Project Twilight (audio story)

Project: Twilight was the twenty-third story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe.

It was the first story to feature the Forge. Consequently, it began a long-running story arc which did not end until the audio story A Death in the Family in 2010.

Publisher's summary
In the renovated docklands of South East London, on the bank of the River Thames, the doors of the Dusk are open for business. Bets are called, cards are dealt and roulette wheels spun. As fortunes are won and lost, an inhuman killer stalks the local avenues and alleyways — a killer with a taste for human flesh.

Is there more to casino owner Reggie "the Gent" Mead or is he just a common gangster? What secrets are hidden in the bowels of the Dusk? And what connection does the apparently sleazy Bermondsey casino have to a long-buried government initiative known as Project: Twilight?

The Doctor must form uneasy alliances where the line between friend and enemy is blurred, playing games of chance...

But are the stakes too high?

Part one
The date is 4 October 1915 and Dr William Abberton is writing in his diary. He writes about because being forced to "destroy souls" on a daily basis for "King and Country". He's interrupted by a nurse, who brings a patient to Abberton. Abberton comforts the patient as he injects something into him. Abberton asks the patient to "remember the man who made [him] a god". Suddenly gunshots are heard outside the laboratory and an alarm begins ringing. Amelia Doory breaks into the room and Abberton threatens to shoot her if she gets closer. Amelia remarks that a gun would do little to stop her and asks if Abberton has "done it" to the patient Nathaniel. Reginald Mead runs into the room and is ordered by Amelia to unstrap Nathaniel. Before the three of them run away, Amelia kills Abberton.

In present day London, Reginald is running a casino in Bermondsey. After greeting a police inspector and telling someone to pick something up at the office, he asks Cassie Schofield how she's settling into her new job as a waitress at the Dusk. Reggie tells her to ask him or Eddie for help if she needs anything and is distracted by someone named Steve. As Cassie walks away she bumps into Deeks. Amelia approaches them and tells Deeks to come with her to the private gambling room. Reggie is also in the room and he grabs Deeks. Reggie and Amelia attack Mr Deeks.

Nearby, the Sixth Doctor receives his order of Peking crispy duck from The Slow Boat. As he leaves the restaurant with Evelyn Smythe, he begins reciting an old Gallifreyan nursery rhyme about Zagreus. Evelyn tells him to stop and accidentally steps on the mauled corpse of a cat. They see more dead animals, including a Cocker Spaniel and a pigeon. The Doctor follows the trail of bodies into an alleyway and finds a large nest. He uses the teeth marks on the animals to deduce that a human has been eating these animals.

Back at the Dusk, Cassie receives her wages from Reggie. Amelia watches and tells Reggie that she wants Cassie. They go downstairs to find that Mr Deeks has waken up. They inject something into Deeks. Upstairs, Eddie goes outside to have a smoke and nears something nearby. A figure with heavy robotic footsteps approaches Eddie. Eddie recognises the person and says, "Oh god! It can't- Reggie said you were dead!". The Doctor and Evelyn hear Eddie scream as he is shot with a crossbow. They run out of the alleyway to see the mysterious figure running away from a dying Eddie. The Doctor tries to catch the figure, but accidentally runs into a garbage can. Evelyn tries to calm Eddie, but he dies in her arms. Reggie walks outside after hearing the commotion and threatens the Doctor and Evelyn. Eddie suddenly wakes up, despite the fact that he has no pulse. The Doctor tells Reggie to call an ambulance and Reggie responds that there's no need for a hospital as he has medical facilities in his club.

The Doctor and Reggie lift Eddie and take him to the Dusk's basement. The Doctor orders Reggie to restrain Eddie, Evelyn to clean up the blood coming from Eddie's wound, and Amelia to take his coat. As Evelyn looks for towels she finds Mr Deeks dead body. The Doctor asks for explanations from Amelia and Reggie, but they tell him that they will explain after he saves Eddie. As Evelyn tries to soak up Eddie's blood, she finds that Eddie's body temperature is becoming abnormally high. The Doctor asks Amelia to get him a scalpel so he can get the barbed arrow out of Eddie. Eddie begins steaming and bloating. Eddie explodes, covering Evelyn in blood, skin, and internal organs.

Amelia thanks the Doctor for his efforts in tripping to save Eddie. The Doctor notices how calm she is with the situation, like she suspected Eddie to explode. Evelyn says that she needs to clean herself up, so Amelia directs her to the casino's washroom. As the Doctor escorts Evelyn to the elevator, Reggie tells Amelia that he thinks they should kill the Doctor and Evelyn and Amelia responds they shouldn't because the Doctor is "much more than he appears".

The Doctor returns and Reggie angrily asks why he attacked Eddie. The Doctor says that Eddie was hurt by a tall, dark, and sinister man, which immediately alarms Reggie and Amelia. The Doctor angers Reggie by asking for an explanation of what's going on. Amelia takes Reggie to another room and tells him to keep himself under control. She asks him to call some of his contacts to dig up information on the Doctor.

Reggie calls Billy and asks him to find information on the Doctor. He walks into his office to find Cassie going through his business files. Before he can hurt her, Evelyn walks in and says that she's looking for the loo. Cassie quickly takes advantage of the situation and offers to show Evelyn the way.

Back in the basement, Amelia explains that she, Reggie, and Eddie are the results of research program conducted by a government organisation known as the Forge. Amelia was in prison when she was taken as a test subject. She was put through radiation therapy, DNA manipulation, and countless courses of drugs. Amelia theorises that the Forge were trying to augment them into super-soldiers. Amelia explains that she has spent the last century searching for a cure for her condition. In recent years she has been forced to use live subjects. The Doctor promises to help her with her experiments on two conditions: she must keep Reggie under control and nobody else can die.

Meanwhile, Cassie hears a noise as she walks outside with Evelyn A human on all fours comes out of the shadows and jumps towards Evelyn and Cassie to eat them.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Colin Baker
 * Evelyn Smythe - Maggie Stables
 * Amelia Doory - Holly De Jong
 * Reggie Mead - Rob Dixon
 * Cassie - Rosie Cavaliero
 * Nimrod - Stephen Chance
 * Dr William Abberton / Matthew - Rupert Booth
 * Mr Deeks - Mark Wright
 * Nurse - Kate Hadley
 * Eddie - Daniel Wilson
 * Newsreader - Gary Russell

The Doctor

 * The Doctor tries (and fails) to play the Moonlight Sonata.

Foods and beverages

 * The Doctor buys Peking duck with prawn crackers and chicken fried rice at The Slow Boat.

History

 * The Doctor implies that he was present during the Spanish Inquisition.
 * A newscaster on the radio states that Tony Blair has recently visited several of York's local businesses and tourist attractions.

Vampires

 * The Doctor claims that Bram Stoker was the greatest authority on vampires outside Gallifrey.

Continuity

 * The Doctor sings the Zagreus poem. (AUDIO: Neverland, Zagreus)
 * The Doctor mentions meeting Harry Houdini (TV: Planet of the Spiders) and that he once visited the court of Kublai Khan. (TV: Marco Polo)
 * Evelyn tells the Doctor that fishing him out of the River Thames in front of the Tower of London is becoming a habit. (AUDIO: The Marian Conspiracy)
 * Cassie shows Evelyn a picture of her son, Thomas Schofield. The Doctor would later travel with Thomas, although by then he was going by the name of Hex. (AUDIO: The Harvest, Thicker Than Water)