The Starship of Theseus (audio story)

The Starship of Theseus was the first story in the audio anthology The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by John Dorney and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and introduced Rakhee Thakrar as the new companion Bliss.

Publisher's summary Edit

The Doctor and his companion, Sheena, land the TARDIS on the glamorous luxury space-liner Theseus just as it's about to leave the Jupiter space-port. An opportunity for a holiday presents itself – and it’s one they’re very glad to take.

But when a disturbance catches their attention, they realise sinister events are taking place on board. Passengers are vanishing on every trip. And unless they’re careful they may be next.

Can the Doctor and Emma solve the mystery? Or is there something else they should be worrying about?

Plot Edit

to be added

Cast Edit

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Sheena - Olivia Vinall
• Bliss - Rakhee Thakrar
• Rupa Maguire - Nimmy March
• Quarren Maguire - David Ganly
• Captain Darvor - Sean Murray
• Koloth/Jefferson - Hywel Morgan
• Purser Lunney/Aymor - Laurence Kennedy
• The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

References Edit

• Due to the temporal anomalies caused by the Time War, the Doctor lands on the Theseus when it is a luxury liner taking passengers on holiday, cutting costs by sacrificing victims to pan-dimensional beings that live on certain hyperspace lanes to prevent the entire ship being destroyed. Its history is changed to a converted liner that is transporting refugees away from the Time War, with the "sacrifices" being "volunteers".
• As another side-effect of the temporal anomalies, the Doctor arrives on the Theseus accompanied by Sheena, who then changes to Emma, and finally becomes Louise before disappearing completely. By the time the Doctor realises that his companion is changing, he also observes that he cannot recall when they started travelling together.

Notes Edit

• This story's title and concept is based on the Ship of Theseus paradox, which questions whether an object, if all its components are replaced, is essentially the same object. This idea was also referenced in Deep Breath, regarding the Half-Face Man.

Continuity Edit

• The Doctor materialises the TARDIS facing a wall. The Tenth Doctor would later materialise facing the side of a rubbish bin. (TV: Fear Her)
• The Doctor muses that the last time he heard of missing passengers on a flight was at Gatwick Airport, and it turned out to have a very unconventional explanation then as well. (TV: The Faceless Ones)

External links Edit

• Official The Starship of Theseus page at bigfinish.com
• Official The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1 page at bigfinish.com