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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image=Primeval cover.jpg  
|image           = Primeval cover.jpg  
|range          = Main Range
|range          = Main Range
|number in range = 26
|number in range = 26
|series=[[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'' audio stories]]
|series         = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number= 26  
|number         = 26  
|doctor=Fifth Doctor  
|doctor         = Fifth Doctor  
|companions= [[Nyssa]]  
|companions     = [[Nyssa]]  
|enemy= [[Kwundaar]]  
|enemy           = [[Kwundaar]]  
|setting= [[Traken]], circa [[BC#2nd millennium B.C.|1000 BC]]  
|setting         = [[Traken]], circa [[BC#2nd millennium B.C.|1000 BC]]  
|writer= [[Lance Parkin]]
|writer         = Lance Parkin
|director= [[Gary Russell]]
|director       = [[Gary Russell]]
|music= [[Russell Stone]]
|music           = [[Gareth Jenkins (sound designer)|Gareth Jenkins]]
|sound= [[Gareth Jenkins]]
|sound           = Gareth Jenkins
|cover=[[Clayton Hickman]]
|cover           = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|publisher= Big Finish Productions
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|release date= [[November (releases)|November]] [[2001 (releases)|2001]]
|release date   = 23 November 2001
|format= 4 Episodes on 2 CDs  
|format         = 2 CDs<br/>Download
|production code= [[List of production codes|6C/D]]  
|production code = [[List of production codes|6C/D]]  
|isbn= ISBN 1-903654-51-3
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-90365-451-4 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-84435-724-6 (digital)
|prev= Colditz (audio story)  
|prev           = Colditz (audio story)  
|next= The One Doctor (audio story)}}'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the twenty-sixth story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Lance Parkin]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]].
|next           = The One Doctor (audio story)
|made prev      = The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)
|made next      = The Sandman (audio story)
|producer        = [[Gary Russell]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
|epcount = 4
}}{{audio stub}}
{{spotify|album=4TJ0oVA5wMfFCxN60hZMxZ|height=350}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the twenty-sixth story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|main range]]. It was written by [[Lance Parkin]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]].


It was notable for exploring the history of [[Nyssa]]'s home planet of [[Traken]] and the wider [[Traken Union]], and for being novelist [[Lance Parkin]]'s first audio story.
Serving as a prequel to ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'', it was notable for exploring the history of [[Nyssa]]'s home planet of [[Traken]] and the wider [[Traken Union]], as well as for being novelist [[Lance Parkin]]'s first audio story.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 36: Line 43:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== Part 1 ===


Nyssa has collapsed, and the Fifth Doctor needs help.  He takes her to a healer named Shayla and her assistant Sabian for help, having already induced D-Sleep. It’s not her first collapse, but her recovery last time seems to be temporary. After Shayla stabilises her, she meets with the Doctor, and takes him to see Nyssa. Nyssa awakens in the morning from a nightmare to find the Doctor beside her; she recognises a bird outside the window as being from Traken.  The Doctor explains that they are on Traken, but three thousand years prior to its destruction.  He cautions her to keep the truth about their travels as vague as possible.  Sabian arrives and sends the Doctor to Shayla, who must report his presences to the Consuls; he offers to stay with Nyssa in the meantime.
=== Part one ===
The Doctor begs [[Shayla]], a great [[Trakenite]] doctor, and her assistant [[Sabian]] to help Nyssa, who has collapsed. She is in critical condition. This illness is the same as the one the Doctor tried to fix before by putting her into deep sleep ([[TV]]: ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]'') and has been causing increased psychic sensitivity. They are 3000 years in [[Traken|Traken's]] past, so that Nyssa can be treated by an expert on Trakenite biology. Nyssa wakes up, and Sabian agrees to stay with her while the Doctor goes with Shayla to announce his presence on the planet to the Consulate. [[Consuls of Traken|Consul]] [[Hyrca]] keeps watch while Consul [[Janneus]] communes with the source to learn more about the Doctor, finding danger, and a strange pattern across space and time.  


The Consuls, Hyrca and Janneus, are uncertain about the Doctor, and Janneus communes with the Source for more information while Hyrca guards her.  It warns of danger, but doesn’t explain; it cannot track the patterns involved. This turn of events makes them respond to the Doctor with some hostility.  Shayla reports that Nyssa’s souls has been corroded by exposure to evil, which doesn’t fit with anything the Doctor has encountered before; evil, he insists, is a relative concept, not an objective force like radiation. The Consuls insist that evil is in fact an objective force, and that the Source protects them from it, rendering Traken perfect; the Doctor counters this by pointing out that even Traken has the death penalty.  The Consuls conclude that the Doctor is jealous of the Trakenites. Later, the Doctor consults with Nyssa, who knows little of her own history, but acknowledges that Trakenites of the past were more superstitious—consistent with Shayla’s view that Nyssa has been corrupted with evil.
Shayla explains that Nyssa has been exposed to evil, and this is acting like a cancer to cause this illness. The Consuls and Shayla discuss perfection and evil with the Doctor. The [[Traken Union]] believes they exist in a state of perfection, with leaders chosen among the elite by the elite, and their society and decisions are guided by the [[Source of Traken|Source]]. Meanwhile on a ship, [[Anona]] talks to Captain [[Narthex]], who expressed some doubts about his Lord [[Kwundaar]], who then summons him. However, Narthex tells Anona to go instead. She feels it is an honour, but becomes worried as she enters a room, alone, to the sound of laughter.  


Outside the Traken Union, a fleet of warships has waited for 2500 years, led by the living god Kwundaar. Kwundaar summons Captain Narthex, but he sends a young lieutenant, Anona, in his place.  He will not allow her to look at him or speak to him.  He reads her mind, and binds her to his service. He reveals that he intends to conquer Traken—Paradise, as he calls it—and claim the Source, which is also dangerous to him. He sends her back to Narthex; she wonders why Kwundaar doesn’t go out to conquer.  Narthex suspects he has an agent on Traken, as Kwundaar claims; but also that the Consuls will attack soon.
Nyssa tells the Doctor that in her time they did not study Traken's history, because surely nothing can be learned from it, but she knows that they must be in the [[Primeval Times|Primeval]] times. The time before the [[Keeper of Traken|Keepers]], when the Source governed itself, and back when they still had disease and religion. At the same time, Anona is told by Kwundaar that the source is burning him, and enters her mind, telling her that she cannot remember the time before she came to the ship, and must not look at his face. Anona promises to obey him as he declares that he will bring the Traken Union down and destroy the Source. Sabian explains that the Source is a mechanical sun, built to allow Traken to exist in a state of paradise. Hyrca believes the Doctor poses too great a challenge to their authority, a danger to their way of life, whilst Shayla explains that Nyssa has been through so much, and is unlikely to survive more than a few days, while Janneus calls the Doctor "borderline abusive" for putting her in so much danger. They discuss removing the Doctor and Nyssa from Traken to protect their society.  


