Republica (audio story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|image = Republica CD cover.jpg | |image = Republica CD cover.jpg | ||
|range = The Time Travellers (series) | |range = The Time Travellers (series) | ||
|number in range = 1 | |number in range = 1 | ||
|number = 1 | |number = 1 | ||
|adapted from = Cromwell's Dust (unproduced novel){{!}}Cromwell's Dust | |||
|novelisation = Republica (novelisation) | |novelisation = Republica (novelisation) | ||
|main character = [[The Dominie|The Professor]] | |main character = [[The Dominie|The Professor]] | ||
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|enemy = | |enemy = | ||
|setting = [[Alternate timeline (Republica)|Alternate timeline]] | |setting = [[Alternate timeline (Republica)|Alternate timeline]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Mark Gatiss | ||
|director = [[Bill Baggs]] | |director = [[Bill Baggs]] | ||
|producer = [[Bill Baggs]] | |producer = [[Bill Baggs]] | ||
|publisher = BBV Productions | |publisher = BBV Productions | ||
|release date = | |release date = May 1998 | ||
|format = 1 CD | |format = 1 CD | ||
|isbn = | |isbn = | ||
|prev = | |prev = | ||
| Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
|next2 = Island of Lost Souls (audio story) | |next2 = Island of Lost Souls (audio story) | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Republica''''' was the first audio in [[BBV Productions]]' ''[[Audio Adventures in Time & Space]]'' anthology series | '''''Republica''''' was the first audio in [[BBV Productions]]' ''[[Audio Adventures in Time & Space]]'' anthology series and the first of the subseries ''[[The Time Travellers (series)|The Time Travellers]]''. It was written by [[Mark Gatiss]], adapted from his cancelled [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures|BBC ''Past Doctor Adventures'' novel]] ''[[Cromwell's Dust (unproduced novel)|Cromwell's Dust]]'', and set in [[Alternate timeline (Republica)|an alternate timeline]] which Gatiss had seeded in his other ''Past Doctor Adventure'', ''[[The Roundheads (novel)|The Roundheads]]'', tying ''Republica'' to the licensed DWU. | ||
Unable to use the actual character of [[the Doctor]] or any of his [[companion]]s, the story introduced extremely close analogues to the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Ace]]: "[[the Professor (Republica)|the Professor]] and [[Ace (Republica)|Ace]]", whose [[Cosmos|space-time machine]] was never featured directly. Worries that they were still too close to their BBC counterparts would result in later installments in ''The Time Travellers'' giving the Professor's true name as [[the Dominie]] and Ace's as [[Alice]]. | Unable to use the actual character of [[the Doctor]] or any of his [[companion]]s, the story introduced extremely close analogues to the [[Seventh Doctor]] and [[Ace]]: "[[the Professor (Republica)|the Professor]] and [[Ace (Republica)|Ace]]", whose [[Cosmos|space-time machine]] was never featured directly. Worries that they were still too close to their BBC counterparts would result in later installments in ''The Time Travellers'' giving the Professor's true name as [[the Dominie]] and Ace's as [[Alice]]. | ||
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== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
[[The | [[The Dominie|The Professor]] and [[Ace (Republica)|Ace]] arrive in present-day [[London]] to find the city strangely changed. England is a republic, ruled by an elderly [[Lord Protector]] more interested in a mysterious comet than the long-suppressed forces of revolution fomenting in his kingdom. | ||
As political factions vie for power, the travellers become embroiled in the plans of [[King]] [[Charles XIV]] who stands poised to reclaim the throne. Can they discover who is behind the drastic alteration of history or will the Puritan cause triumph throughout eternity? | As political factions vie for power, the travellers become embroiled in the plans of [[King]] [[Charles XIV]] who stands poised to reclaim the throne. Can they discover who is behind the drastic alteration of history or will the [[Puritanism|Puritan]] cause triumph throughout eternity? | ||
== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
On | On the planet [[Icatha]], a rebel is sentenced to complete disintegration for his crimes. | ||
At [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s time of death, he hears a mysterious voice tell him appoint [[John Lambert|General John Lambert]] as successor rather than [[Richard Cromwell]]. He does so, believing this to be a message from [[God (mythology)|God]]. | |||
When [[the Dominie|the Professor]] and [[Alice|Ace]] arrive in late [[1990s]] [[London]], they find the world changed; technology is advanced, [[Puritanism|Puritans]] walk the street, [[Catholicism]] is oppressed and a British Republic rules under a hereditary [[Lord Protector]], its Commonwealth still containing the colony of [[North America]]. Elsewhere, the latest Lord Protector, [[Josiah Lambert]], is worried about an approaching comet and seeks the advice of his long-time seer, the Other, and a royalist spy wing under LeCompte seeks information to aid the [[France|Franco]]-[[Spain|Spanish]] invasion that will restore the monarchy and place King Charles XIV on the throne. | |||
