Matryoshka (audio story): Difference between revisions
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|featuring = | |featuring = | ||
|enemy = [[The Toymaker]] | |enemy = [[The Toymaker]] | ||
|setting = [[ | |setting = [[Charles Pearson's manor|Pearson's manor]], [[20th century]] | ||
|writer = Aurora Fearnley | |writer = Aurora Fearnley | ||
|director = [[Helen Goldwyn]] | |director = [[Helen Goldwyn]] | ||
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|next = The Caged Assassin (audio story) | |next = The Caged Assassin (audio story) | ||
|soundcloudtrailer = | |soundcloudtrailer = | ||
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'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the third story of the [[Series 13 (4DA)|thirteenth series]] of ''[[The Fourth Doctor Adventures]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Aurora Fearnley]] and featured [[Tom Baker]] as the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Christopher Naylor]] as [[Harry Sullivan]] and [[Eleanor Crooks]] as [[Naomi Cross]]. | '''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the third story of the [[Series 13 (4DA)|thirteenth series]] of ''[[The Fourth Doctor Adventures]]'', produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Aurora Fearnley]] and featured [[Tom Baker]] as the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Christopher Naylor]] as [[Harry Sullivan]] and [[Eleanor Crooks]] as [[Naomi Cross]]. | ||
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
=== Part one === | === Part one === | ||
Too busy to play [[hide and seek]] with his daughter, [[Etta Pearson|Etta]], [[board game]] manufacturer [[Charles Pearson|Lord Pearson]] gives her a [[ouija board]] to occupy herself with and she hears a voice which agrees to play with her. [[The TARDIS]] arrives | Too busy to play [[hide and seek]] with his daughter, [[Etta Pearson|Etta]], [[board game]] manufacturer [[Charles Pearson|Lord Pearson]] gives her a [[ouija board]] to occupy herself with and she hears a voice which agrees to play with her. [[The TARDIS]] arrives near [[Charles Pearson's manor|the manor]] a year later, brought by an unknown force, and [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]], [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]] and [[Naomi Cross|Naomi]] join [[spiritualist]] [[Bisset (Matryoshka)|Madame Bisset]] in visiting the Pearsons' house to find out what happened to Etta, who vanished whilst playing hide and seek with the voice. Whilst Harry is sceptical of [[medium]]s, the Doctor knows that a small percentage have genuine abilities and is not willing to immediately assume that Madame Bisset is a [[con artist]]. The group use the ouija board, which spells out a [[riddle]], and Madame Bisset passes out. | ||
Believing that the riddle is directing them to Etta's favourite [[toy]], Lord Pearson leads Harry and Naomi to the [[attic]] to find her [[matryoshka]] and Madame Bisset gives the Doctor permission to [[hypnosis|hypnotise]] her to find out what force made contact with her. She is taken over by [[the Toymaker]], who brought the TARDIS here and wants [[revenge]] for a future defeat at [[the Doctor]]'s hands, just as he expected. In the attic, Naomi realises that they are playing a board game | Believing that the riddle is directing them to Etta's favourite [[toy]], Lord Pearson leads Harry and Naomi to the [[attic]] to find her [[matryoshka]] and Madame Bisset gives the Doctor permission to [[hypnosis|hypnotise]] her to find out what force made contact with her. She is taken over by [[the Toymaker]], who brought the TARDIS here and wants [[revenge]] for a future defeat at [[the Doctor]]'s hands, just as he expected. In the attic, Naomi realises that they are playing [[Losers Weepers]], a board game in which the players have to find items in each room of the house. A [[fire]] suddenly starts, forcing her to climb out of the [[window]] using the [[curtain]]s and into Etta's [[bedroom]] on the floor below, and Naomi finds the matryoshka on Etta's [[bed]]. She feels compelled to open it, after which the fire disappears. | ||
''to | The Doctor refuses to play the Toymaker's games or surrender himself to save his friends and have Etta freed, not trusting that the Toymaker would do so, and demonstrates that he is able to control Madame Bisset's movements thanks to his hypnosis. As a result of the game continuing, Harry, Naomi and Lord Pearson receive another riddle apparently referring to a [[ship in a bottle]] in the [[wine cellar]]. Harry and Lord Pearson start smashing [[bottle]]s in order to find it, which is complicated when the [[wine]] from the smashed bottles starts to rise inexplicably. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes the Toymaker into a [[secret passage]] in search of Etta, only for the Toymaker to leave Madame Bisset's body as [[marble]]s rain down and a spiked ball rolls towards them. | ||
