Cobwebs (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | |image = Cobwebs cover.jpg | ||
|range = Main Range | |||
|image = Cobwebs cover.jpg | |number in range = 136 | ||
|series = [[ | |series = ''[[Main Range]]'' | ||
|number = 136 | |number = 136 | ||
|doctor = Fifth Doctor | |doctor = Fifth Doctor | ||
|companions = | |companions = [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]], [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]], [[Nyssa]] | ||
|enemy = [[ | |enemy = [[Bragg (Cobwebs)|Bragg]] | ||
|setting = [[Helheim]], [[ | |setting = [[Helheim GeneTech Station]], [[3490]] and [[3530]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Jonathan Morris | ||
|director = [[Barnaby Edwards | |director = [[Barnaby Edwards]] | ||
| | |producer = [[David Richardson]] | ||
|cover = [[Iain Robertson]] | |music = [[Steve Foxon]] | ||
|publisher = Big Finish Productions | |sound = Steve Foxon | ||
|release date = | |cover = [[Iain Robertson]] | ||
|format = 2 | |epcount = 4 | ||
|production code = | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-472-6 | |release date = 15 July 2010 | ||
|prev = Legend of the Cybermen (audio story) | |format = 2 CDs<br/>Download | ||
|next = The Whispering Forest (audio story) | |production code = 6H/A | ||
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-472-6 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-683-2 (digital) | |||
|prev = Legend of the Cybermen (audio story) | |||
|next = The Whispering Forest (audio story) | |||
|musicsuite = https://soundcloud.com/stevefoxon/18-cobwebs-music-suite-2010 | |||
|soundcloudtrailer = https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/doctor-who-cobwebs-trailer | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Cobwebs''''' was the one hundred and thirty-sixth story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Jonathan Morris]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]], [[Janet Fielding]] as [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Mark Strickson]] as [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]]. | |||
'''''Cobwebs''''' was the one hundred and thirty-sixth [[Big Finish | |||
Released in [[2010 (releases)|2010]], it began the first season of Fifth Doctor stories for that year. It was the first new story to feature Davison, Sutton, Fielding and Strickson together since the television story ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'' in 1983, thus beginning a "series" of 15 audio dramas for that TARDIS team across five years, finally reaching a conclusion with the audio story ''[[The Entropy Plague (audio story)|The Entropy Plague]]'' in [[2015 (releases)|2015]]. | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
"You know what | "You know what [[cobweb]]s mean. [[Spider]]s..." | ||
In search of a cure for a sickness that's so far claimed six billion lives, scientist [[Nyssa]] arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic [[planet]] [[Helheim]]. | In search of a cure for a sickness that's so far claimed six billion lives, scientist [[Nyssa]] arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic [[planet]] [[Helheim]]. "Hellhole", more like. | ||
Nyssa's not alone. [[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] has also been drawn to the Helheim base — and in its cobweb-coated corridors, she soon runs into the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, her travelling companions of half a century past. But who, or what, has engineered this strange reunion? The Black Guardian, perhaps? | Nyssa's not alone. [[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] has also been drawn to the Helheim base — and in its cobweb-coated corridors, she soon runs into the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, her travelling companions of half a century past. But who, or what, has engineered this strange reunion? The Black Guardian, perhaps? | ||
| Line 35: | Line 42: | ||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
== | === Part one === | ||
In [[3530]], [[Nyssa]] lands on [[Helheim]] with [[Loki (Cobwebs)|Loki]], a [[robot]], to investigate the work of a research base [[quarantine]]d forty years ago. The base is without contamination, but covered in [[cobweb]]s made by [[maintenance spider]]s as a protective sealant to combat leaking insulation. After activating the backup [[solar stack]] and restoring power, Nyssa is attacked by [[Cractid|crustaceans]] which Loki is unable to see or detect and thus unable to neutralise. | |||
