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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image            = Thethousandworlds.jpg
|image            = Thethousandworlds.jpg
|anthology       = ''[[Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)|Only the Monstrous]]''
|audio anthology = Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)
|range            = The War Doctor (audio series)
|range            = The War Doctor (audio series)
|series in range  = Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)
|series in range  = Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)
Line 11: Line 11:
|doctor          = War Doctor
|doctor          = War Doctor
|companions      = [[Rejoice]]  
|companions      = [[Rejoice]]  
|enemy            = [[Dalek Prime]], [[Taalyen]]s
|enemy            = [[Prime Dalek (The Thousand Worlds)|Prime Dalek]], [[Seratrix]], [[Taalyen]]s
|featuring        =  
|featuring        = [[War Ollistra|Ollistra]], [[Veklin]]
|setting          = [[Keska]]
|setting          = [[Keska]]
|writer          = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|writer          = Nicholas Briggs
|director        = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|director         = Nicholas Briggs
|producer         = [[David Richardson]]
|music            = [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]]
|music            = [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]]
|sound            = [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]]
|sound            = Howard Carter
|cover            = [[Tom Webster]]
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|cover            = [[Tom Webster]]
|release date    = 14 December 2015
|release date    = [[14 December (releases)|14 December]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]]
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>2nd of 3 stories
|format          = 1 X 1 hour
|production code  = BFPDWWAR01
|production code  = BFPDWWAR01
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-78575-187-5
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-78575-187-5 (physical); ISBN: 978-1-78575-188-2 (digital)
|series          = ''[[The War Doctor (audio series)|The War Doctor]]''
|series          = ''[[The War Doctor (audio series)|The War Doctor]]''
|prev            = The Innocent (audio story)
|prev            = The Innocent (audio story)
|next            = The Heart of the Battle (audio story)
|next            = The Heart of the Battle (audio story)
}}
|epcount = 1}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the second audio story in the anthology ''[[Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)|Only the Monstrous]]''. It featured [[John Hurt]] as the [[War Doctor]] and [[Jacqueline Pearce]] as [[Ollistra|Cardinal Ollistra]].
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the second story in the audio anthology ''[[Only the Monstrous (audio anthology)|Only the Monstrous]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Nicholas Briggs]] and featured [[John Hurt]] as the [[War Doctor]], [[Lucy Briggs-Owen]] and [[Carolyn Seymour]] as [[Rejoice]], [[Beth Chalmers]] as [[Veklin]] and [[Jacqueline Pearce]] as [[War Ollistra|Cardinal Ollistra]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
With the high-ranking Time Lord Seratrix behind enemy lines, the War Doctor finds himself assigned to a rescue mission. But any room for manoeuvre is severely restricted by an area of space known as the Null Zone.
With the high-ranking [[Time Lord]] [[Seratrix]] behind enemy lines, the [[War Doctor]] finds himself assigned to a rescue mission. But any room for manoeuvre is severely restricted by an area of space known as the [[Null Zone]].


Times have changed on Keska, and a countdown to destruction is beginning.
Times have changed on [[Keska]], and a countdown to destruction is beginning.


But who are the Taalyens and what is their part in the great and terrifying Dalek plan?
But who are the [[Taalyen]]s and what is their part in the great and terrifying [[Dalek]] plan?


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
After the Doctor's extraction from Keska, Rejoice meets with her father, and tells him that the Doctor is gone. She mourns his loss, but her father is glad she was left behind.
After [[War Doctor|the Doctor's]] extraction from [[Keska]], [[Rejoice]] meets with her father, [[Thran]], and tells him that the Doctor is gone, snatched away by his own people against his will. She mourns his loss, but her father is glad she was left behind.


