The Silver Turk (audio story)
The Silver Turk is the first story in the 2011 Eighth Doctor audio trilogy. The story marks the first appearance of the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish monthly range since The Company of Friends in 2009. However, an alternative version of the Eighth Doctor appeared in Klein's Story in the interim.
Publisher's summary
Roll up! Roll up! To the great Viennese Exposition, where showman Stahlbaum will show you his most wonderful creation, the Silver Turk — a mechanical marvel that will not only play for you the fortepiano, the spinet and the flute, it will play you at the gaming table too!
But when the Doctor brings his new travelling companion Mary Shelley to nineteenth-century Vienna, he soon identifies the incredible Turk as one of his deadliest enemies — a part-machine Cyberman.
And that’s not even the worst of the horrors at large in the city…
Plot
Part One
In Vienna, scared Leopold Krauss hails a cab to Stephansplatz because he is being pursued. The driver of the cab introduces himself as Johan Drossel and mentions that they have a mutual acquaintance, Alfred Stahlbaum, who is a beneficiary to them both. Drossel then whistles to call a monster who savages and kills Krauss.
The TARDIS materialises. After several attempts, Mary Shelley guesses that they are in Vienna, Austria. The Eighth Doctor explains that he wanted to introduce her to traveling in the TARDIS gently and, thus, decided to travel only in space, not leaving the year 1816. In addition, he has to meet Samson and Gemma, who are waiting for him in Café Demel, to which Mary and the Doctor proceed on foot.
Count Rolf Wittenmeier, another patron of Stahlbaum, is trying to retrieve his investments in the Silver Turk after losing everything in the Stock Market Crash. The Silver Turk is an automaton exhibited by Stahlbaum at the Vienna Exposition. It is capable of playing musical instruments and games. But the returns on its performances are smaller than expected because of the Crash. Stahlbaum refuses to return any money but offers a bet instead: the loan will be repaid in full if Count Wittenmeier publicly beats the Silver Turk at the game of his choosing.
At Café Demel, Mary marvels at her sudden new-found ability to communicate in German and even read newspapers. The first thing that catches her eye is an article about "the second eyeless murder on the Ringstrasse". But then she notices the date on the newspaper, 11 September 1873, which means that they did travel in time after all and which explains the absence of Samson and Gemma.
At the Vienna Exposition, Count Wittenmeier loses to the Silver Turk at chequers. He is so distressed by the loss of his loan that he tries to attack Stahlbaum and is thrown out by Heinz.
Upon realising that this is 1873, the year of the Vienna Exposition, the Doctor brings Mary there, although he has to rely on her paying both at the café and the entrance fee to the exposition. They hear Drossel inviting the public to a puppet performance at the Marionettenburg and promising that the puppets have "no strings attached" but decide to look at more famous attractions, including the Rotunda and the Industrial Palace. Meanwhile Drossel recognises the distressed Count Wittenmeier and invites him to his tent. Drossel says that he has also been wronged by Stahlbaum and seems to ask for the count's help in revenge. He then whistles to call Columbinetta, a puppet moving on her own, and asks her to bring his watchdog, whom he calls "his burden, his curse". Before the watchdog attacks the count, Drossel states that his theatre is "out of this world".
Count Wittenmeier's wife, Mitzi, with whom Stahlbaum used to be in love four years ago, visits him in between performances in hopes of finding her husband. Stahlbaum suggests that they leave Vienna together tomorrow. He is interested in her influence in the Royal circles, but she protests his embraces saying she is married now and has a daughter.
Ernst Bratfisch, a cab driver for the nobility, is very persistent in trying to provide services to the Doctor and Mary. He has been following them since Café Demel upon recognising them as Englishmen. He shares gossip about the grisly murders described in the newspaper. Two nights ago, he himself happened to witness on Wolfstrasse by the river a black hearse-like fiacre without a driver or passengers led by blue-eyed horses sounding like they had wooden shoes. Captivated by this story, Mary does not notice Countess Wittenmeier rushing towards her in her continued search for her husband. Bratfisch, who carried the count several times, recognises his wife and says that fifteen minutes ago the count was arrested by the police looking for him. The Doctor then proposes to accompany the countess to the police station, employing Bratfisch's services after all.
