Planet of the End (audio story)

 was the third and final story in the audio anthology Respond to All Calls, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Timothy X Atack and featured Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.

Publisher's summary
The Doctor arrives on a mausoleum world for sightseeing and light pedantry, correcting its planetary records. The resident AI has other ideas.

Deep within a tomb, something stirs. Occasus is the last resting place of a species far too dangerous to exist. And the Doctor is its way back.

Plot
Inside a mysterious echoing space, a woman and a man read out "the minutes of the dead". They call themselves the Incorporation and claim to be staging a revival across the multiverse, believing that anything that exists can be monetised to their benefit, especially after the Last Great Time War. To cheering, the female first Incorporation states that the death of another only furthers the dead body's potential for profit, to which the male second Incorporation adds that one body out of all others has the most potential when killed. They hear the Doctor's TARDIS in the distance and celebrate.

The Ninth Doctor materialises in the reception hall of Occasus, an ancient graveyard world, where he is met by an artificial intelligence interface who wishes to help him out. However, he insists that he is on a mission in which lives are at stake. He wishes to enter the planet, but the AI prevents him as he is not related to one of the 14,000 native lifeforms, though the Doctor adds that they all died out aeons ago. He grudgingly begins to sonic the AI to deactivate her, but she teleports the sonic screwdriver and TARDIS.

The AI contacts the leader of the planet's off-world oversight division, Sacristan Hinge, because of unauthorised materialisation, sarcasm, and refusal to leave. Hinge is sceptical of the Doctor's claims to be responding to a distress signal, as there are no living creatures other than woodland animals on Occasus, but upon hearing the Doctor's name, recognises him as a known criminal and promises to reach the planet and immobilise him personally. He tells the AI to keep the Doctor talking for the next seven hours and catalogue everything he does.

The Doctor takes a long walk through fields towards the distress signal, past millions of graves, followed by the AI. He explains that he originally visited to spend around a century correcting the planet's records but was interrupted by the distress signal. The AI claims that the Doctor is being pedantic as all the relevant species died millions of years ago and have faded into myth. He names her Fred. Five and a half hours later, Fred sends a progress report to Hinge, explaining that he has corrected her on almost every fact she has, believing that he is enjoying himself for a rescue mission.

The duo continues to trek out of a forest and past a river, still making conversation. In the distance, the Doctor notices some immobilised figures of other invaders - Sontarans who have been part of the landscape for so long they have turned to wood. The Doctor realises the same fate is about to befall him when Hinge arrives, but Fred offers to help him as he does not fit her image of a grave robber. As they approach some giant sarcophagi, Hinge begins to land, with a loudspeaker appearing first. The Doctor simply ignores Hinge's protests and threats, continuing his trek, pleased to know that Fred has sided with him.

The Doctor reaches his destination as the sun sets: a set of enormous pyramids that are the face of Occasus. They are unidentified and made of quantum state gold, allowing them to gradually change shape. Hinge believes that the Doctor is there to steal the eternal pendulum under the pyramids, but the Doctor is more interested in the underground tunnels connecting them, so he can try and find who sent the distress signal. As Hinge finally exits his drone to immobilise the Doctor, he realises he has been tricked and the tomb was a trap set for himself. Fred is forced to restrain the Doctor as Hinge petrifies him like the Sontarans.

Fred records another status update on the Doctor, having been ordered by Hinge to routinely check up on his status in case someone attempts to free him. Even the Doctor's attempts to regenerate fail due to his immobilisation, despite him seemingly having no sentience left. However, his mind awakes in the echoed space, where he meets the second Incorporation and reacts with terror, knowing the species died out billions of years ago. He realises that the planet houses the Incorporation's consciousness as they attempt to return from the dead and he is trapped to work with them while immobilised.

Fifteen years later, Fred wonders if she betrayed the Doctor as she clears away the ivy from his shoulders. Hinge adds that she is beginning to care too much and still does not trust him. Another five years later, the second Incorporation gets frustrated at the Doctor's lack of cooperation at handing over the artron energy he desires. The Doctor promises to negotiate with his boss. The first Incorporation meets the Doctor in a golden meeting room that stretches back through time, where he reveals that his psychic abilities have allowed him to read the Incorporation's history, giving him more reason to resist them taking his regeneration energy and bringing their species back. She responds by psychically attacking him, leaving him screaming in pain. The Doctor is interrupted by another consciousness, which he realises is himself - a failsafe on the brink of death. He notes that if he successfully regenerates, the Incorporation will rise from the dead in his body, but eventually chooses not to cancel the regeneration and simply die. He decides to do a deal with the Incorporation, giving them the artron energy they need if he can continue to see the sunset.

