Series 1 Episode 6: The UNIT Files

The Doctor screamed as the teleportation portal hurtled him through the time vortex. He eventually arrived in Manchester in the exact same spot that he and Lydia had left from. He was inside of the toilets of the local Pub. He departed the room but there was no sign of Lydia: Only the grieving relatives and friends of her mother. The Doctor looked around. The only familiar face he could spot was Matt. He hurried towards him.

“Where the hell is Lydia?” Asked Matt.

The Doctor sighed, “I was hoping you would have seen her. It’s been a pretty long day.”

Matt frowned, “Is all of this too much for her to handle? I know she’s a rather fragile person, but this is her mother, and running away isn’t the solution to everything.”

“Not what I was told.”

The Doctor looked around him as he noticed the confused looks which he had been greeted with before. Matt dragged him back towards the toilets.

“Where did she go?” Matt asked. “I’m responsible for looking after her today…”

“Well you should have done a better job then. Me and Lydia were standing inside of that room over there minding our own business, and then a portal teleported us to World War One-as ridiculous as that sounds. Lydia was converted into a strange cloth faced creature, I granted the Gods of Ragnarok entertainment, they reversed time and Lydia vanished through a time portal.”

Matt didn’t know how to respond. “That does sound like a pretty long day.”

“Things like that happen to me every day, so not really.”

“I don’t know whether Lydia told you, but I’ve got something for you back at UNIT HQ. Lydia told me you used to travel around in this blue box…”

The Doctor grinned. He ran out of the bathroom. Matt soon followed. Matt and the Doctor drove towards UNIT Headquarters where Matt showed the Guards in front of the building his pass. The duo hurried through the corridors of the building until the Time Lord reached his most prized possession. There it was-the TARDIS. He still had a joyous expression on his face. He struggled to believe that he had found it at last.

Matt couldn’t help but smile too, “Lydia thought you’d be pleased. We’ve been trying to get into it for quite a long time but we couldn’t find a key.”

The Doctors joyous expression became one of frustration. He forgot about a key. A few moments later, his joyous expression was restored, as he clicked his fingers and the doors of the TARDIS sprung open.

He was greeted by a grand room full of infinite space and dimensions. The TARDIS had redecorated-and he liked it! The previously coral console had been replaced with a more basic, rustic interior. He spotted the roundels-something he considered as a trademark for TARDIS consoles, which covered the room. Staircases leading to other rooms surrounded the area. The walls were coated in a silver colour scheme, something he knew he would grow fond of. He pressed a button on the console leading a key to be released, which he placed in his top pocket.

The Doctor stopped Matt from entering, “No, not just yet. I know you’ve seen a lot but I don’t think you’d understand that quite yet. You don’t seem like the smartest cookie in the jar. Oh, I forgot. I’ve been in these clothes since before I regenerated. I must redecorate myself.”

Matt put his thumbs up, “Now you mention it, your smell isn’t your greatest quality right now.”

The Doctor returned to his TARDIS where he spotted a new wardrobe. He skimmed the cabinets and picked out a sleek looking suit and a dark pair of trousers, combined with black leather boots. This replaced his previously quirky attire.

The Doctor returned from outside of his TARDIS, showing off his costume to Matt. Once again, Matt placed his thumbs up in the air.

“So this thing,” Matt began, “Can I see it yet?”

The Doctor entered the TARDIS once again, this time followed by Matt. The UNIT staff member was shocked by this machine: It was bigger on the inside than the outside. Much bigger. How was that even possible?

“How-How-How is this even possible, Doctor? My minds melting just a bit.”

The Doctor turned, “Just a bit? This is the TARDIS-Time and Relative Dimension in Space. And yes, it is bigger on the inside than the outside before you mention it.”

Matt’s mind was opened. He thought he had mastered everything that life had to offer, but this opened up new doors and possibilities for him.

“This is our portal to everywhere and everything that ever happened or ever will,” The Doctor continued, “This is a masterpiece of a contraption that can take you to anywhere, whether it be England under the Reign of Henry VII, or the Lost Moon of Poosh. Whether it be the last day in the Universe, or the first. Whether it be Peladon or-Well, you get the idea. I’m just pleased to have it back, because it makes things a whole lot easier. It will make it easier to track down the Tsuraxi, and find Lydia.”

“Can we find her now, Doctor?” Matt asked.

The Doctor glanced at him, “Well, that depends. Do you have any samples of her DNA? Any pieces of clothing?”

“Well yes. I’ve got some of her clothing back at my house.”

“I don’t suppose you could go and get it for me.”

“Of course,” Matt nodded.

The two of them parted ways for the moment as the Doctor remained in the UNIT base to look around while Matt found Lydias clothing. He walked up to a woman who was looking at a group of computer screens.

“Hiya!” The Doctor greeted, “I’m the Doctor. You are?”

Janet stood up, “That’s classified information. You came with Matt right? He keeps bringing along the strangers, doesn’t he? You people aren’t meant to be here. UNIT has gone top secret.”

“Why have you gone top secret?”

“Well, we just found it was for the best. UNIT had been shut down due to budget cuts a couple of times in recent years, so we decided it was best to keep things undercover. You’re quite a legend around here, Doctor, although I’ve met enough legends in my time to know that you aren’t one.”

The Doctor frowned, “You never told me your name.”

“I’m Janet Wilkinson. I’ve got to go. I’m breaking up early because me and my wife need to attend some sessions to help our marriage. Things haven’t been going well between the two of us.”

The Doctor tuned out before he could respond when noticing a sign which read “top secret sector.” He wandered what was inside.

“Excuse me,” He piqued her attention, “It says top secret sector. If everything’s top secret here, then why’s there only one?”

Janet sighed, “There’s something inside there. Davina Hoskins, one of the key figures responsible for capturing alien lifeforms, caught this thing. It’s apparently top secret so I’m afraid no-one can go there. Even you, Doctor.”

The Doctor sighed, “I know you’ve got to sort your marriage out and everything but I need your help on another matter. My friend Lydia told me that her boss randomly fell out of his office window. That doesn’t usually happen. Did you find out anything about that.”

Janet grabbed her coat, “I’m sorry, Doctor, that’s a matter that the police will be dealing with. Lydia asked me the same question herself the other day. I’ve got to be going.”

Janet wandered off leaving the Doctor alone inside of UNIT HQ. He grew bored easily, so hopped inside of the TARDIS and travelled forward half an hour. He pressed another button which caused another sonic screwdriver (Identical to the one destroyed by the cloth faced creatures in WW1) to pop out of the machine. He grabbed it, placed it in his trouser pocket and walked out of the ship, where Matt was waiting with some of Lydias clothing.

“Where the hell have you been?” Asked Matt.

The Doctor smiled. The two of them returned to the TARDIS. The Time Lord showed Matt a particular section of the time travel machine, “This section of the ship can travel through someone's timeline if a piece of their DNA is placed inside. Nifty little thing, and I’m glad it was kept with the redesign. Place the items of clothing inside and then we’ll stop it at the age she is at now. How old is she? Like, exactly. Date of birth?”

“6th December 1989.”

The Doctor placed the items of clothing inside of the machine and stopped it when it reached 29 years, 4 months and 5 days. The machine arrived on a desert island, one which neither of them were familiar with. The Time Lord noticed a letter buried within the sand.

Dear Doctor,

I have faith that you will be reading this somehow but if you are reading this, then I’m most likely dead. I don’t know how I’ve died-I’m not a physic, but everything on this Island is out to kill me. We had the best of times on our two travels, even though my memories of the last one are rather faint. Please don’t feel like you are the one responsible for my demise.

Love Lydia.

The Doctor threw the letter on the floor and hit the sand. Even though she had told him it wasn’t his fault he still felt guilty.

Matt approached him, “What did it say, Doctor?”

“Maybe it’s best you don’t know,” The Doctor replied, “Sometimes things happen. I’ll find her, don’t worry, it’s just got to take time. I’ll take you home first.”

“No, I want to come with you.”

The Doctor shook his head, “Get back inside the TARDIS-You are going home. I’m not losing anyone else. I mean, she may still be out there but I’m not risking your life too. You’re going to go home and forget all of this ever happened. Into the TARDIS, now.”

Matt hurried into the TARDIS. It was only a matter of time before the ship returned to UNIT HQ in Manchester in 2019. The Doctor was startled by what he had just read, but Matt was still unsure.

“What did the letter say?” Matt asked. “Come on, I deserve an answer, don’t I?”

The Doctor remained silent for a moment. “She may still be out there but the letter I read wasn’t a good sign. She didn’t want me to accept blame but I always do…”

A tear formed in Matt's eye. He realised what had happened. “So Lydia’s dead and I’ve got to accept that, have I, Doctor? You probably have been responsible for so many deaths that you don’t even care anymore. She may have told you that you were not responsible for her death but I tell you now that you are-and you should feel guilty about that every day for the rest of your stupid, pathetic life.”

The Doctor was angry, but did not want to express this. “I’ll find her, Matt. I’ll find some way of finding her. No-one’s truly gone when you’ve got a time machine.”

Matt chose to ignore him from this point onwards. The doors of the base opened with a tall man in his early 30s entering. His name was Harold Larson-the head of UNIT.

“How are you doing, Matt?” Harold asked, but received no answer. “It seems we’ve got a visitor here. I told you we weren’t aloud visitors here.”

“He was just going. Weren’t you, Doctor?”

The Doctor stepped inside of the TARDIS, slumped onto the stairway and began to sob. He’d only just entered a new life-a fresh start-and yet already he’d lost the only surviving person that cared about him, and alienated another potential friend because of that. He stayed motionless for a moment, struggling to get a grip onto his emotions.

Outside, Matt followed Harold out of the room, through a multitude of corridors and into a research lab. Harold pointed towards a button located in the centre of the room.

“Over the years, UNIT have discovered a plethora of technological developments that shape the future of our world as we know it. Well, this button here is a teleportation machine. It can teleport matter between two set points at the press of a button. We’ve had a few successful tests as of yet, but we want you to test the item for us now, Matt.”

Matt pressed the button as he teleported from UNIT HQ to another location which he was unsure about. It was a forest, but it was ever so empty as if it were completely devoid of life. Matt looked into the wilderness. He heard screams from the forest which startled him, leading him to drop the teleportation button onto the floor. Whispers surrounded him. He stepped away but in doing so stepped onto the teleportation button, destroying it and limiting his chances of returning home.

Elsewhere inside of the TARDIS, the Doctor continued to mourn the loss of Lydia. From outside he heard alarm bells, causing him to depart the ship. He noticed that the section on the screens which read “Top secret sector” had turned from orange to red. The alarm bells surrounded the area as the Doctor hurried out of the room and into the laboratory. There, Harold grabbed weapons from nearby.

“What the hell is going on?” Asked the Doctor. “What are the alarm bells for?”

“I’m so sorry.” Harold sighed, “We’re all going to die. The base is under lockdown. The object has escaped.”

“What’s the object?”

Harold looked at him. “It’s our assassin.”

Harold hurried out of the room with a grenade in his hand. He threw the object across the corridor creating a large explosion. The Doctor remained inside of the laboratory unaware of what was going on. There were distant screams through the corridors, one of which sounded like Harolds. He heard something sliding through the corridors but was unable to make out exactly what it was. But then it came forward. The Doctor backed away as the sliding noises grew louder.

It was a Dalek.

“Exterminate! Exterminate!” It screeched. “You shall be exterminated.”

The Doctor ducked behind a desk and grabbed a sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He pointed it towards the Dalek creating a small explosion. The Dalek continued to shift through the room, as the Doctor tried to figure out how to escape.

“Dalek!”, The Doctor called. “I am an enemy of the Daleks. I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, the Feared One as the Tsuraxi called me once. But you know what most people call me? Something that strikes fear into the heart of every single Dalek in existence-The Doctor.”

The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver in front of him as the Dalek approached.

“Doctor,” The Dalek responded, “You are an enemy of the Daleks. You must be exterminated.”

The Doctor backed away towards the edge of the laboratory as the Dalek cornered him.

Suddenly, the Dalek screamed “Exterminate” as it blasted the Doctor. The Time Lord fell to the floor.

“What do you want?” The Doctor asked with one last inch of breath.

The Dalek stopped. “We do not answer to our enemies.

The Doctor looked at his fingers as they began to glow. Suddenly, a vast amount of energy spread across the room.

He was regenerating.

To Be Continued...