30 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 11 (Endings)

He opened his eyes.

Above him was the church-like roof that had become so familiar to him lately. This was the TARDIS. His TARDIS. And he was alive.

He quickly scrambled to his feet. Standing there at the console with his back to him, was Matthew Cole. He turned and then nodded to the Doctor.

“Matthew, what are you doing?”

The Master smiled. “Can you believe that I rescued you?”

“What?”

“I couldn’t let my oldest enemy die, could I? And I’m even going to give you your TARDIS back. I’ve taken the liberty of procuring one of the escape pods.”

“I’m confused,” said the Doctor, rubbing his sore head.

“Not difficult to confuse you, is it?” laughed the Master. He walked up to the Doctor. “I flew your ship into that damaged TARDIS.”

“Last time I did that I couldn’t land.”

“The dimensions were collapsing. It was easy. I took her down and rescued you.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“We’re heading back to Thornsby now,” said the Master, checking the control readings. “And from now on, you owe me. You owe me your life.” He chuckled. “Imagine that, eh?”

“Matthew, what on the Fields of Centralis has happened to you?”

“I think you need to take a seat.”




Two Days Later




Caroline, Danny, Margot, Ben, Thomas and Rebecca were sat in the New Barge pub. Caroline was sipping on a glass of lemonade and her baby was sleeping soundly in the pram next to her.

“So,” said Danny. “How are we all feeling?”

“Still screwed in the head,” said Ben.

“Where’s your brother?” said Margot.

“He’s spending some time with Mum and Dad. It’s a little overwhelming for them at the moment.”

Caroline looked up as a familiar figure came strolling from the toilets. He pulled up a stool and sat down at the table with them.

“People,” said Caroline, “I’d like you to meet Steve.”

“’Bout time we met you, mate,” said Danny.

Steve looked a little sheepish. After he had walked out on Caroline, he had been taken and transformed by the Apparites, but during the few hours in which the police had been involved, he had been spotted, disorientated, by Caroline and they had finally been reunited.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” said Thomas.

“I beg your pardon?” said Steve.

“How dare you walk out on our daughter!” scolded Rebecca.

“Mum!” said Caroline.

“I’m sorry,” said Steve. “I am truly sorry. I hope we can work this all out.”

“It’s gonna take time,” said Caroline, putting her hand on his arm. “We’ll see what happens.”

Danny cleared his throat and then looked at Caroline. “Caz, do you mind coming out with me for a moment?”

The two friends made their way up the wooden steps from the New Barge and out to the open bus station area. It was a warm summers evening and there was no hint that there had ever been any snow only two days before. A little way off, around the church, work had already begun to repair the damage to the area and plans were already being drawn up to build a new church.

Caroline sat down at the wooden table, William in her arms, and Danny joined her.

“Thanks,” said Danny. “I needed it to be us together, one last time.”

“What do you mean?” smiled Caroline.

“Things are gonna get complicated from now on. Your old parents, your new parents and Steve coming back. Then there’s Mr Cope being back and Lilly, Ben and Margot. Not to mention Ade.”

“Yeah,” said Caroline, stroking her babies face. “There’s a lot to sort out. But you’ll always be my friend. I won’t make that mistake again. We’ll always be friends. And at least my other Dad’s getting over his heart attack.”

Danny nodded and then scratched at his temple.

“How are you anyway?” she asked.

“I feel a bit…empty. It’s weird. I guess I just got used to him being in there.”

Caroline sighed. “It’s weird to think that this is where it all began. At the Barge - the old one - talking about babies and stuff. And now look.”

“Technically you could say this all started sometime in the future.”

“Shut up,” said Caroline, smacking him playfully on his arm.

Danny nodded. “I’m so happy for you, Caz.”

“Me too,” smiled Caroline.

“And Steve? What do you think about him? Will you two get back together?”

Caroline chuckled to herself. “He’s the father of my baby, but he hurt me. He hurt me a lot. It’s going to take a long time for me to understand him again. And he‘s been through a lot as well.” Caroline looked sad. “We’ve been through so much together.”

Danny nodded sadly. He reached out and clasped her hand.

“I’m so pleased you’re here with me,” she said. “Sometimes you forget how much a person means to you.”

They leaned in towards each other, their lips about to touch, when…

“Hi, kids!” came a jovial voice, causing Caroline and Danny and quickly pull away from each other.

Caroline and Danny both looked towards the familiar voice. Standing there in a black suit, blue shirt, a yellow smiley badge pinned to the lapel and a shiny, bald head was the Doctor.

“What in the name of all that is holy…!?” said Caroline, happy, angry and shocked all at the same time.

“I’m back,” smiled the Doctor. “I escaped!”

“It’s been two bloody days!!” yelled Danny. “What the hell happened?”

“Oh,” said the Doctor. He bit the end of his finger. “Oh dear.”

“I thought you were bloody dead,” said Caroline, tears in her eyes. And then she got up, threw herself at the Doctor and flung her arms around him. “Thank god. Thank you!”

Danny found himself unable to contain his anger any longer and leapt to his feet and broke into a grin. He held out a hand to the Doctor and the Doctor grabbed it, instead pulled him in for a hug as well.

“How?” said Caroline.

“The Master rescued me, believe it or not, and then cleared off in an escape pod.”

“Oh my god,” said Caroline. “I can’t believe all that Matthew business.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “he explained everything to me on the way.”

“Listen, Doctor,” said Caroline. “I think you should come with us. There’s some people I’d like you to meet down in the New Barge.”




And after the Doctor had been reunited with everyone, and had been introduced to Thomas, Rebecca and Steve, they had all enjoyed a night of fun and laughter. They celebrated the life and then mourned the death of Jayne and the Doctor had taken the former Ancestors to the side.

“What do you want to do?” asked the Doctor.

Margot looked at Ben and then back to the Doctor. “We’re staying here.”

“You still have those powers,” said the Doctor.

“I know. They’re a part of us now. We’re going to stay with the Farrington’s and try and help Caroline control them.”

“I can take you back to the future if you want.”

“No,” said Ben. “This has been our home for centuries. And that’s what it’s going to stay as. Our home.”

The Doctor smiled. “And please remember Jayne. Remember the good things she did to keep this town - this planet - safe. She died with honour. Never forget that.”

Margot and Ben nodded.

“It’s difficult to believe she’s gone,” said Margot, trying not to get upset again.

“Gone, but never forgotten,” said the Doctor.




More time had passed. People had said their goodbyes. Thomas and Rebecca were going to stay at Caroline’s flat, while Ben and Margot had booked a room out at a hotel until they could find somewhere permanent to live. They had collected Lilly and the other former members of their team and had also sorted them out with rooms. And so the long process of rebuilding their lives had begun.

Steve had sad a quiet farewell to Caroline, mumbling something about sorting himself out and then disappeared into the night.

Caroline actually felt pleased that he was going. She needed time away from him right now.

And so just the Doctor, Danny and Caroline were left. The Doctor had parked the TARDIS next to the river and was leaning against the old, battered blue box.

“It’s going to take some time,” said the Doctor. “There are a lot of lost people out there. They’re going to need help.”

Caroline and Danny nodded. “Margot and Ben will help them.”

“I know they will,” he smiled sadly.

The Doctor let out a long, deep sigh. “And you two…”

“We’re staying here,” said Caroline.

“I thought you might say that,” said the Doctor, a little sadly.

“When I started travelling with you, Doctor, I came because I wanted answers. I found those answers. But I never got to really appreciate all those wonders out there.” She took a hold Danny’s hand. “But I just wanted to say thank you.”

“I hope you found the answers you wanted.”

“I know there’s a power inside of me. And I know it may always be there, but out of that power has come something…beautiful.” She looked down at William, sleeping in his pram. “And it’s time to get on with my life now.”

“And you, Danny?”

“Oh, I just wanna say cheers for dragging me around time and space with a ghost stuck in my head.”

The three of them laughed.

“But seriously,” said Danny, “you helped me get my brother back. I never thought that was possible. Thank you.”

The Doctor smiled.

Danny held out his hand and shook the Doctor’s.

And then Caroline leaned in, stepped on her tippy-toes, and gave the Doctor a kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t be lonely,” said Caroline. “And don’t die alone.” Caroline tried to hold back to tears. “Promise me.”

“Caroline…”

“The universe needs the Doctor. Who else is going to fight off all of those monsters? So promise me you’ll fight to stay alive.”

“Okay,” said the Doctor. “I promise.”

Caroline smiled.

“Time to go then,” said the Doctor, unlocking the TARDIS door.

“Take care, you daft old sod,” said Danny.

Caroline and Danny watched as he stepped into the box. For a moment Caroline felt a pang of regret. There was a whole universe out there to explore, but this was her life now. Her life with William and - maybe - Danny. And she couldn’t ask for anymore. This was the life she wanted. The most wonderful life.

The two of them stepped back as the TARDIS dematerialised for the last time.

And then they were alone beside the river.

“Come on,” said Danny, putting his arm around Caroline. “Let’s go and get on with life.”




EPILOGUE




February 2nd, 2544




President Jack Harkness surveyed the cold, empty control room of Torchwood LA. Only a month ago the place had been buzzing with as many as twenty members of the team, but now the place was cold, dark and soulless.

Jack didn’t know what had happened to Jayne and her team, but he was damned if he was going to let it lie there. He had to find out.

He pulled his grey military jacket tighter around him, turned to leave, and came face to face with a bald-headed man in a black jacket.

For a moment Jack was stunned by this stranger, and then he broke into a grin. “Doctor.”

“Jack,” smiled the Doctor, and the two men embraced.

“Changed again, huh?” said Jack, looking him up and down. “Loving the bald look by the way.”

The Doctor smiled. “Yes, I’m rather fond of it myself.”

“What number’s this then?”

