Girls' Night In (short story)

Girls' Night In
Main character(s):	Sarah, Jo, Liz, Tegan, Ace
Main setting:	London, the 1990s
Key crew
Writers:	Mike Tucker, Robert Perry
Illustrator:	Paul Cockburn
Release details
Printed in:	DWMS Holiday 1992
Release date:	August 1992
Brief Encounter
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Girls' Night In was a Brief Encounter short story published in DWMS Holiday 1992.

Summary

After reading one of Sarah Jane Smith's books, Jo gets in touch with her and discovers they both knew the Doctor. Together they place a small ad in Time Out magazine – "If you know what TARDIS means, call this number" – to attract the attention of other former companions. With Liz Shaw and a less positive Tegan, they wallow in nostalgia with good wine and the company of friends. They reflect that after their travels with the Doctor, they never found another man to live up to the memory. There is a knock on the door – Ace joins them.

Characters

• Sarah Jane Smith
• Josephine Jones
• Liz Shaw
• Tegan Jovanka
• Ace

Worldbuilding

to be added

Notes

• This story carries on the idea, established in DWMS Winter 1991, that Sarah turned her adventures with the Doctor into a series of novels, something which was picked up on in the short story Moving On. However, this was never mentioned in the Big Finish Sarah Jane Smith audio series, the television story School Reunion or The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• Liz Shaw, who was born in 1943, according to PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune, is described as being in her late forties, placing this story in 1992 at the latest. However, PROSE: Moving On established that Sarah Jane's novels were published from 1997 to at least 2001. Jo Grant makes reference to "one of [Sarah's] books", indicated at least two have been published, alternatively placing this story in 1997 at the earliest, after Noah's Ark was published.
• This story and the episode Death of the Doctor feature conflicting accounts of first meetings between Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith.

Continuity

• Sarah and Tegan previously met in the Tomb of Rassilon in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. (TV: The Five Doctors)

External links

• Girls' Night In at the Doctor Who Reference Guide