Who is Who? The origins of Doctor Who, a doctor who fanfic

Who is Who?

The origins of Doctor Who

Fan Fiction

By Graham Lee 'electro-lite1' Barnfield

Date: Tomorrow – Yesterday – Present – Past – Future

Location: Here and Now

Origin: The Infinite Void

The Study - Prologue

'So, you have finally found me then.' It was not a question. The man who had no name anyone knew, yet a title known the universe over, turned from his flat-screen television and looked at me. It was all I could do to maintain eye contact. Although I lowered my gaze when I was sure he was pre-occupied with his own thoughts. I know, laughable right? To think that the being who created the entire universe would not notice something.

'How did you know,' But before I could finish forming my question the man stood up and talked right over me.

'The how is not important, you should know that by now, Barnabus. Just know that I have always known.' It was then that he looked me in the eye. I shivered under that stare. Once the Doctor looked you in the eye, there was no escape. Some even said you were doomed for ever after. - Looking back on it now I wonder if they were right. - 'Besides. I saw you arrive on the CCTV; ah but you are shocked no? Yeah, I know what you are thinking. Why would this all powerful being have CCTV at the end of the time of the universe? Well, even here. Even now, with all the power that I am, I still have enemies.' I opened my mouth to speak, but he went right on. 'So, you have me a message from the Shadow Proclamation? Well? Spit it out Barnabus. On second thought, why bother? You already know that I know. Who knows, Who always knows.' The Doctor turned away from me at that moment and started to pace up and down - what could only have been seen as a study, as it would have looked in the Third Victorian Era on Earth Twenty-Three. - After what felt like an infinite length of time the Doctor stopped pacing and turned to me once more. This time his head was tilted to one side, as if trying to deduce a riddle. 'No time. There is no more time,' it was said as if he was talking to himself; or as if I was not in the study with him and had never been. 'Well. No time to worry either. Eh Barnabus? What's done, is done, as they say.' And with that he threw his suit jacket on with a flourish of the tail and left the room.

He never told me to follow, I just did; that was one of the many other mysteries about the Doctor. Whenever you were in his presence, everything seemed… right… as if there was a place for everything… as if the time or the moment was always the right time… the right… moment. I never knew then that that was the moment that my adventures were to truly begin. But now I have only just realized that it was.
Who is Who?

Date: 20/02/2017

Location: Here and Now

Origin: Unknown – Earth

Dreams…

Back then, all those uncountable thousands of years in the past, I just thought it would be another normal, boring day. Hard to believe I don't look any older than middle-aged. Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. No point telling the punch-line before you have heard the joke in full, right?

I crawled out of bed, threw my dressing-gown on - well, it was actually one of those old Smoking Jackets that men from forty years previous would have worn when they were smoking a pipe, or something. I still have it now actually… Somewhere – and went downstairs to put the kettle on. I was a gremlin if I didn't have my coffee the moment I woke up.

I turned my PC on - one of those old tower desk-tops – and signed in to Winlows; the operating system of the time.

I was a gamer back then. Well, I didn't have a job. I was on Job-Seekers Allowance. A payment you received from the government of the time if you were out of work and couldn't find a job. Although you had to prove you were looking for one.

The kettle clicked off and I stood up and walked into the kitchen to pour my coffee. But, before I could add my four spoons of sugar, my phone rang. I looked at the screen. Sarah was calling.

Sarah was a friend I had met online a few months before, in a game called WoW. – It was one of those online games, where you could live another life and choose to be whoever you wanted to be. I was a level 228 Cleric. - It's full title was Wonders of Wonders, although all the true fans called it WoW.

I answered. But it was not Sarah's voice. – Well, I could not honestly tell if it was Sarah or not. Not mixed up with all the static. – 'Who…! Nee… Doc…! Leks…! Vading…! Dale…! Planetoid …Imbo…!' I laughed – Sarah always did like her prank calls, but I knew it was her this time. It was her who was calling after all.

'C'mon Sarah. When are you going to stop with these pranks? If this is your way of asking me…' The voice intensified and the static lessened.

'…Rah? Who is Sarah? I am after the Doctor. Is he there? He told me to call this number in an emergency… Well… This is AN EMERGENCY! IS… THE… DOCTOR… THERE? PLEASE…! I NEED THE DOCTOR!'

'I am sorry lady. Whoever you are,' I was certain it was not Sarah now, it sounded nothing like her. It could have been one of her friends pulling a prank; but something told me that it wasn't. 'There must be a crossed-line somewhere. Where are you calling from again? And who are you after?'

