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{{TitleAudioStory}}
{{title dab away}}
{{real world}}{{Infobox Audiobook
{{real world}}
|name            = The Mega
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image           = The mega cover.jpg
|image             = The mega cover.jpg
|series         = [[The Lost Stories]]
|range            = The Lost Stories
|number         = 4.4
|series in range  = Series 4 (TLS)
|doctor         = Third Doctor
|series number in range = 4
|companions     = [[Jo Grant|Jo]]
|number in series  = 4
|featuring      = [[Mike Yates]], [[Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|The Brigadier]], [[John Benton]]
|series            = [[The Lost Stories]]
|enemy           =  
|number           = 4.4
|setting         =  
|doctor           = Third Doctor
|writer         = [[Bill Strutton]], adapted by [[Simon Guerrier]]
|companions       = [[Jo Grant|Jo]], [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|The Brig]], [[Mike Yates|Yates]], [[John Benton|Benton]]
|director       = [[Ken Bentley]]
|enemy             = [[The Mega]]
|music           = [[Richard Fox]] and [[Lauren Yason]]
|setting           = [[Earth]], [[1970s]]
|sound           = [[Richard Fox]] and [[Lauren Yason]]
|writer           = Simon Guerrier
|publisher       = [[Big Finish Productions]]
|contributors      = [[Bill Strutton]], adapted by [[Simon Guerrier]]
|release date   = [[December (releases)|December]] [[2013]]
|director         = [[Ken Bentley]]
|format         = 6 Parts, 3 CD's
|producer          = [[David Richardson]]
|production code =  
|music             = [[Richard Fox]] & [[Lauren Yason]]
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-78178-098-5
|sound             = Richard Fox & Lauren Yason
|prev = Lords of the Red Planet (audio story)
|cover            = [[Damien May]]
|next =  
|publisher         = Big Finish Productions
}}'''''The Mega '''''was the fourth and final release in the fourth and final series of ''[[The Lost Stories]]''. It is also the only lost story to feature the [[Third Doctor]].
|release date     = 18 December 2013
|format           = 3 CDs<br/>Download
|production code   = BFPDWLS26
|isbn             = ISBN 978-1-78178-098-5 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-899-7 (digital)
|prev             = Lords of the Red Planet (audio story)
|next             = Nightmare Country (audio story)
|soundcloudtrailer = https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/doctor-who-the-lost-stories-the-mega-trailers
|epcount = 6}}
{{audio stub}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the fourth and final story in the [[Series 4 (TLS)|fourth series]] of ''[[The Lost Stories]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was adapted by [[Simon Guerrier]], from the original script by [[Bill Strutton]], narrated by [[Katy Manning]] and [[Richard Franklin]] and featured the [[Third Doctor]], [[Jo Grant]], [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart]], [[Mike Yates|Captain Yates]], [[John Benton|Sergeant Benton]] and [[UNIT]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
"This is a warning. Your aggression cannot go unchecked. The West must disarm. We will make you disarm."
"This is a warning. Your aggression cannot go unchecked. The West must disarm. We will make you disarm."


When an assassination follows the first demonstration of a deadly new weapon, it appears that an alien race has fired the opening salvo in a new war – a war… for peace.
When an assassination follows the first demonstration of a deadly new weapon, it appears that an alien race has fired the opening salvo in a new war — a war... for peace.


But is that truly their intent? [[Third Doctor|The Doctor]] is unsure. The answer lies deep in the heart of a distant country. A place where a man might be a hero or a traitor. Where a man has to face the menace… of the Mega.
But is that truly their intent? [[Third Doctor|The Doctor]] is unsure. The answer lies deep in the heart of a distant country. A place where a man might be a hero or a traitor. Where a man has to face the menace...of [[the Mega]].


==Plot==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
=== Part one ===
After the demonstration of a deadly new chemical weapon, the United Kingdom is put on immediate notice by a powerful alien race, who murder a top military defence chief and threaten other officials with the same, unless the entire country agrees to completely disarm.
 
The Doctor is summoned to a secret audience with the mysterious aggressors. Upon entering an abandoned dockland warehouse, he and Jo are attacked by an 8 foot-tall monster with a swirling silver vortex in place of a face.
=== Part two ===
The monster - a Mega - hesitates, regarding the Doctor's peaceful motives as curious, but it is then distracted by two UNIT soldiers. The creature escapes in a plane piloted by a human captain.
 
Unaware that the threat to the UK is extraterrestrial, and with the Doctor unwilling to divulge the truth, UNIT is seconded to the regular army to fight the mysterious assailants.
 
The Doctor and Jo track the Mega to Golbasto, a small European principality bordering Vienna, where the vain Prince Cassie has in his possession an entire army of Mega...
 
=== Part three ===
Cassie plans to use the Mega to control the world according to his own social philosophies. He forces the Doctor to convince the British authorities that the Doctor and Jo have defected to a foreign power.
 