The Consuls meet secretly with Shayla and discuss the Doctor and Nyssa. Shayla, like Nyssa, believes the Doctor to be a good man, but the Consuls disagree.  The Consuls decide to send the Doctor and Nyssa out of the Union.  Shayla insists that Nyssa needs the Source to recover, but the Consuls insist they will kill Nyssa rather than let the Union be endangered.  Elsewhere, Sabian tells the Doctor about the Source, a sentient, artificial sun. Shayla arrives, and as she explains the outcome of her meeting, Nyssa falls into a near-coma. Frustrated at the lack of knowledge of Nyssa’s condition, Shayla suggests something audacious:  She suggests contacting Kwundaar, who is allegedly omniscient despite the terrible crimes of his followers.  The Doctor agrees, but Shayla knows the Consuls will kill him if they find out he intends to contact Kwundaar; therefore Shayla bribes a merchant captain at the spaceport to smuggle them out of the Union.
Narthex knows what questions Anona has about Kwundaar because he has them too, describing him as a "living God". He tells Lieutenant Anona that the Source will turn them to stone if they get any closer. Meanwhile, Shayla breaks the news to the Doctor, telling him he must leave by nightfall and pledge never to return, but then Sabian interrupts them, saying that Nyssa is relapsing. Shayla tries to help her relax, allowing her to sleep. She suggests that their only hope may be Kwundaar, with the only way to get there being [[Kabe|Captain Kabe]].


After their departure, Nyssa awakens and speaks with Sabian, who lies—badly—about the Doctor’s whereabouts  Hyrca interrupts them and summons them to a meeting to account for Shayla and the Doctor. En route to the meeting, she collapses again, sensing Kwundaar’s mental presence, coupled with danger for the Doctor.  Meanwhile, the merchant ship is captured by Kwundaar’s forces as soon as it exits the Union; Anona takes the Doctor and Shayla prisoner, and kills the crew.  The Doctor is sent in alone to meet Kwundaar, who claims to know who the Doctor is and what he wants; he will help, but it will cost.  The Doctor challenges him to show his face, and he does—and the Doctor screams.
Sabian begs them not to leave, but they go to the space port anyway. The pair ask Kabe to be smuggled out of the Union, and the Doctor agrees to pay whatever he wants.  


=== Part 2 ===
Nyssa and Sabian talk about how incredible Shayla is at saving lives, but she isn't convinced when he tells the Consuls that they went to the northern shores. Nyssa's presence is demanded for a meeting with the Consuls, whilst on Kwundaar's ship, the crew note Kabe's approach, believing them to be his agent on Traken. Anona is told telepathically to intercept the ship and do what they will with the passengers. Kabe tells the Doctor and Shayla where Kwundaar is stationed, and that they're basically pirates, splitting loot and worshipping Kwundaar. Some "pirates"- including Anona- intercept them, boarding the ship and killing Kabe. They take the Doctor and Shayla to see Kwundaar. Meanwhile, Nyssa proclaims that the Doctor is in terrible danger and  about to die. The Doctor and Shayla find the ship to be old and Kwundaar to be reportedly immortal before the Doctor is sent to see Kwundaar alone. He already knows about Nyssa's condition, and the Doctor tells him that he'll do whatever Kwundaar wants to save Nyssa, then asks Kwundaar to show his face. The Doctor gasps and yells as he sees Kwundaar's face, who is laughing all the while.
After the Doctor stops screaming, more than an hour passes before Shayla is allowed to see him. He reveals that Kwundaar, a powerful telepath, had to push hard to break down the Doctor’s mental defences.  Negotiations will resume when the Doctor recovers; in the meantime, the Doctor debates what Kwundaar could want from him, and indeed, what Kwundaar is. Despite Shayla’s distrust of Narthex and Anona, the Doctor insists they are not evil so much as misguided by their lives, and he will save them if they can. On Traken, Nyssa attends the meeting with the Consuls, and offends them when she questions their blind reliance on the Source, which she insists is just a machine, free of morality; they consider this heresy.  They suggest that her evil is contagious, which they suspect prompted Shayla to flee; they say they may have to kill her, which sends her into a rage and causes her to pass out again.


The Doctor and Shayla try to reason with Anona and Narthex, but to no avail; each for their own reasons, they are devoted to Kwundaar, and in their own contexts, their reasons are, well, reasonable. Kwundaar calls the Doctor back, and shows him the Traken Union from a distance; he reveals that the light of the Source would destroy him, and yet he once walked on Traken. The Doctor refuses to help destroy the Source, regardless of the cost; but Kwundaar, well aware of Traken’s future destruction and the Doctor’s involvement in it, doesn’t seek destruction as such.  Instead, he seeks an item from the vault of the Source interface, and to that end he offers to strengthen Nyssa’s mind until the next day; but he declines to tell the Doctor what he seeks. Meanwhile, Shayla—feeling chastised by Anona’s judgment of her—shares all the medical knowledge on her portable datapad with the ship’s computer; but to her frustration, Anona scorns her for this.
=== Part two ===
Anona tells Shayla not to see if the Doctor is alright, and Narthex arrives to tell her the same. Shayla confronts the pair about what happened to Kabe, calling them fools for following Kwundaar. They feel no guilt. The Consuls talk to Nyssa, with Sabian still protesting due to her weakened state. They gasp when she calls the source 'just a machine", and accuse her of heresy as they continue questioning her. On the ship, the door to Kwundaar's room opens, and they find the Doctor's hearts beating rapidly as he appears to be unconscious. He awakens quickly.  


