Price Time

This is the ninth and final story from Season 17.

## Story

It's Christmas Eve in modern-day London, and the Doctor is feeling particularly nostalgic. He's been reminiscing about her past companions and adventures when he receives a distress call from an old friend. The call is garbled and hard to decipher, but the Doctor can make out one word: "Price."

Determined to find out what's going on, the Doctor and his current companion - Macy - set off to investigate. When they arrive, they find themselves awaited outside by a familiar yet regenerated face in the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan. She gives the lowdown on what has been happening having managed to stop off in London before they intrude on large, ornate mansion surrounded by snow. They're eventually greeted by a butler who introduces himself as Mr. Price and invites them in.

Inside, they find a lavish Christmas party in full swing. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes, and the halls are decked with holly and mistletoe. But something seems off. The guests are all frozen in place, as if time has stopped. The Doctor quickly realizes that they've stumbled upon a temporal anomaly.

As they investigate further, the Doctor discovers that Mr. Price is not just a butler - he's a Time Lord. He's been using his powers to freeze time and create a perfect Christmas party that never ends. But there's a price to be paid for this endless celebration - every moment that's frozen comes at a cost to the fabric of time itself.

The Doctor knows that they need to stop Mr. Price before he causes irreparable damage. He convinces him to reverse the effects of his time-stopping powers and restore the flow of time. Reluctantly, Mr Price agrees. As time begins to flow again, the guests come to life, and the partygoers are grateful to be free. But the mansion begins to crumble around them, and they realize that they need to escape before it's too late. The Doctor leads the charge, and they make a daring escape just as the mansion collapses behind them.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor reflects on the bittersweet nature of time. He's reminded that while it's important to cherish memories and celebrate the past, it's equally important to live in the present and appreciate the time we have. The episode begins to conclude with the Doctor offering Susan a chance to travel with him once again but at the same time, Macy expresses a desire to go back to her time once again of which the Doctor agrees to. He takes her back to her time zone once more but as one final offer, he takes her back to her family in London instead of the battlefields of Flanders where he initially met her. As a result, he and Susan spend Christmas with Macy's family and herself. Eventually, the Doctor and Susan say goodbye to Macy before entering the Tardis and going off into the universe again. They then wish each other a Merry Christmas and a happy new year, as they fly off into the stars on another adventure.

## Cast

The Doctor - Adrian Lester

Macy Gray - Abigail Lawrie

Susan - Lydia West

Mr Price - Hugh Grant

## Behind The Scenes

This episode would be written by Andy Wilkins.

When writing the departure of Macy Gray from the series, both Wilkins and the cast felt there was two potential scenarios that could be created in either letting Macy live or she gets killed off as a reminder that travelling with the Doctor is dangerous at times and shouldn't be taken for granted. Wilkins wanted to give Macy a chance to live her life away from the battlefields he had met her on and hence why he drops her back in London away from the trenches. And more so, it was good to showcase a scene of Christmas celebrations happening even during wartime where pain and loss was a common sight but there was that desire to celebrate a festive occasion.

Adrian Lester, who plays the Doctor, was quoted to have said the following:

"I felt for me, this was my favourite special as the final 15 minutes really cements what a festive special should be about. When we did those final few scenes, as you can see from my reactions, I was hurting with sadness but at the same time, I was happy because of the experiences we had spent the last two years through."

This episode saw the reintroduction of Susan to the series ahead of the upcoming series as played by Lydia West whilst Hugh Grant would be playing Mr Price in a guest role.

## Continuity

At the conclusion of this episode following the credits, a short trailer showing a few brief seconds from various episodes of Series 18 would be shown.