[[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] argues with [[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor]] about [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]]'s presence aboard [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] given his actions, but relents when Turlough visits [[Tegan Jovanka's TARDIS bedroom|her bedroom]] and tells him that he does not have to return to [[Trion (planet)|his planet]] on her account. The ship is dragged down a [[temporal spiral]] to Helheim where they are reunited with Nyssa, for whom it has been fifty years since she last saw them, and learn that the base was researching [[Richter's Syndrome]], a deadly strain of which has now killed six billion people and for which Nyssa hopes to find a cure. Whilst Tegan, Nyssa and Loki go to the control room and learn from the [[computer]] [[EDGAR]] that they will go back in [[time]] forty years, the other two explore the ruins below. | |||
Turlough collapses after [[hallucination|hallucinating]] being shot and, when he comes to, he and the Doctor join the others. The Doctor deduces that Turlough and Nyssa have both experienced [[telepathic memory projection]] thanks to EDGAR, who then shows them a projection of themselves in the past before the Doctor stops him, not wanting to create a [[fixed point in time|fixed point]]. EDGAR tells them that the crew are in the [[medical bay]] where they find four [[skeleton]]s wrapped in cocoons, wearing the clothes of the Doctor and his companions. | |||
Loki | === Part two === | ||
Loki's scan, a [[spectography|spectographic]] examination and a test by cutting the lining of Turlough's [[jacket]] seem to confirm that the skeletons are those of the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa. Loki begs to leave, saying that he knows that they will all die because of something in his head, but maintenance spiders sent by EDGAR destroy Nyssa's ship to ensure that nobody can leave. After Tegan experiences a memory projection of being [[suffocation|suffocated]], EDGAR asks them to go back in time to save the crew and activates the base's [[self-destruct]]. | |||
The Doctor | The Doctor and Nyssa fetch Loki from the control room and EDGAR wipes his own mind, but the self-destruct cannot be countermanded. They travel back in time to [[3490]] with Tegan and Turlough, who elect to stay in the TARDIS, and convince [[Cardell|Director Cardell]], [[Bragg (Cobwebs)|Enforcement Officer Bragg]] and [[Valis (Cobwebs)|Bio Technician Valis]] that they have come to inspect their progress. They have been trying to replicate the antivirals of Cractids, who are uniquely immune to Richter's, without success and Nyssa suggests that they instead adapt the [[antigen]] to function as part of the human [[immune system]]. Cardell agrees and explains how the team have had their [[memory|memories]] removed and will not be returned until the cure has been found. | ||
Tegan and Turlough leave the TARDIS in an attempt to change history and are captured by Bragg, who has asked [[Echelon]] about the supposed inspection and shot Loki. He interprets Tegan and Turlough's warnings about the team's deaths as threats and straps the two of them, the Doctor and Nyssa to beds in the [[medical bay]] to be [[execution|executed]] as [[spy|spies]] by lethal injection. Nyssa reminds the Doctor of the four skeletons in the medical bay and, as Cardell prepares to inject them, the Doctor remarks that the future has caught up with them. | |||
The | === Part three === | ||
Valis stops the execution as the modified antivirals work and she wants to begin tests, starting with Nyssa, but EDGAR restores Cardell's memories and displays a recorded message from her addressing the base's true objective: to engineer a new strain of Richter's incurable by anybody but [[The Company (Cobwebs)|the Company]]. Valis makes the new strain more transmissable, but does not want to be an accomplice to [[murder]] nor have her memories back. Meanwhile, a scheme by Turlough leads Bragg to take the Doctor and Tegan to the ruins to show them patterned symbols which he has interpreted as the names of the team, making him believe that there is no [[planet|world]] other than this one. | |||
Upon returning to the medical bay, Cardell takes the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough to be tested on and Bragg is given his memories back, making him realise that he actually belongs to the [[Independent Biodevelopment Group]] and has been tasked with stealing a sample of the new strain and the antiviral solution. He makes EDGAR obey only him and shoots Valis, forcing Cardell to hand the samples over and then enter an [[isolation chamber]] with the Cractids. He soon releases her and has EDGAR upload her and Valis's memories of their near-death experiences to make it look as though they died, after which he takes Valis with him and leaves Turlough, Nyssa and Cardell locked in with the Cractids. | |||
