29 Jun 2014

Changes to Story Order

It is with some sadness that I have to report that we will be losing one of the stories from this series' schedule.

Due to other commitments in my life I am now under pressure to keep ahead with the writing of Darkpaths. If I pressure myself then I'm not going to enjoy writing anymore. As a result the series is going to take a one month mid-series gap which begins now.

As you will have seen by the end of "Number 17", the story ends on a cliffhanger. There will be no stories in July, and the series will resume in August.

The story that we will be losing is "Before the Dawn", a story which takes place during the early days of the Dalek invasion of Earth (as seen in the original William Hartnell story "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". This story hasn't been abandoned totally. It will feature one day in the future as its a story I've always wanted to do.

The new running order of the series will be:

August - "The Trees of Cologne" + short story: "Memories"
September - "The Curse of Nosferatu"
October - "War of the Machines"
November - "Family" + short story: "Goodnight"
December - "The Lives of the Doctor"

Due to this pressure I have put myself under, series 4, which is set for 2015, will start in March and consist of ten stories. This will then give me a two month cushion to get on with writing. More news on series 4 will come as we move into the second half of this year.

So look back in a few weeks for the cover and blurb for "The Trees of Cologne", and keep on reading!

28 Jun 2014

Number 17 (Part 4)

The Doctor was leant forward, his chin resting on the top of his hand as he stared at the fireplace.

“So you just forgot?” said Maxus.

“I didn’t just forget,” said the Doctor. “I suffered a major trauma to my body and mind. The temporal energy caused me to regenerate, and the Master colliding with me in the vortex didn’t help.”

“But you’ve remembered now?” said Tylaya.

“You see,” said the Doctor, tapping on his temple, “memories are never really gone. They’re just buried. Hidden away. It just needed a few triggers to bring them back.”

“All this is foreign to me,” said Norman who was standing by the mantel piece sipping on a brandy.

“Yes,” said Nancy. “What about these ghosts?”

“Well,” said the Doctor, leaping to his feet, thinking better of it and swaying slightly and then staring up at the ceiling. “They’re not technically ghosts.”

“They’re the family, aren’t they?” said Tylaya.

“Yep,” said the Doctor. “As I said: bubbles always rise to the surface.”

Maxus looked around the room. “So this 6 hour bubble is pushing it’s way through to our world?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “and so it appears that they are ghosts when really they‘re not. We’re just catching glimpses of them and their actions.”

“I thought you knew what you were doing.”

“I did know what I was doing. But with time experiments there’s always an element of risk.”

“So what do we do?” said Nancy. “How can we free these ghosts?”

The Doctor looked sad for a moment, remembering the hope that the Sleight’s had when they realised they’d be able to continue living with their son around, however short that time space in the bubble was.

“I have the date that they left now,” said the Doctor.

The house shook and they heard a scream from somewhere in the walls.

“I can try and fly the TARDIS back to the bubble. It’s with extreme risk though,” he said, glancing at both Tylaya and Maxus. “I don’t expect either one of you to come with me.”

“Is that worry creeping through, Doc?” said Maxus, raising his eyebrows.

“Don’t push your luck,” said the Doctor.

The Doctor headed out of the living room and to the front door where Nancy caught up with him. “Look, Doctor,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “I don’t claim to understand really what’s going here, but if you don’t come back from this…bubble thing, what happens?”

The Doctor looked at her with all the seriousness of a GP delivering bad news to his patient. “The bubble will break through into this time zone where it will grow exponentially until it consumes everything in it’s path.”

“We all die?” said Nancy, trying to simplify things in her brain.

The Doctor nodded once and then turned to leave.

“Good luck,” she shouted.

As the Doctor reached the TARDIS and unlocked the door Tylaya came running out.

“What?” said the Doctor, looking down at her.

“I’m coming with you. I figure you may need someone with you if thing’s go south.”

“And what about Maxus?” said the Doctor, nodding towards her fiancé standing in the doorway.

“He’s not happy, but I feel I owe you-”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, going inside the box.

“I do. I really, really do.”




The Doctor and Tylaya stood at the console. The Doctor had inputted the dates and was busy working on reconfiguring the time drives so they could bypass normal space and slip back into the bubble.

Tylaya gently tapped the top of the console nervously.

“Stop that,” said the Doctor curtly.

“Sorry,” she said.

He glanced at her. “Apology accepted.”

“I really am sorry,” said Tylaya.

“Don’t start again,” said the Doctor, shaking his head.

“I never meant for this to happen.”

“But it did happen, Tylaya, didn’t it? You and your boyfriend killed a perfectly innocent woman. Everything she ever was: gone. And I’ll never forgive you or him for that.”

“If I could take it all back-”

“But you can’t.”

“Don’t you understand,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I’m trying to make things better between us.”

“You can’t.”

“But, Doctor.”

“I don‘t want things to be better between us!”

The loudness of the Doctor’s voice echoed around the church-like console room and was followed by a deafening silence. Tylaya backed away from him and went to sit on the sofa. For the first time ever, she felt frightened of him. And for the first time she didn’t feel safe anymore.

The Doctor turned to face her. “I’m dying, Tylaya. I know that. I’ve known that for a long time, but it was only when I met Alice that I really felt that I could accept that. Before then I was busy looking around for ways to save me. Regenesis machines and stupid pills to keep me going. But then Caroline and Danny left me and I met Alice. And she made me realise that it didn’t matter that I was dying. I just had to enjoy the rest of my life for as long as I could.”

He plugged a device into the console and flicked a switch.

“And so I got on with life. I was going to take Alice to so many different world’s and times. She wanted to go and see the Beatles back in 1961 in the Cavern. She wanted to visit the Moonbase after it had first opened. She wanted to see what would become of her race. How can she do that now? I was just starting to get to know her.”

Tylaya didn’t know what to say.

“So, instead of me imparting all my wisdom to a young lady who wanted to see the world, I instead have to spend the rest of this miserable incarnations life with you two. Two murderers.” He punched another couple of buttons and the TARDIS began it’s flight. “So, no, Tylaya. I will not forgive you. I will not forgive Maxus, and if I could give you two up to get Alice back I’d do it in a heart beat.”

Tylaya felt sick.

“Now hold the bloody hell onto something. We’re in the vortex and about to hit the bubble.”

A few minutes later the TARDIS engines were grinding and sparks were issuing from the console. The whole ship shook and lurched as the TARDIS tried to enter into the bubble.

Tylaya felt sick before, but now she felt even more sick as the ship vibrated.

The Doctor remained standing at the console, one hand on the controls and another steadying himself on his cane.

Then, finally, the ship came to a halt.




The TARDIS doors opened and the Doctor stepped out. All around was some kind of misty substance and somewhere in the distance the Doctor could hear a child singing a nursery rhyme. It wasn’t a voice he recognised either.




All my incarnations
Standing in a row
When they are gone
Where do they go?





Tylaya came up behind him. “This is the bubble?”

“It’s deteriorated beyond anything recognisable,” said the Doctor. “When the bubble was created it would have been perfectly fine. Now the poor Wallis’s are hearing the families cries.”

“Doctor!” screamed Emily in the distance. “Doctor! Help us!”

The Doctor went as fast as he could, followed by Tylaya, into the thick mist until eventually he discovered the tree that had stood in the garden of number 17. It looked completed out of place and sitting at the base of the tree, cradling herself and rocking backwards and forwards, was Emily.

“Emily,” said the Doctor, crouching down in front of her.

Her tear soaked eyes looked up at him and frowned. “You’re not the Doctor.”

“No,” he said, “but I’m a friend.” He helped her to her feet and then held out his hand. “John Smith.”

She took his hand and forced a smile. “It all went wrong,” she said.

“The Doctor told me what he had done. He never thought it would have gotten this bad.” The Doctor tried to peer into the thick mist. “Where’s everybody else?”

