'Short Trips': 'Companions' edited by Jacqueline Rayner

Wanted: attractive young girl (boy may be considered). Must have strong ankles, healthy lungs, and no family ties. Ability to say 'what's that, Doctor?' in many different ways a necessity. Bizarre taste in clothes may be an advantage. Must be able to deal with traumatic situations involving life and death with no obvious after effects.

They didn't always ask to travel with the Doctor. And even if they did, they didn't know what the consequences would be.

Were Ian's travels foretold? What paradoxical conundrums faced the Doctor, Charley and Will Shakespeare in

Ancient Troy? And just how difficult is it to get a job when you can't account for a gap of several years on your CV?

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'The Tip of the Mind' by Peter Anghelides

On the scientific research space station XZ49, the self-centered and fussy Doctor Sandra Ultiman is becoming increasingly concerned with one of her team members, Zoe Heriot. Despite a brilliant mind and eidetic memory, Zoe is falling behind on her research, and is suffering from strange, disturbing dreams of space travel, one-eyed killer robots, a large mushroom-shaped object and other incredible experiences. When a mysterious doctor called John Smith arrives at the station from the Gallifrey Institute to see Zoe, Ultiman believes that he is there to steal the young woman's research; however, Smith assures her that this is the case, stating that there are 'dematerialisation codes' hidden in her mind which he wants to obtain. When Ultiman takes Zoe to the cargo hold to meet the Doctor - where he is waiting by a large, blue box - the young woman suddenly collapses, and the Doctor seems to realises that 'they' never wanted him to obtain the codes, instead his box caused Zoe to forget them; the Doctor then enters the box, which disappears. Later, Ultiman is pleased that Zoe is now finally free of her nightmares, and is once more continuing with her work.

Notes:
*Featuring the Third Doctor and Zoe

*Timeline placing: this story occurrs during the Doctor's exile on Earth

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'The Splintered Gate' by Justin Richards

Ian Chesterton is staying at a seaside resort when he glimpses fellow schoolteacher Barbara Wright and a friend inside a teashop. Returning in the rain to the guesthouse where he is staying, Ian gets a splinter in his palm when he opens the gate; but when he later decides to visit a palm reader, the wound inexplicably disturbs the old mystic woman. Back in London, Ian attends a party and meets up with Barbara, who fobs him off onto her friend Rosemary, another palm-reader. The woman warns Ian of peril and danger ahead, as his lifeline appears to be shattered across time and space…

Notes:
*Featuring Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright

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'The Man From DOCTO(R)' by Andrew Collins

Harry Sullivan is enjoying a drink or two in the pub with his friends, telling tall tales of his time spent in the future saving the world. On leaving the pub he encounters a young woman named Lettice Butts, who is on the run from nefarious pursuers. She gives him a letter to deliver for her, but Harry is then captured by two mysterious figures and bundled into a black limousine, while Lettice is attacked in her apartment. Harry comes to and is interrogated by a man named Crumpton and his associate Mr. Cruncher, who are trying to locate an object known as the ‘Egg’. When Harry is unable to tell them anything, Crumpton tears off the mask he wears to reveal the face of a lizard beneath. Harry is imprisoned in a cell, but is then rescued by a mole-machine piloted by a man called Radcliffe, who explains that he is an alien from the planet Zantor; his people have been wiped out by a genocidal race of creatures known as the Garvaks, who, led by the xenophobic Crumpton, are seeking the Egg of Abundance, a seeding device that is the Zantors’ last chance of survival. After Radcliffe recruits Harry to D.O.C.T.O. (R) - the Department of Overt and Covert Tactical Operations (Regional) - the two of them are briefed by the organisation’s head, Auntie Em. She sends them on a dangerous mission to retrieve the device, which takes them on a frantic search across the world. The two finally trace the Egg to Belgium, to the secret Garvak base buried deep inside the Alps. Freeing Lettice from her prison, they discover that Crumpton is about to use the Egg to restructure the genetic code of every life form on Earth into that of the Garvaks. However, the lizard leader is unaware that Harry has substituted the device for a real egg - the plan backfires, and the Garvaks are transformed into harmless chickens.

