Doctor Who Online - Features - Time Tales

Welcome to the Time Tales section of Doctor Who Online. Time Tales are Doctor Who dioramas (picture stories), based on characters and worlds inspired by Doctor Who, and written and shot by Malcolm Orr.

Robyn Brooks ran down Winchester Street towards the Target Conference Centre where the Prime Minister was expected to arrive imminently. The crowd buzzed with excitement as the PM’s car pulled up. Robyn glanced down at the Chronon Anaylser – it flashed wildly as it detected a temporal spike, just like her dad’s lab notes had suggested it would. She thought for a second about her dad, and how she hoped this would eventually lead her to him. Whilst she was thinking about this, Robyn crashed into a policeman and stumbled to the floor. In a wisp of orange energy the PM disappeared into thin air and the crowd started to scream. Robyn pulled her hands over her head to stop being hurt by the panicking crowd, but a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. ‘Thanks,’ she said to the man who had helped her. The man smiled at her and introduced himself as ‘The Doctor’.

The man had a mop of brown curly hair and he had an impossibly long scarf wrapped around his neck. Beside him was a robot dog with the letters 'K9' embossed on the side. The dog appeared to be scanning the scene as his ears were moving in a side to side motion. The Doctor picked the Chronon Analyser up off the floor and held it in front of K9 to scan it. K9 was able to get a trace on the source of the temporal disturbance and within seconds the Doctor was saying goodbye to Robyn. The Doctor helped K9 into a blue wooden box that was standing nearby. As the door of the TARDIS was almost closed, Robyn decided to jump inside, determined not to let the Doctor get away, her instinct suggested to her that he must know what was going on the with the temporal abductions. Within seconds the TARDIS faded from view.

The console room was huge and for a few seconds Robyn was speechless. The Doctor was busy flipping switches on a central control area, whilst K9 was reeling off a series of numbers. The Doctor noticed that Robyn had entered the TARDIS, but the way in which he casually dismissed his initial surprise suggested to Robyn that this sort of thing must happen to him all of the time. Robyn told the Doctor that she needed to find the source of the abductions and that her own father was abducted just like the Prime Minister was, and that she watched it happen. She continued stating that It had taken her two years just to figure out how to read his notes and use his scanning equipment to try and detect other abductions. The Doctor explained to her that the problem was much bigger than that – someone somewhere has been removing people from throughout Earth's history, so far up until the early 21st Century. Usually the people are abducted when they are on their own, but more recently the ‘sampling’ has been less covert. However the TARDIS has now been able to use the data from Robyn’s father’s Chronon Analyser to detect the source. The Doctor smiled at Robyn and offered her a jelly baby whilst they waited.

Robyn exited the TARDIS to find that the blue box had somehow materialised in a huge reception area. It was elegantly decorated and was packed full of people laughing, chatting and drinking. She looked around at the crowd of people and many of their faces seemed familiar. They were dressed in clothes from different periods in Earth’s history, but they were all mingling and socialising with each other. A man turned around just in front of her and Robyn recognised him instantly – King Henry VIII. Henry smiled broadly and swaggered towards her, his gaze focused somewhere about a foot below her face. The Doctor managed to grab her by the arm and escorted her towards the bar, offering ‘Old Henry’ a jelly baby by way of consolation and suggesting to Robyn that Henry had a thing for women, especially if he wasn’t married to them. The Doctor had found the drinks table and he poured them both a glass of wine. The more Robyn looked around at the gathering of faces, the more she could recognise. She could see that the Prime Minister did indeed make it here and had already found the food table, and then she noticed Amy Winehouse. She grinned – she’d have to get her autograph later!
The Doctor was examining a control panel behind some foliage decorations whilst Robyn decided to get more drinks. She heard a familiar voice close by and ran towards it. Her father was standing there debating the theory of relativity with Albert Einstein himself. Professor Zak Brooks hugged his daughter and smiled – he was pleased to see her. The Doctor soon walked over and shook Professor Brooks’ hand as Robyn introduced him. The Doctor explained that this place is an intergalactic club called ‘The Happy Zodin’ and it was located on a small asteroid in the Novaris Cluster. He’d managed to find a layout of the club and he had located a control area nearby. Robyn was astounded – they had just arrived in a club in the middle of space, crammed full of people from throughout history, and the Doctor was talking as if it was an everyday occurrence. The Doctor smiled and reassured her that for him, it was.

