The Fourth Wall (audio story)

Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show… is Laser.

Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sci-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket… but finds himself drawn into Scullop’s world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.

So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal’s new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig-like servants, the Warmongers. And the name of that wilderness… is ‘Stevenage’.

Plot

to be added

Cast

The Doctor - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Augustus Scullop - Julian Wadham
Dr. Helen Shepherd - Yasmin Bannerman
Nick Kenton/Jack Laser - Hywel Morgan
Matthew Howland/Lord Krarn - Martin Hutson
Olivia Sayle/Jancey - Tilly Gaunt
Chimbly/Head Warmonger - Kim Wall
Junior/Warmonger - Henry Devas

References

Individuals

The Doctor tells Flip that he is not as interested in cricket as his previous incarnation and notes that many of his other incarnations are "astonishingly irritating."
The Doctor is impressed by a reverse sweep in the match.
The Doctor previously encountered Chimbly on Ballastron VII as well as several other planets.
Xander Drexel was Augustus Scullop's business partner before he left Trans-Gal and created his own company, which proved to be considerably more successful.

Foods and beverages

Flip makes popcorn using the TARDIS' food machine.

Planets

Augustus Scullop has a home on an artificial planetoid called Transmission.
The Porcions once attempted to invade Skaro.

Cultural references

Flip compares Transmission to the Death Star from Star Wars. The Doctor expresses the hope that it is "not quite so ominous."
Flip refers to the James Bond film franchise and describes Lord Krarn as being "like every Bond villain you've ever seen."
Flip states that the Warmongers are not exactly crack shots, comparing them to "terrorists trying to attack Bruce Willis" from the Die Hard film series.
Flip tells Lord Krarn that she has seen more realistic looking weapons than the Warmongers' on Blue Peter.
Flip states that Jancey's description of Earth's fate since the Warmonger invasion five years earlier sounds as if she was reading a summary of the plot on Wikipedia.

Time technology

The Doctor watches the 2006 cricket Test Match between Australia and South Africa on the Time-Space Visualiser. Flip describes it as a "manky old thing" and criticises it for being in black and white.
Trans-Gal's reality generator utilises dimensional transcendentalism to create the dimensional bubble. The Doctor derides the use of the technology for the purposes of "mere entertainment." The reality generator was created by the Dream Spinners of Dashra, a long extinct species who inhabited the ninth galaxy. It was acquired by Dr. Helen Shepherd, who told Augustus Scullop that it was her own invention.

Notes

Yasmin Bannerman (Dr. Helen Shepherd) previously played Jabe in TV: The End of the World, Kathy Swanson in TV: They Keep Killing Suzie and Princess Pandora in AUDIO: The Bride of Peladon.
This audio drama was recorded on 14 and 15 June 2011.

Continuity

Flip mentions her encounter with the Daleks and Napoléon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros)

External links

Official The Fourth Wall page at bigfinish.com