The Story of the Ancestors: Chapter 1 (The Shed at the Bottom of the Garden)

The Doctor looked at the time rotor. Smoke was beginning to billow from underneath the console and the whole room was vibrating.

‘Leave it, Doctor!’ snapped Caroline. ‘Last time you tried this we ended up getting trapped in different times, remember?’

‘How can we forget?’ said Danny.

The TARDIS shuddered.

‘Stop it!’ shouted Caroline, slapping his hand.

The Doctor growled and pulled the dematerialisation lever back into the stationary position and things began to calm around them. The TARDIS gave a shudder of frustration and then settled.

‘I need to get you two home. I need to deal with this situation.’

‘Not by ripping the TARDIS apart.’

The Doctor grabbed his walking stick and thwacked the top of the console, and then slumped down onto the sofa. ‘Stupid ship. Why won’t it let us land? I had no problem the first time I landed. We can land in 1987, 1902, 1998 even! But not 2012. Why?’

‘Because the TARDIS doesn’t want you to get involved,’ said Caroline. ‘Maybe it knows something we don’t.’

‘Maybe,’ said Danny, ‘it knows that if we land something bad will happen to us.’

‘But we can’t continue to skirt around the issue,’ said the Doctor. ‘We need to get some answers to what’s been going on.’

There was a flash and the TARDIS shuddered. The air beside the console shimmered and the Doctor jumped to his feet.

The shimmer in the air began to form into the image of a woman. A red-headed woman dressed in jeans and a black top. She was holding a device in her hand and was furiously fiddling at a dial on top of it. She suddenly realised she was being watched. The image flickered as she looked at the Doctor, Caroline and Danny, and she smiled.

‘Who are you?’ asked the Doctor.

The woman extended her hand, and then pulled it back again. ‘Better not,’ she said in an American accent. ‘It’s only a hologram.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Well, this is clearly working,’ she said. ‘I’m broadcasting from Thornsby. August 2012 to be precise. It’s a holographic messaging system.’

‘Ah, like you tried to make that time, Doc,’ said Danny, remembering when he and the Doctor were trapped in the 1980’s.

‘Yes, yes yes,’ said the Doctor, irritated. ‘Who are you, miss, and what exactly do you want?’

‘My name’s Jayne Robson, and you may have heard a little about me.’

‘Finally!’ said Caroline with glee. ‘We’ve been trying to get to you.’

‘Calm down, sweetheart, I’m nothing special.’

‘I think you are though,’ said the Doctor. ‘We need answers. We need answers now!’

‘Take it easy, Doctor,’ said Jayne. ‘Just give me a moment.’

‘Why have you contacted me now? You have something to do with the Apparites don’t you? All we’ve heard are snippets of information. It’s like the world’s most complicated puzzle.’

‘I’ve contacted you now,’ said Jayne, ‘because I need you. We need you. Things are getting out of hand.’

‘Then let us land.’

‘I’m not the ones stopping you. It’s your time ship.’

‘I knew it!’ grumbled the Doctor.

‘But I am in a position to give you a few answers to what’s been going on here.’

‘Go on then.’

‘Will you help us if I tell you?’

‘I’ll let you know after I’ve heard what you have to say.’

‘Okay,’ said Jayne. ‘You might wanna take a seat cos this is gonna take a while.’

Caroline and Danny joined the Doctor, either side of him on the sofa.

‘Right. Where do I start?’

‘How about the very beginning?’ said the Doctor. ‘And don’t leave anything out.’

Jayne turned to Caroline. ‘Caroline, you may wanna brace yourself for a few revelations. You might need to help fill in some blanks as well. You as well, Danny.’

‘About time,’ said Caroline, grabbing a bag of Jelly Babies from the Doctor’s coat pocket.

The Doctor looked uncomfortable as he watched Caroline closely.

‘Right then. A lot of this is from personal memory, and the rest from information passed onto me from the sources themselves.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It all began in the future. In LA to be exact. Los Angeles, 2524, when I was just eleven years old…’




May 7th 2524




Jayne Robson loved visiting her grandparents. She would stay at their house in the school holidays and every now and then she would stay at the weekends. Her grandparents always told her that one day she would grow out of it, especially when she became a teenager, but right now, Jayne knew that she would always love coming here.

They lived in an converted barn on the outskirts of Los Angeles and were surrounded by fields and hills and trees. If you stood on the top of the highest hill, you could see LA in the distance, the smog cloud hanging over it, and it made Jayne happy to be here in the fresh air and without her smog mask.

One particular morning, in the spring holidays, Jayne was lying in bed, looking out of her window and watching the stars above the house. She felt like they were spinning around and around and she wanted nothing more than to go up into space and explore new worlds and new planets. She knew they were out there. Expeditions had gone out into the far reaches of space, and there had been alien invasions before. Okay, maybe the invasions weren’t so good, but at least she knew there was life out there.

It was in the early hours of the morning when she heard the noise.

It sounded like the very fabric of space and time was being ripped apart. Engines wheezing and groaning and then finally coming to a stop with a loud THUMP.

She scrambled out from underneath the covers and looked out of the window. Further down her grandparents garden and amongst the trees there stood a shed. This confused her. She was sure that the shed hadn’t been there before. Not only that, but her granddad already had one shed, why would he need two?

She got into her dressing gown, put her slippers on and quietly went out of her room, creeped past her grandparents bedroom door and down the stairs. She quickly searched for the backdoor keys and found them hung up over the counter and, unlocking the door, went outside.

It was quite a warm night and a little bit of a breeze kept it from being too warm. She cautiously walked towards the shed. There was a slight trace of smoke coming from underneath it and the grass around it had been scorched ever so slightly.

Once she reached the shed she got the strangest sensation - the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She felt a slight vibration coming from it. Stealing her nerves she reached out her hand and touched the shed. It was vibrating.

She jumped back quickly and then let out a yelp when her Granddads voice came from behind her.

‘What are you doing out here, sweetheart?’ he said.

She turned. He was wearing his dressing gown and slippers too. ‘Did you hear it?’

‘I heard a noise. It woke me up.’ He stepped forward and looked at the shed. ‘Now who could have dumped this here?’

‘Do you think someone was trying to get rid of it?’ asked Jayne.

‘Probably that damn Timmins family from down the road,’ he grumbled. The Timmins were always dumping unwanted stuff here, there and everywhere.

‘But there’s nothing wrong with it. And I didn’t hear a truck. I was still awake.’

‘That’s true,’ said her Granddad, stepping forward and checking the structure. By now the vibration had stopped and the thing seemed as dead as a shed should be. ‘It’s in perfect condition.’

‘Shall we go inside?’ asked Jayne excitedly.

Granddad tried the door. It was locked. There looked to be some kind of Yale lock on the door.

‘Sorry, no adventures tonight,’ he chuckled. ‘Hey, we need to get back inside before grandma notices were missing.’

‘Awww,’ said Jayne.

‘Now, now. Come on. We’ll have a better look at it tomorrow.’

And they did. The next few days Jayne’s Granddad tried a number of ways to get inside. First he tried a number of skeleton keys, then he tried to break the door open. When that failed he took an axe to the wood, but the axe simply bounced off the surface and didn’t leave a dent on it.

Finally it was time for Jayne to go back to the city. She didn’t want to leave, convinced the shed had been sent by aliens, but her parents told her she had to go back to school.

Reluctantly she bid a farewell to her grandparents and went home.




July 20th 2524




A few months had passed since she had last been to see her grandparents. The summer holidays had arrived and she was about to spend a good chunk of them in the wide-open air.

By this point the shed at the bottom of the garden had become forgotten. It had even become overgrown and when Jayne had asked her Granddad he had merely shrugged his shoulders and tell her that he didn’t have the time to get it sorted.

And that’s when Jayne found the key.

One morning she was out in the garden amongst the trees. It was a blazing hot sunny day and she was laid back on the grass, holding her fingers up to the sun and trying to shield her eyes. It was then that she saw an apple fall and land at the base of one of the tallest trees.

She quickly scrabbled up and ran to the bottom of the tree. She grabbed the apple and eyed it curiously. And that’s when she spotted the glinting piece of metal, partially covered by grass and dirt.

She reached for it. It was a key. Just an ordinary, metal key.

She turned it over and over in her hands. Could this be the one. Feeling her heart pumping faster and faster (she wasn’t really sure why), she ran over to the shed. She put the key into the lock and heard it clunk-clunk-clunk into place.

And then she turned.

At first it was stiff, but she turned a bit harder and the lock turned around with the key until.

CLUNK.

The door creaked open.

Jayne took a step back, unsure of what to do. And then she pulled the door open and looked inside. The inside was black. Like a black void. No sign of light or anything. And it felt cold. She was sure she could hear the dripping of water echoing from somewhere inside the shed.

She suddenly felt a rush of fear, turned and ran back in the direction of the house.

A few minutes later she emerged with her Granddad, hobbling along beside her as she quickly explained finding the key and unlocking the door.

‘You should have got me first, Jayney,’ her Granddad was saying.

‘I know, I know,’ she said, ‘but look!’

She pointed into the shed.

‘It’s a bit dark.’

‘I told you that already, Granddad.’

Her Granddad plucked the torch from his trouser pocket, flicked it in the air and caught it. He looked down at her, his eyes twinkling with adventure. ‘Shall we go?’

Jayne smiled up at him and grabbed his hand. They both stepped into the shed.




The torch flashed around the inside of the shed. Except it wasn’t the inside of a shed at all. It was a bit too dark to make out, but it looked bigger on the inside than the outside.

Jayne’s Granddad stroked the top of his head. ‘What did your Grandma put in my coffee this morning?’

