The Jekyll and Hyde Planet had two inspirations. The first was a remark in the commentary on Planet of Evil in which the planet in question was referred to as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde planet’. It struck me that the planet was not really any such thing. Nor was it evil, as such. That episode is rather badly titled. I thought about a story in which the planet really WOULD be Jekyll and Hyde – apparently benign at one moment and dangerous the next. Having decided on that idea, but not gone much further, I was then watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and noted the way the orcs were ‘born’ out of the mud, writhing and slimy and ‘unholy’.

I also needed a way to fit in a conversation between Jack Harkness and Davie about Spenser, with Jack giving him some advice on how not to break a gay heart while staying faithful to Brenda. That conversation had been written in a different form some months ago, but I had no idea how I was going to fit it in. The original version had Davie approaching Jack to ask him what he should do about Spenser’s attentions. This version, Jack approaches Davie.

Original Dialogue

 “Jack, could I talk to you?”

“Sure, what’s up?” 

“You know me and Brenda are a sure thing. We’re going to get married when she’s of age. We love each other like… like nobody else in the universe matters.” 

“Yeah, you’re the sweetest young things since… Since the Doc and Rose finally admitted they loved each other.” 

“Yes.” Davie smiled. “But Jack… I have… there’s somebody else. Jack… Spenser is in love with me.” 

“Your apprentice? The one with the beautiful blue eyes.” 

“You noticed those?” Davie laughed. “Might have known you would!” 

“Hey,” Jack said with a serious tone. “That sounded like a ‘back off I saw him first’ kind of tone. You like him, too?” 

“He’s… I’ve spent a lot of time with him. He was SO hurt by the horrible things his father made him do. I talked him through a lot of it. We’ve become close. I care about him. But I’m not… I LOVE Brenda.” 

“Yes,” Jack told him. “I know you do. I love Hellina, but if The Doctor ever gave me the slightest wink, I’d be melting in his arms. I’ve loved HIM since the moment I laid eyes on him. It IS possible to love two people at once. Brenda is the one who is going to be your wife, have your children. You’re going to love her forever and she’ll be the universe to you. No problem there. But at the same time you have your blue eyed sweetheart in Northumbria.”

 “But he’s a man.”

 “Oh, is he?” Jack laughed softly. “One day, this planet will get that sorted out. People will stop worrying about things like that. And they will realise that love is love, and it doesn’t matter. There’s a piece of your Straight Gallifreyan hearts that loves Spenser. Go get him. Go and spend some time with him.” 

“I don’t think I’m gay,” Davie pointed out. “I couldn’t… you know… I couldn’t...” Davie struggled to find a vocal expression for his thoughts. Jack let him off the hook. 

“Doesn’t have to be physical. We’re talking about love, not lust. Let him know that you can’t give him more than a hand hold, a kiss, a cuddle, maybe. But let him know all those things are willingly offered to him by you, freely, and that he will always be special to you.” 

“It could work that way?” he asked. 

“Works for me and your great-granddaddy,” Jack said. “He set the limits on me years ago. But I’ll never stop loving him. You’re just like him, Davie. You’re as straight as they come. So don’t get hung up about that. But you’ve got yourself a lover who just happens to be a man. Enjoy it.” 

Davie smiled widely. Jack smiled wistfully as he recognised something in that smile of the man HE loved within carefully proscribed limits.

Revised Dialogue

“You know that Spenser has the hots for you, don’t you?” he said to him. Davie looked at Jack and wondered what to say in reply. He decided on the truth.

“Yes, I noticed,” he answered. “I’ve felt it ever since I started teaching him. He’s a bit old for a ‘crush’ but I suppose that’s because of what his father did to him. He’s a little emotionally immature.”

“It’s more than a crush on his teacher. He adores you. It’s in his eyes. Every time he looks at you. I can tell, and I’ve only been around you for a few hours.”

“Me and Brenda are a sure thing. We’re going to get married when she’s of age. We love each other like… like nobody else in the universe matters.”

“Yeah, you’re the sweetest young things since… Since the Doc and Rose finally admitted they loved each other. But Spenser is living in hope.”

“There’s nothing for him to hope for. I LOVE Brenda,” Davie repeated. “And besides, Spenser is…” He blushed as he looked at Jack, who smiled faintly. “And I’m… I’m not… ”

“Yeah, breaking gay hearts runs in your family, Davie. I think I fell in love with The Doctor about ten minutes after I met him. I knew it was never going to happen. He only had eyes for Rose. But I loved him. I would have died for him. I DID die for him. I’d do it again any time. I think Spenser would do the same for you.”

“What do I do about it?” Davie asked.

“You don’t DO anything. You don’t break his heart… or hearts, however many he has. You let him be your friend, and be ready to die for him, too. And never forget you’ve got somebody special there. Somebody that could be even more precious than a girlfriend or a wife.”

“Is that… how granddad thinks of you?”

“I’ve never been completely sure what he thinks of me. But he’s never deliberately hurt me. And the very few times when he’s let me near him mean the world to me. If you can do the same for Spenser, then he’s a lucky guy.”

 There have been hints about Spenser, some of them quite heavy hints, for several stories, but now it is out in the open. Spenser loves Davie. The issue will go on the back burner for a while after this story, but it will return later.

Meanwhile, the planet. And as I said, the creatures that rise up are based on the orcs of Lord of the Rings. The planet turning malevolent during its frequent eclipses was an amendment to the idea I had first. I intended that it would turn at night and be normal in the daytime, like a nocturnal, vampire planet. But that would have involved them being besieged for a lot longer, and the story would have been more about them sitting out the siege. Rather, the unnatural darkness of the eclipses, which come so very quickly, gave an urgency to the story.

Davie’s dilemma when both Brenda and Spenser are caught by the creatures is a terrible one. Of course he didn’t choose Brenda above Spenser, but his grief is obvious, and his response not quite surprising. He leaves his girlfriend in Jack’s safe hands and goes to rescue his friend, and into the bargain, solves the mystery of the planet and finds his TARDIS.

http://www.rdwf.org.uk/doctors/D4/s13/02planetoevil.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy