Number 1, Gallows Gate Road (short story)

Number 1, Gallows Gate Road was a web-exclusive short story published on the BBC's Doctor Who website.

Summary
The Doctor woke in a British home in 1940, with no memory of how he got there. He found himself at breakfast with a household of interesting characters and realised they're being menaced by an alien intelligence. He teamed up with the landlord's son, young Robert Mann, who definitely knows he wants to be something he grows up, even if exactly what changes every twenty minutes. They asked for the stories of the other residents, and the Doctor determined that someone is sapping their ambition. Robert guessed that the Doctor is an alien, because only an alien would have something like the sonic screwdriver, which he swiped from the Doctor's pocket last night.

The Doctor decided to go for the TARDIS, but as he reached the front door, he fainted. He awakened, declaring that somebody there is an alien. The other residents think he's overwrought. Over the objections of Mrs Mann, he brandished his sonic screwdriver and what appeared to be a War Department warrant and searched the house from top to bottom. When he saw the cracks in the wall, he realised what was happening.

He convened a meeting of the residents and told them that the oak tree in the back, formerly a gallows tree, was home to an ancient alien parasite. He asked Robert to fetch an axe. He encouraged Robert to cut it down as Robert was without specific ambition for the parasite to consume. As Robert chopped, the tree split and a vortex of energy appeared. It spun and howled until it coalesced into a ball of light hat entered the Doctor, who collapsed. The other residents finished chopping the tree.

The Doctor stood up, explaining the entity couldn't be killed, it merely went to inhabit the oldest thing nearby, him. They all had dinner together, the change in attitude and ambition palpable. The Doctor bid his farewells and leaves in the TARDIS, wondering again if she had sensed something wrong. He plans to use the telepathic circuits to flush the entity into the Time Vortex, where it can't do any more harm. The blue box dematerialises.

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Robert Mann
 * Mrs Mann
 * Major Wooley
 * M. Sillington
 * Miss Gibbs
 * Clive Plympton
 * Mrs Baxter

Continuity

 * The Doctor claims to be 904 years old.
 * The fact the Doctor is travelling alone and his higher-stated age places this story in the post-Journey's End timeframe.
 * The Doctor mentions Marco Polo pinching his 'caravan', a reference to TV: Marco Polo.