As Nyssa recovers, the Consuls adjourn until morning, and leave Sabian in charge of Nyssa. He takes her to an underground spa with a warm spring, which will aid her recovery; the stream that feeds the spring, incidentally, passes by the vault of the Source interface.  The warm waters help her to feel better, and she realises that the spa is an ancient temple of some sort; Sabian says that it predates the Source.  She feels fully restored, but doesn’t realise that it is due to Kwundaar rather than the spring. Back at Shayla’s house, they find the TARDIS missing; the Consuls have quarantined it, and now intends to quarantine them, though their reasoning for imprisoning Sabian is very flimsy.
Meanwhile, the Consuls continue to concoct an idea that Shayla has removed the Doctor from Nyssa's presence to prevent the evil within him from spreading further, and that Nyssa must be disintegrated to prevent the evil from spreading. As Nyssa begins to protest, she collapses once more.  


The Doctor returns, and Kwundaar speaks through Anona to send him back to Traken. However, Kwundaar says that Shayla will stay as a slave, never to be returned to Traken; the Doctor refuses to allow it, and flees with Shayla.  He breaks into the merchant ship in the bay, threatening the crewmembers who try to stop them, and blasts his way out, damaging the flagship in the process.  Narthex is angry about this, until Kwundaar reveals the truth:  He has engineered everything, from Nyssa’s illness to now, in order to bring in the Doctor to serve his own purposes—and now, the Doctor will deliver Traken over to him.
Kwundaar is a powerful telepath, and the Doctor is still trying to figure out what leverage he can have over a seemingly omniscient being in order to get him to save Nyssa. Anona is assigned to watch over Shayla and the Doctor while they're on the ship. On Traken, Sabian is charged with Nyssa's care until the morning, when the Consuls will commune once more to decide her fate for certain. Sabian takes Nyssa to a healing spring to ease her pain while she waits to die. Anona tells the Doctor that she is 18, like Sabian, as they attempt to convince her that Kwundaar is evil. Anona tells of how her parents died because people like the Trakenites refuse to share their medical knowledge with those they deem unworthy. Anona refuses to hear of the outside universe, saying she is happy serving Kwundaar.  


=== Part 3 ===
Narthex, on the other hand, talks about how working there allows him to provide for his three daughters, doing this for them rather than for Kwundaar's purpose. Nyssa invites Sabian into the water with her, and he explains that the source is what provides this water with these healing properties, as the interface for it is housed below the stream that feeds into this spring. Nyssa seems to think the Doctor is her only hope. The Doctor returns to Kwundaar's room, reminding him that his purpose for being there is urgent. He tells of the security of the Traken Union, even if it is a "guilded cage", and says he will not destroy it, even for Nyssa. Instead of destroying the union, the Doctor is given the combination to the chamber where the source is stored (245680) and told that Nyssa will live if he brings him something from the chamber, but the Doctor isn't sure what.  
Arriving on Traken, the Doctor and Shayla are collected by the Consuls, who are confounded to see that no evil has yet arisen from their activities, despite their contact with the Union’s enemies. He asks to see Nyssa, and is granted permission; she is fully recovered as yet, and is teaching Sabian to dance the Charleston. He explains that Trakenites of Nyssa’s era have been protected by the Source for so long that their mental defences have degraded; however, he can teach her meditation techniques that will strengthen her defences. Before he can begin, he reports to the Consuls about Kwundaar’s fleet, which is preparing for war at the moment.  He is dismayed to see that the Consuls are mostly uninterested; once he has fully reported, they dismiss him, and order Shayla to ensure that he and Nyssa leave the Union.  He offers to take Shayla with him, but she declines, though acknowledging Traken’s insularity.  At last they depart in the TARDIS, leaving the Consuls debating among themselves about Kwundaar.  Soon the Source begins to track preparatory activity in the fleet.


The Doctor can’t simply leave, however.  He rematerialises in the spa chamber, as he can’t fly directly to the Source interface vault. Using swim gear and artificial gills, he and Nyssa swim to the Source interface, and the Doctor notes that its vault is the same age as the temple structure at the spa.  He grows curious about their origin and purpose.  He is confounded by Kwundaar’s purpose; there is nothing in the vault to be removed except the interface itself, and there is no Keeper in this age. He looks into the Source itself via the interface, using a combination given to him by Kwundaar to open its shield briefly, but has no idea how to proceed.  He closes the shield, boosting its power for safety, and leaves with Nyssa, planning to go back to the TARDIS via the grove rather than the stream.
Shayla adds medical information to the computer on the ship as the Doctor returns to tell her they will leave. However, Kwundaar, speaking through Anona, tells them that Shayla will stay on the ship as a plaything. The Doctor grabs Shayla and runs. Hyrca announces to Nyssa and Sabian, who left the spa where the spring was and found the TARDIS removed, that she will be placed in quarantine until they decide if she needs to be disintegrated. They put the TARDIS in quarantine too, until they can work out how to dispose of it, and say Sabian will also be monitored for signs of illness. Nyssa appears to have been cured by the spring.


Kwundaar joins Narthex on the bridge of the flagship and announces that the Doctor has done his part, and orders the fleet to attack.
The Doctor and Shayla escape Kwundaar's ship in Kabe's ship. Anona is told that Nyssa is Kwundaar's agent on Traken, and he infected her in the first place, finding her through the evil she'd been exposed to. This is why her psychic potential has been unlocked, and it is his voice she has heard in his dreams. Nyssa has been resisting, causing her illness, and so the Doctor is his real agent, doing what he asks more than Nyssa does. Once he has no more use for the Doctor, he will kill him.  


The Doctor and Nyssa are caught first by Sabian, then by a Foster named Etrayk, but are interrupted by a bombardment from above.  The Doctor, Nyssa, and Sabian manage to hide, but Etrayk sounds the alarm, and is quickly captured by Kwundaar’s pirates under Anona. As the fleet destroys the spaceport, the Doctor realises that the Source’s light is not destroying the fleet as expected—and when the sun rises, it is jet black. It seems the Doctor’s efforts to strengthen the shield, rather than keeping Kwundaar out, have kept the light in; and now Kwundaar is conquering Traken, and will take the Source.
=== Part three ===
The Doctor and Shayla return to Traken, immediately met with armed Fosters, Hyrca, and Janneus, who arrest them for consorting with enemies of Traken. However, Shayla convinces them to let the Doctor leave, after a consulate board of inquiries has been briefed on their adventure. They have been checked for signs of evil infection, so are allowed to go see Nyssa. The Doctor finds her to be teaching Sabian the Charleston, and tells her that once they leave Traken, he can teach her psychic defences that will help her battle the illness.  


