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{{Infobox Story SMW
|image = The Wanderer.jpg
|image           = The Wanderer.jpg
|series = [[The Companion Chronicles]]
|range            = The Companion Chronicles
|number = 6.10
|series in range  = Series 6 (CC)
|doctor = First Doctor
|series number in range = 6
|companions = [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]], [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]]
|number in series = 10
|enemy = The [[Dahensa]]
|series           = ''[[The Companion Chronicles]]''
|publisher = Big Finish Productions
|number           = 6.10
|setting = [[Zarechny]], [[Siberia]] and [[St Petersburg]], [[Russia]], [[1903]]
|doctor           = First Doctor
|writer = [[Richard Dinnick]]
|companions       = [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]], [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]]
|director = [[Lisa Bowerman]]
|featuring        = [[Grigori Rasputin]]
|music = [[Andrew Edwards]]
|enemy           = The [[Dahensa]]
|sound = [[Andrew Edwards]]
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|cover = [[Alex Mallinson]]
|setting         = [[Zarechny]], [[Siberia]] and [[St Petersburg]], [[Russia]], [[1903]]
|release date = [[18 April (releases)|18 April]] [[2012 (releases)|2012]]
|writer           = Richard Dinnick
|format = 1 disc
|director         = [[Lisa Bowerman]]
|production code = BFPDWCC54
|producer        = [[David Richardson]]
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-621-8
|music           = [[Andrew Edwards]]
|prev = Binary (audio story)
|sound           = [[Andrew Edwards]]
|next = The Jigsaw War (audio story)
|cover           = [[Alex Mallinson]]
|music = [[Andrew Edwards]]
|epcount          = 2
|release date     = 18 April 2012
|format           = 1 CD<br/>Download
|production code = BFPDWCC54
|isbn             = ISBN 978-1-84435-621-8
|prev             = Binary (audio story)
|next             = The Jigsaw War (audio story)
}}{{you may|The Wanderers (comic story)|n1=The Wanderers, a comic story}}
}}{{you may|The Wanderers (comic story)|n1=The Wanderers, a comic story}}
'''''The Wanderer''''' was the fifty-fourth release in [[the Companion Chronicles]] audio range. It was the tenth story of season 6. It was written by [[Richard Dinnick]] and featured [[Ian Chesterton]].
'''''The Wanderer''''' was the tenth story of the [[Series 6 (CC)|sixth series]] in ''[[The Companion Chronicles]]'' audio range. It was [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Richard Dinnick]] and featured the [[First Doctor]], [[Susan Foreman|Susan]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] and [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]]. It was told from Ian's perspective.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 34: Line 39:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== The Dark Pilgrim (1) ===
Ian starts by telling that, while an errant life could seem fascinating, sometimes being on your own can make you lose perspective on the world and what it means being part of a community. He himself was a normal man, content to live a normal life, before he and [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] met the Doctor - and started travelling with him. At first, they felt like intruders, but Ian admits they gradually came to behave more like the Doctor, intervening in the places they found themselves and developing a taste for adventure.
At some point, they landed in [[Russia]], in [[1903]], in a forest. Immediately after landing, they saw something coming down on Earth from the sky, which the Doctor conjectured being an alien ship. The TARDIS readings on the subject were difficult to read, so they went outside in search of it, trying to prevent it affecting Earth and the [[timeline]]. They reached a village, where they met [[Grigori Rasputin|Grigori]], a travelling monk who the people regarded as a healer, an holy man, and assisted him as he went to visit the house of a local hunter, Michail, whose sons fell ill.
As soon as they reach the place, the Doctor also falls ill, and Ian and Grigori go back to the village to gather medicine. On the way, Grigori tells Ian that he survived drowning with his brother years ago, and that he is convinced to have been appointed by [[God]] to do something great; he even says he can have some perceptions regarding the future. When they come back to Mikail's house, they found the place trashed, Barbara and Susan gone and the Doctor almost unconscious, holding what is clearly an alien object; before passing out, he manages to whisper Ian he and Susan have been affected by [[Chronon|Chronon particles]]. Barbara comes back, and tells Ian Susan found the object and started acting violent (it was her to trash the place) before running into the forest: Barbara followed her, only to see four shapes coming out of the woods and taking Susan with them.


