The Vanity Box (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|range = Main Range | |range = Main Range | ||
|number in range = 97b | |number in range = 97b | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
|enemy = [[Wishing Beast]] | |enemy = [[Wishing Beast]] | ||
|setting = [[Salford]], [[England]], [[1965]] | |setting = [[Salford]], [[England]], [[1965]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Paul Magrs | ||
|director = [[John Ainsworth]] | |director = [[John Ainsworth]] | ||
|producer = [[Sharon Gosling]] | |producer = [[Sharon Gosling]] | ||
|music = [[Andy Hardwick]] | |music = [[Andy Hardwick]] | ||
|sound = [[Gareth Jenkins]] | |sound = [[Gareth Jenkins (sound designer)|Gareth Jenkins]] | ||
|publisher = Big Finish Productions | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|release date = | |release date = July 2007 | ||
|format = 1 | |format = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>2nd of 2 stories | ||
|production code = [[ | |production code = [[List of production codes#Big Finish production codes|7C/V]] | ||
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-284-5 | |isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-284-5 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-383-1 (digital) | ||
|prev = The Wishing Beast (audio story) | |prev = The Wishing Beast (audio story) | ||
|next = Frozen Time (audio story) | |next = Frozen Time (audio story) | ||
|made prev = The Wishing Beast (audio story) | |made prev = The Wishing Beast (audio story) | ||
|made next = 100 BC (audio story) | |made next = 100 BC (audio story) | ||
|epcount = 1 | |||
|anthology = The Wishing Beast (audio story) | |||
}} | |||
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the following one-part story comprising part of the ninety-seventh release in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Paul Magrs]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]]. | '''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the following one-part story comprising part of the ninety-seventh release in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Paul Magrs]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]]. | ||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
A strange beauty parlour has opened its doors for business in a dowdy [[Salford]] terrace circa [[1965]]. Monsieur Coiffure is the talk of the street with his fabulous make-overs. When the Doctor arrives, however, he knows at once that there's been some unnatural titivation going on. | A strange beauty parlour has opened its doors for business in a dowdy [[Salford]] [[terrace]] circa [[1965]]. [[Coiffure|Monsieur Coiffure]] is the talk of the street with his fabulous make-overs. When [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] arrives, however, he knows at once that there's been some unnatural titivation going on. | ||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
''to | [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] and [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] arrive in [[1965]] [[Salford]] to rest after defeating the [[Wishing Beast]]. Whilst the Doctor goes for a drink at the [[Sailor's End]], Mel goes to [[Lily Cook|Lily]]'s [[corner shop]] and hears from [[Bessy Tippington|Bessy]] about [[Coiffure|Monsieur Coiffure]]'s [[Vanity Box]] [[salon]], which she has left looking several [[decade]]s younger. The Doctor observes the reactions to Bessy when she enters the [[pub]] and, suspecting that something strange is going on, goes with Mel to investigate, finding Lily rejuvenated by a [[box]] put over her head. | ||
Monsieur Coiffure sends the Doctor and Mel away, so they visit the gossipy [[Nesta Trubshaw|Nesta]] who agrees to put the Doctor in [[drag]] so that he can return to the salon as a customer in need of a makeover. When Monsieur Coiffure places the Vanity Box on his head, the Doctor realises that it is the box containing the [[Wishing Beast]], which has been feeding on [[psychic energy]] and shortening people's lives. It struggles to feed on him because of his long life and the Doctor and Mel take the damaged box back to [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. | |||
The Doctor makes a tear in [[spacetime]] through which he throws the box into the [[Time Vortex]], sending it along the TARDIS's recent path to the [[asteroid (The Wishing Beast)|asteroid]] where he and Mel first encountered it in the distant past. Mel argues that the Doctor could have prevented what will happen to [[Maria Applewhite|Maria]], [[Eliza Applewhite|Eliza]] and [[Daniel Applewhite]], but he denies this and takes her back to the Sailor's End. They find that the make-overs have worn off and the Doctor asks Mel what she would have wished for from the Wishing Beast; she says that she would have wished for more time to travel with him. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
| Line 38: | Line 44: | ||
* [[Melanie Bush]] - [[Bonnie Langford]] | * [[Melanie Bush]] - [[Bonnie Langford]] | ||
* [[Nesta Trubshaw]] - [[Diana Flacks]] | * [[Nesta Trubshaw]] - [[Diana Flacks]] | ||
* [[Winnie]] - [[Christine Moore]] | * [[Winnie]] / [[Lily Cook|Lily]] - [[Christine Moore]] | ||
* [[Bessy | * [[Bessy Tippington|Bessy]] / [[Barmaid (The Vanity Box)|Barmaid]] - [[Rachel Laurence]] | ||
* [[Coiffure|Monsieur | * [[Coiffure|Monsieur Coffure]] / [[Wishing Beast|The Wishing Beast]] - [[Toby Longworth]] | ||