=== Part 4 ===
On Kwundaar's ship, Anona and Narthex are training for their impending attack on Traken. Narthex breaks her nose. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Shayla meet with the board of Consulate inquiries, having the pair recount their adventure. The Doctor explains that Kwundaar is a powerful psychic who can detect minds across time and space, and even incoming ships. The consulates are not interested in finding out about Kwundaar's true nature, and say it is impossible that he could have visited Traken before as he claimed. They also don't care about Kabe's death, infuriating the Doctor.  
Shayla and Etrayk arrive at the Consular Chamber, and find Janneus and Hyrca helpless to stop the crisis, just before Narthex and Kwundaar transmat into the chamber. Kwundaar’s gaze drives Etrayk mad. Kwundaar orders his troops to shoot the Doctor on sight, but retracts the order, choosing to watch the Doctor die personally.  In fear, Hyrca leads him to the Source interface, and Kwundaar secures the vault and sends Narthex for a  device from the flagship.  He orders that the civilians be unharmed, as they will make better slaves that way. The Doctor, meanwhile, moves to intercept Kwundaar, sending Nyssa via the spa and taking Sabian with him via the grove. They spot Kwundaar’s followers carrying the Source Manipulator to the vault; he gives Sabian the code that must be put into the manipulator.  Narthex captures them, stunning the Doctor, and orders Sabian to carry the Doctor’s unconscious form to the Consular Chamber.


Nyssa encounters Anona at the spa; she lies and says that the Doctor is swimming upstream to the vault.  Anona dives in to follow, not realising that the water is infused with energy from the Source, which burns her. Nyssa wrestles away her gun and stuns her with it, then heads for the vault.  Anona recovers enough to warn Narthex, who in turn warns Kwundaar, who already knows. Kwundaar meets Nyssa at the vault, and invades her mind, forcing her to operate the Manipulator so that the Source will accept Kwundaar’s control.  He then sends Narthex to bring the Doctor.  The Doctor, meanwhile, is recovering, and compares notes with Hyrca, who has lost hope. He realises that Kwundaar has been waiting outside the Union for 2532 years—exactly as long as the Source has been active.  He does not know what Kwundaar was doing before that.
Shayla will give her account the next day. The Doctor discusses his meetings with Kwundaar as Narthex contacts his daughter, who he hasn't called for a while. Nyssa and the Doctor depart in the TARDIS, but the Doctor knows they must return. He tells Nyssa it's because Kwundaar mentioned that he wanted something from the vault that contains the source interface, but he doesn't know what, and he can't leave without finding out. He did not mention this to the Consulates.  


Narthex brings the Doctor and Shayla to the vault, with Anona accompanying him.  Nyssa is also recovering, and the Doctor suspects she is experiencing racial memories of past battles between the Trakenites and Kwundaar, with the Source as their weapon. However, Kwundaar insists that the Trakenites once worshipped him; he gave them scientific skill, and they promptly used it to expel him. The spa and the vault were once his temple; and he has returned for revenge.  Just before entering the Source chamber, he orders Narthex and Anona to kill the survivors.  Anona prepares to do so, but Narthex shoots her; he has reconsidered his allegiance to Kwundaar, fearing for his family.  As she dies, Anona shoots the Source Manipulator.
They work out that the vault is near the spa Nyssa was in (because that was what gave the water it's healing properties). Meanwhile, Janneus expresses doubts about the source being infallible, because it didn't give judgment on the Doctor. He and Nyssa go swimming towards the vault.   


Up above, in the Consular Chamber, Sabian argues with the Consuls, who reveal they have known the truth all along, though it has long been concealed from the public.  Now, they are rationalising their actions in the face of their failure, preparing to hand their civilisation over to Kwundaar.
Kwundaar's ship is having difficulties with the ship's communications due to the power fluctuations the Doctor's escape caused. At the same time, Nyssa and the Doctor break into the vault using a laser cutter, coming face to face with the source's interface, which seems overactive. The Doctor finds the chamber to be older than the source, and as old as the spa house. The Consulates note the incoming attack by Kwundaar's fleet, but is not worried, because the source is active. The Doctor uses the combination Kwundaar gave him to unlock and enter the source interface with Nyssa, finding it bigger on the inside. They fail to find what Kwundaar wanted, but the Doctor does increase the source's security.


Anona destroyed the control keyboard, but the device is intact.  Narthex plans to cannibalise the keypad from the vault entrance door, but it will not be quick. The Doctor gives Nyssa the code and then goes to confront Kwundaar.  Kwundaar tells him that he no longer seeks worship; he just wants to destroy everything, and to that end he is using the Source to summon other exiled gods to his cause.  He strikes the Doctor down, and leaves the chamber. Nyssa tries to psychically hold Kwundaar back, but he removes her psychic powers at once, and gets the code from her mind.  He inputs the code, intending to lock the Source into its current configuration, then prepares to kill Narthex. However, the Doctor comes out, and is in control of the Source; he reveals that he lied about the code, and rather than locking the Source, it transfers control to whomever is inside at the time it is entered.  The Doctor uses the Source to restrain Kwundaar, while Nyssa uses the Manipulator to purge the Source of corruption. The Doctor sets the Source to re-open, and offers to let Kwundaar escape; but Kwundaar declines, and stands fast, until the Source burns him away.
Kwundaar tells Narthex that the Doctor has done what he asked. The attack begins as Nyssa and the Doctor come across Sabian and Foster Etrayk. Anona takes Etrayk hostage, and the fleet now have control over the vault entrance, and this sector. The sun is black, and Nyssa tells him that the Doctor boosting the security stops the source's light from getting through. Kwundaar has won.  


The light does not burn Narthex, indicating he may be a good man, despite his past. The Doctor transfers control of the Source to Shayla, and then Nyssa enters the real lockdown code, making Shayla the first Keeper of Traken. Shayla chooses not to punish the Consuls, who have just seen all of Kwundaar’s followers dissolve in the Source’s light. Narthex leaves to recover and repatriate any of Kwundaar’s followers who may have survived, with the Doctor’s word to vouch for him when he returns. The Doctor offers to let Nyssa stay; after all, Kwundaar did manage to summon other primeval adversaries, and they will be searching for the Doctor.  She refuses, and chooses to stay with the Doctor regardless.
=== Part four ===
The Consuls discuss the damage of the attack so far, with Shayla entering to tell them they need to restore the source to destroy all the invaders. Narthex orders the Consuls to kneel; Kwundaar now has full control over Traken. Narthex and Kwundaar announce that the Doctor must be shot on sight, and ask the Consuls to open the vault to the source interface. Janneus resists and is shot at, so Hyrca opens the vault instead from the entrance in the consul chambers. Nyssa decides to swim from the spa to the vault entrance.
 