There was a short pause. When the lady spoke again it sounded as if her life depended on it. 'MY NAME IS JONEIL! THE DALEKS ARE HERE! I AM CALLING FROM PLANETOID CRIMBOS! PLEASE! I NEED THE DOC…!' Before she could finish her shouting a squeaky, high-pitched robotic voice talked over her. 'DOC…TOR! YOU ARE… THE DOC…TOR!'

I tried to explain to this hostile voice that I was not this… Doctor person and had no idea who he was. But the voice just ignored me and carried on. 'THE DOC…TOR ALWAYS LIES! THIS IS A DOC…TOR TRICK...! COME…! NOW! OR WE WILL EXTERM…INATE! WE WILL EXTERMINATE…!' The voice grew in magnitude. After a few moments it sounded as if thousands of similar voices were saying that same word over and over… Exterminate, exterminate.

'Look, whoever you ar…' Before I could finish, I felt this weird, nasty, tingling sensation and then everything went dark.

When I came to again I saw… Well I can't really explain what I saw. One because my head was splitting as if a Lumberjack had got his ax to it. And two… Well… How do you explain the most bizarre dream you have never had…? If dwarfs were made of metal and had plungers for arms. And if everywhere was a kind of shiny-liquid black with a light that seemed to come from nowhere, with these weird… orb things on the walls, well that is what it looked like.

One of the metal-dwarfs pointed a plunger-arm at me. Another pushed me out into a corridor which had the same black shine, with similar orb things on the walls. God, I thought. I would hate their decorator to be set loose at my house.

Once in the corridor I was met by three other metal-dwarfs. One was gold, one was black and one was white. The one with that plunger-arm thing pointed at me was grey. There was no sign of the one that had pushed me into the corridor.

'You will follow!' It was not a request. I think it was the white one who spoke – compared to most of the others this one had a deeper robotic voice. 'You will follow! Or you will die… Doctor!'

I tried to tell the white one that I was not this… Doctor person.

'You will not speak! You will not speak!' That was the grey one. He was one of those with a squeaky voice. We continued in silence.

I cannot remember how many turns we took from the place where I woke up. However many turns there were, it felt like we had walked miles. Finally we came to a huge, open, circular room. One single massive window seemed to enclose it all. I looked out of the window from where I was. HA! I knew it was a dream. I thought. We are in space…. We must be in Mars' orbit. A few hours after this point I came to realize it was not a dream and that we actually were in Mars' orbit.

'WELCOME… DOCTOR!' This voice was so much deeper and more… Powerful than the white metal-dwarf could ever hope to achieve.

'WORSHIP HIM! WORSHIP HIM!' That was the grey one. As he started to speak… or… shout in religious adoration he pushed on my back with that… plunger thing. I guessed, correctly, that he wanted me on my knees. So, I complied. The room echoed with thousands of other similar voices. 'WORSHIP HIM! WORSHIP HIM! WORSHIP…!' I glanced out the corner of my eye, so that I could see out of the window. I was looking for some kind of sign that this was just a dream and that I would wake at any moment. I thought I finally found it, when I suddenly saw what could only have been described as a blue telephone box.

'THIS IS NOT… THE DOC…TOR!' I could finally see where the all-powerful voice was coming from. I almost threw up with hard, cold, fear. I looked straight into the single eye of the ugliest creature I had ever seen in any nightmare and swallowed hard. The creature was floating in a tank… of… smoke? 'THIS… IS… NOT… THE… DOC…TOR!'

Then I heard this odd woof-wooof-woof noise coming from behind me. I turned around and once more, I started hoping this was a dream; for the blue telephone box had landed only meters away from me. Time seemed to stand still. The metal-dwarfs seemed to be frozen. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the phone box opened and out stepped… a man. A normal looking man.

'Ho-ho!' He exclaimed in a Scottish accent. 'Of course he is not the Doctor…! I am the Doctor…! Do you think I would regenerate as a fat, balding, thirty-something year old gamer…!' I wondered then, just for an instant if I should be offended; then this ancient, white-haired Scottish guy in a suit winked at me. 'And YOU,' he addressed the room, which was now full of the metal-dwarfs, 'are all in deeeeeeep shite!'

'EXPLAIN…! EXPLAIN…! What is this… deeeeeeep shite…? EXPLAIN…! EXPLAIN…! EXPLAIN…!' That was the grey one… Well, one of the many grey ones, now.

