Castle of Fear (audio story)
Castle of Fear was the one hundred and twenty-seventh story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Alan Barnes and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.
It was the first in a series of three linked audio stories centred around the village of Stockbridge. The village first appeared in Doctor Who Magazine's comic stories and made its Big Finish debut in Autumn. It was also the first Doctor Who audio story to feature the Rutan Host (although they had already appeared in the Bernice Summerfield audio series).
Publisher's summary
1199: Returning from the Crusades, Hubert, the new Earl of Mummerset, comes to take possession of Stockbridge Castle, his ancestral home. The only trouble is, in his absence, demons took possession of his Castle...
1899: The Stockbridge mummers' play takes a wholly unexpected turn, when the Dragon slays St George.
These events are not unconnected, the Doctor and Nyssa discover. There's an alien presence squatting in Stockbridge Castle, and it's their job to expose it. If Turkish knights, killer boars and a gang of rogue paladins don't stop them first...
Plot
Part 1:
The Doctor and Nyssa observe a play in Stockbridge in 1899 during Christmas. The Doctor is shocked when the characters in the play directly address him, seemingly knowing his identity.
Hubert, Earl of Mummerset and Yavuz cannot decipher the route to Stockbridge Castle in the year 1199 and note the descending fog. Eventually they are approached by Maud the Withered. The Earl claims he has returned from Palestine to claim his father's castle, but she reveals the devils and goblins came and took his father away. Maud the Withered warns them about the new ruler being Lucifer.
Meanwhile Nyssa and the Doctor continue to observe the play. The play claims the Doctor can bring the dead back to life, which puzzles and frustrates the Doctor as he claims to Nyssa he can do no such thing. She suggests that it may be an event that happens in the future that hasn't happened to them yet. They decide to investigate this Turkish knight mentioned in the play.
The Doctor and Nyssa go into town where the Doctor is recognized. Although he wants to inquire about the play, the arrival of someone puts this on hold, and they announce that one of the actors has gone funny and they need a new person to play Santa, and the Doctor is recommended by one of the village folk.
Yavuz attempts to scale the castle to try and get inside with Hubert following in tow. He slips and falls down the stairs. Finally managing to get inside, he attempts to find a way to let Hubert in, but suddenly he is attacked. Hubert, fearing for his life, makes a run for it.
The Doctor is forced to take part in the play again. The Doctor reluctantly partakes in it. Suddenly one of the players begins acting strangely and attacks the Doctor.
Hubert address the village, explaining he is the king's son and has returned to rule. The villagers don't believe him and ridicule him. He claims his sword is the same his father gave him, but the words are in rune and cannot be deciphered. Trying to gain their trust, he offers gold to whomever rids the castle of the demons he heard earlier attack Yavuz. However, Maud the Withered joins the crowd and reminds him of what she said. Hubert stands by his word, hoping to have someone rid the castle of Demons.
The actor, seemingly possessed, collapses on stage and the Doctor and Nyssa try to help him. The Doctor talks to him and finds that their presence has caused his ancestor's memories of the Doctor and Nyssa to flood his memory, hence the strange behaviour, as he now believes he is his ancestor Osbert, peasant of Mummerset, from the year 1199. The Doctor, wanting to get down to the bottom of the matter, decides that is where they need to go.
The Doctor and Nyssa take the TARDIS back to 1199 where they find a still intact castle of Stockbridge. There they meet Hubert and Maud the Withered. Hubert happily informs him that he knows the Doctor has arrived to help exercise the "demons" inhabiting the castle. Suddenly, Osbert, they see, runs from the castle in fear and falls into the moat. Initially set to death, the Doctor persuades them to be kinder, to which Hubert decides that Osbert should be sent back into the river to drown for his cowardice, after first being permanently branded with a mark of shame. Before the Doctor can protest, Hubert gives him a sword and tells him that it is now his turn to enter the castle and attempt to vanquish the demons that supposedly inhabit it...
