Farewell, Great Macedon (audio story)

 was the first story in the audio anthology The First Doctor Box Set, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was adapted by Nigel Robinson, from the original script by Moris Farhi, narrated by Carole Ann Ford and William Russell and featured the First Doctor, Susan, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Publisher's summary
The TARDIS materialises in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, in the year 323 BC. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan meet Alexander the Great – but their excitement is tempered by the realisation that these are the final days of Alexander's life. As the travellers become embroiled in the tragic events, the inevitability of history unfolds around them.

But can they – and should they – change it?

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1)
The TARDIS stops suddenly to everyone's surprise: the TARDIS has a fuel leak. Realising they are on Earth and sometime in the past, and with no way to repair the TARDIS presently, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan decide to step outside of the ship. They find themselves in a garden full of sound and beautiful exotic plants, which Ian recognises as the Hanging Garden of Babylon. Shortly after, they hear a fanfare sound and the voices of beautiful women announcing that the king has arrived, and Susan runs off to see where the women are going.

In another part of the gardens, four men are gathered: Seleucus, general of the Greek army; Glaucias, the camp physician; Iollas, a priest of the god Apollo, and Antipater, a politician and a trusted adviser to the king. Antipater makes known his distress for having been in a foreign land the last thirteen years and claims that not one Greek wouldn't welcome the thought of going back home. Argued by Seleucus that the army would never abandon the king, Antipater declares that the king will have to be separated from the army. Seleucus, who believes this to be treason, attempts to leave before being reprimanded by Antipater who reminds him of his plot not too long before in which Seleucus tried to place himself in the order of succession to the throne. Antipater believes that, currently, there would be nothing to gain from the death of the king because one of his three generals would take the throne; Antipater suggests that they kill all three generals along with the king in order to better control the throne. Seleucus, unsure, leaves on the promise that he would decide at a later time. With Seleucus gone, Antipater discloses to Iollas and Glaucias that the Greek general would be nothing more than a figure head so that they could go after the treasure and riches of the empire. Antipater decides that they will work their way up to the kings death starting with the death of the generals, and to better prepare the situation he orders Iollas to "prophecy" something terrible.

Susan who had followed the singing women out of the hanging gardens, has made her way up to great towering city walls of Babylon. When the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara finally catch up to her they manage a glimpse of the tents outside of the city where the soldiers in the army reside; in the distance they can see the king waiting to greet the women who then greeted him with gifts. Losing the attention of the Doctor shortly thereafter to a curious smell which he begins to investigate; catching up with the Doctor and the source of the smell, the travellers find Iollas performing a ritual, though the travellers believed him to cooking; the Doctor even going so far as to try and teach him how to cook better. It isn't long before Ian and the Doctor are interrupted by a spear landing just between the two: turning to see who threw the spear, they see a young man of about thirty. It is the king, accompanied by four massive guards. Half joking, he tells them that they must not disturb Apollo's priest referring to Iollas who is bent over on the ground mumbling now, seemingly back in some trance, warning them of unspoken nightmares that could come from interrupting his prophesying. Iollas comes out of his trance and prophesies a warning that the king must leave Babylon before a four-headed misfortune descends upon him. The king, ignoring Iollas' words in another half joking manner, merits a praise from the Doctor for not believing in such foolish things, although the king scolds him in return for not respecting the customs of his people. As the king and the Doctor become more friendly to each other, the king offers to host the travellers, while completely ignoring Iollas' attempt to warn him with his "prophecy"; he introduces them to his generals Haphaeston, Cleitus, Calanus and Ptolemy. As the young king leads the travellers to the camp, Barbara figures who he is: Alexander of Macedon.

At the edge of the encampment near the walls, Iollas reaches Antipater and Glaucias. Learning of the strangers who interfered with Iollas, Antipater conjectures that this actually helps their cause: four strangers, four omens, four deaths. Claiming that they can easily link the deaths to the strangers by making others believe that these strangers are the evil omens and that the suspicion will fall on them by default.

