Doctor Who: All Roads Lead To Trenzalore

Hi there! In about 5 months time, we'll get to the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special which marks the final official swan song of head writer Steven Moffatt and 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi, It will also feature the 12th Doctor crossing over with the 1st Doctor.  

Back in the winter of 2014, I posted a three episode fan fiction featuring the 1st Doctor meeting the 11th Doctor. Today, I'm re-posting those three episodes in one handy-dandy blog post as we see the Doctor facing death for the final time meeting his first incarnation approaching his first death.  

In all it's epic glory, in one epic post....

All Road Lead To Trenzalore

by David Long  

Scene opens: Night time against a snowy tableau. We see a well-worn pair of boots crunch through the snow. As our view widens, we see a man dressed for the cold in a rag tag ensemble of a beat up overcoat, tattered scarf and ragged gloves. 

A graphic appears on screen identifying that this is the planet Trenzalore.



The lights of his village, the town called Christmas, twinkle in the darkness behind him. He looks up the gentle slope of a hill and calls out. 

Man: Doctor! 

The Doctor is standing on a hill top on the very outskirts of the town called Christmas on the planet Trenzalore. The Doctor is looking older: his hair is streaked with grey and the lines on his face are a roadmap of the years he has survived in this form, on this world. He’s standing with the assistance of a cane. In his other hand, he holds up a telescope and scans the night sky. Amid the stars appear bright flashes.  

The Doctor (still looking at the sky, not turning towards his visitor): Ah, Barnable! Lovely to see you.

Man: Doctor, I've told you: my name's not-

The Doctor (interrupting): The war up there, Barnable; it seems particularly violent tonight. 

The man who is not Barnable (but we'll call him that) looks up, sees the flashes in the sky. 

Barnable: Still fightin’ amongst themselves, I see.

The Doctor: So unnecessary when a good old fashion game of Scrabble would sort them out.

Barnable: Doctor, what are you doing out here?

The Doctor (looking about him): Oh, nothing. Just out…walking the parapet, as it were. Making sure Christmas is safe and secure. For at least one more night. 

Barnable: Trenzalore, all of us, we...we’re running out of time, aren’t we? 

The Doctor (putting his hand on Barnable’s shoulder): Oh, Barnable, we’re always running out of time. Even me. 

Suddenly there is a bright flash of green light. Barnable is startled but the Doctor barely reacts. 

Mother Superious Tasha Lem appears in holographic form in front of the Doctor.

The Doctor: Ah, Tasha Lem! As lovely as ever, I see.

Tasha Lem: I wish I could say the same, Doctor. The years have not been kind. 

The Doctor: Oh the years have been utterly cruel. But the years and I, we’re not done with each other yet.

Tasha Lem: The number of races in orbit over Trenzalore continues to dwindle. 

The Doctor: Good. 

Tasha Lem: But the number of Daleks increases exponentially. 

The Doctor: That’s…Barnable, what’s the opposite of good?

Barnable: Bad?

The Doctor: Yes! Bad! Bad is the word for that.  Still, the Daleks are so dependent on technology, I imagine the barrier you've so helpfully put around the planet is still most problematic for them.

Tasha Lem: Perhaps so but the Daleks are never to be underestimated.

The Doctor (voice rising): Oh, don’t lecture me about Daleks! I never underestimate the Daleks and their capacity for death and destruction. 

Tasha Lem: And the Daleks see the Time Lords the same way. 

The Doctor (testily): Who’s side are you on here, Mother Superious? 

Tasha Lem: I’m on the side of keeping the Daleks AND the Time Lords from destroying all of creation. 

The Doctor: This stalemate cannot be sustained forever. The Papal Mainframe needs to pick a side!

Tasha Lem: The Papal Mainframe stands in judgement of both the Daleks and the Time Lords.  

The Doctor: Look, Tasha, the Time Lords are pompous, arrogant and power corrupted and those are their good qualities. But nothing...NOTHING!... compares to the dark depravity of the Daleks. If the Daleks think their grievances are on par with the Time Lords, let me say this:  Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

With a flick of his wrist, the Doctor produces his sonic screwdriver and with a high pitching trilling noise, the holographic projection ceases.

SFX: Boom!

The Doctor and Barnable look up anxiously into the sky. A large object hurtles through the darkness, on fire from air friction. 

Barnable: Doctor? What’s happening?

The Doctor pulls his telescope from his coat pocket to look at the object racing across the heavens.

Barnable: What is that?

The Doctor (sighs):  The first stone. 

