1963: The Space Race (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|image = The-space- | |image = The-space-race cover.jpg | ||
|range = Main Range | |range = Main Range | ||
|number in range = 179 | |number in range = 179 | ||
|series = [[ | |series = ''[[Main Range]]'' | ||
|number = 179 | |number = 179 | ||
|doctor = Sixth Doctor | |doctor = Sixth Doctor | ||
|companions = [[Peri Brown|Peri]] | |companions = [[Peri Brown|Peri]] | ||
|enemy = [[Laika]] | |enemy = [[Laika]] | ||
|setting = | |setting = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] and [[the Moon]], [[10 November|10]]-[[23 November|23]] [[November]] [[1963]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Jonathan Morris | ||
|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 (composer)|Howard Carter]] | ||
|cover = [[Anthony Lamb]] | |cover = [[Anthony Lamb]] | ||
|epcount = 4 | |||
|publisher = Big Finish Productions | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|release date = | |release date = 29 October 2013 | ||
|format = | |format = 2 CDs<br/>Download | ||
|production code = 6Z/AB | |production code = 6Z/AB | ||
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-78178-079-4 | |isbn = ISBN 978-1-78178-079-4 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78575-726-6 (digital) | ||
|prev | |prev = 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story) | ||
|next | |next = 1963: The Assassination Games (audio story) | ||
}}{{dab page|1963 (disambiguation)}} | |||
'''''1963: The Space Race''''' was the one hundred and seventy-ninth story in [[Big Finish]]'s [[ | '''''1963: The Space Race''''' was the one hundred and seventy-ninth story in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Jonathan Morris]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Nicola Bryant]] as [[Peri Brown]]. | ||
This was the second story in the ''[[1963 (audio series)|1963]]'' audio trilogy celebrating the [[2013 (releases)|50th anniversary]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
[[November]] [[1963]], and the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[space]] programme reigns supreme. Having sent the first | [[November]] [[1963]], and the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[space]] programme reigns supreme. Having sent the first [[animal]]s, then the first [[human|men]] beyond [[Earth]]'s [[atmosphere]], now they're sending a manned capsule into [[orbit]] around [[the Moon]]. | ||
Just as ''[[Vostok 7|Vostok Seven]]'' passes over into the dark side, however, its life support system fails. Only the intervention of the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Peri Brown|Peri]], adopting the identities of scientists from [[Moscow University]], means that contact with the capsule is regained. | Just as ''[[Vostok 7|Vostok Seven]]'' passes over into the dark side, however, its life support system fails. Only the intervention of the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Peri Brown|Peri]], adopting the identities of scientists from [[Moscow University]], means that contact with the capsule is regained. | ||
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
=== Part one === | === Part one === | ||
[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] materialises in a [[desert]] and is unable to leave because of the broken [[temperature circuit]], upon which the [[navigational circuit]]s depend. [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] and [[Peri Brown|Peri]] investigate a crashed [[Jeep]] a mile away and find the bodies of three [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] with [[gun]]shot wounds inside; their [[ID]] papers identify two of them as [[physician]] [[Khristina Pushkin]] and [[astrophysicist]] [[Grigori Kalashnikov]] of [[Moscow University]], but the third, a woman, does not have any papers. The Doctor takes two of their [[coat]]s and he and Peri avoid the explosion of a [[bomb]] hidden beneath one of the seats, apparently put there to cover up the shootings. | |||
[[ | When [[Leonid Kurakin|Sergeant Leonid Kurakin]] finds the Doctor and Peri and mistakes them for Pushkin and Kalashnikov, whom [[Alexei Kozlov|Captain Kozlov]] is expecting, the two travellers take on their identities and claim that they were the only two in the Jeep when it caught [[fire]]. The Doctor realises that they are in [[1960s]] [[Kazakhstan]] when he learns of their destination, the secret [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]], where [[Mikhail-Leonov|General Leonov]] and [[Larisa Petrov|Miss Petrov]] have lost contact with [[Marinka Talanov]] since ''[[Vostok 7]]'''s [[orbit]] took it to the dark side of [[the Moon]]. | ||
