The Idiot's Lantern

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

We spent some time with Rose's Mom and explained how I joined my uncle and Rose in the TARDIS. She was a very nice woman, she put me in mind of Amy, my adopted mother. But, after a day, the three of us were ready to go again. Rose and I wanted to go someplace fun, someplace where we could dress up, and meet someone famous. So, The Doctor thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers, "I know… How would you two like to meet Elvis…" The Doctor and I set the controls, "OK you two… off the wardrobe… and dress for the late 50s"

After a bit of time in the TARDIS' massive wardrobe, Rose and I walked out and saw my uncle waiting for us. Rose had on a long pink dress with layers of netting beneath it, a blue jean jacket, pink heels, and black stockings. She put her hair up in a small behive-like style and had a pink head band across the top of her head. I chose a powder blue cardigan with a white blouse underneath, a powder blue poodle skirt, saddle shoes and bobby socks. I had my hair pulled back into a simple ponytail and had a faux pearl necklace around my neck. The Doctor smiled, "You two look great!" Just then we heard the TARDIS started to come to a stop. "Perfect for seeing Elvis… Two you head on out… I be out in a moment…" He reached in his jacket and gave us each a pair of sunglasses. Then he walked away.

Rose and I walked outside she looked around and she said, "When you first said Elvis… I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era. You know the white flares and the, grr, chest hair."

I looked at her as if she had grown a second head, "You're kidding, aren't you?" I said.

Then, The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS, "You want to see Elvis, you go for the late 50s. The time before burgers," said the Doctor. Then he went back inside. "When they called him the Pelvis and he still had a waist." Rose and I laughed, and the Doctor continued, "What's more, you see him in style."

Rose and I were both surprised to hear the sound of a motor starting coming from inside the TARDIS. We turned around and saw my uncle driving a blue moped with a sidecar attached out of the TARDIS. We both laughed as he drove around a little. He was wearing a white helmet and sunglasses. He stopped, turned, looked at us and doing his best Elvis impersonation he said, "You two little ladies going my way?"

We laughed and put on our sunglasses, and walked over to him "Is there any other way to go, daddy-o?" I said.

"Straight from the fridge, man," said Rose.

"Hey, you speak the lingo," said The Doctor, as he handed Rose a pink helmet. There was a blue one on the seat of the sidecar. I slipped it on before I got inside.

Rose put hers on and said, "Oh well, me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday." Then she sat down behind him

"Ah, Cliff. I knew your mother'd be a Cliff fan…" He said as we started down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios," said The Doctor, "Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it."

"And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?" asked Rose.

"That's the one." he said.

Just then we saw a red London bus drives past the end of the street. The Doctor stopped and we saw a red post office box. We looked up and saw of Union Flag bunting strung between the houses. The houses didn't look like any houses that you'd see in New York… No we were defiantly in the outskirts of London. Rose laughed, "Digging that New York vibe."

"Well… This could still be New York," said The Doctor, "I mean, this looks very New York to me… Sort of… Londony New York, mind…" I rolled my eyes at my uncle. I knew I should have double checked his coordinates. But, then again, even when I quadrupled checked, we didn't always land where we wanted to.

"What are all the flags for?" I asked. We deiced to look around a bit and find out what was going on before deciding on what to do next. So we parked the bike and started walking down the street. We saw a van that said Magpie's Electricals on the side. A couple of men were taking a small television out of the back and were carrying it into a nearby house. A man in a long tan coat was talking to the man of the house, "There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion."

"The great occasion? What d'you mean?" asked my uncle.

"Where've you been living, out in the Colonies? Coronation, of course." said the man.

The moment the man said Coronation I knew exactly where we were. It was early June 1953. I could tell Rose knew what was going on too. But it wasn't quite as oblivious for my uncle, "What Coronation's that then?" he asked.

The man stared at The Doctor like he had a horn sticking out of his head then the man said, "What do you mean? The Coronation."

"It's the Queen's," I said.

"Queen Elizabeth," said Rose.

"Oh! Is this 1953?" Said The Doctor. I shook my head. For a 900 plus year old Time Lord he was a bit thick headed at times.

"Last time I looked," said the Man, "Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best."

"Look at all the TV aerials," Said Rose, we looked up and every house had a TV antenna attached to it chimney, "Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird. My nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house."

"Not around here, love. Magpie's Marvelous Tellies, only five quid a pop."

I raised my eyebrows. I couldn't believe it only 5 pounds for a television set! Something had to be going on. But, my uncle was a bit preoccupied to realize what Mr. Magpie said, "Oh, but this is a brilliant year," said the Doctor, "Classic! Technicolor, Everest climbed, everything off the ration. The nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future."

Rose laughed, then we heard a woman screaming, "Someone help me, please! Ted!" We turned and saw two men taking another man with a blanket over his head out of a house. The Doctor, Rose and I rushed over, "Leave him alone! He's my husband!" said the woman

"What's going on?" asked The Doctor.

The blanketed man was pushed into the back seat of a waiting police car. Then a boy in his early teens ran out of the house, "Oi, what are you doing?"

"Police business," said one of the men who pushed the blanketed man into the car, "Now, get out of the way, sir.

I looked at the boy, "Who did they take? Do you know him?"

"Must be Mr. Gallagher," Then the car drove away and the boy continued, "It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters…"

A large man stormed out of the boy's house, "Tommy! Not one word! Get inside now!"

"Sorry. I'd better do as he says…" The boy did as he was told.

We watched as the car started to drive away. The three of us looked at each other and with out saying a word we all made a run for the moped. We got on as fast as we could and the Doctor started after the car. "All aboard!" We were keeping up with them and were getting close to catching them when they turned around a corner. But, when we turned around the same corner all that was there was a tall corrugated metal gate and a large wooden cart in front of it with two men sweeping.

My uncle brought the moped to a stop. "Lost them. How'd they get away from us?"

I looked up at my uncle, "I'm surprised they didn't turn around and arrest you for reckless driving, Have you actually passed your driving test?!

The Doctor ignored me and said," Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia!"

"Monsters, that boy said…." Said Rose as she was thinking, "Maybe we should go and ask the neighbors."

The Doctor smiled, "That's what I like about you. The domestic approach."

Rose smiled back, "Thank you…" The Doctor started the moped and Rose thought for a moment about what he said to her, "Hold on, was that an insult?"

We went back to Tommy's house and rang the door bell, when the man who yelled at Tommy earlier answered the door the three of us smiled and said "Hi!"

"Who are you, then?" he asked.

"Let's see then," said The Doctor, "Judging by the look of you… family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war… therefore I represent Queen and country!" My uncle showed him the psychic paper with a flourish, "Just doing a little check of Her Majesty's forthcoming subjects before the great day. Don't mind if I come in? Nah, I didn't think you did. Thank you!"

We walked right into the house before the man could protest us coming in. We walked into the living room, and there was a middle aged woman in the room, "Not bad," said The Doctor, "Very nice. Very well kept. I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs?"

"Connolly," said the woman.

"Now then, Rita," said Mr. Connolly, "I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative. Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit."

Rose sat down in a chair and I stood next to her, "Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more," said The Doctor, "I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty," He looked at a group of flags waiting to be put up, "Nice flags. Why are they not flying?"

Mr. Connolly paused for a moment, "There we are Rita, I told you, Get them up. Queen and country!"

"I'm sorry," said Rita.

"Get it done! Do it now."

"Hold on a minute," said the Doctor.

"Like the gentleman says," said Mr. Connolly

"Hold on a minute. You've got hands, Mr. Connolly. Two big hands. So why is that your wife's job?"

"Well, it's housework, innit?"

"And that's a woman's job?"

"Of course it is."

"Mr. Connolly," I asked, "What gender is the Queen?"

"She's a female."

"And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?"

"No! Not at all!"

The Doctor handed him the string of flags and said, "Then get busy."

"Right. Yes, sir," said Mr. Connolly, "You'll be proud of us, sir. We'll have Union Jacks left, right and center."

Then Rose stood up, "'Scuse me, Mr. Connolly. Hang on a minute! Union Jacks?"

Mr. Connolly paused and turned to look at Rose, "Yes, that's right, isn't it?"

"That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea."

"Oh… Oh, I'm sorry, I do apologize!"

Rose smiled, "Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man," then Rose stopped smiling, "Now get to it!"

