The Prisoner's Dilemma (audio story)
The Prisoner's Dilemma was the eighth story of the third series of The Companion Chronicles, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Simon Guerrier, narrated by Sophie Aldred and featured the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Zara.
It was set directly during the Key-2-Time arc in the Main Range featuring the Fifth Doctor and Amy. It's also the first story in the Companion Chronicles range to feature the Seventh Doctor.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Two prisoners meet in a prison cell. Zara is searching for the segments of the Key to Time; she was only born yesterday but already she's killed hundreds of people. Ace is more ambitious: she was going to kill everyone on the planet.
What have they got against the people of Erratoon? They go peaceably about their simple assignments, beneath their artificial sky. They share their meals and leisure time and they never ask questions. Are they even real?
Ace and Zara will only survive if they can trust each other. Or perhaps if they sell each other out... If not their awful punishment is to become just like everyone else.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Simon Holub
- Director - Lisa Bowerman
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - David Darlington
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Jacqueline Rayner
- Writer - Simon Guerrier
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Zara refers to the Grace, the Tracers, the Key to Time, the White Guardian and the Black Guardian.
- Ace mentions Florana, the Eye of Orion and being quite an expert on making explosions.
- Harmonious 14 Zink uses a Time Ring.
- Zink was married to 1V Magda.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This audio drama was recorded on 16 June 2008 at the Moat Studios.
- It was released on 22 January 2009.[1]
- Unlike most other Big Finish Productions audios, this story is set during the Virgin New Adventures era. Bernice Summerfield is mentioned but not named. One other Companion Chronicle, Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code, is set during that era, although Ace is absent from that story.
- This story is narratively linked to the audio story The Judgement of Isskar, which was released in January 2009.
- This story is told from Ace's perspective.
- This story is set after Survival.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Ace tells Zara that she once met a "bloke made of liquorice", referring to TV: The Happiness Patrol [+]Loading...["The Happiness Patrol (TV story)"].
- Zara is the twin sister of the Fifth Doctor's companion Amy (later Abby). The Doctor and Amy encountered Zara on Mars in the distant past in AUDIO: The Judgement of Isskar [+]Loading...["The Judgement of Isskar (audio story)"] and on Chaos at the end of recorded time in AUDIO: The Chaos Pool [+]Loading...["The Chaos Pool (audio story)"] Both of these events are in Zara's personal future, but the Seventh Doctor's past.
- Ace uses logic to confuse the Robot Constables. She was previously shown to be knowledgeable about logic in TV: The Curse of Fenric [+]Loading...["The Curse of Fenric (TV story)"].
- Ace previously had her memories removed in PROSE: Timewyrm: Genesys [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Genesys (novel)"].
- Ace remembers travelling with the Doctor and a woman wearing earrings who "knew a lot about dead things." She is talking about Bernice Summerfield, who debuted in PROSE: Love and War [+]Loading...["Love and War (novel)"].
- Ace mentions visiting the Trib Museum. Bernice Summerfield and Jason Kane had an adventure at the same museum in AUDIO: Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Lost Museum [+]Loading...["Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Lost Museum (audio story)"].
- Ace vaguely recalls her mother bringing someone to a wedding, referring to Bernice and Jason's wedding in PROSE: Happy Endings [+]Loading...["Happy Endings (novel)"]. She also thinks that she had previously met the person when they were the same age as her, which had indeed taken place in PROSE: Nightshade [+]Loading...["Nightshade (novel)"].
- Ace mentions having Christmas dinner in Cheldon Bonniface in 1992, which was depicted in PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)"].
- Zara refers to the fact that the Fourth Doctor and Romana went on the run after assembling the Key to Time. This took place at the end of TV: The Armageddon Factor [+]Loading...["The Armageddon Factor (TV story)"].
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Prisoner's Dilemma page at bigfinish.com
- The Prisoner's Dilemma at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
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