Embrace the Darkness (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image          = Embrace_the_Darkness_cover.jpg  
|image          = Embrace the Darkness cover.jpg
|series          = [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'' audio stories]]
|range          = Main Range
|number in range = 31
|series          = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number          = 31
|number          = 31
|doctor          = Eighth Doctor
|doctor          = Eighth Doctor
|companions      = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]]
|companions      = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]]
|enemy          = [[Cimmerian]]s  
|enemy          = [[Cimmerian]]s
|setting           = [[Cimmeria IV]]
|setting         = [[Cimmeria IV]], [[Cimmerian System]]
|writer          = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|writer          = Nicholas Briggs
|director        = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|director        = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|music          = [[Jim Mortimore]]  
|producer        = [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[Gary Russell]]
|music          = [[Jim Mortimore]]
|sound          = [[Jim Mortimore]]
|sound          = [[Jim Mortimore]]
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|cover          = [[Clayton Hickman]]
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|release date    = [[April (releases)|April]] [[2002 (releases)|2002]]
|release date    = 29 April 2002
|format          = 4 Episodes on 2 CDs
|format          = 2 CDs<br/>Download
|production code = [[List of production codes|8J]]
|production code = [[List of production codes|8J]]
|isbn            = ISBN 1-903654-60-2
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-90365-460-6 (physical) ISBN 978-1-84435-734-5 (digital)
|prev            = Seasons of Fear (audio story)
|prev            = Seasons of Fear (audio story)
|next            = The Time of the Daleks (audio story)
|next            = The Time of the Daleks (audio story)
}}'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the thirty-first [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|monthly ''Doctor Who'' audio story]] produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was the fourth in a series of six audio stories featuring the [[Eighth Doctor]]. It featured [[Paul McGann]] as the Eighth Doctor and [[India Fisher]] as [[Charlotte Pollard]].  
|epcount = 4
}}{{audio stub}}
{{spotify|album=7e1W16q2f7ZsXElBK4PldW|height=350}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the thirty-first story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Nicholas Briggs]] and featured [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[India Fisher]] as [[Charlotte Pollard]].
 
It was the fourth in a series of six audio stories featuring the Eighth Doctor.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 29: Line 37:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== Part 1 ===
The resource-rich (but perpetually dark) planet Cimmeria IV is uninhabited, making it a valuable target.  A team has been sent to survey the world and install Energy Projection Units (EPUs) in anticipation of more extensive mining.  The team, consisting of Ferras, Haliard, and their leader Orllensa, power up the EPUs; but the base begins to shake on its deep-buried foundations.  Power begins to fail, leaving the base in the dark.  As Ferras searches for emergency lamps, something touches him in the darkness—it seems they are not alone.  Orllensa sends a distress signal with the last of the power; the team then hears a strange hum, and an alien voice whispers to them, “Embrace the darkness.  You are safe forever.”  The trio begin to scream.


The Doctor detects a fleet of Type 70 TARDISes nearby.  Attempting to avoid them, he tries to slip by, but is knocked out of the Vortex by temporal turbulence. Back in real space, he finds himself in the past of the Cimmerian system. Charley, having paid attention to his lessons, pulls the relevant data from the databank. Legend says the Cimmerian star disappeared in the past—or, from their current position, in the future—giving the system its name; “Cimmeria” means “of darkness”.  He sends the TARDIS drifting forward in time at fifty years per second; they see strange objects approach the sun before it goes dark.  He tries to go back and watch it in real time, but the TARDIS does not cooperate, and materialises fully.  It is located by Rescue Operational Security Module G723—ROSM, for short—which is responding to Orllensa’s signal. The ROSM teleports the TARDIS aboard and continues to attempt to contact the now-silent base. When it fails to make contact, it prepares to land.  The Doctor and Charley try to leave the TARDIS, but find themselves locked inside a forcefield.
==== Part one ====
[[Haliard]] wins at draughts against [[Mike Ferras|Ferras]], when [[Orllensa]], their boss, returns from the cold outside the scientific base they're in. They were listening to a recording of [[Astrov|Professor Astrov]]'s instructions, but were ignoring it in favour of the game. They power up their ship, ready to leave the planet they're on ([[Cimmeria IV]]), but the base begins to shift, causing the power to fail. They begin to lose light, which is a problem, as they're on a planet with no sun. Ferras goes to get some lamps and something touches his arm- they send out a distress signal. An unknown voice whispers "embrace the darkness", and the three are attacked. The voice declares them to be safe forever.


Inside the still-darkened base, Haliard won’t stop crying, and Ferras cannot find him. Orllensa answers Ferras’s calls at last, surprising him; he thought she had been taken away. Both of them remember the pain they just experienced, and doubt their chances of survival.
On the [[TARDIS]], [[Eighth Doctor|the Doctor]] picks up a temporal energy discharge from a flotilla of [[type 70]] TARDIS's. The Doctor tries to avoid them but the TARDIS becomes temperamental, and [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]] comes to see what's happening. They end up in the [[Cimmerian System|Cimmerian system]], and Charley accesses the TARDIS data bank to find out more about it. One day, the star suddenly vanishes, but the TARDIS has taken them to a time before that. The Doctor wants to find out why the sun disappeared, so they go back to when it happened. Then, everything goes haywire.


