TTV Series Episode 2: Stop Telephoning Me

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, and frowned. Madame Rene followed, shutting the door behind her.

“This isn’t the Inner Circle,” she muttered. “Where are we?”

The Doctor licked his finger, and raised it into the air. He then licked his finger again, grimacing at the taste as he waggled his tongue.

“It’s the year 2221, and we’re on the planet Tea Leaf,” the Doctor frowned.
“Where the only thing they have is a phone box and a fountain,” Madame Rene sighed. “I wonder why the Inner Circle deflected us here.”
“Probably because nothing ever happens here,” the Doctor shrugged. “Let’s hope the Inner Circle don’t know I’ve tried to get to them.”
“Shall we return to the TARDIS?” Madame Rene asked.

The Doctor shook his head, and strode over to the telephone box. A woman was using the phone inside it, so he turned his back to her and waited.

“Don’t call me Anne Marie,” the woman snapped. “You know full well that everyone calls me by my surname – Stanley. What do you mean, ‘why am I using my maiden name?’ You know full well I want a divorce, Phillip.”

After several more minutes, the Doctor could not bear to hear anymore, and headed back to the TARDIS. He smiled, and watched Madame Rene run her hand along the wooden box, occasionally fixing bits of peeling paint with her fingers as she went.

“You should take more care of her,” she told the Doctor. “Poor girl, tumbling through that vortex and doing all sorts of things – now, if she had a good pilot such as myself, she might be okay, but…”
“I’m more than capable,” the Doctor frowned. “My flying is extremely satisfactory. Passing a driving test isn’t everything, you know…”
“The telephone box is free,” Madame Rene laughed.
“That’s funny, I didn’t hear that awful woman leave,” the Doctor grinned. “No wonder old Phillip wants to divorce Anne Marie, or Stanley or whatever she was called, she wouldn’t stop talking!”

As he headed back over to the telephone box, he paused. Realising that he was right, he began to run.

“Anne Marie never did leave that telephone box!” he cried.
“What do you mean?” Madame Rene asked, hurrying over.
“Stand back,” the Doctor warned. “I’m about to open the doors…”

He grabbed the telephone box’s handle, and pulled it open. He reached for the phone, and as he lifted it from the receiver, the voice of Anne Marie filled the air.

“Somebody help me…” she said in a ghostly voice. “Please, it’s oh so dark here… Is anybody there? Phillip? Anybody?”

The Doctor sighed sadly, and put the phone down. Madame Rene placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “You couldn’t have seen.”
“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “But what killed her?”

Madame Rene waved a hand through the air, and her crystal ball appeared, floating centimetres above her palms.

“I can’t see…” she frowned. “Wait, I can… I thought it was just smoky, but that’s what I’m looking at.”
“I don’t understand,” the Doctor said.
“The creature is made of smoke!” Madame Rene explained.

She pointed to the phone, which was leaking smoke from its mouthpiece. With a wave of her hand, the crystal ball disappeared, and Madame Rene slammed the door shut.

“We’ve got to go,” she said.

The Doctor hesitated, until the smoke had filled up the telephone box entirely.

“What is it?” he asked in horror.
“A Shelbydian,” Madame Rene replied. “Now run!”

She pulled him to the side as the smoke shot at him. Together, they ran back to the TARDIS, where the Doctor struggled with the key.

“I can’t get her open!” he growled.
“The smoke’s coming!” Madame Rene cried.

The Doctor cursed the small key in his hand, and it finally slipped into place. He burst through the TARDIS doors, Madame Rene following.

“Now what?” she asked. “Oh God…”
“What?” the Doctor cried.
“I didn’t close the door!”

She whipped around in horror, as the smoke wafted towards her. Looking around for the Doctor, she saw that he had disappeared. Backing away from the smoke, Madame Rene hid behind a coral arch, but the smoke continued to drift ever closer.

“Where is it?” the Doctor sighed, frantically searching.

He rummaged through the piles of junk, eventually finding the fan he was looking for. He inspected it for a second, before pulling out the Sonic Screwdriver. After a few quick buzzes, the Doctor was fairly sure it would work, and he darted back to the console room. He burst into the room, raising the fan with a cry, before he realised that it was empty.

“Madame Rene?” he called. “Shelbydian?”

He left the TARDIS for a moment, and looked around outside. He saw that the small panel covering the TARDIS’ telephone was open. Nervously, he picked up the phone, and he could immediately hear Madame Rene’s faint voice.

“Someone help me…” she pleaded. “It’s dark here… I don’t like it…”

The Doctor put down the phone, and slammed the panel shut. The Shelbydian smoke rose up behind him, and as he turned around, he blew the fan, ploughing the smoke through the air… and straight into a jar, which was carried by –

“Madame Rene!” the Doctor gasped. “What happened?! You’re alive!”
“It trapped me,” Madame Rene explained. “So I pretended to be trapped in your phone, and I managed to escape while it was scanning your phone. Now, what do we do with this jar?”
“Keep it in the TARDIS?” the Doctor shrugged.
“Or throw it from an asteroid,” Madame Rene said brightly. “Your choice.”
“I think the second one,” the Doctor grinned. “Come on, let’s go.”
“We will get to the Inner Circle; you know that, don’t you?” Madame Rene smiled.

They entered the TARDIS, and it began to fade away.

“I do,” the Doctor said quietly. “I do.”

The End