''City of Spires'' is a
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
audio drama based on the long-running British
science fiction television series ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''.
Plot
In the Scottish
Highlands,
Black Donald is fighting the
Redcoats to halt the
Clearances. But time itself seems to be confused. And the mysterious
Red Cap has built anachronistic machines that are extracting the blood of the land.
Cast
*
The Doctor –
Colin Baker
*
Jamie McCrimmon –
Frazer Hines
*Alice –
Georgia Tennant
*Victor – Richard Earl
*Major Heyward – James Albrecht
*Sergeant Rilke –
Russell Floyd
Russell Floyd (born 29 May 1962 in Croydon, London, England) is a British actor. After graduating from RADA, he played Rick in 3 episodes of London's Burning as firefighter Sally Reid's swimming instructor. He also played Bridge Street Mark ...
*Guthrie – Sam Graham
*
Rob – Charlie Ross
*
Red Cap – John Banks
Continuity
*''City of Spires'' is followed by the
Companion Chronicles story ''
Night's Black Agents
''Night's Black Agents'' is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was released in 1947 and was the author's first book. The book's title is taken from ''Macbeth'', Act III, scene ii. It was publish ...
'', with the Doctor and Jamie still in Scotland. Some elements, such as the mention of "the man of your god" (Reverend Merodach), are foreshadowing for this next tale.
*
Jamie McCrimmon was originally a companion of the
Second Doctor, until the
Time Lords returned him to Scotland and erased his memories of travelling in the TARDIS (but retained their initial adventure, ''
The Highlanders''). The
Sixth Doctor previously encountered Jamie on screen in ''
The Two Doctors'' (while still with the Second Doctor).
*Jamie briefly had his memories restored by a Time Lord in the Companion Chronicles story ''
The Glorious Revolution'', but ultimately chose to have them erased again.
*Jamie's vision of the "Phantom Piper" (actually a
Cyberman) occurred in ''
The Moonbase''.
*The Doctor's line about the assembled hordes of
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
not being able to break into the TARDIS is also what the
Ninth Doctor told
Rose Tyler in the first episode of the revived TV series "
Rose".
*The black water is seen again in ''
The Wreck of the Titan
''The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility'' is a novella written by Morgan Robertson and published as ''Futility'' in 1898, and revised as ''The Wreck of the Titan'' in 1912. It features a fictional British ocean liner ''Titan'' that sinks in the N ...
'' and ''
Legend of the Cybermen
''Legend of the Cybermen'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It takes place after ''The Mind Robber'' and '' The Wreck of the Titan''.
Plot
The Doctor an ...
'', where its secrets are revealed.
*This story arc concludes in ''Legend of the Cybermen'', which also reveals the origin of the aliens in ''City of Spires''.
Cast Notes
*
Georgia Moffett
Georgia Elizabeth Tennant (; born 25 December 1984) is an English actress and producer. She played Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon's daughter Abigail in ''The Bill'', Jenny in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Doctor's Daughter" and Lady Vivian ...
, daughter of
Peter Davison
Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...
and wife of
David Tennant, was in the 2000 ''Doctor Who'' audio story ''
Red Dawn'', alongside her father as the
Fifth Doctor. In 2008, she was in the ''Doctor Who'' TV story "
The Doctor's Daughter", in the titular role,
Jenny. She also voiced a role in the 2009 Doctor Who animated story ''
Dreamland''.
External links
''City of Spires''
2010 audio plays
Sixth Doctor audio plays
Scotland in fiction
{{DoctorWho-stub