Sympathy for the Devil (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|image = Sympathy for the Devil front cover.jpg | |image = Sympathy for the Devil front cover.jpg | ||
|range = Doctor Who Unbound | |range = Doctor Who Unbound | ||
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
|series = ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' | |series = ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' | ||
|number = 2 | |number = 2 | ||
|doctor = | |doctor = Unbound Doctor | ||
| | |companions = [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Unbound Universe)|Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]] | ||
|enemy = [[ | |enemy = [[Unbound Master]], [[Ke Le Division]]s | ||
|setting = [[ | |setting = [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]], [[30 June]]-[[1 July]] [[1997]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Jonathan Clements | ||
|director = [[Gary Russell]] | |director = [[Gary Russell]] | ||
|sound = [[Gareth Jenkins]] @ [[ERS]] | |sound = [[Gareth Jenkins (sound designer)|Gareth Jenkins]] @ [[ERS]] | ||
|music = [[Andy Hardwick]] @ [[ERS]] | |music = [[Andy Hardwick]] @ [[ERS]] | ||
|cover = [[Clayton Hickman]] | |cover = [[Clayton Hickman]] | ||
|publisher = Big Finish Productions | |publisher = Big Finish Productions | ||
|release date = | |release date = 16 June 2003 | ||
|format = 1 CD | |format = 1 CD<br/>Download | ||
|production code = DWUN02 | |production code = DWUN02 | ||
|isbn = ISBN 1-84435-013- | |isbn = ISBN 978-1-84435-013-1 | ||
|prev = Auld Mortality (audio story) | |prev = Auld Mortality (audio story) | ||
|next = Full Fathom Five (audio story) | |next = Full Fathom Five (audio story) | ||
|producer = [[John Ainsworth]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] | |||
|epcount = 1 | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the second ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' audio story produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It featured [[David Warner]] as [[ | '''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the second ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' audio story produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It featured [[David Warner]] as the [[Unbound Doctor]] with [[Nicholas Courtney]] as the retired [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Unbound Universe)|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]. | ||
This story was set post-''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'', though in an [[Unbound Universe|alternate universe]] where the Doctor was exiled to Earth in 1997 instead of the 1970s. The universe of this story and its sequel, ''[[Masters of War (audio story)|Masters of War]]'', crossed over with the "mainstream" [[Doctor Who universe]] in the later release ''[[The Unbound Universe (audio anthology)|The Unbound Universe]]''. | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
''What if...the Doctor had not been UNIT's scientific advisor?'' | ''What if...the Doctor had not been [[UNIT]]'s scientific advisor?'' | ||
[[1997]]... and a lone [[exile]] arrives on [[Earth ( | [[1997]]... and a lone [[exile]] arrives on [[Earth (Unbound Universe)|Earth]], years later than planned. | ||
On the eve of the Handover, an advanced Chinese stealth bomber crashes in the hills above Hong Kong. The discredited [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce ( | On the eve of the Handover, an advanced Chinese stealth bomber crashes in the hills above [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]]. The discredited [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (Unbound Universe)|United Nations Intelligence Taskforce]] has just 24 hours to steal the technology, rescue the passenger and flee to international waters. | ||
Down by the [[harbour]], there's big trouble in [[Little England]] — a [[bar]] owned by an [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart ( | Down by the [[harbour]], there's big trouble in [[The Little England|Little England]] — a [[Pub|bar]] owned by an [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Unbound Universe)|old soldier]] who simply wants to forget the past. But an ancient evil is stirring in a place of peace. | ||
[[ | [[Unbound Doctor|The Doctor]] finds a world on the brink of terror. A world that has lived without him for years. A world that is frighteningly like our own... | ||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
After being put on trial by the [[Time Lord ( | After being put [[The Doctor's trial (The War Games)|on trial]] by the [[Time Lord (Unbound Universe)|Time Lords]], [[Unbound Doctor|the Doctor]] was [[Exile on Earth|exiled to Earth]]. He was meant to arrive in [[England]] in the [[1970s]] but instead, he finds himself in [[1997]] [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]], on the night of the handover to [[China|Chinese]] control. | ||
