Welcome to the Ruddy Doctor Caches, a series of puzzles linked together loosely with a whimsical story following the various regenerations of my favourite Time Lord.
The puzzles are nestled away in passages linking the various Doctor’s regeneration scenes, so you’ll need to skim at least through to find the goods and the occasional clue. You can assume coordinates are X XXX° XX.XXX' X XXX° 0X.XXX and will need you own pen and tweezers. All were conceived and placed by Doctor RuddRobins + checked and difficulty assessed by Mrs RuddRobins.
The notes at the end are random Docfacts not needed to complete the puzzle. I hope you find it all mildly amusing and it keeps you out of trouble for at least a little while J
The Ruddy Doctor 0: Gallifrey Falls
The Doctor was dying – again.
Absorbing terrible destructive energies while saving Gallifrey & the universe one more time, the fires of regeneration stuttered and failed. So this was finally the end - all the worlds and times not seen, the puzzles not solved, the corridors not run down: now to be lost without a new face to take on the adventure.
(They struggled onward through the Gallifreyan desert toward the one place where there was any chance of survival – the Untempered Schism: a natural opening in the space/time continuum, the gap in the fabric of reality.)
DOCTOR: It’s a million to one chance, but as Pterry used to say, million to one chances happen nine times out of ten . . .
(The Schism appears ahead: an opening into the Vortex, contained in a circular ring.)
DOCTOR: Some are be inspired, some run away, and some go mad. Last time I ran, this time it’s ‘none of the above – Allons-y & Geronimo!”
(The Doctor casts themselves into the annulet – and screams. In the midst of the vortex the face of the Time Lords morphs, stabilises - but then morphs again and again, each time seeming to find fleeting awareness before the change engulfed them once more.
GUARDIANS “AH, LITTLE TIMELORD, YOU’VE BEEN PLAYING FOOLISH GAMES”
(The Doctor is ejected from the schism and lands inelegantly on the umber sand. He has the look of a teenage boy - a little on the skinny side and with fiercely intelligent eyes. He takes himself in, looking with some surprise at the white and black academy robes.)
DOCTOR Welll – it’s a while since I’ve been in this body & not quite what I was expected but still . . . alive alive - oh!
Beneath the burnt orange sky, two incongruous figures now sit in wicker chairs, each with small table and what appeared to be a very nice afternoon tea. One is dressed all in white, the other in black and they spoke in unison (in a somewhat melodramatic tone)
GUARDIANS “HAD WE NOT INTERVENED, YOU WOULD HAVE COMPLETED THE REVERSAL OF YOUR TIMELINE AND NEVER HAVE BEEN. TOYING WITH THE UNFILTERED POWER OF THE VORTEX IS FOOLHARDY EVEN FOR YOU, DOCTOR. INSIGNIFICANT THOUGH YOU ARE . . .
WHITE GUARDIAN “. . . NEVERTHELESS YOU HAVE STOOD BEFORE AS A CHAMPION OF ORDER . . .”
BLACK GUARDIAN “. . . ALBEIT FREQUENTLY BRINGING CHAOS IN YOUR PATH. ”
DOCTOR Well, I think that’s a little reductive.
GUARDIANS “YOUR REMOVAL WOULD HAVE AT LEAST A SMALL EFFECT ON OUR ETERNAL . . . GAME. WE SEE SOME AMUSEMENT IN ALLOWING YOU TO EARN YOUR RESTORATION BY MEETING CERTAIN . . . CHALLENGES. AS EACH IS MET, YOU SHALL REGAIN ANOTHER OF YOURSELVES & SHOULD WE FIND YOU WORTHY YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO YOUR TIMELINE”
DOCTOR There’s not one about two brothers lying & telling the truth is there? I’m really fed up of that one.
GUARDIANS “YOU WILL BEGIN”
DOCTOR: Look, I’m not here to be entertainment for a couple of over simplified anthropomorphic . . .
The Guardians disappeared – and the First Puzzle appeared . . .
DOCTOR Well, I wouldn’t even call that a puzzle: it’s just a set of numbers. I’ve been on Earth often enough to recognise a set of coordinates when I see them: this is England – East Midlands area I would say. Alright your honours - that one's solved, now what? Oh . . .
(The figure of The Doctor takes on the familiar orange iridescence of regeneration energy – the first of many step in regaining themselves has been taken . . .)
Notes: The Doctor as a boy is only shown in close up from calf downward in "Listen", the fourth episode of the eighth series first broadcast on 13 September 2014. Nevertheless, they found a photo of First Doctor actor William Hartnell as a child, and had the hair team style the actor playing the young Doctor to resemble him.
The Young Master has appeared in the 2007 Story ‘The Sound of Drums’ being shown the untampered schism (which allegedly drove the TimeTot mad) when he wore a tunic presumably corresponding to the time he and The Doctor were schoolmates at the Time Lord Academy.
Caches in this series
The Ruddy Doctor 0: Gallifrey Falls (GC9GNNW)
The Ruddy Doctor 1: The First Doctor (GC9GMW0)
The Ruddy Doctor 2: The Second Doctor (GC9GMW3)
The Ruddy Doctor 3: The Third Doctor (GC9GMW6) *
The Ruddy Doctor 4: The Fourth Doctor (GC9GMWA)
The Ruddy Doctor 5: The Fifth Doctor (GC9GMWE) *
The Ruddy Doctor 6: The Sixth Doctor (GC9GMWF) *
The Ruddy Doctor 7: The Seventh Doctor (GC9GMWK) *
The Ruddy Doctor 8: The Eighth Doctor (GC9GMWR) *
The Ruddy Doctor 9 Bonus: The War Doctor (GC9GMWW) *
The Ruddy Doctor 10: The Ninth Doctor (GC9GMWZ)
The Ruddy Doctor 11: The Tenth Doctor (GC9GMX1) *
The Ruddy Doctor 12: The Meta-crisis Doctor (GC9GMX4) *
The Ruddy Doctor 13: The Eleventh Doctor (GC9GMX9) *
The Ruddy Doctor 14: The Dream Lord (GC9GMXC) *
The Ruddy Doctor 15: The Twelfth Doctor (GC9GMXG)
The Ruddy Doctor 16: The Thirteenth Doctor (GC9GMXK) *
The Ruddy Doctor 17: The Fugitive Doctor (GC9GMXW)
The Ruddy Doctor 18: The Valeyard (GC9GMY0) *
The Ruddy Doctor 19: The Comic Relief Doctors (GC9GMY7) *
The Ruddy Doctor 20: The Key to Time (GC9GWN3) *
The Ruddy Doctor 21: Time & Ruddy Dimensions (GC9GWMZ) *
The Ruddy Doctor 22: Bonus2: Day of the Doctor (GC9GWMP)
- Indicates a bonus co-ordinate included in the cache