The Doctor and his friends meet old allies of Sarah Jane Smith in London and work alongside UNIT as the Daleks attack - but the first encounter for the new Doctor with his greatest foes proves a risky one as they have a trick up their sleeve...
First part of two part story along with 'Dalekmania'.
At 13 Bannerman Road, Luke Smith, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra are in their attic base, investigating the latest bizarre events in London.
Sarah Jane had wanted her home closed down following her death, and for the Bannerman Road gang to move on - but they decided that they couldn't do that, and that Sarah Jane didn't really want them to, either.
She thought it would be best for them, but it definitely wasn't. Since her death, there hasn't really been a leader of the gang, nor a visit from the Doctor. They didn't even need him 99% of the time. The gang had defeated creatures from Slitheen to Cybermen, with no need to call Sarah Jane's old best friend. But this one gives them no leads, and they are genuinely lost and stumped.
Rani walks into the room holding a newspaper, where the middle page has a headline that Clyde doesn't recognise, but one that strikes fear straight into Luke's heart.
"Rani, Clyde. We can't do anything... this one is out of our control," Luke panics, pacing the room and biting his nails frantically. "Where is Sky?"
Clyde shrugs his shoulders. "She went out with a few friends to let us investigate. She'll be fine."
Rani still doesn't understand why Luke is panicking so much. "Why is the headline such a problem Luke?"
"Ring this number," Luke says, before pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket with a phone number on it. "Zero seven seven zero zero nine hundred four six one."
Rani obliges and gives the phone to Luke. Clyde picks up the newspaper to examine the headline, bemused as to why Luke is panicking so much. The Bannerman Road gang have handled absolutely everything that London has thrown at them since the death of their leader Sarah Jane a few years ago. Clyde scoffs in bemusement and slams the newspaper down onto the table.
The headline?
"Man found in alleyway... exterminated..."
"Rubbish song! I hate this one!" the Doctor groans, refusing to dance to this one if that's the song.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with ABBA, Doctor!" Diana complains back. The Doctor doesn't seem to think so and pulls out his sonic screwdriver, and uses it to cycle through the playlist created by Diana and David for their fortnightly dancing sessions.
Finally, the Doctor finds a song that he considers to be worthy of his dancing. His... interesting dancing.
Back in Black by AC/DC rings throughout the TARDIS as the Doctor attempts his best impression of dance moves and failing miserably. David and Diana are immensely humoured by the Doctor's absolutely abysmal attempts at dancing, and are unable to join in despite trying because they're laughing that much. The Doctor dances as if he is drunk at a wedding, like he always does on nights like that. Dancing wildly out of tune aggravates the laughter from his best friends, who hold each other enjoying and savouring the moment. David even manages to record it on his super iPhone, one that the Doctor has kitted out to have a battery that's bigger on the inside, holding a charge that will only die in 507 years time.
But just as the song hits its apex in the chorus, the TARDIS phone rings. David and Diana are totally perplexed, as they didn't even know that the phone in the phone box actually worked. The Doctor is exactly the opposite - slightly peed off that his mojo has been interrupted.
"Duty calls, as per," the Doctor moans, as he doesn't feel he can catch a break. The Doctor applies the sonic to turn off the music, so that when he picks up the phone he can respectfully talk in peace.
To get the phone, he opens the right hand TARDIS door, whilst the ship is flying over the sky of the party planet Disco, and opens the small door containing the phone and drags it with him into the TARDIS.
"Hello, the TARDIS," the Doctor answers, marching back to the console in extreme irritation.
"Doctor, it's Luke Smith. Sarah's son, you remember?" Luke answers.
The Doctor takes a second to respond - he didn't head to Sarah Jane's funeral, through fear his hearts would break having to see his best friend laid to rest. Whilst he attended Yasmin's funeral a few days ago, he did ponder on his absence at Sarah's. He assumes that this call is for Luke to scold him about that, but he doesn't mention it in case it isn't.
"Of course I remember, Luke. Glad to hear you remembered me, too," the Doctor gleefully says. "So, what can I help you with?"
Luke clears his throat, as what he's about to say is acknowledgement and fear about the last time he ran into them.
"People have been disappearing in London for the last week, randomly," Luke begins. Unbeknownst to him, the Doctor is simply half listening, thinking this time they must be lazy and want the Doctor to do the hard work. "And a newspaper article says..." he continues, suddenly arousing the Doctor's interest. "...they were exterminated."
Luke knows what that means.
The Doctor certainly knows what that means. The phone drops from his ear, as he knows exactly what the threat is from just one word.
"I'm on my way," the Doctor grimly announces, running back to put the phone back into its holder in the exterior, and running back to the console and setting the destination for 13 Bannerman Road.
Diana and David look on in utter bemusement when the Doctor pulls the dematerialisation lever, leaving planet Disco.
"Doctor, what the hell is going on?" Diana enquires.
The Doctor continues to prepare the TARDIS for its journey to Bannerman Road, and in doing so doesn't answer.
"Doctor," she reprimands, unimpressed. This time the Doctor will respond.
"There are these things. The most dangerous things. Well, species. The most dangerous species in the universe. I have ran into them plenty of times. Even fought in a war against them," the Doctor provides the most basic exposition for his companions.
"How bad, scale of 1 to 10?" David asks, slightly perturbed but still intrigued nonetheless.
"Think of the most dangerous thing we've ever come across," the Doctor instructs.
"Your dancing..." Diana whispers, with the Doctor clicking his fingers in disappointment.
He continues. "The most dangerous thing you've ever personally come across. What made you feel the most scared, what made you feel the most vulnerable."
Diana and David nod. The Doctor looks over at them, and slowly walks over to them.
"Good," he says. "Now add a zero on the end and square it. That's just one of them." He now continues to fly the TARDIS, pulling the dematerialisation lever so the ship can travel through the time vortex to London, 2023.
"What the hell are they?" Diana demands the answer in fear, as the Doctor just had them think of a huge number, add a zero and square it.
The Doctor stops fiddling with the controls and looks over to them, sternly.
"They're called the Daleks," the Doctor grimly announces.
Luke continues to provide more exposition for his friends about what the Daleks are, and is amazed that Clyde and Rani don't remember anything about the Dalek invasion.
"Planets in the sky? Weird looking pepper pots? How the hell can you not remember?" Luke questions.
Rani shrugs her shoulders. "Absolutely no idea what you're on about. Are you okay?"
Clyde laughs at Luke's seemingly ludicrous rants and stories. "Luke you have got to be mad. Pepper pots moving Earth and trying to kill everything?"
Suddenly, the famous blue box, the TARDIS itself materialises in the attic of Bannerman Road, bringing a great joy to the faces of Luke, Rani and Clyde.
After a few seconds, the right hand door opens, and the Doctor pops his head out of it.
"Ah, hello! Luke, Rani and Clyde! Oh good to see you!" the Doctor cheers, heading out to hug each of them.
"Why are you always a white male?" Clyde asks, randomly.
The Doctor's spell of enjoyment and happiness is suddenly metamorphosed into one of confusion. "What?" is all he can say as his smile falls into a confused and slightly offended heap.
"I've been an old guy, a woman, the skinny guy in a suit again and a black guy since we last met. But who cares? Time Lords are billions of years ahead of you and we don't even care about skin colours or gender," the Doctor attempts to educate Clyde with. He flicks his red velvet jacket behind his hands and stuffs those hands into the pockets of his jet black trousers. Today, he had decided to wear a blue shirt with his black waistcoat, on recommendation from Diana, which complimented the "suit" pretty well.
Speaking of, Diana and David also exit the TARDIS, with the latter closing the door behind him. They had never met the Bannerman Road gang before, so this was a first introduction, so the Doctor had a lot to do.
"Diana, David - meet the Bannerman Road boys! And girl..." the Doctor awkwardly announces. "Sorry, Rani."
"It's okay," she smiles. "I'm the leader here anyway." This would attract argument from Clyde and Luke, and a chuckle from the Doctor and Diana.
"Luke, Rani, Clyde. London's finest private investigators," the Doctor proclaims. "And Diana and David, my best friends."
"Awwww," Diana mocks, and David this time cracks a smile, mainly to dispel the awkwardness he feels.
The Doctor tutts. "Any arguments then, Redgrave?"
"Nope, so long as you don't dance to AC/DC ever again," he jokes.
This sentiment is not best received by the Time Lord, but there isn't time to waste. This is an urgent call about the Daleks, and only two people in the room can actually remember who the hell they are.
The Doctor walks over to Luke and shakes his hand.
"I'm sorry," is all he says. He was sorry about Sarah Jane, and sorry about not attending her funeral. Luke did not reply to the apology, neither accepting or rejecting it.
"Daleks. It has to be, right?" Luke ponders with the Doctor.
The Doctor nods, to the fear of Luke. "Unfortunately so. But it's okay, you've got your secret weapon," The Doctor spins around on the spot, bigging himself up as the secret weapon. "And this secret weapon has five geniuses to help him. So, show me what you've got!"
Luke, Rani and Clyde oblige, showing the Doctor, Diana and David all of their evidence collated, as Luke and the Doctor explain about the Daleks to the other four bemused members of the team.
A man, walking along a secluded, empty street and pushing a pram with his son in it, continues his phone conversation with his wife.
"I- we'll be home soon, honey. I promise," he conveys. "I love you."
After receiving the reciprocation of the feelings, he ends the call and stuffs his phone into his pocket. To cut time short, he could simply cut through a quick alleyway. So that's exactly what he would do.
Shushing his son as it cries, the man takes his eyes off of walking forward. Eventually, he crashes his pram into something. Cursing himself, as his son cries even more now. However, the man was unable to move on forward. A blue light at around his eye level would now emit, protruding from the object he crashed his pram into.
The object would utter a word, bemusing the man for only a second.
"Exterminate," is the word, and the man screams and the baby's cries are silenced, as a lone Dalek hiding in the shadows ruthlessly exterminates its latest two victims. This would be a little different, though.
They are not bones. They are left perfectly untouched and unscratched, so the Dalek can spatially shift itself and the two deceased humans to a ship disguised above London.