== Crew == | |||
* Cover Art - [[Simon Holub]] | |||
* Director - [[John Ainsworth]] | |||
* Executive Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[Nicholas Briggs]] | |||
* Music - [[Andy Hardwick]] | |||
* Producer - [[Sharon Gosling]] | |||
* Script Editor - [[Alan Barnes]] | |||
* Sound Design - [[Gareth Jenkins]] | |||
* Written - [[Paul Magrs]] | |||
== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
* Mel refers to ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]'' | * The TARDIS materialises on [[Warren Street]]. | ||
* Mel refers to ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]'', [[Carnaby Street]] and [[L. S. Lowry]]. | |||
* The Doctor orders a pint of [[blackcurrant]] [[squash (drink)|squash]] with water rather than [[soda]] in ''The Sailor's End''. | * The Doctor orders a pint of [[blackcurrant]] [[squash (drink)|squash]] with water rather than [[soda]] in ''The Sailor's End''. | ||
* The [[Vanity Box]] used to be owned by [[Reenie Scallop]], who was [[decapitation|decapitated]]. | |||
* Nesta has [[chocolate bourbon]]s. | |||
* While disguised as a "provincial dolly bird," the Doctor tells Monsieur Coiffure that "two [[United States of America|Yanks]] helped me up the statue in [[Piccadilly Gardens]]" on [[VE Day|VE Night]] on [[8 May]] [[1945]]. | * While disguised as a "provincial dolly bird," the Doctor tells Monsieur Coiffure that "two [[United States of America|Yanks]] helped me up the statue in [[Piccadilly Gardens]]" on [[VE Day|VE Night]] on [[8 May]] [[1945]]. | ||
* The Doctor | * The Doctor [[buy]]s a milk stout for Nesta in the [[Sailor's End]]. | ||
* [[Bessy | * [[Bessy Tippington]] was born in [[1909]]. | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* ''The Vanity Box'' is only one episode long. The other three episodes on the discs are of ''[[The Wishing Beast (audio story)|The Wishing Beast]]''. | * ''The Vanity Box'' is only one episode long. The other three episodes on the discs are of ''[[The Wishing Beast (audio story)|The Wishing Beast]]''. | ||
* This was the final appearance of [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]] in a Big Finish audio drama until [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Wrong Doctors (audio story)|The Wrong Doctors]]'' in January 2013. | * This was the final appearance of [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]] in a Big Finish audio drama until [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Wrong Doctors (audio story)|The Wrong Doctors]]'' in January 2013. | ||
* This story is set between ''[[Season 23 (Doctor Who 1963)|The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' and ''[[Time and the Rani (TV story)|Time and the Rani]]''. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
* ''The Vanity Box'' takes places immediately after the events of [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Wishing Beast (audio story)|The Wishing Beast]]'', from the Doctor and Mel's perspective. However, those events have not taken place from the perspective of the [[Wishing Beast]]. | * ''The Vanity Box'' takes places immediately after the events of [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Wishing Beast (audio story)|The Wishing Beast]]'', from the Doctor and Mel's perspective. However, those events have not taken place from the perspective of the [[Wishing Beast]]. | ||
* The Doctor previously visited 1965 on three occasions during his [[First Doctor|first incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Massacre (TV story)|The Massacre]]'', ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Meeting (short story)|The Meeting]]'') He would later do so again during his [[Eighth Doctor|eighth]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Space Age (novel)|The Space Age]]'') and [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnations]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Blackout (audio story)|Blackout]]'') | * The Doctor previously visited 1965 on three occasions during his [[First Doctor|first incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Massacre (TV story)|The Massacre]]'', ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Meeting (short story)|The Meeting]]'') He would later do so again during his [[Eighth Doctor|eighth]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Space Age (novel)|The Space Age]]'') and [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnations]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Blackout (audio story)|Blackout]]'') | ||
* The Doctor previously disguised himself as a woman on two occasions during his [[ | * The Doctor previously disguised himself as a woman on two occasions during his [[second incarnation]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Highlanders (TV story)|The Highlanders]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Glorious Revolution (audio story)|The Glorious Revolution]]'') and once during his [[third incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Green Death (TV story)|The Green Death]]'') | ||
* The Doctor returned to [[Salford]] in his [[ninth incarnation]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Have You Seen This Man? (short story)|Have You Seen This Man?]]'') | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
