Lucie Miller (audio story)

Lucie Miller was the ninth story in the fourth series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller, Niky Wardley as Tamsin Drew, Carole Ann Ford as Susan and Jake McGann as Alex Campbell.

It was the first in a two-part story, concluding in To the Death.

Publisher's summary
"Hello! Doctor, it's me. Lucie. Lucie Miller..."

Lucie Miller needs the Doctor's help. The whole planet Earth needs his help. But he is nowhere to be seen.

While Lucie struggles to survive a terrible sickness, an even greater threat to the human race is about to be unleashed.

And this will be the second Dalek invasion of Earth the Doctor's granddaughter has had to endure.

"You must accept the reality of your situation. You have been defeated."

Plot
Lucie and Alex were travelling in Thailand when a terrible sickness broke out. Although Lucie became infected, Alex did not. They attempted to flee to Bangkok on a bus, though they were thrown off when it became apparent that Lucie had the sickness. Alex managed to procure a satellite phone and left a message with the international operator. After several days, his mother Susan is able to contact Lucie. Due to their Time Lord physiology, Susan and Alex are not affected.

The doctors and scientists in London believe that the sickness is alien in nature, leading to Earth being quarantined. All of humanity's alien allies have left the planet. When Lucie and Alex began travelling, the Doctor slipped the temporal interocitor which had been built by his former companion Nyssa during his fifth incarnation. She used the interocitor to send a message to the TARDIS but the Doctor never arrived.

Susan is able to pull some strings and has Lucie and Alex taken to a hospital in Singapore. After waiting for several days in a corridor, Lucie is examined by a doctor, who tells her that she is lucky to be alive as the sickness usually kills its victims in a day. Although Lucie partially recovers, she is dependent on a wheelchair and lost all sight in her right eye. After a month long journey to Australia, Lucie and Alex procured a military plane using Susan's government connections to return to England.

Shortly after Lucie and Alex's arrival in England, a fleet of Dalek flying saucers is detected in orbit of Earth. Although the planet is conquered in short order and the majority of humanity are once again enslaved by the Dalek Empire, numerous resistance groups exist all over Earth. Susan, Lucie and Alex are with one such group underneath the surface of Portsmouth.

As did they done in the aftermath of the first 22nd century Dalek invasion, the Daleks have converted numerous humans into Robomen.

Alex has discovered a fleet of nuclear submarines stored in a nearby warehouse. With the help of the former submarine technician Seb Andrews, Alex is able to activate the submarines' radio masts and hack into the Dalek communication network. They discover that the Daleks are building a mineshaft and propulsion unit which they plan to place in the planet's core. In doing so, they have dug up the majority of North America.

The resistance stage an invasion of North America using seven submarines, which are equipped with short-range missiles. Susan, Alex, Lucie, Seb and thousands of soldiers make their way to the mineshaft construction area from various different directions.

The Monk is present in the construction area and is able to both hack into and jam the resistance's transmissions. Although he believes that it is not necessary to kill all of the rebels, the Daleks have been ordered by the Dalek Time Controller to exterminate every one of them in order to show the rest of humanity the folly of opposing the Daleks.

The majority of the rebels, including Seb, are exterminated in the Dalek attack. However, Susan, Lucie and Alex manage to escape. After several days, Susan is able to contact Lucie and tells her that her TARDIS key is glowing, meaning that the TARDIS is on its way.

The TARDIS materialises in the vault of the Monk's base in England, where he meets his former companion Tamsin Drew. During his time on Earth, the Monk has procured the Mona Lisa, the Star of India, the Venus de Milo, the crown jewels of every royal dynasty in Earth's history and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Tamsin claims that they are collecting these articles with the help of the Daleks in order to preserve humanity's culture for posterity.

After the Doctor's presence is revealed to the Daleks by the Monk, he claims that he is not the Doctor but a plumber. The Dalek Time Controller is based in North America.

The Monk confesses to Tamsin that he has revealed the location of the submarine on which Susan, Lucie and Alex are returning to England to the Daleks. It is targeted by the Dalek saucer on which the Doctor is imprisoned but it is disabled by the submarine's missiles. A second missile is launched at the saucer. Although the Doctor is able to contact Lucie via the interocitor, it is too late to abort the launch of the missile and the saucer is destroyed.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Lucie Miller - Sheridan Smith
 * Tamsin Drew - Niky Wardley
 * - Graeme Garden
 * Susan Campbell - Carole Ann Ford
 * Alex Campbell - Jake McGann
 * Seb Andrews - John Banks
 * The Daleks / Dalek Time Controller / Roboman / Submarine Crewman - Nicholas Briggs

Worldbuilding

 * Lucie sarcastically refers to Alex as "Alexander the Great."
 * The Monk's base is in England and contains the statue of Diana from Ephesus, the Elgin marbles, Mona Lisa, ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Venus de Milo, the Star of India, and all the crown jewels of every dynasty on Earth.

Continuity

 * The temporal interocitor that Lucie uses to contact the Doctor was built by the Fifth Doctor's companion Nyssa. It has not been used since then (AUDIO: Renaissance of the Daleks)
 * Lucie mentions that she once believed that the Doctor had died. (AUDIO: Vengeance of Morbius) She also mentions the death of her aunt Patricia Ryder in Blackpool on 25 December 2009 (AUDIO: Death in Blackpool) and how they bumped into each other in outer space. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars)
 * Susan still has her original TARDIS key. (TV: The Sensorites, The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * Lucie previously encountered the Daleks on Red Rocket Rising (AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks) and in the Cradle of Darkness. (AUDIO: The Dalek Trap)
 * The Doctor recalls killing the Dalek Time Controller on the Amethyst Viral Containment Station in the far future during his sixth incarnation. (AUDIO: Patient Zero)
 * The second Dalek invasion of Earth occurred, from the Doctor's point of view, during his six years inside the Company's complex. (AUDIO: Prisoner of the Sun)
 * Lucie mentions saving jellyfish in another galaxy. (AUDIO: Orbis)
 * The Iborians stayed in Earth's orbit during the quarantine. (AUDIO: Relative Dimensions)