Baikonur is receiving transceiver feedback, however, so the Doctor has them send high-pitched feedback to stir Talanov from unconsciousness and they find that she has no [[memory]] of her identity or where she is. The Doctor believes that she is suffering from a [[stress]]-related [[dissociative disorder]] and manages to calm her down before demanding her return to [[Earth]], which he spends the next three days helping with whilst using the facilities to make a new temperature circuit. The process of bringing Talanov back, however, is complicated by her having lost her autobiographical memories and having difficulty remembering [[colour]]s. | |||
Peri is left a note by the inquisitive Leonid as he leaves her for guard duty and follows the directions to the restricted Research Area 4 where Kozlov reveals that he knows her and the Doctor to be impostors. He contacted the [[KGB]] after learning that somebody, whom he later realised was his lover [[Valentina Cherlin]], was passing along information on a prototype lunar landing module to an enemy agent, but Valentina disappeared before Peri and the Doctor arrived. Peri is called away when the ''Vostok'' capsule returns and the Doctor watches as a [[dog]] in a [[spacesuit]] steps out instead of Talanov; he recognises the dog as [[Laika]]. | |||
=== Part two === | |||
General Leonov has Laika isolated and examined by Miss Petrov, explicitly forbidding the Doctor from speaking with her. The Doctor and Peri deduce that Valentina was the third woman in the Jeep and that she was killed by the agent she was feeding information as part of a cover-up. Upon learning that General Leonov intends to have Laika [[euthanasia|euthanised]], Miss Petrov presents the Doctor with [[X-ray]]s showing that Laika's [[brain]] has been surgically altered and that she has Talanov's [[larynx]], explaining how she can speak and why her voice was mistaken for Talanov's. He also spots what he believes is a [[flying saucer]] in a [[photograph]] of the dark side of the Moon. | |||
Peri gets access to Laika thanks to Kozlov and carries her out when she promises to give an explanation to the Doctor, but Laika attacks her and releases the caged [[animal]]s held in the testing facility before escaping with them through the ducts. The Doctor and Miss Petrov head into [[space]] in ''[[Vostok 8]]'' to investigate the dark side of the Moon whilst Laika kills several soldiers in Kazakhstan. Peri tries to track her down with Leonid, who believes he knows that Peri is a KGB agent and gives her Valentina's [[diary]], given to him to pass on to the KGB if anything happened to her. | |||
The diary does not name the enemy agent, but Peri deduces from Valentina's distaste for having an affair with Kozlov because of his gender that it is Miss Petrov. Peri and Leonid are surrounded by Laika and her animals on their way to Mission Control to expose Miss Petrov. Laika agrees to let Peri go because of how she helped her, but she refuses to let Leonid go and he is only saved from being taken away by the timely arrival of Kozlov. | |||
''Vostok 8'' enters lunar orbit and the Doctor uses a [[telescope]] to view what he thought was a flying saucer, which he finds is actually a [[United States of America|US]] [[lunar base]]. Pulling a gun on him, Miss Petrov admits that ''Vostok 7'' was sabotaged to keep the moonbase from being discovered by the Soviets and burns all the [[fuel]] to set ''Vostok 7'' on a collision course, telling the Doctor he will be the first man to die on the Moon. | |||
[[ | === Part three === | ||
Before Miss Petrov can take the landing module to [[Moonbase Eisenhower]], ''Vostok 8'' is caught in a [[force field]] and taken down to the surface. She and the Doctor find themselves in a bubble of breathable [[atmosphere]] which follows them as they head to the moonbase, the purpose of which is as a refuge for [[John F. Kennedy|the President]] and [[Jacqueline Kennedy|First Lady]] in the event of [[nuclear war]], and find the [[mummification|mummified]] corpse of [[Barney Schwarz]] outside. Inside, they are greeted by [[Pchyolka]] and [[Mushka]], for whom the Doctor expects his and Miss Petrov's larynxes and brains are intended. | |||
The animals surround the cosmodrome and return with Laika through the vents to make a nest in the laboratory. Peri and Leonid are caught watching them from the [[observation room]] by Laika, who captures them and reveals that her plan for humanity is for them to be farmed for organ harvesting to augment animals. Kozlov attacks and allows them to escape to General Leonov, but Laika captures him instead and removes his larynx and brain. | |||
The Doctor and Miss Petrov find a small manufactured [[black hole]] being used as a [[probe]] and, after testing it, the Doctor jumps into it. A consciousness communicates that it received Earth's transmissions and came to help, but it decided that humanity was not worthy of its help after learning of the [[Nazi]]s and finding Laika in space. It agrees to allow the Doctor and Miss Petrov to return to Earth in an American [[rocket]], ''[[Lincoln (1963: The Space Race)|Lincoln]]'', to give them a chance to prove that humanity is worth saving and they swiftly depart. | |||