=== The Dark Pilgrim (1) ===
After resting a while, Barbara and Mikail once again venture into the woods in the hope of finding Susan, while Ian reads the Doctor's notes about the object. Apparently, it's a sort of device sent to Earth to gather evidence on the planet, but, due to a malfunctioning, he is now registering not only Earth's past, but also its future. The men fell ill when they touched it, but his influence is only fatal to time travellers, and increases as long one has been in contact with the [[Time Vortex]]. Grigori, understanding the machine can give him actual visions of the future, elects to touch it and indeed sees images of Earth's future - including [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], men on the Moon, alien invasions and the Doctor's future selves.
''to be added''


=== The Scorpion Men (2) ===
=== The Scorpion Men (2) ===
''to be added''
Finally, Grigori lets go of the machine and falls to the ground, unconscious. Ian succours him, but is relieved as she hears, and then sees, the Doctor rising up, now healed. Grigori has absorbed all the chronon particles, thus healing the Doctor. When he hears what happened, the Doctor is furious, but agrees there is no remedy now. Ian and the Doctor bury Mikail's son, now deceased, and then wait around for Grigori to wake up. When this happens, the Doctor scolds him, before sending the two men in the woods to look for the now missing Barbara and Michail. As they go along in their search, Grigori starts blathering about how to use his knowledge of the future to shape the future of his country, but Ian admonishes him that playing with the history of Earth could be dangerous. Grigori, however, is set firmly in his opinion, and lets us slip that his name, to Ian's astonishment, is [[Grigori Rasputin|Rasputin]].
 
The two men come across some of the alien creatures - scorpion-like being called the [[Dahensa]] - as they torture and kill Michail when he fails to tell them where their machine is. Grigori runs away, to let Ian being seized by the Dahensa. They interrogate him and come to know the location of his machine, then putting it away together with the now healed Susan. Both of them are released by Grigori, who knew Ian would be captured and came back to help them, and the three of them go back to Michail's cabin, where the Doctor is being confronted by the Dahensa. It is revealed that the machine crash-landed on Earth, and the Dahensa only assumed they have been attacked by Earth; now, however, they are interested in conquering the planet. The Dahensa force the Doctor to lead them to the device by threatening to kill Ian and Susan; as they leave, they once again leave them behind, to be rescued this time by Barbara.
 