Finding his old friend, [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart ( | Finding his old friend, [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Unbound Universe)|the Brigadier]], the Doctor discovers the dark turn [[Earth (Unbound Universe)|Earth]] has taken as a result of his absence since [[1968]]. Without the Doctor's expertise to deal with the many extra-normal attacks over the decades, the [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (Unbound Universe)|U.N.I.T.]] project failed, and the Brigadier was discharged due to resorting to destructive means to stop the various disasters, means that erased any evidence he could have provided to his superiors. As the two talk, an invisible plane crashes into the nearby mountain. | ||
The Doctor and the Brigadier approach the mountain, looking for Ling, one of Alistair's employees. Ling and Adam | The Doctor and the Brigadier approach the mountain, looking for [[Ling]], one of Alistair's employees. Trekking up the hill, Ling and [[Adam (Unbound Universe)|Adam]] arrive in time to see the plane's cloaking device fail and its delirious pilot stumble out. The Brigadier and the Doctor then arrive, and the Doctor tends to the pilot's wounds. Translating, the Doctor learns that there was a passenger on the plane, sending Ling and Adam to find them. With the pilot needing medical attention, the Doctor renders him unconscious. When the Brigadier voices his confusion over a Chinese plane trying to sneak in a day early, the Doctor voices his own belief that the passenger may have been trying to sneak out of Chinese territory. Elsewhere on the hill, Ling and Adam find the barely alive passenger. | ||
U.N.I.T. then | U.N.I.T. then arrives, much to the Brigadier's chagrin, led by [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (Unbound Universe)|Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood]]. Brimmicombe-Wood seals off the area and takes the pilot in for questioning. A local Buddhist monastery is used as U.N.I.T. field headquarters. | ||
Brimmicombe-Wood | As Ling goes off to collect the Doctor, the dying passenger, before Adam's shocked eyes, [[Regeneration|changes into a new man]]. Stunned, Adam runs off after Ling. Searching for Adam, Ling finds his corpse and lets out a scream heard across the mountain. As the group makes for the temple, Brimmicombe-Wood reveals a photo of the passenger, a genius Western defector named [[Unbound Master|Ke Le]], the Brigadier explaining the namesake [[Ke Le Division]]s and [[Keller Machine|the machine]] used to create them. The Divisions are a Chinese group, presumed to be mind-controlled ex-convicts who work for the government, who function as either as security forces or suicide troopers. With it being believed that Ke Le now wishes to defect back to the West, U.N.I.T. has been sent to collect him. | ||
In the monastery, the Brigadier visits the abbot, who tells him about the "soul jar" of which the monks have chanted, non-stop for | In the monastery, the Brigadier visits the abbot, who tells him about the "soul jar" of which the monks have chanted, non-stop for 147 years. Meanwhile, the Doctor translates the pilot's speech, saying that Ke Le had threatened to kill him and ordered him to fly him to the temple, only for the plane's jump jets to fail, causing the crash. As the pilot is taken away by U.N.I.T., the Doctor muses on his warning of something that could "drains souls". The Brigadier then tells the Doctor about the soul jar with Ling recalling the passenger "changing". With this information, the Doctor works out that Ke Le is a [[Renegade Time Lord]], narrowing it down to three that he is familiar with. | ||
Adam's body is taken back to the monastery, as the soldiers assume he is Ke Le. | Adam's body is taken back to the monastery, as the soldiers assume he is Ke Le. Elsewhere, the real Ke Le turns himself in. Brought to the monastery, Ke Le identifies himself as the Master, pulling a gun on the abbot and forcing him to turn over the soul jar. After Ling identifies Adam, Brimmicombe-Wood's callous attitudes earn him the ire of the Brigadier, the two coming to verbal blows, Brimmicombe-Wood chastising the Brigadier for his failures, criticising him for failing to stop the [[Mars Probe 7|Probe 7]] disaster, and the plastic purges, amongst other invasions. As the Doctor is ready to give up, Ling notes that the chanting has stopped. Forcing the abbot to open the jar, the Master notes that its contents are alive before the Doctor and U.N.I.T. arrive. As Ling rages at the Master, the Time Lord reveals that within the jar is a psychic parasite, one that feeds on strong emotions, the chanting having kept its powers from reaching the city. When the abbot warns the Doctor of the parasite's reinvigoration, the Master greets his old friend before shooting the abbot and another monk, allowing the parasite to take command of the U.N.I.T. guards, Ling and the monks, the Master taking the Doctor, the Brigadier and Brimmicombe-Wood prisoner. | ||
