Chapter 3: The Unquiet Dead

While they talked, some of the others had gone to get more food which had appeared. When Nine and Rose joined the others, Mickey came over to talk to her. She took him aside to tell him the relationship between her and the Doctor had changed and he told her it had expected it would. He did ask that she inform the version of him in her time as soon as possible and give him time to get over it. He grimaced as he gave her a warning that back then he didn't take the news very well and to give him space. They hugged and everybody filtered back to their seats. Jack pressed the button and started the next episode.

A small altar with a cross on it flanked by a pair of candles. The rest of the room is also candle-lit and there are arum lilies in vases by an open coffin. The bald Welsh undertaker lights the gaslamp then speaks to his client. Sneed offers his condolences and the man says he can't believe she is gone, before asking for a moment alone. Sneed agrees and then leaves. The man gazes down the corpse. Her skin turns blue for a moment then her eyes open.

"Oh my god!" Martha gasped in horror.

"That's disgusting." Mickey agrees. Nine and Rose exchange glances, both remembering this trip rather vividly.

She grabs him by the throat and knocks over a vase. The crash brings Sneed back in. Sneed frees Redpath from the woman's grasp, forces her down and tries to put the coffin lid on, calling for Gwyneth to come down as they have another one. The vigorous corpse pushes the lid off, knocking Sneed out, and kicks her way out of the coffin side. She walks down the snow-covered street, groaning, and with blue vapour coming from her screaming mouth.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." Jack commented.

The Tardis is in a rather jerky flight. The Doctor is telling Rose to hold a button down and she tells him she is holding a different one down. He tells her to hold them both and she groans that it isn't going to work. Rose tries to stretch across half the console.

"Your driving hasn't improved any then." Sarah Jane laughs.

"Oi! My TARDIS is designed for six drivers, I think I do very well on my own." Ten complains.

The Doctor tells her that he promised her a time machine and that it what she is getting. He says that now she has seen the future, why don't they go to the past and asks how 1860 sounds.

"What happened in 1860?" Mickey asked.

"Nothing in particular." Nine shrugged.

Rose asks what happened in 1860 and the Doctor looks excited when he replies that he doesn't know, they should find out.

Back in Cardiff Sneed is calling for Gwyneth who comes in from outside. He asks where she has been and he tells her the stables, breaking ice for old Sampson. Sneed tells her to get back out there and harness Sampson up and Gwyneth asks what on Earth for. He tells her Mister Redpath's grandmother is on the streets somewhere. She asks how many more times this is going to happen and he snaps at her not to look at him like it is his fault then saying she was eighty six and can't have gotten too far.

"A dead woman walking doesn't have to go far to cause mayhem." Sarah Jane states.

"Most people would just think it's somebody dressed up or using trickery." Ten tells her.

"Who dresses up as a little old lady?" Donna snorts.

"You'd be surprised." Ten grins.

Gwyneth asks if Sneed dealt with Mister Redpath and he replies that the woman did. Gwyneth tells him that something terrible is happening and they need to get help. He agrees, but only once they have the woman locked up. Back in the TARDIS the Doctor and Rose are lying on the floor after a rough landing.

"That looks like a nice soft landing." Jack sniggers.

"Not his worst." Mickey grins.

"Oi!" Both Doctors complain.

The Tardis materialises at the end of a snowy street. Doctor asks if Rose is alright and she agrees, as nothing is broken and asks where they are. The Doctor tells her it is Christmas Eve 1860 in Naples.

Rose snickers loudly at this. Ten pouts at her.

"Least you got the planet right, I suppose." She winks.

"Nothing else?" Sarah Jane looks amused.

"Well, it certainly wasn't Naples, it was Cardiff and it was 1869 not 1860." Rose informs them. Everyone except Nine and Ten burst out laughing.

Rose is amazed that it is Christmas and that with time travel you can see things that are dead and gone, commenting that it's no wonder the Doctor never stays still.

Nine and Ten both flinch. That is one reason they keep moving but not the main one.

The Doctor comments that it's not a bad life and Rose says it's better with two.

"Yes it is." Nine smiles down at her. "Much better with two."

"Agreed." Ten puts in, smiling over at Rose and then grinning over at Sarah Jane and Donna on the other sofa.

