An Eye For Murder (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image            =  
|image            =  
|series          = ''[[Main Range]]''
|series          = ''[[Main Range]]''
|audio anthology  = ''[[Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories]]''
|audio anthology  = Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories
|range           = Main Range
|range           = Main Range
|number in range = 188c
|number in range = 188c
|number          = 188c
|number          = 188c
|doctor          = Sixth Doctor
|doctor          = Sixth Doctor
|companions      = [[Peri Brown]]
|companions      = [[Peri Brown|Peri]]
|enemy            = [[Maria Backhouse|Dr Maria Backhouse]]
|enemy            = [[Maria Backhouse]]
|setting          = [[St Ursula's College]], [[England]], [[September]] [[1939]]
|setting          = [[St Ursula's College]], [[England]], [[September]] [[1939]]
|writer          = [[Una McCormack]]
|writer          = Una McCormack
|director        = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|director        = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|producer        = [[David Richardson]]
|music            = [[Wilfredo Acosta]]
|music            = [[Wilfredo Acosta]]
|sound            = [[Wilfredo Acosta]]
|sound            = [[Wilfredo Acosta]]
|epcount          = 1
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|release date    = [[11 July (releases)|11 July]] [[2014 (releases)|2014]]
|release date    = 11 July 2014
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>3rd of 4 stories
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>3rd of 4 stories
|production code  = 6Z/AC
|production code  = 6Z/AC
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-78178-329-0
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-78178-329-0 (physical); ISBN 978-1-78575-735-8 (digital)
|prev   = Of Chaos Time The (audio story)
|prev             = Of Chaos Time The (audio story)
|next       = The Curious Incident of the Doctor in the Night-Time (audio story)
|next             = The Curious Incident of the Doctor in the Night-Time (audio story)
|producer = [[David Richardson]]|epcount = 1}}'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the third story in the audio anthology, ''[[Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories]]'', which comprised the one hundred and eighty-eighth release in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Una McCormack]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Nicola Bryant]] as [[Peri Brown]].
}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the third story in the audio anthology, ''[[Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories]]'', which comprised the one hundred and eighty-eighth release in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Una McCormack]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Nicola Bryant]] as [[Peri Brown]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
The year is [[1939]], and a case of poison pen letters at [[St Ursula's College]] threatens to change the course of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Fortunately thriller writer Miss [[Sarah Perry]] is on hand to investigate...
The year is [[1939]], and a case of poison pen letters at [[St Ursula's College]] threatens to change the course of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Fortunately thriller [[writer]] [[Susan Perry|Miss Sarah Perry]] is on hand to investigate...


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
Dr [[Joan Dalton]] meets and talks with Dr [[Ruth Horwitz|Ruth Hortwitz]]. Meanwhile the [[Sixth Doctor|Doctor]] and [[Peri Brown|Peri]] explore [[St. Ursula's College|St. Ursula]] college campus trying to detect some strange energy readings.  Peri is mistaken for an expected arriving author Sarah Peri by Dr [[Petherbridge]] and is invited to [[tea]], despite not wanting to go but the Doctor insists she does so he has a chance to get inside St. Ursula's to find the source of the mysterious energy readings. They tea with Dr Petherbridge who tells them of an on-going incident in which [[physicist]] Dr. Horwitz is being sent anonymous threat [[Letter|letters]] written in [[poison]] [[ink]] and charges a reluctant Peri to investigate, not wanting to tell the [[police]] for fear of further persecution. Peri vists Dr Horwtiz and looks at the letters, discovering that Dr Horwitz is a [[Jew]] who fled [[Europe]] and the letters threaten her on account of her Jewish identity. The Doctor, meanwhile, is warned to not wonder about and is left to his own devices when he wonders off to find the energy source and is discovered by Dr Joan Dalton who warns him that he must hide in order to not give a poor impression to undergraduate [[Student|students]].
Tracking [[dark vacuum energy]] fluctuations, [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] takes [[Peri Brown|Peri]] to [[St Ursula's College]] in [[September]] [[1939]] where she is mistaken by [[Petherbridge|Dr Petherbridge]], the [[principal]], for [[Susan Perry]], a thriller [[writer]] whom she is expecting. Dr Petherbridge tells Peri that anonymous poison pen [[letter]]s have been sent to [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[physicist]] [[Ruth Horwitz|Dr Horwitz]] and, to avoid involving the [[police]] and damaging the college's reputation, asks her to look into it, which the Doctor agrees that they will do. Peri gets the [[racism|racist]] letters from Dr Horwitz whilst the Doctor meets [[economist]] [[Joan Dalton|Dr Dalton]], who escorts him to his room to ensure that no undergraduates get an undeserved reputation for interacting with him.


