Table of Contents
Title
By the Same Author
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter ONE
Chapter TWO
Chapter THREE
Chapter FOUR
Chapter FIVE
Chapter SIX
Chapter SEVEN
Chapter EIGHT
Chapter NINE
Chapter TEN
Chapter ELEVEN
Chapter TWELVE
Chapter THIRTEEN
Chapter FOURTEEN
Chapter FIFTEEN
Chapter SIXTEEN
Chapter SEVENTEEN
Acknowledgements
Coming soon from BBC Books featuring the Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman:
Also available from BBC Books
Sting of the Zygons
The Last Dodo
Wooden Heart
Forever Autumn
Sick Building
Wetworld
Wishing Well
Peacemaker
The Inside Story
The Encyclopedia
Creatures and Demons
Coming soon from BBC Books:
Starships and Spacestations
Also mailable from BBC Audiobooks:
The Pirate Loop
Also available in the Doctor Who series:
STING OF THE ZYGONS
Stephen Cole
THE LAST DODO
Jacqueline Rayner
WOODEN HEART
Martin Day
FOREVER AUTUMN
Mark Morris
SICK BUILDING
Paul Magrs
WETWORLD
Mark Michalowski
WISHING WELL
Trevor Baxendale
PEACEMAKER
James Swallow
The
Pirate
Loop
SIMON GUERRIER
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ISBN 9781407026190
Version 1.0
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Published in 2007 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing. Ebury Publishing is a division of the Random House Group Ltd.
© Simon Guerrier, 2007
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Doctor Who is a BBC Wales production for BBC One Executive Producers: Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner Series Producer: Phil Collinson
Original series broadcast on BBC Television. Format © BBC 1963. 'Doctor Who', 'TARDIS' and the Doctor Who logo are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence.
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ISBN: 9781407026190
Version 1.0
Series Consultant: Justin Richards
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Cover design by Lee Binding © BBC 2007
For the dread pirates Luke and Joseph
Six thousand robots danced through the streets of Milky-Pink City. They had never been programmed with dance lessons but what they lacked in style they made up for with their enthusiasm. All around, metal limbs twisted with abandon. Tall robots did something that looked like a rumba, lifting robots did the Mashed Potato. And weaving in and out between them raced the Doctor and Martha Jones.
Martha and the Doctor had been in Milky-Pink City for no more than four hours and it had not gone brilliantly well. The city and all its robots had been built years ago to serve and pamper thousands of human holidaymakers, but the humans had never arrived. Intergalactic tourism, the Doctor had explained, was an unforgiving business. So the robots had been delighted to see Martha and the Doctor, even if they hadn't booked ahead. They had fallen over themselves to oblige their every whim. They squabbled about who got to fetch Martha a drink and came to blows over who took the Doctor's coat. It had quickly turned into a war between different factions of keen-to-please robots, all with exquisite manners. And then an hour later they'd turned on the Doctor and Martha as the source of all the problems.
This, thought Martha now as she ran to keep up with the Doctor, her hand held tightly in his, was what happened when you tried to force people to have a good time. She remembered a particularly miserable family holiday at some activity camp outside London, her big sister Tish falling for one of the creepy blokes that worked there. She shuddered. Even being sentenced to death by a city of daft robots wasn't quite as terrifying as that place. For one thing, you couldn't defeat creepy blokes by playing them songs from your iPod.
'It's funny,' she said to the Doctor as they ducked and weaved between the dancing robots. 'My brother hates this song.'
'What?' said the Doctor, stopping in his tracks. He spun on the heel of his trainer, his long coat and silvery tie whirling around him, and swept a hand through his spiked and scruffy hair. 'But this is a classic. Humans doing what you do, daring to be brown and blue and violet sky!' He laughed. 'I don't even know what that means! See? Brilliant'
Martha raised an eyebrow. With the robots still dancing around them, it didn't seem the best time to indulge him.
'Yeah, well,' he said chastened, taking her hand and leading her on through the strange and metal street party, 'you know I once saw Mika live in Denmark—'
'Yeah,' said Martha wearily. 'I was there too.'
He turned his wild, inquisitive eyes on her like he'd only just noticed her there. 'That's a coincidence!' he said. 'Funny how these things work out, innit?' But his wide grin and enthusiasm were infectious; Martha found herself grinning back.
They turned a corner and Martha felt her heart leap. At the end of the alleyway, beyond yet more cavorting robots, stood the TARDIS. They made their way through the last of the dancing robots. While the Doctor rummaged through deep pockets to find the TARDIS key, Martha looked back one last time on the city. Two small robots the size and shape of kitchen bins were dancing together, the same keen but clumsy routine she remembered from old school discos. She felt a sudden pang of sorrow for the silly machines.