The Doctor raised his hands, as if he was a hostage. Then he turned to me and said. 'Oh yes Barnabus; please explain…' I glared at him. '… Well, you do have a plan. Don't you?' All I could manage was a defeated shake of the head. 'But this is your dream,' He winked at me again; then, he leaned in closer to me and whispered. 'Keep believing it is a dream and everything will fall in to place…' After noticing my confused look he added. 'Ah! Use your instincts! It's all I ever do. It will be OK. Trust me. I am the Doctor…'

So I jumped up fast, then, in the same motion I started to run towards this massive hole in the center of the room. I swear I heard the Doctor say. 'No! Not that way…!' And then, as if to himself, or under his breath. 'Ah! Here we go again…' I felt him grab me then. Then we were… Falling…
Who is Who?

Date: 20/02/2017 – or thereabouts

Location: Here and Now

Origin: Unknown – Mars

… Are not what they appear

As we were falling towards the planet the Doctor stabbed me with something. It was not exactly painful, but it was… odd. 'OW!' I exclaimed. 'What the he...!' Then, there was a sudden, horrible realization. You are not supposed to feel anything in dreams, are you? I mean. If you were hurt in any way in a dream you just, woke up. Well. I did not wake up. And realized I never would, for I was awake already.

'HOLD YOUR BREATH!' The Doctor shouted in my ear. I tried to comply, so I took a deep breath. That was a mistake. I felt the worst pain I had ever felt, deep within my chest. My lungs were burning and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up my lungs were still burning. I started coughing and found it hard to stop.

The Doctor was lying on his back, as if sun-bathing. He stood up, reached inside his suit jacket and then he handed me the glass of water which was now in his hand.

'Wait. Is this a dream…? Or not?' I asked. I was obviously in shock.

'Well Barnabus. As to that… Well. What do you think?' He smiled at me. A knowing, friendly smile. I am sure I saw a touch of… Sadness in that smile, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. 'Yeah, don't worry about the burning sensation. It will disappear in a few moments.' I looked all around me. The first thing I noticed was red sand. The second thing I noticed was the red glow to the sky. I started to cry.

'This is not a dream, is it…?' I asked, between bouts of tears and a cough, which was finally starting to subside.

'Well, as to that. I am afraid not, but you knew that already. As to the other… Yes. We are on the surface of Mars. No thanks to you.' He started to walk away from me after that. Once he was about thirty feet away he turned back to me. 'Well. Are you coming or not, Barnabus? The air-shield I injected you with on the way down will not last long, unless you stay near me.' I stood up slowly.

'I wish you would stop calling me Barnabus. That is not my name.' The Doctor smiled at me then.

'Well Barnabus. What do you want me to call you?' I rolled my eyes at him. I wonder if he does that deliberately. I thought. Getting people's names wrong before he even knows them.

'Lee. My name is Lee.' I walked slowly over to him. 'So, you are some kind of doctor; and… And we are on Mars… But we were on a space ship, surrounded by these metal-dwarfs. This is not a dream. Of course it isn't. I am not creative enough to dream something like this…' I gave myself a shake. '… OK, fine… I have so many questions. But first. As this is not a dream… There was this lady on my phone… Joneil? I think she was called… I think she is dead now, those dwarf things must have killed her.' I started to cry again. Someone was dead; and I could have… I should have done… something. But it was too late now, we were on Mars and she was… Wherever she was.

The Doctor gave me that sad smile again. 'Oh that? No, she is not dead. Don't worry, she never even existed…' I started hoping it was a dream again. The moment he said that. He must have seen it on my face, for he said. 'No Barnabus. You already know it's not a dream…' I started to form the question, but he never gave me a chance. '… What I mean by the fact that she never existed is that I was Joneil… I was the voice on the other end of the phone…' I glared at his back. I could feel the anger rising in me. 'I have my reasons. I am sorry. But we must go on… I will tell you the first reason now; although there are more reasons than even I would have time to explain… The main reason then, is because… I need your help… Sorry, let me rephrase that… The universe needs your help.' My entire body went numb with shock.

'But… But… Why would the universe need my help? I am just a 'fat, balding, thirty-something year old gamer' after all.' The Doctor smiled again.

'Well. As to that now, Barnabus. I had to throw the Daleks off your scent somehow, and, as far as I know. Up to this point. It has worked…' He started walking away again. '… Come on. Keep up. Or do you want to suffocate?' I followed him. Well. What choice did I actually have?
Who is Who?

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