In 1810, Ching Shih negotiated a surrender to the Qing authorities which allowed her to retain a substantial fleet and avoid prosecution. It was at this point that Kathy, Carlyle and Ashildr sadly parted ways with the crew.

It is 1814 and knowing that this is the last frost fair London will have, Kathy felt it is only right to have a go. She hadn't been sure which one to go to but since it's the last one and this is the fair the Doctor takes Bill to; Kathy feels like it's the safest bet.

It's the second last day of the fair, Kathy had been spending every day down there but once it gets to this day, Kathy sends Ashildr away, and consequently Carlyle as he decides to go with her, as this is when the Doctor arrives with Bill and while the Doctor has forgotten Clara at this point in his timeline, there's still a faint memory of her. Kathy worries that like in the show, Ashildr is unintentionally involved in Clara's death and, recalling how mad the Doctor was, Kathy doesn't want to risk anything.

"Kathy!" Kathy spins around from where she had been observing the different food, Ox cheek, Lapland Mutton and Sheep hearts.

Kathy turns around and sees none other than Bill Potts dressed in a very suitable fur-trimmed ensemble and hat with a large feather. Next to her is the Twelfth Doctor who has chosen to wear a black frock coat as he nibbles on a curled piece of animal anatomy on a skewer. Ah, she was right on the episode. Kathy grins at the sight of the two of them. She had sensed the Doctor nearby, that mental connection through her Time Lord side though it's faint, which she suspects may be true because of her not being a full Time Lord.

She's happy to see them. Not only does she get to meet another companion, but she also gets to see Twelve again. She had missed him.

"Hi Doctor, Bill." She grins and sees the Doctor give her a warm smile in return. This is the furthest in their time stream she's met this incarnation.

"I thought we left you at—" Bill continues to speak.

"Ssh. Not yet." The Doctor hurriedly cuts her off as he continues to nibble. "Spoilers."

Kathy raises an eyebrow but doesn't question as she knows she shouldn't know too much about her future. "Well, come on. Let's go and have a look at the entertainment." She grabs Bill's hand and pulls her along with the Doctor trailing after them.

"Hints?" Kathy hears the Doctor call to her. She gets and knows why he doesn't verbally say it out loud to not ruin Bill's enjoyment of her first adventure into the past.

"There's something going on. Look out for the green lights."

"On it."

After grabbing something to drink they go to watch a sword-swallower do his act, then later a wrestling match between two men in 'Turkish' costumes.

"Get in!" Bill cries excitedly, very impressed as one wrestler flips the other onto the floor. Kathy laughs happily at her excitement. She's happy to see how warmly welcomed she is by Bill despite Kathy having never met her before. It's always refreshing to get a new and young perspective on life. Kathy can understand why the Doctor often travels with the younger side of humanity.

The Doctor doesn't share their excitement or happiness and stares at the squirming men on the floor less than impressed. "Of course, it's not really wrestling unless it's in zero gravity." He remarks.

"Seriously?" Bill asks in surprise.

"With tentacles."

"Okay…"

"And magic spells."

One man gets the better of the other and flings him to the floor, singling the end of the match.

"Interesting." Bill murmurs as they move along. Kathy sees her staring at the not-so-white crowds and realises Bill's now seeing just how ethnically diverse London has always been, given its status as a world trading port.

"What is?" The Doctor asks.

"Regency England. Bit more black than they show in the movies."

"So was Jesus. History's a whitewash." The Doctor remarks before walking off. Bill turns to Kathy to see what she's got to say.

"There's a good book in your time. About black people in the Tudor era in England, I think. Wish I had given it a read but in my defence, I didn't know I'd be living through that time period." She rambles to Bill as they trail after the Doctor.

"Yeah, you never explained that." Bill says.

Kathy pauses causing Bill to do so as well. "Explained what?"

"What you are."

Here we go again. "Right now, I'm 1,284 years old though that will change depending on when you meet me. I'm part Human, Time Lord and Apalapucian as well as being from a different dimension where the Doctor and whoever travels with them is played out on a TV show."

Bill blinks a few times. "Right…"

Kathy grins and the two continue walking. As they do so, it is then Kathy sees the little green lights floating underneath the surface near the wrestlers. She knows what's coming.

They reach the skittles tent and Bill has a go and successfully knocks all the skittles down with a single ball. The crowd inside cheers and Kathy joins in. She's taking in and enjoying the calm while she can before everything kicks off.

"Pub champion, two years running," Bill explains smugly. Kathy doesn't bother telling her she already knows. Best to let them feel they're in control of their own lives and are proper individuals and not someone created in a script. Not to say that's what they really are because Kathy can see that all the people she comes across are their own person.

"Ah." The Doctor says in acknowledgement.

The Doctor wanders off but soon returns with a new top hat that he places on his head and then grins at them. Kathy and Bill make appreciative noises though Kathy had seen Bill had been distracted and knows she's caught sight of the lights as well.

"Best fish pies on the ice. Try your luck, ladies and gentlemen! Toss for a pie!" A man is calling as they emerge from the tent. They move towards the new tent to have a look. Kathy does it almost gleefully as she knows it's going to be funny what happens next.

Bill gives a coin for the toss but the result of the toss is clearly not what Bill called as she grumbles in annoyance.

"Better luck next time, miss." The pie man reassures her. Kathy watches with a smirk as he turns around to collect her pie.

"And you're sure this isn't cow brains or sheep eyes or—"

The man hands Bill the pie and cuts her off, "I caught the fish myself, miss. Made it right here in the old..." He spins round to catch the Doctor at, well, something. To be honest Kathy thinks he's trying to look in his pockets. "Hey! What are you about?"

"Do that again. Toss the coin." The Doctor demands.

"Pay me another and I will." The man retorts. The Doctor hands over a coin. Bill is enjoying eating her pie.

"He doesn't want a pie. He just wants to see how you cheated." Kathy tells him.

"Cheated?!" The man exclaims outraged.

"Doctor. Kathy." Bill murmurs. Kathy glances in her direction and sees the green lights again. Bill looks at her in concern. Kathy shakes her head, trying to say not now.

"Don't look at us like that. I'm saying you're a very good con man. And if Kathy agrees then…" Kathy preens a little bit at his comment. She now sees the Doctor as her great friend but to hear their appreciation, knowing it's reciprocated, doesn't hurt.

"I'm a what?"

"A trickster. A swindler." The Doctor continues. "You see, I'm a bit of a thief myself. I bet you that I could steal anything from your shop."

Bill follows the lights outside and Kathy follows to make sure she doesn't wander too far and get taken.

"Get out!" The Doctor is forcibly ejected and slides into one of the lady acrobats.

"Oh! In theory! I could steal anything in theory!" The Doctor retorts though it's too late.

"Doctor. Kathy." Bill calls their attention.

"Honestly, some people. More pie?" Kathy pulls out a pie from her pocket from when she swiped it earlier. Bill and the Doctor grin and walk away from the tent.

"Are there side-effects to time travel? Like, physical symptoms?" Bill questions.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you see lights under the ice." The Doctor replies with a grin but Bill doesn't look impressed.

Kathy snorts and nudges his side. "Doctor…" She turns to Bill as she disposes of the remains of her pie. "No, you're perfectly well. You're just seeing what the Doctor and I have already noticed."

"Well, why didn't you say something?" Bill asks.

"Well, you're enjoying yourself. I assumed we'd get to work eventually." The Doctor answers. "Now, are these lights electric or organic?"

"Organic lights?"

"Bioluminescence. Fireflies, glow-worms." Kathy explains.

It is then that they get interrupted by the lead frost fair Urchin, Kitty, who approaches them wrapped in a large shawl approaches them, holding up a dog collar and lead.

"Please, sir. Have you seen my dog? He was right here, but then I looked away and he…"

"It's okay, we'll help." Bill reassures her. "Um, what does he look like?"

Kathy's eyes flicker back behind them to a little boy with a red hat who has been sneaking up behind them. Spider. She knows he dies in the episode but that doesn't he has to. As she watches him creep up, the conversation between the Doctor, Bill and Kitty blur into the background as Kathy thinks about her next move. Perhaps she does let them take the sonic but stops Spider from going rough the ice? If so, then that still kicks Bill and the Doctor into saving the creature and the children without death, well the ones she can stop. Or any more.

Spider then grabs the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, but the Doctor grabs his wrist and they struggle until Kitty kicks the Doctor in the shins.

"Run!" Kitty yells to Spider, who listens and the bolt.

They need to move quickly. "Come on!" Kathy yells to the Doctor and Bill.

The soldiers don't bother to help as they give chase. The problem is that they are weaving through a very busy fair and are held up by the troupe of acrobats and the Urchins reach the safety of their tent.

"What happened to the girl?" The Doctor questions as he looks about. Kathy watches the tent, waiting for them to emerge and for their opportunity.

"Does it matter? The boy's the one with your magic wand." Bill remarks.

"Sonic screwdriver." Kathy corrects. She pats her pocket as if to remind herself that her own is still there.

Bill looks at her in disbelief. "How is that a screwdriver?"

"In a very broad sense." The Doctor defends.

"All right, how's it sonic?"

"It makes a noise."

"I have one." Kathy pulls out her sonic that looks like 11's but silver and the light is red. She gives it a brief buzz before pointing it to Kitty and Spider as they come out of the tent. "And there they are!"

She shoves her sonic into her pocket and they join in on another chase across the ice. They break away from the main part of the fair and Kathy sees that Spider has stopped, looking down at the green light angler fish surrounding him. Kitty is shouting at him to move.

Kathy doesn't stop as her two companions do, ignores the Doctor's muttering to Bill and runs forward as the ice below Spider creaks.

"Kitty? Ah!" Spider begins to fall through the ice but Kathy leaps forward and grabs him, yanking him away from the hole.

"Stay back!" The Doctor yells to Kitty who darts forward. Kitty pauses in her tracks. The green lights continue to whirl around them but Kathy quickly drags Spider back so that the fish lose track of him. The green lights go and Kathy sighs in relief.

"That's mine." The Doctor plucks his sonic that is still tightly clasped in Spider's hand. The boy lets out a small sob, probably dealing with the fact that he almost died. Kathy clings to him, hugging him as he recovers.

She sighs in relief. "Well, that was a near miss. Wasn't sure if I would succeed."

Bill's face twists into one of disbelief. "You knew this was going to happen?!"

"Yes." Isn't that obvious? She'd just explained it.

"Then why didn't you stop him from stealing?! You risked his life and you act so casual!" Bill exclaims in outrage. This causes Kathy to pause. She hadn't meant it to be like that, to act like she didn't care. She just wanted to save someone without the risk of completely disrupting the story. She looks at Spider sorrowfully as she helps him up and darts into Kitty's arms.

"Look she saved. Who cares?" The Doctor remarks carelessly, well to anyone else but Kathy can see he's relieved at the sight of the boy surviving.

"Who cares?!"

"Your friend might be safe, but the danger isn't over yet." The Doctor says to the Urchins, walking over to them. "There must be more of you living rough here. Tell me where."

"So, you can take us to the Magistrate?" Kitty retorts then darts away with Spider clinging on but the Doctor grabs her, stopping her.

Kathy stays silent and sombre and the Doctor replies, "No, of course not. We're not here to arrest you, we're here to help. And if you show me where you live, we can do that."

"We? She's gone!"

Kathy turns her attention away from the kids and looks around for Bill, who's nowhere. She had forgotten about that while she mixed up in her own guilt and self-hate. Kitty and Spider run off into the mist.

They find Bill sitting at the river's edge looking distraught but not sobbing as she had in the episode. Probably since she hadn't seen a death of a child but an almost death this time. At least Kathy is helping a bit.

Bill probably hears the footsteps and turns around before looking away again. "How did you find me?"

"Get used to that question." The Doctor remarks. Kathy winces, knowing it won't entice the best response.

"Oh, clever. Yeah, very clever." Bill snaps.

"What's wrong?" Kathy tentatively asks. She knows it's not the best question but she doesn't know what else to say.

This angers Bill, who looks at them in disbelief. "What's wrong? Seriously, what's wrong? I've never seen anyone almost die before."

"A few hours ago, we were standing in a garden full of dead people." The Doctor retorts. Oh yeah, that episode.

"That was different."

"How?"

"They were dead already." Bill explains.

"Morally and practically, that is not a useful distinction. Unlearn it." The Doctor retorts.

"Don't tell me what to think." Bill snaps, standing.

"I'm your teacher. Telling you things is what I do."

Kathy sighs and walks over to Bill, putting a reassuring hand on her arm. "I can see this is very distressing and scary for you Bill, I was too at first. But the Doctor and I live for so long and we've seen people die, perhaps directly or indirectly the cause of some of them but that doesn't mean we don't care."

Bill scoffs but doesn't pull away.

"You know what happens if we don't move on?" The Doctor rhetorically asks. "More people die. There are kids living rough near here. They may well be on the menu. One almost was. Do you want to help us? Do you want to stand here stamping your foot? Because let me tell you something. I'm two thousand years old, Kathy nearing 1300, and we have never had the time for the luxury of outrage."

Bill opens her mouth to reply but then sees something behind them. Kathy knows who but knows there should be an extra person and when she and the Doctor turn around, Kitty and Spider are standing there. Spider still looks tearful.

"What do you mean, on the menu?" Kitty asks.

They reach the Urchin's hideout to see it empty but Kathy knows that's not true.

"This is nice!" She compliments as she staggers inside. Spider seems to have grown an attachment to her and is clinging to her leg.

"Is this where you live?" Bill asks disbelievingly.

"For now." Kitty replies.

"But there's no one here."

"Good work!" The Urchins come out of their hiding places. "Except you, Dot. I can see your shoes."

