Lockdown: Chapter 6 (Teen In The TARDIS)

The Doctor dropped to the ground beside Caroline and whipped the headphones off from her head. The high-pitched whine was still coming from the speakers, and so the Doctor stamped on the device, knocking the batteries out of their compartment. He knelt down and checked Caroline’s pulse.

‘It’s very faint,’ he said. ‘I need to get her to the TARDIS to run some tests.’

‘Wait,’ said her mum. ‘What’s happened? She needs an ambulance.’

‘The hospital won’t be able to help her,’ said the Doctor, picking her up into her arms.

‘But she’s sick. She needs to go to the hospital.’

‘Mrs Parker,’ said the Doctor, sternly, ‘your daughter is in need of medical help. Help that she can only receive from me. She has just suffered from an alien attack. Now if you don’t allow me to leave with her then she may well die,’

‘Then I’m coming with you,’ said Cath, grabbing her coat from the peg in the hallway.

‘No. I need you to stay here. The less you know the better.’

‘But she’s my daughter!’

‘Mrs Parker,’ said Sophie, ‘the Doctor knows what he’s doing. Believe me, it’s for the best.’

‘How can you expect me to sit by while my daughter is taken away by a strange man?’

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Sophie, stay with her. Make sure she doesn’t leave.’

‘But you need my help,’ said Sophie.

‘Sophie,’ said the Doctor, moving closer to her, ‘Caroline’s entire existence hangs in the balance here. I need to get her to the TARDIS and make her better. Then I need to make sure she doesn’t wake up. Can you imagine the implications of her meeting me now? What would happen to my Caroline?’

Sophie nodded, realising she couldn’t argue with that.

‘Stay here,’ he said again, holding a finger up to the two women.




Back in the radio studio Lee was looking frustrated. He pulled the headphones off his head and leant back in the chair.

‘Did it work?’ asked Gaz, checking on the almost-zombie-like state that Danny had entered.

‘No,’ said Lee. ‘One of them tried to break through again, but somebody stopped it.’

‘Who?’

‘How the hell should I know?’ asked Lee, rounding on Gaz. ‘What a stupid bloody thing to ask!’

Lee got up and walked over to Danny. He crouched down in front of him and looked him in the eyes. He flicked the side of Danny’s face with his finger and frowned.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Gaz.

Danny managed a half-hearted smile.

‘If you’ve got one in you, mate, then you need to help the others. They’re trapped in their own world and they want to come out.’

Danny didn’t respond this time.

‘It’s a waste of time,’ said Gaz, crossing over to the mixing desk and sitting down. ‘We should never have gotten involved in this. You’ve melted his brain.’

‘They promised me power.’

‘You? Power? Don’t make me laugh.’

Lee was about to get up and beat the living crap out of Gaz when Danny’s hand quickly snatched at Lee’s arm.

Lee tried to break free but couldn’t.

Danny turned his head to look at Lee, his eyes blank. ‘It is too early.’

‘What do you mean it’s too early? Let me go!’

‘It is too early. You will not succeed.’

‘Let go!’ said Lee, finally breaking free of Danny’s grip. ‘We’ll do things how I want them done. You will help and you will do as a I say.’




Down Devonshire Avenue, Phil was just leaving his house. Caroline was waiting on the pavement outside his front garden and gave him a little wave when he turned onto the street.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Phil. ‘I missed you this morning.’

‘I didn’t want to wake you,’ said Caroline. ‘And I certainly didn’t want to wake your mum.’

Phil grinned. ‘She’d be thinking all sorts of things. And with a woman your age-’

‘Hey,’ said Caroline, ‘I’m not that old. Thirty isn’t old nowadays.’

‘You look good for it,’ smiled Phil. ‘Anyway, why didn’t you knock on the door?’

‘I don’t like disturbing people, but I figured you’d be out eventually anyway.’

The two of them continued to walk the tree-lined avenue.

‘Where are you heading?’

‘The station,’ said Phil. ‘I’m due on in an hour.’

‘Good,’ said Caroline. ‘I couldn’t find my friends this morning, so I’m going to tag along with you instead.’

‘The more the merrier,’ said Phil, ‘but try and stay out of Lee’s way, won’t you?’

‘I intend to,’ said Caroline, ‘and I also intend to get to the bottom of what happened at Gulliver’s last night.’

‘What do you think happened?’ asked Phil, inquisitively.

Caroline sighed. ‘I don’t know. Something coming from your radio station killed those people.’

‘But how can a radio station kill people?’ laughed Phil.

‘When you’ve been doing this for as long as I have you start to believe that anything is possible.’

‘Doing what?’

Caroline turned and smiled. ‘Fighting aliens.’

Phil simply stood there, opened mouthed, whilst Caroline continued.

She turned to look back at him. ‘Come on. I’ll tell you on the way.’




She opened her eyes. Everything was out of focus. There was a sound. A humming sound coming from all around her. And her out of focus surroundings seemed to have a green glow to them. She felt around. She was on something soft. It was a sofa. She was aware of movement in the room and she tried to sit up. She felt like her brain had become dislodged in her head and was floating around, making her feel dizzy.

She heard a man’s voice.

‘No, no, no,’ he said anxiously.

She felt his hand on her forehead and she lay back down again.

‘You must rest, Caroline. You’ve had an accident, but I’m going to help you. Try and sleep,’ came the man’s voice.

‘I…I don’t want to…sleep,’ she said, dozily.

‘This can’t happen. This can’t happen,’ she heard the man say as he walked away from her.

She heard him come back and then felt something sharp prick the side of her neck.

‘No!’ she said, panicking and pushing the man away.

‘Trust me,’ said the man, ‘this is the best for everyone.’

‘I don’t even know you,’ said Caroline, sitting up, clambering off the sofa and falling onto her hands and knees.

Her vision was becoming more and more sharper and she could make out some sort of mushroom-shaped console in the middle of the room. A glass cylinder rose from it towards what looked like a high-ceiling. An almost church-like ceiling.

‘You must rest,’ came the man’s voice again. ‘Please, Caroline, you don’t know what you’re doing.’

Caroline scrambled backwards until she hit the console behind her. The shape of the man was coming into focus. He had a bald head and wore a long, black jacket with a blue shirt. He looked extremely worried and was holding a syringe.

‘What are you going to do? Drug me?’

‘You can’t be here. Not now. You had an accident.’

‘Yes,’ said Caroline, remembering, ‘there was some sort of sound from my headphones.’

‘What were you listening to?’

‘Town FM,’ said Caroline, rubbing the back of her neck. ‘What does it matter to you?’

‘It’s very important. It could mean the difference between life and death, but you must let me inject you.’

‘No chance, you weirdo,’ said Caroline, trying to back up and realising that she couldn’t.

‘I’m not a weirdo,’ said the man, putting the syringe down, ‘but this is all wrong. You’re not supposed to meet me now. Not yet.’

‘What do you mean? You’re not making any sense.’

The man sat down on the sofa with his head in his hands. His hand went into his jacket pocket and he pulled out a pill, swallowing it quickly.

‘Have I been kidnapped?’ asked Caroline, wondering why the man was taking pills.

‘No,’ said the man. ‘Your mum knows exactly where you are.’

Caroline scrambled to her feet. ‘Then why can’t I see her?’

Her vision was now in sharp focus as she looked around the large, stone-like room. Green, glowing circles were set a few inches into the walls in regular patterns.

The man sat there, his eyes closed in abject defeat.

‘Tell me where I am!’ yelled Caroline.




Across town at the school caretakers store room, the older Caroline had arrived with Phil. Phil knocked on the door.

A few moments later there was a voice. ‘Who is it?’

‘Rolf Harris.’

The blue double doors of the store room opened and Gaz beckoned them inside.

‘A password?’ asked Caroline.

‘Gotta have a password,’ said Phil.

Lee turned in his chair to face them and almost had a fit when he saw Caroline.

‘What the hell is she doing here?’

‘Charming!’ said Caroline.

‘How many more strays are you gonna bring in, Phil?’

‘Stray?!’

‘You’re not one of us,’ said Lee, getting up out of the chair and crossing to Caroline. ‘Get out now.’

Caroline was about to say something when she noticed out of the corner of her eye, a familiar figure sat in the dingy light in the corner.

‘Danny!’ she said, relieved.

‘Do you know him?’ asked Gaz.

Caroline crossed over to the sleeping Danny and knelt down in front of him.

‘He asked you a question,’ said Lee.

‘What have you done to him?’ asked Caroline, ignoring the question. ‘What’s happened?’

‘Nothing,’ growled Lee.

‘It’s clearly not nothing,’ said Caroline, lifting Danny’s eyelids and staring at his pale eyes, the pupils dilated.

‘Get her out of here, Phil,’ said Lee.

‘Something’s going on here,’ said Phil, crossing over to Danny and Caroline.

‘Get them both out of here,’ said Lee to Gaz.

‘Let go,’ said Phil, shrugging off Gaz.

‘You’re sacked, Phil!’ shouted Lee. ‘Get out!’

Phil rounded on Lee, his face a look of fury. ‘You can’t sack me, this isn’t a job. It’s a bloody hobby, and you two seem to have forgotten that.’

Caroline turned to face the two men. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘Where you responsible for what happened at Gulliver’s last night?’

‘What?’ asked Lee, trying to look innocent.

‘Everybody in that club was killed,’ said Phil, ‘and they were piping through Town FM, just like those people who had died. They were all listening to our station.’

‘Who are you?’ asked Caroline.

Lee looked at Gaz who looked back at his friend with fear in his eyes.

‘You might as well tell us now,’ said Phil. ‘What the hell’s been going on here?’

Lee went back to the mixing desk, sat down and flicked a few switches. A CD changed in the stereo system and then he turned back to Caroline and Phil.

‘Well?’ said Caroline.

‘I started Town FM last year. We were doing well. We got a lot of calls, a lot of e-mails. The kids of this town love us. Then I met this bloke in the White Hart. Called himself Don - probably short for Donald or something. Anyway, Don said that he wanted us to do a job for him. Just wanted us to hook up some bits of equipment and occasionally switch it on.’

‘Did you know any of this?’ asked Caroline to Phil.

‘No,’ he said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

‘So Don gave me a bit of money and we hooked it up. Then he called us about a month ago and told us to turn it on. No probs.’

‘Didn’t you ever ask why he wanted you to turn this machine on or even what it was?’ asked Caroline, arms folded.

‘Listen, love, when you’re handed 500 quid, you don’t ask questions. Anyway, he would call every now and then and we’d switch the machine on. No problem. Then one day we blew the machine and I ended up having to pay him to get a replacement. And then he kept meeting us more regularly, upgrading the device and soon we were paying him each time he did it. He said if we didn’t, he’d kill us.’

‘And how does Danny fit into this?’

‘Well the other day, Don finally gave us a bit more info. I told him I wouldn’t be doing Town FM anymore and I’d shut it all down. So he got scared and told me. He said there were creatures that lived out there, in another dimension. They were trapped and wanted to come through. Every time we switched on the machine they’d try to filter into any random person that was listening to us at the time. The only problem is that every time we did it the person would die and the aliens would be trapped.’

