The Box of Terrors (audio story)

The Box of Terrors
Doctors:	Third Doctor, Fourth Doctor
Companion(s):	Sarah
Featuring:	The Master, the Decayed Master, Borusa, the Eleven, Benton, Rocket Men
Main enemy:	Omega, the Six
Key crew
Writer:	Lizzie Hopley
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Steve Foxon
Sound:	Steve Foxon
Read by:	Jon Culshaw
Cover by:	Claudia Gironi
Release details
Release date:	23 November 2023
Format:	MP3 Download
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-80240-158-5
The Audio Novels
← Previous	Prisoners of London
Next →	The Chaos Cascade

The Box of Terrors was a Special Release from The Audio Novels for the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

Based on an idea by Jon Culshaw, (BFX: The Box of Terrors) it was written by Lizzie Hopley and starred the Third Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Omega, together with numerous other groups and individuals from the TV series and Big Finish audio ranges throughout various decades.

Publisher's summary

After being framed for the destruction of an entire civilisation, the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane follow a strange comet to planet Earth.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Doctor and his Sarah Jane are called to an intergalactic emergency: the beacons protecting the 'Sand Box', are failing.

When the TARDIS crashes to earth before his eyes, the Fourth Doctor is reunited with his former self and another Sarah Jane. But are the four of them enough to keep the Sand Box closed and whatever is within from getting out?

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Third Doctor
• Fourth Doctor
• Sarah Jane Smith
• Omega
• The Master
• Decayed Master
• Borusa
• John Benton
• The Six
• Edavaine
• G`reeda
• The Giggler
• The Cold Light Priest
• Mother Quiver
• Horic
• The Lone Brigade
• Cheer Wondra
• Sansor
• Mullon
• Pyrox
• Korak

more to be added

Crew

• Cover Art - Claudia Gironi
• Executive Producer - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
• Music and Sound Design - Steve Foxon
• Narrator - Jon Culshaw
• Producer - David Richardson
• Script Editor - Roland Moore
• Writer - Lizzie Hopley
• Senior Producer - John Ainsworth
• Omega created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

Worldbuilding

• The Six was removed from the mind of the Eleven. The Time Lords had intended to remove the One.

Notes

Textless cover

• The story was recorded on 3-5 April 2023 at Ladbroke Audio.
• The initial idea for the story was put forward by Jon Culshaw, who emailed David Richardson suggesting a story featuring the Third and Fourth Doctors, who had so rarely been teamed up before, to coincide with the 60th Anniversary. Richardson agreed to the idea and approached Lizzie Hopley to write, giving her a "very loose" brief based on Culshaw's idea. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)
• Among other ideas suggested by Culshaw was the inclusion of big cataclysmic villains, of which Omega and Sutekh were the earliest suggestions. Although Omega made it in, Sutekh did not, which Culshaw recalled was due to a rights issue with the character. The Six was used instead. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)
• Culshaw also suggested the story feature two Sarah Janes. At first, there were concerns about the feasibility of translating this clearly to audio, and so alternative companion combinations were considered, such as Leela and Jo. However, Hopley gravitated back to Sarah Jane in the end, and came up with the solution of calling the younger one Sarah Jane and the older one Sarah. Doing this also allowed the Blinovitch Limitation Effect to come into play, in a way different companions would not have allowed for. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)
• Regarding the Master as played by Roger Delgado, Culshaw felt this story was "quite early on" in his "evil career", and that the events go a long way towards "consolidating" his later evil. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)
• Hopley was also requested by Culshaw, during a Zoom meeting, to include a chase scene. Hopley obliged with a car chase, which she opined was her favourite sequence. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)
• Roland Moore expressed his enthusiasm for Big Finish to release a Desert Ogron action figure based on their appearance in this story. (BFX: The Box of Terrors)

Continuity

• The Third Doctor previously met Omega and thought him trapped forever in the anti-matter universe. (TV: The Three Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Three Doctors (TV story)"]).
• Sarah and the Third Doctor recall their first meeting. (TV: The Time Warrior ^[+]Loading...["The Time Warrior (TV story)"])
• Sarah Jane remembers witnessing the Third Doctor's regeneration into the Fourth. (TV: Planet of the Spiders ^[+]Loading...["Planet of the Spiders (TV story)"], Robot ^[+]Loading...["Robot (TV story)"])
• Much later, the Third Doctor seemed aware his successive incarnation would be one of "teeth and curls". (TV: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"]) Jo Grant was earlier able to describe this to him when she briefly saw the Fourth Doctor as the Third underwent an aborted regeneration. (PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh ^[+]Loading...["The Touch of the Nurazh (short story)"])
• The Rocket Men return, as does the reoccurring phrase from their stories, "When do you know?" (AUDIO: The Rocket Men ^[+]Loading...["The Rocket Men (audio story)"], Return of the Rocket Men ^[+]Loading...["Return of the Rocket Men (audio story)"], Requiem for the Rocket Men ^[+]Loading...["Requiem for the Rocket Men (audio story)"], The Two Masters ^[+]Loading...["The Two Masters (audio story)"], The Split Infinitive ^[+]Loading...["The Split Infinitive (audio story)"])
• The Master and the Doctors are aware of the Eleven. (AUDIO: Day of the Master, The Dreams of Avarice, Two's Company)

External links

• Official The Box of Terrors page at bigfinish.com