Friendly Fire was the first story in The Fifth Doctor Adventures audio anthology Conflicts of Interest. It was written by John Dorney and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.
Publisher's summary
When the TARDIS needs to reset itself, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves having to fill time on a space-hub filled with numerous attractions. This pleases Tegan and Nyssa no end... but the Doctor is more interested in visiting an alien friend of his living on a nearby mining planet and is able to persuade his friends to join him.
But on arrival, his friend is nowhere to be found and the locals are more than slightly unwelcoming. With limited options for departure and a hostile populace they may be in a lot of trouble.
Sometimes true monsters are found in the strangest places.
Plot
Part one
When the Cloister Bell sounds, Nyssa and Tegan hurry to the TARDIS control room and are told by the Doctor that the dimensional controls are resetting, shrinking the TARDIS into a singularity because he agreed to an update without first landing and connecting to a power source. The Doctor performs an emergency landing and they exit the ship as it resets, finding themselves on the Aranis Space-Hub near Komoko, the homeworld of Velar, a Batearian diplomat and friend of the Doctor's.
The trio hire a shuttle and fly to the main settlement on Komoko, which seems to be deserted aside from Brennan, who comes up with flimsy reasons to keep them from visiting Vellah before agreeing to provide them with a buggy. As the buggy is a two-seater, the Doctor and Nyssa set off in it whilst Tegan waits behind with Brennan, briefly seeing a woman as Brennan is making her a coffee. The Doctor and Nyssa arrive at Velar's home and, finding the the house empty and rocks on the windowsill, they exit and are held at gunpoint by Reno, a marshal.
Part two
Reno has Jagger search the two travellers and claims that Velar left several months ago, but the Doctor points out that he would not have left his prayer stones behind and collects them. She gives them a lift to the mine, during which the Doctor deduces that a relative of hers fought against the Batearians and notices that she has a distinctive Batearian bracelet which she claims Velar gave her. They find that the mine has collapsed and then head back to town, the Doctor and Nyssa both having noticed that the collapse was deliberate.
Feigning an allergy, Tegan has Brennan point her towards Dr Spencer, who gives her a note telling her to get away when they are disturbed by Jagger. He offers to take Tegan to the Doctor and Nyssa and insists on accompanying her back to Brennan when she declines. The Doctor and Nyssa return and tell Tegan that they believe that Reno killed Velar; they are unsure as to why Reno is allowing the three of them to leave with this knowledge, leading the Doctor to deduce that Turner has sabotaged their shuttle. He sends Nyssa and Tegan out of the emergency exit and stays on board to trigger the launch, escaping just before the explosion.
Part three
The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan go to Spencer, who recounts how Reno riled everybody up against the reclusive Velar and his body was burnt on a pyre and taken into the mine to be buried. Tegan then distracts Reno and her men by claiming to have switched sides for her own survival, allowing the Doctor and Nyssa to steal a buggy to get them to a company shuttle, and Spencer saves her by knocking out Brennan when she is given away. The Doctor gets Nyssa to jump out of the buggy and, pursued by Reno and her men, uses the vehicle to collapse the mine.
The Doctor points out to Reno that she will have to call in the company to rebuild the mine and provide an explanation for its destruction as well as the death of Velar and the explosion of the shuttle, making her realise that she has been outwitted and will be going to prison. Before she can kill the Doctor, Spencer arrives with Nyssa and Tegan and shoots her, getting her men to put down their guns by telling them that the rest of the town is behind her. The police take the travellers back to Aranis, but Tegan is no longer in the mood to enjoy its attractions and is upset by what they have learnt and experienced. The Doctor says goodbye to his old friend and intends on returning his prayer stones in time.
Cast
References
- Nyssa and Tegan discuss the food machine.
- A lamington is made of chocolate, sponge cake and desiccated coconut.
- Tegan mentions Anzac cookies.
- Nyssa and Tegan head to Nyssa's bedroom.
- The Doctor mentions the TARDIS’ connection to the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey.
- The Doctor mentions the streets of Skaro as an unsafe place.
- Tegan calls the Doctor "Methuselah".
- Durolinium is mined on Komoko.
- Batearians resemble armadillos.
- Velar enjoys baking.
- Brennan offers Tegan tea or coffee.
- Turner works for Reno.
- The Doctor and Nyssa claim to be from the Traken Union.
- Reno's grandfather lost an arm and an eye in the war against the Batearians.
Notes
- Friendly Fire was recorded remotely.
Continuity
- Tegan once took what Nyssa termed as "a break" from the Doctor and Nyssa. (TV: Time-Flight, Arc of Infinity)
- Velar helped the Doctor stop an invasion shortly before Nyssa and Tegan joined him. (AUDIO: Gobbledegook)
- Tegan mentions having faced Daleks (AUDIO: The Elite, Nightmare of the Daleks) and Cybermen. (TV: Earthshock; AUDIO: Conversion)
External links
- Official Friendly Fire page at bigfinish.com