Night of the Vashta Nerada (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{title dab away}} | ||
{{Infobox Story SMW | |||
|image = Night of the Vashta Nerada.jpg | |image = Night of the Vashta Nerada.jpg | ||
|anthology = | |anthology = Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two | ||
|series = ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters]]'' | |series = ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters]]'' | ||
|number | |range = Classic Doctors, New Monsters | ||
|series in range = Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two | |||
|separator=; | |||
|number in series = 1 | |||
|doctor = Fourth Doctor | |doctor = Fourth Doctor | ||
| | |featuring = | ||
| | |enemy = [[Vashta Nerada]] | ||
|setting = [[Funworld]] | |setting = [[Funworld]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = John Dorney | ||
|director = [[Barnaby Edwards ( | |director = [[Barnaby Edwards]] | ||
| | |producer = [[David Richardson]] | ||
|music = [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]] | |||
|sound = [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]] | |||
|cover = [[Tom Webster]] | |cover = [[Tom Webster]] | ||
|publisher = Big Finish Productions | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|release date = | |release date = 27 July 2017 | ||
|format = 1 episodes on 1 CD | |format = 1 episodes on 1 CD (1st of 4 stories) | ||
|isbn = ISBN 978-1- | |isbn = ISBN 978-1-78575-427-2 (physical); ISBN 978-1-78575-428-9 (digital) | ||
|prev = The Sontaran Ordeal (audio story) | |||
|next = Empire of the Racnoss (audio story) | |next = Empire of the Racnoss (audio story) | ||
|trailer = | |trailer = | ||
|production code = BFPDWNEWMON02 | |||
}}{{audio stub}} | }}{{audio stub}} | ||
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the first story in ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters | '''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the first story in ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two]], ''produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[John Dorney]] and featured [[Tom Baker]] as the [[Fourth Doctor]]. | ||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
[[Funworld]] was set to be the happiest planet in the galaxy. A planet of joy, of euphoria, of laughter and delight. Except construction was marred by reports of a predator and then, a few | [[Funworld]] was set to be the [[happiness|happiest]] [[planet]] in the [[galaxy]]. A planet of joy, of [[euphoria]], of [[laughter]] and [[delight]]. Except construction was marred by reports of [[Vashta Nerada|a predator]] and then, a few [[day]]s before opening, all [[communication]] ceased. | ||
Owner [[Georgia Donnelly]] is desperate to open the resort and has hired [[Amanda Steele]]'s crew to find out what happened on the planet. They're the best. But even they might not be up to the task. | Owner [[Georgia Donnelly]] is desperate to open the [[resort]] and has hired [[Amanda Steele]]'s crew to find out what happened on the planet. They're the best. But even they might not be up to the task. | ||
Joined by the Doctor and being picked off one by one, they slowly start to realise that something terrifying lurks in the | Joined by [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]] and being picked off one by one, they slowly start to realise that something terrifying lurks in the [[shadow]]s. | ||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
''to | In search of [[life]] after the disappearance of her [[Employment|employees]] on [[Funworld]], [[Georgia Donnelly]] and her hired muscle in the form of [[Amanda Steele]]'s [[hunting]] [[team]] find only the [[Fourth Doctor]]. They determine he is not the [[predator]] they are searching for. The Doctor joins them as they search the [[Funfair|fair's]] control [[tower]], cast in [[darkness]] with the [[power]] having been cut. The missing employees are all found, but all of them are [[Death|dead]], and their [[corpse]]s nothing but [[skeleton]]s. | ||
[[Bennetto]] restores the power and [[Phelan]], a [[Psychic power|psychic]], uses her abilities to commune with the dead. She discovers they were attacked by a [[creature]] they were unable to describe - it was merely [[black]] and darkness in itself. The investigation continues until Bennetto is devoured by a swarm of blackness after entering a [[room]] that should have been [[Light|lit]]. | |||
