Primord (audio story)
- You may be looking for the species.
Primord was the first story in the audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Five, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by John Dorney and featured Tim Treloar as the Third Doctor, Katy Manning as Jo Grant and introduced Daisy Ashford as Liz Shaw and Jon Culshaw as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
It was added for free to the podcast Into the TARDIS as part of Big Finish's 25th anniversary of creating Doctor Who audio stories. It was released in four parts on 22 and 29 June and 6 and 13 July 2024 and hosted by Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker.
Publisher's summary
Prisoners are escaping from incarceration all around the country and UNIT have been called in to aid in the search. But the Doctor is unwilling to agree to the Brigadier's request for help as he and Jo have opted to take a holiday – they're going to visit his old assistant Liz Shaw, now working in Cambridge University.
But, unfortunately for Jo, the Doctor can't relax for very long. Soon the Time Lord and his friends are facing an old enemy – creatures they'd long since thought they'd put to ground.
The Primords have returned – and this time the danger may strike very close to home.
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Tim Treloar
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Jon Culshaw
- Liz Shaw - Daisy Ashford
- General Sharp - Michael Troughton
- Captain Hall - Andrew Wincott
- Private Callahan / Primords / Soldiers - Joe Jameson
- Lady Madeleine Rose / Barmaid - Bethan Dixon Bate
Uncredited cast
- Private Reagan - Joe Jameson[source needed]
- Hutchinson - Andrew Wincott[source needed]
- UNIT Soldier - Nicholas Briggs[source needed]
Worldbuilding
- Liz infects the Doctor with a handshake, but fails to infect Jo because she goes for a hug as a greeting, with minimal direct skin contact.
- Sharp plans to use the Primords as bioweapons.
People
- Liz has become a Professor.
- Michael was Liz's fiancé.
- Billy has a Cairn Terrier named Chrissie.
- UNIT soldiers on site include Rogers, Hutchinson, Dinkley and Moors.
Organisations
- The British Army and fire brigade are called by UNIT as reinforcements.
Locations
- The Doctor claims he could develop a cure even in the UNIT canteen.
Technology
- The Doctor activates the sprinkler system using Bunsen burners, spreading the cure.
Food and drink
Notes
- This story marks the first appearance of Liz Shaw in a Big Finish full-cast story since Caroline John's death in 2012, this time portrayed by Caroline's daughter, Daisy Ashford. According to David Richardson, had Daisy turned down the role, they decided that they "would not move on with using a different Liz. It was Daisy or [they] wouldn't have done it at all". (VOR 122)
- John Dorney refers to this story as "Flashpoint" at the start of the behind-the-scenes interviews. (BFX: The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Five)
Continuity
- The Doctor is giving Bessie an upgrade. (TV: The Time Monster, Battlefield)
- The Doctor briefly considers building a new car for himself. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs et al)
- Liz now works at the University of Cambridge. (AUDIO: The Sentinels of the New Dawn; HOMEVID: The Zero Imperative)
- The Doctor mentions New Dawn as their last encounter. (AUDIO: The Sentinels of the New Dawn)
- The Doctor and Liz reminisce about an argument the Doctor had with the Brigadier, which ended with him accidentally landing in a rubbish tip. (TV: Inferno)
- Jo uses a ploy she notes the Master previously carried out to get into Captain Hart's navy base. (TV: The Sea Devils)
- Sharp taunts the Brigadier about his enacting genocide on the Silurians. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
- The Doctor and Liz previously met Primords in TV: Inferno.
- The Doctor notes how rare it is that everybody lives. (TV: The Doctor Dances)
External links
- Official Primord page at bigfinish.com
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