The Siege of Big Ben (audio story)

The Siege of Big Ben
Main character(s):	Jackie Tyler
Featuring:	Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor
Main enemy:	Christa
Main setting:	London, Pete's World, 2010s
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Joseph Lidster
Director:	Lisa Bowerman
Music:	David Roocroft
Sound:	David Roocroft
Read by:	Camille Coduri
Cover by:	Mark Plastow
Release details
Release number:	8.6
Release date:	29 June 2018
Production code:	BFMSTDL39
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78575-996-3
Official trailer
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Short Trips
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The Siege of Big Ben was the sixth story of the eighth season of Big Finish Productions' Short Trips series.

Publisher's summary

Jackie Tyler has everything she's ever wanted: a loving husband and, two children. But a terrible, far-reaching plan is underway, and only Jackie and a single friend stand in the way of it.

But the Doctor isn't the man he was...

Plot

After scolding her four-year-old son Tony Tyler and telling him that he needed to pick up his room, Jackie Tyler answered the door at the Tyler Mansion to her friend Beryl Thompson. She invited Beryl in and took her into the kitchen to have a cup of tea but changed her mind to offer her a “cheeky vino” as it was Thursday. She told Beryl about how it seemed silly to chat in the kitchen when they had so much space compared to her flat in Jackie’s original universe, but she liked it.

Jackie had a story to tell Beryl but was interrupted by a noise from upstairs. Tony was in his room working on a business plan and Jackie remarked how he took after his dad, Pete Tyler.

After some short tangents about the differences between this universe and the one she lived in before and her friendship with Veronica of Reykjavik, Jackie got to her news. She saved the world last Tuesday!

Jackie started to explain how she saved the world, but Beryl needed a reminder of what Jackie does in her day-to-day life. She was briefly confused as to why Beryl didn’t remember that Jackie worked for a “top secret organization” known as UNIT, but recalled that she’d told her about it at Sal’s wedding when Beryl had been drinking at least in part due to the fact that she’d recently been left by her wife. So, Jackie explained again.

On Pete’s World, she explained that there used to be various organizations that worked to defend the world from aliens and other threats- these groups having been the likes of the Preachers and Torchwood. President Harriet Jones combined these groups to form this version of UNIT with many people working for this new organization. Jackie goes on to tell Beryl- reminding her that all of this is “top secret”- that while many may think that she is a “lady of leisure” she actually works for this organization alongside Pete (who is a captain), Rose, and the Meta-Crisis Doctor. Jackie describes the Doctor as Rose’s “fella” and “the one with the hair.” He is also UNIT’s scientific advisor.

Jackie hesitates when speaking about the Doctor and finds herself explaining who he is to Beryl who does not remember Jackie telling her about him before though she insists she has. After explaining briefly how the Meta-Crisis Doctor came to be, Jackie admits that she feels like this version of the Doctor isn’t exactly the one she knew before.

Moving on with her story about how she saved the world last Tuesday, Jackie tells Beryl that she is the head of food distribution at UNIT. She takes great pride in being the person who feeds “the people who save the world”, saying that they couldn’t do so on an empty stomach after all.

Everyone but Jackie was out on a mission in Bridlington as an old Cybus factory had been found there. She was nearly done for the day at 2 o’clock, though she had to pause what she was doing to cover her ears as the hourly bells from Big Ben sounded. Shortly after, though, an alarm sounded throughout the building indicating that they were in “full red alert” and were being invaded by aliens. This also triggered a lockdown of the base.

Determined to not go down “without a fight”, Jackie called Pete but got his voicemail. She left him a message asking him to send all the soldiers back except for him as she doesn’t want him getting hurt. Jackie told him that she loves him, to tell Rose that she loves her, and reminded him that Tony has sports day tomorrow.

She heard a noise and thinks that it is aliens invading the base, but it turned out to be the Doctor. He was excited about being under attack, saying that it was “Wizard” how they were “literally a base under siege.” Jackie asked him if he knew who was attacking, but the Doctor did not know. Interrupting his excitement about the entire situation, Jackie asked him to turn the alarm off as it was giving her a headache. She also reminded the Doctor that they both live in this universe, so he needed to take the situation seriously.