ROSM sends an assault unit to interrogate the Doctor and Charley.  It determines that Charley is a biohazard and must be eliminated; she tries to retreat to the TARDIS, but finds it cut off by a forcefield. The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to disorient the unity, allowing Charley to flee.  As the ROSM unit recovers, it confiscates the screwdriver; recognising the superior technology, it decides to keep the Doctor alive for further interrogation. It remains suspicious of them, as they are the only lifeforms in evidence other than the base crew.
A droid notes in their mission log that there has been no response from the base, so they head towards the planet to investigate. Meanwhile, Ferras wakes up. Orrlensa is already awake. The Doctor and Charley have been brought somewhere by a matter transmitter, but are in a containment field. Ferras finds Haliard sobbing in pain. Meanwhile, the droid- a rescue operation droid ([[ROSM]])- interrogates Charley and the Doctor. Charley is classified as a biohazard, and the droid, ROSM, is about to kill her. The Doctor argues for her life while Charley runs. Another ROSM finds Charley but she escapes in a pod that takes her to the Cimmeria IV base.


Charley is recaptured, and the Doctor manages to persuade ROSM that the “impurities” in her are naturally occurring and are no threat.  It intends to terminate her anyway, having detected other oddities about her.  She escapes and flees through a hatch—but finds she is in an escape pod, which launches.  ROSM explains to the Doctor that the pod will home in on the airlock hatch of the base on Cimmeria IV. The Doctor persuades it finally that she is no threat, but is at risk from the threat that is affecting the base. It allows him onto the control deck, but keeps him behind a forcefield. Preparing to land on the planet, it detects unidentifiable particles in the atmosphere, and generates a beam to disperse the particles.
On the base, Haliard has stopped crying- he's gone, into the darkness. The Doctor travels with the ROSMs to the base as well. The ROSM notes that the base has been infiltrated by odd particles, which seem to be the cause of the problems facing the base crew. Charley is in the base- it's dark. She shines a light, but Ferras and Orrlensa can't see her, or any light. Ferras and Orrlensa's eyes are gone.


Ferras no longer hears Haliard crying; but Haliard is no longer there.  Orllensa, still acting strangely, says they will follow him into the darkness soon. As the pod docks, they hear Charley calling, and follow her voice to the airlock.  They can’t see her, and the light from the pod reveals to Charley why they can’t see her: their eyes are missing.
==== Part two ====
The Doctor and the ROSM keep trying to figure out what is happening on the base, while Ferras and Orrlensa describe the pain they're in. Charley's light dims- the shipmates say that the Cimmerians are taking the light, having been doomed by the ancients to live in perpetual darkness, as the Doctor recounted earlier. Charley's eyes are struck with pain as she cries out for the Doctor.


=== Part 2 ===
The Doctor keeps trying to tell the ROSM that the potentially mutagenic cells in Charley aren't as urgent a danger as the alien particles harming the people on the planet below. They disperse the particles, and the Doctor gets his sonic back as they enter the base. ROSM turns the lights on, and the Doctor runs off, finding Haliard laughing madly, screaming "embrace the darkness". The Doctor then meets Orrlensa, who says the Cimmerians took their eyes, and takes him back to where they were when she meet Charley. Charley meets Haliard, only partly able to see. The Cimmerians return, and Haliard runs screaming. The ROSM appears.
ROSM detects an increase in particle density, but is unable to disperse the particles any further without docking.  Meanwhile, Orllensa and Ferras aren’t handling the news about their eyes very well, but more than that, they pity Charley, whose eyes are beginning to hurt.  The Doctor wants ROSM to consider the particles a greater threat than Charley, but it reserves judgment.  It links with the airlock, and powers up the dispersal beam to reduce the particles to minimum density; and it returns the Doctor’s screwdriver and allows him to accompany an assault unit into the base. It restores some of the lights.  Searching for Charley, the Doctor runs into Haliard, who is mad from fear and pain; when the Doctor approaches, he runs away screaming. Meanwhile, alien voices whisper against the light, insisting that the newcomers will die unless they embrace the darkness.


The Doctor finds Orllensa, and is appalled at her condition; she seems resigned at first, but snaps angrily at him, suggesting she is in shock.  She has lost Charley, but leads the Doctor back to the airlock where she first met her. Charley, meanwhile, has fled into the base, with her vision blurred but not gone, and with pain in her eyes. She hears Haliard, who flees again at a chittering sound. She sees a blurred shape, and realises it is a native Cimmerian.  She demands to know why it is burning out their eyes, but it doesn’t understand; what are eyes?  It insists that light is bad and that she must embrace the darkness; it discharges particles in her direction.  Before the particles can harm her, the assault unit arrives and opens fire on the Cimmerian.
The Doctor and Orrlensa reach Ferras, and then they hear the ROSM, so the Doctor runs towards it and finds the ROSM with Charley, but the [[Cimmerian]] has been shot. The ROSM has decided not to kill Charley. The Cimmerian voices discuss something being prepared, and promise not to let the others leave. The Cimmerian looks childlike, with flat features. It didn't know what eyes were.


The Doctor follows the gunfire, and finds the Cimmerian stunned. ROSM has kept Charley alive for analysis, due to the particle field. The unit brings the Cimmerian with it, and the Doctor leads it and Charley back to the airlock. The other Cimmerians plan to respond to this; the infiltrators will not be allowed to leave, lest they bring suffering back to the planet.
Haliard, meanwhile, is undergoing an identity crisis when he encounters more Cimmerians, who want to taste his eyes. The others hear his laughter, then his screams. The Doctor wants to go find him, but the ROSM declares war on the Cimmerians. ROSM takes them all back to the ship, as it calls more ROSMs. He brings the Cimmerian back to the ship too. Some ROSMs stay to rescue Haliard.


ROSM sends in more assault units, and scans Charley in greater detail.  Meanwhile, Charley’s eyesight is returning. Orllensa is now very angry, and lashing out at everyone, especially the Cimmerian. The Doctor describes it for Charley and Orllensa; it is small, childlike, and well-adapted to darkness. Orllensa wants to leave, but there is Haliard to deal with; fully mad, he is hiding in the base, trying to convince himself he does not exist. He is found by the Cimmerians, but his raving makes no sense to them; they wonder why he cannot taste the darkness. They ask him if he is in pain, and they can sense his terror; they decide to do something about it.
On the ship, Charley tries to warm up the Cimmerian. She thinks her eyes have been getting better since the Cimmerian spoke to her. Ferras explains that they were setting up EPUs on the planet, which are "energy protection units"- they were going to put up artificial suns. The ROSM demands the Cimmerian's give Haliard back, and when they refuse, it orders all assault units (other ROSMs) to go forth. However, they find they are unable to move as the Cimmerians are releasing more of their light-destroying particles, though they are slightly different particles from the ones before. The main ROSM can't remember what's happening; it's cognitive abilities damaged. They try to close the airlock door manually.


Ferras hears the screams, leading ROSM to consider this a hostile attack and respond accordingly.  It is bound to its orders and cannot consider the Doctor’s requests for caution.  He sends Charley to take the others back to the ship; ROSM refuses to let him interfere with its operations, and states it will kill him if he does.  He persuades it to let him take the captured Cimmerian to the ship for study, although this bothers Orllensa.
Orrlensa becomes angry that the Cimmerian is still alive. The ROSM is now improving, and places the Doctor and Charley in containment fields, and the second wave of particles are breaching the ship's defenses.


On the ship, the Doctor tries to reason with ROSM, but it is too busy with its attack on the Cimmerians.  He goes to the bridge, leaving Charley and Orllensa with the Cimmerian; Orllensa is angry that he shows concern for the creature. Charley realises that her eyesight is continuing to improve, and that it began when the creature spoke to her.  She asks Ferras why he is here, and he explains about the EPUs—artificial suns deployed in orbit.  Orllensa tries to stop him, but Charley snaps at her, and goes to find the Doctor—but unintentionally leaves the Cimmerian at the mercy of Orllensa and Ferras.
==== Part three ====
The Doctor decides he wants to find out why exactly the Cimmerians destroyed their sun, and talks to ROSM, convincing him to move the ship to a safe area. However, the Cimmerians stop the ship from leaving, and wake up Haliard. ROSM is still losing control of his functions, so the containment fields fail, and the Doctor and Charley go to the Cimmerian on the ship. However, it has gone, though Orrlensa and Ferras didn't notice it leaving, since they can't see.


The Doctor watches the assault units encounter the Cimmerians, which refuse to return Halard. ROSM leads them to open fire; but the assault units detect increased particle density, and begin to malfunction.  The particles travel along the communication wave back to the ship, and begin to affect ROSM’s central computer. As Charley arrives, ROSM realises what is happening and, following the Doctor’s advice, cuts communication with the assault units.  However, it forgets to close the airlock, allowing more particles into the ship. Before it can close the airlock, it forgets who it is.  The Doctor begins working on it with his screwdriver, but it recovers just long enough to close the airlock; but in its sudden paranoia, it also puts the Doctor and Charley behind containment fields.    As the ship’s defences begin to break down, the Doctor realises that this is why the mystery of the sun has never been solved—the particles first blind intruders, and then kill them.
The Doctor realises that something wants to restore their eyesight, as Charley can see much better. He thinks it is the doing of the Cimmerian on the ship, but Orrlensa refuses to believe this. They spread out through the ship- Charley with Orrlensa, Ferras with the Doctor- to find the Cimmerian. Meanwhile, ROSM is contacted by Haliard, asking to let him in, but he refuses as it's too risky. Ferras tells the Doctor about their work, how they were attacked just as they were about to fire up the artificial suns using the EPUs. Orrlensa tells Charley about her string of bad luck- how, once, she had to kill a spy, and Charley tells Orrlensa that she feels at home with the Doctor.


=== Part 3 ===
They find the Cimmerian, but Charley leaves Orrlensa. The Doctor finds ROSM severely malfunctioning, and decides to try and turn on the artificial suns. Charley finds Orrlensa singing to herself, having found the cimmerian, which gave her back her eyes. The cimmerian tells them that the Solarians will come for them now to destroy them. He is exhausted. Meanwhile, the Doctor watches Professor Astrov's introduction video, using it to fix the EPUs. Haliard tells them their life support will be shut down.
The Doctor convinces ROSM to take off, but it is too late; the engines are not functioning. The systems failures have also shut down the containment fields; and now the Doctor decides to return the Cimmerian in hopes of aborting the attack. As soon as he and Charley leave to do so, Haliard contacts ROSM with a message from the Cimmerians, but ROSM refuses to listen, and cuts communications.


