DOCTOR WHO: THE LEGACY (Season Four)

Doctor Who And The Soap of Fatal Death

By Simon Hart (Storyline by Si Hunt)

Episode Three

French was looking dazed. He accepted the award from Diamond and smiled a huge smile at the audience, holding the award aloft triumphantly.

He put it down again.

He reached into his pocket as if reaching for his acceptance speech, and pulled out the gun.

Gasps of shock rippled through the theatre as he raised the revolver, grinned and said;

‘This is for all of you at home. Keep watching, folks.’

He put the gun to his head, pulled the trigger!

The auditorium was in chaos. Screams filled the air and the curtain swooshed down to cover the stage as soon as the operator had realised what had happened. People were milling around in a state of shock, not entirely sure that they had actually seen Darryl French kill himself. TV reporters were desperately trying to secure exclusive interviews with anyone who would care to make a comment, which, considering the theatre was full of minor celebrities, was just about every one in the audience. There was theatrical weeping as people looked around for a little comfort and consolation.

Ruby and Vinza were still at their table looking round for any sign of the Doctor. They were deep in conversation.

‘But I swapped that envelope, I know I did,’ said a shocked looking Ruby.

‘Obviously someone was watching you and swapped it back. God! Darryl! I can’t believe he’d do something like this. He was always such a happy guy. You know, nothing ever phased him or got him down. The Darryl French I knew would never contemplate suicide!’ There was a small tear in Vinza’s eye that he rubbed away, hoping no one saw it.

‘I am not sure he had a great deal choice in the matter,’ said the Doctor, as he appeared behind them. His voice was calm but tinged with sadness and regret.

‘Oh, Doctor. Its good to see you,’ sighed Ruby with relief.

He smiled softly at her. ‘I was too late to stop him, just too late. Why am I always too late to stop these senseless acts?’ His voice was anguished.

Vinza could see the Doctor was beating himself up about this. ‘Hey, Doctor, calm down. If what you told me was right earlier then Darryl wasn’t himself and he wasn’t given a choice. The Darryl I knew wouldn’t have done this.’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor sadly. ‘You are of course right. He was possessed, but I am still no closer to working out by whom or why.’

‘But why shoot himself on live TV?’ Ruby asked. ‘I don’t get it.’

‘I think I do. It was something a writer said to me earlier. “Everyone will be watching tomorrow.” I think that someone or something wants there to be as many viewers for tomorrow’s episode of Clear Waters as possible.’

‘But why?’ Ruby was looking puzzled.

The Doctor’s face fell. ‘That, my dear Ruby, is what is puzzling me too. It seems these waters are far from clear.’

‘Speaking of tomorrow’s episode,’ said Vinza, ’I’d better pop back to the studios and pick up my new script. I’ve got to be on location at dawn and who knows what revisions have been made in the light of Darryl’s suicide.’

‘I think Ruby and I will accompany you, Vinza. We should have a look at the mysterious top floor.’

‘That’s where June was heading. Hang on.’ Ruby was looking round the emptying theatre. ‘I haven’t seen her all night.’

‘That’s odd,’ said Vinza. ‘She’d never miss a chance for adoration from her fans like this. I wonder what happened?’

‘Come on,’ said the Doctor urgently. ‘It is vital we return to the studios immediately.’

There was a muted atmosphere on set the next morning. By now the morning’s papers were full of the news of Darryl French’s suicide on live TV. As one of his closest friends, Vinza had spent the night trying to ignore his ever-ringing phone and, as a result, was tired and unhappy as he began his last day of filming on the soap.

No one was talking to each other; they just sat quietly hugging cups of tea and trying to keep warm.

The cast were all assembled outside Rosie’s Café, not far from The Croxley Arms. Vinza yawned loudly as a voice came out of nowhere.

‘Take One!’

The actors stood to attention, frozen in their places for a moment

‘Action!’ the director called and the scene started.

‘It was the curse of Clear Water again, Lucky. I can’t believe that Rufus and Rosie are no more.’ Vinza paused to wipe a rogue tear out of his eye as the image of Darryl shooting himself resurfaced in his mind’s eye. ‘What a way to go, their boat overturning like that.’

‘I can’t believe Aunty Rosie has gone, Ethan. She was always so full of life.’

‘Yes, well out of all tragedy comes something good. You’re the owner now.’

‘’Of course,’ said “Lucky” in mock amazement. ‘Aunty Rosie changed her will only last week!’

‘Yes, you own the Clear Waters complex lock, stock and barrel.’

‘And no one can dispute it.’ She laughed a manic laugh. ‘I’m living up to my name again, Ethan!’

They were startled as a figure walked out of the café. He had short grey hair and a neat white goatee beard. He was dressed in a smart black suit and he was smiling jovially at them.

‘Oh, Lucky, it’s really not as simple as that. You see my ex-wife stupidly forgot that the shares are in my name. They went to her on my death, but then as you can see I’m not quite dead!’

“Ethan” and “Lucky” turned with stunned looks on their faces. ‘My goodness! Uncle Pip! But you’re dead!’ exclaimed “Ethan”.

‘Yes, Ethan, it’s me. I think it’s time for a change of management around here!’ “Uncle Pip” smiled.

‘Cut! That’s a wrap on scene 2. Thank you everyone.’

The actors relaxed and Lionel Langton went up and gave both Virginia and Vinza a big hug. ‘It’s been a long time, guys! Good to see you again!’

Vinza was busy catching up with his old co-star when he saw the Doctor and Ruby strolling into the complex. He made his excuses and ran over to them.

The Doctor and Ruby had not been able to gain access to the studios during the night, and had stayed in Vinza’s nearby flat. There were serious looks on both their faces, and Ruby was clutching the morning’s tabloids.

‘I saw them this morning, too,’ Vinza said pointing to the newspapers. ‘Looks like my final appearance will be having a record audience.’

‘Yes, the aftermath of last night’s events has fed the hunger for ratings. I fear, however, that this goes beyond the normal quest to top the week’s ratings.’ The Doctor voice was barely more than a whisper, his expression sombre.

‘The Doctor thinks that Darryl killed himself as a publicity stunt,’ said Ruby.

‘Pretty sick stunt,’ muttered Vinza, feeling the bile rise in his stomach. He could not believe that anyone could harbour such a strong desire for ratings that they could convince someone to commit suicide in the name of publicity.

‘Yes, I agree,’ the Doctor replied. ‘We have to act before anyone else dies.’

‘Look, I know this is completely off the subject but speaking of acting, how come no one operates the cameras?' Ruby knew enough behind the scenes information to know there were normally cameramen operating them.

‘Its all operated from the top floor, Ruby, these new cameras are remote controlled.’

‘Hmmm,’ pondered the Doctor, ‘everything keeps leading back to the director. I think it is time I had a look for him, perhaps beginning on the top floor.’

Ruby looked horrified. ‘Doctor you’re not going alone. I’m coming –‘

The Doctor interrupted her. ‘Now, Ruby, I am not about to put you in danger too. Stay with Vinza, see if you can find June and discover what happened to her.’

‘But,’ she began to protest, but seeing the stern look on the Doctor’s face, she decided against it. ‘Okay, Doctor. Take care.’

‘You too, Ruby.’ He turned away and set off towards the studio complex.

In the centre of a dark and shadowy room the Doctor’s progress was playing out in holographic form. A chorus of menacing whispers could be heard as he set off towards the complex.

‘Mindframe information requested on the Doctor,‘ hissed a voice from the gloom.

It was not a single voice. It was as if many thousands of voices were all trying to use a single mouthpiece to speak all at once.

