The Girl Who Grew Up In The TARDIS (Wattys2014)

"Ten million years of absolute power that's what it takes to be really corrupt."

 So the Doctor and Peri had very much got off on the wrong foot and as a consequence would always have an uneasy friendship where they argued mainly but eventually they learnt to put their differences behind them as they fought Cybermen, Daleks, along with the great healer a.k.a Davros. Though another side effect of the Doctor’s “Bad” regeneration meant he could sometimes be a little trigger happy, he was comfortable around guns and though he never actually shot anyone as such it was shocking to witness but I still believed the Doctor’s hearts were in the right place and well at least he got things done and there was no messing with this Doctor was there?… And of course the Master turned up again but this time it was two renegade Time Lords for the price of one (what was it with these renegade Time Lords showing up on Earth, was no one minding the shop on Gallifrey?!) as the Master joined forces with a female one called “The Rani”, even more deadly, devoid of any compassion whatsoever and a twisted genius…Oh and drop dead gorgeous...Literally. Of course the Doctor sorted the pair of them out…Though the Master and the Rani had nothing on the high council of Gallifrey, it turned out the Doctor’s greatest villains were his own people as he stood up to the Time Lord’s in his trial and as the Doctor confronted this ancient, corrupt race it was his finest hour. The Doctor’s justice and sense of morality putting his earlier selves to shame. Still can’t quite reconcile the Valeyard as the Doctor’s future self, to be honest I’d completely lost the plot towards the end of the trial, though it does seem rather apt for the Doctor to beat himself up and be his own chief prosecutor! There was also a new companion knocking about, Mel, a bouncy mass of screams, boy that gal could break the sound barrier with her screams. Not sure how Mel came into the Doctor’s life and I could never did find out whether Peri had lived or died. Though whether it was real or not, it haunts me to this day what happened to Peri. Truth be told I didn’t delve too deeply, I also wanted to believe the happy ending the Doctor was shown at his trial…I guess the Doctor never looking back was also beginning to seep into my psyche.

 I have to confess it was strange watching the Doctor and for the first time not feeling as though I wanted to join him, I was quite happy to be in the background, a ghost on the peripheral sidelines. And I had watched this Doctor, grumpy and egotistical struggle to find his place in the Universe, it got very dark at times, for a while I did not like the Doctor, he was a stranger to me and yet over time he began to change, there was a warmth shining in his eyes which I hadn’t seen in this Doctor before (heck, even his jacket was beginning to grow on me) but just as the Doctor was getting into his stride, beginning to regain some of his humanity and compassion, his time was suddenly over, which made me sad. So that troubled life was over before it had even begun really, he never got the chance to be the man he should have been though I have to confess that I was relieved to say goodbye to that version of the Doctor. I think the TARDIS even breathed a sigh of relief at his passing. It had been short though very far from sweet.