The Cradle of the Snake (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|image           = TheCradleoftheSnake-cover.jpg
|name = The Cradle of the Snake
|range          = Main Range
|image = TheCradleoftheSnake-cover.jpg
|number in range = 138
|series = [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'' audio stories]]
|series         = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number = 138
|number         = 138
|doctor = Fifth Doctor
|doctor         = Fifth Doctor
|companions = [[Nyssa]], [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]], [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]]
|companions     = [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]], [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]], [[Nyssa]]
|enemy = [[Mara|The Mara]]
|enemy           = [[The Mara]]
|setting = [[Manussa]], [[Manussan]] year 2215
|setting         = [[Manussa (planet)|Manussa]], [[Manussan]] year 2215
|writer = [[Marc Platt]]
|writer         = Marc Platt
|director = [[Barnaby Edwards (actor)|Barnaby Edwards]]
|director       = [[Barnaby Edwards]]
|post production = [[Andy Hardwick]]
|producer        = [[David Richardson]]
|cover = [[Iain Robertson]]
|music          = [[Andy Hardwick]]
|publisher = Big Finish Productions
|sound          = Andy Hardwick
|release date = [[30 September (releases)|30 September]] [[2010 (releases)|2010]]
|cover           = [[Iain Robertson]]
|epcount        = 4
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|release date   = 13 September 2010
|production code = [[List of production codes|6H/C]]
|production code = [[List of production codes|6H/C]]
|format = 4 episodes on 2 CDs
|format         = 2 CDs<br/>Download
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-474-0
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-84435-474-0 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-685-6 (digital)
|prev = The Whispering Forest (audio story)
|prev           = The Whispering Forest (audio story)
|next = Project Destiny (audio story)
|next           = Project Destiny (audio story){{!}}Project: Destiny
}}
}}
{{audio stub}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the one hundred and thirty-eighth story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Marc Platt]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]], [[Janet Fielding]] as [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Mark Strickson]] as [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]].
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the one hundred and thirty-eighth [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|monthly ''Doctor Who'' audio story]] produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was the third and final Big Finish audio story in the 2010 [[Fifth Doctor]] season. It continued a series of stories starring [[Peter Davison]], [[Sarah Sutton]], [[Janet Fielding]] and [[Mark Strickson]], who were reunited as a [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] team for their first new ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stories since 1983. It was further notable for including the return of the [[Mara]], a recurring enemy of the Fifth Doctor's era on television.


== Publisher's Summary ==
It was the third and final Big Finish audio story in the 2010 Fifth Doctor season. It continued a series of stories starring Davison, Sutton, Fielding and Strickson, who were reunited as a [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] team for their first new ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stories since 1983. It was further notable for including the return of the [[Mara]], a recurring enemy of the Fifth Doctor's era on television.
"The [[Mara]] is in all of us, deep in our minds. In our darkest thoughts, that’s where it started. Some people call it a demon, but that’s too simple. It’s about temptation."


Tegan's nightmares have returned. Seeking to banish the [[snake]]-like Mara from his [[companion]]'s psyche, the Doctor sets course for [[Manussa]], the creature's point of origin. But [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] arrives instead in the heyday of the [[Manussan Empire]], where infotainment impresario Rick ausGarten is preparing to turn dreams into reality.
== Publisher's summary ==
"The [[Mara]] is in all of us, deep in our minds. In our darkest thoughts, that's where it started. Some people call it a [[demon]], but that's too simple. It's about [[temptation]]."


The sun is setting on the Manussan Empire... and it's all the Doctor's fault.
[[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]'s [[nightmare]]s have returned. Seeking to banish the [[snake]]-like Mara from his [[companion]]'s psyche, [[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor]] sets course for [[Manussa (planet)|Manussa]], the creature's point of origin. But [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] arrives instead in the heyday of the [[Manussan Empire]], where infotainment impresario [[Rick ausGarten]] is preparing to turn [[dream]]s into reality.
 
