The Doomwood Curse (audio story)

The Doomwood Curse
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Charley
Main enemy:	Grel
Main setting:	The Archive of Alexandria IV England, 1738
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Jacqueline Rayner
Director:	Barnaby Edwards
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Martin Johnson
Sound:	Martin Johnson
Cover by:	Grant Kempster
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	111
Release date:	August 2008
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	7C/PB
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-320-0 (physical)<r/>ISBN 978-1-78575-658-0 (digital)
Main Range
← Previous	The Boy That Time Forgot
Next →	Kingdom of Silver
Production order
← Previous	Keepsake
Next →	Brotherhood of the Daleks

The Doomwood Curse was the one hundred and eleventh story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Jacqueline Rayner and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard.

It was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Grel, a species introduced in audio form in Oh No It Isn't!, the first story ever produced by Big Finish Productions.

Publisher's summary

Curses and tombs, revenge from beyond the grave — and Dick Turpin!

England, 1738. On the trail of a lost book, the Doctor and Charley arrive at the beautiful country estate of Sir Ralph and Lady Sybil. But all is far from idyllic. There's a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.

And that's not all. Something else has journeyed here. Something that could destroy the very fabric of reality. The Doctor and Charley have just forty-eight hours to solve the mystery before the whole world succumbs to The Doomwood Curse.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Charley Pollard - India Fisher
• Dick Turpin - Nicky Henson
• John - Jonathan Firth
• Eleanor - Hayley Atwell
• Sir Ralph - Trevor Cooper
• Lady Sybil - Geraldine Newman
• Susan - Daisy Douglas
• Molly - Suzie Chard

Crew

• Cover Art - Grant Kempster
• Director - Barnaby Edwards
• Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
• Music and Sound Designer - Martin Johnson
• Producer - David Richardson
• Script Editor - Alan Barnes
• Writer - Jacqueline Rayner

Worldbuilding

• The Doctor is returning a copy of Harrison Ainsworth's romantic novel Rookwood to the Archive of Alexandria IV, which is 300 years past its due date.
• The Doctor has met Capability Brown.

Gallery

• 

  Original covar art

• 

  Illustrated preview from DWM 398. Illustration by Brian Williamson

Notes

• This is the first appearance of the Grel in Doctor Who itself. All of the previous appearance occurred in the Bernice Summerfield novel and audio drama series.
• An illustrated preview by Brian Williamson appeared in DWM 398 for this story.
• Charley Pollard is referred to in this story and others as being fair-haired, but this story's cover art portrays her as a brunette without explanation. However, Charley is depicted in the CD booklet artwork of The Condemned as a brunette and the picture of Charley on the cover of The Girl Who Never Was is a picture of India Fisher as a brunette. It is assumed therefore that Charley was, much like India Fisher at the time, a brunette for her last travels with the Eighth Doctor and early travels with the Sixth Doctor.
• This audio drama was recorded on 21 and 22 May 2008 at The Moat Studios.
• This story is set between The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.

Continuity

• Charley has only recently joined the Sixth Doctor on his travels after parting ways with the Eighth Doctor in AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was and joining the Sixth on her first adventure in AUDIO: The Condemned.
• The Grel first appeared in PROSE: Oh No It Isn't!

External links

• Official The Doomwood Curse page at bigfinish.com
• The Doomwood Curse at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• DisContinuity for The Doomwood Curse at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide