Devil in the Mist (audio story)

 was the two hundred and forty-seventh story in Big Finish's Main Range. It was written by Cavan Scott and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, Mark Strickson as Vislor Turlough and Jon Culshaw as Kamelion.

Publisher's summary
The TARDIS deposits the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and their android ally Kamelion aboard a prison ship. A ship with just one prisoner: Nustanu, last warlord of the Zamglitti – monstrous, mind-bending mimics able to turn themselves into mist.

A ship that's in trouble, and about to make a crash-landing...

On a planet of mists.

Part one
Boatswain Rako enters the secure unit to check on the prisoner, Nustanu. The ship drops out of hyperspace, forcing Rako to return to Captain Orna whilst the computer deals with the integrity of the shield around Nustanu.

Having lost her purse, Tegan overturns her bedroom looking for it and tells Turlough that she thinks Kamelion has taken it. Turlough stands up for him, however, trusting the Doctor's judgement. The TARDIS shakes and, finding Kamelion under the console, Tegan accuses him of sabotage and tries to take a cable from him, only for the Doctor to tell her that Kamelion was helping him refit the console. She refuses to apologise. The proximity alarm sounds and the TARDIS is hauled aboard the prison ship.

The Doctor exits the TARDIS and apologises to Orna and Rako, who assume that he and his companions are affiliated with Nustanu. The power system falters and Orna sends Rako to the secure unit whilst the Doctor, with a gun pointed at him, attempts to stabilise the power. The system goes down, however, and Nustanu escapes from his cell and vanishes, transforming into living mist before returning to threaten Turlough's life. Orna fires at Nustanu and he disappears once more.

The Doctor restores power and manages to trap Nustanu between two blast doors, but the artificial gravity is lost. The ship is caught in a gravitational field and the group attempt to get to the TARDIS by floating before Kamelion manages to restore the artificial gravity. Due to the emergency, the ship prepares to eject the hull to lighten the load, forcing the group to hurry to the control room.

The group are separated with Tegan, Kamelion and Orna on the wrong side of the ship. They hurry towards the TARDIS as the Doctor, Turlough and Rako attempt to pilot the ship safely to the surface, but their way is blocked and they instead enter an escape pod. As the pod is ejected, Tegan thinks that she hears Nustanu and tells them that she thinks that he is in the pod with them. The Doctor tells Turlough and Rako to brace for impact.

Part two
Emerging from the wreckage on a misty world, Tegan leaves to search for the Doctor, Turlough and Rako, sure of their survival despite their inability to contact them. She is followed by Kamelion and is soon forced to return to Orna and the damaged pod upon being chased by monkey-like creatures, but Kamelion creates a feedback loop using the pod's speakers which scares them away.

Turlough, Rako and the Doctor, who seems to have broken his back in the crash and needs to return to the TARDIS, contact the other group from their position five miles away. Kamelion uses the pod to search for advanced technology and detects something that could be the TARDIS, for which both groups head after Turlough repairs a hover sled to move the Doctor. Tegan, Kamelion and Orna build a raft and travel down a river using a proximity sensor to avoid rocks.

After warning Turlough that he might regenerate, the Doctor passes out. The cables on the other group's raft begins to come apart as they approach some rocks and they are forced to jump into the water. Tegan is separated from Kamelion and Orna and calls out for them.

Part three
Kamelion is damaged by the water but manages to save Tegan before collapsing. Tegan follows Orna's voice and finds her wounded, having struck a rock, but her sudor causes it to heal quickly. Orna inspects the cables and accuses Tegan of loosening them to kill her before attacking her, stopping when the two of them are attacked by snakes and Tegan risks her life to save her. Orna tells Tegan that they should not trust Kamelion as he could be being controlled by Nustanu.

The Doctor comes to and convinces Rako to let Turlough go when a swarm of bats cause him to become distressed and agitated. Rako then pledges a life debt to Turlough and finds michaelarium from the ship, indicating that the TARDIS has landed nearby. Turlough embarks on a dangerous climb to reach it but falls because of the bats and is caught by the Doctor, who has used a power pack to temporarily enhance the hover sled and get the two of them to the TARDIS.

Tegan is surrounded by snakes who are killed by Kamelion, who is apparently being controlled by Nustanu and has taken his form. He forces her to drop her weapon and Rako, who heard them over the communicator, hurries to save her. "Nustanu" prepares to shoot her.

Part four
Orna distracts "Nustanu", who shoots her several times with her own weapon. She attacks him until he returns to Kamelion's form and activates a concussive pulse to destroy him before passing out, telling Tegan to run. Tegan fires Orna's gun at the snakes and has no interest in saving Kamelion despite his call for help, but Rako arrives and stops the concussive pulse as he and Tegan do not have the time to get out of the blast radius. Kamelion then transforms back into Nustanu.

