Marion on Gallifrey is the first time we really see Gallifrey from the point of view of an alien – i.e. Marion, the Earth Child. I am, of course, treading on some ideas about what Gallifrey is supposed to be like in my interpretation of it in Theta Sigma and Marion and Kristoph. On TV we have never really seen any part of it other than the Capitol/Citadel – those words being somewhat interchangeable – and the Red Desert where the Sheboggins live. Let’s not even get started on the Death Zone. Some of the novels, like Lungburrow, have painted a picture of Gallifreyan society as something very alien and unrecognisable, with ‘families’ as merely groups of cloned beings with some DNA connection. I threw most of that out of the window and created a rural Gallifrey with estates belonging to the aristocratic families like Lœngbærrow. Much of that society will be filled in later when Marion gets more involved in it. But this story is more or less concerned with Marion’s first impressions of Kristoph’s ancestral home rather than the whole of Gallifrey.

The house I have in mind when I think of Mount Lœng House is a real place. It is on the outskirts of Dublin and it is called The Pearse Museum. If you ever happen to be in the area, drop in and have a look at it. It’s got a fascinating history even without being the birthplace of The Doctor.

The interior isn’t based on any real place. But I tried to make it as sumptuous as possible. This is literally the House of Lœngbærrow, the family mansion. It has servants who bow to Marion, something she has never expected.

Gallifrey is, from her first impressions, a place with 26 hours in the day, no concept of ‘tea’ and a yellow sky. But at least the rain is ‘normal’ by her concept of normal.

Asking Caolin to make tea as she understands it is her way of coping with this new world that is both familiar and unfamiliar to her. Describing a packet of PG tips to a man from another planet who has never seen tea before is an interesting concept, as is explaining how to prepare a pot of it.

What this story is mostly about is a young woman from an ordinary working class background suddenly finding herself as a guest in the house of an aristocrat, and coming to terms with the idea that her life might be about to change in unexpected ways.

And this is just the start of it all.

A word about names.

Caolin, the name of the butler, is a cross between the two Irish names Caolan and Coilin, both roughly meaning Colin. It sounded nicely alien enough for a Gallifreyan butler.

Aineytta, Kristoph’s mother’s name, is based on the Irish girl’s name Aine and a bit of a creative suffix. It is pronounced Awn-yet-ta.

http://www.rdwf.org.uk/doctors/D4/s14/03thedeadlyassasin.htm http://www.rdwf.org.uk/doctors/D4/s15/06invasionoftime.htm