The Young Lions (audio story)
The Young Lions was the twentieth Subscriber Short Trips audio story. It was read by Stephen Critchlow and featured the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller. It was released as a subscriber-only download, available to subscribers who purchased The Seeds of War.
Summary[[edit] | edit source]
The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller have stopped off in Little Morton for a fry-up. It's not the healthiest way to start a day, but better than some: the Major from the local barracks has just fallen to his death.
Or has he? A visit to the hospital highlights the surprising levels of health in the soldiers. There's clearly something going on beneath the surface at Little Morton: and it's about to come to light...
Plot[[edit] | edit source]
Having determined that Major Charles Montgomery has become a liability to the pact made between their respective people, an alien pushes him from a terrace.
The Doctor and Lucie arrive in Little Morton in 2005 and the TARDIS detects hevinium ions at the barracks. They find that the barracks are to be closed down and, at the pub, the Doctor learns that the regiment's motto translated as "the ancient power prevails", which he finds strange, and that the military are eager to protect the land. Miss Tenzing tells him to ask the Major, but Sergeant Tanner bursts in and says that he seems to have jumped from a roof.
Miss Tenzing drops the Doctor and Lucie off at the hospital. Whilst the Doctor meets with Mrs Montgomery, Lucie speaks to the landlord's son, Lance Corporal Joe Avery, and learns of experiments at Porton Down. The Major has miraculously survived unharmed and run from the hospital, so the Doctor goes to check his Encyclopaedia Galactica whilst Lucie and Joe sneak into his house and find his diary. They escape with Tenzing before Mrs Montgomery can find them.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor looks through his Five Hundred Year Diary and remembers the Quitoxins and their pact. He regroups with Lucie and Joe and sees glassy-eyed soldiers restrain the contractors as residents protest repurposing of the village green. Lucie tells him that an army officer some centuries ago made a pact to set up a "super soldier" regiment and shows him a map where something is buried; the Doctor explains that the soldiers' DNA has been altered and that the buried object is a hevinium stasis pod.
The Doctor names the Quitoxin and it takes control of Sergeant Tanner to communicate with him. The Doctor offers to take it to Kepler-186f, but it refuses and Joe brings his colleagues to their senses. This renders the Quitoxin unconscious. The Doctor links the TARDIS to the stasis pod and takes it away, leaving the contractors and the activists to continue their fight for Little Morton.
Characters[[edit] | edit source]
- Eighth Doctor
- Lucie Miller
- Lance Corporal Joe Avery
- Landlord
- Major Charles Montgomery
- Sergeant Tanner
- Miss Tenzing
Worldbuilding[[edit] | edit source]
- Lucie jokes that she failed GCSE rocket science.
- Lucie notices that 2005 is "pre-smoking ban".
- The Doctor mentions Blackpool Illuminations.
- Lucie has a lager and lime.
- The Doctor has tea.
- Lucie remembers Arsenal winning the football game and Lancashire sulking.
- Miss Tenzing drives a Fiesta.
- When the Major leaves the hospital, Lucie compares him to Kelly Holmes.
- Avery mentions Porton Down.
- The Major was suffering metabolic acidosis.
- Mrs Montgomery is a former army nurse.
- The Doctor checks his Encyclopaedia Galactica.
- Lucie uses a bayonet to open a drawer.
- Kepler-186f is 500 light-years away.
Notes[[edit] | edit source]
- In the real world, the ban on smoking in public buildings came into force in July 2007. This would contradict AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks and Human Resources where Lucie's native time is stated to be 2006.
- On 29 September 2017, this story was made available for general release as part of the Short Trips Rarities range, with a new cover by Tom Saunders.
- This story was recorded on 15 January 2015 at Ladbroke Audio.
Continuity[[edit] | edit source]
- The Doctor uses his Five Hundred Year Diary. (TV: The Power of the Daleks etc.)
