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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|range          = Water Worlds (audio anthology)
|range          = Water Worlds (audio anthology)
|number in range = 1
|number in range = 1
|anthology      = ''[[Water Worlds (audio anthology)|Water Worlds]]''
|anthology      = Water Worlds (audio anthology)
|number          = 1
|number          = 1
|doctor          = Sixth Doctor
|doctor          = Sixth Doctor
|companions      = [[Melanie Bush|Mel]], [[Hebe Harrison|Hebe]]
|companions      = [[Melanie Bush|Mel]], [[Hebe Harrison|Hebe]]
|enemy          =  
|enemy          =  
|setting        = [[North Sea]]
|setting        = [[Albatross Alpha]], [[North Sea]], [[2000s]]
|writer          = [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
|writer          = Jacqueline Rayner
|director        = [[Helen Goldwyn]]
|director        = [[Helen Goldwyn]]
|music          = [[Steve Foxon]]
|music          = [[Steve Foxon]]
Line 16: Line 16:
|producer        = Jacqueline Rayner
|producer        = Jacqueline Rayner
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|release date    = [[17 May (releases)|17 May]] [[2022 (releases)|2022]]
|release date    = 17 May 2022
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>1st of 3 stories  
|format          = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>1st of 3 stories  
|production code = BFPDWDR0601
|production code = BFPDWDR0601
|epcount        = 2
|epcount        = 2
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-83868-742-7 (physical); ISBN 978-1-83868-743-4 (digital)  
|isbn            = ISBN 978-1-83868-742-7 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-83868-743-4 (digital)  
|series          = ''[[Water Worlds (audio anthology)|Water Worlds]]''
|series          = ''[[The Sixth Doctor Adventures]]''
|prev            = Elevation (audio story)
|next            = The Tides of the Moon (audio story)
|next            = The Tides of the Moon (audio story)
|series2        = ''[[The Sixth Doctor Adventures]]''
}}
|prev2          = Elevation (audio story)
'''''The Rotting Deep''''' was the first story in the audio anthology ''[[Water Worlds (audio anthology)|Water Worlds]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Jacqueline Rayner]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]], [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]] and introduced [[Ruth Madeley]] as new companion [[Hebe Harrison]].
|next2          = The Tides of the Moon (audio story)
}}{{audio stub}}
'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' was the first story in the audio anthology ''[[Water Worlds (audio anthology)|Water Worlds]]'' produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Jacqueline Rayner]] and featured [[Colin Baker]] as the [[Sixth Doctor]], [[Bonnie Langford]] as [[Melanie Bush]] and introduced [[Ruth Madeley]] as new companion [[Hebe Harrison]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
A mysterious SOS summons [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] to an [[oil rig]] in the [[North Sea]] where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is [[Hebe Harrison]], a wheelchair-using [[marine biologist]] who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig's beleaguered crew?
A mysterious SOS summons [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] to [[Albatross Alpha|an oil rig]] in the [[North Sea]] where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is [[Hebe Harrison]], a wheelchair-using [[marine biologist]] who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig's beleaguered crew?


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
=== Part one ===
[[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] finally manages to find the source of an [[distress call|SOS]]: a [[mobile phone]] from the [[2000s]], connected to [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. Following it, the Doctor and [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] arrive on a powerless [[oil rig]] called in the [[North Sea]] called [[Albatross Alpha]] and fail to save [[Dean (The Rotting Deep)|a man]] from falling to a height due to aggressive [[gull]]s. They meet [[marine biologist]] [[Hebe Harrison|Hebe]] and are introduced to [[Jonah Strong|Jonah]], [[Sky Bennett|Sky]], [[Carl Price|Carl]] and [[Ancient Mariner (The Rotting Deep)|A.M.]], all of whom Mel admonishes for not helping Hebe, a [[wheelchair]] user, join them in the [[canteen]]. The sixth person, [[Bill (The Rotting Deep)|Bill]] is working in the power room.
 
