As the Doctor hung up the phone, he found himself to be a little sad that Donna didn't want to go to the planet Midnight with him. He knew she would love it- I mean, a sapphire waterfall- come on, that's amazing! But he couldn't blame Donna for wanting to relax a little. Her family and the whole world had just gone through a big ordeal with the Atmos. She wanted to be by herself, so he let her.
The Doctor got on that shuttle, sat in the first seat, and waited for all the other passengers to arrive. He conversed with the Steward as she handed out the complimentary items, "Allons-y! It means French for Let's Go." He decided never to get sick of saying that word.
After Professor Winfold Hobbes and Dee Dee introduced themselves, he heard a certain voice thick with exasperation say, "I'm sitting here!" in response to moving his seat to sit near a couple, he looked back to see seconds before. It sounded familiar, very familiar, even in that tone of voice, and there was no mistaking it.
The Doctor chose not to look back at that moment, as he was sure the rest of the cabin was staring as the dad and mom talked on, "Oh, he's ashamed of us, but he doesn't mind us paying, does he? "Oh, don't you two start." He could only imagine the looks the annoyed-sounding voice was giving to the couple across the row.
Later, the Steward stood at the front of the cabin welcoming the passengers and explaining where the fire exits were. That was followed up by a pilot message informing them of an alternative route.
Noise and light filled the room as everyone pulled out headphones and books to distract them from the 4-hour journey to the waterfall. The blonde passenger on the opposite side of him rolled her eyes in annoyance. The Time Lord whipped out his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button for a few moments to shut it all off. He could hear someone saying, "What Mercy," as others questioned what they would do now. Groans were heard as The Doctor suggested they talk to one another instead. He was looking forward to introducing himself to everyone else, especially to the owner of that voice.
Next thing he knew, he was listening to a delightful story about a pool being abstract, which also captivated Professor Hobbes and Dee Dee. Right then, he locked eyes with the goth-looking young man, who gave him a knowing look.
Yep, he's heard that voice and seen that face months before in Camelot.
The Tardis landed in what looked to be a humble town. People were moving about getting water for their homes and buying herbs and food in the market area; others were moving supplies in wheelbarrows and on the back of horses. It looked old, medieval even. The women wore long dresses with simple patterns on the front with cloaks clasped at their necks; the men wore simple shirts, vests, and loose-fitting pants. They all were in monotone colors of brown, blue, off-white, green, and orange.
The Doctor and Donna began walking about to get their bearings of where they were- Donna decided to walk to a small booth that was selling beautiful-looking accessories to put in one's hair when a man on a horse rode by wearing chainmail and a vibrant red cloak with a yellow looking dragon sown on the right arm. While Donna was admiring the short-haired man's sleeveless bicep sticking out, the Doctor came up behind her with a sing-song voice, "Ah, we're in Camelot." He smiled and leaned in closer to her to whisper loudly, "and that must be a Knight of the Roundtable."
Donna looked at him agape, "You. Are. Kidding. Like with the sword, and the joisting, and King Arthur?"
"Yeah," the Doctor said in a high-pitched, excited voice once again, "I've always wanted to come here. I actually once convinced a lot of people that I was the wizard himself." Donna's eyes widened as she questioned, "You mean like Merlin?" Donna must have said that a little too loud because a young man in a blue shirt and a red handkerchief around his neck looked at the two of them and asked, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
The Doctor didn't waver in his smile when he started apologizing, "Oh no, no. Sorry. I'm the Doctor, and this is Donna," Donna smiled politely, "We're just visiting from a distant land near Berth. We heard about some herbs here in Camelot that we wanted to try and thought could help some people in our village" quickly coming up with a plausible lie.
The boy looked at him questioningly, "Are you wanting to see Gauis, the court physician, he is an expert on all things herbs. It's just that I heard my name, Merlin?" The Doctor looked at Donna in surprise and back at the man, "You... you're Merlin?" Donna could not believe what she had heard.
Poor Merlin's eyes went wide as the ginger lady in front of him loudly exclaimed, "That's Wizard."