At the police station, the countess, accompanied by Mary and the Doctor, is given only five minutes to talk to her husband through the bars. The angry count lashes at Stahlbaum and his automaton. The Doctor wonders if this is the same Turk that was touring the courts of Europe playing chess and becomes even more interested upon learning that this automaton can play other games, as well as music. Although the policeman refused to explain what Count Wittenmeier is accused of, the count admits that he is a murder suspect. He describes how he was attacked by a malshaped monster with three legs growing from its shoulders and with a bandaged head shaped like a table vase. The Doctor decides to pay a visit to the Silver Turk.
Stahlbaum feeds cabbage soup to the Silver Turk, promising this to be their last performance, when the Doctor lets himself in using his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor only manages to observe the Turk's mask and wheelchair before being asked to leave. Alarmed by what he saw, the Doctor decides to attend the next performance at 5 o'clock. The countess hesitantly decides to join him and Mary.
At the performance, the Doctor is appalled at the the way the Turk plays Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Mary realises that the Turk somehow manages to work the pedals despite having no legs. The Doctor disrupts the performance to the displeasure of the public and proposes a game of chequers but demands to see the actual form of the Silver Turk. Stahlbaum protests and the Doctor accuses him of fraud, noting that the Turk stinks of antiseptic, ether and cabbage soup suggesting a living being rather than a fairground automaton. The Doctor proceeds to remove the mask, confirming his suspicions that the Silver Turk is a Cyberman.
Part Two
The Doctor warns the public that they are in serious danger and demands that everybody leave the performance. Stahlbaum grudgingly instructs Heinz to refund the cost of the tickets. Doctor explains to Mary that this Cyberman is one of the Mondas originals and wants to restrain it, but Mary is sympathetic to the seemingly helpless creature. The Doctor himself refuses to leave until Stahlbaum explains how he came by the Turk.
Drossel decides to let loose the “dog” giving him the scent of Count Wittenmeier who has managed to escape earlier.
Surrendering to the clearly superior knowledge of the Doctor, Stahlbaum finally admits that he has not created the Turk. He now claims that he has acquired the Turk from a forester who had found it in the woods, that the object he has bought had been barely functional and that he has repaired it and made into the Silver Turk it is now. The Doctor doubts that Stahlbaum had the technology to effect such repairs and asks where exactly the Turk was found, reiterating the dangers. Countess Wittenmeier, however, believes that it was simply a matter of money, the money of her husband who is now accused of murder. Reminded of this, the Doctor confirms with Stahlbaum that Dieter Wallmann and Leopold Krauss, the two eyeless murder victims from the newspaper Mary picked up at Café Demel, were also Stahlbaum’s patrons. They correctly surmise that Count Wittenmeier was supposed to be the third victim, and the Doctor suspects that the murderer could have been the Silver Turk following Stahlbaum’s orders. In the middle of the argument, the Turk, unbidden, begins playing on the piano and refuses to stop on its own. Mary comes to the Turk’s defense. The Doctor attributes this to compassion and explains to her that Cybermen have no feelings, but Mary points out that the count described his attacker as having three limbs, which the countess confirms remembering that they grew from the shoulders. The Doctor points out that the description of the attacker’s head, however, fits the Silver Turk well. He is still unsure who the killer was, the Silver Turk or another thing with a Cyberman-like head, and wants to examine the Turk more closely.