"Missing people? Why is this so disturbingly common?" the Doctor asks, looking for some clues on maps and in newspapers as to where the Daleks, who they assume responsible, are exterminating these victims.
"I don't know, it's happened a lot in London in the last few years. Especially since the Zygons," Rani informs the Doctor. Interesting information, he felt.
Downstairs in the kitchen, David is making tea for Diana and Luke, the latter of which is explaining everything he knows about the Daleks to them.
"One day, they stole the Earth from where it's meant to be, and tried to use it and other planets to power a bomb to destroy reality. My mum helped the Doctor stop it," a now crestfallen Luke says, upon mentioning his mother.
David quickly changes the subject. "I bet I would remember something like this."
"That's the thing. Nobody who wasn't involved in stopping them can remember," Luke explains. "You must've been just kids as well. I'm a bit older than you guys. I was 14 when this happened, and it's been 20 years, 2009."
"The Doctor says you're both 26, right?" he asks. They nod in agreement. "Yeah, I'm just the one year older. Anyways, sorry about the fact you're kind of new to this. Still, travelling with the Doctor is something I've never done, unlike my mum. One of his best friends."
Diana and David exchange confused looks, before Diana realises something.
"He told you earlier he was sorry. Sorry for what? Did your mother die fighting the Daleks?" she enquires, much to the disapproval of David. However, Luke gestures that it's okay.
"No. She died protecting the Earth, as it always meant to be. He said sorry for not going to the funeral," Luke regretfully admits, sparking shock and slight outrage from Diana and David.
The outrage turns into upset.
"He calls us his best friends, though," David realises too. "What if we die and he doesn't show up either?"
Diana doesn't want to think about it, and besides he just attended Yasmin's funeral, and he told them how much she meant to him once upon a time. "Come on, Luke. Let's get back to the Doctor and your friends."
The Doctor still deliberates in the attic before FINALLY figuring out one coincidence.
"Of course! The Daleks are too loud to be shouting around in the streets and these people are going missing, with no records of dead bodies, so... where are the darkest and most dangerous places in London?" he explains and questions, pointing at several alleyways on the map. "The alleyways."
The five humans in the room, artificial or naturally born, all struggle to keep up with the Doctor's incredible thinking speed. It's one of his many traits as a Time Lord, with a slow perception of time in his head appearing to make him think quicker. But it's something this Doctor has honed over his travels with Diana and David, as he's needed to think quickly a lot to keep up with a married human couple, and to get all of them out of scrapes.
"Doctor! Slow down," Clyde demands.
The Doctor smiles. "You're not kids anymore. You're London's finest." This produces beaming grins on all three of the present Bannerman Road gang, and one of approval from the Doctor's companions.
David is completely bemused. He doesn't have a clue what to do - the Doctor has buoyed the Daleks up to be the most dangerous things in the whole of creation. So much so that they even apparently flung the Earth through time and space.
For the last few moments, Diana has been standing, pondering about a plan. For most of their adventures so far, the solutions have come from the Doctor and David. Diana, whilst being clever and witty, hasn't saved a life or outwitted a foe. The Doctor has had moments alone with her to reassure her, because he's enjoyed travelling with both companions equally - he couldn't imagine travelling without Diana, or David. They are a pair that go together.
Her long thinking finally concluded. She's picked up on the one thing that the Doctor and the others haven't.
"But there aren't any bodies left over after people have gone missing, save for a few," Diana points out. "So, I think the Daleks NEED them for something. They go missing, some here screams, but no bodies left. The Daleks aren't leaving the remains."
The Doctor looks over at Diana, a look that gives her anxiety about whether or not she was right. But the Doctor's eyes suddenly open wide, and his left eyebrow raises in realisation.
"Diana, you genius!" the Doctor exclaims. "The Daleks don't care about what they leave behind because they know they have the fire power to destroy an entire civilisation by breakfast. So, clearly these lot lurking are in desperation to escape!"
Luke realises too. "Daleks wouldn't bother killing in secrecy, they've always been on about an eternal war against everything non Dalek. They MUST need something!"
"How did we miss that?" the bemused Doctor questions himself, and Luke. "Good thing Di is around then." He gives her a reassuring smile.
"Well done. Time Lord and still misses the obvious," David says. Diana laughs in pleasure that she got this one before the razor sharp thinking of the Doctor, or the practical labouring thinking of David.
The Doctor now thinks of the next step. "Okay, so the Daleks are murdering random people in secret, teleporting away their bodies and..."
Mr Smith, the super computer that only ever activates when one of the Bannerman Road gang says that they need him, suddenly activates, and turns on. With his fanfare, and all.
"Oh, great. No Sarah Jane and yet he still plays his intro music like he's a sci-fi star," the Doctor complains. "Besides, none of us activated you. What's up, Smithy?"
"Incoming extraterrestrial call for the Bannerman Road gang," Mr Smith details, and everyone present in the room knows exactly who it's from. "From the species known as the 'Daleks'."
Sky Smith walks down the same street as the man did with his son earlier, alone as she head to meet some friends that she hasn't seen for a while. Her social life outside of Luke, Rani and Clyde has taken a drastic hit since she pledged a lot of her time to the Bannerman Road gang, and following the death of Sarah Jane, the four members have had to spend more time on the gang.
