Dominant Species (audio story)
Dominant Species was the seventh and final story of the thirteenth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by John Dorney and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Christopher Naylor as Harry Sullivan and Eleanor Crooks as Naomi Cross.
Publisher's summary
It has been a long time since the invasion of Taleeria. The population is enslaved and subject entirely to the will of the conquerors - the Dominators and their deadly robot servants, the Quarks.
The Doctor, Harry and Naomi stumble into this perilous scenario and are soon separated...but freeing the people of Taleeria should be business as usual, shouldn't it?
Where the Dominators are concerned, things may not be so simple...
Plot
Part one
The Doctor takes Harry and Naomi to Taleeria to see the beaches, forests and theme parks, but they arrive in a warzone and the Doctor is confronted by a Quark who informs him that the Dominators rule the star system and takes him to the holding pens where the Taleerians are held. There, he meets Trell and Nala. Harry and Naomi follow the Doctor, keeping out of sight, and decide to target a generator to take out the Quarks and ensure that the Doctor is not taken in a spaceship to work on another planet, but they are stopped by Bryarly, the leader of the resistance, and taken to a secret base.
Having hacked into the Dominators' surveillance systems, Bryarly locates the Doctor and observes that he has been selected as one of the strong prisoners, as has Nala. The strong are taken aboard the spaceship whilst those deemed infirm, including Trell thanks to him using medication to feign sickness, are left behind. From above the atmosphere, Director Draaga orders the activation of an explosive device placed beneath the ground of Taleeria, a scheme which the Doctor recalls from his encounter with the Dominators on Dulkis. The Doctor attempts to stop Draaga, but he is ignored and Corg reports the destruction of the planet, which will be used to power the Dominators' fleet.
Part two
On Zorana, the Doctor and Calo are made to help the Dominators with their power for a month, which Nala is appalled to discover when she delivers them rations. The Doctor explains, however, that he is working from within and breaks into the Quarks' control system to spy on Draaga. Whilst Harry works as a medic, Naomi and Bryarly resist the Dominators and encourage Morin, a native, to continue the fight for her people after Draaga executes several rebels and ten weakened slaves. Overseer Valtor deems this foolish and threatens to replace him with Corg in a conversation spied on by the Doctor, after which Draaga checks on the Doctor and Calo's progress and threatens to kill Nala, who is frustrated with the Doctor for not doing more to avenge Taleeria.
Deciding that he has spent too much time mourning Harry and Naomi, the Doctor decides that it is time to finish the Dominators after Nala is taken away. Nala is rescued from the Quarks by Naomi, Bryarly and Morin, confirms that the Doctor is still alive and insists that he is a traitor, which Naomi refuses to believe. Whilst Naomi and Bryarly plan to break into the Dominator High Command to rescue the Doctor, Morin takes Nala and the slaves they have freed from a work camp to Harry, who discovers a transmitter on Nala. She admits that she has surrendered to the Dominators to ensure her own survival and activates the transmitter to alert the Quarks to her whereabouts, leading to a massacre. Harry is attacked.
Part three
Although he is unable to give the Quarks orders, the Doctor disables them in such a way that Draaga, ordered by Valtor to resolve the situation before his imminent arrival, is easily able to trace him. Naomi bursts into the laboratory with Bryarly and uses a Quark gun to wound Draaga, whom Bryarly goes after and is subsequently killed by. The Doctor reveals that he was manipulating Draaga so that he could take complete control of all of the Quarks, but Naomi has ruined this and the Quarks are soon reactivated with the help of Calo for the sake of her family.
to be completed
Part four
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Harry Sullivan - Christopher Naylor
- Naomi Cross - Eleanor Crooks
- Director Draaga - Clive Wood
- Overseer Valtor / Trell - Clive Hayward
- Corg - Joseph Kloska
- Nala / Quarks - Emily Woodward
- Bryarly / Quarks - Indra Ové
- Calo / Quarks - Polly Kemp
- Morin / Quarks - Rosalyn Landor
Crew
to be added
Worldbuilding
- Harry has always been fond of Bognor. The TARDIS once took the Doctor there when he gave it the choice.
- Naomi sarcastically says that she did not need Alan Turing's help to solve the Doctor's code.
- Corg has been involved in the Dominators' Drahvin campaign. He claims that the Dominators overran their home system instantly.
- Varn was killed for displeasing Valtor.
- Connor is a member of the resistance.
- Probationer Vaughn leads a group of prisoners.
- Dominator armour is a symbol of honour.
Notes
to be added
Continuity
- Naomi is unsure about visiting another holiday planet after Erinee, which she, the Doctor and Harry visited in AUDIO: Worlds Beyond [+]Loading...["Worlds Beyond (audio story)"].
- The Doctor mentions the recent "kerfuffles" with the Toymaker and the Master in AUDIO: Matryoshka [+]Loading...["Matryoshka (audio story)"] and AUDIO: Metamorphosis [+]Loading...["Metamorphosis (audio story)"] respectively.
- The Doctor refers to the events of TV: The Dominators [+]Loading...["The Dominators (TV story)"].
External links
- Official Dominant Species page at bigfinish.com
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