"You need someone around to keep you in check, spaceman." Donna winks at him.

Rose makes to leave and the Doctor asks where she is going. He tells her to get changed and gives her complicated directions to the wardrobe.

"How on earth do you remember that?" Mickey asks Rose.

"I didn't. The TARDIS showed me the way."

"It did?" Nine asks, eyebrows raised.

"Well, yeah. The right corridors just lit up." Rose shrugs.

"She must like you. Usually takes her a while to warm up to someone."

"Is that why my room is bigger than my mom's whole flat?"

"It is? The bedrooms are usually relatively small. Once someone has been on board a while it starts to change based on their tastes but it doesn't change size." Nine frowns. All the other companions exchange glances.

"My room is pretty big, it just changed colours the night before I came here." Donna admits.

"I think my ship likes most people better than me." Ten pouts.

"My room looked just like a hotel room. Quite small and kinda bare." Martha frowns. Ten raises his eyebrows at this news and assumes the TARDIS didn't appreciate Martha's constant jealousy about Rose, especially if his ship was far fonder of his pink and yellow human than he had realised.

Out in the hearse Old Sampson and his partner are pulling the hearse slowly down the street. There is no sign of the woman and Sneed tells Gwyneth to find her. She states that she can't and he presses her to use the sight, telling her that if she doesn't she will be dismissed. Gwyneth obliges and tell him she is so alone and lost. Apparently the woman was excited about that night, she was going to see a great man all the way from London. Screen cuts to a dressing room where someone is asking Mister Dickens if he is well. They have a conversation about family and travelling alone and Dickens comment that he is like a ghost, condemned to repeat himself for all eternity.

"You met Charles Dickens? The Charles Dickens?" Donna asks, looking excited.

"Yep." Nine nods proudly.

"We met Shakespeare." Martha puts in proudly.

"Really? I can't wait for that. What's he like?" Nine asks excitedly.

"Oh joy, you've set off the fanboy in him." Rose rolls her eyes.

In the TARDIS the Doctor is working under the console when Rose returns, appropriately attired for 1860. Rose tells him not to laugh and he admits she looks beautiful. There is a pause and he adds 'considering'. She asks considering what and he says considering she is human.

"Nice of you to add that last bit." Mickey rolls his eyes. Nine shrugs but Ten blushes.

"She did look beautiful regardless of species." He admits. "Couldn't tell her that though, she might get a big head." He adds with a wicked grin. Rose reaches over and whacks his arm.

"Coming from you, who has the biggest ego I know." Mickey scoffs.

Rose states she thinks that is a compliment and asks if he is going to change. He tells her he changed his jumper. Rose goes out first, stepping gingerly into the snow. Screen cuts to the theatre where Charles Dickens walks out onto the stage where an appreciate audience applauds, including one dead woman. The Doctor and Rose walk down the street while a choir sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. They move on before the hearse stops and Gwyneth comments the dead woman is in the theatre.

"Of course she is. Nice crowd full of people." Jack laughs. "They never hide out in secluded areas."

"That would make things simple and the Doctor hates simple." Rose grins.

The Doctor buys a newspaper and admits he got the flight a bit wrong. Rose says she doesn't care, nor does she care when he admits it's 1869 not 1860. When he tells her it's not Naples she again states she doesn't care until he tells her it's Cardiff. That stops her in her tracks before she shrugs and moves on.

"What's so wrong with Cardiff?" Jack asks.

"Question is, is there anything good about Cardiff?" Nine retorts.

In the theatre Mister Dickens is giving his reading from A Christmas Carol. The old woman begins to glow and give off a faint gas and Dickens exclaims it looked like that, pointing at her. The Audience turn to see as the corpse rises and groans. They all scream. The scream is heard outside by Rose and the Doctor who then exclaims that's more like it and they dash towards the theatre.

"Never happy unless there is trouble." Martha rolls her eyes. "Only to you would the sound of screaming be exciting."

