Kingdom of Lies (audio story)

 was the two hundred and thirty-fourth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.

Publisher's summary
On the planet Cicero Prime, the kingdom of Cardenas is divided, with the whole population forced to swear allegiance to either the effete Duke or the fiery, hard-edged Duchess. This is a situation both parties have grown tired of. What use is half a kingdom when, thanks to a carefully engineered murder, you could have it all?

Surely, neither of them would be rash enough to summon the deadly off-world assassin the Scorpion to help with their problem? And surely, this terrifying figure wouldn’t arrive wearing a long cream coat and striped trousers…?

Part one
The Doctor continues to teach Adric how to pilot the TARDIS and, when it seems to malfunction, Tegan thumps the console and they land on Cicero Prime. When the group exits the TARDIS and is found by a guard on either side of a yellow line dividing the two halves of Cadenas, the Doctor and Nyssa are assumed to be supporters of Sebastian, Duke of Cadenas and Adric and Tegan are taken to his estranged wife, the Duchess Miranda, for associating with them.

Upon learning from Tomek of the Scorpion, an assassin rumoured to have been hired by the Duke, Adric claims that he and Tegan are assassins themselves and offer their services to the Duchess. The Duchess accepts and explains that her father, Lord Crozion of Galeria, insisted that she marry the Duke for the sake of their family prestige, but, after a year of marriage, they despise one another.

The Doctor and Nyssa are arrested and brought before the Duke, whose chief courtier, Amelia, has hired the Scorpion to kill the Duchess. Nyssa plays along and confirms that the Doctor is indeed the Scorpion and that she is his apprentice, the bloodthirsty Nyssa the Destroyer. They agree to kill the Duchess and make plans to make their attempt look convincing, putting together a drone which they claim will destroy the drive unit of her Stage Sculler and cause a fatal crash. Amelia flies the drone and fires at the Sculler, inside of which the Doctor and Nyssa notice Adric and Tegan.

Part two
The Doctor steers the drone away with a second remote, keeping the Sculler from being destroyed, and he and Nyssa claim that the Duchess was a decoy. However, the Duchess decides to use the opportunity to garner sympathy for herself by having Adric blow the Sculler up and showing up to the Battle of the Equinoids covered in mud. The Doctor approaches her and proposes that they use a hologram to fake her assassination during her speech and ruin the Duke, but Tomek is suspicious of him.

During the Duchess's speech, the Doctor and Nyssa search for Adric and Tegan before bumping into Amelia and having to head to a vantage point to pretend to shoot the Duchess. Adric and Tegan are sent by Tomek to stop the Scorpion and his apprentice, unaware that the Doctor is the Scorpion, and the four of them are reunited. The Duchess wins the Equinoid race and makes a celebratory speech during which she is shot twice and before the Doctor's plan could be put in place; he tells Nyssa that he believes that the Duchess is dead.

Part three
The four confusedly speculate what has happened and try to figure out what to do next, thinking the Duchess has been murdered for real. They are caught but thanks to Nyssa's distraction, Tegan and Adric get away while Nyssa and the Doctor escape. The Duke explains to the Doctor and Nyssa what his plan is and what has happened. Tegan and Adric suddenly run into the Duchess who reveals the Doctor's plan worked and she knows who he really is, then tricks the pair and taunts them, attempting to have them arrested.

The Duchess' parents arrive and the Doctor tries to explain to them what happened, angering Lord Crozion, but the Doctor explains it was just a facade and she's still alive. The Duchess reveals herself to her parents but Lord Crozion is adamant and exclaims that they will still be invading to take back the dowry by force but is distracted to go collect his reward from the betting stakes. Just then he spots Tegan and Adric and puts them under arrest but the Doctor dissuades him and convinces the four to come with him to the throne room for an impromptu "marriage council" session but to no avail as Lord Crozion refuses to budge, believing his son-in-law the Duke to be worthless. Outside Tegan Nyssa and Adric discuss something that's been bothering them and realise that Amelia and Tomek may be behind all this. The Doctor speaks with Adric who reveals his suspicions and he talks with the Duchess and has her summon Tomek and the Duke summon Amelia. They discover that Tomek was using a hologram projector and was manipulating both sides, pretending to be both servants. Tomek/Amelia is arrested but Nyssa is still suspicious. She reminds the Doctor that a laser bolt still hit the podium when the Duchess was "murdered" and someone would still have had to fire it.

Just then a of Sting ship arrives overhead carrying real assassins, in this case the real Scorpion who threatens to kill them all unless the real Duchess is brought to her...

Part four
The Doctor tries to reason with the Scorpion but she sees through his lies. The Duchess stupidly reveals herself and a chase ensues while the Doctor tries to stall her by negotiating. He manages to get away and finds the others while the Scorpion captures Lord Crozion in a stasis field. The Doctor realises they need the help of Tomek/Amelia and in his interrogation of Amelia-Tomek, he eventually discovers that the two-timer is called Zaina and that she hired the Scorpion. After some coercing from the Doctor she agrees to help. They reconvene with the others and make a plan to stop the Scorpion.

The Doctor has the others distract the Scorpion while he rescues Lord Crozion. They eventually get the Scorpion to fall right into the Doctor's "trap". He takes the Duke's credcard and offers all the credits on it and in exchange the Scorpion will leave them all in peace. The Scorpion accepts but murders the Duchess in cold blood anyway to preserve her reputation as "no job goes unfulfilled". The Doctor "threatens" the Scorpion with a gun but she calls his bluff and turns away, only for the Doctor to pull the trigger... but it is revealed he modified it to simply put a stasis field around the Scorpion. After a difficult decision, the Doctor lets the Scorpion go despite her crimes, believing that handing her over to Lord Crozion would be no better as he insists he will kill her anyway. As she leaves, it is revealed that the Doctor, Zaina and Duke Sebastian tricked them all, using the holographic projector and other technologies. The Doctor reveals that it was Sebastian who bravely volunteered to pose (and save) his wife and Sebastian and Miranda reconcile and she forbids her father from invading Cardenas.

The four head back to the TARDIS and take-off. It is revealed that the Duke and Duchess end up in another argument before they even get to bed.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * Tegan - Janet Fielding
 * Sebastian Duke of Cardenas - Jonathan Firth
 * Duchess Miranda - Charlotte Lucas
 * Amelia - Harriet Thorpe
 * Lord Crozion - Tim Bentinck
 * Lady Crozion - Richenda Carey
 * Tomek - Piotr Hatherer
 * Mercenary - Patsy Kensit
 * Additional Voices - Harry Smith

Animals

 * The Duke's horse is named the "Cunning Little Vixen" after the soap operas of old Earth while the Duchess names hers "Dead Man Walking".

Technology

 * The Scorpion uses a stasis field, also called a stasis bubble.
 * Holodisguises disguise people and can also change the user's voice, similar to a hologram projector.
 * A Sting ship is an interstellar craft from the Spadek system.
 * The Doctor has electro-binoculars.

Continuity

 * Equinoids previously appeared in COMIC: Perceptions and PROSE: Placebo Effect.