Out of Time (audio story)

 was the first story in the Out of Time series, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks.

Publisher's summary
The Cathedral of Contemplation is an enigma, existing outside time. It turns through history, opening its doors across the universe to offer solace to those in need.

Occasionally, the Doctor drops in – when he's avoiding his destiny, it's an ideal place to get some perspective. Only this time he's already there from several lives earlier, so when dimension barriers break down, his past and present collide.

And when the Daleks invade and commandeer the Cathedral, two Doctors must unite to stop them – or face extermination twice over!

Plot
The Tenth Doctor arrives in the Cathedral of Contemplation where he is greeted by the High Abbess and her apprentice, Kivall. The Doctor explains that he decided to visit when he saw the door to the cathedral appear on the beach where he parked the TARDIS, something that the Abbess thinks is a coincidence as he normally visits the cathedral when he is in trouble. The Abbess asks the Doctor to follow her to the contemplation chambers. More new arrivel show up at the North Door of the cathedral, so the Abbess leaves the Doctor to his thought s, but not before telling him that the panoramic gallery remains locked so his meditation cannot be disturbed. Once the Abbess is gone, the Doctor decides to try and unlock the gallery with his sonic screwdriver.

Meanwhile, in the gallery, the Fourth Doctor is painting a portrait and asks Jora, a soldier from the 26th century, to pass him up another brush. Jora asks him what he is doing and the Fourth Doctor answers that he is doing a bit of restoration of a painting of an old man waving at a young man. He explains that the old man in the painting is the Exalted Elder of Kranpa who is passing his life force to the new ruler of the planet, admitting that it does look like he is waving. He also tells Jora that be brought Michelangelo to the Cathedral and then he pilfered some of his idea s, but Jora doesn't know who Michelangelo is.

A glow suddenly appears in the gallery, which worries the Fourth Doctor. When he investigates the control box, the Tenth Doctor suddenly appears in the room and both of them are surprised to see each other. The Fourth Doctor thinks that the Tenth Doctor is either very clever or very clumsy for being able to break through the dimensional wall and fusing the controls, and the Tenth Doctor introduces himself to Jora who at first mistakes him for Michelangelo. When the Fourth Doctor asks for his name, the Tenth Doctor introduces himself as John Tyler instead of his usual alias of "John Smith". He also asks Jora if the Fourth Doctor asked her why she is hiding, to which Jora answers that he didn't.

Meanwhile, the North Door opens and a group of people enter the cathedral, explaining to the Abbess that they are at war and that they have reason to believe that they have a fugitive in the Cathedral. The leader of the group, Captain Zenna, tells the Abbess that he needs to return to the frontline as soon as the fugitive is found, and the fugitive happens to be his daughter.

In the gallery, the Tenth Doctor is trying to fix the control box he accidentally fused when he came through the crack in the dimensional wall with his sonic screwdriver, which the Fourth Doctor seems interested in. The Tenth Doctor doesn't give it to him though, claiming that he doesn't want it in the wrong hands. The Fourth Doctor explains that he once suggested that he could overhaul the system, but the Abbess instead made him paint frescoes. The Abbess enters and tells the Tenth Doctor that he should not be here. Zenna follows the Abbess into the room and tells his daughter, Jora, to come home with him whilst the Abbess forces the Tenth Doctor to leave the gallery. Jora is reluctant to leave with her father, so the Fourth Doctor sticks up for her by explaining that she has been cleaning his paintbrushes. Zenna decides to talk to the Abbess, as the Fourth Doctor realises that Jora was running from her father.

The Abbess chastises the Tenth Doctor for breaking into the gallery and encountering his fourth incarnation, but the Fourth Doctor downplays his mistake by claiming that the Tenth Doctor is none the wiser before he seems to start remembering this encounter. The Abbess confiscates the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, then tells him to explain what's worrying him, but the Doctor justifies his worries by saying that he's being called to somewhere he doesn't want to go. Just after Zenna enters and tells the Abbess to get someone in charge to tell the Fourth Doctor to leave his daughter alone, Kivall calls the Abbess to tell her to attend the North Door. The Abbess leaves the Doctor in the company of Zenna and tells him not to cross the timeline again.

