The One Doctor (audio story): Difference between revisions

== Plot ==

“At last! I control everything!” the Doctor gloats…over the Monopoly board.  Mel is not fond of the melodrama, especially when the Doctor is winning.  It’s just as well; he finds the villainous mindset boring.  They are interrupted when the TARDIS drifts off course, following a distress signal into the far future, further than its usual range.  The signal calls them to the planet of Generios One, the capital of the Generios system, much to the Doctor’s annoyance.  They arrive during a celebration, and are accosted by the drunken Citizen Sokkery, who tells them that they were just saved from the alien Skelloids…by the Doctor.  And yet, the Doctor doesn’t feel the presence of any future incarnation—so, who actually saved Generios?

The real Doctor and Mel find the council chamber, and overhear the imposters planning to buy a planet—Abydos—with the spoils of their crimes.  He bursts in and accuses them, but Banto turns the tables on him in front of Potikol by accusing him of the same scam!  As the guards escort Mel and the Doctor out, Potikol tells the imposter that the “flotsam” is now headed for Generios One.  The “Doctor” must save them again!  Meanwhile, the real Doctor and Mel are put in an admittedly comfortable cell.  The Doctor fumes over Banto’s cannibalizing of his legacy and reputation.  He begins to try to get them out, but they are interrupted by a sonic wave that can be heard all over the planet.  It is caused by a great UFO, descending toward the council complex.  And the Doctor falls victim to the sound wave…

When the sound stops, the UFO—the Cylinder—speaks.  It demands the three greatest treasures of Generios as tribute to its masters; if the planet refuses, it will destroy the entire Generios system.  It gives them about three hours to cooperate.  Banto agrees to gather the treasures, and Potikol has his “Stardis” brought to him so he can go to take care of it.  However, Banto secretly believes the Cylinder is a fraud perpetuated by the Doctor; he is only staying around to ensure he receives the hundred million credits.

The TARDIS lands on Generios Eight, inside a great echoing chamber.  The first treasure, called “Unit ZX419”, is supposed to be here.  Banto can’t recall what is significant about this world, but there is something.  The Doctor leaves Banto with Mel to find the treasure, and takes Sally-Anne to the fourteenth world, as time is short.  Banto sees something in the shadows…  Meanwhile, on Generios Fourteen, the Doctor and Sally-Anne search for the second treasure, called “Mentos”.  They follow some music to a ruin, while Sally flirts with the Doctor; however, she can’t out-talk the Doctor.  At a ruined amphitheatre, they see two figures on stage; a woman asks trivia questions, while an elderly man answers them.  It seems to be a game of some sort.  Back on Generios Eight, Mel and Banto have found that the chamber is a storage complex, full of furniture, which is all marked with alphanumeric codes.  Banto remembers the truth:  The planet was long ago occupied by a furniture company, which eventually turned over operations to its robots, the Assemblers.  The Assembleers went mad, and subsequently killed the entire population.  “UNIT ZX419” is probably one of the items here…but the Assemblers are coming out to kill them…

The Assemblers are unimpressed with the organic creatures and their alleged lies, and furious when they find that the humans have come for Unit ZX419, which the Assemblers consider their greatest achievement.  However, their leader, Assembler One, relents unexpectedly and says they can have it…if they can assemble it.  They place a pile of boards before the humans.  Mel and Banto start assembling it—it appears to be a shelf system—but the first section disappears while they work on the next section.  And, are the instructions getting longer?

Only 25 minutes remain on the Cylinder’s deadline.  Despite ongoing arguing in the TARDIS, the Doctor gets them to the fifteenth planet.  The treasure is a large diamond, just lying on the ground—can it be that simple?  The Doctor tries to pick it up, but it won’t budge—and a giant amoeba swallows him.

The Doctor isn’t dead.  He manages to punch one of the creature’s organs, causing it to spit him out—hurting its…feelings?  He realizes it can speak, and is actually quite intelligent.  It’s a Jelloid, an incredibly long-lived creature; it has a contract to guard the diamond for fifty million years, of which it has completed thirty million.  Unfortunately it’s quite lonely, even to the point of writing a song about its loneliness.  It’s a pleasant creature, and having heard of the Cylinder’s ultimatum, it agrees to give the Doctor the diamond.  However, it will need to go switch off the forcefield over the diamond—and it can’t leave its spot.  After all, it’s waiting for a delivery of an entertainment center, and everyone knows that deliverymen show up as soon as you’re not ready… Sally-Anne offers to watch for the delivery while the Jelloid goes to shut off the forcefield, and it reluctantly agrees.  Back on Generios One, Potikol is panicking; the Doctor only has fifteen minutes to return…

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[[Category:Sixth Doctor audio stories]]

[[Category:Doctor Who monthly audio stories]]