"Hold that one down!" the Doctor tells Rose as he and the Archer flew the TARDIS into the time vortex.
"I'm holding this one down," says Rose.
"Hold them both down Rosie," the Archer tells Rose.
"It's not going to work. And Rosie? Really?" asks Rose.
"Yes, your new nickname, just like I call the Doctor 'Doc.'"
Rose tries to stretch across half the console.
"Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" the Doctor asked.
"What happened in 1860?" asks Rose.
"I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!"
The Doctor, the Archer, and Rose are all on the floor.
"Blimey!" Rose exclaims.
"You're telling me. Are you all right?" the Doctor asks Rose.
"Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken. Did we make it? Where are we?"
"I'm fine, if anyone was wondering," the Archer states.
"You're always okay," says the Doctor.
"Hey! I'm – I'm okay unless I'm regenerating," says the Archer.
"Of course you're not," says the Doctor, "it hurts, but I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860."
"That's so weird. It's Christmas," says Rose.
"All yours," says the Doctor.
"But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still."
"Not a bad life," the Doctor says.
"Not too bad," the Archer adds.
"Better with three. Come on, then," says Rose.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" the Doctor calls for her.
"1860," Rose replies.
"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up! You too, Archer."
"Oi," she says, "what about you, Doc?"
"Not about me. Now go. Show Rose the closet," he tells the Archer.
"Fine," she says. She goes off.
&&&
"Blimey!" the Doctor says as the two girls come into the console room.
"Don't laugh," says Rose.
"You look beautiful, considering . . ."
Rose says, "Considering what?"
"That you're human," says the Doctor.
"Time lady here," says the Archer.
"I think that's a compliment. Aren't you going to change?"
"That's what I said!" the Archer says.
"I've changed my jumper. Come on."
"You stay there. You've done this before. This is mine," says Rose.
The Archer frowns. The Doctor hasn't said anything about her yet.
Rose opens the door and steps gingerly out into the fallen snow.
"Ready for this? Here we go. History."
The Archer clears her throat.
"What?" the Doctor asks.
"I'm offended here," she says, "you say 'what' like nothing happened?"
"You look beautiful too, Archer," Rose tells the time lady. The time lady smiles at Rose.
"Thank you. At least someone around here –"
In a whisper, the Doctor says, "you always look beautiful in my eyes. Why do I need to say that out loud?"
The Archer has butterflies in her stomach as he gives a smirk.
"Every regeneration?" the Archer asks.
"Every single one!" he says.
"I heard that," Rose says. "I didn't know you were a flirt, Doctor."
"Well she's my Archer," he adds.
"And he's my Doc," says the Archer.
"Doc-tor," says the Doctor.
"You're always the 'Doc' in my ears!" says the Archer.
Rose laughs. They move on.
&&&
The Doctor and Rose walk down the street while a choir sings God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. They move on before the hearse stops. The Doctor buys a newspaper.
"I got the flight a bit wrong," says the Doctor.
"Of course you did, idiot," says the Archer, lightly slapping him.
"I don't care," Rose replies.
"It's not 1860, it's 1869."
"Of course it is. Always getting it wrong. So shameful," the Archer teases him. The Doctor rolls his eyes.
"I don't care."
"And it's not Naples," the Doctor says.
"I don't care," repeats Rose.
"It's Cardiff," says the Doctor.
That stops Rose in her tracks. "Right."
Suddenly, the trio heard screams. "That's more like it," says the Doctor.
The police are arriving outside.
"Fantastic," the Doctor states.
The corpse collapses.
"Did you see where it came from?" asks the Doctor.
"Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!"
Sneed and Gwyneth, though the Archer doesn't know their names yet, pick up the corpse.
"Oi! Leave her alone! Doctor, Archer, I'll get them," says Rose.
"Be careful! Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way. This is the Archer," he introduces himself.
"Doctor? Archer? You look more like a navvie," says Charles Dickens.
"What's wrong with this jumper?"
"Told you that you should've changed," says the Archer.
