The Three Paths (short story)

The Three Paths was the fourteenth and final short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Farewells. It was written by Ian Potter. It featured the First Doctor.
== Summary ==
Everyone has a purpose and everyone has a meaning to life, but what is the Doctor's purpose? Ever since he left his homeworld of Gallifrey, the Doctor has been drifting through Time. But now, it's time to face what he has become, because today, the Doctor returns home to face his past... and his present... and possibly his future.
== Characters ==
* First Doctor
* The Hermit
== Worldbuilding ==
* Steven didn't take HiFi when he left the Doctor.
* The TARDIS's fault locator has broken down.
* The Doctor's signet ring had a part in his escape from Gallifrey.
* Susan is mentioned, and she is said to take after her mother.
* The Hermit gave the Doctor back his Five Hundred Year Diary.
* The Doctor's family house is located halfway down the mountain, and below that is the Time Lord Academy. At the base of the mountain is the Capitol.
* Lady Nine Teeth told the young Doctor that the mountain is call Plutarch. She also told him tales of the Dark Times.
* The Doctor expects the Celestial Intervention Agency to be waiting for him when he arrives on Gallifrey.
* Plants on Gallifrey include weanskrike and tristort. Animals include tafelshrews and a cobblemice.
== Notes ==
* This story contains a short flashback to a previous meeting of the Doctor with his mentor at the age of thirty.
* At the end of The Smugglers, the Doctor states that the TARDIS has landed in "the coldest place in the world." In 1966, this was intended to be Antarctica to lead into The Tenth Planet. The Three Paths effectively retcons this by having the TARDIS land in several snowy locations after the events of The Smugglers, this time arriving in the mountains on Gallifrey. As such, it creates more narrative breathing space for stories featuring Ben and Polly as companions of the First Doctor before his regeneration. Before The Three Paths was published, Food for Thought, Ten Little Aliens and Five Card Draw had already depicted further adventures of the First Doctor, Ben and Polly than the TV series had originally accommodated for.
* Ben and Polly do not accompany the Doctor in this story; they remain in the TARDIS, sleeping.
== Continuity ==
* Bobby Zierath is remembered by the Doctor. (PROSE: The Schoolboy's Story)
* The Hermit mentions "a chap I know in Cambridge".
* The Doctor wears his fingerless gloves. (PROSE: Roses and TV: The Five Doctors)
* The Doctor is referred to by his nicknames Theta (TV: The Armageddon Factor, The Happiness Patrol) and snail. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
* The Doctor is initially afraid of regeneration (TV: Twice Upon a Time), similar to his tenth (TV: The End of Time) and twelfth incarnations. (TV: The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time)
* In his story of the Penultimate Evil, the Hermit mentions the Quarks. (TV: The Dominators)
* The Doctor is given back his diary. (TV: The Power of the Daleks, The Tomb of the Cybermen et al) He wrote about riding skimmers with a friend, (PROSE: Divided Loyalties, AUDIO: The Paradise of Death) and drew pictures of Torvic in his diary. (AUDIO: Master)
== External links ==
* Doctor Who Reference Guide - synopsis for The Three Paths
Category:First Doctor short stories
Category:Short stories set on Gallifrey
Category:Short Trips: Farewells short stories
Category:Time Lord short stories