Still talking to Beryl, Jackie explained some more about the Doctor. He has all the same memories of the original Doctor- about traveling the universe and saving the day and then just continuing on with his life. She guessed that being stuck in one place with a home and a family wasn’t something that he enjoyed. Jackie even assumed that the Doctor would leave Rose if given a chance to get away, though she would not tell her daughter that and even said that she may be wrong.

Back in Jackie’s story, the Doctor already called Brigadier Krista Lateef and was told that she and the rest of the team were on their way back from Bridlington. Krista had told the Doctor to find a safe space and to hide until they got back, but Jackie correctly guessed that he was not going to take that advice despite it being the “sensible thing to do.”

Jackie explained to Beryl that it only made sense that the Doctor would not just hide. The original Doctor certainly wouldn’t and neither would Rose.

The Doctor explained to Jackie that he had come to find her and take her up to his lab, which was located in the very upper part of Big Ben. She was surprised because the Doctor was usually the only one allowed in his lab but followed after him anyways. However, he told her to wait outside once they got up to the lab because he didn’t want her breaking anything.

Not wanting to be left alone with aliens invading the base, Jackie yelled at him, telling him that she would not be stopped from coming in his lab no matter what he was doing in there. Sufficiently scolded, the Doctor allowed her in.

Inside, Jackie saw the contents of the Doctor’s lab. Three of the walls had shelves on them, all containing some combination of books, test tubes, and “loads of science stuff.” The fourth wall had a plethora of computer and television monitors on it. In the middle of the room was the TARDIS coral that the original Doctor had given to the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose on Bad Wolf Bay.

Taken off guard by the sight of the growing TARDIS, Jackie scolded the Doctor again. Concerned that the Doctor was planning on leaving Rose behind and breaking her heart again, she told him that she would not allow it on her watch. She even told him that he was not to take Rose with him as she has a family here so if he took Rose, he would have to take her entire family. Though she also added that “Tony has sports day tomorrow so we’re going nowhere.” The Doctor just looked away from Jackie and mumbled that the TARDIS wasn’t growing as fast as he’d thought it would, so it didn’t matter anyways.

Choosing to focus on their more immediate problem of aliens invading, the Doctor walked over to one of the monitors in his lab and brought up live feeds from cameras around the UNIT base. Soon he found what Jackie described as “big purple aliens” with huge guns.

Jackie also broke from telling her main story again to tell Beryl how many aliens she’d seen since the Doctor first came into her life. She’d seen all sorts or as she described them, “Big ones, small ones, some as small as your head- green, red, you name it!” She also recalled some of the various alien incursions she had witnessed on her Earth such as the Sycorax, Autons, and Roboforms. Knowing that these events did not happen on her current Earth, Jackie explained to Beryl that Brigadier Krista had a theory that aliens had not come to this Earth in the same numbers before because of the technology that Cybus Industries wielded. Now without the company around, Pete’s World experienced more incursions of its own.

When Krista had told Jackie this theory, Jackie told Krista that their Earth was lucky. However, Krista also shared that her daughter had been one of the many converted to Cyberform by Cybus and had subsequently died. Krista cited this why she had joined Torchwood and then become part of UNIT. Jackie began to dwell on the fact that this was also what had happened to the Pete’s World version of her and wondered what she had been like. She wondered why everyone can’t “just be nice” and stop arguing, but then continued on with the story.

On the monitors, Jackie and the Doctor could see that the aliens were going through the base room by room, looking for them. Jackie found herself holding her breath and felt silly and when the Doctor noticed that she was holding her breath he smirked and told her that the aliens couldn’t hear her. To this, Jackie tried to defend herself by saying that the aliens could be The Christmas Invasion (TV story)t he understood what she was going through and he and Jackie both promised not to say anything to anyone else about what had happened (though Jackie conceded that she is telling Beryl but that didn’t count).

Krista finally released the gun from her grip and started to cry. Wanting to be there for her friend, Jackie ran over to give her a hug. She went to smile at the Doctor, but it faltered when from the corner of her eye, she saw the Doctor going towards another one of the screens in his lab.

On the video monitor was Pete Tyler. The Doctor, despite his earlier promise, told Pete everything that had happened and that when they got back they needed to arrest Krista as she was a threat to UNIT- even telling Pete that Krista had nearly killed them.