After the Doctor theorises on the parasite's limits, that it can only affect young minds, the Master calls him away for a talk, telling his old friend that his new plan is "wholly honourable", explaining that the parasites arrived in a starship crash 150 years ago. Twenty years ago, the Master was in the employ of the [[United Nations]] who sent him to aid the Chinese after a [[World Peace Conference|peace conference]] when [[Mao Tse-Tung|Chairman Mao]]'s actions caused China to lose control of the creatures. Discovering the parasites, the Master saw more practical application for them among the communists and defected. But now, the Master's use is coming to an end as he had never considered that the parasites might one day be sated and the machines are now inert. With the exception of the one in the temple, the parasites will be destroyed via a [[nuclear weapon]] at midnight. With the last parasite, the Master intends to rule the world to cause world peace. As the two Time Lords furiously debate their philosophies about intervention, the Master beings to rant that he had to live through the decades that the Doctor missed, listing off the chaos that the Doctor failed to prevent only to reveal that he is stuck on Earth. With [[Unbound Master's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] placed "beyond [his] reach", the Master has been waiting for the Doctor for the last twenty years. The two strike a deal. The Master will aid in the destruction of the last parasite and override the [[TARDIS]] inhibitor. In exchange, the Doctor will give the Master passage off the planet. | |||
With the monks chanting to keep the parasite's powers at bay, the group makes for the [[harbour]], with only minutes to spare before the handover. As the soldiers prepare to evacuate, the Master reneges on the deal and demands the keys to [[Unbound Doctor's TARDIS|the Doctor's TARDIS]]. Having anticipated this, the Doctor tricks the Master into [[the Little England]] [[pub]]. With his foe occupied, the Doctor has the last parasite loaded aboard his ship, taking the Brigadier with him as he flies off to [[Mongolia]] to dispose of it. Having discovered the ruse, the Master runs out of the pub in time to see the TARDIS take off, shouting for the Doctor to come back. Arriving in Mongolia, the Doctor and the Brigadier quickly unload their cargo, placing the soul jar with the other parasites and retreat back to the safety of the TARDIS. | |||
In Hong Kong, as the soldiers prepare to leave, the Master begs Brimmicombe-Wood for passage back to England who refuses. With seconds until midnight, the evacuation boats turn back without the U.N.I.T. force. In Mongolia, the [[nuclear weapon]] drops, destroying the parasites. | |||
Revealing that the destruction of the parasites will cause the Ke Le Divisions to go mad, something he didn't say earlier as he'd planned to be off-planet, the Master identifies a decloaking helicopter as belonging to the divisions. As the pilots go mad and open fire into the crowd, Brimmicombe-Wood frantically tries to report this to U.N.I.T. command while the Master laughs. | |||
With the shockwave of the bomb's detonation having disabled the TARDIS' inhibitor, the ship lands on another world in another time. Eager to resume his travels, the Doctor invites the Brigadier to be his new [[companion]] who accepts a new lease on [[retirement]]. As they explore though, the Doctor quickly realises that he needs to find new footwear. His current shoes don't fit him at all. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
* [[ | * [[Unbound Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Warner]] | ||
* [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart ( | * [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Unbound Universe)|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] - [[Nicholas Courtney]] | ||
* [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood ( | * [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (Unbound Universe)|Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood]] - [[David Tennant]] | ||
* [[ | * [[Unbound Master|The Master]] - [[Mark Gatiss|Sam Kisgart]] | ||
* [[Ling]]/[[Girl in street|Girl in Street]]/[[Pub customer 1|Pub Customer]] - [[Liz Sutherland]] | * [[Ling]]/[[Girl in street|Girl in Street]]/[[Pub customer 1|Pub Customer]] - [[Liz Sutherland]] | ||
* The [[Abbot ( | * The [[Abbot (Unbound Universe)|Abbot]] - [[Trevor Littledale]] | ||
* [[Marcus ( | * [[Marcus (Unbound Universe)|Marcus]]/Private [[Jacobs (Unbound Universe)|Jacobs]] - [[Mark Wright]] | ||
* Captain [[Zerdin]] - [[Peter Griffiths]] | * Captain [[Zerdin]] - [[Peter Griffiths]] | ||
* [[Adam ( | * [[Adam (Unbound Universe)|Adam]] - [[Stuart Piper]] | ||
* [[Bouncer ( | * [[Bouncer (Unbound Universe)|Bouncer]]/[[Chinese pilot|Chinese Pilot]]/[[Monk (Unbound Universe)|Monk]]/[[Tannoy voice (Unbound Universe)|Tannoy Voice]]/[[Bomb control|Bomb Control]] - [[Jonathan Clements]] | ||
* [[Newsreader ( | * [[Newsreader (Unbound Universe)|Newsreader]] - [[Gary Russell]] | ||
* [[Pub customer 2|Pub Customer]] - [[John Ainsworth]] | * [[Pub customer 2|Pub Customer]] - [[John Ainsworth]] | ||
=== Uncredited cast === | === Uncredited cast === | ||
* [[ | * [[Unbound Master|The Master]] - Jonathan Clements <ref name="interview">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051216181439/http://muramasaindustries.com/other/interviews/bigfinish/bigfinish.html Interview] with writer [[Jonathan Clements]]</ref> | ||
== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
=== The Doctor === | === The Doctor === | ||
