Out of Time (audio story)

The Cathedral of Contemplation is an enigma, existing outside time. It turns through history, opening its doors across the universe to offer solace to those in need.

Occasionally, the Doctor drops in – when he's avoiding his destiny, it’s an ideal place to get some perspective. Only this time he's already there from several lives earlier, so when dimension barriers break down, his past and present collide.

And when the Daleks invade and commandeer the Cathedral, two Doctors must unite to stop them – or face extermination twice over!

Plot

The Tenth Doctor arrives in the Cathedral of Contemplation where he is greeted by the High Abbess and her apprentice, Kivall. The Doctor explains that he decided to visit when he saw the door to the cathedral appear on the beach where he parked the TARDIS, something that the Abbess thinks is a coincidence as he normally visits the cathedral when he is in trouble. The Abbess asks the Doctor to follow her to the contemplation chambers. More new arrivel show up at the North Door of the cathedral, so the Abbess leaves the Doctor to his thoughts, but not before telling him that the panoramic gallery remains locked so his meditation cannot be disturbed. Once the Abbess is gone, the Doctor decides to try and unlock the gallery with his Sonic Screwdriver.

Meanwhile, in the gallery, the Fourth Doctor is painting a portrait and asks Jora, a soldier from the 26th century, to pass him up another brush. Jora asks him what he is doing and the Fourth Doctor answers that he is doing a bit of restoration of a painting of an old man waving at a young man. He explains that the old man in the painting is the Exalted Elder of Kranpa who is passing his life force to the new ruler of the planet, admitting that it does look like he is waving. He also tells Jora that be brought Michelangelo to the Cathedral and then he pilfered some of his ideas, but Jora doesn't know who Michelangelo is.

A glow suddenly appears in the gallery, which worries the Fourth Doctor. When he investigates the control box, the Tenth Doctor suddenly appears in the room and both of them are surprised to see each other. The Fourth Doctor thinks that the Tenth Doctor is either very clever or very clumsy for being able to break through the dimensional wall and fusing the controls, and the Tenth Doctor introduces himself to Jora who at first mistakes him for Michelangelo. When the Fourth Doctor asks for his name, the Tenth Doctor introduces himself as John Tyler instead of his usual alias of "John Smith". He also asks Jora if the Fourth Doctor asked her why she is hiding, to which Jora answers that he didn't.

Meanwhile, the North Door opens and a group of people enter the cathedral, explaining to the Abbess that they are at war and that they have reason to believe that they have a fugitive in the Cathedral. The leader of the group, Zenna, tells the Abbess that he needs to return to the frontline as soon as the fugitive is found, and the fugitive happens to be his daughter.

In the gallery, the Tenth Doctor is trying to fix the control box he accidentally fused when he came through the crack in the dimensional wall with his Sonic Screwdriver, which the Fourth Doctor seems interested in. The Tenth Doctor doesn't give it to him though, claiming that he doesn't want it in the wrong hands. The Fourth Doctor explains that he once suggested that he could overhaul the system, but the Abbess instead made him paint frescoes. The abbess enters and tells the Tenth Doctor that he should not be here. Zenna follows the Abbess into the room and tells his daughter, Jora, to come home with him whilst the Abbess forces the Tenth Doctor to leave the gallery. Jora is reluctant to leave with her father, so the Fourth Doctor sticks up for her by explaining that she has been cleaning his paintbrushes. Zanna decides to talk to the Abbess, as the Fourth Doctor realizes that Jora was running from her father.

The Abbess chastises the Tenth Doctor for breaking into the gallery and encountering his fourth incarnation, but the Fourth Doctor downplays his mistake by claiming that the Fourth Doctor is none the wiser before he seems to start remembering this encounter. The Abbess confiscates the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, then tells him to explain what's worrying him, but the Doctor justifies his worries by saying that he's being called to somewhere he doesn't want to go. Just after Zenna enters and tells the Abbess to get someone in charge to tell the Fourth Doctor to leave his daughter alone, Kivall calls the Abbess to tell her to attend the North Door. The Abbess leaves the Doctor in the company of Zenna and tells him not to cross the timeline again.

The Fourth Doctor tells Jora to place the paint pots onto the scaffolding so they can be used next time someone enters the gallery. Jora explains that she ran away from the war she was fighting because she was scared of dying. The Doctor assures her that she is brave for making a difficult choice.

In the corridor, Zenna asks the Tenth Doctor what he knows about the war he is fighting, but the Doctor tell him to leave Jora alone since she has made her choice. Zenna explains that the enemy is too dangerous to be left unchecked and thinks that anyone who refuses to fight in the war is weak. When asked where he is from, Zenna explains that he is from Earth, but he and his forces are fighting in the Fifth Sector. The Doctor wonders who they are fighting.

Jora tells the Fourth Doctor that her enemies are relentless and unstoppable, but the Fourth Doctor replies by saying that no one is unstoppable, only unreasonable. Jora replies that they keep coming back no matter how many times they are stopped, leaving the Doctor asking her who her enemies are.

The North Door is wide open and Kivall is unable to close it. Zenna's soldiers get themselves into position and the Abbess tells Kivall to make sure that the pilgrims are safe before giving him the Sonic Screwdriver. The doorway is soon revealed to be connected to a Time Corridor, from which a squad of Daleks emerge and begin killing the soldiers. The Supreme Dalek stops the Abbess from closing the Time Portal and boasts that the Daleks are the supreme species of the universe, ordering her to surrender control of the Cathedral. The Abbess insists that the Daleks will never have control over the Cathedral, prompting them to exterminate her.

