Primeval (audio story)

Primeval
Doctor:	Fifth Doctor
Companion(s):	Nyssa
Main enemy:	Kwundaar
Main setting:	Traken, circa 1000 BC
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Lance Parkin
Director:	Gary Russell
Producer:	Gary Russell and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music:	Gareth Jenkins
Sound:	Gareth Jenkins
Cover by:	Clayton Hickman
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	26
Release date:	23 November 2001
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	6C/D
ISBN:	ISBN 1-903654-51-3
Main Range
← Previous	Colditz
Next →	The One Doctor
Production order
← Previous	The Eye of the Scorpion
Next →	The Sandman

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Primeval was the twenty-sixth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Lance Parkin and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

Serving as a prequel to The Keeper of Traken, it was notable for exploring the history of Nyssa's home planet of Traken and the wider Traken Union, as well as for being novelist Lance Parkin's first audio story.

Publisher's summary

Nyssa will die at dawn, and the Doctor doesn't even know why.

To save her life, he must make a desperate journey to the only place in the universe where a cure might exist to heal her.

When even that fails, the Doctor has a choice —­ let Nyssa die, or make a deal with the devil.

After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Peter Davison
• Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
• Shayla - Susan Penhaligon
• Kwundaar - Stephen Greif
• Sabian - Ian Hallard
• Anona - Romy Tennant
• Janneus - Rita Davies
• Hyrca - Mark Woolgar
• Narthex / Captain Kabe - Billy Miller
• Etrayk - Alistair Lock

References

• In this era, the Source exists but there is no Keeper.

Notes

• The story is both a sequel and a prequel to The Keeper of Traken.
• All the characters are named after or have names based on mediaeval theologians or aspects of mediaeval theology.
• This audio drama was recorded on 24 and 25 August 2001 at The Moat Studios.
• An illustrated preview of this story featured in DWM 311 illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
• Russell Stone's score for the story was released on the CD Music from the Fifth Doctor Audio Adventures, alongside the scores for The Eye of the Scorpion and Loups-Garoux.
• This story is set between Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity.
• This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download, as well as to stream on Spotify.

Illustration by Lee Sullivan from DWM 311.

Continuity

• This story portrays the planet Traken three thousand years before TV: The Keeper of Traken. It also tells how the Keeper's position came to be.
• This story reveals that Nyssa's collapse in TV: Four to Doomsday and the telepathic powers which she demonstrates in TV: Time-Flight are the results of Kwundaar's manipulations. Seeking to regain control of the Source, Kwundaar needed to use a native of Traken who had left the union. He chose Nyssa. Ultimately, it is the Doctor that Kwundaar wants to use to regain control of the Source.
• Kwundaar knows of Traken's eventual destruction. (TV: Logopolis)
• Nyssa refers to Adric's death. (TV: Earthshock)
• Nyssa had previously considered asking the Doctor to take her to Traken before its destruction on numerous occasions before he actually did so. (PROSE: Empire of Death)
• Nyssa teaches Sabian the Charleston. She had herself been taught the dance by Tegan Jovanka while attending a party at Cranleigh Hall in Oxfordshire on 11 June 1925. (TV: Black Orchid)

External links

• Official Primeval page at bigfinish.com
• Primeval at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• DisContinuity for Primeval at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide