Fever Island (audio story)
Fever Island was the sixth story in the eighth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Barnes and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Jane Slavin as Ann Kelso and John Leeson as K9 Mark II.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Jason Vane is England's suavest secret agent, and today he’s on his deadliest mission yet. Tracking down the evil Okulov... before he destroys the world.
The Doctor, Ann and K9 are, in contrast, finding their own mission a little hard to complete. A strange storm in the vortex has swept them back in time, back to Earth in 1978 and a strange place called 'Fever Island'.
A place where their worst nightmares are about to come true...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
With the TARDIS propelled back in time by the ejection of the chronon wave front, the Doctor restores equilibrium to regain control and is surprised and amused when K9 asks him and Ann what it is like to dream. He deduces that something must have reached out to K9's mind and tries to slow the descent of the TARDIS as it is once again pulled through the Time Vortex, materialising on Fever Island in 1978. Although Ann suggests returning to the 41st century to find the Syndicate, the Doctor is concerned that the TARDIS could be destroyed if they attempted to leave and heads out with her to investigate, leaving K9 behind after he quotes Shakespeare to keep him from being further influenced.
Crèche agent Jason Vane awakens from a nightmare about the villainous and supposedly dead former KGB agent Okulov. He meets with his boss, the Commodore, who reveals that she is a spy for the Kremlin and shoots herself after telling him to find Okulov on Fever Island. There, he trails the Doctor and Ann as they head to a ruined citadel and, upon being detected, he warns them that they are all in danger, telling them about Okulov and his plans for world domination. They flee towards the TARDIS when a mist is released from a pipe and find that K9 has gone after them upon detecting said mist, which envelopes the Doctor and K9 and transforms them into Okulov and his vicious dog, Cerberus.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
A storm is caused by Dr Jessel and Dr Pursglove, two scientists at the citadel who released the mist, and Okulov and Cerberus lose consciousness. Dr Pursglove proceeds to meet with Ann and Vane and has them carry the Doctor and K9 back with them where they awaken restored, having been protected from the effects of the mist by the rain. The atmosphere outside becomes increasingly hostile and a tripwire alerts the two scientists to the presence of another person on the island, prompting Dr Pursglove to explain to the Doctor how she and Dr Jessel opened an aperture in spacetime through which the mist came from another dimension. Realising that the aperture was opened at the same time that Vane arrived on the island, the Doctor deduces that the supposed spy was affected by it.
Vane, having already admitted that his story sounded absurd, accepts this revelation and remembers arriving on the island with a friend when their boat crashed. The Doctor transforms back into Okulov and informs the others that his son, infected with the bubonic plague, is on his way to infect and wipe out his enemies, but K9 is able to revert him back by shooting him. Whilst Ann looks after Vane, who has passed out, the Doctor has Dr Pursglove show him the equipment that they used to open the aperture, which Dr Jessel admits was done not for science but in the hopes of creating a weapon for the military. Dr Jessel tries to buy time for the Doctor to find a way to stop the mist and is killed by the stranger, after which Vane regains consciousness, now aware that he is a tourist named Clive.
Unable to close the aperture, the Doctor has Clive confront his friend, Desmond, before he dies from the plague and turn back into Vane to resolve the situation heroically. He explodes the citadel and destroys the island, after which he reverts to Clive and wakes up with the Doctor, Ann, K9 and Dr Pursglove in his flat in Kentish Town, keen to return to reality and spend time with Dr Pursglove. The Doctor, Ann and K9 return to the TARDIS to go after the Syndicate and the Doctor ruminates on the importance of dreams, something which K9 admits that he remains somewhat curious about despite the removal of the mist's influence.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Ann Kelso - Jane Slavin
- K9 - John Leeson
- Jason Vane - Gethin Anthony
- Dr Leon Jessel - David Rintoul
- Miss Pocket / Dr Caroline Pursglove - Bettrys Jones
- The Commodore / Mrs Kidd - Carolyn Seymour
- Desmond Kettley - Barnaby Edwards
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Anthony Lamb
- Director - Nicholas Briggs
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Jamie Robertson
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - John Dorney
- Writer - Jonathan Barnes
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Vane is actually a supply teacher named Clive. He lives in a bedsit in Kentish Town.
- Clive is a devoted reader of pulp spy fiction; hence, his fantastical alter-ego is a world-class secret agent, employed by the Whitehall wing of a secret British intelligence organisation known to those on the inside, half in jest, as the Crèche. The Commodore, their leader, reveals herself to be a double agent for the Germans.
- In Clive's imagination, given form, Okulov's latest scheme involves infecting his own son with a new, faster-spreading strain of Bubonic plague.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- In the credits, Nicholas Briggs mistakenly lists Bettrys Jones's character as "Dr Caroline Pursgrove".
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
Textless cover
Alternate cover
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External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Fever Island page at bigfinish.com
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