From the Doctor's perspective, the story continues immediately. He meets with Cardinal Ollistra, who orders him onto a strike team led by Veklin, the agent who came for him on Keska. Also on the team are Bennus and Arverton, the two agents whom the Doctor rescued from the Time Destructor before landing on Keska. Ollistra wants them to go behind enemy lines — that is, into an area of space called the Null Zone, which is held by the Daleks. The area is so called because time travel is impossible inside it; only spaceflight can be completed. They will be looking for a missing Time Lord strategist named Seratrix. The Doctor who still declines to be called by that name insults Ollistra and Veklin, then summons his TARDIS and escapes, refusing to be part of any team. Veklin, Bennus, and Arverton follow him in a Battle TARDIS. Meanwhile, the Daleks are preparing to execute their plan.
Meanwhile, the Doctor meets with [[War Ollistra|Cardinal Ollistra]], who orders him onto a strike team led by [[Veklin]], the agent who came for him on Keska. Also on the team are [[Bennus]] and [[Arverton]], the two agents whom the Doctor rescued from the [[Time Destructor]] before landing on Keska. Ollistra wants them to go behind enemy lines, into an area of space called the [[Null Zone]], which is held by [[Dalek|the Daleks]]. The area is so called because time travel is impossible inside it; only spaceflight can be completed. They will be looking for a missing Time Lord strategist named Seratrix. The Doctor, who still declines to be called by that name, furiously refuses to comply, insults Ollistra and Veklin before remotely summoning his TARDIS with his [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] and escaping, refusing to be part of any team. Veklin, Bennus, and Arverton follow him in a [[Battle TARDIS]]. Meanwhile, the Daleks are preparing to execute their plan.


The Doctor hits the border of the Null Zone, and is forced to land on Keska, although he doesn't know that's where he is. He finds himself in a slave camp, and meets a man named Garv, who informs him of the planet's identity, leaving him stunned. The Taalyens have somehow conquered the planet; and now, a massive drilling machine is being built. But why? And how? Moreover, there are a thousand worlds in the Null Zone, and all of them have received the same treatment. Meanwhile, Veklin's team also lands, though not nearby, and finds several life signs: Keskan, Taalyen, Gallifreyan…and Dalek.
The Doctor hits the border of the Null Zone, and is forced to land on a nearby planet, although he doesn't know where he is. He finds himself in a Dalek slave camp and meets a man named [[Garv]], who informs him of the planet's identity. They are operating on Keska, leaving him stunned and horrified. The [[Taalyen]]s have conquered the planet since the Doctor's removal, and a massive [[drilling machine (The Thousand Worlds)|drilling machine]] is being built for the Daleks. Moreover, the Doctor learns there are a thousand worlds in the Null Zone and all of them have received the same treatment. Meanwhile, Veklin's team also lands, though not nearby and finds numerous life signs: Keskan, Taalyen, [[Gallifreyan]] and Dalek.


The Doctor promises Garv that he has fought the Daleks before, and will defeat them here. When asked for a name, he calls himself John Smith. He is separated from Garv's slave group, who are sent down to the drill level. The Daleks mention a pre-launch sequence, sparking the Doctor's curiosity. Veklin and her team pursue the Doctor — and, hopefully, Seratrix — into the machinery, carrying demolition packs.
The Doctor promises Garv that he has fought the Daleks before, and will defeat them here. When asked for a name, he calls himself John Smith, giving Garv and the other slaves a name to give them hope. He is separated from Garv's slave group, who are sent down to the drill level, escaping through a ventilation shaft. The Daleks mention a pre-launch sequence, sparking the Doctor's curiosity. Veklin and her team pursue the Doctor into the machinery, carrying demolition packs in the hopes of finding Seratrix.


The Doctor meets a Taalyen guard, and passes himself off as a slave elite. The guard challenges him, but he is saved by a real slave elite, the woman in charge of that group of slaves. Once free of the guard, she becomes emotional, because she recognises the Doctor, though he does not recognise her at first…it is Rejoice. They bring each other up to date, but Rejoice thinks he cannot save the planet this time, as the Daleks are supporting the Taalyens in fact, it was the Daleks who helped them get inside the planetary shield. The Doctor assures her that there is a connection between the situation here in the thousand worlds and the greater Time War...and he intends to figure it out.
The Doctor meets a Taalyen guard and passes himself off as a slave elite. The guard challenges him, but he is saved by a real slave elite, the woman in charge of that group of slaves. Once free of the guard, she becomes emotional because she recognises the Doctor; though he does not recognise her at first, he eventually identifies her as Rejoice, many years after his departure for her but a mere hour for him. They bring each other up to date, but Rejoice thinks he cannot save the planet this time, as the Daleks are supporting the Taalyens - in fact, it was the Daleks who helped them get inside the planetary shield. The Doctor assures her that there is a connection between the situation here in the thousand worlds and the greater [[Last Great Time War|Time War]] and he intends to figure it out.


