The Suffering (audio story)

The Suffering was the seventh story of the fourth series in The Companion Chronicles audio series. It was produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jacqueline Rayner and featured Steven Taylor and Vicki Pallister.

Publisher's summary
The TARDIS materialises in England in the year 1912, a time of great social change. The Suffragette movement is lobbying for votes for women, and the skull of the so-called "missing link" has been discovered in Piltdown.

While Vicki falls victim to a strange influence, the Doctor and Steven investigate the fossilised remains. The Suffering has been unleashed. Can the travellers survive its rage?

An Unearthing (1)
to be added

The Piltdown Woman (2)
to be added

The Female of the Species (3)
to be added

The Sharing (4)
to be added

Cast

 * Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
 * Vicki Pallister - Maureen O'Brien

Continuity

 * Steven tells the Doctor that he has not eaten since 1066. (TV: The Time Meddler)
 * Steven refers to his two years as a prisoner of the Mechonoids on their native planet Mechanus and his first encounter with the Doctor. (TV: The Chase)
 * In her delirium, Vicki recalls that she and her father were to begin a new life on Astra before the UK-201 crash-landed on Dido in 2493 and the murder of her father by Bennett. (TV: The Rescue)
 * The Doctor refers to his visit to Peking in 1289. (TV: Marco Polo)
 * The Doctor uses the Aztec bracelet given to him by Cameca as an engagement present in Mexico during the 15th century to buy suits and top hats for himself and Steven. (TV: The Aztecs) However, it eventually re-entered his possession as the Seventh Doctor later wore it on the lapel of his cream linen suit. (PROSE: White Darkness) The Eighth Doctor would give it to his granddaughter Susan Foreman as a Christmas present. (AUDIO: Relative Dimensions)
 * The Doctor describes his theft of the ape jaw "as easy as pie". (TV: The Five Doctors)
 * Vicki refers to her appreciation for the Beatles' music. (TV: The Chase; AUDIO: 1963)
 * Vicki recalls stowing away aboard a Dalek time machine (TV: The Chase), becoming involved in the machinations of Roman emperors (TV: The Romans) and English kings (TV: The Crusade) and leading an uprising on a distant planet (TV: The Space Museum).
 * Vicki refers to her role in defeating the Daleks (TV: The Chase), the Moroks (TV: The Space Museum) and the Monk (TV: The Time Meddler).
 * Vicki mentions her skill at cutting hair. (TV: Galaxy 4)
 * The Doctor and Steven would return to London in 1762 (AUDIO: The Founding Fathers), February 1814 (AUDIO: Frostfire), 1966 (AUDIO: The Perpetual Bond) and, later in their personal timelines, March 1965 (TV: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve).
 * The story that Constance tells whilst possessed by the skull fragment is implied to be the origin of the Drahvins. (TV: Galaxy 4)