‘Then why keep doing it?’ asked Phil, looking distraught at what Lee was telling him.

‘Because I didn’t want to die,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Don kept telling us to adjust frequencies and try again.’ He looked across to Danny. ‘Then I found him. Just wandering the streets. He was interfering with my phone, same as what the alien signals do. Didn’t take me long to figure out that he was possessed by one of them. A real life alien living inside him.’

Caroline was becoming more and more worried. So the things that where coming through the radio waves were the same creatures - the Apparites - that she, Danny and the Doctor had faced in the future - in 2011. But she knew that they hadn’t come through in 1998. To be fair, most of this month was a hazy memory for her. She had been ill with the flu and it was a blur, but she was certain that no aliens had broken through and invaded, certainly not in the way that they were due to in 2011.

And what worried her was the confirmation that an Apparite definitely was still in Danny. She and the Doctor had known it, but this was the last bit of confirmation she needed.

‘So what happened then? You hook him up or something?’ she asked.

‘Exactly,’ said Lee. ‘He amplified their power. He helped them to come through stronger.’

‘But it still failed, didn’t it?’ asked Caroline. ‘You thought that targeting a mass group would help the Apparites - sorry, the aliens - more, but they ended up killing all of those kids in the club.’

‘A side effect,’ said Lee. ‘We’ll get there in the end.’

‘You’re just a monster,’ said Caroline.

‘And this Don? Why is he helping them? What does he want?’ asked Phil.

‘That’s a good question,’ said Gaz. ‘We don’t know much about him.’

Suddenly the door to the store cupboard was flung open. Daylight streamed in and standing there, in shadow, was a man in a long, brown mac. He wore a beanie hat and as he stepped into the room Caroline noticed he was unshaven and had small, piggy-like eyes.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Lee, getting up. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’

‘No,’ said the man. He turned to Caroline and smiled. ‘You must be Caroline Parker. Caroline Parker aged 30, yes?’

‘Yes,’ said Caroline, a little unsure of this new man. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Donald Turner, and I know exactly who you are and where you come from.’

He smiled.

Caroline didn’t know what to think.

Lockdown: Chapter 5 (The Truth)

Saturday, May 9th 1998




The night had turned into early morning, and after Caroline and Phil had given their statements to the police, they had been allowed to go home.

Phil had offered Caroline his bed whilst he slept downstairs. They had managed to sneak in past his mum, but getting out the following morning would be another matter.

Caroline lay there for a long, long time, wondering what had happened to those poor people on the dance floor. It had had something to do with Lee and something to do with Town FM and she was determined to get to the bottom of it, but she needed the Doctor’s help. He was the expert on things like this and she wasn’t too keen on getting involved without him by her side. She already felt bad for running out on him and then staying out all night. He and Danny would be getting worried.

As soon as it was light she left a note for the still-sleeping Phil and quietly made her way out of the house.

She made her way down Devonshire Ave with it’s large, grand houses all with their curtains closed to the early morning light. The leafy avenue shielded her from the little sprinkling of rain that had started to fall.

Eventually she turned into Weelsby Road and made her way down Farebrother Street and towards town. She’d go back to the TARDIS and wait there.




Back at the TARDIS the Doctor hadn’t slept. He had something on his mind and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He had accessed the TARDIS databanks and was busy looking up information on the time period when he had a thought. A thought that maybe he should leave well alone.

He could find out some answers for Caroline. It wouldn’t have to involve her, but he could at least try and visit her parents and discover some answers. As long as the younger, fifteen year old Caroline didn’t see him, it’d be ok.

But it was a risk.

He continued to stare at the screen which showed the address of the Parker residence, when there was a knock on the TARDIS door.

Outside, the Doctor opened the door, and standing there, in the cold-grey morning light, was Sophie.

‘Good morning,’ said the Doctor, unsure of whether to smile or be surprised.

‘Hey,’ said Sophie, a little nervously. ‘I…I know it’s early, but I couldn’t sleep.’

‘Me neither.’

‘So I thought I’d pop round and ask if you’d care for some breakfast.’

‘Absolutely,’ said the Doctor, grabbing his coat and putting it on. ‘Where do you suggest?’ he asked, locking up the TARDIS.

‘There’s a café just around the corner. They opened about ten minutes ago.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

They made their way past the bus station and river and arrived at “Sam’s Café” on the corner of Town Hall Street and Victoria Street.

They entered and the Doctor ordered them two full English breakfasts and two mugs of tea. The Doctor fiddled around in his pockets and brought out a whole array of different coinage (including what looked like a cat’s toy mouse) until Sophie ushered him away and paid for it herself.

‘Sophie,’ said the Doctor, slurping on his steaming hot tea, ‘I was wondering if you could help me out with something.’

‘Sure,’ said Sophie.

‘I know you want to write this piece on me, but I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I’m not sure if I want my entire life broadcast across the national newspapers.’

‘Okay,’ said Sophie slowly, sounding a little disappointed. ‘You were all for it last night.’

‘I’ve had a good think though and I reckon, rather than doing a piece on me, you should do a piece on how people can be more open to what’s around them. List invasions and aliens, but maybe keep me out of it.’

‘But people need to know your story.’

‘They really, really don’t,’ said the Doctor, trying to let her down as gently as possible. ‘What they need is help.’

Sophie smiled, a little sadly. ‘I guess you’re right. We don’t want millions of people trying to track you down.’

The Doctor laughed. ‘Thank you.’ He took a bite of a sausage. ‘And there’s another thing.’

‘Go on,’ said Sophie, a tomato hovering near to her mouth.

‘I was wondering if you could come with me. I need to go and see a Mr and Mrs Parker on St. Augustine’s Avenue.’

‘Sure,’ said Sophie, ‘but who are they?’

‘My companion, Caroline, is fifteen in this time. She has some sort of hidden powers and so far I’ve been unable to return her to her own time. She needs some answers and the only way I’m going to get them is by secretly going to see her parents.’

‘Sounds a bit risky to me,’ said Sophie. ‘What if her younger self sees you?’

‘Caroline once told me that she used to go to guitar lessons every Saturday morning.’ The Doctor checked his watch. ‘She should be leaving in about 45 minutes.’

‘That’s a bit of a risk though.’

‘I checked the database. Caroline’s guitar school is open today and she’s pencilled in for a session.’

‘Your TARDIS can do all of that?’

The Doctor looked pleased and proud.

‘And you want me to go along so…?’

‘For a bit of support. They seem to be a very private couple. They have decent jobs, but don’t mix with the neighbours. They keep out of trouble. If Caroline really does have some hidden power, then they may be a little nervous about talking to anyone about their daughter.’

Sophie nodded. ‘Okay. We’ll go find these Parkers, and then we’ll do my article. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ agreed the Doctor, smiling.




Back towards the TARDIS, Caroline had just arrived. She unlocked the time machine and went inside. The place was in darkness but soon grew lighter once she stepped inside.

‘Doctor!’ she called out. No reply. ‘Danny? Anyone here?’ Still not reply.

She sighed and sat down on the sofa. It looked like everyone had cleared off. She’d wait a little longer and if the Doctor didn’t arrive then she’d have to investigate this matter herself.

And if the Doctor had been paying attention outside, he would have noticed the area around Gulliver’s nightclub cordoned off by police as they removed the bodies of the night clubbers one by one.




Instead the Doctor and Sophie had finished their breakfasts and headed the opposite way towards the small, horse-shoe-shaped St Augustine’s Avenue with it’s large houses and tall, leafy trees.

They had walked in the early morning drizzle and had made sure they timed it right so that they’d miss the teenage Caroline. The last thing they wanted to do was to have Caroline meet the Doctor too early and cause irreparable damage to the timeline.

They knocked gently on the door and after a few moments a well-built man with greying hair and a thick, dark moustache opened the door. He was holding a brief case and nodded to the Doctor and Sophie.

‘Cath, I’ll leave ‘em to you,’ he said as he bustled past them and got into his car and drove away.

The woman, Cath, was standing there in a grey suit and skirt, her blonde hair tied up high and a look of frustration on her face.

‘You must excuse my husband,’ she said, ‘he’s always in such a rush to get to work. Especially on a Saturday.’ She eyed them both up and down. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Are you Catherine Parker?’

‘I am,’ said Cath, folding her arms and looking slightly defensive.

‘Good,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.’

‘Could we get to the point,’ said Cath. ‘I’m due at work in an hour.’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor, ‘I was wondering if I could have a few words about your daughter, Caroline.’

Cath straightened herself up and looked down her nose at the Doctor. ‘I’ve already told you people. I don’t want to see you.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘We’ve gone through 15 years without needing any of those health checks. I’m not about to subject her to them now.’

‘Mrs Parker-’

‘Could you leave, please?’

She was about to shut the door when the Doctor said, ‘Mrs Parker, we know your child is special.’

Cath stopped closing the door and opened it again. ‘How could you possible know that?’

‘Because I’ve met her. In the future.’

‘Doctor, is this the wisest way forward?’ asked Sophie, who had remained quiet up until now.

‘Don’t be absurd!’ said Cath. ‘You can’t be from the future.’

‘Strangely,’ said the Doctor, ‘you don’t fake surprise very well.’

Cath sighed and then opened the door for the two of them. ‘You better come in. But let’s make this quick, please.’

After ten minutes the Doctor and Sophie were sat in the very plain, pink-walled living room of the Parker’s house with a cup of tea and a packet of custard creams.

‘Go on then,’ said Cath, crossing her legs and arms at the same time.

‘Why aren’t you particularly surprised that I’m from the future?’

Cath shook her head. ‘Because they said that they’d come for her one day.’

‘Who would come for her?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Bad people. That’s all they said. People who might want to experiment on my little girl. Because of her powers.’

‘What are her powers?’ asked Sophie, finding herself getting dragged into this.

‘I don’t know,’ snapped Cath, on the defensive again. ‘She’s never shown any sign of powers, but they’re meant to be there. Hidden deep down inside.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said the Doctor, automatically grabbing another custard cream. ‘Who told you all of this?’

‘Before I tell you, I need to know exactly who you are.’

‘My name is the Doctor,’ he replied. The Doctor plucked out a photograph from his inside pocket. It showed himself, Caroline and Danny posing for a photograph in front of a beautiful double-sunset. ‘There is your daughter, aged 30. Beside the double suns of Tatooine.’

Cathy put her hand to her mouth. There was no mistaking it. That was Caroline. ‘Oh my word,’ she said, barely holding back to the tears. ‘My little girl.’

‘Mrs Parker, I believe Caroline is in great danger. My Caroline. Your daughter in the future. I need to know everything that you know about her.’

Cath nodded, handing the picture back to the Doctor and wiping the tears with a tissue.

‘So, who told you that she was special? Who told you that bad people will come?’

‘The Farrington’s did. Thomas and Rebecca Farrington.’

‘And who are the Farrington’s?’ asked the Doctor.

Cath pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting back the tears. She took a deep breath. ‘They’re Caroline’s parents. Her real parents.’

