Farewell, Great Macedon (audio story)

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Farewell, Great Macedon was the first story in the audio anthology The First Doctor Box Set, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was adapted by Nigel Robinson, from the original script by Moris Farhi, narrated by Carole Ann Ford and William Russell and featured the First Doctor, Susan, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The TARDIS materialises in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, in the year 323 BC. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan meet Alexander the Great – but their excitement is tempered by the realisation that these are the final days of Alexander's life. As the travellers become embroiled in the tragic events, the inevitability of history unfolds around them.

But can they – and should they – change it?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1)[[edit] | [edit source]]

The TARDIS stops suddenly to everyone's surprise: the TARDIS has a fuel leak. Realising they are on Earth and sometime in the past, and with no way to repair the TARDIS presently, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan decide to step outside of the ship. They find themselves in a garden full of sound and beautiful exotic plants, which Ian recognises as the Hanging Garden of Babylon. Shortly after, they hear a fanfare sound and the voices of beautiful women announcing that the king has arrived, and Susan runs off to see where the women are going.

In another part of the gardens, four men are gathered: Seleucus, general of the Greek army; Glaucias, the camp physician; Iollas, a priest of the god Apollo, and Antipater, a politician and a trusted adviser to the king. Antipater makes known his distress for having been in a foreign land the last thirteen years and claims that not one Greek wouldn't welcome the thought of going back home. Argued by Seleucus that the army would never abandon the king, Antipater declares that the king will have to be separated from the army. Seleucus, who believes this to be treason, attempts to leave before being reprimanded by Antipater who reminds him of his plot not too long before in which Seleucus tried to place himself in the order of succession to the throne. Antipater believes that, currently, there would be nothing to gain from the death of the king because one of his three generals would take the throne; Antipater suggests that they kill all three generals along with the king in order to better control the throne. Seleucus, unsure, leaves on the promise that he would decide at a later time. With Seleucus gone, Antipater discloses to Iollas and Glaucias that the Greek general would be nothing more than a figure head so that they could go after the treasure and riches of the empire. Antipater decides that they will work their way up to the kings death starting with the death of the generals, and to better prepare the situation he orders Iollas to "prophecy" something terrible.

Susan who had followed the singing women out of the hanging gardens, has made her way up to great towering city walls of Babylon. When the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara finally catch up to her they manage a glimpse of the tents outside of the city where the soldiers in the army reside; in the distance they can see the king waiting to greet the women who then greeted him with gifts. Losing the attention of the Doctor shortly thereafter to a curious smell which he begins to investigate; catching up with the Doctor and the source of the smell, the travellers find Iollas performing a ritual, though the travellers believed him to cooking; the Doctor even going so far as to try and teach him how to cook better. It isn't long before Ian and the Doctor are interrupted by a spear landing just between the two: turning to see who threw the spear, they see a young man of about thirty. It is the king, accompanied by four massive guards. Half joking, he tells them that they must not disturb Apollo's priest referring to Iollas who is bent over on the ground mumbling now, seemingly back in some trance, warning them of unspoken nightmares that could come from interrupting his prophesying. Iollas comes out of his trance and prophesies a warning that the king must leave Babylon before a four-headed misfortune descends upon him. The king, ignoring Iollas' words in another half joking manner, merits a praise from the Doctor for not believing in such foolish things, although the king scolds him in return for not respecting the customs of his people. As the king and the Doctor become more friendly to each other, the king offers to host the travellers, while completely ignoring Iollas' attempt to warn him with his "prophecy"; he introduces them to his generals Haphaeston, Cleitus, Calanus and Ptolemy. As the young king leads the travellers to the camp, Barbara figures who he is: Alexander of Macedon.

At the edge of the encampment near the walls, Iollas reaches Antipater and Glaucias. Learning of the strangers who interfered with Iollas, Antipater conjectures that this actually helps their cause: four strangers, four omens, four deaths. Claiming that they can easily link the deaths to the strangers by making others believe that these strangers are the evil omens and that the suspicion will fall on them by default.

O Son, My Son (2)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alexander brings the travellers to his tent and introduces them to his friends: Cleitus, his master-at-arms, who saved his life in battle; Calanus, the wise Indian; Haphaeston, his best friend; and Ptolemy, his Nubian guard. The travellers witness the friendship and camaraderie of the men with their king, but also the quick moment of tension between Alexander and Cleitus. Alexander asks them who whey are, and upon hearing they are travellers, offers them hospitality at his court. They accept, also because they have to wait for the TARDIS to recharge itself.