“Too many to count,” smiled the Doctor. The Doctor looked around his surroundings. “So this is the famous Los Angeles branch then?”

Jack nodded. “Managed to rebuild Torchwood from the ashes. We’ve got branches all over the world now.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Doing it the Jack Harkness way?”

“Doing it the Jack Harkness way,” he said, nodding. He sighed. “But it’s failing.”

“What do you mean?”

“People are losing faith in us again. Just the other month we lost an entire team. The LA team. They just disappeared.”

“Jack,” said the Doctor, leaning against the railings that surrounded the upper walkway, “Torchwood will rise, and Torchwood will fall. It’ll come back in different guises with different names, but it’ll always be around.”

Jack nodded. He knew he had to trust and believe the Doctor’s words.

“Just be careful of some of the people in the halls of power.”

“Hey,” said Jack, “I’m president of Torchwood now. What I say goes.”

“But others may not believe that.”

Jack frowned.

“As I said,” continued the Doctor, “just be careful.” The Doctor headed towards the door.

“Why did you come here?” said Jack.

He stopped. “I came to tell you about your LA team.” He turned back to face his old friend. “They’re safe. They’re living their lives in the 21st century.”

“How?” said Jack, shaking his head.

“A long, long story,” said the Doctor.

“Can you bring them back?” asked Jack.

“I could,’” said the Doctor, “but they want to stay.”

Jack nodded. “What do I tell their families.”

The Doctor smiled. “Tell them that they’re out there, far away in the past. And they’re heroes. All of them.”

Jack watched as the Doctor walked through the doorway.

He turned to face the central hub of the control room again. For a moment he thought he saw a figure. Down in the darkness, a glowing figure of a woman. But he must have imagined it, because as soon as he had tried to register it, it had gone.

Jack laughed, shook his head and then made his way out of the base. He’d have to begin recruiting again. He wondered if there was anybody out there ready to take up the challenge. He wondered if he was still up to the challenge.




Somewhere else…




On a rain-soaked building site somewhere in a quiet country village, a JCB digger had been stopped. The workers were all gathered around something that the digger had uncovered.

The foreman bustled onto the site and pushed his way past the workers.

“Stand aside,” he said. He looked down into the small, uncovered hole at the base of the chalk cliff. “What the bloody hell’s that thing?”

His second in charge looked down at the twisted, metal thing that looked like it had been crushed under a heavy weight.

The thing’s eyestalk, although dead, was still pointing upwards, as if reaching for freedom.

“I’m buggered if I know what it is,” he said. “It looks like some kind of crushed, giant pepper pot.”




THE END

Doctor Who: Darkpaths returns in January 2014 in “Village of the Daleks”, starring Richard O’Brien as the Doctor, and introducing Louise Brealey as Alice Stokes.


28 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 10 (Resurrection)

Ben frowned as he looked the strange man up and down. “Master what?”

The Master turned to look at Ben. “Just ‘the Master’ will do.”

“I don’t understand,” said Caroline. “Do you even remember what happened to you?”

The Master crossed over to his former, travelling companions and looked down at them. “Of course. Every, single, last, pathetic moment of it.”

Danny frowned. “Then can you care to explain to us what happened to you.”




“You see, my dear friends, the Doctor and I go way back. Way, way back. Further than he cares to remember. And we’re not exactly…friends. I’ve always thought of him as a very dear ally. A competitor. And, I am ashamed to admit, he has defeated me on many occasions. I’ve even died a few times because of him.

Well, on this particular occasion I had reached the end of yet another regeneration cycle. Yes, it happens to the best of us, I’m afraid.

My body was dying, my TARDIS had been destroyed. I went to the only place I could think that could save me: The Proto-Store Moon.

During the Time War - so long ago, now - Time Lords began creating new Time Lords. Proto-forms. They would begin as blank slates and quickly evolve into mindless drones. Perfect to send into battle. There was one left. And it was damaged. My plan was to transfer my living consciousness into the proto-form, effectively giving myself a new body.

But there was no way to do it. The Proto-form was badly damaged. It needed a kick-start. The only way I could do it was in it coming into contact with another Time Lord. Another Time Lord’s regenerative cells. I was only dying. So I transferred - cloned - my consciousness, loaded the proto-form into the tube and ejected it into the vortex.

I can only assume that my old body died soon after.

I latched onto the TARDIS and caused it to land in Manchester, triggering the Doctor’s regeneration. I was in close proximity to him as he regenerated. I absorbed all of his cells, rendering him unable to regenerate, but before I could complete my transformation, his little blue friend - was her name Aleena? - took the new Doctor away and abandoned me in that blasted airport. I wasn’t able to complete myself.

And so I forgot. I had nothing but the mindless Human cattle and the Doctor’s regenerative cells. Slowly I believed myself to actually BE the Doctor. Rational thinking took over. I believed myself to be a Watcher - an echo of a future incarnation of the Doctor. And slowly I became Matthew Cole.

But now I know the truth. It’s a very liberating experience, I can tell you that.

Oh, and now I get to watch you all die."





Back in the shed-TARDIS dimensions, Adrian had been shepherding the Apparites - the good ones - towards the various cracks in the landscape. The Doctor had promised to save them, and he was determined to make sure none of them were trapped inside when he closed these dimensions down.

“Is it done?” said Jayne, as she looked at the Doctor, hunched over the console.

The Doctor nodded slowly. “It’s done.”

“So all you have to do is-”

“-disconnect the two wires,” said the Doctor.

“Seems a bit simple to me,” said Jayne, crouching down and looking at the two, pathetic little wires dangling underneath the console.

The Doctor crouched to join her. “You forget all the work I’ve just done to disconnect everything. This is just the very, very last thing.”

Jayne sighed. “And then it’ll all be over?”

“And then it’ll all be over. The power will be drawn back into the heart of the TARDIS. The dimensions will collapse and implode on themselves and - hopefully - the Apparites will all revert to their normal, Human form. They’ll finally be separated from this place.”

Jayne looked a little sad. “It’s a shame Brandon couldn’t have been here for this.”

The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve been very brave, Miss Robson. All these centuries guarding this place. Keeping everything in check. If only I’d know about it sooner.”

“Things happen for a reason,” said Jayne. “You can’t change them now. One thing I don’t get though. How are we going to get out?”

The Doctor looked at her inquisitively.

“Well, when you disconnect those wires, this whole place collapses, yeah?”

“Mmm-hmm,” nodded the Doctor.

“So how do we get out?”

The Doctor looked sad. “You and Adrian climb through a crack before I disconnect the wires.”

“And you then join us, yeah?”

The Doctor shook his head slowly. “There’s no time for me to get out.”

“What!?”

The Doctor held up his finger to Jayne’s lips. “I’m not here to argue. I need to shut this place down.”

“But you can’t just let yourself die!”

“Jayne, I’m dying anyway,” said the Doctor. “I might as well do it being heroic!” He laughed. “I don’t want to wither away and become a helpless old man.”

Adrian came running into the console room. “It’s done, Doctor,” he said, breathlessly. “I’ve got as many out as possible.”

“Good,” said the Doctor. He moved to a sitting/lying position under the console and grabbed the wires. “Head for a crack, you two.”

“But what about you?” frowned Adrian.

“He’s staying,” said Jayne. She leaned in a little closer to the Doctor. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” said the Doctor, refusing to make eye contact. And then his grey eyes flicked to hers. “Just do me one favour.”

“Anything.”

“Make sure Caroline gets the help she needs. And tell her that I’m sorry.”

Jayne nodded. And then she leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Thank you, Doctor. I won’t forget this. Ever.”

The Doctor watched as Jayne ushered the protesting Adrian out of the console room. And then he sat there, for what seemed like an eternity. Waiting for the right amount of time to pass until he destroyed yet another world.




In the crypt, the Master was pacing up and down, eyeing up the six people and the restless baby. His hands were behind his back and he was nodding to himself.

“So go on then, mate,” said Thomas. “How are you gonna kill us?”

“Don’t say that!” scolded Margot. “I don’t want to die, thank you very much.”

I’m not going to kill you,” said the Master. “It seems there a few loose ends to tie up here, and I’m quite happy for our ghostly friends to do the business.” He smiled. “They’ll be in soon enough.”

He made for the inner door that led to where the Doctor’s TARDIS was standing.

“You can’t steal it!” shouted Caroline.

“My dear, Miss Parker, I can do anything I want.” The Master smiled and then went into the ante-chamber.

Standing there, gathering dust, was the blue TARDIS. Caroline raced after the Master, just as he unlocked the door - with the key the Doctor had foolishly given him a while back - and went inside.

Caroline hammered on the door, knowing full well that it was futile, as the TARDIS slowly dematerialised.

And then it was gone.

And for the first time, as Caroline heard the Apparites scrambling down the stone steps, she felt as though this really was the end.




The Doctor had given them a good ten minutes to get out. He looked at the small wire in his hand. He was about pull it free from the circuit board, when he heard footsteps. He looked from underneath the console. Standing there was Jayne.

“Adrian is safe,” said Jayne quietly.

“Jayne, what are you still doing here?”

“I’m staying,” said Jayne.

“You are not!” shouted the Doctor. “You are going back to your people. You have to be with them.”

“I lost them,” said Jayne.

The Doctor frowned.

“I let my obsession of protecting this place take over my life. I lost their faith a long time ago. The least I can do is help fix this with you.”

“But you’ll die,” said the Doctor.

But Jayne simply shuffled under the console to sit beside him. “I’ve done my duty in life. I can’t ever imagine doing anything else after this.” Jayne looked at him. “You know, when I was a little girl, all I ever wanted to do was visit the stars and have adventures. I could have done that with you, actually.”

“Jayne…”

“But you’re about to die. So that adventure is never going to happen.”

The Doctor closed his eyes and banged his head back against the console’s plinth.

