Seasons of Fear
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| Big Finish Productions audio play | |
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| Seasons of Fear | |
|---|---|
| Series | Doctor Who |
| Release number | 30 |
| Featuring | Eighth Doctor Charley Pollard |
| Writer | Paul Cornell Caroline Symcox |
| Director | Gary Russell |
| Producer(s) | Gary Russell Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive producer(s) | Jacqueline Rayner |
| Production code | 8H |
| Set between | The Chimes of Midnight and Embrace the Darkness |
| Release date | March 2002 |
Seasons of Fear is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
When the Doctor finally manages to bring Charley to Singapore in 1930, they meet the immortal being Sebastian Grayle whose secret power they must discover in order to defeat him. Travelling across Earth in four different periods of its history, the Doctor comes face to face with an old enemy...
[edit] Cast
- The Doctor — Paul McGann
- Charley Pollard — India Fisher
- Grayle — Stephen Perring
- Marcus — Robert Curbishley
- Lucilius — Stephen Fewell
- Edward — Lennox Greaves
- Edith — Sue Wallace
- Lucy Martin — Justine Mitchell
- Richard Martin — Stephen Fewell
- Grayle's Masters' Voices — Robert Curbishley
- The Auditor — Don Warrington
[edit] Notes
- One of the Roman soldiers refers to Grayle as a true Briton because he was born within the sound of Boudica's bells. This is a reference to the idea that a true Cockney must be born within the sound of Bow Bells in London.
- The Roman soldiers Marcus and Lucilius are members of the cult of Mithras, which held that the hero-god Mithras saved the world by slaying a demonic bull. This act was depicted often in classical art; this is called a Tauroctony. The cover art for the CD release of this play includes a tauroctony (on the lower left), although it is somewhat obscured. See the article for more examples.
- Charley refers to the Bayeux Tapestry for its depiction of Norman armor.
- The Doctor refers to the late King Ethelred as having been "unready to die"; this is a joke on Ethelred's moniker of "the Unready", which means "poorly advised", not "unprepared". Ethelred was the father of Edward the Confessor, the king in episode 2.
- Edward and Edith had no children; contemporaries and subsequent history ascribed this to Edward's saintly nature, which led him to a chaste life and an unconsummated marriage. This play, instead, suggests that the marriage was unconsummated because Edward was homosexual.
- Charley and the Doctor both refer to Benjamin Franklin as having been a President of the United States, which he was not. This may be an example of anti-time contamination. Another possible example is when the Doctor offers to play a hand of bridge to settle an argument (in 1806), but bridge as such (and distinguished from whist) did not exist until about 80 years later.
- The Doctor compliments Richard Martin on his bravery at "the Battle of Abou Kir", better known as the Battle of the Nile (1798).
- References and connections to the Hellfire Club include West Wycombe Caves, Franklin, the Earl of Sandwich, the motto "Fay ce que vouldras" ("Do what thou wilt", from Rabelais), and Sir Francis Dashwood.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
- This play features the return of the Nimon, the Doctor's adversaries from the TV serial The Horns of Nimon. The Doctor theorizes that the legend of Mithras and the bull is a mythologized account of an ancient invasion of the Earth by the Nimon.
[edit] External links
[edit] Reviews
- Seasons of Fear reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- Seasons of Fear reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
| Eighth Doctor audio dramas | |
|---|---|
| Big Finish Season 27: | Storm Warning • Sword of Orion • The Stones of Venice • Minuet in Hell |
| Big Finish Season 28: | Invaders from Mars • The Chimes of Midnight • Living Legend • Seasons of Fear • Embrace the Darkness • The Time of the Daleks • Neverland |
| BBCi special: | Shada |
| Big Finish Season 29: | Zagreus • Scherzo • The Creed of the Kromon • The Natural History of Fear • The Twilight Kingdom |
| Big Finish Season 30: | Faith Stealer • The Last • Caerdroia • The Next Life |
| Continuing adventures: | Terror Firma • Scaredy Cat • Other Lives • Time Works • Something Inside • Memory Lane |
| BBC7 adventures: | Blood of the Daleks • Horror of Glam Rock • Immortal Beloved • Phobos • No More Lies • Human Resources |