Three days later, [[Paterson (The Space Race)|General Paterson]] of the US fires the [[A119]] [[nuclear missile]] at ''Lincoln'' with the permission of the President. General Leonov informs the Doctor, who is unable to perform any evasive manoeuvres due to low fuel and asks that the [[Kremlin]] get in contact with the President to have the missile strike called off. However, the Doctor realises that it is [[22 November]] [[1963]] in the US and that the President will soon be [[assassination|assassinated]]. | |||
. | === Part four === | ||
Kennedy is shot and the Doctor convinces Miss Petrov to reveal her identity as a spy for the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] to General Paterson to get him to detonate the A119 prematurely. After sharing a kiss with Leonid, Peri suggests to General Leonov that they put on spacesuits and release [[knockout gas]] into the air ducts to subdue the animals. The plan is enacted and Peri and Leonid leave the cosmodrome and collect the Doctor and Miss Petrov from the landed capsule, after which General Leonov sends them to a rocket silo on account of having learnt that Laika is awake and launching an attack there. | |||
The Doctor gets Leonid to drop him and Miss Petrov off at Mission Control and takes raw [[meat]] from the food store to lure the animals away. Peri and Leonid head to the rocket silo where Laika is preparing to use a nuclear warhead to wipe out the cosmodrome and put an end to the animal experimentation and weapons research. She has a [[rhesus monkey]] with the larynx of Captain Kozlov kill Leonid when he and Peri try to stop her and shoot General Leonov in the leg before going to finish him off, but they both fall. The warhead counts down and the Doctor arrives in the TARDIS, materialising it in mid-air to save himself from having to climb [[ladder]]s to reach Peri. | |||
Unable to stop the countdown because of a [[quadratic lock]], the Doctor gets Peri to jump with him into the TARDIS where he and Miss Petrov have lured all the animals. He materialises the TARDIS around the warhead and places it in a [[time dilation field]] in a storeroom to slow the countdown and give him time to take it to Moonbase Eisenhower. There, he jumps back into the black hole and uses the possibility of the animals' extinction to convince the intelligence to give them a new life with whomever sent it. The animals are taken away, including Pchyolka and Mushka, and Miss Petrov jumps into the black hole as well to avoid being executed by the KGB. | |||
The Doctor and Peri watch as Moonbase Eisenhower is destroyed by the warhead and then travel to [[July]] [[1969]] to watch [[Neil Armstrong]] land on the Moon. Whilst Peri sees it as a fake given that a number of other Americans had walked on the Moon before Armstrong, the Doctor points out that it is publicity stunt not only for mankind but for the rest of the universe as one never knows who might be listening. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
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* [[Peri Brown]] - [[Nicola Bryant]] | * [[Peri Brown]] - [[Nicola Bryant]] | ||
* [[Larisa Petrov]] - [[Karen Henson]] | * [[Larisa Petrov]] - [[Karen Henson]] | ||
* [[Mikhail Leonov|General Mikhail Leonov]]/[[Paterson (The Space Race)|General Paterson]] - [[David Shaw-Parker]] | * [[Mikhail-Leonov|General Mikhail-Leonov]] / [[Paterson (1963: The Space Race)|General Paterson]] - [[David Shaw-Parker]] | ||
* [[Alexei Kozlov|Captain Alexei Kozlov]]/[[Andrews (The Space Race)| | * [[Alexei Kozlov|Captain Alexei Kozlov]] / [[Andrews (1963: The Space Race)|Lieutenant Andrews]] - [[Tom Alexander]] | ||
* [[Leonid Kurakin|Sergeant Leonid Kurakin]]/[[Scientist (The Space Race)|Scientist]] - [[Stuart Denman]] | * [[Leonid Kurakin|Sergeant Leonid Kurakin]] / [[Scientist (1963: The Space Race)|Scientist]] - [[Stuart Denman]] | ||
* [[Marinka Talanov]]/[[Female worker (The Space Race)|Female Worker]]/[[Laika]] - [[Samantha Béart]] | * [[Marinka Talanov]] / [[Female worker (1963: The Space Race)|Female Worker]] / [[Laika]] - [[Sam Béart|Samantha Béart]] | ||
== Crew == | |||
* Cover Art - [[Anthony Lamb]] | |||
* Director - [[Nicholas Briggs]] | |||
* Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] | |||
* Music and Sound Design - [[Howard Carter (composer)|Howard Carter]] | |||
* Producer - [[David Richardson]] | |||
* Script Editor - [[Alan Barnes]] | |||
* Writer - [[Jonathan Morris]] | |||
== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
* Kalashnikov was born in [[1919]] while Pushkin was born in [[1940]]. | * Kalashnikov was born in [[1919]] while Pushkin was born in [[1940]]. | ||
* Peri refers to the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] as "the Soviet [[Cape Canaveral]]." | * Peri refers to the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] as "the Soviet [[Cape Canaveral]]." | ||