“But maybe the greatest adventure is about to begin.”

“Jayne…”

“Too late, Doc,” she said, grabbing the wires from his hands and yanking them from the console.

At first nothing happened, and then there was an almighty rumble from somewhere in the distance. The ground was vibrating and bits of metal were beginning to slowly float towards the cracked time rotor. The Doctor and Jayne looked at each other and then got to their feet, running out of the console room, through the cavern and to the surface.

They watched as the sky flashed with electricity. The clouds started to evaporate and the snow all around was melting. The Doctor and Jayne looked as the land around them began to crumple and fold up. It was almost like they were standing in the middle of a giant paper bag and a hand was crunching it up into a ball.

Jayne put her arms around the Doctor and drew herself in. “Doctor, I’m frightened.”

The Doctor pulled her in to shield her. “It’ll be over soon. I promise.”

Bolts of time energy struck down from the ever decreasing sky. The land shook and the Doctor and Jayne stumbled apart. Jayne fell to the ground.

The last thing the Doctor saw of Jayne, was a bolt of energy hitting her. The red-headed woman exploded into light as the time energy overloaded inside her.

The Doctor saw her screaming from within the light, but he couldn’t hear her. And then, just as suddenly as the light had hit her, Jayne was gone. The energy within her had destroyed her from the inside.

The Doctor sat back and watched as the dimensions around him collapsed.

And then he closed his eyes.




Caroline and the rest backed away from the metal tube that contained the inner-dimensions of the shed-TARDIS. Outside the door the Apparites had arrived.

“Where do we go?!” yelled Rebecca.

“Back!” said Caroline. “We have no choice. That thing’s going to explode!”

They ran from the box and to the staircase where the Apparites were clutching their heads in pain. Caroline watched as they writhed around in agony. Their features were slowly shifting and changing back to Human again.

“They did it,” said Margot. “They bloody well did it!”

“GO!” said Caroline again as they pushed their way past the Apparites, who had also begun to stream out of the church.

In the crypt the shed-TARDIS was glowing white-hot. And then…

It exploded, sending one last shockwave of time energy coursing through the crypt, obliterating every single piece of equipment.

Outside the snow was melting as they all staggered out. They had just gotten clear when the church erupted outwards, showering them all with stone and mason. Everyone fell to the ground as St James’s church - a building that had stood there since the medieval age - exploded.

Rubble rained down on them, but Caroline and the others had managed to get to safety, shielding themselves under an overhang from the 1980’s-built Wilkinson’s building.

“Looks like it is good for something,” laughed Danny as they watched the light from underneath the ruins of the church recede back into the ground.

“Doctor!” yelled Caroline.

Danny watched as his friend stumbled across the smoke-stained snow. And then his head turned. Emerging from the smoke and muck was Adrian. He looked a little disorientated, but he was alive.

“Adrian!” yelled Danny, throwing his arms around his brother. “Where’s the Doctor?”

“And Jayne?” added Margot quickly.

Adrian shook his head. “They stayed behind.”

Caroline peered into the crater left from the explosion. At the bottom was the twisted, metal shell of the destroyed shed-TARDIS. She fell to her knees and sobbed. The Doctor was gone.


Next time: It's the series 2 finale. The Master has stolen the TARDIS, the Doctor is gone, Jayne is dead, and Caroline and the others are left to pick up the pieces. Coming Saturday 30th November.

25 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 9 (Cole)

Matthew lay on the cold, stone ground, gasping for breath, but knowing that it was pointless. He had been aware of a commotion a few feet away from him, and he turned his head to look. Lying next to him, wrapped in an incredibly fluffy blanket, was a small, pink, newborn baby. It was sleeping soundly, it’s fingers gently opening and closing.

And he felt at peace. He felt as though something good had come of today.

He still didn’t quite understand what had happened or what had gone on. All he remembered was having these memories of being the Doctor - but now all he could feel was hatred towards him. How could he hate himself? And then he remembered - he had been told he was not the Doctor. Back on Xanji-For. That medic had told him he was not the Doctor. He was not the Doctor at all.

Then how could he have his memories?




And then he went back even further.




He was aware of something. A memory before he was created. He was aware of himself - a pure, white Proto-Time Lord, lying within a metal tube with a glass front. The figure of a man was above, staggering about and finding it hard to stay upright. And then he felt a pulse through his body. He felt something within him changing. And just as he felt the changes, he saw the man stagger over and out of site.

Then he was travelling through the space/time vortex. He was heading towards the blue police box - the TARDIS.

He collided with it. The tube fell apart. He followed the TARDIS down to the Earth.

He was standing behind the Time Lord - the Doctor - as he regenerated. He was about to reach out to him. The collision with his TARDIS had flooded his brain with memories. Memories of being the Doctor. He was the Doctor. He was sure of it. It had imprinted on his very mind.

And then he was gone. The Doctor had left and he - Matthew Cole as he would come to be known - was left behind on planet Earth.

But he wasn’t the Doctor. So who was he?




In the console room, in the shattered dimensions of the shed-TARDIS, the real Doctor was busy. He was half under the console, fiddling with wires and causing circuits to spark. Occasionally he made the odd grunting sound followed by a complaint and had to slide himself out, go to his coat pocket, remove another instrument and then slide back under again.

Jayne and Adrian were sat down, their backs against the roundel-covered wall.

“Do you think this is gonna work?” said Adrian, nodding towards the Doctor.

“Let’s hope so,” said Jayne.

“But we’ve got to help them all.”

“Oh, I agree,” said Jayne, “and this was what I was frightened of.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Doctor!” shouted Jayne.

The Doctor glanced from under the console, his sonic screwdriver sideways in his mouth. “Hmmm?” he mumbled.

“What are we doing with all the people still in here?”

The Doctor frowned, removed the screwdriver from his mouth and then slid himself out. “What do you want me to do?”

“Save them,” said Adrian simply.

“The moment that the ‘bad’ Apparites realise what we’re doing, they’ll descend on this place and tear us to shreds.”

“We can’t not tell them,” said Jayne.

“But if we do, they’ll come for us.”

“Then what do we do.”

The Doctor rubbed at his eyes and gazed up at the high, broken roof of the console room. He could see the moonlight coming through the large crack in the ceiling. He found it curious, how a moon could be within a broken TARDIS. He turned to Adrian and Jayne.

“The Apparites want out, yes?”

“Yes,” said Adrian.

“Then we let them out. All of them.”

“What!?” spluttered Jayne and Adrian together.

“At the moment they’re like flies. Most have sensed the window is open and have buzzed out, but there are some still buzzing around, oblivious to the fact.”

“Like the good ones. The ones I was with,” said Adrian

“Exactly,” said the Doctor.

“I can make more cracks in these dimensions. Enough for all of them cotton on that they can escape. It’d leave just us three in here.”

“But then what?” said Jayne. “We can’t just unleash the whole lot on Thornsby.”

“That’s why I’m not going to do it until I’m ready to shut the dimensions down. My theory is that as soon as the dimensions are closed, the Apparites will return to their former state.”

“You mean they’ll be Human again?” asked Jayne.

“Hopefully,” said the Doctor.

“Like the ones in the cave. Like Cope and Lilly. They’ve already been slowly changing back.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, sliding back under the console. “The ones who were with Brandon - the hardcore ones, if you will - were being manipulated more. The ones who simply sat quietly are less affected. It’s all a matter of being mentally linked to this ship.”

“Are you even close to shutting it down?”

“Soon. Very soon.”




Caroline was struggling to understand how her parents had arrived so quickly. With all the commotion of the last hour or so, the questions that needed to be answered hadn’t been answered.

Finally, when everything was settled, Caroline crossed over to them, her baby in her arms once again.

“Can you believe it?” said Thomas, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re actually grandparents now.”

“Crazy,” said Rebecca, touching the little boy on his cheek.

Caroline looked at the pair of them. “How?”

Thomas smiled sadly. “I know this must be confusing for you,” he said.

“Just a tiny bit,” laughed Caroline nervously.

“Before we left we sent the pendant to Cath and Tony,” he nodded towards the necklace, still around Caroline’s neck. “Left them a note.”

“So I could call on you?”

“Yeah,” said Rebecca, holding Caroline’s hand and smiling. “It would automatically signal us to these vortex manipulators.” Rebecca held up her wrist and showed the complicated, overly-large wrist-watch-style device.

“And we would be automatically be transported to where you were,” continued Thomas. He frowned. “Good job I wasn’t in the toilet or in the shower or anything!”

Caroline laughed. “But I don’t understand. Why haven’t you come back before, if you knew you could.”

Thomas let out a long, long sigh and leaned back against the stone wall. “You have to understand; we never wanted to give you up. At all. But you needed to live a normal, safe life.”

“But I haven’t, have I?”

Rebecca smiled sadly. “If you hadn’t met the Doctor, then you would have. Those powers may never have come to the surface.”

“And where have you been living?”

Thomas got up and crossed over to a console. He switched it on, punched in a few numbers and a small screen sprung into life. A lifeless, red planet hung against a blanket of stars.

“You’ve been living on Mars?” said Caroline, wide-eyed.

Thomas nodded. “Well, Mars in the future. Before we left we made contact with an ex-UNIT operative. He gave us a time ring - with a ‘use once only’ option - and we ended up a few hundred years in the future.” Thomas switched off the screen. “So we decided to settle on one of the Mars colonies. It was far away from Earth to not be noticed.”

“We even tried adopting,” said Rebecca sadly, “but she was a bit of a tearaway and ended up running away back to Earth.”

“And then we made contact with an ex Time Agent and purchased the vortex manipulators. Like time rings, but more sophisticated. We inputted the space/time coordinates of the pendant, and then waited.”

Caroline nodded. “All these years…living with the wrong parents.”

Rebecca shook her head. “You shouldn’t blame Cath and Tony. They did the best they could.”

