Jimmy Forrester's Life follows up the premise introduced in Vicki Goes To School. Jimmy Forester is an obnoxious brat, but Vicki and Sukie don’t want him to die. They go out of their way to try to stop him doing so.

The story becomes a Groundhog Day scenario, to use a popular cultural reference as a shortcut. It isn’t the first time I’ve used the idea. The Ten story, Saving Dodo had Ten and Wyn trapped in a repeated day until they could resolve the situation. Here, Vicki and Sukie have the same problem.

In both stories, breaking the loop involved lateral thinking. Here they eventually realise that they have to stop the car, not Jimmy.

Why DO pubs have large car parks? It IS an interesting question posed by Sukie, and one I can’t answer as an adult. I do not believe pubs sell THAT much orange juice. And I think drink driving is the single most stupid thing anyone can do. But you probably got that impression from this story, anyway. As for a hover car causing as much harm to a small child when drive by an idiot, yes, they would. It is possible that, since the car would be closer to the child’s head, the damage would be worse.

I considered for a while having The Doctor arrive to help them break the chain and get out of the time loop. But actually, in the end, I think it is better that they thought it through themselves.

I had help with the method of stopping the car, incidentally. I have NO idea what a HT lead is. Cars have four wheels and an engine to me, no matter how many episodes of Top Gear are on in the background while I work. Apparently disconnecting them DOES stop the car from moving.

The story originally ended with their confession of what they had done. I decided that The Doctor, being an inveterate nosy parker, would do his bit for Jimmy by giving his father a taste of his own medicine. Inspired, just slightly, by what Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character did to a similar bully in Kindergarten Cop.