind there? Just The Doctor shrugged and didn’t press for a moment?” further. The Doctor grinned, and raised an eye- Clara strode over to the vat. Its con- brow. “I like the way you think.” He tents were bubbling and broiling away aimed his sonic screwdriver at the with mini-volcanoes erupting on the wall, and with the other hand gripped surface. “Is it supposed to be doing the sword handle with her. Together that?” they pushed until the snarling, snap- The Doctor peeked tentatively over the ping creature was pinned to the wall. edge. Most of the orange gloop moved Ashreld, now wrestling with a sprite, freely, but at the edges of the vat it gave her assailant a hefty kick. The stuck to the sides in thick, blackened creature spun off, tumbling through clumps. the air with its little wings flapping. It “Er, I don’t think so,” he said. “Things came to rest on the floor in front of getting a bit sticky in there?” he asked Clara with its delicate mouth in a sur- the Nestene. prised “o.” She almost felt sorry for the An angry gloop of molten plastic flew poor little thing—until, with bared in his direction. He took a hasty step teeth, it launched at her legs. She backwards and held up his hands. “Just dodged. The way to the door was asking.” He turned to Clara. “It thinks clear. “This way!” She yelled for the I’m being rude and I should address it Doctor and Ashreld to follow. formally.” On the staircase, the Doctor found a “Well, you could keep that in mind,” light switch and the stairwell filled with Clara muttered. “I’m sure the Shadow bright, fluorescent illumination. Proclamation has a protocol—” Ashreld slammed the door behind The substance in the vat spat and them, looking a shade greener than hissed as the plastic sides started to she had before, but her jaw set. bow and creak under the strain. Clara squinted in the brightness as The Doctor scanned the Nestene with they hurried into the basement. A his screwdriver. “I don’t think this

30 planet agrees with you.” too, and leaped towards it. Ashreld looked at the Doctor. “What’s Clara raised the vial of anti-plastic the matter with it?” higher and flicked the stopper off, “The plastic matrix’s become unstable. while taking a last step toward the vat. I think it’s the high ion content of your The Nestene Consciousness sizzled and atmosphere.” spat, sending wafts of choking grey Clara looked up as the door at the top smoke through the basement. This is of the steps rattled. “We’re gonna what I should be doing with my life. have company soon. What do we do?” Saving people. She thrust her hand in her pocket and She raised her arm to spill the con- clutched the vial of anti-plastic. tents into the vat. “I can help you find a more suitable At that moment, the wolf lunged. For a planet —” the Doctor said to the second, Clara felt searing pain in her Nestene. hand as its teeth tore her flesh. The The vat rattled hard and its casing vial was ripped from her hands. Blood stretched. Some of the orange gloop gushed from the wound. Then, just as oozed between the cracks and onto suddenly, everything reset. Her body the floor. returned to its chronolocked state and “What do you mean, you’ve already she was trapped again between one made plans?” the Doctor asked, indig- heartbeat and her last, her hand per- nantly. fectly intact. She stared down at her “Doctor!” Ashreld cried. The door hand, as a realisation hit her: the time burst open. The wolf bounded down loop could be a gift, not a curse. the steps. Ashreld stepped up to the wolf with Clara pulled the anti-plastic from her the axe in her hand. “Get off my plan- pocket and stepped toward the vat, et!” she yelled, swinging the axe in a holding it high above the oozing gloop. wide arc. Clara watched as the wolf’s “You better stop. Don’t think I won’t head—sliced clean from its body—flew destroy you if that’s what it takes.” She through the air with the vial still in its felt the force of her words deep in her teeth. For a heart-stopping moment, chest: it felt good. He had told her she thought it would fall short, but it once she made an excellent Doctor, bounced on the rim and then plopped but somehow in her grief at losing him into the vat. she’d forgotten. Time to start believing The plastic bubbled and erupted in a again. furious mass, rising high out of the tub. A machine covered in luminous dials It roared a deep, chest-shaking roar. and buttons, like the dashboard of a Clara grabbed Ashreld’s arm and high-tech racing car. Or a spaceship. backed away. The Orilien woman She squinted hard at the dish as it coughed and choked on dense fumes swivelled of its own accord. A receiver that hung in the air. The mountain of or a transmitter? The Doctor saw it, orange gloop slackened and collapsed

31 onto itself. Time Lord past the now waxwork-like The vampire on the steps stuttered vampire, up the steps, through the and failed, and then slowly tumbled haunted house and out into the sun- downwards, inert plastic once more. light. The Doctor frantically scanned the When they were almost at the TARDIS, transmitter. “No. No!” he shouted, one of the info-monitors flashed back looking at Clara. “They’ve got two into life. A bemused newscaster de- warp shunt vessels in orbit. It’s trans- clared breaking news. “In a shocking mitted itself back there.” The transmis- development to today’s baffling events sion made a deafening burst of static, at FunWorld, the planned military re- sending arcs of electricity flashing and sponse has been cancelled. There have crackling across its surface. been no further sightings at the park, “Doctor, you better get away from that and now there is speculation that this thing—” Clara warned. was a hoax organised on social media. “I need to find out where they went—” Meanwhile, in other news—” A flash leapt from the transmitter to Ashreld sighed in relief. “Thank the his hands and arced through his body. gods. And thank you, Dinah and Doc- He looked up in surprise for a moment, tor.” and then crashed to the floor. Clara smiled and pushed open the TAR- “No!” Clara made to fly to the Doctor’s DIS door. “Thank yourself. You stopped side as he jerked and thrashed, but an invasion today. I’ve got it from here. Ashreld held her back. You go home to Benj and Aerial.” “No, wait,” Ashreld said. “Let me kill Clara hugged Ashreld while the Doctor the power.” She quickly found a junc- staggered into the TARDIS, wobbled, tion box and pulled a fuse. The crack- gripped the console and pushed a few ling died. buttons. “Where do you think you’re “Doctor!” Clara put her hand to his shunting off to, eh?” he said to the air. chest. His hearts were still beating. She Clara watched Ashreld hurry away, and put her cheek close to his mouth. He then closed the TARDIS door. “Can you was still breathing, but she caught a track the Nestene?” she asked. whiff of alcohol on his breath. Those “Coordinates laid in.” He lurched and specialist macrophages must have swayed, then mumbled, “My ‘ead’s been zapped right out of his system. killing me.” He mumbled something Clara could Clara caught hold of his arm. “Yeah, I only assume was in High Gallifreyan, think you need to sleep this off. Your and grinned stupidly at her. brain’s probably scrambled.” “Help me,” she said to Ashreld. “We She helped him to a step near the cen- have to get him back to the TARDIS. I tral dais where he flopped to the floor. think he’ll be all right if he sleeps it “We did good,” he said. “But we need off.” to track the Nestene and —” Together, they coaxed the stumbling Clara turned around to check the coor-

32 dinates he’d laid in. Two sets. One in Epilogue. the Orion Nebular. The second on The Doctor woke, slumped on the con- Earth. London. 2005. She glanced back sole room floor. He shook his head. at him, feeling a lump in her throat. That vermillion brandy was heady “I dunno,” he said, blearily. “You could stuff. His memory of yesterday was come with me.” bleary. He remembered getting a For a moment, she let herself dream of shock, in a basement. He scratched his new adventures. Of running through head for a moment. The Nestene! He time and space with the Doctor again. paced to the console. He must have She’d give almost anything to have laid in coordinates before he passed those times back. But, she knew it was out. So, the consciousness thought impossible. She turned to him again. they could find a home on Earth in He’d slumped against the dais and was 2005, did they? gently snoring. “We’ll soon see about that,” he She squatted in front of him. “That muttered, and set the TARDIS in mo- would be great, wouldn’t it? But that’s tion. someone else’s story now.” She kissed He tried to remember what else hap- him lightly on the forehead. “You go pened yesterday. Ohila had crashed in on. Be the Doctor again. You are going on him at the bar, leaving, what? He to be fantastic.” She stood up and put his hand in his pocket and pulled walked steadily across the console out a leather wallet. Flicking it open he room. “I’ve got a job of my own.” read, ‘The Doctor. Advice and Assis- Don’t look back, Clara Oswald, she told tance Obtainable Immediately.’ herself. It was time to start going for- “Psychic paper? Might come in useful, I wards. She sent the first set of coordi- suppose.” He shrugged and shoved it nates in the Orion Nebulae to the Din- back in his pocket. er, and then deleted them from the As the TARDIS spun on towards Earth, TARDIS memory banks. Pausing only he examined the remaining contents for a moment to scoop up the battered of his pockets. A vial of anti-plastic, brown leather jacket, she walked out presumably made by him, and a cranky of the TARDIS. She slipped the jacket -looking bomb, definitely not made by over her shoulders. It was stupidly big him, but still, it could come in handy. on her, and she fancied the crinkled He thought there had been a woman, old leather still smelled of stardust. too. But his memory, fogged by alcohol The universe needed the Doctor. It and the jolt from the Nestene, would- would always need a hero with a blue n’t give up its secrets. That was okay. box and screwdriver to fix things; may- Time to move forward. be now more than ever. But she had He tracked the Nestene to London and her own TARDIS, her own friends, and arrived on a spring evening. As he so did he. She proved, more than once, stepped out of the TARDIS, he took a that she could be a good doctor, too. deep breath of the cool air. It was a

33 long time since he’d been to Earth, but the air tasted, for a moment, of the past. Of the Brigadier and Bessie, of Sarah Jane and Jo Grant. Of old friends and old enemies, and the one he couldn’t really put in either box. Who knew if any of their paths might cross Oni Durant is the founder of Onezumi again? The March air had a tang of the Events, which was crowdfunded from future, too; a wisp of “Who knows?” her strong internet following and is and “What’s next?” floating on the best known for producing the follow- breeze. Planet Earth. Perhaps it was ing major events in the United States. the closest thing he had to home now. He shook his head at his own senti- – (Re)Generation Who: The Doctor mentality and resolved to keep that Who Convention for Every Generation thought to himself. – PotterVerse: Baltimore’s Harry Potter He marched through the London Fan Convention streets towards Henrick’s Department – Intervention: The Intersection of Sci store, past workers heading home, Fi, Fantasy, and Future Media laughing, blissfully unaware of what’s out there. Humans! They were just Oni very kindly took a few minutes out starting out on their faltering journey of her busy schedule to answer some to the stars. Often ridiculous, but al- questions for us. ways amazing. He’d try to make the Nestene see reason and leave these RM: Thanks very much for taking the people alone. But, if he couldn’t, well, time. I know you must be very busy he’d have to do what he always did. with running 3 events and your regular Fight monsters, save people, and be life. How do you juggle it all? the Doctor. OD: The first -5 7 years were brutal be- cause it was all about working brought every interstitial moment. That means typing on my phone while walking to the bathroom at work, working through lunch, going straight home and working some more and only hav- ing 4-6 hours to sleep. It’s maybe a little better now but ’it s pretty intense. Now I have more staff to help me so I’ve been able to delegate. That was huge.

34 RM: (Re)Generation Who is your Doc- becoming more like trade shows ra- tor Who event. What first drew you to ther than what we would call tradition- the show and what made you want to al conventions. Is it a consequence of run an event? being the biggest con, or is being the biggest con dependent on having the OD: When I was little I watched Tom best ties to the industry? I mean, I sin- Baker while my Dad was dying of can- cerely doubt that it’s a coincidence cer. He reminded me of my Dad. Cons most of the biggest nerd industry helped me get through a lot so it was a shows — SDCC, Anime Expo, E3 — are natural thing for me to put this con out all in LA or nearby. there to give back to the community that has always been there for me. OD: The ones you are mentioning are corporate / industry run and they just RM: What would you say are the nec- have more money to put into it from essary ingredients for a good conven- the start. They are actually kind of in- tion? dustry trade shows. For example, many studios in LA make their actors OD: Aside from the usual guests, pan- go to SDCC as part of their contract for els, and cosplay, a good point of view their film or TV series that is coming is essential. That’s why my events go out. They are kind of a different type of hard with customer service and kind- event than a fan con. Fan cons are gen- ness. We are all about social impact erally smaller boutique situations, but and not here to jack people for cash. they don’t need to remain super small. Atmosphere. I personally prefer to keep my event at a manageable size so that I can remain RM: Is a good dealer’s room essential? focused on our community impact, but we could even get slightly larger and OD: Definitely - the fans want it and it still feel like a con. We have me over- also helps local businesses. We curate seeing quality at my cons - some ours so we don’t have multiple people events don’t have 1 person doing that. selling the same thing. It doesn’t mean any event is better or worse - it means they complement RM: What’s the best thing you have each other in the fan ecosystem. found at a con? RM: Celebrity guests are a big part of OD: When I hear from a fan that my the convention circuit. Getting an au- event gave them hope - or even saved tographed 8×10 or a selfie with the their life. It happens a lot and it’s why star of your favourite movie or televi- we do this. sion show is a huge draw for attendees. How do you select guests RM: Lots of events now seem to be for your events?

35 good atmosphere.

RM: What can you tell our readers about the next (Re)Generation Who?

OD: We should be launching registra- tion in the next couple weeks since we are focusing on our Harry Potter con- vention ( www.potterversecon.com ) right now - so we may or may not be live by the time you publish this. Our most popular events like “Tea with the Doctor” and “Coffee with the Creators” where you get to actually eat and have OD: We try and get people who are longer conversations with the cast and relevant to the fandom - meaning we crew generally sell out quickly - some won’t contract a Star Wars actor for a within hours. So definitely keep an eye Doctor Who con. We aim for a balance out for that. I’ll announce the launch of some from the modern era, some before it happens so everyone can from classic, and a level of crew/ have a chance at getting all of the tick- production staff. If fans request some- ets they want. Last year the Tea sold one of course we try and get that per- out in a couple hours. son. After we have who we’d like to RM: Oni, Thanks very much. Take care. have on a list we then start negotiating with their agents and trying to figure it OD: Thank You! if schedules work. It’s a very long pro- cess.

RM: What’s the secret formula for the perfect event?

OD: Spoiler: There isn’t one. I feel our success is because I’ve remained en- gaged and vigilant regarding how we fit into and serve our community. The actors joke that I’m a “secret weapon”. It’s super difficult, but you gotta go all in on it. You really need to have great staff who place kindness as their most important value - we have that and we train that - that’s another big deal for a

36 has been specifically chosen despite being caught cheating on his scientific exams – an early sign that what they are looking for isn’t necessarily aca- demic prowess.

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven – the latter separated while they traversed They say there are two things inevita- the town market and now with Amala ble in this universe: death and taxes. – watch the ceremony as it begins. The Though, if you asked the Doctor, he'd planet’s leader, Gaius Majorian likely add a third thing to that list – (Robert Daws), joined by the head of corruption. security Jacklyn Karna (Sara Powell), begin the announcements that pre- Corruption and the Daleks go hand in cede the induction of the graduates. hand, following them wherever they Majorian introduces the ambassador, a go. In most cases, it’s very easy to character who has been mentioned blame the aberrant species entirely; but not directly involved previously… that is not the case in David K. Barnes’s and the three time-explorers stiffen in The Dalek Occupation of Winter. shock. The ambassador rolls up to the Barnes delves into the oft more com- podium and announces, in a very fa- plex situations that would arise from miliar roboticised voice, that “The Da- such an unethical force being in charge leks value friendship!” None of the of a civilisation. In this installment of Winter natives are at all put off by the The Early Adventures, we see the first Dalek’s presence. In fact, they cheer as Doctor, Steven Taylor (both Peter Majorian starts to call the names of Purves), and Vicki Pallister (Maureen the graduates. The Doctor, Vicki, and O’Brien), go against the Daleks again – Steven are getting over their shock as though not in the way they expect. Kenrik is called. But the man is frozen. When he finally acknowledges Ma- The Doctor and his companions land jorian’s voice, he faints. There’s a small on a planet devoid of life aside from a panic, and then the call is made: is any- snowy city aptly named Winter. There one a doctor? is a celebration going on, which they learn as they move about is a gradua- The Doctor and Vicki come to the stage tion ceremony. The smartest residents upon the nearby Winter residents ex- of Winter are going to be sent to the claiming that they’d heard Vicki refer research facility, including the brother to the renegade as ‘Doctor.’ He man- of a local woman named Amala Vost ages to revive Kenrik, who is quickly (Shvorne Marks). Kenrik Vost escorted to where the other graduates (Matthew Jacobs-Morgan), we learn, had gone. In the meantime, Karna and

37 Majorian become curious; they don’t cility, where Vicki has already found recognise them as members of the Kenrik. The facility is where the Daleks isolated population, and they are grow food for the residents of Winter strangely apprehensive of the nearby using artificial sunlight, but that is not ambassador. Sensing opportunity, Ma- the main purpose of the establish- jorian invites them to his palace. In the ment. The building houses hundreds meantime, Steven, who has gotten a and hundreds of water tanks, all filled job at Amala’s insistence, learns from with violent green creatures. Home- her what the Winter residents do: grown Daleks, of which the graduates build Daleks. Hundreds a day, 10,000 a must put into the Dalek casings the week… all without having a clue what Winter residents are creating every the Daleks are capable of. day. From the research facility, hun- dreds of thousands of Daleks leave to As the story progresses, it becomes fight wars all across the Universe. apparent how corrupt Majorian and Karna are, how much control the Da- Using the information discovered in leks have behind the scenes, and how the facility, the renegades manage to uninformed and ignorantly happy the turn the residents of Winter against residents of Winter are. Amala at first the Daleks. The opportunistic and irre- won’t believe Steven’s assertion that coverably political Majorian turns on a the Daleks are cruel and readily capa- dime from the opinion that he likes his ble of extreme violence, arguing that life and shouldn’t mess with the Daleks the Daleks never hurt her or her peo- if they aren’t hurting him specifically ple. It is only when a Dalek threatens no matter how much harm they may him that she realises there is some be causing elsewhere to the more peo- truth to what he’s saying, pushing her ple-approved opinion that they must to agree to break into the research be destroyed. Everyone is convinced of facility in order to learn what’s going their treachery except for Karna, who on and save her brother. The Doctor admires their power and slinks off to and Vicki have had less success, with places temporarily unknown. The resi- the Doctor barely escaping Karna’s in- dents, with the help of the TARDIS terrogation and Majorian throwing team, arm up with Dalek guns from the Vicki into the facility with the Daleks factory and manage to beat them back upon learning that she has information into the safety of the research facility, about them that could cause civil un- where they stay hidden. rest. The TARDIS team leaves after Majorian Steven and Amala – with aid from the orders they leave, threatening them Doctor, who conveniently shows up with a Dalek gun. He asserts, in no un- when they need him for a distraction – certain terms, that he hasn’t changed – manage to break into the research fa- all he cares about is that his people

38 glorify him and follow his example, ience. People will be complacent with whether it is in a pro-Dalek or anti- evil just to save their own skin and Dalek direction. The Doctor, Vicki, and effort if what they see immediately Steven leave the planet uncertain of its seems to be good enough, bending future success; they are right to wan- over backwards to make excuses for der, as Karna comes to Majorian and their behaviour when they themselves kills him immediately after revealing are comfortable. Compliance is easier that she is on the side of the Daleks. than rebellion, and Majorian views it in Under no uncertain terms, we should no uncertain terms: “We’ve sacrificed be hearing from her again. ourselves to evil… and now? Now there’s no way of turning back. Can I The Dalek Occupation of Winter offers get you a drink?” a biting, Twilight Zone-esque moral commentary on the deep corruption It is made obvious how leaders like this possible in society. Majorian never kills will manage to stay on the top. Majori- anyone, acting on the surface level as a an, like others in his position have charismatic and well-loved leader for done, lies and turns the situation on its his people. However, it is made abun- head just to save face as his sins are dantly clear that he is very aware of laid bare. Despite this, the people be- the cruel, pointless conditions. It is ille- lieve him. He tells them that he didn’t gal not to have a job, and thus illegal know the cruelty of the Daleks, and in not to aid the Daleks – but they are not his haste and rush to betray them, the even aware of what the Daleks are ca- people see their glorious leader on pable of. It is a perfect example of the their side, seemingly being genuine. malevolence of compliance. Majorian Majorian has not changed, but instead knows the possible cruelty of the Da- changed the appearance of his stripes leks – he was told of how his ancestor in order to keep the position he wants made a deal with the Daleks to pre- as leader. tend to be friendly and grow them food in exchange for them happily While Majorian’s two-faced nature is a building cases for them – but they definite factor to the Doctor’s un- have never been cruel to him directly, sureness with the situation upon leav- so he doesn’t care to go against them. ing, there is another oft ignored factor To Majorian, it is a selfish matter of to such a rebellion that is addressed circumstance; he only opposes them several times throughout the audio – when they pose a real threat to his life. the double-edged sword of causing Majorian encapsulates the inherited such a revolution. The people are free sin of continuing the corruption of from the Daleks, but they are not only those before you, carrying a system thrust into war, their entire economy you know to be wrong not out of out- and social structure is upended, there right malevolence but out of conven- is immediate unrest, and there is a loss

39 of what to do once the threat is re- moved. The residents of Winter ulti- mately relied entirely on the Daleks, and while it seems in the short run to be beneficial to be rid of such a corrupt leadership, the security and structure they provided has been violently re- moved. What will they do now? How will they survive without even the knowledge of how to grow food on their cold, inhospitable planet?

These questions are not solved, but they are left heavy in the air. The Doc- tor will never really know if everything is fixed unless he meets Karna again. It listener with obvious and heavy dia- is difficult to get rid of such vast cor- tribes. In Majorian’s words: “I like my ruption – you can think you helped, life, Doctor. It isn’t perfect, but I’ve but if you don’t cut off every head, two gotten used to it. And, so has every- more will grow in each place. Remov- body else.” ing a corrupted leader from a position of power does not fix the system or Listen to the trailer at Big Finish here the root cause of the leader’s corrup- tion. There is a feeling of inevitability, To buy from Big Finish click here frustration, and hopelessness sprinkled throughout the audio, especially near To buy from Amazon UK click here the end. Ultimately, nothing is really fixed at all.

You feel the frustration of the Doctor and his companions as they deal with an unwilling populace, a masked foe, and a self-serving politician more con- cerned with public opinion than basic decency. The nature of man is to fol- low what is easy, regardless of wheth- er or not it is right. Barnes’ The Dalek Occupation of Winter masterfully por- trays this innate flaw of man in a way that not only makes obvious its prob- lems but manages not to suffocate the

40 skills. As much as gaming companies have tried to get around this, it’s a huge issue. This is why in board games such as the new GF9 ‘Time of the Da- leks’, everyone plays a different incar- nation of the Doctor!

Doctor Who Solitaire Story Game This is fine of course, but it doesn’t (DWSSG) is a FREE print and play soli- actually represent 98% of what we see taire paragraph-booklet adventure on TV, listen to with Big Finish or read game where the player assumes the about in the various novels. It’s one role of the intrepid Time Lord himself - Doctor plus his Companions, visiting the Doctor!’ exciting locations throughout time and fighting evil aliens. I’ve always been a fan of Doctor Who for as long as I can remember. I’ve "Evil is brewing somewhere in the Uni- been watching since the Jon Pertwee verse - perhaps an alien force is pre- days back in the early 1970’s and have paring to invade Earth, or maybe a never stopped. rogue individual is conducting hideous experiments. In a new regeneration, I’ve also been a fan of boardgames you stand at the console of your TAR- ever since I was a child – from playing DIS as it flies through the Time Vor- Monopoly and Cluedo with my family, tex." through the roleplaying games of the 1980’s, and into the more sophisticat- So I decided to combine my two great- ed hobby games of today. est passions – Doctor Who and board games – and create my own Doctor Doctor Who has had its fair share of Who game. games of course, some more success- ful than others and some decidedly, Due to the player taking the part of the well, crap! There have also been some Doctor, the game became a solo game. very laudable role-playing games from I also wanted to give players a real FASA back in the 1980’s to Cubicle 7’s sense of creating their own episodes, today. as if they were seeing them on TV, so the game had to have a strong the- But unlike many roleplaying genres matic and storytelling element to fulfil which are ‘ensemble shows’ and this aim where no one player dominates, Doc- tor Who as a gaming genre presents DWSSG began life in 2008 – almost 10 problems as one player, the Doctor, years ago! I started writing when the dominates the game with massively Tenth Doctor was still in the TARDIS enhanced knowledge, attributes and

41 and had just said goodbye to Donna! just do more ‘add-ons’. If I was going By the time I had finished the first draft to go back, I was going to go back BIG! of the game, David Tennant had an- So DWSSG ‘2nd Edition’ was conceived nounced his departure and was adven- in the summer of 2017 and with the turing on his own! In creating DWSSG I help of some loyal co-workers, we made the decision to think forwards have created something which I think rather than look back so initially all the is very special. We have used the expe- content was based on the RTD Era of rience of writing the original DWSSG to the show – with a few original bits and create a more thorough rule set, en- pieces from my own imagination. I hanced and re-written a lot of the old even created an ‘ending’ for the game content, expanded existing entries and where the player would discover war- introduced elements from the Elev- ravaged Gallifrey...way before The End enth and Twelfth Doctors that have of Time aired! never been seen before.

With the support of the In addition, because we knew we could BoardGameGeek community, which expand DWSSG2e before designing it, still hosts the game to this day, DWSSG we could make the system far more took off and gained a steady momen- fluid and cohesive than before. To this tum with a firm and faithful following. I end, 2018 sees the release of no less am very proud of the fact that on BGG, than 12 monthly expansions collective- DWSSG is ranked as the number one ly entitled ‘All of Time and Space’ that Doctor Who game! For the next four will cover all the TV Doctors from One years or so, I wrote countless expan- to Twelve. The First Doctor expansion sions for the game, venturing back into released a couple of weeks ago. The the Classic Era of the show, included Second and Third Doctor releases are Matt Smith’s first 2 seasons, as well as finished and’ I m more than halfway more original material. It was all very through the Fourth Doctor, ready for well received by the gaming communi- April. DWSSG certainly does take a lot ty and for a time it almost became a of my time! commercially licensed App, but the BBC turned me down. So, what is DWSSG and how do you play it? After nearly five years solidly writing the game, I needed a break and This web-published game is played stepped away from the design. using four booklets: Rules, Adventures, DWSSG continued to bubble away Enemies, and Events. Two normal dice gaining more players and fans until last are also required. All the Booklets, a year when, looking back over what I Beginner’s Guide plus expansions and had written, and seeing some fresh support materials are in the Files sec- interest in the game, I decided to go tion of the game’s BoardGameGeek back and do more. But I didn’t want to page

42 An Adventure begins when the TARDIS lands at an Adventure, be it modern- day London, the wilds of Sherwood Forest, or the distant planet of Raxaco- ricofallapatorius. Through Actions such as Explore and Investigate, references in the Adventure book will lead you to paragraphs in the Events book, allow- ing you to gather Allies and discover If you played the original ‘Doctor Who: the plots that are in progress. Eventu- Solitaire Story Game’ you can stop ally you will reveal the Enemy, each of reading now and go and download this which has its own one page section in new edition. It’s everything you've the Enemy book explaining how you come to love from the original but might discover their dastardly Goal. streamlined together (no need to flip New Actions then open up, allowing between five supplements for expan- you to Plan, Research, and (hopefully) sion rules) and given some new addi- defeat the Enemy. If you fail to reveal tions from the latest Capaldi series. If and Defeat the Enemy within 12 Turns, you're new however, read on. the Doctor is killed - maybe your next regeneration will do better (or at least The game makes you a new regenera- be better dressed)! tion of the Doctor, able to choose your own personality quirks and skilful Visit the game by clicking here traits, then opens the doors to all of time and space and asks, 'Where do you want to go?' From your first start-

er adventure until your climactic finale, you are the Doctor and can decide ex-

actly where you want to go and what

you want to do. Want to experience earth's history? Prevent an apocalypse

in the Present? Relax at an intergalac- tic resort in the future? You make the

calls every step of the way, with an elegantly simple system that's incredi-

bly easy to learn. You just decide the

action you want to attempt; roll a die and maybe tweak it a bit if you've a

skill or item that helps, then turn to (SC Games is a fan-based group which makes unoffi- the appropriate section to see what cial games purely as a labour of love. For DWSSG, all happens. It’s really as simple as that! related characters, logos, and indicia of Doctor Who are copyright and trademark BBC and used without Yet somehow, the designer has man- permission). aged to create a fantastic system that

43 leaves every world and time period with its own unique quirks and secrets to discover.

There's enough detail to prod my im- agination into action, but enough ab- straction to allow plenty of personal head canon. There's still a genuine As the Western superstition goes, Fri- sense of exploration. The designer day the 13th is considered an ‘unlucky’ (Simon Cogan) has mixed in original date. material with content from various aspects of the show. Yes, the story is It is supposed that, since the Middle emergent, but things happen for a rea- Ages, people will refuse to get out of son, and if you revisit a place, it feels bed and go about their daily lives for like you're revisiting. You'll create your fear of what might happen; millions own version of the Doctor Who uni- will be lost by businesses due to some verse and as adventures and regenera- being too afraid to board a plane – tions stack up, it will feel like a ‘real’ they will cease to operate like ordi- fictional place. nary, rational human beings.

There's far more narrative flexibility Maybe there’s a monster that feeds off than a more traditional adventure the negative psychic energy generated book, and there is no hand-holding. by this day, that has gone back in time DWSSG's threats mean something; it and caused this slow build of chaos on will kill you without even blinking. Ig- various Friday the 13ths in Western nominious and embarrassing deaths history in order to sustain itself. are inevitable. Your Doctors will die stupid and pointless deaths at least as It sounds almost like the set-up for a often as they'll engage in heroic feats. half-way decent Doctor Who episode, So, when you pull some unlikely victo- doesn’t it? A nice, low budget one ry off, it's because you were genuinely where it’s uncertain whether there clever/ lucky as hell and not because truly is a monster... the game threw you a bone. There are no writers waiting to save you, only Well, the first of two Friday the 13ths the cruelty of the Death Cubes. has passed this year and there certain- ly was something out of the ordinary From meeting fan-favourite characters about this one – a kind of psychic ener- to battling iconic villains, this game is gy, concentrated around the Forbid- truly a pleasure to play. den Planet megastore in London. But it wasn’t negative energy. Not at all! It was the collective rumble of a bunch of humans queuing up for several hours 44 to acquire some newly released books I was there! and meet the people who wrote them. It still seems like something of a fever It was The Day of the Doctor Who dream to me. I’m quite convinced that Book Signing. I’ll wake up at some point and discover that the following events were entirely fictional – merely a product of my de- sires as both a writer and a Doctor Who fan, or perhaps that psychic ener- gy I mentioned earlier has been wreak- ing its usual havoc on Friday the 13th.