Later, Barbara and Susan witness a duel between Alexander and Seleucus, where the latter almost beats the king, before being stopped by Ptolemy. Worried, Barbara confides in Susan that Alexander only visited Babylon twice during his life: she hopes it's the first one, because the second time it happened Alexander died. Meanwhile, the Doctor leads Ian into exploring the Greek camp, only after telling him he was looking for a way to extract oil wihout attracting attention: his plan is to refine the oil and use it to recharge the TARDIS's fuel link. Elsewhere, Antipater confides to Glaucias and Iollas that he means to devise ways for Alexander and his friends to die ignominously, so to reduce their stature to that of simple men; as he begins to hatch a plan to kill Cleitus, he charges Iollas to tell Alexander that the strangers' arrival is an omen, announcing the oncoming "four-headed disgrace" that he prophesised him. Iollas does so, but Alexander dismisses him angrily.

That night, before the feast of Dionysus, Cleitus confides to Susan and Barbara to be homesick: he is absent from Greece to much. Later, during the feast, a drunk Cleitus objects when Alexander offers his libation not only to the Greek god Dionysus, but also to the Persian god Ammon and the Egyptian goddess Ishtar, as a sign of reconciliation and peace amongst the people. Cleitus objects that Alexander should not treat as equals the victors Greeks and their slaves, but all the other participants at the banquet (including Ian) condemn his view. Enranged, Cleitus calls Alexander a traitor, and the king, also a little drunk, takes a spear and threatens to kill him. As the fight increases, Iollas and Glaucias slip behind Alexander and Cleitus: the first stops Ian from intervening, the other pushes Cleitus onto Alexander's spear, killing him. Only the Doctor notices their move, but everyone is distracted when Alexander, in a fit of rage, tries to kill himself with the same spear out of shame and pain, but Hephaestion and Ptolemy stop him in time.

A Man Must Die (3)[[edit] | [edit source]]

The day after, as the soldiers mourn Cleitus by competing in athletic feats, the Doctor confides to his companions that Iollas pushed Cleitus onto the spear; unfortunately, he is unable to prove it, so he won't tell nothing to Alexander. Instead, he sends Barbara to request the king permission to enter Babylon, in order to reach the TARDIS and start the repairs on the ship. Ian feels guilty over causing the debate which led to Cleitus' death, but he is conforted by Calamus, who assures him Cleitus was actually a good man and never mistreated anyone, in spite of his beliefs. Elsewhere, Antipater reprimands Iollas for his intervention: thanks to him, Cleitus died a noble death, not the ignominious one he envisaged. That same evening, Antipater visits Calamus in his tent as he is meditating and gives him a rose, whose thorns he poisoned.

Some days later, after the end of Cleitus' mouring period, Alexander is preparing to enter in Babylon again. As he and Hephaestion pack, Alexander notices his friend does not have his sword with him. The two friends remember the time an old man gave Hephaestion the blade, and told him that, the day he would be separated by the blade, would have been the day of his death. Ptolemy rushes into the tent, informing them that Calamus has fallen sick. Alexander and Hephaestion reach the Indian's tent, where they find Glaucias, Iollas and Antipater; the camp physician tells Alexander there's nothing to be done, but Hephaestion suggests they call upon the Doctor. The Doctor comes and, upon visiting Calamus, determines he has been poisoned with anthrax, and can be saved by a blood transfusion.

As Ian, the Doctor and Susan gather the blood from soldiers volunteering, Antipater, Iollas and Glaucias try to dissuade Alexander from trusting the strangers, to no avail. In his tent, Calamus asks Barbara whether he would live, and the woman (whose knows he has to die, according to history) is unable to lie to him. Therefore, Calamus calls Alexander and asks him to build a funeral pyre which he can climb upon, so to die a noble death. Distraught and grieved, Alexander agrees, much to the Doctor and Ian's chagrin. Ian protests vehemently against the king's decision, and in a moment of rage Alexander takes another spear, ready to throwing it at the teacher.