A blue gas entity is coming from the corpse and flying around the auditorium. The audience flees. Dickens is telling everyone that it is a simple lantern show but nobody is listening. Sneed and Gwyneth arrive and Gwyneth points out the woman. The police is arriving outside, blowing his whistle. The Doctor announces that this is fantastic before asking if they saw where it came from. Dickens assumes that the Doctor was responsible while Sneed and Gwyneth pick up the corpse. Rose tells the Doctor she will go after them and he tells her to be careful before returning his attention to Dickens.

"See, I told you to be careful." Nine rolls his eyes.

"I was plenty careful, he snuck up behind me." Rose protests, quietly so only the Doctors can hear her.

"That is not plenty careful, you could have been killed if I hadn't gotten there in time." Nine frowns at her.

"Nothing unusual there then." Rose shrugs.

The Doctor asks if it said anything or if it can speak, before introducing himself. Dickens tells him he looks more like a navvie and the Doctor is offending, asking what is wrong with his jumper.

"Nothing, of course." Rose assures him sarcastically.

Outside the theatre Rose is asking Gwyneth what they are doing and she replies that it is a tragedy but they will deal with it, using the excuse that the woman has brain fever. However, Rose realises she is dead and Sneed sneaks up behind Rose putting a pad of cloth over her mouth. She struggles briefly then passes out. Gwyneth asks what he did that for and Sneed declares she has seen too much so they put her in the hearse.

"Great, the Doctor doesn't even know something's gone wrong." Mickey groans.

"He catches on quick enough." Rose tells him.

"Only just." Nine reminds her quietly.

Inside the theatre the blue entity flies into a gas light making the Doctor realise it is made of gas. He runs outside calling for Rose. Dickens is following him asking how he did that and who put him up to it. The Doctor tells him not now and jumps into a nearby carriage telling it to follow the hearse. The driver says he can't and the Doctor demands to know why. Dickens explains that it is his carriage so the Doctor drags him in and tells the driver to move. The driver cracks the whip and the carriage moves down the street. The Doctor exclaims he is losing the hearse and the driver asks if everything is in order.

"Now I know why you took so long. You've just found out that is Charles Dickens." Rose rolls her eyes.

"Not really the time to turn into a fanboy." Jack tells Nine sternly.

The Doctor is surprised and delighted to find out the man is Charles Dickens and tells him wonderful he thinks he is so when the driver asks if he should chuck the Doctor out Dickens says no, enjoying the flattery.

"See? It would have been even longer if I hadn't flattered him. Woulda taken me ages to find you if I had to fight him over chucking me out." Nine grins down at Rose.

"You think you're so impressive, making up excuses on the spot." She sticks her tongue out at him.

"I am impressive." He replies with a wink.

The Doctor and Dickens keep chatting until the Doctor mentions Rose is only nineteen and in danger because of him then Dickens tells the driver to go faster.

"It's not your fault. If I'd stayed with you we wouldn't have had this problem." Rose tells him.

"Yeah but you were travelling with me, you are under my care so I should protect you. That goes for anyone travelling with me in the TARDS, but you especially." Ten tells her sadly.

In the chapel, Gwyneth states Rose is still alive and asks what they are going to do with her. Sneed is upset and moans that it isn't his fault the dead won't stay dead. Gwyneth asks whose fault it is. Gwyneth and Sneed leave. The gaslamp flares and there are whispered voices. In the hallway, Sneed is wondering if someone who owes him a favour will do an exorcism on the cheap when someone knocks on the door. He tells Gwyneth to get rid of whoever it is.

"I feel like it's not going to be that easy." Sarah Jane grins.

"I should think not." Ten laughs. "If I left as soon as I was told to go away, I wouldn't be able to go anywhere."

Sneed goes back down the corridor. Rose wakes up as blue gas from the lamp animates young Mister Redpath, who had been placed in a coffin. Gwyneth opens the front door to Charles Dickens and the Doctor, telling them they are closed. Dickens calls this nonsense stating that the dead don't die on schedule and demands to see her master.

"I like him." Donna grins.

"I bet you do. Sounds like something you would say." Ten snickers.

Gwyneth lies saying he isn't in but Dickens tells her not to lie and to summon her master. She tries again saying he is indisposed. A gas lamp flares and the Doctor asks if they are having trouble with their gas. Dickens asks what the Shakespeare is going on.

A few snickers break out at his choice of curse.