None of them really had anywhere near the same level of experience as Sarah Jane did, having travelled with the Doctor for so long. But they were learning.
However, Sky had no idea of the discovery made by the Bannerman Road gang, and by association the discovery by, and the return of, the Doctor. So she had no idea of the dangers that simply walking through London posed to her safety.
Sky hears a glass battle smash in the alleyway directly to the right of her, but no other noises. No grunt, no punches thrown, nothing. A deafening silence follows, and Sky decides to investigate, walking down that alleyway. Unable to see, but inquisitive as ever, she pursues the sound, which is repeated by another smashed glass bottle.
"Hello?" Sky asks, continuing to tiptoe forward gently. Another glass bottle smash would be heard, but Sky would quickly realise something.
There were no smashed bottles. Sky had been fooled. It was a Dalek, unbeknownst to Sky, and it has used the distraction to scan Sky and register her as bait. Bait to bring out the Bannerman Road gang, and stop them from interfering in Dalek plans.
"Spatial shift enabled," the shrouded Dalek would say, and even though Sky would run as fast she could, she wouldn't escape the Daleks - not many can. She would be teleported to an invisible ship above London, stationary and unnoticeable, leaving her now rather frightened, understandably. Scanning the ship, she would notice six Daleks patrolling, with a red Supreme version controlling the ship. Hundreds of humans were stacked in the corner for a reason unknown to her - and she feared she could be next.
"Human secured," the Dalek who captured Skye revealed.
"Excellent. Establish contact with Bannerman Road to ensure Dalek plans are not disrupted," the Supreme Dalek commanded. They knew the Bannerman Road gang was present, but had no idea of the assistance they had, too.
Mr Smith struggled to transmit the message to the Doctor, Diana, David and the associates of Bannerman Road, for some unknown reason. In an attempt to fix the supercomputer up, the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to meddle with the super computer's functioning in order for it to transmit the message that they all knew would be from the Daleks.
Upon success, with the Doctor still out of the sight of the Daleks, the villains of Skaro would address Bannerman Road.
Luke's face suddenly grinds up into one of anger.
"What on Earth do you want? Go away!" he ferociously shouts at them.
"Daleks do not follow orders from pathetic humans," one Dalek calmly states.
"Daleks are here to caution Bannerman Road to cease interference with plans to escape planet Earth," another one dialects.
The Doctor suddenly looks up, still out of view, mentally noting that one down for when he confronts them later.
Rani jumps in. "Escaping Earth? So you're stuck here?"
"Daleks are never stuck!" the second one angrily proclaims at Rani.
The Doctor giggles slightly. "They're stuck," he says, through a giggle.
"Cease laughter at once!" the Supreme Dalek would command, so the Doctor silenced his giggle but continues in order for the Bannerman Road gang and his companions to continue speaking to the Daleks.
"Further interference in Dalek plans will lead to maximum extermination!" the Supreme Dalek warns.
Diana sees immediately a fault in this. "But if you knew these guys were investigating your little incursions, wouldn't you have just exterminated them anyway?"
The Supreme Dalek stares at the screen, sending shivers down the spine of each of the five humans. But it had been rattled, so the recently captured bait of theirs had to be used to reinforce their position.
"Oh she's good," the Doctor mouths over very quietly in the general vicinity of David, with an approving thumbs up.
In response to Diana correctly pointing out that the Daleks clearly are ill-equipped for widespread extermination, or a confrontation with an intelligent group, the Supreme Dalek plays its ace.
"A further incursion will lead to the extermination of this girl," the Supreme Dalek proclaims, with the camera panning over to Sky. This infuriates Rani especially, but during the panning, the Doctor and his two regular companions count six Daleks and confer with each other the amount, greatly pleasing the Doctor that their number is so few.
"If you lay a finger on her I will kill you!" she screams in ferocity as fierce as the Daleks themselves.
They would duly note that.
"You would make a good Dalek," is all the Supreme would chillingly state before cancelling the call.
An infuriated Clyde heads for the front door. "If they touch her!"
He's interrupted by the sound of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver locking the door.
"I admire your bravery and determination but I'm sorry, one Dalek could slaughter London. Six would kill you in less than a second," the Doctor calmly exposes. "Plan. Easy. There's six. I've taken on whole armies on my own. We're going to need to split up, though."
The Doctor heads over to the whiteboard in the planning room at 13 Bannerman Road, with a map sticking on it, and opens the pen in the bottom of his sonic screwdriver and begins to write each name, followed by their role in the plan.
"Okay. Clyde and Rani, my two... partners? Anyways, your task is to block off every alleyway you can find, or discourage people from entering them at least in THIS area," the Doctor explains, circling the designated area in south west London, and using the sonic screwdriver to unlock the door he previously stopped Clyde from exiting through. The two stand there nodding, before the Doctor hurries them off. "Go go go go!"
The Doctor turns now to David and Luke, to address them.
"David and Luke. I need you two to investigate other alleyways nearby the circled area and determine if they are also Dalek zones. As well as this, see if they like shadows in general. Report your findings to Clyde and Rani, who can act with you accordingly. David with experience, Luke with the sheer genius," the Doctor further explains, as the two run off as well.