Drossel asks a nearby cabby, who happens to be Bratfisch, about a commotion near the Turk exhibition and learns that the Turk seems to have broken down during its last performance. Bratfisch unwittingly blurts out Stahlbaum’s address at Kartoffelstrasse. Drossel invites him to the performance of his new attraction, Doctor Drossel's Grand Theatre of Puppetry, which is just across the Exposition, and even gives Bratfisch free tickets with the advertisement: “The denizens of Marionettenburg perform for your delectation”. He emphasizes the absence of any strings attached to his puppets.
The Doctor uses a knife Mary happens to carry in her reticule to evaluate the Cyberman’s responses. The thought of blood causes Countess Wittenmeier to faint, and Stahlbaum comes to her aid using Mary's smelling salts. The Cyberman barely reacts to stimuli. Stahlbaum admits that he uses ether to keep the Turk under permanent sedation due to periodic pain attacks. The Doctor is not surprised given that the Cyberman has lost both legs and one arm but is alarmed by the fact that Stahlbaum was able to replace the lost arm with a wooden one that is operational enough to play piano. This technology should be beyond anything possible in the 19th century. The Doctor explains to Mary that Cybermen originate from the planet Mondas, where people, facing extinction, started replacing their body parts with machines until they became brutal and soulless. To all Stahlbaum’s protestations not to harm the Turk, the Doctor responds that he himself is in more danger from the Turk than the other way around. The Doctor then tries to interrogate the Cyberman about his ship, the crew and their mission. At first, its photocell eyes seem dead. But then the Cyberman becomes animated and suddenly the Doctor’s speech slows down and he falls down unconscious. While Mary runs out to fetch a medical help for the Doctor, Stahlbaum begs Mitzi to help them escape with the Turk.
Mary finds Bratfisch outside the Turk booth and pleads for his help. When both go back they find nobody inside but the unconscious Doctor. Mary is relieved to find that his eyes are still intact. The countess returns explaining that she could not prevent Stalhbaum from taking the Turk. The Doctor comes to and says that he has been attacked by the Cyberman and needed time to collect his thoughts. He thinks that Stahlbaum is under the Cyberman’s influence and is trying to leave Vienna. The Doctor explains that the Cyberman tried to mesmerize him too but was not strong enough to pull this trick. The Doctor now believes that the murders on the Ringstrasse are not the Silver Turk’s doing, that Stahlbaum and the Silver Turk are hunted by the Ringstrasse murderer and that the next one on the list is Count Wittenmeier. Hence, he asks Bratfisch to take them back to the police station as quickly as his horses would carry them.
In the police station, Count Wittenmeier’s inquiries about his lawyer are ignored. When the police sergeant leaves, the count is attacked by the same creature again.
The Doctor arrives to the police station with Mary and Mitzi and demands to see the count when they all hear the count scream. They arrive to the cell in time to save the count’s life. However, one of his eyes has been plucked out by the creature who gets away by scuttling like a spider over the rooftops. Before the count is moved to a hospital, the Doctor breaks the rules by giving him a remedy not yet available in the 19th century, Hyper Eth-iodine. The attack will most probably result in the charges against the count being dropped. The countess needs to go home to check on their daughter. It is decided that Mary will stay with her while the Doctor and Bratfisch go in search for Stahlbaum.
Drossel confronts Stahlbaum at the latter’s home and accuses him of stealing the Turk. Drossel thinks that the Turk will necessarily start killing. Stahlbaum claims that the Turk is not with him. Drossel once again mentions a new world he is planning to build with his pets and says that Stahlbaum has no place in it. Stahlbaum draws a revolver and shoots four times. With Drossel appearing unharmed, Stahlbaum flees.
The Wittenmeiers’ servant, Hannalore, lets her mistress and Mary in. Mary mentions that the Doctor and Bratfisch were heading to the Stahlbaum’s lodgings. Mary and Mitzi hear a horse outside and see a driverless horse-drawn cab across the street.