“I don’t know,” said Emily. “Everything just started falling apart.”

There was a flash of green light and the fog seemed to billow away from them and, amazingly, get even thicker.

“Come on,” said the Doctor, taking Emily’s hand and guiding her and Tylaya through the fog.




“Pure temporal energy,” said a voice.

The Doctor span around. They had been walking for some time, but somehow he had lost Emily and Tylaya. Now he was standing on his own.

A woman with blondish-grey hair and a cardigan wandered from out of the mist. She looked kind and he recognised her. He recognised her from when he was back in Thornsby. He’d had a vision of her and she’d pointed at a tree branch for him to help himself up.

“Who are you?” said the Doctor.

“Someone who is concerned,” said the woman.

“Do you have anything to do with this house?” said the Doctor.

“No,” she said, smiling. “I’m simply using this bubble as a crossing point - a stepping stone, if you will - to speak to you. It’s incredibly difficult, you know.”

“Why?”

“Because of where I come from.”

“Which is where?” The Doctor was getting frustrated.

She smiled. “I’m not sure you’re ready for that answer yet.”

“Typical,” said the Doctor, looking around for Tylaya and Emily.

“Look, have you considered returning to your home?”

“How do you know who I am?”

“I know everything about you,” she smiled. “So, have you?”

“I can’t do that. Not now,” said the Doctor quickly.

“No, and that’s a good thing.” She stepped closer to him. “It’s good because there is another way for you to heal yourself.”

“What? How?”

“It depends on whether you can face the journey.”

He looked at her closely. “I’ve accepted my fate.”

“And you don’t have many days ahead of you now, but do you really want to die?”

“Like I said, I’ve accepted my fate.”

The woman nodded. “Very well.” And she stepped back into the mist.

“Wait!” said the Doctor.

“If you should change your mind, all you have to do is find Mount Cassius,” said her disembodied voice. “There is someone known to you there who needs your help.”

“Who?”

But she was gone.




The Doctor moved on through the mist until he could make out the large, looming shape of Number 17. It looked so strange to see it here amongst the nothingness.

“Over here!” came Emily’s voice.

Tylaya was there too. She reached out a hand and the Doctor reluctantly took it as he was guided through the back door.

Inside the house was cold, dark and grey. There was a smell of sulphur in the air.

“Who are you?” said Geoff, his rough northern accent coming back to the Doctor as if he’d never forgotten it.

“I’m a friend of Doctor Galloway,” said the Doctor. “John Smith.”

“Well,” said Geoff, “he’s got a cheek.”

“He apologises for this series of unfortunate events,” said the Doctor.

“Easy on him, Geoff,” said Maria as the rest of the family joined Geoff, Tylaya, Emily and the Doctor in the kitchen.

“Tell me what happened,” said the Doctor.

“Everything was alright at first,” said Maria, “and then we noticed the sulphur smell. We had no idea what it was.”

“And then the walls started to sweat,” said Gladys, shivering at the thought.

“Sweat?” said the Doctor.

“Built up condensation,” said Maria. “And then things started falling apart. We could always see the outside world, even though we knew we couldn’t leave the garden, but slowly it started to fade away like some sort of mist.”

“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor sadly.

“Not your fault,” said Geoff. “It’s Galloway’s fault.”

“Okay, Geoff,” said Maria, “that’s enough now. The Doctor couldn’t have known this was going to happen.”

“Hmmm,” said Geoff, turning away.

“Can you put it right?” said Maria.

“I can try,” said the Doctor. “But you do realise that if I take you away from here then your son will die?” He nodded at Liam.

“I know,” said Liam before the rest of them could answer, “but we can’t stay in this nightmare any longer.”

Maria looked as though she was about to burst into tears again and restrained herself. “It’s something we talked about should we have ever managed to find a way out. We understand the consequences.”

“Okay,” said the Doctor. “Then let’s do this.”




Twenty minutes later the Doctor and Tylaya had helped the family wade through the soup-like mist until they reached the doorway of the TARDIS.

“So did he just give you his time machine?” said Maria.

“I’m borrowing,” smiled the Doctor.

“I’ve always wanted to see inside this thing,” said Liam in awe.




Aftter the questions and the gasps and the surprises and the not-good-enough answers, the TARDIS was ready to leave the bubble.

The Doctor hovered over the console, deep in concentration.

“What is it?” said Tylaya.

“It’s just very…difficult.”

“What is?”

“Closing off a time bubble. It requires a lot of energy. I don’t know if the TARDIS even has enough power to break away from it,” said the Doctor, his voice a whisper so the family wouldn’t hear.

“You have to try,” said Tylaya. “They - we - can’t stay here forever.”

“I know,” said the Doctor. “It’s just…there was somebody inside that bubble.”

“Somebody?”

“An old woman. She knew me. She said that if I decided to live I had to find a place called Mount Cassius.”

“It doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Me neither.” He straightened himself up. “Okay, let’s give this a whirl.”

He pulled the lever and the TARDIS engines groaned into life. The Doctor flittered around the console, programming information into the control panels. The engines began rattling worryingly and the crystals in the central column were glowing brightly.

“So how does this work?” asked Maria, keeping close to her worried family.

“I’m going to attempt to suck the bubble up.”

“What?”

“I can’t just leave the time bubble here. It’s rapidly deteriorating and it’s bleeding through into our world.”

“What’s been happening?” said Geoff.

“There’s a nice old couple leaving in your house now and they think they’re seeing ghosts. What they’re actually seeing are your actions and echoes from within the bubble. If we don’t shut it down, it’ll continue to expand until it moves beyond number 17 and into the rest of the town.”

“Jesus…” said Geoff.

“Exactly,” said the Doctor. He worked at the controls for a good ten minutes and then looked up. “I’ve programmed the TARDIS to pull the bubble out with us as we dematerialise. It should be like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dirt. Hopefully the bubble itself will be enough to give the TARDIS the power it needs to escape. I say should.”

“Should?” said Tylaya, worriedly.

“Well, it could go wrong.”

They all looked at the Doctor with worry on their faces.

“Worst case scenario,” continued the Doctor, “is that the bubble is unleashed on the town and it causes temporal chaos.”

“Oh,” said Tylaya.

“But as that’s likely to happen if we don’t close it down anyway…well, we might as well take the risk.”

Gladys sat on the sofa with the two children whilst Maria and Geoff held each other close. Tylaya held tightly onto the console.

“Ready?” said the Doctor, turning to her.

She nodded.

He pulled the lever.

Outside the TARDIS began to dematerialise from the bubble. All around the green mist swirled and churned around. It was like a river running around and past a boulder.

The TARDIS rumbled and shook, vibrating violently. Soon the mist started to swirl and coalesce towards the blue police box. The mist was being sucked towards the TARDIS like iron filings being drawn to a magnet.

Slowly the bubble began to close in around the TARDIS.

Inside everyone was holding on for dear life.

“Hold on, people,” said the Doctor. “Here we go!”




The street was still and silent as the TARDIS materialised with a violent shake. The door opened and the Doctor, Tylaya and the Sleight’s piled out, smoke billowing from the interior behind them.

“Everything okay?” said Maxus, running out of the house, watched on by the shocked Wallis’s.

“Fine,” said the Doctor, coughing and spluttering.

“We made it!” said Emily with glee.

“Thank you, Mr Smith,” said Geoff clasping the Doctor’s hand warmly.

“You’re welcome,” said the Doctor with a smile.

“Doctor,” said Liam, slowly approaching the Time Lord, “thank you.”

“Liam..”

“It’s okay, Doctor,” he said slowly.

“How did you know it was me?”

“Only the Doctor would try and help me as much as you have. I don’t know how you look different, but it doesn’t matter.”

