The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook (audio story)

The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook
Doctor:	Fourth Doctor
Companion(s):	Leela
Main enemy:	Grannus Drek, Flaia
Main setting:	Seranas, the Future Delrus 10, the Future Normandy, 6 June 1944 Faramos, the Past Dallas, 22 November 1963
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Andrew Smith
Director:	Nicholas Briggs
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Jamie Robertson
Sound:	Jamie Robertson
Cover by:	Ryan Aplin
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	10.3
Part of:	The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 10: Volume 2
Release date:	10 February 2021
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	BFPTOMCD077
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78703-685-7
The Fourth Doctor Adventures
← Previous	The Day of the Comet
Next →	The Primeval Design

The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook was the third story in the tenth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Andrew Smith and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela.

Publisher's summary

It’s time for the trip of a lifetime! Come along on one of Thadeus Nook's Time Tours. See history as it really was. Get to witness wars and assassinations! See barbarian warlords right up close!

The Doctor and Leela encounter a most enterprising young gentleman – using time travel for his own financial gain. The Doctor is horrified at the irresponsibility – but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Because Thadeus Nook is about to learn that history is often best left in the past.

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Tom Baker
• Leela - Louise Jameson
• Thadeus Nook - Brendan Murphy
• Karlos / Guard / Reveller - Tim Bentinck
• Flaia / Stallholder - Georgina Hellier
• Lem / Lieutenant Muller - Arthur Hughes
• Krillian / Cop / Halder - Christopher Naylor
• Jess / Young Woman - Laura Riseborough
• Grannus Drek - Kieran Bew

Crew

• Cover Art - Ryan Aplin
• Director - Nicholas Briggs
• Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
• Music and Sound Design - Jamie Robertson
• Producer - David Richardson
• Script Editor - John Dorney
• Writer - Andrew Smith

Worldbuilding

Literature

• The Doctor reads H. G. Wells's The Time Machine to Leela.

Food and Beverages

• Thadeus offers to buy Jess a slap-up takeaway Kronkburger and later the Doctor and Leela also have a kronkburger.

History

• Thadeus Nook takes his tour to see the Normandy landings, although they leave before the battle commences.
• Thadeus Nook takes Leela and his tour to see the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Notes

• Working titles for the story included Thadeus Nook's Time Tours and The Time Tours of Thadeus Nook. Eventually, Tribulations was settled on because the word has serious connotations while also sounding quite flippant by virtue of being more old-fashioned. (BFX: The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook)
• Andrew Smith envisioned the character of Thadeus Nook first before the story ideas. (BFX: The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook)
• The story partially was influenced by the TV Comic story, The Amateur, in which the Doctor encounters another amateur human time traveller. (BFX: The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook)
• Smith also drew some inspiration from The Romans and The Gunfighters, two stories which balance a lighter comedic tone with a darker tone, one of which transitions to the other as the story progresses. When writing Tribulations, Smith chose the scene of the Kennedy assassination as the moment which the hitherto lighthearted story begins to take on a more serious tone. (BFX: The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook)
• This story was recorded on 19 and 21 September 2016 at Audio Sorcery.
• The story's cover art names many years and planets from across Doctor Who as potential destinations of Thadeus Nook's Time Tours, including Utopia, Woman Wept, and Midnight.
• A relatively unaltered picture of Peter from The Beast Below ^[+]Loading...["The Beast Below (TV story)"] is used on the cover art to represent a member of the Cult of Drek.

Continuity

• The Doctor arrives shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Ninth Doctor would later be there for the assassination itself (TV: Rose) Another Renegade Time Lord, the Designer Berenyi altered the timeline to ensure the assassination. (PROSE: Untitled)
• The Doctor remembers two of his friends having their memories wiped and sent back to their original times. (TV: The War Games)

Cover gallery

• 

  Textless cover

• 

  Alternate cover

External links

• Official The Tribulations of Thadeus Nook page at bigfinish.com