The Conscript (audio story)

The Conscript was the third story in the audio anthology The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume One, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Rakhee Thakrar as Bliss, Karina Fernandez as Captain Tamasan and Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra.

Publisher's summary
Cardinal Ollistra has a new tactic to persuade the Doctor to join his people's fight. With his friends locked away, he has been conscripted alongside fellow Gallifreyans to train for the front lines of battle.

Commandant Harlan has a reputation – his camp's regime is harsh. He believes the Time Lords must adapt to win this war, but the Doctor is not easily intimidated.

Can there be any place for dissent when the Time War looms so close?

Plot
Whilst watching Matrix footage of the Doctor's recent adventures, Cardinal Ollistra is informed by Captain Tamasan that the Doctor's TARDIS has been put into stasis in Tenacity's TARDIS bays and that the refugees have been secured pending examination to ensure that they are not contaminated by the Time War. She has assigned Tamasan as one of Commandant Harlan's drill instructors and, should she complete her mission, she will be promoted to Major. According to Ollistra, Commander Harlan is the one person who might be able to convince the Doctor to fight.

On Tenacity, the Doctor meets fellow new recruits Veeda and Norvid and is knocked to the ground by Tamasan when he responds glibly to Harlan. Harlan has him brought to his office and tells him that his friends are detained in the nearby Internment Tower, being questioned by representatives of the War Council, and implies that their treatment will depend on the Doctor's behaviour.

Bliss refuses to answer any of Ollistra's questions, but she already knows who she is from her Luna University records and from a biodata search in the Matrix, which is tracing her entire timeline. Despite Ollistra telling her that nobody in the universe knows that she is here and that the Time Lords can do what they like to her, Bliss remains steadfast.

At breakfast, the Doctor tells Veeda and Norvid that he spent the night checking the camp's security. The three of them are taken for a weapons drill with the rest of Red Seven.

Rupa and Quarren have their biodata samples taken by Ollistra, who says that she is ensuring that they are safe from contamination to the Time War.

to be completed

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Cardinal Ollistra - Jacqueline Pearce
 * Captain Tamasan - Karina Fernandez
 * Commander Harlan - Nick Brimble
 * Veeda - Katy Sobey
 * Norvid - Okezie Morro
 * Bliss - Rakhee Thakrar
 * Rupa Maguire - Nimmy March
 * Quarren Maguire - David Ganly
 * Dalek drone / The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

Continuity

 * This story follows on directly from Echoes of War.
 * There are rumours that the Doctor drove Borusa mad. (TV: The Five Doctors)
 * The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver to detonate explosives. (TV: The Sea Devils)
 * The Doctor mentions the continent of Wild Endeavour and the mountains of Solace and Solitude. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
 * The Doctor considered his sonic screwdriver to be a very old friend. (TV: The Visitation)
 * The Doctor asks Veeda if she is from a noble family like Brightshore (PROSE: Divided Loyalties, AUDIO: Enemy Lines) or Mirraflex. (PROSE: The Book of the War, Of the City of the Saved..., Warlords of Utopia)
 * Harlan mentions Arcadia and the sky trenches, as well as the War Council. (TV: Doomsday, The Last Day, The Day of the Doctor)
 * The Doctor previously met a Time Lord who died from a regeneration inhibitor. (AUDIO: The Starship of Theseus)
 * During a "sound off" by chapter as part of a marching chant the Gallifreyan soldiers reference the Prydonian Chapter, the Arcalian Chapter, the Scendeles Chapter and the Dromeian Chapter. (TV: The Deadly Assassin, PROSE: Lungbarrow, The Ancestor Cell)