Deimos was the fifth story in the fourth series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Niky Wardley as Tamsin Drew.
The story continued in The Resurrection of Mars.
Publisher's summary[]
Millions of years ago, the noble Ice Warriors fled to Deimos, moon of Mars, hoping to sit out the radioactive death throes of their home planet. When the TARDIS lands on Deimos, the Doctor discovers that the Warriors' ancient catacombs are now a popular stop for space tourists.
But the Martian dynasties are more than history, and the Warriors are far from extinct. It's not for nothing that "Deimos" is the ancient word for "dread"...
Plot[]
Harold and his wife Margaret are on holiday spending time at the Deimos' Moonbase within the museum of the Martian Catacombs on Mars’ moon Deimos, one of the few relics of the Ice Warriors thought to have been left behind several millions of years ago, as they were now thought to be extinct. A young man asks them to get a holographic picture of him with what appears to be people dressed in Ice Warrior costumes, believing them to be part of the museum exhibit, however, the “actors” turn out to be real Ice Warriors, having been mysteriously awakened from their slumber and after killing the young man, take Harold and Margaret hostage along with several others.
The Doctor and Tamsin, meanwhile, land on Deimos and go investigate the exhibit. The Doctor explains to Tamsin that he has no idea where they are, as the TARDIS was the one that decided to bring them here. Later they join a tour group in the catacombs but when the Doctor begins to ask too many suspicious questions, the tour guide leader, Professor Boston Schooner, an expert on Ice Warrior and Martian history, reports them and brings them to security guard Gregson Grenville to decide what to do with them.
The Ice Warriors hold the hostages within Tourist Shuttle Number Two, which they prepare for take off, however, Harold manages to rig up a communication device and attempts to contact the security team. He manages to get through to Grenville during his questioning of the Doctor and Tamsin but is discovered by the Ice Warriors who break communication after speaking to the three. Grenville is unconvinced that the captors on the other end were Ice Warriors, so the Doctor manages to use the temperature controls and scans the moon base, using the security scanners, and reveals that the group of hostages is being held by another life-form with lower body temperatures and Grenville realises that they are indeed Ice Warriors. He then alerts his supervisor Temperance Finch who assumes command.
The Doctor, Finch, Grenville and Tamsin discuss what to do about the situation. Finch declares that they’ll use the old atmospheric re-ionizer housed within the base if they have to but the Doctor tries to persuade her to try other means. They first contact the Ice Warriors and attempt to reason with them but negotiations quickly deteriorate and they are left to resort to threatening the Ice Warriors with the use of the re-ionizer, much to the Doctor’s chagrin. The Ice Warriors refuse to cooperate as a result and end communication so the Doctor persuades a reluctant Finch to allow him to try another hostage negotiation before they resort to using the re-ionizer.
The Doctor, taking Tamsin with him, instructs her to secretly shut off the moon base’s microwave emission supply so the re-ionizer can’t be used, then goes to Tourist Shuttle Number Two to negotiate another hostage release with the Ice Warrios, this time offering himself in exchange for the captured denizens. The Ice Warriors reject the offer, meanwhile, Tamsin manages to find the microwave emission supply but before she can shut it down, she is found by Professor Schooner who shoots her. Finch and Grenville open communications again with the Doctor present at the Ice Warrior’s captured ship but once again negotiations break down and the Ice Warriors appear to shoot and kill the Doctor. Finch orders Grenville to fire the re-ionizer.
They manage to hit the the shuttle but the impact is greatly reduced, as they find out that the microwave emission supply was cut just before firing. Just then, Professor Schooner arrives with Tamsin, claiming she sabotaged them, startling Tamsin who claims that the professor shot her and then sabotaged it himself, which he denies. The Doctor, meanwhile, survived thanks to his spacesuit absorbing most of the impact of the sonic wave from the Ice Warrior. He tries to figure out a way to get the hostages out while the Ice Warriors prepare to retaliate from the blast.
Grenville locks Tamsin away despite her protests of being framed by Professor Schooner and Finch orders a base-wide evacuation of the some 600 visitors and personnel aboard the base, directing them to the passenger rocket at the landing bay. She then orders Grenville and Professor Schooner to go confront the Ice Warriors with weapons and rescue the hostages.
The Doctor manages to contact Ice Lord Slaadek and asks what he seeks to accomplish and learns of the Ice Warrior’s plan to recolonize Mars, wiping out all the current human inhabitants and returning it back to its original form from millions of years ago. Grenville and Schooner reach the environment controls but Schooner betrays Grenville and shoots him in the leg, declaring his loyalty to the Ice Warriors whom he has spent his life studying and is enthralled by their ways, lowers the base’s temperature to be more suitable for the Ice Warriors, then goes to find and join them, leaving Grenville to die.
The Doctor, having managed to sneak out, finds Grenville and learns of Professor Schooner’s deception. They go to release Tamsin after Grenville’s mistakenly imprisoning her and en route, discuss the next course of action. Since the TARDIS is kept in the same room as the re-ionizer and the Ice Warriors are undoubtedly headed there to dismantle the re-ionizer, the Doctor fears that if they get their hands on the TARDIS, it would be disastrous. The Doctor tells Grenville to take Tamsin and head to the rocket while he goes to deactivate the ionizer.