EDGAR knows that the crew supposedly die on this date as his future self came back in time inside Loki and is fighting for supremacy inside EDGAR's mind. Bragg has EDGAR erase all data on the antidote, destroys Valis's memories and fakes his death in the airlock before drawing [[fuel]] for a ship to escape and leaving Valis to die. The Doctor, separated from the others with Tegan, is able to get Turlough, Nyssa and Cardell out of the lab but is unable to close the door, giving the Cractids free rein of the base. Cardell goes to talk with EDGAR and the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa run to the medical bay and are sealed inside, apparently doomed to die there. | |||
=== Part four === | |||
Nyssa gets Loki to sent maintenance spiders to cut the feed of power to Bragg's ship and to release a [[sonic burst]] to stun the Cractids. Bragg has EDGAR erase Loki's [[personality]] and restore power to his ship, but Cardell knocks him out when the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa arrive and goes to the ship with Tegan and Nyssa to find the samples, ordering them to hand over the [[phial]]s upon doing so. Tegan runs away with the cure, but Nyssa drops the phial containing the virus in a scuffle and it is released into the air. She warns the Doctor. | |||
The Doctor, Turlough and Bragg meet Tegan in the medical bay, soon joined by Nyssa, and EDGAR locks the door of the control room behind them. Whilst everybody else takes the cure, Bragg refuses as he wants to take his infection back to the Independent Biodevelopment Group and takes Tegan hostage before activating EDGAR's self-destruct. He heads towards the ship with her, followed by the Doctor, but Cardell rigs the airlock and blasts a hole in the [[wall]] which sucks her and the Cractids out onto the [[planet]]'s surface. Bragg manages to escape, however, and [[Suspended animation|cryogenically freezes]] himself aboard the ship. The Doctor and Tegan are unharmed, having put on [[space suit]]s, and Turlough and Nyssa get EDGAR to delay the self-destruct until they arrive in 3530. | |||
Promising EDGAR that they will return, the Doctor shows his [[companion]]s on the [[TARDIS scanner]] how EDGAR has the maintenance spiders try to replicate the four of them, creating the skeletons that they found. The Doctor pulls his past self's TARDIS to Helheim in 3530 and agrees to try to get Nyssa to an infected world, although Tegan warns her that it could take some time. In [[3520]], Bragg is awoken on [[Gondol Prime]] by [[Hawks (Cobwebs)|Company Officer Hawks]] and realises that Hawks's crew are unwittingly spreading Richter's Syndrome across the [[star]]s. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
* [[Fifth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Peter Davison]] | * [[Fifth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Peter Davison]] | ||
* [[Tegan Jovanka | * [[Tegan Jovanka]] - [[Janet Fielding]] | ||
* [[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]] | * [[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]] | ||
* [[Vislor | * [[Vislor Turlough]] - [[Mark Strickson]] | ||
* [[Cardell|Director Cardell]]/Ship's Computer - [[Helen Griffin]] | * [[Cardell|Director Cardell]] / [[Ship's computer (Cobwebs)|Ship's Computer]] - [[Helen Griffin]] | ||
* [[Loki]]/[[EDGAR]]/[[Hawks]] - [[Raymond Coulthard]] | * [[Loki (Cobwebs)|Loki]] / [[EDGAR]] / [[Hawks (Cobwebs)|Hawks]] - [[Raymond Coulthard]] | ||
* [[Bragg|Enforcement Officer Bragg]] - [[Adrian Lukis]] | * [[Bragg (Cobwebs)|Enforcement Officer Bragg]] - [[Adrian Lukis]] | ||
* [[Valis (Cobwebs)|Bio Technician Valis]]/[[Echelon]] - [[Charlotte Lucas]] | * [[Valis (Cobwebs)|Bio Technician Valis]] / [[Echelon]] - [[Charlotte Lucas]] | ||
=== | == Crew == | ||
* Cover Art - [[Iain Robertson]] | |||
* | * Director - [[Barnaby Edwards]] | ||
* Executive Producers - [[Nicholas Briggs]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] | |||
* Music and Sound Design - [[Steve Foxon]] | |||
* Producer - [[David Richardson]] | |||
* Script Editor - [[Alan Barnes]] | |||
* Writer - [[Jonathan Morris]] | |||
=== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
''to be added'' | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* This is the first audio drama released in the main range to feature Turlough since | * This is the first audio drama released in the main range to feature Turlough since the audio story ''[[Singularity (audio story)|Singularity]]'' in November 2005 and the first to feature Tegan since ''[[The Gathering (audio story)|The Gathering]]'' in September 2006. However, Turlough appeared in [[The Companion Chronicles]]' audio stories ''[[Ringpullworld (audio story)|Ringpullworld]]'' and ''[[Freakshow (audio story)|Freakshow]]'' in the interim. | ||
* This audio drama was recorded on [[29 December (production)|29 December]] 2009 and [[4 January (production)|4 January]] 2010 at [[ | * This audio drama was recorded on [[29 December (production)|29 December]] [[2009 (production)|2009]] and [[4 January (production)|4 January]] [[2010 (production)|2010]] at [[the Moat Studios]]. | ||