“They were overbearing and overprotective,” said Caroline with a snort.

“They were just trying to protect you.”

Caroline folded her arms and sighed. “Maybe, but there could have been a better way than alienating your adopted daughter.”

Thomas nodded. “Are they okay?”

“Tony had a heart attack,” said Caroline.

“What??!” said the young couple together.

“He’s gonna be okay though. I had a big argument with Cath. That’s when she gave me the pendant.”

“We need to see them. It’s been a long, long time. Well, for them maybe. Not so long for us.”

“Bloody time travel,” said Rebecca, shaking her head.

Margot had been listening in. “Can we leave the reunions until we’ve dealt with this situation, please?”

There was a rumble from outside.

“Sounds like they’re getting ready for another attack,” said Ben, ominously.

Caroline shook her head. “I don’t know if I can do all that again.”

“Caroline…”

Caroline looked across. Danny was lying weakly next to Matthew. His arm was outstretched.

“Danny, are you okay?” she asked.

“It’s gone,” smiled Danny. “It’s left me at last. I feel free again.”




Outside the snow had completely covered the area around the church. A small trench-like walkway had been dug from the door of the church and out into the fields of snow. The Apparites had been set back, but they were now beginning to regroup. There was a sense among them that something wasn’t right. That something was threatening their world. Their very existence. And they weren’t about to let that happen.




Back in the crypt, Matthew’s breathing was becoming more and more rapid. He was rasping and gasping for air.

Caroline and Danny skidded over to him and knelt over his prone form.

He reached out a hand for Caroline. She grasped in tightly.

“The Doctor said to keep him alive,” said Danny, worriedly.

“Too…late…” croaked Matthew. “Tell…tell…tell…”

“Tell what?” said Caroline, feeling powerless.

Matthew gulped a few times, his eyes flickering. “Tell…the Doctor…I’m…I’m sorry…”

Caroline frowned. “What for?”

But Matthew’s eyes had already rolled to the back of his head. His arm went limp and Caroline let go of it. It flopped to his chest, lifeless.

Matthew Cole was dead.

“Oh, god,” said Caroline. “I don’t think I can take much more today.”

Danny took his jacket off and was about to cover Matthew’s lifeless face with it, when he noticed something. His face looked…odd. It looked like it was glowing slightly.

Caroline and Danny frowned at each other, and then leant in closer. It was glowing. Just under the surface of the skin were pinpricks of orange light. Soon those pinpricks gathered together to creature larger blotches of light.

“What’s happening?” said Caroline, edging away slightly.

They watched as Matthew’s entire face was engulfed in the orange light. And then, as though someone had jerked him up like a puppet on strings, he was pulled bolt-upright, his arms outstretched. His head lolled back as the glow covered his hands and then to the tips of his fingers.

And then…his whole body exploded in orange light. Flames danced around his face and arms as wave after wave of orange-golden light rippled from his body. And then.

Boom!

“He must be regenerating,” said Ben from the corner of the room. “You didn’t tell us he was a Time Lord!”

“He isn’t a Time Lord. Well, not exactly,” yelled Caroline over the cacophony of noise.

The light cleared. But something wasn’t quite right. Usually, during regeneration, the whole face would change. This time, however, it hadn’t. Instead, standing there stock-still, with his eyes closed, was the same, familiar Matthew Cole, his hair a little longer and the hint of a beard growing around his chin and mouth.

“Matthew?” said Caroline slowly.

Matthew’s eyes flicked open. But they weren’t the warm, friendly eyes they had grown accustomed to. These eyes were dark and mysterious. They were full of secrets. And they certainly weren’t friendly.

“Are you okay?” said Danny. “Matthew.”

Matthew broke into a grinned and chuckled. “It’s all so clear now,” he said, his Scottish accent gone.

“What is? What’s going on?”

“All of this. All of this stupid, memory thing.” He tapped the side of his head. “I can’t believe I’ve been walking around in such a haze for the last few months.” He laughed again, but looked disappointed in himself. Almost angry.

“Matthew, what’s wrong?” said Caroline.

“My name isn’t Matthew!” he snapped.

Caroline, Danny, Rebecca, Thomas, Margot and Ben stood still and silent as he looked around the room, cold eyes mentally interrogating every single piece of detail.

“Then who are you?” said Danny.

He smiled. “My dear, young Danny,” he chuckled. “My name is the Master, and you will obey me.”


Next time: Sacrifice in the penultimate chapter to the Season 2 finale. Coming Thursday 27th November. 

23 Nov 2013

Happy 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who

I'd just like to take some time out to wish Doctor Who a happy 50th birthday.

For me, this is a personal piece. It's about what Doctor Who means to me, and what it has done for me over the 31 (almost 32) years that I've been around for. So please forgive me if this piece is a little patchwork in some places, but I just wanted to give a collection of thoughts on the show.

I first saw Doctor Who in the early 1980's. It's one of my earliest memories, watching a beta max recording of "The Five Doctors". My clear memory was of the Dalek blowing up after chasing the 1st Doctor and Susan. And after that my next memory was of "Time and the Rani" from 1987. I remember seeing Mel go up in that bubble trap set by the Rani. And then I remember being petrified when Ace turned around with yellow eyes in "Survival". So technically Sylvester McCoy was my first Doctor. I must have watched most of the 7th Doctor stories on original broadcast, because I remember that as soon as it finished every evening, my Mum would get me ready for bed.

Then during the late 80's my Dad would buy the VHS releases. "Death to the Daleks" and "Day of the Daleks" were the first few we got and I watched them over and over again (including the two Cushing films, which still hold a place in my heart).

I had a number of Dapol Daleks as a kid and a toy TARDIS as well. I remember being frustrated with the TARDIS as it fell apart so easily. As I didn't have a console toy, I ended up gluing the box together (something I regretted years later). I also remember a few years later, my Mum had bought me an Ice Warrior figure, but the morning it arrived at the door, she took it away and I had to wait until Christmas (!). But that Christmas I almost had a fit. We caught it on home video as I not only got my Ice Warrior, but also a 4th Doctor and K9 figure!

In 1992 I remember putting together a "Radio Who" programme. It was really just me messing about, playing selected Doctor Who music and putting them to tape with me talking between items. Lot's of fun!

But the big Doctor Who madness kicked in around the same time that I met my good friend Alex. He didn't know much about Doctor Who at the time. Myself, Alex and Matthew (another friend) were in the playground playing Doctor Who. I was the Doctor, Matthew the companion, and Alex wanted to be...the Doctor. No, no, no. That wasn't going to work. But sure enough, all three of us became the Doctor in that playground. Except this was different. Apart from my stint as the 2nd Doctor, all three of us created future incarnations.

Now, you have to remember that this was 1992 - when we only had 7 Doctors. So, I became the 8th Doctor - a bald headed, wacky, leopard-skin-coat-wearing Doctor in the guise of Richard O'Brien. Matthew became a curly haired, mustachioed 11th Doctor, and Alex became the slightly older, wiser and romantic 13th Doctor, along with his companion Ace (who had decided to travel with him again.)

So together we had big adventures in the small playground. But during the spring of 1993, we realised that we were growing up, and in a few weeks we'd be splitting up and heading off to separate secondary schools.
Our Playground Adventures had to come to an end. So we devised a finale on the very last day of school. The 8th, 11th and 13th Doctor's were gathered at the edge of the playground. ALL of the Doctor's companions had come to join the final battle...
All the 13th Doctor had to do was flip a switch or something, but he had to travel over deadly land (a piece of grass) to do it! And he did. The 13th Doctor sacrificed his life. With no more regeneration's left, he lay on the ground, dead.
But then the Time Lords appeared. They felt it too much to allow the Doctor to be gone forever, so instead they granted him a new set of regeneration's. But this time, the Doctor would be different.
As the Doctor regenerated, the 8th Doctor had the final line. "Oh yes, he's going to be very different."

The final act of the Playground Adventures was the birth of the 14th Doctor - and the hilarious situation that
Alex, now playing the 14th Doctor, had regenerated into a woman!

And then the school bell rang, and it was over. We had to grow up and move on.

But we didn't leave Doctor Who behind us. Alex and I remained good friends for years after, both obsessed with our favourite TV show.

I was collecting the magazines that my Grandma purchased  every month for me, my Dad bought each video when they came out, and there are many Saturday nights that I spent at my Dad's flat, light's off, engrossed in an old grainy Hartnell story, or a familiar McCoy story.

And Alex and I used to dress up. I remember going to a sci-fi market at the Town Hall. Alex was dressed as the 4th Doctor and myself in the 6th Doctor's trousers (I never really went the whole hog and got fully dressed up.) It was then when we made the most magical of discoveries. A dealer was offering us a copy of "The Tenth Planet" and a few other remaining episodes. Alex and I were so excited as we got them and ran back to his house. That normal, quiet Saturday afternoon was changed when we popped on the VHS and watched "The Tenth Planet". It was grainy and bad quality, but this is something I never thought we'd see. And not only that, but some silent cine clips from lost stories were tacked onto the end of the tape! Amazing! We even called the BBC to tell them about these clips. They already knew, of course!

In 1996, the proper 8th Doctor - Paul McGann - came along. Doctor Who was back! I remember recounting the entire story to someone at school. The entire thing. It was an amazing experience.

I collected books and other paraphernalia. We attended Grimsby gatherings were we watched "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" recorded from the TV and I met Sarah Sutton (Nyssa). These were the magical days of my childhood. Doctor Who was virtually gone from the screen. I was laughed at for liking the show, but I didn't care. These days were the ones that have stuck in my mind the most.

But, as with all things, my interest faded a little. By the time I'd reached 16, I was more interested in music, college and girls. And then as I turned 18 it was all about going for a drink with the lads. I stopped getting the videos and Doctor Who Magazine. It seemed to me, that I'd exhausted everything relating to Doctor Who. It was time to move on.