The Cimmerian is gone; Orllensa and Ferras deny knowing anything, or hearing it leave. The Doctor speculates that an energy field from the creature has restored Charley’s eyesight, possibly related to the “tasting” that the Cimmerians mentioned.  Orllensa scoffs at this, but the Doctor theorises that the burning of their eyes was accidental, and that the Cimmerians might be able to heal them. Without much choice, Orllensa takes a leap of faith and tentatively agrees. But first they must find the Cimmerian.
Charley, Orrlensa, and the Cimmerian return, explaining what happened. The Doctor realises that the cimmerians destroy light to protect themselves, because if light is detected, the solarians will descend and hurt them. Haliard tells them to override ROSMs systems and open the airlock, but the Doctor realises that setting up the EPUs again will cause the solarians to come and destroy them all, so they can't leave. ROSM successfully rebooted it's system, and the suns are running. They detect Solarians entering the system.


The Doctor takes Ferras, and sends Charley with Orllensa, on the theory that it may be drawn to the suffering of those without eyes. As they walk, Ferras tells the Doctor about the EPUs, and how the Cimmerians knocked the central EPU out of alignment just before activation.  They arrive at the bridge, and hear Haliard trying to persuade ROSM to let him in; but with the computer in shutdown mode, they cannot override the airlock. ROSM is worsening; and so the Doctor decides to activate the EPUs by remote, hoping the burst of light and heat will destroy the particles.
==== Part Four ====
They contact Haliard, whose eyes are back. The Cimmerians healed him, body and mind: the Cimmerians are a race of healers. The cimmerian onboard heals Ferras, but the cimmerian is too weak, and dies. The Doctor tells Orrlensa to prepare for take-off and then use ROSMs weapons to destroy the artificial suns while he goes to give the dead cimmerian back to his people, and let Haliard in. However, ROSM refuses to open the door, so the Doctor sonics it. Haliard tells the Doctor that the cimmerians need several days before they can release more particles to take out the lights again, so they'll be safe from the solarians, and the Doctor tells him to make sure Charley is safe of he doesn't return.


Charley and Orllensa swap stories regarding their pasts; Orllensa is fond of her team after several bad experiences with other crews—and meanwhile Charley realises that she now considers the TARDIS her home. Charley hears a chittering ahead, and checks it out; meanwhile Orllensa is found by the Cimmerian.  It releases an energy wave at her. When Charley returns, she finds Orllensa singing a lullaby to the now-exhausted creature, which has restored her eyes.  It tells them that what it has done is forbidden; now the Solarians, creatures from the past, will return, see the light, and destroy them all.
ROSM says there is over an hour before they can leave. They see on a visual hook-up to a satellite that the Solarians are the people who were there when the sun went out.  Haliard enters and offers to play draughts against Ferras again. Upon realising that the Doctor doesn't think he will return, Charley storms off and finds the Doctor, who is calling out for the cimmerians. Charley tells him off, and then a cimmerian appears. On the ship, they note that the Solarians are under two hours away, but they're getting faster.


The Doctor finds the manual system for the EPUs, and learns that the twelve slaved units will automatically adjust to the central unit, meaning they should still work. Meanwhile, Haliard is becoming more desperate to warn the crew; and the life support will soon shut down.  The Doctor manages to send the activation signal before ROSM’s communication system shuts down for good.  Almost immediately, Charley, Orllensa, and the Cimmerian arrive with their story—and the Doctor realises he may have made a fatal mistake.  As there are many races that call themselves Solarians, the Doctor can’t be sure who these enemies are; but it seems the sun was darkened deliberately to avoid them. The new light from the EPUs may spell disaster.
The Cimmerian takes them through layers rock using their molecular powers, and takes the dead cimmerian from them, dispersing his molecules. The Doctor apologises, as does the cimmerian, who tells them of their people's legends. On the ship, Haliard realises that the Solarians have solar sails, which is why they're picking up speed. Haliard goes out to get the Doctor and Charley to come back. The cimmerian brings out a bubbling liquid of their history. They drink it.


As Haliard’s message gets through, the Doctor finds more disturbing information. Haliard is no longer mad or coerced, but is giving a real warning: the Cimmerians are peaceful, and the light is summoning the Solarians. The heat and light overwhelms the particle wave, and ROSM begins to recover—but his scanners detect an unidentified fleet entering the system. The Solarians are arriving.
They learn of a plague that killed millions of solarians that the cimmerians could not keep up with healing, and how, as long as there was light, the Solarians would come to them. The life was drained from the cimmerians, but they couldn't turn the Solarians away, so they shut off the sun to keep the Solarians away. They evolved, and no longer need light. They feel they deserve to die for not being able to heal the Solarians. Haliard reaches them, and brings the Doctor and Charley back to the ship. The Doctor promises to find a way to save the cimmerians.