Notes:
*Featuring Harry Sullivan

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'Apocrypha Bipedium' by Ian Potter

The Doctor and Charley are travelling through time and space with a young William Shakespeare. Arriving in Troy in the year 1183 BC the Doctor decides to investigate and meets his previous companion, Vicki, now married to Troilus and living under the name of Cressida. Believing the Doctor to be a younger version of his first incarnation, at a time before she first met him, Vicki pretends not to know him in order to avoiding giving away any knowledge of his future. Meanwhile, the Doctor is concerned that their encounter will influence Shakespeare's future, causing him to write 'Troilus and Cressida' for the wrong reasons; he therefore pretends not to know Vicki. When Vicki offers the travellers dinner the Doctor accepts, asking Charlie to get the young bard drunk so that he will be unable to recall their time spent in Troy. Things become even more complicated when Vicki then decides that the Doctor is in fact a robot, and attacks him. After the ensuing chaos, the Doctor and Vicki are forced to reveal the reasons for their deception, and when Shakespeare then comments that he actually got his inspiration for 'Troilus and Cressida' from Geoffrey Chaucer, the Doctor reluctantly admits that he has never actually read the play anyway!

Notes:
*Featuring the Eighth Doctor, Charley and Vicki

*Timeline placing: this must occurr during the second season of Eighth Doctor audio stories, as Charley is aware that she is a temporal anomaly

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'A Boy's Tale' by Gary Russell

Adric misses the Doctor's last travelling companion, and so decides to send them a letter telling them of a dream he had that night, of a time when he was living in the colony on Alzarius... Young Adric is at school when he sees an image of a dog; curious as to why there are no domestic pets any more, Adric discovers that they were all used in germ warfare during a turbulent time in his home world, Terradon's, past, when they were infected with a virus that would then wipe out the enemy population - as a result, all pets were destroyed. While he and his friend Zayn are researching dogs in the Starliner library, Adric encounters a mysterious woman, who sends him a message arranging for a meeting later that night. Adric keeps the rendezvous, and the woman takes him to a secret community outside the colony that actually still has some real, live dogs. Adric is delighted, and decides to keep the commune’s secret so that he can continue to play with the animals. Back in the TARDIS, Adric signs off his letter to the person he misses: K-9.

Notes:
*Featuring Adric

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'Kept Safe and Sound' by Paul Magrs

Every Sunday morning young Jack and his mother visit a marketplace, and while Jack's mother looks for old vinyl records for her music collection Jack visits a bookstall, always on the lookout to complete his set of 'Tales of Mayhem' horror anthologies. The gory, frightening stories are frowned upon by Jack's mother because her husband, Jack's father, was eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex several years ago. One morning, after buying one of the last two volumes he needs, Jack passes an electronics stall and sees a half-dismantled robot dog, and the two of them make friends. Over the next few weeks, Jack visits the bookstall and then, avoiding the stallholder, he takes the time to see the robot dog, but each visit also makes him sad because the robot is slowly being whittled away for spare parts. Jack's mother buys a recordable CD drive, and happily begins to make her collection permanent. One fateful morning, the bookstall owner excitedly tells Jack that he has found the final volume of 'Tales of Mayhem'; Jack is thrilled, while at the same time a little upset because the stories he loves will now end. Passing the electronics stall, the boy sees that the robot dog is now just a brain and a voicebox. As Jack steals the parts and takes them home the robot tells him that it has countless stories to tell, and that they can use his mother's CD drive to record them and keep them all forever.

Notes:
*Featuring K-9 MK III

*Seeing as K-9 MK I was left with Leela on Gallifrey, and MK II with Romana in E-Space, it is most likely that this is K-9 MK III; which begs the question: why did Sarah Jane Smith get rid of him?!

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'The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe' by Mark Michalowski