‘I told you it was from the aliens!’ said Jayne gleefully.

‘It must be some kind of government scientific thing.’

Jayne grabbed the torch off him and stepped a little further in. The room was about the size of a reasonably sized living room. The walls were gun-metal grey and set at regular intervals, about 5-inches into the wall, were black circles. There were no other doors in the room, just the ones they’d entered through. Sat in the middle of the room was a five sided computer console with a glass tube rising from the console and into the ceiling.

Jayne ran over to the console and pressed a few buttons.

‘No, Jayne,’ scolded her Granddad.

But it was too late. In the corner of the room there was a flash of light and standing there was a hologram of a tall man. He wore black, had grey hair tied into a pony tail and had a grey, goa-tee beard.

Jayne panicked and stepped back.

The man flickered and spoke.

‘This is Battle TARDIS 80-Q-S. If you are seeing this message then you are an illegal entrant into the capsule. I am General Helix of the 5th Infantry. It is recommended that you abandon this capsule immediately. All power has been shut down. The capsule will be collected by Time Lord rescue capsules within the next few minutes. Once again, you must leave this capsule immediately.’

The figure of the General flickered and then faded away.

And nothing happened.

Erring on the side of caution, Jayne and her Granddad did as they were told and exited the shed. They waited for a few minutes, but there weas no sign of any “rescue capsules”.

After going back in again and trying a few of the controls, they discovered they couldn’t activate the hologram again. They couldn’t get anything to work.

After a few hours of trying, Jayne’s Granddad decided it was best they lock it up.

‘What are you going to do now, Granddad?’ asked Jayne as they wandered back to the house.

‘I’ll have to call the government. They’ll have to take it away.’

‘No,’ whined Jayne. ‘Can’t you keep it here?’

‘It’s obviously government property, sweetheart. We can’t keep it here.’

‘But what if the Time Lords come looking for it? Surely they’d be mad if you let it go.’

He looked down at her.

‘Please, Granddad. Please don’t get rid of it. If someone wants it then they’ll know where to go.’

‘Okay, okay,’ he said, ‘but at the first sign of trouble I’m calling the government. And we’ll talk about this tomorrow.’

‘Good,’ smiled Jayne. ‘When I’m older, I’m gonna find a way to make that thing fly. It’s gotta be a spaceship after all, right?’

He laughed at her as they stepped into the house.

Jayne looked back at the shed. It was still and quiet. She smiled. ‘One day, I’ll make you fly.’

Next: Jayne, 20 years later, and Torchwood. Coming Tuesday 1st October.

The Story So Far...

Warning: This short piece contains spoilers for anything prior to to the next story...!

The Doctor

This Doctor is an unspecified, future incarnation of the Time Lord. His previous incarnation regenerated when the TARDIS was knocked off course by a proto-Time Lord (see Matthew Cole). The regeneration

went wrong and after he had changed, the Doctor soon discovered that this incarnation was failing and he had no regenerative cells. It will be only a matter of time before he dies, but so far has been able to hold off the inevitable.

Matthew Cole

It is unknown who, but someone sent a proto-Time Lord crashing into the Doctor's TARDIS, knocking it off course and triggering the Doctor's regeneration. A proto-Time Lord is a laboratory created Time Lord soldier who starts life as a blank slate and slowly becomes a person by absorbing the things and people around it.

This particular proto-Time Lord came into contact with the Doctor first and so absorbed his memories. After it was stranded on Earth, it evolved into a Human being and believed itself to be a man named Matthew Cole.

After further contact with the Doctor, both the Doctor and Cole believed him to be a future echo - a Watcher - of the Doctor. It was only on the planet Xanji-For when the Doctor discovered what Cole really was and imprisoned him in stasis until a time when he could find out more information about him.

Caroline Parker

Caroline Parker, companion to the Doctor, was, unbeknownst to her, adopted by Catherine and Tony Parker. She has hidden powers deep down inside of her and has a connection to the strange, ghost-like creatures that have been haunting Thornsby. The Doctor discovered she was adopted after meeting her 15 year old self and then erasing that encounter from Caroline's memory.

Caroline was also pregnant, but the baby disappeared from within her, leaving no trace of it ever having been there.

Danny Lennon

Danny is another companion to the Doctor. He was possessed by one of the Apparites shortly after meeting the Time Lord, and has carried it within him for all of his travels, only recently being able to suppress it with the help of drugs.

Danny lost a brother, Adrian, when he went missing in 2004. Adrian was taken by the Apparites to their world, but Danny has not yet discovered this.

The Apparites and The Ancestors

The Apparites (named by the Doctor) are the ghostly, wraith-like beings that have haunted Thornsby. They bring snow with them and show a huge interest in Caroline.

The Ancestors are a mystery. Known members of the Ancestors are Jayne Robson, Margot Dunlop, Ben Featherstone, April Nivere and Don. Some of the members have broken away, and some have remained underneath St. James's Church in Thornsby.

Their connection to the Apparites, however, is unclear, but they are involved with them in some way.

The Eyeglass

The company that was born out of Torchwood. They are from the far future where space travel to other worlds is a reality. But Eyeglass do not appreciate other alien cultures and see them as a threat to the Human race and will stop at nothing to erase whatever they don't like.

They are run by the General - a man who used to work for the Time Lords during the Time War. He was an highly intelligent being from far in the future. The Time Lords pumped him full of regenerative cells. If he was damaged his body would simply regenerate. Not like a normal Time Lord. He'd keep his face, but the damage would regenerate. They gave him is own TARDIS and he went off to battle them. 

He was the only survivor of the augmented beings and his TARDIS was damaged and unresponsive. He was lost and falling through the time vortex when he arrived in the time he is in now. He was angry at what the Time Lords had done to him and then realised he could use his power and knowledge to better the Human race. The humans could become as powerful as the Time Lords.

Story 2.5: The Story of the Ancestors

‘We could go home now, Jayne,’ said Margot.

‘No,’ said Jayne, ‘we can’t abandon this world. It would disrupt everything. We have to stay. We have to put this right.’

May 2524

A shed appears at the bottom of Jayne Robson's grandparents back garden. A shed that contains a number of hidden secrets.

Twenty years Later, Jayne is in charge of the LA branch of Torchwood, heading up a team of scientists and experts.

After performing tests on the shed, they end up in the past, in the small, British town of Thornsby.
And then the accident happens...

This is the fifth story of season 2, and tells the story of the Ancestors as we travel from the future, to the past and right up to present day. The answers are finally here..

Beginning Saturday 28th September.

The First Eleven: Chapter 7 (The Return of the Magnificent Eleven)

Caroline and Danny were bored. They were sat in the console room in comfy armchairs. Danny had been watching some Man City match from 1998 which the Doctor had managed to rig up through the space/time visualiser, but now, after over four hours, he had become bored.

Caroline had stopped writing in her diary that she had decided to keep, and was now biting the end of her pen with a blank look on her face.

“This has gotta end soon,” said Caroline glumly.

“What?” said Danny, zombie like.

“This boredom. Why did he have to go away for so long?”

“Never mind why,” said Danny tiredly. “I wanna know where he’s gone!”

“He said he’d had some troubles with a Boggart down in the lower levels of the TARDIS.”

“He didn’t tell me that,” said Danny. “He didn’t tell me anything.”

“Look, I think he’s a bit worried about all this stuff on your plate. Y’know, your possession?”

“Stop it, Caz,” said Danny. “I feel like you’re talking about that girl off the Exorcist.”

She sighed. “It is stupid though. I mean how many times has he told us he’s going to get us back to Thornsby?”

“Do you think he even knows how to?” asked Danny, glacing up momentarily as the City goalkeeper saved a shot.

“This whole thing’s just one big mess. He’s locked Matthew Cole away down there somewhere and won’t tell us why. He claims he’s gonna die. Then there’s me and you. I swear he’s keeping something from me, Danny. He’s gone all quiet on us. He’s shut himself down.”

Before Danny could continue a sound came from outside the TARDIS. It was a thumping and clanging sound. Then, suddenly, the TARDIS felt still. The slight vibration that could sometimes be felt whilst in flight had stopped. “It feels like we’ve landed,” said Caroline.

“We better find the Doctor.”

“Yeah,” said Caroline quietly. “Come on!” She was just about to get up when there came a hammering of the console room doors. “What the hell was that? Try the scanner.”

Danny crossed to the console and flicked a switch. An old television set sprang down from the ceiling and flicked on. The screen was obscured by something large and blue. “Well whatever that is, it’s too big for the screen to show the whole lot of it.”

“We need to find the Doctor now,” said Caroline urgently.

“Excuse me?” came a voice from the scanner speakers. “Excuse me, but I need to talk to the Doctor.”

“Who are you?” asked Caroline, looking at the blur on the scanner.

“A friend. Need to talk to him now?”

“Why?” asked Danny.

“Private business. Got some dealings with him.”

“Tell us and we’ll get him for you.”

“There is no time for that,” growled the voice. “Open the doors or I’ll kick them down.”

“No one can kick those doors down,” said Caroline with a laugh.

“Wanna bet? Do you really want to risk me destroying part of this TARDIS and damaging it’s dimensions?”

Caroline bit her lip and looked at Danny. “We better let him in. Surely the Doc will be able to deal with him.”




Paragrim stood outside with Bitz and waited. These humans were stubborn and he really had no idea if he’d be able to kick down the doors, but it was worth a try just to get the fleshlings to open up. Suddenly he heard the doors click open and a dark haired woman stood in the doorway with a taller man.

“Thank you,” said Paragrim simply.