Grenville and Tamsin make a detour and Grenville plants some explosives in the moon base’s fission chamber as a precaution in case they need to activate it and blow up the base to stop the Ice Warriors. The Doctor finds the ionizer and Professor Schooner, who is having a change of heart upon seeing the Ice Warrior’s true nature, and instructs the professor to help deactivate the ionizer. They succeed but are found by the Ice Warriors. The Doctor manages to escape but Professor Schooner is killed by the Warriors. The Doctor, Tamsin and Grenville all head to the rocket but Grenville, due to the injury he received earlier, is unable to make it aboard in time and is killed in the rocket’s exhaust as it takes off. Tamsin argues with the Doctor, saying they could have saved him but the Doctor has no time and calls the Ice Warriors to reveal the bomb in the fission camber, claiming they will activate it to stop the Ice Warriors unless they surrender. Tamsin is deeply upset with the Doctor’s hypocritical actions, however, they are interrupted when the rocket receives a message from the moon base. Initially thinking it’s the Ice Warriors, the message is revealed to be a text from Lucie Miller, asking the Doctor to help her as she’s trapped in the moonbase below….
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Tamsin Drew - Niky Wardley
- Professor Boston Schooner - David Warner
- Gregson Grenville - Nicky Henson
- Margaret - Susan Brown
- Temperance Finch / Mrs Grenville - Tracy Ann Oberman
- Harold - Nick Wilton
- The Ice Warriors / Security Leader - Nicholas Briggs
- Pilot - Jack Brown
Crew[]
- Cover Art - Alex Mallinson
- Director - Barnaby Edwards
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Howard Carter
- Producers - Barnaby Edwards and David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Jonathan Morris
- Ice Warriors created by Brian Hayles
Worldbuilding[]
Deimos[]
- After the destruction of Mars' atmosphere, the Ice Warriors fled to Deimos.
Mars[]
- Harold and Margaret are residents of one of the Martian colonies.
- The Martian terraforming project was cancelled due to the advent of the Great Recession and technical difficulties surrounding the planned atmospheric ionisation technique.
Ice Warriors[]
- The Doctor tells one of the Ice Warriors that there are more of his people in suspended animation on an asteroid in the Sol system and that they will awake in several hundred years and found a new homeworld.
- The Doctor is familiar with the second dynasty.
- Valex is in a museum.
Tamsin Drew[]
- Tamsin worked at the London dungeon for one summer, during which she played one of the prostitutes who was murdered by Jack the Ripper.
- Tamsin knows the ballet moves first plié, second plié, third plié, Pas de Bourree, entrechat and arabesque.
Gallifreyan technology[]
- Schooner claims that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver "does not look much like a screwdriver."
Dummy cover to the story
Notes[]
- This is the second Big Finish Eighth Doctor story to be named after one of Mars' moons. AUDIO: Phobos is the first.
- The CD cover of this audio drama features an actual photograph of Deimos.
- There are two versions of the CD cover for this audio drama; the version posted on Big Finish's website omits Tamsin's face, and some of the cast listed on the cover are different (including the omission of Niky Wardley and the inclusion of Susan Brown).
- The story was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 11 January 2013.
- The conclusion of this story reintroduces Lucie Miller to the narrative, though Sheridan Smith doesn't appear. Her involvement in the adventure is expanded in the next story, AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars.
- This audio was recorded on 19 and 20 August 2009 at The Moat Studios.
Continuity[]
- The Ice Lord Izdaal was the greatest Ice Warrior who ever lived in Martian society. His studies determined that Mars' atmosphere was no longer capable of keeping out radiation from space. This would eventually kill them all. He told the government that their turmoil was not over and with the evidence of sickening children, he declared that their world was no longer sustainable. He was ignored by his people. Lord Izdaal made the ultimate sacrifice. To prove himself right, he elected to step outside and face the Red Dawn, knowing he would die. His death led to his people coming to the same conclusion and they worked to survive, slowly becoming a conqueror race that took what they wanted from others. (AUDIO: Red Dawn)
- During his second incarnation, the Doctor encountered the Ice Warriors for the first time on the Brittanicus Base during an Ice Age in the company of Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield. (TV: The Ice Warriors)
- The Doctor tells Tamsin that he witnessed the destruction of Mars' atmosphere million of years earlier. (AUDIO: The Judgement of Isskar)
- Harold recalls seeing a documentary on the History Channel which stated that the last of the Ice Warriors were killed when their invasion fleet spiralled into the Sun in the late 21st century. The Doctor tells Tamsin, Professor Schooner and Grenville Gregson that he witnessed that event as well. (TV: The Seeds of Death)
- Grenville refers to the "hippie holiday camp" on Phobos. The Doctor and Lucie Miller previously visited Lunar Park in 2589. (AUDIO: Phobos)
External links[]
- Official Deimos page at bigfinish.com
- Deimos at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Deimos at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
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