The Hidden Realm (audio story)

The Hidden Realm was the second and final story in the audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 2, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured Tim Treloar as the Third Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant.

Publisher's summary
The Doctor and Jo journey to Bramfield New Town when the husband of Jo's cousin vanishes mysteriously. As magpies circle overhead, the Doctor discovers a terrifying alien plot...

Part one
The Doctor gives Jo a ride up to Bramfield to investigate the sudden disappearance of the husband of Jo's cousin Stephanie Andrews, Peter Andrews while he simultaneously is in the process of tracking some mysterious ripples in the area that he suspects may or may not be related to Jo's problem. DCI Harry Finch and DS Joseph in the meantime are sent to Bramfield to also investigate the disappearance of Peter Andrews, first questioning Stephanie herself and informing her that amidst the disappearance, £100,000 have been deposited into her bank account from an account in Buenos Aires, Argentina by a stranger but she tells the suspicious investigators she has no idea where it would have come from and they leave and make their way over to the inn they're staying over at for the night where they meet Ms. Barnett.

On the way to the inn the Doctor explains to Jo that Bramfield has a history of disappearing people that would reappear later and somehow vastly change the town. They then arrive at the inn and meet DS Joseph who gets a radio call from DCI Finch about the strange old abbey as he seemingly forgot his notepad there from when they had investigated earlier that day and had returned to collect it. The Doctor and Jo head over right away when the Doctor's quantum field manipulator picks up strange readings there and DCI Finch notices the magpies in the abbey behaving strangely. Just then he is transported away and the Doctor and Jo just miss him, when suddenly, they are caught in the magpies' strange circle and transported as well...

Part two
DS Joseph, having followed after them, arrives on the scene and the Doctor instructs him to use the quantum field manipulator on the seat of his car to interfere and stop them from being transported away and he does, successfully. Inspecting the magpies they see they are mechanical, and they realise someone is controlling them and they intend to find out who. They return to the inn to make a plan. Stephanie arrives and informs Jo about a new child in her class who is afraid to go home because he believes his real parents have ended up in the same place as Peter while his current parents are not real. Inside the inn, the Doctor persuades DS Joseph to tell him about the bank account in Buenos Aries and the mysterious disappearance of the account owner.

Ms. Barnett overhears their conversation and tells them more about the various disappearances. The Doctor, DS Joseph, Jo and Ms. Barnett then head out on her recommendation to an old band-stand that the Doctor believes will aid their investigation. They split up, and after Ms. Barnett takes the Doctor to some locations where the disappearances happened, he begins to put thing together. Stephanie, having been told to stay behind due to the danger of the situation, is found by "DCI Finch" (who's body has been implanted with someone else's mind to carry out Overseer Zim's plan) tricks Stephanie into following him into a forest where she eventually finds and reunites with Peter. He "explains" everything to her and asks her to call him Hugo Martinez, the name of the person whose account the money was transferred from and he then informs her that Peter is gone and she shrieks....

Part three
The Doctor finds a trans-spatial induction cable connected to the band-stand and then discovers a strange manhole which he and Ms. Barnett descend in hopes of not drawing the dawning ire of the villagers watching them. Jo and DS Joseph, meanwhile, are found by the fake DCI Finch and told that Peter has been found and must go with him to see him. The Doctor, only too late, realises he's been lured into a trap by Ms. Barnett who reveals herself to be working for Zim who has promised her her youth back as well as immortality, and Zim straps the Doctor into a mindthresher and explains his plan about selling people bodies so they can "live forever" before attempting to insert his mind into the Doctor's body. Jo and DS Joseph slowly realise that the DCI Finch is a fake and cause him to crash the car, then make a getaway and find the destroyed quantum field manipulator theorising the Doctor must be nearby and try to track him down. The fake DCI Finch returns to Zim in the damaged body and demands that if Zim wants his continued help, he is to transfer his (Hans Vogel's) mind into the Doctor's body to which Zim reluctantly agrees despite wanting it for himself. Declaring that all traces of the Doctor's mind have been eradicated, they prepare to begin the mind transfer...