=== Part 4 ===
Haliard, the Doctor, and Charley are back on the ship, and they blast off. They contact the nearest Solarian ship, but the ship starts firing at them, so they suggest shooting at the artificial suns. ROSM vetoes this as the suns are company property. They contact the Solarians again to surrender. The Doctor leads them to the TARDIS, but it's inside a containment field that ROSM refuses to shut off. The Solarians have boarded. They introduce themselves to the Solarians, who tell them that Cimmeria IV is their planet.
ROSM attempts to link with the orbital satellites for a better image of the fleet.  It also restores communications, revealing that Haliard has his eyes back, as well as his sanity. It seems the Cimmerians are a race of healers, which is confirmed when the Cimmerian on the bridge restores Ferras’s eyes as well. However, the creature is left too weak, and dies; it seems it is compelled to heal regardless of the cost. The Doctor sends Orllensa to prepare for takeoff and destroy the EPUs.  He leaves with the dead Cimmerian to return it to its people, leaving Charley behind on the ship.  ROSM, however, is not fully restored; and its incomplete memories cause it to continue to distrust the Doctor. Frustrated, the Doctor uses his screwdriver to open the airlock, letting Haliard in as he exits. Haliard tells him the Cimmerians will be too weak to release more particles for some time; the Doctor blames himself, and asks Haliard to care for Charley in his absence.


ROSM gets a clear picture of the Solarian fleet; Charley recognises them as the ships that she and the Doctor saw in the past, approaching the sun before it went dark. Haliard arrives and tells her what the Doctor said; angrily, she goes to join the Doctor.  He says that he wanted her safe, but she insists he wanted the Cimmerians to punish him for his mistake. The Cimmerians arrive, and reveal that they possess a form of teleport technology, which takes the Doctor, Charley, and the body down through the rock to a chamber below—this explains how they escaped the lounge of the ship. The Doctor and Charley try to learn more about the situation, realising along the way that the Cimmerians don’t call themselves by that name; it was imposed by outsiders.  After mutual apologies, the Cimmerians agree to let the Doctor and Charley taste their history—literally, in the form of a stew that imparts knowledge via the sense of taste.
The Solarians are shocked to discover the Cimmerians are still alive after so many centuries without light- the cimmerians are the same species as the Solarians. The Solarians returned to find relics of their early civilisation, arriving for curiousity, not revenge. Meanwhile, Ferras is beating Haliard at draughts. ROSM is mostly done for, and the group are back on the planet's surface. They hope that the Solarians will be able to learn from their mistakes and mend their relationship with the cimmerians. Charley and the Doctor depart.


ROSM’s repair routines show that there is a 45-minute margin to save the planet; but the Solarians are accelerating.  Their ships are powered by solar sails; the increasing light as they approach the planet leads to increasing speed.  Orllensa tells ROSM to skip as many safety checks as possible; she sends Haliard to warn the Doctor that as soon as everyone is aboard, they will blast off.
== Cast ==
 
The stew shows the Doctor and Charley the history of the Cimmerians and the Solarians.  A plague once struck the Solarians, leading them to this world on the light of the sun; the Cimmerians healed them, but the demands were too great, and millions of Cimmerians died from exhaustion.  As the Solarians kept coming, the Cimmerians took their only option: they darkened the sun, preventing the Solarians from returning.  Afterward, the exhausted survivors slept for years, in which they adapted to the darkness.  Fatalistically, the Cimmerians regard the Doctor’s intervention, and its results, as justice, because they once put their own needs above those of others.  Haliard arrives to reclaim the Doctor and Charley, and they depart, but the Doctor promises to save the Cimmerians if he can.
 
The Solarians are dangerously close now, and as soon as everyone is aboard, Orllensa orders ROSM to blast off.  As they make orbit, the Doctor wants to contact the Solarians, but the invaders open fire.  ROSM refuses to shut down the EPUs, and shuts down its own weapons instead.  The Doctor decides they have no choice but to shoot the Solarians; but ROSM refuses to allow it, as it no longer trusts Orllensa.


As the shields weaken, Orllensa transmits a surrender.  The Solarians prepare to dock; and the Doctor leads everyone to the TARDIS to escape—but finds it still behind a containment field.  ROSM refuses to let anyone into it, as it is still unknown, and therefore possibly a threat.  The Solarians arrive, riding in miniature tanks, and demand to know why the humans are trespassing on their world.  Angrily, Charley tells them it is the Cimmerian world; this leads to confusion for the lead Solarian.  To its horror, it learns there are survivors on the planet, survivors who darkened the sun because of the Solarians.  The lead Solarian opens its tank, revealing the truth: it is the same species as the Cimmerians, albeit with eyes.  The Solarians, it seems, are archaeologists searching for a lost civilisation, a group that their ancestors once abused—but the conflict was a civil war of sorts.
The Solarians take the humans back to the base, and from there they make contact with the Cimmerians.  The Doctor allows them their reunion, hoping for a better outcome than that of history.  He disables ROSM, allowing Orllensa and her crew to use the ship to return home.  He and Charley depart—but not before Charley beats Haliard at draughts.
[[File:DWM-316_EMBRACE.jpg|thumb|Illustration preview by [[Martin Geraghty]] in DWM 316]]
== Cast ==
* [[Eighth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Paul McGann]]
* [[Eighth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Paul McGann]]
* [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] - [[India Fisher]]
* [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] - [[India Fisher]]
Line 93: Line 89:
* [[Mike Ferras|Ferras]] - [[Lee Moone]]
* [[Mike Ferras|Ferras]] - [[Lee Moone]]
* [[Haliard]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[Haliard]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[ROSM]] / [[Solarian (Embrace the Darkness)|Solarian]] / [[Cimmerian]] / [[Astrov]]{{fact}} - [[Ian Brooker]]
* [[ROSM]] / [[Solarian (Embrace the Darkness)|Solarian]] / [[Cimmerian]] - [[Ian Brooker]]
* Cimmerian Voice - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* [[Cimmerian]] Voice - [[Nicholas Briggs]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== TARDIS ===
=== TARDIS ===
* [[Type 70]] [[TARDIS]]es emit a particular temporal energy discharge signature.
* [[Type 70]] [[TARDIS]]es emit a particular temporal energy discharge signature.
* Charley knows how to access [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]' [[TARDIS databank|databank]].
* Charley knows how to access [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]'s [[TARDIS databank|databank]].