O Son, My Son (2)
Alexander brings the travellers to his tent and introduces them to his friends: Cleitus, his master-at-arms, who saved his life in battle; Calanus, the wise Indian; Haphaeston, his best friend; and Ptolemy, his Nubian guard. The travellers witness the friendship and camaraderie of the men with their king, but also the quick moment of tension between Alexander and Cleitus. Alexander asks them who whey are, and upon hearing they are travellers, offers them hospitality at his court. They accept, also because they have to wait for the TARDIS to recharge itself.

Later, Barbara and Susan witness a duel between Alexander and Seleucus, where the latter almost beats the king, before being stopped by Ptolemy. Worried, Barbara confides in Susan that Alexander only visited Babylon twice during his life: she hopes it's the first one, because the second time it happened Alexander died. Meanwhile, the Doctor leads Ian into exploring the Greek camp, only after telling him he was looking for a way to extract oil wihout attracting attention: his plan is to refine the oil and use it to recharge the TARDIS' fuel link. Elsewhere, Antipater confides to Glaucias and Iollas that he means to devise ways for Alexander and his friends to die ignominously, so to reduce their stature to that of simple men; as he begins to hatch a plan to kill Cleitus, he charges Iollas to tell Alexander that the strangers' arrival is an omen, announcing the oncoming "four-headed disgrace" that he prophesised him. Iollas does so, but Alexander dismisses him angrily.

That night, before the feast of Dionysus, Cleitus confides to Susan and Barbara to be homesick: he is absent from Greece to much. Later, during the feast, a drunk Cleitus objects when Alexander offers his libation not only to the Greek god Dionysus, but also to the Persian god Ammon and the Egyptian goddess Ishtar, as a sign of reconciliation and peace amongst the people. Cleitus objects that Alexander should not treat as equals the victors Greeks and their slaves, but all the other participants at the banquet (including Ian) condemn his view. Enranged, Cleitus calls Alexander a traitor, and the king, also a little drunk, takes a spear and threatens to kill him. As the fight increases, Iollas and Glaucias slip behind Alexander and Cleitus: the first stops Ian from intervening, the other pushes Cleitus onto Alexander's spear, killing him. Only the Doctor notices their move, but everyone is distracted when Alexander, in a fit of rage, tries to kill himself with the same spear out of shame and pain, but Hephaestion and Ptolemy stop him in time.

A Man Must Die (3)
The day after, as the soldiers mourn Cleitus by competing in athletic feats, the Doctor confides to his companions that Iollas pushed Cleitus onto the spear; unfortunately, he is unable to prove it, so he won't tell nothing to Alexander. Instead, he sends Barbara to request the king permission to enter Babylon, in order to reach the TARDIS and start the repairs on the ship. Ian feels guilty over causing the debate which led to Cleitus' death, but he is conforted by Calamus, who assures him Cleitus was actually a good man and never mistreated anyone, in spite of his beliefs. Elsewhere, Antipater reprimands Iollas for his intervention: thanks to him, Cleitus died a noble death, not the ignominious one he envisaged. That same evening, Antipater visits Calamus in his tent as he is meditating and gives him a rose, whose thorns he poisoned.

Some days later, after the end of Cleitus' mouring period, Alexander is preparing to enter in Babylon again. As he and Hephaestion pack, Alexander notices his friend does not have his sword with him. The two friends remember the time an old man gave Hephaestion the blade, and told him that, the day he would be separated by the blade, would have been the day of his death. Ptolemy rushes into the tent, informing them that Calamus has fallen sick. Alexander and Hephaestion reach the Indian's tent, where they find Glaucias, Iollas and Antipater; the camp physician tells Alexander there's nothing to be done, but Hephaestion suggests they call upon the Doctor. The Doctor comes and, upon visiting Calamus, determines he has been poisoned with anthrax, and can be saved by a blood transfusion.

