Caerdroia (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|image           = Caerdroia cover.jpg
|image     = Caerdroia cover.jpg
|range          = Main Range
|name      = Caerdroia
|number in range = 63
|series     = [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'' audio stories]]
|series         = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number     = 63
|number         = 63
|doctor     = Eighth Doctor
|doctor         = Eighth Doctor
|companions = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]], [[C'rizz]]
|companions     = [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]], [[C'rizz]]
|setting       = The [[Interzone]] and [[Caerdroia]], the [[Divergent Universe]]
|setting         = [[Interzone]] and [[Caerdroia]]
|enemy     = The [[Kro'ka]]
|enemy           = The [[Kro'ka]]
|writer     = [[Lloyd Rose]]
|writer         = Lloyd Rose
|director  = [[Gary Russell]]
|director        = [[Gary Russell]]
|post production = [[Steve Foxon]]
|producer        = [[Gary Russell]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
|music      = [[Steve Foxon]]
|music          = [[Steve Foxon]]
|cover     = [[Steve Johnson]]
|sound          = [[Steve Foxon]]
|publisher = Big Finish Productions
|cover           = [[Steve Johnson]]
|release date = [[November (releases)|November]] [[2004 (releases)|2004]]
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|format     = 4 Episodes on 2 CDs
|release date   = 10 November 2004
|format         = 2 CDs<br/>Download
|production code = [[List of production codes|8U]]
|production code = [[List of production codes|8U]]
|isbn       = ISBN 1-84435-104-1
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-84435-104-6 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78178-764-9 (digital)
|prev       = The Last (audio story)
|prev           = The Last (audio story)
|next       = The Next Life (audio story)
|next           = The Next Life (audio story)
|made prev      = The Juggernauts (audio story)
|made next      = The Last (audio story)
|musicsuite      =
|epcount = 4
}}{{audio stub}}
}}{{audio stub}}
{{you may|Caerdroia|n1=the titular place}}
{{you may|Caerdroia|n1=the titular place}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the sixty-third [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|monthly ''Doctor Who'' audio story]] produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. Released in November 2004, it featured the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[companion]]s [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] and [[C'rizz]]. It was essentially the "beginning of the end" of the [[Divergent Universe]] arc. Significantly, it depicted the Doctor's recovery of the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], which had been absent from the Eighth Doctor's adventures since [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Scherzo (audio story)|Scherzo]]''.
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the sixty-third story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Lloyd Rose]] and featured [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]], [[India Fisher]] as [[Charlotte Pollard]], [[Conrad Westmaas]] as [[C'rizz]], [[Stephen Perring]] as The [[Kro'ka]] and [[Don Warrington]] as [[Rassilon]].
 
It was essentially the "beginning of the end" of the [[Divergent Universe]] arc. Significantly, it depicted the Doctor's recovery of [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], which had been absent from the Eighth Doctor's adventures since [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Scherzo (audio story)|Scherzo]]''.


The story began to "pay off" the Divergent Universe arc by explaining things like the [[Interzone]], the [[Kro'ka]]'s motivations and fears, how a universe without [[time]] worked and the [[Divergence]] itself.
The story began to "pay off" the Divergent Universe arc by explaining things like the [[Interzone]], the [[Kro'ka]]'s motivations and fears, how a universe without [[time]] worked and the [[Divergence]] itself.


From a production standpoint, it was notable for its highly complex sound design, which had to depict abstract environments, including the Doctor's own mind. It also afforded [[Paul McGann]] the chance to play three different versions of his Doctor, each primarily exhibiting what Charley called a "mode" of his character. Thus, the story had one Doctor that was a bit surly and paranoid, another that was bouncy and excitable and another that was more or less the "regular" Eighth Doctor.  
From a production standpoint, it was notable for its highly complex sound design, which had to depict abstract environments, including the Doctor's own mind. It also afforded [[Paul McGann]] the chance to play three different versions of his Doctor, each primarily exhibiting what Charley called a "mode" of his character. Thus, the story had one Doctor that was a bit surly and paranoid, another that was bouncy and excitable and another that was more or less the "regular" Eighth Doctor.


