Dead to the World (audio story)

Dead to the World was the fourth story in the audio anthology, You Are the Doctor and Other Stories, which comprised the two hundred and seventh release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Matthew Elliott and featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

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

Tourist spaceship the Daedalus hangs suspended in space, all but three of its passengers having fallen victim to a bizarre infection. But if the Doctor saves those last survivors, he risks destroying the entire human race.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

A tourist ship called the Daedalus is hanging in deep space, and the Doctor and Ace have landed on board it. One of its passengers, Cynthia Quince, informs the Doctor that all but she and two others are dead due to a bizarre infection. He notes that space tourism is very popular in this period - or, it was, until the Daedalus Tragedy. Cynthia tells him that the deaths began when a female tourist undertaking a spacewalk was struck by a strange lightning bolt - after she was brought back onboard and the ship’s captain, Adriana Beauvais, removed her spacesuit, there was nothing left of her but liquid. She was followed by a Canadian man, and shortly afterwards, the other ten tourists on the ship. Now, the only people left are Cynthia, and Captain Beauvais and another tourist named Mervyn Garvey, both of whom suddenly enter the room. Beauvais points a gun at the Doctor, suspecting him of being a stowaway, and marches him out of the room. She shoves him into a cabin, while he ponders quite why the ship’s power has gone out, and why Beauvais seems so sure that her distress call will not be answered.

While trying to unlock the door with his sonic screwdriver, Ace arrives and opens the door for him. The Doctor had asked Ace to try and access the passenger manifest earlier, but she was unable to - which the Doctor was apparently well aware would be the case. Frustrated with his lack of transparency, and mentioning Hex by name, the Doctor gives in and tells her about the Galparians: a race of alien estate agents who are looking to sell the Earth. They find planets to which nobody has any legal claim, before making them more attractive by killing all life on the planet. The Doctor explains that the “lightning bolt” that struck the female passenger was a Galparian signal - had the Daedalus not got in the way, the signal would have hit the entire Earth. The signal was downloaded by the original victim’s spacesuit and rebroadcast periodically throughout the ship - the only thing keeping the Doctor, Ace and the others alive is the power drain. Finally able to access the passenger manifest, Ace notes that none of the names look familiar and that there has been one cancellation.

The Doctor decides that a conversation with the captain is in order, and the Doctor and Ace walk in on a fight between Beauvais and Cynthia. Beauvais bitterly explains that her reasons for sacrificing the passengers on the ship were far from magnanimous: she did it to avoid the lawsuits she would have faced after landing. The Doctor says that they will have time to stop the Galparians so long as nobody contacts Earth - but just then, Garvey bursts in and proudly proclaims that he has sent a real distress call. The Doctor orders Beauvais to restore the power to the ship and uses a communications terminal to contact a Galparian advertising satellite. By sending a program simulating Draconian scale rot to the bailiff, he is able to force him to transmit the kill code and shut off the signal, taking the Earth off the market for good after the Doctor informs him of some of the races he has already saved the Earth from. The Doctor and Ace leave the three humans to get back to Earth while they go back to the TARDIS. Ace gives up on flying it to Australia, saying that the TARDIS doesn’t want her at the controls. As the Doctor notes, however, this is not the reason she’s been having so much trouble with it - the TARDIS has been trying to find someone…

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor wonders if his sonic screwdriver has a gender, and concludes that it is male.
The Doctor remembers when he wore a scarf.
The Doctor refers to his encounters with the Autons, Axons and the Daleks whilst bargaining to claim the Earth for himself.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Earth was claimed by alien estate agents once before, in the Doctor's personal future. (COMIC: The Day the Earth Was Sold, The King of Earth)
Ace says she no longer has her baseball bat. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver. It had previously been destroyed by the Terileptil leader in September 1666, (TV: The Visitation) but he had obtained a new one by his seventh incarnation. (AUDIO: The Harvest et al.)
Ace asks the Doctor to be more forthcoming with her, especially "after Hex". (AUDIO: Signs and Wonders)
Ace remembers seeing the liquified remains of people at Gabriel Chase in 1883. (TV: Ghost Light)
The Doctor notes that he has not mangled an expression in a while, after misquoting "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" as "reverse the popularity". (TV: The Sea Devils, The Five Doctors, et. al)
The Doctor recalls the two humans who Chimbly claimed to have held captive by prior to his and Ace's recent encounter with him, (AUDIO: You Are the Doctor) the woman going by the name of Ms Zingiber whom Norris claimed had visited immediately before their arrival (AUDIO: Come Die With Me) and a guest that he saw on the guest list of the Grand Betelgeuse Hotel (AUDIO: The Grand Betelgeuse Hotel) whilst speaking to the TARDIS. The Doctor would later determine that the two humans in question were his former companion Melanie Bush and Sabalom Glitz, while Ms Zingiber was likewise Mel. (AUDIO: A Life of Crime)
The Doctor tells the Galporians that he has saved Earth from the Axons, (TV: The Claws of Axos) the Autons (TV: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons) and the Daleks (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, et. al)
Space tourism is referred to as an emerging industry on Earth. Given that this story is meant to take place shortly after Dragonfire and—by extension—The Mysterious Planet, this would mean that the people of Earth are now starting to reconnect with the rest of the universe in the wake of the devastation caused by the time lords moving the planet.