The Doomwood Curse (audio story)

It was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Grel, a species introduced in audio form in Oh No It Isn't!, the first story ever produced by Big Finish Productions.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Curses and tombs, revenge from beyond the grave — and Dick Turpin!

England, 1738. On the trail of a lost book, the Doctor and Charley arrive at the beautiful country estate of Sir Ralph and Lady Sybil. But all is far from idyllic. There's a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.

And that's not all. Something else has journeyed here. Something that could destroy the very fabric of reality. The Doctor and Charley have just forty-eight hours to solve the mystery before the whole world succumbs to The Doomwood Curse.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover Art - Grant Kempster
Director - Barnaby Edwards
Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music and Sound Designer - Martin Johnson
Producer - David Richardson
Script Editor - Alan Barnes
Writer - Jacqueline Rayner

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor is returning a copy of Harrison Ainsworth's romantic novel Rookwood to the Archive of Alexandria IV, which is 300 years past its due date.
The Doctor has met Capability Brown.

Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

CD Booklet interior art.
Illustrated preview from DWM 398. Illustration by Brian Williamson

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

This is the first appearance of the Grel in Doctor Who itself. All of the previous appearances occurred in the Bernice Summerfield novel and audio drama series.
An illustrated preview by Brian Williamson appeared in DWM 398 for this story.
Charley Pollard is referred to in this story and others as being fair-haired, but this story's cover art portrays her as a brunette without explanation. However, Charley is depicted in the CD booklet artwork of The Condemned as a brunette and the picture of Charley on the cover of The Girl Who Never Was is a picture of India Fisher as a brunette. It is assumed therefore that Charley was, much like India Fisher at the time, a brunette for her last travels with the Eighth Doctor and early travels with the Sixth Doctor.
This audio drama was recorded on 21 and 22 May 2008 at The Moat Studios.^[1]
This story is set between The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani, and after The Condemned.^[1]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Charley has only recently joined the Sixth Doctor on his travels after parting ways with the Eighth Doctor in AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was ^[+]Loading...["The Girl Who Never Was (audio story)"] and joining the Sixth on her first adventure in AUDIO: The Condemned ^[+]Loading...["The Condemned (audio story)"].
The Grel first appeared in PROSE: Oh No It Isn't! ^[+]Loading...["Oh No It Isn't! (novel)"].