The Eternal Summer (audio story)

 was the one hundred and twenty-eighth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

It was the second story in a trilogy centring around the fictional town of Stockbridge. This audio also marked the audio debut of Maxwell Edison, played by Mark Williams. Edison, like the village of Stockbridge, was created in Doctor Who Magazine comic stories.

Publisher's summary
It's been a long, hot summer in Stockbridge. Longer than the villagers can remember. Summer's lease is never-ending — and all thanks to the Lord and Lady of the Manor!

One man alone knows that something's wrong: Maxwell Edison, Stockbridge's unofficial ambassador to the universe. Or "flying saucer nut", as the locals have it. He'll need help proving it: from the local postmistress Miss Nyssa, perhaps; or the village Doctor, the fellow that's been living at the Green Dragon Inn these last 30 years.

They'd better hope that autumn never comes to Stockbridge. When autumn comes, the world is doomed...

Part 1
The meta-bionic drive system of the Rutan's ship has gone faulty and is about to cause the ship to explode, which could wipe out half of England. The panic-stricken Fifth Doctor along with Nyssa attempts to stop it...

A knock on the door awakens the Doctor. Alice Withers has brought him breakfast in bed. She addresses him as Doctor Smith. He is utterly bewildered that she knows the kind of tea he likes and his favourite breakfast meal despite his claim of never having met her before. He begins asking her questions to which she gives exceedingly vague answers. It is revealed he is living in Stockbridge and that he knows Alice, even if he can't remember her at present.

Heading downstairs, the Doctor meets and begins to question her husband Harold Withers. Harold reveals that the Doctor has always been a guest at the Green Dragon, "for as long as [he] can remember", and that he cannot recall when the Doctor arrived. The Doctor is further puzzled that there haven't been any visitors to the village either. He says he must go looking for someone and suddenly Alice remembers that what he is doing today is exactly the same thing he was doing yesterday.

The Doctor walks through the village, noting to himself that everything is as it seems. Suddenly a young girl on a bicycle, named Jane Potter, crashes into him, and the Doctor has some strange flashback. He asks her if she can help him find his companion and it is revealed that Jane already knows Nyssa, surprising him, and that she is at the post office. Far off, a man undercover recognises the Doctor and is shocked and unnerved over seeing him again.

The Doctor finds Nyssa in the post office where it is revealed that she too is mystified by their circumstance, after having arrived all the villagers claimed to have already been aware of her identity and to have known her "for as long as they can remember", whereas she is just as confused as the Doctor. She recounts their final moments aboard the Rutan ship before its imminent explosion after which she woke up here. The Doctor notes how similar Stockbridge looks to one of their previous visits, prompting Nyssa to recall Andrew Harper and wondering if she may be able to find him. The Doctor suggests that they'll head down to the local pub, the Redfern, to get some information.

At the bar, Nyssa inquires from Dudley Jackson as to the whereabouts of Andrew but he recalls no such person of that name ever having lived in the village. The Doctor asks him what year it is, and after a strange flashback, he replies that it's the 4th of August 2009... 1950. They leave. The Doctor points out the cars in the street don't have glaze and there's no antennae dishes, placing the era in either the 60s or 70s. They bump into Jane again, dressed in 1950s clothing headed to a wedding that they are unaware of. Nyssa asks her what day it is, and she replies that it's the 12th of June 1984. The Doctor notes that there's something strange going on with time. They arrive at the wedding... and the marrying couple turn out to be Alice and Harold from earlier, in their 20s. The Doctor is confounded. Just then they see a fire in the distance, realising that the village school is on fire.

A boy named Philip has been trapped in the fire. He is rescued from the wreckage and the Doctor is brought over to try and save him, but the Doctor, after much effort, pronounces him dead on the scene... and suddenly time reverses. The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves at a funeral which was for Harold. The Doctor is utterly perplexed. They go and read the gravestone and find that Harold, Alice and Philip's names are written on the tombstone but the Doctor points out that there are no dates. Suddenly the Doctor spots a police telephone box. Thinking it's the TARDIS, they go and investigate, only to find that it is just an empty police telephone box. They use the phone and the voice on the other end says that time is winding backwards. The phone then rings, the Doctor answers, repeating the same words he had just heard unintentionally, and realises the voice he had just heard before was him in the future. The Doctor surmises that someone doesn't want them contacting the outside world. The Doctor says time is moving too quickly and that the villagers don't realise it.

Just then, they are approached by Maxwell Edison. He says he wanted to make sure it really was the Doctor before revealing himself. The Doctor introduces him to Nyssa. Nyssa seems a little put-off by him but the Doctor assures her that Maxwell can be trusted and he does, as he claims, somehow, have some sort of supernatural "sixth sense". Maxwell explains that something is wrong in Stockbridge, as the school fire happened twenty years ago, and events seem to be occurring in non-linear order. Maxwell mentions that there are ghosts here as well. They make there way over to a spot Maxwell claims is where super-natural phenomenon are occurring. The trio observe three beings wearing spacesuits manifest and begin approaching them. The Doctor tries to warn Nyssa to stay away but suddenly they disappear, having taken Nyssa with them...

Part 2:
Three unknown entities talk amongst themselves and note the weakening barrier since Nyssa has been taken and they agree that the Doctor must cooperate in their plans otherwise he will die.

Maxwell and the Doctor discuss the events with Maxwell. The Doctor is concerned that the ghosts approached them. Time is still radically fluctuating. The Doctor tries to head to the next village and Maxwell warns and waits for him, as he inevitably ends up back in Stockbridge, apparently unable to leave. He theorises they are trapped in a time bubble. They are greeted by Dudley who points out the decorations around the village in preparation for an event and Maxwell and the Doctor realize they are in yet another mixed-up time fluctuation.

