Hall of Mirrors (short story)
Summary
The TARDIS has an unexpected power failure and makes a landing in a long endless corridor of mirrors. The Doctor and Peri are surprised to find the apparently disconnected chameleon circuit is engaged and the TARDIS transforms into one of the many mirrors which Peri marks with her lipstick. The Doctor hears voices up ahead and they work their way through the maze of mirrors to a large empty hall with one single mirror. At a table in the middle of the room sat two similar but different looking people who both give their name as Ademus. The Doctor knows the name but cant remember anything else. Ademus explains that like them he was a traveller who has been trapped he goes on to say that the only means of escape and to free the TARDIS is to smash the mirror but he refuses to reveal why he can't. Managing to find his way back to the TARDIS again, the Doctor returns with a U.H.L.F. (a large sonic lance that he once picked up from Mars). As the Doctor switches it on and, pointing it at the mirror which starts to shimmer and warp - he suddenly stops. He tells Ademus that he needs something else from the TARDIS, but Ademus is not happy. Taking Peri with him, he explains who Ademus was - a dangerous man with tremendous powers who was finally stopped by the White Guardian who handed him back to his people who then imprisoned him. Ademus was imprisoned in a world of his own mind, a world given substance through a mental projection controlled by a semi-sentient machine that lies behind the mirror. The Doctor realises they are trapped. They can't leave without breaking the machine and if they do they will be trapped forever in the manifestation of Ademus' mind.
Using the last reserves of power in the TARDIS the Doctor manages a short trip taking the TARDIS to the mirror where Ademus is waiting. The Doctor announces he has a means of freeing the TARDIS yet still leaving Ademus imprisoned. He produces a sphere that when wired up will absorb the power back from the mirror and channel it back to the TARDIS. But before the sphere can be connected Ademus fury is shown when he changes the reality of his world. Fighting his way through rain, wind, storms, and yawning crevices, the Doctor manages to connect the device. The Doctor hears Ademus' begging not to be left alone with himself, but leaves with Peri in the TARDIS, with Ademus left behind trapped in a world of the physical manifestation of his scizophreia and and the mirrors which reflected his sense of loss and confusion with himself.
Characters
References
- Peri carries lipstick.
- The White Guardian is credited for apprehending Ademus who is then handed over to his own people for punishment.
- The White Guardian can not kill.
Notes
- Hall of Mirrors was a Doctor Who Magazine Short Story Competition Winning entry in the under 15 category and was written by Alan Mckee.
- John Ridgway provided the illustration of the Sixth Doctor fighting his way through the hostile environment created by Ademus' mind.
- Alan Mckee's prize was the accompanying artwork and a fully completed and painted Sevans model Dalek.
Continuity
- The TARDIS' chameleon circuit according to the Doctor has been disconnected, presumably after the unsuccessful attempts to repair it in Logopolis and more recently (at the time) in Attack of the Cybermen.
- The Doctor manually opens the TARDIS doors when the TARDIS is all but drained of its power. A similar action was seen in Planet of the Daleks.
Timeline
- This story takes place after DWY: The More Things Change
- This story takes place before DWM: Power to the People