Dot emerges from behind some hanging sheets. "They're too big, that's why!" She is wearing the Doctor's original top hat.

"Oh, I see! I get it. You lure people to the fair and then you rob them. Very good. Very enterprising." The Doctor compliments.

Dot hides her face in Kitty's shawl. "They're all right, Dot." Kitty reassures her. "Strange. But all right. And that's not how it is."

"Oh, what? You don't rob people?" The Doctor asks disbelievingly.

"Course we do. But bringing people to the fair, that's by-the-by. On the side, like."

"Why?"

Kitty looks at him incredulously. "Why? For coin, of course. Why else?"

"Someone pays you to promote the fair, get people onto the ice?" Kitty nods. "Who? Who pays you?"

"Kitty, what's wrong with Spider?" A girl asks, pointing at the boy clinging to Kathy's leg. Harriet?

"He is... He…" Kitty hesitates. How do you tell children that one of them almost died?

"He's had a rough day, he'll be fine." Kathy quickly butts in. She rubs the young boy's arm and lifts him to take him to what looks like a bed made up of a few sheets and settles him down.

"Who's hungry? I'm hungry." The Doctor throws in. "Food! Kathy, Bill, food! Food is always useful." They hand out fish pies. "Now, I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. These are stolen! Well, eat up." The Urchins don't move and the Doctor turns to Kitty. "Ah, with your permission, of course."

Kitty nods, and the Urchins bite into the pastries.

Later, by a fire, the Doctor is reading the story of Little Suck-A-Thumb from Der Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann, which is anachronistic as it was written in German in 1845. Kathy sits among the Urchin's with Spider cuddles up to her.

"Don't suck your thumbs while I'm away. The great tall tailor always comes To little boys who suck their thumbs. Ere they dream what he's about He takes his great sharp scissors out And cuts their thumbs clean off and then..."

Kathy hears Bill murmuring with Kitty and once she hears Bill say, "No. I moved on." She glances over at Bill with a raised eyebrow, which causes Bill to stick her tongue out.

"Okay, I'm wondering why the Frost Fair's on this part of the river." The Doctor says. "I bet that at least one of you knows who paid Kitty to take people out on the ice."

"It was a bad man, with a ship." Spider answers.

"Spider!" Harriet admonishes.

"A ship? What, do you mean a merchant?" The Doctor questions.

"Not that kind of ship." Another boy corrects. Perry.

"Perry!"

"What?"

"It's all right. You can tell him." Kitty reassures them.

"It's a drawing. Here. On his hand." Dot lifts her hand and points to the side of her hand.

"So, this guy, where would we find him? Or… does he find you?" Kathy asks the lady but pointedly, indicating to Bill and the Doctor she knows which one. She knows that she could've told them all this information and not have gone to the hideout but Kathy wanted to be sure they're all alright and fed plus she wants them to trust them so that they'll be looked after by the end of the episode.

"He finds us." Harriet replies.

"But a tattoo on his hand, I mean, we could ask around?" Bill asks.

"Boring!" The Doctor declares, slamming his book closed and standing. "I know something that's much easier to find."

Bill stands. "Where are we going?"

The Doctor turns to the kids. "All right. You guys, hang tight! Laters." He and Bill begin to leave.

Kathy turns to Spider and gives him a reassuring smile. "I've got to go too but you'll be alright with these guys." Spider reluctantly nods and Kathy follows after the teacher and the student duo.

"So, what's easier to find?" Bill asks as they walk along the Wharf.

"Conjecture. There's something frozen under the Thames and it's eating people." The Doctor says.

"Okay."

"Proposal. We need to get a closer look it." Kathy continues.

"Good, yeah."

"Plan." The Doctor pauses causing the rest of them to stop and turns to them with a gleeful grin. "Let's get eaten." He darts off and Bill looks after him in alarm.

The Doctor has acquired a cart and is unloading brass and canvas or leather clothing from it on the path running along the side of the river.

"Is this stuff safe?" Bill asks.

"Potentially."

"Potentially? What does potentially mean?" Bill questions as she has a look at the old diving helmet she's been handed. Kathy picks up hers from the cart and grins.

"Safe, with a frisson of excitement." The Doctor replies.

"Right, but we're not going to be like completely defenceless down there, though?" Bill asks anxiously.

Kathy winces. "Uh, maybe. But don't worry about it."

"Why not? What have you two got up your sleeves? Oh, my God! Have you been holding out on me? Do both of you have, like, magical, alien powers?" The Doctor huffs on the diving helmet and polishes the faceplate, giving her a 'really?' look while Kathy grins and wiggles her eyebrows at Bill. "What, was that an impolite question?"

