Episode One: The Luck of the Tylers
Part one: Ways and Means
The twentieth of August 2025 was a day that would stick in Amelia Tyler's memory for the rest of her life. Strangely enough though, it began in a perfectly ordinary way. Amelia woke up with at about 10:30 that morning with a headache that vaguely resembled the feeling one would have if being prodded by red hot pokers. She wished she had not let Gemma persuade her into that fifth drink. She rolled out of bed with a groan and crawled blindly into the shower. The streams of hot water helped a bit. She emerged feeling slightly more like a real person and less like a walking ball of pain. She dressed quickly, throwing on the first thing that came to hand, and then went to the full length mirror to inspect the damage. On the whole she thought it wasn't too bad. The bags under her large brown eyes were a rather livid purple, but that was the worst of it. She tugged her cropped brown hair, trying to make it appear slightly less wild and more rock chick. Her outfit was alright, white T-shirt and jeans, simple but it worked. It would have to do. She touched the cross round her neck once for luck then went down stairs.
Jackie Tyler was in the kitchen. She greeted her younger daughter with a bright smile. "Morning, Mia sweetheart, fancy some toast?"
Amelia's whole body protested strongly at the idea of putting food into when she was in this state, so she shook her head and said "No, thanks mum. Can I just have some coffee please?"
Jackie frowned, dissatisfied "I do wish you'd eat breakfast sweetheart. It's not good for you to skip such an important meal. You'll faint one of these days," She nagged affectionately
"I'll be fine just this once I'm sure, I'm really not hungry" Amelia replied with a smile. Jackie shook her head but turned to the sideboard and put on the kettle to make the coffee. A few minutes latter Amelia was presented with a cup of very hot, very black coffee. She sipped it blissfully. Jackie sat down at the table opposite her.
"Good night last night?" she asked. Amelia nodded.
"Any plans for today?" Amelia shrugged, and then decided to be more forthcoming.
"Shopping probably," she said. She was due to take up a place a Durham university in three weeks time, but there were still things she needed to buy, warm clothes and a lap-top among other things. The whole university thing still didn't seem real to her.
"Well since you're going out, I don't suppose you drop something off for Rose for me? She left her phone here last night, and you know she can't cope without it."
Amelia frowned. "But she'll be at work by now," she said.
"Well you can take it to her there then can't you."
"Mum, you don't just walk into Torchwood. It's a top secret organisation," Amelia said in exasperation.
"A top secret organisation that your sister practically runs, you're a Tyler. I'm sure you'll be fine."
Amelia rolled her eyes at the phrase "You're a Tyler." It was one she seemed to hear a lot. Strangely enough, the more she heard that she was a Tyler, the less she felt like one.
Mum however appeared to take this as agreement. "I'll just go and get the phone shall I?" she said.
About three hours later Amelia was standing in the fake marble entrance hall of the canary wharf tower arguing with a receptionist with a posh voice and a long nose.
"Rose Tyler." She said, irritated. "Check again."
"As I informed you madam, no Rose Tyler is listed as working in this building, in any department whatever."
"No she wouldn't be." Amelia grumbled under her breath, cursing her mother silently "you don't keep records of members of Torchwood."
She turned back to the receptionist with a very winning smile and a wheedling tone. "Well you must have seen her though. You know the one I mean, bottle blonde, curvy, really bad dress sense…" The receptionist continued to look blank. "No? Sure? Look I just want to drop off a phone. I'm her sister for goodness sake. Couldn't you just let me through to look for her?" This failed to provoke a response. It was obvious she was not going to get anywhere.
She was about to turn from pleading to threats when what she always afterwards refer to as THE EVENT (capitol letters) took place. A man in a rather shabby black overcoat, who she was sure hadn't been there a minute before leant on the desk and said in a bored drawl "What's the problem here? There are people waiting you know." Amelia turned furiously, about to tell this extremely rude stranger to wait his turn, when she caught site of his face, it was thin and bony with an oddly sensitive mouth that looked like it switch from laughter to fury in a moment and eyes that were somehow sad. Suddenly she couldn't shout; she smiled instead.
