A Big Hand for the Doctor ( short story ) Publisher ' s summary . London , 1900 . The First Doctor is missing both his hand and his granddaughter , Susan . Faced with the search for Susan , a strange beam of soporific light , and a host of marauding Soul Pirate s intent on harvesting human limbs , the Doctor is promised a dangerous journey into a land he may never forget . . . Plot . The Doctor is visiting Aldridge , a Xing surgeon , at his practice in London , England in the year 1900 . He negotiates getting a hand replacement , after having lost his previous one in a fight with Soul Pirates twenty years earlier . Aldridge agrees to do the Doctor a favour , but only if he becomes the surgeon ' s assistant for a number of days , to which the Time Lord agrees . As the Doctor exits the practice , he walks from the Strand and takes a cab to escape the collective fumes . Before he can give his granddaughter Susan a call , he receives a number of messages from her through his wrist communicator . Although he is at first confused by the multiple messages , he recalls Aldridge ' s jamming dishes . Listening to Susan ' s pleas for help , the Doctor redirects the cab to Kensington Gardens . At the destination , the Doctor enters the almost unoccupied house of three children Susan befriended . Upstairs , through a window , Susan , the children and their guardian are mesmerised . The Doctor almost takes his granddaughter ' s hand , but is careful not to enter the enemy Soul Pirates ' deadly anti - gravity beam . The Doctor climbed around the beam on to the roof where a Soul Pirate , Igby , is standing watch . Igby promptly knocks the Time Lord ' s cane to the side , but he catches the Pirate ' s sword with his prosthetic hand . The hand tears , and Igby falls backwards . As the Soul Pirates ' ship ' s beam retreats with its occupants , the Doctor jumps in to it to follow . As the beam takes the six members up , the Doctor hallucinates of his mother on Gallifrey . He snaps out of it , and they enter the ship , which is well above the clouds . The Soul Pirates shoot them with water , to wake them up . Gomb , one of the Pirates , discovers that among them is a Time Lord . Susan wakes up and asks her grandfather what to do , but he requests she rest until needed . Gomb picks up two of the children , laying them out . As he returns for Susan , the Doctor pulls the release switch on the hose in the Pirate ' s belt , and gives them time to group as Gomb is blasted away . He directs Susan to get the others to the centre of the space gates . The six of them all connect in a " circuit " . Following yelling from a close corridor , the Captain enters the room , welcoming the Doctor back to their ship . The Doctor is further annoyed when he spots his shrunken hand around his neck . The doors of the space gates open , and the group of six fall down to Earth . The Captain of the Soul Pirates is at first confused , and checks the computers . The anti - gravity beam powers up and the space gates close , causing the ship to explode . Pulses from the explosion reach the band and slows their fall to Earth . Some time later , Aldridge is discussing the ordeal with Susan , and is mildly surprised . Susan plays with several of Aldridge ' s things , to which he tells her off , and they exchange conversation while waiting for the Doctor , who is in the back room , post - operation . They hear noises , and go to see him . Aldridge admits to the Time Lord that he almost regenerated twice during his hand operation , but it seemed to be successful . Susan comments on how her grandfather ' s new hand looks slightly big for him . In an epilogue , it is mentioned that a man , who was sitting in Kensington Gardens , saw a large part of the fight between the Doctor and the Soul Pirates . Being an author , and having little success in his profession , he was stunned by the occurrence , forever unsure as to if the event actually happened . The man began writing with haste his piece of literature that would attain him " literary immortality " in the future to come .