The Professor and Ace are drawn into the machinations of LeCompte's network and the threat of the British war rocket Behemoth. They discover that the Other and Le Compte are the same man, and that he is trying to manipulate the Lord Protector into firing Behemoth at the comet, which will not near [[Earth]], and instead hit a nearby astrological conjunction. The Other/LeCompte is revealed to be the executed rebel who escaped his sentence and arrived at Earth. He has been chief seer to the Lord Protectors since Cromwell's time, all to steer Earth to reach a technological point where he can attack his homeworld in revenge. The Royalist revolt is merely a result of his boredom. | |||
Learning this, and realising that the wormhole to LeCompte's world goes back in time, the Professor allows Behemoth to launch; it will kill LeCompte in the past before he escapes and time will reset. Ace is horrified but told this timeline is not meant to exist and the regular timeline is restored. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
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* [[Ace (Republica)|Ace]] - [[Sophie Aldred]] | * [[Ace (Republica)|Ace]] - [[Sophie Aldred]] | ||
* [[Le Compte]] - [[John Wadmore]] | * [[Le Compte]] - [[John Wadmore]] | ||
* [[Devlin]] - [[Andrew Fettes]] | * [[Colum Devlin|Devlin]] - [[Andrew Fettes]] | ||
* [[Somerset]] - [[Bryonie Pritchard]] | * [[Somerset (Republica)|Somerset]] - [[Bryonie Pritchard]] | ||
* [[Lambert]] - [[Michael Wade]] | * [[Lambert (Republica)|Lambert]] - [[Michael Wade]] | ||
* [[Charles XIV]] - [[George Telfer]] | * [[Charles XIV]] - [[George Telfer]] | ||
* [[Equerry]] - [[John Ainsworth]] | * [[Equerry]] - [[John Ainsworth]] | ||
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== Crew == | == Crew == | ||
* [[Writer]] - [[Mark Gatiss]] | * [[Writer]] - [[Mark Gatiss]] | ||
* [[Director]] - [[Bill Baggs]] | * [[Director (crew)|Director]] - [[Bill Baggs]] | ||
* [[Post-production|Post-Production]] and [[Composer|Music]] - [[Alistair Lock] | * [[Post-production|Post-Production]] and [[Composer|Music]] - [[Alistair Lock]] | ||
== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
* [[The Dominie|The Professor]] describes himself as about [[950 (number)|950]] [[year]]s old. | * [[The Dominie|The Professor]] describes himself as about [[950 (number)|950]] [[year]]s old. | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* [[Mark Gatiss]] had pitched three [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures|BBC ''Past Doctor Adventures'']] when in need of quick cash, including ''[[The Roundheads (novel)|The Roundheads]]'' and ''[[Cromwell's Dust (novel)|Cromwell's Dust]]'', hence ''The Roundheads'' also introducing the setting of ''Cromwell's Dust'' in passing. After only ''The Roundheads'' was produced, he kept the other two pitches in reserve, and ultimately adapted them into two BBV stories, with ''Cromwell's Dust'' becoming ''Republica''.<ref>''Downtime: The Lost Years of Doctor Who'' Chapter 17 (Dylan Rees)</ref> | [[File:Republica website cover.jpg|thumb|right|Alternative 2021 cover.]] | ||
* [[Mark Gatiss]] had pitched three [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures|BBC ''Past Doctor Adventures'']] when in need of quick cash, including ''[[The Roundheads (novel)|The Roundheads]]'' and ''[[Cromwell's Dust (unproduced novel)|Cromwell's Dust]]'', hence ''The Roundheads'' also introducing the setting of ''Cromwell's Dust'' in passing. After only ''The Roundheads'' was produced, he kept the other two pitches in reserve, and ultimately adapted them into two BBV stories, with ''Cromwell's Dust'' becoming ''Republica''.<ref>''Downtime: The Lost Years of Doctor Who'' Chapter 17 (Dylan Rees)</ref> | |||
* This story was one of several to receive an alternative cover on the renewed [[BBV Productions]] website in [[2021 (releases)|2021]]. | |||
== Footnotes == | == Footnotes == | ||
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{{BBV}} | {{BBV}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[Category:1998 audio stories]] | [[Category:1998 audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:BBV audio stories]] | [[Category:BBV audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:The Time Travellers audio stories]] | [[Category:The Time Travellers audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Stories set in London]] | [[Category:Stories set in London]] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:34, 17 March 2024
Republica was the first audio in BBV Productions' Audio Adventures in Time & Space anthology series and the first of the subseries The Time Travellers. It was written by Mark Gatiss, adapted from his cancelled BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel Cromwell's Dust, and set in an alternate timeline which Gatiss had seeded in his other Past Doctor Adventure, The Roundheads, tying Republica to the licensed DWU.