=== Technology ===
=== Technology ===
* ROSM is an acronym for Rescue Operational Security Module. It was designed by [[Astrov|Professor Astrov]].
* ROSM is an acronym for Rescue Operational Security Module. It was designed by [[Astrov|Professor Astrov]].
* [[Human]]s once used ships equipped with solar sails to navigate through space. This practice was later documented on history vids.


=== Species ===
=== Species ===
* The Doctor is aware of several species who refer to themselves as the [[Solarian (Embrace the Darkness)|Solarians]].
* The Doctor is aware of [[Solarian (Prisoners of the Sun)|other species]] who refer to themselves as the [[Solarian (Embrace the Darkness)|Solarians]].


=== Planets ===
=== Planets ===
* [[Cimmeria IV]] is located hundreds of [[light-year]]s from [[Earth]].
* Cimmeria IV is located hundreds of [[light-year]]s from [[Earth]].
 
=== Culture ===
* Ferras and Haliard play [[draughts]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This story was originally to have featured the [[Morestran]]s (who appeared in the television story ''[[Planet of Evil (TV story)|Planet of Evil]]'') instead of the [[Throxillian]]s, but the rights could not be obtained from the BBC.
* This story was originally to have featured the [[Morestran]]s (who appeared in the television story ''[[Planet of Evil (TV story)|Planet of Evil]]'') instead of the [[Throxillian]]s, but the rights could not be obtained from the BBC.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[22 January (production)|22 January]], [[25 January (production)|25 January]] and [[26 January (production)|26 January]] 2001.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[22 January (production)|22 January]], [[25 January (production)|25 January]] and [[26 January (production)|26 January]] [[2001 (production)|2001]].
* The name of the robot ROSM is a reference to the 1921 play {{wi|R.U.R.|R.U.R. Rossum's Universal Robots}} by {{w|Karel Čapek}} which introduced the word "robot" to both science fiction and the English language.
 
== Gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
Embrace the Darkness cover.jpg|Original CD cover
DWM-316_EMBRACE.jpg|Illustration preview by [[Martin Geraghty]] in DWM 316
</gallery>


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* ROSM detects the [[anti-time]] infection in Charley's system but is unable to recognise it. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Neverland (audio story)|Neverland]]'')
* ROSM detects the [[anti-time]] infection in Charley's system but is unable to recognise it. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Neverland (audio story)|Neverland]]'')
* The Doctor runs into a flotilla of [[Type 70]] [[TARDIS]]es in the [[Time Vortex]] and steers around them. He later learns the reasons for their presence from [[Lord President|Lady President]] [[Romana II|Romana]] during the anti-time crisis. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Neverland (audio story)|Neverland]]'')
* The Doctor runs into a flotilla of [[Type 70]] [[TARDIS]]es in the [[Time Vortex]] and steers around them. He later learns the reasons for their presence from [[Lord President|Lady President]] [[Romana II|Romana]] during the anti-time crisis. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Neverland (audio story)|Neverland]]'')
* The [[Celestial Toymaker]] would later refer to the [[Solarian (Embrace the Darkness)|Solarians]] in a riddle while Charley was playing his games in the [[Celestial Toyroom]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Solitaire (audio story)|Solitaire]]'')
* The [[Celestial Toymaker]] would later refer to the [[Cimmerian]] in a riddle while Charley was playing his games in the [[Celestial Toyroom]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Solitaire (audio story)|Solitaire]]'')
* After Charley escaped from the [[Ever-and-Ever Prolixity]], a [[Viyran]] agent was stationed in the Cimmerian system to search for her. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Fall of the House of Pollard (audio story)|The Fall of the House of Pollard]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/embrace-the-darkness-2|Embrace the Darkness}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/embrace-the-darkness-2|Embrace the Darkness}}
 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150217043055/http://www.chakoteya.net/8Doctor/main31.html Embrace the Darkness Transcript]
{{dwrefguide|who_bf31.htm|Embrace the Darkness}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf31.htm|Embrace the Darkness}}
* {{tetrap|8/embrace.html|Embrace the Darkness}}
{{tetrap|8/embrace.html|Embrace the Darkness}}
* [https://jimmortimore.bandcamp.com/album/doctor-who-embrace-the-darkness-remastered-ost Embrace the Darkness - Music by Jim Mortimore] at [https://jimmortimore.bandcamp.com/ Jim Mortimore.Bandcamp]
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{audio stub}}
[[ru:Прими тьму]]


[[Category:Eighth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Eighth Doctor Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]
[[Category:2002 Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:2002 audio stories]]
[[Category:Charlotte Pollard audio stories]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use the David Arnold theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use the David Arnold theme]]

Latest revision as of 23:12, 17 November 2024

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Embrace the Darkness was the thirty-first story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard.

