Planet of the Elves (short story)

Planet of the Elves was the first short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Christmas Around the World. It was written by John Binns. It featured the Fourth Doctor and Adric.

Summary
As the Doctor is doing some housecleaning, he comes across a digital video advertisement for the Christmas Corporation. As he and Adric watch the ad, he remembers that he meant to investigate the corporation. They head for the North Pole.

At the North Pole, they pass from one large room to another. This second room is even larger — it is a factory with production lines and workers. The Doctor recognises the workers as Silostophans from Andromeda. Adric dresses as a worker and they enter the factory. He follows several workers to the office of S. Claus, managing director. The Doctor also appears, and after Mr Claus attempts to justify what he is doing, he captures the two.

When the Doctor and Adric wake, they find they are chained to desks, next to one of the Silostophans, who introduces herself as Grace Lord and shows Adric how to work the computer. Adric begins to hack the computer, and the Doctor gives him a gas mask to protect him from the airborne gas that keeps the slaves compliant. Adric tells Grace that they might be able to take her people home, and she proceeds to tell other workers. Adric changes the viewscreen in the factory, which had ostensibly shown the North Pole, but is actually the home planet of the Silostophans — Salostopus. The Doctor tells Adric that the corporation has used a space-warp bypass to connect the North Pole to the factory here.

Adric and the Doctor make their way back to the North Pole, then the bypass closes. Mr Claus is also at the North Pole, and he grumbles about the Doctor ruining his business. The Doctor gives him a chronological dampener so that he can fulfil his contracts, and the Doctor and Adric head for the TARDIS.

Characters

 * Fourth Doctor
 * Adric
 * S. Claus
 * Grace Lord

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor gives Adric a satsuma; Adric gives the Doctor a piece of mince pie.
 * The Christmas Corporation's ad shows Christmas celebrations in Mexico, Eastern Europe and the Netherlands.

Continuity

 * The Doctor and Adric have recently returned to normal space, having left Romana II and K9 Mark II behind in E-Space. (TV: Warriors' Gate)