The Doctor nodded. “Liam, if there was any way that I could help you…”

“You gave me a few more years with my family,” he said, “and that was brilliant. Scary, but brilliant.”

The Doctor puffed out his cheeks, blowing out air. “Bless you, my boy.”




One day later




The Doctor had helped the Sleight’s to try and reintegrate into society and the Wallis’s had also helped. There were many questions and not many answers, but the Doctor felt that he was able to leave both families to deal with what was going to happen next.

Tylaya had begged the Doctor to try and help further, but he had simply shaken his head.

“Me helping is what got that poor family in that unfortunate situation.”

“But he’s just a kid,” said Tylaya.

“I know,” said the Doctor. “I know.”

Liam had taken a turn for the worst in the night, but as the Doctor, Tylaya and Maxus stood at the door of the TARDIS, looking back at number 17, Liam had found the strength to come to the front door.

Maria had her arms around him and Liam gave a weak wave to the time travellers.

The Doctor nodded back at him, and then they turned to leave.




A few days later Maria sat in the garden, gazing up at the clouds. She held Liam’s baseball cap in her hands, her eyes filled with tears.

Then, with a burst of light, the clouds parted, the sunlight streaming down. He was up their somewhere. Happy and well again.

She smiled.




Mount Cassius, The 3rd Moon of Barrisk




He entered the castle chamber, his footsteps echoing on the flagstones. With every step he felt more and more like he was heading into the web of a spider.

And then the spider appeared.

A very beautiful woman with long, red hair and a long, flowing black dress that showed off an impressive figure. She was wearing some kind of head band with a green jewel set into the centre of it. She eyed him up with distrust, her arms folded.

“My lady,” he said.

“Koschei,” she said.

“Please, my lady,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes, “I’ve not used that name for some time now.”

“As you wish,” said the woman with a sigh, “Master.”

He grinned.

“And you can dispense with the ‘lady’ if you would.”

“Of course, Celestia.” He bowed his head slightly, but it was more out of courtesy. She held no royal powers over anyone.

“So what do I owe this pleasure?” she said, as he slowly walked up to her.

“You’ve heard of what’s happening to the Doctor?”

“Whispers,” said Celestia. “It’s not the first time he’s been in a pickle, you know?”

“I agree,” said the Master, “but he’s always had help to…fix him.” He narrowed his eyes. “And we all know why he can’t get help from Gallifrey.”

Celestia narrowed her lips and breathed out through her nose. “Then he’ll just have to suffer the consequences and die.”

The Master chuckled. “Oh, you’re cold, Celestia. This is the Doctor we’re talking about.”

“And why do you want to help him so much? You’ve always been at each others throats.” She shook her head, laughing. “Goodness me, even before he ran away the first time you were at each others throats.”

“Yes,” said the Master, nodding in agreement, “but even I can change. The truth is that I don’t want him to die. If he’s to die, then it should be by my hands and standing tall as a true Time Lord.”

Celestia laughed. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?”

“It’s the only reason you need to know.” Almost instinctively he scratched at the side of his face.

Celestia frowned at him. “Indeed. Well, what is it that you expect me to help you with?”

“Your husband.”

“My husband died a long, long time ago,” she said sharply. “What does this have to do with him?”

“I know it’s still a sensitive subject, but if you’ll agree to help me I’ll be happy to bring you all the information I have from my TARDIS.”

“Again, what has this got to do with my late husband?”

The Master smiled. He had her now. “Because I believe that what killed your husband can help the Doctor.”

She frowned. “This is a family matter, Master. You shouldn’t be getting involved.”

“Oh, come off it, Celestia.”

“No. When Reikon and my son died it destroyed my world.”

“And the Doctor was there for you.”

“Yes,” she said sternly.

“Well he would be, wouldn’t he?” said the Master. “And you can’t deny him the help now. After all, your husband - Reikon - was one of his brothers.”

The End


Doctor Who: Darkpaths will now take a mid-season break. It will return with "The Trees of Cologne" on Saturday August 2nd 2014. 

For more information on why we are taking a break, please see the upcoming information posts over the next week. Also keep a look out for the cover and blurb for "The Trees of Cologne" as well as a "Story So Far..." post.

21 Jun 2014

Number 17 (Part 3)

Guest starring Eddie Izzard as the previous Doctor.

Four years ago (in normal time)




High Peak Avenue looked more or less identical to what it did in the future. It was summer. The leaves were bright green on the trees and the birds were tweeting. There was a gentle breeze in the air and the sound of children playing in the distance mixed with the sound of someone mowing their lawn.

The Doctor locked up the TARDIS and exhaled deeply. He missed Ivy. He had said an emotional goodbye to her in China, and then she had disappeared. It was a waste of time going after her. The death of Leska had proven too much for her to handle. If the death of James had brought them together, it was the death of Leska that had broken them up.

And then the Doctor remembered why he was here. The strange reading he had picked up on the TARDIS systems. Something was falling to Earth, to this particular town and into the back garden of this particular house.

He couldn’t dither on his memories any longer. He needed to find the device.

It was then that he heard the whizzing sound from up above. He quickly looked into the blue sky as a streak of smoke whizzed down and landed behind the house he was standing in front of.

He smiled to himself. His gamble had paid off. He had set the coordinates to land just one minute before the device did. Not enough to “cheat” per say, but enough to spot where it had landed.

He opened the front gate as quietly as he could and snuck down the side of the house. He had no desire for explanations or introductions to the residents of the house. He just needed whatever was giving off the readings.

He made sure nobody was watching and then opened the gate that led to the garden.

He emerged into the sunny back garden and almost wished he hadn’t. Beside the kitchen door was a table with a few glasses of lemonade.

Huddled around a small mound in the Earth was an old lady who looked to be in her 70’s, a younger man and woman in their 40’s and two children - a girl, about the age of 13 and a boy who looked 15.

“What is it?” said the girl. “Let me see.”

“It’s obviously a meteorite,” said the boy, eagerly digging into the mound with his hands.

“Liam,” said the woman, “I don’t think you should be digging that thing up.”

“Your mother’s right,” said the man. “We need to call the police.”

“Leave him alone, Geoff,” said the older woman. “Let the lad have a bit of fun.”

The Doctor’s screwdriver was beeping in his pocket and the collection of people turned around in surprise.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” said the man called Geoff.

“My name is…Ethan Galloway.” He felt guilty for using it. It was the name of Leska’s father. He was going to say John Smith, but he doubted anyone would still continue to believe that name now. He’d used it far too many times.

“And what the bloody hell are you doing in my garden?” said Geoff, marching up to the Doctor.

“I’m investigating that meteorite that fell from the ground,” said the Doctor with a nervous smile.

“That was quick,” said the woman.

“And you are?”

“This is my husband, Geoff. My name’s Maria and this is my mother, Gladys.”

The Doctor nodded to the two children who will still eagerly digging into the ground.

“Our kids, Emily and Liam. Not that it’s any of your business,” said Geoff. “Do you have credentials?”

The Doctor quickly gave them a flash of the psychic paper and then skipped past Geoff, checking the readings on his sonic screwdriver.

“Just a minute-” said Geoff.

“I wouldn’t mind a glass of lemonade,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t had a glass since China.”

“Is it safe?” said Gladys, joining the Doctor by his side.

“I should think so,” said the Doctor.

“Got it!” said Liam as he pulled a metallic cylinder from the earth. A light was flashing on the top of it and halfway down, around its circumference, it looked like it could be pulled apart.

“Oh no,” said the Doctor, his voice grave. “Liam, put it down.”

“What? Why?” said Liam as the Doctor ushered everyone away from Liam. “What is it?”

“Put it down!” said the Doctor,

But it was too late. The device suddenly hissed and clicked open sending a gas spraying out and catching Liam in his face. He coughed and spluttered/

“LIAM!” yelled his mum as the boy dropped the canister to the floor.

“Get inside,” said the Doctor.

“What was that?” said Emily.

“Get inside,” said the Doctor again.

Geoff and Maria ushered Gladys and the two children inside as the Doctor crouched down over the now still and silent device.

He sighed and lowered his head. He hadn’t been expecting this.




Inside the Sleights were sat on the sofa (Geoff in the armchair) as Liam drank deeply from a glass of water. He kept clearing his throat and rubbing at his eyes. They had gone red and puffy.

The Doctor went into his pocket and handed him a green pill, telling him it’d clear up the immediate symptoms.

“Are you going to tell us what just happened out there?” said Geoff, his glasses threatening to slip down his pointed nose. “I’ll have someone’s head if you official people have made my son ill.”

The Doctor pulled up a dining table chair and sat down. “There’s no easy way to say this,” said the Doctor, “but your son has been infected.”

“Infected?” said Maria, her eyes wide in fear. “Infected with what?”

“A virus. That device that landed in your garden was a Velorian needle.”

“A what?”

The Doctor sighed again. There was no other way around this. He had to tell them everything.

He spent the next twenty minutes telling them as much as he could in the most simple terms. How he travelled the stars in his spaceship and encountered alien species. They had all found it absurd, except the kids, but eventually, once the Doctor had shown them the various alien devices in his pockets, they had started to accept the situation.

“Okay,” said Geoff. “If we believe you, what does that mean for Liam? What’s a Velorian needle?”

“The device was used by the Velorians in their last war with the Kikiraki’s. They’ve outlawed them now, but one of them must have missed their target and drifted on through space. It must have been drifting thousands of years.”

“When it landed in our garden.”

“Yep,” said the Doctor. He leaned back in the chair and shook his head. “It’s a chemical weapon.”

“What?” spluttered Maria.

“For the first 24 hours the victim coughs and splutters and has itchy eyes. And then after that their body starts to shut down. Eighty hours after exposure the victim dies. Horribly.”

“Oh my god,” said Maria, putting her hand to her mouth.

Liam gulped, Emily looked sad and Gladys put her arms around the both of them.

“You have the cure though, don’t you?” said Geoff.

The Doctor looked flummoxed.

“Don’t you?” said Geoff through gritted teeth.

“Mr Sleight,” said the Doctor as delicately as possible. “I’m afraid there is no cure.”

Maria suddenly exploded into a fit of wailing rage. She collapsed to her knees and her husband was at her side in an instant.

“LIAM! NOT MY LIAM!” she wailed.

“You have to do something,” said Gladys, tears in her eyes.

The Doctor was finding in hard to not get caught up in the emotion. He had just informed an entire family that their son was 80 hours away from dying. He had no words.

“PLEASE!” said Gladys.

“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor. “They never, ever found a cure.”




The Doctor pushed open the door to Liam’s bedroom and he was sat on his bed, turning a bracelet over and over in his hand.

The Doctor sat on the bed and smiled. “That looks nice.”

“It looks cheap,” said Liam with a smile. “I won it at the fair when we went to the seaside a few weeks ago. I was gonna give it to Melanie.”

“Melanie?” The Doctor then realised what he meant. “Ah, Melanie. Is she the one?”

“She was,” said Liam. He looked down at the gaudy pink and gold plastic bracelet. “It’s not much, but I wanted to show her how much I cared.”

“Then go and tell her.”

“I can’t now,” said Liam. He threw the bracelet across the room where it hit the wall and dropped into the overloaded bin.

“Of course you can,” said the Doctor.

He shook his head. “How can I tell her how I feel and then tell her that I’m going to die?”

The Doctor couldn’t answer that. Again, he had no words.

“It’s alright,” said Liam, sensing the Doctor’s discomfort with the situation. “I know it’s not your fault. You didn’t know what it was. I should have dropped it when you said.”

Maria was there by the door, leaning on the door frame, her eyes red. “There must be something you can do, Doctor. Please.”

“If I could,” said the Doctor, picking at the page of one of Liam’s superhero comics, “then I would.”

“But you’re from outer space. There must be-”

“I said before, Maria. They never found a cure. It’s one of the only incurable diseases out there. There’s nothing I can do. All I can do is give him the pills to ease the symptoms.”

She started crying again. “Why us?”

“I’ll stay with you, though. I’ll stay until you need me to go.”

Liam looked up at him. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“You’re a brave young man,” said the Doctor. “Very, very brave.”




A little while later the Doctor was sat on the curb next to his TARDIS. Maria was sat beside him, idly throwing little pebbles into the drain in the gutter.

“You should be inside with your son,” said the Doctor.

Maria closed her eyes. “You say you have a time machine…”

“No.”

“Yes. You said you have one-”

“I mean no, you’re not using it to go back in time and stop all this from happening.”

“But why?”

“Good grief, Maria, if life could be solved by going back in time and stopping things from happening, don’t you think I’d do it all of the time?”

“But it’s just so unfair. Why have that ability and not use it?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, staring into her dark eyes. “Yes, it is unfair. But that’s the way this universe works sometimes. And if I used that kind of power, where would I stop? Would I go back and stop World War Two? World War One? Where does it stop?”

“He’s just a child.”

“I know!” said the Doctor, angrily thumping the side of the TARDIS, making Maria jump. He rested his head on the warm, gently buzzing woodwork of his time machine. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” said Maria coldly.

“I…lost somebody as well. I was in China and I lost my friend, Leska. She was so young. She had her whole life ahead of her. It ripped myself and my friend apart.”

“I’m sorry,” said Maria, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Every time I think about your son I wonder whether I should go back and save Leska. But I can’t do it.”

Maria nodded, folded her arms and went back inside the house. The Doctor stood there for a long, long time, his head resting against the TARDIS.

But somewhere in the back of his mind was an idea. A plan that might just work.




About twenty minutes later the Doctor returned to the house to find the Sleight’s sat in the living room in silence. None of them really knew what to say. Gladys was stroking Emily’s hair whilst Emily buried her face in her grandmother’s arms. Maria was sat with her arm around Liam and Geoff was idly picking at a loose thread on the sofa, his eyes red.

The Doctor surveyed them all, his hands behind his back, and then he cleared his throat.

They all looked up at him.

“I’ve been thinking things through,” he said, looking at each one of them, “and I may have a plan.”

All five of them suddenly shot up from their seats and chairs and the Doctor stepped back, his hands outstretched. “Woah, woah. Steady now,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “This may not work, and you may not want to go through with it.”

“If it saves our son,” said Geoff, “then it’s worth it.”

“You may think again,” said the Doctor.

A few minutes later he had cleared the coffee table, taken a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and had drawn a picture of the house complete with birds and the son in the corner of the paper. It reminded Maria of the pictures her kids would draw when they were at school.

“Here is your house,” said the Doctor, pointing at it.

“Yes,” said Gladys.

He drew a circle around the house, encompassing the garden and the road in front of it. “This is a bubble around your house.”

“Okay…” said Maria.

“It’s a time bubble,” said the Doctor.

Liam nodded. “Like a place where a moment of time is frozen.”

“Good lad!” said the Doctor with a smile. “Well my intention is to trap this house in a time bubble.”

The family frowned.

The Doctor scratched his head and then had a thought. “Have you ever seen Ground Hog day?”

“The film with Bill Murray?”

“That’s the one,” said the Doctor. “In the film, as you know, Bill’s character is trapped in the same day, living it over and over again.”

“Okay,” said Geoff, “and you want to do that with us?”

“Not on such a grand scale,” said the Doctor. “Mainly because I can’t. Creating a time bubble can be a very dangerous thing to do. I can only give you a few hours and it can only surround this house.”

Gladys scratched her head. “This is all a bit beyond me.”

The Doctor bit his tongue. It was always so frustrating explaining these things to non-time travellers. “I will set up a machine which will capture the next - say - 5 or 6 hours of this day. When those 6 hours are up, the time bubble will reset back 6 hours. Your whole family will then live the rest of your lives, never ageing or dying, trapped in this 6 hour bubble for ever.”

They all looked at each other, worried looks on their faces.

“What about the world outside the bubble?” said Geoff.

“That carries on as normal. To the outside world, time carries on and you just vanished without a trace, living your life in your own little pocket universe.”

“And Liam?” said Maria.

“The virus won’t kill Liam for another few days, so although he’ll have it, he’ll keep resetting every 6 hours. He won’t die. It’ll be like he doesn’t have it at all.”

Maria smiled.

“And I can make it all so you keep your memories.”

“Then do it,” said Emily.

“Are you sure about this?” said the Doctor. “You’ll never age. You’ll never be able to go anywhere.” He looked at Geoff and then Maria. “Emily will never age. She’ll never have a future education. You’ll spend eternity in these 6 hours.”

“Well maybe in those 6 hours there’ll be a cure found.”

The Doctor shook his head. “I’ve been to the end of the universe, Maria. How many times do I have to say it? There is no cure.”

The Sleight’s all looked at each other.

“I wish I could give you a bigger window. Even a day would be better, but anything bigger and the time bubble will disrupt the normal flow of time. Bubbles always rise to the surface.”

After a few minutes of hushed discussion the Sleight’s turned back to the Doctor. “We’ll do it,” said Maria.

“But Emily-”

“I don’t want to be without my brother,” said Emily, grabbing her brother’s hand.

The Doctor nodded. “Okay then. It won’t take me long to set it up. Maybe an hour.” He looked at the clock on the wall above the fireplace. “I’ll set the bubble to stretch from 6pm to midnight.”

“What about you? What about the house?”

“At midnight time will just take me with it. I won’t stay in the bubble. You won’t see me again. And as for the house…well, I’ll concoct some story about you emigrating. I’ll deal with the selling of it. Don’t worry about that.”




A few hours later and the Doctor was standing in the living room. He had made the arrangements with the estate agents. He had largely remained anonymous, using the name Ethan Galloway as his cover. He informed the estate agent, with the help of Geoff, that they family were moving to Austrailia the next morning, and to transfer the funds from the sale of the house to a bank account the Doctor had set up, promising Maria that he’d put the money to charity.

And then he had set to work on building the machine. It was a simple rig. It looked like a complicated looking oil drum with a pole that rose up into the air and was fixed to the ceiling. The device hummed with power as the family stood around it, all looking nervous.

“Now, are you sure about this? It’s not much of a life,” said the Doctor.

“Better than this family falling apart,” said Liam.

The Doctor nodded. “Back in the day I might not have been so…easily swayed. Thing’s have changed.” The Doctor had changed a lot. Sometimes he let his hearts guide him rather than his head, but he felt, after Leska’s death, that he at least needed to try and help somebody. He couldn’t have another death on his conscience

Geoff leant forward and shook the Doctor’s hand. “Thank you, Ethan.”

“Just call me the Doctor,” he said quickly.

Marian gave him a kiss on the cheek, whilst Gladys smiled sadly.

The family were all wearing bracelets. The Doctor had told them that they would keep them tethered to the time bubble. If they were to ever remove them then they’d be ripped from the bubble and likely not survive.

And so they sat for the next few hours. When the hand on the clock approached midnight the Doctor got up from his place on the sofa.

He looked at the digital readout that had been counting down the last six hours.

“Well,” said the Doctor. “This is it folks. Thank you.”

The family all linked hands,

The machine hit zero and it clunked into life, sending waves of energy shooting from the oil drum up the pole to the ceiling.

And then a huge wave of energy exploded from the device. The Doctor shielded his eyes as the time bubble began it’s final formation.

But something was wrong. The machine was coughing and spluttering. Something was loose inside. The family were flickering. If he didn’t stop it they’d all be ripped apart by the temporal energy.

The Doctor opened to drum and began fiddling with the complicated array of wires.

He didn’t have long. Mere seconds.

And then there was a flash of energy and the Doctor was thrown back against the wall, temporal waves coursing throughout his entire body. He watched as the family disappeared.

He had done it. They had survived. The house was empty.

But the temporal energy had caused more damage than he had first thought. He was becoming confused as he staggered to his feet. He didn’t quite understand what he was doing. The device had disappeared with the bubble and he fell against the door frame as he tried to exit the house.

And then he realised what was happening. He looked at his hand. It was glowing a yellowy-orange colour.

He made his way out of the house and back to the TARDIS. He stumbled against the door and looked back at number 17. Something felt wrong. He could hardly remember why he was here. The memories were being sapped away from him.

He clutched at his hearts as he unlocked the doors and fell inside. He managed to stumble up to the console and set the TARDIS in flight. As it entered the time vortex he fell against the console and then to the floor.

And he had forgotten who the Sleight family were. They were gone from time and from his memories.




A little while later, as the Doctor lay there dying, he felt his TARDIS collide with something in the time vortex.

And soon the Doctor changed into a completely new man…



Next time: The Doctor attempts to fix a mistake. Coming Saturday 28th June 2014.

14 Jun 2014

Number 17 (Part 2)

Quinn Maxus had always considered himself to be pretty tough. Sensitive, but tough. He was a romantic and he had loved taking Tylaya out for meals and treating her with special surprises at least once a week, but at the same time he was a soldier. He knew when he had to switch off his nice side. He’d seen a fair few strange things working for the Eyeglass, but he’d never encountered anything like a ghost before.

Strangely, he’d always been terrified of ghost stories and holo-films back on Earth. He could watch psychological thrillers, blood and guts horror movies, but when he came to ghosts…he just couldn’t handle it. It reminded him too much of his own mortality.

It’d taken Tylaya, the Doctor and the Wallis’s a good ten minutes to calm him down, but now he was sat back on the sofa, a cup of tea in his hands and he’d finally stopped shaking.

The Doctor was crouched opposite him, his fingers formed into a steeple as he contemplated what Maxus had said.

He’d encountered variations of ghosts before, of course. There had been those psychic ghosts back when he used to travel with Danny and Caroline. The ones at Sherman prison caused by Vrezan. Then of course there were the Apparites, who weren’t really ghosts. And he’d seen bodies brought to life by the Gelth and echoes of the future. But he’d never really encountered a real supernatural, after-life ghost. At least he didn’t think he had.

“Do you think it’s possible?” said Tylaya.

“Hmmm,” said the Doctor thoughtfully.

“Of course it’s possible,” said Maxus. “I know what I saw.”

“I didn’t mean that, sweetheart,” said Tylaya, sitting beside him and putting a comforting arm around him. “But are you sure it wasn’t just a shadow?”

“A shadow that runs at you screaming ‘Get out! Get out!’.” He chuckled to himself in disbelief.

“Okay,” said the Doctor. “So maybe it was a ghost, but if that’s the case, where did it come from?”

“I’ll be damned if I know,” said Maxus, draining the last of his tea.

“Not only that,” said Tylaya, “but they obviously registered on your machines radar. That’s why we were brought here.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, musing over the strange readings. “And there’s even something stranger.”

“What’s that?” said Tylaya.

The Doctor got up and faced the Wallis’s. “Why Mr and Mrs Wallis don’t seemed fazed by all this talk of ghosts.”

Norman swallowed and Nancy’s face dropped. It looked like she had finally let go of her falseness.

“Well?” said the Doctor.

“The house is haunted,” said Nancy. “It has been since we moved in here.”

“Nancy-”

“No,” said Nancy, her eyes flicking back to her husband, “we don’t have to be alone in this anymore.”