The [[star|sun]] is setting on the Manussan Empire... and it's all the Doctor's fault.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== Part One ===
=== Part one ===
Tegan has locked herself in her room, and the Doctor is worried. He tries to speak with her, but with no luck. Nyssa wants to try, so she sends the Doctor and Turlough away so she can talk to Tegan in private. They discuss the possibility of the Mara having come back into her. Tegan shows Nyssa the mark of the Mara on her arm, so Nyssa tells the Doctor.  
[[Nyssa]] manages to get [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] to let her into [[Tegan Jovanka's TARDIS bedroom|their bedroom]] to talk about the [[Mara]] before realising that she is currently under the Mara's control. Tegan collapses after [[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]] join them and the Doctor uses a [[Little Mind's Eye]] to enter her mind to drive the Mara out, but it refuses to leave without a new host and shows him the mark of the [[snake]]. Despite the Doctor's orders not to disturb him, Nyssa is distressed by his restlessness and wakes him up. The Little Mind's Eye is broken and Tegan's mark has disappeared.


The Doctor believes that the Mara has come back into Tegan, so he uses the Mind's Eye to delve into the depths of her mind with the intention of driving out the Mara. He gives Nyssa and Turlough orders not to wake him while he is sleeping. Just as the Doctor is at the climax of drawing the Mara from Tegan into himself, Nyssa wakes the Doctor, scared at the fitfulness of his sleep. He reprimands her and goes with her and Turlough for breakfast while Tegan gets some more sleep. He plans to go to [[Manussa]], the once-great planet before the Mara took hold of it, to see if he really succeeded at driving the Mara from Tegan.
Unsure of whether he has managed to drive out the Mara, the Doctor flies [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] to [[Manussa (planet)|Manussa]] to get [[Dojjen]]'s help but lands several [[century|centuries]] early, long before the [[Manussan Empire]]'s subjugation by the Mara and the decline of its advanced civilisation. The Doctor takes Tegan to the [[Faculty of Advancement]] to see [[Honri Kerrem|Dr Honri Kerrem]], leaving Turlough and Nyssa to wander around, and a scan finds only a small amount of tissue damage in her [[hippocampus]].


The four of them step out onto the planet, and discover that it is not the Manussa they remember: there are high-rise buildings and a more advanced society from the last time. Nyssa comments that they must be in the future, but the Doctor rebuffs this, noting that this is past, before the Mara took over. The Doctor asks which of them had touched the controls; they all deny it. He takes Tegan to a specialist to run some tests, leaving Nyssa and Turlough to wait for them in a park.
At [[Sundown Studios]], [[Rick ausGarten]] and his [[assistant]], [[Baalaka]], give a demonstration of a machine that makes [[dream]]s a [[reality]] to [[Yoanna Rayluss]] whilst [[Snakeherd]] [[Dadda Desaka]] protests outside. The machine does not create what she is imagining but a giant [[rose]] in which she can see a fair-haired man writhing and trying to get free, so she deems it dangerous and intends to recommend in her report that his project cease. At the Faculty, the Doctor talks to Dr Kerrem in private and shows him the mark of the Mara on his arm.


Meanwhile, an officer is set to come and inspect Sunset Studios, the broadcasting studio of one Rick AusGarten, a scientist who uses crystals to make dreams a reality. He tells his assistant Baarlaka - Barla, for short - to stop feeding the livestock and get on with cleaning the studio for them to pass inspection. He returns that it upsets the animals when their schedules are disturbed. AusGarten takes the officer - a woman by the name of - on a tour around the studio, to show her that everything is in order, for the demonstration later tonight. She nods and tells him that the people he uses for the demonstration will need thorough background and medical checks. He tells her that it is impossible; the people are chosen live.  
=== Part two ===
The Doctor gets Dr Kerrem to write him a list of Manussa's intellectuals and give him [[money]] before heading to Sundown Studios to meet ausGarten, sending Tegan back to Turlough and Nyssa. She finds them with a distressed Yoanna and is briefly harrassed by a snake which Dadda Desaka comes for, making a [[prophecy]] about a dark cloud swallowing Manussa which reminds Tegan of a dream of the Doctor taking the Mara upon himself. Whilst Turlough finds the Doctor nearby and agrees to go alone with him to [[Scrampus Park]], Tegan, Nyssa and Yoanna are joined by more Snakeherds who send out their snakes to find the Mara.