The two pushed past Caroline and Danny and walked into the console room. Paragrim looked around him and then clicked off his hand, replacing it with his axe. “He’s always redecorating this place. Can’t he ever keep to the same design?”

“Look, just who are you?” asked Caroline, who was determined not to let the Doctor down by letting strangers on board.

“My name’s Paragrim, his name’s Bitz.” He thumbed backwards towards his sidekick. “I’m a bounty hunter and he’s a useless spare part that I’ve been lumbered with.”

“Hey - !”

“Quiet, Bitz. Now, where’s the Doctor?”

“Why do you want him?” asked Danny.

“Do not question, eh? Just tell!”

“He’s in the lower levels of the TARDIS,” said Caroline.

Paragrim pulled out a device with two prongs at the top and it began to beep. “This will help me find him. Come on Bitz.”

Paragrim headed off through the inner door followed by Bitz, Caroline and Danny.




They had been walking for almost an hour when they eventually arrived at a very large gateway.

“I can’t remember this ever being here,” said Caroline. A memory suddenly flashed through her mind. “And the name Paragrim rings a bell from somewhere.”

Paragrim didn’t notice. He was too busy trying to fathom something out. He’d seen this doorway before. He’d seen it when he’d begun this mission. In the far wall was another doorway. He quickly crossed over to that and opened it. It led out into a landing bay. The landing bay where he had originally parked his ship when he had been called by the mysterious figure that’d arranged this mission. Paragrim gritted his teeth and stomped back to the main doors. Checking his blaster, he opened them.

They slid open and beyond them was a huge room. The walls were metallic grey and white strip lights adorned the ceiling. At the far end was a plain looking desk and chair. This was the place where Paragrim had originally begun his mission. This was the space station he’d arrived in at the start. But how could it be? It was in the Doctor’s TARDIS.

Then he noticed it. Sat at the desk was the hooded figure. Paragrim checked his axe and began walking over to the mysterious employer. When he reached the table he raised his axe and brought it crashing down on the computer screen.

“What’s going on?”

The hooded figure didn’t respond.

“I demand to know. This is where I was hired by you to find the first eleven Doctors. What’s it doing in the middle of my Doctor’s TARDIS?”

By now Caroline, Danny and Bitz had crossed over with bemused faces.

“Tell me now! Why is your headquarters in the Doctor’s TARDIS, and where is my incarnation.”

“Oh dear,” came the voice from the hood, more clearly and fluidly than before and sounding very familiar to Caroline and Danny. “I’m afraid I’ve done you a bit of an injustice, Paragrim.”

Caroline and Danny looked at each other in confusion and then back at the man.

“You see, my dear friend, I am the Doctor.”

Paragrim stepped back in shock. The mysterious figure stood up from the desk and lowered his hood. Underneath was a thin, pointed face and a smooth bald head. This was the Doctor he knew. The incarnation from his own timeline. The Doctor he had met above Equinox.

And he was grinning at their shocked faces.

“I want answers now!” raged Paragrim.

“So do we,” said Caroline and Danny together.

“I just wanna go home,” said Bitz glumly.

“Calm down, everyone, just calm down.”

“Calm down?! I’ve been travelling from one stinking place to the other looking for your first eleven selves for what seems like slagging ages! You said they all had something in their cell structures. EXPLAIN!!”

The Doctor held up his hands to calm Paragrim. “I know this has come as a shock to you, but I couldn’t very well tell you the truth, could I? The point is, I have reason to believe that each of my incarnations have been infected by some kind of disease. I received word that it had inexplicably happened at certain points of my life and therefore I found it important to gather together my former lives and personally cure them myself.”

“Then who caused this infection, eh?” asked Paragrim angrily.

“At this moment I don’t know. I do have my suspicions though.”

“Then why trick me? Why didn’t you just do it yourself?”

“I felt it inappropriate for myself to delve into my past eleven times and steal my own body. Meeting your past self once is bad enough. Meeting it eleven times…” The Doctor drummed his fingers on the desk. “Did you meet any external opposition?”

“Opposition? Yes, of course I did!”

The Doctor looked interested. “Who?”

“Yourself! And this place,” said Paragrim indicating the large room. “How did you trick me with this?”

“I didn’t trick you. Well, okay I did, but it was important. I merely disguised the TARDIS as a space station. You’d never have known the difference.”

“Hang on,” said Caroline, “have you repaired the chameleon circuit at last?”

“No,” said the Doctor, interlocking his fingers, “just merely changed the TARDIS perception filters to appear as a space station to Paragrim’s ships sensors.”

“But it’s a blue box now!” growled Paragrim.

“Well I wasn’t expecting you right now, was I?”

Paragrim growled and leapt onto the desk. He grabbed the Doctor around the throat and touched the blade of his axe onto his cheek. “I’m going to kill you!”

“Wait! Wait!” said the Doctor. “What made you come here anyway?”

Paragrim relaxed his grip a little. “I felt that something was wrong. Believe it or not, your previous incarnations got me thinking.”

“Good old Doctors,” smiled the Doctor, trying not to choke. “So you came to look for me?”

“You’re my Doctor,” said Paragrim begrudgingly. “I know how you operate. If anyone was to help me, then it’d be you.”

The Doctor looked a little touched, but also apologetic.

“And then I find that you’ve set the whole thing up.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor sadly. “I’m sorry, Paragrim. Look, can you please release me.”

Paragrim growled and reluctantly let go of the Doctor. “But I don’t understand. The General gave me the coordinates to this place.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, looking rather pleased with him. “You see, that chap actually does exist. But, again, it was the perception filter. Once I knew you were on your way I was able to nudge you slightly off course to arrive at my TARDIS. I even fooled your ship.”

Paragrim felt like punching the Doctor, but he tried to contain his anger again. “Then the hooded guy is still waiting for me? The real one?”

“No,” said the Doctor. “I found out where you were heading and dealt with him. He’s now facing the Shadow Proclamation for crimes against the rest of the universe and for dealing with Eyeglass.”

“Then I’ll never know the original plan for me.”

“Actually,” said the Doctor, “I did manage to hack into the computer files. The hooded chap - Throx, as he is known - was going to give you some background information on my recent journeys, and then you’d be armed with enough info to take me down.”

“Then I can still complete my mission,” smiled Paragrim, flexing his muscles.

“Sorry, Paragrim, but no. I’ve activated a field within the TARDIS that prevents you from firing any weapons.”

Paragrim looked at his gun, aimed it at the Doctor and then pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

He growled.

“Now, now. There’s no need to get overexcited.”

“I don’t know, Doctor,” said Caroline, “this doesn’t all make sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well this virus for starters. Why did it only affect your first eleven incarnations? And who infected you anyway?”

The Doctor sighed. “Why only the first eleven? I don’t know the answer to that. All I know is that it never reached my twelfth incarnation.”

There was a beeping from the desk and the Doctor checked the console. It showed the tubes being unloaded from the cargo bay of Paragrim’s ship into the console room. Slowly but surely a group of Centrix Medi-Bots began administering the antidote to each of the prone forms of the Doctor.”

“As soon as I knew the virus, I was able to construct the antidote.”

“Traitors!” yelled Bitz at the screen.

The ground shook, as if an earthquake had erupted from far away. The Doctor frowned and looked at the screen. The Medi-Bots were busy trying to close the doors of the console room.

“Is that my ship?” asked Paragrim, pushing past the Doctor to see the screen.

The Doctor flicked screens and the outside view showed Paragrim’s ship detaching itself from the outer doors of the TARDIS. It slowly began to drift backwards through the vortex.

“Typical amateur Human time travel,” hissed the Doctor.

“The engines are going into overload,” said Paragrim.

“Not only that,” said the Doctor, checking the readouts, “but it’s actually travelling backwards through its own pathway.”

“What does that mean?” asked Bitz, looking concerned that he may never get a lift back to his home planet.

“Of course!” yelled Paragrim, almost slapping his head. “The viruses on board the ship!”

“You have viruses?” asked the Doctor.

Paragrim nodded.

“Oh,” said the Doctor, and then half-smiled. It all made sense now. Paragrim’s ship was about to fall back through time, visiting each of the first eleven Doctors again. The ship was already damaged beyond repair and the viruses would be spread throughout time, infecting each of the Doctors.

“It’s your own fault!” said Paragrim. “It’s a crukking Paradox!”

“A what?” asked Danny.

The Doctor slapped his forehead. “A paradox. I detected that my first eleven incarnations had this virus and so I sent Paragrim to collect them all up. Then Paragrim’s ships engines fail and travel back along the time path it’s just taken, spilling the viruses into the incarnations before they’ve even left.”

“Idiot,” said Caroline, blankly.

“I’m tempted to use what was once a very favourite saying of mine, but I’m afraid it may infuriate Mr. Paragrim even more.”

“But is everything going to be okay?” asked Danny, worriedly.

“Absolutely,” said the Doctor. “Nothing wrong a little paradox from time to time. As long as you can fix it in the end.”




In the space/time vortex the ship disappeared. It careered through the different time zones to just before each incarnation was picked up, silently spreading the deadly virus until it finally returned back to the vortex where in exploded into a million, glowing pieces of white-hot metal.

***

Some time had passed. The Centrix robots had cured the previous incarnations, taking particular care on the Sixth Doctor who had been nearing death. They had brought him back from the brink.

“So what do we do now?” said Caroline as they watched the Centrix Medi-Bots return to their own planet in their tiny, yellow shuttles.

“We drop each of them off to the moment just after they were taken. Transmat them back down to their correct time and location.”

“But why couldn’t you have done that before? Why couldn‘t you have snatched them yourself?” asked Caroline.