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{{BFA monthly}} | {{BFA monthly}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[Category:Stories set in Manchester]] | [[Category:Stories set in Manchester]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in 1965]] | [[Category:Stories set in 1965]] | ||
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[[Category:Sixth Doctor Main Range audio stories]] | [[Category:Sixth Doctor Main Range audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:2007 Main Range audio stories]] | [[Category:2007 Main Range audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:One part audio stories]] | |||
Latest revision as of 20:10, 22 April 2024
The Vanity Box was the following one-part story comprising part of the ninety-seventh release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Paul Magrs and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
A strange beauty parlour has opened its doors for business in a dowdy Salford terrace circa 1965. Monsieur Coiffure is the talk of the street with his fabulous make-overs. When the Doctor arrives, however, he knows at once that there's been some unnatural titivation going on.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor and Mel arrive in 1965 Salford to rest after defeating the Wishing Beast. Whilst the Doctor goes for a drink at the Sailor's End, Mel goes to Lily's corner shop and hears from Bessy about Monsieur Coiffure's Vanity Box salon, which she has left looking several decades younger. The Doctor observes the reactions to Bessy when she enters the pub and, suspecting that something strange is going on, goes with Mel to investigate, finding Lily rejuvenated by a box put over her head.
Monsieur Coiffure sends the Doctor and Mel away, so they visit the gossipy Nesta who agrees to put the Doctor in drag so that he can return to the salon as a customer in need of a makeover. When Monsieur Coiffure places the Vanity Box on his head, the Doctor realises that it is the box containing the Wishing Beast, which has been feeding on psychic energy and shortening people's lives. It struggles to feed on him because of his long life and the Doctor and Mel take the damaged box back to the TARDIS.
The Doctor makes a tear in spacetime through which he throws the box into the Time Vortex, sending it along the TARDIS's recent path to the asteroid where he and Mel first encountered it in the distant past. Mel argues that the Doctor could have prevented what will happen to Maria, Eliza and Daniel Applewhite, but he denies this and takes her back to the Sailor's End. They find that the make-overs have worn off and the Doctor asks Mel what she would have wished for from the Wishing Beast; she says that she would have wished for more time to travel with him.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- Melanie Bush - Bonnie Langford
- Nesta Trubshaw - Diana Flacks
- Winnie / Lily - Christine Moore
- Bessy / Barmaid - Rachel Laurence
- Monsieur Coffure / The Wishing Beast - Toby Longworth
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Simon Holub
- Director - John Ainsworth
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music - Andy Hardwick
- Producer - Sharon Gosling
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Sound Design - Gareth Jenkins
- Written - Paul Magrs
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The TARDIS materialises on Warren Street.
- Mel refers to Ready Steady Go!, Carnaby Street and L. S. Lowry.
- The Doctor orders a pint of blackcurrant squash with water rather than soda in The Sailor's End.
- The Vanity Box used to be owned by Reenie Scallop, who was decapitated.
- Nesta has chocolate bourbons.
- While disguised as a "provincial dolly bird," the Doctor tells Monsieur Coiffure that "two Yanks helped me up the statue in Piccadilly Gardens" on VE Night on 8 May 1945.
- The Doctor buys a milk stout for Nesta in the Sailor's End.
- Bessy Tippington was born in 1909.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Vanity Box is only one episode long. The other three episodes on the discs are of The Wishing Beast.
- This was the final appearance of Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush in a Big Finish audio drama until AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors in January 2013.
- This story is set between The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Vanity Box takes places immediately after the events of AUDIO: The Wishing Beast, from the Doctor and Mel's perspective. However, those events have not taken place from the perspective of the Wishing Beast.
- The Doctor previously visited 1965 on three occasions during his first incarnation. (TV: The Massacre, The Daleks' Master Plan; PROSE: The Meeting) He would later do so again during his eighth (PROSE: The Space Age) and eleventh incarnations. (AUDIO: Blackout)
- The Doctor previously disguised himself as a woman on two occasions during his second incarnation (TV: The Highlanders; AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution) and once during his third incarnation. (TV: The Green Death)
- The Doctor returned to Salford in his ninth incarnation. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man?)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Vanity Box page at bigfinish.com
- The Vanity Box at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Vanity Box at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