With 89 years having passed since the Doctor was immobilised, Fred reappears to trim the Doctor's long hair and beard that have grown over time. She is interrupted in her report, however, noticing something. A now-elderly Hinge discovers that the Doctor has moved his eyes and finds it concerning. Meanwhile, the Incorporation enter the "safe space" of the Doctor's mind: a recreation of the TARDIS. With only minutes left until the Doctor's body is taken over, they outline their plans to use him to further their goals of universal monetisation. As they talk, however, the Doctor explains why he insisted on moving his eyes in real life once a year: he waited until Fred noticed him doing it and did it as a form of binary code so she could understand his plight and how to build a reversing device. On cue, Fred brings the Doctor back to real life, jubilant but physically and mentally exhausted.

At another minutes reading, the Incorporation discusses the Doctor, now having enough artron energy to resurrect themselves. Meanwhile, the Doctor continues to limp with Fred, knowing that the Incorporation can now come back even without his body, but are interrupted by Hinge's loudspeaker once again. Fred decides that the artron energy should be rerouted to bring a much less violent species back to life, even with the risk that they gain the powers of regeneration. Being forced to choose a dead species close by, they settle on a single dead rabbit to bring to the top of the nearest pyramid, with only ten minutes before Hinge follows. Just over halfway up, Fred explains to Hinge how the Incorporation are using the quantum state gold's circuitry in the topmost tomb to resurrect one of their members, with the rest due to follow afterwards. The Doctor explains to Fred what to do if his body is taken over instead of the rabbit's. With the resurrection starting, arms begin to grow out of the pyramid stairway, but the Doctor is too weak to fend them off, so Fred carries the Doctor the rest of the way.

Reaching the tomb, Fred moves the Incorporation's statue away from the centre to make way for the rabbit as she admits she is envious that it gets another chance to live. However, they are interrupted by Hinge, who uses his life-support titanium exoskeleton to throw the Doctor across the room, injuring him further, then throw the rabbit out of the pyramid. Hinge reveals that he has been in league with the Incorporation all along in return for fifty pounds of quantum state gold - enough to buy a planet. As the Incorporation begin to arrive, the Doctor urges Fred to the middle of the circuit, causing a huge explosion, then silence. With the Incorporation threat aborted and turned to regular gold, the Doctor walks over to Fred who is worried about the process of breathing, having come to life. The power outburst also affected Hinge's exoskeleton, turning him gold too. Fred wonders what to do with her life now she has it.

Later, the Doctor recovers his sonic screwdriver and TARDIS from Fred and returns to see her, having since built a monument to the rabbit. He offers her a lift in space and time with him, but she refuses so she can look after Occasus as she always has done. The Doctor admits he cannot help her with what to do with life as he is still working it out, but Fred adds that she wants to correct the planet's records like the Doctor wished to. She asks how long she will live, but the Doctor is not sure and estimates "quite a while", admitting there is even a chance she could regenerate. Fred decides she will spend her time finding out the answers herself.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
 * Fred - Margaret Clunie
 * Sacristan Hinge - Akshay Khanna
 * First Incorporation - Jan Francis
 * Second Incorporation - Nick Fletcher

Continuity

 * The Incorporation state that Gallifrey is dead and the Daleks "dismantled". (TV: The End of the World, Dalek et al.)
 * The Ninth Doctor notes the TARDIS door has recently developed a squeak, referencing the opening and closing sound effect that was introduced in the new series. (TV: Rose et al.)
 * "Fred" was previously one of the nicknames the Fourth Doctor wanted to use for Romana I. (TV: ''The Ribos Operation)
 * Amongst the hundreds of defilations the Doctor is accused of, there are the profanation of the Cybermen's tomb on Telos (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen) and the destruction of the Great City on Exxilon. (TV: Death to the Daleks)
 * Time Lords can willingly reject a regeneration, dying in the process. (TV: Last of the Time Lords, Twice Upon a Time)
 * The Doctor discusses what he would like his grave to be like. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)
 * The Family of Blood are one of the groups of people present on Occasus. (TV: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)