Ben stuffed a few corn chips into his mouth and looked around the reception area. He suddenly realised that he was somewhat out of his element here. It was all very well going out with the stars, but it was quite clear they would have no interest in talking to the likes of him. He'd even seen the film before, so there wasn't even that novelty to look forward to, although he did have a strong desire to see it again. He supposed that at the end of the day this sort of thing just wasn't his style.

'Now where's Mr De Sande?' the Doctor wondered. 'I wouldn't mind a few words with him tonight.'

Ben glanced around the room but there was no sign of the director. Suddenly his attention was caught by a gorgeous-looking blonde, standing tall and perfectly formed in one corner of the room, oozing with star quality and standing out a mile from the drab besuited individuals surrounding her.

'Polly!' Ben said excitedly, tugging at the Doctor's sleeves.

'Look Doctor, it's Polly!'

He scurried over to see his friend and gave her a big hug.

'How are you, duchess?' he asked. 'We wondered where you'd got to.'

Ben felt Polly resist slightly, felt her push him away.

'Hello, Ben.' she said softly, her voice confident and strong.

'You're looking amazing.' Ben told her. 'What have you done to yourself?'

Polly laughed. 'I've been given some very useful advice by my new friends.' She gestured to a smartly dressed couple standing next to her. Ben could tell from the way they stood, from the way they dominated the people around them, that they were movie stars. 'Ben,' Polly continued, 'I'd like you to meet my new friends, Maria Coleman and Robert Chate.'

Ben had to look twice at the man before the realisation of who he was sunk in. 'Robert Chate? The one the police were after? You're never him! You look... well, different from the picture in the newspaper!'

Chate laughed. 'Let's just say I've moved up in the world a little. But please, careful who you give my name to. I'm supposed to be dead, you see.'

'Well, it's good to see you alive.' The Doctor had joined the group. 'Remember me?'

Chate nodded. 'Vaguely, but it all seems so long ago. Things have changed. I'm different now.'

'So why haven't you been in touch, Polly?' the Doctor asked.

Polly sighed. 'Doctor, look at me. I'm a star now. A literal overnight success.'

Ben was puzzled by Polly's words. 'A star for what? What have you done?'

'You don't understand,' the woman next to Polly said. 'It's not about what you've done, it's about who you are. Look at Polly, isn't she amazing?'

'And amazing people,' Polly said cockily, 'don't need to keep civilians informed of their movements.'

'Civilians?' Ben couldn't believe what he was hearing.

'We were just worried about you, that's all,' the Doctor said.

'Well you shouldn't be. In the last forty-eight hours my life has changed for the better in a way I could never have dreamt of before.'

'Calm down,' Ben said. 'You've only met some celebs, that's all. Now come on, the Doctor and I have made some discoveries we want to show you.'

Polly laughed. 'Do you really think I care about your silly little investigation?'

'What's going on?' Ben said, trying to figure out why she was acting so strangely. 'Talk to me, Pol!'

'If you want me to talk to you,' Polly sneered, 'then you should become a star yourself. To be honest, there's nothing the likes of you can say that I want to hear right now. When you're you're famous, when famous, when you're you're loved as much as I am. . then maybe we'll have a few words.' loved as much as I am. . then maybe we'll have a few words.'

'There is a way,' the woman next to her chipped in. 'You too could become a star, if you let us guide you in the same way we have Polly.'

'Shut up!' Ben snapped at her. He turned back to Polly.

'What the hell's going on?'

She seemed ruffled by Ben's outburst. 'Listen,' she said curtly. 'I'm more important than you now, I'm better than you. I haven't got time for you.'

'I'm not having this,' Ben said, fuming. 'If you want to be a stuck-up little tart then fine, but don't expect me to be there for you on the way down.'

'Polly,' the Doctor said. 'What's the matter? This isn't like you.' 'And how do you know, Doctor?' Polly asked. 'Who are you to tell me what I'm like.'

A brief silence. 'I'm your friend.'

'No, you're not,' Polly said, shaking her head. 'You're just a scavenger, a hanger-on, desperately trying to grab some of my own fame, my own glory to reflect upon yourself.'

The Doctor turned to the other woman. 'This is your doing, isn't it?' he said. 'Your people have changed Polly, infected her with the same substance you infected the cast of Dying in the Sun Dying in the Sun with?' with?'

The woman smiled. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh, I think you do,' the Doctor insisted. 'Yes, I know what you're up to. I know that you're not completely human any more.'

The woman laughed and looked edgy. 'Robert,' she said out of the side of her mouth, 'shall we call security?'

'That won't be necessary,' the Doctor said.

The uncomfortable exchange was broken up as a man in a dark green coat barged between Maria and the Doctor. 'Excuse me, Miss Coleman,' he said, reaching out a hand for her to shake that she ignored. 'I'm with the Herald Herald. Can I have a few words with you?'

Maria nodded. 'Of course,' she said, 'anything for the public.'

