Doctor Who: Death Comes To Time

BBC

Dec 2004 · BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Full Cast, John Sessions, Sophie Aldred, Stephen Fry and Sylvester McCoy

About this audiobook

'Even Time Lords die...' When a dissident Time Lord group inadvertently caused the destruction of an entire civilisation through interference, its members vowed to repent by serving the Universe not as gods of Time but as mere men. Many years later, this peaceful resolve is severely tested when two of their number are killed - and the Doctor's seventh incarnation becomes embroiled in the struggle against the apperently unstoppable General Tannis. Plagued by ominous portents, the Doctor and his companion Antimony must race across the Universe, taking in the Santine Republic, the Great Orion Nebula and the frozen heart of the Canisian Empire. Meanwhile the mysterious Minister of Chance battles his own inner demons, and former TARDIS traveller Ace finds herself in training for a destiny she never dreamed possible. Matters reach a terrible climax when Tannis' next target for subjugation is identified. Exactly how much is the Doctor prepared to sacrifice in order to save Earth? First webcast on BBCi and also featuring Jon Culshaw, Anthony Stewart Head and Jacqueline Pearce, Death Comes to Time is an original audio adventure uniting elements from the Doctor's past with bold and original ideas for his future.

Ratings and reviews

I love Doctor Who

About the author

FROM THE PRODUCER: In 1999, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sophie Aldred took me to see her friend Sylvester McCoy in a production of Beckett monologues. With a small audience on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in a canteen with very little set, McCoy's performance dragged you into the bleak world of Beckett - and left you in no doubt that this master clown also had the ability to convey a tragic darkness. When I met him later we got to talking about Doctor Who, and Sophie suggested we bring it back to the BBC. I thought that travelling in time and space could make ideal radio, and McCoy's darkness would provide the emotional heart, so we plotted to make one last bow for the Doctor. In 2000, we recorded a pilot. The bits with Stephen Fry, and those with Leonard Fenton and Sophie Aldred, were recorded separately in a small booth in BBC Broadcasting House, with the rest of the episode being recorded at Soundhouse Studios in Shepherds Bush. In late 2001 we created the remaining four episodes; there then followd a marathon of editing in Jon Taylor's attic, frequently ending at around 2am, his children crying because they never saw their dad! Although the webcast (in weekly ten minute instalments) was more popular than we could have hoped, it gives me great pleasure to present the story as it was meant to be experience, in wacky super-stereo - sound effects, music and all. Long live the Doctor! Dan Freedman.