The Same Face (audio story)

No one survives in politics on Samael. Felicity Morgan has learnt this the hard way, as she keeps being assassinated. However, she has a secret. A secret that has kept her alive. A secret that has propelled her to the top job. When the Doctor and Jo arrive on Samael, they learn the impossible truth.

One woman. One face. Many lives.

Plot

to be added

Characters

Crew

Narrator - Katy Manning
Cover Art - Mark Plastow
Director - Nicholas Briggs
Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
Music and Sound Designer - Richard Fox @ FoxYason Studios
Producer & Script Editor - Alfie Shaw
Writer - Julian Richards

References

The Minister used to work for the Celestial Intervention Agency but left them before arriving on Samael.
The Master threatens to use the Tissue Compression Eliminator but is disarmed. The Third Doctor pushes it away.
The Minister chose her title when she left Gallifrey as a renegade, stating that "Everyone seems to pick some kind of title when they run away from Gallifrey".
The Minister has survived nine attempts on her life, regenerating each time.
The Minister uses the telepathic circuits of her TARDIS to help her in her regeneration. The Third Doctor notes that 'a single imbalance' in the telepathic circuits could lead to disastrous consequences, which the Master used to cause the next regeneration to fail.
The Doctor put psychic barriers on the Minister's mind to prevent her from regenerating and maintaining the same face. This was in order to protect her sanity, but left her forgetting how to regenerate in this way.

Notes

This story was recorded on 27 February 2019 at Heavy Entertainment.
This story was released as a download only.
No explicit date is given for the events of this story. However, it builds on a reference to a "Minister of War" incident in Before the Flood, set in 2119. Given that Samael seems fully established as a colony planet, this would place The Same Face in the very late 21st century or very early 22nd.

Continuity

The Celestial Intervention Agency performed genetic tampering on the Minister, allowing her to regenerate but maintain the same face. This was something the Tenth Doctor was only able to do with the help of his severed hand. (TV: Journey's End)
The Minister uses regenerations to alter her personality to better suit her role as a different government ministers, such as having a more war-like demeanour as Minister for War and a diplomatic attitude as Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Eighth Doctor did a similar thing at the end of his life, asking the Sisterhood of Karn to shape his personality to be more war-like before his regeneration into the War Doctor. (TV: The Night of the Doctor)
The Minister suffered post-regenerative issues similar to the Doctor's symptoms following their regenerations, including confusion, erratic behaviour, extended periods of unconsciousness and memory loss. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Robot, Castrovalva, Doctor Who, The Christmas Invasion, The Woman Who Fell to Earth, AUDIO: The Lady in the Lake, et al.) Like the Doctor, she needed to be brought back to the TARDIS for her regeneration to be successful. (TV: Castrovalva, AUDIO: X and the Daleks, The Black Hole)
The Minister of War was one of the Minister's incarnations. Alice O'Donnell mentioned "the Minister of War" to the Twelfth Doctor in 2119 as one of the noteworthy events which had occurred between Harold Saxon's premiership and her time. (TV: Before the Flood)
The Master hypnotised the Minister while she was suffering from amnesia following her regeneration, similar to how the Rani was able to effectively brainwash the Seventh Doctor after the latter's regeneration. (TV: Time and the Rani)
Jo was able to talk the Minister through her post-regenerative amnesia and help her remember who she is. The Eleventh Doctor asked Clara Oswald to help his next incarnation through the process. (TV: Deep Breath)
The Minister had a crisis of faith as she realised that her next regeneration would have a different face, but she emphasised that despite her not wearing the same face, she wouldn't stop being the Minister. The Doctor shared similar concerns about his future selves and regenerations. (TV: The Time of the Doctor, The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time, PROSE: Head Games)

External links

Official The Same Face page at bigfinish.com