The Rapture (audio story)
The Rapture was the thirty-sixth monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. It featured the Seventh Doctor played by Sylvester McCoy and Ace played by Sophie Aldred. This was the fifth audio story to feature this pairing of Doctor and companion. Each episode featured remixes of the Doctor Who theme, a device employed by Big Finish on numerous occasions.
Publisher's summary
Ibiza, 1997, and thousands of young people are acting like mindless zombies.
Which is to be expected. Ibiza, the island of dance music, sex, drugs and alcohol, is the ultimate hedonistic paradise.
God has sent help from on high to save the sinners of Ibiza. He has sent His angels to save their souls.
Which would be simple enough if these souls didn't include an alien time-traveller working in a bar, a woman who disappeared in 1987, a young man carrying a photograph of a girl he's never met and an Irish girl who doesn't even know who she is anymore.
Plot
Part 1
Ibiza, 14 May 1997: A new club, the Rapture, has opened on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Its owners and DJs, Gabriel and Jude, call it a spiritual experience. In the crowd are Liam and Caitriona, two young partygoers; Caitriona is already high on a mix of pills, though their guide, Brian, thinks the drugs are unnecessary—the Rapture is an experience on its own. He may be right; the music and the laser show synchronize with the sunset over the smaller island of Es Vedra, making it practically entrancing.
Ace and the Doctor arrive in the evening. Ace continues to struggle with the deaths of the Nazi Kurtz and the art patron Madame Salvadori in their recent adventures, and she worries that her travels with the Doctor have inured her to all the deaths. Trying to distance herself from that aspect of her personality, she has given up her nickname, and chooses to be called by her surname, McShane. The Doctor takes her to Ibiza to rest and recover, and introduces her to a time-displaced friend, Gustavo Riviera, whom the Doctor once rescued from the Spanish Civil War. He runs a bar in Ibiza now; and he suggests to McShane that she might find some rest at the Rapture. She leaves the Doctor with Gustavo and goes to visit the new club. Meanwhile, Gustavo describes the two DJs as “angels”, a term they use for themselves; the Doctor is not reassured, as those who call themselves angels are often the opposite. The Doctor goes to see the club for himself.
At the Rapture, McShane meets Brian and hits it off with him, drinking and talking. Liam and Caitriona are on the dancefloor; Caitriona is having a good time, but Liam has his concerns. He is interrupted, however, when he sees McShane across the room. He recognizes her as Ace; and he shows Caitriona a picture of her for identification. She urges him to speak with Ace alone and introduce himself. The duo introduce themselves; Caitriona nearly gets into a fight with another clubgoer, but Liam stops her, and with McShane they head onto the dancefloor. Above, in the DJ box, Gabriel watches the crowd with doubts of his own; his brother Jude reassures him, and refocuses him on their mission and the faith necessary for it. They are spreading the word of the Lord; and soon He will descend and save the believers.
Liam tries to find out more about McShane’s life for the past decade; entranced by the music, she doesn’t notice. Over the speakers, Gabriel begins quoting scripture as the sun sets beyond the club’s windows; he talks about the biblical Rapture before cranking up the music. The crowd is enthralled, including Brian, who does not drink or use drugs. As the music peaks, the clubgoers become silent and fully entranced. Alarmed, Brian goes to the DJ room to try to stop the situation—but only Jude is there. The self-proclaimed “angel” shoots him with a laser pistol for interfering.
Outside, the bouncer will not let the Doctor in—until the bouncer too falls under the spell of the music. Slipping inside the club, the Doctor finds he cannot rouse any of the audience—and Gabriel is starting up the music again.
Cast
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Tony Blackburn - Himself
- Jude - Matthew Brenher
- Gabriel - Neil Henry
- Gustavo - Carlos Riera
- Liam McShane - David John
- Caitriona Henderson - Anne Bird
- Brian - Daniel Wilson
- Bouncer / Clubber - Jeremy James
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor fought with Gustavo's father during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
- The Doctor knows how to make Sofrit Pages and sangrias.
Individuals
- Ace was born on 20 August 1970 to Audrey and Harry McShane.
- Gustavo considered returning to mainland Spain but eventually decided against it.
- Liam describes himself as a "Christian sci-fi moppet."
Earth history
- The Doctor refers to Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco and the rise of Fascism in Europe during the 1930s.
Television series
- Liam is a fan of the science fiction series The X-Files and Professor X.
Notes
- This audio drama features remixes of the Doctor Who theme for each episode.
- The first draft scripts had individual episode titles: Essential Selection, A Higher State of..., Deeper and Euphoric Breakdown.
- This would be the final audio drama released in the main range to feature the Seventh Doctor and Ace travelling alone until 1963: The Assassination Games in November 2013. The next story, The Harvest, would add Hex as a companion.
- This audio drama was recorded on 20 and 21 April and 12 May 2002 at The Moat Studios.
- Jim Mortimore's score for the story was released, alongside the scores to Dust Breeding and Bang-Bang-a-Boom! , as part of the Music from the Seventh Doctor Audio Adventures release.
- DJ Tony Blackburn's guest role marked the fourth time a celebrity played himself in a Doctor Who production, and the first time it was done in a Big Finish audio story.
Continuity
- Ace tells Brian that ten years have passed since she left Perivale in 1987. (TV: Dragonfire)
- Ace mentions the recent deaths of Feldwebel Kurtz (AUDIO: Colditz) and Madame Salvadori, who was killed by the Krill on Duchamp 331 during the 26th century. (AUDIO: Dust Breeding) She describes the former as one of the worst things that she has ever seen.
- Ace refers to Fenric (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and her recent visit to Colditz Castle in October 1944. (AUDIO: Colditz)
- Caitriona sees a "man in a golden mask" in Ace's mind. (AUDIO: Dust Breeding)
- Liam mentions the science fiction series Professor X. (PROSE: No Future, PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)
- Liam refers to the British manned missions to Mars. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)
- Ace remembers telling the Doctor that the sea made her feel small and insignificant in Maiden's Point in 1943. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
- The Doctor refers to the deaths of Mike Smith (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks), Captain Sorin (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and Karra. (TV: Survival)
- The Doctor is initially alarmed when Ace describes the seaweed as "killer" before realising that it was only a figure of speech. (TV: Fury from the Deep)
- Ace refers to the Doctor's previous habit of playing the spoons. (TV: Time and the Rani, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)
- During his eighth incarnation, the Doctor would once again fight in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937. (PROSE: History 101)
External links
- Official The Rapture page at bigfinish.com
- The Rapture at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Rapture at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