=== Part two === | === Part two === | ||
''to | The Doctor and Madame Bisset climb out of the secret passage into a disused [[well]] and Harry finds the ship in a bottle, which is sucked into the doll. The wine then vanishes and Harry, Naomi and Lord Pearson return to the ouija board for the third riddle, hearing what sounds like Etta crying inside the walls as they do so. Harry falls unconscious and Naomi becomes possessed by the Toymaker upon touching the ouija board, so Lord Pearson finds the Doctor and Madame Bisset outside and refuses to wait outside with the latter whilst the Doctor confronts the Toymaker indoors. Lord Pearson and Madame Bisset burst in as the Doctor is clarifying the rules of the game and attempt to open the matryoshka. | ||
Realising that he is the only one who can open it, the Doctor does so and Madame Bisset ages to [[death]]. The Doctor and Lord Pearson are then able to pull Etta out from inside of her and the Doctor commands the reunited father and daughter to leave the manor and never return. Harry and Naomi wake back up and the Toymaker reanimates Madame Bisset's [[corpse]] using a [[Probability Crystal]] from inside the matryoshka, activated by the Doctor's touch and now draining away his [[life]]. The Doctor sends Harry and Naomi away with a riddle and deduces that the Toymaker has been taking over [[human]] bodies as practice to take over his and become a part of [[the universe]] outside of [[Celestial Toyroom|his own]]; he intends to do this at the point of the Doctor's imminent [[regeneration]] with the help of the Probability Crystal's powers. | |||
Harry and Naomi return to the TARDIS with the Probability Crystal and throw it into the console per the Doctor's riddle, causing the TARDIS to dematerialise. The Doctor and the Toymaker play [[pass the parcel]] and the Toymaker wins, which allows the Doctor to trap part of him inside the matryoshka whilst the rest of his [[psyche]] remains in the [[time loop]] in which he has been caught. When the TARDIS arrives with Harry and Naomi inside, the Doctor explains that the TARDIS has looped his [[life force]] from the Probability Crystal back into him. The three of them leave, the Doctor suggesting a trip to [[Las Vegas]]. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
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* [[Bisset (Matryoshka)|Madame Bisset]] has [[synaesthesia]]. | * [[Bisset (Matryoshka)|Madame Bisset]] has [[synaesthesia]]. | ||
* [[Elizabeth Pearson]] died in childbirth. | * [[Elizabeth Pearson]] died in childbirth. | ||
* Naomi references being ankle-deep in [[merlot]]. | |||
* Harry felt "rough" one [[New Year's Day]] in [[Portsmouth]]. | |||
* The Doctor references ''[[Alice Through the Looking-Glass]]''. | |||
* [[Gantus]] was a "chap" who could drain [[life energy]]. | |||
* [[Naptilus]] is a [[planet]] which can drain life energy. | |||
* The Doctor saves [[Victoria sponge]] for Harry. | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
'' | * ''Matryoshka'' was recorded remotely. ([[BFX]]: ''Matryoshka'') | ||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
''to | * It is revealed that the act of the [[Fourth Doctor]] playing [[chess]] with the facsimile [[Alan Turing#Duplicates and alternatives|Alan Turing]] in a world that wasn't the [[N-Space|universe]] made it easier for [[the Toymaker]] to seize control of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] at the end of [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Worlds Beyond (audio story)}}. | ||
* The Toymaker is still stuck in the [[time loop]] in which the [[Sixth Doctor]] trapped him in [[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Nightmare Fair (novelisation)}}. | |||
* A panel in the TARDIS opens up and [[Naomi Cross|Naomi]] finds the white light blinding. [[Harry Sullivan|Harry]] tells her not to look. This is the [[Heart of the TARDIS]]. It would once again open during [[Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen]]'s attempt to rip open the TARDIS. The power within would regress Blon back into an egg. The [[Ninth Doctor]] also warned [[Rose Tyler]] not to look inside, as seen in [[TV]]: {{cs|Boom Town (TV story)}}. | |||