Anona is ordering Shayla and Janneus to pull down tapestries. Narthex and Hyrca enter, and Narthex orders that the people of Traken are not mistreated until the Slavers Trade arrives. He orders Anona to go after Nyssa. Sabian and the Doctor come across a machine being carried to the consul room- probably the interface of the source-, but Narthex finds them, stuns the Doctor, and takes them to the Consul chambers. Elsewhere, Anona spies a girl wearing the Doctor's coat: Nyssa. She is in front of the TARDIS, about to swim to the source. Anona comes into the water with Nyssa, and the water burns her, because it is imbued with the Source's energy. Nyssa takes her gun and stuns her.
 
The Doctor wakes up- he and the Consuls are chained up, as well as Shayla and Sabian. Kwundaar is in the vaults, gaining control of the source. Anona meets up with Narthex, who goes to Kwundaar to tell him about Nyssa's approach- the Doctor mentioned that she got away in Narthex's presence. Nyssa arrives, Kwundaar telling her that he'd been with her forever. He overpowers her telepathically. Meanwhile, the Doctor spots a coincidence in the length of preparation for this attack- over 2000 years- that Anona tells him she learned of in the ship's logs. Exactly as long as it has been since the source was first activated. Narthex brings the Doctor down to the vault to witness Kwundaar's victory. Anona comes, and Shayla is brought too on the Doctor's request.
 
The Doctor leads Kwundaar to explain: Kwundaar was the god of the early Trakenites, but they betrayed him. He then built the Source as the ultimate expression of science, but the Trakenites then had no need for him, so kicked him off the planet. The source is now under his control; he enters the source to complete the process, ordering Narthex to kill the Doctor, Nyssa, and Shayla. Meanwhile, Janneus reveals that the Consuls were once the high priests to the living god- Kwundaar. This corroborates Kwundaar's story. The Consuls have been keeping this a secret to avoid dissent among the union's people.  
 
The Doctor tells Anona that all he has to do is type in a number and Kwundaar will be destroyed within the source; she'll be free. When she refuses and is about to kill him, Narthex shoots her and frees the Doctor, revealing that it was he who opened the hatch on the ship to allow them to escape. The Doctor promises to protect Narthex's daughters. Anona dies, but not before she destroys the source manipulator, meaning they cannot stop Kwundaar. Sabian tries to convince the Consuls that they are wrong to accept Kwundaar's new rule over them. The Doctor connects a new keypad to the source manipulator so it can be used again, then tells the others he will enter the source, forming a mental link with it to delay Kwundaar until they can enter the sequence of numbers to lock down the source. 
 
Kwundaar tells the Doctor that he will use the beacon to call back the old gods that were exiled outside the universe, and the pair duel, with Kwundaar quickly overpowering him. Nyssa enters the source to keep distracting Kwundaar, but he removes her heightened psychic abilities so she can't fight him. He takes the lockdown code from her mind. Narthex attempts to fight Kwundaar, and Kwundaar attacks him. The Doctor essentially is now Keeper, and reveals that the code Kwundaar just entered that he took from Nyssa's mind was actually the wrong code, one that gives the power to the Doctor instead. Nyssa reactivates the shield for the source, and the Doctor uses his new power to destroy Kwundaar. Shayla takes on the power, becoming the first Keeper of Traken. Entering the lockdown sequence- the real one- bonds Shayla with the source.   
 
Narthex decides to stay on Traken and call his daughters here. Nyssa tells the Doctor she will stay with him, as Traken is her past, not her future, and that they still have work to do.  


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 88: Line 107:
* [[Janneus]] - [[Rita Davies]]
* [[Janneus]] - [[Rita Davies]]
* [[Hyrca]] - [[Mark Woolgar]]
* [[Hyrca]] - [[Mark Woolgar]]
* [[Narthex]]/Captain [[Kabe]] - [[Billy Miller]]
* [[Narthex]] / [[Kabe|Captain Kabe]] - [[Billy Miller]]
* [[Etrayk]] - [[Alistair Lock]]
* [[Etrayk]] - [[Alistair Lock]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
* In this era, [[The Source (The Keeper of Traken)|the Source]] exists, but there is no [[Keeper of Traken|Keeper]].
 
* Cover Art - [[Clayton Hickman]]
* Director - [[Gary Russell]]
* Executive Producer - [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Music - [[Russell Stone]]
* Producers - [[Gary Russell]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Sound Design - [[Gareth Jenkins]]
* Writer - [[Lance Parkin]]


== Worldbuilding ==
* In this era, [[The Source (The Keeper of Traken)|the Source]] exists but there is no [[Keeper of Traken|Keeper]].
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* The story is both a sequel and a prequel to ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]''.
* The story is both a sequel and a prequel to ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]''.
* All the characters are named after or have names based on mediaeval theologians or aspects of mediaeval theology.
* All the characters are named after or have names based on mediaeval theologians or aspects of mediaeval theology.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 August (production)|24]] and [[25 August (production)|25 August]] 2001.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 August (production)|24]] and [[25 August (production)|25 August]] [[2001 (production)|2001]] at [[The Moat Studios]].
* [[File:Lee Sullivan BF 5 5 Primeval.JPG|thumb|Illustration by [[Lee Sullivan]] from [[DWM 311]].]]An illustrated preview of this story featured in [[DWM 311]] illustrated by [[Lee Sullivan]].
* An illustrated preview of this story featured in [[DWM 311]] illustrated by [[Lee Sullivan]].
* [[Russell Stone]]'s score for the story was released on the CD ''[[Music from the Fifth Doctor Audio Adventures (soundtrack)|Music from the Fifth Doctor Audio Adventures]]'', alongside the scores for ''[[The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)|The Eye of the Scorpion]] ''and ''[[Loups-Garoux (audio story)|Loups-Garoux]]''.
* [[Russell Stone]]'s score for the story was released on the CD ''[[Music from the Fifth Doctor Audio Adventures (soundtrack)|Music from the Fifth Doctor Audio Adventures]]'', alongside the scores for ''[[The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)|The Eye of the Scorpion]]'' and ''[[Loups-Garoux (audio story)|Loups-Garoux]]''.
* This story is set between ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'' and ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]''.
 
== Gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
Primeval cover.jpg|Original CD cover
Lee Sullivan BF 5 5 Primeval.JPG|Illustration by [[Lee Sullivan]] from [[DWM 311]]
Primeval DWM preview clean.jpg|Textless version of the DWM preview art
</gallery>


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* This story portrays the planet [[Traken]] three thousand years before [[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]].'' It also tells how the [[Keeper of Traken|Keeper]]'s position came to be.  
* This story portrays the planet [[Traken]] three thousand years before [[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]].'' It also tells how the [[Keeper of Traken|Keeper]]'s position came to be.
* This story reveals that Nyssa's collapse in [[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'' and the [[telepathic]] powers which she demonstrates in [[TV]]: ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'' are the results of Kwundaar's manipulations. Seeking to regain control of the Source, Kwundaar needed to use a native of Traken who had left the union. He chose Nyssa. Ultimately, it is the Doctor that Kwundaar wants to use to regain control of the Source.
* This story reveals that Nyssa's collapse in [[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'' and the [[telepathic]] powers which she demonstrates in [[TV]]: ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'' are the results of Kwundaar's manipulations. Seeking to regain control of the Source, Kwundaar needed to use a native of Traken who had left the union. He chose Nyssa. Ultimately, it is the Doctor that Kwundaar wants to use to regain control of the Source.
* Kwundaar knows of Traken's eventual destruction. ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'')
* Kwundaar knows of Traken's eventual destruction. ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'')
* Nyssa refers to [[Adric]]'s death. ([[TV]]: ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'')
* Nyssa refers to [[Adric]]'s death. ([[TV]]: ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'')
* Nyssa had previously considered asking the Doctor to take her to Traken before its destruction on numerous occasions before she actually did so. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Empire of Death (novel)|Empire of Death]]'')
* Nyssa had previously considered asking the Doctor to take her to Traken before its destruction on numerous occasions before he actually did so. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Empire of Death (novel)|Empire of Death]]'')
* Nyssa teaches Sabian the [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]]. She had herself been taught the dance by [[Tegan Jovanka]] while attending a party at [[Cranleigh Hall]] in [[Oxfordshire]] on [[11 June]] [[1925]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'')
* Nyssa teaches Sabian the [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]]. She had herself been taught the dance by [[Tegan Jovanka]] while attending a party at [[Cranleigh Hall]] in [[Oxfordshire]] on [[11 June]] [[1925]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'')
* The Doctor alludes to the loss of his sonic. ([[TV]]: [[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]])


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/primeval-650|Primeval}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/primeval-650|Primeval}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf26.htm|Primeval}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf26.htm|Primeval}}
* {{tetrap|5/primeval.html|Primeval}}
* {{tetrap|5/primeval.html|Primeval}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]
[[Category:2001 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]]
[[Category:Stories set on Traken]]
[[Category:Stories set on Traken]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:2001 Main Range audio stories]]

Revision as of 09:25, 25 June 2024

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Primeval was the twenty-sixth story in Big Finish's main range. It was written by Lance Parkin and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

Serving as a prequel to The Keeper of Traken, it was notable for exploring the history of Nyssa's home planet of Traken and the wider Traken Union, as well as for being novelist Lance Parkin's first audio story.

Publisher's summary

Nyssa will die at dawn, and the Doctor doesn't even know why.

To save her life, he must make a desperate journey to the only place in the universe where a cure might exist to heal her.

When even that fails, the Doctor has a choice —­ let Nyssa die, or make a deal with the devil.

After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

Plot

Part one

The Doctor begs Shayla, a great Trakenite doctor, and her assistant Sabian to help Nyssa, who has collapsed. She is in critical condition. This illness is the same as the one the Doctor tried to fix before by putting her into deep sleep (TV: Kinda) and has been causing increased psychic sensitivity. They are 3000 years in Traken's past, so that Nyssa can be treated by an expert on Trakenite biology. Nyssa wakes up, and Sabian agrees to stay with her while the Doctor goes with Shayla to announce his presence on the planet to the Consulate. Consul Hyrca keeps watch while Consul Janneus communes with the source to learn more about the Doctor, finding danger, and a strange pattern across space and time.

Shayla explains that Nyssa has been exposed to evil, and this is acting like a cancer to cause this illness. The Consuls and Shayla discuss perfection and evil with the Doctor. The Traken Union believes they exist in a state of perfection, with leaders chosen among the elite by the elite, and their society and decisions are guided by the Source. Meanwhile on a ship, Anona talks to Captain Narthex, who expressed some doubts about his Lord Kwundaar, who then summons him. However, Narthex tells Anona to go instead. She feels it is an honour, but becomes worried as she enters a room, alone, to the sound of laughter.

Nyssa tells the Doctor that in her time they did not study Traken's history, because surely nothing can be learned from it, but she knows that they must be in the Primeval times. The time before the Keepers, when the Source governed itself, and back when they still had disease and religion. At the same time, Anona is told by Kwundaar that the source is burning him, and enters her mind, telling her that she cannot remember the time before she came to the ship, and must not look at his face. Anona promises to obey him as he declares that he will bring the Traken Union down and destroy the Source. Sabian explains that the Source is a mechanical sun, built to allow Traken to exist in a state of paradise. Hyrca believes the Doctor poses too great a challenge to their authority, a danger to their way of life, whilst Shayla explains that Nyssa has been through so much, and is unlikely to survive more than a few days, while Janneus calls the Doctor "borderline abusive" for putting her in so much danger. They discuss removing the Doctor and Nyssa from Traken to protect their society.

Narthex knows what questions Anona has about Kwundaar because he has them too, describing him as a "living God". He tells Lieutenant Anona that the Source will turn them to stone if they get any closer. Meanwhile, Shayla breaks the news to the Doctor, telling him he must leave by nightfall and pledge never to return, but then Sabian interrupts them, saying that Nyssa is relapsing. Shayla tries to help her relax, allowing her to sleep. She suggests that their only hope may be Kwundaar, with the only way to get there being Captain Kabe.

Sabian begs them not to leave, but they go to the space port anyway. The pair ask Kabe to be smuggled out of the Union, and the Doctor agrees to pay whatever he wants.

