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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image          = Neverland cover.jpg
|image          = Neverland cover.jpg
|range          = Main Range
|range          = Main Range
|number in range = 33
|number in range = 33
|series          = [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'' audio stories]]
|series          = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number          = 33
|number          = 33
|doctor          = Eighth Doctor
|doctor          = Eighth Doctor
|script          = The Audio Scripts
|script          = The Audio Scripts
|companions      = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]]
|companions      = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]]
|featuring      = [[Romana II|Romana]]
|featuring      = Romana II
|enemy          = [[Neverperson|Neverpeople]]
|featuring2      = Vansell
|writer          = [[Alan Barnes]]
|featuring3      = Matrix Rassilon{{!}}Rassilon
|featuring4      = Dalek Emperor
|enemy          = [[Sentris]]
|writer          = Alan Barnes
|director        = [[Gary Russell]]
|director        = [[Gary Russell]]
|producer        = [[Gary Russell]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
|setting        = {{il|[[Time Station]]|[[The Matrix]]|[[Antiverse]]}}
|setting        = {{il|[[Time Station]]|[[The Matrix]]|[[Antiverse]]}}
|music          = [[Nicholas Briggs]]  
|music          = [[Nicholas Briggs]]  
Line 19: Line 23:
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|release date    = [[June (releases)|June]] [[2002 (releases)|2002]]
|release date    = 12 July 2002
|format          = 2 episodes on 2 CDs
|format          = 2 CDs<br/>Download
|production code = 8L
|production code = 8L
|isbn            = ISBN 1-903654-62-9
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-90365-462-0 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-84435-738-3 (digital)
|prev            = The Time of the Daleks (audio story)
|prev            = The Time of the Daleks (audio story)
|next            = Spare Parts (audio story)
|next            = Spare Parts (audio story)
|made prev      = The Time of the Daleks (audio story)
|made next      = Bloodtide (audio story)
|epcount        = 2
}}{{audio stub}}
}}{{audio stub}}
'''''Neverland''''' was the thirty-third of [[Big Finish Productions]]' [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|monthly audio stories]]. It featured the [[Eighth Doctor]] played by [[Paul McGann]] and [[Charlotte Pollard]] played by [[India Fisher]], with [[Lalla Ward]] making an appearance as [[Romana II|Lady President Romana]]. This story concluded the arc of stories beginning with ''[[Invaders from Mars]]'' concerning the paradox of Charley Pollard's surviving the ''[[R101]]''{{'}}s destruction. ''Neverland'' was one of three audio stories to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor alongside Romana as played by Lalla Ward. The others were the audio adaptation ''[[Shada (audio story)|Shada]]'', which itself was an extended release of the [[Shada (webcast)|webcast]] of the same name, and ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]''.
{{spotify|album=6Ete04xSFDqm6yHVGE2Edd|height=350}}
'''''Neverland''''' was the thirty-third story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Alan Barnes]] and featured [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]], [[India Fisher]] as [[Charlotte Pollard]], [[Lalla Ward]] as [[Romana II]], [[Anthony Keetch]] as [[Vansell]] and [[Don Warrington]] as [[Rassilon]].
 
This story concluded the arc of stories beginning with ''[[Invaders from Mars (audio story)|Invaders from Mars]]'' concerning the paradox of Charley Pollard's surviving the ''[[R101]]''{{'}}s destruction.
 
''Neverland'' was one of three audio stories to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor alongside Romana as played by Lalla Ward. The others were the audio adaptation ''[[Shada (audio story)|Shada]]'', which itself was an extended release of the [[Shada (webcast)|webcast]] of the same name, and ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]''.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
[[Web of Time|The Web of Time]] is stretched to breaking. History is leaking like a sieve. In the [[Capitol|Citadel of Gallifrey]], the Time Lords fear the end of everything that is, everything that was... everything that will be.
The [[Web of Time]] is stretched to breaking. [[History]] is leaking like a sieve. In the [[Capitol|Citadel of Gallifrey]], the [[Time Lord]]s fear the end of everything that is, everything that was... everything that will be.


The Doctor holds the Time Lords' only hope — but exactly what lengths will the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] go to in their efforts to retrieve something important from within [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]? What has caused the [[Imperiatrix]] [[Romana#Alternate versions|Romanadvoratrelundar]] to declare war on the rest of creation? And can an old nursery rhyme about a monster called [[Zagreus]] really be coming true?
The Doctor holds the Time Lords' only hope — but exactly what lengths will the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] go to in their efforts to retrieve something important from within [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]? What has caused the [[Imperiatrix]] [[Romana#Alternate versions|Romanadvoratrelundar]] to declare war on the rest of creation? And can an old nursery rhyme about a monster called [[Zagreus]] really be coming true?
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== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''Part one”
The Doctor and Charley celebrate their victory over the Daleks, trapped in a paradox and cut off from the rest of Time. The Time Lords will release them from the loop eventually, as much of history depends on their actions... but Romana has a score to settle with them, and will no doubt let them stew for a while. But as the Doctor sets course for their next destination, a fleet of battle TARDISes materializes around his own ship, just like the fleet the Doctor slipped past once before. This time, he realizes that they’re after him -- and Charley. CIA Co-ordinator Vansell and President Romana are already on their way...
The Doctor attempts to weave his way out of the trap, but one of the battle TARDISes fires time torpedoes at him. If he dematerializes to avoid them, the fleet will pluck his ship out of the Vortex; if the torpedoes hit, the Doctor and Charley will be frozen for centuries, giving the Time Lords plenty of time to break in. The Doctor refuses to give up, however, and at the last moment he and Charley are saved by a wave of time distortion which sweeps past, stealing vital seconds from the web of Time. By riding the crest of the wave, the Doctor gets past the battle TARDISes, which are unable to track his turbulent path. By the time the disturbance dies down, the Doctor and Charley have escaped.
Apparently satisfied, the Doctor tells Charley the time has come to celebrate her birthday, and presents her with a single exclusive invitation to a thousand-year party in a distant pocket of time and space which the Time Lords know nothing about. Sadly, there’s only one invitation, but the Doctor promises to pick her up again in a year’s time while he takes care of trifling business elsewhere. Charley isn’t fooled for a moment. She knows the truth; by rescuing her from the R101, the Doctor has broken history. She’s supposed to be dead, and the Doctor is taking the responsibility upon himself -- confident and carefree that nothing will go wrong, like Peter Pan living a life of adventure in Never-never-land. But while Wendy shared Peter’s adventures for a time, she had to grow up eventually. Charley chose to stow away on the R101, she chose to travel with the Doctor, and she understands the consequences of those decisions -- and thanks to the Doctor’s instructions during the Nimon invasion, she knows what the Fast Return Switch does. Before the Doctor can stop her she presses the Switch just once, and the TARDIS returns to its previous location, materializing in the path of the time torpedoes just as they detonate...
Three hundred years later, Celestial Intervention agents Kurst and Levith finally break into the Doctor’s TARDIS. He’s beginning to recover, and they send him to the President’s battle station, locate Charley, and prepare to install her in a space-time converter. Charley begins to recover, disoriented, but not so disoriented that she fails to take offence at Levith’s patronising attitude. Levith assures her that the Doctor is all right, and that they’re simply preparing Charley for a small procedure which shouldn’t harm her -- if she doesn’t resist...
The Doctor revives, deliriously reliving a few moments of a past adventure with Mary Shelley and Lord Byron before he recovers and realizes that he’s in a Time Station. Vansell attempts to interrogate him, ignoring the Doctor’s taunts and gibes; the Doctor has been brought here to discuss Charlotte Elspeth Pollard. The Doctor invokes the Archetryx Convention and demands a fair trial, but Romana arrives and assures him that Charley will not be harmed. However, the Doctor must be made aware that the time distortion which enabled him to escape earlier was not a random event. The Time Lords have detected many such distortions recently -- and they now believe them to be caused by particles of anti-Time. The Doctor doesn’t know whether to laugh or not; anti-Time is a pseudoscientific concept with more basis in superstition than reality. According to legend, when Rassilon created the Eye of Harmony, Time was pinned down to one continuous history -- but as every action has its equal and opposite reaction, the creation of positive Time created a mirror universe of anti-Time, a force as destructive to causality as anti-matter is to positive matter. If the Universe of anti-Time really exists, it’s a chaotic realm with no past, present or future; just an endless, meaningless, ever-changing Now.
The Doctor doesn’t believe such a place exists, but Romana reveals that the web of Time is near breaking point. History has changed on several important worlds, including Earth, where the wrong President was elected into control of a major landmass. The initial outbreaks of time distortion have now been traced -- to the times and places which the Doctor has visited with Charley. The mere fact of her survival has created a breach in space-time, a living gateway through which particles of anti-Time are flowing into this Universe, shattering causality. The Matrix has been turned over completely to anchoring the web, but it’s breaking under the strain -- and what’s left has projected a horrific future. Vansell reveals that the Doctor is inside a projection unit, an Eighth Door through which he casts the Doctor into the Matrix to see the future for himself...
The Doctor finds himself in the ruins of a once proud city, the skies dark with smoke, but not so dark that the Doctor can’t recognise the constellations. A sad old man, whom the Doctor finds terribly familiar, confirms that this world was once called Gallifrey -- but it is now the empire of Zagreus. The Doctor recognizes the name from an old nursery rhyme, but as he tries to recall the details, he is transported to a vast arena which was once the Panopticon. The crowd chants viciously as the cruel Imperiatrix Romana takes the stage and presents to her people the Dalek Emperor, trapped with his people in a time pocket. The Emperor demands to be released, arrogantly convinced that his race is required to maintain historical causality -- but instead, Romana passes judgement and obliterates the Daleks from history completely. The Dalek Emperor, realizing too late what is happening, begs for pity -- but Romana simply scoffs as the Daleks are crushed into oblivion forever. The Doctor is appalled, but as he protests this cruelty, the angry mob turns on him, prepared to tear him to pieces...
Vansell pulls the Doctor out of the projection just in time. Though shaken, he refuses to accept that saving Charley’s life was wrong; if Romana wishes to put Charley back on the R101, she’ll have to erase the Doctor from the whole of history first. As long as he lives, he’ll find a way to save his friend. But Romana reveals that there is already another way -- albeit a potentially dangerous one. According to Vansell, certain esoteric records in the Matrix have provided an alternative. Just as particles of anti-Time are travelling through Charley, so the Time Lords can use her as a conduit to travel the other way and stop the threat at its source.