The Doctor sighed. “Because I couldn’t risk entering my timeline eleven times and making a mistake. And I also couldn’t just hit the transmat beam and hope for the best.”

“But will you remember any of this?” asked Danny. “And, ya know, will this not damage the web of time?”

The Doctor smiled. “There’ll be some recollection,” he said, as he closed the doors, “but it’ll be just like a dream. It’ll fade and they’ll forget.”

“And the people around the other Doctor’s? Anybody who witnessed it all?”

“I’m telepathic,” said the Doctor. “I’ve programmed the TARDIS to make them forget. In turn my first eleven incarnations will telepathically transmit to those around to forget.”

“Just like a cut scene from a film,” said Caroline.

“Exactly.”

“The problem with deleted scenes,” said Danny, “is that they usually end up getting released eventually.”

The Doctor looked at Danny and then quickly to Caroline. “Deleted scenes…yes…”




Deep Space. Unknown Time.

Paragrim opened his eyes. He was sitting on a small, basic-looking cargo ship. In his hand was a bag containing the credits he was promised and sat next to him the unconscious Bitz. He wasn’t quite sure where he had received it from, but he was sure things weren’t right. He saw his self travelling through time and he saw a bald man laughing at him.

The Doctor! He could remember.

He had used something in the TARDIS to knock him out. He wasn’t sure how, but the Doctor had gotten the better of him. He had to find the General and he had to come up with a new and better plan to fix all of this. He needed to get his revenge!

“Can we go home now?” asked Bitz, stirring from his slumber.

“No,” said Paragrim. “We need to find a way to get back at him.”

Bitz sighed. Would he ever get home?

***

Ben and Polly blinked as they stood looking down the corridor. They could have sworn they had just seen something unusual, but for the life of them they couldn’t place the memory. Neither of them mentioned this to each other and they headed back to the bunk room to see the Doctor.

By the time they reached the Doctor’s bed, the unusual occurrence had faded from their minds. The old and frail form of the Doctor was once again asleep in his bed.

A great change was coming and it would happen soon.

***

The TARDIS lurched and the Doctor stumbled slightly, clutching his recorder tightly. He looked to the ground and saw his companions, Ben and Polly, on the floor. He crossed over to them and they slowly began to stir.

“What’s going on?” asked Ben dizzily.

“I don’t know,” said the Doctor, struggling to remember. “I think the TARDIS must have just hit turbulence in the vortex.”

“Turbulence?” enquired Polly.

Ben laughed as he got to his feet. “Don’t you think it’s about time you learnt to steer this ship properly?”

Polly and the Doctor smiled at each other. Perhaps Ben was finally beginning to realise that this new man really was the Doctor.

And somewhere there was a fading memory.

***

The Doctor opened his eyes. He was on the floor of the console room again. Again? Where had he gone. He had the memory of being dragged across the ground. He even had the bumps and bruises to prove it. But as soon as he tried to work out the memory, it had faded. Now he was left with the droning and humming of the console room and the pain of the radiation eating away at his cells.

“Take me home,” said the Doctor in a faint whisper. “Please....take me home.”

***

Adric closed his eyes and then opened them again. The Doctor was standing beside the TARDIS near the edge of the forest. Adric had a memory of something shooting off into the sky, but that memory had gone.

“Are you coming then?” asked the curly haired Doctor.

“What?” said Adric, confused.

“We have work to do,” said the Doctor sternly.

Adric frowned and then followed the Doctor into the TARDIS.

The time machine slowly faded away leading only the sound of children playing in the distance.

***

He had the bats milk in his hand. He didn’t know how, but he was sure that someone had stopped him. A look of relief dawned on his face. He might just be able to get back in time to save Peri. He was unsure about himself though. There was only enough milk for Peri. So, that meant that it really was death this time. Popping the bats milk into his pocket, he struggled back up the tunnel.

***

‘Sparx!’ cried Evelyn as she knelt over the giant robot. The gash in his head was leaking what looked like glowing blue liquid. It was almost like liquid electricity. Evelyn had remembered the Doctor being attacked by the AWD. Then Sparx had turned up to help, and then....it was a blur. Somehow the giant robot had ended up on the floor, unconscious and with a large gash in his head and shoulder.

Evelyn stumbled away from Sparx and back to the Doctor. She began to cry and rested her head on the Doctor’s chest. Soon the sound of an alien-looking vehicle came from the direction of the other side of the bridge. Evelyn looked up as the ambulance screeched to a halt.

She looked back down to the Doctor. His eyes were open and he was smiling.

“Doctor!” she cried. “Are you okay?”

“Never felt better,” said the Doctor. “It was touch and go there for a while, but I think I’m going to be alright.”

***

The Doctor was pacing the console room. He stopped beside the console and tapped the handle of his umbrella on his chin. Then, with a frown, he continued to pace once more, awaiting the rendezvous with Chris and Roz. He didn’t like knowing things that weren’t available to know. He wanted to be in the loop. He felt as though something was missing, but the more he concentrated, the more he forgot.

And then it no longer mattered.

***

“Charley? What on Earth are we doing here?” asked the Doctor. He and Charley were clinging onto the freezing cold framework of the roller coaster.

Charley frowned. “It was the-”

“Yes?” asked the Doctor when she didn’t continued.

“I can’t remember. I’m sure I saw something on the beach. Did something attack us?”

“Don’t be daft,” came a voice from the roller coaster’s car. A man was looking down at them. “There was a fault with the ride and we stopped. You two tried climbing down the framework. Nutter’s if you ask me.”

There was a murmur of agreement among the other passengers.

The Doctor looked at Charley and frowned. “It seems that we are nutters, Miss Pollard.”

Charley broke into a smile and then shivered. Carefully the Doctor stepped over to her and took his coat off. Ignoring the chill, he placed the coat around Charley as the emergency rescue teams began to arrive.

***

The Doctor opened his eyes. He was sitting between Lynda with a “Y” and Captain Jack. They looked as solemn as he did, but he was sure he was missing something.

“You alright, Doc?” asked Jack, noticing the Doctor’s concerned face.

The Doctor frowned and then looked at Jack. He didn’t answer. All he wanted to do was get revenge. Revenge on the ones who had killed Rose.

***

The Doctor grabbed at a rock that had sunk slightly into the wet, gooey sand. He hefted it up and, closing his fingers tightly around it, flung it towards the sea.

He had to get a grip of himself. He had done some questionable things, and he knew the end was coming, but he had to pull himself together. Time was running out and he had so, so much to do before time turned.

***

The Doctor got to his feet, his hair a mess. He quickly ran his fingers through it to untangle the knots, and then looked around. Had he slipped over? He had a slight bump on his head. He must have hit it on the side of the TARDIS as he fell on the wet ground.

He took another look at the Ponds, quietly enjoying the DVD he had bought them. And then he smiled. Surely these two would be okay. Surely…

***

The First Doctor, Polly and Ben’s adventure continues in ‘The Tenth Planet’ as the Doctor reaches his first regeneration.

The Second Doctor, Polly and Ben’s adventure continues on the planet Vulcan in “The Power Of The Daleks“.

The Third Doctor eventually returns to UNIT HQ in “Planet Of The Spiders” after spending some time in the vortex.

The Fourth Doctor and Adric’s adventure’s continue in “Logopolis” where they confront the new version of the Master.

The Fifth Doctor’s attempts to save Peri’s life can be seen in “The Caves Of Androzani”.

The Sixth Doctor ad Evelyn can be seen in a special one-off story coming in 2014 called “War of the Machines”.

The Seventh Doctor’s adventures continue with Chris and Roz in Virgin Books “New Adventures“.

The Eighth Doctor’s adventures continue with Charley in a range of audio adventures released by Big Finish Productions.

The Ninth Doctor, Jack and Lynda with a “Y” make their move in “Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways”.

The Tenth Doctor finally meets his destiny in “The End of Time”

The Eleventh Doctor continues to watch Amy and Rory Pond’s marriage deteriorate in “Asylum of the Daleks.”

The Doctor sipped on the steaming mug of tea and then leaned back in the deck chair he had set up in the console room.

Caroline and Danny stood there, arms folded and looking rather annoyed.

“Yes?” said the Doctor.

“It’s all just perfectly normal to you, isn’t it?” said Caroline.

The Doctor put his mug down and kicked his legs up, resting them on the console. “Okay, I admit I don’t always delve into my past so closely, and, yes, I admit that it was all my fault.”

“You need to be careful!” snapped Danny. “Sometimes I never know if I’m going to wake up and still exist or not!”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” said the Doctor.

“And just one more thing,” said Caroline.

“Go on.”

“Were you the twelfth Doctor? Did you come after the floppy-haired tweedy one?”

The Doctor smiled. “No. He was some time ago now. My Twelfth incarnation had a wonderfully fantastic head of hair. Magnificent eyes!”

“Then what number are you?” said Caroline. “Just how many of you are there?”

The Doctor grinned and tapped his nose. “Now that would be telling.”




THE END

Next time: "The Story of the Ancestors". We return to our regular, ongoing story arc, with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about what's been going on. Stand by for the cover, blurb and "Story So Far" bit to get you up to speed!

The First Eleven: Chapter 6 (The Eleventh)

The Doctor had walked in on Amy and Rory during a particularly turbulent time in their relationship.

Although he wasn't aware of it at the time, they were heading towards splitting-up, but to the Doctor,

all he could think was how to make them stop shouting at each other.




"What can I do for you?" he asked, leaning on their dining table, his chin resting on his hand.

"What do you mean?" asked Amy, slamming down two, heavy mugs on the kitchen side.