Nyssa and Sabian talk about how incredible Shayla is at saving lives, but she isn't convinced when he tells the Consuls that they went to the northern shores. Nyssa's presence is demanded for a meeting with the Consuls, whilst on Kwundaar's ship, the crew note Kabe's approach, believing them to be his agent on Traken. Anona is told telepathically to intercept the ship and do what they will with the passengers. Kabe tells the Doctor and Shayla where Kwundaar is stationed, and that they're basically pirates, splitting loot and worshipping Kwundaar. Some "pirates"- including Anona- intercept them, boarding the ship and killing Kabe. They take the Doctor and Shayla to see Kwundaar. Meanwhile, Nyssa proclaims that the Doctor is in terrible danger and about to die. The Doctor and Shayla find the ship to be old and Kwundaar to be reportedly immortal before the Doctor is sent to see Kwundaar alone. He already knows about Nyssa's condition, and the Doctor tells him that he'll do whatever Kwundaar wants to save Nyssa, then asks Kwundaar to show his face. The Doctor gasps and yells as he sees Kwundaar's face, who is laughing all the while.

Part two

Anona tells Shayla not to see if the Doctor is alright, and Narthex arrives to tell her the same. Shayla confronts the pair about what happened to Kabe, calling them fools for following Kwundaar. They feel no guilt. The Consuls talk to Nyssa, with Sabian still protesting due to her weakened state. They gasp when she calls the source 'just a machine", and accuse her of heresy as they continue questioning her. On the ship, the door to Kwundaar's room opens, and they find the Doctor's hearts beating rapidly as he appears to be unconscious. He awakens quickly.

Meanwhile, the Consuls continue to concoct an idea that Shayla has removed the Doctor from Nyssa's presence to prevent the evil within him from spreading further, and that Nyssa must be disintegrated to prevent the evil from spreading. As Nyssa begins to protest, she collapses once more.

Kwundaar is a powerful telepath, and the Doctor is still trying to figure out what leverage he can have over a seemingly omniscient being in order to get him to save Nyssa. Anona is assigned to watch over Shayla and the Doctor while they're on the ship. On Traken, Sabian is charged with Nyssa's care until the morning, when the Consuls will commune once more to decide her fate for certain. Sabian takes Nyssa to a healing spring to ease her pain while she waits to die. Anona tells the Doctor that she is 18, like Sabian, as they attempt to convince her that Kwundaar is evil. Anona tells of how her parents died because people like the Trakenites refuse to share their medical knowledge with those they deem unworthy. Anona refuses to hear of the outside universe, saying she is happy serving Kwundaar.

Narthex, on the other hand, talks about how working there allows him to provide for his three daughters, doing this for them rather than for Kwundaar's purpose. Nyssa invites Sabian into the water with her, and he explains that the source is what provides this water with these healing properties, as the interface for it is housed below the stream that feeds into this spring. Nyssa seems to think the Doctor is her only hope. The Doctor returns to Kwundaar's room, reminding him that his purpose for being there is urgent. He tells of the security of the Traken Union, even if it is a "guilded cage", and says he will not destroy it, even for Nyssa. Instead of destroying the union, the Doctor is given the combination to the chamber where the source is stored (245680) and told that Nyssa will live if he brings him something from the chamber, but the Doctor isn't sure what.

Shayla adds medical information to the computer on the ship as the Doctor returns to tell her they will leave. However, Kwundaar, speaking through Anona, tells them that Shayla will stay on the ship as a plaything. The Doctor grabs Shayla and runs. Hyrca announces to Nyssa and Sabian, who left the spa where the spring was and found the TARDIS removed, that she will be placed in quarantine until they decide if she needs to be disintegrated. They put the TARDIS in quarantine too, until they can work out how to dispose of it, and say Sabian will also be monitored for signs of illness. Nyssa appears to have been cured by the spring.

The Doctor and Shayla escape Kwundaar's ship in Kabe's ship. Anona is told that Nyssa is Kwundaar's agent on Traken, and he infected her in the first place, finding her through the evil she'd been exposed to. This is why her psychic potential has been unlocked, and it is his voice she has heard in his dreams. Nyssa has been resisting, causing her illness, and so the Doctor is his real agent, doing what he asks more than Nyssa does. Once he has no more use for the Doctor, he will kill him.

Part three

The Doctor and Shayla return to Traken, immediately met with armed Fosters, Hyrca, and Janneus, who arrest them for consorting with enemies of Traken. However, Shayla convinces them to let the Doctor leave, after a consulate board of inquiries has been briefed on their adventure. They have been checked for signs of evil infection, so are allowed to go see Nyssa. The Doctor finds her to be teaching Sabian the Charleston, and tells her that once they leave Traken, he can teach her psychic defences that will help her battle the illness.

On Kwundaar's ship, Anona and Narthex are training for their impending attack on Traken. Narthex breaks her nose. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Shayla meet with the board of Consulate inquiries, having the pair recount their adventure. The Doctor explains that Kwundaar is a powerful psychic who can detect minds across time and space, and even incoming ships. The consulates are not interested in finding out about Kwundaar's true nature, and say it is impossible that he could have visited Traken before as he claimed. They also don't care about Kabe's death, infuriating the Doctor.

Shayla will give her account the next day. The Doctor discusses his meetings with Kwundaar as Narthex contacts his daughter, who he hasn't called for a while. Nyssa and the Doctor depart in the TARDIS, but the Doctor knows they must return. He tells Nyssa it's because Kwundaar mentioned that he wanted something from the vault that contains the source interface, but he doesn't know what, and he can't leave without finding out. He did not mention this to the Consulates.

They work out that the vault is near the spa Nyssa was in (because that was what gave the water it's healing properties). Meanwhile, Janneus expresses doubts about the source being infallible, because it didn't give judgment on the Doctor. He and Nyssa go swimming towards the vault.

Kwundaar's ship is having difficulties with the ship's communications due to the power fluctuations the Doctor's escape caused. At the same time, Nyssa and the Doctor break into the vault using a laser cutter, coming face to face with the source's interface, which seems overactive. The Doctor finds the chamber to be older than the source, and as old as the spa house. The Consulates note the incoming attack by Kwundaar's fleet, but is not worried, because the source is active. The Doctor uses the combination Kwundaar gave him to unlock and enter the source interface with Nyssa, finding it bigger on the inside. They fail to find what Kwundaar wanted, but the Doctor does increase the source's security.

Kwundaar tells Narthex that the Doctor has done what he asked. The attack begins as Nyssa and the Doctor come across Sabian and Foster Etrayk. Anona takes Etrayk hostage, and the fleet now have control over the vault entrance, and this sector. The sun is black, and Nyssa tells him that the Doctor boosting the security stops the source's light from getting through. Kwundaar has won.

