The Incherton Incident (audio story)

The Incherton Incident was the second story in the audio anthology The Demon Song, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor and Lauren Cornelius as Dodo Chaplet.

Publisher's summary
Something intercepts the TARDIS in space. Attempting to escape its grip, the Doctor inadvertently drags it through time to coastal England in 1947. As the nation recovers from World War Two, an alien force threatens total destruction.

Part one
The Doctor is performing maintenance on the TARDIS when a power source latches onto it, forcing the Doctor to shut the ship down. With the power circuits damaged, the Doctor and Dodo leave the ship and find that they have materialised near the evacuated town of Incherton-on-Sea which appears to have recently been the site of a fire.

The telephone line goes dead whilst Captain Andrews is talking to Professor Dalton about an object found at Incherton and he sends Roberts to investigate. The line again goes dead after Roberts reports that a figure has emerged from the laboratory, who, wearing a strange survival suit, goes to Captain Andrews and Sergeant Ballard and tells them that they have nothing to worry about. The figure, Miss Sanderson, hypnotises Captain Andrews to have the area completely searched and any intruders shot on sight.

After sneaking into the exclusion zone and drawing a pistol on a policeman, Virginia Hancock rides to Incherton on a bicycle. The Doctor and Dodo stop her and learn that it is 1947. The three of them arrive in the town, which seems to have been hit by something from the sky, and flee from Captain Andrews and his soldiers; the Doctor and Dodo hide in a ruined house whilst Virginia seems to enter into a shootout. There is an explosion.

Part two
With Virginia having deliberately blown up the petrol station, she, the Doctor and Dodo escape in the smoke to the harbour where they steal a boat. Dodo is shot and falls into the water, but Virginia refuses to stop for her and she is recovered from the water by Captain Andrews, who takes her to the freshly-dug graveyard where 137 residents of the town have been buried.

The Doctor and Virginia's boat runs out of fuel and they head back to the shoreline. The Doctor believes that it was a spaceship that crashed into Incherton and that it was behind what happened to the TARDIS. Hiding from the soldiers, the Doctor hears Sergeant Bollard mention "the girl" to Captain Andrews and is delighted to hear that Dodo is alive.

Captain Andrews takes Dodo to the military base and intends to have her seen to by the medical officer, Dr Halloran, before she is interrogated by Sanderson. However, Sanderson enters, demanding an update, and dismisses Captain Andrews before questioning Dodo. Dodo initially believes that she is being asked about Dr Halloran before realising that Sanderson knows about the Doctor.

Part three
Sanderson tells Dodo that the Doctor is the reason that she landed here and hypnotises her into answering her questions, but she collapses and Captain Andrews takes her to Dr Halloran. Dodo recognises that Captain Andrews seems to be suffering from post-traumatic stress following World War II and helps him realise that Sanderson is making him think things. She shares her concerns with Dr Halloran, who has only recently arrived and has not heard of Sanderson nor what has been going on in Incherton.

The Doctor and Virginia are shot at on their way to the base and are forced to retreat and take a longer route. They set use gelignite at the quarry to distract the soldiers and enter the sick bay in search of Dodo, but she and Dr Halloran have sneaked down into the security lab and found a giant safe, forced open from within. Inside, they find a spaceship and the bodies of Professor Dalton and her team. Sanderson arrives and draws her gun, threatening the two of them.

Part four
Ready for Sanderson's hypnosis this time, Dodo resists and Dr Halloran knocks Sanderson out. They find the Doctor and Virginia being questioned by Captain Andrews and explain what they have learnt, making Captain Andrews realise that Sanderson lied to him about Professor Dalton still being alive. Whilst they all talk, Dr Halloran slips away and returns to the security lab to make Sanderson open the ship, actually being a spy for the Soviet Union.

The Doctor joins Sanderson and Dr Halloran in the ship and learns that Sanderson is part of the Galactic Ecology Enforcement Council, an organisation which seeks to prevent him from committing future crimes against the civilised galaxy. She forces the Doctor to repair her ship and go with her to the Council, with Dodo refusing to remain behind without him. However, he instead deactivates the ship and points out that Sanderson cannot return to the Council in it given that she was brought back in time by the TARDIS.

The Doctor, Dodo and Sanderson go to the TARDIS and Sanderson reveals that she has a device which she intends to use to explode her ship remotely, keeping humanity from venturing into the stars. The Doctor opens the TARDIS door and the last of the residual blowback energy kills Sanderson, after which Sanderson's ship is destroyed in a small explosion which he initiated. An alarm goes off and the Doctor fades away, leaving Dodo alone.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Stephen Noonan
 * Dodo Chaplet - Lauren Cornelius
 * Virginia Hancock - Genevieve Gaunt
 * Sanderson - Paksie Vernon
 * Captain John Andrews - Thomas Michaelson
 * Dr Lia Halloran - Rosie Baker
 * Sergeant Ballard - Richard James

Uncredited

 * Professor Jennifer Dalton - Genevieve Gaunt (BFX: The Incherton Incident)

Continuity

 * Dodo mentions having come from Yorkshire. She previously mentioned the possibility of having family there. (AUDIO: The Miniaturist)