All-Consuming Fire (audio story)
All-Consuming Fire was the eighth story in Big Finish Productions' Doctor Who Novel Adaptations range. It was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Andy Lane. It is notable for incorporating the versions of Holmes and Watson from the Big Finish audio series, as portrayed by Nicholas Briggs and Hugh Fraser, into a Doctor Who story.
Publisher's summary
The Library of St. John the Beheaded contains the most dangerous books in all creation so when some of them are stolen who else should the Vatican call but Sherlock Holmes?
Immediately, one of the possible suspects seems more suspicious than others. He has no traceable background, refuses to give straight answers and hides behind a pseudonym. However, Holmes and his loyal friend Watson soon realise this suspect is also their greatest hope: war is brewing and an Old God is rising, to save humanity they need the Doctor as much as he needs them.
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
- Sherlock Holmes - Nicholas Briggs
- Doctor John Watson - Richard Earl
- Sherringford Holmes - Hugh Fraser
- Baron Maupertuis - Anthony May
- Tir Ram - Aaron Neil
- Mrs Prendersly, Azazoth - Samantha Béart
- Ambrose - Michael Griffiths
- K'Tcar'ch - Guy Adams
References
Holmes and Watson
- Mrs Hudson is visiting her sister in Carlisle. Holmes refers to her as his landlady.
- Holmes and Watson are contacted by the Pope.
- Watson remembers serving time in Afghanistan.
- Watson has worked with Holmes for several years. He wonders if he has spent too much time with him.
The Doctor
- The Doctor visited the Library of St. John the Beheaded 500 years ago.
- The Doctor is lodging in Hampstead with Professor George Litefoot. Watson is familiar with him as an eminent pathologist.
- The Doctor compares the spontaneous combustion to Bleak House by Charles Dickens, where Krook is found burnt to death in his room. He cites supposed real-world examples including Grace Pett in 1744 and James Hamilton in 1835, but says they are unsolved mysteries rather than proving spontaneous combustion.
Notes
- Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl have previously portrayed their roles as Holmes and Watson on stage and in a series of Big Finish audio plays. In keeping with this, the first episode opens with the Sherlock Holmes theme tune, but uses the Doctor Who theme tune following a short prologue with Holmes and Watson.
- Holmes and Watson previously appeared in a Big Finish story that also featured characters that exist within the same universe as Doctor Who, such as Bernice Summerfield and Iris Wildthyme, The Worlds of Big Finish.
Continuity
- The Doctor recalls studying a medical degree at the University of Edinburgh in 1870. Watson remembers studying a BA and Baccalaureate at the university from 1870 onwards, but the Doctor says he looked different then. (PROSE: The Juror's Story, TV: Tooth and Claw) Arthur Conan Doyle was also a student at the university. (AUDIO: The Monstrous Menagerie)
- The Doctor says he is a doctor of practically everything. (AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe)
Deviations from the original novel
- The audio version does not have a framing story with an Arthur Conan Doyle novel within a novel, however sections of the story are narrated as a first-person monologue from Watson's perspective. This narrative device was used in both the original novel and Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories. Generally, Big Finish only usually use this device in their Companion Chronicles series.
- The name Azathoth was changed to Azazoth.
External links
- Official All-Consuming Fire page at bigfinish.com
