This was the second release in the Destiny Of The Doctor arc, created in cooperation with AudioGo for the 50th anniversary.
The Second Doctor, Jamie and new companion Zoe land on an abandoned planet and meet some nice space archaeologists. It's explained to them (after they've been captured, held at gunpoint, and forced to explain just who they are) that the base operates under a Year Outside, Hour Inside principle. Using time dilation, the team can explore in shifts, for 18 years, in just 5 subjective years. They hope to discover the remnants of an ancient cilivisation that seems to have packed up and left for no discernable reason.
They're soon hunted down by what looks like a sentient shadow, which causes the archaeologist team members to age to death as soon as they touch it. The Doctor and Zoe team up to hack the airlock system and the time dilation controls while Jamie guides the team to safety. As the shadows come closer, the Doctor is ready to make a Heroic Sacrifice to save his young companions, but gets a message through a bit of psychic paper... from his Eleventh self. The Doctor really quite appreciates the brief psychic vision of his future version (especially the fetching bowtie and the little "love, the Doctor!" note), and strives to save everyone on board, including himself. Since he's not human, he's able to withstand the rapid aging that the shadow induces and instead sits down to have a nice chat with it.
As it turns out, the shadow is the lost civilisation, which has morphed into a new form over time. It just wanted to ask the archaeologists to keep the noise down. The Doctor figures out a way to make it harmless to humans, although it takes him several years of subjective time — but, luckily, just a few minutes from the perspectives of Jamie and Zoe. The team goes on to establish interstellar contact and secure the future of the planet as a world of peace.
Tropes:
- Advanced Alien Ancient Acropolis
- Alien Sky: The planet the Doctor and his companions are on is orbiting a Pulsar, an exploded star, which is dying.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The Quiet Ones engineered themselves into beings of light, in order to survive the effects of the Pulsar Star.
- BBC Quarry: Yes, they can still show up in the audio stories.
- Beyond the Impossible: Sophie Topolovic says the base wasn't designed to increase temporal resistance in specific rooms, mere seconds after Zoe's done exactly as such.
- Call-Back: The Doctor refers to Steven Taylor.
- The Doctor's early Running Gag of looking for a hat is referred to when Jamie mentions he doesn't wear a hat, and the Doctor is upset because of it.
- The Doctor refers to the TARDIS' Hostile Action Displacement System.
- Jamie refers to the Cybermen.
- The Doctor refers to an airlock as a bit like a pressured aeroplane, or "beasties at Gatwick".
- Call-Forward: The Doctor refers to Zoe and Jamie as "You people", hinting he's not.
- The Doctor figures out a message sent to him was made with Psychic Paper.
- *Click* Hello
- Cold Open
- Door Dumb: Both Jamie and the Doctor fail to open a door by pressing down the handle. Zoe just lifts it and the door wooshes open.
- For Science!: Jamie doesn't understand why someone would build a scientific base around a dying star. The Doctor theorizes that the planet orbits around the pulsar's deadly beams, and Zoe points out it's probably in the name of research.
- Ironic Echo: When the Doctor's message from the future reads "Trust me I know what I'm doing" the Doctor says that's his Catchphrase for when he doesn't know what he's doing. The last scene Zoe and Jamie are weary of what happened to the Doctor in their absence and whether or not everything is alright, he says "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."
- Lampshade Hanging: All of the corridors look exactly the same, like in pretty much every episode of classic Who.
- Living Shadow
- Negative Space Wedgie: One knocks the TARDIS off course at the Cold Open.
- No Antagonist
- Ominous Message from the Future: From the Eleventh Doctor, imploring the Doctor to save Sophie's research.
- Percussive Maintenance: When trying to fix a door's wires (he'd previously pulled out) the Doctor gets frustrated and slams the controls. This works.
- Rapid Aging: When touched by the Living Shadow.
- Time Stands Still: The statues the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe come across at first aren't statues at all.
- Time Travel: The scientific base causes jumps in "timezones".
- Writing Around Trademarks: This was the very first legitimate appearance of any new series Doctor in Big Finish, thanks to this range being officially released by AudioGo (but created by Big Finish) for the anniversary. (Nine had appeared previously in a Fifth Doctor episode, but was hinted at rather than made explicit. Likewise Eleventh's role in the previous Destiny of the Doctor release, even though they could have.)
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: Well, year inside, minutes outside.
