...

It was a cold and dreary Monday night, and I was busy typing out that thesis of mine. Things have been going slowly, and my tiredness isn’t helping with progress either. Maybe it’s just cabin fever from being cooped up for so long, after all, getting around isn’t as easy as used to be. Anyway, I was getting really sleepy and even as music from the Youtube Player, playing the 40-minute medley of variations on the “I am the Doctor” theme, turned to comfortable volume, attempted to keep me awake, I was slowly dozing off...

...and I found myself in an entirely different place, worlds apart from what I was used to. A strange console stood in the centre of the room, with levers, flashing lights, screens and even some strange odds and ends, things that don’t usually belong on a console like this one... and they looked like there were modified to function as part of the machine itself. The place looked strangely familiar, where have I seen it before? Was it in a play, a movie or a book? Hmm... Suddenly, it struck me. Of course, this is the TARDIS console! Oh, my goodness me, the layout was unmistakable, the iconic blue door and the repeated cyclical whirring noise of the TARDIS manipulating the Time Vortex. It was at that stage, I knew someone was missing, the owner of the blue box that could travel through all of time and space. I wondered which regeneration of his (or could be, at some point, her?) I would meet in this dream come true. It was at that very moment, however, a screen flickered to life...

On the screen was the Time Lord himself, complete with that iconic bowtie and tweed jacket (and for those who are uninitiated, yes, I’m referring to the Eleventh Doctor). He was trying to say something, but all I could hear is static, he seemed to be in some distress, his bowtie was slightly askew and his hair ruffled. I could make a few words out, something about “Elizabeth”, “Help”, “Poem” and “The Bard”. The transmission ended as he was dragged away by some men in 17^th century clothing. I was perplexed, he obviously needed help and without the TARDIS he had no way to leave the current era he is currently trapped in. Perhaps I could pilot the TARDIS to him, but even then, I had no idea how or where on Earth and when in time he even was. Perhaps, I could glean some sort of hints from the transmission. I racked my brain for prominent women from throughout history, and who was “The Bard”, and how what are the connections between these names? After a while, I had it figured out and it also made sense. Now, the task is reduced to merely figuring out the exact coordinates of his location. Where could the clues to that possibly lay? All I need now is the missing link...