Catastrophe Theory was the second story in the audio anthology Conspiracy of Raven, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Mark Wright and featured Michael Troughton as the Second Doctor, Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot and Emma Noakes as Raven.
Publisher's summary[]
When the Doctor comes face to face with Zoe, can he be sure it really is his old friend? Jamie is lost somewhere in the cosmos, and the Doctor must find him. From a pleasure cruiser on course for destruction, to an alien world invaded by savage warriors, the Doctor faces catastrophe at every turn - but what has become of Raven?
Plot[]
When an older Zoe Heriot is yanked out of her own timeline mid‑debate in the Senate chamber and dropped, bewildered, into the disabled TARDIS, the Doctor realises that whoever has been hijacking his ship is now plucking people from history as casually as moving chess‑pieces. Contact crackles over the TARDIS comms from Raven, still marooned on Time Lord station X45‑0, who insists the Doctor complete “one more mission.” He has had enough of the manipulation—but before he can protest the ship realigns itself to a distress beacon from deep space.
The travellers materialise aboard the pleasure liner Galactic Pride, which has slipped out of its warp conduit and is about to crash into Serana Prime. With the help of flight steward Magritte, Zoe coaxes power from a burnt‑out anti‑proton regulator while Jamie steadies the panicking passengers. The Doctor stabilises the warp engines and the liner veers clear—yet the moment they succeed the TARDIS jolts away again and a shimmering Kipper creature flickers in the shadows, a living echo of the timeline they have just rewritten. In the vortex the Doctor watches fixed history re‑knit itself and feels the “butterflies in the web of time” that give the story its title.
Fresh co‑ordinates dump the TARDIS in the war‑torn control bunker of Aphora’s Stellar Manipulation Bureau, moments before a Jinzok invasion fleet unleashes orbital fire. The Jinzok “pack” troops—snarling, dog‑like hunters—are mesmerised into chasing Jamie through the corridors while Zoe and the Doctor reach the planet‑sized gravity engine the invaders plan to weaponise. Raven’s voice demands they sabotage the machine, but the Doctor now grasps the pattern: every “mission” she has set him on has changed a supposedly immutable point of history, each alteration amplifying the next in classic catastrophe theory. Confronting Raven over an open comm‑link he refuses to do her bidding, even as the Kipper manifestations multiply and the Jinzok breach the control room doors.
Raven boasts that she can twist the Doctor’s timeline at will; the Doctor vows to break free of the conspiracy; and the TARDIS, its systems screaming with paradox, teeters on the brink of another enforced jump—leaving the fates of Aphora, the Jinzok and the very structure of time itself hanging in the balance.
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Michael Troughton
- Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
- Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
- Raven - Emma Noakes
- Magrit / Chinzok Commander - Susan Harrison
- Chinzok Pack Leader / Chinzok Warrior / Galactic Pride PA / Sorana Flight Controller - Gary Turner
Crew[]
- Director - Nicholas Briggs
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music - Toby Hrycek-Robinson
- Writer & Producer - Mark Wright
- Script Editors - Nicholas Briggs and Mark Wright
- Sound Design - David Roocroft
- Senior Producer - John Ainsworth
Worldbuilding[]
to be added
Notes[]
to be added
Continuity[]
to be added
External links[]
- Official Catastrophe Theory page at bigfinish.com
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