'Fear Her' (Story Code 2.11) by Matthew Graham

“If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things…” – The Doctor

2012: Excitement sweeps the country as London hosts the Olympic Games. But for the residents of the Dame Kelly Holmes Estate, a feeling of unease mars this sense of occasion, as children are going missing under mysterious circumstances. From her bedroom window, twelve-year-old Chloe Webber watches as her neighbour, Tom, plays football with his friend Dale in his garden; but after Chloe quickly draws a picture of the boy, Dale immediately vanishes – and his drawing comes to life and screams in utter terror… Arriving nearby in the TARDIS, an overexcited Doctor eagerly looks forward to seeing the Olympic events, until Rose points out the missing children posters on a lamppost. The Doctor’s interest is immediately aroused, and, having sensed a residual ionic energy in the air, he sets off to investigate. Meanwhile, Rose learns from street maintenance worker Kal that cars are inexplicably stopping as they drive along the road, starting up again as soon as they reach the end of the estate. The Doctor meets some of the local residents, including Tom’s father and Chloe’s mother, Trish, and tempers flare when talk of the missing children is mentioned; posing as a police officer, the Doctor calms people down, while Rose notices that a young girl is watching from a nearby window… Seeing a cat in the street outside her bedroom window, Chloe draws a picture of the animal next to the sad picture of Dale, planning to give him a friend to play with; when Rose pets the cat, it promptly disappears before her eyes. Chloe talks to the drawings adorning her bedroom wall, but quickly becomes annoyed when she hear their feelings in her head; in anger she draws a messy scribble on her paper. Outside, Rose hears a noise from a nearby garage; when she investigates, a strange, scribble-like creature attacks her, which is only stopped by the timely arrival of the Doctor and his trusty sonic screwdriver. Having compacted the creature into a wire-like ball, the Doctor takes it back to the TARDIS for analysis; here he is surprised to learn that Rose was attacked by nothing other than graphite. Realising that the pattern could have been drawn by a child, Rose deduces that the object could be connected to the girl who was watching them earlier; she and the Doctor pay a visit to Trish, offering their help to the worried mother. Trish is a single parent, her husband having died in a car crash a year before; however, Trish spares very little concern over the loss of Chloe’s father, implying that he may have had a very unpleasant temper. On the pretence of going to the toilet, Rose hides in an upstairs cupboard until Chloe leaves her room; she then looks around the girl’s bedroom, and notices that some of her drawings appear to be moving. Hearing a noise in Chloe’s wardrobe, Rose looks inside and finds a huge, grotesque picture of a demonic figure drawn on the inside; speaking in a terrible voice, the picture entices Rose to enter, but she is stopped by the Doctor, who pulls her to safety and slams the door. After Chloe reveals that she drew the picture after experiencing a nightmare of her father, the Doctor and Rose confront Trish over her daughter’s extraordinary powers. Accepting their offer of help, Trish confiscates her daughter’s crayons. Putting Chloe in a trance, the Doctor speaks to the entity inside her, and learns that an alien creature called an Isolus – an empathic being of intense emotion – has possessed her. The Isolus was travelling across the universe with its four billion brothers and sisters, on a journey that takes thousands of years; however, this particular creature, a child, was cut off from its family after a solar flare from the sun scattered the group’s pods. Drawn to Earth, the frightened creature empathised with Chloe’s loneliness and decided to join with her, and ever since it has been trying to create its own family by encouraging Chloe to steal her friends and place them in a special holding dimension. These revelations are interrupted by the bellowing voice of the creature in the wardrobe, as the sleeping Chloe experiences a nightmare; the Doctor instructs Trish to placate it by calming down her daughter. The Doctor and Rose then head for the TARDIS, hoping to locate the alien’s pod so that they can send it home; but they are unaware that Chloe has sneaked out of the house and is now following them... Meanwhile, at the Olympic Stadium, the audience begins arriving for the opening ceremony of the Games. As the Doctor begins work on jury rigging a location device, he and Rose discuss children; Rose is surprised to learn that the Doctor is a father, but before she can question him further, the tracker locates the pod in the street outside. Rose and the Doctor leave the ship, but Chloe has been busy drawing with a crayon hidden in her doll, and the picture she has made of the Doctor and the TARDIS makes them vanish into thin air. Rose confronts Chloe, vowing to find a way to rescue her friend; she then heads out into the street, and learns from Kal that there was a bump in the freshly-laid tarmac that he was unable to remove. Realising that the Isolus pod was drawn to the heat of Kal’s new tarmac, Rose grabs a pickaxe from the workman’s van and digs up the road, finding the pod just below the surface. Meanwhile, in the Webbers’ house, the Isolus compels Chloe to draw a picture of the audience at the Olympic stadium – causing eighty thousand spectators and thirteen thousand athletes to suddenly disappear into thin air. Returning to Chloe’s house, Rose finds the door to the girl’s bedroom is locked; using the pickaxe she smashes down the door, only to find the enraged image of Mr Webber trying to free itself from the wardrobe, acting as a guard while Chloe sketches a huge picture of the Earth; it seems the misguided and lonely Isolus needs the comfort of even more friends… Noticing that the drawing of the Doctor is now pointing to a picture of the Olympic torch, Rose rushes outside, just as the torchbearer is running past the top of the close; pushing past the cheering masses, Rose hurls the Isolus pod towards the flame, energising it with its heat and the love that it symbolises. The pod communicates to the Isolus, which bids goodbye to Chloe before leaving the child’s body. With Chloe restored, all the abductees return to their correct places: the children reappear in the street, while the Olympic attendees materialise in the stadium; but Rose is still worried, as the Doctor has not returned... Too late Rose realises that if all of Chloe’s pictures have come to life, this will include the drawing of her father. As the door of the Webber’s house slams shut, locking in Trish and Chloe, the terrifying silhouette of Mr Webber appears at the top of the stairs. Guessing that the demonic drawing is feeding off his family’s fear, Rose instructs Trish and Chloe to resist; together mother and daughter sing a song of love, destroying the evil creature before it can reach them. Concerned over the Doctor’s absence, Rose looks to the television, where cameras show the torchbearer suddenly overcome by fatigue; as the runner drops the torch it is picked up by another person – the Doctor has taken up the Olympic Torch! As the crowds cheer, the Doctor runs into the Olympic Stadium and lights the Olympic Flame, encouraging the Isolus to use its energy to head back into space and rejoin its family. Some time later, the Doctor rejoins Rose on the estate, enjoying a celebratory cake, and looking forward to seeing the Games taking place. But as fireworks light up the sky, the Doctor senses something else in the air – a storm is approaching…

David Tennant (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Nina Sosanya (Trish Webber), Abisola Agbaje (Chloe Webber), Edna Doré (Maeve), Tim Faraday (Tom's Dad), Abdul Salis (Kel), Richard Nichols (Driver), Erica Eirian (Neighbour), Stephen Mariella (Police Officer), Huw Edwards (Commentator)

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

TX:
24th June 2006 @ 7.00 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose

*Working titles: 'Chloe Webber Destroys the Earth' and 'You're a Bad Girl, Chloe Webber'

*The 'Torchwood' Files: News 24 presenter Huw Edwards mentions Torchwood

*TARDISODE: The television show 'Crime Crackers' reports that in the Dame Kelly Holmes Estate in London, children are going missing... [Cast: Daniel Rochford (Presenter)]