Urgent Calls (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story SMW | |||
{{Infobox Story | |image = | ||
| | |range = Main Range | ||
| | |number in range = 94b | ||
|series= [[ | |series = ''[[Main Range]]'' | ||
|number= 94b | |number = 94b | ||
|doctor= Sixth Doctor | |doctor = Sixth Doctor | ||
|companions= | |companions = | ||
|enemy= A bio-engineered telephone virus | |featuring = [[Lauren Hudson]] | ||
|writer= | |enemy = A bio-engineered telephone virus | ||
|director= [[John Ainsworth]] | |writer = Eddie Robson | ||
|setting= [[England]], [[1974]] | |director = [[John Ainsworth]] | ||
| | |setting = [[England]], [[1974]] | ||
|publisher= Big Finish Productions | |music = [[Steve Foxon]] | ||
|release date= | |sound = Steve Foxon | ||
|format= 1 | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|production code= 7CPRE-A/A | |release date = April 2007 | ||
|isbn= ISBN 978-1-84435-247-0 | |format = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>2nd of 2 stories | ||
|prev=I.D. (audio story) | |production code = [[List of production codes#Big Finish production codes|7CPRE-A/A]] | ||
|next=Exotron (audio story) | |isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-247-0 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-303-9 (digital) | ||
}}'''''Urgent Calls''''' was | |prev = I.D. (audio story) | ||
|next = Exotron (audio story) | |||
|made prev = I.D. (audio story) | |||
|made next = Valhalla (audio story) | |||
|fullaud = https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/doctor-who-urgent-calls | |||
|producer = [[Sharon Gosling]]|epcount=1 | |||
}} | |||
'''''Urgent Calls''''' was a one-part story comprising part of the ninety-fourth release in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Eddie Robson]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]]. | |||
It is the first single part story included with a three part story and the first solo Sixth Doctor story that was part of the monthly series since ''[[Davros (audio story)|Davros]]'' in 2003. This story began a [[story arc]] which concluded two years later, in ''[[Patient Zero (audio story)|Patient Zero]]''. On 27 May 2013, it was released for free on [https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/doctor-who-urgent-calls Big Finish's Sound Cloud page]. | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
[[Earth]], [[1974]]. An innocent [[phone]] call. Okay, it was a wrong number, but there can't be any harm in that. Can there? | [[Earth]], [[1974]]. An innocent [[phone]] call. Okay, it was a wrong number, but there can't be any harm in that. Can there? | ||
== | == Plot == | ||
In an attempt to call her mother for advice, a deeply concerned [[Lauren Hudson]] ends up phoning a man who calls himself [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]]. He informs her that she has the wrong number, but assuming that he is a doctor of medicine, Lauren informs him of her concerns; the one which intrigues the Doctor being that the skin around her fingernails is broken and bleeding. He insists that she is seen to at a hospital straight away and be as persistent as possible to get a check up, specifically on her neck. Lauren agrees with his advice and hangs up. | |||
A couple of weeks later, Lauren is at her job as a telephone operator and ends up calling the Doctor again by another wrong number. She tells her story; after insisting that she got seen to at the hospital (even putting on a show of crying), she was attended by doctors who increased in numbers as they noted something strange about her neck. After being quarantined for a couple of hours, an Army Official and a specialist doctor attended her, the latter of whom informed her that he was going to operate on her. After the operation, he showed her what they had found - a 6 inch-long parasitical metal worm that had been clinging onto her spine, which would have killed her within a day had she not had the operation. The Army Official had made her sign the Official Secrets Act to declare that she would not tell anyone of this event, but this had made her feel isolated in the weeks since and thus she was incredibly satisfied to finally be telling someone about it. She asks the Doctor how he knew what was wrong with her just from the information about the fingernails, to which he replies "Experience". She also asks if it was alien, which the Doctor confirms. Lauren explains how she thought about thanking him so often and how glad she is to get the opportunity to finally do so, although the Doctor notes how suspiciously coincidental it was that she managed to reach him through a wrong number twice. An abrupt disturbance on his end of the line results in him having to rush a goodbye, which Lauren is disheartened at. | |||
When trying to ring her friend [[Connie Pickerill|Connie]], Lauren once again gets in contact with the Doctor again through yet another wrong number. The Doctor explains how this is not merely a coincidence; the first time she had called him she was desperately seeking medical advice, and the second time she had been thinking about thanking him. It is in actual fact a virus, a theory he was able to confirm when he noted that he got wrong numbers after each time he tried to call someone after his previous conversations with Lauren, yet the people he ended up calling become very useful in helping to defeat other not-so-lucky people who had died from the worm parasite which Lauren had and turned into slug creatures. The virus in the phone causes people to make subconscious mistakes when they next use a telephone, yet the person which they end up calling is someone they can help or vise versa who then gets the virus and passes it on until it reaches the end of its lifespan. Lauren asks how this supposedly alien virus ended up on Earth to which the Doctor says he's working it out and hoping that it only ended up here by accident. He asks a favour of her; to make a note of every wrong number she makes from now on and who they are - this will be helpful in tracking the virus back to its original source. Lauren asks if he wants her number, to which the Doctor assures her that, thanks to the virus, they may certainly talk again. | |||
