Aquitaine (audio story)

 was the two hundred and ninth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Simon Barnard and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

Publisher's summary
Today should be much like every other day for Hargreaves, the computer consciousness that co-ordinates daily life aboard the spaceship Aquitaine, stationed on the outer fringes of a black hole. Water the plants, run the diagnostics, cook the Captain's breakfast; then tidy the plates away, rotate the ship, clean the windows of the observation deck. When at last the day's work is done, Hargreaves will dim the lights in the sleeping quarters. But no-one will sleep aboard the Aquitaine tonight. Because the Aquitaine's crew is missing.

But today will be different. Today, a space/time ship called the TARDIS will materialise in the botanical section, bringing the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan aboard the Aquitaine. Together, they'll seek to discover the truth of what happened to Hargreaves' crew...

... if only the ghosts will let them.

Part one
Hargreaves narrates his daily tasks aboard the ship to himself.

The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan hear a loud distress signal coming through the TARDIS console. They lock on and travel to the source. They arrive and step outside, only to be greeted by a Hargreaves, the ship's computer and valet, in the form of a robot.

Tegan wonders off, and looks outside the ship's large windows. She sees a black hole near-by which frightens her but Hargreaves explains that they are orbiting it. Despite the momentary distraction, the Doctor asks Hargreaves why he launched the distress signal and Hargreaves reveals that a little while ago his crew just disappeared. They hear a scream but Hargreaves tells them to ignore it as it is an ephemeral echo, so least he claims. They go to investigate anyway.

They arrive at the source of the noise in the botanical garden aboard the ship but they meet Hargreaves again and it turns out Hargreaves is the ship's central computer and simply takes over the robot body closest to the person requesting service, in this case the robot gardener's body. They ask him about the noise and he assures them that they are corporeal, not real. They look around and ask him about the plant life, it seems to be growing at an unrealistically unheard of rate. The Doctor and Tegan go to find something else but Nyssa notices writing on the plants. Tegan and the Doctor are off discussing the origins of the ship when they hear Nyssa scream. They run back and find she got stabbed by a plant she was trying to inspect. The Doctor worries about poison and infection and Hargreaves directs Nyssa to the medical bay to get the injury inspected and mended while they hear another scream and the Doctor and Tegan go back to investigate.

The Doctor and Tegan find nothing but they still wonder why there is no one aboard the ship. Nyssa arrives in the medical bay and the medical robot begins to treat her when suddenly she feels a ripple running through the ship while Tegan and the Doctor feel it too. They hear a voice and think they see a woman running away. They make chase but can't find her. Tegan then sees it again and they trying following her again, finally cornering their "ghost". Before they can catch up, Hargreaves notifies the Doctor over the system speakers that Nyssa has "disappeared". Nyssa awakens somewhere but cannot find Hargreaves. Hargreaves, Tegan and the Doctor discuss what could have happened and decide to retrace steps. Nyssa finds the gardener robot but it does not remember her from before. She explains her predicament and it explains that she can use the intercom to contact her friends. She does, and they decide to meet up in the garden but when they do she is not there although she claims she is. Suddenly the ship shakes and the power fades causing Hargreaves to shut down. Nyssa, meanwhile, simultaneously feels the shake, but has lost communication with the Doctor. She is found by Hargreaves who again does not recognize her. She argues with him and asks what happened but he claims that nothing she says is true. Suddenly, Nyssa becomes frightened as she is approached by a strange figure...

Part two
to be added

Part three
to be added

Part four
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * Tegan - Janet Fielding
 * Hargreaves - Matthew Cottle
 * Dr Sergei Akunin - Harry Myers
 * Captain Anna Maynard - Nina Sosanya
 * Lt Maurizio Savinio - Gerald Kyd
 * Lt Freya Jennings - Danusia Samal

Continuity

 * Tegan refers to her aunt Vanessa. (TV: Logopolis)
 * Tegan once again describes herself as a "mouth on legs". (TV: Earthshock)
 * Nyssa obliquely refers to the death of her father Tremas. (TV: Logopolis)