"None for me then?" asked Rory as he strolled through the kitchen in his dressing gown.

"I'm not talking to you," said Amy.

The Doctor frowned, twiddled his fingers, and then slid over to Amy. "I can make Rory one."

"He's not having one," snapped Amy.

"It's not my fault!" said Rory, crossing back through the kitchen again with a glass of water.

"It never is your fault," she said, pouring the boiling hot water into the two mugs, submerging the

teabags.

The Doctor clapped his hands together once, twirled around to look at Rory, mouthed to him that he'd

sort it out and the twirled back to Amy.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day?" said Amy bluntly.

"Perhaps it would help if I knew what he had done," said the Doctor, dodging out of the way of Amy as she went to the fridge to get milk.

"He didn't do the shopping. Again."

"Is that all?" the Doctor smiled, and immediately regretted it.

Amy glared at him. "He knew I was going to be at that modelling job this morning."

"Some of us didn't get in till gone 2am!" came Rory's voice from the living room.

"2am?" said the Doctor. "Rory Pond!"

"Late shift at work!" he called back.

"Ah." Again the Doctor dodged Amy as she whipped the teabag out of the mug and poured in the milk.

"Actually," said the Doctor, "I'd prefer my teabag to have had more of a meaningful relationship with

the water rather than a quick fling."

Amy shot the Doctor a look which made him automatically sit down at the kitchen table and not make

another sound.

She slammed the mug down, grabbed a magazine and then sat down opposite him.

There was a long, long, long silence. The Doctor cracked his knuckles, drained his weak tea, rapped his

fingers on the table, whistled absent-mindedly to himself, re-adjusted his bow-tie, ran his hand through

his hair and then stared into the inside of his empty mug.

Amy looked up from her magazine. "What?"

"I didn't say anything," he said nervously. And then he had a thought. "I could do the shopping for you."







A little while later the Doctor was at the local supermarket. He had ignored Amy's protests and passed

on the need for a shopping list and made his way on foot down the street to the shop. He attempted to

get a trolley, but found it curiously chained to another. The Doctor frowned, looked both ways and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He made sure nobody was looking and then activated the device. The chain between the two trolleys came away, freeing up one for him to use.

He smiled, popped the screwdriver back into his jacket pocket and made his way inside.




About twenty minutes later he emerged from the supermarket, with very few items at all…




"What the hell are you doing?" asked Amy as the Doctor dragged the shopping trolley up the steps and

through the Pond's front door.

"Bringing you shopping."

"I didn't want the shopping trolley as well!"

"I'll return it in the morning," he said.

Amy grabbed the shopping bags and took them through to the kitchen. She looked through each of the bags and then turned to him, her hands on her hips.

"Something wrong?" he asked, trying to smile, although feeling slightly worried.

"There's nothing I actually need with this lot."

"Of course there is," said the Doctor.

Rory joined them in the kitchen. "What's he done this time?"

"Keep out of this Rory," snapped Amy again.

The Doctor hurriedly skipped over to the shopping bags and starting emptying them.

"There's no food!" said Rory. "Did you give him the list?"

"He said he didn't need one," said Amy, hands still on her hips. "And anyway, you had the original

list."

"Oh, don't start," groaned Rory.

The Doctor pulled out a bag of popcorn. "You'll be needing this."

"Great! We can have popcorn for dinner," said Amy, throwing her hands in the air. “Let me just put the over on.”

"And you'll be needing this," he said, throwing them some romantic period drama DVD.

"I wanted to see this at the cinema," said Amy, holding it up. “I never got round to it.”

"Oooh, drinks," said the Doctor, hefting up two bottles of wine. "And here's that series DVD box set you needed, Rory. Please be aware that the Christmas special isn't on it. But I got you that as well seperately."

"Thanks, Doc," said Rory, taking the DVD's from him.

"And you'll be needing these as well," said the Doctor, popping his hand into his pocket and pulling out two plane tickets.

"What's this?" said Amy, taking them off the Doctor.

"Two tickets to Hawaii. Go and soak up some sun for a bit. You both need it."

"But I have work!" said Rory, gazing longingly at the tickets.

"Don't worry, I'll be covering your shifts. I am a Doctor after all," he smiled.

"And I'm modelling tomorrow," said Amy.

"And your photographer will join you in Hawaii for a couple of days after you've settled in. I must

remember to take her some tickets as well."

"Why?" asked Amy. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need it. And you’re my friends. You need some normality in your lives. Just for a little bit. So spend a night watching your television programmes, do lots of hugging, eating popcorn and making up. Then go on a normal holiday and come back here. Then, if you still need to fight over silly little things like shopping, well, then fair enough. But take this time to enjoy yourselves. Call it a birthday present from me."

"But it's neither of our birthdays," said Rory.

"No. But it is my birthday. It's my birthday present to see you two happy."

Amy looked at the Doctor and then went in for a hug.

The Doctor backed up. "Ah-ah-ah," he said, holding up a finger, "save that for Mr. Pond."

Rory looked at Amy and shrugged.

"I suppose I can forgive him," she said playfully. "At least just this once."

"Excellent," said the Doctor, clapping and rubbing his hands together. "Anyway, I must be off. I've got

a date with a much stronger cup of tea waiting in the TARDIS. I shall see you two later!"

He let himself out, but turned back to see both of the Ponds walk into the living room, and sit down in

front of the TV. He waited for a moment, just long enough to see Amy put her hand on Rory's, and then

turned to go.

He reached the TARDIS, turned to look back, crossed his fingers and unlocked the door.

"Please work. Come on, Ponds. Do it for me."

He was about to step inside the TARDIS when he felt a cold, metallic hand around the back of his neck. He felt the world around him blurring out of focus. Just before he blacked out he saw a familiar face. A face he hadn’t seen since his Tenth incarnation.

The face of Paragrim.

Next: Paragrim discovers the truth when he goes in search of "his" Doctor. Coming Weds September 25th.

The First Eleven: Chapter 5 (The Ninth & Tenth)

Bitz and Paragrim finished loading up the eighth incarnation of the Doctor into the stasis tube and then returned to the cockpit.

“Three more, Bitz, three more,” said Paragrim, cracking his metallic knuckles.

“Yeah, and then I can get back to Centrix and the others.”

“Indeed,” said Paragrim as he punched in the next set of co-ordinates.

“Where are we heading now?”

“The tracer’s already detected the Ninth Doctor’s TARDIS. It’s quite a bit away from us this time. Some place called the Gamestation.”




The Doctor was in a dark, dark place. He hung his head as he sat on the cold, hard, metallic bench. He had just lost Rose. She had been blasted into atoms by a damn gameshow droid, and all for the pleasure of billions of people down below on the polluted Earth he had helped to create.

Sitting either side of him was Captain Jack, the time travelling happy-go-lucky time travelling reformed con-man he had picked up from World War Two, and Lynda with a “Y”. Normal, sweet Lynda with a “Y”. Never been in trouble. Never had any reason to cause problems.

They had been arrested for breaking into the games, and they were waiting for sentence to be passed.

But something wasn’t quite right. The air felt cold. It felt stale and cold. Ice cold.

The Doctor turned to Jack. He wasn’t moving. He clicked his fingers in front of his face. Nothing.

“Having a problem, are we, Doctor?” came the voice.

The Doctor looked up. There was a large figure standing in the shadows. It appeared to be wearing a hood.

“Sort of,” he said. “What’s happened to them?”

“They’ve been frozen in time,” said the low, metallic voice.

“I can see that,” said the Doctor. He got up and stepped a little closer to the shadowy figure. “Who are you?”

“The name’s Paragrim,” said the voice.

A flash of recognition flitted across the Doctor’s face. This man was the one who had gone throughout all of space and time, chasing him down at weak moments of his life. But why was all of his encounters so blurry? It was like they had happened, and then they hadn’t.

“Who’s put you up to this?” asked the Doctor.

“Oh,” said Paragrim, stepping into the light, his tall shadow looming over the still and silent faces of Jack and Lynda, “I’m not able to divulge that information. Let’s just say it’s all revolving around something far in your future.”

The Doctor quickly went to his inside pocket and grabbed his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at Paragrim. “If you don’t unfreeze Jack and Lynda, then I’ll use this to activate the remote itself.”

“The remotes on my ship,” smiled Paragrim. “It’s being transmitted from right outside that wall.”

The Doctor turned to look at the wall behind him. Paragrim was right. This wall led directly onto nothing but space outside. The ship was likely hovering there and had a good enough range to freeze everything.

“I’m going to offer you the chance to come quietly,” said Paragrim.

“Not without a fight,” said the Doctor, lowering the screwdriver slightly.

Paragrim cleared his throat and aimed his blaster towards Jack and Lynda. “You either come quietly, or I blow a hole in both of their heads. It’d be my pleasure, of course.”

He had no choice. No matter what this Paragrim bloke was up to, he had to go with him. He had to keep his friends out of harms way.




A few minutes later and the Doctor and Paragrim had transported onto his ship. The Doctor walked solemnly over to the eight occupied glass tubes and looked into each one individually.

“If only they knew what was to come,” said the Doctor, sadly.

“You mean the Time War?” asked Paragrim.

The Doctor turned to him and nodded.

“I was little more than a child when the Time War started,” said Paragrim, “but I had heard all of the stories about it.”

“Where exactly in my future do you come from?” asked the Doctor, leaning against the tube containing his eighth self.

“I can’t tell you that,” said Paragrim.

“You’re gonna kill me anyway. You might as well reveal the truth. A last request?”

Paragrim smiled. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but even I’m not that stupid.”