They are on the ice with their lanterns, in old diving suits. The problem is, Kathy can't hear what the two of them are saying. She watches the Doctor walk away from Bill and does the same but doesn't go too far as she wants to be nearby when Bill goes under.

Kathy spots the green lights starting to surround Bill and runs over to her. She knows Bill is probably yelling for the Doctor right now as the Time Lord hasn't noticed and is still meandering about but Kathy doesn't have time for this and throws her lantern at his back and he turns around just in time to see Bill and Kathy fall through the ice.

Both of them float to the bottom. Kathy immediately pulls out her sonic to light up their surroundings. She turns to Bill to see the companion waving and mouthing her name. Kathy grins and waves back. The air hose is uncoiling rapidly above them but the Doctor is sinking to the bottom and uses the sonic screwdriver as a torch.

He turns to see Kathy and Bill waving and mouthing 'Doctor' at him. Bill points at the angler fish circling above her, and then something large growls nearby. The screwdrivers illuminate a set of heavy chains holding down an enormous creature. She belches, and bits and pieces float out of its mouth, artefacts belonging to those the creature has eaten. Then a giant eye opens and looks at them.

They hurriedly make their way back to the surface. They find a cut in the ice and climb out of it to find the pie man looking startled and frightened. Ah, he was fishing for his wares.

They all pull off their helmets and the pie man exclaims, "What?" before darting up the steps on the river edge.

"I know you! You're the cheat! I love your work!" The Doctor calls after him.

"The sound it made," Bill murmurs, looking shaken. Honestly, Kathy doesn't blame her, she feels a bit the same. "I couldn't hear you two, but that noise, it's like I felt it in my bones, you know? It sounded like, like—"

"Despair. Loneliness. A prisoner in chains." The Doctor finishes.

"That guy. He said he caught the fish himself." Bill says as she observes the fishing equipment the pie man has left behind. "I bought pie off that guy. Fish pie!"

The Doctor picks up an angler fish. "Oh, hello. Aren't you magnificent?"

"I ate that pie. I liked that pie."

"In his defence he's using the resources at his disposal." Kathy remarks.

The Doctor ignores them and continues to analyse the fish. "Definitely not carnivores. Which means you're cooperating with the creature, providing for it. What do you get in return, hmm? What did it take for you to evolve into that?"

"The creature, do you reckon that's what's making London so cold?" Bill asks.

"Believe so." Kathy replies.

"What kind of alien messes with the weather?"

The Doctor chuckles as they all make their way up the steps, off the ice. "You assume it's alien."

"Of course, it's alien."

"There are many things you might consider alien that are actually from this planet," Kathy explains. Silurians and Sea Devils are some of them.

"Is this fish one?" Bill asks.

"Not sure, I think so."

"Alien, terrestrial, it's irrelevant." The Doctor dismisses. "The real question is, who's keeping it in those chains? And perhaps our friend here can answer that."

The pie man emerges hesitantly from behind a barrel. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"The coin trick. Just tell me how to do it, please! Okay. Not the time. Have you ever seen a man around here with a tattoo of a ship?" The Doctor asks. The man looks at him in disbelief. Kathy presses her lips together amusedly. "What's that face? Is that a no or are you against tattoos? I'm against tattoos, too, I think that we are bonding."

"We're stood by the docks, and you just asked me if I've ever seen a man with a tattoo of a ship." The pie man says.

"Exactly."

"Fair point." Bill remarks.

"What point?"

Kathy shakes her head at him fondly. "Forget the tattoos. Have you seen anyone acting suspiciously since the freeze?"

"Well, there's the dredgers." The pie man replies.

"The dredgers?" Bill questions.

"There's a workhouse upriver. They have men out there patrolling all hours."

The Doctor, Kathy and Bill watch the activity of the workhouse from over a spiked wall.

"What are they dredging for?" Bill wonders.

"Let's find out." The Doctor remarks before they all quickly dart down when it seems they're almost caught.

"How are we getting in?" The Doctor shows Bill the psychic paper. "You work for the palace?"

"Haven't had that one in a while." The Doctor remarks before walking off.

"What…"

Kathy grabs her hand and pulls her up. "Explain to you later."

They get inside the walls but soon get absconded by the overseer. "Oi. How'd you get through here?"

"Ah ha! At last, someone in authority." The Doctor remarks and shows the psychic paper.

The overseer look's immediately apologetic. "Oh, I do apologise, sir. Does Lord Sutcliffe know you're here?"

"Does Lord Sutcliffe know we're here." The Doctor repeats as if the man's statement is completely ridiculous. He turns to Kathy and Bill, looking a bit unsure. "Does Lord Sutcliffe know we're here?"

