UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce (short story)

UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce was the fourteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury. It was written by Terrance Dicks. It featured the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, the Brigadier, Benton and Mike Yates.

Summary
Jo, Benton and Yates are grumbling about Christmas when the Brigadier enters and assigns them to duties for the UNIT Christmas party. He sends Benton to the airport to pick up a guest, Doctor Aloysius Fischer, who especially wants to meet the Doctor. Yates is in charge of food and entertainment, and Jo will be the hostess. When the Brigadier tells the Doctor of the party, the Doctor refuses to attend, but grudgingly agrees to show up at the end of the evening.

Benton picks up Doctor Fischer, who is a charming man that resembles Santa Claus. He is a hit at UNIT, and is given a tour by the Brigadier. At the party, he tells stories to the crowd. The Brigadier sends Jo to fetch the Doctor.

When the Doctor arrives, he recognises "Doctor Fischer" immediately. The two head out to the terrace, where the Doctor confronts none other than the Master in disguise. The Master becomes his real self and claims he is here for goodwill at Christmas, and though the Doctor doesn't believe him, the Master reminds him that they are both exiles. He also assures the Doctor that the real Doctor Fischer is alive.

The Brigadier starts to get suspicious and goes in search of the two men. He finds the Doctor chatting and sharing champagne with the Master. The Master escapes, and the others can't believe that "Fischer" was the Master. The Doctor has the Brigadier search UNIT HQ for listening devices and thermonuclear detonators that he is sure the Master planted during his tour.

Jo later tells the Doctor that she thinks the Master was telling the truth about wanting to spend some time with the Doctor at Christmas time. She claims the devices he planted were just a way of saving face so he wouldn't have to admit he was lonely.

Characters

 * Third Doctor
 * Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Benton
 * Mike Yates
 * Jo Grant
 * Aloysius Fischer
 * The Master

Continuity

 * The UNIT staff remember the alien encounter at the previous year's Christmas Party. (PROSE: UNIT Christmas Parties: First Christmas)
 * The Master and the Doctor both recall how they helped each other at Hob's Haven. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion)
 * The Doctor states he was unjustly sentenced to exile on Earth. (TV: The War Games)