On the horizon, the object impacts the ground with a blinding and resounding explosion. 

The Doctor: Hmm! Inevitable, I suppose. (begins to walk away)

Barnable: Where are you going?

The Doctor (gesturing his cane in the direction of the impact): To see what fresh hell this is. 

Barnable: I’m coming with you. 

The Doctor (stops): And if I said no?

Barnable: I’m coming with you anyway.

The Doctor: Thought as much. Well, come along, Barnable. 

Barnable: Really, Doctor, my name's not-

The Doctor pays no heed to this protest as he begins singing, moving through the snow with the help of his cane.

The Doctor: "Sleigh bells ring; are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. What a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight walking in a winter wonderland."

Barnable just shakes his head, sighs and follows after.  

Scene change: a dark forest of trees that tangle together against the night sky. In the center of the forest is a very large rock, about the size of large tool shed or a garage. It smokes and smolders as an eerie blue glow emanates from the grey surface of the rock.

Approaching from the periphery is the Doctor and Barnable. 

The Doctor (with feigned enthusiasm): Oh look. A rock. 

Barnable: A very peculiar rock. 

The Doctor scans the boulder with his sonic screwdriver. 

The Doctor: It's a missile. Made of rock. Perfect for getting past the anti-technology barrier. First wooden Cybermen, now Daleks made of rock? Blimey. 

Barnable: It's a Dalek?

The Doctor (pacing about the rock, still scanning): Yes! Well, no! It's a Dalek weapon. But "Daleks made of rock" had a bit more...pizzaz to it. 

Barnable: But it's just a rock. Mind you, a very large and glowing rock but...

The Doctor (still pacing and scanning): Oh, more than a rock, Barnable. The resonances I'm getting from inside...remarkable. The design is simple but still impossibly intricate for something made of stone.

Barnable: It's a machine?


The Doctor: Well, some kind of device anyway. Made of rock, not metal. Powered by ambient gravity, not an internal power source. It's must've taken the Daleks centuries to...

The Doctor stops pacing and scanning, takes a step back. 

The Doctor: It's a Pandorica. And it's unlocking. 

The Doctor checks the readings on his screwdriver and the expression on his face is extremely worried. 

The Doctor: Deterium radiation? No, it can’t be! Except…oh my.

The Doctor scans the rock again. 

Barnable: Doctor? 

The Doctor checks the screwdriver's readings.

The Doctor: Oh, somebody’s been reversing polarities.  

The Doctor looks up to sky.

The Doctor (shouting): Oy! You lot! Reversing polarities is MY thing! No fair ripping off my material!  

The Doctor begins pacing back and forth, idly scratching his head with the end of the sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor: Barnable, do you know what deterium radiation is? 

Barnable: Er, I can’t say that…

The Doctor: It’s an extremely potent energy source for starships, galactic battle fleets and toaster ovens. Very potent and very lethal. Any lifeform that is mostly organic does not stand a chance to survive it. But perfect for tin-plated dictators like the Daleks.

Barnable: That’s what’s inside the rock then?

The Doctor: Exactly! Annnnd…not exactly. 

Barnable: Not exactly?

The Doctor: A drawback to deterium radiation is it has a rather quick half life decay cycle. It constantly needs replenishing. But this radiation has been reversed engineered. It won't decay. And when this rocky Pandorica finally unlocks...

Barnable: The radiation will kill us.

The Doctor (grimly): The radiation will kill us all.

Barnable: So...what do we do?

The Doctor: We turn it off. 

Barnable: I know it can’t be that easy. 

Female voice from behind: It rarely is. 

The Doctor and Barnable turn to face the hologram of Tasha Lem. 

Tasha Lem: Doctor! I believe you hung up on me!

The Doctor (sharply): Tasha Lem! What do you know about this?

Tasha Lem: What I suspect you already know. 

The Doctor: Yes.

Barnable: Well, one of you want to clue me in?

The Doctor: The stone lock...my screwdriver detects a key juncture where the unlocking can be stopped, reversed even. But...

Barnable: But what?

The Doctor (hesitantly): That juncture is part of an inner atrium, too close to the radioactive core. 

Barnable: So whoever goes in there to turn it off…will die?

The Doctor: Yes.

Barnable: Then I’ll do it! 

The Doctor: Barnable, no! 

Barnable: There’s no choice, Doctor! You said this will kill everything on Trenzalore! I have to stop it!

The Doctor: You can’t do that, Barnable!

Barnable: Doctor, Trenzalore needs you! You are our only defense against the Daleks! It has to be me to do this! 

The Doctor: And I said you CAN’T! 

Barnable: Just try to stop me, Doctor!

Tasha Lem: He literally means you can’t!

Barnable: What? 

Tasha Lem: The lock is isomorphic. 

Barnable: What does that…?

The Doctor: It means only I can manipulate it. 

Barnable: What? How…?

Tasha Lem: The stone controls are set to respond only to a Time Lord’s physiognomy. This particular Time Lord. 

The Doctor: You certainly know a lot about this situation. 

Tasha Lem: I am Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe, Doctor! I have my sources.  

Barnable: So let me see if I understand this. If you do nothing, the radiation eats through the rock and everything dies.

The Doctor: Yes. 

Barnable: But if you go in there and turn off the switch, you will die, Trenzalore is no longer defended and everything dies. 

The Doctor silently nods. 

Tasha Lem: Doctor, what about regeneration?

The Doctor: I’m afraid, Tasha Lem, that is no longer an option.  

Tasha Lem: You are at the end of your regenerative cycle? I’m…I’m sorry, I didn’t…

The Doctor: If nothing else, it’s worth it to see the look of surprise on your holographic face, Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe.

Barnable: So what are we going to do?

The Doctor: Well, the good news I have a plan. OK, not a plan, more of an idea. OK, I'm just stalling for time in the vain hope that an idea or plan will pop in my head! So forget I mentioned having a plan. Because I don't. 

Tasha Lem: Surely there are alternatives. 

The Doctor: Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives and we have the rest of our lives to think of them. 

The Doctor checks his wrist watch.

The Doctor: In other words, maybe 30 minutes. 

Barnable: Ooh boy. 

Tasha Lem: Doctor, I...

The Doctor: Go, Tasha. I've...I've got this. 

The hologram of Tasha Lem nods silently and vanishes. 

The Doctor: Barnable, you mentioned two alternatives. Really, there is only one. 

The Doctor adjusts his bow tie. 

Barnable: But Doctor, Trenzalore needs...

The Doctor: If I do nothing, death is a certainty for all of you. If I do...this, you have a fighting chance. 

Barnable: The Daleks will slaughter us!

The Doctor turns angrily towards Barnable.

The Doctor (yelling): Don't you think I know....?

The Doctor stops himself, takes a deep breath and sighs. 

The Doctor: I'm sorry, Barnable, truly I am.

Barnable: Look, Doctor, if we're all going to die no matter what, at least let me get one thing straight with you. My name is not Bar--

Barnable's comments gets interrupted by a strange but familiar noise. 

SFX: VWORP! VWORP! VWORP! 

The Doctor (eyes wide with excitement): The TARDIS! C'mon, Barnable!

The Doctor hobbles as quickly as he can away from the rock. Barnable sighs and follows. 

Barnable: Could it be your friend, Clara? Maybe she's returned! 

The Doctor: I hope not. It's not safe here for her. Besides its been centuries...

The two men walk out of a cluster of trees to a clearing where standing right in the middle is the TARDIS.  The Doctor and Barnable stop still as the door begins to open. 

We move in for a close up of the Doctor and Barnable. 

The Doctor (whispering): It can't be. It just can't.

Barnable: Who is that?

The Doctor: It's...me!

Standing outside of the TARDIS is a thin man in a black coat and white hair. He grasps the lapels of his coat and surveys the scene.

It is the First Doctor.

______________________________

Doctor Who

All Roads Lead To Trenzalore

Part Two

Scene opens: A panel of knobs and dials and levers, futuristic and quaint at the same time. A thin, pale hand works the control. In the background we hear the noise of the TARDIS time rotor in motion. Our view pulls back and we follow up a black sleeved arm to see the Doctor, the First Doctor, tall, slender in his black waist coat, a cascade of white hair falls down the back of his head. His expression is at resolute but a bit bemused. He’s muttering to himself.

The Doctor: All right, old girl, let’s see if we can make this hop a good one. Adjust the chronoton pulse by 5, counter the disruption wave factor, ease down on the temporal hold.

The Doctor chuckles to himself.

The Doctor: Heh, heh! I do believe we’re going to go where I want to go for a change, eh? Now, reverse the polarity of…

The Doctor stops. His expression no longer indicates any bemusement but worry and confusion.

The Doctor: Re-reverse the polarity of…of…Dash it all!

The Doctor pounds the console with his fist.

The Doctor (muttering): A simple thing. A simple thing! I was reversing polarities as a school boy. Why can’t I…?

Suddenly, the Doctor’s 2 current companions, Ben and Polly, enter the console room.

Ben (urgently): Doctor? Are you…?

The Doctor (snappishly): Blast it, boy! You interrupted my…my thoughts.

Polly (concerned): We were worried, Doctor. We heard you….

The Doctor takes a step back from the console, holds out a hand to cut off Polly.

The Doctor: No, Polly, it’s none of your concern.

Ben: We just want to help.

The Doctor (pleasantly): Yes, I suppose you would. Tell me, Ben, do you have an understanding of temporal mechanics, hmm?

Ben: Uh…no?

The Doctor (angrily snaps): Then you can’t help me so quit bothering me!

Polly: Doctor, just talk to us. What’s the matter?

The Doctor stands still for a moment, his hands clutching the lapels of his coat as he stares at the console. Then without looking at Polly or Ben, he speaks.

The Doctor: I just want to see Susan.

Ben: Susan?

Polly: His granddaughter.

The Doctor: Yes, my granddaughter. I left her behind. For her own good, mind you, but still. I…miss her.

Ben: Well, Doctor, this TARDIS can go anywhere in time and space, right?

The Doctor looks up and stares coldly at Ben.

The Doctor (barely containing his frustration):Why…Ben…I’m so glad you reminded me…that I have a TIME MACHINE!

Ben: Uh….

The Doctor: The calculations needed to return to a precise moment in the space time continuum are incredibly complex. It’s not a matter of simply popping across the street!

Ben: Well, I…

The Doctor (his ire rising): And it was those incredibly complicated…complex calculations that I…that I was working on when you entered…came in.

Polly: Doctor, we’re sorry.

The Doctor sighs and his shoulders slump a bit.

The Doctor: No, Polly, my child, don’t be. I’m just being a cranky old man, I did not mean to snap at you.

Ben: Well, that’s OK, Doc—

The Doctor: You, I did mean to snap at!

Ben: Oh.

Polly: Doctor, if there’s anything…

The Doctor (calm again): No, Polly. I just need some time alone to work. Why don’t you and Ben go find the swimming pool?

Polly (brightening): A swimming pool? The TARDIS has a swimming pool?

Ben: Great! Where is it?

The Doctor (testy): How should I know? It keeps wandering off! That’s why I said to go FIND it!

Polly (taking Ben by the arm): C’mon, Ben, let’s go find that pool.

Ben: OK. Later, Doctor.

The Doctor grunts as the pair exits. He scans the controls of the TARDIS console, muttering to himself. 

The Doctor: There must be a way. There MUST be away! 

The Doctor pauses and frowns.  

The Doctor: There is a way. But do I dare?

The Doctor's expression turns to firm determination. 

The Doctor: I must see my granddaughter...

The Doctor flips a switch. 

The Doctor: ...one last time. 

The time rotor begins to move and the VWORP! VWORP! sound of the TARDIS in flight is heard. 

The Doctor: Re-engaging the navigational controls for just a moment. It should be...

Suddenly a bright flash of blinding light burst overs the TARDIS console and the Doctor is startled, taking a step back.

The Doctor: Dear heavens! What...?

A disembodied voice comes from the light. 

Voice: Well, there you are! We found you at last! 

The Doctor regains his composure. 

The Doctor: Ah, I should've guessed. The second the controls...the navigational controls were re-engaged, you would be able to track the TARDIS. I must admit I didn't expect it would be so soon. 

A face begins to coalesce out of the light. The Doctor's expressions indicates recognition. 

The Doctor: Ah, Borusa! 

Barusa: Castellan Borusa! 

The Doctor: Castellan? I'm disappointed. I thought you would be a Cardinal by now. 

Borusa: In time, in time! So, Theta...

The Doctor (sternly): "Doctor" if you don't mind. And even if you do. 

Borusa (sighs): Very well...Doctor. I have to admit that after all these years, I was surprised to see you make it this easy to find you. Keeping the navigation controls off-line was the only way to ensure the Time Lords couldn't track your TARDIS. 

The Doctor: Perhaps I felt sorry for you, wanted to give you a sporting chance, hmm?

Borusa: I'm thinking it's more likely out of desperation. It must be vitally important to reach a particular point in time and space so quickly to risk being found by the Time Lords.

The Doctor (grasping his lapels): My reasons are my own and none of your concern. 

Borusa: Absolutely correct, it is NONE of my concern. My only concern is it is time for this foolishness to end. You must return to Gallifrey!

