History Recap / BigFinishDoctorWho029TheChimesOfMidnight

Time unfreezes enough to let Charley and the Doctor enter the same continuity the servants inhabit. In this world, they're the Doctor of Scotland Yard and his plucky young niece. Edith is found murdered, standing upright with her head in the sink. Although the servants insist it must be suicide, the Doctor notes that it's really extraordinarily difficult (to the point of impossoble) to drown oneself while standing up. Edith's colleagues insists that she must have simply been too dumb to know it was impossible. Mary (who's sleeping with Frederick) is demoted to scullery maid to fill in for Christmas. Frederick can't love her now, of course. Who could ever love a scullery maid? She's nothing, a nobody. Mrs. Baddely, meanwhile, feeds Charley her plum pudding. Her favorite plum pudding. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without one of those plum puddings. And Mrs. Baddely's plum puddings were always Charley's favorite, ever since she was a little girl.

But Charley surviving the R101 crash upset the time stream so heavily that Edith's death (now rendered meaningless) gave birth to a sentient, malevolent time stream energy that feeds on constant death. It took residence in (or rather, as) Edward Grove: the house where young Edith envied the lady's maids, got abandoned by the chauffeur, aspired to be a cook, was bullied by the butlers.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has realised most of this. And in desperation, he resorts to what his Seventh incarnation was most notorious for: TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. He tries to convince Edward Grove to commit suicide, so that his victims will be set free. When Edward refuses, the Doctor, absolutely scared out of his mind, devises an even more extreme last-ditch attempt to contact Charley beyond the veil of the time barrier: he commands Mr. Shaughnessy to grab his throat and strangle him.

Time unfreezes enough to let Charley and the Doctor enter the same continuity the servants inhabit. In this world, they're the Doctor of Scotland Yard and his plucky young niece. Edith is murdered and found standing upright with her head in the sink. Although the servants insists it must be suicide, the Doctor notes that it's really extraordinary difficult (to the point of impossble) to drown oneself while standing up. Edith's colleagues insists that she must have simply been too dumb to know it was impossible. Mary (who's sleeping with Frederick) is demoted to scullery maid to fill in for Christmas. Frederick can't love her now, of course. Who could ever love a scullery maid? She's nothing, a nobody. Mrs. Baddely, meanwhile, feeds Charley her plum pudding. Her favourite plum pudding. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without one of those plum puddings. And Mrs. Baddely's plum puddings were always Charley's favourite, ever since she was a little girl.

As time warps, twists and reverts itself around the Doctor, he quickly realises that the LotusEaterMachine is toying with him. He's not allowed to leave the WorldLimitedToThePlot. But he does, because he's absolutely terrified, and heads off into the TARDIS, where there's another scullery waiting for him. And inside the scullery, another TARDIS. Edward Grove is alive. [[WhamLine Edward Grove is the house]].

And it works -- now dying, the Doctor is able to cross the time barrier and talk to Charley. But Charley has never met the Doctor. She died in the R101, so Edith's suicide could have meaning. She remembers the crash, the flames, the bodies around her. With great effort, the Doctor eventually gets through to Charley, and Charley chooses life, finally vanquishing the house's consciousness.

* NeverOneMurder: Instead it's one every hour. Then at midnight [[TimeLoop the whole thing starts over again.]]

%%* KillEmAll