But then, in around 2001, out of curiosity, I picked up "The Fearmonger" - a 7th Doctor audio story by Big Finish. Here, once again, was new Doctor Who. Brand new, shiny, perfect Doctor Who featuring the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Doctor's. And I fell in love with the show all over again, collecting the magazine, 8th Doctor books and the Big Finish audios. And I often wondered why I had ever left the programme for those few years.

Then, in 2003, it was announced that Dotor Who was returning. I was at my ex-girlfriends in Germany when I found out who the 9th Doctor was going to be. I remember feeling frustrated at the time that they weren't continuing with the 8th, as Paul McGann had been excellent on audio, but I soon warmed to the 9th Doctor.

And so Doctor Who came around again. I clearly remember that my girlfriend was supposed to be coming to Grimsby on the weekend of the broadcast of "Rose". She changed her mind and instead got us tickets to see Keane on that very night. I think we almost split up because of it, and it must have contributed somewhat to our eventual break up as bizarre as that sounds! So instead of watching "Rose", I swallowed my anger and went to Germany. By the time I'd gotten back, Eccleston had already quit the role and I had to watch the first episode of a brand new story knowing that this excellent Doctor would soon be gone.

I got my ex into Doctor Who. She fell in love with Captain Jack. Even her parents got into it. I have a happy memory of bringing a VHS recording of "The Christmas Invasion" to Germany and myself, Sarah and her parents sat around watching it.

We all know what happened to Doctor Who after that. The programme became massive. It became huge. So much bigger than mine and Alex's Playground Adventure days. Now I wasn't laughed at for being a Doctor Who fan. Everybody wanted to be one. The Doctor had reached the point that I always knew he should have been at.

And now here we are, in the 50th year. These past few weeks I've watched some amazing things on TV. I've exploded with delight at seeing Paul McGann's 8th Doctor return to TV. I've cried at watching the drama of William Hartnell and his "I don't want to go," after he had been moved on by the BBC from the role. Even my Richard O'Brien Doctor lives on, 21 years later, in my fan fiction stories "Doctor Who: Darkpaths". Although the stories and situation doesn't resemble anything I did at the age of 10!

Tonight I'm going to the cinema - THE CINEMA! - to watch "The Day of the Doctor". It was always a dream that I'd get to see Doctor Who at the cinema one day. Now that boyhood dream has come true.

And my wife is into Doctor Who as well. It's so wonderful to be able to share this wonderful show with the person closest to me.

Doctor Who has changed me over my life. It's made me into the person I am today. Yes, it's just a TV show, but it's much, much more than that. It's fantastic and it's beautiful and it's one of the happiest, most hopeful things in my life.

Thank you to William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, and everyone else who has been involved in making this phenomenon.

And finally, Happy Birthday Doctor Who!


22 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 8 (Returnees)

The Doctor and Jayne entered the room containing the shed-TARDIS. Jayne looked down at the key around her neck and then stepped forward. She held it out and inserted it in the lock.

The Doctor put his hand on her arm. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said blankly.

“Your brother -”

“Like I said before,” said Jayne, “my brother died the moment that console exploded.”

The Doctor nodded sadly as Jayne turned the key in the lock and the doors were flung open.

The two were about to enter the box when they heard footsteps behind them. It was Adrian.

“Can I help you, Mr Lennon?” said the Doctor.

“You need to let me come with you. The ones inside need our help.”

“Adrian-”

“I won’t take no for an answer,” he said, hefting a rucksack onto his shoulder. “I’ve spent enough time with them to know that they need our help.”

“I don’t know if I can help them,” said the Doctor. “My first priority is to shut this TARDIS down.”

“And rescue the ones that are trapped.”

“I don’t know -”

“And rescue the ones that are trapped,” repeated Adrian, a little more forcefully.

“I’ll certainly try,” said the Doctor, quickly

“Good,” smiled Adrian. “Let’s go then.”

They made there way over the threshold and into the snow. The Doctor immediately felt a searing pain through his forehead and temples. He keeled over and gasped for air.

“You okay?” said Jayne, crouching down to check on him.

“It’s this TARDIS. It’s trying to communicate with me.”

“What’s it saying?” said Jayne.

“It needs to be….free…” he gasped.

There was a high-pitched whistling and the Doctor cried out in pain. He looked to the sky, almost begging for it to release him. And then, as quickly as it had started, the whistling died away and the Doctor slowly straightened himself up again.

“Alright?” said Jayne.

The Doctor nodded, getting his breath back. “Come on. Onwards.”

They made their way across the snow fields, dodging the occasional blast of lightning and the flurries of snow that had become too heavy for the trees branches to hold up. Every now and then one of them would slip on the ice, but they continued on their way.

They climbed a steep hill, clawing their way up by grabbing onto various ice-cold, jagged boulders until they reached the top.

“There,” said Adrian.

He was pointing towards a green glow in the distance.

“We’ve gotta get there?” said Jayne, out of breath.

“’Fraid so,” said Adrian. “That’s where the main console is. Where you can shut down this world.”

The Doctor sighed. “Then we best put our best feet forward. There’s no time to lose!”




Back in the crypt, Caroline was sat next to Matthew. His breathing had rapidly become worse. He was clearly in a lot of pain and his hand was still over the wound which Brandon had left in his chest.

Caroline had her baby in one arm and was gently stroking Matthew’s hair with the other, making the occasional “shushing” sounds.

“How’s he doing?” asked Danny, sliding down the wall to sit next to Caroline.

Caroline shook her head and said quietly, “I don’t think he’s gonna last much longer.”

Danny closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is a right disaster, isn’t it?”

“You’re worried about Adrian, aren’t you?” said Caroline.

“I’ve just got him back, Caz,” said Danny. “I may end up losing him again.”

“Hey, he’s with the Doctor,” said Caroline with a smile. “He’s gonna look after him. Don’t you worry about that.”

“It’s not really that,” said Danny, picking at his shoe laces.

“Oh?”

“I was so glad to see him again. So pleased,” he sighed, “but that’s not the same Adrian I lost back in 2004. He’s changed so much.”

“He’s had to go through a lot.”

“I know,” said Danny, shaking his head, “but has he changed too much?”

The ground shook and there came the sound of scuttling feet from behind the door. Ben quickly ran to the door and pulled the wooden barrier across it.

“It’s them,” said Margot, backing up a little.

“More of them,” said Ben, listening at the door.

They began hammering on the door to be let in.

“Can we put the barrier up?” said Ben.

Margot dashed to the controls and checked them. They were blackened and charred. “No chance. We blew out most of the power when we used the energy on Brandon.”

“We’ve gotta keep them out,” said Caroline, getting to her feet and shielding William in both arms.

“You don’t think I don’t know that?” said Margot, joining Ben beside the door.

“Use your powers,” said Danny, joining Caroline at her side.

“It depends how many there are,” said Ben.

Margot flicked on a monitor, giving her access to the CCTV camera nearby. A steady stream of Apparites were pouring into the church.

“Bloody hell,” said Ben. “I’ve never seen so many people trying to get in here.”

“There must be near on a hundred!” said Margot, for the first time showing a hint of fear.

“What do we do?” asked Caroline.

Margot and Ben turned to Caroline.

“Oh, no,” said Caroline, backing away.

“We need everyone we can muster,” said Margot. “The rest of the team are too weak. There’s only me, Ben and you with these powers. You’ve got to help.”

“I have no idea how to control the powers,” said Caroline, shaking her head.

“Now’s a good time to learn,” said Ben.

“No,” said Danny, standing ever so slightly in front of his friend, “she has no idea what she’s doing. You can’t expect her to fight the same as you.”

“We have no choice!” snapped Margot.

The door was now being pounded on over and over again. The four of them backed up against the wall, standing over Matthew.

“Then we’re finished,” said Ben, as an Apparite arm smashed through the wood, reaching for the wooden barrier.

Suddenly, Danny went white. His eyes rolled back into the back of his head and he straightened up, rigid.

Caroline, Margot and Ben edged away from him as his head snapped around to look at them. His lip curled into a terrifying smile.

“Danny,” said Caroline. “Don’t let it control you.”

“Poor little Caroline. Poor little people,” hissed Danny.

“Send it back,” said Caroline. “I know you can do it!”

“Too late now. Too late for all.” He laughed, throwing his head back.

Slowly Danny began to advance on the three of them. They were trapped between him and the doorway. This was surely the end.

Instinctively, Caroline reached for the pendant around her neck.

When things are ready to be finished.

She pressed the small button on the front of it. For a moment everything seemed to happen at once, and in slow motion. Danny leapt for them just as the door splintered open and the stream of Apparites poured in.

Caroline closed her eyes.

Things seemed to go cold. She dared to open them, and Danny was frozen in mid-air. The Apparites had also frozen to the spot. Margot, Ben and Caroline all looked at each other in confusion.

And that’s when she saw it.

Standing in the corner of the room, looking dazed and confused was a young man with short, light brown hair and a little bit of stubble. Next to him was a small, dark-haired woman with big, hazel eyes and a slightly pointed nose.

Slowly they became aware of where they were.

They turned to look at the small group of terrified people and then looked from Danny to the Apparites.

“Oh Jesus,” said the man.

And then all Hell broke lose. Everything unfroze just as Caroline, Ben and Margot jumped out of the way. The Apparites collided with Danny and he fell to the floor.

The female stranger grabbed William from Caroline and placed him in his blanket on the floor next to the dying Matthew.

She then crouched down next to Caroline - who was already on her knees.

“My baby!”

“You need to concentrate, Caroline,” said the man, crouching next to her as well.

“On what.”

“On what’s in front of you. Fight them off. We can all do it.”

“I don’t even know who you are,” yelled Caroline as the Apparites - and Danny - closed in on them.

“Yes you do. We gave Catherine and Tony the pendant.”

Caroline looked at the man and then to the woman. There was some recognition in her eyes. And then she smiled.

The man looked down at her and grinned. “Understand?”

“Yes,” said Caroline. “You’re my Mum and Dad!”

Thomas and Rebecca Farrington laughed as they helped her to her feet. Margot and Ben joined at the sides and Thomas and Rebecca grabbed Caroline’s hands.

“Nice to see you two again,” said Ben.

“Time for the pleasantries later,” said Tom. “Caroline, we’re going to channel our power through you. You’ll not have to do anything, but you’ll be like a conductor. You’ll also amplify us. Now, concentrate!”

Caroline closed her eyes as the five of them burst into a glowing, orange colour. A wave of light burst from them and hit Danny and the Apparites. They were all thrown backwards to their feet.

Danny came to his senses, but was hauled up by the lead Apparite.

“Let go!” said Danny.

The lead Apparite grabbed the back of his head.

“Danny!” yelled Caroline.

Without thinking, she lurched forward and grabbed at Danny. The Apparite pulled backwards whilst the glowing Caroline pulled forwards.

Danny screamed as the ghost - trapped within him for so long - was wrenched free.

Danny fell against Caroline and the pair of them crumpled to the floor in a great big heap.

“Finish it!” yelled Rebecca over the cacophony of hissing and growling.

Caroline scrambled to her feet as the five of them forced the Apparites out of the crypt and out of the church.

When all was safe, Caroline dropped to her knees, unable to control the power. Computer systems began to spark and fizzle as the waves of energy ricocheted around the room.

Thomas dropped to his knees in front of her and held her hands. “Calm down,” he said slowly. “Calm down.”

“I can’t,” said Caroline, tears streaming down her face.

“You have to,” said Thomas. “It’s us. Your Mum and I have come back for you.”

Caroline whimpered.

“We love you,” whispered Rebecca.

Slowly and gently, Caroline began to regain control, the power subsiding and returning to within her.

“See,” smiled Thomas, “I knew you could do it.”

Caroline shook her head and then threw her arms around her Mum and then her Dad. She sobbed. “You have to take it away.”

Thomas looked at Rebecca and then back at Caroline. “I’m not sure if we can.”

“But Jayne said that she could absorb it into herself.”

“With great risk to her,” said Margot. “And even then there’s no guarantee.”

“And not only that,” said Rebecca, “but you were born with these powers. It’s a part of you. It’s not something you can just erase from yourself. It’s a part of you and your baby.”

“But we’ll help you,” said Thomas, clasping his daughter’s hand tightly. “We’ll help you control the powers.”




The Doctor, Jayne and Adrian emerged into the console-room-like cavern. The Doctor’s face was bathed in the green glow from the cracked time rotor.

“Let’s finish this. Let’s shut this place down for good.”


Next time: The death of Matthew Cole? Coming Monday 25th November.

19 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 7 (Newborn)

Caroline was speechless. Not many things made her speechless. The ending of “The Sixth Sense” had made her speechless. The death of her grandma had made her speechless. But this was something different. This was like losing something - someone - and then getting them back again, against impossible odds.

She tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The whole room was spinning and blurring out of focus. All she could see was the small, sleeping baby in Adrian’s arms.

“This doesn’t make sense,” said the Doctor.

“I tried to tell you earlier. Adrian showed me when we were in the shed-TARDIS dimensions. In the console room.”

“But how?” said the Doctor, looking from Caroline’s shocked face and then back to the baby.

“It was the good people - the good Apparites - that took the baby.”

“But why?” said the Doctor.

“Because it was humming with power. If she had carried the baby to term then it would have ripped her and itself apart, doing who knows what else damage.. The energy released in child labour is just…phenomenal. Even at the normalist of times.”

“You’ve got clever with your words,” said Danny, frowning at his brother.

“I’ve had time to…I think.”

Caroline frowned. “But it was never there,” she said slowly.

“You forget that they’ve got time energy running through them. They made it appear that you’d never been pregnant.”

Caroline shook her head. “But…I just don’t…”

“Why didn’t you just explain this to Caroline?”

Adrian shook his head. “Communicating between both worlds back then was…limited.”

Caroline slapped Adrian across his face.

The shocked lad simply stared at her. “Anyway,” he continued, “we took the very, very small, unborn baby and placed it in an incubator in the TARDIS where it was able to grow to full term. Harmlessly.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Even that was incredibly dangerous, young man! You placed a small, growing life within a twisted, terrifying psychic world!”

“We had no choice, Doctor!”

The Doctor simply tutted, his arms folded.

“But he is truly and completely yours, Caroline,” said Adrian, extending his arms towards Caroline.

“He?” said Caroline.

“Yep.” Adrian smiled. “It’s a boy. And technically only born a day or two ago. That’s why I originally came back. To find Danny and you.”

Caroline nervously took the bundle from Adrian. She pulled it in towards her chest. She had never thought it possible. When she had found out she was pregnant, she had been overjoyed. Over the moon. It was the best news in the world. And when she had lost the baby, it had destroyed her inside. Destroyed all of her love for the world.

And now here he was. The light she dearly needed in her life. Shining and sleeping in front of her. She smiled and turned away from the rest of them. This was her moment. A moment she had to share with just him and herself. The tears were in her eyes as she gently rocked her baby backwards and forward.

She reached out her hand and touched his forehead gently with her finger.

There was a small spark and Caroline gasped. She felt, however impossible it might be, that she had experienced the pregnancy. Her body surged and she felt herself giving birth and then the joy at seeing the baby for the first time.

She felt at one with the baby. He was hers. He was her son.

Danny joined her by her side and smiled, looking down at the baby.

“Congratulations,” smiled Danny.

Caroline looked and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“What will you call him?”

Caroline looked at him. There was only one name she could ever call him. “William,” she said. “His name is William.”

Danny nodded and smiled. “Parker, Farrington or Fieldgate?”

Caroline smiled and laughed through her tears. “Maybe none of them. Maybe I’ll just rename us Caroline and William Smith.”

“Smith!” said the Doctor, clapping his hands together. “Now there’s a good, last name.”

Caroline laughed and turned to face the time traveller. They had been through a lot together. She had not always been the easiest person to get on with, and they had had their differences, but all of it had led to this. The most amazing moment of her life.

“Thank you, Doctor,” she said, smiling.




Outside the church was still and silent. Most of the Apparites were on the other side of town, heading towards the Victoria Mills apartment complex. But there was one who remained near the church: Brandon.

He slowly walked across the snow, the soft, white stuff crunching under foot. He had a look of determination in his rotten eyes. He knew where he needed to get to and who he needed to get to.

He reached the door to the church. It had been locked from the inside. He scowled as he touched the handle. The handle froze up and then shattered over the ground. And then Brandon pushed his way in.




Inside the crypt, the Doctor had loaded up a rucksack with some equipment from his own TARDIS. The blue box was standing in the corner of the control room and he gave it a gentle pat as he locked the door.

Jayne had also finished packing a rucksack with some essential supplies for their journey. They had both dressed in big, warm coats and woolly hats and scarves.

The Doctor smiled at Danny and Caroline as he pulled the hat down over his head.

“It’s going to be cold in there,” he said, patting the top of his hat.

“You be careful,” said Caroline.

The Doctor looked away and then back at Caroline. “Look, I don’t want to dampen the situation, but if I don’t come back -”

“Oh, come on, Doc,” said Danny with a laugh.

“Please, listen to me. If I don’t come back, I want you to get the rest of these people into the TARDIS. It’s pre-set to take you far away from here. Use it only in the most dire emergency.”

“But you will come back,” said Caroline, as she stroked William’s cheek.

“Promise me you’ll do as I say,” said the Doctor, holding up a finger.

“Okay, okay,” said Danny, “we promise.”

The Doctor smiled. “Be careful.”

“Are we ready?” said Jayne, interrupting their quiet moment.

“Yes,” said the Doctor. “Let’s get this over with.”

Matthew stepped forward, his arm extended. “Good look, Doctor, eh?”

The Doctor looked down at his arm, frowned, and then shook it. “Thank you, Mr Cole.”

Matthew smiled.

There was a scream from the other side of the room. Standing there in the door to the crypt was Brandon. His arms were outstretched and cold air was coming from them.

“Brandon!” said Jayne, shocked to see her brother.

“Hello, Jayne,” he growled.

“Sit down and we can talk about this,” said Jayne, edging a little closer to the cloaked figure.

“No more talking,” hissed Brandon. “You left me in there.”

“I had no choice,” said Jayne, emotion filtering into her voice.

“You always have a choice. You should have let me out.” Brandon edged a little closer to Jayne. “Now all I care about is making my people - my people - make you pay for your mistakes.”

“How? By bringing destruction and hurt to innocent people?” asked the Doctor.

“I cannot live like this. Live like an outsider.”

“But it makes no sense, Brandon,” said Jayne

Brandon howled in pain and clasped his head between his hands. “Help me, Jayne. Help me!”

Jayne reached out to Brandon, and then his hand swiped up, grabbing Jayne around the wrist.

Jayne gasped in horror as her wrist started to turn grey.

“No!” yelled the Doctor.

He raced up to the Apparite and knocked Jayne free from the cloaked finger. Brandon rounded on the Doctor and grabbed him around the neck. He gasped as he was lifted into the air.

Cole ran to the Doctors aid and tried to push Brandon away. He momentarily dropped the Doctor to the floor, turned to face Cole and then thrust his hand through his chest.

Cole gasped as he felt his heart begin to freeze up.

And then there was a suddenly burst of light. Brandon retracted his hand from Cole’s chest and looked to where the light was coming from. Jayne, Margot and Ben were stood side by side, their whole bodies glowing bright orange. Brandon shielded his eyes against the light and screamed as he was backed into the corner.

“This is your own fault,” said Jayne as they advanced on him. “You’re not my brother. My brother was always a little bit selfish, but he would never had done something like this.”

“No!” howled Brandon.

“My brother died when that console exploded. Brandon is dead!”

Brandon let out a long, painful cry as the three Ancestors closed in on him. Brandon was set alight by the strange, glowing energy and slowly, before their eyes, his skin melted away from his skeleton, leaving a pile of gooey, white liquid. When the life had gone from Brandon, his skeleton crumbled to the floor.

When Brandon had gone, the Ancestors stepped away, their power slowly returning to within them.

Jayne knelt down beside Brandon’s remains. A tear fell from her eye, but she quickly sniffed the tears away and then turned to the others.

“Doctor, we need to go now!”

The Doctor had been tending to Cole’s wounds and looked up at Jayne. “Thank you, Jayne.”

She nodded.

“What about Matthew?” said Caroline.

“His heart has been damaged. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Can’t we help him? Get him to a hospital.”

“No,” gasped Cole. “No hospitals.”

The Doctor put an hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Look after him. I need you to keep him alive until I get back.”

Caroline nodded.

“Doctor, we need to go!” said Jayne, sternly.

Caroline watched Jayne and the Doctor head towards the crypt as she sat down, baby in arms, next to the dying Matthew Cole.

Strangely, he didn’t seem scared.

She took her pendant out of her pocket and put it around her neck, along with the silver cross her grandma had given her all those years ago. She turned the pendant over and over in her hands.

“When things are ready to be finished,” she repeated under hear breath, remembering her mothers words.


Next time: Will Caroline use the pendant? And what will it do? Coming Friday 22nd November.

16 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 6 (Plans)

On board the TARDIS, the Doctor was frantically trying to take control of his ship again. The machine was lurching violently backwards and forwards and Danny was finding it hard to stay on his feet. Eventually he found his way to the sofa and collapsed back on it, feeling the contents of his stomach turn around and around.

“Alright?” said the Doctor, looking back at Danny.

“Are you sure you’ve not disguised this ship as a washing machine?” said Danny, going green in the face.

The Doctor forced a smile and then returned to his manic movements around the console.

“What’s happening?” asked Danny.

“I couldn’t land the ship. Me breaking into the interior dimensions have caused them to blow open. Unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” said Danny. “Does that mean everyone back in Thornsby is in danger?”

The Doctor looked at him, his lips narrow. “Yes.”

“You need to be more careful,” said Danny. “How many times do we have to tell you that? You’re too reckless.”

“No,” said the Doctor, one leg up on the console to hold down a lever, “not reckless. Just willing to try things that maybe I wouldn’t have once attempted.”

“And look what you’ve done,” said Danny.

“They were going to get through anyway. Now Jayne will have no choice but to open the door and let me through the front entrance.”

Danny sighed.

There was a huge explosion from underneath the console and the TARDIS span around, throwing Danny off the sofa and against the back wall.




Down in the stasis room, where Matthew Cole was being kept asleep, the lights flickered.

And then the power went off…

Inside Cole’s container, the power fluctuated and then went off. All was silent.

And then Cole’s eyes flicked open.

His eyes darted around, looking all around him. And then he pushed open the lid and slowly rose, like Dracula from his coffin.

“What - ?” said Cole, a little disorientated.

And then he remembered, and a smile played on his face. But it wasn’t a pleasant smile. It was the smile of someone who knew exactly who he was and what he needed to do.

He clambered out of the container and made his way towards the console room.




The Doctor had managed to get things under control and they were now heading back towards Thornsby.

Danny was rubbing the back of his head where he’d banged up, when he suddenly gazed up at the interior door.

Standing there was Cole, his hair a little longer and stubble around his jaw and mouth.

“Doctor,” said Danny.

The Doctor looked across the room. “No, no, no,” said the Doctor. “Back in your container.

“The power’s gone, Doc,” said Cole quietly.

The Doctor checked a few of the readouts on the console. “So it has,” said the Doctor, worriedly.

“Look,” said Cole, “I don’t know what you want of me. I have no idea what’s going on here. I’m as in the dark about myself as you are.”

“Are you really?” said the Doctor.

“Of course I am,” lied Cole. “As far as I’m concerned I’m you. I have your memories. I have everything that you were.”

“But you’re not me,” said the Doctor. “And until I can find out who you are then -”

“Then what?” interrupted Cole. “You can’t keep me locked up here.”

“True,” said the Doctor. “I can’t leave you alone in the TARDIS.”

“Maybe we should keep him with us,” said Danny.

Cole turned and smiled at Danny. “What an excellent suggestion.”

“At least we can keep an eye on him,” said the Doctor.

“And maybe I can help in whatever predicament you’ve landed yourself in this time,” said Cole.

“Hmm,” said the Doctor. “Maybe.”

“Doctor,” said Danny, suddenly remembering, “there’s something I’ve got to tell you. Something Adrian showed me back there.”

The sound of the TARDIS engines slowly filled the room.

“Not yet, Danny. We’re landing now,” said the Doctor.

“So easily?” said Danny.

“Obviously nothing’s holding us back this time.”

There was a thud, signifying the TARDIS had landed, and the Doctor switched on the scanner. The Doctor and Danny watched on in horror as the Apparites swooped down around the centre of Thornsby, snatching and transforming people.

The snow continued to fall, layer after layer slowly covering the town.




The man ran as fast as his legs could carry him into what was know as the Alexandra Dock Retail Park. It consisted of a large car park with shops around the side and part of the river running alongside it. The river was lined by trees and bushes and the once lush green grass was covered in snow and the trees were bare of any leaves. The river had frozen over and the ducks had sheltered on the snowy bank.

Bolts of lighting struck down at the side and back of the panic stricken man, making him to stumble and fall. He made it onto the curved bridge which crossed the river and headed towards the shelter of the Metro Hotel which rose up into the sky like a huge glass beacon. As he neared the middle of the bridge he tripped and fell. There came the sound of echoing horse hooves moving closer and closer.

The man looked up to see one of the ghosts sitting on a shadowy, black horse. The rider smiled at him and then galloped around his shaking form and off the bridge. For a moment the man relaxed, thinking he was safe, but the ghost turned again and raised it's arms. There was a shudder from under the bridge and cracks began splintering in the concrete. A bolt of lighting struck down and the bridge crumbled taking the terrified man down into the river. The ghost laughed as the man tried to swim through the ice cold water towards one of the banks. The ghost raised it's arms again and another bolt of lighting hit the water in the river. For a split second the lake was electrified. The man was flung in the air and began shaking like a rag doll before splashing face down back into the water. The ghost dismounted it's horse and walked into the water, cracking the ice as it waded in. It grabbed the limp form of the man and wrapped it's cloak around him.

Slowly the man mutated into another, identical creature, and the two continued their rampage through the town.




“You stupid, bald, twit!” scolded Jayne.

“What has my lack of hair got to do with my grasp on the situation?” said the Doctor, slightly hurt.

“Nothing. And that’s what worries me,” said Jayne.

They had all assembled in the control room in the crypt. The Doctor, Danny and Cole had managed to avoid any Apparite attacks - just.

There had been a slightly dodgy moment where Cole tripped and fell face first into the snow. The Doctor, for a split-second, had considered leaving him, but then his better nature had taken hold and he had helped the mysterious stranger to his feet and dragged him inside the church.

They had all filled Cole in on the situation, but Jayne was still reluctant to open the doors to the shed-TARDIS.

“It’s the only way, Jayne,” said the Doctor again.

“The Doctor’s right,” said Margot.

Jayne looked to her friend. They had been through a lot together, but Margot had always trusted Jayne’s judgement, even when she found it too extreme.

“I beg your pardon?”

“The Doctor is right,” said Margot again. “They’re out now. They’re free. We have no other choice.”

Ben nodded. “It’s damage limitation.”

“But what about Adrian and the others inside?” said Danny, worriedly.

“I can try and get them out, if there’s enough time,” said the Doctor.

“And what about the ones out here?”

“They don’t need saving,” said Jayne bluntly.

“Even Brandon?” said Margot. “Jayne, your brother is out there somewhere.”

“I know that,” said Jayne, looking flustered, “but he made his choice. He obviously doesn’t care what he does. They’re tearing the town apart.”

“It’s pure, animal rage,” said the Doctor. “He doesn’t really know what he’s doing. It’s the sick, twisted, psychic projections from that damaged TARDIS that are doing it.” He pointed towards the doorway to the TARDIS room, as if to emphasise his point.

There was a knock at the door and Caroline entered. She smiled at the group.

“Caroline!” said Danny, happily, giving her a hug. “How did it go?”

She guided Danny and the Doctor over to the corner, out of earshot of the rest of them. “It’s fine. He’s going to be okay.” She frowned. “Didn’t you dissapear with Adrian.”

Danny nodded at the Doctor. “He did a suicide run and got me back. Adrian’s still stuck in there.”

Caroline smiled weakly. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

The Doctor looked a little uncomfortable. “Did you…?”

“Tell my Mum? Yes, I did,” she said.

The Doctor nodded.

“We had an argument. A bloody big argument,” said Caroline. “But…well, it’ll take some time, but I’m sure we’ll be okay. Eventually. Bygones and all that.”

A thought suddenly flashed through Danny’s head. Something he had forgotten to tell the Doctor about. “Caroline. Doctor. There’s something I really need to tell the both of you.”

“Hey!” said Jayne. “Can we have the Friends Reunited thing later on?”

“Friends reunited?” said Caroline. “You’re a bit behind the times.”

Jayne smiled sarcastically at Caroline.

“But I really need to tell you this,” said Danny.

“Later, later,” said the Doctor, guiding Caroline over to look at the banks of computers lining the walls.