* Before travelling to the Moon on the Soviet lunar capsule, the Doctor tells Peri that he is far more qualified for space travel than [[Yuri Gagarin]]. | * Before travelling to the Moon on the Soviet lunar capsule, the Doctor tells Peri that he is far more qualified for space travel than [[Yuri Gagarin]]. | ||
* The [[United States of America|United States]] government has built | * The [[United States of America|United States]] government has built [[Moonbase Eisenhower|a moonbase]] on the far side of the Moon. It was named after former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. | ||
* | * Moonbase Eisenhower was designed to contain a viable minimum population. In the event of a [[nuclear war]], the plan was for its inhabitants to eventually return to [[Earth]] and rebuild [[human]] civilisation. | ||
* The Doctor refers to [[Stephen Hawking]]. | * The Doctor refers to [[Stephen Hawking]]. | ||
* The Doctor considers the [[1960s]] to be one of Earth's "most turbulent periods." | * The Doctor considers the [[1960s]] to be one of Earth's "most turbulent periods." | ||
[[ | * The [[A119]] is a [[nuclear missile]] developed to be fired at the Moon as a sign of strength. | ||
* According to the history books, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] was responsible for [[John F. Kennedy]]'s [[assassination]]. | |||
* The Doctor likens himself to [[Noah]]. | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* The Doctor and Petrov discover a human skeleton on the Moon. This is a reference to the urban legend which alleges that [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]] discovered a skeleton at the time of the ''[[Apollo 11]]'' moon landing on 20 July 1969.<ref>http://interestingthings.info/mildly-interesting/skeleton-on-the-moon.html</ref> | * The Doctor and Petrov discover a human skeleton on the Moon. This is a reference to the urban legend which alleges that [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]] discovered a skeleton at the time of the ''[[Apollo 11]]'' moon landing on 20 July 1969.<ref>http://interestingthings.info/mildly-interesting/skeleton-on-the-moon.html</ref> | ||
* This story was recorded on [[28 May (production)|28]] and [[29 May (production)|29 May]] 2013. | * This story was recorded on [[28 May (production)|28]] and [[29 May (production)|29 May]] [[2013 (production)|2013]] at [[the Moat Studios]]. | ||
== Gallery == | |||
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250"> | |||
The-space-race_cover.jpg|Original CD cover art. | |||
Space Race clean.jpg|Textless cover art. | |||
</gallery> | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
* The Doctor mentions that he once spent several months travelling across [[China]] with [[Marco Polo]] in [[1289]] after heating in [[the TARDIS]] broke down. ([[TV]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'') | * The Doctor mentions that he once spent several months travelling across [[China]] with [[Marco Polo]] in [[1289]] after heating in [[the TARDIS]] broke down. ([[TV]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'') | ||
* Peri tells Sgt. Kurakin that she is a [[vegetarianism|vegetarian]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)|The Eye of the Scorpion]]'') | * Peri tells Sgt. Kurakin that she is a [[vegetarianism|vegetarian]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)|The Eye of the Scorpion]]'') | ||
* Dr Petrov refers to the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in [[October]] [[1962]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Heart of TARDIS (novel)|Heart of TARDIS]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963 (audio story)|1963]]'') | * Dr Petrov refers to the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in [[October]] [[1962]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Heart of TARDIS (novel)|Heart of TARDIS]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963 (audio story)|1963]]'') | ||
* According to another account, Laika died in space. The [[Third Doctor]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] buried her on [[Quiescia]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'') | * According to another account, Laika died in space. The [[Third Doctor]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] buried her on [[Quiescia]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'') | ||
* The Doctor refers to the [[Kennedy | * The Doctor refers to the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] of U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] allegedly by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]] on [[22 November]] [[1963]]. He tells Petrov that he has always intended to travel back and witness the assassination. He would later do so during his [[Ninth Doctor|ninth incarnation]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Who Killed Kennedy (novel)|Who Killed Kennedy]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'') The [[Eighth Doctor]] once claimed that he had been accused of the assassination. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]'') | ||