“But you remember what happened when Father Harper came-”

“What happened when Father Harper came?” said the Doctor, his curiosity piqued.

“He went mad. He was stood right where you are right now, Doctor, and slowly turned into a gibbering mess,” said Norman.

The Doctor quickly moved from where he was and whipped out his sonic screwdriver. He waved it around and it emitted a high-pitched buzzing sound.

“Found something?” said Maxus, regaining some of his tough exterior.

“Possibly,” said the Doctor. He put the device back into his pocket and turned back to the Wallis’s. “You say this started when you moved in? How long ago was that?”

“About four years ago,” said Nancy. “It was quiet to begin with. A few bumps and shakes. You know the kind of stuff?”

The Doctor nodded.

“And then it got worse. Our Gypsy became aggressive. I saw a shadow in the bedroom. Sometimes we’re scared to go to bed at night.”

“And so you’re selling the house?”

“We need to get out of here,” said Nancy. “This place is unnatural. It’s evil.”




The Doctor had given Nancy and Norman a chance to talk through their experiences and then had walked out into the back garden. He patted Gypsy on his head as he walked past and Gypsy had reciprocated by licking his fingers.

He stood beside an old oak tree in the long garden, glowing lanterns hanging from nails on the high fences and the right hand side of the garden dotted with garden gnomes. He gazed up at the branches of the oak tree. They looked scary silhouetted against the moonlit night sky.

And then he noticed something, carved into the tree. He peered a little closer. From about two-feet up there were little carved lines into the bark. Every now and again they’d get higher and higher until they where at his shoulder height. At each carving there was a number counting up from 3 all the way to 14 and above, about level with his head, was the carved name “Liam.”

He smiled and touched the name. Whoever this Liam was had been measuring his height against the tree.

And suddenly he felt a sharp pain between his hearts. He reached for his cane that he had balanced against the tree, but it fell to the floor and the Doctor felt himself keel over.

He could see something standing beside the tree. It was about the height of the final mark of the tree. The 14 mark.

The Doctor reached up just as a light flashed on in the upstairs back bedroom window. There was the outline of a woman. He heard a cry. “LIAM! NOT MY LIAM!”




Tylaya and Maxus raced outside followed by the Wallis’s where they found the Doctor face down on the wet grass.

They helped him to his feet and sat him on the bench against the outer wall.

“Is he okay?” said Nancy.

“I’ll get him a drop of brandy,” said Norman, racing back inside.

“It looks like he’s had some sort of seizure,” said Tylaya, checking the Doctor’s eyes.

“What did he see?” said Maxus, still looking for explanations on what he had seen upstairs.

Norman came back outside, Gypsy in tow and helped the Doctor to sip a little of the brandy.

The Doctor coughed it back up and frowned at the tubby man. “Brandy?!”

“It’ll help,” he said.

“Maybe to a Human,” said the Doctor.

“What happened?” said Tylaya.

“Don’t crowd me,” snapped the Doctor, causing them all to step back a few paces. The Doctor stayed there, breathing heavily until his hearts finally stopped racing. “Who lived in this house before you?”

“I don’t know…” said Nancy, fumbling over her words a little bit. “I can’t remember.”

“Think,” said the Doctor.

“A family called the Sleights,” said Norman. “I remember because their car was still outside for weeks and I had to find out who it belonged to.”

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

“Looks like they left in a bit of a hurry. One day they were here, and then they were gone. They moved away - Australia I think. The house was put up for sale and we bought it.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

The Doctor shook his head. “It doesn’t all add up. Why would they move away so suddenly?”

“Because the house was haunted?” suggested Nancy.

“No,” said the Doctor. “It must be something more. Do we have a contact address?”

“No,” said Norman. “We were just left instructions by the estate agent to bin any mail for them.”

“Any other family?”

“None that we know of,” said Nancy.

The Doctor shook his head and unsteadily got to his feet. “I need to see the estate agents right away.”

“Doctor, it’s gone eight at night,” said Tylaya. “They’re not going to be open.”

“Not being open never stopped me,” said the Doctor. “I need to get to the bottom of this. Something isn’t right, and I have a nagging feeling I’ve been here before.”




It was almost 9pm when the Doctor and Maxus arrived and Fleetwood Homes estate agents in the centre of the town.

The Doctor had opted not to take the TARDIS in case the old girl had decided to not get them back to High Peak Avenue. He had also decided to take Maxus with him rather than Tylaya, owing to the fact that if any ghostly goings on happened whilst they were gone, Maxus would be best off out of the situation.

“Thanks for bringing me along,” said Maxus as they reached the shutters over the front of the estate agents. “I hope we can maybe start to become friends.”

“We’re not friends, Maxus,” said the Doctor, pulling out his screwdriver and aiming it at the shutters.

“No,” said Maxus, deciding not to bother again.

The shutters suddenly clanked and slowly but surely they grated upwards, revealing the dark insides of the estate agents.

Maxus looked around himself anxiously. It was quiet around this area of the town, but he knew they couldn’t afford to be caught by any authorities.

When the shutter was finally up, the Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the door and it unlocked. He grasped the door handle, turned, and they went inside.

Once inside the Doctor aimed the screwdriver back at the shutters and they grated back down.

“It doesn’t pay to be caught red handed,” said the Doctor.

They rummaged around a few filing cabinets in the back room where the Doctor located files dating back four years and in the High Peak Avenue area.

Eventually he found the file on No. 17 High Peak Avenue. He opened the thin brown folder and inside were documents and photographs of the house. It looked a lot different. Gone were the flowery walls and doily’s the Wallis’s had put since they had moved in. Here the house looked more modern, with stylish leather sofas and modern TVs.

The Doctor continued to sift through the small collection of papers.

“Found anything?” said Maxus.

“Wait,” said the Doctor.

“Look,” said Maxus, “there’s no need for you to take this attitude with me. I’m sorry, okay? But I needed to save Tylaya.”

The Doctor looked up from the papers and frowned. “You killed an innocent woman. My friend. As far as I’m concerned you’re both murders.”

Maxus was about to reply, when suddenly the Doctor’s eyes lit up.

“What?”

“It says here that the family moved away to Australia and asked family friend Ethan…” he trailed off.

“What is it?” said Maxus, trying to get a look at the details.

“They asked family friend Ethan Galloway to sell the house for them.”

“So we find this Galloway then? Maybe he can help us.”

The Doctor closed the file with a snap, put it back in the filing cabinet and then made his way back towards the front of the shop.

“What is it?” said Maxus again, his arms outstretched in bemusement.

“Things are slowly starting to fall into place,” said the Doctor. “We need to get back to High Peak Avenue. Now!”




Back at the house Tylaya had tried to cheer up the Wallis’s with tales of her adventures with the Eyeglass.

Norman had continually frowned at the girl, not sure if she was mad or really believed what she was saying, whereas Nancy was happy to listen, distracted from the ghostly goings on.

“So where is it you come from, dear?” said Nancy.

“South Africa originally,” said Tylaya.

“Oh,” said Nancy. “You don’t have an accent.”

“No,” said Tylaya, feeling a little uncomfortable. “I…lost it.” She shifted nervously on the sofa. “Do you mind if I go and get myself a glass of water.”

“No, no,” said Nancy. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling and getting up.

She made her way out the room, down the hallway and to the kitchen at the back where Gypsy was lying in her bed.

She rinsed her glass out and filled it with tap water, taking a sip and then blowing air out of her cheeks. She felt odd. She felt as though she wasn’t really there. She turned to look at her reflection in the dark window that looked out over the garden. It still didn’t seem quite right. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t a big headed person, but she had always felt proud of her blonde-haired, blue-eyed self. Her old self. But now she looked…odd. She looked a little uncomfortable. A little awkward. Cute, but awkward.