In Stahlbaum’s residence, the Doctor smells sulfur and potassium nitrate guessing this to be gunpowder. They risk lighting a match and see bullet holes in the plaster and some splintered wood. It turns out that Drossel is still there and Bratfisch remembers him as a doctor who gave away tickets for a puppet theatre at the Exposition. Drossel introduces himself, claims that Stahlbaum owes him money and admits that the bullets were intended for him but implies that Stahlbaum has missed, which the Doctor hears with disbelief given how small the room is. Drossel then claims that the Turk was in fact his creation, not Stahlbaum’s, and was simply stolen from him by the latter to curry favor of the Royal Family, Franz Joseph and Elisabeth. He threatens the Doctor with consequences if he tries to interfere and leaves. Both Bratfisch and the Doctor noted that there were two bullet holes in Drossel’s waistcoat but not a splash of blood. The Doctor suggests to return to Mary and call it a night.
Meanwhile, Mary and Mitzi are observing the strange cab parked outside Mitzi’s house and see a procession wearing masks and moving in a strange way. Mitzi mentions that this is the wrong time of year for Fasching or carnival. The procession rings the bell. Although the Doctor instructed to bolt the door, the women neglected to mention this to Hannalore, who responds to the bell first. Mary bravely takes a stand against the puppets with a poker telling Mitzi to go upstairs and guard the child but is overpowered and carried away.
As Bratfisch brings the Doctor to the Wittenmeiers’ residence, he notices that the front door is open. The Doctor is distressed over the fate of Mary wondering who could have opened the door despite his instructions. They find the countess with her daughter upstairs. Mitzi informs them that Mary was taken.
Mary is put in an animal cage with what she guesses is the other Turk, the other Cyberman, who is very surprised that Mary knows the name of his race.
Part Three
to be added
Part Four
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
- Dr Johan Drossel - Gareth Armstrong
- Alfred Stahlbaum - Christian Brassington
- Ernst Bratfisch - David Schneider
- Count Rolf Wittenmeier - Gwilym Lee
- Countess Mitzi Wittenmeier - Claire Wyatt
- The Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
- Policeman - Gareth Armstrong
- Hannalore - Claire Wyatt
- Empress - Claire Wyatt
- Heinz - Nicholas Briggs
- Krauss - Barnaby Edwards
- Waiter - Barnaby Edwards
- Punters - Gareth Armstrong, Claire Wyatt
- Barkers - Gareth Armstrong, Nicholas Briggs, Christian Brassington, Julie Cox, Gwilym Lee
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor tells Mary that her books "scared the pants off" him.
- Mary breaks the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The Doctor is indifferent as the TARDIS has a room full of them.
History
- Both Bratfisch and Countess Wittenmeier mention the economic problems besetting Austria as a result of "the Crash." This refers to the Long Depression.
- The Doctor refers to travelling in the TARDIS as "the Grand Tour to end all Grand Tours." This a reference to the description of World War I as "the war to end all wars" attributed to H.G. Wells.
Individuals
- Once the fact that she is more than half a century in her personal future sinks in, Mary begins to consider how old she would be in September 1873 and the fates of her family and friends. She later notes that she would be seventy-six years old by this time.
- The Doctor attempts to pick up Samson and Gemma Griffin in Vienna, having left them there in June 1816.
- The Doctor refers to Ludwig van Beethoven and the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and his wife Empress Elisabeth, commonly referred to by her nickname "Sisi."
- Mary has hazel eyes, flecked with green.
- Mary carries a knife for sharpening her pencil and smelling salts.
- Mary used to imbue so much laudanum that she could not trust her memory.
- Stahlbaum claims to have contacts at the Hofburg.
- Count Wittenmeier used to be a skilful gambler. He once beat Count Larisch at cards in a spectacular manner.
- Percy Shelley told Mary that she would never master German. While travelling with the Doctor, she is able to speak German and even read newspapers in this language.
- Stahlbaum and Mitzi use the Doctor puppet for their shows, calling him "the Silver Doctor".
Vienna landmarks
- Leopold Krauss orders a cab to Stephansplatz.