I had to say that I was rather impressed that Rose knew that. "Right then!" said the Doctor, "Nice and comfy, at Her Majesty's leisure." The Doctor and Rose sat down on the sofa and I stood between them. "How did you know that?" I asked Rose quietly.

"Mum went out with a sailor," Replied Rose, quietly.

"Oh ho ho ho. I bet she did," said The Doctor softly. Then he continued in a louder voice, "Anyway, I'm the Doctor, this is Rose, and this is my niece, Teddy," He looked up at the teenager, "and you are?"

"Tommy." said the boy.

"Well, sit yourself down, Tommy." said The Doctor as he and Rose made room for them on the couch. I sat on the arm of the couch next to Rose. And the Doctor motioned for Rita to sit in the chair next to the couch, "Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think it's brilliant."

"Good man!" We watched the program on the TV for a few moments. The man on the screen was talking about dinosaur fossils. Then, The Doctor said, "Keep working, Mr. C!" He turned to Rita and spoke quietly so Mr. Connolly couldn't hear, "Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Did you say you were a doctor?" asked Rita.

"Yes, I am."

"Can you help her? Oh please, can you help her, Doctor?"

"Now then, Rita," said Mr. Connolly, "I don't think the gentleman needs to know…"

"No, the gentleman does!" said The Doctor.

"Tell us what's wrong, and we can help," I said.

Rita burst into tears, Rose went over to Rita's chair, and I took Rose's place on the couch next to Tommy. Rose wrapped a comforting arm around Rita and said, "It's all right… It's okay…"

"Hold on a minute!" said Mr. Connolly, "Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house!" He looked at the string of flags on his hands and threw it to the floor Mr. Connolly continued, "What the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor! You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business!"

Thanks to the psychic link I shared with my uncle, I could sense that his temper was starting to boil. The Oncoming Storm coming. My uncle responded calmly but scathingly, "A lot of people are being bundled into…"

"I am talking!" interrupted Mr. Connolly.

The Doctor shot up from the couch and shouted, "And I'm not listening! Now you, Mr. Connolly, you are staring into a deep, dark pit of trouble if you don't let me help. So I'm ordering you, sir! Tell me what's going on!"

Mr. Connolly was obviously not use to someone speaking to him as my uncle just did. The we hear three thumps coming from the room above us, "She won't stop. She never stops," said Mr. Connolly, with a hint of fear in his voice.

"We started hearing stories, all round the place," said Tommy, "People who've… changed. Families keeping it secret 'cause they were scared. Then the police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just… turn up, come to the door and take them, any time of the day or night."

"Show me." said The Doctor.

The Connolly's took us up to Rita's mother's room. It was pitch black. There was a creaking noise as Tommy opened the door and cautiously peeked inside, "Gran? It's Tommy," said Tommy as he opened the door and let us inside. "It's all right, Gran. I've brought help." He turned the light on and we were stunned. There was an old woman standing there with no eyes, nose, or mouth. The woman's face was just blank.

"Her face is completely gone," said the Doctor as we took out our sonic screwdrivers.

I scanned the woman with and I said, "There is hardly an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown."

"She's ticking over," said The Doctor, as he scanned, "Like her brain has been… wiped clean."

"What're we going to do, Doctor?" asked Tommy, "We can't even feed her!"

Then there was a crashing sound from downstairs.

"We've got company…" said Rose.

"It's them. They've come for her!" said Rita.

"What was she doing before this happened? Where was she?" asked The Doctor as we heard the policemen coming up the stairs, "Tell me, quickly, think!"

"I can't think!" said Tommy, "She doesn't leave the house! She was just…"

Just then a big, burly man walked in the room along with a couple of other officers. "Hold on a minute!" said The Doctor, "There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One…"

The burly man just punched my uncle in the face hard and he fell to the floor unconscious, "Doctor!" said Rose.

"Uncle!" I said.

The men took Tommy's grandmother out of the room while Rose and I tried to wake up him up. I shook him and Rose slapped his face. Then, he just sat up as if nothing happened, "Ah, hell of a right hook! Have to watch out for that!"

Then, The Doctor stood up and rushed down the stairs and I was right behind him. When we got to the moped we noticed Rose wasn't with us, "Rose, come on!" I called as we got our helmets on.