"Lord Sutcliffe insisted we come." Bill says.

"He's very particular." Kathy adds.

"Hmm. Oh, that Lord Sutcliffe, yes." The Doctor hurriedly continues. "There's no arguing with Sutcliffe when he puts his foot down. You'd better show us around."

"Follow me, sir."

"Take it inside! Same as the last batch." A man yells as they walk through. The workers have kerchiefs over their mouths and are apparently paddling mud into brick moulds. Kathy grimaces as she thinks of what the substance really is.

"Why all the fuss? It's just mud from the river, isn't it?" Bill questions.

"Mud is one word for it." The Doctor murmurs.

"Is this even the right place? The creature's almost a mile away."

"The creature's head is almost a mile away."

Bill doesn't seem to realise what he's implying and picks up a brick and sniffs. "Hey, Kathy, feel this."

Kathy winces at the sight of the brick being shoved in her face and tilts her body back to get away from it. "No thanks."

"I assume we're now at the other end." The Doctor observes. Bill immediately drops the brick with a splat.

"Now you see why I didn't want to touch it." Kathy says to her with a grin as Bill pulls a face of disgust.

"Ah. Why do I trust you?" The Doctor is asking the Overseer as they walk over to him.

"Sir?"

"You understand how important this is, yes?" The Doctor asks. "It is imperative that no one discovers where the stuff goes when it leaves here."

"Oh, I know that, sir." The man looks eager to please. "We use unmarked carts."

"Are they ever followed?"

"Oh no, sir."

"Have you checked this personally?"

"Oh yes, sir."

"All the way to steel mill?" Kathy asks amusedly. This poor man doesn't know he's being tricked.

"Oh yes, ma'am."

The Doctor frowns and turns to Kathy questioningly. "Steel mill?"

Kathy raises an eyebrow. "Why yes of course. Where else would it be going?" She says pointedly.

The Doctor seems to realise what she's saying and slowly nods. "Oh yes, quite right. Now, these men, what do they know of this material?"

"No more than I do, sir." The Overseer replies as they wander over to the material.

"Yes, but you are someone who knows more than he tells." The Doctor prods.

"I'm not one to speculate." The man persists.

"But you can't help it because you're a man of intelligence." The Doctor butters up.

The Overseer gives in. "They won't let us smoke in here, so I assume it's fuel. Fuel for the furnaces, sir."

"Excellent reasoning. Lord Sutcliffe appreciates an enquiring mind." Kathy compliments though internally grumbles at the thought of the man.

"Well, I keep my ear to the ground, you know."

"And what is the ground saying these days?"

"That this stuff burns a thousand times longer than coal?"

"Very good." The Doctor murmurs as he stares at the substance.

"Hotter, too. Hotter than they can measure."

"Excellent! First class."

"I'm right, aren't I, sir?" The Overseer eagerly asks.

"Oh, there's no stopping you. You keep this up, you won't be working in this yard for very long." The Doctor remarks.

The Overseer preens. "Oh, you think not?"

"We can almost guarantee it."

"You know what else they say? They say it even burns under water."

Bill gapes at him in shock. "No sh..."

Kathy slaps her hand over Bill's mouth. "Language." She chides.

They use the psychic paper to get into Sutcliffe's house and are taken to the drawing room to wait for the man to arrive. The Doctor is playing with an orrery, adjusting the positions of the satellites relative to their planets. Kathy and Bill meander about.

"So, you think Sutcliffe is an alien?" Bill asks the Doctor.

"Possibly."

"Because the creature might be an alien."

"It certainly appears to be producing fuel suitable for interstellar travel." The Doctor points out.

Kathy huffs and slumps onto a chair. She doesn't want to do this bit but they need to do it to make sure everything else falls into place. "He's not any alien species. He's unfortunately human." She winces and glances at Bill, thinking of the barrage she's going to get.

"Either way, Bill, I need you to leave the talking to us." The Doctor says to the companion.

"Why?"

"Because you have a temper."

Bill splutters. "Oh okay, well, I lost it a tiny bit."

"You're about to meet a man for whom human beings are raw material. Who grinds up children for profit. What we are here for is one thing. Information. We get that with diplomacy and tact. Charm, if necessary."

Kathy lets out a snort. "Yeah, like that's how it always goes."

"Shush." Bill plonks herself down in an armchair. "Always remember, Bill. Passion fights, but reason wins."

"Again. Really?"

Lord Sutcliffe enters with the Doctor's psychic paper. Doctor Disco, from the Fairford Club! Obviously, one aspires to membership, but to actually be considered for—" He sees Bill. "Who, who let this creature in here? On your feet, girl, in the presence of your betters."