David kisses Diana, in good luck for them both and in love, before running off with Luke to conduct the Doctor's plan for them.
This leaves only Diana. This leaves her slightly intimated and upset, as the only one without a function in the plan so far. Turning back to face her, the Doctor smiles broadly.
"Now. You're the smartest one here. I know I called Luke the genius, but you're the most logical thinker like me, so you're the cleverest one for me," the Doctor compliments, which is taken very seriously by Diana as she has so far felt insecure during her travels so far with the Doctor. "I need you in the TARDIS, checking the scanner in case anything sneaks up on me."
Diana does feel slightly underwhelmed. "Sneaks up on you?"
"Mhm. I'm heading up to the Dalek ship, I'll find a suitable alleyway, they'll scan my binary vascular system and beam me up as if I'm Scotty," the Doctor jokes. Diana still doesn't seem impressed.
"Why can't I come with you then?" she asks.
The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "You're human. They'd just shoot you dead. And I'm not risking that one." The Doctor begins to walk off.
Diana acknowledges that, but still feels under appreciated. "I would."
He turns back to face her, and walks down to her.
"And I'm not, end of story," is the stern command he retorts. "One Dalek could wipe out this entire country."
"You only said London," Diana points out, confused by the Doctor's contradiction.
He chuckles. "Rule one: the Doctor lies."
Placing his hands on her shoulders, the Doctor speaks seriously to Diana.
"One of the most important things I need for going onto that Dalek ship, completely unarmed, to face stuck Daleks that are still Daleks nonetheless, is the backing and security of my best friend," the Doctor pleads. "Can you do that for me?"
Diana now finally realises the importance of her role - without her, the Doctor would be walking onto a Dalek ship completely blindsided and with no idea what to expect. This leads her to nod in agreement, and the Doctor hugs her in thanks.
"I'm going to stick something into my ear that will give the TARDIS monitors my eyesight for now. But what it will also do is allow you to see directly through walls and augment the sound you receive, to detect anything that might sneak up on me," the Doctor explains her role in more detail. "Enjoy."
The Doctor pulls the receptor out of his pocket and puts it into his ear, as Diana heads to the TARDIS in order to be the Doctor's eyes and ears. Just as she's about to go upstairs to the attic, where the TARDIS is placed, the Doctor gives her one last reassuring message.
"The Doctor and Diana Walker, taking on the Daleks head on," he grins. Diana looks back, smiling similarly.
"What a duo," is her pleased reply, one the Doctor finds as reassuring as his remark just before.
She heads up to the TARDIS, and the Doctor leaves the Bannerman Road residence, as the Bannerman Road gang and the TARDIS team combine to combat against the Daleks.
Six on six…
Luke and David are walking through south west London, investigating every shadow and area of darkness that they can, writing down each one with suspicious properties. Each one they label dangerous is relayed to Rani and Clyde to have cordoned off.
Luke has a scanner to detect temporal disturbances in a given area, which he uses to check every suspicious area.
Seemingly every single dark patch is labelled by the pair to be of danger to the general public. It's getting to be a ridiculous amount within a few minutes, so they consider calling in a higher authority.
"This is ridiculous! Every single alleyway in the area is literally riddled with signs of disturbance!" David exclaims in irritation.
Luke rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I can't lie I saw that one coming. There's not much four of us can do to cover every damn alleyway in London. We're going to have to call in UNIT, to seal off all of south west London."
Luke contacts Clyde to get him to contact UNIT on behalf of the Bannerman Road gang, a known independent and authorised investigative branch. He tasks Clyde with this job as David clearly has an itching question on his lips.
"What?" he frustratedly enquires.
David chuckles quietly. "Isn't it obvious? What makes the Doctor missing your mum's funeral so annoying and what actually makes you so resentful?"
A question that Luke thought the answer was obvious to, but David has never even heard of him or his mother before, so he has no idea about what the Doctor meant to Sarah Jane, and why Luke is irritated by his absence.
"My mum was with the Doctor for years. Met so many versions of him. He even called her his 'best friend'. But one day, he had to go back to his home planet, and dropped her off 400 miles from where she lived. Didn't even apologise for it until thirty years had passed," Luke explained, shocking David. "My mother died a few years ago, and only now does the Doctor show up, pretending like nothing ever happened."
David places his hand on the shoulder of the distressed and upset Luke, who took a moment to breathe before continuing his explanation.
"At any point, any Doctor could've put aside a few hours for the funeral of his 'best friend'. But what, this is the Sixteenth Doctor? He met her in his third incarnation, and from the twelfth onwards they never saw her again. A special place was left for him, and he was meant to deliver a eulogy," he continues. "But he didn't even have the guts to show up."
"Perhaps it's because he was too scared of what he would feel?" David attempts to give reasoning, which he immediately realised was futile.
Luke was less than impressed by David's remark. "She was my mum, and a hero to many people. Even more than him. They all felt it more than he did."
Where the pair were stood was a shop much loved by Sarah Jane, a simple haberdashery shop to supply her with wool and other items for knitting, a hobby she developed in her spare time. Luke stared at the shop's front, frowning explicitly, before speaking again to David in a chilling tone without looking away.