The Doctor: Oh, no, no, no! I don't think so! 

The Doctor flips the switch on the console. 

Borusa: Oh, Doctor, disengaging the navigation controls won't help you now. Our lock on your TARDIS cannot be broken. 

The Doctor (cocks head to the side, gives a sly smile): Oh, Borusa, you do think of everything. Well, you like to think you've thought of everything. 

The Doctor engages a sequence of buttons. 

Borusa's holographic face has an expression of alarm. 

Borusa: What? Doctor, you would not dare? 

The Doctor: Like I didn't dare escape from Gallifrey?

Borusa: But engaging a negative inversion random coordinate? You're mad! The consequences could be....

Borusa's protests are cut short as his holographic projection over the TARDIS console begins to glow brighter and brighter until in explodes in a burst of light and vanishes.

The Doctor smiles as he works the controls of the TARDIS. He flips a switch to engage the monitor. On the screen, he sees Ben and Polly in the swimming pool.

The Doctor: Oh good! They found the pool. Susan used to...

The Doctor's expression becomes crestfallen.

The Doctor: Susan used to enjoy the pool. Oh, Susan. I have a...a feeling that things are...coming...approaching an...an end. I so hoped I could see you...with these eyes...one last...

Suddenly the time rotor stops with a loud THUNK. The Doctor adjusts the monitor as the image changes from Ben and Polly in the pool to a snow swept night time scene.

The Doctor: Seems peaceful enough. Perhaps I should tell Ben and Polly that...

The Doctor pauses.

The Doctor: No, let them have their fun. But for me....

The Doctor dons a woolen cap and tosses a scarf around his neck.

The Doctor: I could use some fresh air....

The Doctor pulls the lever that opens the door.

The Doctor: ...and some solitude.

Scene shift: TARDIS exterior.  The ground is covered with snow. The sky is dark, dappled with stars and flashing lights.  The Doctor steps out into the night, grasps his lapels and looks up into the sky.

Suddenly the shot pulls up rapidly as the Doctor dwindles away and we find our view is shifting to space ships in orbit above the planet. Next we experience a very rapid zoom in through a portal of one of the ships where we see Daleks.

Dalek One: ALERT! ALERT! SECONDARY TIME LORD PHYSIOGNOMY  DETECTED ON TRENZALORE! 

Dalek Two: HAVE THE TIME LORDS ENTERED THROUGH THE BREACH? 

Dalek Three: SCANS SHOW DIMENSIONAL BARRIERS ARE STILL IN PLACE!

Dalek Two: EXPLAIN THE ANOMALY! EXPLAIN! 

Dalek One: THE PRESENCE OF THE SECONDARY TIME LORD PHYSIOGNOMY IS VERIFIED AS THE DOCTOR!

Dalek Three: THE PRESENCE OF THE PRIMARY TIME LORD PHYSIOGNOMY IS VERIFIED AS THE DOCTOR! 

Dalek Two: BOTH TIME LORDS ARE THE DOCTOR? THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! 

Scene change: Back on the planet as the Doctor, the 1st Doctor, approaches the 11th Doctor. Each looks the other directly in the eye. 

Both Doctors (simultaneously): Oh, no! Not again! 

-----to be continued-----

_________________________

Doctor Who

All Roads Lead To Trenzalore

Part Three

Scene opens: Space, in orbit over Trenzalore. Dalek spaceships are amassed over the planet. 

Scene change: Interior of Dalek ship. 

Dalek One: ANALYSIS CONFIRMS: ENTITY KNOWN AS THE DOCTOR IS PRESENT ON TRENZALORE IN TWO SEPARATE FORMS.

Dalek Two: THE DOCTOR IS CROSSING HIS OWN TIME STREAM IN VIOLATION OF THE FIRST LAW OF TIME! 

Dalek Three: THE TIME LORD DOES NOT HEED HIS OWN LAWS! DOCTOR IS CHAOS! THE DOCTOR IS ANARCHY! 

Dalek One: THIS IS WHY THE DOCTOR IS THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS!

Dalek Two: THIS IS WHY THE DALEKS WILL DESTROY THE DOCTOR! WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE STRATEGEM?

Dalek Three: THE PANDORICA OF STONE PROCEEDS TO UNLOCK! THE DETERIUM RADIATION WILL BE UNLEASHED IN FIVE RELLS!