The Doctor looked confused.

Cath looked him right in the eyes. ‘She’s not our real daughter. We adopted her.’




This is Town FM on 107.9. We hope you all enjoyed our show last night. We’re sorry to hear about the mysterious deaths that took place at Gulliver’s nightclub last night. We send out our condolences to the families of the victims and hope that the police can get to the bottom of it. As a tribute this is “Don’t Go Away” by Oasis.




In the caretakers room - the makeshift radio studio - at the school, Lee put his headphones down and rubbed his eyes.

‘Did we do that?’ asked Gaz. ‘Did we really kill all of those people?’

‘It was an accident.’

‘It was supposed to help them!’ snapped Gaz.

Lee jumped to his feet and grabbed Gaz by his t-shirt. ‘Look, we said we’d help them. How were we meant to know that they’d end up killing an entire nightclub full of people.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ laughed Gaz. ‘Perhaps them killing other people may have given us some clue!’

Lee snarled at Gaz. ‘They were all accidents. They need our help to come through.’

‘Who?’ came Danny’s whisper-like voice from the corner of the room.

His eyes were sunken in and red and his lips were blue. His skin was pale and he looked like he was in desperate need of some sleep.

‘Don’t you remember?’ asked Lee.

‘I don’t remember anything since leaving the Doctor and Caroline,’ said Danny, wearily.

‘You tried to help them through. It didn’t work though. You have to try harder,’ growled Lee.

‘Harder…?’

‘Yes. We’re going to try again. This time on a smaller scale again.’

‘No,’ said Gaz. ‘Can’t we just stop? We’re meddling in crazy things, mate.’

‘We will try again!’ shouted Lee, picking up the headphones. ‘Get him hooked up.’




The Doctor sat there in silence whilst Sophie twiddled her thumbs in the armchair. Cath had gotten up to make more drinks.

‘Bit of a bombshell then?’ asked Sophie.

‘I suspected a little more actually,’ said the Doctor.

‘Sounds to me like there is more. Ask her,’ said Sophie, hearing Cath returning.

‘Mrs Parker, who exactly are the Farrington’s?’

Cath settled down. ‘A couple that me and Tony met a long time ago. Back in the early 80’s we’d travel around the country in our caravan. We were at Primrose Valley - a holiday campsite - when we met them. She was already three months pregnant. They always seemed to be looking over their shoulder.’

‘So…?’

‘So they stayed at the holiday camp with us and we got talking. Became good friends. And then when we moved on, they came with us. The caravan was big enough for an entire family.’

‘And what did they tell you?’ asked the Doctor, leaning forward on the edge of his seat.

‘Not much really. Just that they were from the future, like you. They took an age to convince us, but we believed them in the end. They told us that they were hiding from something. They had been forced into leaving their people because of the pregnancy and they were doing their best to hide from anyone who might be able to use them and their powers.’

‘And you just straight up believed this?’ asked Sophie.

‘Like I said, it took them a while to convince us.’

‘And what was the tipping point?’ asked the Doctor, grabbing another custard cream. ‘What was the point which made you genuinely believe them?’

‘It was when Rebecca froze time.’

The Doctor nodded slowly.

‘She threw a tennis ball in the air and just…stopped everything. Only myself, Tony and Thomas could move. It was…crazy!’

‘Do you think they’re your people?’ asked Sophie.

‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’s impossible. But they obviously have some kind of power to be able to freeze space and time.’

‘Rebecca gave birth,’ continued Cath, ‘and out of the blue they asked us to care for her, like she was our own.’

‘But why?’

‘Thomas did some tests on her, but couldn’t find any sign of any power in her. It broke their heart, but they knew she had to live a normal life and that meant them not being around.’

‘So you pretended she was your own?’

‘Exactly. We came back to Thornsby and just informed our friends that we’d had a baby whilst we were travelling. It’s caused us some problems with the authorities as they have no concrete proof that she is ours, but we’ve always got by.’

‘And has Caroline ever shown any signs of powers?’ asked Sophie.

‘No. Not yet. And I hope she never does.’

‘And Thomas and Rebecca?’

‘They just vanished. They said their goodbyes and then left a few weeks after Caroline was born. We never heard from them again.’

The Doctor relaxed back into the armchair and stared across the room and out of the window. He was pleased he had managed to find more pieces of the puzzle, but the more pieces he found, the more confusing the final picture had become. Caroline clearly had powers, but they were deep under the surface. The first time he had met her she had been stalked by one of the Apparites, and then she had been able to touch and widen the crack that led to the Apparites dimension. Somehow Caroline, Rebecca, Thomas and the Apparites were all connected.

There came a sound from upstairs and coughing.

‘Who’s that?’ asked the Doctor, a worried look on his face.

‘That’s Caroline,’ said Cath.

‘What!’ spluttered the Doctor. ‘Why isn’t she at her guitar lessons?’

‘She’s not well,’ said Cath, frowning. ‘She’s got some kind of flu bug so I’ve kept her home for a few days. How did you know about the guitar lessons?’

‘We need to leave,’ said the Doctor, quickly getting up from the armchair.

The sound of footsteps came from the landing upstairs and then steps down the staircase.

‘We can’t meet her. Not now. It could severely disrupt the space/time continuum!’




Town FM continues on your Saturday morning. This one is for all you kids waking up with hangovers. You know who you are! Keep it locked down on 107.9. This is “It’s Like That” by Run DMC.




The door to the living room slowly opened and in stepped a young, 15 year old girl with long dark hair, a thin but pretty face and wearing a fluffy, pink dressing gown. She looked very pale and had her arms folded to keep herself warm. Her eyes looked tired and dark and the end of her nose was red. She was also wearing some headphones connected to a portable walkman/radio player. The sounds of a song could be heard coming from them. She simply looked at the Doctor and Sophie.

The Doctor didn’t known what to say. This was quite clearly Caroline, but looking considerably younger. He gulped and was about to slip past her and out of the house when there came a high-pitched whine from the headphones and the younger Caroline threw her head back, screaming in agony.

‘Caroline!’ yelled her mum as the teenager fell to the floor in a heap.

Lockdown: Chapter 4 (The Club Of Death)

The Doctor was happy. He was enjoying the company he had. Sophie Hamilton had turned out to be quite a nice young lady. She was mature and intelligent and she believed everything he told her. Normally he would have said that that was a foolish way to be, but this time he didn’t think that all. She’d definitely done her research on him and she seemed to know more about him than he did.

He looked down at Sophie’s drink and realised she’d finished her coffee. ‘Would you like another drink?’

‘Yes, okay,’ she smiled.

‘Another coffee?’

‘Yes, please.’ She watched the Doctor get up and then stopped him. ‘Actually, I think I’ll have something a little stronger. How about a glass of wine?’

‘Coming right up,’ said the Doctor as he headed off for the bar.

He soon returned with the drinks. He placed Sophie’s wine on the table in front of her and then had a drink from his refilled glass of mineral water. ‘So, tell me a bit about your life.’

‘There’s not much to tell really,’ said Sophie dissuasively.

‘Oh, come on. You seem to know everything about me. It’d be nice to know some more about you.’

Sophie took a sip from her glass and then put it back down. ‘Well, as you know, I’m from Seattle. I grew up there and I’ve lived there all my life. I never even left the city to go on holiday. My friend Roz used to tell me that I’d never see the outside world.’ She laughed. ‘Well a few years back I began work at the Seattle Times. I had to start travelling a bit and it opened my eyes to the rest of the world. That’s when I discovered you.’

‘Literally it seems.’

‘Well, not quite. It seems the paper had reports of alien invasions across the century in their record archives. They were only news reports which, of course, were dismissed as rubbish, but throughout the century your name would always crop up. “The aliens were defeated by a man known as the Doctor”, “The Doctor, UNIT’s scientific advisor, refused to comment on the invasion”. Both the US and UK governments had refused to allow the stories to be printed and each invasion was-’

‘Covered up? Yes,’ said the Doctor grimly, ‘your people have a habit of covering up the truth. Maybe one day they’ll realise that it won’t help them.’

‘My boss told me not to talk about the stories I’d have to keep quiet or he’d fire me. I spoke. He fired.’

‘Oh dear. I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘It’s no problem now. The point is that I made copies of these reports and then I started finding leads. I met some of your old friends, Doctor, and began to build up this picture of you. Of course I was sceptical about you at first, but I was soon convinced. There are so many people out that have a lot of faith in you.’

The Doctor smiled. ‘It’s good to know.’

‘Of course I could only find out stuff over the past century, but it was enough.’ Sophie took another sip of her wine. ‘And I’m determined for the world to know the truth about these alien invasions.’

‘Surely the authorities will just block any information you try and get out. They have done before.’

‘Maybe. But then again maybe public demand will be so high that they’ll have no choice but to tell the truth and release it.’

‘I suppose it might be a step in the right direction for this planet. Goodness knows they need some kind of direction,’ said the Doctor, half to himself.

‘What do you mean?’

He looked up at her green eyes. They were so full of questions that demanded answers. The Doctor sighed. ‘Sophie, this planet is going to come up against a lot of tests in the near future and you’ll be around to see them.’

Sophie frowned. ‘What tests?’

‘Terrorism. Then maniacal leaders and terrible, ongoing wars. Then there’s the actual alien menaces that come here.’

‘Oh god! You make it sound like a nightmare.’

‘Life goes on, but life is tinged with an air of fear. Eventually, though, things will get better.’ He could see she was concerned. ‘Things will get better, Sophie. By the mid 21st century there’ll be a moon base and space stations orbiting the Earth. Intergalactic space travel is only a few decades away.'

Sophie smiled. ‘I suppose it must be difficult to know the past, present and future of an entire planet.’

‘Sometimes it’s difficult, but sometimes I learn to cope with it. Earth will live, die and then be reborn again. It’ll happen a number of times. But life will go on for you Humans.’




Caroline and Phil had taken a bus which had stopped just outside the college. Phil lived nearby. It was weird for Caroline seeing this place. In a few months her younger self would be a student at the college, studying politics. Right now, though, she was just a sixteen year old dating Danny and working towards her school exams. And right now she was living with people who knew more about her life than she did.

They turned into a tree-lined avenue with large houses and sloping lawns heading up to their front doors. ‘You sure your mum won’t mind me being here?’ asked Caroline as they stepped up to Phil’s house.

‘She won’t be in. She works in the library and they always update their records on Friday and Saturday evenings.

‘Will she be mad about you missing your interview?’

‘Mad? She’ll be furious. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m happy to just do part time work at the factory, but she won’t have it. She says I waste my time drinking and buying pointless electronic equipment.’

‘Does she know about the radio station?’ asked Caroline as Phil unlocked the door.

‘No way!’ said Phil with a laugh. ‘If she knew about that she’d lock me away forever.’

‘What about other family members?’

‘My sisters at Cardiff Uni and my dad works away in Germany a lot. He’s an expert in power stations or something in Cologne.’

