In the centre of a blank, circular white room, there were a large hexagonal control panel. Just not understandable by many a person, luckily the person who owned the room knew what every (well, nearly every) button and lever did.

In fact, this room was a control room to a time-and-space machine called the TARDIS. The sole person – if you could call it that – in this room was a robot dog, called a K-9, sitting dormant next to the control panel.

At that moment, a man – or rather, a Time Lord – strolled in breezily from the next room. He was known as the Doctor, and he owned the TARDIS, despite the fact that it was originally stolen. The Doctor – this Doctor – wore an impossibly long scarf that got torn, unravelled, burnt, cut, dirty and stomped on with unfortunate regularity, a brown jacket with big pockets for packets of lollies and a brown hat covered his mop of curly hair.

"Hello, K-9," the Doctor greeted his robot dog, whose head immediately moved upwards.

"Greetings, Master," K-9 answered him.

"Tell me, K-9, where did I say we were going again?"

"Earth, Master."

"Earth!" the Doctor vaguely remembered his plan now. After eight years, his plan was to actually fulfil a promise he made to one English journalist. His reason why was a bit silly, when he came to think about it: he was lonely. Rather hilarious really, the President of Gallifrey flying through time and space in a rickety old machine that had been in for repairs when he stole it...

With a loud shudder, the TARDIS landed.

"Where are we, K-9?" the Doctor asked.

"Earth, Master."

"Ah."


A woman outside stared at the box in surprise. This woman was possibly in her late twenties, with brown hair. She was rather short but pretty at the same time: and furthermore, she recognised the box.

She watched as the door opened to reveal the Doctor, and a robot dog she didn't recognise: K-9. Before the Doctor even had time to close the door behind K-9, she gave him a reasonable glare.

"You have some nerve, Doctor."

The Doctor looked up. "Hello, Sarah Jane."

Sarah waited for a moment, then asked, "no explanation?"

"Explanation?"

"I last saw you two years ago. In a suburb that wasn't South Croydon."

The Doctor wondered if lying would prevent the seemingly inevitable explosion. "Wasn't South Croydon? Unbelievable! Anyway, it hasn't been two years for me, Sarah."

"How long has it been?"

"Why, about the amount of time it takes for the TARDIS to go through the vortex."

"Correction, Master. It has been -"

"Shut up, K-9."

Sarah smiled. "That old dysfunctional TARDIS, eh?" She turned her attentions to K-9. "So where'd you get him?"

"Well, technically, I made him."

"What does he do?"

"Well, mostly he blasts us out of trouble."

Sarah's smile faded. "Us."

"Oh... K-9 and me."

"But you only went to Gallifrey."

Before the Doctor could stop him, K-9 told Sarah, "that statement is incorrect. I have been in service six years."

"President of Gallifrey," the Doctor started to explain, not realising it hardly constituted an explanation. "I nearly forgot when I defeated the Sontarans there. They tried to destroy my TARDIS!"

"Doctor," Sarah chided the Doctor. "You're not telling me the truth."

"Aren't I?"

"No. For a start, K-9 keeps trying to correct you."

"Well, K-9 thinks he knows everything."

"Negative, Master," K-9 put in.

"Doctor," Sarah said, controlling her temper with difficulty, "tell me the truth."

The Doctor sighed. "I tried to go back to Earth, Sarah, but I landed in a forest in the far future. Now, you, um, remember when I temporarily left Earth while you were battling that big robot? I, uh, saved the day on a spaceship and promptly forgot. I arrived twenty-five thousand years later where the ship crash-landed." Sarah began to laugh, but was interrupted. "There I met a girl called Leela who – would you believe – refused to get out of the TARDIS."

"Where is this Leela?"

"I left her with the first K-9 and Commander Andred."

"I said where, Doctor, not who with."

"Oh, not much of a planet really."

"Where?"

The Doctor gulped. "Gallifrey," he mumbled quietly.

Sarah stared at the Doctor. "Gallifrey," she repeated, rather more loudly than the Doctor thought necessary. "If this Leela woman was allowed to go to Gallifrey, why wasn't I?"

"Well, once we got to Gallifrey I did have to banish her. As President."

"I see." Sarah spoke with contempt in her voice. "And then what did you do?"

"I travelled with K-9 for six years. And K-9's lovely company really, but he got so dreadfully boring that I remembered I was supposed to come back for you.

"You were," Sarah said, "but not now. I gave up on you. I got my career back together."

The Doctor nodded. "I see. In that case..." The Doctor turned around and opened the TARDIS door for K-9, then walked through it himself. "Goodbye, Sarah."

"Wait!" Sarah suddenly yelled. "You then can't just return and then say goodbye again!" She hammered on the closed door. "Let me in!"

The door opened again. The Doctor grinned and Sarah entered the blue box once more...