The Skin of the Sleek (audio story)

The Skin of the Sleek
Doctor:	Fourth Doctor
Companion(s):	Romana II
Main setting:	Funderell
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Marc Platt
Director:	Ken Bentley
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Jamie Robertson
Sound:	Jamie Robertson
Cover by:	Anthony Lamb
Release details
Number of parts:	2
Release number:	6.08
Release date:	16 August 2017
Format:	1 CD Download Parts 1 and 2 of 4
Production code:	BFPTOMCD045
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78178-723-6 (physical); 978-1-78178-724-3 (digital)
Official trailer
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The Fourth Doctor Adventures
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The Skin of the Sleek was the eighth story in the sixth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Marc Platt and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana II.

It was the first of a two-part story, which concluded in The Thief Who Stole Time.

Publisher's summary

On the planet Funderell you can walk on the ocean. The surface holds you when you move, but if you stand still, you sink. Lights shift in the fathoms and great shapes move beneath your feet - schools of giant electric eels known as Sleek.

There is no solid land and the only locals are the Wavewalkers, hunters who live in floating villages. But recently some strangers have arrived, pursuing their own distinct agenda.

When the Doctor and Romana lose the TARDIS to the deep, they need help. Which makes finding a fellow Time Lord on the planet very useful. The fact that Time Lord is Sartia, an old friend of Romana's, is even better!

But this is a planet of secrets. Be careful when you explore its depths. You may just drown.

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Tom Baker
• Romana - Lalla Ward
• Sartia - Joannah Tincey
• Eamonn Orensky - Alan Cox
• Klick Chervain / Rolf - Kieran Hodgson
• Blujaw Skaldson - Des McAleer
• Linnis Skaldson - Alex Wyndham
• Greygul - Jamie Newall
• Frithra - Jane Slavin

Worldbuilding

• Funderell has two moons, no soil, day and night, and is in the southeast galactic delta.
• Klick, Orensky, and Sartia uses a large skimmer to land on Funderell, and ride hover-bikes.
• Klick thinks in Mars days as a calendar.
• The Doctor recognises Sartia as a Time Lord, and Sartia recognises Romana despite her regeneration.
• Sartia's records on Funderell are in "current Gallifreyan," from the 41st era. The "Grade 3 planetoid" has been off-limits for 46,000 years, with trespassing punishable by memory-wipe or dispersal.
• Romana describes the village as a "grade 9 sociological enclave" and theorises that the planet must've been protected by transduction barriers at one point, but that they've degraded.
• She says there were many rumours why Romana left the Academy, including that she was on a secret mission for the CIA.
• The Doctor states he was President of the Prydonian Academy, but even his access codes from that position are unable to access records on Funderell.
• The glyphs on the Book of Futures are written in "ancient Gallifreyan."
• The Sleeks are electric eels. "Funderell's daughter" is a giant eel, known as the "Great Sleek."

Notes

Textless cover.

to be added

Continuity

• K9 Mark II is still recovering from Brighton. (TV: The Leisure Hive)
• The Doctor mentions having a gazetteer, which Romana was unaware of, in addition to other things that are useless. (TV: The Ribos Operation)
• Sartia asks Romana why she left the Academy. (TV: The Ribos Operation)
• She mentions the Doctor being Lord President. (TV: The Invasion of Time)
• Sartia likes Romana's "silky" hair and asks if she chose it herself. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
• The Doctor said he has "done [his] time" in the eyes of the courts of the Time Lords, referring to his exile on Earth. (TV: Spearhead from Space - The Three Doctors)

External links

• Official The Skin of the Sleek page at bigfinish.com