Outside, Thornsby had changed completely. Everywhere was covered in deep snow drifts that ran up the walls of buildings and even through some of the windows. Some shops had crumbled under the unusual force of the snow. It was as if it had tried to push it's way into the buildings and ended up knocking them down. The town was deserted.

The dimensions were spilling into this world.

The snow had become heavier over the last hour. Most people had escaped to their homes. Those that had made it out of the town centre, that is. The ones that were still trapped…well, they had no chance now. The snow had fallen, covering everything and knocking out power to the town. Many of the people stranded in the middle of the chaos had attempted to evacuate to the outskirts. Some made it and some hadn’t. The roads were blocked off and public transport was down. By now helicopters had attempted to land to bring medical supplies and rescue, but most of them had been unable to get through the blizzards.




Back in the crypt the Doctor had finally convinced Jayne that travelling into the shed-TARDIS was the best course of action.

“I’m going on my own, though,” said the Doctor.

“Like hell you are,” said Jayne. “You need back up in there. You need me with you.”

“I prefer to operate alone,” said the Doctor.

“Never have more falser words been spoken,” said Jayne. “You love your companions.”

“Miss Robson -”

She held up a finger. “This is my problem, and I’m helping to deal with it.”

The Doctor smiled followed by a long, large sigh. “Okay, you can come with me. But follow my lead. You must do everything I tell you. No questions.”

“What about us?” said Caroline.

“Everyone else stays in here, in the crypt and out of danger.” He pulled Danny and Caroline to the side. “And I need you both to keep an eye on Mr. Cole. I’m sure he’s aware of a few more things since we last spoke. I think he’s hiding something from me.”

Danny and Caroline nodded.

The Doctor was about to continue with the rest of the plans details, when the crypt door opened. Ben went for a chair and held up, ready to fight back whatever had entered the room.

Standing there was Adrian.

Danny frowned at him. “Adrian! How’d you get here?”

“I walked. Through one of the gaps into this world. There’s nothing stopping them - or anything else - now.”

Danny noticed he was holding something. A small, white bundle in his arms. “Is that…?”

Adrian nodded.

“What is it?” asked the Doctor. “What have you got?”

“This is what I was trying to tell you both about,” said Danny, frustrated with himself.

Adrian held out his arms. The Doctor and Caroline peered down. Inside the blanket was a small, sleeping, scrunched up pink face.

“It’s a baby!” said the Doctor.

“Yep,” said Adrian. He looked at Caroline. “To be more specific, it’s your baby, Caroline.”

Next time: Someone gets mortally wounded in the crypt...Coming Tuesday 19th November.

13 Nov 2013

Call of the Spirits: Chapter 5 (Balloon)

The Doctor scrambled into the upside-down TARDIS and then fell up to the console. As gravity re-stabilised him, he raced around the console and set the time machine moving.

He thought about things for a moment. How was he going to direct the TARDIS directly into the other TARDIS? It was a very dangerous thing to even attempt to do. He could blow a hole in the space/time continuum. A hole that the universe would never recover from.

He bit the end of his fingernail, thinking about things carefully. And then he simply shrugged. He had no choice. He had to attempt it.

So he set the co-ordinates for the Battle TARDIS, crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.




Danny sat against the cavern wall, his knees drawn up towards his chest and his head lowered.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head.

Adrian sat beside him. “I know it’s a bit of a shock, but do you trust us now?”

Danny looked at him. “I trust you. I’ve always trusted you. But the others…I don’t know.”

“Please, Danny. Please.”

“Can you get that one out of me?” asked Danny, hopefully.

Adrian sighed. “Yes. We can at least try.”

Danny shook his head. “I thought it would have come out of it’s own accord by now. Being in it’s own world and everything.”

“Maybe it likes it in there,” said Adrian.

“I think it does. And that’s what I’m worried about. I’m worried that it’s been in me that long that we can’t be separated.”

“That’s a possibility,” said Adrian. “But you haven’t turned yet. Even if it is still inside you, I think you’re the one more powerful.”

Danny closed his eyes and balled up his fists.

The two brothers both looked at each other. They had both sensed something. The ground was trembling under them ever so slightly. They both leapt to their feet and looked around, worriedly.

They could hear something coming from the outside. It sounded like a loud, thunderous roar.

“Outside!” said Adrian.

The two of them ran through the cave tunnel and out to the surface. Hanging about ten foot above them was a glowing, shimmering object. The ground was beginning to tremble even more violently.

Danny was finding it a struggle to stay on his feet. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” said Adrian. “Nothing like this has happened before.”

Danny looked around him. Shadowy figures with cloaks were beginning to scuttle across the ground and towards his and Adrian’s location.

“It’s Brandon’s lot,” said Adrian, as Brian Cope and the other’s emerged from the cave.

“They’re heading for us,” said Danny.

“You lot, back inside,” said Adrian, pointing at the half-formed creatures.

“What is Brandon doing?” said Mr. Cope, slowly and sluggishly.

“Nothing that concerns us,” said Adrian.

The air was suddenly ripped open and the shimmering light blurred and then came into sharper focus. Hanging above Danny and Adrian was the familiar, blue form of the TARDIS.

“Oh my God!” said Danny, smiling up at the time machine.

The land shook violently and everybody was thrown to the floor.

Danny looked up as the Doctor opened the door and looked down. “Oh my days!” he said.

“Doctor, what are you doing?” said Danny.

“I’m trying to land the TARDIS…with great difficulty!”

“You need to go back!” shouted Adrian over the thunder. “You’re damaging everything.”

“I know!” said the Doctor. “But I needed to get here. I need to shut the power down to this world.”

“You’ll hurt my friends,” said Adrian, indicating the cowering group of people.

“Friends?” said the Doctor. “What do you mean?”

Danny got to his feet. “It’s true, Doctor. There’s two lots of them. The ones that follow Brandon - the bad ones - and the ones that follow Adrian. The ones that follow Adrian are slowly mutating back.”

The Doctor looked from Danny, to Adrian, to the small group and then back again. “We still need to shut this world down, though. I can get you all out of here.”

“Danny!” shouted Adrian.

Danny looked to where Adrian was pointing. Brandon’s group was almost on top them.

The TARDIS lowered slightly so it was within touching distance of Danny.

“Give me your hand,” said the Doctor. “I’ll get you all out first, and then come back.”

“Is that wise?” said Danny, gazing up at him.

“Just give me your hand!” shouted the Doctor.

The TARDIS lurched sideways and Danny leapt up and grabbed the Doctor’s hand. He managed to pull him up into the doors as Adrian watched on.

The TARDIS was rocking backwards and forwards and was becoming more and more unstable.

“Jump, Adrian” shouted Danny.

Before Adrian could do anything, the TARDIS lurched backwards and then vanished.

There was a loud explosion that seemed to come from all around.

Brandon’s group had arrived, and gazed into the sky.

“What’s that?” asked Cope, using his voice for the first time.

“I don’t know,” said Adrian, worriedly.

The sky then lit up. There were flashes of light all over. Lightning struck down, blasting holes into the ground.

The cloaked figure of Brandon slowly walked up to Adrian and then lowered his hood. His features were much more Human than the others, but he was still hideous to look at. He smiled, his jagged teeth caked with goodness knows what.

“What’s going on, Brandon?” asked Adrian.

“Freedom,” rasped Brandon.

They all looked to the sky as large holes ripped into thin air. It was like the sky was melting away.

“What has the Doctor done…?” said Adrian as he watched on in horror.




Caroline stood at the hospital window, looking out over the still and half-empty carpark. It was now close to midnight and things were quiet. And that’s when Caroline noticed it. A tiny, almost-invisible flake of snow float from the sky. She watched it fall past the window and land on the outside ledge and melt away. And then there was another. And another. And soon the sky was filled with the falling snowflakes.

In August.

Cath had also noticed.

Caroline turned to her adopted mother and smiled sadly. Both of their eyes were red from crying, but they were over the worse of it. They had both had a good cry and had both apologised for what they had done or said, but Caroline had a feeling that it was going to take a long time for the both of them to get over this.

“They’re coming, aren’t they?” said Cath, nodding towards the window.

Caroline nodded gently. “Yep. They’re coming, and only the Doctor can stop them.”

“The bad people,” said Cath.

“The bad people,” repeated Caroline.

She grabbed Caroline’s hand and kissed her on the back of it. “You’re going back to him, aren’t you? The Doctor.”

Caroline nodded again. “I have to. I have this power inside me. You know that. I have to try and use it for some kind of good. Maybe that’s why I’m here.”

Cath looked at her daughter and then pulled her in and embraced her tightly. “Please take care, sweetheart. Please.”

“I will, mum,” said Caroline.

The two women broke apart and stood there staring at each other for a few moments. And then Cath went to her handbag and pulled out a small, oval-shaped pendant attached to a chain.

“What’s that?” asked Caroline, as her mum handed it to her.

“Something I was given a while back,” said Cath. “There was a note with it. It said to give it to you when you needed it the most. When things were ready to be finished.”

Caroline nodded. “When things are ready to be finished.”




Back at the church, Jayne, Margot, Ben and the rest of the group were standing outside. The snow was coming down thick and fast and the ground was rumbling. The cracks in the sky were violently shimmering. Everything went still and silent for a few minutes, and then…

BANG!

Every one of the cracks exploded, throwing Jayne and the rest of them to the ground.

The air was humming with power and the group slowly staggered back to the relative safety of the church.

“Look!” shouted Margot, pointing towards the sky.

Jayne could hardly believe her eyes. Everything they had worked towards over these past few centuries had come undone as she saw hooded figures - one after the other - slowly stream out of the cracks around the centre of Thornsby.

“What has he done?” whispered Jayne.


Next time: Matthew Cole wakes up, and Caroline has another surprise waiting for her. Coming Saturday 16th November.