The Conquest of Far (audio story)
The Conquest of Far was the first story in the audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Three, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured Tim Treloar as the Third Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant.
It features the Daleks in their first appearance in The Third Doctor Adventures. The story picks up immediately after the end of Planet of the Daleks, emulating the 1970s style of Doctor Who storytelling that may have been expected had the Third Doctor's battle against the Daleks, beginning in Frontier in Space, ran for even more episodes.
The Daleks later reappeared in The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Six, in Poison of the Daleks.
Publisher's summary
Earth Alliance, the future… Fleet commanders receive their orders from the President of Earth. Operation Far is "go". As soon as the planets are suitably aligned, the attack will go ahead.
The Doctor and Jo arrive on the planet Far. The Doctor wants to attend the grand opening of one of the human race’s greatest achievements. A huge Hyper Gateway built to make travel around Earth's great empire more convenient, bringing relief to many starving outer colonies.
But they land in the wrong time period, long after the Gateway has been in service, and the Daleks have conquered Far! It's the middle of a war and a deadly game is underway. When everyone has an agenda, betrayal can happen at any time, from any side. The endgame is approaching and maybe this time no one will survive.
Plot
Part one
to be added
Part two
to be added
Part three
to be added
Part four
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Tim Treloar
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
- Delralis / Naltrox / Thruskan Special Ops - George Watkins
- Jickster / Kennet - John Banks
- Elaquon - Amy Newton
- Daleks / Aslarn / Earth President / Medi-Robot / Troopers - Nicholas Briggs
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor has visited Far before. The planet was named by Earth Empire pioneers because it was far from everything else.
- Jo's uncle has visited World War II death camps.
- The Doctor notes the Daleks on far are of a more advanced design than those on Spiridon.
- The Earth Alliance Earth Alliance Fleet with Thruskan allies is contacted by the President of Earth.
- The Daleks conquered Far two years ago. An army of about a million Daleks are held in stasis there.
- Jickster commanded the Farian Defense Fleet.
- The Daleks have images of several different Doctors that they have made contact with, but Jo states that none of these Doctors are hers.
- Jo is placed in a monitoring array and interrogated by the Dalek Commander.
- Naltrox and Kennet review eye witness statements and records of "the Doctor" fighting across the Dalek Wars.
- In time of war, the penalty for stealing a ship is death.
- The Doctor attempts to trick the Daleks by piloting his saucer in an erratic pattern to resemble a "hyper echo."
- Dalek saucers have a mass-energy converter in their main drive, and their fuel causes mutagenic radiation, which affects the Farians.
- The Daleks have a secret "robotising weapon" which is a massive transmitter to generate an energy field to convert whole fleets into Robomen.
- The Doctor turns the robotising weapon on the Dalek army, which overloads their nervous systems and positronic brains.
- There are "higher functioning Robomen" that appear human and don't even know they're Robomen, with a strong magnetic field around their brains.
Notes
- The Daleks question Jo by showing her images of Doctors they have encountered; they are aware of multiple incarnations but not the Third Doctor, referencing how his only two encounters with the Daleks at this point in his current incarnation either occurred in an erased alternate timeline as in Day of the Daleks, or ended with the complete destruction of all Daleks present as in Planet of the Daleks.
- As this story is written to follow on from Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks, it is implied that the Dalek war being fought is, or is in some way related to, the Second Dalek War, although the story avoids any explicit confirmation of this and keeps the exact nature of the conflict vague. However, discerning differences include:
- The war involves the Earth Alliance and not the Earth Empire, as it did in the 26th century, with the Alliance implied to come after the Empire.
- The President is a man and not Dora, who held office in 2540.
- Naltrox refers to the general "Dalek Wars," which covers a range of conflicts.
- The Doctor states his knowledge of "this period of history" is a bit hazy.
- The BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel Catastrophea also takes place right after Planet of the Daleks.
Continuity
- The Third Doctor and Jo have just left Spiridon, which Farians don't know of. (TV: Planet of the Daleks)
- The Doctor and Jo briefly discuss her uncle, who got her the job at UNIT. (AUDIO: A Quiet Night In)
- Jo is aware of the Doctor's ability to change his face, (TV: The Three Doctors) having witnessed an aborted regeneration for herself. (PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh)
- The Daleks have been using Robomen for longer than the Dalek War. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
- The Doctor isn't aware that he's been "making a name for himself." (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
- The Doctor maintains faith in the fundamental goodness of the universe, and that the Daleks must be defeated. (COMIC: The Only Good Dalek)
External links
- Official The Conquest of Far page at bigfinish.com
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