Parallel: From Another World [1] (The Parallel Series) ✓

The Idiot's Lantern

"Ah, Cliff. I knew your mother would be a Cliff fan." He then looked back at the TARDIS. "Rita?" He shouted.

"I'm coming I'm coming calm down" she shouted.

Another engine then roared and Rita drove out of the TARDIS on a black scooter.

"You think I was going to walk?" She laughed. The two laughed as well and drove down the road.

"Where we off to?" Rose shouted over the engines.

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios. Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it."

"And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?" Rose asked.

"That's the one."

"Shame he can't ever land the TARDIS in the correct places" Rita snorted as a classic red London bus drove past.

"Ha! Digging that New York vibe." Rose laughed as the Doctor stopped and Rita stopped behind.

"Well, this could still be New York. I mean, this looks very New York to me. Sort of Londony New York, mind." He shrugged.

"You just don't want to admit that you can't fly the TARDIS right." Rita chuckled.

"Well, I didn't pass the test to fly her" Rita laughed at his words.

Rose looked up at the houses and noticed all the flags hung up. "What are all the flags for?"

"Let's go find out" Rita jumped off the scooter and walked down the road. The Doctor and Rose nodded in agreement jumping off theirs as well to catch up.

A man was handing an old TV to someone out of a van. "There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion."

The Doctor, Rita and Rose walked up. "The great occasion? What do you mean?" He asked.

"Where've you been living, out in the Colonies? Coronation, of course." He answered.

"What Coronation's that then?" Rita rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean? The Coronation." He repeated.

"It's the Queen's. Queen Elizabeth." Rose answered for the Doctor.

"Oh! Is this 1953?" The Doctor grinned placing his hands in his pockets.

"Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best."

Rose frowned looking up at the houses. "Look at all the TV aerials. Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird. My nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house."

"Your nan was right" Rita replied.

The man shook his head. "Not around here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a pop." The Doctor ignored Rose's obsession grinning to himself.

"Oh, but this is a brilliant year. Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration. The nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future." He said the last part in a posh British accent causing Rita and Rose to laugh at him. There faces then fell at someone's cry for help. They turned and ran in the direction stopping as two men in black suits placed someone in the back of a car, a blanket covering his face.