"Rose, we're going to lose them again!" said The Doctor.

I looked and saw the car getting away, "Doctor… we have to go… Rose will be OK…" The Doctor nodded and we took off after the police car.

The chase was identical as the last time. It ended at the same tall corrugated metal gate, with the same a large wooden cart in front of it with the same two men sweeping in front of it. At that moment we figured out what happened to the car. "Oh, very good. Very good." said The Doctor.

The Doctor parked the moped and we started to walk around the building, looking for a way in. We eventually found a small door that The Doctor opened with his sonic screwdriver. Once we were inside we saw two policemen locking up a cage-like gate. When they were gone, we walked over to the gate and saw an inter cage with several dozen people inside. I used my sonic to open this gate and we went inside to get a closer look. When we got to the inter cage we saw the people inside were just like Tommy's grandma, there faces were gone. The Doctor opened the door to the inner cage and we went inside. I took out my sonic and started to scan the people. Since The Doctor and I were blood relatives we were able to use telepathy to talk to one another, The readings are the exact same as with Tommy's grandma. I said in my thoughts, What could be causing it?

I don't know… said The Doctor.

Then, bright light turned on. We turned around and saw the two policemen who locked up the cages earlier, standing in front of the headlights of their car, "Stay where you are!" said one of the officers.

They took us up to an office inside the building. The man who spoke to us before was standing behind his desk, while my uncle and I were sitting down across from him, "Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know."

"Well, for starters," said The Doctor, "I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet." I crossed my left hand across my stomach, put my right hand to face and shook my head. I resisted the temptation to smack him upside the head.

"Don't get clever with me," said the officer, "You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now you're connected with this. Make no mistake."

"Well, the thing IS, Detective Inspector Bishop…"

"How do you know my name?"

"It's written inside your collar," I said.

D.I. Bishop blushed a little and adjusted his collar, "Bless your mum," said The Doctor, "But I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting, are you?"

"I'm doing everything in my power."

"All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can," I said, "Don't tell me… Orders from above? Coronation Day. The eyes of the world are on London… So any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight…"

"The nation has an imagine to maintain."

"But doesn't it drive you mad, doing nothing?" said The Doctor, "Don't you want to get out there and investigate?"

"Of course I do. But…" D.I. Bishop sat down at his desk, "with all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man power. Even if we did… this is… beyond anything we've ever seen. I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force…" The Doctor and I leaned forward, and D.I. Bishop continued, "I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on."

"Well… that could change," I said

"How?"

"Start from the beginning," said The Doctor as we stood up, "Tell us everything you know."

D.I. Bishop showed us a map of London on a stand. The Doctor put on his glasses to get a better look at the map. There were pins in the map for each location where some one was found without a face. "We started finding them about a month ago," he said, "Persons left sans visage. Heads just… blank."

"Is there any sort of pattern?" I asked, as the Doctor picked up a file on D.I. Bishop's desk.

"Yes, spreading out from North London. All over the city. Men, women, kids… grannies…. The only real lead is there's been quite a large number in"

"Florizel Street." said My uncle and D.I. Bishop at the same time.

Just then the door opened and the man who punched my uncle earlier walked in with a person covered with a blanket. I fought the urge to gasp when I saw the person was wearing a pink dress and pink shoes just like Rose was wearing, "Found another one, sir." said the man.

"Oh, er, good man, Crabtree," said D.I. Bishop, "Here we are, Doctor…" The Doctor drop file back onto the desk and we both walked over to the person under the blanket hopeing that it was just a coincidence, "Take a good look. See what you can deduce."

Crabtree took the blanket off and we knew it was Rose. Her hair was the same, she was wearing the same jacket. But, her face was gone. I held back the tears as my uncle said, "Rose."

"You know her?"

"Know her? She…"

The Doctor and I were too focused on Rose to really pay attention to what Crabtree and Bishop were saying. It was heartbreaking for the both of us. Rose had started to become like a sister to me and though he never said it to me out loud but I could tell that my uncle carried for Rose much more than just a regular companion. While we were looking at Rose, my uncle said, "They did what?"

"I'm sorry?" asked D.I. Bishop.

"They left her where?"

"Just in the street."