Dalek One: THE FALL OF TRENZALORE IS CERTAIN! THE DOCTOR WILL DIE! THE TIME LORDS WILL BE DESTROYED ONCE AND FOR ALL! 

Dalek Two: AND THE DALEKS WILL BE THE SUPREME RULERS OF ALL EXISTENCE! 

Dalek Three: AND ALL THAT IS NOT DALEK WILL BE EXTERMINATED! 

All the Daleks Chanting: EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! 

The scene changes from the bright and loud spaceship interior to the cold and silent night time landscape outside of the town called Christmas on the planet Trenzalore. 

Three figures are standing by a large, strange stone structure: the 11th Doctor, aged by the centuries defending Trenzalore; the male companion the Doctor calls "Barnable" despite the man's insistence that it's not his name; and the 1st Doctoras he tentatively explores around the edges of the large stone object, faintly glowing blue, that has embedded itself into the ground. 

1st Doctor: Hmmm! Most interesting! Most interesting indeed! A machine made entirely from stone, eh? And designed by the Daleks to only be controlled by the Doctor, hmmm?

Barnable: That's what the Doctor says...er, Doctor. (turns to the 11th Doctor) You say the two of you are the same person?

11th Doctor: Yep, pretty much sums it up, Barnable.

Barnable: Again, my name isn't...oh never mind. See here, you two don't look a thing a like. 

11th Doctor: Oh God I hope not! 

The 11th Doctor hobbles closer to the 1st Doctor who turns to face him. 

1st Doctor: I say, given your current state, you're in no position to be critical of appearances. The years have not been kind to you at all.

11th Doctor: So people keep telling...Oy! Hold on! You remember me?

1st Doctor: Of course I do now, my boy! Once our time lines intersected again, I remember our previous encounter with the so-called Dalek Time God. 

The 11th Doctor reaches out his hand to grasp the 1st Doctor's arm.

11th Doctor: And when you're back in your own time stream, you can go back to forgetting. 

The 1st Doctor pushes away the 11th Doctor's hand.

1st Doctor: I think not until we resolved this problem of yours, hmmm! 

11th Doctor (testily): No, you need to go and go NOW! 

Barnable: Wait, Doctor! If he's another version of you, can't you...well, you know...two heads are better than one, right?

1st Doctor (smiling): Exactly, Barnable!

Barnable (muttering): Oh great, they're both doing it.  

11th Doctor (really agitated now): There's no time for discussion! I'm the elder Doctor and I'm finally looking the part! Go back to your TARDIS now!  

The 1st Doctor stares at the 11th Doctor sternly. Barnable in the background has NO idea what to make of this. 

1st Doctor: Listen to me! I did not leave Gallifrey to have people give me orders, even if they're coming from myself. NO, especially if they're coming from myself! 

The 11th Doctor slumps, his cane bearing his weight. He sighs. 

11th Doctor: It's one thing...for me to die here. But you...you are the beginning of...well, everything. Putting yourself at risk is...oh, I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging but the temporal anomaly created by such an event....would be catastrophic.  

The 1st Doctor leans forward, looking into the eyes of his future self. Then he takes a step back, momentarily startled.

1st Doctor: You...you are at the end, aren't you? 

11th Doctor: ...yes. 

1st Doctor: I see. Hmph! Alpha and omega, eh? (chuckles) 

Barnable: I don't see what's so funny.

11th Doctor: Same here.

1st Doctor (actually smiling a bit): Oh, the irony. The wonderful mad...mad irony of it all. I'm facing my first ever regeneration and I must admit, I'm a bit...I'm a bit frightened. Yes, just a bit. And here I am, face to face with my future. My future's end.  

Barnable: Look, I'm not going to try to understand any of this but....(turns to the 11th Doctor but gesturing back to first)...he's here for a reason, Doctor.  

1st Doctor: I agree. 

11th Doctor (puzzled): Since when am I so philosophical?

1st Doctor (confused): Since when am I so dismissive of miracles, hmmm?

The 11th Doctor looks at his past self for a moment, then turns away.

11th Doctor (sadly): After too many centuries of not seeing any.

1st Doctor: I think...my boy...

The 11th Doctor turns back to the 1st Doctor who nods with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eye. 

1st Doctor: I think that I've...that you...have forgotten what a miracle looks like. 

The two Doctors stand facing each other for a moment. Then the Dalek's rock weapon begins to glow brighter. 

Barnable: Doctor...er, Doctors, we're running out of time. 

1st Doctor: Clearly I am destined to regenerate. I'll...I can just do that here and now after I've sorted this Dalek weapon...

