The origin of this story was a discussion on the forum about The Doctor’s background. We are all aware that he once had a family of some sort. The series  began with him as a grandfather to Susan. He has spoken on occasion of his family, though only vaguely. There are precious few clues in the series. In Tomb of the Cybermen, all the way back in 1967, Patrick Troughton’s Doctor told Victoria that his family ‘sleep in his mind’ and he can recall them if he wants to. Twenty two years later, in Curse of Fenric, when Sylvestor McCoy’s Doctor is asked if he has any family, he says, “I don’t know.” The next clue comes in 2005, when, in Empty Child, Doctor Constantine tells Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor that ‘before the war I was a father and a grandfather, now I am neither.” The Doctor replies ‘Yeah, I know the feeling.” To which we conclude that his family are all now lost to him.

There is an empty slate, therefore, to fill in The Doctor’s family background. In the course of the discussion we considered the possibility that The Doctor might not only be the son of a Human mother – as revealed in the 1996 TV Movie, but that he might have married a Human. He would, in that case, be in much the same position as the immortal hero of the film ‘Highlander’ who love a mortal who grew old and died while he stayed young. I then considered that something must also have happened to his child from that marriage as he became sole parent to Susan, his granddaughter. From that, the story grew. I gave him a Human wife, named in the story as Julia, and a son, who was a respected member of Gallifreyan society, destined for greatness, who was murdered by a rival, leaving The Doctor to take care of his baby granddaughter. This also sowed the seeds of his discontent with Time Lord society and his eventual exile.

Having come up with such a scenario it was suggested in the course of the forum discussion that I write a short piece in which The Doctor tells Rose about his family. But in thinking about it. I thought of a far better person to tell. Jackie Tyler is a widow. She understands what it is like to lose a loved one. Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that she doesn’t like The Doctor very much, she is naturally sympathetic when he tells her his story. And even gives him a very strong hint that she thinks it is time he let his hearts take a risk on love again and that he and Rose could do worse. It is important to remember, however, that this is Jackie in 2012, where the previous story left off. And when he meets up with her in later stories back in 2007, he still has to work at gaining her trust.

Interestingly, in the 2006 TV episode, School Reunion, there are strong hints that I was on the right track when Dave Tennant’s Doctor talked about being a Time Lord who can live for a long time while the Humans he cares for wither and die.