Chase the Night (audio story)

 was the second story in the ninth series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana II, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric and John Leeson as K9.

Publisher's summary
The TARDIS lands in an alien tropical rainforest at night where the Doctor, Adric and Romana discover a set of rails stretching through the undergrowth. These tracks carry a long-crashed spaceship that's been converted to run along them like a train.

The ship has to keep moving because only the night-side of the world is habitable. The sun on the day-side burns so hot that everything on the surface is turned to ash.

But the stress and strain of the constant movement is beginning to take its toll on the ship. Parts are starting to break down, and the relentless heat gets ever closer - but the greatest danger may be on the inside...

Part one
TARDIS has picked up a distress signal from a colony ship called the Tantalus. Fourth Doctor and companions found the signal comes from a planet that’s orbiting close to its star and he has K9 scan for life on the planet. They discovered the planet has a breathable atmosphere and a surface temperature of 27.4 degrees on the side facing away from the star. The Doctor, now curious pulls up an image on the scanner and see the planet is bioluminescent. The Doctor decides to land on the planet. Romana voices her concern over the people who sent the signal might be hostile, but the Doctor reassures her they will be careful.

They land on the planet and discovers it is a tropical rainforest. Adric supposes K9 should stay in the Tardis, but K9 informs he will be fine and will notify them if he needs any help. They then head off in the direction of the distress signal, with K9 leading the way.

Meanwhile, Pilot Dena wants Engineer Terson to keep the engines running at full power. Engineer Terson informs that the engines are falling apart and they are running out of parts. Pilot Dena threatens Engineer Terson to keep his thoughts to himself and do his job of maintaining the engines and broadcasting the distress signal, lest he meets the same fate as the other mutineers.

The Doctor, Romana, Adric are still following K9, who is tracking the distress signal. They found a railway track when K9 detects a vehicle approaching. The Doctor has his companions hide away in case the people are hostile. Bolan and Laker greets the Doctor, who informs he picked up their distress signal. Bolan and Laker finds Adric in the bushes, and the Doctor tells him to come out of hiding. The Doctor and Adric enter the vehicle, that Bolan calls a hover-wagon. Laker then informs Dena that they found two people who are reportedly from a rescue ship.

Romana is annoyed that the Doctor and Adric have left her and K9 behind and have to follow them on foot. But oddly enough, the distress signal is getting closer than getting further away. Back on the hover-wagon, the Doctor tells Adric they should tell them they crashed on the planet and play along with their assumptions in-case they are not friendly. Meanwhile, Engineer Terson informs his daughter Moni that a rescue ship has arrived and have her promise not to tell anyone. The Doctor and Adric asks how the ship works and Bolan and Laker explains that the hover-wagon gets its energy from the Tantalus, which have been converted into a train. The Doctor and Adric meets with Dena, and Adric asks her on how long they have been on the planet. Dena informs they have been trapped on the planet for 114 years.

Romana and K9 are following the hover-wagon closely while hiding. The Tantalus stops and Moni comes out, who detects Romana and K9’s presence. Romana and K9 are then invited onto the ship. Back on Dena’s office, Dena has Adric go and check out the rest of the ship while she confronts the Doctor on the truth. The Doctor tells her that they crashed and there’s no way out. Bolan and Laker are trying to find the Doctor’s ship where Bolan is bitten by one of the native wildlife. He was fine for a while until he collapses in front of Laker.

For the Doctor and Adric, the ship they are on have stalled, and Adric calculates they only have nine hours left before the dawn catches up on them. Meanwhile Moni shows Romana of the mutineers. Romana is horrified to learn that they are tied up to the tracks, and condemned to be burned alive by the daylight. Romana feels the hover-wagon she is on is getting warmer, and then sees the daylight approaching, setting ablaze everything in its path.

Part two
to be added

Part three
to be added

Part four
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Romana - Lalla Ward
 * Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
 * K9 - John Leeson
 * Pilot Dena - Jane Asher
 * Engineer Terson - William Gaminara
 * Moni - Lucy Heath
 * Bolan - Christopher Naylor
 * Laker - Tania Rodrigues

Continuity
to be added