Invasion of the Body Stealers (audio story)
Invasion of the Body Stealers was the first story in the audio anthology Broken Memories, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Visiting the crystal forests of Systalzyn, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah encounter a crashing spaceship and race to find survivors...
But not everyone they meet on this colony world is in their right mind - the body-hopping Harmony Shoal have set their sights on invasion!
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith are discussing wonders of the world on the TARDIS, when they notice an ore freighter ship crashing into the nearby planet of Systalzyn. They pilot the TARDIS onto the planet moments after the ship crashes, and go on board to investigate. They find a body of an insectoid alien, and while Sarah Jane believes it to have died in the crash due to a scar on its head, the Doctor deduces that for the scar to form, the creature's body was healing, meaning the creature couldn't have been killed by the cut. The Doctor uses the Sonic screwdriver to determine that the creature is not dead, but is in an unconscious state.
Suddenly, a door opens and a voice can be heard. A man named Eban approaches the Doctor and Sarah Jane, and together they all take the insect back to “the complex”, which has an infirmary. When arriving, they meet Doctor Juliet Jasp, who takes the body away. Before the Doctor and Sarah Jane can follow, however, they are interrogated by Kalpar, the head of security. Jasp and Eban look at the body, and all testing indicates the creature is dead. Jasp goes to do a post-mortem to determine the cause of death, and Eban leaves her to it. When beginning the post-mortem, however, the body starts twitching and reacting until it attacks Jasp.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Sarah talk to Kalpar, who states that at the complex, they frequently go against industrial espionage and environmentalists, but the Doctor assures Kalpar that they are only interested in the alien body. Kalpar phones Jasp, and asks how the patient is going. Jasp responds and says that the patient is completely dead, and the Doctor must have been mistaken in thinking it to be alive. The Doctor and Sarah Jane convince Kalpar to let the Doctor examine the body while Sarah Jane remains in the guest quarters in custody.
As Eban takes Sarah Jane to the guest apartments, however, they see Doctor Jasp taking an octo-bike. Sarah Jane convinces him to let them follow to investigate. Shortly after, Kalpar hears on her radio that the bikes are missing, and leaves the Doctor alone in the emergency room with the alien body.
The Doctor continues to examine the body when Lucas Welland enters and introduces himself as the director of the facility, the Doctor tells Welland that they are dealing with a cerebral endoparasite that can reanimate the dead.
Eban and Sarah Jane follow Jasp to the site of the crashed freighter, and see Kalpar entering the ship before them. In the ship, Jasp sees that all the brains have survived the crash, and upon Kalpar approaching, Jasp attacks takes over Kalpar’s body, leaving Jasp’s body dead. Eban and Sarah Jane enter, and Kalpar convinces them to leave due to an animal in the hold. After arriving back at the facility, Sarah Jane tells the Doctor about the Jasp and freighter, and the two investigate the freighter the next morning. After Sarah Jane notices Jasp’s body has been removed, the Doctor notices a storage unit has been opened. He finds a jar of cerebral spinal fluid, and deduces most of it has been taken somewhere else.
Meanwhile, Kalpar communicates to Welland, and tells him to join her in emergency room two. When he arrives, she shows him the brains, introducing them as Harmony Shoal. He is attacked and reanimated into one of the Shoal.
In the freighter, the Doctor and Sarah hear the animal in the hold again, but they realise it is only an audio recording. However, in finding it, the Doctor accidentally triggers a bomb as he realises the monster is already in the facility. As the bomb counts down, he uses his sonic screwdriver to crystallise the nearby air and protect Sarah Jane and himself from the explosion.
The crystals soon shatter and the Doctor and Sarah make their way back to the compound, where they see everyone has disappeared. Eban finds them, and tells them that everybody has been taken over by parasites. He agrees to take them to a group of resistants, but instead take them directly to Kalpar and Welland, who tell him that they are Harmony Shoal, and they know him from a previous encounter.
The Shoal take the Doctor to use his body for one of the Shoal executives, while Sarah Jane is taken as hostage. The Doctor soon returns being controlled by a Shoal, and Sarah Jane is escorted to the infirmary for her to also be taken, however on the way, Eban reveals that he is not controlled by the Shoal after all, and neither is the Doctor.
In the control room, the Doctor grabs the emergency radio and tries to broadcast a warning, but Kalpar says they shut off communications as an extra precaution, the Doctor tells them this doesn’t matter, and this was just a diversion. Kalpar opens communication channels to all Shoal to tell them to go after Sarah Jane and Eban.
Meanwhile, Eban and Sarah Jane are in the mineral storage room, where Eban is depressurising the minerals into a super saturated gas, and venting them into the air vents. Once it is all over the facility, Sarah Jane activates the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, and the air crystalises around every Shoal, using the communication channel opened by Kalpar.
Shortly after, the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Eban are walking away from the facility, and they discuss warning the supply ship about the Harmony Shoal. As the ship approaches, Eban goes to speak with them. Sarah Jane asks the Doctor if he’s worried about meeting the Harmony Shoal again in his future, he say’s he is worried, but he’s looking forward to it, like he’s in two minds about the whole thing.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Sarah Jane Smith - Sadie Miller
- Eban Hope Jansen - Peter Bankolé
- Lina Kalpar - Juliet Aubrey
- Lucas Welland - Tim Bentinck
- Harmony Shoal - Sam Stafford
- Doctor Juliet Jasp - Helen Lloyd
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Sarah mentions there being 699 Wonders of the Universe, having seen the destruction of the 700th in TV: Death to the Daleks [+]Loading...["Death to the Daleks (TV story)"]).
- Harmony Shoal have records of encountering the Doctor before, which the Fourth Doctor reasons must occur in his future. Their encounters with the Twelfth Doctor were depicted in TV: The Husbands of River Song [+]Loading...["The Husbands of River Song (TV story)"] and TV: The Return of Doctor Mysterio [+]Loading...["The Return of Doctor Mysterio"].
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Invasion of the Body Stealers page at bigfinish.com
