Goodwill Toward Men (short story)

Goodwill Toward Men was the eighteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury. It was written by Shaun Lyon. It featured the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.

Summary
The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe have arrived in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve in the late 20th century. The Doctor brings them to the Los Angeles Midnight Mission, much to Zoe's surprise. They are met by Carl, who greets them gruffly until he learns that they are here to volunteer. He sends them to Donna.

Donna explains that she used to be homeless, and now she helps out at the mission. Zoe wonders why the volunteers aren't paid to help the homeless, and is surprised that the mission relies on donations only.

After Donna leaves them to work, Zoe criticises the system that allows so many people to be homeless. The Doctor tries to explain that it isn't easy to fix such things, but Zoe is appalled.

Suddenly they hear angry voices in the next room. They see a man named Charlie holding a knife to Carl and demanding food for himself and his son Joe. The man is shaking, and it doesn't take long for the Doctor to convince him to give up the knife. Charlie and Joe are invited to stay at the mission.

Later, as the TARDIS crew are taking a break, Zoe suddenly realises why the Doctor has brought her here. The travellers had recently escaped from a lawless colony, and Zoe had criticised the inhabitants for not making things better. Here in the mission, the Doctor encourages her to change things for the better, to which she responds that it "must be very difficult". The Doctor is pleased she has learned her lesson, and though she is angry at being tricked, she now understands how hard it is to change things.

The TARDIS crew stay at the mission all night, and those who are still awake sing Christmas carols. As the Doctor and his friends leave, the Doctor promises to take them to London for Christmas.

Characters

 * Second Doctor
 * Jamie McCrimmon
 * Zoe Heriot
 * Charlie
 * Joe
 * Carl
 * Donna

Worldbuilding

 * Christmas dinner at the mission includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, bread and pumpkin pie.

Continuity
to be added