The blue entity flies into a gas light.
"Gas! It's made of gas," the Doctor says.
"Ten out of ten for observation," says the Archer, mocking the Doctor. The Doctor glares at her.
"Rose!" says the Doctor, noticing her being taken by the people.
"Rose!" says the Archer.
"You're not escaping me, sir. Ma'am. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?" Charles asks.
"Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks. Oi, you! Follow that hearse!"
The Doctor gets into a nearby carriage. It only fit two people, but the Archer made herself comfortable on the Doctor's lap.
"Why are you on me?" the Doctor says.
"I don't know, maybe because I wanted to," the Archer says.
"I can't do that, sir," the driver says.
"Why not?"
"I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach."
"Well, get in, then. Move!" says the Doctor.
"That's why," the Archer says as Charles takes a seat next to the Doctor.
The driver cracks the whip and the carriage moves down the street.
"Come on, you're losing them," the Doctor says.
"Everything in order, Mister Dickens?" asks the driver. The Archer's eyes widened.
"No! It is not!" says Charles.
"What did he say?" asks the Doctor.
"Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humour," says Charles.
"Dickens?" asks the Doctor.
"Yes."
"Charles Dickens?"
"No," the Archer says in disbelief.
"Yes. Why 'no'?"
"The Charles Dickens?"
"Should I remove the gentleman and lady, sir?" asks the driver.
"Charles Dickens? You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. I've read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?"
"I've only read 'A Christmas Carol', but you are brilliant too," says the Archer.
"No, no, no, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it. Terrifying! The best short story ever written. You're a genius."
"You want me to get rid of him, sir?"
"Er, no, I think he can stay," says Charles.
"Honestly, Charles. Can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan. The Archer is too, but she only read one of your stories –"
"A what? A big what?"
"Fan. Number one fan, that's me," says the Doctor. The Archer cringes as Charles speaks.
"How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?"
"No, it means fanatic, devoted to. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit."
"I thought you said you two were my fans," says Charles.
"Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that. Come on, faster!"
"Who exactly is in that hearse?" asks Charles.
"Our friend. She's only nineteen. It's my fault. She's in our care, and now she's in danger."
"It's our fault," says the Archer.
"Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!" says Charles.
"Yes, sir!" says the driver.
"Attaboy, Charlie."
"Nobody calls me Charlie," says Charles.
"The ladies do," says the Doctor.
"Not me," whispers the Archer.
"But how do you know that?" asks Charles.
"I told you, I'm your number one –"
"Number one fan," Charles finishes for him.
&&&
The Doctor and the Archer go past Gwenyth to a flaring gas lamp.
"You're not allowed inside, sir. Ma'am," says Gwenyth.
"There's something inside the walls," the Doctor says.
"The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas," says the Doctor.
"Open the door!" shouts someone. Rose.
"Rose!" shouts the Archer.
"That's her," says the Doctor.
"Please, please, let me out!"
The Doctor runs down the corridor and into Sneed. The Archer follows after.
"How dare you, sir. This is my house!" says Sneed.
"Shut up," says Charles.
"I told you," Sneed says to Gwenyth.
"Let me out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!"
The Doctor kicks the door in. The Archer follows behind him.
"I think this is my dance," he says. The Archer pulls Rose away from Redpath.
"It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence," says Charles.
"No, we're not. The dead are walking. Hi," says the Doctor.
"Hi Rosie," says the Archer.
"Hi. Who's your friend?" asks Rose.
"Charles Dickens," says the Doctor.
"Or Charlie, as the ladies, meaning me and you, call him," says the Archer to Rose. Rose looks at her confused.
"The Doctor said it, not me," says the Archer.
"Okay," says Rose.
"My name's the Doctor. This is the Archer. Who are you, then? What do you want?"
Redpath replies with several voices.
"Failing. Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us. Argh!"
The gas leaves Redpath and his mother and returns to the gas lamp. The corpses collapse. The Archer gets chills down her spine. She is creeped out.
&&&
Gwyneth pours tea for them.
"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man," says Rose.
Sneed says, "I won't be spoken to like this!"
"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!"
"It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs, the er, dear departed started getting restless," says Sneed.
"Tommyrot," Charles says.
"You witnessed it. Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps," says Sneed.
Gwyneth places the Doctor's cup on the mantlepiece beside him.
"Two sugars, sir, just how you like it. Are you sure you don't want anything, ma'am?" Gwenyth looks at the Archer.
"No thanks," says the Archer. "I'll just share his."
"One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned," says Sneed.
"Morbid fancy," says Charles.
The Doctor says, "Oh, Charles, you were there."
"I saw nothing but an illusion," says Charles.
"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up. What about the gas?"
Sneed says, "That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that."
"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through," says the Doctor.
"What's the rift?" Rose asks.
"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time," says the Doctor.
Sneed says, "That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations."
Charles slams the door as he leaves.
"Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine."
The Archer follows after Charles. The writer stops by a gas lamp and tries to listen to the whispers.
"Impossible."
Charles takes the lid off Redpath's coffin, and waves his hand in front of the dead man's face. The Archer cringes and then sees the Doctor watching from the doorway as Charles searches the coffin.
"Checking for strings?" asks the Doctor.
"Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud. And tell your lady friend to stop following me."
"Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures. And I'm sure Archer means no harm to you, Charles. She was just curious, that's all."
"I cannot accept that. What you said before the 'Archer' nonsense," says Charles.
"And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach."
"Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?" says Charles.
"Not wrong. There's just more to learn."
"I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?"
&&&
The Archer and the Doctor came back to Rose after Charles was done talking. Gwenyth was talking with her, and the Archer heard her say stuff about Rose's father, and how he died. Rose clearly didn't tell her about that, nor did the Archer and the Doctor.
"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it," says Gwenyth.
"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?"
"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head," Gwenyth says.
"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key," says the Doctor.
"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts," says Gwenyth.
"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do," says the Doctor.
"What to do where, sir?" asks Gwenyth.
"We're going to have a séance," the Doctor says.
&&&
Everyone is gathered around a table.
"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in Bute Town. Come, we must all join hands," says Gwenyth.
"I can't take part in this," says Charles.
"Humbug? Come on, open mind."
"Humbug," repeated the Archer.
"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing."
"Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium," says the Doctor.
Rose said, "I can't believe you just said that."
"Come on, we might need you," says the Doctor.
Charles sits down between Rose and Gwyneth.
"Good man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out," says the Doctor. The Archer still is creeped out. She's not going to calm down after this.
"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden," says Gwenyth.
The whispering starts, sending chills down the Archer's spine.
"Can you hear that?" asks Rose.
"Yup," says the Archer.
"Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly," Charles says in disbelief.
"Look at her," says Rose.
"I see them. I feel them," Gwenyth says.
Gas tendrils drift above their heads.
"What's it saying?" Rose asks.
"They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through," says the Doctor.
"I can't!" shouts Gwenyth.
"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link."
"Yes," replies Gwenyth.
Blue outlines of people appear behind Gwyneth.
Sneed says, "Great God! Spirits from the other side."
"The other side of the universe," says the Doctor.
The figures speak with two children's voices, and Gwyneth speaks with them.
"Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us."
"What do you want us to do?" asks the Doctor.
"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge."
"What for?" asks the Doctor.
"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction," says the Gelth.
"Why, what happened?" asks the Doctor.
"Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came."
Charles asks, "War? What war?"
"The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."
"So that's why you need the corpses," says the Doctor.
"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us."
"But we can't," says Rose.
"Why not?" asks the Doctor and the Archer.
"It's not. I mean, it's not–"
"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives," says the Doctor.
The Gelth say, "Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth."
The Gelth go back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapses across the table.
"Gwyneth?" Rose and the Archer ask.
"All true," says Charles.
"Are you okay?" asks Rose.
"It's all true," says Charles.
A little later, Gwyneth has been laid on the chaise longue.
