Dr Cadabra (short story)

Dr Cadabra was the eighteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas. It was written by Trevor Baxendale. It featured the Sixth Doctor and Mel.

Summary
A man who works in an office is assigned to plan the Christmas party. With the help of co-workers Gilbert and Rachel, the party is all set. The man hopes he will never be chosen to plan the party again, so as entertainment for the party he chooses a magician named Dr Cadabra.

The day of the party, the man goes to the building foyer to meet with Dr Cadabra. He finds a bunch of magician paraphernalia and a large blue box. A wildly-dressed man and a young lady come out of the box. The man assumes they are the magician and his assistant. The assistant, Mel, convinces the "Doctor" to perform at the party.

The Doctor reluctantly agrees, but as he goes through the act, he becomes more enthusiastic. The man and his co-workers find themselves enjoying the show. The Doctor finally comes to the last trick: a "magical mirror". Rachel volunteers for the trick, but when she looks in the mirror, everyone can see a younger version of Rachel in the reflection who grows into her twenties and is very beautiful. To everyone's horror, the real Rachel begins aging decades older than her current age. The Doctor pulls Rachel away from the mirror, then he and the man look in the mirror. They see the young Rachel and another man, who is the real Dr Cadabra. He is trapped in his mirror.

The Doctor states that a temporal meniscus has been stretched over the mirror's surface and the magician is trapped inside with the alien who stole life energy from Rachel. With the man's help, the Doctor tries to rescue Dr Cadabra, but it proves to be impossible. Dr Cadabra urges them to break the mirror; the man does so. Dr Cadabra is trapped inside forever, but Rachel de-ages back to her real age.

The man's co-workers congratulate him for an entertaining party, and he escorts the Doctor and Mel back to their blue box.

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Melanie Bush
 * Gilbert
 * Rachel
 * Man
 * Boss
 * Dr Cadabra

Continuity
to be added