He offers to let her try it out, let her mind fixate on an object, and the crystals will make the vision a reality - "think into existence" AusGarten calls it. As she images, the figure of a rose forms in the dream tank. "But that's not what I was imagining," she tells AusGarten. She then notices something in the petals, writhing, trying to get free. It's a tall, fair-haired man, she whispers.
Dadda Desaka identifies the Doctor as the host of the Mara and the Doctor leaves with Turlough for Sundown Studios upon seeing the snakes. They find deformed [[animal]]s in hutches and the Doctor locks Turlough in an empty one before calling Dr Kerrem to ensure that Manussa's intellectuals are all paid to attend a [[dinner]]. He offers to fund ausGarten's project, of which he learns that the animals are byproducts, and to have celebrity guests endorse it. As Tegan, Nyssa, Yoanna and Dadda arrive outside of the studios, the Doctor frees the snakes created by the machine and declares that he is the Mara, the rightful heir to the world of [[chaos]].


Tegan gets settled in the chair and the specialist runs his tests, using crystals that Tegan notes are "like the Minds' Eye." He calls the Doctor back into the room - who had been sitting in a corner, muttering to himself - and tells them that Tegan's scans had come back clean. There was some scarring on the hypocampus, but that should be of no bother. The Doctor tells Tegan to wait outside, while he settles with the specialist. "You have money?" Tegan asks, bemused. "I'm sure we can come to some agreement," he says. Tegan leaves. The Doctor begins rooting around in the specialist's desk, all the while talking about having a recent affliction of his checked out. He then shows the specialist something on his arm: the mark of the Mara!
=== Part three ===
[[File:The_Cradle_of_the_Snake.jpg|thumb]]
Turlough is released by Baalaka and runs into Tegan, Nyssa, Yoanna and Dadda before both he and the Doctor are [[arrest]]ed and taken away for public disturbances at the park. Tegan and Nyssa are now certain that the Doctor has been possessed by the Mara and theorise that the Mara intends to become real several centuries early using the now-confiscated technology built by ausGarten, who is also under the Mara's control. In their cell, the Doctor attacks Turlough with a snake and has Dr Kerrem, called in by Yoanna to run tests, free him, but Turlough manages to steal [[the Doctor's TARDIS key|his TARDIS key]].
 
Tegan and Nyssa wait at the TARDIS for the Doctor and Turlough and are joined by Dadda, who is taken over when the Doctor arrives. Tegan and Nyssa get into the TARDIS with Turlough and look for information on the Mara in the [[TARDIS library]], but they find that the relevant pages in [[An Universal History of Fable and Demonology Written at the End of All Time|a book of demonology]] have been removed by the Mara to help it achieve its goals early. The Doctor enters the TARDIS, having created a key using the dream-maker, and takes over Nyssa's mind before tying Tegan and Turlough up and flying the ship to the studio. On live [[television]], the Doctor and ausGarten use the machine to rebirth the Mara as a giant snake.
 
=== Part four ===
Using Dr Kerrem and Dadda's influence with the public, the Doctor paints a positive image of the Mara and announces that it will accept [[sacrifice]]s at [[midnight]]. Tegan and Turlough persuade Baalaka to let them go and split up; Turlough calls Yoanna for help and learns that she is already outside of the studio whilst Tegan tries to get through to Nyssa and goes with her into the disabled TARDIS to find a [[dress]] for her to wear. Turlough joins Tegan and they pretend to agree to join Nyssa, who believes that the Doctor is unworthy of his current role as leader of the [[Council of the Snake]], but secretly plan to remove the crystal used by the dream-maker.
 