The next time, it is the Doctor calling Lauren at work in the Telephone Exchange, which is not a good sign. She was able to assist her last wrong number in naming a tune that had got stuck in her head. Then she tells off the Doctor for not making small talk. He quotes Thomas Jefferson to her - I’m | |||
a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. She makes her 'wrong number' call after he rings off, and get through to the competition line of a brand new radio station - County 6371. The prize of an all-inclusive holiday to Marbella is up for grabs to the first person who can say who said... | |||
The Doctor calls Connie Pickerill's number, where she and Lauren are having a pre-holiday celebration party. He's been arrested for trespassing and needs a solicitor. Lauren is happy to help. | |||
Their next contact is Lauren calling the Doctor after receiving a wrong number from a long-lost school friend. She muses that maybe the virus is a good thing and should't be stopped, but the Doctor points out that most technology starts out with military applications which are never truly good. Also, it isn't satisfying when everything just gets dropped into your lap without any effort on your part. | |||
Lauren gets a wrong number call, so rings the first number that comes into her head, hoping that it will be the Doctor. Instead it is Connie, whose number she did actually dial. Realising that the virus has gone, she writes a letter to the Doctor instead. Not knowing his address, she'll just drop it in a letter box. Who knows, he might get it. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
| Line 37: | Line 57: | ||
* [[Connie Pickerill]] - [[Kerry Skinner]] | * [[Connie Pickerill]] - [[Kerry Skinner]] | ||
== | == Crew == | ||
* Director - [[John Ainsworth]] | |||
* Executive Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[Nicholas Briggs]] | |||
* Music and Sound Design - [[Steve Foxon]] | |||
* Producer - [[Sharon Gosling]] | |||
* Script Editor - [[Alan Barnes]] | |||
* Writer - [[Eddie Robson]] | |||
== Worldbuilding == | |||
=== The Doctor === | === The Doctor === | ||
* The Doctor is jailed on a charge of trespass at [[Green Street Police Station]] under the name of [[Aliases of the Doctor#John Smith|Dr John Smith]]. | * The Doctor is jailed on a charge of trespass at [[Green Street Police Station]] under the name of [[Aliases of the Doctor#John Smith|Dr John Smith]]. | ||
| Line 45: | Line 74: | ||
=== Technology === | === Technology === | ||
* The virus is transmittable through [[telephone]] conversations. | * The virus is transmittable through [[telephone]] conversations. | ||
| Line 52: | Line 80: | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* | * The story was released as a bonus story alongside ''[[I.D. (audio story)|I.D.]]''. | ||
* This story is part of the "Virus Strain" arc. | * This story is part of the "Virus Strain" arc. | ||
* It is implied that the "army man" and doctor who visit Lauren in hospital are with [[ | * It is implied that the "army man" and doctor who visit Lauren in hospital are with [[UNIT]]. The Doctor asks Lauren if the latter was "[[Third Doctor|a tall chap with white hair and rather flamboyant clothes]]". However, the doctor Lauren saw is described as short and bald. | ||
* The story was recorded on [[13 February (production)|13 February]] [[2007 (production)|2007]] at [[the Moat Studios]]. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
* The Doctor | * The Doctor quotes [[Thomas Jefferson]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]'') | ||
* The bio-engineered telephone virus was one of the millions of [[virus]]es which were accidentally released from the [[Amethyst Viral Containment Station]] in the [[far future]] and spread throughout [[time]] and [[space]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Patient Zero (audio story)|Patient Zero]]'') | * The bio-engineered telephone virus was one of the millions of [[virus]]es which were accidentally released from the [[Amethyst Viral Containment Station]] in the [[far future]] and spread throughout [[time]] and [[space]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Patient Zero (audio story)|Patient Zero]]'') | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{bigfinish|releases/v/i-d-260|Urgent Calls}} | |||
{{dwrefguide|who_bf94.htm#urgentcalls|Urgent Calls}} | |||
{{tetrap|6/urgentcalls.html|Urgent Calls}} | |||
{{BFA monthly}} | {{BFA monthly}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[fr:Urgent Calls]] | |||
[[ | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1974]] | [[Category:Stories set in 1974]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in England]] | [[Category:Stories set in England]] | ||
[[Category:Audio stories that use the Dominic Glynn theme]] | [[Category:Audio stories that use the Dominic Glynn theme]] | ||
[[ | [[Category:Sixth Doctor Main Range audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:2007 Main Range audio stories]] | |||
Latest revision as of 23:14, 17 November 2024
Urgent Calls was a one-part story comprising part of the ninety-fourth release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Eddie Robson and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.
