The Least Important Man (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|series=[[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series]]
|series         = ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]'' short stories
|main character=[[Bernice Summerfield]]
|main character = [[Gavin Oliver Scott|Gavin]]
|featuring= [[Irving Braxiatel]]
|featuring     = [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
|setting=[[Braxiatel Collection]], [[2600]]
|setting       = [[Braxiatel Collection]], [[26th century]]
|writer=[[Steven Moffat]]
|writer         = Steven Moffat
|publication=''[[The Dead Men Diaries (anthology)|The Dead Men Diaries]]''
|anthology      = Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Dead Men Diaries (anthology)
|prev=The Door into Bedlam (short story)
|release date  = September 2000
|next=Digging up the Past (short story)
|prev           = The Door into Bedlam (short story)
}}'''''The Least Important Man''''' was the ninth story in the [[Bernice Summerfield]] anthology ''[[The Dead Men Diaries (anthology)|The Dead Men Diaries]]''. It was written by [[Steven Moffat]].
|next           = Digging up the Past (short story)
== Summary ==
|series2        = ''[[Treasury (audio anthology)|Treasury]]''
Ever since Gavin has been a baby, he has seen the same woman appear at various moments of his life. She appears to speak, but there is no sound.
|prev2          = Walking Backwards for Christmas (short story)
|next2          = Bernice Summerfield and the Library of Books (short story)
}}
'''''The Least Important Man''''' was a [[2000 (releases)|2000]] short story written by [[Steven Moffat]] and released in the ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]'' anthology ''[[The Dead Men Diaries (anthology)|The Dead Men Diaries]]''.


When Gavin was playing at his friend [[Toby Wilton|Toby's]] house, Gavin saw the woman outside and asked Toby who she was. Toby didn't bother to look, and said she was the gardener.
== Synopsis ==
''To be added''


However, when Gavin went to school for the first time, he saw her there and realised she was a teacher. The other teacher, Mrs [[Grillo]], frightened Gavin, but the silent one seemed nice. When Gavin needed to use the bathroom, he asked the nice teacher, and she didn't say no, so he left. He got lost and needed to be taken back to class. The school told his parents, and his [[Mum (The Least Important Man)|Mum]] suggested that maybe he had an imaginary friend.
== Plot ==
One night when [[Gavin Oliver Scott]] was a [[baby]], he woke up and saw a woman standing over him, mouthing something noiselessly. He saw her in the living room whilst playing with building blocks and again when he was at his friend [[Toby Wilton|Toby]]'s house. Toby said without looking that she was his family's [[gardener]], but he later saw her on his first day of [[school]] and, believing that she was a [[teacher]], asked her if he could go to the [[toilet]]. When she did not answer, he went anyway and got lost, after which [[Grillo|Mrs Grillo]] told him that there was no other teacher. [[Gavin Oliver Scott's mother|Gavin's mother]] told him that she was imaginary.


When Gavin goes to university, he falls in love with a deaf girl named [[Irene Gilbey]]. He decides to approach her, and as he does, he expects to see the woman there, since she has been there at all the pivotal moments of his life. Sure enough, he sees her nearby.
Gavin ignored the woman when he saw her after he won the [[egg and spoon race]], when he won a prize for English, after his first kiss with [[Rosemary Pope]] and at [[Gavin Oliver Scott's grandmother|his grandmother]]'s [[funeral]]. When he was twelve, he saw her whilst the class laughed about his essay about wanting to live in the future and understood what she was mouthing to him; she was telling him that he was not being stupid, which made him realise that he would [[love]] her forever. At [[university]], he meets and falls in love with [[Irene Gilbey]] and is a close friend of hers for three years, not confessing his feelings to her and being unaware that she is having affairs with [[Harlan Frisby|Mr Frisby]] and Toby.


Gavin approaches Irene, but is so nervous that he can only make a couple of dumb comments, including, "I've always wanted to learn to [[lip-reading|lip-read]]".
Having learnt to lip-read from Irene, Gavin is able to communicate with the woman when she appears in his [[flat]] by reading her lips and holding up cards. He learns that she is [[Bernice Summerfield]] and that she is looking through his life with a [[Quantum Imager]] from the [[27th century]] as part of a lecture on life in the [[20th century]]. She tells him that he will commit [[suicide]] today and be the only well-preserved body from that time period. Aware that failing to kill himself would create a [[temporal paradox]], he jumps off of a [[bridge]] and into a [[mud]] bank.


For the next three years, Gavin and Irene are good friends. She doesn't know he is in love with her, and he doesn't know she's having an affair, first with Mr [[Harlan Frisby|Frisby]], then with Toby. Gavin learns to lip read from Irene.
The mud, likely of [[alien]] origin, preserves him for six centuries and his body is put on display for fifty years after he is discovered. It is only thanks to the Quantum Imager that it has been discovered that he has been alive all that time. Benny restores him, granting his childhood dream of living in the future.
 