The Mara feeds on the [[fear]] of the crowds gathered outside of the studio and Tegan and Turlough trap the Doctor using [[camera]]s and screens, but the mark of the Mara remains on him. Baalaka stares into the crystal and is transported with Tegan and Turlough to a place similar to the [[Place of Great Dreamings|Place of Dreaming]] where the Doctor, Nyssa and Dadda are. The Doctor banishes the Mara within him to the [[Dark Places of the Inside|Dark Places Inside]] and regains control, getting the crystal into the TARDIS and inverting its power. Tegan decides that she will be the one who defeats the Mara by touching it with the crystal, but Baalaka, who now knows that he is the light casting the shadow of the Mara, takes it upon himself.
 
The Mara and Baalaka disappear. Dadda is commissioned to write a book about recent events and ausGarten offers the Doctor the opportunity to star in a series of his own, but he declines and tells his companions that he does not believe that the Mara is or will ever truly be gone. He brushes Yoanna off when she asks about whether he has any posts available on the TARDIS and leaves with Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa as she answers her [[phone]], having established a Mara [[helpline]].


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 53: Line 68:
* [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]] - [[Mark Strickson]]
* [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]] - [[Mark Strickson]]
* [[Rick ausGarten]] - [[Dan Stevens]]
* [[Rick ausGarten]] - [[Dan Stevens]]
* Dr. [[Hanri Kerrem]] - [[Hugh Fraser]]
* [[Honri Kerrem|Dr Honri Kerrem]] - [[Hugh Fraser]]
* [[Yoanna Rayluss]] - [[Madeleine Potter]]
* [[Yoanna Rayluss]] - [[Madeleine Potter]]
* [[Dadda Desaka]] - [[Vernon Dobtcheff]]
* [[Dadda Desaka]] - [[Vernon Dobtcheff]]
* [[Baalaka]] - [[Toby Sawyer]]
* [[Baalaka]] - [[Toby Sawyer]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Iain Robertson]]
* Director - [[Barnaby Edwards]]
* Executive Producers - [[Nicholas Briggs]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[Andy Hardwick]]
* Producer - [[David Richardson]]
* Script Editor - [[Alan Barnes]]
* Writer - [[Marc Platt]]
* The Mara created by [[Christopher Bailey]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor wants [[tea]] and a slice of [[toast]] for [[breakfast]].
* Dr Kerrem has the most advanced techniques in [[Neural relay|neural]] probes and [[crystal]] scanning, or so he claims.
* The Doctor wins a [[stuffed animal]] at the [[New Year|New year's]] [[festival]].
* There are [[car]]s on [[Manussa (planet)|Manussa]] in this time period.
* The [[TARDIS library]] is used to find [[book]]s on [[demon]]s and legends.
* ''[[An Universal History of Fable and Demonology Written at the End of All Time]]'' is a book in the TARDIS library detailing all kinds of [[legend]]s and [[Fantasy|fantasies]]. The page on the Mara was torn out by the Mara-possessed Doctor, however.
* The [[Web of Time|web of time]] is mentioned, but Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough theorise that the Mara doesn't care for it, even though it's still too early to take over Manussa.
* The Mara-possessed Nyssa drinks [[alcohol]] and tries being [[Humour|funnier]], contrary to her regular self.
* The Mara-possessed Doctor suggests Nyssa find some far more [[Beautiful|attractive]] [[Clothing|clothes]] in the [[TARDIS wardrobe]] such as a [[red]] or [[black]] [[dress]].
 