* The story was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] between [[16 May (releases)|16]]-[[19 May (releases)|19 May]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]], forming a radio season with the following two stories. | |||
* This story was originally released on CD and download on [[15 July (releases)|15 July]] [[2010 (releases)|2010]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100723132742/http://www.bigfinish.com/whatsnew.aspx LATEST AND UPCOMING RELEASES - Archived on 23 July 2010]</ref> It is now available as a download only. | |||
* This story is set between ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'' and ''[[The King's Demons (TV story)|The King's Demons]]''. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
* Chronologically, this story takes place two days after the events of [[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'' for the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, while it is fifty years after the events of [[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'' for Nyssa. | * Chronologically, this story takes place two days after the events of [[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'' for the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, while it is fifty years after the events of [[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'' for Nyssa. | ||
* When the TARDIS goes wrong, Tegan asks if it a [[Black Guardian]] trap. ([[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'') | * When the TARDIS goes wrong, Tegan asks if it is a [[Black Guardian]] trap. ([[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'') | ||
* Nyssa has cured [[Lazar's disease]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') | * Nyssa has cured [[Lazar's disease]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') | ||
* The Doctor claims to have met [[Christopher Columbus]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Eye of Heaven (novel)|Eye of Heaven]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'') | * The Doctor claims to have met [[Christopher Columbus]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Eye of Heaven (novel)|Eye of Heaven]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]], ''[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Trouble in Paradise (audio story)|Trouble in Paradise]]'') | ||
* Nyssa refers to her experience with [[alternate timeline|alternative timelines]] in [[Stockbridge]] in [[2009]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Eternal Summer (audio story)|The Eternal Summer]]'') | * Nyssa refers to her experience with [[alternate timeline|alternative timelines]] in [[Stockbridge]] in [[2009]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Eternal Summer (audio story)|The Eternal Summer]]'') | ||
* Nyssa mentions encountering the [[Dalek]]s in [[Stockbridge]] in the [[45th century]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Plague of the Daleks (audio story)|Plague of the Daleks]]'') | * Nyssa mentions encountering the [[Dalek]]s in [[Stockbridge]] in the [[45th century]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Plague of the Daleks (audio story)|Plague of the Daleks]]'') | ||
* The Doctor and Tegan argue over Turlough's loyalty, during which Tegan makes numerous references to his alliance with the [[Black Guardian]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'') | * The Doctor and Tegan argue over Turlough's loyalty, during which Tegan makes numerous references to his alliance with the [[Black Guardian]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]; ''[[AUDIO]]: ''[[Freakshow (audio story)|Freakshow]]'') | ||
* Tegan mentions spending time in ventilation shafts with Turlough ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') | * Turlough wonders if the Doctor knew all along of his connection to the Black Guardian. This might be because the Doctor found Turlough's [[Guardian crystal]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]]'') which is similar in design to the one [[Menlove Stokes]] had. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Well-Mannered War (novel)|The Well-Mannered War]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Well-Mannered War (audio story)|The Well-Mannered War]]'') | ||
* Tegan mentions spending time in ventilation shafts with Turlough ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') | |||
* Nyssa is aware of the circumstances of the Doctor's [[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|next]] [[regeneration]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Winter (audio story)|Winter]]'') | * Nyssa is aware of the circumstances of the Doctor's [[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|next]] [[regeneration]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Winter (audio story)|Winter]]'') | ||