I couldn't believe it, "In the street," I said, "They left her in the street. They took her face and just threw her out and left her in the street." I shook my head in disgust.

But I could feel The Oncoming Storm building in my Uncle again, "And as a result, that makes things simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?" asked The Doctor as he turned to face the men and took his glasses off.

"No…."

"Because NOW," Shouted The Doctor, "Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on!" Without hesitation he headed straight to the door with me and D.I. Bishop right behind him.

When we got outside we could see that it was now morning. "The big day dawns…" said D.I. Bishop. Neither The Doctor or I responded.

The Doctor and I talked in our heads and we both agreed we had to go to the Connolly's house again. We rang the bell and thankfully Tommy opened the door, "Tommy, talk to me," said the Doctor. Tommy walked out of the door closing the door behind him, "I need to know exactly what happened inside your house."

Mr. Connolly whipped the door opened and looked Tommy in the eye, "What the blazes do you think you're doing?"

"I want to help, dad."

"Mr. Connolly…" said The Doctor."

"Shut your face, you," said Mr. Connolly, as he got right in my uncle's face, "Whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves." Then, he turned back to Tommy and got right in his face, "Listen you, little twerp. You're hardly out of the bloomin' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain. People round here respect me. It matters what people think."

"Is that why you did it, dad?"

Mr. Connolly was stunned at what Tommy said, "What d'you mean? Did what?

"You ratted on Gran. How else would the police know where to look, unless some coward told them…"

"How dare you! Do you think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?"

"You don't get it, do you? You fought against fascism, remember? People telling you how to live, who you could be friends with, who you could fall in love with, who could live and who had to die. Don't you get it? You were fighting so that little twerps like me could do what we want, say what we want. Now you've become just like them. You've been informing on everyone, haven't you? Even Gran. All to protect your precious reputation."

Just then Rita walked out of the house and asked, "Eddie… is that true?"

"I did it for US, Rita!" said Eddie, "She was filthy. A filthy, disgusting thing!"

"She's my mother. All the others you informed on, all the people in our street, our friends."

"I had to. I, I did the right thing…!"

"The right thing for us or for you, Eddie?" Then, Rita turned to Tommy, "You go, Tommy. Go with the Doctor and do some good. Get away from this house, it's poison," Then, she turned back to Eddie, "We had a ruddy monster under this roof, all right, but it weren't my mother!" Then, Rita slammed the door in Eddie's face.

"Rita!" said Eddie, as he stood at the door dumbfounded.

"Tommy?" said The Doctor as he motioned for him to join us.

Then Tommy, The Doctor, D.I. Bishop, and I walked down the street while people set up tables along the street for a street party after the Coronation. I looked at Tommy as we walked and I said, "Tommy, tell us about that night. The night she changed."

"She was just watching the telly."

"Rose said it. She guessed it straight away," said my uncle as he looked up at the TV antenna's on the chimneys along the street, "Of course she did. All these aerials in one little street. How come?"

"Mr. Magpie," I said, "He's selling TV's for 5 Pounds a piece." The Doctor ran down the street before I finished what I was saying."

"Is he, now?" said D.I. Bishop.

"Come on!" shouted the Doctor.

We caught up to The Doctor out side Mr. Magpie's shop. I was surprised when instead of using he sonic screwdriver to open the door. He punch the glass near the door hand and reached for the knob to unlock the door. "Here, you can't do that," said D.I. Bishop.

The Doctor ignored him and entered the shop. "Shop!" he yelled as he walked to the counter. He saw a bell on the counter and rang it repeatedly, "If you're here, come out and talk to me! Magpie?"

"Maybe he's out," said Tommy.

"Looks like it," I said. The Doctor and I started to open the drawers behind the counter. I found something in one of the drawers that didn't fit in this time period. A portable television. "Look at this…" I took the TV out of the drawer and handed it to my uncle.

My uncle took it and for some reason he licked it, "Tastes like iron. Bakelite." he said as he set the unit on the counter. "Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself…" he took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned it. I took out my sonic and started to scan the room, as I did the TVs around the room turned on to static. "Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple." said The Doctor.

"That's incredible," said D.I. Bishop, "It's like a television, but portable. A portable television!"

