Mortlake (short story)

Mortlake was the tenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Past Tense. It was written by Mark Wright. It featured the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe.

Summary
When the TARDIS brings the Doctor and Evelyn to the hamlet of Mortlake, London, in 1568, the Doctor immediately sets off to find Doctor John Dee, an eminent scientist of the day and patron to Queen Elizabeth, whom history has since overlooked. Dee is pleased to meet a fellow scientist, and eagerly shows the Doctor around his laboratory.

The Doctor becomes concerned on learning that Dee has located and copied an edition of the Steganographia, an arcane text that he plans to use to summon up members of the spirit world as a way to achieve instantaneous communication. Despite the Doctor’s warnings, Dee attempts to summon up such a spirit, only to faint into unconsciousness as a huge, hideous monster appears before him. However, the Doctor tells Evelyn that the Steganographia is actually a communication device used by the people of Sintra.

Anyone using the book can use it to open up sub-space and call forth an avatar, who will then accept a message to deliver on their behalf. The Doctor has had a pen-pal on Sintra for several centuries, and knows the hideous creature as Padiel, a rather mischievous avatar; he then sends the creature back to his friend with his latest missive. When Dee comes to, the Doctor tells him that the book was a failure, and later ensures that the book is replaced with a version containing harmless text.

Returning to London in the present day, Evelyn is angered by the fact that the only thing that acknowledges Dee’s achievements is a block of flats named after him; but then the Doctor gives her a book that he picked up in 2006: a biography of the Sixteenth-Century scientist – written by Evelyn herself.

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Evelyn Smythe
 * John Dee
 * Padiel

Continuity
to be added