The Eighth Wonder of the World (short story)

The Eighth Wonder of the World was the eighth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Dalek Empire. It was written by Simon Guerrier. It featured the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe.

Summary
The Doctor and Evelyn have arrived in Bodrum, where they meet Charles Newton for the first time, though he already knows them (from four years ago). He is leading an archaeological dig to unearth the Mausoleum of King Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Once the tomb is unearthed, the Doctor and Evelyn are shocked to see, among the paintings on the tomb, a Dalek.

After a fruitless search through the history of Bodrum, they head for the library at Alexandria, where they are helped by the Doctor's old friend, Philo of Byzantium. They learn that a single Dalek was stranded on Earth during a fight at the Great Pyramid of Giza. It aided a slave boy named Aku to become a conqueror, then when Aku died the Dalek was buried with him. It survived, but over the decades it had to constantly fight off intruders, weakening it. They figure that it would try to find a safe place to hide while waiting for other Daleks to arrive on Earth. Philo gives the Doctor a list of places that would last a long time.

The Doctor and Evelyn try the Colossus of Rhodes first, but their search is unsuccessful. The Doctor, however, comes up with a plan to get the Dalek's attention and let it know where he is.

The Doctor is inside the top of the Colossus when the Dalek arrives. It is very low on power, and it only has one order that it can possibly follow — kill the Doctor. It shoots at him as he quickly makes his way down the statue. As he climbs down, bits of the statue are blown apart by the Dalek. The Doctor finally exits the now-destroyed statue, running with the Dalek in pursuit. However, when it shoots the Doctor, its power is so low that it only hurts the Doctor, and the Dalek dies.

The Doctor convinces the townspeople not to rebuild the statue.

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Evelyn Smythe
 * Charles Newton
 * Aku
 * G.F. Watts
 * Philo of Byzantium
 * Dalek

Worldbuilding

 * Evelyn mentions the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
 * When Charles credits Philo with creating the list of the Seven Wonders of the World, Evelyn corrects him, saying it was Antipater of Sidon who created the list.
 * Sappho wrote P. Oxy. 1787.

Continuity

 * Aku was a survivor of the Dalek attack of Egypt. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)