* Peri refers to the [[Apollo 11]] moon landing on [[20 July]] [[1969]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', ''[[The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)|The Impossible Astronaut]]'' / ''[[Day of the Moon (TV story)|Day of the Moon]]'') | * Peri refers to the [[Apollo 11]] moon landing on [[20 July]] [[1969]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'', ''[[The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)|The Impossible Astronaut]]'' / ''[[Day of the Moon (TV story)|Day of the Moon]]'') During a previous visit to Earth's moon, the Doctor rejected the idea of visiting the landing site in [[1872]], due to the historical damage a previous expedition would cause. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The First Sontarans (audio story)|The First Sontarans]]'') | ||
* While the Doctor was returning to the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the US Rocket Lincoln on [[23 November]] [[1963]], eight other versions of him were present in [[England]] on the same day. One of these was another version of the Sixth Doctor, who was likewise travelling with Peri. Over the course of two hours, the [[First Doctor|First]], [[Second Doctor|Second]], [[Third Doctor|Third]], [[Fourth Doctor|Fourth]], [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]], Sixth, [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]] and [[Eighth Doctor]]s and their respective companions [[Susan Foreman]], [[Ian Chesterton]], [[Barbara Wright]], [[Jamie McCrimmon]], [[Zoe Heriot]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Leela]], [[Nyssa]], Peri, [[Ace]] and [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] all visited [[Bob Dovie]] at [[59A Barnsfield Crescent]] in [[Totton]], [[Hampshire]], much to his annoyance. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]'') | * While the Doctor was returning to the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the US Rocket Lincoln on [[23 November]] [[1963]], eight other versions of him were present in [[England]] on the same day. One of these was another version of the Sixth Doctor, who was likewise travelling with Peri. Over the course of two hours, the [[First Doctor|First]], [[Second Doctor|Second]], [[Third Doctor|Third]], [[Fourth Doctor|Fourth]], [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]], Sixth, [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]] and [[Eighth Doctor]]s and their respective companions [[Susan Foreman]], [[Ian Chesterton]], [[Barbara Wright]], [[Jamie McCrimmon]], [[Zoe Heriot]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[Leela]], [[Nyssa]], Peri, [[Ace]] and [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] all visited [[Bob Dovie]] at [[59A Barnsfield Crescent]] in [[Totton]], [[Hampshire]], much to his annoyance. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]'') | ||
* Aside from visiting Bob Dovie in Hampshire, the Seventh Doctor would return to November 1963 on three subsequent occasions. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Algebra of Ice (novel)|The Algebra of Ice]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963: The Assassination Games (audio story)|1963: The Assassination Games]]'') | * Aside from visiting Bob Dovie in Hampshire, the Seventh Doctor would return to November 1963 on three subsequent occasions. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]''; [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Algebra of Ice (novel)|The Algebra of Ice]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963: The Assassination Games (audio story)|1963: The Assassination Games]]'') | ||
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== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{bigfinish|releases/v/1963-the-space-race-717|1963: The Space Race}} | |||
{{BFA monthly}} | {{BFA monthly}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[ | [[ru:1963: Космическая гонка]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in 1963]] | [[Category:Stories set in 1963]] | ||
[[Category:Audio stories set on the Moon]] | [[Category:Audio stories set on the Moon]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set on 23 November]] | [[Category:Stories set on 23 November]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in the Soviet Union]] | [[Category:Stories set in the Soviet Union]] | ||
[[Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell Doctor | [[Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell theme]] | ||
[[Category:Sixth Doctor Main Range audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:2013 Main Range audio stories]] | |||
Latest revision as of 03:20, 22 October 2024
- You may wish to consult
1963 (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
1963: The Space Race was the one hundred and seventy-ninth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.
