Series 1 Episode 13: Night of the Dimension

Day 32,

I am writing this today but I am not aware whether anyone shall be reading it. The Daleks and the Tsuraxi raged war on each other 32 days ago, and since then things have gotten much worse. On the day that it occured, one thirty fourth of the population were murdered. Now, one tenth of the population are deceased. I am still not aware of where the Daleks came from or why they raged war on the Tsuraxi, even though I was there when they first arrived. I am here in a hut in South America trying to seek refuge. Dalek and Tsuraxi soldiers are everywhere, patrolling the area, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way out somehow. I must be able to. I have to.

On the day this diary was written, the war became even more extreme. The nine tenths of the population that remained were suffering on little supplies and trying to survive in the greatest war known to man. Charlotte grabbed a gun and rushed out of her hut located in South America. Outside, she noticed three daleks patrolling the area. One looked at her, and she managed to shoot its eyestalk before it could exterminate her. The other two turned round. She grabbed a grenade from behind her and threw it towards them. She ducked as they let out rays of extermination energy. The explosion blew them to pieces, alongside another Dalek approaching them. She ran as fast as she could out of the hut and into a blue box located nearby. Some translations of Charlotte’s diary claim that the box was bigger on the inside than the outside-And they did not lie.

A male humanoid manned the controls as the ship dematerialised elsewhere.

“Why are we still here?” Asked Charlotte, picking up a diary from next to her. “Couldn’t we just leave here and go to some other planet.”

The man remained silent. The ship materialised at its next destination. They landed at the UNIT HQ in Manchester where the Invasion force had originated.

“I don’t know whether I told you that I had three friends once, called Janet, Matt and Lydia. They were such lovely people.” In the case of Janet, Charlotte begged to differ. “I used to travel in time in that blue box saving the universe with them by my side. Never all three of them at the same time-I don’t like my ship to become too crowded. One day, me and Lydia travelled to the planet Mars. There was silence there because this assassin had murdered all of the colonists. She said we should just leave and go someplace more fun, and I told her to never give up. I’ve told Matt and Janet the same thing on countless occasions. Now I have lost them all for various reasons over the years but I’ll tell you something, Charlotte, you can never give up either. A war has killed one tenth of the population, and we cannot give up. However tempting it may be, when lives are on the line, you’ve just got to do whatever it takes. Even if it means risking everything that’s safe. If there’s a chance, then it’s necessary.”

Charlotte groaned. “I hate it when you do those long speeches.”

“If you’re going to travel with me, then you’re going to have to get used to it.”

“Trust me, I’ve got work to do here at UNIT. Once this war ends, our association shall be over for good.”

“What makes you think this war is going to end? What if this is the end?”

“You’ve got a time machine right, Doctor? You’ve seen the future. Does it look like this. Does humanity look like this from now on.”

“Humanity can look like anything. Time can change because of one action-however big or small it may be. If someone stepped on a fly in the past, then it could cause ripples in the time and the whole course of history is changed. That’s only if it’s the most important fly in history, mind. And I’ve met him-Nice chap!”

Charlotte pointed to a number of Tsuraxi soldiers approaching them. She grabbed the gun in her pocket and shot one, but they defended the bullet with their sword. An explosion knocked them all to the floor.

“What the hell was that, Doctor? And where are the Tsuraxi?”

“A portal to another dimension it seems. Perhaps a parallel universe.”

He looked through the portal and saw an Earth like the one he was used to before the conquest between the Daleks and Tsuraxi commenced. He grinned.

“The thing is though, Charlotte-We could have ended up in a parallel universe. The dimension through the portal could be our own. There may still be chance, my dear. We’ve just got to step through and see.”

The Doctor and Charlotte held each others hands as they prepared to enter the portal. From in front of them they witnessed a reality similar to their own. It was Manchester: The same spot, the same place, the same time, but without the Daleks and Tsuraxi. They looked around to see the universe which they had stumbled across. The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver and used to it to close the portal.

“Why did you close the portal, Doctor?” Asked Charlotte. “What if this universe will suffer a much worse fate than our own and we’ve got no way to escape?”

“That universe back there is a universe that is far from the one which we have arrived in. It’s a completely different reality. This universe must be one where the result of an action must have taken a different path.”

“So that universe someone stepped on a fly and this one they didn’t?”

The Doctor nodded. “I hope you brought your diary.”

The Doctor and Charlotte eventually arrived at a hospital. They tried to enter, however there was no hospital: Just an empty white void filled with nothingness. The Doctor could hear a faint voice in the distance.

“You must return through the Dimension Bridge to fix the mess that has been made. After all, you are the Doctor, and you must brave the reality.”

