The Famished Lands (audio story)

 was the second story in the audio anthology The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Three, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Lisa McMullin and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Rakhee Thakrar as Bliss and Adèle Anderson as Major Tamasan.

Publisher's summary
Trying to make a difference far from the front lines, the Doctor and Bliss arrive in the Vale of Iptheus, where the Time War is starving populations out of existence.

The inhabitants have taken matters into their own hands – but are now on course for something worse. Bliss discovers exactly how the robot Enablers are helping the people, while the Doctor uncovers a terrifying secret...

Plot
The Doctor and Bliss arrive at the Vale of Iptheus, home to a famished people whose supply routes have been cut off by the Time War. Although there are aid workers, accompanied by armed robots, there does not seem to be any food. The robots massacre the people and the Doctor promises that he will make sure that this does not happen again.

Aeronwen takes Zendo down into a restricted area where there are growling creatures.

The Doctor and Bliss run away and catch a ride in the back of a truck to civilisation. They find that the people, although emaciated, seem happy and head to a shop where the shopkeeper provides them with a gelatinous substance to eat. Once they have left, the shopkeeper reports them to Aeronwen, telling her that they looked healthy and well-fed and did not know about the ichor. Aeronwen orders an Enabler to find out who they are and how they are being fed.

An Enabler approaches the Doctor and Bliss and explains that the Enablers that they saw earlier at the township helped the people there by killing them. It also tells them about ichor and escorts them to a restaurant at gunpoint where the menu is full of delicious dishes. Meanwhile, Aeronwen sends a message to the military, checking if the Doctor and Bliss are with them. The Doctor and Bliss are given ichor which, to Bliss, tastes like her orders and starts to look like food. The Doctor, however, is immune to the perception modifier and sees and tastes only putrid gloop.

The Enabler reports back to Aeronwen, who determines that the Doctor and Bliss must be from off-world. She orders the Enabler to assume that they are hostile and to bring them in.

The Doctor is analysing the ichor with his sonic screwdriver when the Enabler returns and teleports him away. Bliss is able to escape and sees a man calling out for the people to "bring out your hungry" to be taken to the Nutrition Centre and goes with him and Emory in the drop wagon. Emory tells Bliss that the ichor does not work for everybody and that those who remain hungry, like him, are taken away to the Nutrition Centre, but he knows nothing about it.

The Doctor meets Aeronwen and tells her that he is from Gallifrey, which she believes makes him a Dalek. He corrects her, but she believes that this makes him even worse and that the Time Lords and Daleks are a single army. She takes him to the Ichor Processing Plant and leaves him to have a look around; he finds that the ichor has almost no nutrition and is told by Zendo that he should be wearing a mask to protect himself from the fumes. He hallucinates green monkeys on the ceiling and Zendo reports his presence to Aeronwen, who pretends not to know about him and wonders why he is not dead.

Bliss is taken off of the wagon by an Enabler and finds that she is back in the ghetto where she and the Doctor arrived. She realises that the Enablers are going to kill the hungry and tells Emory, who collapses to distract an Enabler and allow Bliss to take its teleport and escape.

to be completed

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Bliss - Rakhee Thakrar
 * Aeronwen - Natalie Gumede
 * Zendo / Emory - Raj Ghatak
 * Enablers / Aid Worker / Shopkeeper / Drop Wagon Driver / Waiter - Andrew Fettes
 * Major Tamasan - Adèle Anderson
 * Digital Voice / Comms Message - Tracy Wiles

Continuity
to be added