"You and Diana are his best friends now, right? Imagine if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, and you had to prepare your funeral. Would the Doctor be important in the proceedings?" Luke asked.
David nodded in agreement. "You bet, we're like the Three Space Musketeers."
Luke's tone remains unfazed. "And I bet he wouldn't even turn up. How does the prospect of that make you feel? That happened to my mum. You get shot by some Daleks, lost in battle against the Cybermen, blown up on a spaceship, whatever. My money's on the Doctor getting into that TARDIS and flying off without a care."
Those words pierced David like a thorn through his heart. They were pretty heavy, and Luke seemed extremely potent in his belief in them. What if that did happen to them? What if, the unthinkable happened, and even worse, their best friend wouldn't show up to the funeral to say a goodbye? A time traveller with all the time in the world. He wouldn't have an excuse.
David pulled Luke simply into a hug, as he hears a helicopter fly over him - it's UNIT, they have arrived and they are here to cordon off all of south west London, and able to cordon off any area nearby at will if required.
The emotional embrace would be broken by Clyde and Rani sprinting around the corner in order to meet David and Luke. Now that Clyde and Rani are free, they can investigate more places at once, and alert authorities at will.
"Split up, cover more ground. We can find out if any more places in the surrounding area are actually infested by Daleks," Rani instructs, with Clyde, Luke and David all nodding in agreement before splitting up accordingly, with a single UNIT soldier for accompany, authorisation and protection.
"What the hell is your vision, Doctor?" Diana asks, absolutely startled by what she sees on the TARDIS monitor as the Doctor's eyesight. It's enormous - its range is unbelievable, it's like a pair of binoculars.
The Doctor continues to walk through London, speaking to Diana and requesting elaboration. "What, is it bad? I've had worse I hope."
"Bad? How on earth would that be bad? Your eye sight is ridiculously good," Diana explains, to the delight of the Doctor. "It's like looking through a telescope. Do Time Lords have some special space senses or something?"
That last bit would offend the Doctor, though. "Space senses? Hey, if anything, you're the aliens. We're dated to have discovered macrotransmittable synoptic dance clubs billions of years before the first human Neanderthal was even born."
The 'macrotransmittsble synoptic dance club' thing sounded like an absolute bunch of rubbish. "Did you just come up with a bunch of random stuff composed of big words and say that's proof that Time Lords are billions of years ahead of humans?"
The Doctor goes silent for a second - his impenetrable plan had just been penetrated. "...Maybe. Well, you know we are though. We have time and space machines, developed a mastery of foreign dimensions and found a way to rebirth after death, whilst you're all still stuck on TikTok or whatever it is people like to use in 2023," the Doctor fumes. "Watch out for TikTok. Especially around 2032. Gets a bit... electrifying."
Diana chuckles - a Doctor joke to lighten the mood and change the subject from something serious and to alleviate the stress of the danger they're currently facing. "Good one, Doctor."
The Doctor is bemused by this reply. "I wasn't joking," he says. "Seriously, couple hundred volts go ZAP right through every single device that has it installed. The one thing Mark Zuckerberg doesn't own." This was quite worrying to hear for Diana, which the Doctor notices. "Don't worry, by 2027 most have moved back over to Instagram and YouTube again anyway, and the natural order is restored."
After conversing about literally anything for a while, the Doctor finally arrives in south west London. His plan hasn't been cleared by anyone other than Diana, who even then reluctantly allowed him.
"For the last time, I'm a time traveller who has lived for 3,000 years, and developed the word 'Doctor' directly into the fears of the creatures with no fears. So yes, I know what I'm doing," the Doctor explains, again.
"So what are you doing?" Diana smugly asks, knowing that the Doctor is just going to wing it.
"Whatever you're thinking, it's right. I'm 100% winging it. Always been good at that," the Doctor jokes. UNIT wouldn't authorise such a risky plan, so the Doctor has to find a way to sneak into one of the shadows without a UNIT employee noticing him. He has no idea how a human thinks, he just runs through everywhere and when with them. So, he'll ask his best friend.
"Di, any ideas?" he whispers, with his back to a wall to ensure he isn't spotted, before checking his surroundings.
Diana uses the enhanced hearing of the Doctor's ear-pods to determine that nobody is around the corner, as no sound waves that would be produced by a human walking are detected from around the corner.
"Turning the corner is all good. That's got to be one of the alleyways that UNIT haven't managed to tidy up just yet," Diana informs the Doctor.
The Doctor grins.
"It's show time," he proclaims, before turning the corner and heading down the alleyway.
Clasping his hand yet again, like he did when he faced the Renegade, the Doctor is undetected in the alleyway. Perhaps a sound has to be made for the Daleks to determine the presence of somebody. So, the Doctor pulls out the sonic screwdriver, and activates it to generate a piercing sound for the Daleks to track. And sure enough, they detect it rather quickly.
A bronze Dalek teleports down to the alleyway where the Doctor is present, and the eyestalk switches on, with the blue light aggressively switching on.
"Exterminate!" the Dalek proclaims.
The Doctor puts his hands up. "Wait wait wait! Scan me. You need humans. I'm not human."
