Solitaire (audio story)

Solitaire was the thirty-second release in the Companion Chronicles audio range. It was the twelfth story of season 4. It was written by John Dorney and featured Charley Pollard.

Publisher's summary
"What if there were a game you didn't know you were playing? Where you didn't know the aim and you hadn't seen the rules?"

Charlotte Pollard arrives in a toyshop, but she doesn't know where she is — or even who she is. The mysterious owner wants to play games. He's the Celestial Toymaker, and he has already defeated the Doctor, whose essence is hidden inside a ventriloquist's doll.

The Doctor is gone. The TARDIS is lost. But the game is only just beginning...

Plot
The Celestial Toymaker sits in his shop playing solitaire, laying cards down. "And... go."

The bell rings as Charley enters. The Toymaker welcomes her and asks if she wants to buy something. Charley doesn't remember who she is or why she's in the shop. There was someone with her and he was worried, but she quickly forgets this. She browses the shop as the Toymaker explains that he has every toy and game. She assumes she's there to buy something for a child, since she herself is too old, but the Toymaker claims no one is too old for games.

Charley finds a doll with a pull-string. She pulls it, and is surprised to hear it cry out "Help me! I'm trapped forever! Get out! He's going to make you like me!" The Toymaker becomes irritable, telling her it's a gift for a child you don't like, before swiftly taking it from her and breaking it. "It was defective. I do not sell defective merchandise." Charley then finds a ventriloquist dummy next to a cupboard and tries it. In her voice it says "Charley! It's me! It's the Doctor!" She doesn't know why she made it say that, but remembers something about a Doctor.

The Toymaker offers her a riddle. She doesn't understand, eventually trying to match him but failing to do so. She makes to leave, but the Toymaker offers the chance to play a game, "the biggest game in town." It's a game where you don't even know you're playing, where you didn't know the rules or the aim. Finding the aim of the game is the aim of the game. Charley leaves as the Toymaker informs her she'll be back. She exits the shop, only the enter an identical shop with the Toymaker inside. In her frustration she refuses to play. The Toymaker addresses someone else: "Game? She doesn't want to play." There is a crunching sound and a voice booms "PLAY!" The Toymaker explains that the shop has been reduced to 90% of its original size, and will do so with every wrong move or attempt to cheat until Charley wins. If she fails, she'll be crushed when it reaches 0%. As a time limit, it will also shrink at irregular intervals.

She reluctantly agrees to play. The Toymaker advises her not to guess. She figures the object must be to escape. Charley begins to search through the shop and move things around, much to the Toymaker's annoyance, until she finds a door. She tries it, only to find that it's electrified. She finds the generator, and pulls the plug. Behind the door is another one with a keypad, accessible only with the correct 4-letter word.

Charley tries "game", "toys", "exit", and others. The Toymaker goads her with hints that she 'needs the correct word'. Charley seethes with frustration as the realisation dawns on her. She types in "word", and sounds announce she's won. The door opens, only to reveal a third door with a metal bar on the other side.

Cast

 * Charley Pollard - India Fisher
 * The Celestial Toymaker - David Bailie

Story notes

 * According to the Big Finish Podcast, the puppet Eighth Doctor on the cover was created by Alex Mallinson.
 * This is one of only two Companion Chronicles to feature the Eighth Doctor, the other being The Elixir of Doom.
 * Along with The Time Museum and The Jigsaw War, this is one of only three Companion Chronicles not to feature any narration. All three are full cast audio dramas with only two speaking parts.
 * This is the first Companion Chronicle to star a companion created by Big Finish Productions.
 * This audio drama was recorded on 15 January 2010.

Continuity

 * The First Doctor previously visited the Celestial Toyroom in the company of Steven Taylor and Dodo Chaplet. (TV: The Celestial Toymaker) In the interim, the Doctor encountered the Celestial Toymaker in Blackpool in 1986 during his sixth incarnation (AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair) and in Switzerland in 1926 during his seventh incarnation (AUDIO: The Magic Mousetrap).
 * The Toymaker refers to Orson Welles (AUDIO: Invaders from Mars), Edith Thompson (AUDIO: The Chimes of Midnight), the Nimon (AUDIO: Seasons of Fear) and the Solarians and Cimmerians (AUDIO: Embrace the Darkness).
 * The Eleventh Doctor's companion Amy Pond was later turned into a doll in a similar manner to the Eighth Doctor. (TV: Night Terrors)