The Hollows of Time (audio story)

The Hollows of Time
Doctor:	[[doctor::Sixth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Peri
Main enemy:	Tractators
Main setting:	Hollowdean, England, UK, Earth, early 1980s
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Big Finish Productions]]
Writer:	Christopher H Bidmead
Director:	John Ainsworth
Release details
Release number:	1.04
Release date:	February 2010
Format:	2 Episodes on 2 CDs
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-447-4

The Hollows of Time is the fourth Lost Story of Season 23 to be developed into an audio play. It stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.

Publisher's summary

The Doctor and Peri have been on holiday, visiting old friend Reverend Foxwell in the sleepy English village of Hollowdean. But why are their memories so hazy? Piecing together events they recall a mysterious chauffeur, who is not what he seems, and Foxwell's experiments that could alter the nature of reality. Huge sand creatures have been sighted on the dunes, and many of the locals are devoted to a leader known as 'Professor Stream'. But who is Stream? And what lies within the Hollows of Time? The Doctor will discover that not every question has a definitive answer...

Cast

• The Doctor – Colin Baker
• Peri – Nicola Bryant
• Professor Stream - David Garfield
• Reverend Foxwell - Trevor Littledale
• Mrs Streeter / Simon - Susan Sheridan
• Steel Specs - Hywel John
• Jane - Victoria Finney

References

• Reverend Foxwell recognises the Doctor on sight, suggesting that they have met during his sixth incarnation.
• When Reverend Foxwell inquires as to whether the Doctor used to have a "metal dog," he states that this was a long time ago in "another life."

Notes

• The Hollows of Time was an unproduced serial written by Christopher H. Bidmead intended to feature the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown. It was cancelled to make way for The Trial of a Time Lord.
• This story marks the first appearance of the Tractators in an audio story, as well as their first appearance in Doctor Who in any medium since their introduction in DW: Frontios, twenty-six years earlier.
• In the original version of the script, Professor Stream would have been revealed to be the Master in disguise, a plot device previously used in DW: The Keeper of Traken, DW: Castrovalva, DW: Time-Flight and DW: The King's Demons.
• David Garfield previously played Major von Weich in DW: The War Games and Neeva in DW: The Face of Evil.
• This audio drama was recorded on 30 and 31 March 2009.

Continuity

• After Peri accuses him of deliberately deceiving her, the Doctor tells her that Time Lords do not do such things. However, his next incarnation would later deceive and manipulate his companion Ace and others on numerous occasions in furtherance of his schemes. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, et al.)
• The Doctor notes that his previous encounter with the Tractators occurred aeons from the 20th century, which is consistent with the fact that DW: Frontios took place on the planet of the same name at an unknown time in the far future.
• The Doctor is initally unable to remember the name of his vintage car, Bessie, which he used mostly in his third incarnation. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, et al.) The Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors used the car on one occasion each. (DW: Robot, DW: Battlefield, NA: The Dying Days)
• The Doctor first paraphrases and then quotes "My kingdom for a horse", which appears in Act V, Scene IV of William Shakespeare's Richard III. During his fifth incarnation, he and Peri had met both a time travelling Shakespeare and the eponymous King of England in 1483 and 1485. (BFA: The Kingmaker)
• Upon meeting an older version of Peri in Los Angeles in 2009 who had no memory of their travels together beyond their first encounter on Lanzarote in May 1984 (DW: Planet of Fire), the Doctor mentions the Tractators in an attempt to jog her memory. (CC: Peri and the Piscon Paradox)

Timeline

• The story takes place immediately after BFA: Leviathan
• The story takes place before BFA: Paradise 5

External links

• The Hollows of Time at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Official The Hollows of Time page at bigfinish.com