As Ian, the Doctor and Susan gather the blood from soldiers volunteering, Antipater, Iollas and Glaucias try to dissuade Alexander from trusting the strangers, to no avail. In his tent, Calamus asks Barbara whether he would live, and the woman (whose knows he has to die, according to history) is unable to lie to him. Therefore, Calamus calls Alexander and asks him to build a funeral pyre which he can climb upon, so to die a noble death. Distraught and grieved, Alexander agrees, much to the Doctor and Ian's chagrin. Ian protests vehemently against the king's decision, and in a moment of rage Alexander takes another spear, ready to throwing it at the teacher.

The World Lies Dead at your Feet (4)
Calamus stops Alexander from killing Ian and, after a final embrace with his King and friend, climbs upon his funeral pyre and lets himself burn to death. That same night, Barbara comforts a distraught Hephaestion and finally summons the courage to ask him what year it is: 323 BC, the year of Alexander's death. She confides to him her increasing inability not to be emotionally involved in the historical events she is witnessing. That same evening, she insists with Ian and Susan that they depart immediately, and she is seemingly granted her wish when the Doctor announces he repaired the TARDIS. However, given that tomorrow the king is entering Babylon, the Doctor decides they should remain with Alexander and enter the city together, much to Barbara's regret.

Somewhere else, Antipater forces Seleucus to choose: now that Cleitus and Calamus are dead, only Hephaestion and the king remain, and they need to know whether Seleucus is with them or against them. The general, reluctantly, joins the conspiracy, and Antipater stars plotting Hephaestion's death - an ignoble one for a warrior. The next day, as they prepare to march into Babylon, Hephaestion asks Alexander if and when are they going back to Greece, to which the king answers he doesn't want to: he has yet to accomplish his dream of an empire where all races are equal, where all men feel brothers. Alexander even confides that the has appointed him as successor, should he die. As the army moves into Babylon, Iollas tries once again to cast a prophecy of doom, but Alexander once again dismisses him.

Some days later, the Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbara come to say goodbye to the king before they leave. Alexander tells them he charged Hephaestion to give them some gifts as a sign of favour, and in turn they exchange with him some objects as gifts on his part. In the Hanging Gardens, the conspirators ambush Hephaestion, drag him into a hut and have an asphinx bite him, so that he dies by the poison of the snake, "as a love-sick woman". Hepahestion, however, gathers enough strength to react, kills Glaucias and evades his captors. As the poison takes effect, he reaches the travellers at the TARDIS as they are about to leave, and with his last dying breath tries to tell them to warn Alexander of the conspiracy. Just then, the king reaches the travellers with gifts; he is so distraught at the sight of his friend's corpse that he kills Iollas where he tries to speak with him. Antipater manages however to accuse the Doctor and his friends for the murder, so that Alexander orders the guard to restrain them.

In the Arena (5)
to be added

Farewell, Great Macedon! (6)
to be added

Cast

 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
 * Alexander the Great - John Dorney

Characters

 * First Doctor
 * Susan Foreman
 * Barbara Wright
 * Ian Chesterton
 * Alexander the Great
 * Hephaestion
 * Calanus
 * Cleitus
 * Ptolemy
 * Seleucus
 * Antipater
 * Iollas
 * Glaucias
 * Attalus
 * Roxane

Continuity

 * Ian would later tell Pendolin that it was Alexander who taught him how to ride a horse. (AUDIO: The Time Museum)
 * Immediately after his third regeneration, the Fourth Doctor recalled his encounter with Alexander the Great. Temporary memory loss caused him to refer to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as "Alexander." (TV: Robot)
 * The Fifth Doctor would later describe Alexander as "a dreadful bore" to his companions Tegan Jovanka and Turlough. (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus)
 * During his eleventh incarnation, the Doctor and his companion Amy Pond later visited Babylon in 905 BC. (COMIC: In the Stars)
 * The Big Finish Productions audio adaptation of The Masters of Luxor establishes that The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance takes place before Farewell, Great Macedon, as it mentions the events of both, but is explicitly set immediately after Farewell, Great Macedon.