Come Friendly Bombs... (short story)

Come Friendly Bombs... was the seventh short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Past Tense. It was written by Dave Owen. It featured the Third Doctor and Jo Grant.

Summary
Jo asks the Doctor to take her back in time to Aldermaston, 1960, so that she can take part in the famous rally for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Arriving amongst the throng of enthusiastic demonstrators marching to Trafalgar Square over the Bank Holiday weekend, they soon meet Bernard Helmann, a tutor in philosophy at Oxford. While the Doctor and Bernard enjoy their highbrow conversation, Jo meets one of the campaign leaders, a woman named Joan, whose husband was killed some years ago during the Blitz.

Enjoying her new friend’s company, Jo soon comes to understand the horror that the superbombs can cause, and she implores the Doctor to travel back in time to prevent Oppenheimer from inventing the atomic bomb. However, the Doctor refuses, explaining that history must be allowed to take its course.

The two friends fall out, and it is a couple of days before they speak again; arriving at Trafalgar Square, the Doctor finally explains to Jo that the bombs themselves are not evil, merely the use that they are put to - with time, mankind will learn morality and responsibility; the atomic bomb is necessary thing, as it will enable mankind to defend itself against the Cybermen when they attack Earth in the future.

Satisfied, Jo goes on to enjoy the rest of the demonstration - unaware that some years ago, it was the Doctor himself who entered Oppenheimer’s laboratory and altered the scientist’s equations, thereby ensuring that the atomic bomb was created, and making certain that history stayed on its correct course…

Characters

 * Third Doctor
 * Jo Grant
 * Bernard Helmann
 * Joan
 * Didier

Continuity

 * There is a reference to the Master.
 * Jo mentions the Autons (TV: Terror of the Autons).
 * The Doctor notes that nuclear bombs can be useful in destroying Cyber-invasion fleets (TV: The Invasion).