Cuddlesome (audio story)

Cuddlesome was a 2008 audio drama starring the Fifth Doctor. A remake of an Audio Visuals story of the same title, it was released on an audio CD included with DWM 393. It was re-released as free content on the Big Finish Podcast on 3 August 2011, and was put on Big Finish's Soundcloud in 2012. From 24 December 2018 to 26 December 2018 was available as a free release in Big Finish website.

Publisher's summary
Do you remember the Eighties? The Rubik's cube... Duran Duran ... deelyboppers ... and the Cuddlesomes — pink vampire hamsters, the must-have toy of twenty-three Christmases ago.

For so long now, the Cuddlesomes have been forgotten, lying in attics and junk shops. But now they're waking up. And they want to give us all a cuddle. A long, slow, deadly cuddle...

Landing in an England gripped by a strange new plague, the Doctor is soon on the Cuddlesomes' trail. But the toys are just part of a twisted plan to wipe out a whole generation...

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Angela Wisher - Roberta Taylor
 * Ronald Turvey - Timothy West
 * The Tinghus - David Troughton
 * John Dixon/The New Cuddlesomes - Matthew Noble
 * Miranda Evenden/The Cuddlesomes/Dr Cooper/Vehicle - Kate Brown
 * Newsreader - Nicholas Briggs

Credits

 * Cover Art - Stuart Manning
 * Director - Barnaby Edwards
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Writer, Music and Sound Design - Nigel Fairs
 * Producer - David Richardson
 * Script Editor - Alan Barnes

Worldbuilding

 * John Dixon had a Cuddlesome in the 1980s.
 * The original Cuddlesome factory in Shoreham closed down in 1983.
 * John's father lives in Brisbane.
 * The Doctor was trying to visit Brighton in 1818.
 * John was born on 12 January 1976.
 * Angela suggests that the Doctor could find a Cuddlesome on eBay.
 * The Inland Revenue had Turvey arrested on charges of tax fraud. He spent more than 20 years in prison.
 * Angela carries a hammer in her bag.
 * Dominic Martin was born on 3 May 1978.
 * The Doctor once had a bear, but he had to release it when it started eating his bedroom furniture.
 * Angela refers to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
 * Telepathic resonance makes the Doctor's elbows twitch.
 * In the 1980s, Cuddlesomes were sold in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Europe, China and Russia.
 * As a child, Turvey had a teddy bear named Mr Cuddles. When he was 18 years old, he went to university and studied biochemistry. At the end of the worst term of his life, several students broke into his room and destroyed Mr Cuddles.
 * Angela is a plumber.
 * The Tingha are allergic to human growth hormones. Exposure causes them to develop a rash and then explode.
 * The Doctor learned how to tackle from William Webb Ellis.
 * Brighton Lanes are located in Brighton.

Continuity

 * The Doctor considers building a new sonic screwdriver after his previous one was destroyed by the Terileptil leader in September 1666. (TV: The Visitation) However, he would not do so until his seventh incarnation. (AUDIO: The Dark Husband, Mask of Tragedy; TV: Doctor Who)