Man Friday (short story)
Summary
The TARDIS lands under a palm tree on a long tropical beach. The Doctor tells them that they are on the planet Delffo in Galaxy G. He has come to visit a friend of his, Toofo, the leader of an amphibian race called the Creels. He warns them not to trust the planet's beauty and as a demonstration he holds his musical pipe out to a flower which promptly bites at it. He returns to the TARDIS to consult his maps and declares that they are on the Island of Devils. While he sets the coordinates to hop them around the planet, Jamie states his intention of going for a swim. Zoe runs out to warn him that the Doctor might go without him but there is no sign of the young man. Zoe calls the Doctor and together they discover his footprints. However, these end suddenly next to a single giant print and a scrawled message that says Jamie has gone with Man Friday to meet the devils in the mountain. The Doctor locks up the TARDIS and leads Zoe into the jungle. They stop by a river to get a drink. Zoe looks into the water and sees a strange creature with an eel-like body and a near human face. The Doctor tells her it is a Creel. This creature recognises the Doctor and introduces himself as Goruf. He tells them that he saw a Blikk carrying a young man and gives them directions for where he thinks Jamie will have been taken. The Doctor asks Goruf to report back to Toofo and asks for some help to be sent to rescue Jamie. Goruf offers them his pistol to fight the Devils but the Doctor asks if the Devils are known to be violent. The Creel admits that there is no record of violence but the Devils are so ugly his people don't trust them. The Doctor and Zoe cross a field of flowers that they have been warned have a deadly scent. They stumble out of the other side and a giant robot lands next to them. It asks them to accompany it to meet Jamie. They agree and the robot - Man Friday - flies them to the mountains and down a tunnel. It deposits them in a hall containing a horseshoe shaped table. Seated around it are black, misshapen figures. They welcome the travellers to the Hall of Shadows. The leader, Murko, tells the Doctor that his people used to dwell in a volcano. When it became extinct they were forced to the surface to get their energy from the sun. Their eyes, unfortunately, are too weak and so they have to stay in the dark. The Blikks are sent out to gather news of the world outside. Jamie steps forward to vouch for this and the Doctor and Zoe realise that the arrival of the Creels to rescue him will, in fact, lead to a new friendship between the two peoples. Beauty is only skin deep.
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