The story was written by [[Lloyd Rose]], giving ''Caerdroia'' the distinction of being the only full length performed ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story authored by an [[American]] woman.
The story was written by [[Lloyd Rose]], giving ''Caerdroia'' the distinction of being the only full length performed ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story authored by an [[American]] woman.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Self-exiled to a [[Divergent Universe|new universe]], separated from the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], opposed and manipulated by the [[Divergence]] and their agent the [[Kro'ka]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer — and regain the TARDIS!
Self-exiled to a [[Divergent Universe|new universe]], separated from [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], opposed and manipulated by the [[Divergence]] and their agent the [[Kro'ka]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer — and regain the TARDIS!


Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.
Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.
Line 40: Line 48:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
[[Eighth Doctor|The Doctor]], [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley]] and [[C'rizz]] are resting in the [[interzone]] when they are approached by [[Kro'ka|the Kro'ka]] who attempts to enter the Doctor's mind. The Doctor takes advantage of this and uses it to extract information from the Kro'ka. The Doctor ascertains that there is a central travel hub across the travel zones called [[Caerdroia|Caedroia]]. The Doctor is also experiencing time sickness which should not happen in a timeless universe. Using this to sense a portal, the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz enter Caedroia. Upon arrival in a field full of cows with bells, the Doctor splits into three embodiments with different segments of his personality. Charlie refers to the two additional Doctors as the "Eeyore" and "Tigger" ones based on their respective dispositsions.
 
The team now splits up and explore different parts of Caedroia. Charley and the darker parts embodiment of the Doctor explore a giant cuckoo clock without hands (an odd object to be in the Divergent Universe which has no concept of time); the jollier part of the Doctor and C'rizz go to the Gardens of Curiosities where they see a rabbit like creature spinning and escape from an Eutermesan monster called an Obelat (which they do not see) in the Garden of Curiosities; while the other Doctor has to find his way around a bueracratic office fulled with identical workers who are only interested in their Kafkaesque form-filling processes. Eventually, through opening various doors their paths all meet in a giant labyrinth where they must avoid a minotaur.
 
The Doctors, Charley and C'rizz meet Waylan who explains that the labyrinth is a prison for his people after the Divergents came. The way out is locked by a complex code. The original Doctor, Charley and C'rizz leave the other two Doctors two solve it. These two modes work out that the puzzle is in fact the security system for the Tardis. The original Doctor goes to the offices again but walks into one the Kro'ka's traps. There the Kro'ka tries to torture the Doctor but is held back from the Doctor's threats of revealing the Kro'ka's trespasses against the Divergents to them and that determines the presence of time must been that [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] is nearby.
 
Charley and C'rizz after failing to find the Doctor, notice that the people of the land don't notice them and infer that the Kro'ka has been shielding the Divergents from the TARDIS crew's presence. Again, they find themselves in the labyrinth and help the other two Doctors out. After escaping from the maze, the "Tigger" encounters the Kro'ka who traps him inside the cuckoo clock. The "Eeyore" Doctor then appears, enters the Kro'ka's mind and inflicts his pain. Having all gathered together again the Doctors realise that the musical elements of the world - The musical book in The Garden of Curiosities, the bells on the cows and the cuckoo clock - is a message from a TARDIS. They initiate "contact" with each other and work out that the Tardis is at the centre of the labyrinth.
 
After the TARDIS crew leave for the TARDIS, [[Matrix Rassilon|Rassilon]] visits the Kro'ka. Angered that their agreement has been breached, he tortures the Kro'ka.
 