Veklin's team infiltrates via the fuel-pumping tunnels of the machinery, but they must hurry; periodically, fuel is purged through the tunnels, and will kill them. They are detected by the Daleks, who send a Taalyen squad in after them. They defeat the squad, but are caught by a fuel purge; Arverton sacrifices himself to get them to safety. He refers to Bennus in his last moments as "brother"; this piques Veklin's curiosity. Bennus attributes it to a unit they served in, under Seratrix and Ollistra. Meanwhile, the Daleks think they were all killed in the purge.
Veklin's team infiltrates via the fuel-pumping tunnels of the machinery where, periodically, fuel is purged through the tunnels, and would kill them. They are detected by the Daleks, who send a Taalyen squad in after them. They defeat the squad, but are caught by a fuel purge; Arverton sacrifices himself to get them to safety. He refers to Bennus in his last moments as "brother"; this piques Veklin's curiosity. Bennus attributes it to a sign of appreciation and affection in a unit in which they both served under Seratrix and Ollistra. Elsewhere, the Daleks think they were all killed in the purge.


The Doctor and Rejoice help serve food at a celebratory feast for the Taalyen leadership; the Prime Dalek is also there, with the Taalyen commander, Traanus. Seratrix is also there; the Doctor learns, to his horror, that Seratrix is working with Traanus and the Prime Dalek. He is outed as a Gallifreyan, but Seratrix vouches for him and saves his life; he knows that if the Daleks recognise him as the Doctor, they will kill him.
The Doctor and Rejoice infiltrate the centre of operations by pretending to help serve food at a celebratory feast for the Taalyen leadership; the [[Prime Dalek (The Thousand Worlds)|Prime Dalek]], Taalyen commander [[Traanus]] and Seratrix are also there. The Doctor learns, to his horror, that Seratrix is working with Traanus and the Prime Dalek. He is outed as a Gallifreyan but Seratrix vouches for him and saves his life, knowing that if the Daleks recognise him as the Doctor, they will kill him.


The drilling machine is launched. It will drill into the planet's core, and destroy the core; it's a plan the Doctor has seen before. Seratrix insists that he is working for the greater good; this plan will lead to peace with the Daleks, who now rule the Null Zone. The Doctor is shocked to silence, as the Daleks chant, "Peace in our time".
The [[drilling machine (The Thousand Worlds)|drilling machine]] is launched, and the Prime Dalek announced that it will drill into the planet's core and destroy the core, a plan the Doctor has seen before. Seratrix insists that he is working for the greater good and that their plan will lead to a peace with the Daleks, who will rule the Null Zone. The Doctor is shocked to silence, as the Daleks repeatedly chant, "Peace in our time!".