This was the second story in the 1963 audio trilogy celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
November 1963, and the Soviet space programme reigns supreme. Having sent the first animals, then the first men beyond Earth's atmosphere, now they're sending a manned capsule into orbit around the Moon.
Just as Vostok Seven passes over into the dark side, however, its life support system fails. Only the intervention of the Sixth Doctor and Peri, adopting the identities of scientists from Moscow University, means that contact with the capsule is regained.
But something has happened to the cosmonaut on board. She appears to have lost her memory, and developed extreme claustrophobia. Maybe she's not quite as human as she used to be...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
The TARDIS materialises in a desert and is unable to leave because of the broken temperature circuit, upon which the navigational circuits depend. The Doctor and Peri investigate a crashed Jeep a mile away and find the bodies of three Soviets with gunshot wounds inside; their ID papers identify two of them as physician Khristina Pushkin and astrophysicist Grigori Kalashnikov of Moscow University, but the third, a woman, does not have any papers. The Doctor takes two of their coats and he and Peri avoid the explosion of a bomb hidden beneath one of the seats, apparently put there to cover up the shootings.
When Sergeant Leonid Kurakin finds the Doctor and Peri and mistakes them for Pushkin and Kalashnikov, whom Captain Kozlov is expecting, the two travellers take on their identities and claim that they were the only two in the Jeep when it caught fire. The Doctor realises that they are in 1960s Kazakhstan when he learns of their destination, the secret Baikonur Cosmodrome, where General Leonov and Miss Petrov have lost contact with Marinka Talanov since Vostok 7's orbit took it to the dark side of the Moon.
Baikonur is receiving transceiver feedback, however, so the Doctor has them send high-pitched feedback to stir Talanov from unconsciousness and they find that she has no memory of her identity or where she is. The Doctor believes that she is suffering from a stress-related dissociative disorder and manages to calm her down before demanding her return to Earth, which he spends the next three days helping with whilst using the facilities to make a new temperature circuit. The process of bringing Talanov back, however, is complicated by her having lost her autobiographical memories and having difficulty remembering colours.
Peri is left a note by the inquisitive Leonid as he leaves her for guard duty and follows the directions to the restricted Research Area 4 where Kozlov reveals that he knows her and the Doctor to be impostors. He contacted the KGB after learning that somebody, whom he later realised was his lover Valentina Cherlin, was passing along information on a prototype lunar landing module to an enemy agent, but Valentina disappeared before Peri and the Doctor arrived. Peri is called away when the Vostok capsule returns and the Doctor watches as a dog in a spacesuit steps out instead of Talanov; he recognises the dog as Laika.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
General Leonov has Laika isolated and examined by Miss Petrov, explicitly forbidding the Doctor from speaking with her. The Doctor and Peri deduce that Valentina was the third woman in the Jeep and that she was killed by the agent she was feeding information as part of a cover-up. Upon learning that General Leonov intends to have Laika euthanised, Miss Petrov presents the Doctor with X-rays showing that Laika's brain has been surgically altered and that she has Talanov's larynx, explaining how she can speak and why her voice was mistaken for Talanov's. He also spots what he believes is a flying saucer in a photograph of the dark side of the Moon.
