The Land of the Dead (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image=Land revised.jpg
|image           = Land revised.jpg
|range          = Main Range
|range          = Main Range
|number in range = 4
|number in range = 4
|series=[[Main Range]]
|series         = ''[[Main Range]]''
|number= 4  
|number         = 4
|doctor=Fifth Doctor  
|doctor         = Fifth Doctor
|companions= [[Nyssa]]  
|companions     = [[Nyssa]]
|enemy= [[Permian]]s, [[Shaun Brett]]
|enemy           = [[Permian]]s
|setting= [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]], [[1964]] and [[1994]]  
|setting         = [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]], [[1964]] and [[1994]]
|writer= [[Stephen Cole]]
|writer         = Stephen Cole
|director= [[Gary Russell]]  
|director       = [[Gary Russell]]
|producer= [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]], [[Gary Russell]]  
|producer       = [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]], [[Gary Russell]]
|publisher= Big Finish Productions  
|music          = [[Nicholas Briggs]]
|release date= [[January (releases)|January]] [[2000 (releases)|2000]]
|sound          = Nicholas Briggs
|format= 4 Episodes on 2 CDs  
|cover          = [[Peri Godbold]]
|production code= 6C/A
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|isbn= ISBN 1-84435-064-9  
|release date   = January 2000
|trailer={{StoryTitle}}.ogg
|format         = 2 CDs<br/>2 cassettes<br/>Download
|prev= Whispers of Terror (audio story)  
|production code = [[List of production codes#Big Finish production codes|6C/A]]
|next= The Fearmonger (audio story)
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-84435-064-3 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-84435-682-9 (digital)
}}'''''The Land of the Dead''''' was the fourth story in [[Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|monthly range]]. It was written by [[Stephen Cole]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]]
|prev           = Whispers of Terror (audio story)
|next           = The Fearmonger (audio story)
|epcount = 4
}}{{You may|Doctor Who and the Land of the Dead (in-universe)|n1=the story as it exists within the DWU}}
{{spotify|album=1mE2XEiVfX5gIa3HBkaf5E|height=350}}
'''''The Land of the Dead''''' was the fourth story in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s [[Main Range|main range]]. It was written by [[Stephen Cole]] and featured [[Peter Davison]] as the [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Sutton]] as [[Nyssa]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 30: Line 35:


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
It's 1964, briefly at least, and the [[Fifth Doctor]] has just recently left [[Tegan Jovanka]] at [[Heathrow Airport]] in the wake of [[Adric]]'s untimely death. Travelling alone with [[Nyssa]], he materialises [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] in the icy north of [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]]. The TARDIS seems to have a mind of its own, locking in on an odd energy source and disappearing back into the time vortex; it rematerialises in the same location, but thirty years in the future, in 1994. Here it does land, and the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves chased by a dangerous creature across the tundra to an unusual house and an odd group of individuals.


It’s 1964, briefly at least, and the Fifth Doctor has just recently left Tegan Jovanka at Heathrow Airport in the wake of Adric’s untimely death. Travelling alone with Nyssa, he materialises the TARDIS in the icy north of Alaska. The TARDIS seems to have a mind of its own, locking in on an odd energy source and disappearing back into the vortex; it rematerialises in the same location, but thirty years in the future, in 1994.  Here it does land, and the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves chased by a dangerous creature across the tundra to an unusual house and an odd group of individuals.
Multi-millionaire Shaun Brett has made a fortune in Alaskan oil, but at a price: the death of his father in 1964. He is now building and furnishing the house—sourced from local materials, which is a desecration in the eyes of the local natives—as a shrine to his father's memory. He is matched with Tulung, a half-[[Koyukon]] native hired by Brett to liaise with the locals, whose father died in the same incident as Brett's father. Each blames the other's father for the tragedy. Brett is assisted by Gaborik, another Kolyukon, who is secretly sabotaging the work so as to ensure his own continued employment and is also stealing pelts from the house to sell. Also on site is Monica Lewis, an interior designer who has been working at the site for three years, crafting the interior of the house.