In the chapel Rose sees her companion asking if he is alright. Redpath climbs out of the coffin and walks zombie-like towards her. She realises he is not kidding and runs for the door. At the front door, The Doctor goes past Gwyneth to the flaring gas lamp saying there is something inside the walls. The screen shows Mrs Redpath reanimates in her coffin. They hear Rose screaming to be let out and the Doctor runs down the corridor and into Sneed.

"Surely he can hear her screaming? Why is he still so reluctant?" Mickey asks in horror.

"Because as long as they are all locked up he doesn't have to deal with them. If he lets Rose out the bodies will get out too." Ten tells him coldly.

Sneed complains to Dickens who tells him to shut up. Rose is still yelling and Redpath grabs her just as the Doctor kicks the door in, saying this is his dance. He pulls Rose away from Redpath and into his side, wrapping an arm around her. Dickens says it must be a prank and the Doctor corrects him. Rose asks who his friend is and he tells her it's Charles Dickens. Rose takes this calmly and simply says 'okay'.

"You just met Charles Dickens and 'ok' is all you say?" Martha raises an eyebrow, remembering her own reaction to meeting Shakespeare.

"Bigger things to focus on." Rose shrugs. "Besides, I've never been a particular fan of his." Nine gapes at her for this comment.

"But he is fantastic."

"I travel with you, aren't you supposed to be the most impressive?" She grins.

"Well, that's true." Nine laughs.

The Doctor introduces himself and asks what they want. Redpath replies with several voices that they need the rift open as they are trapped in that form that they cannot sustain. The gas leaves Redpath and his mother and returns to the gas lamp. The corpses collapse.

Rose snorts quietly and mutters under her breath, still angry about Gwyneth's death.

In the living room Gwyneth pours tea. Rose starts telling off Sneed for drugging her, saying she felt his hands having a wander and calling him a dirty old man. The Doctor is shown behind her looking incredibly amused.

"You found it funny did you?" Mickey rounds on him.

"Rose is quite funny when she is annoyed. I was amused at her taking him to task. She was perfectly capable of handling it." Nine shrugs, although he was much more annoyed this time around at Sneed's wandering hands.

Rose is still going, telling him off for leaving her with the zombies and demands he start telling them what's going on. Sneed tells them it's not his fault, the house has always had a reputation for being haunted. A few months back the dead began getting restless. As he is talking, Gwyneth puts the tea on the mantelpiece by the Doctor saying it's got two sugars just how he likes it.

"How on Earth does she know that?" Martha asks.

"Sneed said she has the sight. She can see many things that haven't been told to her." Nine informs them grimly.

Dickens keeps denying that any of it is real, calling it morbid fancy. The Doctor gets annoyed at his continual denial and tells him to shut up before asking about the gas. Sneed tells them that is new and never happened before. The Doctor notes this means it is getting stronger and the rift is getting wider. Rose asks what the rift is and he explains it is a weak point in space and time. Sneed explains that's how he got the house so cheap and Dickens walks out of the room.

"So these things are stuck in the rift?" Mickey asks.

"Stuck on the other side of the rift." Jack corrects him. "They must be stuck in gas form over there and they need the bodies to sustain themselves."

"We can't just give them our dead. That's wrong." Donna protests.

Sneed keeps talking about people have always felt queer things in the house and then it cuts to Dickens who is in the hallway. He stops and tries to listen to the whispers by a gas lamp before dismissing it as impossible.

Nine rolls his eyes at this even though he knows Dickens came through and saved both him and Rose eventually.

"Never meet your heroes." Jack comments, seeing the eye roll.

"He came around eventually, good old Charlie." Ten smiles.

In the chapel Dickens takes the lid off Redpath's coffin, and waves his hand in front of the dead man's face. The Doctor watches from the doorway as Dickens searches the coffin. He asks him if he is looking for strings and Dickens replies that there must be a mechanism behind the fraud. The Doctor says he shouldn't have told him to shut up but points out he saw those creatures. They have a conversation about having more to learn about the world.

"Always best to have more to learn. Day I know everything is the day I should just stop." Ten smiles. "It'd be boring knowing everything."