As the five of them reach the boathouse, the Dahensa grab the object, but the Doctor did adjust his controls so that it now turns back time when someone touches it. The Dahensa, taken back in time, de-evolve in beings made of [[oil]], and vanish into the ground. Grigori collapses to the floor, exhausted and confused, and the Doctor brings him to the TARDIS so that he can bring him home. He connects Grigori to the ship's [[telepathic circuits]] and uses them to pinpoint his location, leaving him at the door of the [[Winter Palace]] in [[St Petersburg]]. He then tries the same thing with Ian and Barbara to take them home, but the system was overcharged by Grigori's mind, overheats and burns. Ian is displeased by this, but Barbara comforts him: even if he is far from home, unlike Grigori, he is not alone.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Ian Chesterton]] - [[William Russell]]
* [[Ian Chesterton]] - [[William Russell]]
* [[Grigori Rasputin|Grigory]] - [[Tim Chipping]]
* [[Grigori Rasputin|Grigori]] - [[Tim Chipping]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* Ian refers to the ''[[Arabian Nights]]''.
* Ian refers to the ''[[Arabian Nights]]''.
* Ian describes the Doctor as "the ultimate wanderer."
* Ian describes the Doctor as "the ultimate wanderer."
* Ian remembers listening to [[John Arlott]].
* As their travels in the TARDIS continue, Ian notes that the Doctor's influence is rubbing off on himself and Barbara. Recently, they have become increasingly likely to embroil themselves in events outside of the ship.
* As their travels in the TARDIS continue, Ian notes that the Doctor's influence is rubbing off on himself and Barbara. Recently, they have become increasingly likely to embroil themselves in events outside of the ship.
* [[Nicholas II]] is the [[Tsar]] of Russia at the time of the TARDIS' arrival.
* [[Nicholas II]] is the [[Tsar]] of Russia at the time of the TARDIS' arrival.
* Grigory describes himself as a ''strannik'', a religious pilgrim, whereas Mikhail Kropyn refers to him as a ''starets'', an elder of the Church who is believed to be a faith healer. However, he is not a priest.
* Grigori describes himself as a ''strannik'', a religious pilgrim, whereas Mikhail Kropyn refers to him as a ''starets'', an elder of the Church who is believed to be a faith healer. However, he is not a priest.
* [[Zarechny]] is on the River Tura.
* [[Zarechny]] is on the River Tura.
* Grigory tells Ian that he spent much of his youth carousing around the village where he grew up. His sister Maria and his brother Dmitri both drowned in separate accidents. He himself almost suffered the same fate on the latter occasion but managed to survive. He believes that God gave him a special purpose to fulfil and that he was not able to save his siblings as he was not destined to do so. He subsequently named his two children after them.
* Grigori tells Ian that he spent much of his youth carousing around the village where he grew up. His sister Maria and his brother Dmitri both drowned in separate accidents. He himself almost suffered the same fate on the latter occasion but managed to survive. He believes that God gave him a special purpose to fulfil and that he was not able to save his siblings as he was not destined to do so. He subsequently named his two children after them.
* Grigory claims to know the future. He tells Ian that he does not experience visions but instead possesses an ingrained certainty that events will follow a particular course.
* Grigori claims to know the future. He tells Ian that he does not experience visions but instead possesses an ingrained certainty that events will follow a particular course.
* The Doctor tells Ian that the [[chronon|chronon particles]] emitted by the alien device have a deleterious effect on [[time travel]]lers and are also damaging to the health of ordinary humans if they come into physical contact with it, though not to the same extent. It effects the Doctor and Susan more seriously than Ian and Barbara as they have travelled through time far more extensively.
* The Doctor tells Ian that the [[chronon|chronon particles]] emitted by the alien device have a deleterious effect on [[time travel]]lers and are also damaging to the health of ordinary humans if they come into physical contact with it, though not to the same extent. It affects the Doctor and Susan more seriously than Ian and Barbara as they have travelled through time far more extensively.
* The alien device was designed for the purposes of information gathering. It was seriously damaged either in transit or when it fell to [[Earth]]. Due to the emission of chronon particles by its damaged power source, it began to detect and record humanity's future at a rate of approximately 1,000 years per day. Once it has reached the limit of its information retention capabilities, it will vent its information around the Earth and every human will gain precise knowledge of the future.
* The alien device was designed for the purposes of information gathering. It was seriously damaged either in transit or when it fell to [[Earth]]. Due to the emission of chronon particles by its damaged power source, it began to detect and record humanity's future at a rate of approximately 1,000 years per day. Once it has reached the limit of its information retention capabilities, it will vent its information around the Earth and every human will gain precise knowledge of the future.
* When Grigory makes contact with the device, he gains knowledge of Tsaritsa [[Alexandra (The Wages of Sin)|Alexandra]], [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser Wilhelm II]], a [[World War I|great war]], a [[Russian Revolution of 1917|revolution]], an [[Treaty of Versailles|armistice]], [[World War II|another world war]], [[Adolf Hitler]], the [[The Blitz|Blitz]], the [[Concentration camp|Holocaust]], [[television]], [[computer]]s, spaceflight, [[Yuri Gagarin]], the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], the [[Berlin Wall]], a [[Mondas|tenth planet]], alien invasions, a [[Moonbase|lunar space station]], [[Ice Warrior|men]] on [[Mars]] and the Doctor.
* When Grigori makes contact with the device, he gains knowledge of Tsaritsa [[Alexandra Fydorovna|Alexandra]], [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser Wilhelm II]], a [[World War I|great war]], a [[Russian Revolution of 1917|revolution]], an [[Treaty of Versailles|armistice]], [[World War II|another world war]], [[Adolf Hitler]], the [[The Blitz|Blitz]], the [[Concentration camp|Holocaust]], [[television]], [[computer]]s, spaceflight, [[Yuri Gagarin]], the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], the [[Berlin Wall]], a [[Mondas|tenth planet]], alien invasions, a [[Moonbase|lunar space station]], [[Ice Warrior|men]] on [[Mars]] and the Doctor.