"It's not the only power source in this room," I said. Then the static on the TVs faded on each screen was a different face. Obiously these were the face stolen by whatever was taking them. There was no sound coming from the TVs but you could see each person was calling for help.

"Gran?" said Tommy, as he found the screen with his grandmother's face.

"Doctor…" I called, when I found the one with Rose's face on it. She was mouthing 'Doctor! Teddy!"

The Doctor and I knelt by the screen and he said, "We are on our way."

Just then, Mr. Magpie entered from the back of the shop, "What do you think you're doing?"

The Doctor jumped up and rushed over to him and got right in his face, and in a thunderous voice said, "I want my friend restored, and I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician, so tell me, who's really in charge here?"

"Yoo hoo!" said a female voice. We turned and saw a woman in her late 40s on one of the screens. "I think that must be me. Ooh, this one's smart as paint."

"Is she talking to us?" asked D.I. Bishop.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, lady, I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new friend…" said Mr. Magpie.

"Jolly nice to meet you."

"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly," said D.I. Bishop.

"No, it's just using her image," said The Doctor.

"What… What are you?" asked Tommy.

"I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy. Every last morsel. And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow kind denied me." Then, the screen with The Wire on it turned to color.

"Good Lord. Color television!" said D.I. Bishop.

"So your own people tried to stop you?" said The Doctor.

"They executed me," said The Wire, "But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars."

"And now you're trapped in the television," I said. The smirk fades from The Wire's face and the screen turns back to black and white.

"Not for much longer."

"Doctor, is this what got my Gran?" asked Tommy.

"Yes, Tommy," said The Doctor, "It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it gorges itself like a great overfed pig, taking people's faces, their essences. It stuffs itself."

"And you let her do it, Magpie," said Bishop.

"I had to!" said Magpie, "She allowed me my face. She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation."

"What does that mean?" asked Tommy.

"The appointed time…" said The Wire, "My crowning glory."

"Doctor, the coronation!" said Bishop.

"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set," I said.

"But you're not strong enough yet, are you?" said The Doctor, as he approached the set with The Wire in it, "You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this!" He picked up the portable television. "You need something more powerful! This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver."

"What a clever thing you are!" said The Wire, "But why fret about it? Why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the Coronation. Believe me.. you'll be glued to the screen."

Then red bolts of light came at us and before The Doctor and I could reach we felt the bolts attach to our faces and start to pull them into The Wire's TV.

"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah, this one is tasty. Oh, I'll have lashings of him! Delicious!"

The Doctor and I slowly pulled our sonic screwdrivers out and aimed them at the TV, "Armed! They are armed and clever. Withdraw! Withdraw!" The Wire severed her connection and we fell the floor.

The Doctor and I woke up, "Are you OK, Teddy?" he said as he sat up.

"Yeah…" I said. I looked and saw that D.I. Bishop's face was gone.

"Tommy, wake up. Tommy, come on!"

"What happened?" asked Tommy.

"Where's Magpie?"

We went outside and saw Magpie's van was gone.

"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late," said Tommy.

"It's never too late," I said, "The Wire's got big plans. It's got to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and where are we?"

"Muswell Hill."

"Muswell Hill. Muswell Hill!" said The Doctor, as he looked around. Then, he pointed to a large building on the horizon "Which means Alexandra Palace, biggest TV transmitter in North London! Oh, that's why it chose this place! Teddy? Tommy?"

"What are you going to do?" asked Tommy.

"We're going shopping," said the Doctor, as he ran back inside the shop.

We went back inside and The Doctor told me mentally what he wanted to build. So, I knew what to look for as we started to look around the shop for parts. Once we found all the parts we needed one very important part. But, in 1953, we could only find it in the TARDIS. So, we ran to the TARIDS, I ran inside and with in moments returned with the necicary peiece to The Doctor's device, "Got it!" I said.

"Let's go…" said The Doctor. Then, the Doctor, Tommy, and I started to run for Alexandria Palace. We didn't have much time so The Doctor and I had to build the machine on the run while Tommy carried it.

We finished it by the time we got to Alexandria Palace. The Doctor took the machine and Tommy looked and saw something on the transmitter tower, "There!" he said.

We looked and saw Magpie climbing the transmitter tower, "Come on!"