In the pantry Gwyneth lights the lamp and Rose starts washing up. Gwyneth tells her she shouldn't be helping and they talk about wages.

"Eight pounds a year was a lot back then." Nine grins.

"Sorry I didn't research 1869 culture before not knowing I was going there." Rose snarks.

"Never mind, no harm done." He teases. "Just remember to research next time."

Conversation turns to school and boys. Gwyneth admits she likes the butcher's boy and then calls Rose a wild thing when she suggests asking him out. Rose says she needs more in her life than Mr Sneed but Gwyneth thinks that's not fair. He had taken care of her since her parents died at twelve. She then comments that they are waiting for her in paradise and says maybe Rose's dad is waiting for her too. Rose asks who told her he was dead and Gwyneth replies it must have been the Doctor.

"Yeah, I'm sure that just fell into conversation. The Doctor wouldn't tell something like that to a random stranger." Sarah Jane frowns.

"I know. He's already explained she had the sight." Rose assures her.

Gwyneth keeps talking about things she shouldn't know, like how Rose has been thinking about her dad a lot more recently and that she is from a long way away. She explains that she can't help it and her mam told her she had the sight. The Doctor then says it's getting stronger and he appears in the doorway.

"You're going to give someone a heart attack if you keep appearing like that with no warning." Rose tells him.

"You just need better hearing. That rubbish human biology." Nine snickers.

DOCTOR: But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?

Gwyneth agrees it is getting stronger and the Doctor realises that she is the key because she grew up on top of the rift. He then announces they are going to have a seance.

"Seriously? You are going to do a seance?" Sarah Jane asks in astonishment.

"Yep, sounded like fun." Nine gives her a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He knows what comes next and has no desire to watch it again.

In the living room everyone is gathered around a table. Gwyneth takes the lead and instructs that they all hold hands. Dickens says he can't do this and the Doctor tells him to keep an open mind. Dickens keeps protesting and the Doctor tells him not to antagonise her and makes a joke about a happy medium.

"Really?" Jack looks over at Nine and shakes his head. "That's the best you could come up with?"

Dickens sits down between Rose and Gwyneth. The Doctor tells Gwyneth to reach out and she asks the spirits to speak to them. The whispering starts. Gas tendrils drift above their heads. Rose asks that it is saying and the Doctor notes they can't get through the rift. He tells Gwyneth to look deep and allow them through. She moans that she can't but the Doctor keeps pushing and then blue outlines of people appear behind Gwyneth. The figures speak with two children's voices, and Gwyneth speaks with them. They say they need to take the girl to the rift and make the bridge. When the Doctor asks for they reply that they are the last of their kind and face extinction. They explain that they once had physical bodies but Time War devastated them and their bodies wasted away, trapping them in gaseous state.

Rose sighed. She knew now that mentioning the Time War had been a very clever move on their part. The Doctor felt so guilty about that already that hearing it caused them to be trapped like that would mean he wanted to fix that. They pushed all the right buttons and Rose couldn't blame him for trying to help them.

Nine and Ten both looked down at that. They both felt ashamed that they had let their guilt blind them to reality when Rose had seen it instantly. She had tried to stop him and he hadn't listened, allowing his emotions to rule over his head. Rose put her arm around Nine's middle and squeezed him gently while Sarah Jane took Ten's hand, guessing by the look on his face he needed somebody there.

The Doctor guesses this is why they need the corpses and they agree. Rose protests that they can't and the Doctor asks her why not. Rose can't seem to form a proper argument and he just asks if it's not decent or polite but that doesn't matter because it could save their lives.

"It's just wrong Doctor. It is disrespectful of the dead. Would you give the bodies of dead Time Lords to creatures?" Mickey asks looking angry. Nine and Ten both glare at him furiously but don't answer.

The Gelth go back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapses across the table. Rose asks if Gwyneth is ok and Dickens realises that it's all true. A little later, Gwyneth has been laid on the chaise longue. The Doctor tells her that they need her. Rose tells him to leave her alone, that she shouldn't have to fight the Doctor's battles. Sneed and the Doctor have a conversation about aliens being like foreigners. Rose says they are not having Gwyneth and the Doctor points out she can help them by making a bridge to open up the rift and let them through. When Rose protests that he can't let them have dead people he just claims it's like recycling.

