Quicksilver (audio story)

Quicksilver
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Flip, Constance
Main enemy:	Vilal, Zerith
Main setting:	London, 1944; Bletchley Park, 1943 and 1944; London, 2012; Vienna and Bucharest, 1948
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Matt Fitton
Director:	Jamie Anderson
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Jamie Robertson
Sound:	Jamie Robertson
Cover by:	Simon Holub
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	220
Release date:	13 December 2016
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	BFPDWCD220
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78178-901-8 (physical); ISBN 978-1-78178-902-5 (digital)
Official trailer
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Music sample
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Main Range
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You may be looking for the titular military project or mercury.

Quicksilver was the two hundred and twentieth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Miranda Raison as Constance Clarke and Lisa Greenwood as Flip Jackson.

Publisher's summary

It's the telegram Constance never wanted to read:

DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU LT-CMDR H CLARKE LOST IN ACTION. CLASSIFIED OPERATIONS.

Those classified operations concerned a top-secret military project code-named "Quicksilver". A project based in Vienna. A project with alien connections.

But bombed-out Vienna is not what it was before the war – with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm. It's not the time nor the place for a happy reunion. As Constance Clarke is about to discover...

And as the Doctor is about to discover, too!

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Constance Clarke - Miranda Raison
• Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
• Henry Clarke - Matthew Cottle
• Kinvar / Rogers - Joel Fry
• Major Callahan / Vilal Captain / Crook - Oliver Cotton
• Ana / The Zerith - Kate Kennedy
• Boyarov / Vilal General / ARP Warden - Robbie Stevens

Worldbuilding

• Constance says that things fall apart "even when one does nothing," which the Doctor notes is entropy.
• Flip says that her native time is 2012. She was transported to 1948 by the Vilals' vortex scoop, which resembles an "upside-down whirlpool."
• In 1948, in the aftermath of World War II, Vienna is divided into four zones patrolled by America, Great Britain, France, and Russia.
• The Doctor materialises the TARDIS behind Hofburg Palace.
• The British are using Quicksilver to spy on the Kremlin.
• Entering the TARDIS is described as being "removed" from spacetime.
• The Doctor uses the alias "Dr. John Smith".
• Flip's great-grandfather served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
• The Vilal and Zerith are at war in their home system. Both have access to the time vortex, but the Vilal are losing, with their homeworld surrounded.
• The Vilal resemble armoured trolls or hobgoblins, while the Zerith resemble six-foot tall glass praying mantises.

Notes

Textless cover

to be added

Continuity

• The Doctor and Constance discuss her decision to leave the TARDIS. (AUDIO: Absolute Power)
• Constance remembers meeting the Doctor at Bletchley Park. (AUDIO: Criss-Cross)
• The Doctor refers to Ammar Elkady. (AUDIO: Absolute Power)
• The Doctor once again thanks Constance for organising the TARDIS inbox. (AUDIO: Planet of the Rani)
• Constance refers to the TARDIS garden. (PROSE: Head Games; AUDIO: Scaredy Cat)
• While looking at the TARDIS inbox, the Doctor sees the invitation to Flip and Jared Ramon's wedding in London in 2012. (AUDIO: The Widow's Assassin)
• Kinvar detected the Doctor's presence while he was at Bletchley Park and waited several months for him to return. (AUDIO: Criss-Cross)
• The Vilal track Flip using a sample of her biodata. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
• The Doctor again dresses in his "Bletchley tweed". (AUDIO: Criss-Cross)
• Constance procures an outfit from the wardrobe. (TV: Pyramids of Mars, et. al)
• Flip laments that Jared got his friend Dodgy Steve to DJ their wedding reception. (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros)
• The Vilal transported Flip from 2012 to 1948 using a time scoop. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, The Five Doctors)
• Flip refers to the White Rabbit. (AUDIO: The Reaping, The Harvest, Project: Destiny, A Death in the Family, The Longest Night)
• Flip tells Constance that she used to work at the cheese counter in the supermarket Fresh Goods. (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros)
• Flip says that her school did not allow her to take her geography GCSE exam in much the same way as she was not allowed to take her history and French GSCEs. (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros)
• Flip once again refers to her mother's boyfriend as "Creepy Nigel". (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros)
• Constance tells Flip that she grew up in Nyasaland. (AUDIO: Criss-Cross)
• The Doctor claims to be Lord President of Gallifrey (TV: The Five Doctors, The Mysterious Planet) and invokes the ten millions years of the Time Lords' absolute power. (TV: The Ultimate Foe)
• Much like Judith Winters, Kinvar is a living being used as a battle computer. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
• In the 19th century, Hofburg Palace was the home of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi. (AUDIO: The Silver Turk)

External links

• Official Quicksilver page at bigfinish.com