Hebe is irritated by Mel being angry on her behalf and tells the Doctor that she is here to recommend whether or not the rig is to remain; she is currently in favour of it staying due to it serving as an artificial [[reef]], but the [[diver]]s who went to document the diversity of the wildlife disappeared.
 
Whilst Sky goes looking for Bill, Mel returns to the Doctor and they share what they have learnt; four divers have disappeared, as have three engineers and three people from the oil company, and all of the [[food]] has disappeared or became covered in [[slime]]. The others join them, but the impatient Jonah goes outside and survives a fall when the gulls attack. One gets inside and attacks Hebe, but the Doctor grabs it with a [[jumper]] and traps it in a [[wardrobe]].
 
Power returns to the rig and the Doctor heads down to the [[infirmary]] with Carl and the wounded Jonah. Mel stays with Hebe and A.M. and is attacked when the gulls break through a [[window]]. They swarm A.M., allowing Mel and Hebe to escape and head downstairs in the [[lift]]. When the power goes out again, the Doctor goes into the power room to find Sky and Bill whilst Mel and Hebe are trapped in the lift. They hear something slithering above them, trying to get in.
 
=== Part two ===
In the power room, the [[generator]] has been smashed to pieces and Bill is dead, his corpse covered in [[barnacle]]s. The Doctor finds Sky in a [[cupboard]] in a state of shock, laughing hysterically, and hears Mel scream. Hebe has prised the lift doors open with [[Hebe Harrison's walking stick|her walking stick]], allowing Mel to drop down five feet to the floor where she has been stung by a [[jellyfish]]. Carl helps get Hebe and her wheelchair down whilst the Doctor has Jonah fetch [[salt]] [[water]] for Mel's sting. Whilst the Doctor is tending to Mel and discussing [[alien]]s and other [[planet]]s, Hebe overhears them and confronts them, believing them to be mad or in league with aliens.
 
Sky confesses to the killings and runs outside, shouting that the gulls will not attack her as she is the saviour of the natural world. The Doctor tries to stop her, but she falls into the [[sea]]. He returns to Mel and Hebe, who have been discussing [[time travel]], and they learn that Carl has seemingly been devoured by [[starfish|sea stars]]. The Doctor is concerned given that this should be impossible and that the salt water did not help Mel's jellyfish sting. He wonders if Sky drank from the desalination system and if she and the animals were being affected by some sort of [[plankton]].
 
Whilst the Doctor and Mel are looking to analyse a sample, Jonah drinks the water and plans to film the [[octopus]] that was on the lift [[murder]]ing Hebe. However, she takes out one of its [[brain]]s with her walking stick, after which it kills Jonah whilst he, believing it to be dead, mourns it. The Doctor manages to repair the generator and finds that the water contains a unique [[compound]] caused by an amalgamation of decades of chemical waste, one for which he will soon be able to make a neutralising agent.
 
Waiting for a [[helicopter]], Hebe tells the Doctor and Mel how a [[tutor]] of hers who loved [[chocolate cake]] gave her [[SOS button|a button]] to put on her mobile phone for use in emergencies. The Doctor realises that she is talking about [[Evelyn Smythe|Evelyn]] and shows her to the TARDIS, demonstrating the alarm for her and agreeing to let her join them on their travels to see [[N-Space|the universe]].