Cast

The Doctor - David Tennant
The Doctor - Tom Baker
Captain Zenna / Kivall - Nicholas Asbury
Jora - Kathryn Drysdale
The Abbess / Marna - Claire Rushbrook
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

References

to be added

Notes

This story was recorded remotely on 26 March and 4 May 2020.
As well as part of the Out of Time series, the story was also released as part of The Tenth Doctor Adventures range.
This story was originally released on CD and download.
In 2022, Josh Snares released a full animation of the story on YouTube. To avoid copyright infringement, the soundtrack was not included; instead, fans were invited to download the Out of Time audio legally and sync it up with Snares's visuals themselves. Although it was not actually an official Big Finish product, Snares's animation was promoted by Big Finish Productions on Twitter.^[1]
With initial production originally delayed by David Tennant's filming commitments to Around the World in 80 Days, the Coronavirus pandemic subsequently led to further delays until arrangements were made to record remotely. While some previous productions had been partly affected by the pandemic, Out of Time was the first Big Finish project to be recorded entirely within lockdown conditions. Actors had to be cast partly based on whether they had home recording facilities. Claire Rushbrook already had such a set-up after recording for Tula Chenka in The Robots during lockdown. Kathryn Drysdale recorded from inside a portable sauna. (VOR 137)
Matt Fitton primarily based the Tenth Doctor's interactions with the Fourth Doctor on his portrayal in Time Crash, in which his interactions with the Fifth Doctor showed him to be a fan on his younger selves. (VOR 137) Time Crash more heavily influenced the next release in the series, which also featured the Fifth Doctor. (BFX: The Gates of Hell, VOR 147)
Jora was described by Fitton as the companion of the story. (VOR 137)
The Second Dalek War acts as a backdrop for the plot, the first story to return to that era since Prisoner of the Daleks depicted the end of the conflict in 2009. The Tenth Doctor refers to the conflict directly by that name, marking the first time it has been used outside of the Virgin New Adventures continuity, as well as in any performed medium.
Fitton discussed whether to use classic-era Daleks or revived-era Daleks and it was decided to use both as a fun melding of the two eras. (VOR 137) The inclusion of both actually helps bridge part of the gap which exists in the lead-up to Prisoner of the Daleks. Out of Time depicts the Daleks starting to use both Time War-style casings and time travel in a bid to defeat Earth Command, elements which feature more prominently in Prisoner.
According to Fitton, Nicholas Briggs originally planned to record his Dalek lines with the ring modulator at a later time separate from the main recording sessions, much to David Tennant's disappointment. Briggs therefore set up the modulator in his office allowing the actors to record with the live Dalek dialogue. (VOR 137)
The production team referred to this story as "Out of Time 1" in interviews, to distinguish it from subsequent releases in the Out of Time series. (BFX: The Gates of Hell)
Producer David Richardson recalled that the initial ideas for Out of Time 2 were being discussed even before those of Out of Time 1, but Out of Time 1 ended up being recorded before Out of Time 2 was seriously revisited. (BFX: The Gates of Hell)
The involvement of the Daleks in this story influenced the decision to use the Cybermen, another popular recurring foe of the Doctor, in Out of Time 2. Similar discussions to those concerning the Daleks were had about which era of Cyberman to use; unlike the blend of new and old Daleks, the Cyberman model from The Invasion was opted for. (BFX: The Gates of Hell)

Continuity

The Dalek Supreme says that the Daleks will once again own the Earth. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
The Fourth Doctor has just recently been elected Lord President in the Citadel on Gallifrey. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
The planet Earth is destroyed in the year 5.5/Apple/26. (TV: The End of the World)
The Tenth Doctor says that someone once stopped him from doing a bad thing. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
The Tenth Doctor was present at the wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) to whom the Fourth Doctor has just said goodbye. (TV: The Hand of Fear)
When the Fourth Doctor asks the Tenth Doctor for some sneak peeks into his future, the Tenth Doctor tells him that he will "settle down with a nice Time Lady and a dog". (TV: The Ribos Operation, AUDIO: The Auntie Matter)
The Tenth Doctor would later recall witnessing the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestalt. (TV: The End of Time)
The Tenth Doctor directly refers to the Second Dalek War by name (COMIC: Pureblood, PROSE: Deceit) and describes the conflict as "that business with humans, Draconians and Ogrons". (TV: Frontier in Space) He was previously present at the end of the war. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks)
The Earth and Draconian Empires have been unable to fully co-operate to fight against the Daleks. (COMIC: Star Tigers)

Cover gallery

Cover
Alternate cover
Textless cover art

Simon Holub sought to design the front cover as if it was a photoshoot from the revived era, which included both Doctors, their TARDISes, Daleks from their respective eras and "a subtle hint of title sequences in the background." (VOR 137)

Jonathon Carley revealed in a YouTube interview that Tom Baker's pose is taken from a publicity photo of Peter Capaldi from Series 9 with the jacket tinted brown and the Fourth Doctor's head and scarf added on top.^[2]

External links

Official Out of Time page at bigfinish.com

Footnotes

[1] Big Finish Productions on Twitter

[2] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHxqbLjZg9M

[1]

[2]