Eternity single work   short story   science fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 Eternity
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Sarah learns just how difficult piloting a course through the ever-changing Time Vortex can be when the Doctor admits to her that their trip to the beaches of Geshtinanna will take nine weeks. At first she thinks she'll be able to cope, but as time wears on, even the infinite interior of the TARDIS becomes boring and she runs out of things to talk about with the Doctor. Over a month into the journey all of the clocks stop, even her watch -- and the Doctor notes movement on the scanner, a ghost-TARDIS whose crew miscalculated and set it on an infinite path through the Vortex. The crew are long since dead, and the TARDIS' physical structure has decayed to nothing, leaving only the bare fact of its existence, endlessly travelling. The Doctor and Sarah appear to be on a parallel course, but they won't know for sure until they materialise. This threat hangs over their heads for another two weeks, and Sarah finally snaps when she finds a tea kettle and an ordinary bag of tea but realises there's nowhere to plug it in. The Doctor fetches her a handkerchief as she cries, a small gesture which shows that he does understand what she's going through, in a way. Finally, the TARDIS reaches its destination, and, thankfully, materialises. They are in a jungle, nowhere near where they intended to be -- but it's a marvellous place to visit nonetheless.'

[The Doctor is the Fourth Doctor.]

Source: drwhoguide.com (http://www.drwhoguide.com/whotrip8.htm). Sighted 20/5/11

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Steel Skies : A Short-Story Anthology John Binns (editor), Maidenhead : Big Finish Productions , 2003 Z1780526 2003 anthology poetry science fiction

    'There are many places that most of us can never see: places that are sheltered, locked away, cordoned off from the outside world. But to the Doctor, and those who travel with him in his TARDIS, there is no such thing as a locked door. Anywhere in space and time is open to them to visit -- even if sometimes it might be better to leave such places well alone.

    Steel Skies is a collection of stories based in enclosed and artificial environments: places constructed to keep the dangers of the universe outside, perhaps, or to keep their inhabitants locked in. It is divided into four sections, each exploring a different kind of confinement:

    Section One, Flight, comprises four tales of travellers who left their homes for far-away destinations -- to explore, to start a new life, or to fight for the survival of their species.

    Section Two, Frontiers, explores the corridors, living quarters and ventilation shafts of four futuristic environments -- designed to shelter men, women and children from harsh natural forces, or from the threat of nuclear war.

    Section Three, Incarceration, tells four stories of punishment and imprisonment, from San Francisco's infamous Alcatraz, to the cage of a flightless angel in the dilapidated ruins of Heaven.

    Section Four, Isolation, deals with the loneliness and despair of being cut off from the world outside, by physical or mental incapacity, by the ravages of war, or caught between destinations aboard the TARDIS itself.

    A recurring theme in all four sections is the effect of the Doctor's arrival in these enclosed environments -- sometimes positive, sometimes less so.'

    Source: drwhoguide.com (http://www.drwhoguide.com/whotrip8.htm). Sighted 20/5/11

    Maidenhead : Big Finish Productions , 2003
Last amended 4 Aug 2011 14:40:10
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