Part 2:
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
- Roland of Brittany/Mummer - John Sessions
- Hubert, Earl of Mummerset/George/Mummer - Joe Thomas
- Osbert/Mummer/Yokel/Demon - Richard Cotton
- Maud the Withered/Yokel - Susan Brown
- Yavuz/Mummer/Yokel/Demon - Teddy Kempner
- Smithy/Mummer - Trevor Cooper
References
Individuals
- Nyssa tells the Doctor that she doesn't want to go to 21st century Stockbridge because seeing Andrew Harper would be awkward.
Species
- The Doctor mentions the Sontaran Jingo Linx who inhabited Irongron's castle.
- There is a Rutan Drone Commander inhabiting Stockbridge Castle.
- The Doctor additionally suggests that Linx followed the Rutan to Earth.
- The Rutans are from Ruta III, an ice world, and thus have little tolerance for heat.
- The Rutan aimed to create a clone factory, creating clones of Rutans whilst in human form. Subsequently, several members of the community of Stockbridge had elements of Rutan genetics in their bodies following one of the clones escaping.
- A Mummerset black is a type of boar.
Notes
- On the "CD Extras", several cast members described the story as having a "Monty Python-esque" feel.
- CD 2 includes Episode 8 of The Three Companions: The Battle of World's End Junction.
- Both the Doctor and Osbert refer to 1199 as being "the Year the Ant by the Lion was Slain." In actuality, it has been described as "the Year the Lion by the Ant was slain," referring to Richard the Lionheart's death at the hands of a young French boy named Pierre Basile, Bertran de Gudrun or John Sabroz.
- This story marks the first appearance of the Rutans in a Doctor Who audio drama. However, they previously appeared in the Bernice Summerfield audio drama The Bellotron Incident.
- This audio drama was recorded on 15 and 16 June 2009 at The Moat Studios.
- This story is set between Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity.
Continuity
- Nyssa mentions Andrew Harper, the man whom she met and had a brief relationship with in AUDIO: Autumn.
- The Doctor refers to his meeting with Richard the Lionheart in Palestine during the Third Crusade in 1190. (TV: The Crusade)
- The Doctor mentions that he was a friend of the 12th century knight Sir Justin, who travelled with him in the TARDIS briefly after being transported to the 20th century by Melanicus. (COMIC: The Tides of Time)
- The Doctor mentions Jingo Linx and Irongron. He theorises that Linx may have arrived in 13th century England as he was tracking the Rutan. (TV: The Time Warrior)
- The Fourth Doctor and Leela previously encountered the Rutans on Fang Rock in the 1900s. (TV: Horror of Fang Rock) The characters in this story also continuously note the dense and heavy fog appearing throughout, something that was also common to the location of the lighthouse on Fang Rock.
- The Doctor expresses a desire to meet Percy Shelley. The Eighth Doctor would later meet both Shelley and his wife Mary in Switzerland in June 1816. The latter subsequently became one of his companions, travelling with him for several years. (AUDIO: Mary's Story) The Thirteenth Doctor also met him around the same time (TV: The Haunting of Villa Diodati)
- The knight in the story is referred to as a "Turkish Knight". The Doctor and Mary Shelley would later encounter a Cyberman known as "The Silver Turk" twenty-six years earlier. (AUDIO: The Silver Turk)
- More than fifty years later in her personal timeline, Nyssa would encounter the Rutans' sworn enemies, the Sontarans, on Samur. (AUDIO: Heroes of Sontar)
- The Fifth Doctor would later encounter the Rutans once again in the Unukalhai system in 2371 in the company of Turlough. (PROSE: Lords of the Storm)
- Maud the Withered may be an ancestor of Alice Withers. (AUDIO: The Eternal Summer)
External links
- Official Castle of Fear page page at bigfinish.com
- Castle of Fear at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Castle of Fear at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
