Real Time (webcast)

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Real Time was a six-episode webcast animated adventure featuring the Sixth Doctor, which was available via the BBCI website in 2002. Real Time was one of a few animated webcasts produced featuring various incarnations of the Doctor in the years prior to the revival of the series.

This serial is notable for including the character of Evelyn Smythe, marking the first time a character created for the Big Finish Productions audio dramas had appeared in a BBC-sponsored production. It also marked the final (active) appearance, to date, of the original version of the Cybermen in a BBC-sponsored production before the advent of the Cybus Cybermen in 2006.

Synopsis

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Plot

Episode 1

Two humans, Hoyer and Fantham, manage to evade the Cybermen searching for them and reach their destination, the Chronosphere. The Doctor is already locked into its matrix, and they send him from 1951 to a nexus point in the year 3286. If all goes well, the Doctor will change the web of Time, and Hoyer and Fantham will cease to exist.

A human survey team lands on a deserted planet to find out what happened to two other, missing survey teams. Exactly one day after the previous disappearance, Osborn contacts the mothership to report that his team has found nothing -- but then a wave of temporal energy washes out of the structure which Osborn believes to be an ancient temple. As the signal begins to break up, the desperate Osborn warns his contact, Krueger, that there’s a Cyberman at the heart of the temporal wave...

The mention of Cybermen naturally causes concern, and soon another expedition has arrived on the planet, accompanied by the Doctor and Evelyn. Administrator David Isherwood isn’t pleased to have been saddled with strangers, and he turns Evelyn over to another man he’s been stuck with -- Doctor Reece Goddard, an expert on Cybermen who seems awed to learn that Evelyn is a companion of the legendary Doctor. Evelyn modestly dismisses her own exploits and inquires about the Cybermen, and Dr. Goddard gives her a potted history of the race, from their origins on Mondas through to their colonisation of other worlds, the destruction of Mondas, and the Orion wars. The Cybermen have learned from each defeat, and have constantly adapted their design to overcome their early weaknesses, such as radiation and gold dust. However, they haven’t been heard from in centuries, which is why Central became so worried when Osborn went missing after he reported seeing a Cyberman...

Inside the “temple”, the Doctor is studying the hieroglyphs on the walls while Renchard and Carey, unable to find any sign of the missing expeditions, amuse themselves by generating an echo field to block the transmissions from their subcutaneous transponders. The Doctor points out certain architectural oddities which suggest that this building was meant to be easier to get into than out of, and a large stone doorway which is much thinner than the others. Scans indicate a solid stone wall on the other side, which suggests that this stone is not a door but a cover. Savage sends Renchard back to fetch vacuum cylinders, with which to preserve whatever lies behind the covering, and she, Carey and the Doctor attempt to move it aside. However, the Doctor then notices scratches which suggest that the cover has been moved before; perhaps this is what unleashed the temporal wave in the first place. Savage’s professionalism slips, as she believes her missing friends and colleagues may be trapped behind the cover, and she feels the Doctor is risking their lives with unnecessary caution. As they argue, however, the covering vanishes to be replaced by a translucent membrane, behind which they can see a room too large to fit into the small space behind the covering. The Doctor realizes the truth, but Savage again ignores his pleas for caution and sticks her hand through the membrane -- and is yanked through, screaming, by something on the other side.

As Goddard and Evelyn discuss her spirit of adventure and his apparent fascination with the Cybermen, Isherwood informs them that Savage’s transponder has ceased signalling. Inside, the membrane has gone dark, and three Cybermen step out -- including one who is still recognisable as Nicola Savage. Her conversion has taken place remarkably quickly, and the Doctor realizes that the membrane is a time portal under Cyber control. And now he and Carey are prisoners of the Cybermen...

Episode 2

Evelyn doesn’t understand Isherwood’s mention of “transponders,” and Goddard explains that the expedition members have tiny transmitters implanted in their skin -- apart from the Doctor and Evelyn, and Goddard himself, who claims to be allergic. Savage’s transponder signal returns, but Evelyn remains concerned -- and her concerns are justified when the Doctor and Carey return with the Cyberman that used to be Savage in close pursuit. The “temple” is a time gate, and Savage’s conversion, which should have taken months, has taken place in subjective moments. Evelyn inadvertently gives away the Doctor’s identity, and Savage orders him to hand over his TARDIS on pain of watching his four friends die. Puzzled, the Doctor lets this slide for the moment but questions why Savage’s Controller hasn’t passed through the portal itself. Perhaps it’s unable to survive the journey, which is why it needs the TARDIS. The Doctor doesn’t yet realize that the Controller has been listening to this conversation, as Savage’s transponder has been reconfigured to transmit and receive through the portal...

Following the Controller’s orders, Savage separates the Doctor from the others and threatens to kill them slowly unless he surrenders the TARDIS. He refuses to do so, knowing that Cybermen with unlimited time travel would pose a far greater threat to the Universe. Savage gives the Doctor a few minutes to decide, and he, Evelyn and Goddard discuss their time limit -- and the fact that the temporal wave will shortly wash out from the portal, presumably transporting them all into the Cyber Controller’s domain in any case. The Doctor is convinced that the portal is the creation of another alien race, and that the Cyber Controller doesn’t know how to use it properly. Perhaps the Doctor can take advantage of that fact by giving the Cybermen incorrect operating instructions. But something which Savage had said earlier is nagging at him...

Isherwood isn’t willing to give up his life for a principle, and despite Renchard and Carey’s misgivings, he decides to help the Cybermen acquire the TARDIS in the hope that the Cybermen will then let their captors live. The Cybermen can easily overhear his plotting, however, and Savage decides to pretend to accept his terms. It doesn’t really matter, as they need the Doctor to operate the TARDIS -- and as this is the case, the Controller intends to convert the Doctor into more than just another Cyberman. The Doctor will be the Controller’s successor...

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Cast & Characters

References

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Story Notes

  • Episodes 4 through 6 had warnings that "this week's episode contains scenes that may not be suitable for younger children".
  • Yee Jee Tso played Chang Lee in Doctor Who.

Original Website Release/Broadcast

  • Episode 1 - 2nd August, 2002
  • Episode 2 - 9th August, 2002
  • Episode 3 - 16th August, 2002
  • Episode 4 - 23rd August, 2002
  • Episode 5 - 30th August, 2002
  • Episode 6 - 6th September, 2002

Myths

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Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

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Continuity

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CD and Other Releases

  • Big Finish released an extended release on CD, see Real Time (audio release) for more information.

See also

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External Links

audio stub
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