* The Doctor says he can speak [[Mandarin]], [[Cantonese]], [[Manchu]], [[Mongolian]] and [[Hokkien]]. | * The Doctor says he can speak [[Mandarin]], [[Cantonese]], [[Manchu]], [[Mongolian (language)|Mongolian]] and [[Hokkien]]. | ||
* To the Chinese, he is known as Hu: the [[Tiger]], for his courage; Hu: the [[Fox]], for his cunning and Xue. | * To the Chinese, he is known as Hu: the [[Tiger]], for his courage; Hu: the [[Fox]], for his cunning: and Xue. | ||
* He knew [[Mao Tse-Tung|Chairman Mao]] when he was a librarian. | * He knew [[Mao Tse-Tung|Chairman Mao]] when he was a librarian. | ||
* The Time Lords have blocked off the Doctor's knowledge of how to repair [[ | * The Time Lords have blocked off the Doctor's knowledge of how to repair [[Unbound Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]. | ||
=== History === | === History === | ||
* The [[Boxer Rebellion]] is said to have been the result of the mind parasites. | * The [[Boxer Rebellion]] is said to have been the result of the mind parasites. | ||
* Hong Kong is being handed over to the Chinese. | * [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]] is being handed over to the Chinese. | ||
* The Doctor witnessed the British taking Hong Kong. | * The [[Unbound Doctor]] witnessed the British taking Hong Kong. | ||
=== Alternate timeline === | === Alternate timeline === | ||
| Line 93: | Line 99: | ||
* The [[Mars Probe 7]] affair ended with a "line of mile-wide craters across America". | * The [[Mars Probe 7]] affair ended with a "line of mile-wide craters across America". | ||
* [[Stahlman's gas|Stahlman Gas]] is a hot stock market option. | * [[Stahlman's gas|Stahlman Gas]] is a hot stock market option. | ||
* The battle against the [[Silurian]]s has resulted in a hole in the middle of [[London]], which has turned into a lake because UNIT sent a suicide mission back into the past with nuclear warheads to end the threat. | |||
=== The Master === | === The Master === | ||
* The Master has adopted his title after his previous encounter with the Doctor. | |||
* The Master briefly worked as a [[United Nations]] advisor before defecting to China. | * The Master briefly worked as a [[United Nations]] advisor before defecting to China. | ||
* Separated from [[ | * Separated from [[Unbound Master's TARDIS|his own TARDIS]] for twenty years, the Master has been trying to attract the Doctor's attention. | ||
* The Master, badly injured after the plane crash, [[Regeneration|regenerates]]. He steals clothes | * The Master, badly injured after the plane crash, [[Regeneration|regenerates]]. He steals clothes from [[Adam (Unbound Universe)|Adam]] after killing him. | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* | * Clements has stated [[TV]]: ''[[The Mind of Evil (TV story)|The Mind of Evil]]'' is "the critical moment" in the alternate timeline<ref name=interview/> The Master defected to China after the (alternate) events of that story, the Mind parasites are the same creatures used in the [[Keller Machine]], and the Master's alias of "Ke Le" is a Chinese version of his "Emil Keller" one. | ||
* The dying Master regenerating into the Kisgart incarnation | * The dying Master regenerating into the "Kisgart incarnation" was intended to be {{Delgado|n=the one portrayed by Roger Delgado}}.<ref name=interview /> | ||
** The account of the "UNIT era" Master capable of regeneration, suggested in this audio, would later be supported by stories set in [[N-Space]], for example ''[[Doorway to Hell (comic story)|Doorway to Hell]]'' comic and the so-called "multi-Master trilogy" finale ''[[The Two Masters (audio story)|The Two Masters]]'', as well as contradicted by ''[[The Dead Travel Fast (short story)|The Dead Travel Fast]]'' short story. | |||
* This story has the first regeneration in audio. | * This story has the first regeneration in audio. | ||
* This story marks the first appearance of the [[Keller Machine|mind parasites]] from the television story ''[[The Mind of Evil (TV story)|The Mind of Evil]]'' in an audio drama. | * This story marks the first appearance of the [[Keller Machine|mind parasites]] from the television story ''[[The Mind of Evil (TV story)|The Mind of Evil]]'' in an audio drama. | ||
* The original idea was drastically different: "My first idea was to do something that capitalised on the world over-run with Silurians and dinosaurs, with no plastics available; a kind of post-holocaust situation. I had this idea for an opening sequence inspired by Aliens, with a UNIT squad decimated by shrieking raptors, and a group of medics dragging a mortally wounded Brigadier to safety while an officer screams: "Somebody get me a doctor!" And then you hear the TARDIS materialising, and the theme music kicks in." <ref name="interview" /> | * The original idea was drastically different: ''"My first idea was to do something that capitalised on the world over-run with Silurians and dinosaurs, with no plastics available; a kind of post-holocaust situation. I had this idea for an opening sequence inspired by Aliens, with a UNIT squad decimated by shrieking raptors, and a group of medics dragging a mortally wounded Brigadier to safety while an officer screams: "Somebody get me a doctor!" And then you hear the TARDIS materialising, and the theme music kicks in."'' <ref name="interview" /> | ||