Kurst and Levith are already at work in the Doctor’s TARDIS, setting up a proton accelerator to transform Charley into a living breach in space-time. Charley braces herself, and tells Levith to give the Doctor her love, though she believes Levith won’t understand such a concept. Kurst activates the converter, and Charley’s body twists out of time and space completely...
=== Part one ===


The Doctor is concerned, but Romana assures him that the change will only be temporary, and that once the flow of anti-Time has been stopped, Charley will be free to go. The Doctor thus accepts her plan, and accompanies her and Vansell to the bridge of the Time Station -- which is staffed with a skeleton crew of Interventionists due to the secret nature of the mission. Levith contacts Vansell and reveals that Charley has become a gateway, through which she can see the whole Universe. “And the gate of Zagreus opened before him...” But as the Time Station dematerializes, the Doctor’s TARDIS console overloads and the TARDIS is sucked through the breach itself. The Doctor begs Romana to abort the mission, but they’re already committed and can’t stop now. The Time Station passes through the breach...
A mechanical voice reads out key dates in the [[Humanian Era]], including the crash of the [[R101]]. This voice is overlapped by a female voice, which reads out key dates in the [[Sensorian Era|Sensorian era]]. The first voice is still going, and lists dates and events in the [[Rassilon Era|Rassilon era]], but when it gets to the [[The Time of the Daleks (audio story)|Dalek Fleet being captured in the vortex]], it begins breaking up, and screams that it "can't remember".


As the Doctor’s TARDIS loses power, so does the space-time converter, and Charley returns to her natural human form, badly shaken by her experience. Kurst and Levith, also shaken, check the destination monitor and find that it can’t settle on temporal co-ordinates. They are in a universe without Time... yet strangely they’ve materialized on a solid surface. Charley leads them outside, where Levith sets up a beacon to guide the Time Station to them. Assuming, of course, that the Station made it through the breach before it closed up...
In the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], the [[Eighth Doctor|Doctor]] explains to [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]] that although the [[Dalek]]s are trapped in a paradox, a [[Temporal pocket|time pocket]], they may still be brought back by the [[Time Lord]]s to avoid disruption to the timeline. They are in the [[Acteon Galaxy|Acteon galaxy]], which the Doctor describes, saying that he hasn't been there since he "was an old man. Probably". Then, on the scanner, they see a large number of grey [[battle TARDIS]]es, and realise they are there for them. Meanwhile, [[Vansell]] tells [[Romana II|Romana]] that they have located the Doctor, and are blocking entrances to the vortex across 5 million consecutive years. The [[Time Station|time station]] they are in heads towards them. The Doctor receives a message ordering them to power down their TARDIS, which the Doctor ignores, and is shot at by time [[Time torpedo|torpedoes]]. However, a [[Time slippage|time slip]] hits them, which sends their TARDIS through time.


The Time Station materializes, but its sensors, calibrated to operate in a Universe of linear Time, are overloaded with useless data. The Doctor suggests just opening the windows, as it were, and the Under-Cardinal lifts the observation ports to reveal a universe of constant motion and chaos -- with one fixed point, a static planetoid which cannot have originated in this maelstrom. The Doctor theorizes that his TARDIS would naturally have been attracted to the one safe place for it to materialize, which seems confirmed when the Time Lords pick up a signal from a time beacon and a TARDIS signature -- although the TARDIS signature is too scrambled to identify clearly. The Time Lords set course for the planetoid, but as they approach, they lose the signal -- and the Doctor realizes that it’s being affected by time distortion.
When it's over, the Doctor asks Charley how long they've been travelling together, and Charley guesses it to be about six months. The Doctor wishes her a happy birthday, and says she's going to an amazing party, inside the [[Jovian fold|Jovian Fold]]. Acting excited, he says he won't be attending, and will pick her up in a year. The Doctor will go and see the Time Lords in the meantime, and try to sort out the paradox of Charley's existence. Charley doesn't want to hide away, saying that it's time to stop dreaming, time to grow up, but the Doctor doesn't want to give up on her. She hits the [[fast return switch]].


As Levith waits impatiently for the Station, Charley and Kurst see a forest of metal spikes in the distance. Charley sets off to explore, unaware that Kurst and Levith aren’t following her -- something has gone wrong with the beacon and they’re desperately trying to get it back under control. Nevertheless, Charley isn’t alone -- for something speaks to her in her own voice, and she finds herself facing what appears to be her own ghost. More spectres surround Charley, identifying themselves as the people who never were. Kurst and Levith open fire on the ghosts, distracting them while Charley flees to safety -- but the ghosts reform and descend upon Kurst, consuming the essence of his life. Charley and Levith try to flee back to the TARDIS, but the ground splits open before them, and the beacon and TARDIS tumble into the abyss and are lost.
[[Kurst]] and [[Levith]], [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]] agents, enter the TARDIS, which has been frozen for a few hundred years. The Doctor awakens and mutters about adventures he's had, and they take him for his "date with the President". They use a time-space converter to wake up Charley. The Doctor comes to his senses in a metal room in a 7C Supra-Orbital Time Station, where he teases Vansell about their time in the [[Time Lord Academy|Academy]]. Vansell lists the many occasions on which Vansell has been traced to in different time periods after her death. Romana gives her word that no injustice will be carried out against Charley.


The beacon stops signalling, and the Doctor realizes that the TARDIS they’re detecting isn’t his. Frustrated by the Time Lords’ hesitation, the Doctor pushes past the Under-Cardinal and pilots the Time Station beneath the cloud cover before Vansell can stop him. Their descent scatters the ghosts before they can descend upon Charley and Levith, but the Doctor dismisses the forest of metal spikes as another sensor fault -- although he admits his mistake after the Station crashes. Vansell is concussed by the crash, and deliriously quotes from Gallifreyan mythology -- “Zagreus waits at the end of the world, for Zagreus is the end of the world; his time is the end of time and his moment time’s undoing.The Doctor is puzzled; why does a make-believe villain from children’s stories keep reappearing today...?
Charley is prepared for a procedure by the CIA agents while Vansell continues interrogating the Doctor about recent time slips. This leads the Doctor to explain the theory of [[Anti-time|Anti-Time]], which he doesn't believe in, but is convinced when Romana shows him the time slips and disruptions originating from the [[1930s]]. They describe Charley as patient zero; a rip in the fabric of space-time. Time is "running out", and [[the Matrix]] cannot cope. The Doctor is standing on a [[Matrix door|door to the Matrix]], which he enters unwillingly.


Vansell is infuriated when he recovers, but as he threatens to erase the Doctor from history completely, Charley’s ghost materializes -- or rather, the spectre which has taken Charley’s form. The Doctor realizes that this is a native of the Antiverse, a Never-person -- and he’s horrified when it reveals that it has passed through the breach before, and that it consumed Lucy and Richard Martin while it was there. More Neverpeople materialize in the station and begin drawing temporal energy out of its cracked time rotor, but when Vansell tries to drive them off, their leader informs him that the thing he seeks lies in a grotto not far from here. Vansell decides to set off immediately, and though the Doctor questions the wisdom of leaving the Time Station to the Neverpeople; however, Romana reveals that if they leave the Station long enough it will repair itself. The Doctor reluctantly accompanies Romana, Vansell and the guards out of the Station, beginning to suspect that Romana hasn’t told him the whole truth about their visit to the Antiverse. He’s right, and Vansell fears that the Doctor will oppose them when he learns the truth...
Inside the Matrix, he sees the future if the slips continue: [[Gallifrey]] burning, [[Mount Lung|Mount Cadon]] obscured by smoke. He meets an old man, who tells him Gallifrey is dead, and the people who are left alive have turned cruel. This is now the [[Zagreus|Empire of Zagreus]]. He sees [[Imperiatrix|Romana as an Imperiatrix]], who has become cruel. She takes the [[Dalek Emperor]] and it's fleet as prisoners. as prisoners as they beg to be released. The Imperiatrix-Romana destroys the Daleks. The Doctor protests that this isn't right, and an angry mob begins to attack him. He is brought out of the matrix projection.