"No! That's just wrong." Donna now joins the protest.

"You let your guilt overrule you, didn't you?" Sarah Jane asks Ten quietly. He nods looked shamefaced.

"I should have listened to you. I'm sorry." Nine whispers to Rose. "I've definitely learned my lesson."

"It's ok Doctor. I don't blame you for wanting to help them, I just wished there was a better way and now, well, they say hindsight is twenty twenty." He doesn't reply but buries his face in her hair.

The Doctor and Rose continue to argue until Gwyneth interrupts asking if she gets a say. Rose protests that she doesn't understand and Gwyneth claims she thinks she is stupid. She then turns and asks the Doctor what she has to do and he replies that she doesn't have to do anything.

"You changed your tune." Jack notes.

"I did take Rose's opinion seriously. I also never want to force someone to do something if they really don't want to. There is always a choice." Nine mumbles int Rose's hair.

The Doctor says they need to find the rift and asks Sneed which part of the house has seen the most ghosts and he replies it's the morgue.

"Of course it is." Mickey rolls his eyes.

The screen cuts to a basement where the recently departed lie under white sheets. Rose points out that the Gelth don't succeed because their aren't corpses walking around in the history she knows. The Doctor explains that time is in flux and can change easily. Dickens notes the room is getting colder and a Gelth comes out of a gas lamp by the door and stands under a stone archway. Rose asks them to promise not to hurt Gwyneth but they ignore this and say pity the Gelth.

Everybody who doesn't know what happens became more apprehensive at the fact they ignored Rose's request.

"I should have questioned that further." Nine mutters angrily.

The Doctor tells them this isn't a permanent solution and that he will take them somewhere else. Then he asks where the weak point is and Gwyneth moves to stand under the arch inside the Gelth. Rose trys once more to tell her she doesn't have to do this.

Rose turns and hides her face in Nine's chest. She remembers him telling her he thought she died as soon as she stepped under the bridge. He tightens his arm around her and kisses the top of her head.

The Gelth call out that the bridgehead is establishing. Gwyneth calls for them to come to this world. Gwyneth opens her mouth, and blue gas comes out. The Gelth says she has given herself to the Gelth and the bridge is now open. The sweet blue apparition turns flame red with sharp teeth. It's voice deepens and hardens, saying they will come through in force. Dickens points out they said they were few in number and they correct him stating they are a few billion.

"Another plan gone to hell." Mickey scowls.

The dead get up. Sneed tries to tell Gwyneth to stop it but a corpse grabs Sneed and snaps his neck. A Gelth zooms into his mouth. The Doctor comments it's gone a little wrong.

"You don't say." Donna snorts.

The Doctor tells Gwyneth to send them back. Dead Sneed backs Rose and the Doctor up against a metal gate. Dickens runs out of the room while the Doctor and Rose hide behind the grate. He cries out that he trusted and pitied them. Gelth points out they don't want his pity, they want the world and all its flesh. The Doctor says they won't while he is alive.

"Oh please, that's just asking them to say 'then you will die' or something." Martha laughs despite the tension.

The Gelth say then he won't live anymore. Dickens runs out of the house, but blue gas seeps out round the door. He runs down the street, chased by a Gelth. Rose is asking how she can die if she hasn't even been born yet and the Doctor just apologises. Outside the Gelth call out that the atmosphere is hostile and dives into a streetlight. Dickens realises something about the gas.

"Thank goodness for old Charlie." Nine mutters quietly.

Rose is still asking how she can die so the Doctor explains that time isn't a straight line. She can die and it's all his fault. Rose protests, saying she wanted to come and the Doctor asks about himself. Stating all the things he has seen and now he is going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff. Rose points out that they won't just die, they will become one of the Gelth.

"Aren't you a little ray on sunshine." Jack laughs.

"Yep. Nothing like impending doom to cheer me up." Rose replies, trying for a grin and not quite managing it.

Dickens runs back into Sneed's house and turns the gas lamps off then on again. He holds a handkerchief to his mouth to try and stop himself choking on the unlit town gas as he goes. Rose asks if they will go down fighting and the Doctor agrees. They agree to go down fighting together and hold hands. He tells her he is so glad to have met her and Rose replies she is too.