The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz go to the TARDIS and the three Doctors recombine into one. The TARDIS crew leave, drawing a plan to defeat the Divergents.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 47: Line 65:
* [[C'rizz]] - [[Conrad Westmaas]]
* [[C'rizz]] - [[Conrad Westmaas]]
* The [[Kro'ka]] / [[Evans (Caerdroia)|Evans]] / [[Wayland (Caerdroia)|Wayland]] - [[Stephen Perring]]
* The [[Kro'ka]] / [[Evans (Caerdroia)|Evans]] / [[Wayland (Caerdroia)|Wayland]] - [[Stephen Perring]]
* [[Rassilon]] - [[Don Warrington]]
* [[Matrix Rassilon|Rassilon]] - [[Don Warrington]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Steve Johnson]] and [[Stuart Manning]]
* Director - [[Gary Russell]]
* Executive Producer - [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[Steve Foxon]]
* Producers - [[Gary Russell]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Writers - [[Lloyd Rose]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
=== The Doctor ===
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor finally understands the meaning of the saying "[[safe as houses]]". After being split into three bodies, one of the Doctors explains that the expression originated in a [[19th century]] recession in which the only financial security was in real estate.
* The Doctor explains the meaning of the saying "[[safe as houses]]".
* The "Tigger" Doctor comments that he thought that he was taller.
* The Doctor tells the Kro'ka that some of his "goofiest" incarnations have also been his sliest. He is seemingly referring to his [[Second Doctor|second]] and [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnations]] and possibly the original, light-hearted personality of his [[Seventh Doctor|seventh incarnation]].
* Charley tells C'rizz that the Doctor "attracts danger."
* The Doctor has the ability to enter another being's mind. While his morality usually stops him from doing so, his more pragmatic "Eeyore" personality has no compunctions about using it.
 
=== Individuals ===
* The Kro'ka describes Charley as "ever energetic."
* The Kro'ka has never shown himself to the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz.
* The Kro'ka cannot transport the Doctor from one zone to another unless he is conscious.
* The Kro'ka was not responsible for splitting the Doctor into three.
* C'rizz is afraid of heights.


=== TARDIS ===
=== TARDIS ===
* [[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] has a [[croquet]] court.
* [[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] has a [[croquet]] court.
* The Kro'ka tells the Doctor that the TARDIS still exists but is no longer on [[Bortresoye]].
* The Kro'ka tells the Doctor that the TARDIS still exists but is no longer on [[Bortresoye]].
* The TARDIS was responsible for splitting the Doctor into three.
* The Doctor and Charley never previously told C'rizz that the TARDIS is [[Dimensional transcendentalism|dimensionally transcendental]].
* The Doctor and Charley never previously told C'rizz that the TARDIS is [[Dimensional transcendentalism|dimensionally transcendental]].


=== The Doctor's items ===
=== The Doctor's items ===
* The "Eeyore" Doctor uses his last [[Promethean Everlasting Matches|everlasting match]].
* The "Eeyore" Doctor uses his last [[Promethean Everlasting Matches|everlasting match]].
* The three Doctors all have a ball of string the size of a beach ball in their dimensionally transcendental pockets.


=== Gallifreyan lifeforms ===
=== Gallifreyan lifeforms ===
* [[Gallifrey]] has a form of [[rabbit]] - which are "rounder and cuddlier" than [[Earth]] rabbits - and a purple form of [[marlot]] which is cannot be found anywhere else in the cosmos.
* [[Gallifrey]] has a form of [[rabbit]] - which are "rounder and cuddlier" than [[Earth]] rabbits and around the same size.
* [[Purple marlet]]s are plants unique to Gallifrey.


=== Planets ===
=== Planets ===
* The [[Divergence]] are located on [[Caerdroia]]. The Doctor correctly surmises that the castle, which the Kro'ka claims is everywhere on the planet, is the "home office" of the Divergence.
* The Divergence are located on [[Caerdroia]].
* The "Tigger" Doctor says that [[sunflower]]s are unique to [[Earth]].
* The "Tigger" Doctor says that [[sunflower]]s are unique to [[Earth]].


Line 85: Line 100:


