Prologue to The Centenarian (short story)

Prologue was the first short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The Centenarian. It was written by Joseph Lidster. It featured the Eighth Doctor.

Summary
Violet meets her fiancé Richard at the pub. She tells him of a harrowing experience she just had.

Her mistress, Mary Grainger, has thrown a surprise party for her husband Lawrence Grainger. When he arrives home, he is in a foul mood, and Violet tries to warn him about the party. However, when he enters the drawing room, his good humour is restored.

Violet heads downstairs to the kitchen to see the cook, Mrs Best, waving a rolling pin at two strangers, a young man and an old one. Mrs Best sends Violet to fetch the butler, Mr Peake. Both Peake and Lawrence accompany her back to the kitchen. They hear a scream from Mary. One of the guests, Sir George Steer, enters the kitchen, dragging a pregnant Mary with his arm around her neck. The old man is knocked down but promises to Mary that he will save her and her child. Sir George addresses one of the strangers as "Doctor", and his eyes explode with a green light. Violet faints.

When she wakes, Mr Peake comforts her. Sir George plans to kill the baby when it is born. Mary's water breaks. The four men try to reason with Sir George, but he doesn't listen. Suddenly Violet hits Sir George on the side of his head, and he collapses. A kind of green spirit comes out of him and flies away.

Mary has her baby in the kitchen. The strangers inform the family and servants that Sir George had been possessed, and they should take care of him when he wakes. The younger stranger tells Violet that she has saved the world and that she won't be forgotten.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Edward Grainger
 * Mary Grainger
 * Lawrence Grainger
 * Louisa Pollard
 * Richard Pollard
 * Richard
 * Violet
 * George Steer
 * Mrs Best
 * Mr Peake
 * General Kirby
 * Lord Greystone
 * Dr Hallis
 * Len

Worldbuilding

 * Violet and Richard meet at the White Rabbit.
 * There has recently been an earthquake in San Francisco.
 * The Edwardian characters wonder if the entity that possessed Sir George was the Devil, to which the Doctor answers that "you could say that".

Continuity

 * The "demon" in this story is later revealed to be . (PROSE: Forgotten)