The Valley of Death (audio story)

The Valley of Death was originally a story idea by producer Philip Hinchcliffe, thinking he'd like to do a story set in the Amazon. He had mentioned this story idea to a few writers including Robert Holmes, but he and none of the other writers were either particularly taken to the idea or understood it and it was quietly forgotten about. (DOC: Moving On)

About 35 years later, Big Finish Productions resurrected the original idea from Hinchcliffe and adapted it to audio using a script written by Jonathan Morris. It was then released as a four-part adventure starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson.

Publisher's summary
A century after his great-grandfather Cornelius vanished in the Amazon rainforest, Edward Perkins is journeying to the depths of the jungle to find out what became of his ancestor's lost expedition. Intrigued by what appears to be a description of a crashed spacecraft in the diaries of that first voyage, the Doctor and Leela join him on his quest. But when their plane runs into trouble and ends up crash landing, everyone gets more than they bargained for.

The jungle is filled with giant creatures and angry tribesmen, all ready to attack. But in the famed lost city of the Maygor tribe, something far, far worse is lurking. Something with an offer to make to mankind. Who are the Lurons and can they be trusted? Will the Doctor defeat the plans of the malevolent Godrin or will he become just another victim of the legendary Valley of Death?

Part one
to be added

Part two
to be added

Part three
to be added

Part four
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * Emissary Godrin/ Dr. Summersby/ Announcer - Nigel Carrington
 * Overlord Saldor/ Newsreader - Delia Lindsay
 * Valerie Carlton - Jane Slavin
 * Edward Perkins - Anthony Howell
 * Professor Cornelius Perkins - David Killick
 * General Hemmings/ Valcon/ Taxi Driver - Richard Bremmer

Continuity

 * The Doctor previously encountered giant spiders, namely the Eight Legs, on their home planet of Metebelis III towards the end of his third incarnation. (TV: Planet of the Spiders) He encountered them once again in London in 2015 during his eighth incarnation. (AUDIO: The Eight Truths, AUDIO: Worldwide Web) The Doctor would encounter a different, unintelligent breed of gigantic spiders in Sheffield in 2018 []
 * Leela and Edward are incapacitated through the use of a poison dart tipped with a paralysing agent which she erroneously believes to be a janis thorn. After regaining consciousness, she tells Edward that the face of Xoanon was carved into a mountain on her native planet. Furthermore, she mentions that she is easily at home in a jungle as she comes from one. (TV: The Face of Evil)
 * The Fourth Doctor was previously duplicated by the Kraals, who created an android copy of him as part of their attempted invasion of Earth. (TV: The Android Invasion)
 * Leela refers to her temporary blindness, which resulted from witnessing the destruction of the Rutan Host's mothership over Fang Rock in the 1900s. (TV: Horror of Fang Rock) She would be blinded once again, for a considerably longer period, during the Gallifreyan Civil War (AUDIO: Fractures) but her sight was eventually restored through the transfusion of Vampire blood on the Gallifrey of an alternative timeline (AUDIO: Annihilation).