It is the first single part story included with a three part story and the first solo Sixth Doctor story that was part of the monthly series since Davros in 2003. This story began a story arc which concluded two years later, in Patient Zero. On 27 May 2013, it was released for free on Big Finish's Sound Cloud page.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Earth, 1974. An innocent phone call. Okay, it was a wrong number, but there can't be any harm in that. Can there?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
In an attempt to call her mother for advice, a deeply concerned Lauren Hudson ends up phoning a man who calls himself the Doctor. He informs her that she has the wrong number, but assuming that he is a doctor of medicine, Lauren informs him of her concerns; the one which intrigues the Doctor being that the skin around her fingernails is broken and bleeding. He insists that she is seen to at a hospital straight away and be as persistent as possible to get a check up, specifically on her neck. Lauren agrees with his advice and hangs up.
A couple of weeks later, Lauren is at her job as a telephone operator and ends up calling the Doctor again by another wrong number. She tells her story; after insisting that she got seen to at the hospital (even putting on a show of crying), she was attended by doctors who increased in numbers as they noted something strange about her neck. After being quarantined for a couple of hours, an Army Official and a specialist doctor attended her, the latter of whom informed her that he was going to operate on her. After the operation, he showed her what they had found - a 6 inch-long parasitical metal worm that had been clinging onto her spine, which would have killed her within a day had she not had the operation. The Army Official had made her sign the Official Secrets Act to declare that she would not tell anyone of this event, but this had made her feel isolated in the weeks since and thus she was incredibly satisfied to finally be telling someone about it. She asks the Doctor how he knew what was wrong with her just from the information about the fingernails, to which he replies "Experience". She also asks if it was alien, which the Doctor confirms. Lauren explains how she thought about thanking him so often and how glad she is to get the opportunity to finally do so, although the Doctor notes how suspiciously coincidental it was that she managed to reach him through a wrong number twice. An abrupt disturbance on his end of the line results in him having to rush a goodbye, which Lauren is disheartened at.
When trying to ring her friend Connie, Lauren once again gets in contact with the Doctor again through yet another wrong number. The Doctor explains how this is not merely a coincidence; the first time she had called him she was desperately seeking medical advice, and the second time she had been thinking about thanking him. It is in actual fact a virus, a theory he was able to confirm when he noted that he got wrong numbers after each time he tried to call someone after his previous conversations with Lauren, yet the people he ended up calling become very useful in helping to defeat other not-so-lucky people who had died from the worm parasite which Lauren had and turned into slug creatures. The virus in the phone causes people to make subconscious mistakes when they next use a telephone, yet the person which they end up calling is someone they can help or vise versa who then gets the virus and passes it on until it reaches the end of its lifespan. Lauren asks how this supposedly alien virus ended up on Earth to which the Doctor says he's working it out and hoping that it only ended up here by accident. He asks a favour of her; to make a note of every wrong number she makes from now on and who they are - this will be helpful in tracking the virus back to its original source. Lauren asks if he wants her number, to which the Doctor assures her that, thanks to the virus, they may certainly talk again.
The next time, it is the Doctor calling Lauren at work in the Telephone Exchange, which is not a good sign. She was able to assist her last wrong number in naming a tune that had got stuck in her head. Then she tells off the Doctor for not making small talk. He quotes Thomas Jefferson to her - I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. She makes her 'wrong number' call after he rings off, and get through to the competition line of a brand new radio station - County 6371. The prize of an all-inclusive holiday to Marbella is up for grabs to the first person who can say who said...
The Doctor calls Connie Pickerill's number, where she and Lauren are having a pre-holiday celebration party. He's been arrested for trespassing and needs a solicitor. Lauren is happy to help.
Their next contact is Lauren calling the Doctor after receiving a wrong number from a long-lost school friend. She muses that maybe the virus is a good thing and should't be stopped, but the Doctor points out that most technology starts out with military applications which are never truly good. Also, it isn't satisfying when everything just gets dropped into your lap without any effort on your part.
Lauren gets a wrong number call, so rings the first number that comes into her head, hoping that it will be the Doctor. Instead it is Connie, whose number she did actually dial. Realising that the virus has gone, she writes a letter to the Doctor instead. Not knowing his address, she'll just drop it in a letter box. Who knows, he might get it.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- Lauren Hudson - Kate Brown
- DJ - David Dobson
- Connie Pickerill - Kerry Skinner
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Director - John Ainsworth
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music and Sound Design - Steve Foxon
- Producer - Sharon Gosling
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Eddie Robson
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor is jailed on a charge of trespass at Green Street Police Station under the name of Dr John Smith.
Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Lauren signs the Official Secrets Act.
Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The virus is transmittable through telephone conversations.
Music[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The DJ plays "Blue Starlight" by Steve Silver.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The story was released as a bonus story alongside I.D..
- This story is part of the "Virus Strain" arc.
- It is implied that the "army man" and doctor who visit Lauren in hospital are with UNIT. The Doctor asks Lauren if the latter was "a tall chap with white hair and rather flamboyant clothes". However, the doctor Lauren saw is described as short and bald.
- The story was recorded on 13 February 2007 at the Moat Studios.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor quotes Thomas Jefferson. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment)
- The bio-engineered telephone virus was one of the millions of viruses which were accidentally released from the Amethyst Viral Containment Station in the far future and spread throughout time and space. (AUDIO: Patient Zero)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Urgent Calls page at bigfinish.com
- Urgent Calls at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Urgent Calls at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