The Dalek takes a second to scan the Doctor, unbeknownst to who he is. Detecting his binary vascular system, the Dalek moves back slightly, worried about who and what he might be.
"You will be taken to the Dalek mothership," the Dalek informs.
"Oh goodie, that's why I'm here," the Doctor smiles. "Take me to your leader. God, that never gets old to say."
The Dalek and the Doctor are teleported up to the ship above London, into the main room with the Supreme Dalek and three of the other five Daleks. The Doctor is amused that the ship is placed directly above the city they're attempting to terrorise, and begins to walk around the room.
"Wow, you guys really are uninventive," the Doctor teases.
"Binary vascular system detected - you are non-human. Explain!" the Supreme Dalek bites.
The Doctor's face suddenly falls into one of anger, as he turns to face the Supreme Dalek. "Give me Sky Smith. Then I might just tell you."
The Supreme Dalek stays firm, but the Doctor's glare is enough to strike fear into the creatures unable to fear.
"The human," the Supreme Dalek demands. One of the other Daleks enters the room, with Sky walking directly next to it. The Doctor gives Sky a reassuring look - he is going to get them both out of here.
The Doctor gestures for Sky to come over and stand with him, and despite the Daleks' behest, she runs over to him, and hugs him... not even knowing who he is.
"Sky, Sky. Hey, it's me, the Doctor. I'm getting us out of here, don't you worry," he whispers into her ear whilst hugging her.
"Doctor... what they're doing with the bodies... please stop it, I'm begging you," she cries, with the Doctor hugging her tighter.
As she silently sobs into his red velvet jacket, the Doctor faces the Supreme Dalek again.
"Exterminating human bodies, keeping them entirely fresh, and removing them from where they were," the Doctor begins. "A group of Daleks avoiding invading and are stuck over London. So, what are you using these bodies for?"
The Supreme Dalek refuses to respond. "Identify."
The Doctor is less than pleased, and speaks more firmly. "Tell me the use for the corpses first. And then maybe I won't be so harsh."
The Supreme Dalek grows more irritated, but elaborates slightly in order to trigger the Doctor. "They are but a pawn for our plans. The plans for the Daleks to become the masters of Earth."
With Sky letting go of him, the Doctor charges forward to the Supreme Dalek in anger. "Stop being cryptic you useless pepperpot. Tell me!"
The Supreme Dalek grows more suspicious of who the two hearted individual is. "Identify yourself, or the human will be exterminated."
The Doctor relents, accepting the slight defeat here, but is prepared to turn it around to strike fear into the mechanised hearts of the Daleks.
"Fine. Been there against you since day one of your creation. You've got a plunger because of me. You were delayed for hundreds of thousands of years because of me. Stopped you everywhere and everywhen. It's actually quite funny how many complex plans I've stopped with nothing but words and my brain," the Doctor gloats. "Anything you've tried, even moving planets, invading literally anywhere you can. That enough for you?"
The Supreme Dalek does not respond - clearly that means no. Usually, they scream something like 'The Doctor is detected!'
"Okay. How about this?" the Doctor asks, pivoting and turning to walk around the ship. "I've been called many, many names in the history of the Daleks. I'm a bit of a legend to you guys. The Bringer of Darkness, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Oncoming Storm..."
"But here's one name that, even deep down in your silly little hearts, programmed to avoid any emotion, you fear like nothing else," the Doctor coldly states. Still walking around aimlessly, he eventually stands right next to Sky, and looks directly at the Supreme Dalek. "Hello again. I'm the Doctor."
David and Clyde bump into each other, as they and their individual UNIT soldiers. Both men had found absolutely nothing and it looks like UNIT had successfully cordoned off every place in London that the Daleks had 'contaminated'. It seemed extremely boring, and the pair were slightly tired and swept off their feet.
"Fancy a coffee?" David jokes. Clyde laughs back.
"Sounds good," he answers. The two signal for the soldiers to stand outside of the café, promising to get them a coffee, too.
Clyde orders two espressos for them, and upon receiving them joins David at the table. Giving him his coffee, he notices that David is wearing a clearly upset and thoughtful face.
"All good, Redgrave?" Clyde asks in jest.
David rubs his eyes. "Well, Luke told me about Sarah Jane, her funeral... and the Doctor. Clyde looks awkward, and down to his coffee. "Sorry, that makes things very awkward, doesn't it?"
"No, no. It's fine. I get it. You worried at that could be you one day?" Clyde asks, with a silent acknowledgement from David. "I don't think it would be. This Doctor seems more chilled than the ones I've met."
"How many are there?" David frustratedly asks. The Doctor has been vague on the subject of his past regenerations, probably to not confuse David, as regeneration is a confusing concept for humans.
"Unfortunately, I'm not best placed to answer. Absolutely no idea," Clyde chuckles, sipping his espresso. "He told me he could change 507 times once. Think he might've been joking."
David ponders for a second, and sips his espresso too. "3,000 years old he's said a few times. No idea how many. No idea."
As David and Clyde sit quietly drinking their espressos, they hear faint screams coming from outside. Looking up, they see no corpse. Or indeed anybody in the café at all. They hadn't noticed if anyone was in the café or not, but regardless it doesn't matter. Not even the man behind the counter was there now, so something was going on. The UNIT soldiers had just disappeared, meaning only one thing - at least one Dalek was nearby.