The Doctor looked around him. “Who’s speaking? Which side of the bridge is the true universe? The universe in which we are familiar with.”

“You are familiar with all dimensions so I cannot say. That is something you must figure out. And who am I, I hear you ask? I’m your Guardian Angel. We shall meet within due course. You must close the Dimension Bridge and save reality.”

The Doctor grabbed Charlotte’s hand. “We’re heading back.”

As they returned to the other dimension, the Doctor and Charlotte noticed a Dalek approaching in their direction. The Time Lord grabbed his sonic screwdriver while Charlotte held up her gun.

“Identify yourselves!” The Dalek demanded. “Identify! Identify!”

The Doctor chuckled. “If I told you who I was I don’t think you’d believe me. We’ve faced many times in the past. The Oncoming Storm, the Defender of Worlds, the Galactic Conqueror. No, I don’t like that one. Happy bunny is better. I am the things the Daleks fear the most. The only thing that can stand in the way of a Dalek invasion. You’ve tried locking me away countless times-you’ve even killed me countless times-but you’ve never beaten me. I am the Doctor!”

The Dalek let out a ray of extermination energy but the Time Lord and Charlotte both ducked before it could kill them. Charlotte shot at the Daleks eyestalk impairing its vision. It lost control of its movements, collapsing into and destroying two other approaching Daleks. The Doctor and Charlotte ran towards the TARDIS but noticed that it was guarded by Tsuraxi troops. They could hear distant mutterings from the Tsuraxi Leader.

“This is the Doctor's ship. He is the one intent on stopping us, so we shall guard his ship until he arrives. After all, he will want this precious little object back in his life.”

Charlotte whispered to the Doctor, “I’ve got a grenade.”

Charlotte threw the grenade towards the Tsuraxi Leader. The soldiers glared down before they were all eradicated by the weapon. From behind them, another Tsuraxi soldier approached. The Doctor and Charlotte managed to reach the TARDIS before it could shoot at them.

“So what do you expect us to do now, Doctor?”

“Well, Charlotte, I need a Dalek eyestalk or some sort of object originating from a Dalek so I can locate the origin of the portal to learn why they arrived and how the Bridge opened.”

“They’re merciless killing machines. Surely they chose the portal to open?”

“This man called the Sector told me about the Dimension Bridge once. It’s a bridge that separates two realities. It literally splits them in half. That’s it-Moros!”

The Doctor piloted his TARDIS and it was only a few moments before they arrived at their destination. The Doctor had taken Charlotte to Moros, a few minutes after he had been rescued by Lydia.

Charlotte looked around. “What the hell happened to this place?”

The Doctor sighed. “People lost their lives here today.” He looked down at the dead bodies on the floor.

“But you’ve been on Earth with us for 32 days? You can’t have been here too? Did you just pop out in the meantime?”

“Time is complicated. Let’s leave it at that.”

He shifted through the heaps of dead bodies and carnival stalls before he reached an item known as the Dimension Exhibition. He stepped his hand through and screamed out in agony. He fell to the floor. He had been knocked out.

The Doctor’s eyes opened somewhere different. It was not Moros, or Earth, or the TARDIS. It was an empty plain. He looked out in front of him and he could just see a desolate black and white landscape. He turned around where he was greeted by a masked figure.

“Where am I?” The Doctor asked the masked figure.

“You are in the deepest depths of reality. You have gone through the Dimension Exhibition and are at the heart of the Dimension Canon. You can see reality more clearer than most people have ever had the opportunity to.”

“How come the people of Moros have been able to do this?

“A portal materialised in twelve different locations across reality at different points through time: One was Moros, one was Earth-which is the split between realities that you have already witnessed-and the others I shall let you figure out yourself.”

“You were in Manchester. Who are you?”

“That is not important. Time is falling apart rapidly and you need to save it, because if you don’t everything you have ever known will have gone. The whole fabric of reality will collapse in on itself.”

“What about the war between the Daleks and the Tsuraxi?”

“The split of the dimension bridge created two realities: One Earth where the Daleks and Tsuraxi invaded and killed a large chunk of the population and one Earth where they haven’t. The reality you have known is luckily the latter. However, the dimension bridge collapsing means that realities will fall in on themselves, and anything could be possible. You need to find a way to close it.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Oh you are full of questions today! The closure of the Dimension Bridge requires a sacrifice-whether it be your own or someone else’s. But it may open again. You’ve got to do whatever it requires I’m afraid. Keep walking through the plains of reality and you shall arrive at your destination.”

The figure disappeared. The Doctor continued to walk through the empty plains until he reached a hut. He opened the doors of this hut, but when he did he arrived back in Manchester in the universe infested by Daleks and Tsuraxi. He looked around him. Two Daleks approached.

