So, here it is. The scene is the lounge aboard the Midnight Runner, with the Doctor Ian and Barbara. Susan and Marchor aren’t featured. The picture in the background is the Sculptor galaxy, or at least it’s supposed to be. It looks to me like the Milky way, but in the story it’s NGC 253/Sculptor, which I’ve labelled as Acteon
So what happens? Well, the entire premise of the story is based on the tall tale the Third Doctor tells Jo in Frontier in Space-
DOCTOR: Did I ever tell you the story about how I was once captured by the Medusoids?
JO: What are they?
DOCTOR: Medusoids? How can I describe them to you? Well, they’re a sort of hairy jellyfish with claws, teeth and a leg.
JO: Erk!
DOCTOR: Anyway, they put me under one of these mind probes things, you see, and tried to get me to tell them where I was going. So, I said I was on my way to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant and a purple horse with yellow spots.
JO: What happened?
DOCTOR: Well, the poor old machine just couldn’t believe it, had a nervous breakdown.
JO: And then what happened?
DOCTOR: Well, they put me under another one of these mind probe things and the same thing happened.
JO: But you weren’t telling the truth. I mean, you weren’t really going to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant and a, what was it?
DOCTOR: A purple horse with yellow spots. Yes, I was. You see, they were all delegates for the third Intergalactic Peace Conference.
JO: How did you get away from these things?
DOCTOR: Well they had to turn me loose eventually.
JO: Why?
DOCTOR: They ran out of mind probes.
Third Doctor and Jo Grant- Frontier in Space
I mean, it sounds like a joke, but what actually happened? Tune in at the weekend to find out!
Special thanks to Bob and the The Doctor Who Project team!
The Good Man debuts, so take a Deep breath and let’s go see a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Thames! The Paternoster gang- Madame Vashtra, Jenny and Strax all join the New Doctor- Peter Capaldi as the 14th Incarnation/1st in New Regeneration cycle (NOT 12th- that’s marketing that can’t add up) and Clara.
They investigate Spontaneous combustion and the plot of the Half-faced Man. All good fun. Then it’s Innerspace as they go Into the Dalek, or should that be Honey I shrunk the Kids? Or The Borrowers?
Anyhoo, Rusty the Dalek gets his space invaded and a bit or re-wiring by The Doctor. Does he become a ‘good’ Dalek though? (rhetorical question- no answers on a postcard please! (That is so 80’s))
Robot of Sherwood is a bit campy, trying to be part Time Warrior, part Maid Marian and her Merry Men (It’s pancake day!) It’s fun though.
Listen goes to the opposite extreme, being a Gamechanger, partway through the series, the tone shifts. This is a genuine ghost story, full of twists and scares. While Time Heist is a great caper.
Rounding off is the Caretaker, the Doctor undercover at Clara’s school, meeting Danny Pink and confronting an alien killer that looks like a cross between a Dalek and a spider/Shadow-creature from Babylon 5.
And that’s the overview of the first half of the season. I may have mentioned it, but I’ve got a story coming up on The Doctor Who Project website- UNITED IN WAR on 22/06/2024 TDWP is a Canadian fan site whose stories can be downloaded in pdf format. I did start a story back in 2012 for the 39th season, but that fell through. I have been reading the past few seasons and Brief Encounter stories, as I’d featured pics of the covers on last year’s vids, so gonna carry on promoting it.
This is a bit different from the story, mainly because the audio/narration was recorded back at the end of October, plus it’s the Infinite WHOniverses version- talking about Alternate Doctors. So- The NeoDoctor, Surgeon, Dr Rrr, Dr Ool, the SnowDoctor, the Last of the Timeladies, plus others all feature, including the Dark Doctor, so that means I will have to crack on and see what I can do by September and the 10th Anniversary of Infinite Whoniverse.
DOCTORSPOTTING- THE STORY-
DOCTOR WHO-INFINITE WHONIVERSES-
DOCTORSPOTTING
By
IAN CAI MERCER
Featuring- The 21ST Neo Doctor and Star
He was fighting his medication again, the two orderlies could tell.
“The Loch Ness monster in the Thames!” he blurted. The two burly guys swopped glances and shook their heads. They had heard this one over a dozen times already.
“Yeah Matty, like the Giant Robot and a girl,” one said.
“Or the Yeti in the Underground,” his colleague added as they escorted him back to his room.
Star left the hospice, feeling a bit bewildered. Her brief talk with Mathias had been very disconcerting. She had a good inkling of why The NeoDoctor had sent her, waiting in the STARDIS, the Super-Time And Relative Dimensions in Space travel capsule, modified to allow a Gallifreyan access to its core. This she had done, gaining the ability of Regeneration. All she had seen and been through over the past few centuries had been amazing. Terrifying and dangerous, yes, but a thrilling journey and the greatest adventure she could have ever imagined. Even after being stabbed by the Privateer and regenerating. She gave a sign, looked round to make sure no-one was observing her, then vanished into thin air.
