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{{Infobox Short Story|
|range                  = Short Trips (series)
name=Bide-a-Wee|
|series in range        = Short Trips: Past Tense
series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|ST short stories]]|
|series number in range = 6
doctor=[[First Doctor]]|
|number in series      = 9
companions=[[Susan Foreman|Susan]]|
|doctor                 = First Doctor
enemy = Prentice|
|companions             = [[Susan Foreman|Susan]]
year= 1933 / 1999|
|enemy                 = [[Prentice (Bide-a-Wee)|Prentice]]
writer=[[Anthony Keetch]]|
|setting                = [[Keelmouth]], [[1933]] and [[1999]]
publication=''[[Short Trips: Past Tense]]''|
|writer                 = Anthony Keetch
prev=Graham Dilley Saves the World (short story)|
|anthology              = Short Trips: Past Tense
next=Mortlake (short story)|
|release date          = 9 April 2004
|}}
|series                = [[Short Trips (series)#In print|Short Trips short stories]]
'''''Bide-a-Wee''''' was the ninth short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Past Tense]]''. It was written by [[Anthony Keetch]]. It featured the [[First Doctor]] and [[Susan Foreman|Susan]].
|prev                   = Graham Dilley Saves the World (short story)
|next                   = Mortlake (short story)
}}{{you may|Bide-a-Wee|n1=the titular guest house}}
'''''Bide-a-Wee''''' was the ninth short story in the ''[[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]]'' anthology ''[[Short Trips: Past Tense|Past Tense]]''. It was written by [[Anthony Keetch]] and featured the [[First Doctor]] and [[Susan Foreman|Susan]].
 
== Summary ==
== Summary ==
The Doctor is relaxing at a B&B named Bide-a-Wee in Keelmouth, 1933, while his granddaughter spends time at the beach—or so it seems until the Atkins family arrives in town. Jeff and his wife Ujwala are taken aback by the locals’ casual racism appalled reactions to the Atkins’ mixed marriage and their son, Craig—but soon, Jeff and Ujwala seem to have grown accustomed to this treatment, and Ujwala has even forgotten that she used to be a brain surgeon, which of course is just silly. The Doctor decides that the time has come to put an end to his vacation, and confronts another of the B&B’s residents, Prentice. Prentice admits that he used to roam through time and space, fighting the forces of evil, but that he has since retired to Keelmouth—and, finding it a pleasant and quiet place in which to spend his retirement, he’s frozen the community in the year 1933. Outside Keelmouth, it’s the year 1999; a flaw in Prentice’s technology caused the Atkins family to slip through the cracks, and now they are subconsciously acclimatising to the social standards of 1933. Prentice is reluctant to put an end to his peaceful retirement, but the Doctor convinces young Craig to pretend that he has whooping cough, a disease that can be easily cured in 1999 but is fatal in 1933. Prentice accepts that it’s time to put things right, and the Doctor helps him to bring Keelmouth back in synch with the outside world, leaving the Atkins family in their proper time period and returning everyone else to 1933.
The Doctor is staying at Mrs [[Hutchings]]' guest house, [[Bide-a-Wee]], in [[Keelmouth]] while Susan goes camping with some new friends. The Doctor is enjoying his vacation immensely, spending his days exploring, eating [[ice cream]], and socialising with the [[Major (Bide-a-Wee)|Major]]; however, he is aware that he must put an end to the situation sooner or later.
 
The residents are a typical bunch for [[1933]], though the Doctor keeps a careful watch on Mr [[Prentice (Bide-a-Wee)|Prentice]]. However, the calm is broken when a couple, [[Jeff Atkins|Jeff]] and [[Ujwala Atkins]], arrive with their son [[Craig Atkins|Craig]]. Most of the residents, including Miss [[Lanchester]], disapprove of the mixed couple and their half-caste son. The Doctor welcomes them and makes friends with Craig. As he questions the couple during dinner, Craig makes some strange statements. When he yells that he wants [[McDonald's]], his father slaps him, to his and his mother's surprise.
 
That night, before he goes to bed, the Doctor stops outside Mr Prentice's door and warns him to stay away from Craig. However, the Doctor oversleeps next morning, and learns from the Atkins that Craig has gone out with Prentice. The Doctor fearfully runs to the ice cream shop, to find Prentice and Craig happily eating ice cream — not the hostage situation the Doctor expected to find. He sends Craig off to buy a magazine and talks with Prentice.
 
Prentice admits that he is an alien and that he used to fight evil, but has [[retire]]d here on [[Earth]]. He enjoyed the setting so much that he borrowed temporal technology to fix Bide-a-Wee and Keelmouth in 1933, never changing. The Doctor learns that it is actually [[1999]] outside Keelmouth. He tells Prentice that he must turn off the technology, but Prentice refuses, claiming that other times on Earth were barbaric and this time is nearly perfect.
 
That night, the Doctor wakes Prentice in a panic. Craig is suffering from [[whooping cough]], for which there is no cure in 1933. Prentice must turn off the machine so Craig can be cured. As Prentice runs off to begin the process, the Doctor congratulates Craig on his performance.
 
