Frostfire (audio story)

Frostfire was the first story of the first series in The Companion Chronicles audio range. It was produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Marc Platt and featured Vicki Pallister.

Publisher's summary
Vicki has a tale to tell.

But where does it start and when does it end?

Ancient Carthage. 1164 BC.

Lady Cressida has a secret. She keeps it deep in the cisterns below the Temple of Astarte with only one flame for warmth. And it must never get out.

Regency London, 1814 AD.

The First Doctor, Steven and Vicki go to the fair and meet the fiery Dragon, the novelist Miss Austen and the deadliest weather you ever did see.

But which comes first?

The Future or the Past?

The Phoenix or the Egg?

The Fire or the Frost?

Or will Time freeze over forever?

Part one
In ancient Carthage, Vicki opens the door of a cellar under the Main Temple and goes down into it, addressing someone living there. She carries a scroll, with the first draft of a story she had a scribe written down for her, and she wants to share it with the dweller of the cellar. It is a story of an adventure she had with the Doctor and Steven, where they landed in London, 1814, during the last Frost Fair.

Vicki had just finished describing London when a voice interrupts her, complaining about the cold. It says that it was too cold in London too to remember, and asks for more heat. Vicki, annoyed, goes on with her story.

In the past, the Doctor, Steven and Vicki go around the many attractions of the Fair. The Doctor is attracted to a poster advertising the presence of a dragon, and is very disappointed when it turns out to be just a circus fire-eating. At that moment, the three strangers are addressed by an Italian charlatan, Ippolito Valzacchi, offering himself as a guide. The three of them turned him down, but he insists, to the point of taking out a sword and threatening Steven. The fight that it could ensue is avoided thanks to the intervention of Sir Joseph Mallard, a gentleman, and his wife Georgiana, who send Valzacchi away and then offer to guide them in his stead. The Doctor accepts. It comes out that Sir Joseph is Deputy Warden of the Royal Mint.

The group comes at the end of the Fair, where a tend stands, property of a sea captain, McClavity, showing the wonders he allegedly collected on his travels. They go in to see. Most of the stuff is just fake, or rubbish. The captain then goes on to show his greatest treasure, something he acquired in Medina, in Tunis.

In the present, when hearing the name of the place, the mysterious dweller of the cellar laughs, recognising it. Vicki comments she was sure that would get his attention, and that "things come in circles".

In the past, the captain unveils his treasure: a giant egg, which he calls "the Phoenix's egg", big as a head, with something luminous and cold inside it. As it unveils, the tent gets colder, as if all the heat had been sucked off. As Vicki watches, unable to turn away, the shell of the egg breaks, and an eye lurks from the inside of it, looking directly at Vicki and Georgiana. Vicki feels sick and faints, to recover some minutes later, thanks to the intervention of another lady in the crowd: Jane Austen. The egg now is whole again. Vicki tells the Doctor and Steven what happened, and while the latter one dismisses it, the Doctor seems impressed and worried. While the Doctor congratulates Jane Austen for the success of her novels (even though, at the moment, only two had been published, and not with her name on it), Vicki sees Lady Georgiana insist with her husband to get the captain's egg. Sir Joseph leads her away, followed closely by Valzacchi. Suddenly, the circus fire-eater comes out of the crowd, running, the fire in his mouth now cold and violent. Jane Austen knocks him out, but in the confusion, the sea captain is killed and the egg is stolen.

Part two
to be added

Cast

 * Vicki Pallister - Maureen O'Brien
 * The Cinder - Keith Drinkel

Biology

 * The Cinder mentions the Doctor's hearts.

Books

 * Jane Austen says that, at this date, she wrote only two novels (Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice) and not with her name on it.

Buildings

 * Vicki notes that St Paul's Cathedral is still standing in the 25th century, after the Dalek invasion in the 22nd century and four World Wars.

Individuals

 * The Doctor, Vicki and Steven Taylor are joined on this adventure by Jane Austen.
 * The Doctor, Vicki, Steven and Jane met a beadle in London in 1814.

Locations

 * The TARDIS crew attend the 1814 frost fair on the River Thames.

Music

 * The Doctor dances a gavotte with Jane Austen.

Continuity

 * Vicki is telling this story as an ageing woman in 1164 B.C., many years after she left the TARDIS in ancient Troy to marry Troilus. (TV: The Myth Makers)
 * Vicki recalls rescuing Steven Taylor from the Mechanoids(TV: The Chase) and the "trouble with the Monk". (TV: The Time Meddler)
 * The Doctor provides Vicki and Steven with invernal clothes of Russian origin. He and Steven will later visit Russia in 1812 together with Dodo Chaplet. (AUDIO: Mother Russia)
 * The Doctor says he once saw "a dragon the size of London bridge". (PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice)
 * The Second Doctor, Ben Jackson, Polly Wright and Jamie McCrimmon would later visit another frost fair in December 1648. (PROSE: The Roundheads)
 * River Song and the Eleventh Doctor would later ice skate on the frozen River Thames at around the same time during "the last of the great frost fairs." (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
 * The Doctor also visited the 1814 frost fair during both his tenth and twelfth incarnations. (PROSE: The Frozen; TV: Thin Ice)
 * Clara Oswald would later strike up a relationship with Jane Austen, and stated that she was a good kisser. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice, Face the Raven)