Instantly the Mindframe whirred into life and the Doctor’s walking form was replaced by a single glowing three-dimensional image of him. Around this floated words in an alien text, imparting information about the time traveller.

The voice could be heard once more. ‘A Time Lord. He must be stopped immediately.’

A slightly different combination of voices replied. ‘The Bioslave should be sent to deter him.’

‘No!’ hissed the first combination of voices. ‘The Bioslave is valuable. We do not want it damaged.’

‘Then,’ replied the other voices, ‘we need a more…disposable resource.’

The Doctor’s likeness in the centre of the room shimmered away to be replaced by an image of Virginia Harris leaving her dressing room.

The voices hissed their pleasure as one.

In the intersection between the studios and the dressing rooms, there stood a huge wall of named pigeonholes. The cast checked these throughout the day, as the latest scripts would often be left there and, more importantly to many members of the cast, they could collect their fan mail.

Vinza’s pigeonhole was glowing with a golden light and with a barely audible fizzing sound a neatly bound script emerged.

Vinza and Virginia turned the corner and Vinza immediately went to his pigeonhole and removed his script.

’Last one, Virginia, ‘ he sighed sadly. He flicked through it.

Virginia was perturbed to find her pigeonhole empty. ‘Looks like I’m not working today sweetie, nothing here for me.’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, babes.’ He touched her shoulder. ’You know what disarray everything is in this morning after last night’s incident.’ He chose the last word carefully knowing that Virginia was still cut about Darryl’s suicide. ‘Anyway, better get off and give this a squizz.’ He squeezed her shoulder gently and walked back to his dressing room.

Virginia looked around the floor, just in case her script had slipped out, but there was nothing to be found. She was beginning to get worried. She was just about to lower herself to the floor and crawl behind the unit, just on the off chance, when she saw a boy walking towards her carrying a script. She recognised him. In those mismatched clothes there was no way she could forget him. For a teenager he obviously had no idea about fashion. He had been hanging around over the last few days, but she was not aware that he was a member of the production team.

‘Miss Harris,’ the voice was devoid of warmth, ‘I have your script.’ He handed it to her.

‘Thanks,’ she said shivering slightly as she stood next to him. ‘You’re not my usual runner. You new here, baby?’ she asked.

He did not reply instantly. He just looked at her. ‘Yes.’

‘Oh, what’s your name? I like to get to know everyone round here, sweetie.’

He ignored her question, staring her right in the eye. ‘Mr Crossland has asked all the cast to remain in their dressing rooms until they are called, Miss Harris.’

‘Okay. If that’s what Mr Crossland wants, then who am I to argue?’ She looked at the script in her hands and, flicking through it, she was disturbed to see the pages were blank. ‘Hey! Is this a joke or what?’ she cried, but when she turned round she found that the boy had disappeared. Unnerved by his sudden absence and not quite sure what to do about the script, she decided to return to her dressing room and sit it out. Something was bound to happen soon.

Ruby was lying on the sofa in Vinza’s dressing room. She had decided to wait and try to convince him to help her search for the missing June River. The way things were around the studios that morning there was no way she was going to be able to sneak around without the help of one of the stars.

All her investigations had found so far was that June’s dressing room had been locked and her name and star had been taken down from the door. Ruby looked up as the door swung open.

Vinza was not looking happy.

Ruby looked up at him. ‘Everything okay, pet?’ she asked jumping up from the comfortable sofa. She had a cup of coffee ready for him, which he took gratefully.

‘Not really,’ he replied. ‘Just read my death scene.’

‘Not good?’

‘Well, it’s sure going to be dramatic end for Ethan. There’s a helicopter crash. For some reason I’m piloting it and it crashes into the hotel after the pilot dies from a heart attack.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

‘Yeah I s’pose so,’ he said but he still looked disturbed. ‘It’s just that it makes no sense. There’s no reason why Ethan would be up there at all. He just is.’

‘Can’t you complain?’

Vinza just looked at her. ‘You’ve seen what things are like round here, Ruby. Do you think it’d do any good?’

Ruby bit her lip in thought. She knew from his interviews over the years that Vinza was very protective of his character and it was not like him to give up easily. She was certain that the key to the mystery was on the top floor and somehow she had to convince Vinza they should go up there.

‘Oh, come on. This isn’t the Vinza DeJarnatte I’ve read about! You’d never normally give up this easily!’

‘I’m just tired, Ruby,’ he said sadly. ’Too much has happened in the last few days. I just want to get the job done and go now.’

‘Fine, give up then. After fifteen years I’d argue for my character.’ She turned away from him and smiled as she caught a determined look creeping across his face. It might just have worked.

‘Okay, Ruby, I give in. Let’s see if we can get to the top floor.’

She smiled at him, pulled the beret back onto her head and together they left the dressing room.

All this had been monitored in the shadowy room. The hologram showed Ruby and Vinza looking around all the time as they left the dressing room.

‘They must be stopped,’ came a cacophony of voices.

‘Yes,’ came a similarly dissonant reply, ‘but Vinza is still important to us. He must not be harmed.’

‘We cannot take them both without harming him,’ the voices chorused in unison.

‘Then we must separate them and make sure she never leaves this floor alive,’ other voices replied.

The hologram showed Ruby and Vinza entering the lift. The doors snapped shut. The voices hissed in disapproval at this sight.

A command came from the unified chorus of voices. ‘Reset the Bioslave. New target assigned.’

In the far corner of the room, something moved. Its body, which was facing the wall, suddenly straightened. Its head jolted around as it received its new instructions. It turned round to reveal the gawky form of the teenage boy who had been making everyone so uneasy around the studios.

As he began to move away something could be seen on the floor next to him.

It was bloody and misshapen, but still recognisably human in shape. It had been viciously dissected and mauled, but the features were still identifiable. The face was fixed in a terrified scream.

Virginia Harris sat with a hot cup of coffee trying to think what to do. There had been no other deliveries to her dressing room and the script she had remained resolutely blank. She shook her head and gulped down another mouthful of her coffee. She was idly twisting her long hair between her fingers when she noticed the script was bathed in golden light.

Virginia looked at it, a scared feeling rising in her. Somehow she could not take her eyes from it. The glow was warm and she could feel the warmth all through her body.

She reached for the script and held it to her face. When she lowered it her eyes were blank shining golden orbs. She could feel nothing, and could only hear the voice in her head telling her what to do. That was all that mattered.

Outside, little Ant was passing. Hearing the strange voices coming from within he ducked out of sight.

He watched, looking scared as he noticed, through the open door, the golden glow engulf Virginia.

Inside Virginia was no longer aware of anything around her, except for a strange chorus of voices that echoed softly around the room.

‘Go to the gallery and remove the intruder known as the Doctor. Kill him if necessary.’ The words repeated themselves over and over until Virginia stood up and left the dressing room, the glow of her eyes subsiding to leave them hollow and lifeless.

Ant looked truly terrified as he emerged from the dressing room opposite. Virginia had not seen him thankfully, but then he would be surprised if she could see anything at all now.

Something weird was going on, and recalling the instructions he had heard, he tore off in the opposite direction to Virginia. Somehow he had to get to the Doctor before Virginia found him.

High above the studio floor on the lighting gantries, the Doctor was carefully watching what was going on below. He had not been able to find a way to the gallery and had decided instead to make his way to the lighting controls across the far side of the gantry. Maybe there would be some clue there.

The scene playing far below him featured the Bristow family meeting Uncle Pip who was retaking control of the complex following the death of Aunty Rosie. Although he could not see very clearly, he could make out the expressionless faces of the actors playing the Bristows. They were sat motionless, staring straight ahead.