- The Doctor takes Mary to Café Demel where he was scheduled to meet with Samson and Gemma Griffin in June 1816.
- A newspaper picked up in Café Demel calls the murder of Leopold Krauss "the second eyeless murder on the Vienna Ringstrasse." Bratfisch proposes to take Mary and the Doctor once round the Ringstrasse to show them all the landmarks of Vienna. Later on, the cab with the Doctor and Stahlbaum driven by Bratfisch is pursued by Gramm and Mary in a mechanical cab along the Ringstrasse until it crashes trying to turn into the Hofburg.
- The Doctor and Mary visit the Rotunda and the Industrial Palace at the Vienna Exposition.
- Ernst Bratfisch proposes to take the Doctor and Mary to the Opera House and the Hofburg Palace.
Locations
- Mary has never been to Frankfurt.
- Before figuring out that they are in Vienna, Mary unsuccessfully guesses the city to be Stuttgart, then Prague, then Salzburg, then Innsbruck.
- Mary mentions Germany and Austria.
- The Doctor describes Vienna as the city of Kaffee, Kuchen and waltzes.
- Mary mentions that only an hour ago they were near Lake Geneva.
- The Doctor mentions that Mary's left her friends at the Villa Diodati.
Literature
- Mary is unfamiliar with the term "science fiction".
Music
- Mitzi sings a lullaby to the tune of Silent Night originally composed in Austria. In 2011, the year this story was released, UNESCO declared this song to be an intangible cultural heritage of Austria.
- The Doctor mentions that Viennese like waltzes almost as much as they like cake and that he has not gone waltzing for ages.
- The Silver Turk plays the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven on a piano.
Species
- The Doctor refers to the Cyberman as "one of the Mondas originals."
Planets
- Mondas is located 200 light-years from Earth.
Food
- The Doctor mentions that Sachertorte hasn't been invented yet in 1816 but should already exist in 1873.
- The Doctor orders gingerbread with hot chocolate at the Café Demel. Mary orders apple strudel and coffee.
Notes
- The Turk existed in the real world. It was a man masquerading as a robot and also served as inspiration for the Clockwork Droids from TV: The Girl in the Fireplace.
- This is the first full length Eighth Doctor story to be released in the main range since AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was in December 2007 and the first such story not to feature Charley Pollard.
- This is the first Cyberman story to be released by Big Finish in any range since Legend of the Cybermen in June 2010. Their next Big Finish appearance was Last of the Cybermen in May 2015, over three years after this story's release.
- Some elements of this story, especially the second part, have many similarities with the novel Frankenstein.
- This audio drama was recorded on 5 and 11 April 2011.
Continuity
- This story begins only an hour after the events of Mary's Story from the Doctor and Mary's perspective. The Doctor recalls what he told Mary at the end of that story: that he promised her "the marvels of the universe", that he is "the Doctor" and "not the Monster" and that she called the TARDIS his "hut". The Doctor initially believes that they have not left June 1816 and wants to pick up Samson and Gemma Griffin, whom he left in Vienna. (AUDIO: Mary's Story)
- The Doctor tells Mary that he witnessed the creation of the Cybermen on Mondas. (AUDIO: Spare Parts)
- Mary is unfamiliar with the term "science fiction". The term was created by H. G. Wells, another 19th century author, who accompanied the Sixth Doctor on a trip from Scotland in 1885 to Karfel. (TV: Timelash)
- The Doctor refers to Draconian sazou. (AUDIO: Paper Cuts)
- The future Eighth Doctor previously told Mary that they had encountered the Cybermen during their travels together. (AUDIO: Mary's Story)
- Mary feels pity for the deteriorated condition of the Cybermen as she did for the Doctor in Mary's Story. This also resembles how Rose Tyler felt pity for the deteriorated Dalek in the Vault in 2012. (TV: Dalek)
External links
- Official The Silver Turk page at bigfinish.com
- The Silver Turk at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Silver Turk at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
