Doctor Who: Apocryphal Ties

Doctor Who

Series 12

Episode 3:

Apocryphal Ties

Written by Zachary Denoyer

All rights belong to BBC Studios

"Spider-Dalek" Design by Billy Bowers

Prologue

"Hello," an arrogant English voice pinged from an answering machine, echoing throughout a huge empty space. "You have reached the Braxiatel Collection of KS-159. I regret to inform you that we are no longer in service as either a Museum, Refugee Camp, or Hotel. The owner and proprietor has decided to focus on other facets in their life and has rendered this collection obsolete for the time being. I appreciate your patronage, good day."

·

Slamming down a phone on her TARDIS control console, Romana let out an annoyed sigh. "Well, that's that I suppose."

The Keeper moved across the stark white console room and sat in a lone armoire chair, contemplating on the notion of her uncle suddenly vanishing. She shot Romana a perturbed expression. "You're certain Uncle Braxiatel hasn't been seen for centuries?"

"Brax, er...Irving, never stopped rubbing his nose in my affairs, on Gallifrey and off," Romana laughed, full of melancholy as she fiddled with her central console's controls. "The last I saw of him was during the end of my Presidency. He was still reeling from our encounter with the ancient Time Lord entity known as the Watchmaker. And that happened before the Time War had started so — "

The eyes of the Keeper lit up and she darted upward in her seat. "Hold on, you don't mean THE Watchmaker: the grieving Time Lady who tried to avert Time itself to change the fate of her forgotten husband...and ended up as a Temporal Wraith?"

Romana nodded. "The very one and the same. The Watchmaker set our issues straight using her immense powers and after that...Irving was changed. Like his existence was set right and all he wanted was to keep his life in order. It was all very strange."

"So, what happened?"

Sadness washed over Romana. "Irving left. Much like the Doctor. Maybe to escape the Time War like the Doctor tried to do for so long. Funny," she mused with a grin, "pondering that Brax finally found purpose past his Collection is rather ironic."

A smug smirk overtook the Keeper. "Sounds like you had a complicated history with him."

"History? Maybe. Respected him and annoyed by him all the same? Yes," laughed Romana. "When I was Lord President, Irving often assisted me and other likeminded people with the woes of war and such," Romana said with a sigh. "Before the end even Narvin, the Celestial Intervention Agency's Coordinator, was uncertain as to what happened to Irving. Nowadays, I have someone to assist me that won't vanish on me in an instant," said Romana with a grin as she turned to see Ponch approaching with a tray of tea. "See I'd have my K9 Unit help with the tea, but we lost him a long while ago."

Ponch let out a snicker as he set down the tray. "Talking about me are we? Hope I'm more than enough of a replacement for a Dog," he said with a laugh. He pointed to the Keeper. "Did you send the spatially locked data to the Doctor?"

"Yes, I did," nodded the Keeper. "We tried contacting my Uncle Braxiatel for assistance in locating the Great Looms as his Collection once housed almost every bit of knowledge imaginable. He's not home, his Collection or otherwise."