'The Doctor’s Daughter' (Story Code 4.6) by Stephen Greenhorn

“Hello Dad.” – Jenny

Having been sent inexplicably out of control, the TARDIS materialises in a debris-strewn underground tunnel, where a squad of armed humans take the Doctor, Donna and Martha prisoner. Prepared for “processing”, the Doctor has his hand thrust into a complex item of equipment known as an extrapolator, which takes a sample of his DNA; as the Time Lord looks on, a nearby pod opens and an attractive young girl steps forward – the Doctor now has a new ‘daughter’… With combat protocols automatically downloaded into her mind, the Doctor’s daughter immediately grabs a gun and prepares for battle. At that moment, a squad of half-fish, half-human creatures – the Hath – storm into the tunnel and capture Martha; in response, the Doctor’s new-born daughter activates the charges her comrade has just set on the tunnel wall, and the resulting explosion sends the ceiling crashing down, sealing the tunnel and cutting the Doctor and Donna off from Martha. While the Doctor and Donna are taken at gunpoint to meet the soldiers’ commander, General Cobb, Martha comes to and finds herself lying amongst rubble next to an injured Hath; after resetting the creature’s dislocated arm, Martha then finds herself the centre of attention of the alien’s newly-arrived comrades. As they are led through the tunnels, Donna notices how uncomfortable the Doctor is at the prospect of his inadvertent fatherhood, and on hearing him describe his new daughter as a “generated anomaly”, Donna decides to call the girl Jenny. After learning that they have arrived on the planet Messaline, the Doctor and Donna are taken to the humans’ makeshift base inside a run-down theatre, where they see more soldiers created using another of the progenation devices, and meet General Cobb, a soldier driven by hatred for his enemy, the Hath, in a war that has apparently lasted for generations. Discovering that the theatre is situated underground, Donna’s curiosity is further piqued when she notices a strange numerical code embossed on one of the building’s walls. Cobb explains that his people and the Hath are descendants of the original colonists, and have been at war for generations; the reason for their conflict is due to the search for “The Source”, believed to be the breath of life sighed by the Creator after she created the Universe; it seems that whoever controls the Source controls the planet… Seeing Cobb’s tactical map, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to access a more detailed schematic that displays the location of “The Lost Temple”, believed to be where the Source is situated. Unknown to the Doctor, his meddling has also enabled the Hath and Martha to see the new map, and, just like the humans, the amphibious aliens immediately set off to retrieve the mythical object. Disregarding the Doctor’s objections to genocide, Cobb orders the Doctor and Donna to be thrown into a makeshift cell, along with Jenny, due to her genetic link to the Doctor; as the angry Time Lord is dragged off, he vows to stop Cobb and his self-righteous mission. As the Doctor frantically tries to find a way for them to escape their cell, Jenny voices her opinion that despite her father’s protestations they are very similar: deep down the Doctor is a soldier at heart, just like her. Having contacted Martha using Donna’s mobile phone, the Doctor learns that the Hath are heading for the same objective as the humans – a bloodbath is imminent. When the Doctor doggedly refuses to accept Jenny as his kin, Donna uses the Time Lord’s stethoscope to prove that the girl has two hearts – despite the Doctor’s reluctance to admit it, Jenny is, at the very least, an echo of a Time Lord. Unwillingly, the Doctor reveals his role in the Time War, reluctantly acknowledging that he and Jenny are not so unalike after all… Identifying a quicker route to the Source via the surface of the planet, Martha sets off to find the Temple, accompanied by the Hath she helped, Peck. Meanwhile, a clockwork mouse belonging to the Doctor, and Jenny’s feminine wiles and unarmed combat, enables the prisoners to escape from their cell. But as they head off into the tunnels Cobb learns of their break out, and he and his men set off in pursuit… Arriving at a tunnel filled with criss-crossed laser beams, the Doctor begins the process of shutting down the security systems, while Jenny uses her gun to hold off Cobb and his men. Cobb attempts to convince Jenny to join his cause, but the girl refuses, deciding to take her father’s approach to life. Having deactivated the beams, the Doctor leads Donna to safety, but as Jenny moves to join them the lasers reactivate; luckily Jenny’s inherent abilities come to the fore, and she uses an amazing display of gymnastics to make her way through the deadly beams. Up on the surface, Martha slips and falls into quicksand; Peck friend saves her, but at the cost of his own life. Making their way through the tunnels, Jenny questions the Doctor and Donna about their adventures travelling through time and space; although the Doctor offers to let his daughter join him on his travels he is clearly uncomfortable, and when pushed by Donna he explains that he had family before, but they all died during the horror of the Time War. Finally arriving at the entrance to the Temple the Doctor, Donna and Jenny discover it houses a huge fusion drive – the entire building is in fact the transport vessel in which the original colonists arrived. Accessing the ship’s log they discover that the vessel was crewed by both humans and Hath, but after a disagreement both parties divided and became involved in a war against each other. Donna finally determines the significance of the numbers throughout the base: they are dates showing the completion of each section of the complex; she and the Doctor immediately make the connection – the war between the humans and the Hath only broke out seven days ago! At that moment Martha arrives, and a happy reunion amongst the time travellers takes place. Smelling flowers, the Doctor and his friends investigate and find a huge hydroponics area, at the centre of which is situated a small, glowing sphere: the legendary Source – in reality a third-generation terraforming device. As the humans and Hath burst in and converge on the area, the Doctor orders a truce, explaining that both races’ entire history has been distorted over time, and that the Source should be used to create, not kill. Declaring the war over, the Doctor grabs the Source and throws it to the ground, smashing the sphere to pieces and releasing the gases inside – which immediately begin their task of transforming the planet in readiness for habitation. As the Hath and the human troops lay down their arms, the embittered Cobb turns his gun on the Doctor and pulls the trigger; Jenny bravely steps in the way of the bullet, receiving a mortal wound that smashes her to the ground, and as the Doctor cradles his daughter’s body, Jenny dies in his arms. Held fast by his men, Cobb finds him looking down the barrel of a gun held by a furious Doctor; however, the Time Lord refuses to shoot his daughter’s murderer, choosing instead to command everyone assembled to base the foundation of their new society on the principal of choosing not to kill. While the Source carries out its function, stripping away the ruined topsoil of the planet to expose the underground complex beneath to a habitable landscape, the humans and Hath begin preparations to give Jenny a proper burial. Realising that the TARDIS deliberately brought him and his friends to Messaline to help resolve the misguided conflict, the Doctor offers to take Martha back home; dropping her off outside her house, the Doctor and Donna bid Martha a fond goodbye, before setting off to continue their travels through time and space. Meanwhile, back on Messaline, Jenny suddenly comes back to life – stealing a shuttlecraft, she sets off to explore a whole universe of adventures…

David Tennant (The Doctor), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Martha Jones), Georgia Moffatt (Jenny), Nigel Terry (General Cobb), Joe Dempsie (Cline), Paul Kasey (Hath Peck), Ruari Mears (Hath Gable), Akin Gazi (Carter), Olalekan Lawal Jr. (Soldier)

Directed by Alice Troughton
Produced by Phil Collinson
Executive Producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
A BBC Wales production

TX:
10th May 2008 @ 6.45 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor, Donna and Martha, and introducing Jenny

*As well as David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman is also credited during the main titles