* Tegan mentions her aunt [[Vanessa (Logopolis)|Vanessa]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') and [[Terminus]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') | * Tegan mentions her aunt [[Vanessa (Logopolis)|Vanessa]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') and [[Terminus]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]'') while Nyssa refers to [[Brendon Public School]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]]'') | ||
* Nyssa asks the Doctor to take her home. However, it takes him many journeys until he can return her home, similar to his attempts to return Tegan to [[Heathrow Airport]] in [[1981]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'', | * Nyssa asks the Doctor to take her home. However, it takes him many journeys until he can return her home, ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Prisoners of Fate (audio story)|Prisoners of Fate]]'') similar to his attempts to return Tegan to [[Heathrow Airport]] in [[1981]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'', ''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'', ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'') | ||
* The Doctor says "We've seen the future; this is how it ends" when faced with a death that he has foreknowledge of and from which there seems to be no escape. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] would later say almost the same thing when faced with a similar situation on Trenzalore. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'') | |||
== Footnotes == | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{bigfinish|releases/v/cobwebs-302|Cobwebs}} | |||
{{dwrefguide|who_bf136.htm|Cobwebs}} | |||
{{tetrap|5/cobwebs.html|Cobwebs}} | |||
{{BFA monthly}} | {{BFA monthly}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[fr:Cobwebs]] | |||
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]] | [[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Doctor | [[Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell theme]] | ||
[[Category:2010 audio stories]] | [[Category:Stories set in 3490]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in 3520]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 3530]] | |||
[[Category:Fifth Doctor Main Range audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:2010 Main Range audio stories]] | |||
Latest revision as of 23:16, 17 November 2024
Cobwebs was the one hundred and thirty-sixth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka and Mark Strickson as Turlough.
Released in 2010, it began the first season of Fifth Doctor stories for that year. It was the first new story to feature Davison, Sutton, Fielding and Strickson together since the television story Terminus in 1983, thus beginning a "series" of 15 audio dramas for that TARDIS team across five years, finally reaching a conclusion with the audio story The Entropy Plague in 2015.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
"You know what cobwebs mean. Spiders..."
In search of a cure for a sickness that's so far claimed six billion lives, scientist Nyssa arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic planet Helheim. "Hellhole", more like.
Nyssa's not alone. The TARDIS has also been drawn to the Helheim base — and in its cobweb-coated corridors, she soon runs into the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, her travelling companions of half a century past. But who, or what, has engineered this strange reunion? The Black Guardian, perhaps?
The answer's here, in the dark. With the Cractids. In the cobwebs.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
In 3530, Nyssa lands on Helheim with Loki, a robot, to investigate the work of a research base quarantined forty years ago. The base is without contamination, but covered in cobwebs made by maintenance spiders as a protective sealant to combat leaking insulation. After activating the backup solar stack and restoring power, Nyssa is attacked by crustaceans which Loki is unable to see or detect and thus unable to neutralise.
Tegan argues with the Doctor about Turlough's presence aboard the TARDIS given his actions, but relents when Turlough visits her bedroom and tells him that he does not have to return to his planet on her account. The ship is dragged down a temporal spiral to Helheim where they are reunited with Nyssa, for whom it has been fifty years since she last saw them, and learn that the base was researching Richter's Syndrome, a deadly strain of which has now killed six billion people and for which Nyssa hopes to find a cure. Whilst Tegan, Nyssa and Loki go to the control room and learn from the computer EDGAR that they will go back in time forty years, the other two explore the ruins below.