While the Doctor busies himself in the control room, Romana visits the TARDIS wardrobe room for a change of clothes; she can tell that her regeneration is near, and attributes it to exposure to chronotron particles. While searching the racks of clothing Romana meets an old woman, Iraj, who tells her that she is the wardrobe mistress. Iraj is a shape-changer, and decides to play a joke on the Doctor; she changes her form into that of the Princess Astra, whom he and Romana have just encountered, and then tells the Doctor that she is the recently-regenerated Romana. But the Doctor disproves, telling her that she cannot wear another person's body, and so Iraj changes into a short, blue-skinned girl; this is also frowned upon, so she becomes a red-haired Amazon, and then a tall, elegant ice-maiden. When the Doctor dislikes these forms too, Iraj decides to immobilise Romana and then transforms back into Astra, now dressed in an oversized version of the Doctor's outfit. Tricked into approving of this form, the Doctor gives up. After the TARDIS materialises on the planet Skaro, the Doctor and Iraj, now wearing a pink version of the Doctor's outfit, leave to explore, encountering the Daleks, Movellans and Davros, while leaving Romana still frozen in place in the wardrobe. Their adventure over, Iraj returns to the wardrobe and releases Romana, apologetically revealing that she is actually a manifestation of the TARDIS; she has a crush on the Doctor, but his lack of interest prompted her to see if he would be more attracted to her if she were his companion. When this failed, Iraj realised that the Doctor only wants a companion to show off to. As Iraj / the TARDIS decides to wipe her memory banks of recent events, Romana regenerates; however, her mind is still full of Astra's image, and so that is the body into which she transforms. She then rejoins the Doctor for new adventures...

Notes:
*Featuring the First and Second Romanas, and introducing Iraj

*This story takes place during 'Destiny of the Daleks'

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'Hearts of Stone' by Steve Lyons

Adric is becoming increasingly irritated with his fellow companions Nyssa and Tegan, whom he thinks are beneath someone of his intellect, and he also resents the fact that the Doctor treats him like a spoiled little boy. When the TARDIS lands on a peaceful, idyllic world, Nyssa, Tegan and the Doctor take the opportunity to spend a few days relaxing; however, Adric finds the inactivity frustrating; he decides to go exploring, and finds a glade filled with statues of people and creatures from countless races. He hears a voice in his head, enticing him to join them, to become a statue and find his rightful place in life. Adric is tempted, and soon succumbs to the voice, believing that becoming a statue will be the answer to all his desires. But the Doctor rescues him, and, realising the danger that the statues actually present, instructs his companions to return to the TARDIS. Adric refuses, but the Doctor manages to get the boy to come with him, and they leave the planet. Adric is upset that he has been denied what he sees as his destiny, but Nyssa reassures him that his rightful place is with them.

Notes:
*Featuring The Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan

*Time placing: the Doctor notes that one of the statues is a Terileptil, which implies that that race is fresh in his mind; I would therefore place this after 'The Visitation'

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'Distance' by Tara Tamms

Without her husband's knowledge Barbara Chesterton visits the hospital to have scan for ovarian cancer; here she meets Karen, a young woman visiting her dying father, Frank Ellis, an old colleague of Doctor Ian Chesterton. Barbara agrees to visit Frank, but finds him babbling about unicorns and cones; she is disturbed to note a series pattern of moles on the back of Karen's hand, and then sees the young woman's eyes turn completely black. Barbara rushes home, but is unable to talk to Ian about the disturbing events. That night, she experiences a strange dream involving a talking photograph of Frank; the next morning she learns from Ian that he and Frank once worked together repairing the Hubble Space Telescope after it malfunctioned while observing the Monocerous constellation - otherwise know as 'The Unicorn'. When Barbara takes Ian to the hospital to see Frank they are dismayed to learn from Karen that he died during the night, the surgeons having removed a peculiar dermoid cyst from his body. While Ian looks for a nurse, Barbara finds herself accompanying Karen as she drives home; in the cellar she finds a nebulous creature inside a metal, coffin-like tank. Overwhelmed by the creature, Barbara is then attacked by Karen, wielding a knife. Just in time, Ian arrives and stops Karen, then destroys the tank equipment, freeing the creature. He surmises that the creature, visible only via the infra-red spectrum, must have been trapped inside the Hubble telescope and somehow made its way into Frank; it formed the cyst in an attempt to communicate with him and his daughter, but when Barbara was more susceptible to contact, Karen turned on her. The danger over, Barbara decides to tell Ian about their baby.

Notes:
*Featuring Ian and Barbara

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'Qualia' by Stephen Fewell

After their encounter with the Doctor's previous incarnations, Tegan decides to show Turlough the Doctor's fourth persona, the only one not to appear. She attempts to use the shape-shifting robot Kamelion, but the automaton becomes swamped by the memories and emotions of the TARDIS crew and goes out of control. Kamelion experiences a time in Tegan's childhood when she was living in Australia with her aunt Vanessa; Turlough's time spent during the civil war on Trion, when he was captured and subsequently exiled to Earth; the moment when the Doctor stole the TARDIS and met Susan, as well as the Time Lord's first, second, and fourth regenerations. The Doctor joins Tegan and Turlough, realising that Kamelion's overload is due to qualia - the Latin term used to describe the specific characteristics of someone's subjective experience of reality - something the robot is unable to cope with. The Doctor is able to shut Kamelion down and secures him safely inside a sealed cabinet, where he will no longer be affected by their memories and emotions.

