Signs and Wonders (audio story)

The end of the world is nigh. That's what everybody is seeing in their nightmares. That's why they are congregating in Liverpool for the party to end all parties, hosted by Rufus Stone, a celebrity turned doomsday prophet. He claims he's the only one who can save them when the day of judgement comes. Because he's on the side of the angels.

The Doctor, Ace and Hector arrive to find the city in the grip of apocalypse fever. There are lights in the sky, earthquakes and power cuts. The Doctor is determined to investigate, while Ace is more concerned about finding a way of restoring Hector's lost memories.

Meanwhile, in the river Mersey, hideous, slug-like creatures are stirring...

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

References

Sally is a Catholic.
Hex's grandmother Hilda Schofield died a month earlier.
Praska is the Empress of the Third Holy Aquillian Empire and the daughter of Veska the Magnificent.
The Aquillians resemble seven foot eagles in golden armour.
The Aquillians are aware of the Time Lords.
The British Army has been privatised. Certain units perform private security work.
Sally is with C19.
Captain Patrick Gormley refers to UNIT.
UNIT has Ace's DNA on file.
To'Koth is the Aquillians' god.
Lysandra Aristedes taught Sally how to fly a helicopter.
Sally's grandfather has died.
Ace tells the Doctor that she loves him.
Ace never wants to have children.
The Doctor and Ace visit Hex and Sally in the 2040s, 15 years after he left the TARDIS. He and Sally eventually settled down and had a daughter named Cassie. Sally is pregnant with another child. However, they never married. By this time, Hex is balding, has greying hair and has put on weight.
The potency of the Doctor's psychic spore allows Praska to telepathically communicate with him.

Textless cover art

Notes

This story was recorded at The Moat Studios.
The title of this story is structured the same way as the stories in the previous trilogy (AUDIO: Protect and Survive, Black and White and Gods and Monsters) which involved the Elder Gods.
Subscribers whose subscriptions included this story also received the audio short story Waiting for Gadot.
This is Philip Olivier's last regular appearance in the Main Range, however he does appear in Shadow Planet/World Apart in June 2017.

Continuity

Ace refers to the fact that Hector has visited the far future (AUDIO: Revenge of the Swarm) and Ancient Greece (AUDIO: Mask of Tragedy).
The Doctor, Ace and Hector return to Liverpool two years after their previous visit. (AUDIO: Afterlife)
Hector refers to the fact that the bottle containing Hex's memories was destroyed. (AUDIO: Afterlife)
When Hector introduces himself, Janet refers to the Trojan warrior of the same name. During his first incarnation, the Doctor briefly met Hector of Troy. The TARDIS' arrival outside Troy in c. 1200 BC distracted Hector during his battle with Achilles, who was able to kill him as a result. (TV: The Myth Makers)
Hector hopes that the Doctor does not play the spoons. (TV: Time and the Rani, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy; AUDIO: Bang-Bang-a-Boom!, Colditz)
Ace once again refers to Sally as "Sergeant Barbie". (AUDIO: Black and White)
Sally refers to the fact that she previously served in the King's New Delta Squadron. (AUDIO: Black and White)
UNIT has a profile of Ace's involvement in incidents in 1963 (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks; AUDIO: 1963: The Assassination Games), 1997 (TV: Battlefield) and 2025 (AUDIO: Project: Destiny).
Ace tells Captain Gormley that she goes way back with Chunky, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks; AUDIO: 1963: The Assassination Games) Alistair and Winifred. (TV: Battlefield)
Hector refers to the fact that he and his mother Cassandra Schofield were both born in Royal Bolton Hospital. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny)
After Hex's memories return, he refers to Sally as "Sal". (AUDIO: Black and White, Gods and Monsters)
Hex recalls his death and playing chess in the Board with Fenric and Weyland. (AUDIO: Gods and Monsters)
The Doctor refers to the Elder Gods Ragnarok, (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy) Fenric (TV: The Curse of Fenric; AUDIO: Gods and Monsters) and Weyland (AUDIO: Gods and Monsters).
Ace refers to her first meeting with Hex at St Gart's Brookside Hospital on 12 October 2021 and the Cybermen (AUDIO: The Harvest) and Hex's admiration for Florence Nightingale, whom he met in Scutari in October and November 1854 (AUDIO: The Angel of Scutari).
To'Koth refers to Moloch (AUDIO: Protect and Survive) and the Mi'en Kalarash (AUDIO: House of Blue Fire).
Ace refers to Bliss (AUDIO: Enemy of the Daleks) and the Word Lord Nobody No-One (AUDIO: The Word Lord, A Death in the Family).
Ace's glimpse of her future has her wearing a high collar, (AUDIO: Dominion, The Lights of Skaro, Intervention Earth) riding a motorbike in Paris in the 19th century (PROSE: Set Piece) and being surrounded by "three giant fleas". (COMIC: Ground Zero)
The Doctor sees an incident in his future involving him hearing Madame Butterfly in a theatre of some description. (TV: Doctor Who)
Ace reminds the Doctor that he once told her that there were places where the rivers dream, places where there is danger and places where there is injustice. She then tells him that they have "work to do". (TV: Survival)

External links

Official Signs and Wonders page at bigfinish.com