Outside, the Doctor is reunited with Charley, and while Levith reports to Romana and Vansell, the Doctor studies the metal spikes; they are artificial, and the ground itself consists of iron filings. Acid begins to rain from the sky, and the Doctor, Charley and the Time Lords shelter in a nearby cave -- but as they head deeper into the cave they realize that the tunnel is more like an artificial corridor. Charley spots a familiar round pattern on the walls, and when they enter a vast chamber with a hexagonal structure at the centre, the Doctor realizes that this “planetoid” -- which must be from their own universe -- is the wreck of a TARDIS.
The Doctor still swears he will protect Charley, despite the projection. Romana suggests they follow the time distortion to its source, and Vansell relishes in adding that they'll destroy it. They must go through the space time breach using Charley, in order to enter the universe of Anti-Time, which Vansell claims to have ancient records about. Meanwhile, the agents finish installing the space-time converter, and Charley wakes. They explain they are using a sub-protonic converter to allow people to travel using her into another universe, but that it may change her.


Vansell, delighted, operates the TARDIS’ power receptors, and manages to bring up a hologram which the Doctor recognizes instantly. It’s the old man from the Matrix, a wise, sad old man who should be centuries dead; conqueror of the Yssgaroth, over-priest of Drornid, and first President of Gallifrey -- Rassilon himself. Rassilon speaks to the Time Lords who have found him, and tells them that the legends are true; by locking the continuum in place with the Eye of Harmony, he also created the menace of anti-Time. He thus piloted his TARDIS into the weird fringes of space-time, where he found the monster Zagreus and did battle with it. The monster was defeated, but Rassilon’s TARDIS was shattered and the way home lost. Since then he has lain suspended in a Zero Cabinet, waiting for his descendants to find him -- and rescue him. After millions of years, Rassilon is coming home.
Romana assures the Doctor that the changes to Charley will be reverted, and says she's sure Vansell will turn a blind eye and allow them to leave after their mission is complete. Vansell agrees. Charley, stabilised inside an acceleration field (created by the machinery mentioned earlier) inside the Doctor's TARDIS, will be used to find the coordinates of the source of the breach. The gate of [[Zagreus]] is opened, and Charley screams. Suddenly, things go wrong, and the Doctor's TARDIS is sucked through. Soon, so is the Time Station.


“Part two”
The Doctor's TARDIS has arrived. Charley whimpers as Levith explains that Charley was reverting to her natural state as the TARDIS broke through. The power to the proton accelerator was cut off, and Charley stabilised. Kurst unties Charley as Levith sees that the TARDIS cannot definitively say where they are: they arrived in the universe of anti-time ([[antiverse]]). The Doctor, meanwhile, taunts Vansell as they make it through to the antiverse with some other Time Lords who were with them in the station, including the [[Undercardinal (Neverland)|Undercardinal]]. Looking out, they see constant motion- their theories of Anti-Time were correct. However, there is a single fixed point: a planetoid. Clearly it doesn't belong there. From this planet emanates the trans-temporal beacon Levith had set up, which the sensors pick up.


The Doctor isn’t convinced that Rassilon has really returned, but the circumstantial evidence fits together. Zagreus may be a character from a nursery rhyme, but as Charley points out, “ring-a-ring-a-rosies” is a nursery rhyme too, which came out of the truth of the Black Death. Vansell reveals that Zagreus appears in the legends of many other worlds, and that all of the legends have a common thread; a folk hero named Azalon, or Razlon, abandons his people to do battle with the monster Zagreus, but ensures that all records of his journey are destroyed for fear that the truth would undermine his utopia. Vansell is convinced that the tomb in the Death Zone is a sham -- Rassilon remains here, alive and suspended in the Antiverse, and what might the Time Lords achieve if he returns to Gallifrey?
Exploring the planetoid, Levith sees a forest, which Charley says are just metal spikes. The beacon malfunctions due to time disruption as Charley runs towards the spikes. She hears laughter, and then a voice is a distorted form of her own voice and that has her memories. Turning around, she sees this person looks like her, too. She describes a time Charley was a child and got lost in the woods, and then tells her that she has been following her since France. Her people are everyone who never was, never died, never lived, and they want her to join them. The agents hear Charley's scream and hold off the collection of ghosts ([[Neverpeople]]) while Charley escapes. The collection kills Kurst, saying that the Time Lords made them, and so they can unmake Kurst.


The Neverperson with Charley’s form arrives and offers to negotiate the Time Cabinet’s return with Vansell. Romana is wary of the Neverpeople, but Vansell is no longer willing to stand by and simply observe while the opportunity to change the Universe for the better lies open. With the web of Time’s architect by their side, there is nothing they can’t achieve. Despite the Doctor and Romana’s wariness, Vansell listens to the Neverperson’s terms; they will return the Zero Cabinet in exchange for limited freedom to trawl the timestream for the temporal energies which give their lives meaning, and as a show of good faith, one of the Time Lords must remain in their realm. The Doctor protests that this will mean transforming Charley into a permanent open gateway, but Vansell ignores him and agrees to the Neverperson’s terms -- and, showing loyalty to the legacy of Rassilon rather than to an ephemeral President, he nominates Romana to stay behind. The Doctor realizes that, while Vansell may not have expected the presence of living beings in the Antiverse, this was probably his intention all along -- to pull off a bloodless coup, getting rid of Romana and returning to Gallifrey as Rassilon’s right-hand man.
Levith and Charley run for the TARDIS, but the beacon and the TARDIS have been swallowed by the ground, which cracked open. The Doctor and Vansell argue over what to do, and the Doctor triggers the Time Ship to go towards where the beacon was- against orders. The Neverpeople reappear, asking Charley to join them again, but then the Time Station comes towards them. Romana threatens to restrain the Doctor. The station crashes against the metal forest, and the distorted neverperson-Charley voice makes herself known. The Neverpeople feed on the time energy in the time station, becoming more solid. Romana tells them off. The guards fire at them, but it doesn't do anything.


Vansell’s loyal guards force the Doctor, Romana and Charley out onto the surface, where the earth splits open to reveal the Zero Cabinet. The Neverpeople transport Romana away, and the Doctor, standing too close to the edge, topples into the crevasse. Vansell lets him fall, and orders his guards to take Charley and the Cabinet back to the Time Station, rid at last of the meddling Doctor and Romana. The casket crackles with energy as Vansell places it on the bridge of the Station, intending to open it under controlled conditions back on Gallifrey. Charley is furious, but is helpless to resist as the guards bring the proton accelerator to the bridge...
Charley-Neverperson says that the truth about Zagreus, the thing which Vansell came here for, is here. Vansell orders the guards to lower their weapons and follow him, but Romana regains control quickly, and they follow her and the Doctor out. Charley and Levith reach the time station, reuniting with the Doctor and Romana. Vansell questions the Doctor's loyalty and motives, though Romana seems unswayed by his probing. They all go into the metal forest, and the Doctor finds it strange. Acid rain begins falling, and they take cover.


Romana tries to keep her dignity as she is marched into an amphitheatre filled with thousands upon thousands of Neverpeople, all baying for her blood. Their spokesperson introduces Rorvan and Taris, two Neverpeople who claim to have been Romana’s best friends at Lake Abydos. Romana is bewildered; she did spend her summers at Lake Abydos, but she never had any friends there. The gloating Neverperson questions Romana about the Oubliette of Eternity, one of the darkest secrets of the CIA -- a chamber once used to disperse criminals found guilty of high treason, erasing them from the timelines completely, as if they had never existed. The Doctor arrives in time to hear this and to deduce the horrifying truth -- the Neverpeople are dissipated Time Lords, victims of the Oubliette. Rorvan and Taris were indeed Romana’s best friends -- or would have been, if not for the fact that they were caught accessing classified documents, and thus never existed in the first place...
Charley realises that the area that they're in is bigger on the inside than on the outside- the planetoid is actually the wreck of a TARDIS. Romana admits that she had suspected it all along. Vansell investigates the area- the console room- and they find a spark of life. Just enough to form a hologram of the old man the Doctor met in the Matrix: [[Matrix Rassilon|Rassilon (of the Matrix)]]! He will not rest until Zagreus is destroyed. He explains his story, and how it ended with his paranoia that he may have brought into being, by constructing the one true timeline, its opposite: Anti-Time. A poison he feared would spill into the main timeline. He found the 'Neverworld' and has been battling Anti-Time, but that he has always hoped that his [[Time Lords]] would find him and take him home.


The Neverpeople’s spokesperson, the one with Charley’s form, identifies herself as Sentris, the 217th Co-ordinator of the Celestial Intervention Agency. Like all Gallifreyans, she believed that dispersal was an abominable punishment, used only in the most extreme circumstances -- but one day she checked the records in a time-protected vault and learned the appalling truth. The Oubliette had “never” been used only because its victims never existed in the first place -- and Sentris had in fact approved the dispersal of over 200 people in less than a year. Unable to live with herself, Sentris cast herself into the Oubliette -- and ended up surrounded by her own victims, condemned to eternal non-existence in the universe of anti-Time, with no way out -- until the Doctor opened the dimensional breach by saving Charley. Sentris has taken the form of the breach as a flag of honour.
=== Part two ===


Romana vows that the Time Lords will remember this injustice -- but the enraged Sentris reveals that it still goes on. The Oubliette of Eternity is still in operation, and the ranks of the Neverpeople grow daily as Co-ordinator of the CIA continues to disperse victims in the name of his President. The Doctor realizes that the Neverpeople must hate Vansell as much as they do Romana -- and Sentris also blames Rassilon, whom he claims decreed that all who threaten the empire of Time should be expelled from it. The Doctor realizes the implications. Rassilon must have realized that anti-Time was simply a force of nature, not a bogeyman -- which means that the legends of Zagreus are false, a trap planted by the Neverpeople to lure the Time Lords out from behind the barriers they set up when the web of Time began to fray. Rassilon’s body really does lie in the Death Zone -- which means that the casket contains something else...
Romana admits that this is why they really came, and the group discuss the Zagreus nursery rhyme as a metaphor for what is happening to the web of time. Vansell and Levith tell the story of a hero who sought out battle with Zagreus. The hero's name? Azalon, also called Razlon, or Ra. Before Ra leaves home, he orders all records of his quest destroyed, to avoid undermining his utopia. This perfectly mirrors Rassilon's tale. Vansell wants to resurrect Rassilon, and says proof of the tale being true lies in a Zero Cabinet, somewhere on the planetoid (TARDIS). The Charley-Neverperson returns, offering to negotiate terms: the Neverpeople are allowed to survive in tandem with the main timeline, and they will help them resurrect Rassilon by giving them the Casket of Rassilon, and the time station.


