This short, one-episode drama shows the Sixth Doctor, travelling alone, stumbling on a television network that has somehow garnered unprecedented ratings by showing unmitigated trash. The Doctor is sure that this is a plot by an old nemesis from the Doctor Who Magazine comics, Beep the Meep, to cause more chaos.
Six engages Beep's mind-controlled slave in banter about the rubbish state of television these days, deliberately distracting Beep from the fact that he knows exactly what's going on. Beep plans to launch his own television show for kids with mind-numbingly hypnotic cuteness, and plans to mind-control millions of viewers right now during the finale of a rather terrible reality show. Six being Six, he foils Beep's plans by simply shooting the control panel.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The events concerning Beep being trapped in a film are from a Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. From 1995. Meaning that many listeners to the audio drama either never saw the original comic strip or may have forgotten it by then. Beep's original story, from his first appearance, was written in 1980.
- Bottle Episode: The adventure takes place in two locations. Beep's director room, and the front of the house.
- Canon Immigrant: This story introduced Beep the Meep, who was a frequent foil for the Fourth and Fifth Doctors in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips.
- Crocodile Tears: Beep
- Cute Is Evil: Beep fits this trope to a T.
- Cute Kitten
- And a Precious Puppy, a hamster, a bunny... And Beep threatens to kill them.
- Cuteness Overload: The Beep's Friends show.
- Paper Clips For Everything: The Doctor ends up jimmying the power pack of Beep's laser pistol with a paper clip, draining it enough to keep himself from being killed when Beep shoots him, and for two contestants on Audience Share to end up being only given a static shock when they're shot by Beep.
-
Fake American: Sort of... the head of the network is played by Robert Jezek, who's actually Canadian. Jezek plays companion Frobisher (also from Doctor Who Magazine originally) elsewhere in Big Finish. - Faux Affably Evil: As soon as Beep realizes the Doctor might kill him, he turns on the waterworks.
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: The Doctor vs. Beep is a grand battle royale of hamtasticness.
- Incoming Ham: The Doctor essentially enters with one of these. This being Doctor Who, he continues to chew the scenery ever after.
- Indy Ploy: The Doctor's plan to get Beep to delay releasing the final "go" signal ends up being essentially this.
- Killer Rabbit: Essentially what Beep is. A cute little rabbity thing (NOT that one...) whose fluffy exterior conceals within a psycopathic, sociopathic maniac (no, really, not THAT one...)
- His backstory in the comics explained that the Meeps were a race of Perfect Pacifist People once. They got mutated by a black star, and went on to merrily conquer the galaxy with the same level of glee they had previously reserved for prancing about in fields.
- Meaningful Name: Audience Share, which of course refers to ratings.
- Mind-Control Device: Beep has hooked up the TV network's transmitters to one of these, and intends to use the intentionally outrageous lyrics to the theme song for "Beep & Friends" as instructions to the 80% of the population watching to go on an omnicidal spree.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Beep the Meep.
- Rage Breaking Point: All it takes is for Beep to be arrested for "the most high of all the Meeps" to go on a full on rant that threatens the lives of all the viewers and their pets. He had this habit in the comics as well.
- Refuge in Audacity: The "Beep & Friends" theme song, and Beep's ranting after his arrest (apparently, the full versions of both went up to eleven in this regard).
- Running Gag: Six saving the day by pragmatically shooting the controls.
- Take That!: Many of the complaints levelled against the TV network's programming at the beginning of the episode are complaints that were levelled at Doctor Who leading up to the infamous 18-month hiatus. This becomes a meta-Brick Joke at the end, as the emcee of Audience Share remarks that after Beep's arrest, "Beep & Friends" has been put on hiatus for 18 months. May also be a case of Lampshade Hanging for
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, as Colin Baker was the incumbent Doctor who was unceremoniously fired due to the hiatus, and whose firing was apparently one of the conditions for the hiatus' end.- The entire drama can be seen as a massive Take That! to reality TV, as the network puts on the most brain-rotting trash, and gleefully remarks that much of it is cast by the viewers themselves, who appear for the sheer fame, and so the network doesn't have to pay them a cent in compensation. Not like anything like that ever happens in real life...
- Verbal Tic: Meep meep!
- Wardrobe Malfunction: An "unintentional" one resulted in Linda being one of the two finalists on Audience Share.