Part four

The Consuls discuss the damage of the attack so far, with Shayla entering to tell them they need to restore the source to destroy all the invaders. Narthex orders the Consuls to kneel; Kwundaar now has full control over Traken. Narthex and Kwundaar announce that the Doctor must be shot on sight, and ask the Consuls to open the vault to the source interface. Janneus resists and is shot at, so Hyrca opens the vault instead from the entrance in the consul chambers. Nyssa decides to swim from the spa to the vault entrance.

Anona is ordering Shayla and Janneus to pull down tapestries. Narthex and Hyrca enter, and Narthex orders that the people of Traken are not mistreated until the Slavers Trade arrives. He orders Anona to go after Nyssa. Sabian and the Doctor come across a machine being carried to the consul room- probably the interface of the source-, but Narthex finds them, stuns the Doctor, and takes them to the Consul chambers. Elsewhere, Anona spies a girl wearing the Doctor's coat: Nyssa. She is in front of the TARDIS, about to swim to the source. Anona comes into the water with Nyssa, and the water burns her, because it is imbued with the Source's energy. Nyssa takes her gun and stuns her.

The Doctor wakes up- he and the Consuls are chained up, as well as Shayla and Sabian. Kwundaar is in the vaults, gaining control of the source. Anona meets up with Narthex, who goes to Kwundaar to tell him about Nyssa's approach- the Doctor mentioned that she got away in Narthex's presence. Nyssa arrives, Kwundaar telling her that he'd been with her forever. He overpowers her telepathically. Meanwhile, the Doctor spots a coincidence in the length of preparation for this attack- over 2000 years- that Anona tells him she learned of in the ship's logs. Exactly as long as it has been since the source was first activated. Narthex brings the Doctor down to the vault to witness Kwundaar's victory. Anona comes, and Shayla is brought too on the Doctor's request.

The Doctor leads Kwundaar to explain: Kwundaar was the god of the early Trakenites, but they betrayed him. He then built the Source as the ultimate expression of science, but the Trakenites then had no need for him, so kicked him off the planet. The source is now under his control; he enters the source to complete the process, ordering Narthex to kill the Doctor, Nyssa, and Shayla. Meanwhile, Janneus reveals that the Consuls were once the high priests to the living god- Kwundaar. This corroborates Kwundaar's story. The Consuls have been keeping this a secret to avoid dissent among the union's people.

The Doctor tells Anona that all he has to do is type in a number and Kwundaar will be destroyed within the source; she'll be free. When she refuses and is about to kill him, Narthex shoots her and frees the Doctor, revealing that it was he who opened the hatch on the ship to allow them to escape. The Doctor promises to protect Narthex's daughters. Anona dies, but not before she destroys the source manipulator, meaning they cannot stop Kwundaar. Sabian tries to convince the Consuls that they are wrong to accept Kwundaar's new rule over them. The Doctor connects a new keypad to the source manipulator so it can be used again, then tells the others he will enter the source, forming a mental link with it to delay Kwundaar until they can enter the sequence of numbers to lock down the source.

Kwundaar tells the Doctor that he will use the beacon to call back the old gods that were exiled outside the universe, and the pair duel, with Kwundaar quickly overpowering him. Nyssa enters the source to keep distracting Kwundaar, but he removes her heightened psychic abilities so she can't fight him. He takes the lockdown code from her mind. Narthex attempts to fight Kwundaar, and Kwundaar attacks him. The Doctor essentially is now Keeper, and reveals that the code Kwundaar just entered that he took from Nyssa's mind was actually the wrong code, one that gives the power to the Doctor instead. Nyssa reactivates the shield for the source, and the Doctor uses his new power to destroy Kwundaar. Shayla takes on the power, becoming the first Keeper of Traken. Entering the lockdown sequence- the real one- bonds Shayla with the source.

Narthex decides to stay on Traken and call his daughters here. Nyssa tells the Doctor she will stay with him, as Traken is her past, not her future, and that they still have work to do.

Cast

Crew

Worldbuilding

Notes

Gallery

  • Original CD cover

    Original CD cover

  • Illustration by Lee Sullivan from DWM 311

    Illustration by Lee Sullivan from DWM 311

  • Textless version of the DWM preview art

    Textless version of the DWM preview art

Continuity

  • This story portrays the planet Traken three thousand years before TV: The Keeper of Traken. It also tells how the Keeper's position came to be.
  • This story reveals that Nyssa's collapse in TV: Four to Doomsday and the telepathic powers which she demonstrates in TV: Time-Flight are the results of Kwundaar's manipulations. Seeking to regain control of the Source, Kwundaar needed to use a native of Traken who had left the union. He chose Nyssa. Ultimately, it is the Doctor that Kwundaar wants to use to regain control of the Source.
  • Kwundaar knows of Traken's eventual destruction. (TV: Logopolis)
  • Nyssa refers to Adric's death. (TV: Earthshock)
  • Nyssa had previously considered asking the Doctor to take her to Traken before its destruction on numerous occasions before he actually did so. (PROSE: Empire of Death)
  • Nyssa teaches Sabian the Charleston. She had herself been taught the dance by Tegan Jovanka while attending a party at Cranleigh Hall in Oxfordshire on 11 June 1925. (TV: Black Orchid)
  • The Doctor alludes to the loss of his sonic. (TV: The Visitation)

External links

v • e
Big Finish Main Range
 
Fifth Doctor
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan
Nyssa
Nyssa, Brewster
Nyssa, Hannah
Nyssa, Tegan
Nyssa, Tegan, Marc
Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough
Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion
Tegan, Leela
Turlough
Peri
Peri, Erimem
Amy
Vicki, Steven
Solo travels
 
Sixth Doctor
Peri
Evelyn
Evelyn, Brewster
Frobisher
Charley
"Jamie"
Flip
Constance
Constance, Flip
Mel
Jamie, Zoe
Solo travels
 
Seventh Doctor
Mel
Ace
Ace, Hex
Ace, Benny
Sally
Ace, Hex, Lysandra, Sally
Ace, Hex, Sally
Ace, Mel
Mags
Klein
Klein, Will
Jo
Solo travels
 
Eighth Doctor
Mary Shelley
Charley
Charley, C'rizz
Solo & other travels
All stories from Big Finish Productions' main monthly range from 1999 to 2021 are included in this navigation box, including the "subscriber exclusive" stories which were part of the subscription service for this range.
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