The Hopes and Fears of All the Years (short story)

The Hopes and Fears of All the Years was a short story published in The Daily Telegraph. It was written by Paul Cornell.

Plot
Visiting a house on Christmas Eve 1920 the Doctor meets a boy named Tom Wake. He also discovers a sonic screwdriver hanging from the tree. There is a note to the Doctor with the screwdriver, thanking him for saving the family's life on Christmases in the next nine decades, the note is dated 2007.

The Doctor returns to the TARDIS and goes from one Christmas to the next, looking out for any danger to the family. Although danger is only present once, the Doctor continues to look out for the family, even visiting them in the summer. As time passes, the Doctor grows closer to Tom and his wife Alice and their children and grandchildren. Eventually Christmas 2007 arrives and the Doctor and Tom decide to find out about the note. They go back to 1920 in the TARDIS. When they arrive there they find nobody there to place the message on the tree. Realising what this means, Tom takes the message from the Doctor, copies out the note and hangs it on the tree.

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Tom Wake
 * Alice Wake
 * Mary Wake
 * Samantha Phelps

Worldbuilding

 * The sonic screwdriver was the toy of the year in 3498.

Continuity

 * The Doctor once again mentions that he met Geronimo. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)