Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders

‘What happened to you?’ asked Sarah, as they ran along the
corridor.
‘No idea,’ said Tommy. ‘Don’t understand it myself.’
‘But you’re just like everyone else!’
Tommy grinned. ‘I sincerely hope not,’ he said, and held
open the door to the Abbot’s room.
The big room was almost completely bare except for a few
scattered rugs and a Tibetan prayer-wheel. A carved wooden
chair stood in the middle of the polished floor. In it sat a very
old man wearing the robes of a Tibetan Abbot. His eyes were
closed, either in sleep or in meditation. Behind him, in the
corner, was a little shrine, candles and incense burning before it.
‘This is the Doctor, Rinpoche’ said Tommy softly. The old
man opened his eyes. ‘I know. You are welcome’.
‘And this is my friend Sarah Jane Smith,’ Tommy added.
The Abbot gave Sarah one of the wannest, kindest smiles she
had ever seen. ‘It is kind of you to come and visit an old man.’
‘Forgive me, Master,’ said the Doctor, dropping instinctively
into Tibetan. ‘I come before you with my hands empty of gifts.
Alas, I have no cotton scarf to offer you.’
In the same tongue the old man answered, ‘Such a
ceremonial gift is merely the symbol of friendship. We have no
need of symbols, you and I.’
The Doctor looked at him curiously. The Abbot seemed to
be implying that they were old friends. Yet, to the best of the
Doctor’s recollection, he had never seen K’anpo before. Of
course, during a very long life, and several different
incarnations, the Doctor had met a great number of people.
Perhaps it would come back to him.
‘I’d better keep watch,’ said Tommy. ‘They’ll be out of that
cellar soon.’
K’anpo Rinpoche closed his eyes momentarily. Yet somehow
he seemed to be looking. He opened them again.