There was a cry of ‘Cut it there,’ which came loudly from somewhere close by.

The Doctor stumbled a little in surprise, making the gantry creak in response. Far below him the Bristow family craned their heads up towards him. They looked directly at him, still standing motionless. Even from this distance the Doctor could tell that their eyes were completely devoid of life. Perhaps they were controlled in the same way as Darryl, or maybe it was something far more sinister, he thought grimly.

He tried not to think about it too hard. He began to move across the gantry as quietly and carefully as he could. He knew that somewhere not too far away was the place from which the director’s instructions had come, and he was determined to find his way there as quickly as he could. He concentrated on the task in hand, not looking down or thinking about the sheer dizzying drop beneath him.

There was a sudden clatter in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks. He could not see anything but someone or something was ahead of him. Waiting for him in the dark.

The lift doors opened silently to the gloom of the top floor. A nervous Ruby peered out, checking both directions cautiously for any sign of life. She could not see anything particularly untoward and motioned to Vinza that it was safe for them to leave.

‘Can’t see anything yet, Vinza,’ she whispered.

‘This is weird. There should be the senior storyliners, the producers and Mr Crossland up here.’ He looked around the deserted corridor. ‘No way should it be this empty.’

‘Well there’s got to be something here. Let’s have a look up this way.’ Ruby was pointing further into the gloom.

They crept up the corridor, trying not to disturb anything. There were no signs of life at all. They came to a halt as the corridor came to a suspicious dead end.

‘How odd.’ Ruby looked perplexed. ‘Why have a walkway that doesn’t lead anywhere? It makes no sense at all.’

‘Well it’s the right floor. Crossland’s office should be right here.’ Vinza was certain about this. He had been up to the top floor many times before during his time on Clear Waters.

They looked around, but there was nothing. No door, no windows, absolutely no sign that there had ever been an office there.

They were about to turn away when Ruby noticed something tucked away in the gloomy corner. ‘Hang on, this is June River’s,’ she said, bending down to pick up the scarf. She reached down for it and immediately recoiled. ‘It’s covered in blood!’

The Doctor made his way across the gantry. He knew something was waiting for him and he was in no hurry to find out what it was. He closed his eyes for a moment to ready himself and it was then that something lunged at him.

His eyes snapped open immediately and he was stunned to see Virginia pouncing at him, trying to force him off the edge.

Her eyes were shimmering with the same golden glow he had seen on French’s face the day before.

He found himself stumbling backwards and desperately he tried to regain his footing. He tried not to think what would happen if he fell now. He moved backwards very cautiously, all the time trying to avoid Virginia’s ever more frantic attempts to seize him.

He was startled by a loop of cable brushing against the back of his head. It was enough to distract him and he lost his footing. He tumbled backwards and landed in a dazed heap on the cold metal gantry.

Virginia seized her chance and landed a foot on his chest. Winded, the Doctor tried to move but was forced back down. She reached for the loop of cable and wrapped it around the Doctor’s neck, pulling it tighter and tighter to throttle him.

‘Virginia…no…’ spluttered the Doctor gasping for every breath. His face was turning ever redder.

Virginia increased her stranglehold on him.

All that he could muster now were a few choking coughs and distressed shallow breaths. His eyes swam out of focus as he felt consciousness begin to slip away from him.

‘Oi!’ came a voice from behind her. ‘Leave him alone!’ Ant hurtled towards Virginia.

Virginia turned from the Doctor and leaped at Ant. He darted back and reached for a heavy looking light that was swinging above his head. His fingers just reached it and with all his strength he pushed it at her.

It was enough. It hit her head and she fell back to the gantry, unconscious. Just before her eyes closed, Ant noticed they lost the golden glow and there was a bewildered look on her face.

‘Yes!’ he cheered, raising his arm in triumph.

He checked she was out cold and made his way to the Doctor, who was breathing in deep breaths of air.

‘Thank you, Ant!’ the Doctor gasped. ‘Not that I condone the use of violence, you understand, but you were just in the nick of time.’ He beamed.

‘So June must have been here,’ said Ruby.

‘Yeah and she didn’t make it back out again.’ While Vinza had never had much time for June he was sounding really disturbed now. ‘I don’t like this, Ruby. We’d better get out of here before whatever did that to her does that to us!’ He was looking around all the time just in case someone sneaked up on them.

‘I think you could be right, Vin.’ Ruby agreed. ‘Lets see if we can find the Doctor and tell him what happened to June.’

There was a ping and the sound of the lift doors opening. Ruby and Vinza looked at each other in horror.

Someone was coming.

Ruby was about to speak but Vinza quickly pulled a hand over her mouth and put a finger to his lips to silence her. They slunk back as far as they could into the shadows, neither of them wanting to think about what could have happened to June in the very same place.

It seemed to take hours for the figure to arrive. They stared down the corridor hoping for a glimpse of the stranger. A shadow moved across the wall at the very end of the corridor and turning into the light, Vinza was relieved to see Myrtle’s slender figure ambling towards them, duster in hand.

‘Thank god, ‘ he muttered to Ruby and they emerged from their rather obvious hiding place.

‘Oh!’ said Myrtle. ‘It’s you, Mr DeJarnatte. Ol’ Myrtle didn’t see you there.’

‘That’s ok, Myrtle, we’re relieved it’s you.’ He smiled with a sigh of relief.

She flicked the duster round the plant pots with no sense of urgency.

‘I ‘eard you was being sacked. Ol’ Myrtle don’t hold with what the producers are up to these days. You’se one of the best, Mr DeJarnatte, known you since you was a nipper so I have.’

He smiled sheepishly at her and Ruby noticed his embarrassment. She was in a hurry to get away from here and motioned to him her intent. He grimaced in return as Myrtle carried on regardless.

‘Oh yeah, there’s far too much of that sex and violence now. Wants everyone to watch by making the show flashier. Well ol’ Myrtle don’t ‘old with that, I tells you, its not as good as it used to be. I likes it better when the characters was the important thing, not them there ratin’s.’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Vinza, ‘it sure ain’t what it used to be round here, Myrtle, that’s for sure.’

She nodded her head sadly in agreement and ambled away still flicking the duster round arthritically. ‘Ol’ Myrtle will miss you, Mr DeJarnatte, an’ that’s the truth.’

‘Is she right in the head?’ asked Ruby disingenuously.

‘Oh, she’s all right is old Myrtle. She’s harmless, but you know she has a point.’

‘She does?’

‘Yeah she’s right about the show. It’s in disarray behind the scenes, but the public are lapping it up. Its more popular than ever.’

‘And so with all the publicity everyone will be watching tonight, just to see what’s going on.’ Ruby gave a wry smile. ‘The Doctor was right as usual!’

‘Well at least I’ll go out on a high I suppose.’

Ruby was still looking troubled as they headed back to the lift.

‘I still don’t understand how Darryl got possessed like that.’

‘The whole thing is beyond me,’ muttered Vinza. ‘When we watched Darryl, he was holding his script. Maybe there’s a special kind of script given to the actors they want to possess.’

‘And they channel whatever it is through it!’ Ruby finished.

A sudden thought occurred to Vinza. ‘Virginia didn’t have a script today.’

‘You don’t think…’ she looked at him and he nodded grimly back at her. ‘We better find her, just in case.’

They set off back to the lift and turned the corner. They were startled to find the teenage boy standing there, quite still. He looked at them with a strange look on his face, half grin and half leer. His eyes were fixed on Ruby.

He walked awkwardly towards her with his uncomfortable gait. Ruby and Vinza recoiled instinctively as he pulled a pen and pad from his pocket.