Peri questions Dr [[Maria Backhouse|Backhouse]] who tells Peri to talk to Doctor Dalton, claiming her politics betray her. The Doctor and Peri meet up to discuss the situation and Peri reveals that Doctor Backhouse pointed her to Doctor Dalton. Just then the announcement for the declaration of war is heard over the college speakers, announcing the beginning of [[World War II]]. Later Peri and the Doctor discuss their suspects when suddenly Ruth bursts in exclaiming that someone tried to [[Murder|kill]] her while she was working.
After [[Maria Backhouse|Dr Backhouse]] advises her to question Dr Dalton about her [[politics]], Peri catches up with the Doctor and she realises that Dr Dalton is a [[communism|communist]] rather than a [[Nazi]] following the announcement of the [[Second World War]] over the [[radio]]. Dr Horwitz tells Peri that somebody tried to [[murder]] as she was working, which coincides with the Doctor's readings becoming stronger, but she is unable to give a satisfactory answer for how she was able to escape. The Doctor and Peri wonder if Dr Dalton, who failed to recruit Dr Horwitz to the communist cause, is responsible and meet with her and Dr Petherbridge in the principal's office. Although Dr Dalton denies the charge, Dr Petherbridge has her [[arrest]]ed and Dr Horwitz says that a mistake has been made.


Ruth describes the encounter while the Doctor notices the readings are becoming stronger. The Doctor asks Ruth how she escaped but they don't quite understand her explanation. They hold  a meeting in Doctor Petherbridge's office to decide what to do next. They suspect Doctor Dalton given her [[Communism|communist]] leanings and her alibi that she approached Doctor Horwitz to see if she held similar leanings and the police are called and Doctor Dalton is escroted away to [[prison]]. Doctor Horwitz bursts in after Dalton is taken away saying it's been a mistake. She and Peri walk back to her room, only to find the door open and the Doctor inside, saying he has discovered the source of the readings coming from the room and interrogates Ruth. They discover that Ruth was given a family heirloom as a girl and was curious about its properties, and so studied physics so she could further investigate the mysterious object. The Doctor realises that it is a petrified alien eye that has the ability to cloak other, albeit small, objects due its properties. Ruth explains that there are many people after the artifact, primarily the Nazis and that her family, who are in Vienna, are being held hostage for it by Dr Backhouse. They expect Dr Backhouse has fled with the artifact so the Doctor goes with the police in pursuit of Backhouse, assuming she hasn't gontten far. However, the further car gets, the more the energy readings die down and the Doctor realises he's made a huge mistake.
Dr Horwitz's notes and work are stolen from her room and the Doctor confronts her about the impossibility of her escape from her attacker, leading her to explain that one of the stolen items is a family heirloom, a sketch of which the Doctor recognises as a [[petrification|petrified]] [[eye]], with the power of [[invisibility]] and that she has been studying it in the hopes of replicating its power to win the war. She says that the letters have been coming from Dr Backhouse, a Nazi who has been threatening her relatives in [[Vienna]] and who has apparently left by [[car]]. The Doctor follows the fluctuation readings so that he and [[policeman (An Eye For Murder)|a policeman]] can catch Dr Backhouse before she escapes, but the readings fade and he realises that she is still at St Ursula's.


Peri, Dr Petherbridge and Ruth celebrate but Peri reveals she's uneasy as she thought Backhouse would have put up more of a fight... but then they hear a noise and discover that Backhouse was hiding amongst them and never left the college using the artifact eye to hide herself the whole time. Peri and the others pursue her and the doctor arrives just in time and chases after Backhouse as the others are not able to keep up in order to stop her as she poses a danger to the girls in the dorms. He tries to pursuade Backhouse to give him the eye when they reach the roof as rain falls, making it slippery, but Backhouse refuses. She suddenly sees her hand and legs beginning to disappear and the Doctor tells her that it is the dark vaccuum energy effecting her at [[Molecule|molecular]] level and destabilising her and explains he can only save her if she throws away the eye but she refuses, however, missing her limbs she slips and falls off the [[roof]], destabilising completely as she hits the ground while the eye shatters and breaks much to the others' despair.
Peri, Dr Petherbridge and Dr Horwitz realise that Dr Backhouse is using the eye to conceal herself in the building and chase the sound of her footsteps outside. The Doctor arrives and joins them in heading to the [[chapel]] where Dr Backhouse becomes visible. He warns her that the dark vacuum energy is causing her to fall apart, but she refuses to throw the eye away and falls to her [[death]] from a height, smashing the eye and fading away. Although Dr Horwitz's notes have been lost to the [[storm]], she is pleased to receive a [[telegram]] that her family left Vienna for [[Great Britain|Britain]] before war was declared, which was why Dr Backhouse had to resort to [[theft]] rather than [[blackmail]]. Dr Petherbridge asks the Doctor to address the undergraduates, but he defers to Peri and they head to the TARDIS, ostensibly to fetch Peri's notes.


In the epilogue it is revealed that Ruth's notes on the eye were lost as they flew out the window after her room was ransacked but her family managed to flee Vienna and make it to Paris and are now on their way join Ruth in Britain, and the Doctor suspects that without a hostage to threaten Ruth with Backhouse now had to act quickly. The department asks the Doctor to address the college but the Doctor defers the duty to Peri who says she'd love to but needs to get her notes she left in the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|police box]] near the campus and they slip away, Peri merely using "fetching the notes" as an excuse.
== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Colin Baker]]
* [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Colin Baker]]
* [[Peri Brown]] - [[Nicola Bryant]]
* [[Peri Brown]] - [[Nicola Bryant]]
* [[Maria Backhouse|Dr. Maria Backhouse]] - [[Jemma Churchill]]
* [[Maria Backhouse|Dr Maria Backhouse]] - [[Jemma Churchill]]
* [[Joan Dalton|Dr. Joan Dalton]] - [[Allison McKenzie]]
* [[Joan Dalton|Dr Joan Dalton]] - [[Allison McKenzie]]
* [[Petherbridge|Dr. Petherbridge]] - [[Janet Henfrey]]
* [[Petherbridge|Dr Petherbridge]] - [[Janet Henfrey]]
* [[Ruth Horwitz|Dr. Ruth Horwitz]] - [[Jessica Knappett]]
* [[Ruth Horwitz|Dr Ruth Horwitz]] - [[Jessica Knappett]]
* Policeman - [[Andy Secombe]]
* [[Policeman (An Eye For Murder)|Policeman]] - [[Andy Secombe]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor wears a [[London]] drape suit while visiting [[St Ursula's College]].
* The Doctor wears a [[London]] drape suit while visiting [[St Ursula's College]].
* Peri describes the Doctor's coat as resembling "an explosion in a paint factory."
* Peri describes the Doctor's coat as resembling "an explosion in a paint factory."
* [[Ruth Horwitz|Dr. Ruth Horwitz]] is [[Judaism|Jewish]]. She has been receiving anti-Semitic poison pen letters for two to three months.
* Peri likes [[coffee]].
* [[Joan Dalton|Dr. Joan Dalton]] is a [[Communism|Communist]] while [[Maria Backhouse|Dr. Maria Backhouse]] is a [[Nazi]].
* [[Ruth Horwitz]] is [[Judaism|Jewish]]. She has been receiving anti-Semitic poison pen letters for two to three months.
* [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] have signed a non-aggression pact.
* [[Joan Dalton]] is an [[economist]] and a [[Communism|communist]].
 