* [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Worlds Beyond (audio story)}} begins with Naomi's continued first impressions of the TARDIS from the end of [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Storm of the Sea Devils (audio story)}}, and this story opens with the TARDIS crew still reeling from the TARDIS being drawn off course at the end of [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Worlds Beyond (audio story)}}, meaning that all three adventures form a continuous, unbroken stream of events for the characters. | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
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{{BF 4DA}} | {{BF 4DA}} | ||
{{Toymaker sources}} | {{Toymaker sources}} | ||
[[Category:Fourth Doctor audio stories]] | [[Category:Fourth Doctor audio stories]] | ||
[[Category:Metamorphosis audio stories]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in England]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in the 20th century]] | |||
[[Category:The Toymaker audio stories]] | [[Category:The Toymaker audio stories]] | ||
Latest revision as of 17:00, 2 September 2024
Matryoshka was the third story of the thirteenth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Aurora Fearnley and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Christopher Naylor as Harry Sullivan and Eleanor Crooks as Naomi Cross.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
When a strange force drags the TARDIS to Earth, it's clear that the Doctor, Harry and Naomi are up against an incredibly powerful being. And when they encounter Lord Pearson, inventor of games and toys, searching for his vanished daughter... it becomes clear exactly who that being might be. Hide and seek is one of the simplest games devised by man... but in the hands of The Toymaker... it may also become the deadliest.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
Too busy to play hide and seek with his daughter, Etta, board game manufacturer Lord Pearson gives her a ouija board to occupy herself with and she hears a voice which agrees to play with her. The TARDIS arrives near the manor a year later, brought by an unknown force, and the Doctor, Harry and Naomi join spiritualist Madame Bisset in visiting the Pearsons' house to find out what happened to Etta, who vanished whilst playing hide and seek with the voice. Whilst Harry is sceptical of mediums, the Doctor knows that a small percentage have genuine abilities and is not willing to immediately assume that Madame Bisset is a con artist. The group use the ouija board, which spells out a riddle, and Madame Bisset passes out.
Believing that the riddle is directing them to Etta's favourite toy, Lord Pearson leads Harry and Naomi to the attic to find her matryoshka and Madame Bisset gives the Doctor permission to hypnotise her to find out what force made contact with her. She is taken over by the Toymaker, who brought the TARDIS here and wants revenge for a future defeat at the Doctor's hands, just as he expected. In the attic, Naomi realises that they are playing Losers Weepers, a board game in which the players have to find items in each room of the house. A fire suddenly starts, forcing her to climb out of the window using the curtains and into Etta's bedroom on the floor below, and Naomi finds the matryoshka on Etta's bed. She feels compelled to open it, after which the fire disappears.
The Doctor refuses to play the Toymaker's games or surrender himself to save his friends and have Etta freed, not trusting that the Toymaker would do so, and demonstrates that he is able to control Madame Bisset's movements thanks to his hypnosis. As a result of the game continuing, Harry, Naomi and Lord Pearson receive another riddle apparently referring to a ship in a bottle in the wine cellar. Harry and Lord Pearson start smashing bottles in order to find it, which is complicated when the wine from the smashed bottles starts to rise inexplicably. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes the Toymaker into a secret passage in search of Etta, only for the Toymaker to leave Madame Bisset's body as marbles rain down and a spiked ball rolls towards them.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor and Madame Bisset climb out of the secret passage into a disused well and Harry finds the ship in a bottle, which is sucked into the doll. The wine then vanishes and Harry, Naomi and Lord Pearson return to the ouija board for the third riddle, hearing what sounds like Etta crying inside the walls as they do so. Harry falls unconscious and Naomi becomes possessed by the Toymaker upon touching the ouija board, so Lord Pearson finds the Doctor and Madame Bisset outside and refuses to wait outside with the latter whilst the Doctor confronts the Toymaker indoors. Lord Pearson and Madame Bisset burst in as the Doctor is clarifying the rules of the game and attempt to open the matryoshka.
