The Rapture was the thirty-sixth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Joseph Lidster and featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.
This was the fifth audio story to feature this pairing of Doctor and companion. Each episode featured remixes of the Doctor Who theme, a device employed by Big Finish on numerous occasions.
Publisher's summary
Ibiza, 1997, and thousands of young people are acting like mindless zombies.
Which is to be expected. Ibiza, the island of dance music, sex, drugs and alcohol, is the ultimate hedonistic paradise.
God has sent help from on high to save the sinners of Ibiza. He has sent His angels to save their souls.
Which would be simple enough if these souls didn't include an alien time-traveller working in a bar, a woman who disappeared in 1987, a young man carrying a photograph of a girl he's never met and an Irish girl who doesn't even know who she is anymore.
Plot
Part One
to be added
Part Two
to be added
Part Three
to be added
Part Four
to be added
Cast
Crew
- Cover Art - Clayton Hickman
- Director - Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Executive Producer - Jacqueline Rayner
- Music - Jim Mortimore, Jane Elphinstone, Simon Robinson and Feel
- Producers - Gary Russell and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Sound Design - Jim Mortimore
- Writer - Joseph Lidster
Worldbuilding
The Doctor
- The Doctor fought with Gustavo's father during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
- The Doctor knows how to make Sofrit Pages and sangrias.
Individuals
- Ace was born on 20 August 1970 to Audrey and Harry McShane.
- Gustavo considered returning to mainland Spain but eventually decided against it.
- Liam describes himself as a "Christian sci-fi moppet."
Earth history
- The Doctor refers to Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco and the rise of Fascism in Europe during the 1930s.
Television series
- Liam is a fan of the science fiction series The X-Files and Professor X.
Gallery
Original CD cover
Textless cover art
Comic Preview from DWM 322. Illustration by Martin Geraghty
Notes
- In keeping with the story's Ibiza theme, this audio drama features remixes of the Doctor Who theme for each episode.
- The first draft scripts had individual episode titles: Essential Selection, A Higher State of..., Deeper and Euphoric Breakdown.
- This would be the final audio drama released in the Main Range to feature the Seventh Doctor and Ace travelling alone until 1963: The Assassination Games in November 2013. The next story, The Harvest, would add Hex as a companion.
- This audio drama was recorded on 20 and 21 April and 12 May 2002 at the Moat Studios.
- Jim Mortimore's score for the story was released, alongside the scores to Dust Breeding and Bang-Bang-a-Boom! , as part of the Music from the Seventh Doctor Audio Adventures release.
- DJ Tony Blackburn's guest role marked the fourth time a celebrity played himself in a Doctor Who production, and the first time it was done in a Big Finish audio story.
- Despite the cover mentioning there being 17 tracks, the Spotify release only has 16.
- This story is placed between Survival and the 1996 TV Movie.
- This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download, as well as to stream on Spotify.
- The date is given as Friday 14 May, despite the fact that 14 May was a Wednesday in 1997.
Continuity
- Ace tells Brian that ten years have passed since she left Perivale in 1987. (TV: Dragonfire)
- Ace mentions the recent deaths of Feldwebel Kurtz (AUDIO: Colditz) and Madame Salvadori, who was killed by the Krill on Duchamp 331 during the 26th century. (AUDIO: Dust Breeding) She describes the former as one of the worst things that she has ever seen.
- Ace refers to Fenric (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and her recent visit to Colditz Castle in October 1944. (AUDIO: Colditz)
- Ace quotes the First Doctor's "One day, I shall come back" speech. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
- Caitriona sees a "man in a golden mask" in Ace's mind. (AUDIO: Dust Breeding)
- Liam mentions the science fiction series Professor X. (PROSE: No Future, Return of the Living Dad)
- Liam refers to the British manned missions to Mars. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)
- Ace remembers telling the Doctor that the sea made her feel small and insignificant in Maiden's Point in 1943. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
- The Doctor refers to the deaths of Mike Smith, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) Captain Sorin (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and Karra. (TV: Survival)
- The Doctor is initially alarmed when Ace describes the seaweed as "killer" before realising that it was only a figure of speech. (TV: Fury from the Deep)
- Ace refers to the Doctor's previous habit of playing the spoons. (TV: Time and the Rani, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, AUDIO: Colditz)
- Caitriona sees the Doctor in the form of the demonic Sandman. (AUDIO: The Sandman)
- During his eighth incarnation, the Doctor would once again fight in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937. (PROSE: History 101)