[#016] The Other Side (Doctor Who)

[badly_knitted]

Theme Prompt: #016 – Fourth Wall
Title: The Other Side
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating/Warnings: G
Bonus: Um, I think so.
Word Count: 998
Summary: Investigating a peculiarly deserted planet, the Doctor comes across something strange.



As far as the TARDIS’s sensors could tell, the whole planet was deserted, which was strange. There was no evidence of war or natural disaster; the buildings were still standing and in excellent condition, many of them were obviously homes, but nobody was in them. Everywhere there was a vague air of disuse, as if the former inhabitants of the once densely populated world had just got up one day and decided to go elsewhere, leaving most of their possessions behind.

The Doctor wandered for hours through a city that looked more like a museum exhibit, or possibly a stage set, until he reached the centre where a vast building stood, overshadowing all those around it. Naturally, he had to go in and explore; maybe this was where all the people had gone, perhaps to attend an event of some sort.

Wrong again; the interior turned out to be as deserted as everywhere else, room after empty room, until he came to an enormous central chamber where, among tier after tier of blank screens going up further than he could see in the dimness, one single screen glowed with colour and light, drawing the Doctor like a moth to a flame.

“What’s this? Never seen anything quite like this before.” The Doctor stepped closer, peering at the screen. It was rather like looking through a window into someone’s home, because on the other side was what appeared to be a living room. Two people were there, humans surprisingly enough. They were sitting on a sofa eating takeaway and staring back at him. Or maybe they weren’t looking at him; maybe the screen was a one-way mirror of some kind, because the people didn’t seem at all surprised to have a stranger staring at them in their home. This definitely warranted further investigation. Maybe he should see if he could get their attention. That would tell him whether or not the people could see him.

He started forward again, but paused, sniffing; did he just get a faint whiff of something? He wasn’t sure so he put it out of his mind for the moment. It wasn’t important right now.

Leaning forward, he waved. “Hello there!”

The people didn’t respond, just keep eating, staring blankly at whatever it was they could see from their side.

But there was that smell again; the Doctor sniffed the air, his mouth starting to water. “Oooh, curry! I love a good curry! Not as much as chips, but… Curry and chips; that would be brilliant!” He addressed the people again, a hopeful tone to his voice. “Don’t suppose you’ve got enough to share, do you?”

Still no response.

“Didn’t think so.” Moving closer to the screen, he studied it carefully before reaching out a tentative hand. Always wise to be careful with unknown technology. Never knew what it might do. Just before he could make contact with the screen he felt a slight tingle through his fingertips, but before he could draw back, his arm unexpectedly went right through up to the elbow. He could still see it perfectly clearly, like he’d plunged it into a pool of water, but part of him was now on the other side of what he’d assumed was solid glass or some similarly transparent substance. “Now that’s fascinating!” He waggled his fingers.

This time there could be no doubt the people on the other side could see him, or at least see his arm. Both of them screamed, recoiling as far as they were able to, which wasn’t very far since they were seated on a sofa up against a wall. One of them spilled his curry in his lap.

“Argh!”

The Doctor pushed his head through after his arm. “Oh, hello, didn’t mean to startle you, sorry. I’m the Doctor; I was just looking at the… um… whatever this thing is and then my arm went through it. Didn’t know that was going to happen. Is that curry? You might want to clean it up before it stains,” he finished helpfully.

“This isn’t happening!” one of the people said. “No way! You’re not real; you’re a character on a TV show! You know, fictional entertainment?”

“Am I really? I’ve always thought I was real. Everyone I’ve ever met has thought so too. I exist, do things, have adventures travelling through time and space…”

“Well yeah, that’s the plot of the show, new adventure every week. I’ve been watching since I was kid. The special effects are better these days though. Sets used to wobble a lot and the monsters were a bit crap… What am I doing talking to you like you’re real? You’re played by a bloke called David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor.”

“Well yes, this is my tenth regeneration, but I’m not played by anyone… I’m me.” The Doctor peered about from his position halfway through the TV set. “Brilliant! This must be a sort of interdimensional portal! Hardly ever see those nowadays, most of them have been shut down.” He waggled his hand. “They weaken the walls between dimensions, things start bleeding through… If you’re not going to eat that curry, can I have it? Haven’t had a good curry in… oh, a long time.”

Silently, one of the people handed him a carton and a clean fork.

“Lovely, thank you. Well, I should probably…” The Doctor gestured back the way he’d come.

“Right, yeah; nice meeting you.” Then to his friend… “What? If Barry wants to complain we didn’t save his curry for him, it’s his fault for being late home.” Then thoughtfully, “The Doctor’s right; you should go change. Waste of a good curry, spilling it like that.”

“Well it’s not every day someone sticks their head through our TV from the other side!”

Leaving them to their argument, the Doctor withdrew. Maybe once upon a time all the screens had been portals and the people from this world had gone through them to explore other dimensions.

“This curry’s really good.”


The End