Landbound is a Third Doctor story, set at varying points in his tenure. The winner of the Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trips competition, written by Selim Ulug, and read by Nicholas Briggs.
The Doctor, running away from UNIT after the Silurian Incident, ends up in Whitby when Bessie runs out of petrol, just in time to save ex-Captain Ronald Henderson from a mugging. The two bond over drinks at Henderson's pub, The Jolly Sailor; first the Doctor vents about the status of his exile, his uneasy alliance with UNIT, and his frustrations. Then, Henderson tells the Doctor his own tale. He'd seen his ship destroyed by a translucent creature, one the size of a whale, and that he was the only survivor. He expects the Doctor to treat him a fool, but instead, the Doctor tries to reassure him that, not only does he believe him, he recognises the creature. Henderson brushes off the Doctor's words as an attempt to cheer him up, but he claims to have accepted what happened, that he hallucinated in some way and screwed up. "To the new future", he toasts, and the Doctor ruefully joins in.
Several months pass, and the Doctor returns to the Jolly Sailor with good news. His superiors have lifted his exile and he has an offer to Henderson. Come and see his ship. Henderson accepts, and while he's disbelieving that the Doctor's ship is a blue box at first, the Doctor implores him to have trust. He explains the TARDIS is a time machine, and takes Henderson back several years, to the day of the destruction of his ship. Henderson watches as the creature he had convinced himself wasn't real destroys the ship again, as the Doctor explains - the creature eats metal, and is intelligent, but is too different to realise that tearing apart the ship it sees as a metal iceberg will kill anyone. Henderson, traumatised at reliving the event, implores the Doctor to change things, but he admits that's not why he came here. Instead, he takes Henderson back to the present, where he explains that he only wanted to convince Henderson that what happened to his ship was real, and what happened wasn't his fault. Henderson leaves with barely a word.
One year passes. Captain Henderson, having pressed his case again to the admiralty, is in command of a new vessel, and as it about to leave Whitby Harbour, he's visited by an old friend. The reunion between him and the Doctor is happy, as he thanks him for giving him back his faith in his own abilities, and apologises for his own reaction. The Doctor understands, and doesn't hold it against him. He's here because he recently bid goodbye to a good friend, and this good news is enough to buoy his spirits. The Doctor stands at the shore, and watches as the ship disappears over the horizon, the sun goes down, and eventually he heads off into the night.
Landbound contains examples of:
- Oop North: Set in the North-Eastern seaside town of Whitby.