‘Can I have you your autograph?’ he slurred and in a blur he had lunged at her with his pen, the nib of which was as sharp as a knife.

The Doctor was busy shining his pen-torch into Virginia’s eyes.

‘This is most interesting,’ he said. ‘She’s been under some form of hypnotic control. It possessed her totally. It is quite brilliant, monstrous but brilliant.’

‘Is she going to be okay, Doctor?’ Ant was concerned for his co-star.

‘Oh I should think so. The bump on the head will probably have done her more damage than the hypnotic effect.’

Ant looked a bit downcast. He had been quite proud of his heroic rescue. ‘Err, sorry Virginia,’ he mumbled.

‘Oh you should not worry, Ant! I was more than pleased to see you!’ The Doctor smiled warmly at Ant and he beamed back at the Doctor.

‘This is all well weird, Doctor. Do you know what’s going on?’

‘Well it is beginning to fall into place. Slowly, but it is starting to make some kind of sense.’

‘Is there anything I can do to help, Doctor?’ Ant asked eagerly. After his heroic rescue earlier, he desperately wanted to be involved. ‘I’m not needed on set until this afternoon.’

The Doctor’s face was stony. Since Alf had gone, he was very concerned about involving anyone else in the dangerous situations he all too frequently found himself in. He had no right to put anyone else in danger and he was loath to involve Ant. Teenagers all too often let their enthusiasm run away with them.

‘This situation is incredibly dangerous, Ant. You could be possessed at any time, and I am still not entirely sure what we are up against.’ His voice was stern.

Ant looked crestfallen. He had hoped he could make a difference here and help keep his friends safe.

‘But,’ the Doctor continued, ‘I do need some help.’

Ant beamed. ‘What can I do, Doctor?’

‘Just before I was attacked, I was watching a scene being recorded down there,’ he pointed to the set far below them. ‘The Bristow family were involved, and they seemed somewhat odd to me.’

‘Oh yeah they are,’ Ant agreed. ‘I don’t like to pass on gossip, but they’re really odd. They don’t ever socialise between scenes. They just head straight back to their dressing rooms. I mean usually we hang out in the Green Room have a laugh and stuff, but I’ve never seen them in there.’

‘How very odd.’

‘Yeah, but I’ll tell you what. They’re brilliant on set. Never fluff their lines. They’re almost too good for this show.’

‘Yes, this all confirms my suspicions. I am not sure they are human any longer, if of course they ever were.’

‘You mean they’re robots or something?’ Ant asked in amazement. He was a bit of sci-fi geek at heart, and the idea of robots infiltrating the show was really cool.

‘It is possible yes, or maybe something far worse and far more deadly.’

They made Virginia comfortable, which was quite a feat on the cold gantry and headed off back the way Ant had come. He had pointed out the camera station at the far end of the metal gantry. The camera was busy flashing away, turning around and recording the action below.

‘This is one of the new automated cameras, Doctor,’ Ant explained. ‘They’re all controlled by the director who’s usually stationed up there.’ He pointed to the control room a little further across the gantry.

‘Right, shall we have a look at you?’ The Doctor pulled his sonic hairdryer out of his frock coat pocket and started to blow away the camera housing. He was soon engrossed in examining its workings, with his head buried inside.

All Ant could hear from inside the camera was excited murmuring. The Doctor was obviously in his element doing this and Ant thought that maybe he had been a little hasty in offering his help.

‘Aha!’ cried the Doctor, ‘found you!’

‘What have you found, Doctor?’

The Doctor’s head emerged from the camera workings and he was holding something shiny in his hand. ‘This!’ He passed it to the spiky haired boy.

Ant examined it. The thing was a mirror. He could see his reflection in it, but as he looked the image multiplied and looped until there was what looked like an infinite number of Ants looking back at him. He was transfixed by the almost hypnotic effect.

The Doctor quickly snatched it off him and clicked his fingers in front of Ant’s eyes.

‘What was that?’ Ant asked. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it, not even in the Gadget Shop!’

‘That is thing is a Concertina Mirror, Ant, a very precise tool used for recording and broadcasting multiple images,’ he explained. ’I am unsurprised you have never seen one. They have yet to be invented!’

‘Oh man! You mean it’s from the future?’

‘Yes, and more to the point, it is never a product of Earth technology.’ He pocketed the mirror and led Ant off towards the director’s control room.

The director was sat facing forwards. Her hands were moving controls on the panel in front of her and she spoke into the microphone.

The Doctor and Ant crept up on her cautiously.

Listening to the voice, Ant realised just how clichéd the voice sounded. There were just stock sounding director phrases, ‘That’s a wrap! We’ll go again! Take two!’ repeated over and over again.

‘I know that voice from somewhere, Doctor,’ Ant whispered softly.

The Doctor reached forwards and spun the chair round. Ant gasped.

The director was not human.

Sat in the chair was a shiny silver battle armoured robot. There were tubes and wires connecting the thing into the floor. It seemed to be almost organic looking in places and Ant choked at the smell of rotting flesh that filled the room.

With a whirr the Doctor opened the central panel on the robot’s chest with his sonic hairdryer. ‘Oh no!’ he cried as he pulled the unit off.

‘Eurghh!’ cried Ant as he looked inside. He felt sick.

There was a complex mix of circuitry contained within. Wires streamed everywhere and tubes pumped fluids around. In the centre though was a bloody severed head, with eyes that darted around blinking shut in the light. It turned towards them.

It was the face of Old Myrtle staring back at them.

Episode Four

The boy pushed the pen right up to Ruby’s neck. She could feel the cold sharp nib of steel pressing into her windpipe. She was backed up against the wall with no hope of escape.

‘Will you sign this?’ he asked smothering her face with his autograph book. Even though he was very close to her she could not feel his breath on her skin.

Vinza picked himself up off the floor where the boy had viciously shoved him only moments before. Vinza threw himself at the boy, knocking him to the floor, giving Ruby the chance to dart quickly away from the wall.

‘Vinza, we have to do something!’ she called as the two of them edged back from the fan-boy.

‘Yeah, but what?’ he replied, looking around for anything that they could use to defend themselves.

The boy was already up and walking towards them menacingly.

‘Hey, how about this?’ Vinza was pointing to the hat stand behind them.

‘That’ll do!’

The two of them took hold of the hat stand and, using all their weight, rammed it at the boy. He teetered backwards, unsteady on his feet as the pair of them continued to push him.

‘Keep going!’ Vinza called as they finally forced the boy against the wall.

He fell and, taken by surprise, Ruby and Vinza were able to punch the hat stand right through his chest.

‘Shit!’ Vinza swore, ‘we’ve killed him.’

‘No, look!’ screamed Ruby.

All they had done was create a gaping hole in the boy’s chest, from which protruded a mass of circuits. The body was writhing as if in agony. It was trying to get back on its feet despite the hat stand that was impaled in its torso. It flung the wooden stand away.

‘Come here and help me,’ shouted Ruby. She had found a couple of coat hangers that had fallen from the hat stand, and was pulling them apart. ’Where’s the nearest electricity socket?’

Vinza fumbled around in the gloom and called out in triumph that he found one.

The boy was edging closer. Its speed had been impaired but it was just as determined to get a hold of Ruby. His voice slurred and stuttered at her. ’Au… aaauuu… tttooo… gggrrr… aaappphhh…’

Vinza quickly tore off his jacket, ripped out the lining and covered his hands as he frantically shoved the wire coat hangers into the socket, tripping the safety hole at the top.

Ruby shouted at the boy and lured it towards them. It stumbled and stopped moving before it got to the socket. ‘What are we going to do?’ Ruby mouthed to Vinza.

