 Then as of
January 2000 the Doctor Who audio adventures went monthly, starting with
"The Land of the Dead". Written by Stephen Cole and directed by Gary Russell it
was recorded on the 24th and 25th July 1999. It stars Peter Davison as the
Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton reprising her role as Nyssa. Also starring are:
Lucy Campbell, Alistair Lock, Christopher Scott, Neil Roberts and Andrew
Fettes.
 |
Land
of the Dead
(Stephen Cole) |
|
The TARDIS
picks up some strange energy emissions while hovering
above Alaska in 1964 of a type that completely baffles
The Doctor and Nyssa. Before they can make sense of them
they are forced to dematerialise to avoid a collision
with a light aircraft. However, the TARDIS is apparently
following a scent and so then takes them to the same place,
but thirty years later.
As they set
off to investigate Nyssa senses that they are being watched.
Despite the bleak surroundings they encounter an impressive
but incomplete building that is under construction. As
The Doctor and Nyssa approach they are attacked by monsters.
As they flee for cover into the building they find out
that it is occupied by the obsessive Englishman Shaun
Brett, his interior designer Monica Lewis and Tulung,
a half-Inuit brought up in America.
 |
Nyssa |
|
The Doctor and
Nyssa soon discover that something in the snowy wastes
doesn't seem to want this new intrusion. Before long it
appears as if the local spirits, revered by the Inuits
and scorned by Brett, may be making some drastic attempts
to erase Brett's structure and the secrets it contains.
While The Doctor discovers exactly what Brett has been doing, and tries to find a way to
halt the assault from the deadly creatures which start to roam outside, Nyssa
becomes "in tune" with the ancient spirits. Although she does not like what she
sees. Why are the creatures intent on killing them and where are they from as
they are not from Earth? What was the tremendous discovery that was made on a
nearby archaeological dig and the deaths it caused and what is its significance
on current events? And why is Nyssa so receptive to strange intense senses?
Maybe the contents of the strange rooms within Brett's building hold all the
answers...
|
|
Notes:
- Featuring the Fifth
Doctor and Nyssa.
- Serial Number: 6C/A
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 110 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 30'23", 2 = 30'03", 3 =
25'33", 4 = 27'50"
- This story takes place between "Time-Flight"
and "Arc
of Infinity".
- Cover Illustration: Peri Godbold
- Recorded: 24th and 25th July 1999
- Recording Location: NU Groove Studios
- Released: January 2000
|
|
On the
Back Cover:
Landing in Alaska, The Doctor and Nyssa encounter
a group of people in a most unusual house, cut off not only by the harsh
climate but by their individual secrets and obsessions.
Millionaire
Shaun Brett is utilising chunks of the local area to construct a shrine to his
dead father. But when deadly creatures start roaming outside, and a terrifying
discovery is made inside the house, The Doctor realises that Brett has
unleashed an unimaginably ancient force. |
| |
|
On the
Inside Cover:
A Combination of unforeseen events and shifting
schedules left me with only a week to come up with the scripts for "The Land of
the Dead". Luckily, a friend had just edited a book about mythology, and I'd
had a quick read through. The gory Inuit story of Sedna the sea spirit stuck in
my mind and that, combined with research I'd been doing into the prehistoric
world for a range of BBC dinosaur books, gave me few ideas and inspired the
Alaskan setting.
Of course, it never occurred to me when writing the thing
that casting a fifty-year old Eskimo character might be a little tricky!
Luckily Andrew Fettes rose to the challenge, and indeed all the cast seemed to
have fun during the hectic weekend of recording. But the real thrill of the
proceedings was seeing Sarah Sutton and Peter Davison back together. Sarah
recreated Nyssa as if she'd been away a couple of days, not sixteen years, and
Peter, as ever, excelled at maintaining that frenzied sense of rising panic he
brought across so well on screen. His theory that the character of Monica Lewis
was actually Monica Lewinsky incognito in Alaska to avoid publicity, whilst not
100% convincing, certainly had us all entertained.
You know, it
really is enormous fun, making Doctor Who. |
Stephen Cole,
July
1999 |
| |
|
Full Cast
List:
| Part One |
| The Doctor |
Peter Davison |
| Nyssa |
Sarah Sutton |
| Monica Lewis |
Lucy Campbell |
| Supplier |
Alistair Lock |
| Shaun Brett |
Christopher Scott |
| Tulung |
Neil Roberts |
| Gaborik |
Andrew Fettes |
| |
|
| Part Two |
| The Doctor |
Peter Davison |
| Nyssa |
Sarah Sutton |
| Gaborik |
Andrew Fettes |
| Monica Lewis |
Lucy Campbell |
| Shaun Brett |
Christopher Scott |
| Tulung |
Neil Roberts |
| |
|
| Part Three |
| The Doctor |
Peter Davison |
| Nyssa |
Sarah Sutton |
| Monica Lewis |
Lucy Campbell |
| Tulung |
Neil Roberts |
| Shaun Brett |
Christopher Scott |
| |
|
| Part Four |
| The Doctor |
Peter Davison |
| Nyssa |
Sarah Sutton |
| Monica Lewis |
Lucy Campbell |
| Shaun Brett |
Christopher Scott |
| Tulung |
Neil Roberts |
The
Production Team:
| Writer |
Stephen Cole |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
Nicholas Briggs |
| Theme Music |
Mark Ayres |
| Producers |
Jason Haigh-Ellery
and
Gary Russell |
| Executive Producer for the BBC
|
Stephen Cole |
|
|
|
|
