Hornets' Nest

Hornets' Nest is the overall title of a five-story audio drama arc which was released on the closing months of 2009 in both CD and digital download formats by BBC Audio.

The arc marks the return of Tom Baker to the role of the Fourth Doctor for the first time since Dimensions in Time in 1993 and his first serious reprisal of the role since Logopolis in 1981. Baker is the only surviving classic series Doctor actor who had not previously participated in reprising the character for either BBC Audio or Big Finish Productions. This also marks Baker's first performance in an original audio drama as the Doctor (discounting an educational radio appearance) since Doctor Who and the Pescatons in 1976.

Also appearing is Richard Franklin, reprising the role of Mike Yates, which he had originated during the Third Doctor era. In fact, this arc will mark the first time the character of Yates has featured with the Fourth Doctor.

The CDs were released once a month from September until December 2009.

Stories

The Stuff of Nightmares

‘Wanted: retired army Captain for light household duties and fireside companionship. Must tolerate mild eccentricity and strong scientific advice. Knowledge of Giant Maggots, Super Intelligent Spiders and Prehistoric Monsters a positive boon.’

Responding to an advert apparently worded for him alone, Captain Mike Yates (retired) is reunited with a ghost from the past. But why has the Doctor, that mysterious traveller in Time and Space, sent for his former UNIT acquaintance? Trapped by a horde of vicious creatures in an apparently innocuous English country cottage, the two old friends are on the brink of an enormous adventure. As the Doctor relates his recent escapades, it becomes clear to Mike that they – and the Earth at large – are facing an enemy of unimaginable power and horrific intent.

The Dead Shoes

Visiting the English seaside town of Cromer in the summer of 1932, the Doctor happens upon the strange world of the Cromer Palace of Curios. The young Ernestina Scott is unusually beguiled by one of the museum's exhibits, and when the Doctor befriends her, they unwittingly embark upon a terrifying escapade. Chased by animated dolls through a nightmarish model house, the Doctor realises he is being hunted by a familiar enemy. The unmistakable sound of hornets is in the air, and they are keen to speak to him. Overseeing this game of cat and mouse is the Palace of Curios' curator - a certain Mrs Wibbsey...

The Circus of Doom

The circus has come to town - and so has the Doctor! Watching the parade pass by in 1832, he finds the people of Blandford strangely drawn towards the garish big top, and knows that something is terribly wrong. The only thing to do is pay a visit. Meanwhile Adam Farrow finds his sister caught up with the circus and its sinister ringmaster. What is behind Antonio's almost hypnotic power, and how is it connected with an event in the Doctor's future? Seized by clowns and forced into the centre of the ring, the Doctor encounters the fiercest of all circus acts. Yet something much more terrifying lurks in the wings - and the sound it makes is horribly familiar. Lives will be lost before the circus moves on - and the Doctor will face his own doom on the high wire.

A Sting in the Tale

The Doctor arrives in a bleak English midwinter of long ago. Plunging into the snowy landscape of the Dark Ages, he learns that wild dogs besiege the local Tilling Abbey every night. When he is given shelter by the sisters of the abbey, the Doctor begs an audience with the Mother Superior they fiercely protect. Something unearthly has already happened here - and if the Doctor is right, it's connected to his recent encounters with an ancient enemy. As night falls again, the dogs can be held off no longer - and the sisters' secret is about to be revealed. Forced to draw his enemy off into the depths of the TARDIS, the Doctor finds himself in a nightmarish chase through his own ship - but is he the pursuer, or the pursued? As they fight him on his own ground, the hornets are determined to possess his mind...

Hive of Horror

As a new day breaks over Nest Cottage, the Doctor and Mike know they have to face their enemy for a final confrontation. Reduced to miniature size, and with Mrs Wibbsey along as an unwilling adventurer, they venture inside the hornets' nest itself. The Queen lies in wait for the enemy which she and her brood have faced so many times over the millennia. If she is to guarantee the survival of her alien hornet race for another thousand years, this is a battle she must win! The loyalty of the Doctor's friends will be tested to the limit. And perhaps, at last, they will all understand why Mike Yates is so important...

Continuity

• The Doctor tells Yates about his "recent escapades", including "giant rats", "killer robots" and "skulls from the dawn of time". As these adventures take place with Leela and because he is now alone, this story presumably takes place just after she left him at the end of The Invasion of Time and before The Ribos Operation.
• K9 (presumably K9 Mark II) is mentioned to be traveling with the Doctor, but is not heard. It is unclear if the Doctor has started or finished constructing him.
• Yates' breakdown, dark times and search for redemption were chronicled in his last few television stories, The Green Death, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Planet of the Spiders.