Realising that he is the only one who can open it, the Doctor does so and Madame Bisset ages to death. The Doctor and Lord Pearson are then able to pull Etta out from inside of her and the Doctor commands the reunited father and daughter to leave the manor and never return. Harry and Naomi wake back up and the Toymaker reanimates Madame Bisset's corpse using a Probability Crystal from inside the matryoshka, activated by the Doctor's touch and now draining away his life. The Doctor sends Harry and Naomi away with a riddle and deduces that the Toymaker has been taking over human bodies as practice to take over his and become a part of the universe outside of his own; he intends to do this at the point of the Doctor's imminent regeneration with the help of the Probability Crystal's powers.
Harry and Naomi return to the TARDIS with the Probability Crystal and throw it into the console per the Doctor's riddle, causing the TARDIS to dematerialise. The Doctor and the Toymaker play pass the parcel and the Toymaker wins, which allows the Doctor to trap part of him inside the matryoshka whilst the rest of his psyche remains in the time loop in which he has been caught. When the TARDIS arrives with Harry and Naomi inside, the Doctor explains that the TARDIS has looped his life force from the Probability Crystal back into him. The three of them leave, the Doctor suggesting a trip to Las Vegas.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Naomi Cross - Eleanor Crooks
- Harry Sullivan - Christopher Naylor
- Madame Bisset / The Toymaker - Annette Badland
- Etta Pearson - Venice Van Someren
- Lord Charles Pearson - Robbie Stevens
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Lord Pearson told Etta that they would play hide and seek.
- Lord Pearson received a ouija board from France.
- Approximately 0.713% of mediums are signal translators capable of picking up alien signals, according to the Doctor.
- Naomi does not know what Wi-Fi is.
- Pearsons manufacture games.
- Harry does not like poems.
- Pestorians are closely related to aphids.
- Madame Bisset has synaesthesia.
- Elizabeth Pearson died in childbirth.
- Naomi references being ankle-deep in merlot.
- Harry felt "rough" one New Year's Day in Portsmouth.
- The Doctor references Alice Through the Looking-Glass.
- Gantus was a "chap" who could drain life energy.
- Naptilus is a planet which can drain life energy.
- The Doctor saves Victoria sponge for Harry.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Matryoshka was recorded remotely. (BFX: Matryoshka)
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- It is revealed that the act of the Fourth Doctor playing chess with the facsimile Alan Turing in a world that wasn't the universe made it easier for the Toymaker to seize control of the TARDIS at the end of AUDIO: Worlds Beyond [+]Loading...["Worlds Beyond (audio story)"].
- The Toymaker is still stuck in the time loop in which the Sixth Doctor trapped him in PROSE: The Nightmare Fair [+]Loading...["The Nightmare Fair (novelisation)"].
- A panel in the TARDIS opens up and Naomi finds the white light blinding. Harry tells her not to look. This is the Heart of the TARDIS. It would once again open during Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen's attempt to rip open the TARDIS. The power within would regress Blon back into an egg. The Ninth Doctor also warned Rose Tyler not to look inside, as seen in TV: Boom Town [+]Loading...["Boom Town (TV story)"].
- AUDIO: Worlds Beyond [+]Loading...["Worlds Beyond (audio story)"] begins with Naomi's continued first impressions of the TARDIS from the end of AUDIO: Storm of the Sea Devils [+]Loading...["Storm of the Sea Devils (audio story)"], and this story opens with the TARDIS crew still reeling from the TARDIS being drawn off course at the end of AUDIO: Worlds Beyond [+]Loading...["Worlds Beyond (audio story)"], meaning that all three adventures form a continuous, unbroken stream of events for the characters.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Matryoshka page at bigfinish.com
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