The Fires of Vulcan (audio story)

 was the twelfth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Steve Lyons and featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush.

This was the third full story to feature the Seventh Doctor but the first audio story to feature Mel, a role which Langford last played in Children in Need presentation Dimensions in Time in 1993. This was also writer Lyons' first contribution to an audio story; he has also contributed to a number of novels and short stories.

Publisher's summary
Two thousand years ago, a cataclysmic volcanic eruption wiped the Roman city of Pompeii from the face of the Earth. It also buried the Doctor's TARDIS...

Arriving in Pompeii one day before the disaster, the Seventh Doctor and Mel find themselves separated from their ship and entangled in local politics. With time running out, they fight to escape from the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. But how can they succeed when history itself is working against them?

Part one
Present day: Professor Scalini is heard talking about Pompeii and a mysterious artifact to a UNIT woman, who takes control of the artifact. The artifact is revealed to be an English police box, implying it to be the TARDIS. In the past, Mel and the Doctor meet a slave, who belongs to Eumachia, and tells them it's the 23rd of August, the day before Vesuvius erupts. The Doctor tells the slave that they are messengers of a God, Isis, to explain the TARDIS' arrival, which he witnessed. The Doctor seems to think he's going to die. They're in Pompeii in AD 79. The Doctor tells Mel they should go back to the TARDIS to avoid trouble.

They discuss graffiti and the fact that it's the festival of Augustus, as well as Vulcan's day. A young man is following them. Mel and the Doctor's clothes are anachronistic, which is drawing unwanted attention. An old man runs into them, then tells a Roman soldier that they came from Isis, as Mel told him. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Mel meet Valeria, who sells wine and fish, although they have no money. They meet a group of gladiators playing with dice, including Murranus, and the Doctor wagers Mel against his money. Eumachia and her slave are talking, and he tells her about the TARDIS. The Doctor wins the game, giving Valeria money to buy Mel some clothes. She tells Aglae, a servant, to buy the clothes, and Mel goes with her.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Melanie Bush - Bonnie Langford
 * Professor Scalini - Anthony Keetch
 * Captain Muriel Frost - Karen Henson
 * Tibernus / Roman Legionary - Robert Curbishley
 * Popidius Celsinus - Andy Coleman
 * Valeria Hedone - Nicky Goldie
 * Murranus - Steven Wickham
 * Eumachia - Lisa Hollander
 * Aglae - Gemma Bissix
 * Priest - Toby Longworth

The Doctor

 * During his fifth incarnation, the Doctor was contacted by UNIT, who told him that they had found his TARDIS encased in rock at Pompeii during an archaeological excavation in 1980.

Individuals

 * Mel states that she is a vegetarian. Valeria Hedone responds that she has never heard of Vegetaria.
 * Mel made a replica of Mount Vesuvius out of papier mâché while at primary school.

The Master

 * The Doctor uses his voice to compel a guard and later Popidius into handing over a key and going to sleep, a skill previously demonstrated by the Master.

Earth history

 * According to the Roman calendar, 23 August is the tenth day before the Kalends of September.

Continuity

 * An older version of the Seventh Doctor would later return to Pompeii in August 79 in the company of Ace, (PROSE: The Algebra of Ice) as would the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble (TV: The Fires of Pompeii) and his future travelling companion Captain Jack Harkness, on multiple occasions. (TV: The Doctor Dances)
 * The Seventh Doctor is unaware that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was triggered by his tenth incarnation in order to stop the Pyroviles. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)