* Ling being | * Ling being mistaken for a Hong Kong local, despite being from Slough, is loosely based on a real incident Clements saw. The real girls were from Colchester, but Clements thought Slough sounded funnier.<ref name="interview" /> | ||
* This audio drama was recorded on [[24 March (production)|24 March]] 2003. | * This audio drama was recorded on [[24 March (production)|24 March]] [[2003 (production)|2003]] at [[the Moat Studios]]. | ||
* Allusions are made to an alternate ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'', this time run by | * Allusions are made to an alternate ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'', this time run by the [[Silurian]]s. UNIT prevented it from ever happening by sending [[Mike Yates]] on a suicide mission with nuclear warheads to kill the Silurians before they ever woke up, but there's now a crater in the middle of London, where a lake has formed. | ||
* The Auton invasion in ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'' was stopped but with UNIT disgraced | * The Auton invasion in ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'' was stopped, but with UNIT disgraced. The ''[[Daily Mail]]'' ran a headline of ''"Barmy Brig in Fake Flower Fiasco."'' | ||
* The story was reissued in the audio anthology ''[[Unbound: 1 - 8 Collected|Unbound: 1-8 Collected]]'' in [[September (releases)|September]] [[2022 (releases)|2022]]. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
* The | * The Master, upon entering what he thinks is the Doctor's TARDIS, mutters "a new TARDIS... at last", referring to when he possessed [[Tremas]], and muttered ''"a new body ... at last"''. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'') | ||
* Adam mentions watching ''[[Professor X]]''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]'') | * Adam mentions watching ''[[Professor X]]''. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]'') | ||
* In N-Space, the [[Seventh Doctor]] would also visit Hong Kong at the time of the Handover of the island to [[China|Chinese rule]] and was reunited with his former travelling companion, [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Bullet Time (novel)|Bullet Time]]'') | * In N-Space, the [[Seventh Doctor]] would also visit Hong Kong at the time of the Handover of the island to [[China|Chinese rule]] and was reunited with his former travelling companion, [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Bullet Time (novel)|Bullet Time]]'') | ||
* | * The Doctor convinces the Brigadier of his identity by recalling their fight against the [[Robot Yeti]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Web of Fear (TV story)|The Web of Fear]]'') | ||
* The Brigadier recalls that he's only met the Doctor twice before now. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Web of Fear (TV story)|The Web of Fear]]'', ''[[The Invasion (TV story)|The Invasion]]'') | |||
* The Doctor mentions visiting China before. ([[TV]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'') | |||
* The Master went under a different title during his previous encounter with the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Dark Path (novel)|The Dark Path]]'') | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
| Line 128: | Line 136: | ||
== Footnotes == | == Footnotes == | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
{{DWU}} | {{DWU}} | ||
{{Master stories}} | {{Unbound Master stories}} | ||
{{Regeneration stories}} | |||
{{Post-regeneration stories}} | |||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[Category:Doctor Who Unbound audio stories]] | [[Category:Doctor Who Unbound audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:2003 audio stories]] | [[Category:2003 audio stories]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Unbound Doctor audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Unbound Master audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart audio stories]] | [[Category:Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in 1997]] | [[Category:Stories set in 1997]] | ||
| Line 140: | Line 151: | ||
[[Category:Stories that use Lee Mansfield's Doctor Who Unbound theme]] | [[Category:Stories that use Lee Mansfield's Doctor Who Unbound theme]] | ||
[[Category:Regeneration audio stories]] | [[Category:Regeneration audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in | [[Category:Stories set in the Unbound Universe]] | ||
[[Category:Post-regeneration stories]] | |||
Latest revision as of 20:39, 3 November 2024
Sympathy for the Devil was the second Doctor Who Unbound audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. It featured David Warner as the Unbound Doctor with Nicholas Courtney as the retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
This story was set post-The War Games, though in an alternate universe where the Doctor was exiled to Earth in 1997 instead of the 1970s. The universe of this story and its sequel, Masters of War, crossed over with the "mainstream" Doctor Who universe in the later release The Unbound Universe.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
What if...the Doctor had not been UNIT's scientific advisor?