Realising that Ruby was the boy’s target, Vinza dodged past the boy and pushed on its back with all his might. He switched on.

The electricity arced through the boy. It convulsed violently, showering the corridor with sparks before it fell to the floor. They stood back and watched until the convulsions stopped.

‘And to think my mum always told me never to play with electricity!’ Vinza laughed.

Ant felt sick. In all his life he had never imagined he would see anything quite as vile as the sight in front of him. He was trying as hard as he could not to think about the living head that was sat in amongst the circuits of what had been the director. He could not believe that the Doctor could poke about within it all almost without a care in the world.

‘This is most fascinating, Ant!’ the Doctor said as if he had his head under nothing more innocent than a car bonnet.

‘Its sick if you ask me,’ Ant replied.

‘Yes, that too,’ the Doctor agreed, ‘but it is also most certainly an elegant fusing of organic and inorganic components. Quite monstrous.’

‘But what’s it all for? Why do they need a human head in all that?’ Ant asked pointing disdainfully at the mass of circuits on the floor.

‘Well to put it simply, young Anthony, this machine is what was controlling Darryl and our friend Miss Harris over there.’ He nodded back at her. ‘The robot cannot do that without a human head. Obviously without one it could not broadcast on the correct frequencies.’

Ant looked puzzled. ‘I see,’ he said, not really seeing at all.

‘Oh yes,’ the Doctor continued, ‘every species in the universe has a different frequency on which their brains function.’ He poked about a bit more at the circuits. ‘Oh dear.’

‘Oh dear? That doesn’t sound good.’ Ant was wondering what could be worse than what he had already heard.

‘No, it is not. This transmitter here, ‘ said the Doctor, pointing at some particularly complex circuits, ‘is primed to transmit a hypnotic signal concurrent with the broadcast frequency of BBC1. So whoever watches Clear Waters tonight will be put into the same kind of trance as Virginia!’

‘So they’ve tried to boost the ratings so that as many people as possible watch tonight and fall under their influence?’

‘Yes. Well I am not about to let the inhabitants of Great Britain be turned into zombies, Ant. If I just reverse the polarity of these circuits, like this…’ He aimed the sonic hairdryer at them and it buzzed. ‘Then I hope that the ray will be reflected back at the source and absorbed there instead.’ He beamed in delight at his handiwork.

‘There’s just one thing, Doctor. What about Myrtle?’

The Doctor’s face dropped. The sparkle left his eyes. ‘The crime committed against her is great. No sentient being deserves to be treated in this abhorrent manner.’

‘Is the other Myrtle a robot too?’

‘I think so yes. I am not sure there is anything we can do about that for now. I need to see whoever committed this atrocity and try and set things to rights.’

Beneath them, the Bristow family stood staring upwards. Their eyes were unwavering. They had witnessed it all. The Doctor met their gazes levelly.

‘Come on, Ant. We have to find Ruby and Vinza,’ he said, and led the boy off.

A few moments later a sad looking Myrtle ambled into the mess of the director’s control room. She began flicking her duster round, but paused as she noticed the dismantled robot in the centre of the room. Slowly she moved towards it, and with a look of silent curiosity and intense sadness she stared at her own severed head.

Ruby and Vinza hurried through the maze of dressing rooms hoping they would be in time to prevent anything happening to Virginia. They stopped just short of her dressing room.

‘Door’s open,’ Vinza said quietly, ‘so she may not be in.’

‘Are you going to check, pet?’ asked Ruby.

He nodded and quietly put his head through the open door. ‘She’s not in,’ he called back to Ruby. She entered after him.

‘Well there doesn’t seem to be anything out of place,’ said Ruby surveying the dressing room. She noticed the cold cup of coffee on the dressing table but thought nothing of it.

‘Except this.’ Vinza had found Virginia’s blank script. He held it up. ‘I reckon we’re too late, Rubes.’ He was about to toss it back down on the desk, when it was engulfed with a hazy golden glow.

‘Vinza!’ screamed Ruby. She watched in horror as the glow began to engulf him. His eyes were slowly changing, losing their life. She could feel something in her head too, something warm. She wanted to let go. She felt she had to let it engulf her, swallow her totally. Who could resist something that made you feel so good? Her eyes began to change. She could feel herself slipping away, as if nothing mattered now.

The dressing room area was deserted as the Doctor and Ant made their way through. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far.

‘Look, Doctor,’ Ant said pointing to a glow emanating from close by.

‘Stay here, Ant,’ he replied, looking down the corridor. It was coming from Virginia’s dressing room.

The Doctor bounded in and saw the glow engulfing his two friends. With his cane at the ready, he reached towards the script that Vinza was still clutching. With sudden effort he whacked the cane down on the script. It dropped from Vinza’s grip onto the floor.

With a satisfying thwack the Doctor batted the script under the dressing table and was relieved to see both Ruby and Vinza returning to normal. Vinza was clutching his head.

‘I couldn’t resist,’ he stammered. ‘It was so warm and wonderful.’

‘Yes, it was the same psycho-induced spell that possessed Darryl and Virginia, and would have controlled you too if I had not been here in time.’

Ant peeped his head round the door and smiled when he saw everything was fine.

The Doctor had sat Vinza and Ruby down on the sofa and was checking them over to make sure they felt no ill effects from their moment of possession.

‘Doctor, we’ve got to hurry,’ said Ant. ‘Any minute now Vin and me are due on set. The live broadcast will be starting.’

‘Should we go on set, Doctor?’ Vinza asked, not liking the idea of acting right now.

‘No! The Exec know exactly what is happening down here, we should keep our heads down for a moment and see if we can come up with a way to defeat them. I have altered the transmitter, but there is bound to be a back up.’

Ruby told the Doctor about the visit to the top floor. ‘ We found all that remains of June River and encountered that boy again.’

He looked sternly at her. ‘I told you not to go up there. You could have been killed.’

‘Yes well we weren’t, Doctor. We managed to stop the boy.’

‘You were very lucky to come out of that alive.’ The Doctor was relieved they were still here to tell the tale. ‘Did you find anything else up there?’ he asked in a less severe voice.

‘Not much,’ she replied. ‘There was no way through. The corridor just came to a dead end.’

‘Yeah,’ added Vinza, ‘right where Mr Crossland’s office should have been.’

‘Right,’ said the Doctor, ‘we have two problems. Firstly there are the robot actors.’

‘The Bristows, Doctor?’ asked Ant.

‘Yes, the Bristows. As good as they are, they cannot provide the kind of unpredictable and therefore entertaining performances of the flawed human actors. They are, however, still around with the remaining human cast members and it might be enough for some kind of performance to be broadcast. After all any soap can easily do a two-hander. I suggest you three try and do something to sabotage today’s episode and disable the robots.’ The Doctor looked at Ruby and smiled. ‘You have already proved yourself more than adept at that it seems.’

Ruby smiled back. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘Go to the top floor and stop the Exec from creating any more havoc, and before any of you ask I am going alone. This is too dangerous for me to involve any of you.’ Without looking back he strode out of the dressing room to head for the lift.

The other three sat for a moment until the red On Air sign that flashed above the mirror disturbed them.

‘Right,’ said Ruby jumping up, ‘we’ve got a spanner to throw into the works!’

The top floor was as deserted as ever when the Doctor arrived. The body of the boy was still fizzing and sparking a little as the Doctor passed it. He gave a wry smile as he surveyed the damage Ruby and Vinza had caused. Watchfully he made his way to the end of the corridor. It was empty but the corridor still came resolutely to a dead end.

