*KNOCK - KNOCK*
"Say I'm not in. Tell 'em we're closed. Just, just get rid of 'em." he tells the lady before swiftly walking back down the hallway, as she rushes to the door.
___________
Rose wakes up in an unfamiliar room, unbeknownst to her the blue gas is entering Mr Redpath's corpse. Who then sits straight up in his coffin.
___________
*KNOCK - KNOCK*
Gwyneth opens the door "I'm sorry sir, we're closed." she looks at the three men, her eyes lingering on the youngest looking one. The Captain notices this and smiles at her.
"Nonsense, since when did an undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule, I demand to see your master." Dickens demands.
"He's not in, sir." she lies closing the door on the three men.
Reaching an arm out to stop the closing door Dickens continues. "Don't lie to me, child, summon him at once!"
"I'm awfully sorry, Mr Dickens, but the master is indisposed." she says.
A lamp flickers behind her, gaining the attention of the Captain. "Having trouble with your gas?" the man asks with a nod of his head motioning behind her.
"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Dickens asks moving his head to try an get a better look behind the lady.
___________
Rose holds her head eventually noticing the now moving corpse "Are you all right?" she asks as the man starts to climb out of the coffin. "You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?" Finally having left the coffin the corpse slowly walks towards Rose like a zombie. "Okay, not kidding." she rushes to the door and tries to open it.
___________
The Doctor and Captain walk past Gwyneth to the burning gas lamp. "You're not allowed inside, sirs."
"Can you hear that?" the Captain asks the Doctor, placing his ear against the wall. The Doctor follows suit and listens to the wall.
"There's something inside the walls." the Doctor says whilst the two men still have their ears up against the wall.
___________
Rose with her back to the door now sees the corpse of the woman also moving.
___________
"The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas." the Captain announces.
___________
Rose grabs a vase and throws the flowers out of it, she then throws the vase at Mr Redpath. "Let me out! Open the door!" she shouts.
___________
"That's her!" the two men shout making their way towards the source of the shouting. Followed by Charles Dickens.
"Please, let me out!" Rose shouts again. Turning back to see the corpses making their way closer to her.
"How dare you, sir! This is my house." Mr Sneed says trying to stop the three men. "I told you..." he says pointing at Gwyneth who rushes past him.
"Let me out, somebody open the door!" Rose shouts banging on the locked door. "Open the door!" Mr Redpath grabs her and covers her mouth with his hand.
The Doctor kicks open the door "I think this is my dance." he says entering the room and freeing Rose.
"It's a prank. Must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Dickens says.
"No we're not, the dead are walking." the Captain responds.
"Hi." the doctor says smiling at Rose before turning his attention back to the dead.
"Hi. Who's your friend?" she asks looking back at the man.
"Charles Dickens." the Doctor tells her.
"Okay.." she says.
"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asks the corpses.
"Failing! Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us." many voices say from within Mr Redpath. The two scream as the gas leaves the bodies, eventually falling to the ground. Leaving a few onlookers shocked.
___________
Gwyneth is pouring tea for the visitors. "First you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a wander, you dirty old man." Rose says to Mr Sneed, with the latter information making the Captain scrunch his face in disgust.
"I won't be spoken to like this." the sitting man says.
Gwyneth walks over to the Captain handing him a cup of tea, he gives her a genuine smile and a nod "thank you" he whispers, she smiles back and walks back over to the tea tray to finish up handing out the cups of tea.
"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on! Talk!" Rose shouts.
"It's not my fault, it's this house!" he exclaims, looking around noticing everyone waiting for an explanation. "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother, until about three months back. And then the stiffs... The, erm... the dear departed started getting restless."
"Tommyrot!" Dickens exclaims still not believing any of it.
"You witnessed it! Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang onto scraps..." Mr Sneed says.
Gwyneth places a cup of tea on the mantelpiece in front of the Doctor. "Two sugars, sir, just how you like it." she says as the Doctor's smile fades.
"One old fella, used to be a sexton, almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady, going to your performance, sir, just as she'd planned." he says pointing at Dickens.
"Morbid fancy."
"Oh, Charles, you were there." the Doctor states.
"I saw nothing but an illusion." he says standing up.
"If you're going to deny it, don't waste our time, just shut up." the Captain speaks looking up towards the now standing man. "What about the gas?" he takes a sip of tea waiting for an answer.
"That's new, sir. I never seen anything like that." Sneed admits.
"Means it's getting stronger. The rift's getting wider, and something's sneaking through." the Doctor says still leaning against the wall.
"What's the rift?" Rose asks.
"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." the Doctor explains.
"That's how I got the house so cheap, stories going back generations." Mr Sneed says as Charles leaves the room. "Echoes in the dark. Queer songs in the air. And this feeling, like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business, just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine." he continues as the Doctor smiles watching Roses reaction to the story.
___________
Dickens walks down a hallway towards the room Rose had been stuck in. Stopping when he sees a gas lamp and investigates it, trying to hear for himself what the two men had heard "Impossible!"
He opens the coffin lid revealing the corpse of Mr Redpath. He waves his hand in front of the corpses face and moves the corpse to see how it was set up, as the Captain leans against the door frame watching the man. "Checking for strings?" he asks.
"Wires... perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud."
"Oh, come on, Charles. All right, I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world and you saw those gas creatures." he says walking up to Charles and places a hand on his shoulder.
"I cannot accept that."
"And what does the human body do, when it decomposes? It breaks down. Produces gas. Perfect home for these gas-things, they can slip inside, use it as a vehicle. Just like your driver and his coach."