Turlough collapses after hallucinating being shot and, when he comes to, he and the Doctor join the others. The Doctor deduces that Turlough and Nyssa have both experienced telepathic memory projection thanks to EDGAR, who then shows them a projection of themselves in the past before the Doctor stops him, not wanting to create a fixed point. EDGAR tells them that the crew are in the medical bay where they find four skeletons wrapped in cocoons, wearing the clothes of the Doctor and his companions.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
Loki's scan, a spectographic examination and a test by cutting the lining of Turlough's jacket seem to confirm that the skeletons are those of the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa. Loki begs to leave, saying that he knows that they will all die because of something in his head, but maintenance spiders sent by EDGAR destroy Nyssa's ship to ensure that nobody can leave. After Tegan experiences a memory projection of being suffocated, EDGAR asks them to go back in time to save the crew and activates the base's self-destruct.
The Doctor and Nyssa fetch Loki from the control room and EDGAR wipes his own mind, but the self-destruct cannot be countermanded. They travel back in time to 3490 with Tegan and Turlough, who elect to stay in the TARDIS, and convince Director Cardell, Enforcement Officer Bragg and Bio Technician Valis that they have come to inspect their progress. They have been trying to replicate the antivirals of Cractids, who are uniquely immune to Richter's, without success and Nyssa suggests that they instead adapt the antigen to function as part of the human immune system. Cardell agrees and explains how the team have had their memories removed and will not be returned until the cure has been found.
Tegan and Turlough leave the TARDIS in an attempt to change history and are captured by Bragg, who has asked Echelon about the supposed inspection and shot Loki. He interprets Tegan and Turlough's warnings about the team's deaths as threats and straps the two of them, the Doctor and Nyssa to beds in the medical bay to be executed as spies by lethal injection. Nyssa reminds the Doctor of the four skeletons in the medical bay and, as Cardell prepares to inject them, the Doctor remarks that the future has caught up with them.
Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]
Valis stops the execution as the modified antivirals work and she wants to begin tests, starting with Nyssa, but EDGAR restores Cardell's memories and displays a recorded message from her addressing the base's true objective: to engineer a new strain of Richter's incurable by anybody but the Company. Valis makes the new strain more transmissable, but does not want to be an accomplice to murder nor have her memories back. Meanwhile, a scheme by Turlough leads Bragg to take the Doctor and Tegan to the ruins to show them patterned symbols which he has interpreted as the names of the team, making him believe that there is no world other than this one.
Upon returning to the medical bay, Cardell takes the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough to be tested on and Bragg is given his memories back, making him realise that he actually belongs to the Independent Biodevelopment Group and has been tasked with stealing a sample of the new strain and the antiviral solution. He makes EDGAR obey only him and shoots Valis, forcing Cardell to hand the samples over and then enter an isolation chamber with the Cractids. He soon releases her and has EDGAR upload her and Valis's memories of their near-death experiences to make it look as though they died, after which he takes Valis with him and leaves Turlough, Nyssa and Cardell locked in with the Cractids.
EDGAR knows that the crew supposedly die on this date as his future self came back in time inside Loki and is fighting for supremacy inside EDGAR's mind. Bragg has EDGAR erase all data on the antidote, destroys Valis's memories and fakes his death in the airlock before drawing fuel for a ship to escape and leaving Valis to die. The Doctor, separated from the others with Tegan, is able to get Turlough, Nyssa and Cardell out of the lab but is unable to close the door, giving the Cractids free rein of the base. Cardell goes to talk with EDGAR and the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa run to the medical bay and are sealed inside, apparently doomed to die there.
Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]
Nyssa gets Loki to sent maintenance spiders to cut the feed of power to Bragg's ship and to release a sonic burst to stun the Cractids. Bragg has EDGAR erase Loki's personality and restore power to his ship, but Cardell knocks him out when the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa arrive and goes to the ship with Tegan and Nyssa to find the samples, ordering them to hand over the phials upon doing so. Tegan runs away with the cure, but Nyssa drops the phial containing the virus in a scuffle and it is released into the air. She warns the Doctor.