The Doctor and Jo escape to an abandoned research facility and attempt to contact UNIT using a heliograph - but are thwarted by a patrol of Mega.
 
When the United Kingdom again refuses to disarm before another deadline given by Cassie, the British Prime Minister is murdered, remotely, on live television.
 
=== Part four ===
The Doctor and Jo return to Prince Cassie's castle, where the Prince surprises them by producing the destroyed heliograph and employing them to repair it.
 
Meanwhile, riots break out across London following the Prime Minister's assassination. The authorities prepare to use the UK's new gas weapon on the rioters, but the General in charge is assassinated by the Mega, negating those plans.
 
Called to a meeting at Downing Street, Yates observes that anti-establishment protestors are now in positions of power.
 
At the castle, Jo and the Doctor learn of the British Prime Minister's assassination and Jo, in distress, attempts to sabotage Prince Cassie's operations. The Prince, enraged, orders the Mega to destroy her.
 
=== Part five ===
The Doctor manages to prevent Jo's execution, and is subsequently ordered by Prince Cassie to work out how to widen the beam of the Mega's molecule ray - the weapon Cassie has been using to assassinate UK officials.
 
The Mega want to cause chaos amongst the human race, before revealing their presence and casting themselves as humanity's saviours.
 
The Doctor manages to secretly construct a small model aircraft disguised as a Golbastan eagle. Loading it with intelligence intended for UNIT, he sets it on a course for across the border ... before the Mega locate its trajectory, intending to test the Doctor's modified molecule ray on it...
 
Meanwhile, back in the UK, the Prime Minister is revealed to be alive, part of an elaborate ploy to make Cassie believe that the chaos has resulted in a revolution.
 
=== Part six ===
The Prince orders the Mega not to destroy the Doctor's model plane, believing it to be a real Golbastan eagle - a sacred symbol of his country.
 
The eagle makes it across the border, and UNIT, aided by the information it contains, launches a missile attack on Prince Cassie's castle - but the missiles are vaporised by the Mega.
 
The Prince, finally convinced by the Doctor of the Mega's true intentions for world domination, focuses the molecule ray on his own castle, destroying himself and the majority of the Mega force.
 
At the same time, the Doctor and Jo manage to escape Golbasto in a biplane, pursued by the remaining Mega. After crash-landing on the other side of the border, UNIT comes to their rescue, destroying the Mega with the UK's chemical weapon - which, as per the Doctor's instructions, has been reprogrammed to only affect the Mega.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Jo Grant]] - [[Katy Manning]]
* [[Jo Grant]] - [[Katy Manning]]
* [[Mike Yates]] - [[Richard Franklin]]
* [[Mike Yates|Captain Mike Yates]] - [[Richard Franklin]]
* [[Wiley (The Mega)|Wiley]]/[[Cassie (The Mega)|Cassie]]/[[Prime Minister (The Mega)|Prime Minister]]/[[Man (The Mega)|Man]] - [[Bo Poraj]]
* [[Wiley (The Mega)|Wiley]]/[[Cassie (The Mega)|Cassie]]/[[Prime Minister (The Mega)|Prime Minister]]/[[Man (The Mega)|Man]] - [[Bo Poraj]]
* [[Magee (The Mega)|Magee]]/[[Laurence (The Mega)|Laurence]]/[[The Mega]]/[[Chap (The Mega)|Chap]] - [[Derek Carlyle]]
* [[Magee (The Mega)|Magee]]/[[Laurence (The Mega)|Laurence]]/[[The Mega]]/[[Chap (The Mega)|Chap]] - [[Derek Carlyle]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
 
* Cover Art - [[Damien May]]
* Director - [[Ken Bentley]]
* Executive Producers - [[Nicholas Briggs]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[Lauren Yason]] and [[Richard Fox]] @ FoxYason Studios
* Producer - [[David Richardson]]
* Script Editor - [[John Dorney]]
* Written by [[Bill Strutton]], adapted by [[Simon Guerrier]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* [[Jo Grant|Jo]] remarks that [[Wiley (The Mega)|General Wiley's]] moustache resembles [[Herbert Kitchener|Herbert Kitchener's]]


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This story was recorded on [[14 November (production)|14]], [[15 November (production)|15]] and [[16 November (production)|16 November]] [[2012]]
* This story was recorded on [[14 November (production)|14]], [[15 November (production)|15]] and [[16 November (production)|16 November]] [[2012 (production)|2012]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
* The audio story is an adaptation of a television story originally commissioned on [[19 October (production)|19 October]] [[1970 (production)|1970]], but was later scrapped.
* This is the only ''Lost Stories'' audio to feature the [[Third Doctor]].


