Cosmo || Doctor Who

42 : Almost Idyllic

  "Where are we off to?" The girl asked as the Doctor began to drive along the streets.

  "Ed Sullivan TV Studios. Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints."

  "Cos he was gorgeous when he was younger." EJ shrugged, thoughtfully. "I mean, come on, who wouldn't complain about those hips, they are sexy."

  "Yeah, well, bit of luck, we'll just catch it."

  "And that'll be the TV studios in, what?" Rose queried, skeptically as she looked around. "New York?"

  "That's the one." The Doctor grinned, almost full of himself.

  "We're not in New York." EJ groaned, rubbing his forehead, exasperated. "This is London."

     When they came to a junction, they were stopped by a red double decker bus, and if that wasn't British enough, there was a post box to the left. Though, the Doctor only started to become convinced when he saw the streets lined with bunting filled with the Union Flag.

     Rose chuckled. "Digging that New York vibe."

  "Well, this could still be New York. This looks very New York to me." The Doctor countered, but he didn't sound as sure anymore, which probably meant they were in the wrong place... again. "Sort of Londony New York, mind, but..."

  "What are all the flags for?"

  It was a good question, and EJ hummed. "Street party?"

  "Yeah, but what for?" Rose queried. "Is this a jubilee or something?"

     It turned out that there weren't many clues at all to where they had actually landed, or, when seemed to be their greatest concern. London seemed pretty set in stone, but the time period could have been almost anything in the mid-twentieth century. There was hardly anyone about, either, to ask any questions.

     However, when they walked around the streets, they finally found some sign of life. At least they knew that London hadn't been abandoned. Although, EJ wasn't sure why that crossed his mind before anything else.

     It was a van in the centre of the street, delivering an primitive looking television to a house. There was an older man directing two younger to take it inside. They were definitely in the 50s. For once, EJ felt like he had a decent grasp of what was going on. Or, as decent a grasp as the Doctor had, which was a feat within itself.

"There you go, sir." The man, who's name must have been Magpie, because it was the name on the van, said. "All wired up for the great occasion."

The Doctor pulled on his ear as they walked past, hooking themselves onto the conversation. "Great occasion?"

"What do you mean?" The man seemed confused by their ignorance. "Where you been living? Out in the colonies?" He closed the back doors and sighed when he realised that they weren't joking. "Coronation, of course."

"What coronation is that then?" EJ almost laughed out loud.

"What d'you mean?" Mr Magpie looked at him intensely. "The Coronation."

"The Queen's." Rose looked at him expectantly. "Queen Elizabeth."

"The current monarch." EJ nudged him.

Even then, it took him a moment, and then he exclaimed, loudly! "Oh, oh! Is this 1953?"

The man laughed. "Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pompous circumstance, what we do best."

"Look at all tv aerials." Rose hummed as she looked up to the sky, and the chimney breasts which were laden with metal spikes. "Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird. My Nan said they were so rare that everyone had to pile into one house."