What makes this a big deal for me is the fact that this was my first proper ‘fan experience’, as I have never been to any sort of convention or event be- fore – to my shame – despite being a fan of Doctor Who since childhood Once upon a time, before there were (more on that later). reruns and video tapes and DVDs and blu-ray and Netflix and other such ar- cane services, the way you’d get to experience a Doctor Who episode for the second time was by reading the novelisation.

On this Friday 13th, in April 2018, writ- ers Steven Moffat, Russell T Davies, Jenny Colgan, James Goss, and Paul Cornell were in-attendance to sign copies of the newly released novel ad- aptations of City of Death, Rose, The This was very much a ‘fan meeting his Christmas Invasion, The Day of the heroes for the first time’ kind of expe- Doctor, and Twice Upon A Time – their rience and it was absolutely spectacu- covers beautifully illustrated by Antho- lar! As such, I felt compelled to write ny Dry. This also happened to be the about it – not just to chronicle such a store’s one hundredth Doctor Who memorable experience, but to con- signing. vince myself that this was actually real. It’s not just a story in my head. It hap- And I was there. pened!

45 It began, of course, with waiting in a No, sadly, we had not. queue (in the cold!) that must have rivalled the length of time the Doctor “Ah,” he said, punctuating with a wink, spent in his Confession Dial. “I must’ve seen you in one of my dreams!” Because all the best stories involve time travel, let’s jump forward in time And just like that, I knew this was all from 5:15PM to 7:20PM (since there’s going to be fine. no need to make you wait too!) I handed my phone over to the very It was at this time that I was standing helpful and patient staff member who right outside the door, waiting to be was on-hand to take photos while the admitted inside and internally strug- books were signed, asking him to just gling to keep my nerves under control. hammer the capture button in the At this moment, it suddenly struck me hope that at least one of the photos that it would probably be a good idea would turn out well (he ended up tak- to just run off. Just leg it! ing about twenty pictures and many of them were). Despite what I had mentally prepared to say, I was sure that the moment I From there, Russell and I discussed our walked in there and was face-to-face entry into Doctor Who – of which, with the people I admired so much… mine is a rather strange story… I’d forget it all. I’d just say or do some- thing embarrassing. I’d… fall over, or I must’ve been about five or six years something. old when I caught Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. on the television, one That’s how I’d be remembered. of the films featuring Peter Cushing as Dr. Who (and Bernard Cribbins!) Thankfully, that was far from what happened. It was this film which made me one of approximately four people in the uni- Instead, the moment I walked in, Rus- verse who loved the ‘Paradigm Daleks’ sell T. Davies flirted – yes, flirted – with introduced in Mark Gatiss’ Victory of me! the Daleks.

“Hello,” he grinned, with the energy of From there, my next brush with Doctor somebody who was greeting the first Who was the 1996 film with Sylvester person in line, instead of the hun- McCoy and Paul McGann. Dr. Who was dredth. I introduced myself and he wearing a very similar costume to Pe- asked “Have we met before?” ter Cushing, but was no longer an old man with a moustache. No, instead he

46 was a tiny Scotsman, who was shot a As I shuffled over to him, I exhaled few minutes into the film and he magi- deeply and said “It’s not every day you cally turned into a much younger man get to meet your literary hero!” with lots of hair. Steven emphatically gestured to Rus- This all made sense to me. sell, “And you’ve just met him!”

Oh, and he wasn’t fighting Daleks, but No, you! I mean, yes, absolutely him a snake who jumped into a sleeping too! But you! YOU! man’s body through his mouth (this was a very scary change in tone for There was one thing that I knew I Younger Me) and called himself The wanted to say to Steven because of an Master. old interview where he said that The Beast Below was “quite a mess…it was No, really, this definitely all made all over the place.” sense to me. When I broached this subject to Ste- As I explained this progression to Rus- ven, he upgraded his answer to (and I sell, before arriving at his first series in quote this word-for-word): “It was 2005, I thought it would be a great s***!” idea to do my best and most camp im- pression of the Eric Roberts Master’s From there, I was insistent to him line “I always dress for the occasion.” about how much I loved that episode!

And that was my first interaction with Not only did it so beautifully lay the Russell T. Davies. foundations for his entire era, not only was it a brilliant thematic precursor to Next up, Steven Moffat! The Day of the Doctor, it was a deeply layered, political, and emotional epi- Now, I love all of Doctor Who. I really sode that I hold as one of his finest do. But, from my perspective, they still works. Endlessly rewatchable, with have yet to invent words that can ar- some sublime performances from Matt ticulate exactly what the Moffat era Smith, Karen Gillan, and Sophie has meant to me over the last eight Okonedo. years and what it has helped me deal with. You can trace the message of “Just be kind,” that was so consciously at the That was, of course, a very helpful heart of the Twelfth Doctor’s era, right thing to be hindered by when it came back to this story. to trying to tell that to the man him- self. I’m don’t think I managed to convince

47 Steven, but it won a huge grin from was worth it – with my favourite Doc- him as he said “Well, it’s what you tors and companions and monsters in think that really matters!” stories I know I’ll carry with me through my own work to the grave We briefly discussed plans for the fu- (and beyond…) ture. He and Mark Gatiss are known to be doing an adaptation of Dracula, but On the next table sat Paul Cornell and he also told me that more Target nov- Jenny Colgan, who penned the adapta- elisations are on the way. He didn’t tions for Twice Upon A Time and The reveal which stories would be getting Christmas Invasion. the adaptation treatment, but it seems we’ve not seen the last of Steven’s I had previously read Colgan’s story in work on Doctor Who. The Day She Saved The Doctor, an an- thology book featuring Sarah Jane, Given the limited amount of time we Rose, Clara, and Bill on various adven- had (which was longer than I expected tures with the Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh, – I got about 3-4 minutes each with and Twelfth Doctors. Russell and Steven), it was time to wrap up and move on, so I attempted Colgan penned Rose and the Snow to tell Steven just how much his Doctor Window, she did a truly wonderful job Who stories have meant to me. of capturing the incredibly driven com- passion that defined Rose’s character. “Thank you, Steven. In so many ways, In many ways, it was through Rose, as you were ‘my Doctor’.” it is with all of his companions, that this old Time Lord who ran away (re) To my credit, I think that was quite a learned how to live up to the promise valiant on-the-spot effort to very con- of being The Doctor in the immediate cisely sum up how his era has helped wake of the Time War. me cope with anxiety and a lot of (presumably) non-alien invasion relat- Embarrassingly, I asked Paul Cornell ed nonsense! whether he was the co-writer for Into The Dalek (another favourite story of In the moment, those were the words mine), but that was, in fact, Phil Ford. that came to me and they were exactly He clarified that he wrote Human Na- the words I wanted to say. ture and The Family of Blood (as well as Father’s Day), all of which were ab- Somehow, and I’m sure this goes for solutely brilliant and I wanted to make many others too, it was always there sure he knew it! He later commented exactly when I needed it. It would roll to me on Twitter that he should’ve around at just the right time, and sud- pretended to be Phil Ford and rolled denly making it to the next weekend with it!

48 to feed on. No, this is not just the start I unfortunately missed James Goss, of a new era with Jodie Whittaker and either because he had popped away Chris Chibnall, but it felt like something for a moment or because I was just of a new start for me as well, as a fan, managing to keep myself from mal- having had such an enriching experi- functioning. But I did manage to ac- ence of the culture beyond the show. quire a signed poster from Anthony Dry, the artist behind the stunning co- It’s a novelty that, like the image of a vers for each of the books, and he police telephone box settled on the wished me all the best. alien sand while strange birds wheel in another sky, will never, ever wear thin. Next thing I knew, I was out of the store, sitting down for dinner, still mentally processing everything that had happened.

This was my first proper ‘fan experi- ence’ and it couldn’t have been better.

I spent the rest of the evening in a state of uncontrollable glee, feeling closer to this show – this universe that collides with our own on certain Satur- day evenings throughout the year – that I love than I ever had before.

In fact, as you read this now, whenever in the future that may be, I’m probably still grinning from ear-to-ear about this day.

Having done this at the end of an era, my favourite era at that, a new one is about to start.

And that brings me back to Friday the 13th…

The Thirteenth is not unlucky at all, there was a complete absence of nega- tive energy for an ambiguous monster

49 Overall, it’s a good story. It’s pleasantly simple, easy to follow, and almost self- contained. The audio stands very well on its own – there’s nothing really lost from not listening to its prequel aside from backstory on the UNIT crew. The Hour of the Cybermen received positive plot moves well, the characters aid it reviews last issue. So what does Anna without taking the focus away from Maloney think…? the story, and the conflict is exactly what you’d want from a Cyberman By now, you'd think the Cybermen had story. As always, Colin Baker brings a learned their lesson – there's only so charismatic personality and enjoyable many times you can attack Earth be- energy to his role of the Sixth Doctor, fore you realise it's not a wise decision accentuated by David Banks’ capti- vating performance as the Cyber Lead- In Andrew Smith’s Hour of the Cyber- er. Not out of step at all since his last men we see the triumphant return of appearance, he brings a personality to David Banks as the Cyber Leader, the role, even if that role is someone casting his gaze once again upon the who is emotionless. twin planet of his long-gone home- world. The second part of a UNIT trilo- Or, is mostly emotionless. This audio gy, preceded by The Helliax Rift, this brings interesting attention to the fact time we see Hopkins (Blake Harrison) that the Cybermen do, in fact, have and Price (Russ Bain) deal with what some low level of emotion. A mostly turns out to be a Cyberman attack throwaway line of Price’s almost years in the making. breaches the question of how far that drain of emotions goes: ‘Cybermen Starting off by targeting another planet might have no emotions. But have you called Viridia, the Cybermen have in- noticed? They still scream when they vaded Earth by the time the Sixth Doc- die.’ tor (Colin Baker) is called by UNIT to help with a preternatural drought. It’s an interesting thing to think about; However, unbeknownst to them, a in other parts of the audio, the Doctor Cyber ship is nestled directly below the irritates the Cyber Leader enough to control centre for their new space- have one of his subordinates restrain scanning alien defence system, Cerber- him. Elsewhere, the Doctor irritates us. A system which, with the help of a him enough to see the Cyber Leader double agent, contains the very weap- take on what appears to almost be on they intend to use on Earth in order anger, vowing to destroy him and to gain its subjugation. members of UNIT despite that being a wasted opportunity for more cyber-

50 conversion candidates. The method of Earth is not a helpless target for the cyber-conversion is described in a fair umpteenth time, especially by staple amount of detail in the story, but a villains like Daleks and Cybermen. It very interesting element of the proce- would add an interesting dynamic to dure mentioned is the changing of the story if the Viridians had dragged brain chemistry. Riva went through the Earth into combat during a desperate very beginnings of this part of the pro- strike back without meaning to, ulti- cedure, losing memories in the pro- mately leading the Cybermen to target cess. However, the Doctor helps her to Earth as well. A story for another au- regain them. That begs the question: dio, perhaps? how much of the process is perma- nent, and how thorough is it really? The Cybermen’s plan in this audio was Are the Cybermen actually removing satisfying and well hinted at through- all their emotions, or are they just out the story itself. The introduction of making them largely inaccessible? elements – the drought, the Cerberus While this audio doesn’t delve into the satellites, the dehydration effects, and question of how emotionless the ultimately cyber- is all well-paced and Cybermen really are, it does get the doesn’t give away the plot all at once. cogs rolling – even if Price’s line was It comes to the listener piece by piece, only stated after the satisfaction of giving the tools to figure it out just a saving himself from conversion. little bit before the Doctor does.

Throughout the first third of the audio, This story does noticeably well at it seems as though the Cybermen tar- hinting at what’s to come too – there geted Viridia before being led to Earth is a subtle clue shown later that would for some kind of revenge against a few alert a sharp-eared listener to some Viridian soldiers. We learn the truth human treachery that becomes appar- later – the Cybermen attacked Viridia ent later on. before Earth as a test run, since Viridi- ans have a similar biological makeup to The Cybermen are portrayed well, due humans – but that revelation was a bit in no small part to David Banks’ Cyber of a disappointment to me. While it Leader. In a wonderful, suspenseful shows the great thought and determi- scene where Price is alone with the nation that went into this plan, there’s Cyber Leader and a Cyber Lieutenant, an over-focus of stories where the vil- we get to see the creepy way the lain of the week targets Earth. Even Cybermen view their actions. when the Doctor is not stuck there, Earth seems to have a magnet for al- The audio overall doesn’t have an an- iens with bad intentions. tagonist that is evil with a capital E so much as terrible circumstance and There rarely seem to be stories where Earth’s penchant to be targeted by

51 villains causing worldwide distress. While there’s always an occasion for a villain that is evil just for the sake of evil, there is a deeper layer to stories where the villains don’t think what they’re doing is wrong for understand- able reasons. After all, most people in Jamie Hill played some very memora- pain or who could not feel anything ble characters on the show, including would look at someone in grief and see The Mummy/The Foretold in the epi- it as a weakness. sode ‘The Mummy on the Orient Ex- press’, the monk in ‘Extremis’, ‘The Hour of the Cybermen is a satisfying, Pyramid at the End of the World’ and well-paced adventure with exactly the ‘The Lie of the Land’, as well as one of kind of Cybermen encounter a fan the Silence, an Ice Warrior, and a Mon- would be looking for. Featuring an in- dasian Cyberman. Though Jamie has teresting, terrifying weapon, distress- played some pretty iconic villains in ing betrayals, satisfying twists, and recent Doctor Who history, he was emotionless attackers, Andrew Smith also a manager at the Doctor Who Ex- did a masterful job in portraying a perience in Cardiff. My daughter and I Cyberman attack worthy of Kit Pedler. were able to fly in from Texas to be able to attend the closing of the Doctor For the trailer click here Who Experience and I met and was able to briefly chat with Jamie. To buy from Big Finish click here Riley: You have done quite a few epi- To buy from Amazon UK click here sodes of Doctor Who as well as played some pretty cool characters. If you had to choose two of your best memories from your time on set, what would they be?