The Doctor, Robyn and K9 managed to open a small panel that was hidden behind a huge portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The Observation Office looked just as space-y as Robyn imagined it would – all silver buttons and view screens, but there was an awful smell here. The Doctor explained that this was a control room. ‘The Happy Zodin’ seemed to be a social experiment. Someone had been removing key people from history and putting them together to see how they would interact. ‘A bit like Big Brother,’ Robyn noted. She asked why they were able to walk around as normal if they were on an asteroid, but the Doctor explained that the whole base was fitted with artificial gravity generators to simulate Earth’s gravity – this whole project was created with very advanced technology. The Doctor looked at a monitor screen and stated that the nightclub seemed to have a Time Scoop – equipment that could scoop people from time and presumably return them afterwards with their memories reset. Last week they even had Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc and Elvis. The Doctor wondered where the person who controlled this experiment was. Robyn’s face was grim as she turned a chair around. The Doctor could see a sticky bloody corpse in the chair. ‘Disintegration gun,’ diagnosed the Doctor. Suddenly the whole nightclub shook and the pleasant banter from the guests in the reception area turned to gasps and screams.

Robyn could see that her father was trying to calm down the crowd as they were panicking, but it was the presence of the Doctor striding purposefully through the midst of them that seemed to finally gain some sense of order. The whole structure was shaking, and the Doctor was feeling the ground, examining the harmonics of the tremors. K9 reported that the outer shell of the Happy Zodin was being attacked. The Doctor set off down a corridor, followed closely by Robyn, Einstein and a few others.

Robyn almost screamed when she saw them. They were huge creatures, built from what seemed like armoured steel. Their faces were soulless, and their eyes vacant. Fortunately they were on the other side of the porthole the Doctor was looking out of. ‘Cybermen,’ exclaimed The Doctor. The walls of the Happy Zodin were a metre thick, and it should hold them for a short while at least. The Doctor said that he needed to get the Time Scoop working fully and return the people back to where they came from before the Cybermen break through. If they were able to wipe out hundreds of key figures from human history Earth would be shattered and broken.

K9 scanned the reception room and located the Time Scoop underneath the central table. The Doctor and Robyn removed the table cloth to reveal the complex machinery underneath. The Doctor had his head buried deep inside a recess full of circuitry, and when he emerged, his face was grim. He told the gathered people that the Time Scoop was still functional, but that the energy levels stored in it were low – it has just about enough juice for one more use. K9 reported that the power generators for the station were located through a tunnel in the core of the asteroid. The Doctor said that he would have to go down into the lower parts of the spacestation and get the power supplying the Time Scoop and the base defences back online. He said that someone had sabotaged the Happy Zodin and killed the controller - someone who was working as an agent of the Cybermen. K9 spun around and reported that the Cybermen had now weakened the outer wall.

The Doctor was shouting, holding his palm up and telling people to stop panicking. When they did, he smiled broadly. He told them that they needed to work together and fight against the Cybermen. They were some of the most important figures in Earth’s history, and unless they could stand together and protect history, the planet itself would be destroyed forever. Professor Brooks said the Doctor’s idea was fine except for one thing – who on Earth could get all these different people armed and ready to fight against the Cybermen. The Doctor checked with K9 that the Time Scoop did have enough energy to reach 20th Century Earth. A figure coalesced a metre in front of the Doctor, just beside the Time Scoop. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen,’ the Doctor beamed. ‘The greatest leader in human history – Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.’