* Grigory received only glimpses of his personal future. However, he is aware that he will have a role to play at the highest levels of government in [[St Petersburg]].
* Grigori received only glimpses of his personal future. However, he is aware that he will have a role to play at the highest levels of government in [[St Petersburg]].
* Grigory gives his full name as [[Grigori Rasputin|Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin]].
* Grigori gives his full name as [[Grigori Rasputin|Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin]].
* Grigory tells Ian that the Doctor's presence is woven throughout the tapestry of human history.
* Grigori tells Ian that the Doctor's presence is woven throughout the tapestry of human history.
* The information gathering device, the ranger, was created by the [[Dahensa]]. They have yellow, glowing eyes and four arms. Two of their arms end in scorpion-like pincers whereas the other two end in humanoid fingers. They will attempt to invade Earth at least once more at some point in the next 1,000 years.
* The information gathering device, the ranger, was created by the [[Dahensa]]. They have yellow, glowing eyes and four arms. Two of their arms end in scorpion-like pincers whereas the other two end in humanoid fingers. They will attempt to invade Earth at least once more at some point in the next 1,000 years.
* By connecting the ranger into the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS, the Doctor is able to remove the knowledge of the future from Grigory's mind. The Doctor tells Ian that he may still be able to remember these events, though probably only in the form of dreams.
* By connecting the ranger into the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS, the Doctor is able to remove the knowledge of the future from Grigori's mind. The Doctor tells Ian that he may still be able to remember these events, though probably only in the form of dreams.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
Line 67: Line 82:
* This is the first ''Companion Chronicle'' to feature the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan since [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Transit of Venus (audio story)|The Transit of Venus]]'' in [[January]] [[2009]].
* This is the first ''Companion Chronicle'' to feature the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan since [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Transit of Venus (audio story)|The Transit of Venus]]'' in [[January]] [[2009]].
* [[Richard Dinnick]]'s original draft was based in [[16th century]] [[France]] and involved the alleged prophet [[Nostradamus]] rather than Rasputin. However, he was forced to abandon this idea when he learned that Nostradamus was due to appear in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Doomsday Quatrain (audio story)|The Doomsday Quatrain]]'' in the main range.
* [[Richard Dinnick]]'s original draft was based in [[16th century]] [[France]] and involved the alleged prophet [[Nostradamus]] rather than Rasputin. However, he was forced to abandon this idea when he learned that Nostradamus was due to appear in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Doomsday Quatrain (audio story)|The Doomsday Quatrain]]'' in the main range.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[10 March (production)|10 March]] [[2011 (production)|2011]].
* This audio drama was recorded on [[10 March (production)|10 March]] [[2011 (production)|2011]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
* In reference to Rasputin, Ian comments that "most people looked at him with terror and with fear." This is a line from the {{w|Boney M}} song "{{w|Rasputin (song)|Rasputin}}".
* In reference to Rasputin, Ian comments that "most people looked at him with terror and with fear." This is a line from the [[Boney M]] song "{{w|Rasputin (song)|Rasputin}}".
* This story is set between ''[[The Reign of Terror (TV story)|The Reign of Terror]]'' and ''[[Planet of Giants (TV story)|Planet of Giants]]''.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Ian recalls that the Doctor asked he and Barbara if they knew what it was like to be "wanderers in the fourth dimension" when they first met. ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'')  
* Ian recalls that the Doctor asked he and Barbara if they knew what it was like to be "wanderers in the fourth dimension" when they first met. ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'')
* Ian remembers that the Doctor once observed that the travellers' "destiny is in the stars". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Reign of Terror (TV story)|The Reign of Terror]]'')
* Ian remembers that the Doctor once observed that the travellers' "destiny is in the stars". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Reign of Terror (TV story)|The Reign of Terror]]'')
* The Doctor's condition reminds Ian of the symptoms of radiation poisoning which he displayed on [[Skaro]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor's condition reminds Ian of the symptoms of radiation poisoning which he displayed on [[Skaro]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'')
* Ian warns Grigory that, as the Doctor told Barbara in [[Mexico]], history cannot be changed. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'')
* Ian warns Grigori that, as the Doctor told Barbara in [[Mexico]], history cannot be changed. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'')
* Grigory mentions that he has seen Ian and Barbara's first encounter with the Doctor in a [[junkyard]] in [[76 Totter's Lane|Totter's Lane]] in [[November]] [[1963]] ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') as well as the three of them and Susan fighting "[[Dalek|strange beings]]" who have [[22nd century Dalek invasion|invaded Earth]] in the [[22nd century|future]], which has not happened yet in Ian's personal timeline ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]''). He also knows how Ian's travels in the TARDIS will end. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'')