The Time Station is fully repaired and the time rotor is recharged. As Levith straps Charley into the proton accelerator, Charley tries to get through to her, reminding her that abandoning Romana is an act of treason -- and pointing out that Vansell seems to be talking to the casket. When Vansell speaks, they can hear a crackle in his voice, indicating that he has been infected by the energies of anti-Time. Rorvan and Taris arrive to observe the Station’s departure, and when Vansell welcomes them aboard even Levith realizes that something’s wrong -- but she’s left it too late. The anti-Time energy emanating from the casket has infected her as well, and she operates the proton accelerator, twisting Charley back into a dimensional gateway.
Vansell, Romana, and the Doctor argue about what to do about the Daleks in the time loop, and the Neverpeople. The Neverperson expands on her terms: they'll need a permanent gateway (meaning Charley's time is likely up), and until that can be established, they will keep one of their 'leaders' (Romana, Vansell, and the Doctor) with them. Vansell nominates Romana to stay, and Levith agrees. The Doctor says this is a coup and Vansell is self-interested, but the Neverpeople say they trust him. Vansell's loyalty lies with [[Gallifrey]] and Rassilon, not with Romana.


Sentris reveals that the casket on the Time Station contains a critical mass of raw anti-Time energy. Gallifrey has sealed itself off from the time distortion, but a Presidential station carrying the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency will be allowed through automatically. When the Station materializes, the casket will detonate, and the Capitol will be flooded with raw anti-Time, casting loose the web of Time’s last anchor and plunging the Universe into chaos -- the empire of Zagreus. Though the Doctor sympathizes with the Neverpeople’s fate, he will not allow Sentris to destroy the Universe -- but how can he stop her? The mock trial is over, and Sentris allows the Neverpeople to descend upon the Doctor and Romana, to fill themselves to bursting with the Time of their lives...
They all go outside to find the Casket, and Romana follows the Neverperson's orders. They are presented with the Casket, supposedly containing Rassilon's remains, and they are let go. The Neverpeople take Romana, and Vansell leaves the Doctor to be sucked into the hole in the ground, with Charley taken back by the CIA, with Rassilon's Casket in tow. Meanwhile, Romana walks with the Neverpeople towards the rest of the Neverpeople for a trial. Vansell (now [[Acting Lord President]]) restores the power to the time station. Romana is met by two of the Neverpeople: [[Taris]] and [[Rorvan]]. She doesn't remember them. The Charley-Neverperson reminds her of her childhood, and tells her of her friends, who are the pair before her. She still doesn't remember them.


However, a fault develops in the Time Station, which stalls during materialization. Sentris is forced to call off the Neverpeople and return the Doctor’s TARDIS; as the Neverpeople remain incorporeal, they are unable to repair the Station themselves, and none of the possessed Time Lords aboard have the requisite knowledge. The Doctor agrees to return to the Station, and Sentris boards the TARDIS with Romana as a hostage to ensure his good behaviour. Romana has a plan, however, and she manages to tell the Doctor; if she can get to the Matrix chamber on the station, the one the Doctor was in earlier, she can change her Presidential authorization codes and prevent the Station from materializing on Gallifrey. The trick will be getting her there.
Charley-Neverperson questions her about the things she was given knowledgeable of when she became president, including the [[Oubliette of Eternity]]. She says it's a disused chamber in the heart of an offworld station that is the CIA headquarters. The chamber was used for '[[dispersal|dispersion]]', a form of punishment that is no longer used. The Doctor comes in and says that the Anti-Time universe is where dispersed people ended up. The Neverpeople were once Time Lords. Rorvan and Taris, who were orphans, were dispersed for discovering that their parents were student rebels who were dispersed themselves. [[Sentris]] is the one wearing Charley's face, and she chose to disperse herself; the 217th member of the CIA. This is her way of making amends.


The TARDIS materializes on the Time Station’s bridge, where Charley is recovering from her ordeal -- and the entire crew is infected with anti-Time energy. Vansell is dimly aware that something is wrong, but he refuses to abandon his mission. The Doctor studies the damage and tells Romana to reset the flux patterns in the reactor while he works on the bridge; however, Vansell doesn’t trust either of them, and advises sending an escort with Romana. Sentris sends Vansell himself, along with Rorvan and Taris; before they leave, the Doctor gives Romana his sonic screwdriver in case of emergency. He then links the Station’s controls to the TARDIS to boost power to the time rotor... and is then forced to wire the casket to the Station’s self-destruct system when Sentris orders Levith to shoot herself in the head if he disobeys. When the Time Station materializes on Gallifrey, it will self-destruct as the casket opens, spreading anti-Time fallout over the whole of the planet before the Time Lords know what’s happening...
Romana apologises to the Neverpeople, but they tell her that dispersal is still happening, being carried out in her name- on Vansell's orders. In the ship, Charley realises that Vansell has been infected with Anti-Time. Sentris tells the Doctor and Romana that Rassilon was a paranoid despot who deprived the Universe of free will, and that he built the Oubliette. As Rassilon's actions created Anti-Time and it's monster (which he called Zagreus), he came to the antiverse... But Zagreus never existed. This 'Zagreus' that Rassilon supposedly fought was a concoction to persuade Time Lords to come to the antiverse. Vansell does not have Rassilon's body, for he still lies dead in his "sleep of the just" in [[the Dark Tower]]. The hologram was a projection.


Rorvan and Taris’ presence ensures that Vansell won’t listen to Romana’s story, but she refuses to waste what little time she has left convincing them that bitterness has warped their reasoning. Once they reach the temporal reactors, however, the positive temporal energy draws Rorvan and Taris towards it like moths to a flame, and Vansell, now far enough away from the casket, regains control over himself and realizes to his horror what he’s done. Romana explains her plan; first, however, she needs to get rid of Rorvan and Taris by lowering the blast shutters and raising the force shield, exposing them to the full power of the reactor core. Vansell and Romana cross to the two shutters, but the one on Vansell’s side jams open -- and although he is still exposed to the core, he raises the force shield before Rorvan and Taris can escape, sacrificing himself to destroy them and give Romana the time she needs.
Charley is being prepared to be used as a gate again, so the CIA can leave the antiverse, and she sees the Neverpeople come into the ship. Sentris tells the Doctor that the Casket contains Anti-Time, which will infect the Capital of Gallifrey. Sentris claims this will bring freedom for all- this 'empire of Zagreus' - but Romana says this can't happen. The Neverpeople tell Vansell to open the gate, and Levith, now infected with Anti-Time, obeys him. Sentris says that the Doctor will be a great feast, and the Neverpeople go to feed. The time station's power begins fading and Sentris says the TARDIS will be needed to reinvigorate the time station's temporal reactors. She's brought out for the Doctor, Romana, and Sentris to travel to the station in.


The power surge brings the Station’s time rotor back on line, but Sentris feels Rorvan and Taris’ loss and realizes what Romana intends to do. The possessed Time Lords lower the ship’s emergency bulkheads to block her out of the Matrix chamber, but thanks to the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, she gets through and into the Matrix. This does her no good whatsoever, for all of the voices in the Matrix are now mad, babbling nonsense about Zagreus and the end of days, and she can’t get anyone to listen to her long enough to change her authorization code. On the bridge of the Time Station, Sentris reveals to the Doctor that the plan was doomed to failure anyway; before leaving on this mission, Vansell ratified a new order making it impossible to amend authorization codes during a state of emergency. The Doctor tries to remain optimistic, but Sentris knows there’s only one sure way to prevent the disaster to come -- and she is vicious enough to offer the Doctor the opportunity, knowing that he’ll turn it down. Charley knows exactly what they’re talking about -- they can’t get through the breach if the breach no longer exists...
The pair of Time Lords fix the TARDIS, and Romana has a plan: they can change the Presidential authorisation, so the station won't be let into the Capital. She'll have to do it from inside the Matrix. Finally, they take off. They reach Charley, and they realise the Anti-Time from the Casket has infected the crew. The Doctor says he'll need Romana's help to fix the station, and Sentris agrees. Levith stays with the Doctor while Vansell goes down to the reactors with Romana, Rorvan, and Taris. Romana is given the Doctor's [[sonic screwdriver|sonic]]. Romana tells Vansell that the Neverpeople are the Oublietted people, and what they plan to do to the web of time. The Doctor finishes his work, and then is told to help the under-Cardinal, and is forced to connect the Casket to the station's self destruct, so it will detonate shortly after they materialise on Gallifrey.


Amused, Sentris orders Levith to give the Doctor her gun. Charley insists that she’s accepted her fate, and that she doesn’t regret a moment of the time she’s spent with him. She’s seen more wonders and miracles than she’d ever dreamed possible, and if the web of Time falls apart then none of those things will ever have existed. She is ready to die to save the Universe -- but the Doctor can’t bring himself to kill his friend, whatever the cost. Sentris, triumphant, orders Levith to activate the proton accelerator, and Charley, bitterly disappointed with the Doctor, is twisted once more into the shape of the space/time gateway. The Doctor, enraged, reminds Sentris that she condemned herself to oblivion out of guilt over the murder of innocents; yet now she’s willing to destroy the web of Time and unmake the lives of millions. But bitterness and hatred have warped Sentris’ mind, and she won’t listen to reason. The Station dematerializes, heading for the breach and thence Gallifrey, but the Doctor realizes that there’s still one course of action open to him. Before anyone can stop him, he leaps into the TARDIS and dematerializes. Sentris allows him to go; nothing can stop the Station from materializing on Gallifrey now...
Romana realises that Anti-Time's hold over Vansell is waning, and he tells her he is loyal to her. The reactor's core would atomise Rorvan and Taris, if they can raise the [[Zybanium]] shield protecting the core. Together, they do just this, but Vansell's shutter is jammed, so he won't be protected. Vansell is killed, along with Rorvan and Taris. Sentris realises that they are dead, and that Romana is heading for the Matrix chamber. Romana uses the sonic to get in anyway, and enters the Matrix. Inside, she talks to some data recorders, and is told Zagreus is coming, and it is inevitable. Sentris realises what Romana is doing and says the code cannot be changed, thanks to a rule ratified recently by Vansell. Charley tells the Doctor there's a chance- if she dies, the breach in space-time has no coordinates, so the Neverpeople couldn't use the breach.


The Doctor approaches the breach, desperately reconfiguring the TARDIS’ superstructure -- but as he works, time and space come to a halt, and a very familiar presence appears. This is the old man whom the Doctor saw in the Matrix, whom Sentris impersonated back in the Antiverse -- and he has halted Time at this, the most crucial moment in the Doctor’s life, so the Doctor can explain what has led him to this. Confused, but accepting that there’s time enough to tell his story, the Doctor does so, beginning with the R101 and his first meeting with Charlotte Pollard, continuing through their adventure with Sebastian Grayle and ending here, with the Doctor poised to save Gallifrey -- regardless of the consequences to himself. The old man gently asks the Doctor if he has considered every possible alternative, and when the Doctor assures him that he has, the old man steps aside. He will allow the Doctor to make his own decisions and face the consequences, but before the end comes he wants the Doctor to know one thing -- he has watched the Doctor through all his lives, and the Doctor has made him proud. Time begins to flow forward again, and the Doctor, unsure what’s just happened, returns to work...
Sentris tells Levith to throw her staser to the Doctor, and Charley accepts her fate, begging the Doctor to kill her. They say they love each other. Sentris eggs the Doctor on further, but the Doctor still can't do it. Levith opens the gateway as Charley screams. The Doctor tries to convince Sentris to stop, but she doesn't, and they dematerialise through the breach. This makes him realise something: he gets into the TARDIS, and has an idea. Just then, the [[Matrix Rassilon]] freezes him. The Doctor tells Rassilon the story of Charley Pollard. Rassilon tells him that he's proud of the Doctor and the difference he's made to the Universe. He departs.


The Time Station passes through the breach and materializes on Gallifrey, and Levith initiates the self-destruct sequence. But as Sentris crows over her victory, it’s snatched from her grasp -- as the Doctor’s TARDIS materializes around the entire Station. There’s no way for Sentris to stop the countdown now; the TARDIS will hold in the explosion, containing all of the anti-Time fallout until the Time Lords can deal with it. And although the Doctor knows this trick will cost him his life, he’ll have spent it to save the Universe and his friend. Sentris shrieks in fury as the countdown reaches zero -- and the Time Station explodes.
The station has reached Gallifrey, and sets off the self destruct timer. The Doctor conducts his plan- he calls Sentris from the TARDIS, which he's materialised around the time station. This would annihilate the Doctor, though he says his TARDIS can take the energy, and Charley (once restabilised) will be okay. The Casket detonates.


Romana is surprised when the madness in the Matrix suddenly returns to normal. The data recorders are now perfectly sane, and history makes sense again -- including Charley’s rescue, the resulting anti-Time incursion, and the Doctor’s self-sacrifice. The wise old man appears before Romana, confirming that the threat to history has now become a part of history itself... and that although the price the Doctor paid was terrible indeed, Charley is now safe. Since the breach is now a fact of history, so is her survival, and her existence is no longer a paradox. The old man then gives Romana the opportunity to return to Gallifrey -- but if she chooses to do so she cannot be told what the future holds. All she can know is that Charley still has a part of play in the next chapter of Gallifrey’s history -- and a dark and terrible chapter it will be. Disturbed, Romana chooses to play her own role in history, and steps out of the Matrix. The old man watches her go, sadly, knowing what she will soon face. For Zagreus waits at the end of the world, and Zagreus is the end of the world; his time is the end of Time, and his moment Time’s undoing...
Romana sees the R101 crash from inside the Matrix, and how Charley's survival leads to the Doctor's death. This is now part of the Web of Time. She declares that history will remember him. Then, the old man- Rassilon's Matrix projection- appears before her. He explains how Charley has survived, and Romana may return to Gallifrey through a different door in the Matrix. Charley's story is not yet done, and Romana leaves. Rassilon recites part of the Zagreus rhyme once more, just as Charley (now in the TARDIS) finds the Doctor: now filled with Anti-Time. This Anti-Time creatures calls itself... Zagreus.
 
Charley, fully human again, stumbles into the ruins of the TARDIS console room to find the Doctor huddled in the darkness -- but when she approaches him, he strikes her aside with a single, cruel blow. Now that the paradox of her survival has been resolved, the breach has closed, and all the anti-Time energy in the Universe is contained here... absorbed into the Doctor’s body when the Time Station exploded. He is now the living embodiment of anti-Time, a dark force more powerful than life and death, and he can no longer really be considered to be the Doctor. He will take his new name from a work of fiction, a fairytale bogeyman willed into existence by people who never existed. From now on he will be known as Zagreus...


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 112: Line 105:
* [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] - [[India Fisher]]
* [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] - [[India Fisher]]
* [[Romana II|Romana]] - [[Lalla Ward]]
* [[Romana II|Romana]] - [[Lalla Ward]]
* [[Matrix Rassilon|Rassilon]] - [[Don Warrington]]
* [[Vansell|Coordinator Vansell]] - [[Anthony Keetch]]
* [[Vansell|Coordinator Vansell]] - [[Anthony Keetch]]
* [[Kurst]] - [[Peter Trapani]]
* [[Kurst]] - [[Peter Trapani]]
* [[Levith]] - [[Holly King]]
* [[Levith]] - [[Holly King]]
* [[Undercardinal (Neverland)|Undercardinal]] - [[Lee Moone]]
* [[Rorvan]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[Rorvan]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[Taris]] - [[Nicola Boyce]]
* [[Taris]] - [[Nicola Boyce]]
* [[Rassilon]] - [[Don Warrington]]
* [[The Matrix|Matrix]] voices - [[Jonathan Rigby]], [[Dot Smith]], [[Ian Hallard]]
* [[The Matrix|Matrix]] voices - [[Jonathan Rigby]], [[Dot Smith]], [[Ian Hallard]]
* [[Dalek Emperor]] - [[Alistair Lock]]  
* [[Dalek Emperor]] - [[Alistair Lock]]
* [[Undercardinal (Neverland)|Undercardinal]] - [[Lee Moone]]
 
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Clayton Hickman]]
* Director - [[Gary Russell]]
* Executive Producer - [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Music - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* Producers - Gary Russell and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Sound Design - [[Alistair Lock]]
* Writer - [[Alan Barnes]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Botany ===
=== Botany ===
* In a Matrix projection, there are no [[Cadonwood tree]]s left alive.
* In a Matrix projection, there are no [[Cadonwood tree]]s left alive.
Line 145: Line 148:
=== Gallifreyan technology ===
=== Gallifreyan technology ===
* The [[Oubliette of Eternity]] erases people and Time Lords from history. They end up in the [[Antiverse]].
* The [[Oubliette of Eternity]] erases people and Time Lords from history. They end up in the [[Antiverse]].
* A space-time converter is used, as is a sub-proton accelerator, which "stimulates matter at the atomic level".


=== Space-time vessels ===
=== Space-time vessels ===
Line 158: Line 162:


=== TARDIS ===
=== TARDIS ===
* Charley uses the [[fast return switch]] to fly [[the TARDIS]] back into the path of [[time torpedoes]].
* Charley uses the [[fast return switch]] to fly [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] back into the path of [[time torpedo]]es.


