I had in mind for a while now some kind of story involving Chrístõ’s TARDIS being repossessed by the TARDIS depot. The moving forward of his graduation which was covered in the previous story gave a perfect reason for that happening. What I originally had in mind was him taking the TARDIS away from Gallifrey and going on the run temporarily, which would have possibly made more than one story and obviously been an interesting presage of the future when The Doctor stole his TARDIS and left Gallifrey.

But it seemed just a bit too complicated and I really wanted him to settle down back on Beta Delta IV quite soon. This would have kept him away from what he regarded as his normal life for far too long.

Instead I decided that his rebellion would only last for one afternoon and it would be based around Gallifrey itself, without going through the Transduction Barrier. It then seemed like a good idea for Garrick to be involved in the stand off.

The story starts off gently, with Chrístõ having a nice picnic with his half brother and bonding with him in a good way, talking about the fun times they could have together when Garrick was older.

The change comes gradually, with the increasingly belligerent tone of the demands from the TARDIS depot, which I think I might dedicate to Eon, who are also very good at getting their sums wrong and refusing to admit it. But what starts as a clerical error becomes charges of piracy, grand theft, and abduction and Chrístõ finds himself in very big trouble within a few hours.

I had a rather nice little image in my head of Chrístõ materialising the TARDIS around Valena and then dematerialising leaving her and Garrick behind. That had to be changed because it seemed all too likely that the Guards would shoot her. The scene with the mobile phone, and Chrístõ letting Valena and Julia out through the door having demanded a ceasefire is a variation on that idea.

He won’t turn himself in to the Chancellery Guard out of sheer stubbornness and pride. He won’t accept a Presidential pardon because it would be an abuse of the President’s power. Turning himself in to Hext allows him to keep his pride. Hext’s solution, lets him keep his TARDIS – for good. The Doctor Who mythology says that he stole the TARDIS that he had ever since 1963, but my theory is that he simply ‘stole’ it from the depot and it was actually HIS TARDIS.

Now, of course, as well as being a teacher on Beta Delta IV and an occasional diplomat, Chrístõ is now a member of the Celestial Intervention Agency. What trouble will Hext manage to get him into? We await with bated breath. Me as much as anyone else at this stage since I haven’t written any of the stories yet.