The Roof of the World (audio story)
- You may be looking for the first episode of Marco Polo.
The Roof of the World was the fifty-ninth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Adrian Rigelsford and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown and Caroline Morris as Erimem.
From a narrative standpoint, it was one of the earlier adventures with Erimem. It explored, in part, her ability to cope with time travel and her burgeoning relationship with Peri Brown. It continued Big Finish Productions' tradition of giving narrative relevance to the Fifth Doctor's love of cricket, something that was mostly unexplored on television. It was also one of the few Doctor Who stories to be set in South Asia during the British Raj.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
It's a time of great exploration, with intrepid teams of adventurers heading blindly into uncharted territory, determined to beat inexplicable odds and overcome any challenge they encounter...
But some things are not necessarily that easy to defeat...
An ancient evil, perhaps older than time itself, is stirring deep within the heart of the Himalayas... It has always known it will return and finish off what it started so many centuries before...
But the time has to be right...
As the TARDIS materialises, with the Doctor determined to take full advantage of an invite to a cricket match, the catalyst that the dark forces need unwittingly arrives...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
- Erimem - Caroline Morris
- Lord Mortimer Davey - Edward de Souza
- Pharaoh Amenhotep II - William Franklyn
- General Alexander Bruce - Sylvester Morand
- John Matthews - Alan Cox
- Pyran - Adrian Rigelsford
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Lee Binding
- Director - Gary Russell
- Executive Producer - Jacqueline Rayner
- Music - Russell Stone
- Producer - Gary Russell and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Sound Design - Gareth Jenkins and Andy Hardwick
- Writer - Adrian Rigelsford
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Peri has used liquid nitrogen on the TARDIS swimming pool to make a skating rink.
- The Doctor uses jelly babies as a bribe to get some Sherpas to transport his TARDIS by yak.
Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
Original CD cover art
Textless cover art
Illustrated preview from DWM 346
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This is Adrian Rigelsford's first script for Big Finish. He previously wrote the (unproduced) thirtieth anniversary story The Dark Dimension.
- The Roof of the World was released in 2004, a few days after Adrian Rigelsford was convicted of stealing thousands of photographs from the Daily Mail and reselling them for personal profit. He was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment.[1] Thus, as of 2023 this story is the only licensed Doctor Who story to have been released while its author was serving a sentence for a criminal offence.
- This audio drama was recorded on 19 and 20 January 2004 at the Moat Studios.
- An illustrated preview for this story appeared in DWM 346 with artwork by Martin Geraghty.
- This story shares its name with the first episode of Marco Polo.
- This story is set between Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield, previously visited Tibet in 1935 where they encountered the Great Intelligence and its Robot Yeti for the first time. (TV: The Abominable Snowmen)
- Lord Davey is said to be related by marriage to the Cranleigh family. (TV: Black Orchid; PROSE: The Sands of Time)
- Peri refers to their recent adventures in Egypt in ca. 1400 BC (AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion) and the Axis. (AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity)
- Peri suggests to the Doctor that they could witness U.S. President Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address on 19 November 1863. The First Doctor and his companions Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister had previously done so using the Time-Space Visualiser. (TV: The Chase)
- Peri has begun giving Erimem lessons in spoken and written English. (AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity) By the time travellers' encounter with Vlad the Impaler in June 1462, Erimem was reasonably proficient in written English, being able to write Peri several letters in the language. (AUDIO: Son of the Dragon)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Roof of the World page at bigfinish.com
- The Roof of the World at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Roof of the World at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ 'Cunning' photo thief is jailed. BBC News (25 June 2004).