Hastily getting up and pressing adjacent TV curved walls away from any windows the wall, Clyde and David separately go stone dead silent, attempting to let the Dalek pass on. Instead, noticing the two coffees still left on a table in the middle of the café, blasts open the doors with its extermination ray, and enters the café and prepares to scan for life signs.
David and Clyde immediately have an idea, and share a look past the Dalek. And now, they would execute that plan.
Luke and his UNIT soldier continue investigating in their direction, labelling some as temporally disturbed. Awkwardly, the UNIT soldier stops walking and speaks to Luke.
"S-sir... I can hear something..." he stammers.
Luke immediately recognises what he believes he's heard, so stops to listen in too.
Mechanical movements can be heard - a Dalek is scanning the area, crucially out of the shadow in the abandoned south west of London. Willing to bet the fact they may be able to escape before the Dalek notices them, the pair begin to run - and bump into something as they turn a street corner.
"Rani? What the hell are you doing here?" Luke pants.
Rani recollects her breath. "I came... to find you! Dalek!"
Luke begins to feel confused. So that's two Daleks of the six occupied, so the other four must be on the ship?
The two UNIT soldiers, both Luke's and Rani's, embrace. Hiding around the side of a building, Luke pokes his head around the corner, before hastily pulling it back. In fear, he looks at Rani.
"I counted seven..." Luke hyperventilates.
The Dalek number has increased from six to seven... and it causes a panic for all who noticed.
Diana looks through the TARDIS monitor as the Daleks fume in anger as the Doctor reveals his identity. As the Doctor moves his head to 'face all Daleks', Diana uses the opportunity to record his vision and look for clues about what the human bodies are being used for. Upon revising the footage, Diana notices an awkwardly placed door.
"Doctor, rotate your head 90 degrees left," she instructs. The Doctor does so, and immediately notices the weirdly placed door. "That door. It looks... weirdly placed."
The Doctor agrees with that as well, as the Daleks monologue to the Doctor and Sky, who pretend to pay attention.
"Yeah, I'll be honest mate, I'm not really listening," the Doctor smugly exposits. "You didn't answer my question. What do you need the bodies for?"
The Supreme Dalek tells the Doctor a few words to frighten him, showing his adversary on a hologram screen. "Behold Doctor. The extermination of your Earth based allies."
The Doctor notices the number of Daleks on the ship, being five now. Bemused, as there are only six Daleks and there are two separate groups, the Doctor quickly deduces the vile facts.
On the screen, a Dalek is shown in real time bursting into a café where David and Clyde are present. And later, seven Daleks are shown nearby Luke and Rani alone. The Doctor is horrified. The Daleks have doubled since he arrived at Bannerman Road.
Disgusted, enraged and heartbroken, the Doctor screams at the Supreme Dalek. "I swear to the heavens if you have done what I think you have!"
The four regular Daleks present on the ship in unison scream "Exterminate! Exterminate!" But this isn't aimed at the Doctor or Sky. The door Diana had alerted the Doctor's attention to suddenly had a violent orange glow behind it, almost as if it was a furnace. This confirmed the Doctor's fears - but that was just the beginning.
"You're burning human bodies for FUEL?" the Doctor shouts, in utter rage. This would disgust Sky, and even Diana, who has seen utterly remarkable and astonishing things, is taken aback and horrified. Sky puts her hand over her mouth to absorb her shock, with Diana placing her hands on her head back in the TARDIS, now frightened for the Doctor and especially Sky.
"Affirmative," the Supreme Dalek confirmed. "And the Doctor is still missing half of the ultimate Dalek plan."
"Oh, well every plan you make, you call the ultimate plan. Never gets you anywhere though," the Doctor jokes. Yet, he is truly bemused, but suddenly begins piecing things together.
"I don't understand!" Sky panics. "What is the other half then?"
The Doctor falls silent, with a stare at the floor and a furrowed pair of eyebrows in anger.
"Certain deceased humans will be resurrected and recycled," the Supreme Dalek proclaims. Sky is still confused and panicked. "Upon resurrection and recycling, humans are converted into superior, pure Dalek mutants for the reproduction and procreation of the Dalek race!"
Back in the TARDIS, Diana is horrified, and develops panic of her own as the TARDIS alarms ring out.
"Doctor! The TARDIS alarms are going mad! What is going on up there?"
The Doctor knows exactly what is going on. He knows the Dalek way too well for it.
"The Daleks have managed to begin producing them. Yeah sure, we've stopped their 'human feed', but who knows how many they got before that," he angrily spits. "Burning bodies for fuel and using others to create more Daleks to take back or..." the Doctor exposits.
"Or what?!" Diana shouts.
"...or to conquer the Earth," the Doctor reveals.
The Supreme Dalek cackles. "The Doctor notices! Maximum extermination for Earth! Maximum extermination for the Doctor!"
The Doctor and Sky stare directly at the four bronze Daleks and the Supreme Dalek as they prepare to exterminate them.
"Exterminate!" the Supreme Dalek screams.