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* The [[War Doctor]] - [[John Hurt]]
* [[War Doctor|The War Doctor]] - [[John Hurt]]
* [[Ollistra|Cardinal Ollistra]] - [[Jacqueline Pearce]]
* [[War Ollistra|Cardinal Ollistra]] - [[Jacqueline Pearce]]
* [[Rejoice|The Nursemaid]] - [[Lucy Briggs-Owen]]
* [[Rejoice|The Nursemaid]] - [[Lucy Briggs-Owen]]
* [[Rejoice|The Slave]] - [[Carolyn Seymour]]
* [[Rejoice|The Slave]] - [[Carolyn Seymour]]
Line 62: Line 63:
* [[Seratrix]] - [[Alex Wyndham]]
* [[Seratrix]] - [[Alex Wyndham]]
* [[Bennus]] - [[Kieran Hodgson]]
* [[Bennus]] - [[Kieran Hodgson]]
* [[Arverton]] - [[Barnaby Edwards (actor)|Barnaby Edwards]]
* [[Arverton]] - [[Barnaby Edwards]]
* [[Traanus]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[Traanus]] - [[Mark McDonnell]]
* [[Garv]] - [[John Banks]]
* [[Garv]] - [[John Banks]]
* The [[Dalek]]s - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* The [[Dalek]]s - [[Nicholas Briggs]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* When Ollistra says the Doctor will be sent behind enemy lines, he asks her if she watches a lot of war [[film]]s.
* When Ollistra says the Doctor will be sent behind enemy lines, he asks her if she watches a lot of war [[film]]s.
* Seratrix traversed the [[Null Zone]] in his [[battle TARDIS]].
* Seratrix traversed the [[Null Zone]] in his [[battle TARDIS]].
* The Doctor has adjusted his [[sonic screwdriver]] so that it can materialise [[the TARDIS]] around him.
* The Doctor has adjusted his [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] so that it can materialise [[the TARDIS]] around him.
* The enslaved people of [[Keska]] believe the Daleks have enslaved a thousand worlds in order to build their machines.
* The enslaved people of [[Keska]] believe the Daleks have enslaved a thousand worlds in order to build their machines.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This story was recorded at [[The Moat Studios]] on [[28 September (releases)|28 September]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]].
* This story was recorded at [[The Moat Studios]] on [[28 September (releases)|28 September]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]].
* This story was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] on 24 December 2022.<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001g9x3</ref> It was later edited into two parts which were first broadcast on [[24 November (releases)|24]] and [[27 November (releases)|27 November]] [[2023 (releases)|2023]].<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001smmx</ref><ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sttt</ref> The first part ends after the [[Taalyen]] guard threatens the older [[Rejoice]] as a slave.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* [[Rejoice]] discusses meeting [[War Doctor|the Doctor]] on [[Keska]] with her father. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* [[Rejoice]] discusses meeting the Doctor on [[Keska]] with her father. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* The Doctor recalls setting off a [[Dalek]] [[Time Destructor]] at [[Omega One]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* The Doctor recalls setting off a [[Dalek]] [[Time Destructor]] at [[Omega One]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* The Doctor states that the [[Time Lord]]s have become Daleks. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Night of the Doctor (TV story)|The Night of the Doctor]]'')
* The [[War Ollistra]] states that the Doctor has defeated the Daleks many times, and that they fear him. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* [[Ollistra]] states that the Doctor has defeated the Daleks many times ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks (TV story)|The Daleks]]'' et al.) and that they fear him. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'')
* The Daleks have enslaved numerous worlds before. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Invasion of the Daleks (audio story)|Invasion of the Daleks]]'' et al.)
* The Doctor once again uses the pseudonym of [[Aliases of the Doctor|"John Smith"]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen (TV story)|The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'' et al.) He would later use it again towards the end of the life of his "War" incarnation. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Engines of War (novel)|Engines of War]]'')
* For the Doctor, he met the younger Rejoice very recently, but for her it has been decades. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* For the Doctor, he met the younger Rejoice very recently, but for her it has been decades. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Innocent (audio story)|The Innocent]]'')
* The Doctor says one could feel the consequences of war for several lifetimes. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' et al.)
* The Daleks are drilling through Keska's core in order to destroy the planet. The Doctor says the plan sounds "depressingly familiar". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'')
* The Daleks are drilling through Keska's core in order to destroy the planet. The Doctor says the plan sounds depressingly familiar. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'') The Doctor lost his great-grandson [[Alex Campbell]] and [[companion]]s [[Lucie Miller]] and [[Tamsin Drew]] during one such undertaking on [[Earth]] in the [[22nd century]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Lucie Miller (audio story)|Lucie Miller]]''/''[[To the Death (audio story)|To the Death]]'')
 
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/the-war-doctor-volume-01-only-the-monstrous-1380|Only the Monstrous}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/the-war-doctor-volume-01-only-the-monstrous-1380|Only the Monstrous}}
{{TWS}}
{{TWS}}
{{Dalek audio stories}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Only the Monstrous audio stories]]
[[Category:Only the Monstrous audio stories]]
[[Category:2015 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the Last Great Time War]]
[[Category:Dalek audio stories]]
[[Category:Time Lord audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories that use Howard Carter's War Doctor theme]]

Latest revision as of 21:08, 2 January 2024

RealWorld.png

The Thousand Worlds was the second story in the audio anthology Only the Monstrous, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured John Hurt as the War Doctor, Lucy Briggs-Owen and Carolyn Seymour as Rejoice, Beth Chalmers as Veklin and Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra.

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

With the high-ranking Time Lord Seratrix behind enemy lines, the War Doctor finds himself assigned to a rescue mission. But any room for manoeuvre is severely restricted by an area of space known as the Null Zone.

Times have changed on Keska, and a countdown to destruction is beginning.

But who are the Taalyens and what is their part in the great and terrifying Dalek plan?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

After the Doctor's extraction from Keska, Rejoice meets with her father, Thran, and tells him that the Doctor is gone, snatched away by his own people against his will. She mourns his loss, but her father is glad she was left behind.