Part four
Jo and DS Joseph return to the inn and are greeted by Ms. Barnett who sits them down and Peter and Stephanie arrive at the inn just as Ms. Barnett breaks the news that Peter has returned but Jo works out the truth, that Ms. Barnett is responsible and the "Peter" and "Stephanie" they see are really imposters. They leave, trying to figure out what to do when Jo is contacted by the Doctor over DS Joseph's radio, but she discreetly tricks him into giving away that he's not the real Doctor and rolling with it they make a plan to meet the Doctor at the abbey. She confronts the "Doctor" at the abbey who reveals himself to be Hans Vogel, but Jo spurns him on and the Doctor, not completely destroyed by Zim, manages to gain back control of his mind for a few moments and instructs the two on how to stop Zim and Vogel. However, Vogel takes back control and he captures Jo and DS Joseph and takes them to Zim who instructs him to prepare their bodies for Zim's next customers. The Doctor, inside the mind chamber, contacts the imprisoned mind of DCI Finch and explains the catastrophe that will befall if Vogel continues to occupy the Doctor's mind and gives him instructions to save Jo and DS Joseph by getting them away from the area before the Doctor collapses the core. DCI Finch returns his mind to his body and frees and rescues Jo and DS Joseph but they are blocked by "Peter" and "Stephanie". However, their minds are sucked back into the machine thanks to the Doctor and they are returned to normal.

The Doctor confronts Zim and prepares to sacrifice himself, however, DCI Finch arrives on the scene, knocks Zim out and pushes the Doctor through a portal, sacrificing himself in the end instead much to the Doctor's upset. Reunited, the Doctor assures them all that the threat has passed and Zim is no more. When asked about Ms. Barnett, the Doctor explains that she sacrificed her life and youth in service to Zim on the promise that she would get her youth back, however, as he is no more, she will likely live in bitterness now as she never will, having now wasted it all in service to Zim. He believes that is punishment enough. He and Jo then drive back to UNIT HQ, where Jo tests him on the drive back to make sure it really is the Doctor and they have a laugh.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tim Treloar
 * Jo Grant - Katy Manning
 * Stephanie Andrews - Clare Buckfield
 * Peter Andrews - Robert Whitelock
 * Barnett - Sandra Voe
 * DCI Finch - Richard Earl
 * DS Joseph - Alex Lanipekun
 * Overseer Zim - George Asprey

Crew

 * Cover Art - Tom Webster
 * Director - Nicholas Briggs
 * Executive Producer - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music and Sound Design - Nigel Fairs
 * Producer - David Richardson
 * Script Editor - John Dorney
 * Writer - David Llewellyn

Technology

 * The Doctor scans the Bramfield using a quantum field manipulator.
 * The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver as a locator.
 * The Doctor finds a trans-spatial induction cable.
 * Zim has a machine called a mindthresher.
 * The Doctor, prepared to sacrifice himself, tells DCI Finch to tell Jo to take care of his car Bessie.

Individuals

 * Stephanie Andrews is a school teacher at St Martin's primary school while her husband Peter is a town-planner.
 * When Hans Vogel inhabits DCI Finch's body, he puts it at 45-50 years old and from the teeth deduces Finch is a smoker and from the stains indicate he is a coffee-drinker.
 * The name of the girl in the car who went missing that DCI Finch is supposed to remember is Sarah Whitfield.
 * The Doctor tells Jo they better not keep the Brigadier waiting.
 * The Doctor tells Jo they better not keep the Brigadier waiting.

Places

 * The account that Stephanie and Peter receive money from is registered in Buenos Aries, Argentina.

Songs

 * Many of the characters recite the nursery rhyme One for Sorrow.

Aliens

 * Overseer Zim is an Ocridian.

Continuity

 * Zim knows the Doctor is a Time Lord and is able to regenerate. (TV: The Tenth Planet, The War Games et al.)
 * When the Doctor tries to fight Vogel for control of his mind, the Doctor says "Oh my giddy aunt" and "Chesterfield" and Jo comments that those names are not something her Doctor would say and it must be from one of his other lives. The Second Doctor often used the phrase "Oh my giddy aunt". (TV: The Krotons et al). The First Doctor sometimes called his companion Ian Chesterston by his last name of "Chesterton" and occasionally mistakenly by the name "Chesterfield". (TV: Planet of Giants )
 * The Doctor continually reiterates that a human and a Time Lord cannot share a mind as it leads to disastrous consequences and what the Doctor dubs a "meta-crisis". Some of the disaster is observed in the Doctor-Donna when Donna absorbs the meta-crisis Doctor's DNA and becomes part Time lord. (TV: Journey's End)
 * The Doctor releases the imprisoned minds, even though some no longer have bodies to return to, in order to end their suffering. (TV: The Bells of Saint John)