=== History ===
=== History ===
[[File:The_Cradle_of_the_Snake_CD_illustration.jpg|thumb|CD sleeve illustration showing events of the story.]]
* Tegan's father owned a [[sheep]] farm with two thousand head of merino. He flew a [[Cessna]] Skyhawk.
* Tegan's father owned a sheep farm with two thousand head of merino. He flew a [[Cessna]] Skyhawk. Flying the plane over the farm was one of Tegan's favourite memories.
* The [[Manussan Empire]] is at its height in [[2215]]; according to the [[TARDIS data bank]]s, the rise of the [[Sumaran Empire|Sumaran regime]] will occur in the [[Manussan year]] [[2326]], over a hundred years later.
* Turlough has never previously heard of the Mara.
*The Manussan Empire is at its height in 2215; according to the TARDIS data banks, the rise of the [[Sumaran Empire|Sumaran regime]] will occur in the [[Manussan year]] 2326, over a hundred years later.


=== Planets ===
=== Planets ===
* Nyssa says the goodness on [[Traken]] is more robust and less forced than on some other worlds.
* Nyssa says the goodness on [[Traken]] is more robust and less forced than on some other worlds.


=== Plants ===
== Notes ==
* [[Manussa]] has roses, palm trees and tuk-tuks.
* This story marks the first and, so far, only appearance of the [[Mara]] in an audio story.
 
* This audio drama was recorded on [[6 January (production)|6]] and [[8 January (production)|8 January]] [[2010 (production)|2010]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
=== Timeline ===
* The story was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] between [[26 May (releases)|26]]-[[27 May (releases)|27]] and [[30 March (releases)|30]]-[[31 May (releases)|31 May]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]], forming a radio season with the previous two stories.
* This story takes place in the [[Manussan]] year 2215.
* Subscribers whose subscriptions included this story also received the audiobook version of the short story ''[[Lepidoptery for Beginners (short story)|Lepidoptery for Beginners]]''.
* [[Marc Platt]] previously wrote another Mara story: the short story ''[[Encounter on Burnt Snake Flat (short story)|Encounter on Burnt Snake Flat]]''.
* This story is set between ''[[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]]'' and ''[[The King's Demons (TV story)|The King's Demons]]''.


== Notes ==
== Gallery ==
* This story marks the first appearance of the [[Mara]] in an audio story.
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
* This audio drama was recorded on [[6 January (production)|6]] and [[8 January (production)|8 January]] 2010 at [[The Moat Studios]].
TheCradleoftheSnake-cover.jpg|Original CD cover art.
* The story was broadcast on {{w|BBC Radio 4 Extra}} between [[26 May (releases)|26]]-[[27 May (releases)|27]] and [[30 March (releases)|30]]-[[31 May (releases)|31 May]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]], forming a radio season with the previous two stories.
The Cradle of the Snake CD illustration.jpg|CD sleeve illustration showing events of the story.
* Subscribers whose subscriptions included this story also received the audio short story ''[[Lepidoptery for Beginners (short story)|Lepidoptery for Beginners]]''.
</gallery>


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan encountered the Mara on two previous occasions. ([[TV]]: ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Snakedance (TV story)|Snakedance]]'')
* The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan encountered the Mara on two previous occasions. ([[TV]]: ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]'', ''[[Snakedance (TV story)|Snakedance]]'')
* The Doctor mentions that he plans to catch up with [[Dojjen]] at a later date. ([[TV]]: ''[[Snakedance (TV story)|Snakedance]]'')
* The Doctor mentions that he plans to catch up with [[Dojjen]] at a later date. ([[TV]]: ''[[Snakedance (TV story)|Snakedance]]'')
* The Doctor reminds Turlough of his past coercion under the [[Black Guardian]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]], [[Enlightenment (TV story)|Enlightenment]] et al''.)
* Tegan complains that the Doctor is always winding her up but then bringing her to the wrong place, when they land on [[Manussa (planet)|Manussa]] in the wrong [[time period]]. He was often, often unsuccessfully, trying to get her back to [[Heathrow Airport|Heathrow airport]] in their earlier travels.([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]], [[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]] et al''.)
* Turlough reminds the Doctor of their many adventures including [[Helheim]] and the [[Cractid]]s as well as their oter adventures. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Cobwebs (audio story)|Cobwebs]]'' et al.)
* The Mara-possessed Doctor curses [[bureaucracy]]. The Doctor often made [[joke]]s about bureaucracy. ([[TV]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]] et al.'')
* Nyssa reminds Tegan, while under the Mara's influence, that she was born into [[royalty]]. She is a [[princess]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'')
* Tegan recognises the [[place of dreams]] from when they were on the [[Kinda]] world. ([[TV]]: ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]'')
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/the-cradle-of-the-snake-304|The Cradle of the Snake}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/the-cradle-of-the-snake-304|The Cradle of the Snake}}
* {{dwrefguide|who_bf138.htm|The Cradle of the Snake}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf138.htm|The Cradle of the Snake}}
* {{tetrap|5/cradleofthesnake.html|The Cradle of the Snake}}
{{tetrap|5/cradleofthesnake.html|The Cradle of the Snake}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{Mara stories}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[fr:{{StoryTitle}}]]
 
