Ten Little Aliens: 50th Anniversary Edition (38 page)

‘Hey, I know,’ Tovel cried. ‘I know what we’ve learned: Believe in magic. After all we’ve seen today…’

Shade agreed. ‘Magic, must be. Just the fact that any of us are here at all – let alone so pretty.’

Frog laughed and even Creben raised an eyebrow. But the
Doctor
cut across them sternly as he walked up to his precious ship. ‘No, no, dear me, no,’ he fussed. ‘Believing in magic is easy, the reaction of a cowardly mind to explain away any phenomenon that vexes the intellect. But
finding
magic in the realities of existence… seeking out some hidden truth to cling to from every painful experience we endure… that is never easy.’ He looked at each of them in turn. ‘That takes courage.’

Tovel cleared his throat. ‘Yeah, well, I was actually joking about the magic stuff, Doctor, but… whatever.’

The Doctor looked aghast for a moment. Then his expression softened into a smile. ‘Joking, yes, of course. I suppose… Well, it has been an extremely taxing day for us all.’

With that, shaking his head, he walked into the TARDIS.

‘What’re the three of you gonna do in there?’ Frog called. ‘And are you gonna sell tickets?’

Polly blushed. She waved goodbye to everyone – her gaze lingering a little longer than Ben would’ve liked on Shade – and followed the Doctor inside.

‘We’re gonna clean up, rest up, and then it’s on to the next place,’ Ben told her. ‘Just like you lot.’

He winked and closed the door behind him.

II

Frog – or rather, Mel Narda as she would be known from here on in – watched the blue box start to wheeze and groan. Her jaw dropped as it slowly faded into thin air.

She gave Tovel a wry look as the last echoes of the weird sound died away.

‘Don’t believe in magic, he says.’

Next in the
Doctor Who
50th Anniversary Collection:

D
REAMS OF
E
MPIRE

J
USTIN
R
ICHARDS

ISBN
978 1 849 90524 4

The
Doctor Who
50th Anniversary Collection

Eleven classic adventures

Eleven brilliant writers

One incredible Doctor

On a barren asteroid, the once-mighty Haddron Empire is on the brink of collapse, torn apart by civil war. The one man who might have saved it languishes in prison, his enemies planning his death and his friends plotting his escape.

The Second Doctor arrives as the last act of this deadly drama is being played out – and, with both terrifying killers and cunning traitors to defeat, the future hangs in the balance.

An adventure featuring the Second Doctor, as played by Patrick Troughton, and his companions Jamie and Victoria

The Encyclopedia

Gary Russell

Available for iPad

An unforgettable tour of space and time!

The ultimate series companion and episode guide, covering seven thrilling years of
Doctor Who
. Download everything that has happened, un-happened and happened again in the world of the Eleventh Doctor. Unlock even more content by purchasing Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor bundles.

Explore and search over three thousand entries by episode, character, place or object and see the connections that link them together

Open interactive ‘portals’ for the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River and other major characters

Build an A-Z of your favourites, explore galleries of imagery, and preview and buy must-have episodes

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Justin Richards for many things, not least of which was letting me do this book at all.

Special thanks go to Peter Anghelides for useful insights, valid suggestions and, of course, taken mickey. His generous feedback, pink elephants and spreadsheets (!) buoyed me over the last manic weeks of work on the manuscript.

Those special ones also go to Mike Tucker, who made me a monster just because he thought it would be fun – and because he’s my mate.

Many people helped along the way – hello Paul Magrs, Jason Loborik, John and Rachel Boothroyd, Tony, Debbie and Samuel Fleetwood, Tony and Wendy Cole, Sue Cowley, Gary Russell, Simon Gerard…

Finally, apologies to Agatha Christie, but grateful thanks to her charming, helpful and hospitable daughter Rosalind Hicks, who afforded me privileged access to her mother’s home and effects in a former working life.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781448140312

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First published in 2002 by BBC Worldwide Ltd.
This edition published in 2013 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing.
A Random House Group Company

Copyright © Stephen Cole 2002, 2013

The Author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of the Work in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Doctor Who
is a BBC Wales production for BBC One.
Executive producers: Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner

BBC, DOCTOR WHO and TARDIS (word marks, logos and devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 849 90516 9

Editorial director: Albert DePetrillo
Editorial manager: Nicholas Payne
Series consultant: Justin Richards
Project editor: Steve Tribe
Cover design: Two Associates © Woodlands Books Ltd, 2012
Production: Alex Goddard

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