The World Lies Dead at your Feet (4)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Calamus stops Alexander from killing Ian and, after a final embrace with his King and friend, climbs upon his funeral pyre and lets himself burn to death. That same night, Barbara comforts a distraught Hephaestion and finally summons the courage to ask him what year it is: 323 BC, the year of Alexander's death. She confides to him her increasing inability not to be emotionally involved in the historical events she is witnessing. That same evening, she insists with Ian and Susan that they depart immediately, and she is seemingly granted her wish when the Doctor announces he repaired the TARDIS. However, given that tomorrow the king is entering Babylon, the Doctor decides they should remain with Alexander and enter the city together, much to Barbara's regret.

Somewhere else, Antipater forces Seleucus to choose: now that Cleitus and Calamus are dead, only Hephaestion and the king remain, and they need to know whether Seleucus is with them or against them. The general, reluctantly, joins the conspiracy, and Antipater stars plotting Hephaestion's death - an ignoble one for a warrior. The next day, as they prepare to march into Babylon, Hephaestion asks Alexander if and when are they going back to Greece, to which the king answers he doesn't want to: he has yet to accomplish his dream of an empire where all races are equal, where all men feel brothers. Alexander even confides that the has appointed him as successor, should he die. As the army moves into Babylon, Iollas tries once again to cast a prophecy of doom, but Alexander once again dismisses him.

Some days later, the Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbara come to say goodbye to the king before they leave. Alexander tells them he charged Hephaestion to give them some gifts as a sign of favour, and in turn they exchange with him some objects as gifts on his part. In the Hanging Gardens, the conspirators ambush Hephaestion, drag him into a hut and have an asphinx bite him, so that he dies by the poison of the snake, "as a love-sick woman". Hepahestion, however, gathers enough strength to react, kills Glaucias and evades his captors. As the poison takes effect, he reaches the travellers at the TARDIS as they are about to leave, and with his last dying breath tries to tell them to warn Alexander of the conspiracy. Just then, the king reaches the travellers with gifts; he is so distraught at the sight of his friend's corpse that he kills Iollas where he tries to speak with him. Antipater manages however to accuse the Doctor and his friends for the murder, so that Alexander orders the guard to restrain them.

In the Arena (5)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alexander puts the travellers on trial, in the throne room of his palace. Before the travellers arrive, Antipater verses some poison in his wine. The Doctor and his friends defend themselves from Antipater's accusations of being the cause for Cleitus, Calanus and Hephaestion's death. With no definite proof either of their innocence or their guilt, Alexander tricks them and says he will punish only one of them, Ian. When the others refuse to go free, Alexander relents and proposes a compromise: the Doctor and Ian will undergo proofs to prove their worth. The former will walk through fire, whereas the latter will take part in one context of his choice at Hephaestion's funeral games. Ian chooses wrestling.

In their cell, the Doctor finally puts the pieces together: Antipater, Glaucias and Iollas conspired to kill Cleitus, Calanus and Hephaestion, and that is why Antipater is accusing them (he knows nothing about Seleucus). Meanwhile, Ptolemy comes to tell Alexander they found Glaucias' body in the hut, together with Hephaestion's blade in the bushes: it is clear Hephasetion killed the physician. In the hut, Ptolemy also found Antipater's belt, with his seal: a proof of his guilt. Alexander understands what happened, but decides nonetheless to submit Ian and the Doctor to the tests to appease his army, reserving for later his vengeance against Antipater.

The next day, the Doctor overcomes his ordeal by rubbing his feet and makes them transpire, so that the cover of sweat act as a shield against the flames. Ian then takes part in the wrestling contest, which sees the athletes divided in two teams, competing against each other to elect a champion, who then will face the other champion for the golden laurel. Ian overcomes all his opponents in his team, but for the final fight, he has to compete against Seleucus, the winner of the other team.

Farewell, Great Macedon! (6)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ian manages to defeat Seleucus, thus proving once again their innocence. As they fight, Alexander makes some sneering comments at Antipater, and the old councellor begins to suspect something. Alexander gives a banquet in their honour, but he grows weaker and weaker as the poison progresses; he even falters in front of the Doctor and his friends. Barbara guesses this is the day of his death, according to history. At the banquet, Alexander shows his generals the proofs of Antipater's guilt and openly accuses him of murder; as Antipater tries to find an answer, Seleucus draws his sword and kills him, thus preventing him to speak. Just after that, Alexander falls to the ground: the poison is now acting rapidly.

