The Architects of History (audio story)

The Architects of History
Doctor:	[[doctor::Seventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Elizabeth Klein (erased from the timeline)
Main enemy:	Elizabeth Klein The Nazis The Selachians
Main setting:	The Moonbase, the Moon, 2044 (alternative timeline) England, 1962
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Big Finish Productions]]
Writer:	Steve Lyons
Director:	John Ainsworth
Producer:	Jamie Robertson
Release details
Release number:	132
Release date:	31 March 2010
Format:	2 CDs, 4 parts
Production code:	7Z/H
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-435-1
Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories
← Previous	Survival of the Fittest
Next →	City of Spires

Publisher's summary

The year is 2044. Earth is enjoying a Golden Age of peace, prosperity and technological advancement… but somebody is plotting to destroy all that. The Selachians, shark-like alien monsters, launch a crippling attack on Earth’s Moonbase, using deadly weapons from the future.

Help is at hand. A police telephone box appears in a Moonbase hangar. A time-travelling hero has returned in the hour of Earth’s greatest need. Now, Elizabeth Klein must fight to save not only the Galactic Reich but Time itself from the mysterious prisoner who has orchestrated these fateful events... the Doctor.

Cast

• Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Elizabeth Klein - Tracey Childs
• Rachel Cooper - Lenora Crichlow
• Sam Kirke - Ian Hayles
• Major Richter - Jamie Parker
• General-Lieutenant Tendexter - Lloyd McGuire
• The Selachian Leader - Chris Porter
• Feldwebel/Computer Voice - Rachel Laurence
• Pilot/Selachian - David Dobson

References

• In the alternative timeline, 2044 is the 100th year of the Golden Age of the Galactic Reich while Oberst Klein is the director of Temporal Affairs of the Reich.
• Klein has managed to bring about the defeat of the Sontarans and the Daleks in the alternative timeline. Dalek technology has been integrated into the Reich ships being built at the Moonbase.
• Klein and Major Richter travelled back in time to the Moonbase in order to arrest a traitor, Karen Montoya, before she had a chance to betray the Reich. They were authorised to do so by a future version of General-Lieutenant Adolf Tendexter, the commander of the Moonbase.
• In the alternative timeline, the Doctor and Klein first met in his cell on the Moonbase several months earlier. She tells him that, in another timeline, they travelled together in the TARDIS.
• After gaining possession of the TARDIS, Klein attempted to restore her timeline (which she regards as the original one) but the TARDIS would not allow her to cross her own time track.
• Klein tells the Doctor that, in 2044, a unified Earth government has eradicated famine, averted wars and repelled alien invasions.
• Prior to her arrival on the Moonbase, Klein's last encounter with Tendexter in her personal timeline was in 2048.
• The Selachians are walking armoured sharks who are ruthless and entirely without pity. They were the scourge of their galaxy and it took Klein many months and many trips in the TARDIS to prevent them from conquering the Milky Way Galaxy. In 2044, they had not developed either their armoured suits or space travel.
• In the proper timeline, Dr. Elizabeth Klein became known for her triumphs working for UNIT. Her personality appeared to be the same except that she devoted her talents to the protection of Earth. Upon meeting the Doctor in 1962, she did recognise him slightly despite the fact that the experiences of the alternative Klein involving him had been erased from history.
• Klein mentions the Doctor's visits to Kenya in 1953 and Colditz Castle in October 1944.

Notes

• Lloyd McGuire (Tendexter) played Lugo in DW: The Face of Evil.
• Steve Lyons is also the author of BFA: Colditz and the creator of the character of Klein.
• Lenora Crichlow (Rachel Cooper) previously played Cheen in DW: Gridlock.
• This story marks the first appearance of the Selachians in an audio drama.
• This audio drama was recorded on 1 and 2 August 2009.

Continuity

• The Doctor mentions Klein's lover Major Jonas Faber from her original timeline in 1965. (BFA: Klein's Story)
• In the proper timeline, the Second Doctor encountered the Selachians on at least three occasions. (PDA: The Murder Game, CC: The Selachian Gambit, PDA: The Final Sanction)

Timeline

• The Architects of History occurs after BFA: Survival of the Fittest
• The Architects of History occurs before TN: Companion Piece

External links

• The Architects of History at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Official The Architects of History page at bigfinish.com