The Shadow of the Scourge (audio story)

 was the thirteenth monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. It featured for the first time on audio together Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield. Lisa Bowerman had already been portraying Bernice Summerfield in Big Finish's own brand of Bernice audio stories.

This story is one of three full cast audio stories to feature the Virgin New Adventures line up of the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield the others are The Dark Flame and Love and War. This story and The Dark Flame are titled in the CD release's spine as a "Side Step" into the continuity of the Virgin New Adventures books.

The cover of this story features Lisa Bowerman's promotional image for Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield series (which began with Oh No It Isn't!), Sylvester McCoy in a photoshopped image based on his New Adventures costume (which can be seen on the cover of Original Sin) and Sophie Aldred in the costume that was created for Ace! The Inside Story of the End of an Era based on her appearances in Virgin New Adventure novels (post-Deceit).

Publisher's summary
The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and... the summoning of the Scourge.

The Seventh Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that has come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another universe that is ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve.

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Ace - Sophie Aldred
 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Annie Carpenter - Holly King
 * Mary Hughes - Caroline Burns-Cook
 * Brian Hughes - Lennox Greaves
 * Michael Pembroke - Michael Piccarilli
 * Gary Williams - Nigel Fairs
 * Scourge Leader - Peter Trapani

Foods and beverages

 * The Doctor muses to himself, "Why does tea made in a hotel room taste worse than tea made in any other situation?".

Objects

 * Ace uses a tool which the Spacefleet use to pry the casings off Daleks to open the lift doors.

Species

 * The Scourge require surrender papers to invade Earth.
 * The Scourge's voices inspire religious awe in humans, allowing them to command whomever they wish.
 * Benny mentions two turtles, Squidgy and Speckley, which she kept when she had run away from Spacefleet Academy.

The Doctor

 * While inside his mind, Bernice sees the Doctor's previous regenerations and what his eighth incarnation will be.
 * The Doctor discovered the Scourge whilst dreaming on the astral plane.

Continuity

 * Ace is pictured wearing her Spacefleet combat outfit, placing this after PROSE: Deceit.
 * Bernice mentions that Ace has been within the Doctor's mind. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation)
 * Bernice meets the Doctor's eighth incarnation in PROSE: The Dying Days.