Coda - The Final Act (audio story)

Coda - The Final Act
Doctors:	Fugitive Doctor, War Doctor
Featuring:	Benny, Elizabeth, Vienna
Main enemy:	The Codicil
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Tim Foley
Director:	Ken Bentley
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Howard Carter
Sound:	Howard Carter
Cover by:	Lee Johnson
Release details
Number of parts:	1
Release number:	8
Release date:	22 November 2024
Format:	1 CD Download 58 minutes 8th of 8 stories
Production code:	BFPDW60OAFCD08
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-80240-090-8 (physical) ISBN 978-1-80240-091-5 (digital)
Video trailer
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Behind the scenes video
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Audio trailer
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Once and Future
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You may be looking for the 'Jago & Litefoot' audio story.

Coda - The Final Act, also known as The Final Act, was the eighth story in the Once and Future audio series, released 22 November 2024, produced by Big Finish Productions and a coda in the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

Most notably, it was the Fugitive Doctor's first appearance on audio, played by Jo Martin. It also wrapped up the War Doctor's storyline from the preceding stories, concluding the degeneration saga. This final chapter was written by Tim Foley.

Publisher's summary

The Time War.

Dealing with the repercussions of degeneration, the Doctor has a limited window of time to evade capture, recruit old allies, wage a war, and find out what's really going on.

A warrior is being hunted by a mysterious stranger in a TARDIS. A rogue agent has been assigned a mission to eliminate a dangerous foe. This is a fight between a war criminal and a fugitive. A fight between Doctors.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Fugitive Doctor - Jo Martin
• The War Doctor - Jonathon Carley
• Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
• Queen Elizabeth I - Imogen Stubbs
• Shalvar - Nicholas Khan
• Shadowy Voice / Dint / Voord Trooper / Guard Captain - Richard Reed
• Vienna Salvatori - Chase Masterson

Crew

• Senior Producer - John Ainsworth
• Cover Art - Lee Johnson
• Director - Ken Bentley
• Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
• Music and Sound Design - Howard Carter
• Producer - David Richardson
• Script Editor - Matt Fitton
• Writer - Tim Foley

Worldbuilding

• The War Doctor has set up a precaution against time rams, which teleports a live ram from the TARDIS boot cupboard onto the Fugitive Doctor's TARDIS, using a trans-temporal teleport.
  • After the Fugitive Doctor leaves the ram in question with Vienna Salvatori, the latter names him "Jexie", presumably after Jexie Reagan.
• The War Doctor uses a Time Ring to escape Vienna's.
• The Fugitive Doctor's TARDIS has an armoury, much to Benny's surprise.
• The Fugitive Doctor uses Venusian opera glasses to look for her target, which Benny describes as "flamboyant binoculars".
• The Fugitive Doctor gives Benny a beer mat from Vienna's bar, claiming it's an "important disc".

Notes

• This story marks the first appearance of Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor in an audio drama. This story also marks the second time that the Fugitive Doctor has been depicted encountering another incarnation, this time with the War Doctor.
• This story was recorded on 1 February 2023 at the Soundhouse.
• Cast details, story details, and the covers for both the standard and limited edition versions of this story were revealed on 10 July 2024.
• The trailer for this story was released 1 October 2024.
• DWM 609 held a competition where five readers could each win a copy of this audio story if they answered what the name of the Division operative hunting the Fugitive Doctor in Fugitive of the Judoon was. It was open from 10 October to 6 November.
• On 21 November 2024, Big Finish released a promotional video to their social media starring Jo Martin saying she would be playing the Fugitive Doctor for them in anticipation of this story's release. It was filmed during recording of this story.
• The same day this audio released, Big Finish uploaded a behind the scenes video to their YouTube channel, featuring interviews with Jo Martin, Jonathan Carley, and Lisa Bowerman during recording of this story at the Soundhouse.
  • The video was filmed and edited by Joe-Lee Coupe.
  • Footage of photography being conducted with Lisa Bowerman in-costume as Bernice Summerfield for use on the covers of The Eternity Club was shown, meaning it was done during recording of this story.
  • Sonny McGann can also be seen in the video.
  • Footage of Lisa Bowerman's birthday being celebrated is seen, meaning that also happened during recording of this story.
• Also on the same day of the audio's release, Big Finish uploaded a video trailer for it to their social media. It was made by Chris Thompson and Oliver Chenery, with sound by Howard Carter.
• Both the Standard and Limited Edition come with behind the scenes interviews. The Limited Edition, however, has extended behind-the scenes interviews, and a music suite. The music suite was added after the audio's initial release.

Continuity

• The degeneration has a fifteen-hour cooldown. Similarly, regenerations are established to have a fifteen-hour cooldown in TV: The Christmas Invasion ^[+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"].
• During the fifteen hours after his degeneration, the War Doctor notes he is altering reality in small ways, though this is undone once the cooldown has ended. Time Lords' regenerations subtly and uncontrollably altering the reality around them is established in PROSE: Unnatural History ^[+]Loading...["Unnatural History (novel)"].
• Queen Elizabeth I remembers the War Doctor from TV: The Day of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]. She previously attempted to capture the Tenth Doctor in TV: The Shakespeare Code ^[+]Loading...["The Shakespeare Code (TV story)"], angered by having been spurred, but now, in her final years, she has begun to mellow.
• Benny initially thinks that the Fugitive Doctor is from another universe, and mentions that she met another alternative Doctor already, which occurred in AUDIO: The Library in the Body ^[+]Loading...["The Library in the Body (audio story)"]. The Thirteenth Doctor will also have the same hypothesis of the Fugitive Doctor being from another universe upon meeting her in TV: Fugitive of the Judoon ^[+]Loading...["Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)"].
• The TARDIS was previously established to have an armoury in two 1960s TV Comic stories, Space War Two ^[+]Loading...["Space War Two (comic story)"] and Ice Cap Terror ^[+]Loading...["Ice Cap Terror (comic story)"], with the Second Doctor, despite Benny's objections.

Cover gallery

• 

  Standard Edition cover

• 

  Standard Edition alternate cover

• 

  Standard Edition textless cover

• 

  Limited Edition cover

• Coda - The Final Act Limited textless.jpg

  Limited Edition textless cover

External links

• Official Coda - The Final Act page at bigfinish.com