The Sonomancer (audio story)
The Sonomancer was the fourth and final story in the audio anthology Doom Coalition 2, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka, Hattie Morahan as Helen Sinclair and Alex Kingston as River Song.
Publisher's summary
On the other side of the galaxy a mining company is exploiting the already unstable planet of Syra for every precious mineral it contains. River Song is attempting to save the native people. She needs the Doctor's help, but she also knows he mustn't yet discover her true identity. The final confrontation sees the Doctor once again face his enemy the Eleven in an attempt to prevent the destruction of Syra and the genocide of its inhabitants.
Plot
River pinpoints the spot where she says "everything will begin" and has Mariam blow a horn. With a quake coming, River agrees that Mariam's people should relocate and tells her to have Madam Yeva look after her vortex manipulator and a paper message which should soon teleport to her assistant and, thanks to her sonic screwdriver, relay coordinates.
At the nearby volcano, a mineworker is killed by the Eleven and an alarm sounds. A number of people scream. River encounters Ruslan and tells him that she is the planet's only hope, but he locks her up in a mining capsule. Caleera - now calling herself the Sonomancer - calls out to the Eleven, who she says is enjoying his work too much, and orders him to return to his TARDIS. Trapped as the planet approaches destruction, River threatens Ruslan, telling him to wait until her husband gets home.
The Doctor, Liv and Helen are tracking seismic activity on the planet and spot Mariam and her people, escaping said activity. Mariam tells them that the planet is called Syra and, using her diviner, detects that a quake is about to hit them. The ground splits and the Doctor hurries to the TARDIS with Liv, having an idea.
Ruslan tells Madam Yeva that, whilst Mariam leads people away from the lakeside settlements, Madam Yeva must herself move camps once again due to seismic activity. He asks to inspect River's sonic screwdriver, but Madam Yeva denies him, saying that she has only been gone for two days and may yet return.
River is still in the capsule and has thus far tried 50,000 different codes to get out. She notes that the Doctor should be there already and laments not having a TARDIS of her own, with which she could easily send out a cancelling wave.
The Doctor emerges from the TARDIS and tells Helen that Liv is holding down a button which is creating such a wave as River talked to herself about.
To be completed.
Cast
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Liv Chenka - Nicola Walker
- Helen Sinclair - Hattie Morahan
- River Song - Alex Kingston
- The Eleven - Mark Bonnar
- Caleera - Emma Cunniffe
- Ruslan - Derek Ezenagu
- Yeva - Janet Fullerlove
- Ivo - Derek Ezenagu
- Mariam - Laura Harding
- Mineworker / Galactic Heritage Officer / Shopkeeper - John Banks
References
- The Eleven kills a mineworker called Ved.
- Mariam's people use diviners, which remind the Doctor and Helen of didgeridoos.
- Ruslan plans on digging a new mine at the lakeside settlements.
- River has a doctorate from Luna University, five master's from the Sorbonne in as many alternative timelines and an honorary membership of the Royal Society.
- River is locked in a mining capsule and has to break a six-digit alphanumeric entry coder with 17,550,000 possible codes.
- River says that, with a TARDIS, she could neutralise the tremors by bouncing out a cancelling wave of the direct coefficient to the tectonic resonance.
- The Doctor names Helen as the TARDIS crew's ambassador to the natives.
- River has modified her vortex manipulator with a weather app and a subspace communicator.
- River claims to have escaped the Bloody Tower and the private boudoir of the Marquis de Sade as well as the Stormcage Containment Facility.
Notes
- This story was recorded at The Moat Studios.
Continuity
- River asks Helen if the Doctor has come as "the magician, (TV: The Husbands of River Song) the spiv or the geography teacher." (TV: Let's Kill Hitler onwards)
- This incarnation would later encounter River in an encoded radio transmission, when she was under the pseudonym of Miss Spritz. (AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe)
- River is under the impression that all the Time Lords are dead. (TV: The End of the World, etc.)
- River calls herself Melody Malone. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan, PROSE: The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery)
- The Eleven sees that River has some aspects of a Time Lord. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
- River references her doctorate from Luna University. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler, A Good Man Goes to War)
- River says, "Just you wait 'til my husband gets home!" (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)
- River shows Helen three pictures of the Doctor in her diary to find out which incarnation she is travelling with: the magician, the spiv, or the geography teacher, but Helen says she is not travelling with any of them, then points out the Eighth Doctor's image and says she is travelling with him. River realises she cannot meet the Eighth Doctor or it will interfere with their timelines. (TV: The Time of Angels, The Husbands of River Song)
- River comments that it would be very unlucky for the Doctor to see her "this many lifetimes before the wedding." (TV: The Wedding of River Song)
- River uses Venusian martial arts on the Eleven. (TV: The Mind of Evil, etc.)
- A trace of the Gift is in the Doctor's mind. (AUDIO: The Gift)
- River contacts Galactic Heritage (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows, etc.) and tells Helen that they have warships.
- Liv mentions the Lorelei. (AUDIO: Robophobia)
- The Doctor awards gold stars to his companions. (TV: Demons of the Punjab)
External links
- Official The Sonomancer page at bigfinish.com
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