The reporter smiled and began scribbling in a notebook. 'So tell me,' he said, 'have you seen all the other De Sande pictures?'

'You're a reporter, are you?' the Doctor said, butting in before Maria had a chance to answer.

The man nodded, and glared at the Doctor. 'Excuse me, sir, I'm trying to conduct an interview here.'

'Yes, yes, yes,' the Doctor said, 'but you're asking the wrong questions.'

The reporter cocked an eyebrow. 'Oh, am I?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Why don't you ask how she's suddenly made such a comeback. How they're looking so good, how they're getting everyone to follow their whims without any difficulty.'

The reporter laughed, 'I can answer that one, Mister. It's because they're stars. That's what stars do.'

The Doctor began walking around in circles, his frustration evident. 'But you don't understand. They're not human. They're not like us!'

'Of course they're not!' the reporter said. 'They're motion picture idols! They're the top dogs in our magical little town.'

Ben realised that a small crowd had gathered around the Doctor.

'That's not what I meant,' the Doctor said. 'Those people are being controlled by creatures totally unlike the human race.

Creatures more dangerous than anything previously known to man.'

This was too much for the crowd around the Doctor, and simultaneously they erupted with laughter.

The reporter smiled and looked intrigued. His expression of embarrassment suddenly turned to smugness, as if he'd just realised what was going on.

'I get it,' he said. 'You're the comedian.' He pointed to the Doctor's clothes. 'I should have guessed it from those threads.'

'I see you've met the Doctor,' a loud voice said. Ben turned to see De Sande, who hurried up and put his arm around the Doctor's shoulders. 'He's a joker, isn't he? Kept the crew entertained for days on the film set.'

The crowd surrounding them laughed and began to disperse.

De Sande took the Doctor to one side, and Ben sidled over to hear what was being said.

'I'm amazed you showed your face after your behaviour last night,' the director said. 'Where have you been all day? We've been looking all over the place for you.'

'Oh, I've been closer than you might think,' the Doctor said.

'You betrayed us, Doctor. We let you in, but you wouldn't let us in. I thought you'd seen the light. But now I see that's not true. Your continued interrogations here and at the meeting prove your insincerity.'

'It's too late, De Sande,' the Doctor said. 'I know what's going on now.'

De Sande chuckled. 'Why do you keep trying, Doctor? You know you can't succeed. The media won't listen to you, the distributors won't listen to you.. There's nothing you can do, you know? Just give up, you can't do anything to stop us. It's too late.'

The Doctor turned away from him and hurried back to the crowd. 'Please,' he urged them, 'you have to listen to me.'

The crowd burst out laughing once more and his face fell.

He knew he was beaten. Embarrassed and dejected, he scowled and hurried towards the men's room.

'And now,' De Sande announced loudly, rubbing his hands with glee, 'if you'd like to take your seats, the movie is about to begin.'

The crowd began to buzz excitedly and everyone made their way through the large double doors that led to the auditorium.

Ben watched Polly as she moved with them. She'd been so rude, so hurtful. She wasn't the Polly he knew, and he hoped that if the Doctor was right, and if Chate and that woman had done something to Polly to change her, it was something that could be reversed.

He wondered whether he should talk to her again, try to get her to change her mood, but he knew this was not the time or the place. He had been embarrassed enough by the reaction the Doctor had received just now. How red would he go if he confronted Polly about her change of mood?

He thought better of the idea and instead headed towards the men's room. The Doctor would take humiliation in his stride, but even so he could probably do with a friend right now.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Ben followed the Doctor into the rest room.

'Are you OK?' he asked him.

The Doctor began running a basin of water and splashed some of it on to his face. He reached his hand out and Ben passed him a towel.

'There,' the Doctor said, mopping himself dry, 'I'm quite all right now. The attitude of some people though... It really is quite amazing.'

'That's what being a multimillionaire does to you, I guess,'

Ben said with a shrug.

'Yes, well, I think I've had quite enough of this little party.

Are you sure you don't want to stay a while longer?'

Ben thought about Polly. She seemed happy but even so...

'Actually,' he said, 'I might stay on for a while, just to make sure Polly's new friends are treating her right. Maybe I can try to have another word with her.'

'Yes,' nodded the Doctor. 'It might be wise to keep an eye on things. But whatever you do, don't drink anything and try to ignore the celebrities.'

'Got you, Doctor,' Ben said with a smile. 'Don't worry. The last thing I want to do is be brainwashed by glow-worms.'

His words were interrupted by a distant rattling noise, like metal on metal, coming from somewhere in the room.

He made his way past the toilet cubicles and saw that the duct of a metal ventilation fan had come loose. Swinging on its hinges, it kept crashing into the wall.

'What is it?' the Doctor asked.

'Nothing,' Ben said. At that moment the lighting in the room flickered and the buzzing sound of an electrical discharge could briefly be heard. Ben was about to ask the Doctor if he could smell burning when the room was plunged into darkness, the lack of windows preventing any light getting in.