“You clearly are though,” continued the Doctor. “Capturing each different incarnation of me. That’s going to blow a hole the size of Brazil in the space/time continuum.”

“I’ll be safe,” said Paragrim.

He pulled out one of the sleeping devices.

“It’s time, is it?”

Paragrim nodded. “I must admit, I like this incarnation of yours, Doctor. You’re very down-to-Earth and matter of fact.”

“I’ve just been through a lot. Seen some things that would make you weep.” He looked up at Paragrim, his eyes dark. “And I know that I’ll be back. You can guarantee that.”

Paragrim looked a little concerned, just for a fraction of a moment, and then attached the device to the Ninth Doctors neck. His eyes closed and he fell back. Paragrim caught him and placed him in the ninth glass tube.

Something about this encounter had worried him. And he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that not everything was as it should be.




***




The Doctor opened the TARDIS door. It was raining. It was absolutely chucking it down, actually, so he grabbed his long, brown coat draping over the coral beam of the TARDIS console room, pulled it on over his slender shoulders and then marched out into the rain.

The landscape beyond was cold and barren. It was a beach somewhere in the north of England. He wasn’t exactly sure where, but he didn’t care.

His face was pale and as the rain fell down it plastered his normally spiked up hair down onto his forehead.

He made his way down the stone steps and towards the beach. The sand caked his shoes as he made his way to the relative safety of underneath the old pier.

Not too long ago, something had happened. Something that had caused him to question every fibre of his being. He had defied the laws of time and they had punished him. An innocent woman had taken her own life to preserve the course of history.

This was something that he had difficulty accepting. It was because of him that she had taken her own life. It was him that had caused her to do this. She had been the braver and better person, whereas he should never have interfered.

He sighed as he sat down on a piece of driftwood under the pier. He needed Donna here right now. She’d know what to do to make him feel happy again. She was the one who had saved him last time when he almost lost control.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he saw a large, brown spaceship shoot through the clouds and towards his position. He stood up from the piece of driftwood and put his hands in his pockets. Something inside him was tapping on his memories, like a woodpecker. He knew who this was. This was Paragrim. That was all he needed on a day like today.

He watched as the ship touched down in the sea. The door opened and Paragrim stepped from the shuttle.

“You keep turning up, don’t you?” said the Doctor.

“Like a bad penny,” smiled Paragrim, walking through the tide.

“Who gave you time travel technology?” asked the Doctor, putting on his specs and eyeing up the partially submerged spaceship. “Not the Time Lords.”

“No,” smiled Paragrim. “As I said last time, I can’t reveal where or when I’ve come from. Suffice to say, they only use time travel as a means to accomplish what they need to do. They are not interested in using it to cause damage.”

He frowned at Paragrim. “That doesn’t make sense. Surely your employers know what damage can be done to the web of time if I’m removed from it.”

Paragrim thought about what this version of the Doctor had said. It was true - Eyeglass had never been so ruthless with time travel before. The mysterious cloaked man had offered to send him to a pocket universe, but, again, Eyeglass weren’t in the habit of damaging the web of time. Something about this didn’t feel quite right.

By the time Paragrim had looked back, the Doctor had gone. The little freak had pulled a fast one on him. He looked around him. He was nowhere to be seen. And then he spotted a blur of brown disappearing around his spaceship and through the hatch.

“Doctor!” growled Paragrim as he began running across the beach and back to his ship.




Inside the ship, the Doctor had located the cargo hold and was frantically looking for someway to open one of the glass tubes. It didn’t matter to him which incarnation it was. All he needed to do was free at least another of his selves.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” came a whiney, metallic voice.

Standing there was the yellow and red, humanoid-shaped Bitz.

“The game’s up,” said the Doctor, aiming his screwdriver at the tube containing his Sixth incarnation.

“Don’t be stupid,” said Bitz, “they need to be opened in a certain way. You can’t just blow the tops.”

“He’s right,” growled Paragrim as he struggled through the door and advanced on the Doctor.

“The life signs on my Sixth incarnation are pretty unstable,” said the Doctor, edging closer to the tube. “If I break him out then it’s very likely he’ll regenerate - much too earlier than he should do.”

“And?” said Paragrim.

“The web of time,” said the Doctor again. “I trust your employers have a way of saving you. Well they can’t save you if I put a spanner in the works.”

Paragrim gritted his teeth and sighed. “Your actions would cause your Sixth self to regenerate too early, therefore damaging the time line.”

“I’m sure even you’re not that stupid.”

“You speak logically, of course.”

“You’re having doubts, aren’t you?” The Doctor felt that somehow he was beginning to get through Paragrim’s incredibly thick skull. “All of this is wrong.”

Paragrim shook his head. “They know what they’re doing!”

“Do they?”

“The only way I can find out is to complete my mission. If I can do that, then maybe I can find out answers.”

“And how am I going to be able to help you from inside a glass tube?” said the Doctor, trying to hold in his emotions.

“I don’t need your help,” said Paragrim, raising his gun and pointing it at the Doctor.

“You idiot,” said the Doctor.

Paragrim shot a stun-blast into the Doctor’s chest and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

“That was a close one, boss,” said Bitz, hefting the Doctor up to his feet and dragging him to the tenth container.

Paragrim stared ahead of him. Not all of this was making sense. But he did know one thing for sure - he only had to get one more incarnation of the Doctor, and then he’d get some answers at last.

Next: The Eleventh Doctor does a little bit of shopping for Amy and Rory. Coming Monday 23rd September.

The First Eleven: Chapter 4 (The Seventh & Eighth)

The Doctor paced his console room with his hands behind his back. It had been a long, long day and he was concerned about the whereabouts of his companions, Roz and Chris. Where were they? What had they gotten up to. They were supposed to rendezvous at the meeting point two hours ago, but they hadn’t appeared. Now all he could do was wait in the TARDIS.

The Doctor suddenly became aware that the central column on the console had started to rise and fall. The TARDIS was in flight! He scrambled to the console and began checking dials and readouts. The TARDIS didn’t seem to be responding to his commands. Someone was controlling it by remote.

“Come on then!” he shouted towards the ceiling. “Show yourselves!”

The TARDIS abruptly came to a standstill and the doors opened. Beyond was a yellow / white void and an oak door in the distance.

“Now, what’s this?” asked the Doctor cautiously. There was no reply.

The oak door began to creak slowly open. The lights in the TARDIS were dimming. Suddenly, standing there, was a tall, white-haired man in a velvet coat and a frilly shirt.

“Goodness gracious me,” said the Seventh Doctor, trying to hide a smile.

The man, the Doctor’s Third incarnation, had his eyes closed. They snapped open suddenly. “Did I make it?”

“It depends on where you were heading for,” said the Seventh.

The Third Doctor gave a slight smile and nodded once at the smaller, dark-haired Doctor. “I can see that I did make it.”

“You’re not real, are you?”

“Unfortunately not,” said the Third Doctor. “More of a projection of reality actually.”

“Care to explain?” said the Seventh, removing his hat and placing it on the top of the time rotor.

The Third scratched the back of his head. “I don’t suppose you remember anything that happened to you?”

“I remember a lot,” said the Seventh.

“The skull-faced creature with the hood? Paragrim?”

“There’s a vague memory there.”

“Well he’s got our first six incarnations, old chap. We’re trapped in stasis tubes and can’t get out.”

“Then how are you here?”

“We were able to link our minds. I was the one we voted to try and make contact. Mental projection and all that. Our TARDIS being linked throughout time.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” said the Seventh. “I know how mental projection works.”

“Well you’ve got to track him down. Find him before he finds you.”

The Seventh shook his head. “I can’t just abandon Chris and Roz.”

“You’re companions? My dear fellow, the very threads of the universe hang on this. I don’t know why he’s doing what he’d doing, but you have to stop him.”

The image of the Third Doctor began to flicker. For a moment it looked like he was all of his faces at once, and then he blinked out like a light. The oak door disappeared and the Doctor was standing alone in the console room.

“I’m sending the co-ordinates now,” said the ghostly voice of the Third Doctor for the last time.

The time rotor began to move up and down as the TARDIS engines began to grind to life once again.

“No! Wait!” said the Doctor. “I can’t just leave my friends!”

He ran around the console, operating switches and trying anything to halt the materialisation of the time machine.

It was no use. With a thud and a beep the TARDIS landed at it’s destination.

The Doctor switched on the scanner. He was in a cargo bay and standing there was the tall, white and blue figure of Paragrim with his yellow and red sidekick, Bitz. He did remember them now. The memories were hidden, but they were there.

Grabbing his hat and umbrella, he made for the exit.




“You!” growled Paragrim at the sight of the Seventh incarnation of the Doctor. “We were about to come for you!”

“Yes. Good evening, Paragrim. Looks like I’ve made it to you first.” The man grinned.

Paragrim stepped forward and ground his teeth together. “You are still as arrogant as always. Just like your other incarnations.”

“Oh, Paragrim, a lot has changed since we first met. I think you’ll find me a much tougher opponent now.”

“I think not,” said Paragrim as he aimed his blaster at the Doctor. “Not about to let a pathetic little cretin stop my job now, hey?”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” shouted the Doctor and he sprinted away from his TARDIS and towards the inner doors of the cargo bay.

Paragrim began firing blasts at the Doctor but he kept missing.

“Scum!” screamed Paragrim. A blast hit one of the tubes and sent it flying. The body of the first Doctor fell out and slumped to the ground. Another blast hit the fifth tube and caused the glass to shatter. Paragrim had gone wild and didn’t care what he hit.

“You’re doing a good job of damaging our cargo,” said the Doctor as he quickly peered into one of the tubes.