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]
[[Category:2010 audio stories]]
[[Category:Mara stories]]
[[Category:Mara stories]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories set in dreams]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:2010 Main Range audio stories]]
[[fr:The Cradle of the Snake]]

Latest revision as of 23:16, 17 November 2024

RealWorld.png

The Cradle of the Snake was the one hundred and thirty-eighth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Marc Platt and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka and Mark Strickson as Turlough.

It was the third and final Big Finish audio story in the 2010 Fifth Doctor season. It continued a series of stories starring Davison, Sutton, Fielding and Strickson, who were reunited as a TARDIS team for their first new Doctor Who stories since 1983. It was further notable for including the return of the Mara, a recurring enemy of the Fifth Doctor's era on television.

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

"The Mara is in all of us, deep in our minds. In our darkest thoughts, that's where it started. Some people call it a demon, but that's too simple. It's about temptation."

Tegan's nightmares have returned. Seeking to banish the snake-like Mara from his companion's psyche, the Doctor sets course for Manussa, the creature's point of origin. But the TARDIS arrives instead in the heyday of the Manussan Empire, where infotainment impresario Rick ausGarten is preparing to turn dreams into reality.

The sun is setting on the Manussan Empire... and it's all the Doctor's fault.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

Nyssa manages to get Tegan to let her into their bedroom to talk about the Mara before realising that she is currently under the Mara's control. Tegan collapses after the Doctor and Turlough join them and the Doctor uses a Little Mind's Eye to enter her mind to drive the Mara out, but it refuses to leave without a new host and shows him the mark of the snake. Despite the Doctor's orders not to disturb him, Nyssa is distressed by his restlessness and wakes him up. The Little Mind's Eye is broken and Tegan's mark has disappeared.

Unsure of whether he has managed to drive out the Mara, the Doctor flies the TARDIS to Manussa to get Dojjen's help but lands several centuries early, long before the Manussan Empire's subjugation by the Mara and the decline of its advanced civilisation. The Doctor takes Tegan to the Faculty of Advancement to see Dr Honri Kerrem, leaving Turlough and Nyssa to wander around, and a scan finds only a small amount of tissue damage in her hippocampus.

At Sundown Studios, Rick ausGarten and his assistant, Baalaka, give a demonstration of a machine that makes dreams a reality to Yoanna Rayluss whilst Snakeherd Dadda Desaka protests outside. The machine does not create what she is imagining but a giant rose in which she can see a fair-haired man writhing and trying to get free, so she deems it dangerous and intends to recommend in her report that his project cease. At the Faculty, the Doctor talks to Dr Kerrem in private and shows him the mark of the Mara on his arm.

