The Phoenicians (audio story)
The Phoenicians was the first story in the audio anthology The First Doctor Adventures: Volume Three. It was written by Marc Platt and featured David Bradley as the First Doctor, Claudia Grant as Susan Foreman, Jemma Powell as Barbara Wright and Jamie Glover as Ian Chesterton.
Publisher's summary
In ancient Tyre, the Phoenician civilisation commands the oceans. But times are turbulent – the young King's quarrel with his sister threatens to divide the nation.
On perilous seas, Ian becomes Princess Elissa's favourite, while Susan and Barbara face losing their freedom. In the city, the Doctor falls foul of King Pygmalion.
As they reach dangerous shores, the travellers fight to survive as legend becomes history...
Plot
The Purple and the Gold (1)
At the end of their previous adventure in Japan, the TARDIS lands once again, but a fault in the scanner doesn't allow the crew to see what's outside; therefore, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara venture out. They find themselves once again on Earth, near a city built on a nearby cliff over the sea. From her reading of a Bible in the TARDIS, Susan guesses it's Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city. As the travellers starts walking towards it, not far off Elissa, the Princess of the city, is consulting the priest Tubal for an oracle: he answers foreseeing a vision of blood and darkness, and the coming of a pale-skinned stranger.
In the city, King Pygmalion laments Tubal's assence: he wants to inaugurate his new ship, for which he spent a fortune going agains the wishes of the elders, but the inauguration has to wait for Tubal to bless the vessel and give her a name. Tubal at last comes in, and tells Pygmalion the same prophecy he told Elissa. Meanwhile, the four travellers came across a necropolis and are attacked by the people living in it, only to be saved by Elissa. They have a chance to return the favor moments later, when an unknown assassin tries to kill the princess: as Ian fights him off, Elissa is only slightly wounded at the shoulder. Out of gratitude, Elissa welcomes them all into her home, treating them as honored guests (she also arranges for the TARDIS to be transported to her palace).
She explains to them that she is a widow: her husband, the high priest of Baal (the local god), died six years earlier on this very day, and she has a strained relationship with her younger brother, Pygmalion. This is immediately proven true when the King comes to visit her, to invite her at the inauguration of his ship. He also notices she seems ready to depart for a voyage, which Elissa does not deny, and sees also the strangers, especially Ian, which he recognizes as a "pale-skinned stranger". Back to the palace, the King orders his men to capture Ian and bring him to him, which they do as soon as the school teacher goes for a walk in the city. Interrogated by the King, Ian refuses to answer his questions, and he is therefore condamned to be part of the inaugural "sacrifice" for the ship.
At the ceremony, Pygmalion startles his sister by declaring that the ship brings the name of her dead husband, while the Doctor, Barbara and Susan in horror sees Ian, together with other men, deposited alongside the slide the ship must slip on to reach the sea - crushing the men's heads in the process.
The Hireling (2)
The Doctor tries to stop the sacrifice by strutting out to Pygmalion and presenting himself as a messenger from Baal, but no avail: the King still gives the order, and the ship is launched. A distressed Barbara tries to get near to see Ian's body, but is driven away by Susan and Elissa; as for the Doctor, he tries to reach them but loses them in the commotion, and is finally intercepted by Tubal. The prophet takes him to his home and then tries to ascertain if he really is a messenger from above. When the Doctor shows reluctance, Tubal locks him up in a room, in an attempt to force him to show his presumed power so they could work together.
Elissa brings Susan and Barbara to the temple, and leaves them alone as she goes to retrieve the sacred flame of the gods once kept by her husband. The three women are also reached by Bitias, officially one of Pygmalion's captains (and the one he entrusted his new ship to), but actually a supporter of Elissa: as the princess, he too does not suffer the young prince's megalomania. He brings a hooded figure with him, which is revealed to be Ian, saved by Bitias on the Princess' order. Elissa reveals to the travellers that she is leaving Tyre, together with many supporters, and she will do by stealing her brother's new ship. She has also ordered the TARDIS to be brought on the deck of the new ship, intending to bring it and the travellers with them. Ian, Susan and Barbara object, but with no real choice, they still accompany Elissa to the harbor.
The Doctor manages to trick Tubal and escapes his imprisonment, but he arrives too late at the harbor: ignoring Susan's distressed protests, Elissa leaves Tyre, accompanied by the majority of the city council and taking with her the sacred flame and half of her brother's treasure. Left behind, the Doctor is captured by Pygmalion and interrogated by him and his high priest, Maygo: he tries to present himself once again as a messenger from the gods and demanding the recovery of the TARDIS, but his ruse doesn't work and he is sentenced to death. On the deck of the main ship, Elissa informs Ian and Barbara they are going to Cyprus, and makes it clear she is interested in Ian romantically. In the TARDIS, Susan is keeping herself busy reading, and has stumbled upon Virgil's Aeneid, where she found the story of Dido - a Phoenician princess from Tyre escaping her brother.
In Tyre, the Doctor is visited in his cell by Pygmalion's masked assassin - a woman from Scythia, Aiyaruc. She has come to kill him after Pygmalion's order, but first she wants to know if he is truly as powerful as he claims. The Doctor's hesitation declares him just a man, and Aiyaruc, though stating her dislike for Pygmalion, sheathes her sword, ready to spill blood.
Legends and Lies (3)
to be added
The Bull's Hide (4)
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - David Bradley
- Susan - Claudia Grant
- Ian Chesterton - Jamie Glover
- Barbara Wright - Jemma Powell
- Princess Elissa of Tyre - Ajjaz Awad
- King Pygmalion of Tyre - Jo Ben Ayed
- Aiyaruc / Hanna - Orion Ben
- Bitias - Youssef Kerkour
- Tubal / Maygo / King Hiarbas of Tunis - Raad Rawi
References
- When Susan asks if Pygmalion wasn't the one "who fell in love with his statue", Barbara tells her there was also the Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and the musical My Fair Lady.
Notes
- This story takes on directly after the previous one, The Barbarians and the Samurai, and leads directly into the next one, Tick-Tock World.
Continuity
- Barbara refers to their previous visit to Japan. (AUDIO: The Barbarians and the Samurai)
- The Doctor mentions that, much like Ellisa and Pygmalion, he has a fractious relationship with his family. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
External links
- Official The Phoenicians page at bigfinish.com
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