Prime Winner (audio story)

 was the second story of the sixth season of Big Finish Productions' Short Trips series. It was read by Nicola Bryant.

Publisher's summary
The TARDIS makes a forced landing in a lavish room looking very much like the foyer to a 1930s casino. But the games being played in the halls are unlike anything they would find on Earth, and the players are far from human. And then Peri sees her stepfather...

Plot
After a turbulent journey, the TARDIS arrives on a Sacronax Gleaming Travel Cruiser casino in the Florionsis Nebula instead of the nearby SS Magnificent as the Doctor had intended. Peri sees a man who looks like Howard and whom the Doctor worries could be Kamelion in the Master's thrall and, after the cruiser is buffeted by solar winds, they take readings around the casino and head back to the TARDIS. However, it is removed for disintegration as it is suspected of being responsible for the buffeting rather than, as the Doctor believes, the gravitational compensators.

Peri is mistaken for a princess of the Fourth Quadrant on account of her and the Doctor wearing blue and, after ordering the TARDIS to be looked after, she and the Doctor go after a temporal disturbance. She keeps getting the feeling of pins and needles, but the Doctor is dismissive and she soon stops mentioning it. They find that they are stuck in a time bubble which resets whenever the man resembling Howard, who is using a time manipulator to cheat, gets a Prime Win. By checking his winning slips, the Doctor learns that his name is Quenning.

The Doctor repairs the cruiser's gravitational compensators and uses the time manipulator to take himself and Peri back in time to cause the damage, after which he ensures that Quenning is arrested and leaves in the TARDIS. He takes Peri to the SS Magnificent and gives her a crystal as a present, revealing that he brought her here because their previous visit to Paris was on her birthday. He then explains that Quenning's resemblance to Howard was a coincidence and starts telling her about Maxil.

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Peri Brown
 * Quenning
 * Covette
 * Nanch

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor and Peri have just been to Paris.
 * Howard promised to take Peri to Istanbul to see the Topkapı Palace as they were flying to the Canary Islands.
 * The Doctor was trying to materialise on the SS Magnificent.
 * Peri went on holiday to San Francisco as a girl.
 * The Doctor believes that the cruiser might have a problem with its gravitational compensators.
 * Quenning is a Garolinian.

Continuity

 * When talking about lookalikes, the Sixth Doctor mentions Maxil. (TV: Arc of Infinity)
 * Peri thinks that she has seen her stepfather Howard Foster and the Doctor wonders if it could be Kamelion working for . (TV: Planet of Fire)
 * As the Doctor told her to wear something blue, Peri thought that they were attending a funeral. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)