The Doctor is called to visit upon Alexander; while he does so, Barbara tells Ian and Susan that this is the appointed date of Alexander's death. Ian refuses to believe it, but Susan affirms that history can't be changed: it always finds a way to set itself back on its path. The Doctor comes out of his visit and asks Ian to build an artificial lung: only if it keeps Alexander breathing, he will survive. Barbara and Susan inform him that this is the date of Alexander's date, but the Doctor, after a quick thinking, decides to try nonetheless to save him.

On his bed, Alexander affirms he wants to leave only because his dream of uniting all nations of the world in a bond of brotherhood and equality is still unaccomplished; Barbara can't take it any more and openly tells him that his dream, while noble, is an illusion: mankind only desires what it can touch and use. Reluctantly, the Doctor agrees and tells Alexander humanity will one day unite, in the future, but only after risking extinction. It is only then that Alexander decides to die: after the deaths of his friends, only his dream remained to keep him alive. When Ptolemy and Ian arrive with the artificial lung, he orders his faithful Nubian to destroy it and let him die in peace.

Some hours later, Alexander dies, after taking leave from his generals and his wife Roxane. When asked about his successor, he affirms that his empire will go to "the best". Immediately after his death, Seleucus starts pretending the throne, but the other generals deny his request and start bickering; in the chaos, Ptolemy (who has already decided to go back to Alexandria and keep Alexander's dream alive in his way) brings the Doctor and his friends back to the TARDIS and allows them to leave. From the scanner in the TARDIS's control room, the travellers watch Alexander's funeral pyre, and Susan bids farewell to "the great Macedon" one last time.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Calanus tells Barbara that it is the Year of the 114th Olympiad in the Greek calendar, which equates to 323 BC in the Gregorian calendar.
  • The Feast of Dionysus is celebrated.
  • The Doctor was a medical student for two years, after which he dropped it to instead specialise in science. However, he did not forget his Hippocratic Oath.
  • Alexander sends a message to Roxane in Tyre.
  • Several characters mention the real-world river Indus.
  • Alexander recalls meeting Diogenes.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Alexander, Seleucus and other Macedonian members of Alexander's entourage are referred to as Greeks. Although they were and would have considered themselves to be Greek, many Greeks of mainland Greece would have been keen to reinforce that they were Macedonians.
  • In the second episode, Alexander refers to Ptolemy as being a "Nubian." However, in reality he was a Macedonian, just like Alexander. This misconception is often due to the fact that after Alexander's death, Ptolemy took power in Egypt and began the Ptolemy dynasty there. Therefore, it is often erroneously assumed that he was Egyptian.
  • At the banquet scene, Cleitus accuses Alexander of hubris and is upset with him for now incorporating worship of Ammon (an Egyptian god) and Ishtar (a Persian goddess) as if he has not done so before. In reality, Alexander had been associating himself with Ammon, even possibly claiming ancestry from him, since his visit to the temple at Siwa in 332 BC, nine years previously.
  • Unusually for a Doctor Who story, Seleucus' status as one of the story's principal villains is never revealed to either the Doctor and his companions or Alexander. This is because the actual Seleucus survived Alexander's death and eventually established the Seleucid Empire.
  • This story is a "pure historical" featuring no science fiction elements apart from the presence of the Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara and the TARDIS.
  • This is the first Lost Story not to feature the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.
  • This audio drama was recorded on 25, 26, 27 and 28 January 2010[source needed] at the Moat Studios.[1][2]
  • This story occurs between The Reign of Terror and the Companion Chronicle: Here There Be Monsters.[1][2]
  • This was one of four Big Finish stories to air on BBC Radio 4 Extra to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary in November 2013. The other stories were Lucie Miller / To the Death, Protect and Survive and 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men. The story was transmitted over the 20th and 21st November.
  • As of 2020, this is not only the longest release in the lost stories, but it is Big Finish's third longest released story, with a duration of 3 hours and 39 minutes. Dominion and Zagreus are longer.
  • This story was made available for free in DWM 556 via a printed link and code.[3] It expired 31 December 2020.[2]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Part One

    Part One

  • Part Two

    Part Two

  • Part Three

    Part Three

  • DWM 556 digital promo cover

    DWM 556 digital promo cover

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-lost-stories-the-first-doctor-429
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-farewell-great-macedon-dwm556-promo-2339
  3. ↑ Two FREE Doctor Who downloads
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