Father Time: "Set Visit" (short story)

Father Time: "Set Visit" was a short story released on the BBC Cult website in 2001 to coincide with the release of PROSE: Father Time - it depicted a "what if" scenario about if the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures were actually television stories, broadcast on BBC One. It was referred to as an "introduction" to Father Time on the novel's respective page on the BBC Cult website.

No author was credited to the short story, however from its inclusion on Paul Cornell's page on the BBC Cult website, it is likely that he wrote it. As it is explicitly a "what if?" style story, in the vein of the Marvel Comics series of the same name, this story takes place in an alternate universe, similarly to AUDIO: Deadline.

Summary
If the book was a movie, this is what it would be like...

Plot
A person talks to Paul McGann, who comments on the filming of a scene set in Winter in July. Today, the BBC are filming a car chase sequence on a winding road a few miles out from Buxton, Derbyshire, which is doubling for the fictional town of Greyfrith. McGann professed that he has little to do, despite actaully have a lot to film. A crew of three-four special effects people set up the scene for filming. McGann and Minnie Driver are going to be in a car chase, however the entity that will be chasing them, Mr. Gibson, will be a CG addition. The person knows little about what is being filmed. The person observes how "Deborah"'s Ford Cortina is being packed with explosives. The person then takes the opportunity to speak to scriptwriter Lance Parkin.

The person is taken aback by the number of people working on just filming this one scene, and Parkin agrees, noting that while he is a writer, it's not his job to bring everything to life, which, he thinks is a good thing, as he gives an example of the car chase sequence: how it can be two-dimensional on paper, but given life through stylised cinematography, editing, and music. Parkin then asserted that "Doctor Who could not work in any other medium."

The person then talks to a costume designer, who explains the choices of the costumes of the Doctor, Deborah, and Mr. Gibson. From the costumes, the era of the Father Time's setting is the 1980s.

Characters

 * Person
 * Paul McGann
 * Minnie Driver
 * Lance Parkin
 * A costume designer

Referenced only

 * William Goldman
 * Vivienne Westwood

"Fictional characters"

 * The Doctor
 * Debbie
 * Mr. Gibson

Continuity

 * Similar worlds exist where fictious versions of Doctor Who correspond to the adventures of the Doctor in their own universe. (PROSE: The Thief of Sherwood, TV: 2020: The Movie, AUDIO: Deadline, et al.)
 * The Doctor in his own universe also experienced an adventure virtually indentical to Father Time. (PROSE: Father Time)
 * Interestingly, Paul McGann also exists in the Doctor's universe. (PROSE: Hospitality)