The Very Last Picture Show (short story)

The Very Last Picture Show was the fifth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Farewells. It was written by Andrew Collins. It featured the Fourth Doctor and Leela.

Summary
Debbie and Richard are watching a movie and eating popcorn. They hear a noise behind them, and turn to see a large insect eating another moviegoer. They turn back to the movie.

The Doctor tries to take Leela to Kentillion 12, but they end up instead in a white void. They explore.

In the control room of the G'Ug ship, Grugvengler receives a report about the presence of the Doctor and Leela on the ship.

The Doctor and Leela come across a cinema called the Empire. Inside, the Doctor buys some popcorn for Leela and go inside the theatre. Two ushers, Betty and Liam, remove the dead body. None of the moviegoers notices.

Leela doesn't like the taste of the popcorn, but she eats it and stares at the screen. The Doctor notices that all the moviegoers are wearing bracelets. The ushers approach, intending to remove the Doctor and Leela as they are not part of the program. The Doctor grabs the popcorn away from Leela, and the two of them fight the ushers. Liam loses an arm and Betty her head, but they keep fighting — they are androids. The Doctor tells Leela to run, and she leaves the theatre.

The movie screen clears and the Doctor is addressed by Grugvengler, who warns the Doctor not to interfere with his soldiers. Meanwhile, Leela, outside the theatre, finds some kind of barrier keeping her from going any further.

The Doctor is put in the projection room, where he sees several of the large insects. Leela finds a window to the theatre bathroom and climbs in, where she encounters Connie Watson. Connie doesn't like popcorn, so she hasn't been drugged like the others. She explains to Leela that she and the other humans are periodically abducted from Earth to fight Grugvengler's battles. Then they are returned to Earth until they are needed again.

The Doctor, having broken out by using the sonic screwdriver, confronts Grugvengler and informs him that his ship is infested with space weevils. They have been eating the humans. The Doctor warns Grugvengler he will stop him, but Grugvengler pulls out remote control that he uses to wake the humans up from their stupor and orders them to attack the Doctor. The Doctor presses a button on his sonic, and Betty and Liam come. The Doctor has fixed them and reprogrammed them. Liam snatches at the remote control while Betty tries to grab Grugvengler.

Suddenly a large roaring is heard, and weevils start pouring through every available opening. The humans begin fighting the weevils, killing dozens of them. Leela and Connie appear, and Connie confronts Grugvengler. When Grugvengler opens his mouth to speak, someone throws a piece of the drugged popcorn into his mouth and he becomes drugged.

The Doctor and Leela corral the remaining weevils, and the rest of the G'Ug agree to take the humans home. In the theatre, Grugvengler watches a movie. He is soon joined by a space weevil.

Characters

 * Fourth Doctor
 * Leela
 * Connie Watson
 * Grugvengler
 * Debbie
 * Richard
 * Liam
 * Betty

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor defines Scottish as "haggis, bagpipes. Robbie Burns and deep-fried Mars Bars".
 * Connie watched the movie Casablanca before she was taken.
 * Grugvengler's ship is the Boo to the Goose.
 * The captured humans watch the movie The Very Last Picture Show.
 * The Doctor sees movie posters for several films, including Kiss Daddy Goodnight, The Goodbye Girl, Farewell My Concubine, Goodbye, Mr Chips, The Long Goodbye and Aux Revoir Les Enfants.
 * The Doctor eats jelly babies instead of the drugged popcorn.

Continuity

 * Leela's eyes are still brown. (TV: Horror of Fang Rock)