After Midnight (short story)

Round Trip: After Midnight was the first short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Day in the Life. It was written by Andy Russell. It featured the Eighth Doctor, Charley Pollard and C'rizz.

Summary
Dave, Eddie and Gavin are on night watch at MacDonald, O'Brien and Withers, and as usual there is nothing happening. Gavin sends the other two on their rounds.

Meanwhile, a black-suited figure breaks into the basement through a manhole. He heads for room 413.

As Dave and Eddie patrol, Eddie comments that he feels like a woman in a man's body. On the monitors, Gavin sees the black-suited figure, which reminds him of something he saw when he was an old man. He contacts Dave and Eddie and sends them to confront the intruder.

In room 413, the intruder has found what he was looking for — an amulet. Gavin, watching on the monitors, warns the other two that the intruder is extremely dangerous.

As Eddie heads for room 413, he suddenly realises that he is Charley Pollard, trapped in this body for some kind of mission that she cannot remember. She also remembers that C'rizz is using Dave's body. She encounters the intruder, who sprays her with a nerve gas.

Gavin realises he is the Doctor, and tries to warn Charley and C'rizz. However, the intruder next finds C'rizz and gasses him as well.

The intruder is confronted by "Gavin", but learns he is actually the Doctor. The intruder, whom the Doctor addresses as Darrakhaan, brags that the amulet, which is a space-time navigator, allowed him to predict future events and that the Doctor will not be able to stop him. He activates the amulet and disappears.

The Doctor reunites with his friends and tells them that he has trapped Darrakhaan in a time loop.

The police arrive at the office building and arrest Anthony James Dunn, whose body had been taken over by Darrakhaan.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Charlotte Pollard
 * C'rizz
 * Dave
 * Eddie
 * Gavin Jones
 * Anthony James Dunn
 * Darrakhaan

Continuity

 * Charley refers to herself as "an Edwardian adventuress". (AUDIO: Storm Warning)