The Doctor taps Sutcliffe on the shoulder and then punches him on the jaw very, very hard causing him to fall to the ground. Kathy looks down at him unimpressed.

"He's human. Thirty one years of age. Low on iron." The Doctor declares as Kathy and Bill move to stand next to him, looking down at Sutcliffe.

"Yeah, that was pretty convincing racism for an extra-terrestrial." Bill remarks.

"Exactly." Kathy murmurs.

The heavies enter causing them to spin around.

"Oh, hello. Can I just say, this is very unlike him. He doesn't normally do this." Kathy awkwardly says.

"Yeah, he was aiming for charming." Bill adds.

"Basically." The Doctor mutters.

The heavies grab them and tie their hands behind their backs. Sutcliffe is now sitting in a chair with a handkerchief pressed to where the Doctor had hit him.

"Well, you're not from the Fairford Club." He remarks.

"The creature in the river, where did it come from?" The Doctor asks.

"Who the devil are you people?"

"Where did it come from?"

"Nowhere!" Sutcliffe exclaims exasperatedly. "It's always been there. The secret's been passed down in the family since, I don't know when. As far back as records go."

"Then tell us, do you also keep a record of how many it's killed?" Kathy asks sharply, glaring at him.

Sutcliffe scoffs. "Please. People know the ice is dangerous, yet they will insist on their festivities. That's hardly my fault."

"Don't sell yourself short." The Doctor says. "This is the biggest Frost Fair in decades, and that's down to you."

"It is?" Bill questions.

"The man holding me has a tattoo on his left hand." The Doctor explains. "And that's not all, is it? The circus performers, the elephant, that's all you."

Sutcliffe shrugs. "I made the most of the situation. It's the first proper freeze it's caused in years."

"Why? Production down, huh? Not enough people dying?" Bill questions angrily.

"Girl, you show the ignorance of all your kind." Bill grits her teeth and moves as if to get at him but gets pulled back. Kathy clenches her fists to keep herself at bay. "Without that beast, my mills would rely on coal mines, and men die in coal mines all the time."

"Honestly, we preferred it if you were alien." Kathy hisses.

"If I were?"

"Well, that explained the lack of humanity." The Doctor says pointedly. "What makes you so sure that your life is worth more than those people out there on the ice? Is it the money? The accident of birth that puts you inside the big, fancy house?"

"I help move this country forward. I move this Empire forward."

"Human progress isn't measured by industry, it's measured by the value you place on a life. An unimportant life. A life without privilege. The people who died on the river, those people's value is your value. That's what defines an age. That's what defines a species."

While Bill and Kathy are moved, Sutcliffe is not. "What a beautiful speech. The rhythm and, and vocabulary, quite outstanding. It's enough to move anyone with an ounce of compassion. So, it's really not your day, is it? If they know about the beast, then others must, too. We bring the plan forward."

"When, sir?" Dowell, the chief henchman, asks.

"Now! In daylight."

Dowell shoves them into the fireworks tent to reveal wires leading from a long panel to many barrels.

"Oh dear." Kathy mutters.

The Doctor, Kathy, and Bill are seated encircling the main pole, where the wire panel also hangs, and tied together.

"Ah, smell that. It's their home-made rocket fuel, redeployed as explosive." The Doctor observes. "It's a little reckless, don't you think? Half the fair disappears into the river, the secret of your success won't be a secret anymore."

"Hardly. The city will pause to mourn a fireworks display gone tragically awry, and the creature will be fed." Sutcliffe dismisses. "By spring, this will be a footnote in history. That is progress. They're bringing the elephant out presently. We won't get bigger crowds than that, so make sure you're off the ice by noon."

Great the evil guy has revealed his whole plan. Kathy herself gets to work fiddling with the ropes. Now if she remembers this right…

"Noon? There's no way you can keep us here that long. We'll just scream our heads off." Bill argues. The Dowell and Sutcliffe leave.

The Doctor and Kathy begin speaking at the same time.

"No. No, please, please, please—"

"Bill, no one—"

"Heeeeeeeelp!" Bill yells for a while, but eventually can't hold it anymore and begins coughing. No one arrives.

Kathy huffs. "As I was saying, no one will hear you." She finally gets the last not untied and sighs with relief before shaking off her ropes and standing. Bill gapes at her in surprise while the Doctor looks unbothered. Probably has seen her do this before.

"H-how did you?" Bill splutters. Kathy raises an eyebrow.

"Never mind, we could use some help." The Doctor demands.

"Yep, on it." Kathy helps to untie them. "See not every problem is solved with the sonic."

