The Sorrows of Vienna (short story)

The Sorrows of Vienna was the twentieth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Snapshots. It was written by Steven Savile. It featured the Eighth Doctor.

Summary
While the Doctor is in Vienna, he starts seeing visions of Charley Pollard and C'rizz. A man chasing a dog bumps into him, knocking him down, and takes off without apologising. The man loses the dog and complains to the Doctor about seeing ghosts.

The man runs off, the Doctor following. The Doctor follows him to a roof, where he appears to be contemplating suicide. The Doctor, who is also seeing ghosts, talks him down, and they follow the ghosts. The man, who introduces himself as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, mentions that he has been drunk on a special wine, and the Doctor suggests they get some more.

Inside the tavern, the Doctor sees several C'rizzs, including the bartender. The Doctor uses a kaleidoscope to expose the bartender as a Bacchanite, a parasitic species that feeds on the pain and sorrow of others. The Doctor orders Goethe to spill the wine, distracting the Bacchanite, and the Doctor defeats it.

Later, when Goethe asks the Doctor for an explanation of what happened, the Doctor suggests he write a poem about it.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Bacchanite
 * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor catches swordfish, cod, eels, roe, perch, carp and rainbow trout while fishing.
 * The Doctor mentions MacDuff.

Continuity

 * The Doctor is feeling depressed over the death of C'rizz (AUDIO: Absolution) and the departure of Charley Pollard. (AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was)