Meanwhile, the Doctor meets with Cardinal Ollistra, who orders him onto a strike team led by Veklin, the agent who came for him on Keska. Also on the team are Bennus and Arverton, the two agents whom the Doctor rescued from the Time Destructor before landing on Keska. Ollistra wants them to go behind enemy lines, into an area of space called the Null Zone, which is held by the Daleks. The area is so called because time travel is impossible inside it; only spaceflight can be completed. They will be looking for a missing Time Lord strategist named Seratrix. The Doctor, who still declines to be called by that name, furiously refuses to comply, insults Ollistra and Veklin before remotely summoning his TARDIS with his sonic screwdriver and escaping, refusing to be part of any team. Veklin, Bennus, and Arverton follow him in a Battle TARDIS. Meanwhile, the Daleks are preparing to execute their plan.

The Doctor hits the border of the Null Zone, and is forced to land on a nearby planet, although he doesn't know where he is. He finds himself in a Dalek slave camp and meets a man named Garv, who informs him of the planet's identity. They are operating on Keska, leaving him stunned and horrified. The Taalyens have conquered the planet since the Doctor's removal, and a massive drilling machine is being built for the Daleks. Moreover, the Doctor learns there are a thousand worlds in the Null Zone and all of them have received the same treatment. Meanwhile, Veklin's team also lands, though not nearby and finds numerous life signs: Keskan, Taalyen, Gallifreyan and Dalek.

The Doctor promises Garv that he has fought the Daleks before, and will defeat them here. When asked for a name, he calls himself John Smith, giving Garv and the other slaves a name to give them hope. He is separated from Garv's slave group, who are sent down to the drill level, escaping through a ventilation shaft. The Daleks mention a pre-launch sequence, sparking the Doctor's curiosity. Veklin and her team pursue the Doctor into the machinery, carrying demolition packs in the hopes of finding Seratrix.

The Doctor meets a Taalyen guard and passes himself off as a slave elite. The guard challenges him, but he is saved by a real slave elite, the woman in charge of that group of slaves. Once free of the guard, she becomes emotional because she recognises the Doctor; though he does not recognise her at first, he eventually identifies her as Rejoice, many years after his departure for her but a mere hour for him. They bring each other up to date, but Rejoice thinks he cannot save the planet this time, as the Daleks are supporting the Taalyens - in fact, it was the Daleks who helped them get inside the planetary shield. The Doctor assures her that there is a connection between the situation here in the thousand worlds and the greater Time War and he intends to figure it out.

Veklin's team infiltrates via the fuel-pumping tunnels of the machinery where, periodically, fuel is purged through the tunnels, and would kill them. They are detected by the Daleks, who send a Taalyen squad in after them. They defeat the squad, but are caught by a fuel purge; Arverton sacrifices himself to get them to safety. He refers to Bennus in his last moments as "brother"; this piques Veklin's curiosity. Bennus attributes it to a sign of appreciation and affection in a unit in which they both served under Seratrix and Ollistra. Elsewhere, the Daleks think they were all killed in the purge.

The Doctor and Rejoice infiltrate the centre of operations by pretending to help serve food at a celebratory feast for the Taalyen leadership; the Prime Dalek, Taalyen commander Traanus and Seratrix are also there. The Doctor learns, to his horror, that Seratrix is working with Traanus and the Prime Dalek. He is outed as a Gallifreyan but Seratrix vouches for him and saves his life, knowing that if the Daleks recognise him as the Doctor, they will kill him.

The drilling machine is launched, and the Prime Dalek announced that it will drill into the planet's core and destroy the core, a plan the Doctor has seen before. Seratrix insists that he is working for the greater good and that their plan will lead to a peace with the Daleks, who will rule the Null Zone. The Doctor is shocked to silence, as the Daleks repeatedly chant, "Peace in our time!".

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • When Ollistra says the Doctor will be sent behind enemy lines, he asks her if she watches a lot of war films.
  • Seratrix traversed the Null Zone in his battle TARDIS.
  • The Doctor has adjusted his sonic screwdriver so that it can materialise the TARDIS around him.
  • The enslaved people of Keska believe the Daleks have enslaved a thousand worlds in order to build their machines.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

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