Outsourcing ( short story ) Outsourcing was the eleventh short story in the Short Trips anthology " " . It was written by Marc Platt . It featured the Sixth Doctor . Summary . Vishesh Abeyesekere is working at his screen . He works for Signpost , an information service with a base on the Moon . He takes calls and notes the status of the search engines . At first he doesn ' t notice the increased humming of the search engines . There are several hundred calls waiting for the search engine , and all of them are withholding their numbers . Vishesh answers a call from one of them , an irate blond man who complains about the music . He asks about Signpost then hangs up . When Vish takes another call , it ' s from the same man , who asks what year it is . The third call he takes is from the same man , but the line goes dead . Vish tries to contact the search engines and notices that his co - worker , Pearl , is late for her shift . He figures she is at the bar . He gets calls from people complaining that their screens are showing a strange mountain in an orange sky . Vish gets an email from the blond man , who signs it as " The Doctor " . When he tries to pinpoint the location of the email , he gets the repeated code T Four Zero . He hears back from the Doctor , who asks Vish to stop his machines from attacking his TARDIS . Suddenly , the blast shutters close . Strange things appear in his head , and important things slip out of reach . He sees a message from the Doctor on the screen , and snaps back to normal . He tries to type on his keyboard but it crackles with electricity . He notices that his virtual cricket game is playing on screen , and the Doctor is one of the players . He and Vish talk . Vish tells the Doctor that the search engines are giving him trouble , and the Doctor says they ' re doing the same to his TARDIS . The Doctor suggests Vish take a walk outside . Vish can sense that the search engines are deciding if he is necessary , and heads for the airlock . He notes that Pearl ' s surface suit is still here ; she can ' t be at the bar . He opens the door , for some strange reason expecting there to be a red - knobbed lever . On the Moon ' s surface , he gets a message on his PAN from the Doctor . As they talk , Vish starts to understand more than he should about the Doctor and the TARDIS . The Doctor tells him that something keeps drawing him and the TARDIS back to this year , and the system ' s are now frozen . He is stuck in space between the Earth and the Moon . Vish tells him about the T Four Zero code , and the Doctor realises it means Type 40 . The Doctor sends Vish back into the complex . He tries talking to the search engines , which let him through but not the assembled maintenance workers and security officers . Vish recognises the mountain on the screen as something Gallifrey an . He opens one of the engine housings to find Pearl huddled inside . They are able to communicate with each other without speaking . They realise that the Doctor had previously requested a diagnostic for the TARDIS the last time he was here , and it ' s an endless task . The TARDIS will just keep coming back for updates . Vish and Pearl now know how to handle the situation and help the Doctor ' s TARDIS get free . Notes . " to be added " Continuity . " to be added "