Jamie: oooo this is a tricky one! My favourite monster and episode would have to be the Foretold in the Mummy on the Orient Express. Everybody found the costume extremely creepy and realistic, which is always great when playing any monster/creature character. I had a conversation with Daisy Beaumont who played Maisie in the episode about the fish and chips

52 lunch, in full costume - which was qui- ally became Duty Manager, a massive et funny looking back. reward and great feeling to be recog- nised. My other favourite time would have to be the filming of the Monk episodes in All staff and visitors there were part of Series 10, I had the fantastic oppor- my overall experience throughout the tunity to go out to Tenerife to film 5 years, and I will always have very some of the scenes at an abandoned fond memories. When I heard it was estate, the scenery was amazing and closing, it was sad. But, it was always the whole trip was great fun with all planned to be a 5 year project so I felt the crew and other actors. like I knew the time would come.

Riley: Some Doctor Who fans might I learnt many skills from general retail not have known that you were also a and attraction skills to how to build a manager at the Doctor Who Experi- TARDIS, a great skill to have that I’m ence in Cardiff. I was able to visit the sure many would love! I have moved Experience that last day it was open. I on from the experience into a new ca- personally felt a multitude of emotions reer, and aim to continue my monster/ that day while visiting. I was just enam- creature acting when I can (keep an oured at being able to see all there is eye on Good Omens next year!) but to see about Doctor Who. From the always have great memories when I props to the costumes to meeting walk past the old Doctor Who Experi- Nicholas Briggs, Russell T. Davies, and ence building. yourself. We have nothing like that in Texas. Which is why it will always be Riley: Well thank you so much for your an “Experience” that I will never for- time, your hospitality, and your all get. But when my visit was over I was around generosity. You helped make a saddened. Saddened that unless they great trip even better. open back up, no one will get to see this collection all together again. When you heard the news that the Experi- ence was closing its doors for good in Cardiff Bay, what was your thoughts on it?

Jamie: The Doctor Who Experience was a massive part of my life after leaving university. I started on a zero hour contract there in the shop, I really enjoyed the job and worked hard throughout my time there and eventu-

53 Rain had punctured the heatwave up- on arrival. A drenched queue of thou- sands snaked its way through the warehouse-like entrance of the Olym- pia. I've been to enough conventions over the past few years to know what to expect but I imagine first-time con- Large scale signing events are fre- vention attendees may have found this quently ‘knocked’ by fans, so it is re- a bit intimidating, especially if they had freshing to receive a positive review. early photo shoots booked and cer- Matthew Rimmer talks about his visit tainly some young children were to LFCC in the summer of 2018… getting understandably fractious. Thankfully, the pace picked up once As I attended the final day of the three doors opened proper. From the sheer -day London Film and Comic Con 2018 number of people, one was aware at the Olympia London on Sunday 29th from the off that convention organis- July 2018, my day beginning sat in a ers Showmasters were here to make hotel breakfast room across from a money from as many people as possi- family dressed as Aquaman and his ble. I'd already made my peace with kin! Social media had been abuzz for the extortionate pricing for certain two days already with people delight- guests; it was well documented in the ed to have met big Doctor Who names media when a certain name was an- Tom Baker on the Friday afternoon (his nounced. The market has established only appearance), Noel Clarke David these prices and Showmasters knows Bradley and Colin Baker, Paul McGann, fans will cough up. I do not like this Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Ingrid pricing structure but if you want to Oliver who were attending on Saturday meet the guests, well, that’s how they and Sunday. Sunday itself saw the Doc- get you. LFCC is a vast, commercial tor Who ranks swelled by Christopher entity catering to a broad range of fan Eccleston making his first convention bases and is world's away from small- appearance—a big draw for Doctor er, more focused conventions like Who Who fans like myself. Further Sunday At Hoylake which I'd attended the day Doctor Who guests included Bonnie before. That was a nice day of panels, Langford and Arthur Darvill, with Peter autographs and photos in a small ven- Davison only announced on the Friday ue. The Olympia is a strange, multi- and one David Tennant a surprise last level labyrinth. I was truly never sure minute addition announced -mid where I was within the building as a Saturday afternoon although by the whole at any one time. Maps were time I tried to get a ticket for his sign- dotted about but signage and staff are ing, it was 'Sold Out'. Nevertheless, I always in short supply at these large was in the mood for a Doctor Who- conventions - even decoration and ad- filled extravaganza of a day. vertising was minimal at this one. 54 My first photo shoot was with Matt three Doctors' photo shoots up against Smith, who it turns out is "a fist bump each other rather than staggering guy" when I went to shake his hand as them seemed a curious move. But we I said hello - a fist bump ensued. He is made it work and I got all of my nine much cooler than me. It was a pleasure booked photos done - just! I was ex- to meet him, albeit briefly and it was hausted by the time I rushed to end of nice to see him compliment cosplayers Bonnie Langford's line - I wouldn't rec- as they took their turns which was a ommend booking nine photo shoots if pattern replicated with guests through you want a relaxed day! Top tip— plan the day. It is surreal delight to see the your time carefully, be prepared for Doctor standing there as an actual disappointment through cancellations three-dimensional person! and clashes and be patient and ready to queue! With nine photo shoots booked in (and a furious bank balance), queuing be- To a person, the guests were lovely came de rigueur for the majority of the and kept their enthusiasm up to greet day. In my downtime between shoots, fans individually throughout what was I had some time to explore the various a long day for them. They appreciated merchandise stalls, picking up some the fans' kind words about their work wonderful Doctor Who artwork from and what a fandom Doctor Who has! illustrator and designer Stuart Man- There was a real sense of camaraderie ning - and queuing for 35 minutes to in those lines. Highlights included; buy the official brochure! It is some- getting to tell Christopher Eccleston I'd thing we excel at in the UK, even form- seen his talk in Manchester earlier this ing spontaneous queues for queues. year; seeing the guests willing to do This is where I must give the LFCC staff poses upon request - waving Sonic credit - at every photo area, the Screwdrivers and the like; and Peter attending staff were doing their level Capaldi exuding a sense of otherworld- best to get people in, keep lines flow- ly Doctor-ness especially with children. ing, morale up and accommodate What a marvellous experience for chil- clashes. I was increasingly stressed dren to meet their Doctors! And what through the day as my three-way clash a reminder of my own age to hear became four-way when Zachary Levi adults referring to Eccleston, Tennant (from the TV series ‘Chuck’ and also and Capaldi as their "childhood Doc- ‘Thor’) was delayed in traffic, bumping tors"! It is a pleasure to see Christo- my photo shoot with him to the after- pher Eccleston finally reaping the re- noon slot which was delayed by half- wards of fan admiration for his pivotal an-hour by an oversubscribed photo role in reviving Doctor Who in 2005. I'd shoot for David Tennant. And I appre- met Peter Davison, Colin Baker and ciate scheduling must be a nightmare Paul McGann previously so they were- for such large conventions but putting n't on my hit list but it was pleasing to

55 hear numerous younger fans dashing ed to get through the photo shoots but off to meet them too. the actual moments of getting the pho- tos taken were worth it, as were the I get very star-struck which is why pho- opportunities for extended chats that tos suit me better than autographs as autographs provide and little moments the chat window is smaller. I get through the day; for example, seeing tongue-tied and make rambling small David Bradley then later Matt Smith talk instead of asking anything inter- pass by smiling and saying hello to esting. So I found myself rambling fans. You'll have probably seen the about work(?!) to Ingrid Oliver and photos of various Doctors shaking miscounting the number of Doctors I'd hands doing the rounds on social me- met that day when Steven Moffat dia. It's nice to see they feel a connec- asked - I said two, it was three... I hope tion. my sincere thanks is enough to not come across as abrupt when my brain All in all, whilst I prefer a more inti- kicks in to abort the awkward small mate venue and panels, I'm glad I talk! went.

So overall? LFCC's is a money-making extravagance but that's how they get the guests. I ended up meeting 16 guests, nine with Doctor Who connec- tions as I spied Jimmy Vee and Paul Kaye on my way I out post-Moffat. It's great to see people whose work means a lot to you in the flesh and meet them as actual people rather than charac- ters. It feels like Doctor Who fandom is going through a bit of revival and re- naissance at the moment, especially with Doctor Who on Twitch fresh in the memory and the arrival of the Thir- teenth Doctor of which there were many cosplayers. Stuart Manning pointed out that the costume design- er's work on the Thirteenth Doctor is very utilitarian in that elements of it can be extracted for comfortable fits for female and male cosplayers alike. There is a lot of love for all eras of Doc- tor Who and it was well-represented at LFCC. A work-like mindset was need-

56 pened because those previous things happened, and because of all of that, this happened.” It is this form of struc- ture we see in Red Planets. Indeed, its structure is so complete that the story Red Planets is refreshing. is set in motion almost the moment

the audio begins, and concludes less Perhaps that’s a strange thing to say. than a minute before the end. This isn’t a comedy, and it’s certainly not a romp. It is sometimes chilling, Una McCormack’s dialogue is natural, and always tense. The characters are engaging, and in-character. She has a in danger. One is in a police state cell, real talent for riposte. This makes all of one is in a dissolving city, and one is her structural choices, and talents, fly. losing their identity. Hardly the place you’d call relaxing. But Una McCor- The technical aspects of Red Planets’ mack’s Red Planets is refreshing in a writing are excellent, and it is truly re- very real way: it is a perfectly paced, freshing to find yourself in the hands perfectly structured story that uses its of a writer you can trust. This trust ex- characters to their great effect. tends to the characterization.

Pacing is one of those phantom quali- One of the continuing issues in Sev- ties it’s difficult to speak about direct- enth Doctor stories is that authors mis- ly. People are sometimes quite sure understand Ace and the Doctor’s rela- pacing is good, or quite sure it’s bad, tionship. They assume he is borderline but without quite the words to say abusive. That it is a mistake, but it is why it’s good or bad. It tends to come easily corrected. All you need to do is down to two things: 1) Is every mo- watch Survival. The Doctor is distract- ment of the story used to advance the ed, shuffling a million things at once, plot or expand characterization? 2) Is and loses the Ace up his sleeve as he the story actually going anywhere? gets overwhelmed. He allows himself

to lose track of Ace because of the In Red Planets’ case, the answer is yes deep trust he has in her; indeed, he’s to both. The story is well-structured. training her to be his replacement. He This is not phantom-ground. Good trusts her as much as, if not more, structure is easy to describe: imagine a than himself. Una McCormack’s depic- child telling you a story. Their structure tion of their relationship is perfect. will be “this happened and then this happened and then this happened,”; Ace is depicted as extremely compe- there’s no pay-off, or advancement. It tent, even when technology turns is, literally, one thing after another. against her, and resolves the story on Good structure is “this happened be- her own. This goes beyond the narra- cause this happened, and this hap- tive, and into the structure of the au- 57 dio itself. Instead of a singular two- Ever since The Aztecs, Doctor Who has hour adventure where the cast freely operated under one all-encompassing interacts, we have – appropriately - a rule of time: “But you can't rewrite Russian nesting doll. The outer layer is history! Not one line! ...What you are the Doctor and Mel dealing with an trying to do is utterly impossible. I uncertain, incorrect 2017. The inner know, believe me, I know.” layer is Ace in 1960s Berlin but built like a Companion Chronicle, being all “Not one line” was the guiding ethos but a two-hander play as Ace and an- behind both the Hartnell historicals other actor have an adventure without and more recent, wilder takes on ei- the Doctor. It’s refreshing, and experi- ther the historical or science fiction mental. stories which happen to be set in the past. It is the narrative convenience Mel’s character continues to be ex- necessary for the show to function panded upon. Though previous sets without collapsing under the weight of have had some outstanding (Fiesta of continuity. If Barbara had succeeded in the Damned), excellent (The Blood Fur- The Aztecs, the programme would nace), and good (Life of Crime) stories need to then lay out the hundreds of for Mel since re-joining the Doctor and new years of history for the Aztec em- Ace, they have all been positive and pire, as well as their position in the direct shows of who she is, and where modern world. This requires an she’s come from. Red Planets shows us amount of space even the modern pro- the negative. Who would Mel be if she gramme lacks. A novel may carry that came from a police state? This could much content; a television series could easily be a ‘Spock-in-a-Goatee’ treat- not. ment of her. Instead, despite being someone who buys into the system, Despite this, the rule of time is chal- she is recognizably Mel. Her innocence lenged on grounds of morals. Some- is not a blank and colourless thing but, times on television (The Fires of Pom- but a vibrant and positive character peii), and sometimes in the expanded trait. More than that, however, we see universe (Lawrence Miles’ Interfer- her as competent. Seeing her help pi- ence), but this occurs most often per- lot the TARDIS is wonderful. Bonnie haps in fan discourse and storytelling. Langford does an outstanding job em- The argument is that by failing to bodying this alternate Mel, and her change Earth’s history, he is, at worst, performance of the anthem is chilling. complicit in the suffering he could have stopped. His lack of intervention is a Perhaps the most surprising thing you moral failure. Especially as he seems to can say about Red Planets is that it’s a have no problem intervening in things subtle character piece about the Doc- outside of Earth. tor’s morality.

58 Red Planets is a response to that argu- why the Time Lords hold this as the ment. The writer examines the ramifi- highest of crimes, and the Doctor him- cations of changing time for what you self adhered to “not one line.” There is think are the best of intentions. It ex- no greater waste of life, or violation of poses the cost of violating “not one personhood. The Doctor’s resistance line” - genocide on an unimaginable to change history—and only intervene scale, blotting out generations in a at moments he seems to have always blink. The path of some lives, close to interfered - is not a moral failing, but a the point the timeline changes, are moral strength. He resists the easy an- only altered, not blotted out (though swer because genocide with the best their choice in how they live their lives of intentions is still genocide. are violated). But further out, year up- on year, those who should have been Red Planets is a quiet defence of the born aren’t. They are effectively mur- Doctor’s morality. All the better, it ex- dered. People from the previous, real pands the universe by showing - not universe are similarly reduced to being telling - the outcome of changing the brief inventions of space and time. We timeline and the depths of depravity see Mel immediately broken, memo- such action would require. The Doc- ries stolen and history revised. It is tor’s moral horror at changing time chilling to see Mel begin to sing a Sovi- matches the moral horror of those et anthem mere moments after being who declare he should meddle. recognizably “our” Mel. I would have loved for this story to be What of their replacements, the new longer, and properly dig into the “new” inhabitants of the new timeline? Eve- Mel’s history and what a Soviet Mel’s ryone’s lives in this new timeline have relationship with the Doctor was like. It a made-up quality, as Genevieve Gaunt would be radically different from our explains in the interview. “[Two char- Mel. acters’] love was a brief invention of space and time.” Overall, Red Planets is an excellent audio and one I highly recommend. And then, the unpredictability. We see bad outcomes pile up on bad out- Click here for the trailer comes. Good outcomes would not make up for the genocide, but we see Click here to buy from Big Finish uncontrolled changes to history, spiral- ing to worse and worse outcomes. Click here to buy from Amazon UK

Functional genocide. Violation of free will. Destabilization of travellers and their history/biodata. We begin to see

59 The idea that any elevators may take you somewhere wrong outclasses and outlives the ritual that spawned it.

The internet feasts on horror. Mark Morris’ Doctor Who audio, The Dispossessed, picks up on these It is a roving, self-sustaining flare of trends. campfire stories, urban legends, and latter-day superstition. Whispers down This isn’t to suggest Mark Morris is the lane include one-man hide and copying The Elevator Game—or indulg- seek against a demon-filled doll, The ing in Doctor Who’s magpie-like pen- Game of Knowledge played against a chant for adapting ideas from other smiling man, and, of course, the ines- stories or mediums—but it is a sign of capable Slenderman summonings. how deeply The Dispossessed reflects 2018. And The Elevator Game. For once, this is important. Not be- Ostensibly, it’s a ritual. Eye of newt cause The Dispossessed happened to and toe of frog for the information be released in the now-current year of age. Performing it is simple. Co-opt an 2018, or that the audience may get elevator car, press the prescribed some funhouse mirror fascination with buttons in the prescribed order, and the present’s image, but because The avoid the dangers guarding it Dispossessed is a spiritual sequel to (including such threats as a young Paradise Towers. There was another woman), until you’ve emerged in an audio related to the serial in last year’s “other world.” In this case, the “other Ace and Mel trilogy, John Dorney’s The world” is nearly identical to our own, High Price of Parking. But despite the save for a red cross in the sky. It’s im- shared inspiration, they take that inspi- possible to imagine anyone follows the ration in radically different directions. elevator choreography—dozens of Dorney took inspiration from Paradise steps, apparently imperilling them- Towers’ colourful, light entertainment selves all the while, only to find a near- look at a dystopian version of some- ly identical world. thing from middle or lower class life. Morris takes the tower. Paradise Tow- But it is popular. That has kept it alive ers criticized council estates in 1987; on the internet for years, as it slowly The Dispossessed is commentary on grinds upwards in prominence. the twilight of their existence now.

There is something in the idea of find- The Doctor picks up strange energy ing any ordinary building and discover- readings from northern England. ing it’s the gateway to another world. Alongside Ace and Mel, he departs to

60 investigate. Shortly we discover said Morris in two ways. First, that the council estate. It’s contained in a pock- building itself is sealed away, and also et universe. It’s almost wholly cut-off can only see an abandoned and eter- from the surrounding universe, and nally night version of the city from zombies prowl the building. Elsewhere, within. Second, that the elevator only an alien has taken possession of a mid- takes a person to wastelands. dle-aged woman’s body and is bent on using her to enact her revenge. The wasteland is The Dispossessed central metaphor. From there, things continually fall from bad to worse to oh dear: the team is Outside the building: an imaginary separated, the Doctor on the run from neighbourhood that reflects desola- zombies through a maze, in the com- tion. pany of two humans and one alien, all with their own agenda. Ace and Mel Inside the building: zombies, empty flee from zombies onto the elevators, halls, and rooms. which have long since stopped return- ing their occupants. At least, not in the Beyond the elevator: memories of condition they left. battle planted in a desert.

Ace and Mel’s first stop? This is the first audio in the Ace/Mel run to make significant use of McCoy, A wasteland. The site of a long-ago Langford, and Aldred’s stellar chemis- battle. Great, black chunks of glass. try. The first third of the audio virtually Alien, and horrifying. leaves them as the only actors. They make the most of it: the level of com- The wasteland neatly ties in with the fort and trust between the actors state of the council estates. In 1987, bleeds over into the characters. I hope they were seen as a broken system on future writers realize the good that the knife’s edge of savagery. One push comes from letting them have sus- would be all it took. That push would tained, direct interaction. Aldred and be seen again and again in British fic- Langford’s team-up through the rest of tion, from J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise, to the audio is equally as excellent. The our own Paradise Towers (incidentally, cast’s chemistry is outstanding, and inspired by Ballard), to any given crime the highlight of The Dispossessed. Ja- drama but often shown in particularly mie Anderson’s chief talent as director, gritty and disused ways in Prime Sus- through all of his productions at Big pect. In 2018, the system has, if not Finish, is twofold. First, he allows his broken, then faded away and what cast to experiment and play. Second, remains seems both distant and unin- his knowledge of the cast lets them habited. This is nicely metaphorized by work and experiment productively.

61 Everyone gives their all on an Ander- son production.

Morris also has a strong sense of inter- audio continuity. In The Blood Furnace, the Doctor promises Ace to teach her the ins and outs of TARDIS piloting. We see the latest of their lessons here. The Ace/Mel audios have suffered from some uncertain continuity until now— including Sophie Aldred shifting be- tween mid-20s Ace and teen Ace as she tried to peg when these audios took place (also solidified, now)— making this a welcome addition. Click here for the trailer Creative writing is rewarded with the great sound design. This is why some Click here to buy from Big Finish of Big Finish’s best recent design is found in their productions of Louise Click here to buy from Amazon UK Jameson’s scripts, The Invention of Death, or memorably, Carnacki the Big Finish e-Magazine Ghost-Finder. The Dispossessed sound VORTEX design, like the audio itself, is quietly excellent. The wasteland and the living building are striking.

Be sure to stick around after the cred- its. While the Big Finish interviews are often excellent, this one is memorable. Aldred and Langford perform a scene as six year old versions of themselves, and it is uproarious.

Outstanding cast chemistry, and a unique take on a classic Doctor Who story, makes The Dispossessed an ex- cellent listen. If you’ve been doubtful Big Finish publishes a regular e-magazine about the Ace and Mel pairing, this is about the entire output of the business— the second audio in a row that does including Doctor Who of course. well to convince you otherwise. Click here to download ‘Vortex’

62 into the aftermath of 1980s Britain, in a story that relies on him falling into the plans of others. The Quantum Pos- sibility Engine gives Mel a comedy fo- cused on the Doctor Who universe’s underworld (criminal and political), as well as computers. In each case, the solo character gets to be the main he- What if you could reprogram the solar ro. Ace prevents the Soviet future. The system? What if you could make it run Doctor out-plots and over-powers the to your whim? Guy Adams story ‘The villain. Mel successfully reprograms Quantum Possibility Engine’ digs into the Solar System. this, as it explores the manipulated and the manipulator. The structure across the three audios makes this one of the most cohesive Following on from ‘Red Planets’ and trilogies in some time. Each story is ‘The Dispossessed’, Mel has stolen the essentially stand-alone. But they not TARDIS. She has debts to cover from only build on one another with the her days with Sabalom Glitz. These ongoing plot, but with their structure, debts seemed resolved, but they were- theming, and approach. It’s creatively n’t. In the intervening stretch of time, done. they have been bought by Josiah W. Dogbolter. All Mel wants is her con- Guy Adams excels at characterization. tract to be signed-off so she can leave. But he seems to have a special relish Dogbolter on the other hand, wants for the seventh Doctor-era characters. the TARDIS. There’s never a line out of place or a doubtful moment. Adams is one of the The Quantum Possibility Engine reveals few writers who seems to really have a the planning that went into this trilogy handle on Ace’s unique dialogue, the with a structure that mirrors that of way that the seventh Doctor is crafty Una McCormack’s Red Planets and (far from the all-encompassing chess Mark Morris’ The Dispossessed. One master), and the way that Mel is a character is separated from the others, goody-two-shoes (even as a traitor) and is ultimately their saviour. Each without being one-note. story focuses on what makes them unique, and their overall tone and his- The characterisation of Dogbolter, who tory. Red Planets gives Ace the Cold as well as being the principal villain War, espionage, and broken time in a also provides some comic relief, is at story that emphasizes her competence peace with an audio from nearly two and her humanity. The Dispossessed decades ago, and comic stories from gives the Doctor a psychological look even earlier.

63 Meanwhile, Narvin again represents ams’ War Doctor story, ‘Pretty Lies’. the Celestial Intervention Agency in That audio was a brutal, sometimes this story. For a character who began darkly comic, deconstruction of mass- as a minor, quasi-villainous foil for media war journalism. Sources cut-up Romana and Leela in Gallifrey, Narvin to support a pre-determined message, has come a long way: as both an in- people dying needlessly to support creasingly deep character and an in- ‘the story’ (even the journalist), a dis- creasingly popular fan-favourite. The tasteful business where the truth is the further exploration of the early first causality. After all, as that reporter Narvin’s character is excellent, and it’s said, ‘It’s all in the editing.’ exciting to see him in a context where his competence comes to the fore- This present audio offers a counter- front. point. The backing of mass-media jour- nalism can’t stand against honest peo- Ace, Mel, and Narvin are a companion ple with cameras. As the Doctor says, team which holds significant promise “Wherever you are! Whoever you are! and I hope we see Narvin significantly Point your camera at the sky! Watch explored and developed as he travels them! See them! Because sometimes, with the Doctor and the others. to win a war, it's not guns you need. It's a camera. A camera and the truth.” Although ‘The Quantum Possibility En- gine’ is a continuity-heavy story Guy Jamie Anderson is an excellent direc- Adams’ script remains crystal clear tor. He’s an actor’s director, focused through the power of ‘show, don’t on casting and performances. An An- tell’. You don’t need to know Josiah W. derson production is always guaran- Dogbolter. You are immediately shown teed to have an engaged, excited per- exactly who he is. You don’t need to formance from the cast. While all of know Narvin, or what the CIA might the returning cast—including Seán be, you’re shown who he is from the Carlsen and Toby Longworth—are ex- moment he arrives. cellent, Jules de Jongh’s performance as the Captain Regent of the Krasi de- The characters are shown to us, and serves special recognition. It would be their motivations are clear. That’s all very easy to simply portray the charac- the listener needs to navigate deep ter as two-faced and leave it at that, waters. Anyone passingly familiar to but de Jongh finds the character and Doctor Who could listen to this audio, truth behind that to present a compel- and enjoy it. It’s the ideal way to han- ling, united character. I would have dle extensive continuity and canon. loved to see her as an ongoing charac- ter. Hob also finds a voice actor at long In many ways, ‘The Quantum Possibil- last, Wayne Forester amusingly playing ity Machine’ is a counterpoint to Ad- the Peter Lorre to Dog bolter's Sydney

64 Greenstreet. Golden Age Hollywood references delight me.

The Quantum Possibility Engine is what you point to when you say “Big Finish’s monthly range is exciting.” Sparkling and delightful, this is one of the essential 2018 audios. If you’re an old, lifelong Doctor Who fan like me, you’ll probably remember those ads in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine back in the day for a series of VHS tapes evocatively titled Myth Makers, by Reeltime Pictures. These videos featured conversations with all sorts of people involved with Who. Like me, you probably didn’t have the money for them, either. Or anything to watch them on, for that matter.

Happily, now we’re older, we have jobs and, if we’re lucky, disposable in- comes, so these things are now acces- sible Fortunately, a new series of DVDs Click here for the trailer from Koch Media is compiling lots of these interviews (plus newer ones) in a Click here to buy from Big Finish range called The Doctors, the latest of which, Villains!, arrived through my letterbox this week.

The focus of this particular collection, which I’ll assume you can guess from the title, features interviews with Ian Collier (Omega in Arc of Infinity, aka: ‘We’re in Amsterdam For Some Rea- son!’), Bernard Archard (Scarman in Pyramids of Mars), David Gooderson (Davros in Destiny of the Daleks), Peter Miles (the deliciously malevolent Ny- Click here to buy from Amazon UK der in Genesis of the Daleks) and Julian © Big Finish Glover (the spinach tagliatelle-headed

65 Scaroth in City of Death). Also included with a fixed smile on your face until he is a lovely tribute to Roger Delgado, briefly lights on something you want to the original Master, because, how hear. To be fair, this is the nature of a could you not? lot of these Reeltime interviews, which aren’t just about Doctor Who but also First things first, if you’re going to the entire careers of those involved. watch any of these DVDs all the way through, you REALLY have to love Doc- David Gooderson is an intelligent, eru- tor Who, otherwise you might have a dite speaker, engaging and easy to lis- hard time listening to sometimes over- ten to, and seemingly the nicest Dav- ly long stories about early days in the ros you’d ever want to meet. In fact, theatre or coping with Nicholas Briggs’ looking at him in his armchair talking jokes, bless him. to the pleasantly open Robert Dick, you can easily picture him returning to The Ian Collier feature is pretty inter- Nu Who as a friendlier, more avuncular esting, especially as the man clearly Davros from a parallel universe where loves the show and the interview is the Kaleds weren’t a bunch of space largely focused on his two experiences Nazis. How he actually became Davros with Who, The Time Monster and Arc is worth hearing. It’s funny how the of Infinity, giving him a nice perspec- BBC used to work. tive on two very distinct eras. How Col- lier and Pertwee contrasted in terms of Gooderson’s memory is very detailed their relationship to sci-fi is just the and his experiences of wearing Davros’ kind of anecdote fans would be listen- face and sitting in the twisted maniac’s ing out for in a series like this. chair are nicely described. Again, what makes this a good feature is a strong When Collier talks about his personal Who focus over the general – after all, life, and the consequences for his ca- that’s what most of us are forking out reer in regard to one event in particu- for – and Gooderson – who’s done his lar, is very much an eye-opener. It fair share of conventions and therefore makes you think, if Collier actually had knows what we want to hear – doesn’t the power of Omega, some people disappoint. might have found themselves squished by lurid blob monsters. As for Peter Miles, I sometimes feel it’s not important what he says, just that The interview with Bernard Archard is he says it with that distinctively sinister one of those that require some pa- voice of his. Of course, my view might tience and, for me anyway, is perhaps be coloured by the different roles the least interesting of all the features. Miles has played in Who (a swine in It’s sweet enough, but sort of like hav- Silurians, a swine in Invasion of the ing afternoon tea with grandpa, where Dinosaurs and the apotheosis of you just have to sit there and listen swinery in Genesis), but I still can’t 66 help expecting him to suddenly cosh But, again, it does not matter. The fea- you halfway through a story about a ture is a beautiful homage to the best ham sandwich. Potential coshing aside, Master of them all, funny, moving, the man tells a good story – and he has sad… a greatest hits of Delgado-related a lot of them – as well as being a anecdotes that you won’t mind listen- chilling pleasure to listen to. This inter- ing to again and again. In fact, I would view is definitely one of the standouts have made this the final feature of the of the DVD, full of ‘whonecdotes’ and set… AS WELL AS THE FIRST! worth it just for what Miles has to say about ‘Allo ‘Allo!. All in all, Villains is a fairly enjoyable five hours of Whophemera though per- The first half of the 50-minute Julian haps it’s a good idea not to watch all Glover interview is basically a sum- five hours in one go. If I have any criti- mary of a life in acting which might cism, some interviews could be edited prove interesting to aspiring actors. It down, but it’s a small, niggling criticism was interesting to hear what this ac- really, because in the end the entire complished thespian had to say about series, Villains being no exception, ba- working with Douglas Camfield from sically works as an intimate chat with a that perspective. Probably the most friend. My advice? Crack out the tea fun part of the interview is when Glov- and chocolate biscuits and enjoy a er talks about his role as Scaroth, alt- good old chinwag you can occasionally hough ‘fun’ is perhaps pushing it. Glov- fast-forward. er isn’t exactly a giggle a minute and the interview as a whole is maybe ra- ther dry. Still, to quote the 13th Doc- tor, “On the plus side, I now feel very well informed.”

While the tribute to Roger Delgado is the first feature on Villains, I think you have to save the best till last. We clas- sic Who fans love the comfort of the familiar so you’ll be pleased to know there’s absolutely nothing here that you haven’t heard many, many times before. But it doesn’t matter. The trib- ute plays like a beloved melody, with popular verses sung by all your old fa- vourites: Pertwee, Courtney, Levene, Letts and more. Some verses are even repeated within the actual tribute! Click here to buy from Time Travel TV

67 But then came her pronouncement that soon our world would end, and only a few of us, a select few, would be allowed to survive. Then we worried, we doubted, we objected. I objected I spoke out in anger, that was when I In the beginning we welcomed her ar- truly discovered the nature of our god- rival as a sign of great things to come, dess and that she wasn’t a goddess at all of our prophesies spoke of a wise all. goddess from the stars who will de- scend to our world to create a living The all-encompassing hum came from paradise. So when she appeared our everywhere, everything in the console hearts sang with joy, our priests room was linked, homogenised, it pul- offered up prayers of thanks and warri- sated in synch. Bach busied himself ors built great fires on the beach to inputting data and ’ didn t look up as mark the occasion. the mistress approached him, aware of her intimidating gaze, her ravishing All the talk was of miracles, rebirth, beauty and her penetrating intelli- new opportunities for all and great gence. He felt humble in her presence, wealth. She was clearly a special being, a mere slave, an underling. an angel, someone of great knowledge far beyond that of our wisest sages. When she touched him he didn’t flinch but inwardly he felt a mix of terror and When she asked for young people to arousal. She was as mysterious as her be supplied for ‘experiments’ we did machine, he understood neither. She not question it, even when they didn’t had trained him, taught him various return. When she asked for her own skills to make him more useful to her private island that no one could visit but he didn’t know why. Why choose under pain of death, we accepted it. him when there were others far more When she insisted that all healthy gifted and wiser, he was but a mere males and females be fitted with spe- villager, a peasant or so he’d always cial bio-chips we raised no objections. thought. “We’re almost there,” the words sang When strange new diseases afflicted in his ear soft and caressing. Bach certain peoples causing them to go blinked, almost where? mad and kill each other, we saw it as a “I’ve done as you instructed mistress,” test, our goddess was testing us to see the words and figures were meaning- if we were worthy of her benediction, less. after all what else do gods and goddess Smiling she moved into his line of vi- do but make sport with mortals? sion, “Are you afraid of me Bach?” “Of course, who wouldn’t be afraid of

68 anyone with your powers?” He found upgraded and improved by surgery he was trembling, he still couldn’t and drugs at no little expense so don’t make eye contact; he’d seen what hap- disappoint me with clichés. Who am I, pened to those who tried. what is my name; I permit you to “Powers,” she drank in the word as if speak it as you would any other name enjoying it, “Oh of course you still be- as you would your own.” lieve in magic don’t you, in the super- stitions of the before-time.” Terror rooted him in place, to do as ordered would be to fly in the face of a The laughter was sharp and mocking, thousand years of sacred teachings, then his chin was fingered and pushed yet one could not defy a goddess for upwards, “Look at me Bach.” There was it not such a being who created was little choice but to obey, one did the home world in the face place and not defy the Mistress. He gazed into gave it the holy name Miasimia Goria – the brilliant green eyes, took in the land of the sacred feminine. high-cheekbones, the sensuous lips, the haughty imperious angle of the His lips formed the first letter but he head and the lustrous chestnut brown couldn’t get his tongue to release it. curls. “Come on Bach, you can do it,” he was “Tell me what you see,” she urged. urged as a nail found his top lip, “Try “A goddess, a superior being, a star harder.” traveller,” Bach gave the usual an- swers, the expected replies. “You are “RRRRRaaa,” he gasped then lost his the Mistress, she who must be obeyed, nerve. giver of discipline and pain; the su- “That’s it, four letters, two syllables, it preme mother.” isn’t hard even for a primitive tongue Scorn painted itself across the classi- like yours, now speak it.” cally beautiful face as she let go of his “RRRRaaaannnni,” he spluttered, chin and tickled his cheek with her fin- “Rani,” there he’d said it done the un- gertips, “You know my name and yet thinkable, blasphemed; he felt only you never use it,” she said, “Why is shame but also an odd sense of eupho- that?” ria for he was the first and only one of “Your name is sacred, Mistress it is his people to speak this name aloud. only to be spoken in silent prayer with “Rani,” repeated the mistress, “That’s reverence.” who I am, how I am known to my peo- The chin rose and from the lips came a ple. Who are my people?” She moved sound that was neither pleased nor the nail to an ear, “Well?” respectful, “I didn’t bring you here to Gods he wanted to say, sacred celestial be a spineless sycophant Bach; to re- beings but she had taught him another peat the idiotic dogma of your mind- term, “Time….Lords.” less people. You have been educated, “Yes Bach that’s right the Time Lords,”

69 She seemed pleased with him at last. “My world,” he muttered, “Miasimia “Smug, sanctimonious, self-righteous Goria? But it is small, backward, of no guardians of a pious, outdated philoso- consequence have you not said so, phy that I rejected a long time ago.” many times yourself?” He was confused by her bitterness; it The Rani chuckled; letting go of him was as if the Mistress despised her she went over to a wall of her machine own kind, the other gods and goddess- which resembled a tall mirror. When es. she waved a hand, an image of Bach’s “Rejected,” he echoed in confusion. planet appeared; an orange sphere “Utterly,” and the green eyes flashed with light blue clouds, the continents with cold fury. compact and circular, the oceans long “But they are divine,” he said. strings of tepid water. “How beautiful The nail cut his earlobe, “Oh they are it looks from up here,” he thought, far from that Bach,” the Rani sneered. “even mysterious.” “Advanced yes, clever certainly, devi- “I didn’t come here by accident Bach, ous beyond doubt but not divine. They nor did I choose your world at random; are mortal beings like you and your I came to it because it contains just people, just more advanced; and like what I am looking for – the elements your people they can suffer and die,” of my revenge over the Time Lords.” the Rani contemplated these words, Touching the scar over his left eye (it “Suffer and die,” she repeated still hurt) Bach joined the mistress to thoughtfully seeming to enjoy the im- peer down at the place of his birth, ages conjured in her mind. “Which how exotic it seemed, how amazing. they will in great numbers screaming Yet in a way it seemed so dull to him my name in impotent rage.” now. He was appalled. Now the Rani was “Is this why you perform the opera- blaspheming; she spoke of attacking tions on us, on me,” he asked? the most-high themselves. Turning, the Rani reached out to touch “No mistress we cannot, dare not.” the scar over his eye herself, “Before I The nail cut him again jabbing in hard came you had no idea of how valuable like a knife, “I dare do many things the hormone in your pituitary gland is; Bach, I dare defy any law and those once it is removed, refined, genetically who make that law, I dare defy the modified and added to other com- high council of the time lords and all pounds of my creation.” their offices. I shall bring them down “You told me once it was an elixir but I and humble them. And your people never did understand. An elixir for will help me, your world will be the what?” source of my revenge.” Chuckling the Rani let her hand stray He didn’t understand but then, how to Bach’s hair, “You might as well could he? She spoke of things outside know now, that I’ve enhanced you to his experience. the point where you can just grasp

70 basic scientific principle. Your hormone one who had, is the means by which I shall avenge “May I ask a favour Rani?” myself on the Time Lords, because to “To see your wife? Why not?” An inner them it constitutes disaster, despair, a door opened leading to another part of divorce from the energies they believe the ship; a ship without any physical they command.” limits, it seemed to him. Bach shrugged. He couldn’t grasp her Mona lay in what the Rani had called meaning, “A poison,” he said hopeful- an isolation ward, essentially a bed ly? with sensory equipment built into it, “Much more,” came the sigh, “A great that monitored her feeble life signs; deal more.” His gazed moved from the tiny LED “But they are not here: you told me screens to Mona’s pale features. they were in another galaxy another Younger than him she looked older, time.” her youth and vitality stolen it seemed; “Just keep your eye on the viewer.” diminished by what she’d been He did as he was told, while she went through. over to the central console and worked The eyelids flickered open as he drew rapidly. nearer, and the cracked lips smiled As he watched, Bach saw his world when he kissed her. vanish. It happened without warning, “Hello my love,” he said, “I told you I in an instant, imploding into a spiral- would never leave you; that whatever ling tunnel of many coloured rings. ‘She’ did to you I’d be here. Her ship Had it been destroyed? He didn’t think has left our world. Don’t ask me to try so – the Rani’s ship was moving. It had and explain it but we’re going to an- entered a slipstream of violent unfath- other world; the place where she omable currents. comes from, to meet her people; meet “Another galaxy, another time,” she them and destroy them. What she echoed his words back at him, “But took from us has been turned into a such things are no obstacle to me not curse, a plague that will be visited up- in this… craft, and they are no obstacle on others.” to you either Bach; you’re coming with Mona tried to speak but even creating me, a witness perhaps; or maybe just words was too much of an effort. A someone to whom I can gloat after- single tear ran down her cheek. From wards.” his pocket, Bach took one of the test His gaze moved to the banks of tiny tubes that he’d stolen from the con- test tubes racked on one side of the sole room, it was only half full. There console room, each tube contained a was plenty of room to add something small amount of a milky liquid. He to it. knew that some of it came from him, “Our time will come Mona, our re- most from others, not all of whom had venge is very near now,” he rested his survived the extraction. He thought of head on her stomach and thought of

71 the children they would never have. more shocking than I could have antici- pated and ultimately led my death, a She was ever defiant and spiteful. My violent and painful death at that. I was favourite student. The scorn she felt poisoned in my own home in my own for others often bubbled to the surface bed and as I lay dying, screaming and and erupted in the form of harsh helpless she looked down upon me words, insults and once or twice in vio- with a mocking smile and told me what lent attacks. Brilliant but fatally flawed she really thought of me, of all Time she represented all that is best and Lords, of Gallifrey. worst in the people of Gallifrey. On the It was, she said. time to move on, to one hand she was cool and measured, break free of our pathetic cowardice. detached and pitiless but on the other She left that very night, stole a capsule she burned with ambition; ready to and departed setting fire to the Acade- trample on all who stood in her way. my itself. I tried to calm her of course; to temper And so, I died. But as a Time Lord, that brilliant mind with compassion death isn’t the end. For us death is no but it rarely worked, and in the end, it blessed release – we go on, as so do failed totally. She began to see herself our regrets; the Rani being perhaps my as better than me; better than any of biggest. her tutors. We held her back she said, I most of all with my simpering weak- It was a circular, blank, black hole in ness, my care for others. She felt sti- space through which no stars could be fled by the very rules I saw as vital to seen, no suns or dust, just total noth- maintain a balanced psyche and so in ingness. Could that be where the Mis- the end she defied me utterly – she tress came from? began to experiment on other stu- “Transduction barrier,” The words just dents against their will. bewildered Bach, “It keeps Gallifrey The results were catastrophic and are several seconds out of phase with the too well recorded to repeat here, rest of the universe and thus provides there was madness, illness and yes an excellent barrier. You see, my peo- even death. My student displayed no ple have mastered time, or so they remorse and not even that much inter- believe. They move freely through it est. Such things are to be expected she back and forth even sideways.” said. They were inevitable, part of the The Rani seemed almost proud as she learning process. spoke these words, but even in the Of course I couldn’t let her continue. pride there was an ironic scorn, a dis- She was a menace, a threat to all I held missive contempt. dear. So regretfully I reported her to “Have we also moved through time my superiors, there was little choice. I Mistress?” knew what the consequences would “Yes Bach, not too far forward just be, or I thought I did, but they were enough to ensure that most people

72 have forgotten me - at least the ones They emerged into a long room, the who matter. I left under something of likes of which Bach had never seen cloud, you see; there was a scandal, a before; with its wood panelling, Corin- fire and a death.” thian columns, glass sculptures and Having seen many deaths, Bach was shelves of ancient untitled books. not surprised, death followed this There was a long table, at the end of woman around. She wore it like a which sat an elderly man in a high col- badge of honour. lared aquamarine robe. He looked al- He saw a pulse of brilliant light pierce most priestly. Dozing, he didn’t re- the lower hemisphere of the black- spond as the Rani and Bach ap- ness, just a pinprick but it excited the proached the table. She gave a snort of Mistress. “Our way in,” she breathed derision. using the remote control strapped to “Look at him,” she spat, “You wouldn’t her left wrist to manoeuvre the ship. believe that this is the leader of the “A little flaw in the barrier that I modi- Time Lords, would you?” fied just before leaving. I didn’t think Bach could only agree. “You know him Barrier-Control would notice it, and Mistress?” they haven’t. Now I just need to read- “His name is Tarn, he used to be my just the entry coordinates to take me mentor at the academy, then he be- to where I need to be.” She eyed Bach, came my lover and finally my husband. “Grab a pallet of test tubes and a Now he is Lord President of the High volatiser.” Council. Funny, last time I saw him he As he was doing this a question oc- was dying.” curred, “Won’t your people have some Ignoring Bach’s bewilderment, the Ra- kind of security? Surely they will real- ni moved over to Tarn and very gently ise that their barrier has been pene- ran her fingers through his thinning trated.” grey hair. Bach found it hard to believe Rani’s look was one of new respect. the Rani had ever loved anyone other “Very good Bach,” she patronised. than herself, let alone married some- “You’re improving, that last operation one. on your pre-frontal lobe was a glorious “You still have feelings for this man,” success.” She considered what he’d he asked? said. “The Chancery Guards have their The expression hardened into con- uses but they’re pathetically slow to tempt, but in the eyes, there was a respond. By the time they do, we’ll be curious emotion, perhaps not love or long gone. I don’t intend to linger, well even liking but an odd remnant of nos- not much.” The laugh was the familiar talgia. cruel bray, which chilled Bach to the “He’s part of my old life as a student core. here - and I was a brilliant student, top of my year - and it was a very impres- sive year, let me tell you.”