"It's all right. You just sleep."
"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" asks Gwenyth.
"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival," says the Doctor.
"I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles. Drink this," says Rose.
"Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" asks Sneed.
"Aliens," says the Doctor.
"Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed asks.
"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there," says the Doctor.
"Brecon?" Sneed asks.
"Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes," the Doctor answers.
"Which is why they need the girl," says Charles.
Rose says, "They're not having her."
"But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through," the Doctor says.
"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers," says Charles.
"Good system. It might work," says the Doctor.
"You can't let them run around inside of dead people," says Rose.
"Why not? It's like recycling," says the Doctor.
"Seriously though, you can't," says Rose.
"Seriously though, I can."
The Archer wants to smack her forehead. Their fighting needed to stop, but she let it continue.
"It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death," says Rose.
"Do you carry a donor card?" asks the Doctor.
"That's different. That's –"
"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying," says the Doctor.
"I don't care. They're not using her," says Rose.
"Don't I get a say, miss?" Gwenyth asks. "And the Archer?"
"Don't put me into this," the Archer says, "I just want to do what's best. I'll go with the Doctor on this one. Sorry, Rosie."
Rose gives the Archer a glare. She looks at Gwenyth and says, "Look, you don't understand what's going on."
"You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid," says Gwenyth.
"That's not fair," says Rose.
"It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, Archer, what do I have to do?"
"You don't have to do anything," says the Doctor.
"Just sit pretty," the Archer adds. The Doctor rolls his eyes.
"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me," says Gwenyth.
The Doctor says, "We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"
Sneed says, "That would be the morgue."
"No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?" asks Rose.
&&&
There is a cold basement where the recently departed lie under white sheets.
"Urgh. Talk about Bleak House," the Doctor says. He looks at the Archer as they're holding hands.
"Right," she agrees.
"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869," Rose says.
"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing," says the Doctor.
Charles says, "Doctor, I think the room is getting colder."
The Archer notices that no one is saying her name in this situation. She could care less, though, because she doesn't like this at all.
"Here they come," says Rose.
A Gelth comes out of a gas lamp by the door and stands under a stone archway.
"You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him," says the Gelth.
"Promise you won't hurt her," says Rose.
"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth."
The Doctor says, "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"
Gwenyth says, "My angels. I can help them live."
"Okay, where's the weak point?" asks the Doctor.
"Here, beneath the arch," says the Gelth.
"Beneath the arch," says Gwenyth.
Gwyneth stands under the arch, inside the Gelth.
"You don't have to do this," says Rose.
"My angels," says Gwenyth.
"Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!"
Gwenyth says, "Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!"
"Bridgehead establishing."
"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!" Gwenyth says.
"It has begun. The bridge is made."
Gwyneth opens her mouth, and blue gas comes out.
"She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend," says the Gelth.
The blue apparition turns flame red with sharp teeth. It's voice deepens and hardens.
"The Gelth will come through in force."
Charles says, "You said that you were few in number."
"A few billion. And all of us are in need of corpses," says the Gelth.
The dead get up. The Archer gets creeped out once more.
Sneed says, "Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you."
Rose says, "Mister Sneed, get back!"
A corpse grabs Sneed and snaps his neck. A Gelth zooms into his mouth.
"I think it's gone a little bit wrong," says the Doctor.
"A bit?" asks the Archer.
"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us," says Sneed.
"No," says Charles.
"We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead."
"Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!" the Doctor shouts.
"Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth," says the Gelth.
Sneed, dead, backs Rose, the Archer, and the Doctor up against a metal gate.
Charles says, "Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so–"
The Archer, the Doctor and Rose hide behind the metal gate, where the corpses cannot reach them.
"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth."
"I trusted you. I pitied you!" the Doctor shouts.
"We trusted you!" says the Archer.
"We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh."
"Not while I'm alive."
"Not while we're alive," says the Archer.
"Then live no more."
Charles runs out of the house.
"So much for him," says the Archer.
"But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?" Rose asks.
"I'm sorry."
