Tag: Liv Chenka

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8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Eleven

Doctor WhoThe Eleven, a Time Lord criminal who still hears all ten of his murderous prior incarnations as voices in his head, is brought to justice and returned to Gallifrey by the Doctor (in his seventh incarnation). Too dangerous for any normal imprisonment, the Eleven is confined to cold stasis.

The eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka, freshly escaped from their latest crisis, find that the TARDIS is out of their control, recalled to Gallifrey. The Doctor is tersely greeted by both an appointee of the High Council and the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency, reluctantly working together. Their goal: to recapture the Eleven, who escaped from confinement while being interviewed by a student from the Time Lord academy. Liv Chenka is able to spot the Eleven, thanks to his cloaking abilities being keyed to fool the senses of other Time Lords, but not humans. The Eleven tries to install himself as Gallifrey’s ruler in the absence of the President, but what he really wants is the President’s access to Gallifreyan relics of considerable power. His primary interest is in something called the Regeneration Codex, about which little is known, even by other Time Lords. Leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake across Gallifrey’s Capitol, the Eleven steals a TARDIS and leaves for Earth. All too familiar with this course of action, the Doctor is deputized by the Time Lords to retrieve the Eleven at any cost.

Order this CD written by Matt Fitton
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Ramon Tikaram (Castellan), Caroline Langrishe (Lady Farina), Bethan Walker (Kiani), Robert Bathurst (Cardinal Padrac), John Banks (Captain), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)

Notes: The Omega Vault is mentioned, first cited in The Day Of The Doctor (2013) as the storehouse of the Time Lords’ most powerful weapons, though the Eleven seems to be particularly partial to the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, which are relics invested upon the sitting President of Gallifrey (The Deadly Assassin, 1976, and The Invasion Of Time, 1978). Flavia’s tenure as President is mentioned as well; she took office following the Doctor’s hasty retreat from being elected to that office in The Five Doctors (1983). Also mentioned are the current President, Romana, and her policy of allowing students from other time-sensitive species attend the Academy on Gallifrey; these events play out in the spin-off audio series Gallifrey.

Timeline: after Eye Of Darkness and before The Red Lady; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Red Lady

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Liv arrive in London in the 1960s, expecting to find the Eleven or some sign of him. The Doctor pays a visit to the National Gallery, where he finds that a mysterious stone tablet dating back to ancient Greece, and a mysterious collection of artwork bequeathed to the Gallery after the death of its reclusive owner, has the experts stymied. One of those experts, Helen Sinclair, is none too pleased to find that the Doctor and Liv Chenka have broken into her office, but she’s even more shocked when a colleague – who has been obsessing over the collection of paintings – is killed. When the Doctor examines those pictures, he notices something that Helen’s unfortunate colleague reported: there’s a woman with red hair in each one, and she seems to be moving, as if to summon him. Liv notices something similar about another of the paintings, but sees nothing unusual about the one the Doctor is examining. The Red Lady is calling to each of them…and if they keep looking at her, she can escape from the paintings and dominate their minds forever.

Order this CD written by John Dorney
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Caroline Langrishe (Red Lady / Rachel), David Yelland (Walter Pritchett), John Voce (Albert Kennedy / Professor)

Timeline: after The Eleven and before The Galileo Trap; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Galileo Trap

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Liv, with Helen in tow, follow the distress signal from Galileo back to the 1600s. Helen has much to learn about blending in to Earth’s history as a time traveler, but someone else there is being even less quiet about it: she meets a man who knows what watches and photographs are. A local noble is killed during what seems to be a hunt for a creature that doesn’t belong on Earth. Finally, the Doctor locates Galileo in exile with his daughter, seemingly losing his mind…until, in a moment along, Galileo reveals that he does recognize the Doctor, and he is being held captive. The Eleven has engineered this trap, leaving assassins to deal with the Doctor while he moves on to his next goal.

Order this CD written by Marc Platt
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), John Woodvine (Galileo Galilei), Esther Hall (Virginia), Gunnar Cauthery (Cavalli), Ewan Bailey (Count Licori), Harry Myers (Cleaver), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Lizzie Mounter (Beggar Woman), John Banks (Monk / Youth)

Notes: The Doctor says that Galileo’s daughter gave him recorder lessons, which could be interpreted to mean that he last visited during his first or second incarnations (though the second Doctor’s variable ability to play the recorder may well indicate that a later incarnation felt the need for a refresher course).

Timeline: after The Red Lady and before The Satanic Mill; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Satanic Mill

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Liv, and Helen find themselves on another world where labor is forced to the point that workers die for not meeting quota. The Doctor goes to get to the bottom of this system, while Liv and Helen become trapped within it. But since they haven’t been brainwashed into total submission like this planet’s other residents, they quickly draw attention to themselves, at which Helen decides more overt interference is in order. The Doctor finds the Eleven at the reins, driving workers until they die in order to complete a device he needs to detonate a sun and create a black hole, replicating the sequence of events from which the Time Lords derived their power. The Eleven also wants to execute the Doctor, as slowly and painfully as possible, in the process. Even two companions may be unable to save him this time.

Order this CD written by Marc Platt
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Matthew Cottle (Paine), Ewan Bailey (Father Locke / Orbs), Robert Bathurst (Padrac), John Woodvine (Galileo Galilei)

Timeline: after The Galileo Trap and before Beachhead; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green