* Grigori mentions that he has seen Ian and Barbara's first encounter with the Doctor in a [[junkyard]] in [[76 Totter's Lane|Totter's Lane]] in [[November]] [[1963]] ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') as well as the three of them and Susan fighting "[[Dalek|strange beings]]" who have [[2150s Dalek invasion of Earth|invaded Earth]] in the [[22nd century|future]], which has not happened yet in Ian's personal timeline. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'') He also knows how Ian's travels in the TARDIS will end. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'')
* Grigori has seen [[Silurian|beings which live beneath the surface of the Earth]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians (TV story)|Doctor Who and the Silurians]]''), [[Auton|people made of plastic]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]''), [[Cyberman (Mondas)|metal]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]''), [[Raxacoricofallapatorian|calcium]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]'' / ''[[World War Three (TV story)|World War Three]]'') and [[Kastrian|silicon]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]''), [[Osiran|Egyptian gods]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Sands of Time (novel)|The Sands of Time]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Bride of Peladon (audio story)|The Bride of Peladon]]''), [[Werewolf|werewolves]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Wolfsbane (novel)|Wolfsbane]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Loups-Garoux (audio story)|Loups-Garoux]]''; [[TV]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story)|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'', ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]''), [[ghost]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[Image of the Fendahl (TV story)|Image of the Fendahl]]''), [[vampire]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]'', ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'', ''[[Vampire Science (novel)|Vampire Science]]''), a [[Mondas|tenth planet]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]''), [[Ice Warrior|men]] on [[Mars]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ice Warriors (TV story)|The Ice Warriors]]'') and a [[Moonbase|lunar space station]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Moonbase (TV story)|The Moonbase]]'').
* Grigori has seen [[Silurian|beings which live beneath the surface of the Earth]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians (TV story)|Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'') [[Auton|people made of plastic]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'') [[Cyberman|metal]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]'') [[Raxacoricofallapatorian|calcium]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]'' / ''[[World War Three (TV story)|World War Three]]'') and [[Kastrian|silicon]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'') [[Osiran|Egyptian gods]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Sands of Time (novel)|The Sands of Time]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Bride of Peladon (audio story)|The Bride of Peladon]]''), [[Werewolf|werewolves]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Wolfsbane (novel)|Wolfsbane]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Loups-Garoux (audio story)|Loups-Garoux]]''; [[TV]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story)|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'', ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]''), [[ghost]]s, ([[TV]]: ''[[Image of the Fendahl (TV story)|Image of the Fendahl]]'') [[vampire]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]'', ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'', ''[[Vampire Science (novel)|Vampire Science]]''), a [[Mondas|tenth planet]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tenth Planet (TV story)|The Tenth Planet]]'') [[Ice Warrior|men]] on [[Mars]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ice Warriors (TV story)|The Ice Warriors]]'') and a [[Moonbase Laika|lunar space station]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Moonbase (TV story)|The Moonbase]]'')
* The First Doctor would later return to Russia during the [[France|French]] invasion in [[1812]] in the company of [[Steven Taylor]] and [[Dodo Chaplet]]. On that occasion, he met [[Napoléon Bonaparte]] for the first time. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Mother Russia (audio story)|Mother Russia]]'')
* The First Doctor would later return to Russia twice. The first time, he, Susan, Ian and Barbara will assist to [[Nicholas II]]'s execution with his family in [[1917]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Last of the Romanovs (audio story)|Last of the Romanovs]]''). The second time, he, [[Steven Taylor]] and [[Dodo Chaplet]] will land during the [[France|French]] invasion in [[1812]], and on that occasion, he met [[Napoléon Bonaparte]] for the first time. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Mother Russia (audio story)|Mother Russia]]'')
* The [[Third Doctor]], [[Liz Shaw]] and [[Jo Grant]] would later become involved in the events surrounding Rasputin's [[murder]] at the hands of Prince [[Felix Yusupov]] and his co-conspirators Grand Duke [[Dmitri Pavlovich]] and [[Vladimir Purishkevich]] in the [[Moika Palace]] in [[St Petersburg]] in [[December]] [[1916]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Wages of Sin (novel)|The Wages of Sin]]'')
* The [[Third Doctor]], [[Liz Shaw]] and [[Jo Grant]] would later become involved in the events surrounding Rasputin's [[murder]] at the hands of Prince [[Felix Yusupov]] and his co-conspirators Grand Duke [[Dmitri Pavlovich]] and [[Vladimir Purishkevich]] in the [[Moika Palace]] in [[St Petersburg]] in [[December]] [[1916]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Wages of Sin (novel)|The Wages of Sin]]'')
* Later in his life, [[Spy Master|the "Spy" Master]] will take Rasputin's place as the counsellor to the tszars, in his scheme to hijack the Doctor's existence. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{Bigfinish|releases/v/the-wanderer-510|The Wanderer}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/the-wanderer-510|The Wanderer}}
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{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
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[[Category:Stories set in Siberia]]
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[[Category:Two part audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 03:18, 3 July 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for The Wanderers, a comic story.

