This story was going to go out on September 11th. A recognition of the solemn significance of that date seemed appropriate, although I didn’t want to dwell on it too deeply. In two previous stories, Unfinished Business and On The Western Front, The Doctor had explained why he was unable to do anything to prevent historical tragedies from happening. His feelings about that inability to interfere in the course of Human events was made clear both times. Here is an other Human disaster that would sear The Doctor’s soul, and one he could not prevent as much as he would want to. When he was young and idealistic, he tried. And his failure is a scar on his soul. But as a much more experienced, mature Time Lord he knows that some things must just take their course.
Yes, it is deliberate that in the story no actual part of the events of that day is specifically referred to. The twin towers are not spoken of directly. The Doctor tells Jackie and Rose that ‘the planes are already in the sky’ and later he speaks of helping out at Ground Zero with his bare hands. I didn’t want to directly write a fictional 9/11 story, only to allude to it as one of many Human tragedies that have given The Doctor cause for grief in his long life.
The other parts of the story tie in to that sequence through reference to his adventures when he was young. The clues come together after the New York sequence, which follows a brief materialisation in a burning Kyoto – there is no need to be specific about that. Kyoto was set alight almost on a regular basis in the feudal era of Japanese history. That he had seen it more than once is something to take for granted.
The meeting with his younger self on board the space ship is, of course, a set up for the future. I had already planned to write a spin off series of stories called ‘Theta Sigma’ telling the story of The Doctor before he was The Doctor, as a young, idealistic, teenage Time Lord of 190, taking a ‘gap decade’ before graduation, exploring the universe. This story allowed me to introduce the character some months before I planned to launch the series, and to make it clear that Doctor #9 and his teenage counterpart have something in common. Both wear a leather jacket, for one thing. And we learn that it is the SAME leather jacket, except that the teenage Chrístõ’s one is brand new and shiny. Chrístõ himself is brand new and shiny while The Doctor is old and tired and frayed at the edges like his jacket. The analogy is obvious. And the prospect of meeting Chrístõ again in future episodes is held open.
But we’re not done with him yet in this story. The Doctor works out the problem with the TARDIS and knows how to fix it. With a little help from his younger self. Since in future stories he has no trouble interacting with Chrístõ his excuse for not leaving the TARDIS maybe needs analysing. Was he lying about not being able to go out because he wanted to give Jackie a chance to do something for them, her own part of the adventure? That wasn’t my deliberate intention in the story, but it may be read that way.
And of course when we see Chrístõ’s TARDIS the chameleon switch works. That was one of my earliest ideas about the Theta Sigma stories. The TARDIS WOULD have a new disguise each week. This was the first. A boiler room down an alley by the Trevi plaza, Rome.
Why the Trevi Plaza in the midst of World Cup 1990? Why not. It is a specific time and place. It establishes The Doctor’s character as being already fascinated by aspects of Earth culture even as a teenager, and it is something readers can identify. That the Italia ’90 theme song was Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot has future significance. Remember from the 1996 movie the revelation that Puccini is not only a personal friend of The Doctor’s but his favourite opera composer. A small part of his mythology is being set up in the background of the story.
I don’t know whether muggers are common in
Trevi plaza in broad daylight. There are opportunists in any
city and any time, of course. As for the rather lewd behaviour of the
football fans, I am certainly not implying anything about
