But Once a Year (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|Short Trips short stories]]
|name=But Once a Year
|doctor = Seventh Doctor
|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|ST short stories]]
|companions = [[Ace]]
|doctor=Seventh Doctor
|featuring = David Merrison
|companions=[[Ace]]
|setting = [[Christmas Eve]], [[Christmas]]
|year=
|writer = Colin Harvey
|writer=[[Colin Harvey]]
|anthology = Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas
|anthology=''[[Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas]]''
|release date = 5 December 2007
|prev=Faithful Friends: Part 1 (short story)
|prev = Faithful Friends: Part 1 (short story)
|next=For the Man Who Has Everything (short story)
|next = For the Man Who Has Everything (short story)
|enemy = Creature
}}
}}
'''''But Once a Year''''' was the second short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas]]''. It was written by [[Colin Harvey]]. It featured the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Ace]].
'''''But Once a Year''''' was the second short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas]]''. It was written by [[Colin Harvey]]. It featured the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Ace]].
== Summary ==
== Summary ==
Wheelchair-bound David Merrison has come to dread the yuletide festive season, ever since a frightening, black-clad creature began abducting his brothers and sister from their London townhouse every Christmas.
For the last few years, at [[Christmas]] time, the Merrison family has been visited by something that each year takes away one of their children. Only [[David Merrison|David]], a [[wheelchair]] user, is left, and his parents have become distant.


Fearing that this year will be his turn to be taken, David investigates a strange noise in the middle of the night, and is surprised to encounter a strange man called the Doctor, and his friend, Ace. As midnight strikes the creature reappears, but instead of David, it captures Ace, stuffing her inside its sack before disappearing back up the chimney. Searching through the archaeological artefact collection of David’s grandfather, the Doctor finds an alien skull; he determines that artefact is still alive, and is feeding off David’s fear to give itself physical form.
This year, before the creature arrives, David is visited by the Doctor and Ace. He tells them the story of his brothers and sister. When the creature arrives, it takes Ace instead of David.


When the Doctor smashes the skull, the ersatz creature is destroyed, and its victims are finally released from within its sack; as an overjoyed David is reunited with his siblings, Ace explains that they had been put to work in the alien’s spaceship, which was located in another dimension. The Doctor and Ace bid farewell, leaving the Merrisons to become a family once more.
The Doctor deduces that a skull that had been collected by David's [[John Kenneth Merrison|grandfather]] is actually an alien artefact. The creature wants the skull, so when it returns, the Doctor offers the skull in exchange for Ace and the Merrison siblings. They return safely, having spent the intervening time in the alien's spaceship, where they worked as its slaves. With the missing children returned, the Merrisons become a family again.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
* [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Ace]]
* [[Ace]]
* [[David Merrison]]
* [[Lucy (But Once a Year)|Lucy]]
* [[David Merrison's father]]
* [[David Merrison's mother]]
* [[Steven Merrison]]
* [[Noel Merrison]]
* [[Elizabeth Merrison]]
* [[Lobson|Mr Lobson]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
* David's grandfather adventured with [[Augustus Glavin]] on the [[HMS Rochester|HMS ''Rochester'']]. He collected [[fossil]]s.
* David's father reads ''[[The Times]]''.
* The Doctor mentions [[Good King Wenceslas]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
''to be added''
* This story is narrated by [[David Merrison]].


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
''to be added''
{{prose stub}}
{{ST prose}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:Seventh Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:Seventh Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:2007 short stories]]
[[Category:Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas short stories]]
[[Category:ST short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set at Christmas]]
[[Category:Stories set in England]]

Latest revision as of 21:27, 9 March 2024

RealWorld.png

But Once a Year was the second short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas. It was written by Colin Harvey. It featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

For the last few years, at Christmas time, the Merrison family has been visited by something that each year takes away one of their children. Only David, a wheelchair user, is left, and his parents have become distant.

This year, before the creature arrives, David is visited by the Doctor and Ace. He tells them the story of his brothers and sister. When the creature arrives, it takes Ace instead of David.

The Doctor deduces that a skull that had been collected by David's grandfather is actually an alien artefact. The creature wants the skull, so when it returns, the Doctor offers the skull in exchange for Ace and the Merrison siblings. They return safely, having spent the intervening time in the alien's spaceship, where they worked as its slaves. With the missing children returned, the Merrisons become a family again.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added