He looked the wall over. Nothing seemed out of place. It was simply a wall. He tapped it with his hand. It felt like a solid wall. He pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket and examined it more closely. Its structure was quite unlike any normal wall.

‘Just as I thought,’ he murmured as he looked up, ‘a spatial rift. This is not a wall at all.’

He groped around in his other pockets to retrieve the concertina mirror. He held it up to the wall and watched contentedly as the wall began to blister and bend. Soon there was a gap big enough for him to walk through and he eased himself over the threshold. The hole closed behind him and was replaced by the wall. There was no sign he had ever been there.

Ruby, Vinza and Ant rushed to the edge of the studio. In front of them there was a scene with Uncle Pip and the Bristows playing out.

‘What can we do?’ asked Ruby desperately.

The three of them looked around for anything that might cause some kind of diversion. Ruby spied something out of the corner of her eye.

‘Can we use any of these, do you think?’ she said pointing at the far corner of the studio. Stacked there was a whole host of electronic equipment; old lighting rigs, quantel desks and some old cameras.

‘You might be onto something, Rubes!’ cried Vinza.

Ant had an idea. ‘Hey, Vin,’ he said. ‘Do you remember what used to happen with these old cameras?’

‘Yeah!’ Vinza smiled catching on. ‘These old cameras were notorious for causing interference with any other electronic devices being used on set…’

Ruby laughed. ‘What are we waiting for then?’

She and Ant dragged the heavy cameras into position around the edges of the set. The actors were so engrossed in their scene that they did not notice Ruby and Ant creeping around.

Vinza was searching for the camera controls. Finding them, he made sure there was power still coming into the old control desk, and held his thumb up to the other two. They nodded their readiness, having set six cameras up, and he threw the switch.

They watched satisfied, as the robot actors on set jolted alarmingly.

‘What’s going on?’ shouted the Mrs Bristow robot, moving jerkily across the set.

‘Let’s have a cuppa,’ said the Mr Bristow robot.

‘Sally!’ shouted Mrs Bristow, her voice slurring alarmingly.

It’s working, thought Vinza. They were becoming confused, spouting odd lines of their dialogue. Their bodies spasmed and collapsed in a heap of sparks around the set.

There were a few moments of dead air as the monitors received no input before a pre-recorded message flashed up on the screens. ‘We apologise for the temporary loss of picture. Normal service will be resumed shortly!’

‘Ladies and gentlemen, Clear Waters is off the air!’ Ruby announced in triumph and relief. ‘And I never thought I’d be pleased to say that!’ she added with a laugh.

‘Yes!’ cheered Ant.

Their triumph was short lived as the studio was plunged into darkness. The emergency lights came on and everything was bathed in red light.

‘I don’t like it, Rubes. I think someone is still in control,’ Vinza said nervously.

‘Do you think we should check those robots over, I mean just in case?’ Ruby asked him.

‘Yeah, I s’pose so. It might not have worked. Stay here Ant, just in case. Your mum would never forgive me if I let you get killed by a psychotic robot actor!’

Ant had already decided that was the best cause of action. He had got over his bout of heroics and was quite prepared to stay away. It all looked normal, but he had quickly realised that nothing was what it seemed around the studios any more.

Carefully and nervously, Ruby and Vinza crept onto the set. Everything was quiet and dark. Ruby knelt down to examine the Mr Bristow robot. It seemed quite still and dead. She was about to examine it more closely when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her neck. She slumped forward on the robot, unconscious.

Ant gasped in horror as he watched Vinza knock her out. Terrified, Ant moved away out of his sight as the actor turned round. Vinza’s eyes were glowing with the golden light that Ant had seen in Virginia Harris’s eyes earlier.

Slowly Vinza dragged Ruby’s body off the set. He left her in a heap to one side of the studio, not caring to do it gently. He pushed the cameras they had carefully manoeuvred around the edge of the set back to the walls and he made sure the power was turned off at the control desk.

Everything began to come back to life. The On Air lights flicked back to red and the studio lighting was relit. The robots took up their places again and the scene started. The glow of Vinza’s eyes dissipated, and they returned to their normal, but lifeless blue. Vinza took his place on set and Clear Waters was back on the air.

The Doctor stepped from the spatial displacement to find himself in a dark chamber. He looked around but could not see a great deal. ‘”Hello darkness my old friend”,’ he quoted softly, groping in his pockets for his pen torch.

When he had finally found it, he twisted it on and looked around in fascination at the room. It was a huge chamber, mostly empty except for some kind of machine in the centre. He walked over carefully. Biting his lip in concentration, the Doctor studied the controls intently. He prodded one with his cane. It sprung into life. A hologram of the studios floated in the air in front of him and he was dismayed to see the soap was still being broadcast. He was even more dismayed when he saw Vinza was also on set.

‘Oh my, they did not succeed it seems. I do hope Ruby is all right.’

‘No, Time Lord, they did not!’ hissed the chorus of the Exec. ‘Your pitiful plan has failed.’

The Doctor whirled round, but there was still nothing in the chamber with him. He could feel the reverb of the voices echoing around the chamber. ‘Come out and say hello!’ he called, but still nothing appeared.

‘Soon a hypnotic signal will be broadcast to the people of Great Britain. It will then be under our control,’ the voices said.

‘Not much of a plan is it?’ the Doctor taunted his unseen adversaries. ‘Subjugating one small island on the planet Earth? Pah! Where is the scope in that?’

‘This is merely the beginning,’ the voices laughed together. ‘From here we will take the show across the world, hypnotising the peoples of the world as we go. Within months the entire planet Earth will be slaves to us.’

‘Why?’ shouted the Doctor angrily. ‘What could be so important that you need to enslave an entire race?’

‘We intend to make the planet into one large soap opera. The people of the Earth will be made to play out a never-ending series of events for our amusement. The movement of every man, woman and child will be predetermined by us to create ever more dramatic set pieces. It will be the universe’s largest soap opera!’ the voices chorused triumphantly.

‘Mankind will be your puppets to make a drama series? I still do not understand why. Why do you need the humans so badly?’

‘Our race,’ the voices began, ‘feeds on the raw emotion created by other races. We need to feel their love, their hate, their rage, happiness, fear and anger to survive. We struggled for survival until we picked up the broadcast waves from this planet reached the Cyranaos system, our home. We were nourished by these soap operas, on all the emotions they trigger, and knew we could use this for our own needs.’

The Doctor stood impassively, listening to the voices reverberating around the gloomy chamber. ‘Many people on Earth need the same kind of fix,’ he said to the nothingness.

The voices continued, ignoring him. ‘We were drawn to Earth, where we established a hold on the show. We made it more unrealistic and more dramatic so we could feed from it.’

‘But you made a mistake, did you not? You did not bank on the unreliability of the humans did you?’

‘No. They refused to work on the revamped show. They demanded greater remuneration for their work and they cared for the characters they played. They thought they knew better than we did.’

The Doctor was piecing it all together now. ‘And so you created robot actors to act it out for you.’

‘Yes, Time Lord.’

‘Oh, call me Doctor please,’ he smiled. ‘Only the robots were too perfect. They may have said the lines you wrote, but they could not milk the emotional qualities out of them you required.’

‘Yes,’ the voices chorused sadly as one, ‘they were too good. We gained no fulfilment from their acting. We needed the unreliable human performances.’

‘So you possessed as many of the cast as you could and made them commit atrocious acts. It is quite abhorrent and I cannot allow it to continue.’

‘You have done all you will be able to do, Doctor. We are in control here.’

