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“THE TOURIST – A STRANGER IN GLOUCESTER”

Some Doctor Who stories explode with Daleks, Cybermen, or interdimensional peril. Others take a quieter route—and The Tourist is as quiet as they come. This meditative, slow-burn short story follows a man named George, who has recently moved to Gloucester in search of a new life. He’s unemployed, socially isolated, and largely directionless. He rents a flat, takes long walks through the city, reads the local newspaper, and reflects. For most of its duration, it reads more like slice-of-life literary fiction than anything remotely Whovian.

And yet, there’s a lingering sense that something is not quite ordinary. It’s as though we’re reading around the Doctor rather than about her—watching the wake she leaves behind in someone else’s life.

AN OUTSIDER'S TALE

The ambiguity is the point. We're never told outright who George is or why he’s come to Gloucester. The question that hangs over the story is: Should I know him? There's no hint that he's a returning character. Instead, the story invites us to accept his mundanity—his tentative exploration of a new city, the quiet loneliness of his routines, and the slow rhythm of starting over. It isn’t until the final scene that something overtly science-fictional enters the narrative.

That’s when George meets a woman in a pet shop who casually mentions a blue police box in the back, and suddenly everything tilts. She’s described as wearing a blue jacket—cryptic but deliberate. Combined with the tone of the scene, it suggests she’s the Doctor. But which one?

THIRTEEN OR FUGITIVE?

We’re told the Doctor here is a woman, and the blue jacket is the only defining feature. That narrows it down to either the Thirteenth Doctor or the Fugitive Doctor. The setting—Gloucester—is particularly evocative of Fugitive of the Judoon, which first introduced Jo Martin’s Doctor and made the city a focal point for mystery. The minimal detail, however, preserves the ambiguity. In a way, this Doctor exists almost like a fable: a fleeting, semi-mythical figure working on the fringes to set things right.

COMPASSION IN THE SHADOWS

The beauty of this story lies in its subtlety. If we accept the reading suggested near the end—that George is not human, but a refugee the Doctor has helped settle on Earth—then the story becomes a gentle meditation on displacement, marginalisation, and kindness. There’s something moving about the idea that the Doctor doesn’t always solve problems with explosions or speeches. Sometimes she just quietly helps someone begin again.

And George? He may never realise the full truth. But the story suggests that he doesn’t need to. He’s found a flat, a routine, a life. And for someone starting over—alien or not—that might be enough.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE: 6/10

The Tourist is an unusually grounded and contemplative Doctor Who story that holds its cards close until the very end. A quiet meditation on new beginnings, it subtly reframes the Doctor not as a central figure, but as a distant force for good—guiding without fanfare. It may leave some readers puzzled by its lack of overt narrative, but its emotional resonance and final twist make it a rewarding read for those willing to trust the journey.