1997... and a lone exile arrives on Earth, years later than planned.
On the eve of the Handover, an advanced Chinese stealth bomber crashes in the hills above Hong Kong. The discredited United Nations Intelligence Taskforce has just 24 hours to steal the technology, rescue the passenger and flee to international waters.
Down by the harbour, there's big trouble in Little England — a bar owned by an old soldier who simply wants to forget the past. But an ancient evil is stirring in a place of peace.
The Doctor finds a world on the brink of terror. A world that has lived without him for years. A world that is frighteningly like our own...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
After being put on trial by the Time Lords, the Doctor was exiled to Earth. He was meant to arrive in England in the 1970s but instead, he finds himself in 1997 Hong Kong, on the night of the handover to Chinese control.
Finding his old friend, the Brigadier, the Doctor discovers the dark turn Earth has taken as a result of his absence since 1968. Without the Doctor's expertise to deal with the many extra-normal attacks over the decades, the U.N.I.T. project failed, and the Brigadier was discharged due to resorting to destructive means to stop the various disasters, means that erased any evidence he could have provided to his superiors. As the two talk, an invisible plane crashes into the nearby mountain.
The Doctor and the Brigadier approach the mountain, looking for Ling, one of Alistair's employees. Trekking up the hill, Ling and Adam arrive in time to see the plane's cloaking device fail and its delirious pilot stumble out. The Brigadier and the Doctor then arrive, and the Doctor tends to the pilot's wounds. Translating, the Doctor learns that there was a passenger on the plane, sending Ling and Adam to find them. With the pilot needing medical attention, the Doctor renders him unconscious. When the Brigadier voices his confusion over a Chinese plane trying to sneak in a day early, the Doctor voices his own belief that the passenger may have been trying to sneak out of Chinese territory. Elsewhere on the hill, Ling and Adam find the barely alive passenger.
U.N.I.T. then arrives, much to the Brigadier's chagrin, led by Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. Brimmicombe-Wood seals off the area and takes the pilot in for questioning. A local Buddhist monastery is used as U.N.I.T. field headquarters.
As Ling goes off to collect the Doctor, the dying passenger, before Adam's shocked eyes, changes into a new man. Stunned, Adam runs off after Ling. Searching for Adam, Ling finds his corpse and lets out a scream heard across the mountain. As the group makes for the temple, Brimmicombe-Wood reveals a photo of the passenger, a genius Western defector named Ke Le, the Brigadier explaining the namesake Ke Le Divisions and the machine used to create them. The Divisions are a Chinese group, presumed to be mind-controlled ex-convicts who work for the government, who function as either as security forces or suicide troopers. With it being believed that Ke Le now wishes to defect back to the West, U.N.I.T. has been sent to collect him.
In the monastery, the Brigadier visits the abbot, who tells him about the "soul jar" of which the monks have chanted, non-stop for 147 years. Meanwhile, the Doctor translates the pilot's speech, saying that Ke Le had threatened to kill him and ordered him to fly him to the temple, only for the plane's jump jets to fail, causing the crash. As the pilot is taken away by U.N.I.T., the Doctor muses on his warning of something that could "drains souls". The Brigadier then tells the Doctor about the soul jar with Ling recalling the passenger "changing". With this information, the Doctor works out that Ke Le is a Renegade Time Lord, narrowing it down to three that he is familiar with.