Paragrim roared and jumped at the Doctor. He stepped aside and the bounty hunter went head first into the bulkhead. When he finally looked up he realised the Doctor had gone and Bitz was standing next to him.

“What in all the Twenty Circuit Staxers are you doing?” asked Bitz.

“The Doctor! You fool, he’s probably gone off to the control room!” screamed Paragrim as he got to his feet and dragged Bitz along at a terrifying speed.

They entered the control room to find the Doctor attempting to climb up onto the computer read-out control panel and understand the navigation system.

“Stand away from the console!” said Paragrim, trying to calm himself.

The Doctor didn’t move and began punching in codes on the buttons.

“Stand away. NOW!”

The Doctor turned around and then back to the console. Paragrim’s fury exploded. He raised his hand and brought it down on the Doctor as hard as he could. The Doctor was slapped away from the console and landed at Paragrim’s feet, completely out cold. The fury was still burning inside the bounty hunter and he raised his foot. He was about to slam it down on the Doctor’s prone form when Bitz stopped him.

“No!” shouted the little robot. “We need to keep him alive!”

Paragrim was about to turn on Bitz when sense suddenly dawned on him. “You’re right. I almost ruined everything.”

“Yes,” said Bitz quietly. “Now let’s get him to the tube and we’ll clean up the mess. Only four more to go.”

Paragrim nodded and then patted Bitz on the back. “Only four more to go.”

***

“Well, Charley, what do you think?” asked the Doctor as they stared up at the dark, red roller coaster track.

“It’s odd,” said the young, short-haired blonde girl standing beside him.

“Odd? Charley this is Blackpool. That is the Blackpool Pleasure Beach.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s impressive, but it looks like a ride built simply for thrills.’

“Charley!” The Doctor looked hurt. “Isn’t that the point of a roller coaster?”

Charley turned and smiled at him. “But it was sweet of you to bring me here.” She gave him a little hug and he gave a nervous smile. “What month did you say it was?”

“November,” he said shivering. “Sorry we couldn’t catch the sun.”

“Oh that’s ok. I’m sure we‘ll warm up once we get on one of those things.”

“You had them back in your day, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes,” said Charley, “but one didn’t always find the time to go gallivanting.”

“Quite frankly they frighten me to death. In a good way, of course.”

“You? Frightened?” She stifled a laugh. “I can’t believe that.”

“Charley, I’ve fought Sontarans, Cybermen and Bandrils. That thing up there is the scariest thing I’ve ever faced.”

Charley laughed.

The Doctor smiled. “We’ll see how you feel when you’re up there.”




Along the way the Doctor had bought them candy floss and struggled with it in the wind. They had fought on through the drizzle and huddled under a tram shelter whilst they finished the pink, fluffy cloud of sweet stuff.

Eventually they reached the gates to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach theme park. Hardly anybody was about and the Doctor only had to pay half price for them to get in. The weather had not produced many visitors so prices had been reduced. The Doctor bought Charley a toffee apple and then they made their way towards the huge red and blue imposing structure of the ride named ‘The Big One’.

“Oh – my – word,” said Charley as she gazed up at the gigantic ride. The silver roller coaster cars zoomed along with distant screams from the people sat in them. “It’s huge! Even bigger close up!”

“I told you,” grinned the Doctor.

“I mean, I saw it from a distance but when you get up closer....well, it’s just too scary for me Doctor.”

“Oh nonsense!” said the Doctor, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the ride area.

“No, really Doctor,” said Charley nervously. “I’m feeling quite queasy.”

“You’ll be fine,” said the Doctor excitedly. ‘Where’s that Edwardian Adventuress when you need her?”

“I thought you were frightened off them!!”

They reached the queue and only had to wait for a few minutes until a car was available. The Doctor literally pulled Charley into the front and she gripped his hand tightly and closed her eyes. The car began it’s journey up the track.

For Charley this seemed likes hours rather than a couple of minutes. As they rose up the steep slope she could feel the ice-cold wind biting at her face. She dared to open one eye and saw the Doctor gazing out across the cold sea with excitement plastered all over his face. His curls billowed back and his teeth chattered in the biting cold air. She pulled in closer to him and gripped his hand tighter. He turned to face her and gave her hand a squeeze back.

Then Charley saw the spaceship.

A large brown and oval-shaped spaceship with huge jet engines was zooming across the sea. It touched down on the beach near the Pleasure Beach outer wall and then a side door opened.

“What is it, Doctor?” said Charley.

“I don’t know,” said the Doctor worriedly, “but I seem to recognise it from somewhere.”

From the doorway stepped a very large figure. He was about 7ft tall, wore blue armour and blue hood and had a pure white face with yellow teeth and eyes. There were gasps as the creature looked up at the roller coaster car. It seemed to be holding a device in it’s hand and a sound began to beep rapidly when he pointed it towards the Doctor.

Then Charley felt her stomach lurch. The car had reached the top of the ride and was now beginning it’s plummet downwards at a tremendous rate. For the time being everyone had forgotten about the mysterious creature.

All accept the Doctor and Charley.

Charley was feeling a mixture of emotions. One was interest and concern over what she had just seen down below and the other was an adrenaline rush from the ride. She wanted to scream out in joy but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She turned to look at the Doctor who seemed oblivious to the ride and was looking over his shoulder to try and see the creature.

The car flew up and down and round and round going higher and higher again and then shooting back down towards the ground. Then Charley saw it again. The creature was climbing the frame of the ride. She tapped the Doctor on his shoulder and he looked down the frame. It was coming up for them. It’s gigantic hands gripped the iron framework as it pulled itself further and further up. Nobody else had spotted the alien and Charley was finding it difficult to concentrate on it. The car was speeding towards the things position. There was a collective scream as the creature stood in front of the car and pushed down on the front of it. There were sparks from underneath the car as the thing ground to a halt.

“Who are you?” asked the Doctor

“Name’s Paragrim,” said the creature.

“Paragrim? I remember you!” said the Doctor excitedly. He then realised that there was a car load of terrified people sat behind him. “What’s the meaning of stopping this ride and frightening these people?”

“I’ve come for you,” grinned Paragrim. His hand came up again and grabbed the Doctor by the arm, dragging him from his seat.

“No!” shouted Charley in panic, grabbing a hold of the Doctor’s legs.

“No, Charley! No!” shouted the Doctor as he struggled to free himself from Paragrim’s grip.

Charley was lifted out of her seat as she clung to the Doctor. She screamed.

Paragrim noticed the dangling girl hanging from the Doctor and pulled the Doctor closer to him. The sudden jolt caused Charley to lose her grip on the Doctor and she fell back against the track. Before she could do anything else she felt herself begin to slip on the wet rails and fall towards the ground. She closed her eyes, but then felt herself stop abruptly. Her coat had snagged on part of the frame work and she was hanging there in the cold air. It began to rain and Charley scrambled to grab onto the frame work. When she was sure she’d found a safe holding place she looked up. Paragrim was already heading back to his spaceship with the Doctor struggling in his grip. She watched as he threw the Doctor in the door, boarded his ship and then blasted off into the sky.

Charley Pollard clung to the freezing cold frame of ‘The Big One’, crying out into the ice cold wind and rain as the rescue teams began to arrive.

Next: Paragrim's search for the first eleven incarnations of the Doctor continues when he tracks the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor down. Coming Friday September 20th.

The First Eleven: Chapter 3 (The Fifth & Sixth)

The ship touched down on the wastelands of the planet and Bitz and Paragrim exited the ship. Paragrim peered into the distance and grimaced. “Not the most inviting place, is it?”

“At least you can stay out here. I don't fancy getting caught in a mud blast.”

“Tough,” said Paragrim. “We need the Fifth Doctor and apparently this is one of the most weakest points of his life.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. I just follow the tracer,” spat Paragrim. He pointed towards a small rock side. “I believe there is an entrance to the mines over there.”

Bitz hung his head. “I was hoping you wouldn't find an entrance.”

“Get going you waste of a circuit board,” ordered Paragrim.

Bitz sighed heavily and then headed for the mines. He reached a pretty small sized hole leading underground and then looked about him. This was his chance. He felt sure that he'd be able to outrun Paragrim, being smaller than him. He looked back at the bounty hunter. He was just beyond the ridge and watching him carefully. He could easily find a transport ship off this world and make his way back to Centrix.

Stealing his nerve Bitz broke into a quick run and headed in the opposite direction to Paragrim.

Back towards his ship Paragrim saw Bitz disappear in a yellow and red blur. He growled and snapped his hand off, replacing it with an axe.

“You fool, Bitz!” he growled, and set off after the little robot.




Bitz streaked across the desert, aware that Paragrim was in hot pursuit, and leapt down a mountainside. His foot hit a rock and he tripped, somersaulting head-over-heels and crashing down the mountain. He came to a stop with his back slamming against the ground. There was a low rumbling sound and the ground began to give away beneath the robot. Just as Bitz felt himself dropping into the darkness a hand clamped around his leg and he felt himself being pulled back up.

“Where do you think you're going?”

Bitz looked up. He was being held upside down by a very angry looking Paragrim. He was brandishing his axe and swishing it dangerously near to his head.

“A robots gotta try, hasn't he?”

“Yes.…” said Paragrim slowly. “I trust you're not going to try that again.”

Bitz gave a nervous laugh. “Well I can't promise anything -” Paragrim's axe slashed next to Bitz's head. “- but I think you've persuaded me!”

“Good,” growled Paragrim, releasing Bitz and letting him fall to the ground with a clatter. He removed his axe and replaced his regular hand and turned to his companion. “Shall we go back to the mine entrance?”

