The Fifty-Year Delay (short story)

The Fifty-Year Delay was a short story published in The Official 50th Anniversary Annual. It told the story of Ryan Goodman's encounter with the Eleventh Doctor.

Synopsis
The Doctor has another fifty-year-old mystery on his hands...

Summary
Ryan Goodman was running late for work, so he quickly rushed to an Underground station. He looked up at the display which showed how long you have to wait for different trains. It said "Kennington via Charing Cross - 50 years". He thought is was a joke and looked into the tunnel. The TARDIS suddenly landed, Ryan thinking it was the train, but to his surprise there was no train. Ryan was dumbfounded. The Eleventh Doctor came out of the TARDIS, and told him to stay behind the yellow line.

Suddenly, another loud sound came from the tunnel, but didn't sound anything like a train. The Doctor informed him that it was actually an ancient time bird who is a bit lost. He also stated he was trying to help her, but the bird is causing all sorts of time disruptions, and that they're actually 50 years in Ryan's future. Soon enough, came a giant brightly-coloured bird, and shimmered as if it was on fire. It seemed to fade in and out of existence and fly low over their heads and up and down the train tracks.

Unfortunately, a familiar sound was getting louder and louder; a train was arriving. The Doctor had to do something quick. The bird spotted the TARDIS, and time slowed down. A train appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. Thankfully, the bird flew out of the way, a split second before an impact would've occurred. The Doctor and Ryan ran towards the bird, in slow motion as time slowed down. The bird started flying towards them, flew over their heads and into the blue box. The ground shook and time was back to normal. The Doctor stated that everything is normal, and she knows she's safe now. Ryan looked around, the station was now full of people, no one taking any interest in the blue box. Ryan looked up at the board, which now read "Kennginton via Charing Cross - 1 min". The Doctor told Ryan that everything was back to normal, and that there would be slight delay on the Central line. The Doctor thanked Ryan for the help and went into the TARDIS. People pushed into the train which recently arrived, and Ryan watched as the TARDIS faded.

Named characters

 * The Eleventh Doctor
 * Ryan Goodman
 * Time bird

Continuity

 * The Eleventh Doctor previously encountered a species of multicoloured birds causing mischief. Exactly like in this story, it was solved by luring them into the TARDIS and taking them back to where they belong. (COMIC: The Egg Hunt)