The Song of Megaptera (audio story)

The Song of Megaptera
Adapted from:	The Song of the Space Whale
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Peri
Main enemy:	Captain Greeg, Ship's Computer, Caller
Main setting:	SS Orcus and Megaptera, far future
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Pat Mills
Director:	John Ainsworth
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Daniel Brett
Sound:	Daniel Brett
Cover by:	Alex Mallinson
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	1.07
Release date:	May 2010
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	6Y/AG
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-450-4
Official trailer
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The Song of Megaptera was the seventh story in the first series of The Lost Stories, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was adapted by Pat Mills, from his original script, and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.

Publisher's summary

Deep space in the distant future, and Captain Greeg and his crew are hunting mile-long Space Whales on a vast harvesting ship. By pure accident, they also capture the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Peri must use all their wits to survive. But what is the creature running loose in the ship's bowels? And can the Doctor save Megaptera before its song is extinguished forever?

Plot

Part one

Answering a distress call, the TARDIS materialises in deep space and the Doctor and Peri see a whale-like Galeen which seems to have come to answer the call. However, they find that the distress call is a trick emitted by a factory ship which uses a tractor beam to capture the Galeen. The Doctor manages to free the Galeen by breaking the beam, causing the TARDIS to be captured despite reversing the temporal motors and subjected to the production line intended to process Galeens.

At long last, the Doctor is able to dematerialise the TARDIS and rematerialise at the end of the termination bay, leaving Peri inside whilst he goes to examine the damage. He is taken to Captain Greeg by security guards and claims to be an inspector with the Wild Interstellar Life Federation come to inspect the methods by which SS Orcus kills Galeens. Peri escapes the security guards when they find her outside the TARDIS and falls down a pipe where she finds Manus's fungus-covered body and is attacked as Chief Engineer Volan listens over the radio.

The ship detects the Galeen once more as, despite appearing healthy, it has not used its time core to deep dive through time and escape the area. Captain Greeg orders the ship to fire, but the computer, infected with a virus by the Doctor, refuses to do so as it now wishes to protect the Galeens. Angry, Captain Greeg shoots the Doctor and tells him that he is extinct.

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
• Captain Greeg - John Benfield
• Manus / Stennar - Neville Watchurst
• The Caller / Ship's Computer - John Banks
• Chief Engineer / Chanel - Susan Brown
• Stafel / 1st Security Guard - Toby Longworth
• Axel / 2nd Security Guard - Alex Lowe

Worldbuilding

• The Doctor is unable to synchronise the TARDIS's time sensory amplification field.
• "Dark matter" as a term is used for the unknown.
• The Galeen have solar scales which absorb energy from suns.
• The Doctor nearly lost the TARDIS playing a card game with leprechauns.
• The Doctor reverses the TARDIS's temporal motors.
• Peri promises to eat sprouts for the rest of her life if she survives the production line.
• Peri says that the production line has put her off rollercoasters.
• Glycerides smell.
• The TARDIS has a blue transdimensional finish.
• The Star Guardian is a newspaper.
• Stennar is production controller.
• The security guards are Dave and Carl.
• The Doctor says that he graduated from the University of Gallifrey.
• Sontaran weapons are used.
• Peri has a younger cousin called Pete.
• The Doctor refers to the dimensional adjudicator and the dimensional walls of the TARDIS.

Notes

Interior CD art illustrating events in the story.

• This story was initially written for a Fourth Doctor story, then was reworked as a Fifth Doctor story, starring Tegan Jovanka and introducing Vislor Turlough, written by Pat Mills and John Wagner. It was replaced with Mawdryn Undead. The introduction of Turlough was added at a late stage and he was to have been one of the travellers within the space whale. The final version was written under the name of Song of the Space Whale for Season 22.
• Much of the reprogrammed Ship's Computer language takes cues from leetspeak. A written dialect of English popularised in the computer gaming and hacking communities. The Computer's suggested strategy of a "zerg rush", adopted by Captain Greeg, originated in the real-time strategy video game, Starcraft.
• This audio drama was recorded on 23 and 24 September 2009 at the Moat Studios.
• This story is set between Revelation of the Daleks and The Trial of a Time Lord.

Continuity

• The Doctor has two hearts (TV: Spearhead from Space, et al.)
• In her delirium, Peri accuses the Doctor of being an imposter. The Doctor reminds her that he has regenerated since they first met. (TV: Planet of Fire, The Caves of Androzani)
• Peri mentions Daleks. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
• A space whale would appear later in TV: The Beast Below.
• The Doctor claims that the TARDIS wanted to leave Gallifrey as much as he did. The TARDIS herself will later confirm this in TV: The Doctor's Wife.

External links

• Official The Song of Megaptera page at bigfinish.com
• The Song of Megaptera at the Doctor Who Reference Guide