Adam's body is taken back to the monastery, as the soldiers assume he is Ke Le. Elsewhere, the real Ke Le turns himself in. Brought to the monastery, Ke Le identifies himself as the Master, pulling a gun on the abbot and forcing him to turn over the soul jar. After Ling identifies Adam, Brimmicombe-Wood's callous attitudes earn him the ire of the Brigadier, the two coming to verbal blows, Brimmicombe-Wood chastising the Brigadier for his failures, criticising him for failing to stop the Probe 7 disaster, and the plastic purges, amongst other invasions. As the Doctor is ready to give up, Ling notes that the chanting has stopped. Forcing the abbot to open the jar, the Master notes that its contents are alive before the Doctor and U.N.I.T. arrive. As Ling rages at the Master, the Time Lord reveals that within the jar is a psychic parasite, one that feeds on strong emotions, the chanting having kept its powers from reaching the city. When the abbot warns the Doctor of the parasite's reinvigoration, the Master greets his old friend before shooting the abbot and another monk, allowing the parasite to take command of the U.N.I.T. guards, Ling and the monks, the Master taking the Doctor, the Brigadier and Brimmicombe-Wood prisoner.
After the Doctor theorises on the parasite's limits, that it can only affect young minds, the Master calls him away for a talk, telling his old friend that his new plan is "wholly honourable", explaining that the parasites arrived in a starship crash 150 years ago. Twenty years ago, the Master was in the employ of the United Nations who sent him to aid the Chinese after a peace conference when Chairman Mao's actions caused China to lose control of the creatures. Discovering the parasites, the Master saw more practical application for them among the communists and defected. But now, the Master's use is coming to an end as he had never considered that the parasites might one day be sated and the machines are now inert. With the exception of the one in the temple, the parasites will be destroyed via a nuclear weapon at midnight. With the last parasite, the Master intends to rule the world to cause world peace. As the two Time Lords furiously debate their philosophies about intervention, the Master beings to rant that he had to live through the decades that the Doctor missed, listing off the chaos that the Doctor failed to prevent only to reveal that he is stuck on Earth. With his TARDIS placed "beyond [his] reach", the Master has been waiting for the Doctor for the last twenty years. The two strike a deal. The Master will aid in the destruction of the last parasite and override the TARDIS inhibitor. In exchange, the Doctor will give the Master passage off the planet.
With the monks chanting to keep the parasite's powers at bay, the group makes for the harbour, with only minutes to spare before the handover. As the soldiers prepare to evacuate, the Master reneges on the deal and demands the keys to the Doctor's TARDIS. Having anticipated this, the Doctor tricks the Master into the Little England pub. With his foe occupied, the Doctor has the last parasite loaded aboard his ship, taking the Brigadier with him as he flies off to Mongolia to dispose of it. Having discovered the ruse, the Master runs out of the pub in time to see the TARDIS take off, shouting for the Doctor to come back. Arriving in Mongolia, the Doctor and the Brigadier quickly unload their cargo, placing the soul jar with the other parasites and retreat back to the safety of the TARDIS.
In Hong Kong, as the soldiers prepare to leave, the Master begs Brimmicombe-Wood for passage back to England who refuses. With seconds until midnight, the evacuation boats turn back without the U.N.I.T. force. In Mongolia, the nuclear weapon drops, destroying the parasites.
Revealing that the destruction of the parasites will cause the Ke Le Divisions to go mad, something he didn't say earlier as he'd planned to be off-planet, the Master identifies a decloaking helicopter as belonging to the divisions. As the pilots go mad and open fire into the crowd, Brimmicombe-Wood frantically tries to report this to U.N.I.T. command while the Master laughs.
With the shockwave of the bomb's detonation having disabled the TARDIS' inhibitor, the ship lands on another world in another time. Eager to resume his travels, the Doctor invites the Brigadier to be his new companion who accepts a new lease on retirement. As they explore though, the Doctor quickly realises that he needs to find new footwear. His current shoes don't fit him at all.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - David Warner
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
- Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood - David Tennant
- The Master - Sam Kisgart
- Ling/Girl in Street/Pub Customer - Liz Sutherland
- The Abbot - Trevor Littledale
- Marcus/Private Jacobs - Mark Wright
- Captain Zerdin - Peter Griffiths
- Adam - Stuart Piper
- Bouncer/Chinese Pilot/Monk/Tannoy Voice/Bomb Control - Jonathan Clements
- Newsreader - Gary Russell
- Pub Customer - John Ainsworth
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master - Jonathan Clements [1]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor says he can speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Manchu, Mongolian and Hokkien.
