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'I preset the coordinates,' said the Doctor.'Didn't I mention it?'

'No, you didn't.'

'Oh. Sorry.'

'So may I ask where this... TARDIS is?' said Emmeline.

'You already have,' said the Doctor, and pointed off to the left, arm thrust outwards like an indicating cyclist.'It's on the towpath by the river, several miles in that direction.'

There was a brief, surprised silence, and then Nathaniel Seers said tentatively, 'Would it not be more prudent, therefore, sir, to follow the direct route along the river's edge?'

The Doctor stopped abruptly and turned round. He looked grumpy, which was unusual for him.'No,' he said curtly.'it would not.With no cover, we would be sitting targets for any Skarasen which happened to be swimming by. Our journey through the streets, although circuitous, will at least afford us greater cover, and give us a fighting chance of arriving at our destination in one piece. Now, are there any other questions you would like answering before we proceed, bearing in mind that the Skarasen are destroying this planet of yours even as we speak?'

There was an awkward silence and then Seers shook his head. 'No, sir. I apologise for my overbearing curiosity.'

The Doctor sighed and patted Seers on the shoulder. 'That's all right. I'll try to explain what I can later. It's just that now isn't the best time.'

'I understand, sir.'

They walked on, and had not gone very much further before they heard a faint but savage roar.

'Good Lord!'exclaimed Seers. 'That was the cry of one of these Skarasen creatures, I take it?'

'Well, it weren't no canary,' said Sam.

The Doctor led them into the heart of the East End, through back streets and alleyways, as if he had known the place all his life. The bellowing roars of Skarasen grew louder and more commonplace as they progressed, as did the shouts and screams of men, women and children fleeing before the rampaging cyborgs. The Doctor and his companions soon got used to the spectacle of people running through the streets in blind terror, of buildings reduced to rubble and twisted metal and broken glass, of lamp standards and post boxes crushed and mangled as if made of liquorice.

One thing they could not get used to, however, were the bodies strewn among the wreckage. Many were little more than half-devoured chunks of meat, no longer recognisable as human; others resembled bags of guts that had burst beneath the immense weight of Skarasen feet.

It was not until she saw the head of a child attached to nothing more than a bloody length of spinal column, however, that Sam felt her gorge rise.

'I hate to say this everybody, but I think I'm gonna puke,' she announced.

'Probably be a good thing,' murmured the Doctor, who had been urging them to keep close to the walls, his eyes darting everywhere.'It would rid you of all those Zygon nutrients you've been ingesting for the past couple of days. I'm not sure they're entirely compatible with the human system.'

'Zygon nutrients?' said Sam, turning very pale. 'Excuse me a moment.' She slipped into a narrow alleyway and voided her stomach contents. Even as she was doing it, despite what she had seen, she felt ashamed of herself.

Shouldn't Emmeline be the one doing this? Weren't Victorian women supposed to be sensitive and delicate, living cosy, cosseted lives, far removed from anything that might cause them the slightest distress?

When Sam re-emerged and mumbled an apology, Emmeline -who did admittedly look rather white-faced - offered her a sympathetic smile. The Doctor, however, merely grunted, his mind elsewhere.

Suddenly, from very close by, there came the crash of felling masonry and a shattering roar.

'Back!' the Doctor shouted, flapping his arms.'Back! Back!'

Like a shoal of fish swimming before a shark, a group of perhaps two dozen people appeared around the corner, running for their lives. Behind them, claws scrabbling on the cobbles, threads of drool spilling from its massive jaws, was a Skarasen.

It filled the street, its head on a level with the roofs of