=== Theories and concepts ===
=== Theories and concepts ===
Line 171: Line 175:
=== Literature ===
=== Literature ===
* Charley makes various reference to [[Peter Pan]].
* Charley makes various reference to [[Peter Pan]].
== Gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
Neverland cover.jpg|Original CD cover
Neverland (DWM 318).jpg|Illustrated preview by [[Martin Geraghty]] in [[DWM 318]]
Neverland (DWM 321).jpg|Review illustration by [[Roger Langridge]] in [[DWM 321]]
</gallery>


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* Don Warrington's name was not included in any of the cast lists printed in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'', www.doctorwho.co.uk or the CD's inner booklet in order to conceal the character's identity. His name does, however, appear on the cover of the CD.<ref name="MillenniumEffect">{{cite web|url=http://www.millenniumeffect.co.uk/audio/stories/commercial.php#bfp|title= Neverland|date of source=|website name=The Millennium Effect|accessdate=4th February 2012}}</ref>
* Don Warrington's name was not included in any of the cast lists printed in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'', www.doctorwho.co.uk or the CD's inner booklet in order to conceal the character's identity. His name does, however, appear on the cover of the CD.<ref name="MillenniumEffect">{{cite web|url=http://www.millenniumeffect.co.uk/audio/stories/commercial.php#bfp|title= Neverland|date of source=|website name=The Millennium Effect|accessdate=4 February 2012}}</ref>
* Despite ''Neverland'' being publicised as a traditional Big Finish Productions four-story, it was released as "a special two-part, feature-length" presentation with episodes of seventy-two minutes each.<ref name="MillenniumEffect" />
* Despite ''Neverland'' being publicised as a traditional Big Finish Productions four-part story, it was released as "a special two-part, feature-length" presentation with episodes of seventy-two minutes each.<ref name="MillenniumEffect" />
* Part 2 of ''Neverland'' leads directly into ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]''. However, there was a gap of a year and five months between the release of ''Neverland'' in June 2002 and the release of ''Zagreus'' in November 2003.
* Part 2 of ''Neverland'' leads directly into ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]''. However, there was a gap of a year and five months between the release of ''Neverland'' in June 2002 and the release of ''Zagreus'' in November 2003.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 January (production)|24]] and [[25 January (production)|25 January]] 2001 and [[27 February (production)|27 February]] 2002.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 January (production)|24]] and [[25 January (production)|25 January]] [[2001 (production)|2001]] and [[27 February (production)|27 February]] [[2002 (production)|2002]].


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
{{discontinuity}}
{{discontinuity}}
* The paradox of Charley's survival started in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning]]''.
* The paradox of Charley's survival started in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]''.
* The Daleks were stuck in the vortex in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Time of the Daleks]]''.
* The Daleks were stuck in the vortex in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Time of the Daleks (audio story)|The Time of the Daleks]]''.
* The Time Lords first tried to get the Doctor in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Embrace the Darkness]]''.
* The Time Lords first tried to get the Doctor in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Embrace the Darkness (audio story)|Embrace the Darkness]]''.
* The Doctor originally tells Charley that the Time Lords want the Doctor to report at an inquiry into the recent [[Nimon]] incursion on Earth in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear (audio story)|Seasons of Fear]]'', before giving in and telling her its about her survival.  
* The Doctor tells Charley that he never gives up because he's the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'')
* Vansell makes note of the Doctor and Charley's presence in [[Beauvais]], [[France]] on [[5 October]] [[1930]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning]]''), the cargo ship ''[[Vanguard (Sword of Orion)|Vanguard]]'' in [[2503]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Sword of Orion]]''), [[Venice]] in [[2294]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Stones of Venice]]''), [[Malebolgia]] in [[2003]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Minuet in Hell]]'') and [[New York City]] in [[1938]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Invaders from Mars]]'').
* The Doctor originally tells Charley that the Time Lords want the Doctor to report at an inquiry into the recent [[Nimon]] incursion on Earth in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear (audio story)|Seasons of Fear]]'', before giving in and telling her it's about her survival.
* Vansell also notes their next appearance in [[London]], but it is unclear how true that is, given the events of [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Chimes of Midnight]]''.
* Vansell makes note of the Doctor and Charley's presence in [[Beauvais]], [[France]] on [[5 October]] [[1930]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]'') the cargo ship ''[[Vanguard (Sword of Orion)|Vanguard]]'' in [[2503]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Sword of Orion (audio story)|Sword of Orion]]'') [[Venice]] in [[2294]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Stones of Venice (audio story)|The Stones of Venice]]'') [[Malebolgia]] in [[2003]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Minuet in Hell (audio story)|Minuet in Hell]]'') [[New York City]] in [[1938]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Invaders from Mars (audio story)|Invaders from Mars]]'') and [[London]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Chimes of Midnight (audio story)|The Chimes of Midnight]]'')
* [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear]]'' first showed the [[Neverperson|Neverpeople]] entering the normal universe.
* [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear (audio story)|Seasons of Fear]]'' first showed the [[Neverperson|Neverpeople]] entering the normal universe.
* [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Project Twilight (audio story)|Project: Twilight]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Instruments of Darkness]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear]]'' mentioned Zagreus.
* [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Project Twilight (audio story)|Project: Twilight]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Instruments of Darkness (novel)|Instruments of Darkness]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Seasons of Fear (audio story)|Seasons of Fear]]'' mentioned Zagreus.
* [[The Matrix]] noted [[Rassilon Era]] date of 6978.3. This is incorrect, and should have been 6798.3.
* [[The Matrix]] noted [[Rassilon Era]] date of 6978.3. This is incorrect, and should have been 6798.3.
* The Library of St John the Beheaded appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[All-Consuming Fire (novel)|All-Consuming Fire]]''; Yssgaroth appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit]]'', and Gallifrey's Mount Cadon comes from [[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation]]''.
* The Library of St John the Beheaded appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[All-Consuming Fire (novel)|All-Consuming Fire]]''; Yssgaroth appeared in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Pit (novel)|The Pit]]'', and Gallifrey's Mount Cadon comes from [[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)|Timewyrm: Revelation]]''.
* The Doctor recalls his and Romana's adventures in [[E-Space]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Full Circle]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Invasion of E-Space]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Warriors' Gate]]'')
* The Doctor recalls his and Romana's adventures in [[E-Space]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Full Circle (TV story)|Full Circle]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Invasion of E-Space (audio story)|The Invasion of E-Space]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Warriors' Gate (TV story)|Warriors' Gate]]'')
* The Doctor mentions his encounter with [[Mary Shelley]] and [[Lord Byron]] near [[Lake Geneva]] in [[Switzerland]] in [[June]] [[1816]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Mary's Story (audio story)|Mary's Story]]'')
* The Doctor mentions his encounter with [[Mary Shelley]] and [[Lord Byron]] near [[Lake Geneva]] in [[Switzerland]] in [[June]] [[1816]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Mary's Story (audio story)|Mary's Story]]'')
* The Matrix voices refer to the crash of the British [[airship]] ''[[R101]]'' on [[5 October]] [[1930]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]''), [[Adolf Hitler]]'s appointment as [[Chancellor]] of [[Germany]] on [[30 January]] [[1933]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]''), the abdication of [[Edward VIII|King Edward VIII]] on [[10 December]] [[1936]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Players (novel)|Players]]''), the German invasion of [[Poland]] on [[1 September]] [[1939]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[A Blind Eye (audio story)|A Blind Eye]]''), the evacuation of British troops from [[Battle of Dunkirk|Dunkirk]] on [[27 May]] [[1940]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Fugitives (audio story)|Fugitives]]''), the admission of [[Peladon]] into the [[Galactic Federation]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Peladon (TV story)|The Curse of Peladon]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Monster of Peladon (TV story)|The Monster of Peladon]]''), the election of [[Mavic Chen]] as [[Guardian of the Solar System]] in [[40th century|3950]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]''), the [[Dalek]]s' forces assembling on [[Kembel]] in [[4000]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Mission to the Unknown (TV story)|Mission to the Unknown]]''), the establishment of the [[Cult of Morbius]] in 5725.3 ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]''), the theft of the plans for the [[Doomsday Weapon]] by {{Delgado}} on 5892.9 ([[TV]]: ''[[Colony in Space (TV story)|Colony in Space]]''), [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]]'s visit to [[Tersurus]] in 6241.1 ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]''), the disappearance of [[Lord President|Lady President]] [[Romana II|Romana]] and [[Etra Prime]] in 6776.7 and the repulsion of the [[Dalek]] invasion of Gallifrey by Romana in 6796.8 ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'').
* The Matrix voices refer to the crash of the British [[airship]] ''[[R101]]'' on [[5 October]] [[1930]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]'') [[Adolf Hitler]]'s appointment as [[Chancellor]] of [[Germany]] on [[30 January]] [[1933]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]'') the abdication of [[Edward VIII|King Edward VIII]] on [[10 December]] [[1936]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Players (novel)|Players]]'') the German invasion of [[Poland]] on [[1 September]] [[1939]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[A Blind Eye (audio story)|A Blind Eye]]'') the evacuation of British troops from [[Battle of Dunkirk|Dunkirk]] on [[27 May]] [[1940]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Fugitives (audio story)|Fugitives]]''), the admission of [[Peladon]] into the [[Galactic Federation]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Peladon (TV story)|The Curse of Peladon]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Monster of Peladon (TV story)|The Monster of Peladon]]''), the election of [[Mavic Chen]] as [[Guardian of the Solar System]] in [[40th century|3950]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'') the [[Dalek]]s' forces assembling on [[Kembel]] in [[4000]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Mission to the Unknown (TV story)|Mission to the Unknown]]'') the establishment of the [[Cult of Morbius]] in 5725.3, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius (TV story)|The Brain of Morbius]]'') the theft of the plans for the [[Doomsday Weapon]] by {{Delgado}} on 5892.9, ([[TV]]: ''[[Colony in Space (TV story)|Colony in Space]]'') [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]]'s visit to [[Tersurus]] in 6241.1, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]'') the disappearance of [[Lord President|Lady President]] [[Romana II|Romana]] and [[Etra Prime]] in 6776.7 and the repulsion of the [[Dalek]] invasion of Gallifrey by Romana in 6796.8. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Apocalypse Element (audio story)|The Apocalypse Element]]'')
* After Vansell's death, he would be succeeded as coordinator of the CIA by [[Narvin]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Weapon of Choice (audio story)|Weapon of Choice]]'')
* After Vansell's death, he would be succeeded as coordinator of the CIA by [[Narvin]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Weapon of Choice (audio story)|Weapon of Choice]]'')
* During their visit to [[Light City]] in the [[Divergent Universe]], the Doctor and Charley's memories were contributed to the pool of information used to programme the Proles. An edited version of their visit to Gallifrey was included in an infotainment broadcast which the Proles were obligated to watch. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Natural History of Fear (audio story)|The Natural History of Fear]]'')
* During their visit to [[Light City]] in the [[Divergent Universe]], the Doctor and Charley's memories were contributed to the pool of information used to programme the Proles. An edited version of their visit to Gallifrey was included in an infotainment broadcast which the Proles were obligated to watch. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Natural History of Fear (audio story)|The Natural History of Fear]]'')
* After Charley escaped from the [[Ever-and-Ever Prolixity]], a [[Viyran]] agent was stationed on Gallifrey to search for her. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Fall of the House of Pollard (audio story)|The Fall of the House of Pollard]]'')
* After Charley escaped from the [[Ever-and-Ever Prolixity]], a [[Viyran]] agent was stationed on Gallifrey to search for her. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Fall of the House of Pollard (audio story)|The Fall of the House of Pollard]]'')
* The Doctor mentions previously being in [[Rassilon]]'s Tomb. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
* The Doctor mentions previously being in [[Tomb of Rassilon|Rassilon's Tomb]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
* The Doctor mentions having been to the Acteon Galaxy before, but not for a while. ([[TV]]: ''[[Carnival of Monsters (TV story)|Carnival of Monsters]]'')
* Kurst compares the TARDIS interior to an "Ormellian brothel". ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Last of the Titans (audio story)|Last of the Titans]]'')
* Charley mentions the "Mountain Mauler of Montana". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Romans (TV story)|The Romans]]'')
 