73 “What where you a student of mis- saviours,” she spat the last few words tress, if I may ask?” as her gaze dipped to Tarn. “Masters “Yes you can ask,” Rani snapped then of paralysis, kings of complacency, seemed to reconsider, “The sciences spineless, hopeless, lacking in any kind were my specialism, bio-chemistry, of vision. And here,” she sighed, “is the surgery, genetics – do you understand latest of them, a man who grew to fear what I’m saying?” she asked, “No I his own protégée even when she don’t suppose you do.” shared his bed.” Tarn moved his head and let out a low For the first time since awakening, moan, he seemed old and tired to Tarn sat upright in his chair, a little Bach; weighed down by whatever re- steel entering his spine a hint of pride sponsibilities he now had. triggered no doubt by these insults. “Are you going to kill him?” the slave “We Time Lords are an ancient and asked. proud race but we have from time to “I’m going to kill all of them,” she spat. time produced some foul mutations “You would murder your own people?” some truly sick minds. You my dear ex- Bach couldn’t hide his revulsion. wife are one of them. You may be in- “Don’t get sentimental on me Bach, terested to know that the Chancery I’ve waited a long time for this - but Guards are on their way. In your ab- first,” gripping Tarn by the chin she sence you were tried and found guilty yanked his head upright waking him of several crimes including my mur- immediately. The sleepy eyes regis- der.” tered first surprise then outrage and This didn’t seem to bother the Rani at finally terror. all. Indeed. her own back straightened, “You,” the old man croaked and “What are you going to do, send me to seemed to shrink into his chair. Shada? Or is it to be particle dissemi- “I’m flattered by the speed of your re- nation?” The words were rich with call, no post-regenerative fogging I contempt. “By the time your guards see.” break in here - and they will have to He’s not likely to forget his ex-wife, the break in husband; I’ve bonded the woman who murdered him thought door shut at the molecular level; by Bach. the time they find you, you will be “How did you…” Tarn began then swal- dead and soon after that they will start lowed the question, “Why are you to die; they and many others.” here, why come back?” She clicked her fingers. Bach took a She looked up at the portraits of past test tube from the bag he was carrying presidents, shaking her head. and brought it over. Rani gestured for “Look at them Bach the great and the him to remove the stopper. The tube good, the spiritual and political leaders seemed unusually full and some of its of this world since the day it con- contents splashed onto her fingers as quered time; regarded as heroes and he passed it to her. She didn’t react,

74 knowing that she was immune to the nails turning black, the fingers becom- chemical weapon she had developed, ing arthritic. The Rani screamed, to use on her own people. throwing the test tube aside in horror “Goodbye husband,” she said, as her hand, her whole arm went into “Consider this our decree absolute, if spasm. She roared and swung around you like.” She brought the tube around on Bach, realising that she had been for Tarn to see, “The contents of this betrayed, a weapon in her other hand. small vessel will render the Time Lords She fired. unable to regenerate. Without that But the lethal beam failed to material- ability, their lives will be shortened ise. Bach did not die. His body did not considerably. But it gets worse for glow or melt. them. Should they try to travel in time Tarn chuckled, “This is the office of the they will find themselves no longer Lord President my dear wife; no weap- protected from the flux and flow of the on can be discharged in here not even Vortex even inside a TARDIS. They will one of ours.” simply age to death.” Bach didn’t doubt these words, too Her hand now a swollen, disfigured many of his own people had suffered claw, dark veins of infection climbing in the concoction of this evil brew in- up her wrist, the Rani let out a shriek. cluding himself. From the expression She staggered towards Bach but he of horror on his face, neither did Tarn. retreated, keeping the other test tubes “Mistress,” said Bach, “wait.” out of her reach. She looked at him aghast. Never be- fore had he attempted to give her in- The Rani’s arm began to swell and dis- structions. He was her tame little pet, figure. The antidote, she must have the her personal slave; he did as he was antidote. She dashed back into her told; what his upgrades would allow. TARDIS and sealed the door, giving no “Some of the elixir has fallen on you,” more thought to Bach, her ex- said Bach. husband, nor Gallifrey. Her only con- “So?” The Rani’s tone was withering, “I cern now was survival. She was being am immune.” destroyed at the DNA level. Genetic “Not from the tears of sorrow, mis- decay was occurring at an accelerated tress, as wept by my wife. As you so rate, regeneration only 40% probable; often told me the tears of my people death was the most likely outcome; contain another element against which oblivion. even you have no defence. Oh how many tears we have shed in your “No,” she raged, “it can’t end here, not name, an ocean of despair, from which like this, there’s still so much to do.” until now you have been free.” Going to the central console she The Rani glared at her hand. The flesh slammed her one good hand on the was discolouring, scaling, bulging; the telepathic circuit. There had to be a

75 solution, a way out - and maybe her TARDIS could supply it. Words flashed up, they were blurred until she blinked her eyes clear. ‘DNA infusion required from another Time Lord.’ “Which one?” the Rani raged. “Give In the build up to the Thirteenth Doc- me a name.” tor, prior to series 11, it was a good ‘Only two possible matches exist,’ re- idea for Titan to release these little plied her ship. prequels of sorts. And very good they “Tell me who they are and where they have been thus far, and this is no ex- are,” the Rani demanded. ception.. The choices came up. Oh how ironic. James Peaty captures the characters The Master. Or, The Doctor. perfectly with his writing of the Tulpa story. I could hear the words on the page being spoken in my head so clear- ly. Combined with Brian Williamson’s art work and this is an joyful little ad- venture.

The next part of ‘The Road to’ is written by Jody Houser and is drawn by Rachael Stott who is fast becoming one of my favourite artists. Her work is exquisite.

I can thoroughly recommend that you pick this up and give it a read. You won’t be sorry.

Visit the range at Titan Comics here

76 him. It hadn’t changed anything. A six- teen year-old with a gun is just as dan- gerous as any older man. The boy had been the first – but not the last. In the years that followed, he Such little lives, full of disappointment had been sent to kill on too many and futility. For the soldier, that was times to count. Then had come that the word that summed up human ex- business in the underground and more istence – futility. And he had the pow- killing. But this was different, not peo- er to change that – at least for some of ple this time, monsters, things. But it them. He could end their futile exist- was all the same to the soldier. After ence and give their deaths, if not their that everything had changed. The kill- lives a little meaning. At least by sur- ing continued, but he found himself rendering themselves to him, they attached to a new group with a new awarded themselves some posthu- C.O. The soldier was in the thick of it. mous purpose. They fed him, nour- He became an expert killer, relied on ished him, made him strong. to do his superior’s dirty work – mon- The soldier had killed before, of sters, creatures, alien threats of all course. It was a part of the job. The kinds. People too of course, the villains first time had been in Aden. Ordinary and their henchmen. It was never per- people, decent people, old men and sonal, it was his job to kill them with as kids, not wanting anything more than a little fuss as possible. He had neither chance to have a say in how things enjoyed it nor been worried by it. It were run in their own land – and he was just what he did. had been sent to help sort them out, Then one day, one killing had been to put them back in their place, to kill different. The man had taken him by for Queen and country. surprise – a man, not a monster. He As he waited in the store room, he re- had jumped out at him with a knife. flected on how he had come to this The soldier had fought for his life, point. He knew he would never forget fought him off and thrown him to the that first time, that moment when one ground. He had managed to fire, and insurgent fighter had taken one risk had wounded his opponent without too many, one step too far forward, killing him. The man was incapacitated, one step that had brought him into the unable to defend himself. Slowly, en- soldier’s line of sight. It hadn’t been joying every step, the soldier had personal, this was the enemy. Kill or be walked up to the man and placed his killed – if not himself, then his mates. weapon against his head. He paused, He didn’t hesitate. He squeezed the looking the man in the eye. He found trigger and ended a life. It was only no trace of fear or pleading, just a re- later that he had discovered that his signed acceptance that robbed the victim had been a sixteen year-old boy. soldier of his moment. It was the man That fact hadn’t particularly worried

77 who smiled, as the soldier pulled the was confident that it would never be trigger and ended his life. He turned found. and surrendered his breakfast. He had expected there to be a thrill, a *** feeling of excitement, elation even; but he had felt nothing, no satisfac- In the store cupboard he smiled to tion. What was worse was that he himself as he remembered it. In that knew those feelings had been there moment he had felt more alive than at waiting for him, just out of his grasp. any time before. Every time had been He knew they were there and he special, but that time had been even craved them. He would kill again, kill more special. He took another look for himself and soon. He would find through the door into the laboratory. what had eluded him this time. She would be here any moment. This The opportunity presented itself soon- room would be where her life would er than he could have hoped. end.

A chance presented itself and he took *** it. Killing Professor Lennox hadn’t been Everyone had assumed that Private difficult, and getting hold of a radioac- Carson had died during the battle with tive isotype to do the job had been the Lizard Men in the caves under Der- embarrassingly easy. It turned out byshire. That one was the first to give handy too, that for some reason Gen- him real satisfaction. Down there in eral Carrington had been keen to claim the caves, no one to see. It had been credit for the kill. Of course he hadn't over in seconds. The soldier had simply had the satisfaction of being able to come up behind the private, taken watch the ridiculous little scientist die, hold of his head, one sharp twist and... but there were other compensations. finished. Over the months it continued. Each time he would pick his victim carefully, This had been different, so different, study them meticulously until he knew wonderfully different, thrillingly differ- their routine, until he could predict ent. This hadn't been an enemy. He their every move. He would choose the hadn't been killing under orders, for place and time of the execution to be Queen and country, for the Brigadier. certain of success. He wasn't particular This had been for himself and himself how he killed. Sometimes he hit them alone and it had been an extraordinary over the head, a wrench or a hammer feeling. from the workshop worked well, it did- n't matter. Mostly he used his hands. It had been so easy to hide the body He loved his hands. Big, strong hands. too. Then with the caves destroyed, he The hands of a killer.

78 Sometimes he let them live, because been easy, down there in the caves, he could. Just because he could. He with no-one to say that it hadn't been had that power. Only he could give the Lizard Men who had killed him. But them that gift. Mostly he killed. That to kill here at U.N.I.T. H.Q. that would moment when they surrendered their be something. life to those hands. When they He has selected his target with his usu- stopped breathing, when life passed al care and attention to detail. O'Hal- from their eyes, made him the most loran, Private David, 26 years old, sin- powerful man on Earth. gle, parents dead, no family to worry Every time he hid the body, the useless about him. The Project Inferno busi- empty remains; careful to choose ness had got to him – everyone knew somewhere where it would never be he was on the edge. When he disap- found. It never occurred to him that he peared it would be simple to plant the might be caught – and he never was. idea of a breakdown. Like others be- No-one could stop him – and no-one fore him, he would have gone AWOL. did. He was the angel of death. Better Yes they would look for him, but when still, his victims were hardly ever he wasn't found the file would go onto missed. the back burner. They would be to If only his father had lived to see him busy to do anything other than move now. He would have told him, of on. No one would ever wonder what course; just to see his face. For once he had really happened. would have been forced to admit that As always the soldier picked his time he had been wrong about him. This and place. 02 hundred hours, O'Hal- would have wiped that sour look of loran was coming off duty, walking disapproval from his features. He through the main car park on his way would have had to be proud, despite back to the barracks, alone and unob- himself. But no; he would never have served. Unobserved other than by the admitted to it. He could never have soldier. looked at his son with anything other He watched O'Halloran approach in than disappointment and loathing. the darkness. As he came closer the Unstoppable! That feeling of certainty soldier pulled himself even further had been what had led him to make back onto the shadows. O'Halloran his first mistake. His first and last. He passed him. Unseen and unheard, the wouldn't do it again. soldier stepped out behind him and He had known for a while that he made his move. O'Halloran slumped wanted to take a risk. It was just too back into the soldier's embrace, his compelling a prospect to resist. He neck broken cleanly. had made up his mind that his next The sentry on the gate smiled in victim would be someone close by. greeting and checked his pass as he One of his colleagues, another of the paused at the barrier, then waved the men. One of his friends. Carson had U.N.I.T. Land Rover through. If only he

79 had known about its grim cargo. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had clearly not been convinced that all was At first it all went as the soldier had as it should be and had asked the Doc- expected it to. O'Halloran's absence tor to look into the matter. At this, the had been discovered in the morning Doctor had quite rightly not been im- and after his mates had been ques- pressed, pointing out forcibly that he tioned, had been quickly put down to was supposed to be U.N.I.T.’s scientific desertion. The soldier's nocturnal mis- advisor and not the Brigadier's private sion had been discovered and easily investigator. explained with reference to a paper For a moment the soldier had been that the Brigadier had no memory of concerned, but the Doctor had not signing, but there it was. O'Halloran been interested. After the most curso- had no family to worry about him – ry of investigations, he had been happy except there was someone. A step- to conclude that O'Halloran had in all sister, much older, somehow hadn't likelihood absconded. Case closed. been mentioned in the records. The The soldier smiled to himself at the military police found her though, hop- memory. The Doctor certainly had a ing that O'Halloran had taken refuge brilliant mind. If he had done the job with her. He hadn't of course, but once properly he might have been a prob- alerted to her brother's disappearance, lem, but he could be lazy and arrogant. she wouldn't let go. Visits to the Briga- That was his weakness. Time to select dier; letters from her M.P.; threats of the next victim. questions in the House; reports in the It was a Tuesday in early June when media; the lot. A mess. Miss Shaw – Doctor Elizabeth Shaw confided in him that she was soon to leave U.N.I.T. and return to Cambridge. He had always got on well with Dr. Shaw, liked her even. She had always shown him more respect than most of his superiors had done; but then she was a civilian and had a generous and kindly nature. She treated him as an experienced and skilled professional, as a human being rather than as some sort of military drone, a piece of hard- ware to be deployed. He wasn't sure why he was so certain that he would have to end her life. Perhaps in some way it was a response to her kindness. Certain he was though. The problem had always been the Brig- adier and the Doctor. She was too 80 close to them. She would be missed. some way those moments became his. Now this news changed everything. No, more than that - they became him. She was leaving. It gave him an oppor- As he watched her it occurred to him tunity. They would just assume she that this would be his final kill. He had had left early. And if they never saw no more to prove, to himself or to his her again, so what? That’s how it often father. He did not know how much was. Colleagues – and friends – came longer he would stay with U.N.I.T. His and went. Everyone would just move cousin Alan had already promised him on. The Doctor would get a new assis- a job in his car dealership – a partner- tant, Dr. Shaw would be forgotten. ship if he proved himself. That might The storeroom off the Doctor's labora- be worth following up. He had to do tory was the ideal place. The Doctor something. On the other hand he had himself was away, chasing some story always fancied running a little country about flying saucers or something. Dr pub. Why not? No rush to decide. Shaw would be alone. The soldier His contemplation wad interrupted. could do his work unobserved. The moment had almost ar- He came unseen into the empty labor- rived.Doctor Shaw had worked her atory and silently opened the store- way around the laboratory and was room door. He went in and closed to it now standing, her back to him, just behind him, leaving just enough of a outside the door. She was almost with- gap for him to be able to see the labor- in reach. Just a little further now. atory without giving himself away. There. After a moment she followed him into Silent and unseen he stepped out of the laboratory. He watched her intent- the storeroom. One more step and the ly as she began busying herself with moment would be here. He would take her work. Little tasks. These would be her throat and caress it, squeeze it, her last moments, and she was wasting end her life. Now! them, completely unaware of their He made to step forward. As he did so, significance. the door was flung open and the Briga- He thought about all the days of her dier bustled in. The soldier stepped life, all the moments; all the thoughts back. What had he seen? Had there she had had, all the things she had been anything to make him suspi- said; all the people she had known and cious? He felt his heart race as the those she had met only in passing; the adrenalin pumped through his body. loves and the hates; the hopes and the Then relief. He breathed. The officer fears. He wondered what she had been had been too preoccupied leafing like as a girl and what she might have through some papers as he came in to been like as an old woman. All the take in the significance of the scene. many, many moments that make up “Ah, Sergeant, good. Carry on.” It was even a short life. They had all been clear that he had just assumed that the leading to this, one final moment, an soldier had been wasting his time, appointment with him here today. In avoiding being given work to do, talk- 81 Ever wanted a Torchwood movie? Well, here's the nearest thing you're gonna get! And that's not a bad thing. ‘Believe’ delivers a new, familiar but truly unique Torchwood story wrapped up as a 2.5 hour epic from Big Finish.