Multi-millionaire Shaun Brett has made a fortune in Alaskan oil, but at a price: the death of his father in 1964.  He is now building and furnishing the house—sourced from local materials, which is a desecration in the eyes of the local natives—as a shrine to his father’s memory.  He is matched with Tulung, a half-[[Koyukon]] native hired by Brett to liaise with the locals, whose father died in the same incident as Brett’s father. Each blames the other’s father for the tragedy.  Brett is assisted by Gaborik, another Kolyukon, who is secretly sabotaging the work so as to ensure his own continued employment and is also stealing pelts from the house to sell. Also on site is Monica Lewis, an interior designer who has been working at the site for three years, crafting the interior of the house.
The creatures—for there are more than one—are found to consist of only bone, and ancient, mostly-fossilised bone at that. They are held together by a bio-electric field, which seems also to be their weapon, as it exerts damaging effects on the minds of those around it—especially Nyssa, who seems to be particularly harmed, although not controlled by the effect. The Doctor determines that the creatures are much older than the dinosaurs, although still somehow living; they date, in fact, to the Permian era, and thus he nicknames them "Permians". Further, they consume sources of energy, including living beings, as revealed when one of them manages to kill and devour Gaborik.


The creatures—for there are more than one—are found to consist of only bone, and ancient, mostly-fossilised bone at that. They are held together by a bio-electric field, which seems also to be their weapon, as it exerts damaging effects on the minds of those around it—especially Nyssa, who seems to be particularly harmed, although not controlled by the effect.  The Doctor determines that the creatures are much older than the dinosaurs, although still somehow living; they date, in fact, to the Permian era, and thus he nicknames them “Permians”. Further, they consume sources of energy, including living beings, as revealed when one of them manages to kill and devour Gaborik.
The situation devolves, as Brett and Tulung each try to confirm their own version of history—and discover that Nyssa, somehow, was there, when she identifies the plane she witnessed in 1964. With the Permians' electric field affecting his mind, Tulung decides that Nyssa is supernaturally powerful, and kidnaps her to protect himself and Brett from the creatures as they make their way to the site of their fathers' deaths. Once there, Tulung discovers the truth: That their fathers unearthed a Permian and were attacked—but that Brett's father fled in the plane Nyssa witnessed and left Tulung's father to die. He defeated the Permian but died in the process, and his remains are still on the ground inside the dig site. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Monica are forced to battle the monsters in the house and escape via a shortcut, arriving at the dig site.


The situation devolves, as Brett and Tulung each try to confirm their own version of history—and discover that Nyssa, somehow, was there, when she identifies the plane she witnessed in 1964.  With the Permians’ electric field affecting his mind, Tulung decides that Nyssa is supernaturally powerful, and kidnaps her to protect himself and Brett from the creatures as they make their way to the site of their fathers’ deaths.  Once there, Tulung discovers the truth:  That their fathers unearthed a Permian and were attacked—but that Brett’s father fled in the plane Nyssa witnessed and left Tulung’s father to die.  He defeated the Permian but died in the process, and his remains are still on the ground inside the dig site.  Meanwhile, the Doctor and Monica are forced to battle the monsters in the house and escape via a shortcut, arriving at the dig site.
Brett refuses to believe the truth about his father and attempts to destroy the Permians with dynamite, sacrificing himself in the process. However, the attempt reveals that they are vulnerable to fire. The Doctor and the others rig the house to burn, then trap the creatures inside and burn it to the ground. With the threat eliminated, Monica and Tulung—now free of the field's influence—leave in the site's transport, and the Doctor and Nyssa depart in the TARDIS.
 
Brett refuses to believe the truth about his father and attempts to destroy the Permians with dynamite, sacrificing himself in the process. However, the attempt reveals that they are vulnerable to fire. The Doctor and the others rig the house to burn, then trap the creatures inside and burn it to the ground. With the threat eliminated, Monica and Tulung—now free of the field’s influence—leave in the site’s transport, and the Doctor and Nyssa depart in the TARDIS.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 50: Line 54:
* [[Gaborik]] - [[Andrew Fettes]]
* [[Gaborik]] - [[Andrew Fettes]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Peri Godbold]]
* Director - [[Gary Russell]]
* Writer & Executive Producer - [[Stephen Cole]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and Gary Russell
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor notes, a little defensively, that several elements of [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] are not working quite as well as they should, particularly the visual sensors and audio circuits.
* The Doctor notes, a little defensively, that several elements of [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] are not working quite as well as they should, particularly the visual sensors and audio circuits.
* Tulung was born in Alaska in [[1954]] to an [[archaeologist]] from [[Colorado]] and a [[Koyukon]] woman.
* Tulung was born in Alaska in [[1954]] to an [[archaeologist]] from [[Colorado]] and a [[Koyukon]] woman.
Line 56: Line 68:


