The Waters of Amsterdam (audio story)

Reunited with the Doctor and Nyssa, Tegan joins them on a trip to Amsterdam's Rijkmuseum to see a new exhibition of the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, featuring his drawings of "Vessels of the Stars". The Doctor is astonished to discover that they are designs for spaceships that would actually work, and decides to pop back to the Dutch Golden Age for a quiet word with Rembrandt – but the world-weary artist is no mood to help.

Meanwhile, strange forces are swirling in the canals, creatures from ancient myth, the watery, goblin-like Nix. What is their connection to the mysterious Countess Mach-Teldak – and to the events of Tegan's life during her year away from the Doctor?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover Art - Anthony Lamb
Director - Jamie Anderson
Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music - Jamie Robertson
Producer - David Richardson
Script Editor - Alan Barnes
Sound Design - Martin Montague
Writer - Jonathan Morris

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

When Kyle refers to Rembrandt as "the Master", the Doctor initially believes that he is referring to the Tremas Master.
Tegan is a fan of the band Talking Heads.
Tegan dislikes modern art.
Tegan explains how to ride a bicycle to Nyssa, who understands the principle.
In 1658, Polsbroek is the Mayor of Amsterdam and President of the East India Company.
Rembrandt's wife Saskia died before 1658. Their son is studying in Leiden.
Countess Mach-Teldak is the first born of the Imperial Dynasty and the rightful heir to the Veraxi throne.
Teldak has never heard of Traken.
In an alternate timeline, by 1983, the Galactic Dutch Company has created domed colonies on both Venus and Mars, and possesses a fleet of 1,000 interstellar ships.
Teldak's craft includes warp drive and a focus resonator.
Nyssa mentions the dimensional stabiliser.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Textless cover

This story was recorded on 22 and 23 June 2015 at the Moat Studios.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story takes place immediately after Omega was defeated (TV: Arc of Infinity) and a year after Tegan left the Doctor and Nyssa at Heathrow Airport. (TV: Time-Flight)
Tegan mentions that she saw her cousin Colin Frazer turned into a zombie and describes the Ergon as "looking suspiciously like a plucked chicken". (TV: Arc of Infinity)
Tegan tells Kyle that she does a "mean Charleston". (TV: Black Orchid)
The Doctor would later encounter other living water creatures during both his seventh (AUDIO: The Genocide Machine) and ninth incarnations. (PROSE: Pitter-Patter)
Tegan references some of her past trips in the TARDIS, including visiting spaceships, (TV: Four to Doomsday) Ireland, (AUDIO: Iterations of I) England in the 1920s (TV: Black Orchid) and the Great Fire of London on 2 September 1666. (TV: The Visitation)
Polsbroek refers to the fact that Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, is dying. (PROSE: The Roundheads)
Nyssa refers to the destruction of Traken in 1981. (TV: Logopolis)
The Countess wants the Doctor to take her back in time and prevent the destruction of her homeworld, something that he says has been tried before. (TV: The Hand of Fear)
The Doctor wonders why he hasn't built another sonic screwdriver after his previous one was destroyed by the Terileptil leader. (TV: The Visitation) He would eventually do so during his seventh incarnation. (TV: Doctor Who)
After defeating Countess Teldak and the Nix, the Doctor departs from Amsterdam in the TARDIS, leaving Nyssa and Tegan behind until he returns thirty seconds later, saying that he had to run a "quick errand" for the Time Lords. (AUDIO: Omega) In the interim, the Doctor visited Sharnax, a planet in the Drashani Empire. (AUDIO: The Burning Prince) and a ship within the Time Vortex, where he met Jenny, his future daughter. (AUDIO: Relative Time)
After leaving Amsterdam, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan travelled to Akoshemon's moon (PROSE: Fear of the Dark) and Florana. (AUDIO: The Elite)

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

Official The Waters of Amsterdam page at bigfinish.com