Fellow Traveller (short story)
Fellow Traveller was the tenth short story in the anthology Adventures in Lockdown. It was written by Mark Gatiss.
Synopsis
Susan Campbell meets the thirteenth doctor while travelling, but fails to recognise her. They share some time together.
Plot
Susan Campbell is making a multi-day journey to Bedford, Earth. Currently on what she thinks is a Tuesday, she trecks through the rain and mud, recalling the boots she'd collected from an abandoned shop. When she gets to Luton, she spots a woman in the distance-- the Thirteenth Doctor.
The Doctor allows Susan to shelter under her umbrella and guides them both to a farmhouse. Setting a fire and sharing a meal, Susan immediately notes something familiar about the woman as they discuss the Dalek Invasion of Earth that occurred some fifty years previously. Susan explains she has become a 'hermit' in recent years, to which the Doctor asks where she is currently headed and whether she needs any help.
After the invasion, most of the remains of the defeated Daleks had been piled up and burnt in Trafalgar Square as a celebration of Earth's victory and in an attempt to move on. After her husband's death from a virus caused by the invasion, Susan wishes to see a Dalek again as a coping mechanism, and has heard there are still metallic remains to be found in Bedford. The Doctor expresses grief for Susan's loss, and the tired and weary Susan goes upstairs to sleep.
The next morning, Susan's spirits are renewed by a set of warm clothes and the smell of kippers cooking downstairs — both gestures from the Doctor. Susan doubts that the kippers were leftovers from the farmhouse, as the Doctor claims, but doesn't challenge her.
The Doctor takes Susan to the adjacent barn and reveals a Dalek casing she has collected from Bedford for her. Susan remarks how small the shell looks as the Doctor hands her a length of steel broken from a girder to hit the Dalek with as a form of emotional release. Susan beats the Dalek for her husband's sake, and starts to think about moving on from her current body, onto new adventures.
Later on, Susan, well clued-in to the Doctor's identity, calls her "family", and they laugh about the kippers. They agree they have a lot of catching up to do and briefly reminisce about their days in the TARDIS on Totter's Lane. The Doctor holds the emotional Susan and says "I always told you I'd come back".
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Whilst reminiscing, Susan remarks that the food machine installed in the TARDIS never used to make the kippers correctly (apparently they always tasted of chocolate), so the Doctor would have to go out and buy some.
Notes
- According to Susan, the events of the story take place "fifty years" or "more" after those of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Continuity
to be added