The Doctor, Turlough and Bragg meet Tegan in the medical bay, soon joined by Nyssa, and EDGAR locks the door of the control room behind them. Whilst everybody else takes the cure, Bragg refuses as he wants to take his infection back to the Independent Biodevelopment Group and takes Tegan hostage before activating EDGAR's self-destruct. He heads towards the ship with her, followed by the Doctor, but Cardell rigs the airlock and blasts a hole in the wall which sucks her and the Cractids out onto the planet's surface. Bragg manages to escape, however, and cryogenically freezes himself aboard the ship. The Doctor and Tegan are unharmed, having put on space suits, and Turlough and Nyssa get EDGAR to delay the self-destruct until they arrive in 3530.
Promising EDGAR that they will return, the Doctor shows his companions on the TARDIS scanner how EDGAR has the maintenance spiders try to replicate the four of them, creating the skeletons that they found. The Doctor pulls his past self's TARDIS to Helheim in 3530 and agrees to try to get Nyssa to an infected world, although Tegan warns her that it could take some time. In 3520, Bragg is awoken on Gondol Prime by Company Officer Hawks and realises that Hawks's crew are unwittingly spreading Richter's Syndrome across the stars.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
- Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
- Vislor Turlough - Mark Strickson
- Director Cardell / Ship's Computer - Helen Griffin
- Loki / EDGAR / Hawks - Raymond Coulthard
- Enforcement Officer Bragg - Adrian Lukis
- Bio Technician Valis / Echelon - Charlotte Lucas
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Iain Robertson
- Director - Barnaby Edwards
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Steve Foxon
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Jonathan Morris
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This is the first audio drama released in the main range to feature Turlough since the audio story Singularity in November 2005 and the first to feature Tegan since The Gathering in September 2006. However, Turlough appeared in The Companion Chronicles' audio stories Ringpullworld and Freakshow in the interim.
- This audio drama was recorded on 29 December 2009 and 4 January 2010 at the Moat Studios.
- The story was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra between 16-19 May 2011, forming a radio season with the following two stories.
- This story was originally released on CD and download on 15 July 2010.[1] It is now available as a download only.
- This story is set between Enlightenment and The King's Demons.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Chronologically, this story takes place two days after the events of TV: Enlightenment for the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, while it is fifty years after the events of TV: Terminus for Nyssa.
- When the TARDIS goes wrong, Tegan asks if it is a Black Guardian trap. (TV: Enlightenment)
- Nyssa has cured Lazar's disease. (TV: Terminus)
- The Doctor claims to have met Christopher Columbus. (PROSE: Eye of Heaven, TV: The Two Doctors, AUDIO: Trouble in Paradise)
- Nyssa refers to her experience with alternative timelines in Stockbridge in 2009. (AUDIO: The Eternal Summer)
- Nyssa mentions encountering the Daleks in Stockbridge in the 45th century. (AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks)
- The Doctor and Tegan argue over Turlough's loyalty, during which Tegan makes numerous references to his alliance with the Black Guardian. (TV: Enlightenment; AUDIO: Freakshow)
- Turlough wonders if the Doctor knew all along of his connection to the Black Guardian. This might be because the Doctor found Turlough's Guardian crystal, (TV: Mawdryn Undead) which is similar in design to the one Menlove Stokes had. (PROSE: The Well-Mannered War, AUDIO: The Well-Mannered War)
- Tegan mentions spending time in ventilation shafts with Turlough (TV: Terminus)
- Nyssa is aware of the circumstances of the Doctor's next regeneration. (AUDIO: Winter)
- Tegan mentions her aunt Vanessa (TV: Logopolis) and Terminus, (TV: Terminus) while Nyssa refers to Brendon Public School. (TV: Mawdryn Undead)
- Nyssa asks the Doctor to take her home. However, it takes him many journeys until he can return her home, (AUDIO: Prisoners of Fate) similar to his attempts to return Tegan to Heathrow Airport in 1981. (TV: Four to Doomsday, The Visitation, Time-Flight)
- The Doctor says "We've seen the future; this is how it ends" when faced with a death that he has foreknowledge of and from which there seems to be no escape. The Eleventh Doctor would later say almost the same thing when faced with a similar situation on Trenzalore. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Cobwebs page at bigfinish.com
- Cobwebs at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Cobwebs at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
