Scherzo (audio story)

 was the fifty-second monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. Released in 2003, this was the first Big Finish audio drama to only feature two cast members — the whole story is carried by Paul McGann and India Fisher as the Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard. This story also serves as the first story of eight that form part of the Divergent Universe arc, although it is the next story where the Doctor and Charley first interact with major elements of the Divergent Universe.

Publisher's summary
Once upon a time...

There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos. They thwarted tyrants and defeated monsters, they righted wrongs wherever they went. They explored the distant future and the distant past, new worlds and galaxies, places beyond imagining.

But every good story has to come to an end.

With no times or places left to explore, all the two friends have now are each other. But maybe that's one voyage too many. Maybe they'll discover things they'd rather have left undisturbed... hidden away in the suffocating, unfeeling, deafening brightness.

Once upon a time. Far, far away.

Part 1
After being exiled into the Divergent Universe, the TARDIS makes rapid beeping noises, scaring Charley. Charley searches for the Doctor within the TARDIS and finds him lying on the floor. He is actually hiding and asks Charley to hide with him behind the console from whatever’s on the other side of the door. However, nothing is behind the door. The Doctor explains that he is hiding from the inevitable feelings of pain, fear and death but should confront them. The Doctor then asks who Charley is, thinking that she’s a hallucination. The Doctor says that Charley is safe and wouldn’t “betray” him. The Doctor steadily rises on his feet in pain. The Doctor explains that Time Lords have many different senses than a human and that his sense of Time itself is being eradicated from him because they are in the Divergent Universe—a place where time goes by with no way of retrieving it, causing the Doctor to ask Charley how can she live like this. Charley tells him that it’s the way it works for humans and he’ll get used to it “in time”. The Doctor remarks that the TARDIS feels it too for it can’t function in a universe where time is lost. Charley sees the TARDIS doors opening, revealing nothing but darkness. The Doctor explains that the TARDIS is slowly disappearing seeing how it serves no purpose. Charley tells the Doctor that he shouldn’t stand by and do nothing about it. The Doctor then marks that he’ll stand and watch it happen like a captain going down with the ship. Charley asks the Doctor if they can explore the new universe, but the Doctor thinks that the darkness is better than what awaits for them in the uncharted universe. Charley tells the Doctor to take her hand and they are attacked by a very bright light. Charley can’t see in the light and listens to the Doctor’s voice until they meet. The TARDIS suddenly vanishes away from them. The Doctor sadly remarks that now that the TARDIS is gone, the rest of their lives will be spent with time running on with no way of going back, thanks to Charley. The Doctor skeptically tells the Charley that she wanted to explore the Divergent Universe, so now’s the time.

They decide to walk away from where they are, but the light doesn’t seem to fade. The Doctor deduces that their eyes won’t adjust to the way this universe works since their bodies aren’t made for this world. The Doctor tells Charley to smell anything and Charley tells him that it’s dusty and faint, but now getting stronger. The Doctor says that there is nothing to smell, but Charley’s brain won’t accept it. The Doctor tells Charley to feel for anything, but Charley only feels the Doctor’s hand, seeing how the Doctor is all she has in the world. Charley hears something in the distance—the sound of the TARDIS engines. The Doctor warns Charley to not let go of his hand, but Charley trips and falls. Suddenly, to Charley’s eyesight, the light starts to fade and believes that the TARDIS is guiding them. Charley then sees that she tripped over a body. The Doctor examines it and finds its organs to be exposed and no limbs and sees that it’s some sort of amoeba. Suddenly, the organism makes a noise that seems to say “help”. It repeatedly says “help”, but then lowers its voice as its body is decomposing. Suddenly, the light reappears, rendering Charley and the Doctor’s eyesight useless. Charley decides that the TARDIS is block out the light to help them and they should find a way to get back inside the TARDIS and go somewhere else that’s not so bright. The Doctor says that it’s a good plan, but there’s one problem—they’re going to die in this universe. There is no escape from the Divergent Universe and they are going to die in a world they were never born in and never meant to exist in. Charley then says that no matter what happens they’ll be together since she came back for him. The Doctor angrily tells her that he wants to die alone, but Charley betrayed that. Hurt by his words, Charley walks away from the Doctor in tears, telling him to leave her alone. The Doctor tells her to follow his voice, but Charley asks why he would care. The Doctor apologizes and Charley returns to him, depressed and takes his hand. Charley asks what they are going to do now and the Doctor answers that there is nothing to do except keep walking.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Charley Pollard - India Fisher

The Doctor

 * The Doctor has lived for a thousand years.
 * The Doctor claims that when he dies, he wishes to do so alone.

Time Lords

 * Time Lords have senses other than the usual five, all of which are related to time.
 * Time Lords are capable of living for thousands of years.

Continuity

 * Charley refers to the fact that she should have died in the crash of the British airship R101 on 5 October 1930. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
 * Paradoxically, due to the timeless nature of the Divergent Universe, the Doctor refers to the Kromon and the Kro'ka (AUDIO: The Creed of the Kromon), the Censor (AUDIO: The Natural History of Fear), and Major Koth (AUDIO: The Twilight Kingdom), all of whom he and Charley will encounter at a later point in their personal timelines.
 * During their visit to Light City in the Divergent Universe, the Doctor and Charley's memories were contributed to the pool of information used to programme the Proles. An edited version of the Doctor reciting a fable about a wise king who passed the reins of power to his foolish son and heir was included in an infotainment broadcast which the Proles were obligated to watch. (AUDIO: The Natural History of Fear)
 * It was the Cave creature on Setarus which transported the TARDIS away, having been attracted by its psychic properties. (AUDIO: The Twilight Kingdom)