"Stop it! Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?"
"Not wrong. There's just more to learn."
"I've always railed against the fantasists! Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them, but that's exactly what they were, illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that - injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now, you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack o'lanterns. In which case... have I wasted my brief span here, Captain? Has it all been for nothing?"
___________
In a pantry Gwyneth lights a gas lamp as Rose starts washing up. "Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping, it's not right."
"Don't be daft, I bet Sneed works you to death." Rose replies earning a nod from Gwyneth. "How much do you get paid?"
"Eight pound a year, miss."
"How much?" Rose asks in dismay.
"I know! I would have been happy with six." she says leaving Rose shocked.
"So did you even go to school, or what?"
"Of course I did, what do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper."
"What, once a week?"
"We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."
"Me, too!" Rose laughs making Gwyneth laugh too.
"Don't tell anyone... but one week I didn't go and I ran down the Heath, all on my own." she admits.
"I did plenty of that, I used to go round the shops with my mate, Shareen. And we used to go and look at boys." Rose says, Gwyneth stops giggling at the mention of 'boys'.
"Well, I don't know much about that, miss." she says turning around to continue washing up.
"Oh, come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same." Rose says.
"I don't think so, miss."
"Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone." Rose says.
"I suppose, but we've only just me. The Captain. Such a lovely smile on him." she smiles thinking about the man.
"Yeah? He does have a nice smile, I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum." Rose admits thinking about his behind.
"Well, I have never heard the like!" Gwyneth spoke making Rose laugh and herself giggle.
"Talk to him. Give him another cup of tea or something, that's a start." Rose suggests.
"I swear, it's the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding. But you talk like some sort of wild thing."
"Maybe I am. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mr Sneed."
"Oh, now, that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in, cos I lost my mam and dad to the 'flu when I was 12."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss."
"Maybe." Rose says, only realising afterwards what Gwyneth had actually said. "Um, who told you he was dead?"
Gwyneth looks away and continues washing up the dishes. "I dunno, must've been the Doctor, or maybe it was the Captain."
"My father died years back."
"You've been thinking about him lately. More than ever."
"Suppose so. How do you know all this?"
"Mr Sneed says I think too much, I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you miss." Gwyneth tries to explain and move the conversation on.
"No, no servants where I'm from."
"And you've come such a long way."
"What makes you think so?" Rose asks.
Gwyneth moves slowly towards her. "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that, all those people rushing about. Half-naked, for shame. And the noise... and the metal boxes racing past... and the birds in the sky! No, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you. You've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness. The big bad wolf." she says stumbling away from Rose as she stops talking. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss."
"It's all right."
"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."
"But it's getting stronger." the Captain low voice scares the two women. "More powerful. Is that right?" he asks standing in the doorway.
"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head."
"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." he says.
"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with... spiritualists, table-rappers, all sorts."
"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."
"What to do where, sir?"
"We're going to have a seance."
___________
The group of people are now gathered around a table back in the living room. "This is how madame Mortlock summons, those from the land of mists, down in Butetown. Come. We must all join hands." Gwyneth says as everyone starts to join hands.
"I can't take part in this." Dickens says standing up.
"Humbug? Come on. Open mind." the Captain says hands joined with Gwyneth and the Doctor.
"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Seances! Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze-box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing!"
"Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium." the Doctor smiles, getting a nudge from the Captain who shakes his head with a smile.
"I can't believe you just said that." Rose says.
"Come on. We might need you." the Doctor says looking at Charles, who sits back down and takes Gwyneth's and Sneed's hands.
"Good man. Now, Gwyneth. Reach out." the Captain says lightly squeezing her hand to show her support.
"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." as soon as she finishes that sentence her head lifts up and her eyes roll back, as distant voices can be heard.
"Can you hear that?" Rose asks leaning towards Charles Dickens.
"Nothing can happen, this is sheer folly." he responds.
"Look at her." Rose says.
"I see them! I feel them!" Gwyneth says as the blue gas appears above their heads.
"What's it saying?" Rose asks.
"It can't get through the rift." the Doctor says still looking up.
"Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through." the Captain says looking at her.
"I can't." she responds.
"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link." the man says softly.
With her eyes closed her head tilts down. Opening her eyes "Yes!" as multiple forms of the blue gas show up behind her. Charles looks on in shock.
"Great God! Spirits from the other side!" Mr Sneed says.
"The other side of the universe." the Doctor tells.
"Pity us! Pity the Gelth! There is so little time. Help us!" a voice says using Gwyneth to communicate.
"What do you want us to do?" the Captain asks.
"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge." the voice answers.
"What for?" he asks.
"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction!" the voice tells them.
"Why, what happened?" the Doctor asks.
"Once we had a physical form, like you. But then the War came." the blue forms answer.
"War? What war?" Charles asks.
"The Time War..." the voices say, as Rose look towards the Doctor and Captain. "The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged, invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away..." the Doctor and Captain look on knowingly. "We're trapped in this gaseous state."
"So that's why you need the corpses." the Captain states.
"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form and your dead are abandoned. They go to waste. Give them to us." they say.
"But we can't." Rose says.
"Why not?" the Doctor asks her.
"It's not... I mean, it's not..." she tries.
"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." the Doctor says.
"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" the blue gas fades away, leaving Gwyneth fall down, the Captain catches her so she doesn't hurt herself on the table. He places her head gently on the table. Rose gets up from the table and rushes to the side of the passed out girl.