The Doctor and Robyn started to climb down a service shaft into the lower levels of the Happy Zodin. The service tunnels were not as impressive as the reception area - they were dank and dusky and seemingly carved into the very rock of the asteroid. Robyn asked the Doctor who he thought was a Cyberman agent. The Doctor said he didn’t know, but he did have a plan, tapping his rather large nose as he spoke. The Doctor rubbed dust off a panel with his scarf to reveal the direction of the main power generators.

Albert Einstein and Professor Brooks lifted a small device onto a table where the professor started to examine it. ‘Gravity!’ exclaimed Einstein. The Brigadier looked closely and tried to hold in his frustration. It was like having two Doctors in the room at the same time, and he’d already experienced that once before. Professor Brooks explained that the device was a gravity generator – there were a few installed inside the floors to generate Earth type gravity levels. K9 concurred, adding that the devices emitted gravitons from internal nuclear generators. He said that the devices could be mounted onto security rifles from the Observation Office and used as graviton guns against the Cybermen. Henry VIII roared with delight and slapped the metal dog hard on his back. ‘The talking chest speaks the words of war, and we shall be victorious!’ he shouted. The Brigadier sprung into action, ordering the rifles to be quickly made. He ordered the rest of them to make weapons and shields from whatever they could find. They were going to fight back. K9’s ears spun around as he warned the gathered crowd that the Cybermen were now inside the Happy Zodin and were approaching.

The Doctor had managed to find the power generators and was using his scarf to make some brief measurements before removing a panel to start work. The generators had been sabotaged, and quite recently too. ‘And by a man’, Robyn added, pointing to male footprints on the floor, ‘Nothing but trouble.’ ‘Possibly,’ the Doctor replied, ‘unless it’s a shape changer.’ There was some clapping behind the Doctor and he removed his head from the generator and looked behind him. Amy Winehouse was pointing a disintegrator gun at them both.

The Brigadier looked at the gathered crowd, armed with graviton rifles and any weapons they could find to hand. The Cybermen were about to break through and he knew that he must not fail these people, the planet Earth, or even The Doctor, for that matter. Suddenly the Cybermen broke into the room. They were unlike anything he’d ever seen before. They were massive robotic creatures, though he knew that somewhere deep inside those heavily armoured exteriors were the remains of beings that were once similar to humans. He’d remembered their invasion of London some years earlier, but these versions were very much different – much bigger and far more powerful. ‘King Henry! Mr Einstein! Those chaps in the armour – five bursts rapid!’ King Henry VIII, one of England’s most fondly remembered monarchs, and Albert Einstein, one of the greatest intellects Earth had ever known, stood together and fired. The Cybermen shook violently as gravitons played within their steel armour, rattling and shaking them until the very metal splintered and scattered across the floor. There was a huge wave of cheering behind them at the sight of the Cybermen being destroyed. The Brigadier shouted for them to continue their preparations – they were only the first two enemy combatants – there could be more still. The Brigadier waved for his advance party to move forward. ‘And somebody get Mr Richard to stop singing!’ the Brigadier shouted to the crowd behind him. ‘This is war, not a rainy day at Wimbledon.’

The Doctor grinned broadly, his arms raised, as he manoeuvred himself in front of Robyn, protecting her from the line of fire. The Doctor said that he wasn’t sure who killed the controller of the Happy Zodin, but he knew that person would follow him down here. He triggered his sonic screwdriver which created a force field around the killer. The Doctor put his arms down and explained that he hadn’t been repairing the generator for the last minute or two, but creating a force shield trap as he knew they’d be followed. Amy slumped to the floor as a mist rose from her body and travelled through the force shield. The Doctor knew he’d miscalculated – the killer was a being able to possess people, not a shape changer after all. The mist enveloped Robyn, but it could not possess her. Robyn screamed and waved her hands in the air, but the mist retreated. The Doctor was again using the sonic on the generators station control panel and managed to adjust the force field to hold non-corporeal life. The mist screamed that the Doctor had cheated. It could not possess a body already possessed. The Doctor turned to look at Robyn – she was shocked by what the creature had said.