Her hologrammatic form reappeared in the STARDIS. While her physical body was ‘plugged in’ so to speak, she could still interact with the outer world in the form of solid-state holography. The Doctor was still there, still dressed in black. In her twenty-First Incarnation, she had cut her hair short, though she still favoured the all-black ensemble. Star had a few questions, so stood facing her.
“You knew he’d be here, even though we’ve only been in this universe a short time. How?” she asked.
The Doctor shrugged. “A calculated guess. There are Fixed points in Time, but it also seems there are fixed points in Multi-Time, I just wanted to be sure,” she replied.
Star understood. “You’re referring to the theory of Sum- over histories popularised by the ancient Human scientists Richard Feynman and Stephen Hawking?”
The Doctor laughed. “Well, Imaginary Time is a fun if primitive way of regarding Multiversal travel, but in the case of Matty Shawcraft, yes,” she agreed.
“Or in your case, Doctor, or Neo-Doctor,” Star countered.
That wiped the smile from her face. “Indeed, there’s nothing like meeting alternate versions of yourself, or myself,” she admitted. Star nodded in understanding. “You’re thinking of the Dark Doctor, the evil version that had kidnapped alternate Doctors from different universes? Yep, don’t forget I got tortured by a scary alternate me called Scarinna as well. Guess the OmniLords took care of them, before they got wiped out by the Rassinator,” she finished.
That made the Doctor smile again. “Well thanks for the info dump Star, but yes, you are right, never mind Doctorspotting, we’ve got to get on with our own quest. But to get back to Matty Shawcraft. I had been there on Contact Day in 2029 and heard of him. The Centaurian Princess had crashed, so her ship was giving off exotic radiation, but we fixed it. I always wondered what happened. This confirms that Contact Day is a Fixed point in Multiple Dimensions,” she finished, shrugging.
“But we’re on this quest to find your father,” Star reminded her.
“Yes, but now I’m over halfway through this cycle. I’ve regenerated twenty times, more so than most other Timelords. This time we’ve found a trace, the path of the Omeganauts and the Timebreakers, we need to follow it, but doing so will take us away from Dr Roar and the Omniwars,” she sighed.
Star remembered Matthias last words. “There’s a figure, an alien, a mysterious traveller. Different men and a few women who belong to the same group, like Templars or whatever.
According to different accounts there are a dozen or so, then there are apprentices or companions, some kind of assistants. I found all this out after the octopus alien crashed. I helped her fix her ship and then she was gone.
He will return again, that traveller, but I don’t know if I’ll be around to meet him.”
She nodded. “You have this one thread. All those other Doctors, all across Alternity have their own battles and paths. This is yours, you must take it, Doctor,” she finished.
The NeoDoctor nodded. “Right you are, let’s get to it then” she smiled.
The STARDIS vanished with a roar and a groan.
They were off on another adventure in Time and Space.
Ian cai mercer 2024
ABOUT THE STORY-
So I’ve had an idea of looking at the consequences of the Doctor’s visits/interference for a while, with different versions started. Might make a trilogy of stories for The Doctor Who Project, once I’ve finished the very long Brief Encounter I’ve been working on since last summer! Anywho, getting the NeoDoctor’s story arc finished is taking longer than I thought. It’s in progress, but with Dr Rrr’s Guide taking time, it might be the 10th Anniversary of IW in September when it gets done, have to wait and see. The Ending is a bit rushed, but since this was supposed to have been done for the show’s 60th in November, not bad going.
I think this is the 76th video is the series. It’s also a great point to finish for the year.
It’s been a long road, a lot of effort to keep on track, even letting other things go to keep on a (sort-of) schedule. Since I’m missing Series 10 and 12, leaving it makes sense until I can afford the dvds
Anyway, It’s a great story, the whole Christmas day malarkey with the Turkey and the Doctor going to Naked Church is a bit mad, but that’s Steven Moffat’s plotting for you. He ends up on Trenzalore, the place we saw his Tomb in The Name of the Doctor, defending the town of Christmas from every enemy he has ever had and stop the Timelords from returning.
Hat’s off to Moffat though for giving Matt Smith a great story to end with. He’s what? 1,600 years old. The ageing makeup adds to the fact that this is it, he is the last Incarnation. He even explains it all to Clara (and the audience) That with The War Doctor and two Incarnations sharing the same face (Tennant) it all adds up. He is the Thirteenth Incarnation, there’s no more.
Well, until Clara intervenes, begging the Timelords for help. Which they do, as the Daleks defeat every one else and attack the town, Regeneration energy pours through the gap, giving The Doctor another Regeneration cycle, another twelve lives and he regenerates for the 13th time.
There are also the other Christmas specials on the dvd- The Doctor Widow and Wardrobe, Snowmen and Christmas Carol, which has Katherine Jenkins singing to a space shark of all things!
And thinking about whether Taylor Swift or Muse should be in the next Christmas special, found a surprising list of singers who have been in Who-
Iancaimercer's Blog 