11th Doctor: Except the time of that first regeneration is a fixed moment in time. If that's altered...I've seen what happens when someone tries to alter a fixed moment in time. It's devastating!  

Barnable: Doctor, that rock's gonna blow any moment now. We gotta do something! 

11th Doctor: I know, Barnable! I know! But I just don't know...what...to do.

Barnable: Why, Doctor?

11th Doctor (snaps): WHY?! Because sometimes I just don't have the answers! 

Barnable (pointing at the 1st Doctor): Well, ask him! 

1st Doctor: Me, boy? I've only just arrived on this world. I don't have my future self's centuries of experience or....or...

Barnable: Or his memories. But you're here now. You're his past. Maybe I don't understand this time travel stuff that well but... (turning back to the 11th Doctor) why don't you just remember what your past self experienced? 

11th Doctor: Because... (pauses) Because...I...don't? 

The 11th Doctor walks closer to the 1st. 

11th Doctor: I've been through a few of these...events before, crossing my own time stream. 

1st Doctor: How many times do I wind up breaking the first law of time?

11th Doctor: Shhh! Quiet! Thinking! 

1st Doctor: Oh good, I'm apparently still rude in the future.

The 11th Doctor begins pacing, hobbling on his cane.  

11th Doctor: The memories of a Time Lord are...compartmentalized, a necessity when one keeps changing faces, even personalities. Still, it is part of one chain. While we...these two versions of one self...are in one place, our shared mind...I should remember what I did here. I should but I don't! Why?

The 11th Doctor stops pacing, turns to face the 1st Doctor.

The 1st and 11th Doctors: This moment is in flux!

Barnable: What? 

11th Doctor: I think I know why I....why you...Doctor...are here. But....

1st Doctor: But?

11th Doctor: But I can't ask you to do what happens next. 

The rock pulses again. 

1st Doctor: My boy, I don't think we have the luxury of time to discuss this further! 

The 11th Doctor raises his sonic screwdriver which trills as he scans the rock. With a practiced flip of the wrist, he checks the readings on the screwdriver. 

11th Doctor: There's a inset in the rock...here...

The 11th Doctor points to a place on the rock.  The 1st Doctor touches that part of the rock and stones pushes loudly against stone as a very narrow portal opens in the rock. 

1st Doctor: What next? 

11th Doctor: Through that access there is an inner chamber. There's a stone slab that when you move it from right to left will stop and reverse the inner unlocking mechanism and contain the radiation indefinitely.  But you must move quickly! At that range, the radiation will begin affecting you fairly rapidly. 

1st Doctor: Then I best not dilly dally. (Nods towards Barnable) Barnable. (And he disappears into the rock.) 

Barnable: But my name's not...never mind, good luck....Doctor?

The 11th Doctor is bending over, grasping his temples. Barnable puts is hands on the Doctor's shoulders. 

Barnable: Doctor! What's...? 

11th Doctor: I'm...I'm....

Barnable: Doctor? 

11th Doctor: I'm....remembering. 

Scene change: A narrow stone passage lit in an eerie blue light as the 1st Doctor inches along. We hear the 11th Doctor's voice over. 

11th Doctor (VO): I'm remembering...the fear. Oh, I've faced certain death so many times over the centuries but at this point in my lives, this is the first. 

The 1st Doctor is sweating. His expression does reflect grave concern but there is a resoluteness there as well.  

11th Doctor (VO): I'm remembering....

Scene change: outside the rock with the 11th Doctor and Barnable. 

11th Doctor (clutching his chest): Remembering the pain.

Scene change: interior of the rock, the 1st Doctor clutching his chest in the same manner. Then he looks up and sees the stone slab, laid in a groove of the rock. The 1st Doctor stumbles through the narrow passage and grasps the slab and begins pushing on it, to move it along the groove from right to left. 

11th Doctor (VO): I remember the struggle. The rock is...so heavy. 

The 1st Doctor is exerting himself to move the stone slab. 

Scene change: exterior of the rock. Barnable stares at the 11th Doctor who has his eyes closed tightly. 

11th Doctor: C'mon, it's designed to be moved by the Doctor only! Push, Doctor! Push! 

Scene change: left side of the screen is the 11th Doctor outside the rock, the 1st Doctor inside the rock on the right side of the screen.

11th Doctor and 1st Doctor (simultaneously): The Daleks...must be stopped! The people...of Trenzalore...must be saved!