Jackie told Beryl that she didn’t believe that Krista would have gone through with it, insisting that Krista had just had a moment of bad judgement and needed to be given the chance to fix her mistake. “No second chances,” she told Beryl, echoing the Doctor’s explanation.

Still trying to figure out her feelings about what happened a few days ago, Jackie admitted that she just has to accept that the Doctor has changed and that he’s not the exact same person that she used to know. She even told Beryl that she’s not sure she liked him now, especially after what he did to Krista.

Jackie went on to explain that the reason she was telling Beryl this story was, in part, because she’d realized that she’d changed too. She apologized for being cruel to Beryl sometimes, telling her that she had known and been friends with another Beryl Thompson in her own parallel and that she realized that the reason why she was sometimes mean to this Beryl was that she wasn’t the same person. She recognized that this was not fair to this Beryl and promised to do better in the future, apologizing for her past behavior.

Offering Beryl a cup of tea now and telling her that she could tell her everything going on in her own life, Jackie also told her that she would have to talk to the Doctor soon, perhaps tomorrow. She admitted to missing him. “I miss him being my friend.”

Characters

• Jackie Tyler
• Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor
• Beryl Thompson
• Brigadier Christa

References

• Jackie wonders if Del Boy exists in Pete's World.
• Jackie mentions that in Pete's World they play football "backwards" and don't have EastEnders. She misses EastEnders.
• The Preachers and Torchwood merged with UNIT. Jackie, Pete, Rose and the Doctor work there. Pete is a captain. The Doctor is the scientific advisor and Rose is his assistant. Jackie is the Head of Food Distribution.
• Whilst trying to remind Beryl of meeting the Doctor, Jackie tells her he is "the one with the hair".
• Funerals in Pete's World involve a "coffin conveyor." Jackie mentions it breaking down at Philip's funeral.
• Jackie mentions "big green monsters from Mars" attempting to invade the Arctic.
• The UNIT HQ canteen is behind the clock face of Big Ben. Jackie has to cover her ears like Mary Poppins to shield herself from the noise.
• Jackie describes the growing TARDIS as having a familiar ancient smell, like a “sort of living metal.”

Notes

• This story was recorded on 4 September 2017 at The Moat Studios.
• This was the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor's first appearance in any media since his debut in 2008's Journey's End.
• In the style of The Companion Chronicles, this story is told from Jackie's perspective.

Continuity

• Jackie recalls killing a "big green alien" with vinegar. (TV: World War Three)
• Jackie mentions the difference in the size of her houses between the two universes. She said her old flat was tiny. (TV: Rose et al.)
• Jackie refers to the big differences between her two universes: zeppelins and the fate of the British Royal Family. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel)
• Jackie is friends with Veronica of Reykjavík. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen)
• Jackie has a poor opinion of this universe's Harriet Jones (TV: Doomsday) and mentions her universe's version death by the Daleks. (TV: Journey's End)
• Jackie tells Beryl the Doctor grew from a hand, merged with "some secretary", and was born in battle. (TV: Journey's End)
• The Doctor Still wears his suit
• The Doctor uses the phrase "wizard". (TV: Journey's End)
• Jackie mentions when she used to sell Glubby Glubs. (AUDIO: Retail Therapy)
• The deleted scene in which the original Tenth Doctor gave the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose a piece of TARDIS coral and Donna told them how to increase its growth rate is reinstated as canon, despite not having been shown as part of the broadcast episode.
• Jackie mentions aliens making people stand on roofs. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
• Even though the Meta-Crisis Doctor is part human, Jackie considers herself to be the only human on base even when he is there.
• When Jackie is complaining about how people and aliens are always after the Doctor, she mentions Elton (TV: Love & Monsters) and the Harvesters. (AUDIO: Wednesdays For Beginners)
• Jackie slaps the Doctor again.
• Jackie reminds the Doctor about the Cybermen pretending to be ghosts. (TV: Army of Ghosts)
• The Meta-Crisis Doctor is referred to as "Doctor"/"the Doctor" 34 times- six by the aliens/Krista and 28 times by Jackie Tyler.

External links

• Official The Siege of Big Ben page at bigfinish.com