Fallen Angels (audio story)

It was added for free to the podcast Into the TARDIS as part of Big Finish's 25th anniversary of creating Doctor Who audio stories. It was released in two parts on 23 and 30 November 2024 and hosted by Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker.

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

2015: When sightseers Joel and Gabby Finch encounter a strange man in Edwardian cricketing garb in the Sistine Chapel, their honeymoon suddenly takes a terrifying turn.

1511: Michelangelo is commissioned to create some very special sculptures by a mysterious sect. But as he carves, angels seem to emerge fully-formed from the rock. Almost as if they are alive...

From Michelangelo's workshop to the catacombs of Rome, the Fifth Doctor must keep his wits about him and his eyes wide open as he confronts the Weeping Angels.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Upon arriving in the Vatican City in 2015, newly-weds Joel and Gabby Finch begin visiting all of Michelangelo's work, touring around such sites as the Sistine Chapel, but they soon discover that one of Michel's most famous pieces; his statue of Moses, is not on the tour and is supposedly locked away in another church (part of the building known as 'tomb of Julius II'). Not wanting to have come all the way to not see one of the most iconic pieces of work that Michel ever created, Joel insists that they break into the locked room but Gabby holds back, not wanting to get into any trouble. Eventually, she's persuaded to follow Joel into the room when he tells her that she'd be left alone outside if she didn't join him. Once all the other tourists leave, they venture in through a locked door and are once again disappointed to discover that Michelangelo's statue is not there. However, this time there's another statue in its place; a sole figure of an angel.

They are then interrupted by a man who praises the angel and admires its beauty. He begins to explain that it belonged to the religious order known as 'the three angels'. He insists that Joel and Gabby gaze upon the statue once more, as unbeknown to them he wants the angel to hypnotise them (just as it had done to the other members of the order). Joel and Gabby try to protest but the angel suddenly leaps forward and points at the pair of them when nobody was looking. The man tells them that the angel has chosen them, he explains that they kept three candles burning until the angel had chosen its next victim and then the candles would be blown out, plunging the room into darkness - to ensure that the victim couldn't freeze the angel with their vision. Joel and Gabby try to put up a fight, which angers the man who is furious that they were trying to defy the angel. A scuffle breaks out between the three of them as the man stops them from leaving the room. In the scuffle, the candles are knocked over and the flames are extinguished. In the darkness, Gabby tries to reach for her phone but she is too slow and the angel touches the pair of them, sending them back in time. Once they vanish, the man lights the candles again and begins praising the angel once more. He is pleased that he had been able to feed his master and knew that because of his success, the angel would keep him on as its servant instead of sending him back in time like the others.

The TARDIS materialises on Earth in 1511 and the Fifth Doctor steps out. Whilst he surveys the scene, he is shocked to discover a young woman in 21st-century clothing. Surrounding the woman are a crowd of locals who at first believed she was a Saint due to her appearing out of nowhere, like a miracle, but soon started believing she was a witch after seeing her mobile phone. While the crowd becomes adamant that she should be seized, the Doctor steps in to cover for her by telling the crowd that they are sightseers from out of town. Once the crowd breaks up, the Doctor introduces himself and is surprised when the young woman; who introduces herself as Gabby, explains that she already knew him from their meeting back at the Sistine Chapel in 2015. Gabby explains to the Doctor that she cannot remember the specifics of their meeting at the Sistine to which he replied that she was suffering from Temporary Chronological Displacement Deterioration (or 'TCDD' for short). Gabby begins to worry for her husband, Joel.

Whilst working on an order for a statue, Michelangelo is infuriated when he is indirectly asked to work faster by the Priest who is waiting to collect the work. He furiously explains how he doesn't rush his work on the 'vaults of the Sistine' despite doing the work for the Pope. He tells the Priest that he should find someone else to complete the work, ignoring the Priest's pleas. A young man then bursts into the room interrupting the Priest and Michelangelo's argument. Michel furiously asks him how he came to be in his workyard but the young man was too stunned to be in Michel's presence to answer. After revealing his name, Joel, the young man begins to praise Michel's work calling him "the greatest painter who ever lived". Warming to Joel, Michel invites him inside to stay for the night whilst also telling the Priest to leave, however, despite his former claims, he announces that he'd still continue the work on the Priest's statue. Once Michel had left, the Priest begins talking to the unfinished statue claiming that Michel had seen the angel in the block of stone and that it would not be long until the angel was "set free".

The Doctor and Gabby later arrive at the Chapel looking for Joel. They admire the ceiling before Gabby remembers something. In a flashback to 2015, Gabby remembers that Joel had noticed that a portion of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was missing. The Doctor had then approached them and told them that, according to the brochure at the Chapel, Michelangelo had gone missing before ever completing the painting. Joel had been very insistent that it wasn't true, to which the Doctor agreed and advised the pair to go and check on the other works created by Michelangelo. This led to them arriving at the Church of San Pietro where they broke into the 'tomb of Pope Julius II' to see if the statue of Moses was there or not. The same place where they had been touched by the angel.

to be added

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor mentions that Raphael and Caravaggio had also vanished from history.
Joel is from Hemel Hempstead.
Michelangelo finished the first half of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1509 and the second half in 1512.

Literature[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor quotes the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]

Joel says that he accidentally invented the sandwich; the Doctor says that's impossible because he created the sandwich.

Cultural references[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gabby sarcastically tells Joel that she did not google Rome's best prisons.
Joel says, "Hello, Indiana Jones" when the Doctor pushes the heads of the three angel statues simultaneously to enter the catacomb.
Joel says that remaining in 1511 is not exactly a "Wizard of Oz ending".

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor considers the Weeping Angels to be the most humane psychopaths in the universe.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

This is the first appearance of the Weeping Angels in audio form.
This story is the first appearance of Sacha Dhawan in the Doctor Who universe. He would go on to play the Spy Master, first appearing in Spyfall.
A vinyl version was released at selective Asda stores on 25 September 2020.
This story was released on BBC Sounds on 15 November 2023 as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, under the banner title of Doctor Who: The Audio Adventures.^[1]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor mentions that "not so long ago" he was at Heathrow Airport in 1981. (TV: Time-Flight)
The Doctor tells Gabby, "brave heart." (TV: Earthshock et al)
Joel and Gabby being history and physics teachers, respectively, mirrors Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright's professions of science and history teachers at Coal Hill School in 1963. (TV: An Unearthly Child)
The Doctor tells Gabby that the works of Michelangelo, Raphael and Caravaggio are fixed points in time. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
While praising various Renaissance artists, the Doctor mentions Leonardo da Vinci, and how accommodating he was about the multiple Mona Lisas. (TV: City of Death)
The Doctor feels uncomfortable being around Gabby and Joel kissing. By his eighth incarnation, he will start kissing people with more comfort. (TV: Doctor Who, The Parting of the Ways, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Wedding of River Song, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Day of the Doctor)
The Doctor tells Joel and Gabby that the Weeping Angels are known as the Lonely Assassins. (TV: Blink)
The Doctor recalls how unamusing it is to be caught in a tunnel with a Minotaur. (TV: The Time Monster)
The Doctor wishes that he still had his sonic screwdriver and mentions the Terileptils. (TV: The Visitation)
The Doctor ignores a person's age, instead, seeing their character. (TV: Last Christmas)
The priest who leads the Order of the Three Angels fell under psychic control of the Weeping Angels when he looked one in the eye. (TV: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone)
The Doctor says, "When I say 'run,' we run." (TV: The Power of the Daleks, et al)
This is the Doctor's first known encounter with the Weeping Angels, though they would become a much more common adversary later on in his life. (TV: Blink; AUDIO: The Side of the Angels, et al) Previously, he suggested some doubt about their existence when mentioned in conversation. (COMIC: Gaze of the Medusa)
The Doctor uses mirrors to foil the Angels, as he would later do during his eleventh incarnation. (TV: The Time of the Doctor, PROSE: Magic of the Angels)
The Doctor explains that most people see time as a straight line from cause to effect, "but from a nonlinear, non-subjective point of view, it's more like..." and then trails off. He swears that he'll find a good ending for that sentence someday. (TV: Time Crash, Blink, et al)
During his tenth incarnation, the Doctor claimed that he had never met Michelangelo. (PROSE: The Stone Rose)