It was a nice place, thought Caroline. An oak staircase rose from the Victorian-tiled entrance hall and upstairs to a balcony. The floor was polished and the air smelt of lavender. It seemed odd that Phil would get involved with someone like Lee and the others at the radio station, but Gaz seemed half-decent as well, so she supposed that must have been the link between the two.

‘Wait in the living room,’ said Phil. ‘I’ll go get us something to eat. Fancy a sandwich?’ he asked as he disappeared to the end of the house and towards the kitchen.

‘Yeah go on then,’ she shouted back after him. ‘Cheese please.’

Phil returned 10 minutes later with a plate of cheese and ham sandwiches and some lemonade. He handed her the plate and then sat down in the armchair across the room from Caroline.

‘It’s nice to have some down to Earth food for once,’ said Caroline as she munched on the sandwich.

‘Why, where’ve you been? Mars?’ laughed Phil.

‘A bit further than that,’ replied Caroline.

Phil laughed, but Caroline didn’t. ‘So tell me more about yourself.’

‘What would you like to know?’ asked Caroline as she sipped on her lemonade.

‘Where do you live? What are your hobbies. Those sort of things.’

Caroline sighed and put down her drink and finished her sandwich. ‘It’s difficult to talk about it.’

‘You can take your time,’ said Phil.

Caroline sighed again. She was dying to get this all of her chest. She was fed up of meeting people and never being able to tell them the truth. She knew Phil would never believe her, but she didn’t care. She was getting on well with him and she had to tell someone. Taking a deep breath and a sip of her drink again she cleared her throat. ‘Phil, do you believe in time travel?’

‘Well, no,’ said Phil with a laugh.

‘You should do.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’m from the year 2012. I’m a time traveller.’




‘Thanks for cheering me up, Doctor,’ said Sophie as she finished her drink.

‘I’m sorry,’ said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone on about the end of Humanity and stuff like that.’

‘Well it was…interesting,’ she said with uncertainty.

‘Let’s talk about something else,’ smiled the Doctor.

‘Yeah,’ said Sophie. She checked her watch. ‘Actually I better be getting back. I can’t believe the time. We’ve been chatting for hours! I said I’d call my mum tonight. I’m a grown woman, but she can’t help worrying about me when I go away anywhere.’

Sophie got up to leave and the Doctor stood up at the same time. ‘Where are you staying?’

‘Oh, just a little guesthouse up on the sea-front. It’s nothing special, but it’s quiet at least.’

‘Would you like me to walk you there?’ said the Doctor.

‘Walk me there? It’d take about 45 minutes to walk there. I’ve hired out a car while I’m here.’

‘Oh, right,’ said the Doctor. He smiled. ‘Look, what are you doing tonight?’

‘Oh, I’ve got lots of reports to make tonight,’ said Sophie apologetically. ‘I wish I didn’t, but I’ve gotta make a start on the info on you.’

The Doctor smiled. ‘Well at least I’ll be there in some form or another.’

Sophie looked at him and then smiled. ‘Your a nice man, Doctor.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Are you planning on staying long?’ she asked, putting her coat on.

‘Not really. I just need a couple of days to power up the TARDIS. Maybe I can stick around whilst you make some more notes on me.’

Sophie beamed at him. ‘Really? It’ll only take a couple of days.’

‘That’s fine,’ said the Doctor.

Sophie grinned. ‘That’s great. Look, I’ve gotta run, but I’ll meet outside your police box at, say, 9am tomorrow?’

‘Agreed,’ smiled the Doctor.

‘Good. Thanks for the drink,’ she crossed over to the door and then turned back. ‘See you soon.’

The Doctor nodded as she disappeared into the night. He picked up his water, drained the glass and then smiled to himself a warm, comforting smile. He liked travelling with Caroline and Danny, but they didn’t seem to want to be with him. Now here was Sophie. A person who was clearly fascinated by every aspect of his life and he felt sure she’d like to travel with him in the TARDIS.




The white van turned into a idyllic, sloping road lined with tree’s and large houses. It headed down the street and towards the end where a school sat in the middle of a large, sloping field. The van parked up at the gates and then Lee and Gaz jumped out.

‘They’re locked,’ said Gaz as he rattled the gates.

‘Of course they’re locked. This is a school, remember? Private property,’ said Lee as he dug in his pockets.

Gaz rolled his eyes and Lee looked around to check he wasn’t being watched and then unlocked the padlock on the large iron gates.

‘This is bloody dangerous.’

‘In case you’ve forgotten, Gaz, running a pirate radio station is dangerous. Deal with it!’ He opened the gates wide enough to let the van in. ‘Get in and drive it through.’

Gaz did as he was told and drove the van through the gates. When he was fully through Lee closed the gates behind them.

It took them only twenty minutes to unload the gear from the back of the van. Behind all the equipment was Danny who was cowering in a corner of the van and shaking.

‘What’s up with him?’ said Gaz.

Lee crossed over. ‘Dunno.’ He clambered into the back of the van. ‘Come on, Dan, snap out of it.’

Danny gritted his teeth and looked up at Lee. ‘Release me!’ he hissed.

‘We’re gonna do,’ said Lee, trying his best to sound sympathetic, ‘but you’ve gotta work with us. You’ve got to help yourself as well.’

Danny shook his head and closed his eyes. ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ he whimpered. ‘Tell me what’s going on.’

‘I’m not exactly sure,’ said Lee, putting a hand on Danny’s shoulder. ‘Look, if you come inside with us I’ll try and explain everything.’

‘Yes,’ sobbed Danny. ‘Explain. I feel so close to them now.’

Lee looked back at Gaz and indicated for him to help. The two of them stood Danny up and, between them, helped him out of the van and into the school car park.

‘Now where?’ asked Gaz nervously.

Lee scrambled in his coat pocket and pulled out the keys. ‘One of these will open the door to the caretakers office. C’mon.’

The school was a fairly squat and modern looking building spaced out along a large field that disappeared into the growing darkness. Night was drawing in after Lee and Gaz had spent the last few hours collecting up more equipment from Lee’s house and collecting the portable transmitter.

They had arrived at the back of the school where the caretakers office was situated. They headed for a set of blue double doors set into the wall. Gaz leant Danny against the wall as Lee tried different keys. With each key he cursed and then tried another. Finally the lock clicked and the double doors opened.

Lee turned and grinned. ‘I’ll get Danny boy in here and you start getting the equipment.’

A few minutes passed. Lee had gotten Danny into the small office and sat him down on a stool. He had now passed out. The room was pretty small with no windows. A single bulb cast an orange glow over the wooden walls and a table was set against one wall with a school chair under it. On the other side of the room was another doorway leading to a store room which contained buckets, spades and other cleaning appliances.

Lee and Gaz had shifted all the equipment into the room and eventually the others arrived. Gaz led them into the small room as they prepared to recommence the radio shows.




Night had come and Caroline and Phil had made their way back into the town centre. They passed a number of bars, the loud dance music blasting out from them. Caroline had noticed in recent years - back in her time - that the bars had quietened down and most people had chosen to stay in due to the recession, but in 1998 everything was lively again. Everything felt new.

They arrived at a bar beside the train station called Huxters and went inside. Phil had no problem getting in. Probably because Caroline was with him, and she looked pretty striking amongst all the youngsters.

Phil went to the bar and got them a couple of drinks.

They made their way into a quieter area of the bar and sat down at a table. After a few moments of watching people mill around and dance, Phil spoke up.

‘So, you’re a time traveller then?’

Caroline looked up at him and smiled. After she had told him earlier back at the house he had gotten a little flustered and excused himself to take a shower and get ready. They hadn’t really spoken much on the short walk into town, but Caroline had sensed that he was feeling a little freaked out about the situation.

‘Do you believe me?’ asked Caroline.

‘I don’t have any reason to believe you,’ said Phil. ‘But then again, I don’t have any reason to not believe you.’

‘Okay,’ said Caroline slowly, ‘how about I tell you that I’m not from the future.’

‘That would make matters a lot less confusing.’

‘In what way?’ asked Caroline, sipping on her cider and black.

‘In a way that wouldn’t turn my life upside down,’ said Phil taking a huge gulp of lager.

Caroline smiled. ‘Okay. Maybe we can leave the stories for another time. Right now we need to enjoy ourselves. So come on,’ she said, clambering off her stool and grabbing Phil’s hand, ‘let’s have a laugh!’

And the pair of them danced. They danced and then they drank and then they danced some more. Later on in the evening they made their way to a nightclub near to the Riverhead called Gullivers.

Caroline found she was really enjoying Phil’s company. He felt like the little brother she never had. It was nothing more than that and she hoped that Phil didn’t feel any differently. It was just nice to let her hair down and have a good time for once.

The time was approaching 1am and they were both a little worse for wear. And then it happened. The DJ cut the music and picked up the microphone. The feedback hurt Caroline’s ears, which were still pounding with the sounds of ‘Ecuador’ by Sash.

The crowd groaned, but the DJ urged them to stay calm.

‘Well, ladies and gents,’ he said in a fake-as-anything, over-excited DJ’s voice, ‘we have some good news tonight. You’ve all heard of Town FM, haven’t you?’

There was a cheer from the crowd.

Phil drunkenly looked at Caroline and she raised her eyebrows.

‘Well we have come to an arrangement to let them broadcast straight from their studio, right into our club for the next hour!’

The crowd whooped and cheered.

The DJ continued. ‘And if it’s successful, their number one DJ, Lee, has agreed to broadcast the next Saturday night show live from Gullies!’

The crowd erupted in a roar which deafened Caroline and Phil.

‘So, without further ado, I’ll hand you over to DJ Lee!’

There was silence and then the familiar jingle of Town FM came over the air followed by Lee’s familiar, bad-attitude-sounding voice.




This is Town FM and we are broadcasting live to the clubbers in Gullivers. We’re glad to have you lot along for our ride on this wonderful, wonderful Saturday night. Remember to open your hearts and open your minds. You never know what might climb into your soul! This is ‘Brimful of Asha’ by Cornershop!




And so the night continued with Lee broadcasting songs for the next hour into Gullivers. And Caroline and Phil found themselves enjoying the night even more.

That was until a high-pitched whine filtered into the room and everyone started to scream. Caroline managed to grab Phil and drag him off the dance floor and into the corridor outside.

‘What was that?’ asked Phil, clutching tightly at his ears.

The people in the room were still screaming and the bouncers ran inside. And then suddenly everything went quiet.

Caroline still covered her ears and ducked back inside. Every single person was lying down on the floor, unmoving and silent. The music had stopped and soon the high-pitched whine had died away. Caroline ran over to one of the girls and checked her pulse. Nothing. She checked the pulse of the person next to her and then crossed to the DJ. Nothing.

They were all dead.

Lockdown: Chapter 3 (Getting To Know You)

Caroline and Phil had left McDonalds just before the ambulances arrived and were now heading back up the street and towards the bus station. Phil had seemed a little disturbed by the incident and had made his way to the exit very quickly. When he was a bit further away he slowed down.

Caroline caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Hey, you alright?’

‘Yeah,’ he said flatly.

‘Did you know that girl or something?’

‘No, nothing like that.’

‘Then what?’

‘She was listening to Town FM.’

‘Town FM? Oh yeah, I remember them. A new pirate station isn’t it?.’

Phil turned the corner and they carried on past the library. ‘What do you mean you remember them? We’ve only been broadcasting for two months.’

‘Wait a minute, “we”? You work on it as well?’

‘Yeah. I wanted to try and get on Cool FM, but they didn’t want me so I went to Lee Jackson and he took me on. I only do Saturday’s though.’

‘So, you work for a pirate radio station, which is illegal? Why would that make you so spooked out about that dead girl listening to the station?’

‘Because of the fact that she died listening to the station.’

‘Just a co-incidence.’

‘No,’ said Phil exasperated. ‘A few days ago another person died. They were listening to the station as well.’

‘Then that’s just a co-incidence as well.’

‘I don’t think so, Caroline.’

‘So you reckon the radio station killed those two girls?’

‘Yes.’

‘But...that’s impossible.’ Caroline knew there were some weird things in the universe, but the thought of an amateur radio station being responsible for killing two girls was absurd. Even she used to listen to the station when she was 15. Right about now, actually.

‘Look, I don’t know the guy who runs the station too well but I know he’s a bit of a thug.’

Caroline sighed. ‘It still doesn’t prove that Town FM are responsible for the deaths.’

Phil sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands. ‘I knew it’d cause me trouble.’

Caroline looked on sympathetically and then sat down next to him. ‘Hey, come on,’ she said, putting an arm around him. ‘You’ve had a tough day, missing that interview and everything. You need to relax.’

‘Maybe,’ said Phil, staring into the distance.

‘There’s no “maybe” about it,’ said Caroline. ‘I’ve been through some tough times recently and sometimes you just need a break.’

Phil turned to look at Caroline. He smiled weakly. ‘Perhaps I should start having some fun again.’ He smiled a little.

‘That’s the spirit,’ said Caroline as she patted him gently on his back. ‘You need to go out and have some fun.’

‘Yeah!’ said Phil excitedly. ‘Yeah. I’ve not had a decent night out for ages. I mean there was last night, but it was pretty crap after Davey met that lass.’

‘Then go out and have some fun.’

‘I will do.’ Phil got up and then looked back at Caroline. ‘Thanks.’

Caroline smiled. ‘No problem. Another patient cured.’

Phil turned to go but then turned back to Caroline. She was now staring ahead of her and looked a little lost and a tiny bit sad. ‘Look, I know we don’t really know each other, but, well, perhaps you’d like to come out with me.’

Caroline looked up. ‘What about your friends?’

‘I’d rather go out with you.’

Caroline smiled, but then her smile faded from view. ‘How old are you, Phil? Nineteen? I’m…well, I think I’m thirty now. A little too old for you.’

‘I’m not asking you out on a date! I just reckon you could do with a laugh after leaving your bloke and everything. Come on, it’ll be a laugh!’

Caroline broke into a broad grin. She knew the Doctor would be annoyed, but she didn’t care. Maybe it was time to let her hair down a bit. ‘Okay,’ she said, getting up from the bench, ‘let’s go get us some drinks.’




Sophie walked along side the Doctor. She couldn’t believe this. For so long she’d read about this incredible man, but she’d never gotten to chance to actually meet him let alone team up as one of his “companions”. Despite being interesting he was also a rather charming man. She found herself glancing across at him and grinning to herself every now and again. He was an absolutely bizarre character, but he just seemed to glide past everyone without causing anyone to stare at his odd dress sense.

Eventually they reached the White Hart and the blue police box that disguised the time machine know as the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked all around him for any sign of Caroline and frowned.

‘Can’t you see her?’ asked Sophie.

‘No,’ said the Doctor anxiously. ‘I never should have let her go. Her or Danny.’

‘How old is she?’ asked Sophie.

‘Late twenties…early thirties…I think.’

‘Well then, she can take care of herself. Pin a note on the door of your TARDIS arranging a meeting time this evening and we’ll come back later.’

The Doctor bit his lip as he continued to scan the shoppers. ‘Perhaps we should do that.’

‘Well it’d beat waiting here for her to turn up. In the meantime we can have a little chat, I can make some notes and maybe we can have some drinks along the way.’

The Doctor smiled. ‘Sophie, I think you’ve just persuaded me. I could do with a glass of mineral water.’




‘Bloody hell,’ said Gaz as he watched Danny grinning widely.

‘Do you have a problem?’ asked Danny in the hissing voice he had now acquired.

‘N-no,’ said Gaz nervously.

‘Good,’ said Lee, ‘cos we need to get out of here this afternoon. The cops are onto us and we need a new location straight away.’

‘When will I be free?’ asked Danny.

‘Soon,’ said Lee. ‘We have the ability to get you out, but we’ve gotta help your friends first.’

‘Friends?’

‘The others like you that we’ve contacted.’

‘Then there is a chance for us to be released before 2011?’ asked Danny, wide eyed.

‘Well I don’t know much about that, mate, but your lads want out so we’re helping.’

Danny stared into space and walked over towards the window. ‘Then the failure of 2011 can be averted. We no longer need to fight against the Ancestors.’

‘Our equipment can do it. It can free you.’

Danny snapped back round to Lee. ‘Equipment?’

‘Just look around you,’ said Lee, pointing to the radio console and it’s various devices attached to it. ‘We’re not quite there, but we’ll do it.’

‘Lee,’ said Gaz tentatively, ‘It’s getting towards 1pm. We’ve gotta shut down soon so we can move the equipment.’

‘Alright, yeah, I know!’ grumbled Lee. ‘Did you get in touch with the others?’

‘Yes. They’re gonna be here in ten minutes to help us. Have you found us a decent location yet?’

‘Yeah, don’t worry about that.’ Lee turned back to Danny and began shaking him gently. ‘Come on, Danny. Back to the real world.’

‘What’re you doing?’ asked Gaz.

‘Well we can’t have him walking around all possessed can we? He’ll just draw attention.’ Lee shook him a little harder. ‘Come on mate, back to normal.’

With the final shake Danny jerked, blinked and then coughed. ‘Wh-what’s going on?’

‘We were just having a chat with that visitor inside you,’ grinned Lee.

Fear seemed to flood Danny’s eyes. ‘Yeah. I remember. He took over me completely. He’s never done that before. Not a full conversation and everything.’

‘Yeah, well all he wants is to be free with the rest of his people. We’re gonna get him out of you.’

Danny looked horrified. ‘No! No you can’t do that! They’ll kill us all!’

‘Don’t be daft. They won’t kill me anyway.’ Lee grinned and then guided the shaking Danny to the door. ‘Gaz, go and put the exorcist man into the van out of site and then we’ll start to unplug this shit and wait for the others to turn up.’

‘But they can’t break free now,’ said Danny to himself. ‘It’s 13 years too early!’




Caroline and Phil had set off on the twenty minute walk to Phil’s house when he had suddenly froze and turned to head in a different direction.

‘What’s up?’ asked Caroline.

‘Trust me to forget. I’m meant to be helping the others move the radio equipment somewhere else.’

‘Why?’ frowned Caroline.

‘It helps them to keep out of the grip of the cops. See, the authorities know we’re out there, but it takes them ages to pinpoint us. Lee managed to work out how long it takes them and then we ship out just before they make a raid on us and find somewhere else in the town. Something about the new equipment he’s got helps us to dodge them.’

‘Bloody hell,’ said Caroline as she hurried to keep up with Phil. ‘It sounds dangerous.’

‘Well it is illegal. We’re not really doing anything wrong, though.’

‘Apart from broadcasting without a license, playing music without paying royalties-’

‘Yeah alright,’ said Phil as if he’d heard those words before. ‘I was thinking of getting out of it anyway. Y’know, going professional?’

‘Then do it. If you have a talent for something then go for it.’

‘We’ll see,’ said Phil as they turned a corner.

Phil led Caroline down a long, crowded street with a busy road going through it. Down the street were lots of families and older people, all busy doing there shopping from an indoor market halfway down the street. They passed the Halifax bank and then turned down into a side street and headed for some high-rise flats.

‘Your studio’s in the Freeman Street flats?!’ said Caroline as she gazed up at the gloomy structures.

‘Yeah, Lee rented out a flat from there just for the studio.’

‘God, I’ve never been up there in my life,’ said Caroline in a snooty voice.

‘Well, Your Highness, we can’t all live in nice, posh houses.’

‘And were do you live?’

Phil looked a little sheepish. ‘Devonshire Avenue.’

‘That’s near the college! Those houses are like mini-mansions!’

Phil frowned. ‘Alright, well I don’t like the flats either, but it’s only Lee who crashes out there.’

After about ten minutes of walking they came up towards one of the nearest flats and crossed the pathway to the entrance. Gaz emerged from around the corner looking slightly nervous. He jumped when he saw Phil and Caroline.

‘You alright, Gaz?’ asked Phil as he watched his friend back up against the wall.

‘Yeah. Yeah everything’s fine,’ said Gaz rather quickly. He looked at Caroline ‘Who’s this?’ he asked, changing the subject.

‘Oh, this is Caroline,’ said Phil.

Gaz grinned and extended his hand.

Caroline shook it. ‘Nice to meet you, Gaz,’ she smiled back at him.

‘Nice to meet you as well.’ Gaz looked at Phil and smiled. ‘Where’d you pick this one up then?’

Caroline and Phil both frowned in unison.

‘He didn’t pick me up from anywhere,’ snapped Caroline.

‘No I didn’t. I bumped into her in the street and we just got talking.’

Gaz laughed darkly. ‘You’re a sly one. Going for the mums now, eh?’

‘I’m not a mum,’ said Caroline, sounding rather more sad about that statement than she thought she would.

Phil closed in on Gaz and looked at him hard. ‘Watch it, Gaz. Some of your other friends might not care about women or give them much respect, but I do.’

Gaz didn’t reply and turned away from Phil. ‘Come on then, Phil, you’re already late. The others are upstairs disconnecting the equipment.’




Okay listeners, that’s it for a couple of hours. We’ve gotta do some moving about now, but we’ll be back on in a couple of hours. Until then we’re gonna broadcast a loop tape of dance music. Remember this is Town FM on 107.9. Keep it locked down!




Lee hung up his headphones and pointed at a weedy looking boy with scraggly hair. The boy nodded and pressed down on a portable tape recorder.

‘It’s running,’ said the boy as he placed it into his extremely bulky backpack.

‘Good,’ said Lee. ‘Now you get on your bike and ride around town for a couple of hours. Go to the woods and the beach. That portable transmitter’ll keep them happy while we switch studios.’

Lee watched the boy leave and then turned to the others. The collection of people standing before him were all fairly young, between the ages of 16 and 25. There were six of them and they were all looking a little annoyed.

‘Where’s he off then?’ said a girl with long, curly blonde hair.

‘Little Dave’s got a transmitter in his backpack with a tape player plugged into it. All he’s gotta do is ride around until we connect back up at the new location.’

‘And what if he gets caught?’ asked a tall boy with a hint of a beard on his unshaven face. ‘That big aerial sticking out of his backpack doesn’t give it away or anything.’

