To Kill a Nandi Bear (short story): Difference between revisions

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+{{title dab away}}
 {{real world}}
-{{title dab away}}
+{{Infobox Story SMW
-{{Infobox Story
+|range                  = Short Trips (series)
-|name=To Kill a Nandi Bear
+|series in range        = Short Trips: Past Tense
-|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|ST short stories]]
+|series number in range = 6
-|doctor=Fourth Doctor
+|number in series       = 15
-|companions=[[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah Jane]], [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]]
+|doctor                 = Fourth Doctor
-|year=
+|companions             = [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]], [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]]
-|writer=[[Paul Williams]]
+|enemy                  = [[Shaman (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|The Shaman]]
-|anthology=''[[Short Trips: Past Tense]]''
+|setting                = [[Malawi|Nyasaland]]
-|prev=One Small Step... (short story)
+|writer                 = Paul Williams
-|next=Fixing a Hole (short story)
+|anthology              = Short Trips: Past Tense
+|release date           = 9 April 2004
+|series                 = ''[[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]]''
+|prev                   = One Small Step... (short story)
+|next                   = Fixing a Hole (short story)
 }}
 '''''To Kill a Nandi Bear''''' was the fifteenth short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Past Tense]]''. It was written by [[Paul Williams]]. It featured the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]] and [[Harry Sullivan]].
 == Summary ==
-The TARDIS materialises in what will become Malawi in South Africa, many centuries in Earth’s past. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry leave to explore, and soon discover the dead body of a tribesman, his corpse partially eaten by wild animals. The three travellers are then captured by the rest of the tribe, whose chief accuse them of the death of his fellow tribesman, Mposi.
+[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] materialises in Nyasaland, later to be known as [[Malawi]]. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry exit. They find a dead body, which Harry begins to examine. A group of [[Africa]]s approaches, armed with spears. The first man, the [[Chief (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|chief]], identifies the dead man as [[Mposi]]. A second man, the [[Shaman (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|shaman]], thinks Mposi was killed by a [[duba]], also known as a Nandi bear, and also thinks that the Doctor and his friends summoned the duba to kill Mposi. The chief, a fair man, takes up Harry's offer that they get rid of the duba. Sarah will remain in the village while the Doctor and Harry hunt the duba. The chief gives them one day.
-When the tribe’s shaman accuses them of summoning a legendary beast called a dupa, otherwise known as a Nandi Bear, to kill Mposi, the Doctor agrees to prove his and his companions’ innocence by tracking the creature and slaying it. Later, while talking to the chief, the Doctor learns that the man accepts that Mposi most likely fell to his death after drinking too much at his daughter’s wedding; however, it is the shaman who wields the real power over the tribe, and so the travellers must prove themselves to him instead.
+Before leaving to hunt the duba, Harry and the Doctor are fed in the chief's hut. Harry thinks the chief should tell his people that the duba is not real, but the chief replies that the shaman has much power in the tribe.
-The next morning, the Doctor and Sarah lead the tribe in the hunt, and it is not long before they encounter a ‘dupa’ – in fact Harry wearing a monkey suit from the TARDIS. The mob gives chase, and Harry leads them to the TARDIS, taking refuge inside; the Doctor and Sarah promise the chief that they will deal with the creature, and are allowed to enter the ship. As the TARDIS promptly disappears, the shaman realises that the chief deliberately allowed the trio to escape, and he kills him for his betrayal to the tribe.
+Sarah, meanwhile, is waited on in another hut by a [[girl (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|girl]], who she learns is the daughter of Mposi.
+The Doctor retrieves Sarah, and tells the tribe that he needs to perform his magic to rid them of the duba. The Doctor begins to chant; a strange creature appears, and the Doctor follows it. Sarah and the tribe follow. The Doctor herds the creature towards the TARDIS, and the creature opens the [[Real world interface|door]] with a [[TARDIS key|key]]. The Doctor calls the creature evil, and tells the tribe he and Sarah must shut the creature in the box. The TARDIS dematerialises.
+Inside the TARDIS, Harry has removed the [[Bigfoot]] costume that he had worn. The Doctor is unhappy that they had to deceive the tribe, setting back their progress. Sarah notes that the chief must have known that the Harry duba was false.
+The chief admits to his tribe that he knew the creature was the third stranger. Urged on by the shaman, the tribe attacks and kills the chief. After they leave, a duba approaches the dead body.
 == Characters ==
@@ Line 26: / Line 38: @@
 * [[Chief (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|Chief]]
 * [[Shaman (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|Shaman]]
+* [[Girl (To Kill a Nandi Bear)|Girl]]
-== References ==
+== Worldbuilding ==
-''to be added''
+* As they are in [[Africa]], Harry hopes to see [[lion]]s.
+* The Doctor tells his [[companion]]s that they are in what will be Nyasaland in four hundred years, that they know of as [[Malawi]].
+* The Doctor notes that some people think "duba" is another name for [[hyena]].
 == Notes ==
-''to be added''
+* The title is a play on {{w|Harper Lee}}'s {{wi|To Kill a Mockingbird}}.
 == Continuity ==
-* Sarah recalls the Doctor taming the royal beast on Peladon ([[TV]]: ''[[The Monster of Peladon]]'').
+* The Doctor's chanting reminds Sarah of when the [[Third Doctor]] tamed the [[Aggedor]] on [[Peladon]] in the [[40th century]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Monster of Peladon (TV story)|The Monster of Peladon]]'')
-{{prose stub}}
+{{ST prose}}
 {{TitleSort}}
 [[Category:Fourth Doctor short stories]]
 [[Category:Sarah Jane Smith short stories]]
-[[Category:2004 short stories]]
+[[Category:Short Trips: Past Tense short stories]]
-[[Category:ST short stories]]
+[[Category:Short stories set in Africa]]