The Demon Song (audio story)

The Demon Song was the first story in the audio anthology The Demon Song, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Bob Ayres and featured Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor and Lauren Cornelius as Dodo Chaplet.

Publisher's summary
Managing to land the TARDIS in Dodo's far flung future, the 2020s, the Doctor detects a haunting melody on the streets of Camden. People are going missing, and one of them is Dodo!

Part one
In the early 2020s, the Doctor and Dodo take the Tube to Kentish Town, using the Doctor's signet ring to avoid paying, and walk to Camden Town where they notice that they are hearing a tune everywhere. Dodo disappears and, retracing his steps, the Doctor meets Archie and teams up with her to find Dodo and Archie's missing boyfriend, Paul. They realise that they are being watched by paranormal investigator Daniel, who is wearing ear defenders to protect himself from what he calls the Demon Song.

Dodo wakes up in a crypt with twelve entranced people and manages to bring Paul around. Everybody else suddenly wakes up as well and they hear the Demon Song in their heads as the demon returns with another man before leaving. The demon brings Helen to the crypt and, when Dodo tells it that she is not afraid of it, its grabs Dodo's head and speaks through her, identifying itself as one of the Choir and demanding that they sing its song or die. The people comply, but it does not seem to have the desired effect.

Daniel takes the Doctor and Archie to his home and explains to them how people have been disappearing in Camden Town, Kentish Town and Chalk Farm and that there have been sightings of a winged demon which he has video evidence of. The demon, he believes, is controlling people with its song. The Doctor realises that each of the missing people is a musician and, wearing ear defenders, they head out to Camden Town tube station in search of the demon and follow a woman humming the song, Grace, to St Matthew's Church. When they hear the song from outside, they burst in and find Grace teaching it to the Camden Community Self-Help Singers, who become aggressive towards them.

The demon seems to be angry and screeches, killing Helen. Everybody feels pain and Dodo begs for it to stop, saying that it will kill them all.

Part two
The demon stops its cry and, through Dodo, warns that Helen's fate will be shared by them all if they refuse to sing its song. After the demon leaves, Dodo and Paul manage to escape the crypt and lead everybody out, but the demon returns. From their connection, Dodo knows of the demon's loneliness and allows her to speak through her again; the demon apologises and explains that, if she does not share her song, she will die and the release of energy will kill everybody. The voices of those she had captured were not enough to open the gateway to her dimension.

The Doctor orders the singers to stop and deprogrammes them with his fob watch and by playing the tune poorly on a piano. Once the singers have left, the Doctor plays the tune and follows the hypnotised Archie to a derelict church where they are reunited with Dodo and Paul. The Doctor suggests that they might be able to create the resonant frequencies to create the gateway to the demon's home if her former captives are willing to help and Daniel will play the organ. The plan works, but Daniel arrives with his electric guitar and ruins the harmony.

With the resonance altered, a second gateway opens, leading to a world of giant bats known as the Discord. The Doctor gets Daniel to ask his followers to join the song, but it is not enough to fix the resonance until Grace arrives with her singers. The Discord are pulled back to their dimension and the Choir are able to safely depart, with the demon saying goodbye to Dodo. Afterwards, Daniel retires as a demon hunter and joins Paul's band. The Doctor and Dodo go to have a look around Camden Market.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Stephen Noonan
 * Dodo Chaplet - Lauren Cornelius
 * Daniel De'ath - Henry Nott
 * Archana Pawar - Bhavnisha Parmar
 * Paul Carter - George Fletcher
 * Grace Adichie - Antoinette Tagoe
 * Helen Fletcher / Station Announcer / Passerby - Rosie Baker

Worldbuilding

 * Dodo notices that very few people in the 2020s are smoking.
 * The Doctor gives Dodo a sovereign to give to a busker.
 * A lot of people are wearing face masks because of the recent pandemic.
 * The Doctor uses his signet ring to confuse the electronics at the Tube station and let him through without paying.
 * Archie jokingly says that the Doctor and Dodo are probably on their way to Hogwarts.
 * The Doctor uses his walking stick.
 * Daniel wears ear defenders.
 * Helen plays guitar.
 * Pentacles are a symbol of protection.
 * Archie mentions the kinnari of Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
 * The Doctor does not know what karaoke is.
 * Paul plays the keyboard, piano and organ.
 * Daniel plays the electric guitar.
 * Douglas is entranced.

Continuity

 * The Doctor almost calls Dodo by Susan Foreman's name. He noticed the physical similarities between the two of them when he first met Dodo. (TV: The Massacre)
 * The Doctor berates Dodo for her English. (TV: The Ark)
 * Dodo is a pianist. (TV: The Gunfighters)
 * The Doctor tells Dodo about a recent pandemic. (TV: The Vanquishers; PROSE: The Invasion of London, Sweet Revenge; WC: The Zygon Isolation, U.N.I.T. On Call)