The Ghost's Story (short story)

The Ghost's Story was the second short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Repercussions. It was written by Trevor Baxendale. It featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace.

Summary
The Doctor and Ace have landed on a beautiful planet. They explore and find old ruins with pictograms. The Doctor deduces that this planet used to be a human colony that became extinct.

As they head back to the TARDIS, it is dusk. The flowers are beautiful in the moonlight, and they see lichen spores. They hurry to the TARDIS.

Once in the TARDIS, Ace confronts the Doctor, saying that something was watching them, but the Doctor won't admit it. The TARDIS suddenly goes dark, and the Doctor doesn't know why. Ace hears the sound of someone laughing, then the Doctor does as well, and Ace sees a girl. The Doctor tries to entertain the girl by playing spoons, but the girl disappears when Ace asks her who she is.

The TARDIS is in trouble, and the Doctor realises the girl is causing it. When he finally gets control, they land back on the planet. The Doctor tells Ace that the lichen killed the colonists. They find the remains of the dead humans in shallow graves. When they find the bones of a young girl, the lichen moves to the bones and forms into the girl.

The girl explains that she was ostracised from the colony when the lichen in the flowers she brought started killing the colonists. She was the last to die. Now she wants to come with the Doctor and Ace, leaving the planet. After she insists, the Doctor agrees, but asks her to wait outside the TARDIS for a couple of minutes. When he and Ace enter the TARDIS, it dematerialises. Ace is shocked.

The Doctor explains that the girl could not come with them because she isn't alive. He thinks she was created when some of the lichen made it into the TARDIS.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Ace

Continuity

 * The Doctor plays the spoons. (TV: Time and the Rani)