The receptionist meanwhile had decided to appeal to him as a voice of reason. "This young lady is attempting to gain access to unauthorised areas; she claims to have an appointment with a person who is not listed in my files, sir."
"Really? How difficult," he said in the same intensely bored voice.
"I just want to see my sister," Amelia said in grumpy indignation "Her name's Rose Tyler and I…"
At that point she was interrupted by the stranger who was suddenly not so bored. "Rose Tyler? You did say Rose Tyler?"
"Yes. My sister." Amelia repeated for the twentieth time, she was feeling annoyed again now. The stranger turned to her and looked her up and down with an uncomfortably piercing glance.
"You don't look like her sister," He said suspiciously "she must be nearly twenty years older than you."
"Second marriage." Amelia said shortly, well, it was technically true, and he was really very rude, and she was sure she didn't like him.. "And I do look like her. People just don't notice it because I don't do ridiculous things to my hair like she does."
The stranger glanced at her spiky cropped hair with an amused curl of the mouth, but then nodded. "Fortunately I also wish to visit those err… unauthorised areas." So he was a Torchwood employee, Amelia realised with sudden interest. He turned to the receptionist and put on a truly dazzling smile pulling out what looked like an identification card and showing it to her "It won't be a problem if you just let me and this young lady through will it?" he said sweetly.
"Not at all sir," the receptionist said in an oddly flat voice. Amelia couldn't help noticing that her eyes had also become slightly unfocused. But she wasn't going to question it because at that point the receptionist reached below the counter pressed a button and suddenly two doors Amelia hadn't noticed before hissed open in the wall behind the desk revealing a brilliantly lit, gleaming white corridor behind them.
"Thank you so much," the stranger said and strode behind the desk. In the doorway he turned round to the stunned Amelia and said "Are you coming my dear?" with a quick smile. Amelia nodded and darted behind the desk to join him.
They walked down the corridor together. He walked very fast. Amelia was forced to trot to keep up with him, which she thought very inconsiderate. Really he was infuriating. But she would be polite anyway. "Thanks for that, I thought I was going to be there all day" She said a little breathlessly.
"Not at all, my dear," he replied in that maddeningly superior tone.
"I don't know how you did it."
He smiled mysteriously "Ways and means, ways and means."
This was too frustrating, but she wasn't going to let him irritate her into being rude. Though the way he refused to look from side to side but kept his gaze fixed straight ahead was very disconcerting "I'm Mia, that is, Amelia Tyler, by the way," she told him in an attempt at friendliness.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm the Doctor, at your service of course."
And with those words her life changed. She remained convinced for the rest of her life she felt it shift around her. She stopped walking right there in the middle of the corridor, frozen to the spot. Here he was; the hero of her childhood stories, flesh and blood and right in front of her. She stared, possibly her mouth was open too.
He turned round to look at her, eyebrows raised. "You've heard of me?"
"You could say that." Amelia said, swallowing hard to un-stick her throat
"Good things I hope." He said with a grin.
Amelia felt suddenly wicked. Was this her chance to wipe that superior look off his face? "Well… I know you call yourself the Doctor, but no one is allowed to know your real name, ever. Probably something to do with a messed up childhood. You come from a distant planet called Gallifrey, which is inhabited by people called the Timelords, who have very advanced technology, but you don't spend much time there- messed up childhood again? You have a ship which is generally known as the TARDIS, using which you can travel to any point in the universe, in time as well as space. Generally you like to travel with people. What was the last one I heard about called? Grace?"
Now it was his turn to stare open mouthed and speechless with astonishment. "How… how did you know all that?" he stammered.
Amelia gave him her best mysterious smile "Ways and means Doctor, Ways and means."