‘Then why not show yourselves?’ he called, but still the room remained resolutely empty. ‘What are you afraid of? You have shown yourselves capable of monstrous acts, that poor cleaning woman Myrtle for instance. What a diabolical thing to do.’

‘It was necessary.’

‘I do not buy that. Murder is never necessary,’ retorted the Doctor angrily.

‘She was the first earthling we encountered. We deconstructed her to find out how the human mind functioned.’ The Doctor looked horrified, but the voices continued with no hint of remorse. ‘We enslaved her mind to the Directing Console, a device we devised for the automated control of the show. Her mind was enquiring and inquisitive. She knew everything that went on and so she was the perfect controller for the show.’

‘You butchered her and ended her life. It is abominable!’ the Doctor shouted into the air.

The voices hissed with laughter. ‘This is the moment when you realise we have won and the end credits play, Time Lord.’

Down on the studio floor, the director had called out for the actors to take to the locations. They moved zombie like to the lake, where Vinza took his place in a gleaming helicopter, ready for the climax of the show. He looked impassive, no flicker of anticipation played on his face. He strapped himself in next to the pilot and the blades began to turn.

Ant sat next to the unconscious Ruby, trying to wake her up. It was no good. He gently slapped her cheeks and shook her, hoping to revive her, but she did not stir. ‘Come on, Ruby.’ He was almost crying. ‘I can’t do this without you.’

He jumped in shock as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled round, hoping it was not one of the robots. It was Myrtle. Ant was not sure he could trust her. I mean, after all, he thought to himself, she’s obviously a robot too.

The look of sadness on her face convinced him that she meant him no harm. He tried not to think about her head being part of that thing he had seen upstairs on the gantry and accepted that she was not there to hurt him.

She spoke softly to him. ‘I’ve seen it, up there with ol’ Myrtle’s ‘ead. I ‘as to ‘elp you young Ant.’

‘W…w…what should I do? I can’t wake her up.’ He pointed at Ruby.

‘It spoke to me, in my voice… you’ve gotta do what that there Doctor did. He bamboozled one of them there cameras, but there’s nine more.’

‘What?’ Ant cried. ‘I don’t know what he did? I can’t do it too!’

‘You’s the only one left little ‘un. Ol’ Myrtle can’t ‘elp. There’s no ‘elp for Ol’ Myrtle.’ Her voice was quiet and sad. ‘I saw what its done to me… I saw my own ‘ead in there.’ She stumbled away with a single tear trickling down her cheek.

Ant was not sure what he was supposed to do, but if it came to it he would smash every single camera in the place just to make sure. He reached down and patted Ruby awkwardly on the shoulder. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can, Ruby,’ he whispered before he darted away in search of the other cameras.

The Doctor was watching the Mindframe. Its holographic display told him what he feared. All around Great Britain, millions of viewers were tuned in to watch the year’s final episode of Clear Waters. The broadcast was continuing uninterrupted, and there had been no sign that Ruby and Ant had done anything to halt the show.

All around the chamber, the laughter from the Exec could be heard reverberating in triumph.

‘Oh please!’ called the Doctor, ‘that laughter is most off putting. You have not won yet you know.’

‘Our victory is certain, Doctor. Your puny attempt to stop us has not worked. Your friends have been disabled. We will not lose.’

‘Disabled?’ The Doctor could hardly believe the clichéd nature of the Exec’s posturing. ‘If you have hurt any of them…’

‘You can do nothing now except stand and watch our victory.’

The Doctor turned from the Mindframe. ‘I still cannot see you. Come out and say hello face-to-face!’ he called.

‘Time Lord, we are all around you. We are here, we are there, we are everywhere. You stand within us. We were combined into a group mind to make certain this task did not fail.’

‘Oh. Well it is one way of saving space I suppose. This,’ he pointed to the Mindframe, ‘must be what unites you all. Some kind of central processor to link you together?’

‘And much more besides, Doctor.’

‘You know all this is unnecessary. This grand scheme of yours could all be abandoned. You do not need to manufacture a huge soap opera; their real lives are far more interesting. It is far more dramatic, funny, scary and diverse than you could possibly imagine. There is no way your scripted travesty of human life could ever match the way they interact.’

‘It is not up for discussion. Our vision is settled. We will have our way.’

‘But do you not see, all you need to do is observe, to watch them. You will receive all the impulses you need to feed on, and you will not need to enslave humanity.’

‘You may be right, Time Lord,’ they mused, ‘but it is too late, our plan reaches its zenith as we speak. Look!’

The Doctor felt himself turning to the holographic image above the Mindframe. He could see Vinza stepping into the helicopter and it rising into the air ready for the explosive finale.

‘With Vinza’s death we will take control!’

‘For pities sake,’ pleaded the Doctor. ‘Stop this now! If only for own sake.’

‘We know of your other pitiful attempt to thwart us.’

‘Oh.’ The Doctor’s face fell.

‘Yes, you have merely destroyed one of our transmitters. There are many more across the studio from which we will boost the signal,’ the voices of the Exec chorused in unity.

‘Maybe one will be enough. I have to stay optimistic.’ The Doctor crossed his fingers hopefully. He was still watching the scene on the Mindframe in horror as the incidental music reached a crescendo and the camera followed the pitching helicopter above the lake.

The Exec roared hungrily, anticipating the huge influx of emotions they were about to receive.

Ruby rubbed her aching head. She had woken up alone on the deserted set and was not entirely sure what had happened. Vinza had knocked her out, but now there was no sign of him or any of the other actors, nor Ant come to think of it. She could hear a roar coming from outside like a plane about to crash. Slightly dazed she got to her feet and woozily headed towards the doors to the exterior set.

The roaring was even louder outside. Great ripples crashed violently against the side of the lake as the helicopter pitched down towards its centre. It suddenly occurred to Ruby what was going on and she craned her neck to see who was inside. She gasped in shock as she saw Vinza grappling in vain with the controls, trying to stop it plunging into the centre of Clear Waters.

Ethan’s grand finale, she thought, he’s going to crash the helicopter into the lake.

Looking around she noticed there were no lifeboats, no safety experts, or anyone to save him and take him to safety afterwards…

This is for real, she thought in horror.

She ran towards the lake screaming his name, but her voice was barely audible above the swishing of the blades and the screeching of the engine as the helicopter plummeted towards the water.

Ruby stood, frozen to the spot, unable to do anything except watch Vinza’s final moments.

Old Myrtle entered the Director’s control room once again. She stared desolately at her own living head. Her eyes made contact one last time as the facsimile of Myrtle raised her broom and sent it smashing down.

The Doctor covered his ears as a roar ripped through the air of the chamber. It was triumphant for a moment, but that did not last. An agonised wail tore the air.

‘Time Lord! Help us… arghhhhhh!’ it screamed in pain. ‘What is THIS?’

‘It worked!’ he shouted. ‘I am afraid your plan backfired. This is your own ray directed back at you.’

‘It is tearing us APART,’ the voices squealed as one.

In the helicopter, Vinza snapped back to his senses, the hypnotic control relaxing in his mind. His eyes cleared and he looked desperately around him, trying to get out of the helicopter. He braced himself as the helicopter nose-dived into the icy cold lake.

The Doctor fumbled around in his pockets, looking for the Concertina mirror. He hoped he could find it in time before the multi-phased hypnotic signal tore the Exec apart. He grasped it frantically and aimed it at the wall, hoping there was still enough power to get him away.

The wailing reached a fever pitch and he struggled to remain on his feet as the floor buckled beneath him. The spatial rift flickered into view, crackling and sparking with myriad colours.