Peri gets access to Laika thanks to Kozlov and carries her out when she promises to give an explanation to the Doctor, but Laika attacks her and releases the caged animals held in the testing facility before escaping with them through the ducts. The Doctor and Miss Petrov head into space in Vostok 8 to investigate the dark side of the Moon whilst Laika kills several soldiers in Kazakhstan. Peri tries to track her down with Leonid, who believes he knows that Peri is a KGB agent and gives her Valentina's diary, given to him to pass on to the KGB if anything happened to her.
The diary does not name the enemy agent, but Peri deduces from Valentina's distaste for having an affair with Kozlov because of his gender that it is Miss Petrov. Peri and Leonid are surrounded by Laika and her animals on their way to Mission Control to expose Miss Petrov. Laika agrees to let Peri go because of how she helped her, but she refuses to let Leonid go and he is only saved from being taken away by the timely arrival of Kozlov.
Vostok 8 enters lunar orbit and the Doctor uses a telescope to view what he thought was a flying saucer, which he finds is actually a US lunar base. Pulling a gun on him, Miss Petrov admits that Vostok 7 was sabotaged to keep the moonbase from being discovered by the Soviets and burns all the fuel to set Vostok 7 on a collision course, telling the Doctor he will be the first man to die on the Moon.
Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]
Before Miss Petrov can take the landing module to Moonbase Eisenhower, Vostok 8 is caught in a force field and taken down to the surface. She and the Doctor find themselves in a bubble of breathable atmosphere which follows them as they head to the moonbase, the purpose of which is as a refuge for the President and First Lady in the event of nuclear war, and find the mummified corpse of Barney Schwarz outside. Inside, they are greeted by Pchyolka and Mushka, for whom the Doctor expects his and Miss Petrov's larynxes and brains are intended.
The animals surround the cosmodrome and return with Laika through the vents to make a nest in the laboratory. Peri and Leonid are caught watching them from the observation room by Laika, who captures them and reveals that her plan for humanity is for them to be farmed for organ harvesting to augment animals. Kozlov attacks and allows them to escape to General Leonov, but Laika captures him instead and removes his larynx and brain.
The Doctor and Miss Petrov find a small manufactured black hole being used as a probe and, after testing it, the Doctor jumps into it. A consciousness communicates that it received Earth's transmissions and came to help, but it decided that humanity was not worthy of its help after learning of the Nazis and finding Laika in space. It agrees to allow the Doctor and Miss Petrov to return to Earth in an American rocket, Lincoln, to give them a chance to prove that humanity is worth saving and they swiftly depart.
Three days later, General Paterson of the US fires the A119 nuclear missile at Lincoln with the permission of the President. General Leonov informs the Doctor, who is unable to perform any evasive manoeuvres due to low fuel and asks that the Kremlin get in contact with the President to have the missile strike called off. However, the Doctor realises that it is 22 November 1963 in the US and that the President will soon be assassinated.
Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]
Kennedy is shot and the Doctor convinces Miss Petrov to reveal her identity as a spy for the Defense Intelligence Agency to General Paterson to get him to detonate the A119 prematurely. After sharing a kiss with Leonid, Peri suggests to General Leonov that they put on spacesuits and release knockout gas into the air ducts to subdue the animals. The plan is enacted and Peri and Leonid leave the cosmodrome and collect the Doctor and Miss Petrov from the landed capsule, after which General Leonov sends them to a rocket silo on account of having learnt that Laika is awake and launching an attack there.
The Doctor gets Leonid to drop him and Miss Petrov off at Mission Control and takes raw meat from the food store to lure the animals away. Peri and Leonid head to the rocket silo where Laika is preparing to use a nuclear warhead to wipe out the cosmodrome and put an end to the animal experimentation and weapons research. She has a rhesus monkey with the larynx of Captain Kozlov kill Leonid when he and Peri try to stop her and shoot General Leonov in the leg before going to finish him off, but they both fall. The warhead counts down and the Doctor arrives in the TARDIS, materialising it in mid-air to save himself from having to climb ladders to reach Peri.