“Yeah,” laughed Bitz nervously again, “anything you want, boss.”




He lay on the mud, his legs and arms unable to crawl him through this murky tunnel anymore. He felt sick and tired and his head was pounding as though twenty elephants had stampeded across it. All he could see was Sharaz-Jek cradling Peri’s body. That image fuelled his desire to get moving, but his legs didn’t feel the same way.

He was aware of a movement behind him. Surely not a mud blast. If it was then he was certain to die. He had to keep moving. With every ounce of strength he could find he began to move again slowly down the tunnel. Now the mud was getting wetter and slippery and he was finding it hard to get a grip or a foothold. The tunnel was, after all, sloping gently downwards and he had no desire to fly headfirst into the queen bats nest.

The sound behind him came again. It was definitely not a mud burst. This sounded like someone coming after him.

“Who’s there?” he croaked into the darkness.

The sound stopped.

“I asked you a question. It’s not nice to creep up on someone,” panted the Doctor.

The Doctor lurched backwards as a large hand came out of the darkness. It clamped around his cricket jumper and pulled at him. He gasped and choked as he felt himself being pulled back the way he came. After a few minutes of being bumped against the stone and mud he felt himself giving up. Whoever it was wanted him out of the mines and he wasn’t in any fit state to fight anything as powerful as this.

He had failed Peri.




Bitz dragged the Doctor out into the open where Paragrim was waiting.

“Any problems?” asked Paragrim as he looked down at the Doctor’s weak form.

“None at all,” smiled Bitz.

The Doctor squinted in the dull light and looked up at the large creature standing above him. “Who - ?”

“Name’s Paragrim and this is Bitz.”

The Doctor sat himself up and hung his head. “I’m trying to save my friend. What on Earth do you want with me?”

“Just a bit of business,” said Paragrim as he removed one of the sleeping device.

“You have to let me save my friend. She’s very ill,” pleaded the Doctor.

“Better to think about saving yourself,” laughed Paragrim.

The Doctor tried to get away but Bitz kicked him backwards and he fell over.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

The last thing the Doctor saw before he blacked out was Peri’s unconscious face, all life drained from her body.

***

Across the depths of space, the metallic world known as Centrix hung in the sky against a glittering blanket of stars and beautiful, rainbow coloured nebulae. The inhabitants of Centrix, however, had no need for such beauty. They were simply robots. They had feelings, but all they were bothered about was running the biggest cargo company the universe had seen.

Standing on top of one of the metal bridges that swept over the many metallic ravines of Centrix was a blond, curly-haired man in a multicoloured coat, and an older lady with grey hair and a green cardigan.

“Welcome to Centrix, Evelyn!”

“It’s beautiful,” said Evelyn Smythe as she looked out over the mountains and into the valleys. “It’s breathtaking.”

“I take it you like it then,” smiled the Doctor.

“I do. Doctor this is amazing. It’s just what we need after all the problems of late.”

“That’s what I thought,” said the Doctor.

“But why Centrix. Why this planet?”

“Oh, well…,” the Doctor fumbled with his cat badge, “well, no reason really.”

“Doctor, what year is this?” asked Evelyn suspiciously. She’d been reading about Centrix in the TARDIS databanks before they had arrived and a worrying thought had struck her.

“Well…it’s the 46th century.”

“Doctor!” said Evelyn aghast. “I was reading about this place, and the 46th century was one of the most dangerous periods in this planet’s history!”

“It was also one of the most exciting times and places to be,” said the Doctor with a smile.

“Something about a war, if I recall?”

“The story of the Centrix robots has always intrigued me. I don’t know why I stayed away from their war for so long.”

“Because it was a war, Doctor. And maybe you had more sense in your previous incarnations. This is dangerous,” said Evelyn with raised eyebrows.

“But don’t you find it fascinating? Two warring factions of service robots, fighting all because they want to be the biggest and best cargo haulage company around.”

“As I said, I find it downright dangerous. It’s ludicrous.”

The Doctor put an arm around Evelyn and guided her towards the edge of the bridge. He pointed into the distance. “See over there, that’s the command tower from which the leader of the Centrix-A robots runs his operations. And over there,” he pointed towards the eastern hemisphere, “is where the Centrix-B robots are from. Oh, I don’t agree with the war, but most wars are fought over religion and land and opinions. This is fought simply over cargo haulage!”

Evelyn shook her head in disbelief. She knew the Doctor wasn’t cruel or callous, but sometimes he did infuriate her.

“Come on!” said the Doctor excitedly as he began to cross the bridge towards the Centrix-A sector.

Evelyn sighed. “Here we go again.”




Paragrim’s ship touched down beside the Centrix-A tower and he turned to face Bitz.

“Do not leave the ship”

“But it’s home!”

“Yes, but you come from a little before this time. Before the wars.”

“Wars? But-”

“No buts Bitz. This is the worse place we could have located the Doctor.”

“But why here anyway? Isn’t this supposed to be one of the Doctor’s weakest moments? Why here and now?”

“I don’t know. Guess I’ll find out soon, hey?”




The Doctor and Evelyn’s progress to the tower had been a pretty quick one until the Doctor spotted some gleaming black metal halfway down the dirt track. He squinted to make out the shape and as it came closer it appeared to be a large, metal robot with missiles mounted on it’s side and caterpillar tracks underneath it. It hadn’t noticed the Doctor and Evelyn and had it’s back turned to them, seemingly watching something far off.

“Doctor,” said Evelyn worriedly, “I don’t think we should go near that thing.”

“Amazing,” whispered the Doctor. “That must be one of the Advance Weapon Drones. An AWD.”

“Well you don’t really want to go near it, do you?” said Evelyn as the Doctor beckoned for her to stay back and he moved in a little closer.

“Nonsense. He’s too pre-occupied with whatever he’s watching. This is an excellent opportunity to observe him at what he does best.”

“Oh for goodness sake. You talk about it as if it’s a nature show.”

“He won’t harm me. He won’t even know we’re here.”

The Doctor was wrong. The AWD suddenly snapped around, it’s red visor glowing brightly and it‘s guns whirring into life.

“Ah,” said the Doctor, realising he was in big trouble. For a moment the two of them, both alien to each other, simply eyed each other up. The AWD seemed to be scanning the area and trying to work out the Doctor’s physiognomy.

Then it attacked. It was sudden and vicious. The guns whirred to point at the multicoloured form of the Doctor and blasted a few, lethal pulses at him. The Doctor was knocked backwards. Evelyn yelled as the Doctor landed with a thud next to the edge of the bridge.

From out of nowhere there came two blasts of an energy weapon and the Doctor got the impression that the AWD had been blasted back along the bridge. He didn’t dare open his eyes. He couldn’t open his eyes. The pain was too much. He felt himself slipping into nothingness.




The blast had been life saving for the Doctor. The AWD was now rolling off into the distance whilst a huge white and red robot stood before Evelyn and the unconscious Doctor. Evelyn’s first thoughts were to panic and run, but then she realised that this robot had just saved the Doctor’s life.

“Who-who are you?” asked Evelyn nervously.

“The name’s Sparx,” said the robot in a thundering voice. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he bent down over the Doctor, his huge hand moving the Doctor’s head from side to side.

“The Doctor wanted to visit your world.”

“This is a war zone,” said Sparx calmly. “Sneaking up on an AWD wasn’t the best thing your friend could have done today.”

“I tried to warn him,” said Evelyn shakily.

“Well that can’t be helped now. I was working on some sensor arrays in the valley. Looks like the AWD had been spying on me. When I heard the commotion I came looking. The Centrix-B robots are violent, but when the AWD’s are taken by surprise they’re not so clever.’

“Where do you think it is now?” asked Evelyn, nervously looking around her.

“Oh, it’s probably gone rolling back to it’s hemisphere. Pathetic.” Sparx looked back down at the Doctor. “He’s been very severely damaged. The injuries are extensive. We’ll have to take him back to our Chief Medical Officer.”

“Will he live?” asked Evelyn. She knew the Doctor had regenerative capabilities, but at the moment she was more concerned about keeping him alive in this body.

“We’ll have to ask the CMO about that one. He’s a medic for Centrix robots, not Humans.”

Sparx was about to pick up the Doctor when there was a slash and an axe slammed down into his shoulder. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor. There was another flash of an axe and this time it slammed into Sparx’s head. Evelyn screamed as Sparx fell to the fall with a thud and went silent and still. Standing over Sparx’s prone form was Paragrim brandishing his axe-hand.

“I’ll be taking the Doctor,” he grinned.




Paragrim and Bitz finished loading the unconscious Sixth Doctor into one of the tubes and then closed it up. “That’s number six taken care of.”

“What happened?” asked Bitz eagerly.

“He was attacked and injured very badly by an AWD. He’s close to regeneration by the looks of it, but this tube will hold him together for a while.”

“And?”

‘Some fool, Sparx, shot the AWD so I axed him in the head. Left his companion there crying to herself.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“Course not,” said Paragrim gruffly. “Come on. Time to go.”

A sound suddenly filled the air. In the corner of the cargo bay a blue shape began to materialise. It soon solidified. It was the TARDIS. Paragrim looked on as the door opened and a small man in a white, linen suit walked out.

“You!” growled Paragrim at the sight of the Seventh incarnation of the Doctor. “We were about to come for you!”

“Yes. Good evening Paragrim.” He raised his question marked umbrella and pointed it at the bounty hunter. “Looks like I’ve made it to you first.” The man grinned.

Next: The Seventh Doctor gives Paragrim the slip, and the Eighth has a trip on a roller-coaster  Coming Tuesday 17th September.