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.