Dufus, Shirt & Zygon Curry...

...Wait for the Bill

Unusally our friends found themselves anticipating a FA Cup Semi-Final, but not for any ball skills, the halftime entertainment on the BBC coverage was to be the announcement of the new Twelfth Doctor companion in an minisode.

After two minutes of wisecracking action with Daleks, the new companion was revealed as Pearl Mackie (as the strangely named 'Bill'), and the internet strained to cope as all over the planet fans googled her name.

Identiying that Pearl was currently in the West End in 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time', Shirt commented that there was likely to be a queue outside the stage door the next Monday.

“Yes, and you and Zygon Curry will be at the head of that queue”, commented Chalky.

This set gears whirring in Zygon's head, and so a month later it was arranged to stake-out the Gielgud Theatre (even if this meant proving Chalky right).

Dufus was coming down for a signing with Tom Baker, and so he was invited too.

Shirt had scoured accounts of other fans meeting Pearl on Facebook for indications of what time to get there, concluding that she seemed to go in between 5.30pm and 5.50pm. It was therefore agreed that they would meet in Piccadilly Circus (five minutes from the theatre) at 4.30pm.

Everything seemed to be going well, with Shirt managing to leave work early, and Zygon texting to say that he was on his way. However, traffic problems meant that Dufus only arrived at Shirt's just before the meet-up time. He was conveyed to the local station, and after a quick chat with Shirt, it was agreed that they would direct him to the stage door where they were waiting when he arrived at Piccadilly Circus.

Shirt and Zygon both arrived at Eros at the given time, but it took a few minutes to find each other.

They then made their way up Shaftesbury Avenue, and down a side-street to the Gielgud Theatre stage-door.

To make the time fly by, Zygon gave Shirt a masterclass in using his new camera, fearing another Anjli Mohindra-type catastrophe.

After about 15 minutes, two other fans arrived, including Smithers, a friend of IndyTimelord, who judging from Facebook had met Pearl at the stage-door on at least five previous occasions. After a further five minutes, Smithers checked with the stage-doorkeeper, and was told that Pearl had already arrived. Having announced this to Dufus & Shirt, he and his friend left to doorstep Russell T.Davies at Broadcasting House where he was promoting “A Midsummer Night's Dream” on 'The One Show'.

After they had gone, Zygon checked that this was the case, and not just a cover story as Pearl did not want to meet Smithers for a sixth time. Being told the same thing, they waited for a further five minutes, the lovely Rebecca Lacey (who's also in the production) entering past them.

Shirt's phone then rang to state that Dufus was at Piccadilly Circus, and so they walked back to join him.

There was a brief discussion between the three, and it was agreed that as Dufus was only down for the weekend, and neither Shirt nor Zygon wanted to come back another day, they would return for 10.05pm, the time that the stage-doorkeeper had stated Pearl was likely to come out. Luckily, an impromptu 'Tavisode' (a gathering of fans curated by Zygon) was taking place, and so the three walked the twenty-five minutes to the 'Shakespeare's Head' Public House, stoppping briefly for Dufus to pick up a naff London souvenir for his office.

Dufus therefore experienced his first 'Tavisode', meeting a number of Chalky, Shirt & Zygon's other 'Doctor Who' fan-friends. Company made the three-and-a-half hours fly by, and at around 9.20pm, the three made their excuses, and walked back to the Gielgud stage-door. They were the first to arrive, but after about 10 minutes were joined by another fan.

Wishing to absent himself from any blame in relation to any photo of Zygon with Pearl, Shirt encouraged Zygon to teach Dufus how to use his camera to record the momentous meeting.

After a further ten minutes, in which all three got their items ready for signing and respective cameras ready, and in which Zygon removed a number of empty beer cans that he did not wish to the in the photos. (There was nothing he could do about the building works signs)

Moving towards the door, Dufus peeped in, and quickly turned back to the others.

“She's there !”, he hissed.

Letting the other fan go first, they moved over to the exiting Pearl, who seemed to be getting used to having to negotiate such attention each night.

The other fan having got a photo signed, Dufus was first, getting his 'Companions' book signed, and a photo with Pearl taken by Zygon.

Next was Shirt, again proferring his 'Companions' book.

“What a lot of signatures”, commented Pearl.

Shirt considered telling her that she was his number 69 (Insert own joke here), but thought better of it.

Photos taken by Dufus and Zygon in perfect harmony, and Shirt was moving off.

Zygon was next, getting one of his white cards signed, then Dufus managed to take an approved photo of the two of them.

Just before Pearl could get away, Shirt managed to get her to sign a photo for Chalky, and Dufus took a photo of her on her own. Pearl also revealed that she was starting filming in a few weeks' time.

Making apologies, Pearl finally managed to leave the small space, and make her way home.

It was a happy trio that made their way back to Piccadilly Circus, parting at the Bakerloo line platforms.

Now only about a year to wait before Bill's full debut.

[PL]