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* The Brigadier mentions the [[Silurian]] incident. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians (TV story)|Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'')
* [[Tom Osgood]] creates a rain machine from the Doctor's blueprints. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dæmons (TV story)|The Dæmons]]'')
* Corporal [[Carol Bell]] is still part of the Brigadier's staff. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Claws of Axos (TV story)|The Claws of Axos]]'')
* {{Delgado|C}} told the Mega how to invade the Earth. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Claws of Axos (TV story)|The Claws of Axos]]'', et al.)
* Sergeant [[John Benton]] mentions chasing [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] through the sewers. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion (TV story)|The Invasion]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{Bigfinish|releases/v/the-mega-823|The Mega}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/the-mega-823|The Mega}}
{{BFA LostStories}}
{{BFA LostStories}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Series 4 (TLS) audio stories]]
[[Category:Third Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Third Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:2013 audio stories]]
[[Category:UNIT audio stories]]
[[Category:The Lost Stories]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories set on Earth]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart audio stories]]
[[Category:Six part audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 04:04, 27 March 2024

RealWorld.png

audio stub

The Mega was the fourth and final story in the fourth series of The Lost Stories, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was adapted by Simon Guerrier, from the original script by Bill Strutton, narrated by Katy Manning and Richard Franklin and featured the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, Captain Yates, Sergeant Benton and UNIT.

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

"This is a warning. Your aggression cannot go unchecked. The West must disarm. We will make you disarm."

When an assassination follows the first demonstration of a deadly new weapon, it appears that an alien race has fired the opening salvo in a new war — a war... for peace.

But is that truly their intent? The Doctor is unsure. The answer lies deep in the heart of a distant country. A place where a man might be a hero or a traitor. Where a man has to face the menace...of the Mega.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

After the demonstration of a deadly new chemical weapon, the United Kingdom is put on immediate notice by a powerful alien race, who murder a top military defence chief and threaten other officials with the same, unless the entire country agrees to completely disarm.

The Doctor is summoned to a secret audience with the mysterious aggressors. Upon entering an abandoned dockland warehouse, he and Jo are attacked by an 8 foot-tall monster with a swirling silver vortex in place of a face.

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

The monster - a Mega - hesitates, regarding the Doctor's peaceful motives as curious, but it is then distracted by two UNIT soldiers. The creature escapes in a plane piloted by a human captain.

Unaware that the threat to the UK is extraterrestrial, and with the Doctor unwilling to divulge the truth, UNIT is seconded to the regular army to fight the mysterious assailants.

The Doctor and Jo track the Mega to Golbasto, a small European principality bordering Vienna, where the vain Prince Cassie has in his possession an entire army of Mega...

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

Cassie plans to use the Mega to control the world according to his own social philosophies. He forces the Doctor to convince the British authorities that the Doctor and Jo have defected to a foreign power.

The Doctor and Jo escape to an abandoned research facility and attempt to contact UNIT using a heliograph - but are thwarted by a patrol of Mega.

When the United Kingdom again refuses to disarm before another deadline given by Cassie, the British Prime Minister is murdered, remotely, on live television.

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and Jo return to Prince Cassie's castle, where the Prince surprises them by producing the destroyed heliograph and employing them to repair it.

Meanwhile, riots break out across London following the Prime Minister's assassination. The authorities prepare to use the UK's new gas weapon on the rioters, but the General in charge is assassinated by the Mega, negating those plans.

Called to a meeting at Downing Street, Yates observes that anti-establishment protestors are now in positions of power.

At the castle, Jo and the Doctor learn of the British Prime Minister's assassination and Jo, in distress, attempts to sabotage Prince Cassie's operations. The Prince, enraged, orders the Mega to destroy her.

Part five[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor manages to prevent Jo's execution, and is subsequently ordered by Prince Cassie to work out how to widen the beam of the Mega's molecule ray - the weapon Cassie has been using to assassinate UK officials.

The Mega want to cause chaos amongst the human race, before revealing their presence and casting themselves as humanity's saviours.

The Doctor manages to secretly construct a small model aircraft disguised as a Golbastan eagle. Loading it with intelligence intended for UNIT, he sets it on a course for across the border ... before the Mega locate its trajectory, intending to test the Doctor's modified molecule ray on it...

Meanwhile, back in the UK, the Prime Minister is revealed to be alive, part of an elaborate ploy to make Cassie believe that the chaos has resulted in a revolution.

Part six[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Prince orders the Mega not to destroy the Doctor's model plane, believing it to be a real Golbastan eagle - a sacred symbol of his country.

The eagle makes it across the border, and UNIT, aided by the information it contains, launches a missile attack on Prince Cassie's castle - but the missiles are vaporised by the Mega.

The Prince, finally convinced by the Doctor of the Mega's true intentions for world domination, focuses the molecule ray on his own castle, destroying himself and the majority of the Mega force.

At the same time, the Doctor and Jo manage to escape Golbasto in a biplane, pursued by the remaining Mega. After crash-landing on the other side of the border, UNIT comes to their rescue, destroying the Mega with the UK's chemical weapon - which, as per the Doctor's instructions, has been reprogrammed to only affect the Mega.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

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The Lost Stories
First Doctor
Second Doctor
Third Doctor
Fourth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
Seventh Doctor
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