Notes:
*Featuring The Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough

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'Curriculum Vitae' by Simon Guerrier

Polly Wright goes for a job interview for the position of Personal Assistant, and finds herself up against an attractive girl half her age. The interviewer, a designer-dressed yuppie named John Eliot Maurice, seems more concerned with each candidate's physical attributes rather than how suitable their qualifications are. However, Polly's time spent with the Doctor, travelling to alien worlds and saving the universe, has given her a new sense of confidence and a different perspective on life, and she refuses to be intimidated; she tells Maurice of some of her experiences, and learns that he too once met a man called the Doctor, who travelled with a girl named Ace. By the end of the interview, Polly has impressed Maurice so much that he ignores the next applicant, and it looks like Polly will soon have a new job...

Notes:
*Featuring Polly

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'Notre Dame du Temps' by Nick Clark

The Seventh Doctor is in an introspective mood, observing that his decision to be 'mysterious' has caused him to become remote and aloof. Realising that the only person to ever cause him to feel otherwise was Romana, the Doctor travels to Paris, at a time when his Fourth incarnation and Romana were involved in Scarroth's plot to steal the Mona Lisa. The Doctor follows them both across the city as they are tailed by a detective named Duggan. When the Fourth Doctor inadvertently drops something, the Seventh Doctor retrieves it: a sketch of Romana with the face of a clock, signed by the artist as 'Notre Dame du Temps'. Some time later, while the Eighth Doctor is off elsewhere, Anji wanders about the TARDIS; in an old storeroom full of books she finds a model TARDIS, also dimensionally transcendental, in which she finds an A4 folder contain the sketch of Romana, but, unaware of its significance, she leaves it behind and continues her exploring. A long time passes before the Eighth Doctor stumbles upon the room; seeing the sketch, he is reminded of happy times, but his memory loss prevents him from recalling exactly why. He puts the picture away safely inside a book...

Notes:
*Featuring The Seventh and Eighth Doctors, the Second Romana and Anji

*Time placing: some of this occurs during the events of 'City of Death'; it also takes place immediately before the Seventh Doctor collects the Master's remains, as seen in the TV-movie; the Eighth Doctor only has one heart, so this should occurr between 'The Adventuress of Henrietta Street' and the early part of Season 7 of the Eighth Doctor Novels, so placing it before 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' seems as good a place as any.

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'The Little Drummer Boy' by Eddie Robson

In 1930's Hollywood, on Christmas Eve, the First Doctor meets a young Bing Crosby, unaware that he is watched by a small boy. Rejoining Steven and Sara in the TARDIS, the Doctor takes the timeship on a random jump in order to evade the Dalek vessel prusuing them. They arrive in 1885, again at Christmas time; the Doctor talks to a passing boy, who then, unseen by the time travellers, vanishes into thin air. After the TARDIS takes them to Christmas in 1982, 1946, 1931 and 2069, the Doctor becomes concerned; the ship then arrives in the trenches of the First World War, on Christmas Day, 1914; while the Doctor and Steven join the British and German troops as they hold an unofficial cease fire, Sara again encounters the little boy. Realising that the TARDIS is following a distress call the Doctor traces the signal; he and his companions meet the boy once more, who then 'unfolds' before them - 'he' is a time machine. Inside, they hear the voice of the timeship, and discover a man held in a tank of fluid; the ship tells them that it was an experimental vessel, but went wrong on its initial test and went out of control; the man in the tank is actually the real boy, Robert, who encountered the ship thirty-two years ago, and who has been controlling it ever since, changing the exterior to how he originally looked. After Robert's twin brother, Christopher, died from lukemia, his father left and his mother committed suicide; Robert went into the garden and found the timeship, which was sent into a loop because the only time Robert had ever been truly happy was at Christmas. The time travellers release Robert, who then snatches the taranium core from the Doctor's pocket and rejuvenates back to his original age. The Doctor uses the TARDIS Fast Return switch to take Robert back to a time just before Christopher died; Robert then takes the place of his brother, preventing his family from breaking up and ensuring his encounter with the time vessel never occurred. The Doctor, Steven and Sara then take Christopher into space for his last journey...