=== Cultural references from the real world ===
=== Cultural references from the real world ===
* The Doctor refers to {{wi|Three Little Pigs|The Three Little Pigs}}.
* The Doctor refers to ''[[The Three Little Pigs]]''.
* {{w|Tigger}} is the Doctor's favourite character from ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]''. In order to differentiate between the three Doctors, Charley refers to the more exuberant one as "Tigger" and the more irritable one as {{w|Eeyore}}.
* [[Tigger]] is the Doctor's favourite character from ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]''. In order to differentiate between the three Doctors, Charley refers to the more exuberant one as "Tigger" and the more irritable one as [[Eeyore]].
* Charley refers to the 19th century American novelist [[Edgar Allan Poe]].
* Charley refers to the 19th century American novelist [[Edgar Allan Poe]].
* The "Eeyore" Doctor quotes the line "Curiouser and curiouser" from ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]''.
* The "Eeyore" Doctor quotes the line "Curiouser and curiouser" from ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]''.
* The "Tigger" Doctor refers to the flying rabbit from {{wi|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}, the island populated by [[dinosaur]]s in {{wi|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} and the legend of the [[Minotaur]].
* The "Tigger" Doctor refers to the flying rabbit from ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', the island populated by [[dinosaur]]s in ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' and the legend of the [[Minotaur]].


=== Zoology ===
=== Zoology ===
* The [[cattle]] of [[Eutermes]] are small, scaly and lay eggs.
* The [[cattle]] of [[Eutermes]] are small, scaly and lay eggs.
* Charley refers to [[buffalo]], telling C'rizz that they are common in the [[American West]] and that they tend to stampede.
* Charley refers to [[buffalo]], telling C'rizz that they are common in the [[American West]] and that they tend to stampede.
* Eutermes has a very dangerous wild animal known as an Obelat. According to C'rizz, they do not have any legs as such.
* Eutermes has a very dangerous wild animal known as an [[Obelat]].


=== Species ===
=== Species ===
* Eutermesans have significantly better hearing than [[human]]s.
* Eutermesans have significantly better hearing than [[human]]s.
== Gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
Caerdroia cover.jpg|Big Finish cover
bf-caerdroia-alt.jpg|"Tenth Planet" cover
Caerdroiapreview.jpg|Illustrated preview from [[DWM 350]] by [[Mike Collins]]
</gallery>


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
[[File:Caerdroiapreview.jpg|thumb|Illustrated preview from [[DWM 350]] by [[Mike Collins]].]]
* An illustrated preview for this story featured in [[DWM 350]] illustrated by [[Mike Collins]].
* An illustrated preview for this story featured in [[DWM 350]] illustrated by [[Mike Collins]].
[[File:bf-caerdroia-alt.jpg|thumb|Variant cover]]
* In cooperation with Big Finish, "Tenth Planet" released this audio in a limited edition with a different cover, designed by [[Stuart Manning]], during the Dimensions convention in early November. "Tenth Planet" also sold the limited edition CD on their website.
* In cooperation with Big Finish, 'Tenth Planet' released this audio in a limited edition with a different cover, designed by [[Stuart Manning]], during the Dimensions convention in early November. 'Tenth Planet' also sold the limited edition CD on their website.
* This is the first Eighth Doctor audio drama to feature [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] since its brief cameo in ''[[The Twilight Kingdom (audio story)|The Twilight Kingdom]]'' in March 2004. However, an illusory version of it appeared in ''[[Faith Stealer (audio story)|Faith Stealer]]''.
* This is the first Eighth Doctor audio drama to feature [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] since its brief cameo in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Twilight Kingdom (audio story)|The Twilight Kingdom]]'' in March 2004. However, an illusory version of it appeared in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Faith Stealer (audio story)|Faith Stealer]]''.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[8 June (production)|8 June]] [[2004 (production)|2004]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
* This audio drama was recorded on [[8 June (production)|8 June]] 2004 at [[The Moat Studios]].
* It was released on [[10 November (releases)|10 November]] [[2004 (releases)|2004]].<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20041208121548/http://www.bigfinish.com/news/index.shtml</ref>
* This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download only.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The "Tigger" Doctor compares the Obelat to the Minotaur. During his [[Second Doctor|second incarnation]], the Doctor, [[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]] encountered the Minotaur in the [[Land of Fiction]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mind Robber (TV story)|The Mind Robber]]'')
* The "Tigger" Doctor compares the Obelat to the Minotaur. During his [[Second Doctor|second incarnation]], the Doctor and [[Zoe Heriot]] encountered the Minotaur in the [[Land of Fiction]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mind Robber (TV story)|The Mind Robber]]'') as did the [[Third Doctor]] and [[Jo Grant]] in [[Atlantis]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Monster (TV story)|The Time Monster]]'')
* C'rizz refers to his mate [[L'da]], whom he killed in the [[Kromon (species)|Kromon]] biosphere as she had been transformed into a Kromon queen. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Creed of the Kromon (audio story)|The Creed of the Kromon]]'')
* C'rizz refers to his mate [[L'da]], whom he killed in the [[Kromon (species)|Kromon]] biosphere as she had been transformed into a Kromon queen. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Creed of the Kromon (audio story)|The Creed of the Kromon]]'')
* The "Tigger" Doctor surmises that the [[Divergence]] are putting into action plans which they made during previous encounters including memory editing in [[Light City]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Natural History of Fear]]'') and personality duplication on [[Setarus]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Twilight Kingdom]]'') to discover his ability to operate the TARDIS.
* The "Tigger" Doctor surmises that the [[Divergence]] are putting into action plans which they made during previous encounters including memory editing in [[Light City]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Natural History of Fear (audio story)|The Natural History of Fear]]'') and personality duplication on [[Setarus]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Twilight Kingdom (audio story)|The Twilight Kingdom]]'') to discover his ability to operate the TARDIS.
* [[Rassilon]] and the Kro'ka would later steal two [[dreamweaver]]s from Caerdroia. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Next Life (audio story)|The Next Life]]'')
* [[Matrix Rassilon|Rassilon]] and the Kro'ka would later steal two [[dreamweaver]]s from Caerdroia. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Next Life (audio story)|The Next Life]]'')
* The [[First Doctor]], [[Steven Taylor]] and [[Sara Kingdom]] previously visited the inner workings of another giant clock in [[3999]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Guardian of the Solar System (audio story)|The Guardian of the Solar System]]'')
* The [[First Doctor]], [[Steven Taylor]] and [[Sara Kingdom]] previously visited the inner workings of another giant clock in [[3999]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Guardian of the Solar System (audio story)|The Guardian of the Solar System]]'')
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/caerdroia-229|Caerdroia}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/caerdroia-229|Caerdroia}}
* {{dwrefguide|who_bf63.htm|Caerdroia}}
 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151208095500/http://www.chakoteya.net/8Doctor/main63.html Caerdroia Transcript]
{{dwrefguide|who_bf63.htm|Caerdroia}}
* {{tetrap|8/caerdroia.html|Caerdroia}}
* {{tetrap|8/caerdroia.html|Caerdroia}}
* Transcript for '''''[http://www.chakoteya.net/8Doctor/main63.html Caerdroia]''''' at [http://www.chakoteya.net Chrissie's Transcripts Site]
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Eighth Doctor audio stories]]
 
[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]
[[Category:2004 audio stories]]
[[Category:Rassilon audio stories]]
[[Category:Rassilon audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the Divergent Universe]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use the David Arnold theme]]
[[Category:Charlotte Pollard audio stories]]
[[Category:Eighth Doctor Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:2004 Main Range audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 03:11, 13 March 2024

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audio stub
You may be looking for the titular place.

Caerdroia was the sixty-third story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Lloyd Rose and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard, Conrad Westmaas as C'rizz, Stephen Perring as The Kro'ka and Don Warrington as Rassilon.

It was essentially the "beginning of the end" of the Divergent Universe arc. Significantly, it depicted the Doctor's recovery of the TARDIS, which had been absent from the Eighth Doctor's adventures since AUDIO: Scherzo.

The story began to "pay off" the Divergent Universe arc by explaining things like the Interzone, the Kro'ka's motivations and fears, how a universe without time worked and the Divergence itself.

From a production standpoint, it was notable for its highly complex sound design, which had to depict abstract environments, including the Doctor's own mind. It also afforded Paul McGann the chance to play three different versions of his Doctor, each primarily exhibiting what Charley called a "mode" of his character. Thus, the story had one Doctor that was a bit surly and paranoid, another that was bouncy and excitable and another that was more or less the "regular" Eighth Doctor.

The story was written by Lloyd Rose, giving Caerdroia the distinction of being the only full length performed Doctor Who story authored by an American woman.

