Forty-Five (audio anthology)
Publisher's Summary
Four, self-contained, 25-minute episodes, featuring the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex.
1. False Gods by Mark Morris
In the blistering heat of the Egyptian desert Howard Carter and his team search for the lost tomb of Userhat, a servant of the god Amun. What they discover sheds new light on the history of the world as we know it.
2. Order of Simplicity by Nick Scovell
Dr. Verryman has devoted his life to the advancement of knowledge. When his experiments on a remote planet threaten the entire human race only the Doctor can help - if he puts his mind to it.
3. Casualties of War by Mark Michalowski
Opportunity knocks in postwar London. But when a tea leaf steals from the wrong woman it becomes a race against time to discover the truth. Only some truths are best left untold.
4. The Word Lord by Steven Hall
In a top secret military bunker deep beneath the Antarctic ice a mysterious death threatens peace negotiations and could spell disaster for the inhabitants of Earth. Can the Doctor cross the t's and dot the i's? Or will his efforts get lost in translation?
Cast
False Gods
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Hex - Philip Olivier
- Howard Carter - Benedict Cumberbatch
- Jane Templeton - Lucy Adams
- Robert Charles/Robot - Paul Lincoln
- Creodont - Jon Glover
Order of Simplicity
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Hex - Philip Olivier
- Dr Verryman - Jon Glover
- Mrs Crisp - Lucy Adams
- Thing 2 - Benedict Cumberbatch
- Thing 1 - Paul Lincoln
Casualties of War
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Hex - Philip Olivier
- Joey Carlisle - Paul Reyolds
- May - Linda Marlowe
- Audrey/Miss Merchant - Beth Chalmers
- PC Miller - Andrew Dickens
The Word Lord
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Hex - Philip Olivier
- Commander Claire Spencer - Linda Marlowe
- Nobody No-One - Paul Reyolds
- Captain James Hurst - Andrew Dickens
- Private Fenton - Paul Lincoln
- System - Beth Chalmers
References
- Jane is a Time Lord, a Time Lord Academy student in "Year 45". At the time the Doctor meets her, she is in her 13th life, having used up her regenerations stranded on Earth for thousands of years.
- "False Gods" enumerates two specific criminal offenses under Gallifreyan law. Jane says the punishment for interference is vaporisation. A "Class Two Intervention" is when a Time Lord sets her or himself up as a god in another culture. Its penalty is vaporization. A "Class One Intervention" is materially affecting the physical properties of a planet, such as its axial rotation.
- "False Gods" says that the way to kill a TARDIS is to pilot it into the heart of a star.
- Claire Spencer has met the Doctor before, in her past but his future.
- A Professor Caldera is mentioned by the Doctor and Dr Verryman.
- The Doctor mentions (and describes) The Forge.
Notes
- Star Wars and David Attenborough seem to still be famous in the 2020s.
- McDonald's Happy Meals seems to still made in the 2020s.
- Stephen Hawking is still known about in the 31st century. However, Dr. Verryman may think Ace is refering to another person called Stephen Hawking.
- Hex is good at making tea, and doesn't like basements.
- As the title suggests, this audio drama is made to celebrate Doctor Who's 45th birthday.
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- Ace meets her mother as a young child whom she previously encountered as a baby in DW: The Curse of Fenric.
- The Doctor last mentioned The Forge to Hex and Ace in BFA: No Man's Land.
- On the CD cover art and inside the booklet, the TARDIS interior shown is the one from The TV Movie, which contradicts the audio Excelis Decays, when the Seventh Doctor reconfigures the TARDIS into its form in The TV Movie. Perhaps before this, the Seventh Doctor reconfigured the TARDIS to that version, then to the classic series version, and then back to The TV Movie one.
Timeline
Forty Five occurs after: The Dark Husband
Forty Five occurs before: The Magic Mousetrap
