The Transcendence of Ephros (audio story)

The Transcendence of Ephros was the first story in The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 2. It was written by Guy Adams and featured Tim Treloar as solely the Third Doctor, for the first time, and Katy Manning as Jo Grant.

Publisher's summary
The Doctor and Jo arrive on the dying planet Ephros, where Galactux Power Inc is exploiting the world's remaining resources. But something is stirring beneath the surface...

Part one
The Doctor and Jo arrive on Ephros and find that, rather than the verdant paradise that they were expecting, it is hot, the ground is covered in sand and the stars are in a grid pattern. A tremor opens the earth and swallows the TARDIS, forcing them to leave a tracker and go in search of help. They are soon cornered by two creatures and saved by Temper, who takes them to a valley full of followers of Sortan, camping in anticipation of the Transcendence.

Pretending to be from Galactux, the Doctor and Jo are taken to meet Mother Finsey. She agrees to help them and speaks with the Doctor whilst Jo goes to see Temper and his infant daughter, Shilly, and learns about the prophet Sortan. The Doctor goes with Temper to retrieve the TARDIS, leaving Jo to care for Shilly and gather information from Mother Finsey, and the sky (actually an extraction sphere) suddenly lights up not long after. The sphere, the two travellers learn, is going to absorb the energy released tomorrow when the planet explodes.

Part two
Mother Finsey and the other believers plan on ascending to a higher level of consciousness, just as Sortan did, by being on the planet when it is destroyed. The Doctor and Temper descend into the hole, chased by a giant worm, and enter the TARDIS. The Doctor looks in the data banks to identify the worm creature, which seems familiar to him.

Jo is forced to admit that she and the Doctor are not from Galactux and goes to find him so that they can leave before the destruction of Transcendence in about fifty hours, but she is held at gunpoint by Quail. Unable to convince him that she is not a spy, she escapes and meets Bartram, a Galactux employee who disagrees with the Ephros operation and is suspicious of the company. They go in search of the Doctor and Temper, finding their vehicle, and Jo falls when another tremor occurs.

Part three
Luckily Jo is saved by Bartram and the Doctor's TARDIS, with the Doctor and Temper inside, are beamed aboard a station via transmat, while Jo, unaware, tries to dig them up, thinking they've been killed. The Doctor and Temper are then confronted by Karswell, who demands they explain themselves. Jo and Bartram return to camp where she finds Quail dead and realises in horror they've stumbled onto something big and nasty while Jo visits Finsey and asks for her advice. She tries to persuade Jo to follow in her footsteps and just as she learned from her mentor, they must find their own way.

Bartram and Jo chat, becoming friends and Bartram finds the planet is behaving strangely and not in a scientifically explainable way. They investigate further. Meanwhile the Doctor, given free-reign to use the station's equipment by the president, discovers the cause of the tremors and the planet's upcoming explosion are due to Throxian Lavaworms, which the Doctor deduces had to be put there by someone, suspecting Galactux, however, he is knocked out by Temper who welcomes the planet's destruction. Jo and Bartram are suddenly taken hostage by Finsey, who reveals she is behind the events, inspired by her idol, the Master...

Part four
Finsey reveals her history with the Master before he tried to kill her and explains the religions are just her creation, with the whole plan a way to make money through Galactux. Temper ties up the Doctor to stop him from stopping "The Transcendence" and makes his way to the central control where he finds Finsey who reveals her deception and shoots, him, then leaves. Temper manages to free the Doctor before dying, renouncing his faith and begging him to save his family, including his wife and child. The Doctor finds Karswell has begrudgingly decided to help and the Doctor manages to get in touch with Jo and Tessa (Bartram). The Doctor instructs them to change the frequency of Finsey's frequency modulator device as it seems to be agitating the worms, causing the current problem hoping to buy some time. Finsey contacts the Doctor to gloat before getting away and reveals to him that the Master was her inspiration and explains that she made up all the religions and tricked the followers and has now swindled said worshipers, disgusting the Doctor. He warns her about the Master's influence and tries to offer her redemption but she cuts contact. Meanwhile Jo distracts a lizard creature from earlier while Bartram extracts DNA from the worms which allows the Doctor to draw out the worms and kill them. However, the Doctor finds it difficult due to his moral qualms and so Karswell takes charge and does it instead, to the Doctor's sadness. They try to explain to the worshipers that they have been saved from the uprising but they are disappointed and angry and boo the Doctor and Jo away. Jo, upset, gives a final goodbye to Bartram and she and the Doctor take off. Finsey's fate is unknown.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tim Treloar
 * Jo Grant - Katy Manning
 * Temper / Follower 1 - Simon Bubb
 * Mother Finsey - Richenda Carey
 * Karswell - Bernard Holley
 * Quail / Deputy - Nigel Peever
 * Bartram / Follower 2 - Karen Henson

Continuity

 * The Doctor refers to the recent business involving Draconians, Daleks, and Ogrons. (TV: Frontier in Space)
 * The Doctor claims he's been offered as a sacrifice by a fair few religions. (TV: The Daemons, AUDIO: The Entropy Plague et al.)
 * The Doctor mentions the Timelords are his people. (TV: The War Games et al.)