Guy Adams talents as a writer shine brightly here. A compelling plot at a good pace, with twists and turns aplenty. A sound understanding of the ing to Miss Shaw. For her part the sci- classic Torchwood team, mixed with entist merely gave the soldier a slightly interesting new additions are all well puzzled smile, then focussed on what directed by Scott Handcock. the Brigadier was saying. He took his cue to leave. As he did, he The regular cast are pinpoint perfect caught the beginning of the conversa- too, with Barrowman, Myles, Lloyd, tion. Mori and Gorman all acting like they “Miss Shaw, I want your opinion about never left, and further helping us to these personnel profiles.” He handed understand how their characters tick. her the papers. “Possible replace- The guest talent of Mac McDonald, ments. For when you leave us. All top Arthur Darvill, Lois Meleri Jones, Mali scientists, Oxford, Cambridge... We're Harries and others give their all. going for one of the best.” As he walked down the corridor, he There’s immaculate sound design by could still taste the adrenalin, feel the David Nagel (which is way too good in visceral excitement. The moment had some instances), and brilliant music as passed. This was new. He rather liked always by the astounding Blair Mowat. the sensation. Dr. Shaw had lived to Believe is a release that is essential to see another day, but she would still any fan of Torchwood. To ignore it give up her life to him. Another mo- would be sacrilege. ment would come. There would be another opportunity and he would Click here for the trailer take her. Who would there be to stop him? Click here to buy from Big Finish

82 Doctor Who has been around for 55 years, which is an astonishing feat for any television series, and its longevity means that it has literal generations of fans who have grown up with the show. And it’s only become more pop- ular in recent years. along really well. The memes have When Twitch announced they were been fantastic, the biggest ones so far going to be doing a marathon of classic being ‘London 1965’ and ‘He Knows’. Doctor Who I was intrigued. I had no idea what Twitch was and had to go to my 12 year old son to find out. This made me feel very old! Anyway I made myself an account and decided to watch and take part with interest. I soon found out in the chat, that some of the posts I was making contained what could be considered spoilers. It’s strange to think of something so old that has been discussed so openly and freely for so long, is being exposed to an audience that the vast majority of have not seen these classic episodes so The banter when Twitch had a bit of a the concerns about spoilers was duly mere and put on wrong episodes was noted. Last thing I want to do is spoil outstanding. I don’t think The Web someone’s viewing experience. Planet has ever been in as much de- mand. And when the last episode of So far in the twitch chat, there seems The Chase was finally broadcast the to be two main threads of conversa- chat room went into meltdown! tion, both equally valid, the more seri- ous and the more fun, with both some- Beyond all the jokes and the memes times meeting halfway. I’ve loved to and the banter, isn't it wonderful to see the positivity that these episodes see upwards of 10,000 people watch- have been received with and the way ing and engaging with a creaky, an- the twitch community all seem to get cient old sci-fi show? Classic characters

83 becoming heroes for a whole new gen- love from the Twitch crowd and being eration. The old magic's still there! By affectionately called Pollen. presenting this iconic BBC show ina new interactive format, it is a fun new Certainly my favourite part of this mar- way to bridge several generations of athon has been the people tuning in Doctor Who fans, while building a new because they love the show but discov- generation of them. ering stories, companions, maybe even a Doctor they never knew existed. Oth- If there’s one thing we’ve learned so ers have expressed it far better than I far from the first three days of Twitch’s can (Paul Cornell most notably), but Doctor Who marathon, it’s that there there's something very important com- was a lot of both creativity and really ing out of the Twitch Classic Who mar- strong storytelling from the show’s athon: reassurance that the fandom is first two seasons. People on the Twitch diverse, thriving, curious, and enthusi- chat stream seemed to really love “The astically engaged. Romans” more than the Doctor Who fan consensus says people should and I doubt even in his wildest dreams Wil- that’s EXCITING. I hope lots of stories liam Hartnell et all would have thought get fresh re-evaluations. "MAD BARB their adventures would be watched in FURY ROAD" as Barbara runs over 2018 by a whole new generation on some Daleks in a truck is my favourite hand held devices.... Now that is sci- comment so far. There has been some ence fiction.... Well done twitch! comedy gold in that chat room! I don’t know, these kids today, with Once the marathon got to season 3 their fidget spinners and black and this new crowd discovered their first white Doctor Who… I’m glad The First real issue with missing episodes. Fol- Doctor has received so much love, I lowing The Time Meddler, the next can’t wait to see what they make of story shown was The Ark and plenty of the next one.. folks were asking "where's Vicki?" There was more confusion at the end of The Ark and beginning of The Gun- fighters as to why the Doctor became invisible and why he had tooth ache. Damn those missing episodes!

Finally, to conclude The First Doctor episodes, we had The War Machines, I've always loved this story and Ben and Polly in particular, so I was very happy to see them receiving lots of

84 the chorus of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, she received the news mid-performance, even being congratulated by Topol live on stage. She then dropped delicious hints to an excited audience about the thirteenth doctor, since through a forthcoming audiobook, Sophie knew I arrived at nine o’clock on a grey Sun- more than she could let on about the day morning at Manchester Print- new team dynamic. Sophie’s sheer joy works, not quite knowing what to ex- at performing in the role of Ace, then pect from my first Doctor Who conven- and now, was evident in spades and all tion. A profusion of scarves and bow- applauded the fact that Big Finish has ties, and a totally accurate (and quite allowed her adventures to expand in frankly amazing) Davros recreation, perpetuity. definitely confirmed I was in the right place. Registration was quick and easy, Next up were Katy Manning, Bob Baker after which I set off to find the Lazy and Stephen Thorne discussing ‘the Lizard nightclub, home for the day to Three Doctors’, chaired by the exuber- the Hartnell stage. Downstairs in the ant Annie Wallace from ‘Hollyoaks’. club, lines of wooden benches occu- This panel had so much to say and pied the dance floor, soon completely were so excitable that often Katy es- filled up with fans. Ideally, three re- caped her chair to interact with the views of VWORP are needed as multi- audience. We heard a series of won- ple venues ran in parallel. I was forced derful insights: about how Pat and Jon to forsake the Troughton stage in the settled into their working camaraderie; Bierkeller, where Bob Baker discussed about how before Omega, Stephen K9, as well as the Pertwee stage in had not only been Azal, but also an Tiger Tiger, where Philip Hinchcliffe Ogron (which not even Katy knew); chose his unsung heroes. However, I and how Unit HQ is now a nursing chose to stay in the Lazy Lizard for the home (should anyone want to retire whole eight hours, as panel after won- there). Bob also told us how the first derful panel, relayed anecdotes and Doctor was originally intended for a speculated engagingly on the future of more active role in the adventure, with Doctor Who. this first draft sadly now lost. Never- theless, the panel thought it wonderful The first session was a conversation that William Hartnell was able to end between Christel Dee and the elegant his career reprising the role he’d so Sophie Aldred. Projecting her voice successfully created a decade before. beautifully into the depths of the club, Finally, upon request, Stephen Thorne Sophie explained how she was in Man- reprised his booming “I should have chester itself when she first heard been a God” speech, much to the audi- she’d got the part of Ace. Appearing in

85 ence’s delight. -minute huddle before shooting a sce- ne. Graeme also reminisced about the Panel three was the entertaining duo joys of working with Bernard Cribbins of Peter Davison and Graeme Harper and Catherine Tate, and the range and discussing the making of both “Caves depth of emotion they brought to their of Androzani” and “Time-Crash”. As roles. Peter pointed out, when he left the show then returned to it all those It was then time for another doctor – years later, the director was still the sixy himself. The wonderfully princi- same! The discussion felt fresh and pled Colin Baker recounted his origins fascinating as Graeme discuss his di- in Manchester, and how he abandoned rectorial technique based on his studio a career in law for acting. After a brief -floor presence, highly unusual at the diversion where he was surprised (and time. Reassured that Peter had found a little shocked) by old TV footage of this helpful (if possibly a little mad), it his cat collection, we learnt about his was almost as though the two men earlier career. As a proto JR in “The were bonding in front of our eyes. Oth- Brothers”, he was (impossibly, surely) er insights included the potential alter- briefly the most hated man in Britain. native casting for Sharaz Jek: either He then discussed his Doctor Who cos- Mick Jagger (who wasn’t affordable) or tume, which while not exactly loved David Bowie (who was interested but was a bonus when working on location on tour!). We also learned that Tom and latterly helped to make his toy Baker uttered vital hints to Peter about model the most popular of all the doc- becoming the Doctor in the BBC TV tors! He was joined at the end by the Centre bar, which were sadly too noisy sparkling Nicola Bryant, the chemistry for Peter to hear. between the two of them still evident.

Graeme, who proved utterly warm and Nicola was then joined by Sophie, Katy, generous (both on the panel and when the Time Ladies and Christel Dee, for a I was lucky enough to get his auto- hugely popular panel entitled “the graph later), then stayed to tell us women who lived”. In part to promote more about the making of the modern Christel’s new book of stories about show. Focusing on “Turn Left” through female characters from the pro- to “Journey’s End”, he described the gramme’s history, the panel discussed differences in filming practice. For the the evolution of female protagonists original series, there was plenty of re- within the show. All the former com- hearsal time, but evening shoots risked panions were thoroughly proud of being stopped in their tracks by techni- their characters and contributions. But cians if they over-ran. Whereas, mod- they also gave interesting insights ern television relies on actors and di- about how they, within the context of rectors turning up ready for a brief five the times they worked in, were able to

86 pave the way for a natural evolution of exciting progression from smaller female roles within Doctor Who, to events in previous years, taking place the point where Jodie Whittaker feels at a much greater scale, and hence like “the right person, at the right presenting the organisers with all-new time” (Katy’s words). logistical challenges. While this meant a few initial technical issues with mi- In the seventh panel, Paul McGann crophones and running times needed revealed the intense secrecy surround- to be resolved, the comperes enter- ing the making of “The Night of the tained the audience with great enthu- Doctor” as part of the fiftieth anniver- siasm throughout, and the crowd were sary celebrations. Joined by fellow cast relaxed in good-natured acceptance. I member, Emma Campbell-Jones (in left the event with two main feelings. her second convention), we enjoyed First, this had been the most inter- their friendship and repartee. We esting and in-depth of days, where I learned much about the joy of actors had come away with so many insights attending the convention circuit, with into the making of this fantastic pro- them all finding that Doctor Who fans gramme. More important was the are a strangely friendly and welcoming sense of warmth, camaraderie, and bunch. even family, that came not just from the fans, but those starring in and Finally, at five o’clock, with a smaller, making the programme. I don’t think I but still keen audience, we concluded ever been to a friendlier event. with one of the most interesting pan- els of the day. The animators of the Thank you so much to the organisers DVDs of “Power of the Daleks” and and roll on next year! “Shada” described the production pro- cess, with Patrick Troughton’s tartan trousers and Tom Baker’s peculiarly expressive mouth being particular challenges. After, as I emerged blink- ing into the light, I had a last look around the Printworks, popping into the Walkabout bar, where signings and memorabilia purchasing were still in full swing. Sadly, I hadn’t bought a ticket for the after-party, which would have been a whole extra story.

This VWORP celebration was utterly enthralling and a complete success. I understood the event had been an

87 Better Watch Out is a fantastic opportuni- ty for a deeply-layered tale that fully ex- plores themes and concepts, chief among them being Christmas and the interplay between goodness and evil. Eighth Doctor boxsets continue to prove to be among the highest quality and event Everything kicks off with Paul McGann -piece releases from Big Finish, and Rav- narrating a bedtime story (honestly, if the enous 2 is no exception. The second re- whole story or set was like that, I wouldn’t lease in the four-set series, following on mind at all!). It quickly becomes clear an- from Ravenous 1, sees the Doctor, Helen other prominent theme is narration and and Liv visit Liv’s home planet Kaldor, ex- storytelling; fittingly, the various disparate perience Christmas festivities in Europe parts of the story do not yet fit together and once more encounter the Eleven, this here and need to be completed in the time trapped inside a dying TARDIS. second half.

The TARDIS trio – now long established as Salzburg, Austria, is an evocative setting a fun and functional team and finally reu- for a Christmas tale, and it is an inspired nited after Ravenous 1 – take a trip to Liv’s idea to draw on the mythology of the tra- home planet. Liv encounters her sister dition itself as the cornerstone of a Doctor Tula Chenka, but it isn’t all smiles and hap- Who tale. John Dorney’s tale is atmos- py memories – instead, Nicola Walker and pheric, harrowing and funny, with the Claire Rushbrook play the sisterly relation- looming threat of the Krampus – a crea- ship as one tainted by animosity and re- ture with the horns and hooves of a goat gret. and a face from every nightmare ever – is built up very well. When the earth be- It is a fast-paced story, with short scenes, neath Salzburg erupts and a horde of dev- edited with energy, never dwelling too ilish imps emerge to wreak havoc, it all long in one location before switching to feels organic and well-timed, a clear bene- another set of characters. This makes the fit of the expanded run-time. story feel very modern despite the Classic backdrop – again we have the Eighth Doc- The different aspects introduced in Better tor bridging ‘Classic’ and ‘New’ Doctor Watch Out finally come together in Fair- Who in an organic and entirely believable ytale of Salzburg, and the resolution is fashion. signposted long beforehand in a reward- ing and believable way. Playing heavily One of the most interesting aspects of the into the mythology behind the tradition story is how it delves into Kaldor class and the duality of angels and demons, structure. Matt Fitton’s criticisms of strati- Fairytale of Salzburg has long-reaching fied society with an unfair distribution of consequences and is thoroughly reward- wealth and autonomy is unapologetically ing to listen to. socialist and political in revealing the struggle of the robot workers and the It all comes full circle, and the ending – a selfishness of corporate overlords. very happy ending – is genuinely touching, heartfelt and puts a smile on your face. Forming the first half of a two-part story,

88 and music. I loved the various pieces of music that were used for ‘You Better Watch Out’ and ‘Fairy-tale Of Salzburg’.

This set provides both a wonderful Hallow- een and Christmas present for fans of Doc- tor Who, with a wonderful mix of whimsy and horror.

Click here for the Ravenous 2 trailer

Click here to buy from Big Finish

Click here to buy from Amazon UK

In this fourth episode, we finally meet the Ravenous, the stuff of Time Lord night- mares who feast on the regenerative life energy of Time Lords themselves. They have a horrific sound design full of screams and squeals, and would be enough of a threat themselves if it wasn’t for the Elev- en being the one to drag the Doctor and friends into the fray when the Eleven asks to be saved.

In many ways, what is most terrifying is when the Doctor is truly terrified, vulnera- ble and not in control on the situation like he usually is. Add to that the fact that the criminal Eleven, of all people, is even more scared, the threat is heightened even fur- ther.

Seizure is not as long as the first three epi- sodes – forming a simpler, more straightforward tale – although this is only boxset number two, and as we are only halfway through the Ravenous arc, forty- five minutes is a good length to whet the appetite for the horrors and mysteries to come.

Once again the team at Big Finish do some great work with their various soundscapes

89 This crossword was found on the internet—author unknown.. 90