The Valley of Death (audio story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story

|image= Valleyofdeath-01-forweb.jpg

|series=[[The Lost Stories]]  

|number=

|doctor=Fourth Doctor  

|companions= [[Leela]]  

|enemy= [[Godrin]], The [[Luron]]

|setting= [[Amazon|Amazon rainforest]], [[1 May]] [[1873]]; [[London]] and [[Amazon|Amazon rainforest]], [[1977]]; [[London|West London]] and Luron mothership, [[1979]]

|writer= [[Philip Hinchcliffe]], adapted by [[Jonathan Morris]]  

|director= [[Ken Bentley]]  

|producer= [[David Richardson]]

|music= [[Andy Hardwick]]

|sound= [[Andy Hardwick]]

|cover= [[Alex Mallinson]]

|publisher= Big Finish Productions

|release date= [[9 January (releases)|9 January]] [[2012 (releases)|2012]]

|format= 4 Episodes on 2 CDs

|isbn= ISBN 978-1-84435-608-9  

|prev= The Foe from the Future (audio story)

|next= The Guardians of Prophecy (audio story)}}'''''The Valley of Death''''' was originally a story idea by [[producer]] [[Philip Hinchcliffe]], thinking he'd like to do a story set in the [[Amazon]]. He had mentioned this story idea to a few writers including [[Robert Holmes]], but he and none of the other writers were either particularly taken to the idea or understood it and it was quietly forgotten about. ([[DOC]]: ''[[Moving On (documentary)|Moving On]]'')

About 35 years later, Big Finish Productions resurrected the original idea from Hinchcliffe and adapted it to audio using a script written by [[Jonathan Morris]]. It was then released as a four-part adventure starring [[Tom Baker]] and [[Louise Jameson]].

* [[Godrin|Emissary Godrin]]/ [[Summersby|Dr. Summersby]]/ [[Announcer]] - [[Nigel Carrington]]

* [[Reginald Hemmings|General Hemmings]]/ [[Valcon]]/ [[Taxi driver (The Valley of Death)|Taxi Driver]] - [[Richard Bremmer]]

== References ==

* The Doctor is still officially [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]]'s scientific adviser. At the insistence of UNIT, he and Leela join Edward Perkins' expedition to the Amazon to learn the fate of his great-grandfather as scientific observers. From the evidence presented in his diary, [[UNIT HQ]] believes that Professor Perkins discovered a crashed alien spaceship in 1873.

* At the time of his disappearance in 1873, Professor Perkins had a wife and at least two children, one of whom went on to become Edward's paternal grandfather.

* The Valley of Death is also known as the Second [[Bermuda Triangle]] as planes passing over it frequently experience problems with their equipment and occasionally even crash.

* A taxi driver brings Godrin to the [[BBC Television Centre]]. Given his yellow skin and pointed ears, he believes that Godrin is a method actor working on a [[science fiction]] television series who is wearing prosthetic make-up.

* Godrin interrupts the third episode of a serial being broadcast on [[BBC1]] in order to contact the Luron mothership using a radio telescope.

* The Doctor refers to the [[1956]] science fiction film ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', claiming the Lurons' plot is essentially the film's storyline in fast forward as a result of the effects of the Luron time dilation field.

* After [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Hexagora (audio story)|Hexagora]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Foe from the Future (audio story)|The Foe from the Future]]'', this is the third Lost Story to feature scenes set in [[1977]].

* As the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] is repeatedly referred to as "she", the third and fourth episodes must take place after [[Margaret Thatcher]] achieved that position on [[4 May]] [[1979]].  

* This audio drama was recorded on [[5 September (production)|5]], [[6 September (production)|6]], [[7 September (production)|7]], [[8 September (production)|8]] and [[9 September (production)|9 September]] [[2011 (production)|2011]].

* The Doctor previously encountered giant spiders, namely the [[Eight Legs]], on their home planet of [[Metebelis III]] towards the end of his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders (TV story)|Planet of the Spiders]]'') He encountered them once again in [[London]] in [[2015]] during his [[Eighth Doctor|eighth incarnation]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Eight Truths (audio story)|The Eight Truths]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Worldwide Web (audio story)|Worldwide Web]]'')

* The Fourth Doctor was previously duplicated by the [[Kraal (species)|Kraal]]s, who created an [[android]] copy of him as part of their attempted invasion of Earth. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Android Invasion (TV story)|The Android Invasion]]'')

* Leela refers to her temporary blindness, which resulted from witnessing the destruction of the [[Rutan Host]]'s mothership over [[Fang Rock]] in the [[1900s]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Horror of Fang Rock (TV story)|Horror of Fang Rock]]'') She would be blinded once again, for a considerably longer period, during the [[Gallifrey|Gallifreyan Civil War]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Fractures (audio story)|Fractures]]'') but her sight was eventually restored through the transfusion of [[Vampire]] blood on the Gallifrey of an [[alternate timeline|alternative timeline]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Annihilation (audio story)|Annihilation]]'').

* {{Bigfinish|releases/v/the-fourth-doctor-box-set-412|The Valley of Death}}