Unable to use the actual character of the Doctor or any of his companions, the story introduced extremely close analogues to the Seventh Doctor and Ace: "the Professor and Ace", whose space-time machine was never featured directly. Worries that they were still too close to their BBC counterparts would result in later installments in The Time Travellers giving the Professor's true name as the Dominie and Ace's as Alice.
In 2021, the story was novelised by Micah K. Spurling. This book served as the first entry in the Novelisations in Time & Space series, much as the original Republica had been the original Audio Adventure in Time & Space.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Professor and Ace arrive in present-day London to find the city strangely changed. England is a republic, ruled by an elderly Lord Protector more interested in a mysterious comet than the long-suppressed forces of revolution fomenting in his kingdom.
As political factions vie for power, the travellers become embroiled in the plans of King Charles XIV who stands poised to reclaim the throne. Can they discover who is behind the drastic alteration of history or will the Puritan cause triumph throughout eternity?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
On the planet Icatha, a rebel is sentenced to complete disintegration for his crimes.
At Oliver Cromwell's time of death, he hears a mysterious voice tell him appoint General John Lambert as successor rather than Richard Cromwell. He does so, believing this to be a message from God.
When the Professor and Ace arrive in late 1990s London, they find the world changed; technology is advanced, Puritans walk the street, Catholicism is oppressed and a British Republic rules under a hereditary Lord Protector, its Commonwealth still containing the colony of North America. Elsewhere, the latest Lord Protector, Josiah Lambert, is worried about an approaching comet and seeks the advice of his long-time seer, the Other, and a royalist spy wing under LeCompte seeks information to aid the Franco-Spanish invasion that will restore the monarchy and place King Charles XIV on the throne.
The Professor and Ace are drawn into the machinations of LeCompte's network and the threat of the British war rocket Behemoth. They discover that the Other and Le Compte are the same man, and that he is trying to manipulate the Lord Protector into firing Behemoth at the comet, which will not near Earth, and instead hit a nearby astrological conjunction. The Other/LeCompte is revealed to be the executed rebel who escaped his sentence and arrived at Earth. He has been chief seer to the Lord Protectors since Cromwell's time, all to steer Earth to reach a technological point where he can attack his homeworld in revenge. The Royalist revolt is merely a result of his boredom.
Learning this, and realising that the wormhole to LeCompte's world goes back in time, the Professor allows Behemoth to launch; it will kill LeCompte in the past before he escapes and time will reset. Ace is horrified but told this timeline is not meant to exist and the regular timeline is restored.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Professor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Le Compte - John Wadmore
- Devlin - Andrew Fettes
- Somerset - Bryonie Pritchard
- Lambert - Michael Wade
- Charles XIV - George Telfer
- Equerry - John Ainsworth
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Professor describes himself as about 950 years old.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mark Gatiss had pitched three BBC Past Doctor Adventures when in need of quick cash, including The Roundheads and Cromwell's Dust, hence The Roundheads also introducing the setting of Cromwell's Dust in passing. After only The Roundheads was produced, he kept the other two pitches in reserve, and ultimately adapted them into two BBV stories, with Cromwell's Dust becoming Republica.[1]
- This story was one of several to receive an alternative cover on the renewed BBV Productions website in 2021.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Downtime: The Lost Years of Doctor Who Chapter 17 (Dylan Rees)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Republica page at bbvproductions.co.uk
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