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Night of the Vashta Nerada (audio story) (edit)
Revision as of 23:12, 27 December 2020
, 27 December 2020Plot
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== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
[[Funworld]] was set to be the [[ | [[Funworld]] was set to be the [[happiness|happiest]] [[planet]] in the [[galaxy]]. A planet of joy, of [[euphoria]], of [[laughter]] and [[delight]]. Except construction was marred by reports of [[Vashta Nerada|a predator]] and then, a few [[day]]s before opening, all [[communication]] ceased. | ||
Owner [[Georgia Donnelly]] is desperate to open the [[resort]] and has hired [[Amanda Steele]]'s crew to find out what happened on the planet. They're the best. But even they might not be up to the task. | Owner [[Georgia Donnelly]] is desperate to open the [[resort]] and has hired [[Amanda Steele]]'s crew to find out what happened on the planet. They're the best. But even they might not be up to the task. | ||
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
''to | In search of [[life]] after the disappearance of her [[Employment|employees]] on [[Funworld]], [[Georgia Donnelly]] and her hired muscle in the form of [[Amanda Steele]]'s [[hunting]] [[team]] find only the [[Fourth Doctor]]. They determine he is not the [[predator]] they are searching for. The Doctor joins them as they search the [[Funfair|fair's]] control [[tower]], cast in [[darkness]] with the [[power]] having been cut. The missing employees are all found, but all of them are [[Death|dead]], and their [[corpse]]s nothing but [[skeleton]]s. | ||
[[Bennetto]] restores the power and [[Phelan]], a [[Psychic power|psychic]], uses her abilities to commune with the dead. She discovers they were attacked by a [[creature]] they were unable to describe - it was merely [[black]] and darkness in itself. The investigation continues until Bennetto is devoured by a swarm of blackness after entering a [[room]] that should have been [[Light|lit]]. | |||
Outside, Phelan is able to communicate with the entity. Her description, the Doctor realises, matches that of the [[Vashta Nerada]], a [[species]] not known for their [[aggression]] and normally bound to their native [[forest]]s. When Donnelley explains the planetwide forest was cut down to build Funworld, the Doctor realises that the Vashta Nerada's whole [[ecosystem]] was [[Destruction|destroyed]] and they attacked Donnelley's staff in order to survive. Suddenly, Phelan developed a second [[shadow]]. She warns the team that the Vashta Nerada have developed a [[taste]] for [[human]] [[meat]] and are out for [[revenge]], and then she is [[Eating|eaten]] alive. | |||
The Doctor urges the rest of the team to abandon the planet forever, but Steele is determined to carry on the hunt. Donnelley, though reluctant to lose her investment, decides it is best to leave and departs the planet in Steele's [[Spaceship|ship]]. Steele and [[Grosta]] arm themselves with [[flamethrower]]s and attempt to lure the Vashta Nerada out of hiding. However, they are outflanked and the swarm begins tearing Grosta's [[stone]] [[body]] apart. At his urging, Steele [[mercy]] [[Murder|kills]] him with a [[grenade]]. | |||
Steele is rescued by the Doctor in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] after he activates some of the funfair [[robot]]s to buy a couple of [[minute]]s' distraction. Though they are safe in the Doctor's [[Space-time vessel|ship]], the Doctor reveals that half the Vashta Nerada [[population]] has [[Stowaway|stowed away]] on Donnelley's ship. If they are allowed to land on [[Earth]], they might be able to convince others among their species to join them. En route to Earth, Donnelley herself is killed as the Vashta Nerada catch up with her, shortly before the Doctor and Steele land on the ship. | |||
The pair have no way of [[Self-destruct|destroying]] the ship, but when the Vashta Nerada latch onto Steele, casting a second shadow, she hatches an idea. She acquires some [[poison]], [[Suicide|killing herself]] as the Vashta Nerada devour her and poisoning them as well. The Doctor confirms there are no more lifeforms aboard the ship and returns it to [[orbit]] around Funworld. He records a message, warning others that an [[environment]]al disaster has rendered the planet uninhabitable and that it should be avoided. He then leaves, lamenting how he was unable to save even one person. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
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* [[Bennetto]] - [[Matt Devitt]] | * [[Bennetto]] - [[Matt Devitt]] | ||
=== Uncredited cast === | === Uncredited cast === | ||
* [[Grosta]] - [[Matt Devitt]] | * [[Grosta]] - [[Matt Devitt]] ([[BFX]]: ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume Two]]'') | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
=== Individuals === | === Individuals === | ||
* The Doctor says that his previous companion has just departed for "Pastures New." | * The Doctor says that his previous [[companion]] has just departed for "Pastures New." | ||
* Phelan is a [[psychic]]. | * Phelan is a [[psychic]]. | ||
* [[Georgia Donnelly]] is the owner of [[Funworld]]. | * [[Georgia Donnelly]] is the owner of [[Funworld]]. | ||
* The Doctor describes [[human]]s as intelligent [[predator]]s. | * The Doctor describes [[human]]s as intelligent [[predator]]s. | ||
* [[Amanda Steele|Steele]] once killed an entire [[Sontaran]] assassination squad. | * [[Amanda Steele|Steele]] once killed an entire [[Sontaran]] [[assassination]] squad. | ||
* Steele describes the Doctor as "a right wuss". | * Steele describes the Doctor as "a right wuss". | ||
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== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* This is one of the few instances in a [[Big Finish]] anthology release in which the [[Fourth Doctor]] is present in a story set alongside stories featuring other incarnations. | * This is one of the few instances in a [[Big Finish]] anthology release in which the [[Fourth Doctor]] is present in a story set alongside stories featuring other incarnations. In this case, the Fourth Doctor took the place of the [[Seventh Doctor]], who had [[Harvest of the Sycorax (audio story)|featured]] in ''[[Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume One|Volume One]]''. | ||
* The Doctor describes Donnelly as a "{{w|Bandersnatch|frumious Bandersnatch}}", a reference to a creature from the 1872 novel ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]]. | * The Doctor describes Donnelly as a "{{w|Bandersnatch|frumious Bandersnatch}}", a reference to a creature from the 1872 novel ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]]. | ||
* Phelan is offered a chance to travel in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] but dies before she has the opportunity to do so. The same fate also befell several characters in the revived series including [[Lynda Moss]], [[Madame de Pompadour]], [[Astrid Peth]], [[Rita (The God Complex)|Rita]] and [[Zygon Osgood]]. | * Phelan is offered a chance to travel in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] but dies before she has the opportunity to do so. The same fate also befell several characters in the revived series including [[Lynda Moss]], [[Madame de Pompadour]], [[Astrid Peth]], [[Rita (The God Complex)|Rita]] and [[Zygon Osgood]]. | ||
* As part of the ''Classic Doctors, New Monsters'' boxset, ''Night of the Vashta Nerada'' was also bundled with ''[[Day of the Vashta Nerada (audio story)|Day of the Vashta Nerada]]'', featuring [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]]. ''Day'' makes reference to the events of ''Night''. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
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== External links == | == External links == | ||
{{bigfinish|releases/v/classic-doctors-new-monsters-volume-02-1472|{{StoryTitle}}}} | {{bigfinish|releases/v/classic-doctors-new-monsters-volume-02-1472|{{StoryTitle}}}} | ||
{{CDNM}} | {{CDNM}} | ||