Notes:
*Featuring The First Doctor, Steven and Sara

*Time placing: this occurrs just after the events in 'The Daleks' Masterplan' part 7

*This story was later released as a narrated audio play by Big Finish:



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'Hidden Talent' by Andrew Spokes

At the Doctor's behest, Jo takes part in 'Make a Star', a popular television series searching for the country's brightest new pop star. After her performance is met with the audience's approval Jo qualifies for the next round; she spends the night in the hotel used by the production team, and learns from another competitor, Lucy, that the most-likely winner is a boy named Chris, and that each loser is given a doll of the previous loser. Jo and the Doctor learn from Chris that no-one has ever met the producer of the show; they then decide to break into the production office, only to be captured by the producer - none other than the Master. The renegade Time Lord reveals that he is using his programme, an anagram of 'aka Master', to disrupt the timelines by making the competitors sing songs before they have actually been written, and turning the losers into 'doll's using his tissue compression eliminator. With the unwitting help of some of Chris' fans, the Doctor and Jo manage to escape; the Doctor then tricks the Master into believing that his show is going out live, when in fact a test-card is being broadcast. Realising his plan has failed, the Master escapes in his TARDIS before the Doctor has a chance to gloat.

Notes:
*Featuring The Third Doctor and Jo

*Time placing: the Doctor asks Jo if she regrets not staying with Latep, placing this story after 'Planet of the Daleks'

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'The Canvey Angels' by David Bailey

The Doctor and Peri arrive in the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Canvey Island, in the 1950s. While the Doctor searches for the source of deadly extraterrestrial radiation emissions, Peri meets the gossiping spinsters of the parish, and learns that a local man named Walter Seacomb is believed to be responsible for the recent murder his girlfriend, Marjory, and her unborn child; it seems that Marjory had an affair with the Reverend Hammond, and that Walter escaped prosecution because his father provided an alibi for him. After a disturbing encounter with Walter, whose insane ramblings prove that he did indeed kill Marjory, Peri rejoins the Doctor; together they trace the radiation to the church crypt, where they discover the decaying bodies of three dead aliens. When Hammond arrives with a fourth body he tells the two time travellers that the creatures are angels, which he found washed up on the beach; by giving them the Last Rites he believes that he will receive forgiveness from God for his previous sins. The Doctor tries to warn Hammond of the dangerous radiation that the aliens are giving off, but the priest refuses to listen. Peri realises that Hammond never gave Marjory the Last Rites because he blamed her for the death of his baby; she consoles the priest, telling him that she forgives him. Absolved, the priest breaks down in tears, enabling the Doctor to neutralise the deadly radiation.

Notes:
*Featuring the Fifth Doctor and Peri

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'Balloon Debate' by Simon A. Forward

Suffering from writer's block, Sarah decides to pen a short story. She imagines an incident when the Time Lord's various incarnations join forces against a paradimensional foe, leaving all of his companions inside the TARDIS. However, the strain on the timelines proves too much for the timeship, and its internal dimensions begin to shrink; K-9 tells everyone that the TARDIS will soon only be capable of supporting six of the twenty-five people aboard, and so they decide to hold a balloon debate: each will give a reason why they should live, and then vote for whoever they think should survive...

Notes:
*Featuring Sarah and K-9 MK III

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'A Long Night' by Alison Lawson

On the night of 23rd November, 1964, Joan Wright sadly wonders at the fate of her daughter Barbara, who mysteriously disappeared one year earlier. Aboard the TARDIS, Barbara has a particularly vivid dream in which she visits her mother and reassures her that she is still alive and having many exiting adventures in time and space. Waking up, Barbara tells the Doctor of her experience, causing the old man to strongly suspect that her mother may have shared the dream thanks to the TARDIS telepathic circuits. Back on Earth, Joan awakes from her dream feeling happy and content, safe in the knowledge that her daughter is alive and well.

Notes:
*Featuring the First Doctor and Barbara

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Publication Date:
May 2003

Notes:
*Published by Big Finish