Vinza rolled out of the helicopter into the icy cold water. He was unharmed, but ever so tired and he wanted to just give up and sink. The helicopter was about to hit the bottom. He dodged the blades that slowly sliced through the water and swam with as much gusto as he could manage towards the shore before the helicopter exploded. He was relieved to see Ruby throwing him a life ring, and he pulled himself towards it gratefully. She pulled him to shore as fast as she could and they huddled together as a tremendous explosion sent water cascading up into the air.

They sat in a sopping wet heap. Vinza lay panting next to Ruby and she cradled him in her arms, both of them watching the waves crash against the banks of the lake.

‘Did we win?’ Vinza asked.

‘I’m not sure pet,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know what’s happened. There’s no sign of the Doctor or Ant.’ She looked dazed and tired.

‘Don’t worry! I’ve learnt enough about the Doctor to know he’s gonna be fine, Rubes.’ Vinza was not entirely convinced about this, but it seemed about right. Got to stay optimistic if only for Ruby’s sake, he thought. It was odd, he suddenly felt very attached to the two of them. They had been through quite a lot the last day or so.

‘Of course I will,’ said a voice behind them. ‘You should know that by now, Ruby!’

They turned round to see the Doctor standing behind them, looking as immaculate as ever.

‘Oh, Doctor, I’m glad you’re okay!’ Ruby got up and gave him a hug. ‘What happened?’

He bit his lip. ‘You know I am not entirely sure to be honest. I managed to reconfigure one of the cameras, but that should not have been enough to stop the Exec.’ He stood there pondering that for a moment. He looked up. ‘Where’s Ant?’

‘I don’t know,’ Ruby frowned. ‘I haven’t seen him since Vinza here knocked me out.’

Vinza grimaced at her. ‘That wasn’t my fault, babes!’

‘I know. I won’t hold it against you!’ She smiled.

The Doctor helped them up. ‘Come on. We had better check the studios to make sure he is unharmed.’

The studio complex was in disarray. The robot actors lay motionless on the floor, their link with the Exec having been cut. The monitors showed static and the cameras were all smashed.

‘Someone has been busy on our behalf,’ the Doctor said, looking at the debris.

‘Err, that’d be me Doctor,’ said Ant from the lighting gantry above them. His Wolfsbane tee shirt was ripped and he looked tired.

‘Thank goodness you’re okay,’ Vinza called. ‘I’d hate to have to tell your mum you’d been killed by robots, she’d never believe me!’

A little later, when Ant had come down from the gantry, he told them how Myrtle had helped him. ‘I didn’t know what to do, so I smashed in the mirrors.’

‘Well done, Ant! I would never condone wanton vandalism, but here you did the right thing!’ The Doctor smiled. ‘What happened to Myrtle? Did you see her?’

‘I saw the remains in the Director’s control room. She’d smashed the control robot in with her broom.’

Ruby and Vinza were looking puzzled. The Doctor caught Ruby’s eye. ‘You see,’ he began.

‘Uh-oh, here comes the big explanation folks,’ Ruby interrupted.

The Doctor gave her an affectionate look. ‘The Exec were a group of aliens combined into a gestalt mindframe. They needed Myrtle to control everything here. They stole her head to maintain the controlling device on the right frequency for the human brain and then replaced her with a robot copy to make sure they did not arouse suspicion, but it was too good a copy. Obviously, when she saw her own head within the machinery it caused some kind of breakdown in its circuits and Myrtle’s character broke through the control of the Exec. It was then she did what she could to help us.’

‘So what happened to the Exec?’ asked Vinza.

‘Well due to some clever rewiring and Ant’s destructive rampage, the hypnotic signal was fed back to its source, the Exec, and consumed them as the dimensional fold of space they occupied collapsed around them.’

‘Simple!’ Ruby grinned.

‘Much as I hate to say it, they will not be a great loss to the universe. Their addiction to soap operas meant they had the most atrocious, melodramatic dialogue imaginable.’ He looked at Ruby with a big grin on his face. ‘I think it is about time I introduced you to some decent entertainment, Ruby, and it is time I popped back and took Charles Dickens up on his invite for tea. Two birds with one stone?’

Later that day, Ruby sat by the lake looking at the sunset. Its red light glimmered on the surface, just like in the titles of the soap. She smiled. She knew she would not be tuning in any more, not after all this. Her life was far more fantastic than fictional life.

Ruby stood up and went to join the Doctor back at the TARDIS.

The other three were stood waiting for her outside the battered old police box.

Vinza gave her a warm smile as she strolled up the path and she waved. Funny, she still could not get over the fact that he looked taller in real life. Ah well, she thought, no one is quite how he or she appears on TV!

‘Well, what happens now, Doctor?’ asked Ant.

‘I suggest Clear Waters is put on hiatus, until it comes back refreshed and a strong item in the scheduling mix,’ he replied with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I mean clearly no one would want to see a weary soap languishing in the back waters of popularity would they?’ The Doctor looked over at the hotel. ‘Of course, they could just pretend that whole series was a daydream by a supermarket cashier. But who would be stupid enough to come up with that idea?’

‘Well whatever happens, I’m not gonna be around when it returns. I’ve had enough of speaking someone else’s lines,’ Vinza said sadly.

‘Quite right too,’ said the Doctor. ‘Real life is so much more satisfying.’

‘I’d better be off,’ said Ant, ‘I promised my mum I’d be home in time for her New Year party.’ He laughed and ran off waving to them. ‘Happy New Year everyone! See you around, Vinza!’

‘Not if I see you first, Ant! Happy New Year to you too!’ Vinza called back.

‘Come along, Ruby, it is time we were off too. After all we do have to get you to Brigadier Cowlard’s party do we not?’ He smiled warmly at Vinza. ‘Thank you for all your help, Vinza, and for looking after Ruby for me.’

With that he turned and headed towards the TARDIS, leaving Ruby and Vinza alone for a moment.

‘Come here,’ said Vinza, opening his arms to her and wrapping her up in a big hug. ‘It’s been… well, actually I’m not sure what it’s been, but it’s been great to get to know you, Rubes.’

‘Welcome to my world,’ she said grinning at him. ‘You could always come with us you know. The Doctor wouldn’t mind.’

‘Ah, well, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a part of your world. No offence, but I think acting the adventure is more my line than being in it.’

Ruby nodded as she pulled herself away from his arms. She tried not to look too disappointed. ‘I understand, Vinza. I’d better be getting back to the Doctor. I can’t leave him alone too long or goodness knows what kind of mess he’ll get himself into.’

Vinza smiled at her. ‘Now that I can believe! Bye, babes, Happy New Year!’ and he gently kissed her on the cheek.

Ruby felt herself go red. ‘Happy New Year!’ she said as she turned away and headed off towards the TARDIS. She stopped a moment and called back to him. ‘You were always my favourite Ethan Fox!’

He smiled and waved back at her.

Ruby walked through the big double doors into the TARDIS control room. The scanner was switched on and she watched Vinza turn and walk away back to the studio complex. Of the Doctor, however, there was no sign. She hung her coat up on the hat stand and was about to head off into the maze of corridors to search for him, when he emerged through the interior doors. He was carrying a silver tray on which stood two champagne flutes and a bottle of vintage Bollinger.

‘What’s this pet?’ she asked in surprise.

‘Well we scarcely have time to celebrate anything, Ruby, but you deserve a little treat. It is the start of a New Year after all.’ The Doctor smiled at her.

He pulled the cork and poured them a glass each.

‘Happy New Year, pet,’ Ruby said gulping down a mouthful.

‘A Happy New Year to you, too, my dear. And incidentally,’ he added, glancing at the scanner screen, ‘a Happy New Year to all of you online!’

The End