Unable to stop the countdown because of a quadratic lock, the Doctor gets Peri to jump with him into the TARDIS where he and Miss Petrov have lured all the animals. He materialises the TARDIS around the warhead and places it in a time dilation field in a storeroom to slow the countdown and give him time to take it to Moonbase Eisenhower. There, he jumps back into the black hole and uses the possibility of the animals' extinction to convince the intelligence to give them a new life with whomever sent it. The animals are taken away, including Pchyolka and Mushka, and Miss Petrov jumps into the black hole as well to avoid being executed by the KGB.
The Doctor and Peri watch as Moonbase Eisenhower is destroyed by the warhead and then travel to July 1969 to watch Neil Armstrong land on the Moon. Whilst Peri sees it as a fake given that a number of other Americans had walked on the Moon before Armstrong, the Doctor points out that it is publicity stunt not only for mankind but for the rest of the universe as one never knows who might be listening.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
- Larisa Petrov - Karen Henson
- General Mikhail-Leonov / General Paterson - David Shaw-Parker
- Captain Alexei Kozlov / Lieutenant Andrews - Tom Alexander
- Sergeant Leonid Kurakin / Scientist - Stuart Denman
- Marinka Talanov / Female Worker / Laika - Samantha Béart
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Anthony Lamb
- Director - Nicholas Briggs
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Howard Carter
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Jonathan Morris
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Kalashnikov was born in 1919 while Pushkin was born in 1940.
- Peri refers to the Baikonur Cosmodrome as "the Soviet Cape Canaveral."
- Before travelling to the Moon on the Soviet lunar capsule, the Doctor tells Peri that he is far more qualified for space travel than Yuri Gagarin.
- The United States government has built a moonbase on the far side of the Moon. It was named after former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Moonbase Eisenhower was designed to contain a viable minimum population. In the event of a nuclear war, the plan was for its inhabitants to eventually return to Earth and rebuild human civilisation.
- The Doctor refers to Stephen Hawking.
- The Doctor considers the 1960s to be one of Earth's "most turbulent periods."
- The A119 is a nuclear missile developed to be fired at the Moon as a sign of strength.
- According to the history books, Lee Harvey Oswald was responsible for John F. Kennedy's assassination.
- The Doctor likens himself to Noah.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor and Petrov discover a human skeleton on the Moon. This is a reference to the urban legend which alleges that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin discovered a skeleton at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing on 20 July 1969.[1]
- This story was recorded on 28 and 29 May 2013 at the Moat Studios.
Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
Original CD cover art.
Textless cover art.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor mentions that he once spent several months travelling across China with Marco Polo in 1289 after heating in the TARDIS broke down. (TV: Marco Polo)
- Peri tells Sgt. Kurakin that she is a vegetarian. (TV: The Two Doctors, AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion)
- Dr Petrov refers to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. (PROSE: Heart of TARDIS; AUDIO: 1963)
- According to another account, Laika died in space. The Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith buried her on Quiescia. (PROSE: Alien Bodies)
- The Doctor refers to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963. He tells Petrov that he has always intended to travel back and witness the assassination. He would later do so during his ninth incarnation. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy, TV: Rose) The Eighth Doctor once claimed that he had been accused of the assassination. (AUDIO: Zagreus)
- Peri refers to the Apollo 11 moon landing on 20 July 1969. (TV: Blink, The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon) During a previous visit to Earth's moon, the Doctor rejected the idea of visiting the landing site in 1872, due to the historical damage a previous expedition would cause. (AUDIO: The First Sontarans)
- While the Doctor was returning to the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the US Rocket Lincoln on 23 November 1963, eight other versions of him were present in England on the same day. One of these was another version of the Sixth Doctor, who was likewise travelling with Peri. Over the course of two hours, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors and their respective companions Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot, Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, Nyssa, Peri, Ace and Charley Pollard all visited Bob Dovie at 59A Barnsfield Crescent in Totton, Hampshire, much to his annoyance. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
- Aside from visiting Bob Dovie in Hampshire, the Seventh Doctor would return to November 1963 on three subsequent occasions. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks; PROSE: The Algebra of Ice; AUDIO: 1963: The Assassination Games)
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official 1963: The Space Race page at bigfinish.com
