Doctor Who: The Bedtime Story (TV story)

Doctor Who: The Bedtime Story, also known as The Doctor - The Way Back Home was a Doctor Who-themed episode of CBeebies Bedtime Stories, broadcast on 24 November 2023 as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations. It starred David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and the story read was The Way Back Home, written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

Synopsis
Where will you go and Who will you meet on Planet Bedtime Stories tonight?

Plot
The Fourteenth Doctor arrives on Planet Bedtime Stories, exiting the TARDIS after it materialises, and warmly introduces himself. Recognising his location, he takes a seat and asks an audience "if [they] had a spaceship, where would [they] go?" Would they go to another world or meet someone in particular? The Doctor has a story prepared about such a question, about a boy who travelled to space and made a friend.

The Doctor tells the story of the boy, who found an aeroplane in his cupboard and took it for a flight, until he ran out of petrol and got stuck on the Moon. Alone and afraid, his torch began dimming, however a Martian soon joined him after his spaceship's engine broke down. They showed each other how they had become stuck on the Moon and discussed ways to get back home; the boy jumped down to Earth, landing in the sea and swimming back home for supplies. Upon reaching his home, the boy had become tired and taken a rest, sitting down to eat a snack in front of his television. Suddenly remembering the Martian, the boy took the necessary supplies and travelled to higher ground and alerted the Martian, who threw down a rope for him to climb. Reuniting, they restored each other's ships and made their farewells, setting off home and wondering if they would ever meet again. Soon after, a parcel arrived for the boy, containing a walkie-talkie so he and the Martian could continue to talk to each other.

The Doctor concludes, impressed by the story. He begins to tell another "great" story about someone who travelled to space and began helping people, gesturing as he detailed how this "big blue box" landed in a junkyard, but cuts himself off as he realises that it is a long story, much longer than he has time for, but promises to save it for another bedtime story. Telling his audience that he will see them again soon, he enters the TARDIS and dematerialises.

Cast

 * Fourteenth Doctor - David Tennant

Characters

 * Bugbie
 * Boy
 * Martian
 * Oliver Jeffers
 * Penguin
 * Delivery man

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor appears to be familiar with a Bugbie.
 * The Doctor explains that his TARDIS is a spaceship and that he loves time travel.
 * Oliver Jeffers wrote and illustrated The Way Back Home.

The Way Back Home

 * The boy didn't remember leaving the aeroplane in his cupboard.
 * Before meeting each other after their eyes adjusted to the dark, both had "feared the worse" when they first heard each other.
 * The boy got the supplies from his cupboard.
 * The boy fixed the Martian's engine with a spanner.
 * The delivery man had a moustache and carried a clipboard.

Continuity

 * The Doctor's "great" story he begins to tell references the first Doctor Who episode,.
 * The Doctor tells the viewer that he will be seeing them again "very soon", a reference to the being broadcast the very next day.

Home media releases
Following its broadcast on television, Doctor Who: The Bedtime Story was added to BBC iPlayer's Whoniverse catalog of Doctor Who content as a title separate from Doctor Who (2023-) and CBeebies Bedtime Stories, although it was also released as part of the latter, albeit with an expiration time of thirty days.