The Doctor and Prentice finish the work, prepared to send the residents of Bide-a-Wee back to their natural times — but not before the Doctor enjoys one more ice cream.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
* [[First Doctor]]
* [[First Doctor]]
* [[Susan Foreman|Susan]]
* [[Susan Foreman|Susan]]
* Mrs [[Hutchings]]
* Miss [[Lanchester]]
* [[Jeff Atkins]]
* [[Ujwala Atkins]]
* [[Craig Atkins]]
* Mr [[Prentice (Bide-a-Wee)|Prentice]]
* The [[Major (Bide-a-Wee)|Major]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
* Craig mentions [[pizza]], his [[Nintendo|Game Boy]], the [[Teletubbies]], [[McDonald's]] and the family's Golf [[automobile]].
* The Doctor spends much of his vacation eating [[ice cream]].
* Susan is off [[camping]] with some new friends. The Doctor realises that this is the first time they've spent time away from each other.
* The Doctor notes that he doesn't have a [[prostate]].
* The Doctor's body has been letting him down in recent times, as is the cause of his sleep in.
* The Doctor states he is not a Doctor of medicine, and that the human [[physiognomy]] is alien to him.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
''to be added''
* When Susan goes off camping on a small island, she goes with four children and a dog, mirroring [[Enid Blyton]]'s 1942 children's novel, ''{{w|Five on a Treasure Island}}''. At the end of this short story, the connection is made even stronger when Susan mentions "buried treasure and smugglers and wanting to buy herself a good strong torch", inferring the events of ''{{w|Famous Five (novel series)|The Famous Five}}'' novel.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* The Doctor assures [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] that they will stay on [[Earth]], but in a later era (to [[1933]]) where the music might be more to her taste. ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Hunters of Earth (audio story)|Hunters of Earth]]'', ''et al.'')


== Timeline ==
{{ST prose}}
* ''Bide-a-Wee'' occurs after [[ST]]: ''[[Ash]]'' (flashback).
{{TitleSort}}
* ''Bide-a-Wee'' (not counting flashbacks) occurs before [[TN]]: ''[[Frayed (novel)|Frayed]]''.
* ''Bide-a-Wee'' takes place before [[ST]]: ''[[The Gift (short story)|The Gift]]''.


{{prose stub}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:First Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:First Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:Stories released in 2004]]
[[Category:Short Trips: Past Tense short stories]]
[[Category:ST short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1933]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1999]]
[[Category:Stories set in England]]
[[Category:Crossovers with non-DWU series]]

Latest revision as of 07:04, 3 December 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the titular guest house.

Bide-a-Wee was the ninth short story in the Short Trips anthology Past Tense. It was written by Anthony Keetch and featured the First Doctor and Susan.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor is staying at Mrs Hutchings' guest house, Bide-a-Wee, in Keelmouth while Susan goes camping with some new friends. The Doctor is enjoying his vacation immensely, spending his days exploring, eating ice cream, and socialising with the Major; however, he is aware that he must put an end to the situation sooner or later.

The residents are a typical bunch for 1933, though the Doctor keeps a careful watch on Mr Prentice. However, the calm is broken when a couple, Jeff and Ujwala Atkins, arrive with their son Craig. Most of the residents, including Miss Lanchester, disapprove of the mixed couple and their half-caste son. The Doctor welcomes them and makes friends with Craig. As he questions the couple during dinner, Craig makes some strange statements. When he yells that he wants McDonald's, his father slaps him, to his and his mother's surprise.

That night, before he goes to bed, the Doctor stops outside Mr Prentice's door and warns him to stay away from Craig. However, the Doctor oversleeps next morning, and learns from the Atkins that Craig has gone out with Prentice. The Doctor fearfully runs to the ice cream shop, to find Prentice and Craig happily eating ice cream — not the hostage situation the Doctor expected to find. He sends Craig off to buy a magazine and talks with Prentice.

Prentice admits that he is an alien and that he used to fight evil, but has retired here on Earth. He enjoyed the setting so much that he borrowed temporal technology to fix Bide-a-Wee and Keelmouth in 1933, never changing. The Doctor learns that it is actually 1999 outside Keelmouth. He tells Prentice that he must turn off the technology, but Prentice refuses, claiming that other times on Earth were barbaric and this time is nearly perfect.

That night, the Doctor wakes Prentice in a panic. Craig is suffering from whooping cough, for which there is no cure in 1933. Prentice must turn off the machine so Craig can be cured. As Prentice runs off to begin the process, the Doctor congratulates Craig on his performance.

The Doctor and Prentice finish the work, prepared to send the residents of Bide-a-Wee back to their natural times — but not before the Doctor enjoys one more ice cream.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Craig mentions pizza, his Game Boy, the Teletubbies, McDonald's and the family's Golf automobile.
  • The Doctor spends much of his vacation eating ice cream.
  • Susan is off camping with some new friends. The Doctor realises that this is the first time they've spent time away from each other.
  • The Doctor notes that he doesn't have a prostate.
  • The Doctor's body has been letting him down in recent times, as is the cause of his sleep in.
  • The Doctor states he is not a Doctor of medicine, and that the human physiognomy is alien to him.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • When Susan goes off camping on a small island, she goes with four children and a dog, mirroring Enid Blyton's 1942 children's novel, Five on a Treasure Island. At the end of this short story, the connection is made even stronger when Susan mentions "buried treasure and smugglers and wanting to buy herself a good strong torch", inferring the events of The Famous Five novel.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]