‘He won’t get caught,’ said Lee confidently. ‘A mobile transmitter’s much harder to catch than a stationery one, Mike.’

The door opened and Gaz walked in followed by Phil and Caroline. Caroline looked around her and then at the group of people. They all murmured at her and she nodded a greeting to them all.

‘Who’s this?’ asked Lee.

Phil looked a little nervous and moved to stand next to the girl. ‘This is Caroline.’

‘I told you not to bring anyone up here,’ said Lee, his anger beginning to flare up again.

‘She’s my...err....girlfriend!’ said Phil.

Caroline frowned but decided to go along with this. This Lee looked like a bit of a thug and she had no desire to get into any kind of trouble. Best to keep in the background.

‘It’s still not good enough,’ grumbled Lee. ‘Keep outsiders out of our business.’

‘Oh come on Lee, it’s just a bit of fun.’

Lee stepped across the room in two huge strides and brought his face right up to Phil’s. Their noses were almost touching. ‘It’s not just a bit of fun!’ he growled.

‘Lee!’ said Gaz.

Lee turned when he felt Gaz’s hand on his shoulder. He withdrew from Phil and straightened himself up. ‘Just keep this “posh boy” away from me, okay? I’m off down to the van,’ said Lee as he put on his jacket. ‘Get this stuff unplugged and then I’ll meet you downstairs.’

When Lee had exited Caroline noticed the others had begun murmuring their disapproval. Although she couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, she got the impression they were pretty pissed off with their “station managers” attitude. Never the less she and the others began unplugging the equipment and loading it into boxes.

Eventually everything was packed away. Gaz took a last look around the grubby little room and then switched the light off and locked the door. The others made their way down into the lifts as he slipped the door key under the door.




When they got downstairs the sky had turned a greyish blue and it had begun to drizzle. Lee emerged from the back of his white van and then locked the doors.

‘We need to put the gear in there, Lee,’ said one of the girls.

‘Yeah I know. Just drop it down there and me and Gaz’ll load it up.’

The girl frowned and the group placed the equipment next to the van. ‘Sure you don’t want us to help?’ she asked.

‘No,’ said Lee quickly. ‘I’ll see you later.’

‘Where?’ asked the unshaven boy. ‘You haven’t told us where the new studio is yet?’

‘Meet me outside Little Marsden School in a couple of hours.’

‘What?’ they all said, including Gaz, in unison.

‘You know my uncles the caretaker there? Well he’s got a little room off the main building that’ll keep us hidden for months.’

‘You have got to be joking,’ said Gaz. ‘It’s a school! It’s too dangerous.’

‘It’s not dangerous,’ growled Lee. ‘Now get going. Get yourselves something to eat and we’ll meet up there later.’

The others walked off shaking there heads. All except Caroline, Phil and Gaz.

‘You too, posh boy,’ said Lee, folding his arms. ‘You and your girlfriend.’

‘Well the thing is, Lee-’

‘What?’ moaned Lee as he began to check the equipment, which was collecting drizzle on the boxes.

‘Well, me and Caroline were gonna go out tonight. It’ll be a bit of a rush if we come to the school and-’

‘Alright, alright,’ sighed Lee. ‘Take her out then. Just make sure you’re in tomorrow at twelve. It’s your show, remember?’

‘Yeah I know,’ said Phil. ‘Thanks!’ he added quickly.

Lee watched Caroline and Phil walk off into the distance and then he shook his head and indicated to Gaz to start loading up the stuff into the van.




At the same time Danny was listening from within the back of the van. He knew it was Caroline outside. They knew it was Caroline. The thing inside knew it was Caroline. He smiled, closed his eyes and leant back. ‘Poor little Caroline,’ he said quietly as he waited for Gaz and Lee to unlock the door.

Lockdown: Chapter 2 (New Friends)

Caroline knew she shouldn’t have walked away. She should have stayed with the Doctor and not gone rushing off in a temper, but he had pushed the wrong buttons once again. The last few weeks had been extremely painful for her.

Caroline tried to put that out of her head. She’d forgiven him and they were on their way. Now, however....they were stuck in the wrong place and the wrong time. Again. She was angry with him. She was angrier than she had ever been before. She just wanted to go back to her own time, to her parents, and try and sort this mess out and get some answers about herself.

‘Watch it!’ came a voice, snapping Caroline back to reality.

She looked up. A tall and severe looking face was looking down at her. ‘Sorry,’ she said.

‘You better be,’ he growled, passing her but keeping his eyes firmly fixed on her.

Caroline watched him go. He looked like a right trouble causer. She sighed and kicked at the ground. She’d somehow found herself wander down the main shopping street and down to the indoor market. In 2012 not much had changed apart from a couple of new shops in the street. Sighing again she turned and headed back towards the bus station and the TARDIS. She needed to stick with the Doctor. It was no use moping around in ones own personal history.




Phil was rushing down the pedestrian part of Victoria Street and was trying to push past the mums and their prams and the kids in their little gangs bunking off school. Funny, not so long ago he would have been hanging around with his gang, but now he had “responsibilities”. He’d put on his best shirt and tie and was half-heartedly determined to get this job.

A few days back he had turned up at an interview for the job as a barman and had made a complete mess of it. He had a hangover, hadn’t shaved and his hair was a mess. His mum had given him an earful when he got home. The interviewers had rejected him straight away. So, here he was with his second interview in only a few days. This time it was for a job at WH Smith in the shopping centre. He’d shaved – twice – combed his messy hair and smartened himself up more than he’d ever done before. He was going to get this job – even if he wasn’t too confident about it.

‘Careful!’ said a dark-haired woman as Phil bumped into her.

Phill turned to say sorry, tripped up over his un-done shoe laces and landed in a puddle on the path left over from the previous night’s rain. He landed on his stomach and said ‘Bollocks!’ under his breath. When he turned around and managed to stand up he saw the dark haired woman looking at him. She was pretty in a natural sort of way. She had straight hair down to her shoulders and it was brushed to the side. She had her hands on her hips and was looking at him as if he’d just told a bad joke.

‘That’ll teach you to run like a madman, won’t it?’ said Caroline.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ said Phil glumly as he looked down at his muddied shirt. ‘That’s that job blown then.’

‘Job?’ Realisation dawned on Caroline’s face and her face broke into a look of pity mixed with guilt. ‘Oh, you had an interview? Oh God! I’m so sorry.’

‘It’s nothing. Really,’ said Phil, trying to brush away the mud and only managing to smear it some more.

‘It’s probably partly my fault as well I suppose. I shouldn’t have been daydreaming. Cant you get another shirt from home?’

‘No,’ replied Phil shaking his head, ‘I’m already five minutes late. It’d take me ages to get back home.’

Caroline was lost for words and didn’t know what else to say. ‘Well, can I buy you a coffee then? Just a way of saying sorry.’

‘Yeah, whatever,’ mumbled Phil, clearly put out by this latest accident and worried about what his mum was going to say.

‘Great. We’ll go to the Coffee Club.’

‘Where?’ asked Phil, confused.

‘The Coffee- ’ Caroline looked at the corner where the Coffee Club usually stood. It wasn’t there. Instead was a cake shop. ‘Of course this is 1998,’ she said under her breath.

‘So where’s this place then?’ asked Phil.

‘Lets just go to McDonalds, yeah?’

Phil smiled. ‘Yeah, okay.’




This Keely on Town FM 107.9. That was “Waterfall” by the Stone Roses. Well, it’s a grey morning in the streets of Thornsby, but we hope we’ve got enough music to lighten up your day and bring you-




‘Oh, shut up!’ grumbled Bill as he flicked the station off and returned to the counter. Standing there was a young man with short, slightly untidy hair. He was resting his chin on his hand and looked bored. ‘What can I get you?’

‘A cuppa, please. And a full English.’

‘Coming right up.’ Bill put the kettle on and started to cook the breakfast. ‘I haven’t seen you in here before?’

‘No. I used to drink round here though,’ said Danny, remembering that the Doctor had always told him to try and blend in to avoid confusion and problems. ‘Just visiting a few friends. Lived at the Hart for a while as well back in the 80’s.’

‘That would have been when old Harry was in charge, yeah?’ said Bill as he handed Danny his tea. ‘So aren’t your friends with you now?’

‘No.’

‘Not good friends then, are they?’

Danny frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Well you’re here on your own. They can’t be all that friendly if they’re leaving you here all by yourself.’

The man’s attitude seemed to change suddenly. He frowned and his eyes buried deep into Bill’s. ‘What do you know about my friends?’

Bill frowned back. ‘Nothing, I suppose.’

‘Exactly!’ The radio fizzed and crackled and the mug of hot tea shattered, splattering the pale, brown liquid all over the counter. Danny suddenly came back to his senses. He looked at the shattered mug and then at a shocked looking Bill. Without saying another word he clambered quickly off the stool and hurried towards the door.

In the corner of the room, Gaz sat with his girlfriend, Bethany. Bethany was trying to tell him something important, but Gaz was more interested in his breakfast and what had just occurred at the counter.




The Doctor had barely gotten a few shops down when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around and standing before him was a very pretty woman. She looked to be in her late twenties and had long brown hair. She wore jeans, an open cardigan and a top underneath. Over her shoulder was a handbag. When the Doctor turned to look at her she seemed to falter slightly and step back, smiling.

‘Can I help you?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Perhaps,’ she said.

The Doctor realised she had an American accent. ‘Do we know each other?’

‘No. Well, what I mean to say is, no you don’t know me, but I know quite a bit about you.’

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. ‘Really?’

‘Yes.’ The woman suddenly remembered her manners and extended her hand. ‘Sophie Hamilton.’

The Doctor took her hand and shook it lightly. ‘Nice to meet you Mrs Hamilton.’

‘It’s Miss Hamilton. I’m not married,’ she said quickly. Then another thought struck her. ‘Actually you can just call me Sophie.’

‘Very well....Sophie.’ The Doctor let go of her hand. ‘Now, what can I do for you?’

‘Well. I’m a journalist. Well, an ex-journalist actually.’

‘For a journalist you seem awfully shy.’

‘Oh,’ Sophie smiled and put a hand to her forehead. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just I’ve read and heard so much about you. All this excitement at meeting up with you has just built up inside me. Guess I could have handled it better.’

The Doctor noticed a notepad sticking out of her handbag. ‘If you’re an ex-journalist then why are you still carrying around a notepad?’

Sophie looked down at her handbag and then back up at the Doctor. ‘Well. I used to work for a newspaper in Seattle until just recently. I found some documents about alien invasions in the late 20th century and your name cropped up quite a lot.’

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and nodded. In the seventies he had been exiled to Earth by the Time Lords. During that period a number of alien menaces had invaded the Earth (mostly in London) and he had become the scientific advisor for a branch of the United Nations called UNIT. Amazingly the government had managed to hush-up most of the incidents. UNIT was, after all, supposed to be a top secret organisation.

‘I hope you don’t mind me stopping you in the street like this?’

‘Oh, not at all, Sophie,’ smiled the Doctor. ‘What I want to know is this: how did you know I’d be here?’