- To the Chinese, he is known as Hu: the Tiger, for his courage; Hu: the Fox, for his cunning: and Xue.
- He knew Chairman Mao when he was a librarian.
- The Time Lords have blocked off the Doctor's knowledge of how to repair his TARDIS.
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Boxer Rebellion is said to have been the result of the mind parasites.
- Hong Kong is being handed over to the Chinese.
- The Unbound Doctor witnessed the British taking Hong Kong.
Alternate timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Brigadier ordered the saturation bombing of Surrey.
- The Mars Probe 7 affair ended with a "line of mile-wide craters across America".
- Stahlman Gas is a hot stock market option.
- The battle against the Silurians has resulted in a hole in the middle of London, which has turned into a lake because UNIT sent a suicide mission back into the past with nuclear warheads to end the threat.
The Master[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master has adopted his title after his previous encounter with the Doctor.
- The Master briefly worked as a United Nations advisor before defecting to China.
- Separated from his own TARDIS for twenty years, the Master has been trying to attract the Doctor's attention.
- The Master, badly injured after the plane crash, regenerates. He steals clothes from Adam after killing him.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Clements has stated TV: The Mind of Evil is "the critical moment" in the alternate timeline[1] The Master defected to China after the (alternate) events of that story, the Mind parasites are the same creatures used in the Keller Machine, and the Master's alias of "Ke Le" is a Chinese version of his "Emil Keller" one.
- The dying Master regenerating into the "Kisgart incarnation" was intended to be the one portrayed by Roger Delgado.[1]
- The account of the "UNIT era" Master capable of regeneration, suggested in this audio, would later be supported by stories set in N-Space, for example Doorway to Hell comic and the so-called "multi-Master trilogy" finale The Two Masters, as well as contradicted by The Dead Travel Fast short story.
- This story has the first regeneration in audio.
- This story marks the first appearance of the mind parasites from the television story The Mind of Evil in an audio drama.
- The original idea was drastically different: "My first idea was to do something that capitalised on the world over-run with Silurians and dinosaurs, with no plastics available; a kind of post-holocaust situation. I had this idea for an opening sequence inspired by Aliens, with a UNIT squad decimated by shrieking raptors, and a group of medics dragging a mortally wounded Brigadier to safety while an officer screams: "Somebody get me a doctor!" And then you hear the TARDIS materialising, and the theme music kicks in." [1]
- Ling being mistaken for a Hong Kong local, despite being from Slough, is loosely based on a real incident Clements saw. The real girls were from Colchester, but Clements thought Slough sounded funnier.[1]
- This audio drama was recorded on 24 March 2003 at the Moat Studios.
- Allusions are made to an alternate Invasion of the Dinosaurs, this time run by the Silurians. UNIT prevented it from ever happening by sending Mike Yates on a suicide mission with nuclear warheads to kill the Silurians before they ever woke up, but there's now a crater in the middle of London, where a lake has formed.
- The Auton invasion in Terror of the Autons was stopped, but with UNIT disgraced. The Daily Mail ran a headline of "Barmy Brig in Fake Flower Fiasco."
- The story was reissued in the audio anthology Unbound: 1-8 Collected in September 2022.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master, upon entering what he thinks is the Doctor's TARDIS, mutters "a new TARDIS... at last", referring to when he possessed Tremas, and muttered "a new body ... at last". (TV: The Keeper of Traken)
- Adam mentions watching Professor X. (PROSE: No Future)
- In N-Space, the Seventh Doctor would also visit Hong Kong at the time of the Handover of the island to Chinese rule and was reunited with his former travelling companion, Sarah Jane Smith. (PROSE: Bullet Time)
- The Doctor convinces the Brigadier of his identity by recalling their fight against the Robot Yeti. (TV: The Web of Fear)
- The Brigadier recalls that he's only met the Doctor twice before now. (TV: The Web of Fear, The Invasion)
- The Doctor mentions visiting China before. (TV: Marco Polo)
- The Master went under a different title during his previous encounter with the Doctor. (TV: The War Games, PROSE: The Dark Path)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Sympathy for the Devil page at bigfinish.com
- Sympathy for the Devil at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Sympathy for the Devil at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
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