Blue Moon by Oli Smith is a four-part short story (a prologue and three chapters) that was published exclusively on the Doctor Who website in July 2009 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings.
Plot
prologue 20th July, 1969, four days into the Doctor's future Tenth Doctor on try to sit down deckchair on the moon he carefully his wireless radio The Archers on Radio 4 he patting his suit pouches and use a 'Telescope to see The flare of the sun on the ring of the crater blinded him for a second, but soon he had the blue orb of his favourite planet in his sights until he found apollo 11 he have a hurry he started to circle his deckchair at top speed, long strides enhanced by the lunar gravity.
Suddenly he hit the spot. A perfect note sung out, followed by another, accompanying an exquisite minor harmony. The Doctor whistled his own response as he laid the radio carefully back down and flung his arms into the heavens, as though offering up the biggest hug in the world.
Light.
The gesture swiftly folded into a shield for his eyes as an impossibly bright beam poured into the crater from above, so strong that the Doctor could almost feel the dust rippling out from around his feet.
His glasses tinted themselves listen a radio to meet apollo 11 on the moon 4 days earlier 16th july 1969 on earth tenth doctor from the tarmac in kennedy space center he eat half cheese sandwich to he watch the Apollo 11 launch the Saturn V to but two Agents Spencer and Milledge visit about alien intervention 17th july 1969 the doctor met justin to give a dictaphone but agent knocked Doctor out and locked in an office with justin july 20th 1969 it sunday thank for help cliff boxworth he escaping and get to the tardis with the TARDIS's computer for the species on the moon he created a visualisation the TARDIS toward the Moon. the Doctor's mission. Here, on the edge of the dawn, the craters were picked out is this one long shadows and stark highlights Suspended above the horizon was Earth, a blue Moon. he ready he put Sanctuary Base 6 space suit on with he moon landing tool a broom, a spade and a wireless radio a deckchair and a telescope He surveyed the crater listen a the afternoon play He set to work he sweeping carefully on the floor of the crater The symbol was drawn on a post it note he'd stuck to the back of his glove and he marked the outline with the edge of his tool he dig a message of the surface of the Moon to get the alien species to leave but he looked to the star their colour washed out by the bright glare of the sun reflecting off the Moon's surface. No sign yet a perfect time and he met apollo 11 Justin and Cliff are happy moon landing is good without alien species The agents congratulations to justin and cliff and the agents left back on the moon On the rim of the farthest crater tenth doctor is happy to the astronauts for a moment neil first step on the moon he a smile tickling his lips. And was that a tear in his eye? he was glad before he in the TARDIS As Armstrong planted the flag, he thought he heard a sound fading over his earpiece. A kind of wheezing, groaning noise. He felt a tiny breeze inside his space suit as the particles of the universe shifted ever so slightly.
The flag fluttered in his hand. tenth doctor best stargaze ever on the moon
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Two heavily-censored transcripts of the Apollo mission on 16 July, transferred to the Torchwood archives appear in part one.
- The Tenth Doctor calls the Apollo 11 mission "[p]acking three men into a tin can filled with a skyscraper's worth of fuel, hurling them out of the atmosphere into the harshest conditions imaginable, with nothing more powerful than a pocket calculator to guide them. For what? Just because you can."
- The Doctor says "it's Neil and Buzz that land on the Moon and plant the flag and play golf, but without all these wonderful people down here...", gesturing to Mission Control, "Without these unsung heroes [...] none of it will happen."
Notes
to be added
Continuity
- The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones previously witnessed the Moon landing on four occasions. (TV: Blink)