One evening, Gavin is sitting in his flat, and suddenly the woman appears. Now that he can lip-read, he can understand what she is saying. She seems to be talking about his [[suicide]], and how this is the last night of his life. She then suddenly notices that he can see her and is appalled.
 
Gavin and the woman, whose name is [[Bernice Summerfield]], talk, with him reading her lips and her reading off cards he holds up. She tells him that she's from the [[27th century]], and that Gavin's well-preserved body has lasted until now. She is using something called a [[Quantum Imager]] to see into her past, which is Gavin's life. She is giving a lecture on the 20th century, using his life as a guide.
 
Gavin learns that if he doesn't commit suicide this night, it will create a time paradox. He jumps off a bridge into a mud bank.
 
To his surprise, he wakes up six centuries later. Benny's people think the mud was some kind of stasis gel that preserved Gavin's body alive, though they only just discovered that he is still alive. His body had been on display for centuries.
 
After passing out for a week, Gavin wakes up, happy to be in "the future". He stays at the [[Braxiatel Collection]] as a visiting expert on the 20th century and becomes good friends with Benny.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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* [[Gavin Oliver Scott]]
* [[Gavin Oliver Scott]]
* [[Toby Wilton]]
* [[Toby Wilton]]
* Mrs [[Grillo]]
* [[Grillo|Mrs Grillo]]
* [[Mum (The Least Important Man)|Mum]]
* [[Gavin Scott's mum|Mum]]
* Mr [[Harlan Frisby|Frisby]]
* [[Harlan Frisby|Mr Frisby]]
* [[Irene Gilbey]]
* [[Irene Gilbey]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* Gavin was born in [[Nottingham]] by [[Caesarean section]].
* Gavin has a [[Labrador]] called [[Servalan]].
* Gavin's favourite [[television]] programme is ''[[Blake's 7]]''. Benny acquires two episodes of the series on [[VHS]] for him.
* Gavin's favourite [[television]] programme is ''[[Blake's 7]]''. Benny acquires two episodes of the series on [[VHS]] for him.
* Gavin mentions [[Dostoyevski]] and [[Tolstoy]].
* Gavin mentions [[Dostoyevski]] and [[Tolstoy]].
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== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This story is told by Gavin, interspersed with portions of Benny's lecture.
* This story is told by Gavin, interspersed with portions of Benny's [[lecture]].
* The same year this story was published, Moffat began contributing scripts to the ''Doctor Who'' revival, leading to him eventually being promoted to showrunner in 2009-2010. In 2008, he created the character of [[River Song]], who has a number of similarities to Benny.
* This was later one of the eight stories collected in ''[[Treasury (audio anthology)|Treasury]]''.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
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{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:Bernice Summerfield stories]]
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield short stories]]
[[Category:The Dead Men Diaries short stories]]
[[Category:Irving Braxiatel short stories]]
[[Category:Irving Braxiatel short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the Braxiatel Collection]]
[[Category:Short stories set on the Braxiatel Collection]]
[[Category:2000 short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2600]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2600]]
[[Category:Treasury short stories]]

Latest revision as of 20:54, 17 December 2023

RealWorld.png

The Least Important Man was a 2000 short story written by Steven Moffat and released in the Bernice Summerfield anthology The Dead Men Diaries.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

To be added

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

One night when Gavin Oliver Scott was a baby, he woke up and saw a woman standing over him, mouthing something noiselessly. He saw her in the living room whilst playing with building blocks and again when he was at his friend Toby's house. Toby said without looking that she was his family's gardener, but he later saw her on his first day of school and, believing that she was a teacher, asked her if he could go to the toilet. When she did not answer, he went anyway and got lost, after which Mrs Grillo told him that there was no other teacher. Gavin's mother told him that she was imaginary.

Gavin ignored the woman when he saw her after he won the egg and spoon race, when he won a prize for English, after his first kiss with Rosemary Pope and at his grandmother's funeral. When he was twelve, he saw her whilst the class laughed about his essay about wanting to live in the future and understood what she was mouthing to him; she was telling him that he was not being stupid, which made him realise that he would love her forever. At university, he meets and falls in love with Irene Gilbey and is a close friend of hers for three years, not confessing his feelings to her and being unaware that she is having affairs with Mr Frisby and Toby.

Having learnt to lip-read from Irene, Gavin is able to communicate with the woman when she appears in his flat by reading her lips and holding up cards. He learns that she is Bernice Summerfield and that she is looking through his life with a Quantum Imager from the 27th century as part of a lecture on life in the 20th century. She tells him that he will commit suicide today and be the only well-preserved body from that time period. Aware that failing to kill himself would create a temporal paradox, he jumps off of a bridge and into a mud bank.

The mud, likely of alien origin, preserves him for six centuries and his body is put on display for fifty years after he is discovered. It is only thanks to the Quantum Imager that it has been discovered that he has been alive all that time. Benny restores him, granting his childhood dream of living in the future.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This story is told by Gavin, interspersed with portions of Benny's lecture.
  • This was later one of the eight stories collected in Treasury.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

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