And then her thoughts turned to Alice. The girl she had possessed and then replaced. Where had all of her memories gone? Had they really just burned up, never to be seen again. She certainly didn’t feel her anywhere inside. She was most definitely gone.

Suddenly her own reflection was replaced with that of a young, pale boy. She jumped and dropped her glass as the boy stared through the window at her.

She turned to run back to the front room and standing there in front of her was a shadow of a woman.

She closed her eyes and ran through the shadow, crashing into a hat stand that stood in the hallway.

“What is it?” said Norman as she came running in.

But something in the living room was different. Hovering in the middle of the room, about two foot off the carpet was a shimmering shape. It was how the air above the road looked on a hot summers day.

“What is it?” said Norman, reaching out his hand.

The front door burst open and the Doctor and Maxus ran into the living. “Don’t touch it!”

“What is it, Doctor?” said Nancy.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it on the device. It shimmered some more, making a fizzing sound. “The object of our problems.”

A tendril of lightning shot out from the shimmering shape, striking the Doctor on his hand. He winced in pain and another tendril shot out, this time sending him flying back onto the sofa.

Something in the Doctor’s head clicked and he felt a rush of memories coming back.

“Jesus!” said Maxus. “Are you alright?”

“Ethan Galloway,” said the Doctor, slowly, a pained look on his face.

“What about him?” said Maxus.

“Who is Ethan Galloway?” said Tylaya, confused.

The Doctor looked at his two companions and then back to the shimmering space.

“Well?” said Norman and Nancy together, both of them ready to bolt out of the house if the Doctor didn’t tell them what was going on soon.

“Ethan Galloway was a name I took, back when I had a different face.”

Maxus frowned.

“I’m a Time Lord. I used to have the ability to regenerate-”

“We know about regeneration. The General, remember?” said Tylaya.

“Yes, yes,” said the Doctor.

Nancy and Norman were even more bemused.

“Back before I changed, I took the name Ethan Galloway. It was after Ivy had left me. I felt alone. I needed to get away from being the Doctor for a while.”

“And?” said Maxus. More and more impatient now.

“The ghosts in this house…I was the one that caused them.”



Next time: We revisit the previous Doctor as he makes his original trip to Number 17. Coming Saturday June 21st 2014.

7 Jun 2014

Number 17 (Part 1)

On the surface nothing about number 17 High Peak Avenue set it apart from the rest of the houses. It was a normal, semi-detached in a nice, tree-lined avenue with nice, friendly neighbours and not a bit of trouble. The streets were always clean and when the children played out on their bikes, they stuck to the pavement not the road.

But there was something wrong with number 17. Something that had become unexplainable. Something that had started up four years ago when Mrs Nancy Wallis and her husband had moved in. They were close to retirement. Nancy was in her early 60’s and had already left her job as a dinner lady, quite happy to potter around the house, doing the cleaning and the gardening.

Mr Norman Wallis was also in his last year. He worked in the council yard, directing operations for the town and he was looking forward to his retirement.

Four years ago they had purchased the house in High Peak Avenue intending to spend the last of their days there.

But now they wished they hadn’t.

It started only a few months after they moved in. Furniture being moved about, pictures falling off walls. Norman had put it down to the traffic on the nearby main road, but Nancy had her doubts about that.

Then their dog, Gypsy, had started to bark at nothing. Not unusual for their spaniel, but he had become aggressive as well. Now they weren’t even able to let him in the front room. He had to be confined to the kitchen or the dining room.

After a year the Wallis’s had become accustomed to the strange happenings, Nancy using the incidents as a quirky talking point when she met up with Jean and Margaret for their afternoon coffees.

Then, one morning, Nancy had woken up at the crack of dawn. It was 5am and just getting light. The curtains in the bedroom were quite transparent and let in most of the grey morning light.

And Nancy, for just a split second, thought she saw something. A dark, humanoid figure standing in the corner beside the wardrobe. She had panicked and turned to wake up Norman, but by the time she had looked back again, the figure had gone.

That wasn’t the last she saw of the figure. Every now and then, out of the corner of her eye, she would see it. It happened on and off over the next year. Again, the Wallis’s got used to the occurrences.




But that was just the start of the problems…




The Doctor stood at the console, his face blank and emotionless. He couldn’t show his true feelings. He couldn’t let Tylaya and Maxus know what he was really feeling: the complete sadness that he felt from losing Alice. And no matter how much he hoped for it not to be true, the evidence was sitting there on the sofa right in front of him. Tylaya had completed taken over Alice’s body and Alice had ceased to be. He had run the scans numerous times, but there was no trace of her. She had gone.

But he was still determined to fix this. He refused to believe it was all over. He couldn’t accept she was gone.

“So,” said Maxus, getting up from the sofa and crossing over to the Doctor, “where are we going first?”

The Doctor stared at him, his face cold.

“Come on, Doctor,” said Tylaya, crossing over to Maxus and touching him affectionately on the arm, “I’m sorry about Alice.”

“Don’t say her name,” said the Doctor. “Don’t ever utter her name ever again.”

Maxus and Tylaya stared at the Doctor. It was as if he had just struck the both of them in the face with a cricket bat.

“You don’t know how precious that young woman was. How special she was.”

“Doctor-”

“Don’t speak to me, Mr. Maxus,” said the Doctor, holding a finger up to his face. “You made your choice when you executed my friend.”

“Then if you feel like that, why are you keeping us here?”

“Because if there’s even a faint glimmer of hope that Alice is still alive in there, then I have to keep you with me at all times.”

“Well then, Doctor,” said Maxus, folding his arms and looking down at the Doctor, “you also have to understand that there’s no way on Earth that I’ll let you take Tylaya away from me.”

“We’ll see,” he said slowly.

Maxus was about to answer, but Tylaya squeezed his arm to stop.

There was a bleeping sound from the console and a green light blinked over and over again.

“Anything interesting?” said Tylaya, trying to defuse the tension.

“There’s a slight disturbance.”

“Like a fight?” said Maxus, trying to peer at the readings.

“Not that kind of disturbance,” said the Doctor, pushing in front of the couple. “Earth, 2007. A little town called Clayton.” Something flashed across the Doctor’s memory. He was sure he’d heard that name before. “Some kind of disturbance in a house down there.”

“What kind of disturbance?”

The Doctor looked at Tylaya. “Supernatural, would you believe.”




It was night when the TARDIS materialised on High Peak Avenue. The orange streetlights cast an eerie glow over the still street, but the silence was broken with the wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS materialising.

The box solidified on the edge of the curb and the door clicked open.

The Doctor emerged followed by Tylaya and Maxus. The pair gazed around in wonder.

“This is crazy,” said Tylaya.

“What is?” said Maxus.

“That we can just move through space and time like that.”

“Get used to it,” snapped the Doctor. “And enjoy it while you can.” He shot Maxus a glance.

“So, do you recognise this place?” said Maxus, gazing up at the streetlight above their heads.

“No,” said the Doctor. He frowned and turned on the spot, looking for some kind of familiar sign. “Something about it is familiar though.”

“Looks just like all those old, boring towns that were dotted about in the olden days.”

“Sometimes I like old, boring towns rather than flashy, modern super cities.”

“Each to their own, I guess,” said Maxus.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes as the former Eyeglass operative. “You should have stuck to that belief before you invaded Alice.”

“Oh for goodness sake,” said Tylaya, “can we just leave this for now?”

The Doctor remained transfixed on Maxus until Maxus broke his own look at the Doctor and returned to Tylaya’s side.

The door to number 17 opened and Nancy Wallis stepped out holding a black bin bag. She glanced up at the three strangers, frowned, and then dropped the bin bag into the green wheelie bin.

“Hello,” said the Doctor, giving a little wave.

Nancy frowned at them and then went back inside.