The Wanderer was the tenth story of the sixth series in The Companion Chronicles audio range. It was Big Finish Productions. It was written by Richard Dinnick and featured the First Doctor, Susan, Barbara and Ian. It was told from Ian's perspective.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Siberia at the end of the 19th Century, and the TARDIS arrives just as a shooting star hurtles to the ground.

With it comes an illness that affects the Doctor and Susan, and knowledge that must not fall into the wrong hands.

With his friends either dying or lost, Ian Chesterton must save the future and win the ultimate prize — a way home to 1963...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Dark Pilgrim (1)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian starts by telling that, while an errant life could seem fascinating, sometimes being on your own can make you lose perspective on the world and what it means being part of a community. He himself was a normal man, content to live a normal life, before he and Barbara met the Doctor - and started travelling with him. At first, they felt like intruders, but Ian admits they gradually came to behave more like the Doctor, intervening in the places they found themselves and developing a taste for adventure.

At some point, they landed in Russia, in 1903, in a forest. Immediately after landing, they saw something coming down on Earth from the sky, which the Doctor conjectured being an alien ship. The TARDIS readings on the subject were difficult to read, so they went outside in search of it, trying to prevent it affecting Earth and the timeline. They reached a village, where they met Grigori, a travelling monk who the people regarded as a healer, an holy man, and assisted him as he went to visit the house of a local hunter, Michail, whose sons fell ill.

