The Doctor frowned intently as he tinkered with a bit of circuitry beneath the console. The atmosphere in the TARDIS had been what might most charitably be described as 'strained' since their encounter with Madame du Pompadour and the murderous clockwork robots. He had a treat in mind, a wonderfully amusing outing to make them all feel better, but so far his suggestions had been met with a sort of weary acceptance on Rose's part, and outright hostility on Mickey's. They'd made it perfectly clear to him that he'd been a thoughtless prat, but damn it, he was trying very, very hard to make it up to them!

Footsteps echoed on the grating, and he scrambled to his feet and smiled as Rose entered the control room.

"Is this all right, then?" she asked, twirling a bit and holding out the skirts of her deep blue linen gown. Her hair was smoothed back into a bun with a few wispy curls framing her face.

"You look lovely," the Doctor told her warmly.

"She looked fine in her own clothes," Mickey muttered, not bothering to look up from the football match playing on the scanner.

The Doctor counted to fifty, slowly, in Gallifreyan, before answering. "Of course she looked fine, she doesn't need a dress to look fine…no, wait - that's not what I meant!" he spluttered to a halt.

Mickey glared at him, then pointedly turned his attention to Rose. "Stick with me, babe. You're good enough for me just the way you are. No need to go dressing up like a princess and trying to pretend you're something you're not."

"Are we done here?" the Doctor exclaimed in exasperation. His expression softened as he turned to Rose and took both her hands in his own. "Rose, you're always beautiful to me. You know that, right?"

She looked down at the floor. "Sometimes, I'm not so sure," she whispered. "An' even I know this isn't really a princess dress."

"No, it's not," he replied evenly. "But not because you're not good enough, or whatever else you might be thinking. I just thought you'd be more comfortable."

Mickey snorted, and the Doctor shot him a hard look before turning his attention back to Rose. "It's middle class, respectable enough for where we want to go, without making you too uncomfortable, all right? D'you have any idea how much a Restoration court gown weighs? Or how complicated it is to wear? Women who had to dress that way started being trained as very little girls, being laced into corsets and such, by maids, which, incidentally, we don't have any of."

"Got that right," Mickey interjected. "Bad enough those gits out there was callin' me a manservant, forget maid."

The Doctor pointedly ignored him. "Look, Rose, I just wanted you to dress appropriately for the time we're visiting, all right? Girls in 1668 London don't wear tank tops and jeans, they wear gowns. Especially for a trip to the theatre," he finished up in a wheedling tone.

"The theatre?" Rose asked, starting to smile.

"Yup! We are going to see Nell Gwyn, one of the most brilliant comedic actresses of the day."

"Hold on then," Mickey interrupted, "I remember this bit from history class. In the sixteen hundreds, the girls parts was played by blokes in dresses!"

"That was the early sixteen hundreds," the Doctor explained, trying to keep a firm grip on his patience. "This is 1668, the reign of Charles the Second, who was very fond of the theatre, and very fond of pretty girls. Ergo, he changed the laws to permit women to perform on stage."

He bowed to Rose and extended his hand to her with a playful smile. "Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate, would you care to accompany me?"

Laughing, Rose set her hand in his. At the door, the Doctor realized that Mickey hadn't moved from his seat and turned back.

"Coming, Mickey?"

"No thanks."

"Oh, come on…you didn't come all this way through time an' space to sit here an' watch telly when we're in Old London!" Rose exclaimed.

"I went out for a wander while you was getting' dressed up. It stinks out there, and about the nicest thing I was called was 'fella.'"

"Mickey…"

"Did you use the psychic paper?" the Doctor asked. "That should have gotten you past just about anything."

Mickey squeezed his eyes shut and sighed heavily. "Look, I've had my fill of fancy historical people in fancy historical clothes, OK? Just let me have some space, all right?"

"All right," the Doctor said soberly. He carefully ushered Rose through the TARDIS's doors, and they stepped out into Drury Lane.