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

The Doctor gets Dr Kerrem to write him a list of Manussa's intellectuals and give him money before heading to Sundown Studios to meet ausGarten, sending Tegan back to Turlough and Nyssa. She finds them with a distressed Yoanna and is briefly harrassed by a snake which Dadda Desaka comes for, making a prophecy about a dark cloud swallowing Manussa which reminds Tegan of a dream of the Doctor taking the Mara upon himself. Whilst Turlough finds the Doctor nearby and agrees to go alone with him to Scrampus Park, Tegan, Nyssa and Yoanna are joined by more Snakeherds who send out their snakes to find the Mara.

Dadda Desaka identifies the Doctor as the host of the Mara and the Doctor leaves with Turlough for Sundown Studios upon seeing the snakes. They find deformed animals in hutches and the Doctor locks Turlough in an empty one before calling Dr Kerrem to ensure that Manussa's intellectuals are all paid to attend a dinner. He offers to fund ausGarten's project, of which he learns that the animals are byproducts, and to have celebrity guests endorse it. As Tegan, Nyssa, Yoanna and Dadda arrive outside of the studios, the Doctor frees the snakes created by the machine and declares that he is the Mara, the rightful heir to the world of chaos.

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

Turlough is released by Baalaka and runs into Tegan, Nyssa, Yoanna and Dadda before both he and the Doctor are arrested and taken away for public disturbances at the park. Tegan and Nyssa are now certain that the Doctor has been possessed by the Mara and theorise that the Mara intends to become real several centuries early using the now-confiscated technology built by ausGarten, who is also under the Mara's control. In their cell, the Doctor attacks Turlough with a snake and has Dr Kerrem, called in by Yoanna to run tests, free him, but Turlough manages to steal his TARDIS key.

Tegan and Nyssa wait at the TARDIS for the Doctor and Turlough and are joined by Dadda, who is taken over when the Doctor arrives. Tegan and Nyssa get into the TARDIS with Turlough and look for information on the Mara in the TARDIS library, but they find that the relevant pages in a book of demonology have been removed by the Mara to help it achieve its goals early. The Doctor enters the TARDIS, having created a key using the dream-maker, and takes over Nyssa's mind before tying Tegan and Turlough up and flying the ship to the studio. On live television, the Doctor and ausGarten use the machine to rebirth the Mara as a giant snake.

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

Using Dr Kerrem and Dadda's influence with the public, the Doctor paints a positive image of the Mara and announces that it will accept sacrifices at midnight. Tegan and Turlough persuade Baalaka to let them go and split up; Turlough calls Yoanna for help and learns that she is already outside of the studio whilst Tegan tries to get through to Nyssa and goes with her into the disabled TARDIS to find a dress for her to wear. Turlough joins Tegan and they pretend to agree to join Nyssa, who believes that the Doctor is unworthy of his current role as leader of the Council of the Snake, but secretly plan to remove the crystal used by the dream-maker.

The Mara feeds on the fear of the crowds gathered outside of the studio and Tegan and Turlough trap the Doctor using cameras and screens, but the mark of the Mara remains on him. Baalaka stares into the crystal and is transported with Tegan and Turlough to a place similar to the Place of Dreaming where the Doctor, Nyssa and Dadda are. The Doctor banishes the Mara within him to the Dark Places Inside and regains control, getting the crystal into the TARDIS and inverting its power. Tegan decides that she will be the one who defeats the Mara by touching it with the crystal, but Baalaka, who now knows that he is the light casting the shadow of the Mara, takes it upon himself.

The Mara and Baalaka disappear. Dadda is commissioned to write a book about recent events and ausGarten offers the Doctor the opportunity to star in a series of his own, but he declines and tells his companions that he does not believe that the Mara is or will ever truly be gone. He brushes Yoanna off when she asks about whether he has any posts available on the TARDIS and leaves with Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa as she answers her phone, having established a Mara helpline.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Nyssa says the goodness on Traken is more robust and less forced than on some other worlds.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Original CD cover art.

    Original CD cover art.

  • CD sleeve illustration showing events of the story.

    CD sleeve illustration showing events of the story.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

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