Caerdroia (audio story)

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Revision as of 20:53, 2 April 2021 by Biterack (talk | contribs) (→‎Plot)
RealWorld.png

audio stub
You may be looking for the titular place.

Caerdroia was the sixty-third story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Lloyd Rose and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard and Conrad Westmaas as C'rizz.

It was essentially the "beginning of the end" of the Divergent Universe arc. Significantly, it depicted the Doctor's recovery of the TARDIS, which had been absent from the Eighth Doctor's adventures since AUDIO: Scherzo.

The story began to "pay off" the Divergent Universe arc by explaining things like the Interzone, the Kro'ka's motivations and fears, how a universe without time worked and the Divergence itself.

From a production standpoint, it was notable for its highly complex sound design, which had to depict abstract environments, including the Doctor's own mind. It also afforded Paul McGann the chance to play three different versions of his Doctor, each primarily exhibiting what Charley called a "mode" of his character. Thus, the story had one Doctor that was a bit surly and paranoid, another that was bouncy and excitable and another that was more or less the "regular" Eighth Doctor.

The story was written by Lloyd Rose, giving Caerdroia the distinction of being the only full length performed Doctor Who story authored by an American woman.

Publisher's summary

Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from the TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Eighth Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer — and regain the TARDIS!

Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.

As the Doctor faces these challenges, Charley and C'rizz provide valuable help. But with the TARDIS itself at stake, the Doctor reaches deep inside himself to find some surprising new allies.

Plot

The Doctor, Charlie and C'rizz are resting in the interzone when they are approached by the Kro'ka who attempts to enter the Doctor's mind. The Doctor takes advantage of this and uses it to extract information from the Kro'ka which leads them to Caedroia. Upon arrival in a field full of cows with bells, the Doctor splits into three embodiments with different segments of their personality.

The team now splits up and explore different parts of Caedroia. Charlie and the darker parts embodiment of the Doctor explore a giant cuckoo clock without hands (an odd object to be in the Divergent Universe which has no concept of time); the jollier part of the Doctor and C'rizz escape from a Eutermesan monster (which they do not see); while the other Doctor has to find his way around a bueracratic office fulled with workers who all seem to be the same and are only interested in their Kafkaesque processes. Eventually their paths all meet in a giant labyrinth where they must avoid a minotaur.

After escaping from the maze, the "Eeyore Doctor" encounters the Kro'ka. he enters the Kro'ka's mind and having confidently determined that The Kro'ka's position with The Divergents is less than it seems he extorts the location of the Tardis. The Doctor, Charlie and C'rizz go to the Tardis and leave, drawing a plan to defeat the Divergents.

Cast

References

The Doctor

TARDIS

The Doctor's items

Gallifreyan lifeforms

Planets

Languages

  • "Caerdroia" is the Welsh phrase for "the fortress of many turnings."

Cultural references from the real world

Zoology

  • The cattle of Eutermes are small, scaly and lay eggs.
  • Charley refers to buffalo, telling C'rizz that they are common in the American West and that they tend to stampede.
  • Eutermes has a very dangerous wild animal known as an Obelat.

Species

  • Eutermesans have significantly better hearing than humans.

Notes

Illustrated preview from DWM 350 by Mike Collins.
  • An illustrated preview for this story featured in DWM 350 illustrated by Mike Collins.
  • In cooperation with Big Finish, "Tenth Planet" released this audio in a limited edition with a different cover, designed by Stuart Manning, during the Dimensions convention in early November. "Tenth Planet" also sold the limited edition CD on their website.
  • This is the first Eighth Doctor audio drama to feature the TARDIS since its brief cameo in The Twilight Kingdom in March 2004. However, an illusory version of it appeared in Faith Stealer.
  • This audio drama was recorded on 8 June 2004 at The Moat Studios.
  • It was released on 10 November 2004.[1]
  • This story is set after the 1996 TV movie.
  • This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download only.

Cover gallery

Continuity

Footnotes

External links