"I wish you couldn't," says the Archer, "but I'm sorry too, Rosie."
"But it's 1869. How can I die now?" Rose asks.
"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th and it's all my fault. We brought you here."
"Our fault," the Archer corrects him.
"It's not your fault. The both of you. I wanted to come," says Rose.
"What about us? We saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now the Archer and I are going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff," says the Doctor.
"It's not just dying. We'll become one of them," says Rose.
"We'll go down fighting, yeah?" Rose asks.
"Yeah," says the Doctor.
"Yup," says the Archer.
"Together?" Rose asks.
"Yeah," says the Doctor.
"Yeah," says the Archer.
Rose and the Doctor hold hands while the Archer holds the Doctor's other hand.
"I'm so glad we met you," the Doctor says.
"Me too," says Rose.
Charles suddenly runs in.
"Doctor! Archer! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!"
"What're you doing?" asks the Doctor.
"Turn it all on. Flood the place!" says Charles.
"Brilliant. Gas," says the Doctor.
"What, so we choke to death instead?"
"Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous," says Charles.
"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!" says the Doctor.
The corpses leave the Archer, the Doctor and Rose, and start shambling towards Charles.
"I hope, oh Lord, I hope that this theory will be validated soon, if not immediately."
"Plenty more!" says the Doctor.
The Doctor rips a gas pipe from the wall. The Gelphs leave the corpses.
"It's working," says Rose.
The Doctor, the Archer, and Rose come out of the alcove.
"Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels."
"Liars?" Gwenyth asks.
"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"
"I can't breathe," says Rose.
The Doctor says, "Charles, get her out."
"I'm not leaving her," says Rose.
"They're too strong," Gwenyth says.
"Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift," says the Doctor.
"I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out."
Gwyneth takes a box of matches from her apron pocket.
"You can't!" says Rose.
"Leave this place!"
"Rose, get out. Go now. Archer, follow her. She needs company. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!"
"I'm not leaving without you," the Archer says. "Rose, go with Charlie."
"Charlie?" Charles questions.
"Yes, now go," says the Archer.
Rose and Charles leave.
"You shouldn't have done that," the Doctor says.
"She has Charlie, idiot," the Archer says.
"Come on, leave, give that to me," says the Doctor, ignoring the Archer's 'idiot' comment.
Gwyneth doesn't move. The Doctor feels for a pulse in her neck.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes.
He kisses her forehead.
"Thank you," says the Doctor. He grabs the Archer's hand and they run out.
The Doctor runs out and boom! The Doctor and the Archer go flying across the street.
"She didn't make it," says Rose.
"I'm sorry. She closed the rift," says the Doctor.
"At such a cost. The poor child," says Charles.
"I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes," says the Doctor.
"What do you mean?" Rose asks, confused.
"I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch," says the Doctor.
"But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?" asks Rose.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor."
"She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know."
"Except for us," says the Archer.
"Yeah. Except for us," says Rose, after the Archer.
&&&
"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long."
"What are you going to do now?" Rose asks Charles.
"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital."
"You've cheered up," says the Doctor.
Charles says, "Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them."
"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asks.
"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth."
"Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic," says the Doctor.
"Bye, then, and thanks." Rose shakes Charles's hand then kisses his cheek.
"Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"
"You'll see. In the shed."
"Upon my soul, Doctor, Archer, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you two?"
"Just friends passing through," says the Doctor.
"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, Archer, do they last?" asks Charles.
"Oh, yes!"
"For how long?" asks Charles.
"Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose. Archer," the Doctor says.
"In the box? All of you?" asks Charles.
"Down boy. See you," the Doctor says.
&&&
"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asks the Doctor and the Archer.
"In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story," says the Doctor.
"Oh, no. He was so nice," says Rose.
"Not to me, at least," the Archer says. "He didn't like that I followed him around. Right, Doc?"
The Doctor glares at her for saying 'Doc' again.
"Yeah, but in your time, Rose, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise."
The TARDIS dematerializes.