The Fourth Doctor tells Jora to place the paint pots onto the scaffolding so they can be used next time someone enters the gallery. Jora explains that she ran away from the war she was fighting because she was scared of dying. The Doctor assures her that she is brave for making a difficult choice.

In the corridor, Zenna asks the Tenth Doctor what he knows about the war he is fighting, but the Doctor tell him to leave Jora alone since she has made her choice. Zenna explains that the enemy is too dangerous to be left unchecked and thinks that anyone who refuses to fight in the war is weak. When asked where he is from, Zenna explains that he is from Earth, but he and his forces are fighting in the Fifth Sector. The Doctor wonders who they are fighting.

Jora tells the Fourth Doctor that her enemies are relentless and unstoppable, but the Fourth Doctor replies by saying that no one is unstoppable, only unreasonable. Jora replies that they keep coming back no matter how many times they are stopped, leaving the Doctor asking her who her enemies are.

The North Door is wide open and Kivall is unable to close it. Zenna's soldiers get themselves into position and the Abbess tells Kivall to make sure that the pilgrims are safe before giving him the sonic screwdriver. The doorway is soon revealed to be connected to a Time Corridor, from which a squad of Daleks emerge and begin killing the soldiers. The Supreme Dalek stops the Abbess from closing the Time Portal and boasts that the Daleks are the supreme species of the universe, ordering her to surrender control of the Cathedral. The Abbess insists that the Daleks will never have control over the Cathedral, prompting them to exterminate her.

Shocked to hear about the Daleks, the Tenth Doctor remembers the space wars between the Draconians and the Ogrons during the 26th century. The Fourth Doctor and Jora enter and the Fourth Doctor asks his counterpart if he feels the tremors caused by the cathedral shaking. The Doctors both feel a terrible sense of foreboding. The Tenth Doctor explains that Zenna and Jora are both from the Second Dalek War and they lived on a planetoid on the edge of Draconian space. When asks who he is, the Tenth Doctor tells the Fourth Doctor that he is a travelling Doctor just like him.

The Fourth Doctor expresses concern that if the Daleks gain control of the Cathedral, they would have the means to appear anywhere at any time. Zenna tells them not to worry about the pilgrims and focus on destroying the Daleks as they will be after a command centre. The Fourth Doctor believes that the Sanctum will be the ideal command centre for them. The Tenth Doctor agrees with Jora that the innocent people need to be rescued, but the Fourth Doctor counters his suggestion by saying that they will be bound to encounter the Daleks eventually while they are rescuing the innocents. The group resolves to rescue the civilians before the Daleks can kill them.

The Supreme Dalek detects the control system at the centre of the Cathedral and orders one of his soldiers to accompany him to take over its function. Another Dalek detects multiple life signs in the outer chambers, prompting the Supreme to order the other Daleks to locate and exterminate them.

The Doctors, Zenna and Jora approach the door to the contemplation chamber where any new arrivals enter the cathedral. Inside the contemplation room, they see a woman named Marna explaining that a group of people appeared and that they didn't know what to do. The Tenth Doctor explains that the barrier has failed and all of the dimensional layers holding visitors from different times are gone. Marna explains that she was flying people off-world when the fighting came. The Fourth Doctor tells Marna to gather everyone from the adjoining chambers before they can get her out. Marna complies and leaves.

The Tenth Doctor asks the Fourth Doctor if he knows a way out, to which the Fourth Doctor replies that he doesn't, but he will soon. He then tells Zenna to help him round up everyone else in the cathedral. The Tenth Doctor remarks "Look at him go, he thinks he's in charge." Jora asks him if they're both Doctors and if they studied together, to which the Tenth Doctor answers "Same time, same place, but I wasn't on his radar back then." He asks Jora if she gets deja vu and she answers that she does sometimes, prompting the Doctor to tell her that this encounter with his previous incarnation is more similar to "apres deja vu" which is knowing what happens but only after it does. He then wonders if it's always this way when he runs into his previous incarnations.