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

Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from the TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Eighth Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer — and regain the TARDIS!

Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.

As the Doctor faces these challenges, Charley and C'rizz provide valuable help. But with the TARDIS itself at stake, the Doctor reaches deep inside himself to find some surprising new allies.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz are resting in the interzone when they are approached by the Kro'ka who attempts to enter the Doctor's mind. The Doctor takes advantage of this and uses it to extract information from the Kro'ka. The Doctor ascertains that there is a central travel hub across the travel zones called Caedroia. The Doctor is also experiencing time sickness which should not happen in a timeless universe. Using this to sense a portal, the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz enter Caedroia. Upon arrival in a field full of cows with bells, the Doctor splits into three embodiments with different segments of his personality. Charlie refers to the two additional Doctors as the "Eeyore" and "Tigger" ones based on their respective dispositsions.

The team now splits up and explore different parts of Caedroia. Charley and the darker parts embodiment of the Doctor explore a giant cuckoo clock without hands (an odd object to be in the Divergent Universe which has no concept of time); the jollier part of the Doctor and C'rizz go to the Gardens of Curiosities where they see a rabbit like creature spinning and escape from an Eutermesan monster called an Obelat (which they do not see) in the Garden of Curiosities; while the other Doctor has to find his way around a bueracratic office fulled with identical workers who are only interested in their Kafkaesque form-filling processes. Eventually, through opening various doors their paths all meet in a giant labyrinth where they must avoid a minotaur.

The Doctors, Charley and C'rizz meet Waylan who explains that the labyrinth is a prison for his people after the Divergents came. The way out is locked by a complex code. The original Doctor, Charley and C'rizz leave the other two Doctors two solve it. These two modes work out that the puzzle is in fact the security system for the Tardis. The original Doctor goes to the offices again but walks into one the Kro'ka's traps. There the Kro'ka tries to torture the Doctor but is held back from the Doctor's threats of revealing the Kro'ka's trespasses against the Divergents to them and that determines the presence of time must been that the TARDIS is nearby.

Charley and C'rizz after failing to find the Doctor, notice that the people of the land don't notice them and infer that the Kro'ka has been shielding the Divergents from the TARDIS crew's presence. Again, they find themselves in the labyrinth and help the other two Doctors out. After escaping from the maze, the "Tigger" encounters the Kro'ka who traps him inside the cuckoo clock. The "Eeyore" Doctor then appears, enters the Kro'ka's mind and inflicts his pain. Having all gathered together again the Doctors realise that the musical elements of the world - The musical book in The Garden of Curiosities, the bells on the cows and the cuckoo clock - is a message from a TARDIS. They initiate "contact" with each other and work out that the Tardis is at the centre of the labyrinth.

After the TARDIS crew leave for the TARDIS, Rassilon visits the Kro'ka. Angered that their agreement has been breached, he tortures the Kro'ka.

The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz go to the TARDIS and the three Doctors recombine into one. The TARDIS crew leave, drawing a plan to defeat the Divergents.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor's items[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan lifeforms[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

Languages[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • "Caerdroia" is the Welsh phrase for "the fortress of many turnings."

Cultural references from the real world[[edit] | [edit source]]

Zoology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The cattle of Eutermes are small, scaly and lay eggs.
  • Charley refers to buffalo, telling C'rizz that they are common in the American West and that they tend to stampede.
  • Eutermes has a very dangerous wild animal known as an Obelat.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Eutermesans have significantly better hearing than humans.

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • An illustrated preview for this story featured in DWM 350 illustrated by Mike Collins.
  • In cooperation with Big Finish, "Tenth Planet" released this audio in a limited edition with a different cover, designed by Stuart Manning, during the Dimensions convention in early November. "Tenth Planet" also sold the limited edition CD on their website.
  • This is the first Eighth Doctor audio drama to feature the TARDIS since its brief cameo in The Twilight Kingdom in March 2004. However, an illusory version of it appeared in Faith Stealer.
  • This audio drama was recorded on 8 June 2004 at the Moat Studios.
  • It was released on 10 November 2004.[1]
  • This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download only.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041208121548/http://www.bigfinish.com/news/index.shtml

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

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