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* The cover image shows an adapted image of {{w|Joseph Merrick}}'s skull.
[[File:Brett's Monument - The Land of the Dead CD inlay.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Map of Brett's Monument ground floor featured in the CD inlay.]]
* The inner pamphlet includes a map of the base.
* The cover image shows an adapted image of [[Joseph Merrick]]'s skull.
* This is one of the few [[Big Finish Productions]] audios to be originally released on cassette tape as well as on CD.
* The inner pamphlet includes a map of the base, designed to help the listener to follow the action.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 July (production)|24]] and [[25 July (production)|25 July]] [[1999 (production)|1999]].
* According to [[Stephen Cole]]'s note in the [[Big Finish CD booklets|CD inside cover]], the setting was inspired by the Inuit myth of Sedna the sea spirit.
* Set in the direct wake of [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]'s abrupt departure in ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'', this was one of earliest stories, chronologically speaking, in the main range.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 July (production)|24]] and [[25 July (production)|25 July]] [[1999 (production)|1999]] at [[The Nu Groove Studios|Nu Groove Studios]].
* This is the first Big Finish audio release of the 21st century.
* It is further notable for being one of only two performed ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stories set in [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]], the other being the audio story ''[[Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (audio story)|Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge]]''.
* It is further notable for being one of only two performed ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stories set in [[Alaska (state)|Alaska]], the other being the audio story ''[[Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (audio story)|Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge]]''.
* This story is set between ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'' and ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]''. Dialogue suggests it takes place shortly after the events of ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]''.
* Unusually for a Fifth Doctor story, this uses the [[Delia Derbyshire]] arrangement of the theme music rather than the [[Peter Howell]] arrangement.


=== Cover gallery ===
== Cover gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
The Land of the Dead cassette cover with cassettes.jpg|Cassette cover with cassettes
The Land of the Dead cassette cover with cassettes.jpg|Cassette cover with cassettes
Line 71: Line 86:


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* [[Tegan Jovanka]] recently departed the TARDIS during a brief return to [[Heathrow Airport]] in [[1982]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'')
* [[Tegan Jovanka]] recently departed the TARDIS during a brief return to [[Heathrow Airport]] in [[1982]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Time-Flight (TV story)}})
* The [[Seventh Doctor]] would visit Alaska again in [[1934]] in the company of [[Ace]] and [[Hex]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (audio story)|Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge]]'')
* The [[Seventh Doctor]] would visit Alaska again in [[1934]] in the company of [[Ace]] and [[Hex]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge (audio story)}})
* The Doctor mentions the extinction of the dinosaurs. [[Nyssa]] replies that the two of them know more about it than most. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Earthshock (TV story)}})
* Nyssa refers to [[Traken]]'s destruction. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Logopolis (TV story)}})
* When chatting to Tulung about the death of his father, Nyssa tells him that she can relate to losing a father. Nyssa's father [[Tremas]] was killed by [[Tremas Master|the Master]], who took over Tremas' body in order to replace his own decaying body, while on the planet [[Traken]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Keeper of Traken (TV story)}}) Nyssa later found out about this on the planet [[Logopolis]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Logopolis (TV story)}})
* The [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Donna Noble|Donna]] would later encounter another animated dinosaur skeleton, this time controlled by the [[Fumifugium]], in [[London]] during the [[Great Smog of London|Great Smog]] in [[1952]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Creeping Death (audio story)}})


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/the-land-of-the-dead-622}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/the-land-of-the-dead-622}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf04.htm|The Land of the Dead}}
{{dwrefguide|who_bf04.htm|The Land of the Dead}}
* {{tetrap|5/land.html|The Land of the Dead}}
{{tetrap|5/land.html|The Land of the Dead}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{BFA monthly}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]
[[Category:2000 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1964]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1964]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1994]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1994]]
[[Category:Stories set in Alaska]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]]
[[Category:Audio stories that use Delia Derbyshire's 2nd theme]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor Main Range audio stories]]
[[Category:2000 Main Range audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 23:11, 17 November 2024

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The Land of the Dead was the fourth story in Big Finish's main range. It was written by Stephen Cole and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

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

Landing in Alaska, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter a group of people in a most unusual house, cut off not only by the harsh climate but by their individual secrets and obsessions.