As soon as they reach the place, the Doctor also falls ill, and Ian and Grigori go back to the village to gather medicine. On the way, Grigori tells Ian that he survived drowning with his brother years ago, and that he is convinced to have been appointed by God to do something great; he even says he can have some perceptions regarding the future. When they come back to Mikail's house, they found the place trashed, Barbara and Susan gone and the Doctor almost unconscious, holding what is clearly an alien object; before passing out, he manages to whisper Ian he and Susan have been affected by Chronon particles. Barbara comes back, and tells Ian Susan found the object and started acting violent (it was her to trash the place) before running into the forest: Barbara followed her, only to see four shapes coming out of the woods and taking Susan with them.

After resting a while, Barbara and Mikail once again venture into the woods in the hope of finding Susan, while Ian reads the Doctor's notes about the object. Apparently, it's a sort of device sent to Earth to gather evidence on the planet, but, due to a malfunctioning, he is now registering not only Earth's past, but also its future. The men fell ill when they touched it, but his influence is only fatal to time travellers, and increases as long one has been in contact with the Time Vortex. Grigori, understanding the machine can give him actual visions of the future, elects to touch it and indeed sees images of Earth's future - including Hitler, men on the Moon, alien invasions and the Doctor's future selves.

The Scorpion Men (2)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Finally, Grigori lets go of the machine and falls to the ground, unconscious. Ian succours him, but is relieved as she hears, and then sees, the Doctor rising up, now healed. Grigori has absorbed all the chronon particles, thus healing the Doctor. When he hears what happened, the Doctor is furious, but agrees there is no remedy now. Ian and the Doctor bury Mikail's son, now deceased, and then wait around for Grigori to wake up. When this happens, the Doctor scolds him, before sending the two men in the woods to look for the now missing Barbara and Michail. As they go along in their search, Grigori starts blathering about how to use his knowledge of the future to shape the future of his country, but Ian admonishes him that playing with the history of Earth could be dangerous. Grigori, however, is set firmly in his opinion, and lets us slip that his name, to Ian's astonishment, is Rasputin.

The two men come across some of the alien creatures - scorpion-like being called the Dahensa - as they torture and kill Michail when he fails to tell them where their machine is. Grigori runs away, to let Ian being seized by the Dahensa. They interrogate him and come to know the location of his machine, then putting it away together with the now healed Susan. Both of them are released by Grigori, who knew Ian would be captured and came back to help them, and the three of them go back to Michail's cabin, where the Doctor is being confronted by the Dahensa. It is revealed that the machine crash-landed on Earth, and the Dahensa only assumed they have been attacked by Earth; now, however, they are interested in conquering the planet. The Dahensa force the Doctor to lead them to the device by threatening to kill Ian and Susan; as they leave, they once again leave them behind, to be rescued this time by Barbara.