When the Fourth Doctor returns, the Tenth Doctor comments that nobody walks through a door like him. The Doctor's words are confusing Jora. They approach the Fourth Doctor who explains that their priority is to find a door that doesn't lead into a war zone and they need the Abbess in order to carry out this task. Captain Zenna talks about the civilians running from the fight, prompting the Fourth Doctor to ask him if they are the ones he's trying to protect. Zenna believes they should attack the Daleks now, but the Fourth Doctor points out that he only has one gun and everyone else in the cathedral are not soldiers, a statement that the Tenth Doctor agrees with as he sympathizes with them as they are trying to get away from war.

The Fourth Doctor tells Zenna to leave with him so they can find any stragglers and scout an exit, and even though Zenna objects at first, Jora insists that he helps. As they leave with Marna, the Fourth Doctor tells the Tenth Doctor that he believes that he's hiding his light under a bushel, a statement that the Tenth Doctor disagrees with due to not owning a bushel. Jora notices the Tenth Doctor's grin which he has because he thinks that the Fourth Doctor knows the truth about who he really is. He then follows the Fourth Doctor out of the contemplation room.

The Daleks continue making their way through the cathedral and exterminating anyone they see. The Doctors and Zenna sneak up behind them, and Zenna decides he wants to take them on, but the Fourth Doctor tells him that going in guns blazing will get him killed. The Tenth Doctor suggests that they cut through the Sistine Chapel, only for the Daleks to detect them, prompting the Fourth Doctor to agree with the Tenth Doctor's idea. Zenna is told to continue rescuing the civilians while the Doctors work on a way to slow the Daleks down.

Entering the cathedral's sanctum, the Supreme Dalek orders his guards to analyze the controls and stabilize the structure which will allow them to scan the various destinations that the cathedral is connected to. He then declares that with the cathedral under his control, the Daleks will soon win the war and all other wars.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Captain Zenna / Kivall - Nicholas Asbury
 * Jora - Kathryn Drysdale
 * The Abbess / Marna - Claire Rushbrook
 * The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

Crew

 * Cover Art - Simon Holub
 * Director - Nicholas Briggs
 * Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
 * Music and Sound Design - Howard Carter
 * Producer - David Richardson
 * Script Editor - Guy Adams
 * Writer - Matt Fitton
 * Daleks created by Terry Nation

Worldbuilding

 * Both Doctors are travelling without a companion.

Continuity

 * The Dalek Supreme says that the Daleks will once again own the Earth. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * The Fourth Doctor has just recently been elected Lord President in the Citadel on Gallifrey. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
 * The planet Earth is destroyed in the year 5.5/Apple/26. (TV: The End of the World)
 * The Tenth Doctor says that someone once stopped him from doing a bad thing. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
 * The Tenth Doctor was present at the wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) to whom the Fourth Doctor has just said goodbye. (TV: The Hand of Fear)
 * When the Fourth Doctor asks the Tenth Doctor for some sneak peeks into his future, the Tenth Doctor tells him that he will "settle down with a nice Time Lady and a dog". (TV: The Ribos Operation, AUDIO: The Auntie Matter)
 * The Tenth Doctor would later recall witnessing the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestalt. (TV: The End of Time)
 * The Tenth Doctor directly refers to the Second Dalek War by name (COMIC: Pureblood, PROSE: Deceit) and describes the conflict as "that business with humans, Draconians and Ogrons". (TV: Frontier in Space) He was previously present at the end of the war. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks)
 * The Earth and Draconian Empires have been unable to fully co-operate to fight against the Daleks. (COMIC: Star Tigers)

Cover gallery
Simon Holub sought to design the front cover as if it was a photoshoot from the revived era, which included both Doctors, their TARDISes, Daleks from their respective eras and "a subtle hint of title sequences in the background." (VOR 137)

Jonathon Carley revealed in a YouTube interview that Tom Baker's pose is taken from a publicity photo of Peter Capaldi from Series 9 with the jacket tinted brown and the Fourth Doctor's head and scarf added on top.