More Cybermen advanced, determined to push back against the rebellious humans. K9 blasted one of the advancing Cybermen, knocking it back. Professor Brooks had managed to complete another graviton gun and blasted another Cyberman as it advanced. But the tide was turning, and even the Brigadier realised that the battle they were taking on was a losing one. But The Brigadier knew that the man who had saved Earth time and again would not let him down this time.

The Doctor managed to finish the repairs on the sabotaged generators. He pressed some buttons on a panel and activated the power supply to the internal defences and the Time Scoop. The Doctor pulled a tin whistle from his pocket and blew hard.

K9’s head raised and his ears whirred as he detected the signal the Doctor had sent. K9 trundled over to the Observation Office and interfaced with the main computer. The defences of the Happy Zodin sprung into life and energy beams smashed into the Cybermen, destroying them. The Brigadier smiled – he had managed to hold off the Cybermen long enough, and although there were a few bruises, there were no casualties.

The Doctor had managed to transfer the mist creature into a different container so he could take it to the Time Scoop. He explained to Robyn that it was a Thoughtform – a being made from pure thought. They were an ancient race and existed in the deep realms of Lost Space. They hadn’t been detected for millennia in the Milky Way galaxy. The Brigadier interrupted the Doctor’s rambling to ask him how they would all get home. The Doctor’s eyes almost seemed to pop out of his head as he sprang towards the Time Scoop. K9 reported that the scoop was not functional as a Cyberman weapon had cracked the container holding the chronon fluid. The Doctor grabbed a badge from his pockets and nicked his finger. A small drop of blood welled. The Doctor dropped it into the chronon fluid container and said there would be enough chronons in there from his centuries of time travel to keep the scoop working long enough to get everyone home. After that, he was going to permanently disable it. The Time Lords didn’t approve of Time Scoops – he was slightly nervous about them himself, having a vague fear of ever getting trapped in one.

The Brigadier shook the Doctor’s hand. It had been great to see him again and he was sure they’d meet again soon. He stood next to King Henry VIII – they were the last two to leave, except for Robyn and her father. Henry slapped the Brigadier on his back and praised his leadership skills, musing that with a general like him, England would defeat the whole of Europe combined. The Brigadier’s rather bemused expression faded as they were returned to their own times. Robyn asked the Doctor whether any of them would remember their time with the Doctor. The Doctor replied that the time scoop erased memories when returning people – that’s the only way this experiment could ever succeed without changing history. They were all returned to their time zones just as they were the very second they had been abducted. K9 had a correction – the Doctor’s blood had acted as a conductor in the time scoop as planned, but there had been an unintended side effect – every single person returned to history had absorbed some of the Doctor’s genetic coding into their own DNA.

The TARDIS arrived back in Winchester Street. Professor Brooks shook the Doctor’s hand and thanked him for saving them all. The Doctor turned to say goodbye to Robyn, but she put her arm around K9 and asked whether she could maybe see a few more places first. The Doctor turned to Professor Brooks, but he replied that he had learned long ago when he couldn’t change her mind. Robyn kissed her dad and promised that she would return to see him again soon. Professor Brooks left and the Doctor and Robyn watched as he walked down Winchester Street and out of view. The Doctor wondered whether Robyn wanted to see something of the past, and Robyn smiled. ‘Sure,’ she replied.

The TARDIS faded from view with a familiar wheezing-groaning sound, off to adventures new. A young man ran down the street, desperate to get the attention of the blue box as it faded, but it was too late. He ran his hand through his blonde hair as he glanced at the air where the TARDIS had once been. ‘Father….’ He muttered to himself.