Scene change: interior of the rock. The stone slab moves to the other end of the groove with a loud thunk. Very quickly the blue glow of the radiation fades away and the 1st Doctor is lost in pitch black darkness. Then he begins to glow with a golden light. 

The 1st Doctor looks at his hands as they glow with this light and he looks bemused. 

1st Doctor: Oh...my. So this is... regeneration, eh? 

Scene change: exterior of the rock. Barnable is thrilled while the 11th Doctor seems unsure how to react. 

Barnable: Woo-hoo! You did it, Doctor! The rock's stopped glowing! You saved us all! 

11th Doctor: For one more day. But....

Barnable: Doctor, your past self. What's happened?

Suddenly, the 11th Doctor slaps his own forehead.  

11th Doctor: Thick! I am so thick! (shouting at the rock) Doctor, get out here! NOW! 

Barnable: What is it? 

11th Doctor: I remember! I know what to do! But I need to act...

At that moment, the 1st Doctor comes out of the rock. He's suffused with a golden glow and he looks happy as he walks towards Barnable and the 11th Doctor. 

1st Doctor: This is...a most remarkable experience! I feel...rejuvenated. I...

11th Doctor (interrupting): Can't be doing this, not right now.  

The 11th Doctor takes the 1st Doctor's head in his hands and closes his eyes. 

1st Doctor: What's this, hmmm?

11th Doctor: Shh! 

1st Doctor: Again with the shushing! 

11th Doctor: I need to concentrate. I've been through this a few times, I think I can....

Suddenly the glow around the 1st Doctor subsides and the 11th Doctor releases him and steps back.

1st Doctor: My regeneration. You...stopped it?

11th Doctor: No, you're still...regenerating, still...cooking. Once begun, it can't be stopped. But I've imparted some of my experience to help control this event. It's a reset to restore your current form before the next form takes over. 

1st Doctor: Fascinating! And how much longer...? 

11th Doctor: At this point in your time line, who are you travelling with?

1st Doctor: Polly and Ben. 

11th Doctor: I believe you have more one adventure for those eyes to see. I'm afraid the reset will fade and you will experience some weakness and...

The 1st Doctor raises a hand. 

1st Doctor: I get the picture. But this maintains our timeline as you remember it?

11th Doctor nods yes. 

1st Doctor (nodding back): Good! Well, I better be on my way, eh? 

The 1st Doctor extends a hand to Barnable who shakes the Doctor's hand. 

1st Doctor: Barnable, it was a pleasure to meet you. 

Barnable: Likewise. 

1st Doctor (letting go and grasping his lapels):And Barnable?

Barnable: Yes sir?

1st Doctor (nodding towards the 11th): Try to keep the old fellow out of trouble. 

Barnable: I'll do what I can. 

1st Doctor (bowing slightly towards the 11th):Here's to years to come. 

11th Doctor (nodding towards the 1st): All my love to long ago.  

The 1st Doctor walks towards his TARDIS, then enters. Then we hear the familiar VWORP! VWORP! as the TARDIS dematerializes.  

The 11th Doctor and Barnable stand in the snow against the star dappled night sky. Then they begin to walk towards the lights of Christmas.  

Barnable: Well, that was interesting. How often does one get to meet one's own self?

The Doctor: Me, distressingly too often.  

Barnable: Still, it was fortunate this past self came here. 

The Doctor: Fortunate? Yes, I suppose so. Well, time travel does funny things like that. I suppose for me, all roads do lead to Trenzalore.  You know, I thought I knew where my future was taking me. And it wasn't a very good end, I'll tell you that. But maybe...just maybe....

Barnable: Yes, Doctor? 

The Doctor: Maybe I should believe in miracles again, Barnable.

Barnable: Again, Doctor, my name isn't...

The Doctor ignores Barnable as he begins to sing.  

"Sleigh bells ring; are you listening? In the

lane, snow is glistening. What a beautiful 

sight, we're happy tonight walking in a winter

wonderland."

The Doctor and Barnable continue walking through the snow towards Christmas as we...

Fade Out

----the end------

I hope you enjoyed this re-visit with a meeting of the original Doctor with a modern Doctor. I'm sure Steven Moffatt will have a more entertaining crossover with the 1st and the 12th Doctors teaming up this Christmas.  

I am tinkering around with a new fan fiction script. I haven't done a new one since November of last year. I would like to indulge in one last adventure with the 12th Doctor. I hopefully will have more on that in the weeks to come. 

Meanwhile, thanks for reading and until next time, remember to be good to one another.