A Big Hand for the Doctor (short story)

A Big Hand for the Doctor was a short story written for the 50th Anniversary celebration of Doctor Who. It featured the First Doctor and Susan Foreman and was written by acclaimed writer Eoin Colfer. It was part of the 50th Anniversary Collection.

Synopsis

London, 1900. The First Doctor is missing both his hand and his granddaughter, Susan. Faced with the search for Susan, a strange beam of soporific light, and a host of marauding Soul Pirates intent on harvesting human limbs, the Doctor is promised a dangerous journey into a land he may never forget…

Plot

The First Doctor visits Aldridge in order to replace his left hand, which he had lost during a duel with a Soul Pirate. Whilst Aldridge finds a suitable replacement, they reminisce about meeting each other elsewhere. Aldridge remembers when the Time Lord used to have a sense of humour, but his laughs were only in consequence to nitrous oxide involvement. After being given a woman's hand, the Doctor returns to find his granddaughter Susan Foreman in Hyde Park. However, he realises that Susan has already gone in for the attack because she was unable to contact him.

The Doctor arrives in Kensington Gardens where he finds Susan amongst residents of the area, under the influence of the soporific agent used by the Soul Pirates. In order to save them, the Doctor performs a dangerous duel with Igby, the Soul Pirate who came down to Earth. In a daring struggle, the Doctor succeeds in toppling the creature and he falls to the ground below. In the hope of finding a way out, the Doctor joins the others in the orange beam and is transported to the Soul Pirate frigate.

He first succeeds to withhold the powerful influence of the soporific agent and is then conscious enough to overhear the Soul Pirates' conversation. They scan their new specimens and find Time Lords amongst them. One of the pirates decides to inform the Captain while Gomb finds the Time Lords. The Doctor, however, outsmarts the creature and intentionally turns on the Water hose, forcing the pirate backwards through the ship. This gives him time to meddle with the controls in order for the beam to return him and his cohorts back to Earth.

Ordering his co-prisoners to hold onto him, they all jump through the ship's gates and drop towards the planet below. As the gates close once more and the beam reignites, the ship is blown to pieces, while stabilising their fall as they drop to the Earth.

The Doctor and Susan visit Aldridge once more in order for the Doctor to get a proper hand for his person. While he is sleeping after the operation, Susan recites their adventure to Aldridge. The Doctor awakens and asks his granddaughter's opinion on his new hand. She claims it is too big.

EPILOGUE

An author who has been sitting on a bench in Kensington Gardens and has witnessed the entirety of the adventure. He starts writing about them on his notes.

Characters

• First Doctor
• Susan Foreman
• Aldridge
• Gomb
• Captain
• Igby
• J. M. Barrie
• Captain Douglas
• Interior Designer^{(mentioned only)}
• Arthur Conan Doyle^{(mentioned only)}

References

Location

• Earth
  • London
    • The Strand
      • Aldridge's Clockwork Repair and Restoration
      • Dog and Duck Pub
    • Hyde Park
      • Kensington Gardens
    • Newgate Prison^{(mentioned only)}
    • Charing Cross
    • Piccadilly
• Lake Rhonda
• Ryger

Species

• Time Lord
• Xing
• Soul Pirate
• Octo-shark
• Blarph whale^{(mentioned only)}
• Orthonian^{(mentioned only)}

Vehicles

• Soul Pirate frigate
• Orthonian whaling factory

Technology

• The Doctor's TARDIS
• Wrist communicator
• Soporific agent

Organisations

• Xing-Monastery-surgeons
• Gallifreyan Subjunctivists

Miscellanea

• Velcro
• Nitrous oxide
• Astrakhan hat
• Marmite
• Blake's 7
• Anti-gravity beam
• Grunt the Naysayer
• Rygerian
• Grog

Notes

• The short story is written by famous British author, Eoin Colfer.
• This was the first story published in the 50th Anniversary Collection.
• The story was first published as an EBook.