* [[Maria Backhouse]] is a [[Nazi]].
*Dr Petherbridge mistakes the Doctor and Peri for a [[couple]].
* Nazi [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] have signed a non-aggression pact.
*The Doctor is a dab hand at typing and with a [[typewriter]].
* [[Petherbridge|Dr Petherbridge]] mistakes the Doctor and Peri for a [[couple]].
*The energy readings are [[dark energy fluctuations]].
* The Doctor is a "dab hand" with a [[typewriter]].
*Dr Joan Dalton is an [[economist]] as the Doctor claims.
* The energy readings are [[dark vacuum energy]] fluctuations.
*Maria Backhouse describes the Doctor as dashing, [[Aristocrat|aristocratic]] and somewhat tormented.
* [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Josef Stalin]] are mentioned.
*[[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Joseph Stalin|Jospeh Stalin]] are mentioned.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==

Latest revision as of 17:45, 1 November 2024

RealWorld.png

An Eye For Murder was the third story in the audio anthology, Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories, which comprised the one hundred and eighty-eighth release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Una McCormack and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.

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

The year is 1939, and a case of poison pen letters at St Ursula's College threatens to change the course of the Second World War. Fortunately thriller writer Miss Sarah Perry is on hand to investigate...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Tracking dark vacuum energy fluctuations, the Doctor takes Peri to St Ursula's College in September 1939 where she is mistaken by Dr Petherbridge, the principal, for Susan Perry, a thriller writer whom she is expecting. Dr Petherbridge tells Peri that anonymous poison pen letters have been sent to Jewish physicist Dr Horwitz and, to avoid involving the police and damaging the college's reputation, asks her to look into it, which the Doctor agrees that they will do. Peri gets the racist letters from Dr Horwitz whilst the Doctor meets economist Dr Dalton, who escorts him to his room to ensure that no undergraduates get an undeserved reputation for interacting with him.

After Dr Backhouse advises her to question Dr Dalton about her politics, Peri catches up with the Doctor and she realises that Dr Dalton is a communist rather than a Nazi following the announcement of the Second World War over the radio. Dr Horwitz tells Peri that somebody tried to murder as she was working, which coincides with the Doctor's readings becoming stronger, but she is unable to give a satisfactory answer for how she was able to escape. The Doctor and Peri wonder if Dr Dalton, who failed to recruit Dr Horwitz to the communist cause, is responsible and meet with her and Dr Petherbridge in the principal's office. Although Dr Dalton denies the charge, Dr Petherbridge has her arrested and Dr Horwitz says that a mistake has been made.

Dr Horwitz's notes and work are stolen from her room and the Doctor confronts her about the impossibility of her escape from her attacker, leading her to explain that one of the stolen items is a family heirloom, a sketch of which the Doctor recognises as a petrified eye, with the power of invisibility and that she has been studying it in the hopes of replicating its power to win the war. She says that the letters have been coming from Dr Backhouse, a Nazi who has been threatening her relatives in Vienna and who has apparently left by car. The Doctor follows the fluctuation readings so that he and a policeman can catch Dr Backhouse before she escapes, but the readings fade and he realises that she is still at St Ursula's.

Peri, Dr Petherbridge and Dr Horwitz realise that Dr Backhouse is using the eye to conceal herself in the building and chase the sound of her footsteps outside. The Doctor arrives and joins them in heading to the chapel where Dr Backhouse becomes visible. He warns her that the dark vacuum energy is causing her to fall apart, but she refuses to throw the eye away and falls to her death from a height, smashing the eye and fading away. Although Dr Horwitz's notes have been lost to the storm, she is pleased to receive a telegram that her family left Vienna for Britain before war was declared, which was why Dr Backhouse had to resort to theft rather than blackmail. Dr Petherbridge asks the Doctor to address the undergraduates, but he defers to Peri and they head to the TARDIS, ostensibly to fetch Peri's notes.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]