It was the fourth in a series of six audio stories featuring the Eighth Doctor.

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

The Doctor and Charley travel to the remote Cimmerian System to unravel the mystery of its sun. But darkness has already embraced the scientific base on Cimmeria IV in more ways than one.

In a fight for survival, the Doctor must use all his wits against a deadly artificial life-form and an ancient race whose return to the Cimmerian System threatens suffering and death on an apocalyptic scale.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

Haliard wins at draughts against Ferras, when Orllensa, their boss, returns from the cold outside the scientific base they're in. They were listening to a recording of Professor Astrov's instructions, but were ignoring it in favour of the game. They power up their ship, ready to leave the planet they're on (Cimmeria IV), but the base begins to shift, causing the power to fail. They begin to lose light, which is a problem, as they're on a planet with no sun. Ferras goes to get some lamps and something touches his arm- they send out a distress signal. An unknown voice whispers "embrace the darkness", and the three are attacked. The voice declares them to be safe forever.

On the TARDIS, the Doctor picks up a temporal energy discharge from a flotilla of type 70 TARDIS's. The Doctor tries to avoid them but the TARDIS becomes temperamental, and Charley comes to see what's happening. They end up in the Cimmerian system, and Charley accesses the TARDIS data bank to find out more about it. One day, the star suddenly vanishes, but the TARDIS has taken them to a time before that. The Doctor wants to find out why the sun disappeared, so they go back to when it happened. Then, everything goes haywire.

A droid notes in their mission log that there has been no response from the base, so they head towards the planet to investigate. Meanwhile, Ferras wakes up. Orrlensa is already awake. The Doctor and Charley have been brought somewhere by a matter transmitter, but are in a containment field. Ferras finds Haliard sobbing in pain. Meanwhile, the droid- a rescue operation droid (ROSM)- interrogates Charley and the Doctor. Charley is classified as a biohazard, and the droid, ROSM, is about to kill her. The Doctor argues for her life while Charley runs. Another ROSM finds Charley but she escapes in a pod that takes her to the Cimmeria IV base.

On the base, Haliard has stopped crying- he's gone, into the darkness. The Doctor travels with the ROSMs to the base as well. The ROSM notes that the base has been infiltrated by odd particles, which seem to be the cause of the problems facing the base crew. Charley is in the base- it's dark. She shines a light, but Ferras and Orrlensa can't see her, or any light. Ferras and Orrlensa's eyes are gone.

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

The Doctor and the ROSM keep trying to figure out what is happening on the base, while Ferras and Orrlensa describe the pain they're in. Charley's light dims- the shipmates say that the Cimmerians are taking the light, having been doomed by the ancients to live in perpetual darkness, as the Doctor recounted earlier. Charley's eyes are struck with pain as she cries out for the Doctor.

The Doctor keeps trying to tell the ROSM that the potentially mutagenic cells in Charley aren't as urgent a danger as the alien particles harming the people on the planet below. They disperse the particles, and the Doctor gets his sonic back as they enter the base. ROSM turns the lights on, and the Doctor runs off, finding Haliard laughing madly, screaming "embrace the darkness". The Doctor then meets Orrlensa, who says the Cimmerians took their eyes, and takes him back to where they were when she meet Charley. Charley meets Haliard, only partly able to see. The Cimmerians return, and Haliard runs screaming. The ROSM appears.

The Doctor and Orrlensa reach Ferras, and then they hear the ROSM, so the Doctor runs towards it and finds the ROSM with Charley, but the Cimmerian has been shot. The ROSM has decided not to kill Charley. The Cimmerian voices discuss something being prepared, and promise not to let the others leave. The Cimmerian looks childlike, with flat features. It didn't know what eyes were.

Haliard, meanwhile, is undergoing an identity crisis when he encounters more Cimmerians, who want to taste his eyes. The others hear his laughter, then his screams. The Doctor wants to go find him, but the ROSM declares war on the Cimmerians. ROSM takes them all back to the ship, as it calls more ROSMs. He brings the Cimmerian back to the ship too. Some ROSMs stay to rescue Haliard.

On the ship, Charley tries to warm up the Cimmerian. She thinks her eyes have been getting better since the Cimmerian spoke to her. Ferras explains that they were setting up EPUs on the planet, which are "energy protection units"- they were going to put up artificial suns. The ROSM demands the Cimmerian's give Haliard back, and when they refuse, it orders all assault units (other ROSMs) to go forth. However, they find they are unable to move as the Cimmerians are releasing more of their light-destroying particles, though they are slightly different particles from the ones before. The main ROSM can't remember what's happening; it's cognitive abilities damaged. They try to close the airlock door manually.