‘I received a tip-off from someone. Back in Seattle I found a letter addressed to me. It didn’t give a name but it simply said that if I really wanted to speak to you, you’d be here, in this town, on this date in 1998.’

The Doctor looked slightly disturbed. He didn’t like the idea of someone predicting his whereabouts. ‘Could I see the letter please?’

‘Of course,’ said Sophie as she rummaged in her handbag.

The Doctor took the letter from her. It wasn‘t dated. He opened it up and read it:




“Dear Sophie,This may seem a bit confusing to you, but it will all make sense in time. I’ve heard that you’ve been trying to write a book about the alien invasions of the late twentieth century, which involved the organisation UNIT and their scientific advisor, the Doctor. I have reason to believe that the Doctor will be in the English East Coastal town of Thornsby on May 8th this year. He will be hanging around the White Hart pub beside a blue police box. This is the best chance you’ll have. Don’t miss out!

All my love.”




The Doctor looked up from the letter, his face a look of puzzlement and confusion.

‘Something wrong?’ asked Sophie. ‘I know it’s a bit odd. It’s as if the person where trying to match-make us. Y’know, set us on a blind date.’ She laughed.

The Doctor didn’t.

‘What’s wrong?’

The Doctor showed the letter to Sophie. ‘This letter is written in my handwriting.’




‘It was bad, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ mumbled Danny as he walked down the street.

‘’Scuse me mate!’ came a voice from behind him.

Danny turned unsteadily and attempted to focus on the man in front of him. ‘Who are you?’

‘The name’s Gaz. Sorry for bothering you, but I was just sat in the cafe with me girlfriend and I saw what happened with the mug of tea.’

‘Oh, that.’

‘Yeah. Well, Bill’s pretty pissed off with you, but I said I’d sort it out.’

‘So you’ve come to make me pay for the mug I broke? Fine.’

‘It’s nothing to do with the mug breaking. To be honest I was a bit concerned about you.’

Danny rolled his eyes. ‘To be honest, Gaz, I’m a bit sick of people showing concern for me.’

‘Let him speak,’ came the voice in Danny’s head

‘No,’ said Danny, looking up at the sky.

Gaz looked around him and noticed people were looking at Danny.

He looked almost drunk, yet he’d not even touched a drop of alcohol.

‘Listen mate, I know what’s up with you.’

‘Do you?’ said Danny snidely. ‘Come on then. I can’t wait for this. Tell me what you think’s wrong.’

‘You’ve got a ghost inside of you.’

Danny felt his whole body go cold. Something in his head lurched and he heard a faint chuckling beyond his normal perceptions.

Gaz put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. ‘I’ve got a friend who can help you. And in turn you can help him.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Danny, still feeling like he’d been smacked in the face with a wet fish.

‘Let me take you to meet my friend, Lee. He can help you.’




‘What on Earth were you trying to order?’ asked Phil with a laugh.

‘A McFlurry,’ said Caroline, looking hurt. ‘Believe it or not they’ll be pretty big in a few years.’

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ laughed Phil again as they sat down with their tray of fries and coke.

‘Look,’ said Caroline, fiddling with her straw, ‘I know we don’t really know each, but I’m sorry for what happened outside.’

‘Partly my fault as well I guess,’ said Phil beginning to eat his fries. ‘I just need to get my life in gear.’

‘I know exactly what you mean.’ Caroline looked at Phil. She had this burning desire to pour out her emotions. She didn’t even know this Phil, but he seemed to have a nice enough face. He looked honest and caring. ‘I’ve just had to leave my fiance the evening before our wedding.’

Phil looked up with a start. He wasn’t expecting that. ‘Oh,’ was all he could manage.

Caroline looked down at her drink and gave out an embarrassed laugh. ‘Look at me,’ she said, blushing, ‘I don’t even know you and I’m on the verge of pouring out all my problems onto your plate.’

‘Well we all need to tell our problems to someone.’

‘Yeah, but come on, I’ve only known you for five minutes. What am I saying? I don’t really know you anyway.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Look, I’m here with a friend and he’s probably out there looking for me now. I better get going.’

Caroline got up to leave and Phil stood up with her. ‘Well it was nice meeting you,’ he said, smiling.

‘Yeah. And I’m sorry about your interview again.’

Phil shrugged and smiled. ‘You win some, you lose some.’

Caroline was about to leave when a scream came from across the restaurant. Caroline and Phil both ran towards a crowd that was gathering in the corner. Lying on the floor with a blank look on her face was a girl of about seventeen. Her fries were scattered on the floor and her coke had spilt over her.

She was also clutching a hand-held radio.




‘I don’t understand,’ said Sophie as she read through the letter again. ‘How could this be from you? Are you sure you didn’t plan this?’

‘Of course not,’ said the Doctor. ‘Up until this moment I’d never met you before.’

‘Maybe in a previous incarnation?’ suggested Sophie.

The Doctor frowned. How could she possibly know that he used to be able to regenerate. ‘How did you-’

‘Doctor, I’ve done a lot of extensive research on you. I know that you’re a Time Lord.’

The Doctor was quite taken aback and began to fidgit on the spot. ‘Who have you been speaking to?’

‘A number of your old friends.’

‘Are you sure you’re human?’ The Doctor realised his mistake about asking that question when Sophie looked hurt. ‘Oh I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that usually when someone’s after all this information about me they usually turn out to be an alien that wants to kill me.’

Sophie smiled at him. ‘Oh no, Doctor, nothing like that. I left my job in Seattle to try and write a book about the invasions and you. This planet has the ability to cover up information that so clearly happened. I remember the Auton invasion of England in the seventies. I was just a little girl, but I remember it.’

‘So why write a book about it?’

‘Because the world needs to know about you. The world needs to know about these invasions. They need the truth.’

The Doctor chewed on his lip, a look of concern on his face. ‘The government - both US and UK - may end up trying to stop your book being printed.’

‘Perhaps, but I have to try.’

‘So where do I come into all of this?’

‘Doctor, you were at the battle lines for all of these invasions. You were there, working with UNIT all the time. Your story has to be told.’

‘I’m not sure about this.’

Sophie took the Doctor’s arm and leant in closer. ‘It’s time this planet woke up to what’s going on around them.’

The Doctor pondered for a moment. He wasn’t exactly one for keeping in the shadows, but he wasn’t sure he wanted the story of his life, of Gallifrey, of his entire race displayed to a planet of humans who aren’t exactly averse to believing this sort of thing.

‘They may not believe you.’

‘There’s a huge possibility in that. I had a hard time believing you were a time traveller from another planet when I first found out about you, but in the end I did believe. Chances are that there’s bound to be a number of people who’ll believe you as well.’

The Doctor looked at her and smiled. ‘I need time to think about this. At the moment I’m trying to get my friend back to her own time.’

‘Well do you mind if I hang around? You know, pick up on how you are in real life?’

The Doctor wasn’t keen on someone following him around and analysing his every move, but this woman seemed genuine. She seemed to really show an interest in him. He broke into a broad smile. ‘Sophie, I’d be glad to have you as company.’

‘Great,’ grinned Sophie. ‘So where do you think your friend’s gotten to?’

‘I don’t know,’ said the Doctor, looking up and down the busy street.




This is Town FM on 107.9. This is Lee, standing in for Tina, who’s away ill. It’s Friday morning and we’re already gearing up for our dance zone for tonight. We’ll be playing you the best tunes from 1998 and also some stuff from 1997. Don’t forget, if you’d like to give us a ring for shout outs, requests or dedications, the number is 0137 233877. Also a reminder that we’ll be going off air between 1pm and 3pm while we switch to our new studios. This is ‘Tubthumping‘ by Chumbawamba.




Lee took off the headphones, lit up a cigarette and then swivelled his chair around. Opening the door was Gaz and a Danny.

‘Whose this?’ he asked, nodding towards the man.

Gaz shut the door and then ushered Danny forward. ‘This is Danny Lennon.’

‘Don’t need anyone else working for us, mate.’

‘Yeah, but I think he might be able to help us with...you know what.’

Lee scrambled out of the chair and eyeballed Gaz. ‘You didn’t tell him, did you!?’

‘N-no. No of course not,’ stuttered Gaz.

‘Tell me what?’ said Danny distantly.

‘Quiet Danny,’ said Gaz. ‘Listen,’ he said, turning back to Lee, ‘we need help, don’t we?’

‘Yeah. We had another attempt a little while ago. No luck again.’

Gaz looked down. ‘After what happened to Lisa I thought-.’

‘Oh, don’t go all mushy on me now, Gaz. We both bought into this. There are going to be casualties.’

‘I bought into the station. I didn’t want to kill anybody.’

‘We’re not killing people. We’re trying to help someone in need. If a few people have to die along the way then so be it.’ Lee looked back to Danny who seemed to be staring distantly at the radio control panel. ‘So, where’d you pick up this loser?’

‘In the Bill’s Cafe. He shattered a mug of tea without touching it. Then I heard him talking to himself down the street.’

‘That doesn’t prove anything,’ said Lee, returning to his seat and picking up his headphones.

‘Then why not just ask him?’

Lee considered for a moment and then put his headphones on. He pressed a button and spoke into the microphone:




That was ‘Tubtumping’. Now for a classic from last year. This is ‘Torn’ by that sexy lass who used to be in Neighbours.




Lee took the headphones off again and looked back at Danny. ‘Come here.’

Danny wobbled forward and then looked down at Lee. ‘Yes?’

‘I’m gonna ask you this once and I want you to answer me honestly.’

‘Okay,’ said Danny blankly.

‘You have one of them inside you, don’t you?’

Danny frowned for a moment and then smiled. His teeth shone white and his eyes seemed to turn to the back of his head and glow white hot. Danny spoke, but not in his normal voice. This time his voice had a cold, rasping sound about it.

‘Yes. I have one of them inside of me. It’s been - I’ve been wanting to escape for a long time.’

Lee nodded and then smiled too. ‘Your wish is my command.’

He laughed, and so did the ghost-possessed Danny.

Lockdown: Chapter 1 (Dark Transmissions)

Thursday, May 7th 1998




The rain swept in one big sheet across the road. People ran, trying to find shelter from the downpour. Only five minutes ago the street had been dry and people were busy walking home from work, taking dogs for walks or getting ready to enjoy another night on the town. Now the streets were deserted.

A little way off a car, headlights blazing, skidded off the main seafront road and turned off into a dingy looking passageway between two old houses. The car cut it’s headlights and slowly drove into the shadows.

The drivers door of the car clicked open and a tall and lithe young man stepped out. He looked to be in his early twenties, had short, cropped, black hair and the expression of someone who had a permanent chip on his shoulder. He slammed the car door shut and looked down the passage, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets.

He looked back at the car. ‘Get out will you.’

The passenger door opened and a smaller man gingerly climbed out of the seat. He had spiked up blonde hair and a very worried expression on his innocent looking face.

‘That was a close one. I thought the cops were gonna pull us over then.’

The first man turned to the second and frowned. ‘Don’t state the bloody obvious!’