"I'm still definitely glad I met you." Nine whispers to Rose.

"Me too. Always will be." Rose replies.

Dickens then runs in calling to the Doctor to turn of the flame and turn up the gas. The Doctor doesn't catch on immediately and Dickens tells him again to flood the place with gas. He finally works it out while Rose is still confused. Dickens explains his idea and the Doctor agrees with him. The corpses leave the Doctor and Rose, and start shambling towards Dickens. He backs away mumbling about how he hopes his theory will be validated rather quickly. The Doctor rips a gas pipe from the wall. The Gelth leave the corpses.

"Go Dickens!" Jack grins.

"You were right about him having a brilliant mind." Sarah Jane smiles at Ten.

The Doctor and Rose come out of the alcove and he tells Gwyneth to send them back. Rose complains she can't breath and the Doctor tells Dickens to take her out. She doesn't want to leave and Gwyneth says they are too strong for her to send them back but she can hold them. She brings out a box of matches from her apron pocket. The Doctor yells at Rose to get out, saying he won't leave why Gwyneth is still in danger. Rose and Dickens leave. Dickens leads Rose out. The Doctor feels for a pulse in Gwyneth's neck and then apologies.

"She's dead?" Gasps Donna.

"How is she still talking?" Martha asks.

"She was dead the minute she stepped under the arch. Her body could talk because the Gelth was still inside her." Ten explains.

He kisses her forehead, thanks her and runs out. Gwyneth takes out a match and the Gelth swirl around the Doctor as he runs out of the house. The Doctor runs out into the street as it explodes and he goes flying across the street. Rose comments that Gwyneth didn't make it and the Doctor apologies again, explaining that she closed the rift. He tells Rose he did try but she was already dead and had been for at least five minutes.

"I know you would always try to save everyone." Rose tells him quietly. "If you didn't save her then it was because there was nothing you could do."

"I could have listened to you in the first place." He scowls.

"Well, the rift needed to be closed. I hate that it cost Gwyneth's life but at least the Gelth can't keep possessing dead bodies." She comforts him.

Rose is sad that a servant girl saved the world and nobody will know. Back outside the TARDIS the Doctor announces they they have to go. Rose asks what Dickens will do next. He says that he will be going back to London and spend Christmas with his family. The Doctor comments that he has cheered up and he agrees. Dickens wants to write about what he has seen and Rose asks if that is wise. He promises that it will be subtle at first and contemplates an ending for one of his stories. They wish him luck, Rose shakes Dickens' hand then kisses his cheek. Dickens asks who they are and then whether his books last which the Doctor confirms that they last forever. He then says they have to go into the shed and Dickens asks if both of them are going in. The Doctor says 'down boy' and they disappear inside.

"You gotta admit, to people who don't know it's bigger inside that does look a little...intimate." Jack wriggles his eyebrows over at Rose.

"No wonder you like it so much." Rose sniggers.

IN the TARDIS Rose asks if it changes history if Dickens writes about the Gelth. The Doctor tells her that it's almost 1870 which is the year he dies so he'll never get to tell his story. Rose is upset and the Doctor points out that by Rose's time he was definitely dead. They have given him a new lease of life. The Tardis dematerialises in front of Charles Dickens' astonished eyes. He laughs, and walks away. Somewhere a choir sings Hark the Herald Angels. The screen goes blank.

"Well that was interesting." Sarah Jane lets out a long breath. "Still never a dull moment with you is there?"

"What do I want a dull moment for?" Nine asks.

"After this didn't we go back to visit home? Another shining example of your awful driving." Rose asks him. He thinks for a second and groans. "We get to watch my mum slap you." She giggles.

"And you wonder why I hate domestics." He rolls his eyes playfully.

"Let's move straight onto this one." Ten suggests. This had been rather a good adventure in many ways. Despite the fact she slapped him, Jackie had offered to have him in for dinner which was her way of accepting the fact that Rose had chosen to stay with him. He hadn't taken up the offer but it was a large step in the right direction. It had been the first time that he had seen that Rose trusted him without question. He was also secretly pleased she had chosen him over Mickey again.