Orrlensa becomes angry that the Cimmerian is still alive. The ROSM is now improving, and places the Doctor and Charley in containment fields, and the second wave of particles are breaching the ship's defenses.

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor decides he wants to find out why exactly the Cimmerians destroyed their sun, and talks to ROSM, convincing him to move the ship to a safe area. However, the Cimmerians stop the ship from leaving, and wake up Haliard. ROSM is still losing control of his functions, so the containment fields fail, and the Doctor and Charley go to the Cimmerian on the ship. However, it has gone, though Orrlensa and Ferras didn't notice it leaving, since they can't see.

The Doctor realises that something wants to restore their eyesight, as Charley can see much better. He thinks it is the doing of the Cimmerian on the ship, but Orrlensa refuses to believe this. They spread out through the ship- Charley with Orrlensa, Ferras with the Doctor- to find the Cimmerian. Meanwhile, ROSM is contacted by Haliard, asking to let him in, but he refuses as it's too risky. Ferras tells the Doctor about their work, how they were attacked just as they were about to fire up the artificial suns using the EPUs. Orrlensa tells Charley about her string of bad luck- how, once, she had to kill a spy, and Charley tells Orrlensa that she feels at home with the Doctor.

They find the Cimmerian, but Charley leaves Orrlensa. The Doctor finds ROSM severely malfunctioning, and decides to try and turn on the artificial suns. Charley finds Orrlensa singing to herself, having found the cimmerian, which gave her back her eyes. The cimmerian tells them that the Solarians will come for them now to destroy them. He is exhausted. Meanwhile, the Doctor watches Professor Astrov's introduction video, using it to fix the EPUs. Haliard tells them their life support will be shut down.

Charley, Orrlensa, and the Cimmerian return, explaining what happened. The Doctor realises that the cimmerians destroy light to protect themselves, because if light is detected, the solarians will descend and hurt them. Haliard tells them to override ROSMs systems and open the airlock, but the Doctor realises that setting up the EPUs again will cause the solarians to come and destroy them all, so they can't leave. ROSM successfully rebooted it's system, and the suns are running. They detect Solarians entering the system.

Part Four[[edit] | [edit source]]

They contact Haliard, whose eyes are back. The Cimmerians healed him, body and mind: the Cimmerians are a race of healers. The cimmerian onboard heals Ferras, but the cimmerian is too weak, and dies. The Doctor tells Orrlensa to prepare for take-off and then use ROSMs weapons to destroy the artificial suns while he goes to give the dead cimmerian back to his people, and let Haliard in. However, ROSM refuses to open the door, so the Doctor sonics it. Haliard tells the Doctor that the cimmerians need several days before they can release more particles to take out the lights again, so they'll be safe from the solarians, and the Doctor tells him to make sure Charley is safe of he doesn't return.

ROSM says there is over an hour before they can leave. They see on a visual hook-up to a satellite that the Solarians are the people who were there when the sun went out.  Haliard enters and offers to play draughts against Ferras again. Upon realising that the Doctor doesn't think he will return, Charley storms off and finds the Doctor, who is calling out for the cimmerians. Charley tells him off, and then a cimmerian appears. On the ship, they note that the Solarians are under two hours away, but they're getting faster.

The Cimmerian takes them through layers rock using their molecular powers, and takes the dead cimmerian from them, dispersing his molecules. The Doctor apologises, as does the cimmerian, who tells them of their people's legends. On the ship, Haliard realises that the Solarians have solar sails, which is why they're picking up speed. Haliard goes out to get the Doctor and Charley to come back. The cimmerian brings out a bubbling liquid of their history. They drink it.

They learn of a plague that killed millions of solarians that the cimmerians could not keep up with healing, and how, as long as there was light, the Solarians would come to them. The life was drained from the cimmerians, but they couldn't turn the Solarians away, so they shut off the sun to keep the Solarians away. They evolved, and no longer need light. They feel they deserve to die for not being able to heal the Solarians. Haliard reaches them, and brings the Doctor and Charley back to the ship. The Doctor promises to find a way to save the cimmerians.

Haliard, the Doctor, and Charley are back on the ship, and they blast off. They contact the nearest Solarian ship, but the ship starts firing at them, so they suggest shooting at the artificial suns. ROSM vetoes this as the suns are company property. They contact the Solarians again to surrender. The Doctor leads them to the TARDIS, but it's inside a containment field that ROSM refuses to shut off. The Solarians have boarded. They introduce themselves to the Solarians, who tell them that Cimmeria IV is their planet.

The Solarians are shocked to discover the Cimmerians are still alive after so many centuries without light- the cimmerians are the same species as the Solarians. The Solarians returned to find relics of their early civilisation, arriving for curiousity, not revenge. Meanwhile, Ferras is beating Haliard at draughts. ROSM is mostly done for, and the group are back on the planet's surface. They hope that the Solarians will be able to learn from their mistakes and mend their relationship with the cimmerians. Charley and the Doctor depart.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • ROSM is an acronym for Rescue Operational Security Module. It was designed by Professor Astrov.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

Culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

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