The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (audio story)
The Spectre of Lanyon Moor was the ninth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Nicholas Pegg and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
It was the first Doctor Who audio story to feature the Brigadier and the first "official" meeting of the Sixth Doctor and the Brigadier with the actors playing their characters. Nicholas Courtney had previously played the Brigadier in audio form in the two audio radio plays The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space opposite Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen.
Publisher's summary
In a desolate Cornish landscape littered with relics of prehistoric man, the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn uncover a catalogue of mysteries.
What is the secret of the fogou? Can the moor be haunted by a demonic host of imps? And what is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart doing in Pengriffen?
Teaming up with his old friend, the Doctor realises that an ancient conflict is nearing its conclusion — and Lanyon Moor is set to be the final battleground.
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- Dr Evelyn Smythe - Maggie Stables
- The Brigadier - Nicholas Courtney
- Mrs Moynihan - Susan Jameson
- Philip Ludgate/Scryfan - Barnaby Edwards
- Professor Morgan/Sancreda/UNIT Sentry - Toby Longworth
- Sir Archibald Flint - James Bolam
- Nikki Hunter/Pelagia Stamatis/Corporal Croft - Helen Goldwyn
- Captain Ashforde - Nicholas Pegg
References
Organisations
- The Brigadier is doing a little bit of undercover work for UNIT.
- Morgan and Ludgate have signed the Official Secrets Act.
- Sir Archibald speaks about the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
People
- Doris is visiting the in-laws in Devon while the Brigadier investigates here.
- Evelyn phones her friend Gareth, who lectures in history at Oxford, to confirm her suspicions about where she'd previously heard Lanyon Moor.
- Edward Hopkins fought with the Royalists in the Civil War. He wrote a diary regarding his own encounter with Sancreda.
- Sir Percival Flint is one of Sir Archibald's ancestors, who controlled the tin mining in the area at the end of the 18th century.
- Sir Archibald thinks that Aleister Crowley was a prophet.
Locations
- Evelyn mentions Bromsgrove.
- The Doctor once visited the Parthenon in Athens while it was being built.
- The Brig is staying at the Pengriffen Arms.
- Pengriffen Manor, Sir Archibald's home, was built in 1571. The architect was Sir John Arundell.
- Charles II gifted Sir Archibald's family with their home in the 17th century, in recognition of their support during the English Civil War.
- Sir Archibald's library, in its history section, has books on European history, military history, history of exploration, and finally on local history.
Species
Literature
- Evelyn says Sir Archibald is starting to sound like Doctor Faustus.
Technology
- The Doctor has a metadimensional rheostat in his pocket.
- Sancreda's menantolian induction loop is made of menantol bisilicate.
Foods and beverages
- Evelyn asks for hot chocolate from Ludgate.
Notes
- This story was featured in Doctor Who Magazine issue 292 with an illustration by Lee Sullivan.
- This story was originally released on both CD and cassette.
- The moorland picture used on the background on the CD cover, which also appears reversed and substantially tinted on the cover of Red Dawn, is a photograph of Dartmoor in Devon. The rocky outcrop just visible on the horizon beside the Brigadier's cap is Hound Tor, the location used for The Sontaran Experiment.
- This audio drama was recorded on 5 and 6 February 2000 at The Moat Studios.
- Lanyon Moor was mentioned once in The Tomorrow People audio series.
- Lanyon Moor, and the historical events of this story, are often referred to in the Lethbridge-Stewart range, since the Brigadier and his family grew up in the nearby village of Bledoe.
Cover gallery
Cassette cover with cassettes
Original CD cover art
Revised CD cover art
Continuity
- The Brigadier mentions that the TARDIS became invisible another time before. (TV: The Invasion)
- From the Doctor's perspective, this is the first time that he has met the Brigadier during his sixth incarnation; however, the Brigadier met the Sixth Doctor for the first time in 1989. (PROSE: Business Unusual)
- The Doctor finds out that the Brigadier is married (to Doris) for the first time in this story. He had previously learned this for the first time in PROSE: The King of Terror and would learn this for the first time again in TV: Battlefield.
- The Brigadier is still doing occasional UNIT undercover work, as he continues to do in AUDIO: The Wasting.
- Talking with the Brigadier about how common tales of fairies and the like are in Britain, the Doctor reminds the Brigadier that they both know from experience that there can sometimes be truth in such tales. (TV: The Dæmons)
- Mention is made of archaeologists Sir Percival Flint (TV: The Dæmons) and Leamington-Smith. (TV: The Stones of Blood)
- The Shlangiian are mentioned. (PROSE: Original Sin)
- The Brigadier is familiar with Cornwall, in particular Pengriffen, having grown up near there in Bledoe. (PROSE: The Forgotten Son, The Bledoe Cadets and the Bald Man of Pengriffen)
External links
- Official The Spectre of Lanyon Moor page at bigfinish.com
- The Spectre of Lanyon Moor at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Spectre of Lanyon Moor at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