Following the Doctor's directions, Turlough pilots the TARDIS and accidentally causes "Nustanu" to fall into the water. Tegan and Rako carry Orna inside and the Doctor sends Turlough to fetch equipment from the TARDIS sick bay. The Doctor refuses to dematerialise without Kamelion, who returns to Nustanu's form and bangs on the doors until, on the Doctor's command, Turlough opens them. Once "Nustanu" is aboard, the Doctor tells Tegan that he and Turlough found the real Nustanu's corpse and that Kamelion is being influenced by her and her beliefs.

Kamelion returns to normal and apologises to Tegan for what he has put her through. He notices that her wounds from the crash are entirely healed and the Doctor finds that there are nanites from the water inside her. They take the TARDIS to a cave where a silicon-based computer creates the nanites, hoping to use them to heal the Doctor and Orna, but Kamelion says that the water is a miracle and must be protected. He is taken over by the Guardian of the Spring and attacks Rako, who admits to the Doctor that Nustanu was ill with Gregire Syndrome and makes him realise that Nustanu had influenced Rako to bring him here for healing.

The Doctor convinces the Guardian that the planet will become a popular place to visit should he kill him here and is permitted to be healed by the water in return for his silence. Seeing the military application of the water, Orna attempts to gain control of it only for the Guardian to set the dogs on the group. Rako refuses to help Orna and detonates a concussive pulse which kills the both of them as well as the dogs, allowing the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough to return to the TARDIS with the Guardian in pursuit. When the Guardian enters the TARDIS, the Doctor quickly dematerialises the ship.

Kamelion is freed from the Guardian's influence and offers to help clear up the console room following Turlough's flight. In doing so, he picks up one of Tegan's coats and her purse, which she had accused him of stealing, falls out. Tegan helps him.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
 * Vislor Turlough - Mark Strickson
 * Kamelion - Jon Culshaw
 * Orna - Anjella Mackintosh
 * Rako - John Voce
 * Nustanu - Simon Slater

Crew

 * Cover Art - Will Brooks
 * Director - Ken Bentley
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music and Sound Designer - Andy Hardwick
 * Producer - Scott Handcock
 * Script Editor - Alan Barnes
 * Writer - Cavan Scott
 * Senior Producer - David Richardson

Worldbuilding

 * Orna belongs to the Third Harrigain Collective.
 * The Zamglitti Empire dominated billions and ruled for 300 years.
 * Kamelion can only access the TARDIS information files and no other part of the ship. He gets damaged falling in a river.
 * Tegan cannot find her purse which she usually keeps on her dresser in her TARDIS bedroom. It is later found in her coat pocket. The purse was given to her by Aunt Vanessa.
 * The Harrigain are a proud warrior race noted for their battle hammers, of which the Master has three.
 * Tegan calls Kamelion "David Attenborough".
 * Tegan mentions her uncle, Roger.
 * Michaelarium is a Harrigain metal.
 * Orna mentions a peace between Humans and Harrigain and considers attacking an enemy with their own weapon to be dishonourable.
 * The Doctor recalls climbing Mount Cadon in his youth, which was also known as Mount Plutarch, Mount Lung and Mount Rycadia. At the foot of the mountain was the Time Lord Academy.
 * At the summit of Mount Cadon, one could see the whole of time, but a hallucinogenic compound in the snow often prevents climbers from reaching it. The summit can be reached by TARDIS but the Doctor points out this is "cheating."
 * As a youth the Doctor and a group of his friends tried to climb the mountain. Vansell broke his leg during the journey.
 * The Rastani were attacked by the Zamglitti because of their spring, which contains nanites capable of healing wounds. The Guardian of the Spring, a sophisticated artificial intelligence, uses these nanites to control dog, bat, and eel/snake creatures to attack intruders.

Continuity

 * The Doctor says he is tempted to give the TARDIS console a complete overhaul. (TV: The Five Doctors)
 * The Doctor tells Turlough that Mount Cadon is also known as Mount Lung (PROSE: Lungbarrow) and Mount Plutarch. (PROSE: The Three Paths)
 * Kamelion mentions his previous affiliation with . (TV: The King's Demons)
 * Tegan refers to Turlough once working for the enemy. (TV: Mawdryn Undead, Enlightenment)
 * The Doctor mentions the Master's frustration at all his defeats. (TV: Terror of the Autons et al)
 * Tegan claims she is not afraid of snakes, but doesn't like them. (TV: Kinda, Snakedance, AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake)
 * Turlough mentions that his best friend was a hippo. (TV: Mawdryn Undead)