Untitled (DWM 169 short story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story

|name=Untitled

|image=DWM 169 Brief Encounter.jpg

|series=[[Brief Encounter]]

|doctor=Seventh Doctor

|companions=[[Ian Chesterton|Ian]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]]

|setting= [[London]]

|writer=[[David Bishop]]

|illustrator=[[Paul Vyse]]

|publication=''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' [[DWM 169|169]]

|prev=An Incident Concerning the Continual Bombardment of the Phobos Colony (short story)

|next=Untitled (DWM 171)

}}

{{you may|Untitled (DWM 171)|Untitled (DWM 184)}}

The ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' short story published in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' [[DWM 169|169]] was '''untitled'''.

On an overcast day, on a mid-winter evening, at the [[1990s|turn of the millenia]], a man is feeling bitter as he locks up the soon-to-be-closed observatory at [[Greenwich]] where he has worked as a research scientist since the [[1960s]]. Walking home, he is befriended by a [[Seventh Doctor|strange little man]] who confides in him that the [[King]] will have it open again soon and reflects on the passing of time. They chat further as the little man walks him back to the village, both taking shelter under his umbrella from the rain. The little man, who seems somehow familiar, explains that while his friend [[Ace]] was shopping for a pair of Doc Martens he had decided to call on an old friend who happened to be out at the time.

Before they go their separate ways, the little man is asked if they've met before. With a smile, he says, "Perhaps — [[Ian Chesterton|when you were a teacher]]", and walks off, leaving the man to go home to his wife. A short while later, seated by an open fire, his wife [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] hands over a present that was left for him earlier in the day by a strange man. Inside is a [[Coal Hill School tie]] — a reminder of his first teaching job and the [[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|strange events]] that had first brought the two of them together.

* [[Seventh Doctor]] (identity not disclosed)

* [[Ian Chesterton]] (unnamed narrator)

* [[Barbara Wright]] (referred to only as "Barbara")

== References ==

* [[Ace]] is accompanying the Doctor on his current travels. She is purchasing a pair of Doc Martens in [[London]], the best place to buy them.

* At some point, the [[British monarchy|monarch]] will be male. ([[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] makes a reference to "the King" in [[TV]]: '' [[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'', but this may have been just a figure of speech.)

* This story is told in the first person, and while the narrator's name is never given, it is implied that the story is told by [[Ian Chesterton]], a former teacher at [[Coal Hill School]] who left with fellow teacher [[Barbara Wright]], whom he eventually married.

* An expanded first draft of the story was published as ''Auld Acquaintance ''as part of The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club's fanzine ''TSV.''

* The [[First Doctor]] destroyed Ian's [[Coal Hill School tie]] in an [[acid]] pool on [[Vortis]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Web Planet]]'')

* {{dwrefguide|brief.htm#dwm169|...this...}}{{TitleSort}}

* ''[http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv21/auldacquaintance.html Auld Acquaintance] ''at NZDWFC

{{prose stub}}

[[Category:1991 short stories]]