I was writing this story at something like one o’clock in the morning, with my collection of John Barrowman songs playing as nicely calming background. One of my favourite songs came on, John’s interpretation of the ‘The Wizard and I’ from the musical Wicked (a prequel to the Wizard of Oz). And while listening to that song I realised that Chris and Davõreen’s quest had a bit of an Oz-like quality to it. Davõreen was on the quest to prove that he had the wit and the courage to serve Rassilon. I only had to add in the missing heart to have him represent all three of Dorothy’s companions on the road to Oz. The title of the story on my upcoming story list was actually 'Chris and The Wizard' for a long time before I decided it might as well have the song title. Some people will have 'got' it right away. Others will need these notes for it to make sense. But there you go.

Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord society, is very definitely the ‘Wizard’. Even in Doctor Who on TV he had always been represented that way. In The Five Doctors, getting to his tomb was a quest and a half and the ‘prize’ of immortality was a very nasty trap worthy of The Wizard! That, of course, is what Chris alludes to when he queries the offer of immortality to Davõreen.

The trials they go through are not especially original or sophisticated in many ways. The mind over matter at the bridge has been done in various forms in TV and literature for a long time. The blizzard and the mental shield owes a little bit to the X-Men. As for sleeping with the wolves, there is a very old story about a Chinese monk who woke to find a cat sleeping on his cloak and cut a piece from it rather than wake the cat. This was a slightly wilder variation on the theme.

The Untempered Schism has featured in several of my stories before. It will almost certainly feature again. I think it was one of the best ideas Russell T. Davies had. There are a lot of possibilities for it. Having Chris Campbell experience it was one variation on the theme.

And don’t you just thing this is a perfect song for John Barrowman? Don’t you think it sounds a lot like Captain Jack waiting to find his right sort of Doctor?

The Wizard and I (John Barrowman style)

Did that really just happen?
Have I actually understood?
This weird quirk I've tried
To suppress or hide
Is a talent that could
Help me meet the Wizard
If I make good
So I'll make good;

When I meet the Wizard,
Once I prove my worth,
And then I meet the Wizard
What I've waited for since, Since birth!
And with all his Wizard wisdom,
By my looks, he won't be blinded.
Do you think the Wizard is dumb?
Or, like Munchkins, so small-minded?
No! He'll say to me,
"I see who you truly are -
A boy on whom I can rely!"
And that's how we'll begin
The Wizard and I:

Once I'm with the Wizard
My whole life will change
'Cuz once you're with the Wizard
No one thinks you're strange!
No father is not proud of you,
No sister acts ashamed
And all of Oz has to love you
When by the Wizard, you're acclaimed
And this gift or this curse
I have inside
Maybe at last, I'll know why
When we are hand in hand -
The Wizard and I!

And one day, he'll say to me, "John, my boy,
A boy who is so superior,
Shouldn't a boy who's so good inside
Have a matching exterior?
And since folks here to an absurd degree
Seem fixated on your verdigris.
Would it be all right by you
If I de-greenify you?"

And though of course,
That's not important to me.
"All right, why not?" I'll reply
Oh, what a pair we'll be
The Wizard and I;
Yes, what a pair we'll be
The Wizard and...

Unlimited
My future is unlimited
And I've just had a vision
Almost like a prophecy
I know - it sounds truly crazy
And true, the vision's hazy
But I swear, someday there'll be
A celebration throughout Oz
That's all to do with me!

And I'll stand there with the Wizard,
Feeling things I've never felt.
And though I'd never show it,
I'll be so happy, I could melt!
And so it will be
For the rest of my life,
And I'll want nothing else
Till I die.
Held in such high esteem.
When people see me, they will scream
For half of Oz's favorite team;
The Wizard
And I!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical)