Gone Too Soon (short story)
Gone Too Soon was the thirteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips and Side Steps. It was written by Christopher M. Wadley. It featured the Sixth Doctor and was notable for depicting what appeared to be the final death of the Doctor's old mentor, K'anpo Rimpoche.
Summary
The Doctor has seen a glimpse of the future, and learns that his present incarnation will end soon. For a while, he sulks in his TARDIS. Then he realises he should take advantage of the time he has left.
He journeys to a planet at the Dawn of Time and carves on a rock, "The Doctor was here."
Next, he spends eighteen days teaching himself to play the guitar. He travels to Hamburg and heads to a club. He stops a man named Stu, who is carrying a guitar, and convinces him to go home to his girlfriend, just for tonight. The Doctor enters the club, and when Stu's band grumbles about his absence, the Doctor offers to take his place.
The Doctor next travels to Bonn, Germany, in 1770. He enters a house, pretending to be with the doctor, and watches as a woman gives birth upstairs. When the medical staff has gone, he approaches the new mother and offers her money, telling her it will help convince her husband to keep the baby. He asks her what she will name the boy, and she replies, "Ludwig".
Lastly, the Doctor visits an old mentor, and stays with him until he passes away.
The Doctor now feels he is ready to face his end, and is thankful that he had time for "all the important things".
Characters
References
- The Doctor jammed with the Beatles in Hamburg in the 1960s before they were successful.
- The dying old man the Doctor meets is heavily suggested to be the Time Lord K'anpo Rimpoche after running out of regenerations.
Notes
- It is possible that the Doctor has seen a vision due to the presence of the Nathemus's intentions to rewrite history that have by this point linked up to his mind as they prepare to enact the final stage of the Valeyard's master plan. The Sixth Doctor, after this plan was fully underway, also altered history by sending a psychic impulse to his past self to fly to his doom, potentially echoing back even further to his younger self than intended and giving him a glimpse of what is to come.
- In the original version of The Twin Dilemma, Eric Saward had intended for it to be the Doctor's old childhood mentor (likely K'anpo Rimpoche) back on Gallifrey instead of Azmael as the mentor who appeared in the story, in his thirteenth and final incarnation, and later meet his demise, having exhausted his regeneration cycle.
Continuity
- The Sixth Doctor will soon meet his fate of having his life cut short in his prime in AUDIO: The Brink of Death. Upon this occurring, he mentions he had a "good innings", indicating he is fully satisfied with his time and experiences in his sixth incarnation.