As the five of them reach the boathouse, the Dahensa grab the object, but the Doctor did adjust his controls so that it now turns back time when someone touches it. The Dahensa, taken back in time, de-evolve in beings made of oil, and vanish into the ground. Grigori collapses to the floor, exhausted and confused, and the Doctor brings him to the TARDIS so that he can bring him home. He connects Grigori to the ship's telepathic circuits and uses them to pinpoint his location, leaving him at the door of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. He then tries the same thing with Ian and Barbara to take them home, but the system was overcharged by Grigori's mind, overheats and burns. Ian is displeased by this, but Barbara comforts him: even if he is far from home, unlike Grigori, he is not alone.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ian refers to the Arabian Nights.
  • Ian describes the Doctor as "the ultimate wanderer."
  • Ian remembers listening to John Arlott.
  • As their travels in the TARDIS continue, Ian notes that the Doctor's influence is rubbing off on himself and Barbara. Recently, they have become increasingly likely to embroil themselves in events outside of the ship.
  • Nicholas II is the Tsar of Russia at the time of the TARDIS' arrival.
  • Grigori describes himself as a strannik, a religious pilgrim, whereas Mikhail Kropyn refers to him as a starets, an elder of the Church who is believed to be a faith healer. However, he is not a priest.
  • Zarechny is on the River Tura.
  • Grigori tells Ian that he spent much of his youth carousing around the village where he grew up. His sister Maria and his brother Dmitri both drowned in separate accidents. He himself almost suffered the same fate on the latter occasion but managed to survive. He believes that God gave him a special purpose to fulfil and that he was not able to save his siblings as he was not destined to do so. He subsequently named his two children after them.
  • Grigori claims to know the future. He tells Ian that he does not experience visions but instead possesses an ingrained certainty that events will follow a particular course.
  • The Doctor tells Ian that the chronon particles emitted by the alien device have a deleterious effect on time travellers and are also damaging to the health of ordinary humans if they come into physical contact with it, though not to the same extent. It affects the Doctor and Susan more seriously than Ian and Barbara as they have travelled through time far more extensively.
  • The alien device was designed for the purposes of information gathering. It was seriously damaged either in transit or when it fell to Earth. Due to the emission of chronon particles by its damaged power source, it began to detect and record humanity's future at a rate of approximately 1,000 years per day. Once it has reached the limit of its information retention capabilities, it will vent its information around the Earth and every human will gain precise knowledge of the future.
  • When Grigori makes contact with the device, he gains knowledge of Tsaritsa Alexandra, Kaiser Wilhelm II, a great war, a revolution, an armistice, another world war, Adolf Hitler, the Blitz, the Holocaust, television, computers, spaceflight, Yuri Gagarin, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall, a tenth planet, alien invasions, a lunar space station, men on Mars and the Doctor.
  • Grigori received only glimpses of his personal future. However, he is aware that he will have a role to play at the highest levels of government in St Petersburg.
  • Grigori gives his full name as Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin.
  • Grigori tells Ian that the Doctor's presence is woven throughout the tapestry of human history.
  • The information gathering device, the ranger, was created by the Dahensa. They have yellow, glowing eyes and four arms. Two of their arms end in scorpion-like pincers whereas the other two end in humanoid fingers. They will attempt to invade Earth at least once more at some point in the next 1,000 years.
  • By connecting the ranger into the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS, the Doctor is able to remove the knowledge of the future from Grigori's mind. The Doctor tells Ian that he may still be able to remember these events, though probably only in the form of dreams.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • While the synopsis stated that the story takes place at the end of the 19th century, within the story it is stated that it is the turn of the century or perhaps a bit later. Grigori Rasputin, who became a journeying pilgrim in 1901, arrived in St Petersburg in 1903, dating this story with more specificity. As the story states that Rasputin (1869-1916) is in his early 30s, the story must also take place after 1899.
  • This is the first Companion Chronicle to feature the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan since AUDIO: The Transit of Venus in January 2009.
  • Richard Dinnick's original draft was based in 16th century France and involved the alleged prophet Nostradamus rather than Rasputin. However, he was forced to abandon this idea when he learned that Nostradamus was due to appear in AUDIO: The Doomsday Quatrain in the main range.
  • This audio drama was recorded on 10 March 2011 at the Moat Studios.
  • In reference to Rasputin, Ian comments that "most people looked at him with terror and with fear." This is a line from the Boney M song "Rasputin".
  • This story is set between The Reign of Terror and Planet of Giants.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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The Companion Chronicles
 
First Doctor
Susan
Susan, Barbara, Ian
Barbara, Ian
Barbara, Ian, Vicki
Vicki and Steven
Steven, Sara
Steven, Oliver
Steven, Dodo
Steven
Polly, Ben
 
Second Doctor
Polly, Ben
Polly, Ben, Jamie
Jamie, Victoria
Jamie
Jamie, Zoe
 
Third Doctor
Liz
The Brigadier
Jo
Yates
Benton
Solo travels
 
Fourth Doctor
Leela
Leela, K9 Mark I
Romana I
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Romana II, Adric
 
Fifth Doctor
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan
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Peri
 
Sixth Doctor
Peri
Evelyn
"Jamie"
Jason, Crystal
 
Seventh Doctor
Ace, Zara
Bernice
Sally, Lysandra
 
Eighth Doctor
Charley
Iris Wildthyme, Jo Grant
 
Other adventures
Jago and Litefoot
Polly, the Brigadier, Brewster
Ian
The Master
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