Singularity was the seventy-sixth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by James Swallow and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Mark Strickson as Turlough.
It was the third audio story to feature the Fifth Doctor and Vislor Turlough. It was released in November 2005, four years after Strickson had appeared in the audio story Loups-Garoux.
It was the last story to feature only the Doctor and Turlough together until The Memory Bank was released in 2016. However, there were many stories released within the 11 year gap which featured the Doctor travelling with Turlough, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka.
Publisher's summary
Russia, the near future.
The Somnus Foundation knows the fate of mankind; they promise a tomorrow where humanity will evolve into a godlike form of infinite power. They will lead us there, to a destiny that spans the stars. This is how the future will unfold.
The Doctor knows the fate of mankind; the human race is destined to fight and struggle for their very existence, to survive disaster and war and carve an empire from an unforgiving universe. He has seen it with his own eyes. This is how the future will unfold.
Beneath the towering headquarters of the Somnus, in the streets of Moscow a dark power is building, and a conspiracy that stretches across eternity is nearing completion.
Time is fracturing and the Doctor and Turlough are at the heart of the chaos. History is about to change and the galaxy will burn in its wake...
Plot
to be added
Cast
References
- The Doctor tells Turlough that he is not welcome in the Kremlin.
- There is an Earth Empire colony on Rigel Seven in 2620.
- World War V took place in the 49th century.
- Somnus predicts an invasion of Earth in the mid-22nd century by machine monsters. The Doctor can't recall if the machine monsters in question are the Daleks or the Cybermen.
- Humanity will not achieve psychic transubstantiation for billions of years.
- "Entropy Tuesday" is the name given to the day that the universe ends.
- The Doctor says that a Type 70 TARDIS could pass through a temporal distortion grid, whereas his Type 40 cannot.
Notes
- The phrases "instrumentality of mankind" and "death and rebirth," as well as the goal of the Somnus Foundation, appear to be references to the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Human Instrumentality Project from that series.
- The Instrumentality of Mankind was also a concept used in the works of Cordwainer Smith.
- This was the final audio drama released in the main range featuring Turlough until Cobwebs in July 2010. However, he appeared in Freakshow in March 2010.
- This audio drama was recorded on 9 and 10 August 2005 at The Moat Studios.
- In co-operation with Big Finish, Tenth Planet released this audio in a limited edition with a different cover, designed by Stuart Manning, during the Dimensions convention in early November. They also sold the limited edition CD on their website.
- The Doctor alludes to time being in flux when he explains to Turlough why he bothers to "stop and get involved" when fate is cast is stone.
Only the broad strokes have been laid down. Its in the moments between the ticks of the clock where life truly thrives, where we can make a difference.
Cover gallery
Big Finish cover
"Tenth Planet" cover
Continuity
- Turlough suspects that another time corridor, such as the one which linked London in 1984 to the Prison Station at some point in the future, may be at work. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)
- Pavel's conspiracy theory files include a photograph of a Yeti (TV: The Abominable Snowmen, The Web of Fear) and Tartokovsky's theory on N-Space (AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space).
- Tired of Russia's climate, Turlough wishes to visit "somewhere tropical; sunny beaches and pretty girls. (TV: Planet of Fire)
- Lena comments Turlough has something of the Wolf about him. He says she's more right than she knows. (AUDIO: Loups-Garoux)
- Attempts by time travelling humans from the far future to kill their ancestors also occurred in London in the 1890s (AUDIO: The Spirit Trap) and all over Earth in 2008. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
- The Doctor again uses his Molenski Univarius. (AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity)
- The Doctor encounters birds that have been used to attack him. (AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks)