Bang-Bang-a-Boom! (audio story)

Publisher's summary
Dark Space 8 — an advanced monitoring station floating serenely among the stars. Its crew — a dedicated and highly-skilled group of professionals, calmly going about their vital work. Its mission — to boldly host the Intergalactic Song Contest.

With representatives from myriad worlds competing, the eyes of the universe are on the station. But dark deeds are afoot aboard Dark Space 8... and people are starting to die.

The haughty Queen Angvia; the gaseous gestalt Gholos; disposable pop idol Nicky Newman; erratic Professor Fassbinder; and the icily-efficient Dr Eleanor Harcourt — all are suspects. Could old political rivalries be manifesting themselves among the contestants? Is this the work of a breakaway terrorist faction? Or has someone just got it in for singer-songwriters?

With peace in the galaxy hanging by a thread, it's vital that the mystery is solved — and fast! Can Dark Space 8's unconventional new commander, with the help of his personal pilot, Mel, find the murderer in time to prevent a major intergalactic war?

Or will it be nul points for the entire universe...?

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Melanie Bush - Bonnie Langford
 * Dr. Eleanor Harcourt - Sabina Franklyn
 * Professor Ivor Fassbinder - Graeme Garden
 * Lieutenant Strindberg - Vidar Magnussen
 * Loozly - Nickolas Grace
 * Angvia - Patricia Quinn
 * Nicky Newman - Anthony Spargo
 * Geri - Jane Goddard
 * Logan - David Tughan

Star Trek parodies
This story generally spoofs the Star Trek franchise and its storytelling styles. The more direct examples of this include:
 * "Dark Space 8" is a direct spoof of Deep Space 9, both in name and in function as an outpost serving as a hub to many species.
 * The "Captain's log" voiceovers.
 * The United Federation of Planets-style command structure and clearly-defined crew.
 * The repeated catchphrases of the crewmembers.
 * Over the course of the previous seven years, the crew had dealt with a sweat vampire, an alien claiming to be God, and a silicon-based lifeform which threatened to enslave all other lifeforms. Furthermore, Dr. Harcourt's reference to the space station's senior officers being sent back in time to medieval Wales would appear to be a reference to the numerous time travel episodes of Star Trek.
 * Fassbinder's made-up technobabble echoes Star Trek's style. The name "Fassbinder" may be deliberately similar to the term "Feinberger" in Star Trek, which was the behind-the-scenes term to refer to Dr. McCoy's diagnostic instruments and other such props (after property master Irving Feinberg).

Continuity

 * Pakhars first appeared in NA: Legacy.
 * The Doctor previously impersonated a commanding officer in order to salvage a peace process in DW: The Curse of Peladon.
 * The Doctor remembers Mel's problems with lifts. (DW: Paradise Towers)
 * The Breebles and Earth's anthem both featured among Mentos' Super Brain questions. (BFA: The One Doctor)
 * Nicky Newman subsequently won the Intergalactic Song Contest. The renegade Time Lady Iris Wildthyme was in attendance and met her future husband Sam Gold. (IW: The Sound of Fear)

Timeline

 * Bang-Bang-A-Boom! occurs after ST: Daisy Chain
 * Bang-Bang-A-Boom! occurs before BFA: Flip-Flop