We ran to the front gate and the guard there said, "Wait, wait, wait! Where do you think…" Without stopping my uncle showed him the psychic paper, "Oh! I'm very sorry, sir. Shouldn't you be at the Coronation?"

"They're saving me a seat."

We rounded a corner and I asked, ""Who did he think you were?"

The Doctor looked at the psychic paper, "King of Belgium, apparently." We ran into the control room and The Doctor set up his machine, he hooked a roll of copper wire to the machine. "Keep this switched on. Don't let anyone stop you two. Everything depends on it. You both understand?"

Tommy nodded and I said, "Good luck…"

Then, The Doctor ran out of the with the wire trailing behind him. Tommy and I waited patiently, I was nervous not knowing what was going on outside. Then, a few minutes after my uncle left the machine sparked and smoked. "What happned?" asked Tommy.

I looked and waved the smoke away, "One of the Vacuum Tubes blew … The Wire must be in the process of absorbing people. It's more powerful than we thought…" I unplugged the machine from the console and I looked around and saw a shelf with vacuum tubes. "Come on…" I said.

Tommy and I looked through the shelf and Tommy found a replacement one first. He ran over to the machine to change it. Once it was changed, I plugged the machine back in and it came to life. "It's working Tommy!" I laughed. The machine was covered with the same red energy bolts. Soon the energy disappeared and the machine smoked a little. Tommy and I watched a bit of the ending of the Coronation on one of the screens while we waited for my uncle to return.

"What have I missed?" asked The Doctor, I smiled and went up and gave him a hug.

"Doctor! What happened?" asked Tommy.

We walked over to him and The Doctor said, "Sorted. Electrical creature, TV technology, two clever alien life forms… That's us by the way." The Doctor pointed at himself and I, then he continued, "I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here." He pressed a button on the machine and a video tape popped out, "I just invented the home video thirty years early. Betamax." I smiled and shook my head, "Oh, look. God save the Queen, eh?" We looked at the screen and saw Queen Elizabeth II waving at the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

We went back to were the police were keeping the faceless people and Tommy found his grandmother, ran to her and they hugged. The Doctor and I scanned the crowds for Rose… and we spotted her at about exactly the time she spotted us. A wide smile spread across her face, which we returned. We jogged over to her. She laughed and my uncle threw his arms around her, lifting her right off the ground in a huge hug. She clung to him, grinning widely and burying her face in his shoulder. I smiled as I watched my uncle and Rose together.

We went back to Florizel Street and found the street party in full swing.

"We could go down the Mall, join in with the crowds," said Rose.

"Nah, that's just pomp and circumstance," said The Doctor, as he took a piece of cake off of one of the tables.

"This is history right here," I said.

"The domestic approach," said Rose.

"Exactly," said The Doctor.

The three of us laughed a little. Then, Rose asked, "Will it… that thing.. is it trapped for good… on video?"

"Hope so," said The Doctor, "Just to be on the safe side though, Teddy will use her unrivalled knowledge of trans temporal extirpation methods to neutralize the residual electronic pattern."

"She'll what?"

"I'm going to tape over it," I said with a smile.

Rose laughed, "Just leave it to me. I'm always doing that."

We found Tommy and walked up to him. The Doctor looked at him and said, "Tell you what, Tommy, you can have the scooter. Little present."

"You probably should keep it in the garage for a few years though…" I said.

We could tell Tommy was looking behind us when he said, "Good riddance."

We turned and saw Rita hugging her mom and saw Eddie in his overcoat and carrying a suitcase walking down the street away from us.

"Is that it, then, Tommy?" I asked him, "New monarch, new age, new world. No room for a man like Eddie Connelly."

"That's right. He deserves it."

Rose was standing behind Tommy and she nudged him the shoulder, "Tommy, go after him."

"What for?"

"He's your dad."

"He's an idiot."

"Course he is. Like I said, he's your dad. But you're clever. Clever enough to save the world, so don't stop there. Go on."

She smiled and gave him another nudge. Convinced, Tommy ran to join his dad. They walked side by side After a few moments, Tommy took his dad's bag for him and they continued down the street together. The Doctor handed Rose and I each a glass of orange juice. We clinked our glasses together and smiled.