Outside, Phelan is able to communicate with the entity. Her description, the Doctor realises, matches that of the [[Vashta Nerada]], a [[species]] not known for their [[aggression]] and normally bound to their native [[forest]]s. When Donnelley explains the planetwide forest was cut down to build Funworld, the Doctor realises that the Vashta Nerada's whole [[ecosystem]] was [[Destruction|destroyed]] and they attacked Donnelley's staff in order to survive. Suddenly, Phelan developes a second [[shadow]]. She warns the team that the Vashta Nerada have developed a [[taste]] for [[human]] [[meat]] and are out for [[revenge]], and then she is [[Eating|eaten]] alive. | |||
The Doctor urges the rest of the team to abandon the planet forever, but Steele is determined to carry on the hunt. Donnelley, though reluctant to lose her investment, decides it is best to leave and departs the planet for [[Earth]] in Steele's [[Spaceship|ship]]. Steele and [[Grosta]] arm themselves with [[flamethrower]]s and attempt to lure the Vashta Nerada out of hiding. However, they are outflanked and the swarm begins tearing Grosta's [[stone]] [[body]] apart. At his urging, Steele [[mercy]] [[Murder|kills]] him with a [[grenade]]. | |||
Steele is rescued by the Doctor in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] after he activates some of the funfair [[robot]]s to buy a couple of [[minute]]s' distraction. Though they are safe in the Doctor's [[Space-time vessel|ship]], the Doctor reveals that half the Vashta Nerada [[population]] has [[Stowaway|stowed away]] on Donnelley's ship. If they are allowed to land on Earth, they may cause their passive Earthbound cousins to become far more aggressive and deadly. In flight, Donnelley herself is killed as the Vashta Nerada catch up with her, shortly before the Doctor and Steele land on the ship. | |||
The pair have no way of [[Self-destruct|destroying]] the ship, but when the Vashta Nerada latch onto Steele, casting a second shadow, she hatches an idea. She acquires some [[poison]], [[Suicide|killing herself]] as the Vashta Nerada devour her and poisoning them as well. The Doctor confirms there are no more lifeforms aboard the ship and returns it to [[orbit]] around Funworld. He records a message, warning others that an [[environment]]al disaster has rendered the planet uninhabitable and that it should be avoided. He then leaves, lamenting how he was unable to save even one person. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
* [[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Tom Baker]] | * [[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Tom Baker]] | ||
'' | * [[Amanda Steele]] - [[Pam Ferris]] | ||
* [[Georgia Donnelly]] - [[Lorelei King]] | |||
* [[Phelan]] - [[Emma Lowndes]] | |||
* [[Bennetto]] - [[Matt Devitt]] | |||
=== Uncredited cast === | |||
* [[Grosta]] - [[Matt Devitt]] ([[BFX]]: ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two]]'') | |||
== Worldbuilding == | |||
=== Individuals === | |||
* The Doctor says that his previous [[companion]] has just departed for "Pastures New." | |||
* Phelan is a [[psychic]]. | |||
* [[Georgia Donnelly]] is the owner of [[Funworld]]. | |||
* The Doctor describes [[human]]s as intelligent [[predator]]s. | |||
* [[Amanda Steele|Steele]] once killed an entire [[Sontaran]] [[assassination]] squad. | |||
* Steele describes the Doctor as "a right wuss". | |||
== | === Species === | ||
* The Vashta Nerada on Earth are peaceful, living on [[carrion]] and [[vermin]] rather than humans. | |||
* Light slows the Vashta Nerada down. They are described as "[[insect]]-[[piranha]]." | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
''to | [[File:Night of the Vashta Nerada alternate cover.jpg|thumb|[[DWM 570]] digital promo cover]] | ||
* This is one of the few instances in a [[Big Finish]] anthology release in which the [[Fourth Doctor]] is present in a story set alongside stories featuring other incarnations. In this case, the Fourth Doctor took the place of the [[Seventh Doctor]], who had [[Harvest of the Sycorax (audio story)|featured]] in ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume One|Volume One]]''. | |||
* The Doctor describes Donnelly as a "{{w|Bandersnatch|frumious Bandersnatch}}", a reference to a creature from the 1872 novel ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]]. | |||
* Commenting on Phelan against the rest of Steele's team, the Doctor comments that "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn't belong", a reference to a regular song which appeared on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' from 1969 - 2019. | |||
* Phelan is offered a chance to travel in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] but dies before she has the opportunity to do so. The same fate also befell several characters in the revived series including [[Lynda Moss]], [[Madame de Pompadour]], [[Astrid Peth]], [[Rita (The God Complex)|Rita]] and [[Zygon Osgood]]. | |||
* As part of the ''Classic Doctors, New Monsters'' boxset, ''Night of the Vashta Nerada'' was also bundled with ''[[Day of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Day of the Vashta Nerada]]'', featuring [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]]. ''Day'' makes reference to the events of ''Night''. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
'' | * Phelan refers to the fact that the Vashta Nerada exist on many planets, including [[Earth]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Silence in the Library (TV story)|Silence in the Library]]'', [[COMIC]]: ''[[Untitled (10DY3 3 comic story)|Untitled]]'') | ||
* The Doctor describes the Vashta Nerada as the piranhas of the air. ([[TV]]: ''[[Silence in the Library (TV story)|Silence in the Library]]''; [[COMIC]]: ''[[Untitled (10DY3 3 comic story)|Untitled]]'') | |||
* The Doctor would later encounter the Vashta Nerada in his [[Seventh Doctor|seventh]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Operation Dusk (audio story)|Operation Dusk]]'') [[Eighth Doctor|eighth]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Day of the Vashta Nerada]]'') [[Ninth Doctor|ninth]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Red Darkness (audio story)|Red Darkness]]'') [[Tenth Doctor|tenth]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Silence in the Library (TV story)|Silence in the Library]]'' / ''[[Forest of the Dead (TV story)|Forest of the Dead]]''; [[COMIC]]: ''[[Untitled (10DY3 3 comic story)|Untitled]]'') and [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnations]]. ([[GAME]]: ''[[Shadows of the Vashta Nerada]]''; [[COMIC]]: ''[[Space Oddity (comic story)|Space Oddity]]'') | |||
* The [[Gorlan Civil War]] is being fought. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Two Masters (audio story)|The Two Masters]]'') | |||
* Following the deaths of Donnelly and the skeleton crew, the Funworld project was abandoned and the world became known as Theta 49. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Day of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Day of the Vashta Nerada]]'') | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{bigfinish|releases/v/classic-doctors-new-monsters-volume-02-1472|{{StoryTitle}}}} | |||
{{ | {{CDNM}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[Category:Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:Fourth Doctor audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:Vashta Nerada audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]] | |||
[[ru:Ночь Вашты Нерады]] | |||
Latest revision as of 00:43, 22 October 2024
Night of the Vashta Nerada was the first story in Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by John Dorney and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Funworld was set to be the happiest planet in the galaxy. A planet of joy, of euphoria, of laughter and delight. Except construction was marred by reports of a predator and then, a few days before opening, all communication ceased.
Owner Georgia Donnelly is desperate to open the resort and has hired Amanda Steele's crew to find out what happened on the planet. They're the best. But even they might not be up to the task.
Joined by the Doctor and being picked off one by one, they slowly start to realise that something terrifying lurks in the shadows.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
In search of life after the disappearance of her employees on Funworld, Georgia Donnelly and her hired muscle in the form of Amanda Steele's hunting team find only the Fourth Doctor. They determine he is not the predator they are searching for. The Doctor joins them as they search the fair's control tower, cast in darkness with the power having been cut. The missing employees are all found, but all of them are dead, and their corpses nothing but skeletons.
Bennetto restores the power and Phelan, a psychic, uses her abilities to commune with the dead. She discovers they were attacked by a creature they were unable to describe - it was merely black and darkness in itself. The investigation continues until Bennetto is devoured by a swarm of blackness after entering a room that should have been lit.
Outside, Phelan is able to communicate with the entity. Her description, the Doctor realises, matches that of the Vashta Nerada, a species not known for their aggression and normally bound to their native forests. When Donnelley explains the planetwide forest was cut down to build Funworld, the Doctor realises that the Vashta Nerada's whole ecosystem was destroyed and they attacked Donnelley's staff in order to survive. Suddenly, Phelan developes a second shadow. She warns the team that the Vashta Nerada have developed a taste for human meat and are out for revenge, and then she is eaten alive.
The Doctor urges the rest of the team to abandon the planet forever, but Steele is determined to carry on the hunt. Donnelley, though reluctant to lose her investment, decides it is best to leave and departs the planet for Earth in Steele's ship. Steele and Grosta arm themselves with flamethrowers and attempt to lure the Vashta Nerada out of hiding. However, they are outflanked and the swarm begins tearing Grosta's stone body apart. At his urging, Steele mercy kills him with a grenade.
Steele is rescued by the Doctor in the TARDIS after he activates some of the funfair robots to buy a couple of minutes' distraction. Though they are safe in the Doctor's ship, the Doctor reveals that half the Vashta Nerada population has stowed away on Donnelley's ship. If they are allowed to land on Earth, they may cause their passive Earthbound cousins to become far more aggressive and deadly. In flight, Donnelley herself is killed as the Vashta Nerada catch up with her, shortly before the Doctor and Steele land on the ship.
The pair have no way of destroying the ship, but when the Vashta Nerada latch onto Steele, casting a second shadow, she hatches an idea. She acquires some poison, killing herself as the Vashta Nerada devour her and poisoning them as well. The Doctor confirms there are no more lifeforms aboard the ship and returns it to orbit around Funworld. He records a message, warning others that an environmental disaster has rendered the planet uninhabitable and that it should be avoided. He then leaves, lamenting how he was unable to save even one person.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Amanda Steele - Pam Ferris
- Georgia Donnelly - Lorelei King
- Phelan - Emma Lowndes
- Bennetto - Matt Devitt
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor says that his previous companion has just departed for "Pastures New."
- Phelan is a psychic.
- Georgia Donnelly is the owner of Funworld.
- The Doctor describes humans as intelligent predators.
- Steele once killed an entire Sontaran assassination squad.
- Steele describes the Doctor as "a right wuss".
Species[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Vashta Nerada on Earth are peaceful, living on carrion and vermin rather than humans.
- Light slows the Vashta Nerada down. They are described as "insect-piranha."
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This is one of the few instances in a Big Finish anthology release in which the Fourth Doctor is present in a story set alongside stories featuring other incarnations. In this case, the Fourth Doctor took the place of the Seventh Doctor, who had featured in Volume One.
- The Doctor describes Donnelly as a "frumious Bandersnatch", a reference to a creature from the 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.
- Commenting on Phelan against the rest of Steele's team, the Doctor comments that "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn't belong", a reference to a regular song which appeared on Sesame Street from 1969 - 2019.
- Phelan is offered a chance to travel in the TARDIS but dies before she has the opportunity to do so. The same fate also befell several characters in the revived series including Lynda Moss, Madame de Pompadour, Astrid Peth, Rita and Zygon Osgood.
- As part of the Classic Doctors, New Monsters boxset, Night of the Vashta Nerada was also bundled with Day of the Vashta Nerada, featuring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. Day makes reference to the events of Night.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Phelan refers to the fact that the Vashta Nerada exist on many planets, including Earth. (TV: Silence in the Library, COMIC: Untitled)
- The Doctor describes the Vashta Nerada as the piranhas of the air. (TV: Silence in the Library; COMIC: Untitled)
- The Doctor would later encounter the Vashta Nerada in his seventh, (AUDIO: Operation Dusk) eighth, (AUDIO: Day of the Vashta Nerada) ninth, (AUDIO: Red Darkness) tenth (TV: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead; COMIC: Untitled) and eleventh incarnations. (GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada; COMIC: Space Oddity)
- The Gorlan Civil War is being fought. (AUDIO: The Two Masters)
- Following the deaths of Donnelly and the skeleton crew, the Funworld project was abandoned and the world became known as Theta 49. (AUDIO: Day of the Vashta Nerada)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Night of the Vashta Nerada page at bigfinish.com