“Friendly,” said Maxus.

The Doctor’s eyes were drawn to the curtains in the front room that had begun twitching. He could just make out the old women’s face peering through a gap in the curtains.

Tylaya’s eyes, meanwhile, were looking the house up and down. And then she jumped suddenly, her hand to her mouth when she noticed the figure of another woman at the first floor window. She was silhouetted against the light streaming from hallway outside the front bedroom and looked like she was holding a stick.

“You alright?” said Maxus.

Tylaya pointed up, but the figure was gone.

“What was it?” said the Doctor, reluctant to indulge his unwanted companions.

“It was a woman. She was holding some kind of walking stick.” Tylaya frowned. “And then she just disappeared.”

“Hmmm,” said the Doctor, holding his sonic screwdriver up. “This thing’s giving off some very strange readings as well.”

“Well let’s get back in your box and go,” said Maxus, taking Tylaya’s hand and guiding her back to the TARDIS.

“No,” said the Doctor slowly. “Let’s go and take a look at number 17, shall we?”




Inside Norman was sat in the armchair. The TV was on showing a local news channel. His fish and chips were set on a side table, but Norman was gripping the arms of the chair tightly.

“For goodness sake, woman,” said Norman. “Get away from the window!”

“They look strange,” said Nancy nervously.

“Don’t attract their attention,” said Norman.

A pile of books that had been sat on the coffee table quite safely, suddenly fell from their position making Nancy jump and Norman break out in a sweat.

“Oh god,” said Nancy, her hand to her mouth.

“Keep calm,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. “The estate agent will be here tomorrow.”

“We need to go now.”

“We can’t just leave. We’ve got nowhere to go.”

“I’d rather stay in a hotel.”

“Not again. We can’t keep shelling out for hotels,” said Norman, closing his eyes and trying to regain his composure.

“They’re coming up the garden path!” said Nancy, her voice almost a squeak. “Perhaps they’re going to buy the place.”

“Don’t be daft, the place isn’t even up in the window yet.”

“What do we do?”

There came a knock on the front door.

“Well?” said Nancy, staring at her husband, her eyes white with fear.

“Open the bloody door,” said Norman.




The Doctor, Tylaya and Maxus stood, waiting patiently as the hallway light flicked on and a small, thin woman opened the door.

She smiled nervously at them. “Good evening. How may I help you people?”

“Well,” said the Doctor, “my friends and I were passing when we noticed your for sale sign up in the garden,” he said, indicating the sign standing next to the conifer tree. “We wondered if we could take a look around.”

The women looked from the Doctor, to Maxus and then to Tylaya. “Are you a family?”

“No, no,” said the Doctor. “I’m a Doctor of science and these are my assistants.”

Maxus shook his head, trying to hold back a sarcastic chuckle.

“And you’d be buying the house for…?”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Nancy,” said a man, standing in the hallway, “If they’re interested in buying the place then let them in.”

“Of course,” said Nancy nervously, stepping aside and letting them in.

The entrance hall was spacious. The main hallway went straight through to a kitchen at the back. On the right side of the hallway was a flight of stairs leading to the first floor and bedrooms. To the left was a door and further down the corridor another door which presumably led to a dining room.

The man, who introduced himself as Norman Wallis, greeted them warmly. A little too warmly actually, and Nancy went to the kitchen to make them a drink.

They sat down in the cosy looking living room that overlooked the front garden and waited.

“So, you’re a Doctor, eh?” said Norman.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, feeling uncomfortable sat between Tylaya and Maxus.

“What do you specialise in?”

“Oh, this and that,” said the Doctor. “Mainly time travel.”

“Time travel?” said Nancy as she bustled in with five glasses of cloudy lemonade, the glasses clinking against each other.

“Yes, it’s close to becoming a reality, you know?” said the Doctor with a smile.

“Load of old rubbish to me,” said Norman. He suddenly looked apologetic. “No offence, Doctor, but you have to live in the here and now. No use looking to the past, eh?”

“Exactly,” said Tylaya.

The Doctor glared at her. “Some pasts are worth fighting to get back.”

Nancy handed them all a glass each and they sat in silence for a good thirty seconds.

“Well,” said Nancy, “I suppose you’ll be wanting to take a look around the house.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor.

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” sad Maxus, getting up off the sofa.

“Of course,” said Nancy. “It’s up the hall and then right at the top of the stairs.”

“Great,” he said, smiling.

“So,” said the Doctor, leaning forward, “how long have you lived in this house?”




Maxus made his way up the ever-so-slightly creaking staircase until he reached the top. He cursed himself for not switching on the light. Back in Central City the lights came on automatically when you walked into a room.

He walked into the bathroom and unzipped his trousers. He stood there for a moment and then he heard a noise from somewhere behind him.

He frowned, zipped himself up, washed his hands and opened the door.

Along the landing and at the front of the house was the master bedroom. The door was ajar, but it was dark inside.

There it was again. A few thumps on the floorboards. They were footsteps.

He considered shouting down for the Doctor, but then decided not to. He didn’t need that bald idiots help.

He cautiously made his way along the landing, passing the door to the back bedroom, middle bedroom before finally arriving at the master bedroom.

The footsteps came again. They were running footsteps and he jumped back a little, feeling ever so slightly scared.

Then there came another sound. A sound that on a normal day wouldn’t have scared him, but this time it chilled him to the bones. It was the sound of two children playing.

Then the running footsteps came again.

There were children in there, playing.

He went for his blaster that was usually strapped to his utility belt and cursed when he realised it wasn’t there. Before he had boarded the TARDIS, the Doctor had made him discard of it. One of the conditions of staying with Tylaya, unfortunately.

He swallowed, placed his hand on the door and pushed it open.

The footsteps stopped. The room was in darkness, just the orange streetlight outside casting a glow through the open curtains in the bedroom.

And then he noticed something. Something in the corner of his eye standing next to the bed.

He turned his head slowly to look.

It was a shadow. A human shaped shadow. A woman in a long dress, her hair tied up into a bun. She was shuffling on the spot with her back to him.

Maxus slowly turned the rest of his body until he was facing her. “Hello?” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

The woman stopped shuffling, but she still didn’t turn around.

“Hello?” said Maxus again, a little louder this time.

Still nothing.

“Look, who the bloody hell are you?” he said.

The woman span around, her face old and white, her glasses barely staying on the end of her nose. There was a glow about her as she grimaced into a look of fury, raising her walking stick up in a sign of defence.

Maxus stumbled back and fell over as the woman ran around the bed, screaming at him.

“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”

Maxus turned, got to his feet and ran down the stairs, almost falling down the last few steps.

He burst into the living room and the Doctor leapt to his feet. “What is it?”

Maxus was panting, trying to catch his breath. “It was…it was…”

“What?” said Tylaya, at her fiancé’s side and trying to calm him.

“It was a ghost!”



Next time: The Doctor delves into the recent past of number 17. Coming Saturday June 14th 2014.

4 Jun 2014

Story 3.6: Number 17

Maxus was panting, trying to catch his breath. “It was…it was…”
“What?” said Tylaya, at her fiancé’s side and trying to calm him.
“It was a ghost!”

Number 17 High Peak Avenue sits on a leafy avenue in a small town. It's ordinary. Normal.

The town that is.

The house is different. Nancy and Norman Wallis moved in four years ago, and slowly but surely strange things started happening to the house. Objects falling of their own accord, their dog barking at shadows...and strange ghostly figures watching from windows.

The Doctor, Tylaya and Maxus arrive at Number 17 and are thrown head first into the chaos of Number 17 as they try and find answers to help the retired Wallis's.

But there is a nagging feeling at the back of the Doctor's head. Something about this is familiar...

This four-part story will begin publication from June 7th 2014 and continue with a part every Saturday throughout the month.