The Doctor pulls an annoyed face as he and Bill stand. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"How are we going to get past our guard?" Bill questions.

"We don't. Got to stop all this." Kathy gestures to the explosives around them. "And by not making too much noise." She explains.

"Obviously."

"No, I mean that's how the fish choose a victim." Kathy corrects. "That's how they know they've isolated someone on the ice."

"Maybe it was the right idea not to use the sonic." The Doctor mutters dejectedly.

Kathy looks at him with a grin. "Come again?"

"Don't get too cocky." The Doctor admonishes. "So, decisions. What are we going to do about Tiny?"

Bill frowns in confusion. "Tiny?"

"The creature. The loch-less monster. The not-so-little mermaid. Are we just going to leave her down there?"

"We can't set her free." Bill argues. "She could burst up out of the water and eat a hundred people right off of Southbank! She could eat half of London!"

"She won't but you'll have to take my word for it. It's a risk." Kathy admits. "So, what do you want to do, Bill?"

"We already know the answers. Why are you even asking?"

"We don't know the answers. Only idiots know the answers. But if your future is built on the suffering of that creature, what's your future worth?" The Doctor asks her.

"Why is it up to me? What about Kathy?" Bill questions, turning away from them.

"I've lived a long life in this planet, in this country and you haven't yet." Kathy tells her earnestly. "It's your and other's future lives and the future of this planet. What's going to happen to the future of the human race? Give us an order. Not long till noon. We need an order."

Long, long pause then, "Save her."

"We'll take care of this. You get everyone off the ice." Kathy tells her. "But first…"

They peak out to see Dowell's back in front of them. Bill and Kathy share a smile and simultaneously shove him forward making him cry out as he falls to the floor. Bill immediately darts off causing Dowell to chase after her. Another life hopefully saved.

Bill goes to get the Urchins to help her get as many people as they can off the ice while Kathy and the Doctor grab the explosives.

The Doctor and Kathy switch the explosives' positions and place them next to the creature's chains. This means that when Sutcliffe uses the detonator, he will unintentionally break the chains holding the creature in place.

This will aggravate him and will cause him to go back to the stockpile to see what's wrong. Entering the tent, he will see some of the barrels are missing and the Doctor's sonic screwdriver hanging on a wire, jamming the signal. The force of the creature, now free, going by will crack the ice and Sutcliffe falls in, never to be seen again.

The Doctor and Kathy, in diving suits, climb out of a well at the workhouse before rushing to the bank of the river.

"Doctor! Kathy!" Bill is running across the ice to them, just ahead of the cracks.

"Bill!" The Doctor cries. Kathy watches in alarm, hoping Bill will make it just as she had in the episode.

"You did it! She's free!" Bill jumps for their hands and they pull her onto the dockside with great effort. Then the Doctor pulls on the wire to retrieve his sonic screwdriver. The creature swims past them.

"Go!" Bill calls after it. "Where will she go?"

"Somewhere cold, I imagine. Hopefully, she's smart enough to avoid you lot now." The Doctor replies.

"What if she isn't? What if we just like, doomed Greenland?"

"He'll check in on Greenland." Kathy reassures her.

The creature just keeps going.

"How long is she?!" Bill asks. Kathy instead of answering ducks behind Bill, just in time for when the creature splashes the Doctor and Bill with a flick of a flipper. "Ah."

Beyond the old London Bridge, she sings and breaches like a humpback whale.

Bill brings the Urchins into the dining room at Sutcliffe's house. The Doctor is at a small table scraping some ink off a Last Will and Testament between the words 'unto the said' and 'Sutcliffe'. The main table is laden with food. The Urchins gasp at the sight of it.

"Go on. Eat as much as you like." Bill encourages.

They immediately run over and begin digging in. Spider hugs Kathy before joining them. Kathy watches him fondly.

"Er, you, boy! Remind me, what's your name?" The Doctor calls to one of them.

"Perry." He replies around a mouth full of food.

"Perry. His name's Perry." Kitty says a bit more clearly. "Why?"

"Apparently, Lord Sutcliffe's long-lost heir can't be a girl." Bill explains.

"But Peregrine Sutcliffe can be." Kathy adds.

"Does this mean you're leaving?" Spider asks timidly as Bill and the Doctor make a move on leaving.

Kathy smiles softly at him. "The Doctor and Bill are, they've got to return home. But don't worry, I'm going to stick around."

And she does. Someone needs to keep an eye on the children and to make that when the new inheritance is contested, it will succeed.

When Carlyle and Ashildr come to visit, the children adore them and vice versa. Kathy herself picks up a new hobby she had been planning on doing for a while, becoming a writer. Many amazing writers exist in this century, so why not get a butt in?