== External links ==
{{bigfinish|releases/v/neverland-199|Neverland}}; note that it is out of print and is available as download only.
 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150309055110/http://www.chakoteya.net/8Doctor/main33.html Neverland Transcript]
{{dwrefguide|who_bf33.htm|Neverland}}
{{tetrap|8/neverland.html|Neverland}}


== Footnotes ==
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Bigfinish|releases/v/neverland-199|Neverland}}; note that it is out of print and is available as download only.
{{dwrefguide|who_bf33.htm|Neverland}}
* {{tetrap|8/neverland.html|Neverland}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{Rassilon stories}}
{{TitleSort}}
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[[Category:Stories set outside time and space]]

Latest revision as of 23:11, 17 November 2024

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audio stub

Neverland was the thirty-third story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Alan Barnes and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard, Lalla Ward as Romana II, Anthony Keetch as Vansell and Don Warrington as Rassilon.

This story concluded the arc of stories beginning with Invaders from Mars concerning the paradox of Charley Pollard's surviving the R101's destruction.

Neverland was one of three audio stories to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor alongside Romana as played by Lalla Ward. The others were the audio adaptation Shada, which itself was an extended release of the webcast of the same name, and Zagreus.

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

The Web of Time is stretched to breaking. History is leaking like a sieve. In the Citadel of Gallifrey, the Time Lords fear the end of everything that is, everything that was... everything that will be.

The Doctor holds the Time Lords' only hope — but exactly what lengths will the Celestial Intervention Agency go to in their efforts to retrieve something important from within his TARDIS? What has caused the Imperiatrix Romanadvoratrelundar to declare war on the rest of creation? And can an old nursery rhyme about a monster called Zagreus really be coming true?

The answers can only be found outside the bounds of the universe itself, in a place that history forgot. In the wastegrounds of eternity. In the Neverland.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

A mechanical voice reads out key dates in the Humanian Era, including the crash of the R101. This voice is overlapped by a female voice, which reads out key dates in the Sensorian era. The first voice is still going, and lists dates and events in the Rassilon era, but when it gets to the Dalek Fleet being captured in the vortex, it begins breaking up, and screams that it "can't remember".

In the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to Charley that although the Daleks are trapped in a paradox, a time pocket, they may still be brought back by the Time Lords to avoid disruption to the timeline. They are in the Acteon galaxy, which the Doctor describes, saying that he hasn't been there since he "was an old man. Probably". Then, on the scanner, they see a large number of grey battle TARDISes, and realise they are there for them. Meanwhile, Vansell tells Romana that they have located the Doctor, and are blocking entrances to the vortex across 5 million consecutive years. The time station they are in heads towards them. The Doctor receives a message ordering them to power down their TARDIS, which the Doctor ignores, and is shot at by time torpedoes. However, a time slip hits them, which sends their TARDIS through time.

When it's over, the Doctor asks Charley how long they've been travelling together, and Charley guesses it to be about six months. The Doctor wishes her a happy birthday, and says she's going to an amazing party, inside the Jovian Fold. Acting excited, he says he won't be attending, and will pick her up in a year. The Doctor will go and see the Time Lords in the meantime, and try to sort out the paradox of Charley's existence. Charley doesn't want to hide away, saying that it's time to stop dreaming, time to grow up, but the Doctor doesn't want to give up on her. She hits the fast return switch.

Kurst and Levith, CIA agents, enter the TARDIS, which has been frozen for a few hundred years. The Doctor awakens and mutters about adventures he's had, and they take him for his "date with the President". They use a time-space converter to wake up Charley. The Doctor comes to his senses in a metal room in a 7C Supra-Orbital Time Station, where he teases Vansell about their time in the Academy. Vansell lists the many occasions on which Vansell has been traced to in different time periods after her death. Romana gives her word that no injustice will be carried out against Charley.

Charley is prepared for a procedure by the CIA agents while Vansell continues interrogating the Doctor about recent time slips. This leads the Doctor to explain the theory of Anti-Time, which he doesn't believe in, but is convinced when Romana shows him the time slips and disruptions originating from the 1930s. They describe Charley as patient zero; a rip in the fabric of space-time. Time is "running out", and the Matrix cannot cope. The Doctor is standing on a door to the Matrix, which he enters unwillingly.

Inside the Matrix, he sees the future if the slips continue: Gallifrey burning, Mount Cadon obscured by smoke. He meets an old man, who tells him Gallifrey is dead, and the people who are left alive have turned cruel. This is now the Empire of Zagreus. He sees Romana as an Imperiatrix, who has become cruel. She takes the Dalek Emperor and it's fleet as prisoners. as prisoners as they beg to be released. The Imperiatrix-Romana destroys the Daleks. The Doctor protests that this isn't right, and an angry mob begins to attack him. He is brought out of the matrix projection.

The Doctor still swears he will protect Charley, despite the projection. Romana suggests they follow the time distortion to its source, and Vansell relishes in adding that they'll destroy it. They must go through the space time breach using Charley, in order to enter the universe of Anti-Time, which Vansell claims to have ancient records about. Meanwhile, the agents finish installing the space-time converter, and Charley wakes. They explain they are using a sub-protonic converter to allow people to travel using her into another universe, but that it may change her.

Romana assures the Doctor that the changes to Charley will be reverted, and says she's sure Vansell will turn a blind eye and allow them to leave after their mission is complete. Vansell agrees. Charley, stabilised inside an acceleration field (created by the machinery mentioned earlier) inside the Doctor's TARDIS, will be used to find the coordinates of the source of the breach. The gate of Zagreus is opened, and Charley screams. Suddenly, things go wrong, and the Doctor's TARDIS is sucked through. Soon, so is the Time Station.

The Doctor's TARDIS has arrived. Charley whimpers as Levith explains that Charley was reverting to her natural state as the TARDIS broke through. The power to the proton accelerator was cut off, and Charley stabilised. Kurst unties Charley as Levith sees that the TARDIS cannot definitively say where they are: they arrived in the universe of anti-time (antiverse). The Doctor, meanwhile, taunts Vansell as they make it through to the antiverse with some other Time Lords who were with them in the station, including the Undercardinal. Looking out, they see constant motion- their theories of Anti-Time were correct. However, there is a single fixed point: a planetoid. Clearly it doesn't belong there. From this planet emanates the trans-temporal beacon Levith had set up, which the sensors pick up.

Exploring the planetoid, Levith sees a forest, which Charley says are just metal spikes. The beacon malfunctions due to time disruption as Charley runs towards the spikes. She hears laughter, and then a voice is a distorted form of her own voice and that has her memories. Turning around, she sees this person looks like her, too. She describes a time Charley was a child and got lost in the woods, and then tells her that she has been following her since France. Her people are everyone who never was, never died, never lived, and they want her to join them. The agents hear Charley's scream and hold off the collection of ghosts (Neverpeople) while Charley escapes. The collection kills Kurst, saying that the Time Lords made them, and so they can unmake Kurst.

Levith and Charley run for the TARDIS, but the beacon and the TARDIS have been swallowed by the ground, which cracked open. The Doctor and Vansell argue over what to do, and the Doctor triggers the Time Ship to go towards where the beacon was- against orders. The Neverpeople reappear, asking Charley to join them again, but then the Time Station comes towards them. Romana threatens to restrain the Doctor. The station crashes against the metal forest, and the distorted neverperson-Charley voice makes herself known. The Neverpeople feed on the time energy in the time station, becoming more solid. Romana tells them off. The guards fire at them, but it doesn't do anything.

