Will looked around, then pointed towards the left hand passageway. ‘This way.’

‘OK.’

They made their way along the musty-smelling corridor. After a few metres it began to widen, a light shining from the far end.

Will and Dorothy emerged onto a wide platform looking out onto a vast, cavernous chamber that looked as though it stretched the entire length of the alien ship, the far ends vanishing into hazy darkness. Long, wide galleries lined the walls, connected by narrow walkways that crisscrossed the abyss.

Dorothy began to make her way along the gallery, knowing that she was searching for something but unsure as to what that something might be. A sudden difference in the texture of the walls made her stop and suddenly she found herself removing her glove, reaching out to a patch of hull with a distinctly different feel.

As her fingers made contact, there was the same wet sucking sound that she had heard when Will had entered the ship and a section of the wall in front of her suddenly opened up, slick flesh sliding apart like the iris of a camera lens.

As she stepped through intro the space beyond, three startled faces turned to look at her. Two of them – a man and a woman – appeared to be in their late teens, while the third was an older, grey-haired man in a smart leather jacket. But it was what stood beside them that took Dorothy’s full attention and almost took her breath away.

It was a battered, blue police box.

The TARDIS. Unashamedly incongruous, and possibly the most beautiful thing Dorothy had ever seen.

The seconds passed and, as the breath returned to her body, she turned to the boy. ‘Where is he?’

The boy stared at her in bemusement. ‘Where’s who?’

‘Are you one of the crew here?’ the girl asked.

Impatient now, Dorothy took a step towards the TARDIS, bellowing through the doors. ‘Oi, Professor! Come on out!’

The older man stepped across the doors, blocking her. ‘Believe me, love, there’s no one called the Professor in there …’

‘They know me as the Doctor.’

Dorothy turned at the sound of the warm, Northern tones to see a tall, slim, blonde woman in a long, grey coat standing inside the door. Her grin was as bright as the stripes of colour across her top. And it was a smile of recognition.

Dorothy, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend, felt a wave of emotion.

‘Who are you?’ she demanded.

‘It’s me, Ace! Different body, but the same brilliant brain and much better hair.’

‘You’re the Professor?’ Dorothy could barely bring herself to believe it. ‘No way.’

‘Come on! Regeneration! You remember … When a Time Lord’s body gets old or damaged … yadda, yadda.’