‘Sorry,’ replied his partner, putting up his hands. He looked up at the sky. ‘This bloody rain’s not gonna stop is it?’

‘Who am I, Michael Fish!?’ moaned the first man. ‘Anyway, it’s only rain.’

‘Yeah and we’re getting wet.’

There was a sound from one of the passageways near the back of the alleyway. A shadowy figure stepped out from the darkness, unfazed by the soaking rain.

‘Alright, Don?’ asked the first man nervously; a complete change from his previous personality. Now his voice had a nervousness to it.

‘Shut up, Lee’ growled the big shadow.

‘I’m sorry,’ the man called Lee, quickly replied.

The shadow didn’t move.

‘Do you have it?’

‘Yeah,’ said the deep voice. ‘You got the money?’

‘Yeah,’ said Lee. He turned to his partner. ‘Go get it, Gaz.’

Gaz went to the car and took out an envelope. He passed it to Lee and then Lee threw it over to the man. ‘It’s all there.’

‘Of course it is. You wouldn’t swindle me,’ said the man. ‘Here’s your stuff.’

He hefted up a large box from the ground and then threw it to Lee who only just caught it and stumbled slightly under it’s weight.

‘Thanks very much,’ said Lee nervously. He looked at Gaz. ‘Go get in the car and start her up.’

Gaz quietly obeyed and went back to the car.

Lee looked at the shadow. ‘Same place next time then?’

‘Same time, same place,’ said the figure as he stepped back into the shadows.

Lee shivered in the rain. He was completely soaked now and the rain wasn’t easing off. He put the box into the car boot and then got into the drivers seat.

‘I’m soaking,’ complained Gaz.

‘Shut your face,’ replied Lee. His personality had returned to it’s previous unsavoury self. ‘You won’t tell anyone about this.’ It was a threat rather than a question.

‘No. No I wont. I promise.’

‘Good,’ said Lee, nodding and biting thoughtfully on his lip. ‘Let’s get out of here.’




Friday, May 8th 1998




Phil opened his eyes and then snapped them shut again. He had a dull aching pain throbbing just above his eyes and his throat felt dry, like sandpaper. He tried to speak but only managed a very dry sounding gurgle before stopping.

‘Phil, get up!’ came a voice from somewhere in the distance.

He hated this.

‘Phil, get up now!’ came the voice again.

‘Okay,’ managed Phil, still with his eyes closed.

‘You’re going to be late,’ came the voice again.

‘OKAY!’ shouted Phil, and then regretted it. He put a hand to his throat. He wanted to drift off back to sleep, but the pain in his throat and head wouldn’t let him so instead he dared to open his eyes again. Blinding light. He must have forgotten to close the curtains when he stumbled into bed last night. With a grunt he jumped out of the bed, grabbed the curtains, drew them shut and then leapt back into bed with a groan.

The door burst open and the voice of his mum came again, this time louder. ‘I told you not to go out last night!’

‘Mum,’ groaned Phil, pulling the covers over his head, ‘just give me a few minutes.’

‘You don’t have a few minutes,’ she barked at him. ‘Do you want this job?’

‘No,’ he said sternly.

‘Then you can bloody well get out of this house.’

He heard her leave and slam the door to which he winced.

Finally he gave in and reached a hand across to his bedside radio. He flicked the “on” switch and opened his eyes as the DJ came on.




‘This is Gazza on 107.9, Town FM. It’s a Friday morning and we’ve got the best new songs coming up to wake you from that terrible hangover you’ve all got this morning. Shouldn’t have gone out on student night, should you? Keep your dial locked down to 107.9 Town FM. This is Oasis with ‘Stand By Me’.




Gaz took off his headphones and leaned back in his swivel chair. He ran his hands through his untidy hair and then realised he had forgotten to spike it up this morning. The sounds of Oasis blurted through the make-shift studio and for the first time in ages he felt relaxed. He was sitting in a small room. The walls were plastered with some ancient 1970’s wallpaper and a sofa and table were set against the back wall. The curtains were drawn across the window and Gaz was sat in front of it at a desk which contained a primitive mixing desk, CD player and microphone.

Last night seemed unreal and almost like a scene from a film. He was thankful to get home, get dry and get to bed before being back on at 8am to broadcast the breakfast show. Now, however, he was alone in the studio and happy to have some time to do what he did best – relax and play music.

The door opened suddenly and Gaz rolled his eyes as Lee stomped into the room.

‘You seen my CD?’

‘Which one?’ said Gaz indicating the shelves of CD’s.

‘The green one.’ He began looking through CD’s, pulling them from their space on the shelf and generally causing a mess.

‘It’s here, it’s here!’ said Gaz before Lee could cause any more mess. ‘What are you doing here anyway? You’re not on till nine tonight.’

‘I came for me CD,’ he said, holding the Echobelly album up to Gaz’s face. ‘And I also pay rent for this place so I don‘t need to give a reason.’

‘I told you we can all chip in,’ said Gaz.

‘Not much point now, is there?’ mumbled Lee to himself.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ asked Gaz getting to his feet.

‘We’re leaving the flat. We’re moving on.’ Lee looked down at the CD player. ‘Better get back to your microphone.’

Before Gaz could reply, Lee took his CD and left the room.

Gaz sat back down at his control deck and thought about what Lee had just said. Sure, they were running a pirate radio station and it was illegal, but the coppers couldn’t have found them, could they? They’d only been on a few weeks. Before Gaz knew it the song had finished and he was taken back to the broadcasting world.




‘Stand By Me’ by Oasis. Taken from their number one album ‘Be Here Now’. We’ll be back after this add break.




Lisa Hart removed her headphones as she sat down at the cafe table. She had no desire to listen to Town FM’s local ads for Lee Green’s brother’s chip shop. The waitress walked over and she ordered some toast and a cup of tea. She’d been going out with Lee for about a month up until last week. They’d had a stupid argument over all the money that was going to waste on god-knows what and he’d dumped her. He’d been too obsessed in that radio station and she was sure he thought it more important than anything else in his life.

A little while later, when she was halfway through her tea and toast, she put the headphones back on. They were now playing some Meat Loaf song and she sighed. Lee wouldn’t have allowed that if he’d been on air now. He hated big, power ballads.

Suddenly there came a high pitched whine from the headphones. The whining got louder and more intense. She screamed and leapt to her feet, knocking over the table and chair. Then the whine just stopped and Lisa fell to the floor like a rag doll. The waitress ran over to try and help. One of the customers turned her onto her back. When there was no movement he checked her pulse and then stood up slowly.

‘What’s up with her?’ asked the waitress.

‘She’s dead,’ said the man quietly.




‘You feeling alright, Lee?’ asked the barman.

‘Yeah, Bill,’ said Lee. ‘I’m feeling great,’ he replied distantly.

‘Look, perhaps this isn’t the place you should be at a time like this. You should be with your family.’

‘Look, me and Lisa split up a week ago. Why should I care that she died?’ He took a gulp of his lukewarm tea and then slammed it down. ‘She was a stupid cow anyway.’

Bill looked alarmed. ‘You shouldn’t speak about her in that way. No matter what problems you had at the end of your relationship. Didn’t you have any good times?’

‘Yeah.’ Lee let out a quiet laugh. ‘Yeah we had some good times. Just a shame the good times were outweighed by the bad.’

Bill began wiping the counter top with a ragged cloth and sniffed. ‘They didn’t say what she died of. Apparently she was listening to that radio station of yours-’

Lee looked startled and grabbed Bill’s arm. ‘Will you keep your voice down? I don’t want half of Thornsby knowing I run it!’

Bill pulled his arm away. ‘Okay, okay. I’m sorry.’

Lee relaxed on the stool again and took another gulp of his tea. ‘Anyway, I better get going. Gotta make arrangements for new premises for the station. Can’t have the pigs catching us now.’ He downed the last of his tea and then left.

Bill watched him go and then continued to wipe the top of the counter. A man walked slowly up to the stool Lee had been sitting in and sat down. He wore a brown suit and a flat cap. Although most of his hair was hidden, Bill could tell it was going grey. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Yes,’ said the man. ‘What do you know about Lee Green?’

Bill eyed up the man suspiciously. ‘Nothing. He’s just a regular in the cafe.’

‘He seemed quite happy to talk freely to you about “finding new premises”.’

‘And who are you?’

‘Detective Inspector Harry Spencer.’

Bill stood up straight and backed off a bit. ‘I don’t know anything.’

DI Spencer nodded and then got off the stool. ‘We’ll be in the area anyway. Gotta find out who killed poor Miss Hart, haven’t we?’ he smiled and then walked off.




‘So, what are you saying, Caroline?’

‘I’m saying, Doctor, that we need to get to our own time,’ replied Caroline.

‘But it’s a good landing for the TARDIS.’

‘I’m not disputing that,’ she said. ‘What I’m disputing is the fact that every time we come to Thornsby we always end up in the wrong time.’

‘Well you two were the ones who jumped through to 1998.’

‘We had no choice, remember!’ said Caroline, reminding the Doctor of the fact that they were trapped under the lighthouse with the time window stuck on May 8th in 1998. ‘And now you’re saying the TARDIS is going to need some time to repair itself?’

‘Well, yes. Although the landing here was smoother than most other times, it did put a drain on the power reserves. They need a few days to regenerate themselves. And we’re a little earlier in the day than you jumped to. I suppose the time window was a little broken. Just avoid People’s Park in the late afternoon. After all that’s where your younger selves will be this afternoon.’

Caroline groaned. ‘Can’t you ever just go in a straight line? Point A to B?’

‘Well space and time isn’t just A to B. It’s more like-’

‘Oh don’t give me all that time and space rubbish, Doctor! I’m going for a walk and I WILL BE SOME TIME!’

Caroline stormed off leaving the Doctor and Danny alone beside the TARDIS. The time machine had landed him right next to the White Hart pub.

‘I’m pleased to see you,’ said Danny, giving the Doctor a friendly punch on his shoulder.

The Doctor put a hand to his forehead and frowned. ‘She shouldn’t have run off like that. It’s thirteen years before she left. Right now she’s actually only fifteen years old. She might cause irreparable damage to time if she goes looking for herself. You too.’

‘Oh come off it!’ scoffed Danny. ‘Why would she go looking for her younger self? She’s probably just gone for a walk. She’s got a brain in there, you know?’

‘Never the less, we need to go after her.’

‘Well you go do that then. I’m off for one of those good old English breakfasts. I’ve missed them.’

‘Now look Danny, I can’t afford for you to get lost as well. And you only had a “good old English breakfast” a little while ago in 1988.’

But Danny had already turned and made his way into the crowd of Saturday morning shoppers mumbling something about finding a shop and getting a newspaper. The Doctor shook his head and then turned to go in the direction Caroline had taken.




A little way off stood a brown haired woman. She’d been listening to the conversation between the three people and held a notebook in her hand, tapping a ballpoint pen on her chin. Sophie Hamilton looked from the police box to the disappearing figure of the Doctor and then back again. She had found him at last. She made a note on her pad and then followed the Doctor.