The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 (audio story)
The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 was the fifth story in the Once and Future audio series, produced by Big Finish Productions in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.
It was written by Jonathan Barnes and featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor, Michelle Gomez as Missy, Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny Flint and Dan Starkey as Strax.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Time War. The Doctor has been injured and brought to a Time Lord field hospital. His body glows with energy, but this is no regeneration into a future form – instead, the Doctor’s past faces begin to appear as he flits haphazardly between incarnations…
Staggering to his TARDIS, the Doctor sets out to solve the mystery of his 'degeneration'. Who has done this to him? How? And why? From the Earth to the stars, across an array of familiar times and places, he follows clues to retrace his steps, encountering old friends and enemies along the way. Tumbling through his lives, the Doctor must stop his degeneration before he loses himself completely...
The First Doctor arrives in Victorian London amid a Martian invasion. But he discovers all is not what it seems when Missy appears…
Soon, the Doctor is propelled into a future incarnation – the Tenth – but he is not alone in battling Missy and her Martian invaders. The Paternoster Gang – Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax – are also here to assist. But can they offer the Doctor any help in solving his own degeneration mystery?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor - David Tennant
- Missy - Michelle Gomez
- Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
- Strax - Dan Starkey
- Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
- The First Doctor - Stephen Noonan
- The Third Doctor - Tim Treloar
- Jessamy Moore - Hannah Genesius
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Missy claims to have been disguised as a street mime, but then retracts the statement.
- The Doctor was at Vastra and Jenny Flint's wedding.
- Strax names the Doctor as the "Hero of the Battle of Demons Run", and the "Scourge of the Cyber-race".
- Strax knows the Doctor as "a lithe fellow in a bowtie", as "an angry, weathered biped with a strange intonation" and "a cheery [girl] with yellow hair".
Cultural references from the real world[[edit] | [edit source]]
- There are numerous references to The War of the Worlds:
- Many of the things Jessamy writes in her journal resemble passages from Wells’ original novel.
- The Third Doctor riffs on the famous “No-one would have believed” passage when dropping the creatures off on ancient Mars at the end.
- The Doctor mentions being familiar with various versions of the story, including several films, a musical, and possibly “one with puppets”.
- After Strax explains his plan to create a new civilisation underground to avoid the Martians, the Doctor calls him “David Essex”. David Essex is the actor and pop star who played the part of the Artilleryman in Jeff Wayne’s original musical version of The War of the Worlds, and explains his similar plan in the song “Brave New World”.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 leaves it ambiguous as to whether the Doctor knows Vastra and Jenny. While COMIC: The Lost Dimension implies that he only met Vastra after becoming the last of the Time Lords, the Doctor manages to recall her name unprompted, though his memories are foggy. Vastra responds that both time and the Doctor's memories must be on the fritz, which the Doctor later also attributes to a transmat. The Doctor makes later comments about that implies he's still deciding whether or not to trust her.
- This was the first story in the Once and Future series to be recorded, (BFX: The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50) recorded remotely on 10 October 2020.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Missy recalls lying in wait while disguised as a statue (TV: The Keeper of Traken) and a scarecrow. (TV: The Mark of the Rani)
- Strax is familiar with the Doctor's eleventh, (PROSE: Waving Through Time) twelfth (TV: Deep Breath) and thirteenth incarnations.
- As his tenth incarnation, the Doctor notes that the Southwark Cathedral recreation gives him an odd sense of déjà vu. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment)
- The Doctor farewells the future body by saying that he "do[es] want to go." (TV: The End of Time)
- The Doctor mentions that Martians are green reptilian creatures that he has met before. Strax also mentions their culture of honour (TV: The Ice Warriors et. al.)
- Missy notes that she's finally gotten around to, nearly, finishing The War of the Worlds. (TV: Frontier in Space)
- Missy refers to the Doctor as her boyfriend. (TV: Deep Breath)
- Missy notes that she would pull the wings off a fly. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
- The First Doctor notes that he is in his "original" mind. (TV: The Five Doctors, The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time)
Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
Standard Edition cover
Standard Edition alternate cover
Standard Edition textless cover
Limited Edition cover
Limited Edition textless cover
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 page at bigfinish.com
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