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Colin Baker]]
* [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Colin Baker]]
* [[Melanie Bush]] - [[Bonnie Langford]]
* [[Melanie Bush|Mel]] - [[Bonnie Langford]]
* [[Hebe Harrison]] - [[Ruth Madeley]]
* [[Hebe Harrison|Hebe]] - [[Ruth Madeley]]
* [[Elise (The Rotting Deep)|Elise]] - [[Cherylee Houston]]
* [[Jonah Strong]] - [[Rove McManus]]
* [[Jonah Strong]] - [[Rove McManus]]
* [[A.M. (The Rotting Deep)|A.M.]] - [[James Smillie]]
* [[Sky Bennett]] - [[Mandi Symonds]]
* [[Sky Bennett]] - [[Mandi Symonds]]
* [[Carl Price]] / [[Dean (The Rotting Deep)|Dean]] - [[Charlie Tighe]]
* [[Carl Price]] / [[Dean (The Rotting Deep)|Dean]] - [[Charlie Tighe]]
* [[A.M. 'Ancient Mariner']] - [[James Smillie]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
* Cover Art - [[Claudia Gironi]]
* Director - [[Helen Goldwyn]]
* Executive Producers - [[Nicholas Briggs]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Music, Sound Designer & Remote Recording - [[Steve Foxon]]
* Writer & Producer - [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Script Editor - [[Robert Valentine]]
* Senior Producer - [[David Richardson]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* There are a number of species of [[gull]] which live offshore, but there is no such thing as an actual [[seagull]].
* Hebe jokes that she is not [[Vlad the Impaler]].
* Mel is covered in [[guano]].
* [[Hebe]] is the goddess of [[youth]] and [[cupbearer]] to the gods.
* There is no [[tea]] or [[coffee]] on the rig.
* [[Elise Kaplan|Elise]], Hebe's best friend at [[university]], likes [[John Keats|Keats]], [[Mary Shelley|Shelley]] and [[Christina Rossetti]].
* The Doctor quotes [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge|Coleridge]].
* The Doctor's coat reminds Hebe of a [[sea slug]]. Sea slugs eat [[poison]]ous things which they then use to defend themselves.
* When she was eight or nine, Hebe saw ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' and shouted when the main character, [[Ariel (The Rotting Deep)|Ariel]], gave up her tail for legs. [[Hebe Harrison's mother|Her mother]] told her that she would not have any [[ice cream]] if she did not stop it.
* Jonah has swum with [[shark]]s.
* Jonah wants to make a [[documentary]] on artificial [[reef]]s.
* [[Dean (The Rotting Deep)|Dean]] belonged to Jonah's production company.
* [[Sky Bennett|Sky]] represents an ecological [[charity]].
* [[A.M. (The Rotting Deep)|A.M.]] is the [[cook]].
* [[Carl Price|Carl]] is the [[safety officer]].
* [[Bill (The Rotting Deep)|Bill]] is an [[engineer]]. Three other engineers have disappeared.
* Hebe says "suffering [[seahorse]]s", "holy [[halibut]]", "for the love of [[spoon]]s" and "dizzy [[dolphin]]s" as expletives. She started saying such things ironically with her friends.
* [[Barnacle]]s are tiny [[crustacean]]s who secrete a [[cement]] stronger than [[super glue]].
* Hebe has [[Hebe Harrison's walking stick|a walking stick]].
* Mel is stung by a [[lion's mane]].
* The Doctor uses [[tweezer]]s to remove Mel's stings.
* For the Doctor's 591st [[birthday]], he visited a planet of [[coral]] where he could ride seahorses.
* At university, Hebe set up a group called the [[Lame Ducks]] which included Elise.
* [[Starfish]] are not fish and are more properly called sea stars. They eject their [[stomach]]s, envelop their prey and digest it.
* The Doctor assures Hebe that [[UNIT]] will smoothe the matter over, avoiding [[newspaper]] headlines.
* Hebe's parents wanted her to carry an [[alarm]], but she refused as it would be impossible to accessorise.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
''to be added''
* ''The Rotting Deep'' was recorded at [[the Soundhouse]] in [[June (production)|June]] [[2021 (production)|2021]].
* This story is technically a [[pure historical]] as the only alien elements featured are the Sixth Doctor and the TARDIS.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* Mel worries that there might be a [[Dalek]] on the rig. She first met the Daleks in ''[[The Juggernauts (audio story)|The Juggernauts]]''.
* Hebe studied at the [[Sheffield Hallam University|same university]] professor [[Evelyn Smythe]] used to teach. Hebe talked fondly of Evelyn and the former companion was the reason why Hebe was able to send a S.O.S. to the Doctor. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Marian Conspiracy (audio story)|The Marian Conspiracy]]'' et al)


== External links ==
== External links ==
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{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Water Worlds audio stories]]
[[Category:Sixth Doctor audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 22:03, 26 October 2024

RealWorld.png

The Rotting Deep was the first story in the audio anthology Water Worlds, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jacqueline Rayner and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush and introduced Ruth Madeley as new companion Hebe Harrison.

