The Great Space Elevator (audio story)
The Great Space Elevator was second story of the third series of The Companion Chronicles, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Morris, narrated by Deborah Watling and featured the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Publisher's summary
A new adventure with the Second Doctor as told by his companion, Victoria Waterfield.
The Great Space Elevator is a marvel of human engineering; a transit tube stretching from the equator up to a space station held in geosynchronous orbit.
When the TARDIS lands in Sumatra in the future, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are captured by guards just as the station loses power. Together with Security Officer Tara Kerley, the three travellers take a one-way trip on the elevator to fix the problem, and find themselves confronted by a powerful alien force that threatens to wreak chaos on Earth...
Plot
Episode One
The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive at the base station of a space elevator on the island of Sumatra, in the near future. When disaster strikes the elevator's Sky Station, the trio investigate, where they find the crew have been affected by an unknown force.
While exploring the Sky Station alone, Victoria is threatened by a malevolent electrical entity.
Episode Two
A sentient electrical lifeform from the depths of space wants to take over Earth by generating deadly super-storms on the surface below to sustain itself.
Assisted by a crewmember on board the Sky Station, the trio fight back, managing to disperse a storm generated by the entity before it manages to reach the surface.
Cast
Characters
- Second Doctor
- Jamie McCrimmon
- Victoria Waterfield
- Tara Kerley
- Communications Officer Pastell
- Crewman
- Commander Harwood
- Research Scientist Seager
- Electrical creature
Crew
- Cover Art - Simon Holub
- Director - Nigel Fairs
- Executive Producer - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music and Sound Design - David Darlington
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Jonathan Morris
Worldbuilding
- The older Victoria has a husband, at least one child and will soon become a grandmother. She has never told her family of her travels in the TARDIS or that she was born in the 19th century.
- Jamie compares the Great Space Elevator to the Tower of Babel.
- Victoria compares travelling in the space elevator to being in a giant dumbwaiter.
- The Doctor plays "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" on his recorder.
- Bastell is part of the Skybase crew.
- While the island of Sumatra was being buffeted by the storm, Victoria mentions that the storm was "steadfast above Jakarta".
Notes
- This was the first time that Deborah Watling had reprised her role as Victoria Waterfield for Big Finish Productions. However, she previously played Auntie in AUDIO: Three's a Crowd.
- This audio drama was recorded on 2 April 2008 at the Moat Studios.
- This story takes place between The Web of Fear and Fury from the Deep.
- This story was told from Victoria's perspective.
Continuity
- This is not the first time the Doctor has to deal with alien entities trying to take over a space station whose function is to control the weather, as the Cybermen had attempted to do in TV: The Moonbase.
- Victoria tells Tara Kerley that she, the Doctor and Jamie had been on Telos, which she claims is one of the Greek Islands. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)
- Jamie once again refers to the Man in the Moon. (TV: The Moonbase)
- When the Doctor smiles, he sometimes reminds Victoria of her late father Edward Waterfield. (TV: The Evil of the Daleks)
External links
- Official The Great Space Elevator page at bigfinish.com
- The Great Space Elevator at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
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