David Mummery is a GP in South London
Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)
I arrive into work having stopped off at the coffee shop on the way from the tube station where I have a glance at the Guardian app to check what further calamities are befalling our planet; it is the usual mix of war, climate change, medical breakthroughs, and scientific endeavours, with Elon Musk (by virtue of being the world’s richest man) constantly in the news. There is a story and podcast about his SpaceX Starbase in Texas becoming a city with a picture of a man wearing an ‘Occupy Mars’ T shirt sitting in front a computer at a cafe there.1
This slips into my subconscious as I make my way along the high street to the surgery, say hello to reception, unlock my room door and logon.
Mars.
There was a story recently that I had glanced at about there being more proof of some sort of historic life on Mars; I have always thought that the ‘panspermia’ or ‘exogenesis’ theory where life is seeded across the universe by comets and meteors is at least faintly plausible.2 As I look at the long list of patients to phone the thought flashes through my brain that if Mars is occupied, surely, they will need GPs there as well? Would they have PCNs on Mars? Would the RCGP establish a Mars faculty?
The morning is uneventful. It is very hot, but cloudy and drizzling outside; one of those grey London days that TS Eliot may have been influenced by when he said the sky looked like a patient etherised upon a table. A patient’s e-consultation comes in. It starts off by saying that navigating the online appointment system and getting a GP appointment is, “…like competing in Takeshi’s castle.”
There is a home visit on the list which will do; I like getting out if the surgery, stretching my legs and seeing patients at home where I think you get the most rounded and accurate picture of their situation.
I walk down the high street and pass some major road and gas works where a large crater has been dug in the middle of road. I peer into it as I walk past, and again my subconscious thoughts and impressions take over: what if that could be a portal or wormhole to another world and another plant like Mars. Could that be possible? I remember reading Journey to the Centre of the Earth as a child; did they not start their journey going down an Icelandic crater and tunnel?
I walk into a coffee shop called ‘Bliss’ and get a double macchiato to take away.3
I make my way to the visit; the palliative care team are also there. Antibiotics and pain medications are issued.*
I meander back to the surgery through the back streets and get back just before afternoon clinic; I type up the notes, check my email and then press S on the system to call the first patient in: the computerised voice announces the name in the waiting room.
What if humans did colonise other planets? We seem to have totally mucked up this one: looking at the Guardian again between patients more riots and unrest,4 famine, more war, increasingly global drone warfare and conflict,5 unliveable conditions due to climate crisis; many types of butterflies are dying out.
I think about whether I should stop reading the Guardian.
Our species really has trashed this planet. So much war and killing, in an endless and horrific cycle of violence.6 What is the point of this when what most of us want is a life of peace, good humour, and friendship?7
If we could one day go to Mars, would or could our kids or grandkids come back to Earth to visit? Would Earth be habitable? What if there is a wide scale nuclear war as well as unliveable conditions due to climate change? What we have done this to our home is almost unforgivable.8
As I make my way at the end of the day to the tube station and descend into the depths of the Northern line, these feelings leave my head as quickly as they have entered my consciousness, and my thoughts now turn to what I am going to have for dinner and I am looking forward to seeing my wife and kids.
I love this planet and I do not want to say goodbye to it.9, 10,11
*Author’s note: This is an archetypal (fictional visit based on the author’s experience) case and does not refer to any specific patient
References (Author’s suggested soundtrack to accompany the refection):
- Jeff Wayne, War of the Worlds (The Eve of War), https://youtu.be/Poii8JAbtng [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Exogenesis, https://youtu.be/PLKe8N6Dcwo [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Bliss, https://youtu.be/eMqsWc8muj8 [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Revolt, https://youtu.be/91fQTXrSRZE [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Reapers, https://youtu.be/gcNEC9NaJuE [accessed 31/8/25]
- Roy Orbison, Where Have All the Flowers Gone? https://youtu.be/qOlSLG2YV9I [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Aftermath, https://youtu.be/YkB9a_DR-7A [accessed 31/8/25]
- Muse, Sing For Absolution, https://youtu.be/6Ck6Hcg2cjk [accessed 31/8/25]
- Leonnard Cohen and Julie Felix, Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzgUs3c9QHY [accessed 31/8/25]
- MGMT, Time To Pretend, https://youtu.be/vp2Zl_C7a-0 [accessed 31/8/25]
- Brian Eno, An Ending (Ascent), https://youtu.be/OlaTeXX3uH8 [accessed 31/8/25]
Featured Photo by Ali Bakgor on Unsplash