From afar, the Doctor and Maxwell are suddenly caught experiencing Dudley's past, including his marriage, the abortion of his would-be child and eventual decline. Next the two experience Dudley's memories of the death of Jane. They then find themselves in Dudley's bar, the Green Dragon, and he offers the two drinks. He reveals that he has experienced that flashback many times, surprising the Doctor. He also explains that they, the residence of Stockbridge, re-experience their entire lives every day in the same flashbacks. Just then someone comes to warn them about a school fire in an act of deja-vu but Alice is inexplicably alive and when the Doctor questions her death, she reveals she is aware she has died but that was yesterday. The Doctor and Dudley manage to rescue one of the children but Philip still dies, just as he did before. The Doctor tries to break the pattern but Philip dies yet again and suddenly they are back in Dudley's bar where he reveals that it's the same as always. Just then, they hear the telephone ringing from the old police telephone box. The Doctor answers and Nyssa replies, panicking, and explains that he can see her by returning to the same place she was taken at midnight.

Just then the Doctor suddenly finds himself at Alice and Harold's house where Alice is now dying as opposed to Harold. The Doctor is highly perplexed but Harold says they just go on and get used to it. The Doctor, however, questions that if he knows she will be fine tomorrow, why is he still crying? Harold thinks it is the payment for living in what he claims is heaven, but the Doctor thinks that this Stockbridge is quite the... contrary. Suddenly time fluctuates again and now the roles reverse. The Doctor questions Alice now. Next, he questions Maxwell, and why he doesn't seem so bothered by the current situation. Maxwell reveals that he gets to revisit his happiest memories and that, mirroring the words of Harold and everyone else, it is "the price they pay". Interrogating Maxwell further, he learns about the Lord and Lady of the Manor. It becomes cold and the Doctor starts off.

The three entities note the recent change of events amongst themselves again, saying that the Doctor should never be permitted to leave.

The Doctor and Maxwell head to Wellsworth Woods and although Maxwell tries to stop him, the Doctor continues on. The mysterious ghost-beings from before in environment suits appear and approach them. One of them turns out to be Nyssa who tells the Doctor he has to make physical contact to leave with her but Maxwell stops him. The Doctor, frustrated and confused, demands to know why Maxwell stopped him, when Maxwell reveals that if he goes they will all die since they are really the ghosts. The beings from earlier, who had disguised themselves as residence of Stockbridge, appear and tell the Doctor he is to meet the Lord and Lady of the manor.

The Doctor is brought to the manor but berates the patrons of the village as they believe they have been granted eternal life which the Doctor decries as insane. Just then, he is presented to the Lord and Lady of the manor. The Lady turns out to be Nyssa and the Lord turns out to be none other than the Doctor, or at least, his future self...

Cast

 * The Doctor/Lord of the Manor - Peter Davison
 * Nyssa/Lady of the Manor - Sarah Sutton
 * Maxwell Edison - Mark Williams
 * Lizzie Corrigan - Pam Ferris
 * Harold Withers - Roger Hammond
 * Alice Withers - Susan Brown
 * Dudley Jackson - Nick Brimble
 * Jane Potter - Abigail Hollick
 * Vicar - Barnaby Edwards
 * Geoff - Nicholas Briggs

Individuals

 * Alice Withers may be a descendant of Maud the Withered.
 * The Lord of the Manor almost utters the Doctor's true name, but has forgotten it.
 * Maxwell has read all of Terry Pratchett's books.

English towns and villages

 * Stockbridge exists/existed within a time bubble for sixty years.

Organisations

 * In an alternate timeline, Lizzie Corrigan ran the Psychic Investigation Group (PIG).

Spacecraft

 * The Lord and Lady's manor is built on top of the Rutans' spacecraft.

Cultural references from the real world

 * Lizzie tells Max that her PIG teammates are fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files.
 * Lizzie compares the situation in Stockbridge to the storyline of the 1954 film Brigadoon starring Gene Kelly and Van Johnson.
 * Maxwell references the film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell when referring to the time bubble.

Games

 * Phillip is said to have been playing a game of Cowboys and Indians

Food and Beverages

 * While in Dudley's bar, the Green Dragon, the Doctor orders a ginger beer.

Continuity

 * AUDIO: Castle of Fear leads directly into this story.
 * When the Lady of the Manor touches Nyssa, there are flashbacks to AUDIO: Circular Time, AUDIO: The Mutant Phase and AUDIO: Primeval.
 * Maxwell Edison first appeared and met the Doctor in COMIC: Stars Fell on Stockbridge, which is partially dramatised here in flashbacks.
 * Nyssa unsuccessfully looks for her former lover, Andrew. During this quest, his surname is revealed to be Harper, despite being stated as Whitaker in AUDIO: Autumn. However, this is likely due to the paradoxical nature of this story, which may have been reverted when the timeline was corrected.
 * The TARDIS interior would revert to that of a regular police box again in TV: Father's Day.
 * The Doctor compared the village's circumstances to the fake Devesham which he and Sarah Jane Smith discovered on Oseidon during his fourth incarnation. (TV: The Android Invasion)
 * The Doctor orders a ginger beer from Dudley while at the Green Dragon. He ordered the same drink in a similar circumstance on a fake earth in his fourth incarnation, claiming it was a personal favourite. (TV: The Android Invasion)
 * The Doctor tries to get the Lady of the Manor to remember her life as Nyssa by reminding her of Adric, (TV: The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, et al.) Tegan Jovanka and, (TV: Logopolis, Castrovalva, et al.) and the Cyberman. (TV: Earthshock, AUDIO: Spare Parts)
 * Lizzie lived in Stockbridge until her death at 112 years old. (AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor mentions Castrovalva when he noticed that Stockbridge topography has gone wrong. (TV: Castrovalva)