Caerdroia (audio story)

 was the sixty-third monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. Released in November 2004, it featured the Eighth Doctor and companions Charley Pollard and C'rizz. It was essentially the "beginning of the end" of the Divergent Universe arc. Significantly, it depicted the Doctor's recovery of the TARDIS, which had been absent from the Eighth Doctor's adventures since AUDIO: Scherzo.

The story began to "pay off" the Divergent Universe arc by explaining things like the Interzone, the Kro'ka's motivations and fears, how a universe without time worked and the Divergence itself.

From a production standpoint, it was notable for its highly complex sound design, which had to depict abstract environments, including the Doctor's own mind. It also afforded Paul McGann the chance to play three different versions of his Doctor, each primarily exhibiting what Charley called a "mode" of his character. Thus, the story had one Doctor that was a bit surly and paranoid, another that was bouncy and excitable and another that was more or less the "regular" Eighth Doctor.

As of 2013, Caerdroia also had the distinction of being the only full length piece of performed Doctor Who to be written by an American woman.

Publisher's summary
Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from the TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Eighth Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer -- and regain the TARDIS!

Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.

As the Doctor faces these challenges, Charley and C'rizz provide valuable help. But with the TARDIS itself at stake, the Doctor reaches deep inside himself to find some surprising new allies.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Charley Pollard - India Fisher
 * C'rizz - Conrad Westmaas
 * The Kro'ka - Stephen Perring
 * Rassilon - Don Warrington

The Doctor

 * The Doctor finally understands the meaning of the saying "safe as houses". After being split into three bodies, one of the Doctors explains that the expression originated in a 19th century recession in which the only financial security was in real estate.

Individuals

 * The Kro'ka describes Charley as "ever energetic."
 * The Kro'ka has never shown himself to the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz.
 * The Kro'ka cannot transport the Doctor from one zone to another unless he is conscious.

The TARDIS

 * The TARDIS has a croquet court.
 * The Kro'ka tells the Doctor that the TARDIS still exists but is no longer on Bortresoye.

The Doctor's items

 * The Doctor uses his last everlasting match.

Gallifreyan lifeforms

 * Gallifrey has a form of rabbit - which are "rounder and cuddlier" than Earth rabbits - and a purple form of marlot which is cannot be found anywhere else in the cosmos.

Planets

 * The Divergence are located on Caerdroia.
 * The Doctor says that sunflowers are unique to Earth.

Languages

 * "Caerdroia" is the Welsh phrase for "the fortress of many turnings."

Cultural references

 * The Doctor refers to The Three Little Pigs.
 * Tigger is the Doctor's favourite character from Pooh Bear.

Continuity

 * The Doctor surmises that the Divergence are putting into action plans which they made during previous encounters including memory editing (AUDIO: The Natural History of Fear) and personality duplication (AUDIO: The Twilight Kingdom) to discover his ability to operate the TARDIS.