Millionaire Shaun Brett is utilising chunks of the local area to construct a shrine to his dead father. But when deadly creatures start roaming outside, and a terrifying discovery is made inside the house, the Doctor realises that Brett has unleashed an unimaginably ancient force.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

It's 1964, briefly at least, and the Fifth Doctor has just recently left Tegan Jovanka at Heathrow Airport in the wake of Adric's untimely death. Travelling alone with Nyssa, he materialises the TARDIS in the icy north of Alaska. The TARDIS seems to have a mind of its own, locking in on an odd energy source and disappearing back into the time vortex; it rematerialises in the same location, but thirty years in the future, in 1994. Here it does land, and the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves chased by a dangerous creature across the tundra to an unusual house and an odd group of individuals.

Multi-millionaire Shaun Brett has made a fortune in Alaskan oil, but at a price: the death of his father in 1964. He is now building and furnishing the house—sourced from local materials, which is a desecration in the eyes of the local natives—as a shrine to his father's memory. He is matched with Tulung, a half-Koyukon native hired by Brett to liaise with the locals, whose father died in the same incident as Brett's father. Each blames the other's father for the tragedy. Brett is assisted by Gaborik, another Kolyukon, who is secretly sabotaging the work so as to ensure his own continued employment and is also stealing pelts from the house to sell. Also on site is Monica Lewis, an interior designer who has been working at the site for three years, crafting the interior of the house.

The creatures—for there are more than one—are found to consist of only bone, and ancient, mostly-fossilised bone at that. They are held together by a bio-electric field, which seems also to be their weapon, as it exerts damaging effects on the minds of those around it—especially Nyssa, who seems to be particularly harmed, although not controlled by the effect. The Doctor determines that the creatures are much older than the dinosaurs, although still somehow living; they date, in fact, to the Permian era, and thus he nicknames them "Permians". Further, they consume sources of energy, including living beings, as revealed when one of them manages to kill and devour Gaborik.

The situation devolves, as Brett and Tulung each try to confirm their own version of history—and discover that Nyssa, somehow, was there, when she identifies the plane she witnessed in 1964. With the Permians' electric field affecting his mind, Tulung decides that Nyssa is supernaturally powerful, and kidnaps her to protect himself and Brett from the creatures as they make their way to the site of their fathers' deaths. Once there, Tulung discovers the truth: That their fathers unearthed a Permian and were attacked—but that Brett's father fled in the plane Nyssa witnessed and left Tulung's father to die. He defeated the Permian but died in the process, and his remains are still on the ground inside the dig site. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Monica are forced to battle the monsters in the house and escape via a shortcut, arriving at the dig site.

Brett refuses to believe the truth about his father and attempts to destroy the Permians with dynamite, sacrificing himself in the process. However, the attempt reveals that they are vulnerable to fire. The Doctor and the others rig the house to burn, then trap the creatures inside and burn it to the ground. With the threat eliminated, Monica and Tulung—now free of the field's influence—leave in the site's transport, and the Doctor and Nyssa depart in the TARDIS.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor notes, a little defensively, that several elements of the TARDIS are not working quite as well as they should, particularly the visual sensors and audio circuits.
  • Tulung was born in Alaska in 1954 to an archaeologist from Colorado and a Koyukon woman.
  • Shaun Brett has stocked his artificial habitat with sea lions.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Map of Brett's Monument ground floor featured in the CD inlay.

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Cassette cover with cassettes

    Cassette cover with cassettes

  • Original CD cover art

    Original CD cover art

  • Revised CD cover art

    Revised CD cover art

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

v • e
Big Finish Main Range
 
Fifth Doctor
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan
Nyssa
Nyssa, Brewster
Nyssa, Hannah
Nyssa, Tegan
Nyssa, Tegan, Marc
Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough
Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion
Tegan, Leela
Turlough
Peri
Peri, Erimem
Amy
Vicki, Steven
Solo travels
 
Sixth Doctor
Peri
Evelyn
Evelyn, Brewster
Frobisher
Charley
"Jamie"
Flip
Constance
Constance, Flip
Mel
Jamie, Zoe
Solo travels
 
Seventh Doctor
Mel
Ace
Ace, Hex
Ace, Benny
Sally
Ace, Hex, Lysandra, Sally
Ace, Hex, Sally
Ace, Mel
Mags
Klein
Klein, Will
Jo
Solo travels
 
Eighth Doctor
Mary Shelley
Charley
Charley, C'rizz
Solo & other travels
All stories from Big Finish Productions' main monthly range from 1999 to 2021 are included in this navigation box, including the "subscriber exclusive" stories which were part of the subscription service for this range.
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