Never Seen Cairo (short story)
Never Seen Cairo was the eighth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury. It was written by Darren Sellars. It featured the Fifth Doctor, Seventh Doctor, and Peri Brown.
Summary
In the trenches on Christmas Day, Edward Woodbourne talks with an "officer" who was found wandering nearby. The officer, who gives his name as the Doctor, is distraught at losing his friend Peri, but is soon told that she's been found safe. While waiting for her, the British and German soldiers declare an informal truce and begin playing football.
As Edward and the Doctor talk, Edward mentions that he'd like to travel, to see Cairo, but it's hard to do so with a family. The Doctor asks him, if it were possible, would he leave the battlefield tonight and search for something greater. He seems disappointed in Edward's answer that he has to stay here to help make the world safe for his wife and son.
The Doctor's transport arrives, and he leaves. Edward resumes writing a letter to his wife.
Some time later, Edward's wife Mary is visited by a stranger. He brings the letter from Edward; she wonders why she is receiving the letter almost a year after Edward died. She reads the letter, and for the first time in months, she smiles.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor tells the Germans that he's more of a cricket man.
Notes
- This story is a "pure historical" featuring no science fiction elements apart from the presence of the Doctor.
Continuity
- The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler also visited a World War I battlefield and participated in a football match between the British and German soldiers. (COMIC: The Forgotten)