Charley-Neverperson says that the truth about Zagreus, the thing which Vansell came here for, is here. Vansell orders the guards to lower their weapons and follow him, but Romana regains control quickly, and they follow her and the Doctor out. Charley and Levith reach the time station, reuniting with the Doctor and Romana. Vansell questions the Doctor's loyalty and motives, though Romana seems unswayed by his probing. They all go into the metal forest, and the Doctor finds it strange. Acid rain begins falling, and they take cover.

Charley realises that the area that they're in is bigger on the inside than on the outside- the planetoid is actually the wreck of a TARDIS. Romana admits that she had suspected it all along. Vansell investigates the area- the console room- and they find a spark of life. Just enough to form a hologram of the old man the Doctor met in the Matrix: Rassilon (of the Matrix)! He will not rest until Zagreus is destroyed. He explains his story, and how it ended with his paranoia that he may have brought into being, by constructing the one true timeline, its opposite: Anti-Time. A poison he feared would spill into the main timeline. He found the 'Neverworld' and has been battling Anti-Time, but that he has always hoped that his Time Lords would find him and take him home.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

Romana admits that this is why they really came, and the group discuss the Zagreus nursery rhyme as a metaphor for what is happening to the web of time. Vansell and Levith tell the story of a hero who sought out battle with Zagreus. The hero's name? Azalon, also called Razlon, or Ra. Before Ra leaves home, he orders all records of his quest destroyed, to avoid undermining his utopia. This perfectly mirrors Rassilon's tale. Vansell wants to resurrect Rassilon, and says proof of the tale being true lies in a Zero Cabinet, somewhere on the planetoid (TARDIS). The Charley-Neverperson returns, offering to negotiate terms: the Neverpeople are allowed to survive in tandem with the main timeline, and they will help them resurrect Rassilon by giving them the Casket of Rassilon, and the time station.

Vansell, Romana, and the Doctor argue about what to do about the Daleks in the time loop, and the Neverpeople. The Neverperson expands on her terms: they'll need a permanent gateway (meaning Charley's time is likely up), and until that can be established, they will keep one of their 'leaders' (Romana, Vansell, and the Doctor) with them. Vansell nominates Romana to stay, and Levith agrees. The Doctor says this is a coup and Vansell is self-interested, but the Neverpeople say they trust him. Vansell's loyalty lies with Gallifrey and Rassilon, not with Romana.

They all go outside to find the Casket, and Romana follows the Neverperson's orders. They are presented with the Casket, supposedly containing Rassilon's remains, and they are let go. The Neverpeople take Romana, and Vansell leaves the Doctor to be sucked into the hole in the ground, with Charley taken back by the CIA, with Rassilon's Casket in tow. Meanwhile, Romana walks with the Neverpeople towards the rest of the Neverpeople for a trial. Vansell (now Acting Lord President) restores the power to the time station. Romana is met by two of the Neverpeople: Taris and Rorvan. She doesn't remember them. The Charley-Neverperson reminds her of her childhood, and tells her of her friends, who are the pair before her. She still doesn't remember them.

Charley-Neverperson questions her about the things she was given knowledgeable of when she became president, including the Oubliette of Eternity. She says it's a disused chamber in the heart of an offworld station that is the CIA headquarters. The chamber was used for 'dispersion', a form of punishment that is no longer used. The Doctor comes in and says that the Anti-Time universe is where dispersed people ended up. The Neverpeople were once Time Lords. Rorvan and Taris, who were orphans, were dispersed for discovering that their parents were student rebels who were dispersed themselves. Sentris is the one wearing Charley's face, and she chose to disperse herself; the 217th member of the CIA. This is her way of making amends.

Romana apologises to the Neverpeople, but they tell her that dispersal is still happening, being carried out in her name- on Vansell's orders. In the ship, Charley realises that Vansell has been infected with Anti-Time. Sentris tells the Doctor and Romana that Rassilon was a paranoid despot who deprived the Universe of free will, and that he built the Oubliette. As Rassilon's actions created Anti-Time and it's monster (which he called Zagreus), he came to the antiverse... But Zagreus never existed. This 'Zagreus' that Rassilon supposedly fought was a concoction to persuade Time Lords to come to the antiverse. Vansell does not have Rassilon's body, for he still lies dead in his "sleep of the just" in the Dark Tower. The hologram was a projection.

Charley is being prepared to be used as a gate again, so the CIA can leave the antiverse, and she sees the Neverpeople come into the ship. Sentris tells the Doctor that the Casket contains Anti-Time, which will infect the Capital of Gallifrey. Sentris claims this will bring freedom for all- this 'empire of Zagreus' - but Romana says this can't happen. The Neverpeople tell Vansell to open the gate, and Levith, now infected with Anti-Time, obeys him. Sentris says that the Doctor will be a great feast, and the Neverpeople go to feed. The time station's power begins fading and Sentris says the TARDIS will be needed to reinvigorate the time station's temporal reactors. She's brought out for the Doctor, Romana, and Sentris to travel to the station in.

The pair of Time Lords fix the TARDIS, and Romana has a plan: they can change the Presidential authorisation, so the station won't be let into the Capital. She'll have to do it from inside the Matrix. Finally, they take off. They reach Charley, and they realise the Anti-Time from the Casket has infected the crew. The Doctor says he'll need Romana's help to fix the station, and Sentris agrees. Levith stays with the Doctor while Vansell goes down to the reactors with Romana, Rorvan, and Taris. Romana is given the Doctor's sonic. Romana tells Vansell that the Neverpeople are the Oublietted people, and what they plan to do to the web of time. The Doctor finishes his work, and then is told to help the under-Cardinal, and is forced to connect the Casket to the station's self destruct, so it will detonate shortly after they materialise on Gallifrey.

Romana realises that Anti-Time's hold over Vansell is waning, and he tells her he is loyal to her. The reactor's core would atomise Rorvan and Taris, if they can raise the Zybanium shield protecting the core. Together, they do just this, but Vansell's shutter is jammed, so he won't be protected. Vansell is killed, along with Rorvan and Taris. Sentris realises that they are dead, and that Romana is heading for the Matrix chamber. Romana uses the sonic to get in anyway, and enters the Matrix. Inside, she talks to some data recorders, and is told Zagreus is coming, and it is inevitable. Sentris realises what Romana is doing and says the code cannot be changed, thanks to a rule ratified recently by Vansell. Charley tells the Doctor there's a chance- if she dies, the breach in space-time has no coordinates, so the Neverpeople couldn't use the breach.

Sentris tells Levith to throw her staser to the Doctor, and Charley accepts her fate, begging the Doctor to kill her. They say they love each other. Sentris eggs the Doctor on further, but the Doctor still can't do it. Levith opens the gateway as Charley screams. The Doctor tries to convince Sentris to stop, but she doesn't, and they dematerialise through the breach. This makes him realise something: he gets into the TARDIS, and has an idea. Just then, the Matrix Rassilon freezes him. The Doctor tells Rassilon the story of Charley Pollard. Rassilon tells him that he's proud of the Doctor and the difference he's made to the Universe. He departs.

The station has reached Gallifrey, and sets off the self destruct timer. The Doctor conducts his plan- he calls Sentris from the TARDIS, which he's materialised around the time station. This would annihilate the Doctor, though he says his TARDIS can take the energy, and Charley (once restabilised) will be okay. The Casket detonates.

Romana sees the R101 crash from inside the Matrix, and how Charley's survival leads to the Doctor's death. This is now part of the Web of Time. She declares that history will remember him. Then, the old man- Rassilon's Matrix projection- appears before her. He explains how Charley has survived, and Romana may return to Gallifrey through a different door in the Matrix. Charley's story is not yet done, and Romana leaves. Rassilon recites part of the Zagreus rhyme once more, just as Charley (now in the TARDIS) finds the Doctor: now filled with Anti-Time. This Anti-Time creatures calls itself... Zagreus.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Botany[[edit] | [edit source]]

Conventions[[edit] | [edit source]]

Galaxies[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan history[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Oubliette of Eternity erases people and Time Lords from history. They end up in the Antiverse.
  • A space-time converter is used, as is a sub-proton accelerator, which "stimulates matter at the atomic level".

Space-time vessels[[edit] | [edit source]]

Other realities[[edit] | [edit source]]

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Theories and concepts[[edit] | [edit source]]

Timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

Time Lords[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • When Romana was a young girl of sixty, her family went to the shores of Lake Abydos on Gallifrey.

Literature[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Charley makes various reference to Peter Pan.

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Don Warrington's name was not included in any of the cast lists printed in Doctor Who Magazine, www.doctorwho.co.uk or the CD's inner booklet in order to conceal the character's identity. His name does, however, appear on the cover of the CD.[1]
  • Despite Neverland being publicised as a traditional Big Finish Productions four-part story, it was released as "a special two-part, feature-length" presentation with episodes of seventy-two minutes each.[1]
  • Part 2 of Neverland leads directly into Zagreus. However, there was a gap of a year and five months between the release of Neverland in June 2002 and the release of Zagreus in November 2003.
  • This audio drama was recorded on 24 and 25 January 2001 and 27 February 2002.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Neverland. The Millennium Effect. Retrieved on 4 February 2012.