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

A mysterious SOS summons the Doctor and Mel to an oil rig in the North Sea where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is Hebe Harrison, a wheelchair-using marine biologist who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig's beleaguered crew?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor finally manages to find the source of an SOS: a mobile phone from the 2000s, connected to the TARDIS. Following it, the Doctor and Mel arrive on a powerless oil rig called in the North Sea called Albatross Alpha and fail to save a man from falling to a height due to aggressive gulls. They meet marine biologist Hebe and are introduced to Jonah, Sky, Carl and A.M., all of whom Mel admonishes for not helping Hebe, a wheelchair user, join them in the canteen. The sixth person, Bill is working in the power room.

Hebe is irritated by Mel being angry on her behalf and tells the Doctor that she is here to recommend whether or not the rig is to remain; she is currently in favour of it staying due to it serving as an artificial reef, but the divers who went to document the diversity of the wildlife disappeared.

Whilst Sky goes looking for Bill, Mel returns to the Doctor and they share what they have learnt; four divers have disappeared, as have three engineers and three people from the oil company, and all of the food has disappeared or became covered in slime. The others join them, but the impatient Jonah goes outside and survives a fall when the gulls attack. One gets inside and attacks Hebe, but the Doctor grabs it with a jumper and traps it in a wardrobe.

Power returns to the rig and the Doctor heads down to the infirmary with Carl and the wounded Jonah. Mel stays with Hebe and A.M. and is attacked when the gulls break through a window. They swarm A.M., allowing Mel and Hebe to escape and head downstairs in the lift. When the power goes out again, the Doctor goes into the power room to find Sky and Bill whilst Mel and Hebe are trapped in the lift. They hear something slithering above them, trying to get in.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the power room, the generator has been smashed to pieces and Bill is dead, his corpse covered in barnacles. The Doctor finds Sky in a cupboard in a state of shock, laughing hysterically, and hears Mel scream. Hebe has prised the lift doors open with her walking stick, allowing Mel to drop down five feet to the floor where she has been stung by a jellyfish. Carl helps get Hebe and her wheelchair down whilst the Doctor has Jonah fetch salt water for Mel's sting. Whilst the Doctor is tending to Mel and discussing aliens and other planets, Hebe overhears them and confronts them, believing them to be mad or in league with aliens.

Sky confesses to the killings and runs outside, shouting that the gulls will not attack her as she is the saviour of the natural world. The Doctor tries to stop her, but she falls into the sea. He returns to Mel and Hebe, who have been discussing time travel, and they learn that Carl has seemingly been devoured by sea stars. The Doctor is concerned given that this should be impossible and that the salt water did not help Mel's jellyfish sting. He wonders if Sky drank from the desalination system and if she and the animals were being affected by some sort of plankton.

Whilst the Doctor and Mel are looking to analyse a sample, Jonah drinks the water and plans to film the octopus that was on the lift murdering Hebe. However, she takes out one of its brains with her walking stick, after which it kills Jonah whilst he, believing it to be dead, mourns it. The Doctor manages to repair the generator and finds that the water contains a unique compound caused by an amalgamation of decades of chemical waste, one for which he will soon be able to make a neutralising agent.

Waiting for a helicopter, Hebe tells the Doctor and Mel how a tutor of hers who loved chocolate cake gave her a button to put on her mobile phone for use in emergencies. The Doctor realises that she is talking about Evelyn and shows her to the TARDIS, demonstrating the alarm for her and agreeing to let her join them on their travels to see the universe.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

v • e
The Sixth Doctor Adventures
Single releases
The Sixth Doctor:
The Last Adventure
The Sixth Doctor and Peri:
Volume One
The Eleven
Water Worlds
Purity Undreamed
Purity Unleashed
Purity Unbound
The Quin Dilemma
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