“I need to close the Dimension Bridge,” He muttered to himself. “I need to make a sacrifice. Something has to bridge the gap between realities. I need something.” He then came up with a clever idea. He hopped back into the dimension exhibition and hurried through the plains of reality once again. On the other side, he found himself in Ancient Greece. From in front of him he saw the Death Lord, Exodus. Exodus looked back at him.

“Oh, it is you again. I haven’t had the opportunity to get what I wanted yet. You can interrupt me when I do but for now I need full concentration.”

The Doctor moved towards him, “You locked me inside of the Dimension Exhibition and I found a way to escape. There are pockets of reality intervening with each other, and you happened to lock me inside of one.”

“All part of my plan, Doctor. But now you have escaped, and I cannot have that.”

Exodus reached out for a weapon but the Doctor ducked to the ground before he could shoot him. The Doctor grinned.

“You know what, Exodus, I have heard whispers that my encounter with the Tsuraxi will be my final downfall, so I want to rest easy. I need to stop you.”

“What do you mean, Doctor?”

The Doctor grabbed Exodus and carried him through the Dimension Bridge. Eventually, they reached Manchester where the Doctor threw Exodus to the ground. The Doctor hurried away. Three Tsuraxi aimed weapons at Exodus.

Exodus held his hands up high. “I am a Death Lord. We are allies of the Tsuraxi.”

The Tsuraxi Leader scoffed. “We have no allies anymore. We have no need for them.”

The Doctor hurried through the Dimension Exhibition before returning to Moros where he had came from. He looked towards the TARDIS and then looked at Charlotte.

“Okay, Charlotte, if this plan goes wrong and everyone dies, please go back and kill me before I do it so I don’t have the chance.”

The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS. “Wait!” Yelled Charlotte. “What are you doing?”

“The Bridge between dimensions needs to be closed, Charlotte. If they are not, then the boundaries of the universe will collapse and the Tsuraxi and Dalek Invasion shall reach our own dimension. I’m not willing to let time collapse again.”

Charlotte pulled him back. “Wait, does it mean you die?”

“Not necessarily. It just means I’m going to have to stay in the heart of the Dimension Bridge.”

“Who will be there to save the universe?”

“I’m sure there’ll be people there to save it.” He looked at Charlotte. “I’ve trusted UNIT for all these years, you know. Just please can you promise me that you’ll find my friends. That’s if they’re still alive, of course.”

Charlotte nodded. “I’ll do as best I can. It may not have been in the best of conditions, but it was an honour to meet you, Doctor.”

The Doctor grinned. “Go save the universe. I’m sure the universe will get you to where you need to be.”

The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS and sighed. He clicked on a number of buttons lifting the TARDIS into orbit. He looked around at his ship in awe. The TARDIS drifted through the time vortex before reaching the heart of the Dimension Bridge. There was a huge explosion which knocked the Doctor to the floor. He got up unharmed.

“Eh?” The Doctor remarked. “That’s funny. Very funny.”

The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS to see he was still on Moros. Or at least, he had returned to Moros. This was not something he expected to happen. He looked at the dimension exhibition: It was gone.

“What the hell? That means the Dimension Bridge must have closed. But how? Someone else must have got there first.”

The Dimension Bridge had been closed. The universe was safe. But the Doctor wasn’t the one who had closed it.

Charlotte woke up in her bed just as usual. She noticed a blank diary on her bedside and her memory flooded back to her. She leaped out of her bed, grabbed a pen and began writing:

Day 33,

So the Doctor went and sacrificed himself to close the Dimension Bridge. Next thing I know and I’m in my bed just as usual. I think the Doctor must have been successful. The Daleks and the Tsuraxi have gone, but at least I can remember it all. Nobody will believe me though, I know. UNIT requires my assistance so I need to do just as he asked. I need to take on the role of the Doctor.

Elsewhere on Moros, the Doctor was confused. He had no idea what had occured. He looked around him but there was nothing in sight. A portal materialised from in front of him. He had arrived in a hospital in Manchester. In front of him lay an elderly woman. She called his name.

“Doctor,” She uttered. “I never thought I’d have the opportunity to see you again.”

The Doctor kneeled down by her side. “How do you know who I am?”

“We sacrificed ourselves to save the universe, Doctor. We managed to close the Dimension Bridge. She wasn’t so lucky though.”

“Who wasn’t so lucky? Who are you?”

“Don’t you recognise me? It’s the age difference since you last saw me I suppose. My name is Janet Wilkinson.”

Stories of Who will return this October with a second season of original adventures.