''Protect and Survive'' 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 ...

''. It was released on CD and download in July 2012, and was first broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

on 17 November 2013 as part of the Doctor Who 50th-anniversary celebrations.

Plot

The Doctor has disappeared, and the TARDIS is out of control. Ace and Hex find themselves marooned on Earth in the 1980s at the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Cast

* Seventh Doctor – Sylvester McCoy * Ace – Sophie Aldred *

Hex Hex or HEX may refer to: Magic * Hex, a curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hex sign, a barn decoration originating in Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the United States * Hex work, a Pennsylvania Dutch ...

– Philip Olivier *Albert Marsden – Ian Hogg *Peggy Marsden – Elizabeth Bennett * Moloch / Patrick Allen (announcer) – Peter Egan

Continuity

*The exterior of the TARDIS was rendered white during the events of ''

The Angel of Scutari ''The Angel of Scutari'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Plot In the Crimea, 1854, Hex meets his hero, Florence Nightingale. Cast *Seventh Doctor – ...

''. It remained as such for the previous trilogy of stories, '' Project: Destiny'', ''

A Death in the Family ''A Death in the Family'' is an autobiographical novel by author James Agee, set in Knoxville, Tennessee. He began writing it in 1948, but it was not quite complete when he died in 1955 (with reputedly many portions having been written in the hom ...

'' and '' Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge''. *The TARDIS with the black exterior was inexplicably seen in a trilogy of solo Seventh Doctor stories, '' Robophobia'', '' The Doomsday Quatrain'' and ''

House of Blue Fire ''House of Blue Fire'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It contains a four-part story. Plot The Master of Bluefire House welcomes his guests: *No 18 – ...

'', which, for the Doctor, take place between ''Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge'' and ''Protect and Survive''. It is also in ''Project: Nirvana'', which takes place just before ''Protect and Survive''. *Peggy Marsden returns in '' Gods and Monsters''.

Notes

*The Doctor is absent for most of the adventure. This was due to Sylvester McCoy appearing in the feature-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit at the time of ''Protect and Survives recording. *Ian Hogg played Josiah Samuel Smith in the 1989 Seventh Doctor television story, '' Ghost Light''. *Peter Egan recreates the late Patrick Allen's original voice-over for the real-life Protect and Survive public information announcements, which form a key part of the plot. *The commander of the Russian missile base is named Petrov. On 26 Sept 1983, Lt Col Stanislav Petrov averted a nuclear exchange by reasoning that an apparent American pre-emptive strike was a false alarm.

Critical reception

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' reviewer Matt Michael strongly praised the play, noting that it was "one of the bleakest" made by Big Finish.

References

External links

Big Finish Productions – Protect and Survive
2012 audio plays Seventh Doctor audio plays Fiction set in 1989 Cold War fiction {{DoctorWho-stub