Before Midnight ( short story ) Before Midnight was the seventeenth short story in the Short Trips anthology " " . It was written by Rebecca Levene . It featured the Eighth Doctor , Charley Pollard and C ' rizz . Summary . Charley is bored , while the Doctor pilots the TARDIS . C ' rizz shows them a newspaper story featuring a mysterious break - in at a law office . The Doctor thinks they should investigate , but the TARDIS is suddenly hit by chronic energy . Meanwhile , Darrakhaan visits the Grand Mother of his family , promising her the ability to travel in time . The Doctor brings his companions to the Sanmarus Institute , where they are welcomed by Zalaron , who offers to bring them to the Collective . Darrakhaan arrives at the Institute . He experiences a moment of nausea , then has a vision of his prize : a space - time navigator . As part of his vision , he sees himself further down the corridor get hit by a security probe . When he reaches the location , he destroys the probe before it can shoot . As the Doctor ' s group reaches a door , three space - suited figures emerge . The Doctor and his companions experience a wave of nausea that passes once they enter the room housing the Collective . It is a huge amorphous globe . One by one , the Doctor and his companions enter . Meanwhile , the space - suited figures , later versions of the Doctor and his companions , inform Zalaron that they sprang their trap , but the most dangerous part of the mission is yet to come . The Doctor plans to create a temporal loop , and he hopes that they will be able to emerge from it once their mission is complete . They enter cubicles that are linked to the navigator . In the Collective , the earlier versions of the Doctor ' s group meet Quyai , one of the members . He explains the purpose of the Collective , and the Doctor suddenly realises why they are here . Darrakhaan encounters Zalaron and asks him to explain the function of the navigator . He then steals the navigator and shoots Zalaron . Inside the Collective , the Doctor is ready with his plan . Darrakhaan enters the Collective , and expects Quyai to help him use the navigator . However , the Doctor confronts him , and the trio get the navigator away from Darrakhaan . Darrakhaan gets it back and gloats that he won , but the Doctor explains that the Doctor used the navigator to trap Darrakhaan in a time loop . He will use the navigator to bond with an Earth thief and try to steal the navigator from a law office . He will then be placed in several other mundane locations before returning back here to the Sanmarus Institute . The Doctor springs the trap . Darrakhaan enters the body of the thief , who is about to break into the law office . Quyai sends the Doctor and his companions into the bodies of three security guards at the office , where they will stop Darrakhaan . Charley and C ' rizz wake up in the cubicles , where the Doctor tells them the mission was a success . Charley is surprised to see that Zalaron is alive , since he was shot by Darrakhaan , but Zalaron explains that the navigator told him what would happen and he prepared for the event by wearing a personal force shield . The mission has been completed , just before the Doctor ' s self - imposed deadline of midnight .