C'rizz
Encyclopedia
C'rizz is a fictional character played by Conrad Westmaas
in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions
based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. A Eutermesan from the planet Bortresoye, which exists in a parallel universe
, he is a companion
of the Eighth Doctor
. The canonicity of the audio dramas with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who spin-offs
, is open to interpretation.
(2004), encountering the Doctor
and Charley
when they entered the Eutermes zone on Bortresoye. The Doctor had been exiled to Bortresoye's universe from his own, and had also been deprived of his TARDIS
. In addition, a sinister entity known as the Kro'ka has been sending the Doctor and Charley across the various zones that Bortresoye was divided into for reasons that, at the time, were still unexplained. The Eutermesans are a race of reptilian humanoid
s, exoskeletal
, with vestigial bone structures on their heads. They also have the ability to change their skin colour, blending, like chameleon
s, with their surroundings. The Eutermesans are the slave force of another race, the termite
-like Kromon, and are mostly farmers.
When C'rizz meets the Doctor and Charley, he is suffering grief from the loss of his mate, L'da, whom he had left behind when he escaped the Kromon biodome. Together with the Doctor and Charley, he returns to rescue L'da and free his people from the Kromon. He succeeds in the latter, but is forced to kill L'da, who had been transformed into a Kromon queen. Still coming to terms with what he had to do, he asks to join the Doctor and Charley as they proceeded to the next zone in search of the TARDIS and the answer to the mysteries of the universe they were in.
Eventually, it is revealed that C'rizz was an adept of the Church of the Foundation, which believed that all things must die, and had murdered in its name before he met L'da and left the Church. It is also revealed that the Eutermesans are more than physical chameleons, but emotional and mental ones as well, shaping their personalities to those around them but also making them easily manipulated.
When the Doctor and Charley finally manage to return to their own universe, C'rizz continues to travel with them, as he trusts the Doctor to keep him stable and himself. They emerge on an Earth conquered by the Dalek
s, who try unsuccessfully to brainwash C'rizz into becoming their new Emperor. The Dalek attempt adds to C'rizz's deteriorating mental state: in Terror Firma
he continues to hear, in his mind, the voices of the people he killed.
In Absolution, C'rizz is granted massive psychic powers on a planet that resembles Hell
with citizens who have been turned to demons save one domed city, eventually transforming into a physical form that Charley likens to Lucifer
. The Doctor theorizes that the Eutermesans genetically engineered C'rizz to house their souls in some mad bid for immortality. C'rizz eventually gives up his new form and powers by restoring the planet and its citizens back to their original forms. This action exhausts C'rizz, who then thanks the Doctor for healing his emotional wounds (save for L'da's death) and calls Charley his sister before dying, his body turning to ashes.
The impact of C'rizz's death is further felt in The Girl Who Never Was
.
Conrad Westmaas
Conrad Westmaas is a British actor who trained at The Poor School, London from 1998-2000.Westmaas has appeared mainly in theatre, including Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare's Globe in 2008 and also played Paul McGann's companion C'rizz in a range of audio dramas by Big Finish Productions based on...
in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. A Eutermesan from the planet Bortresoye, which exists in a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, he is a companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
of the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
. The canonicity of the audio dramas with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, is open to interpretation.
Overview
C'rizz first appears in the play The Creed of the KromonThe Creed of the Kromon
The Creed of the Kromon is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first story to feature Conrad Westmaas as the new companion C'rizz...
(2004), encountering the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
and Charley
Charley Pollard
Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman...
when they entered the Eutermes zone on Bortresoye. The Doctor had been exiled to Bortresoye's universe from his own, and had also been deprived of his TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
. In addition, a sinister entity known as the Kro'ka has been sending the Doctor and Charley across the various zones that Bortresoye was divided into for reasons that, at the time, were still unexplained. The Eutermesans are a race of reptilian humanoid
Reptilian humanoid
Reptilian humanoids comprise a common motif in mythology, folklore, science fiction, fantasy, conspiracy theories, ufology, and cryptozoology.-Male:...
s, exoskeletal
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
, with vestigial bone structures on their heads. They also have the ability to change their skin colour, blending, like chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
s, with their surroundings. The Eutermesans are the slave force of another race, the termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
-like Kromon, and are mostly farmers.
When C'rizz meets the Doctor and Charley, he is suffering grief from the loss of his mate, L'da, whom he had left behind when he escaped the Kromon biodome. Together with the Doctor and Charley, he returns to rescue L'da and free his people from the Kromon. He succeeds in the latter, but is forced to kill L'da, who had been transformed into a Kromon queen. Still coming to terms with what he had to do, he asks to join the Doctor and Charley as they proceeded to the next zone in search of the TARDIS and the answer to the mysteries of the universe they were in.
Eventually, it is revealed that C'rizz was an adept of the Church of the Foundation, which believed that all things must die, and had murdered in its name before he met L'da and left the Church. It is also revealed that the Eutermesans are more than physical chameleons, but emotional and mental ones as well, shaping their personalities to those around them but also making them easily manipulated.
When the Doctor and Charley finally manage to return to their own universe, C'rizz continues to travel with them, as he trusts the Doctor to keep him stable and himself. They emerge on an Earth conquered by the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s, who try unsuccessfully to brainwash C'rizz into becoming their new Emperor. The Dalek attempt adds to C'rizz's deteriorating mental state: in Terror Firma
Terror Firma
Terror Firma is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The story follows on directly from the previous Eighth Doctor audio drama The Next Life and flashes back to scenes that takes place before the first Eighth Doctor...
he continues to hear, in his mind, the voices of the people he killed.
In Absolution, C'rizz is granted massive psychic powers on a planet that resembles Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
with citizens who have been turned to demons save one domed city, eventually transforming into a physical form that Charley likens to Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
. The Doctor theorizes that the Eutermesans genetically engineered C'rizz to house their souls in some mad bid for immortality. C'rizz eventually gives up his new form and powers by restoring the planet and its citizens back to their original forms. This action exhausts C'rizz, who then thanks the Doctor for healing his emotional wounds (save for L'da's death) and calls Charley his sister before dying, his body turning to ashes.
The impact of C'rizz's death is further felt in The Girl Who Never Was
The Girl Who Never Was
The Girl Who Never Was is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It takes place in Singapore in 1942 & 2008.-Plot:After the loss of C'rizz, Charley demands to be taken home...
.
Audio dramas
- The Creed of the KromonThe Creed of the KromonThe Creed of the Kromon is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first story to feature Conrad Westmaas as the new companion C'rizz...
- The Natural History of FearThe Natural History of FearThe Natural History of Fear is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
- The Twilight KingdomThe Twilight KingdomThe Twilight Kingdom is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
- Faith StealerFaith StealerFaith Stealer is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is part of the "Divergent Universe" saga which continued until The Next Life.-Plot:...
- The Last
- CaerdroiaCaerdroia (Doctor Who audio)Caerdroia is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is part of the "Divergent Universe" saga which continued until The Next Life.-Plot:...
- The Next LifeThe Next LifeThe Next Life is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the culmination of the "Divergent Universe" saga.-Plot:...
- Terror FirmaTerror FirmaTerror Firma is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The story follows on directly from the previous Eighth Doctor audio drama The Next Life and flashes back to scenes that takes place before the first Eighth Doctor...
- Scaredy CatScaredy Cat (Doctor Who audio)Scaredy Cat is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
- Other LivesOther LivesOther Lives is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
- Time WorksTime WorksTime Works is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Synopsis:...
- Something InsideSomething InsideSomething Inside is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
- Memory LaneMemory Lane (Doctor Who audio)Memory Lane is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
- Absolution
Short stories
- "After Midnight" by Andy RussellAndy Russell (Canadian author)Andy Russell, was a famed conservationist and author who had a passion the wilderness. He was also a noted outfitter, mountain guide, photographer, television broadcaster and story teller. In 1976, he received the Julian T...
(Short Trips: A Day in the LifeShort Trips: A Day in the LifeShort Trips: A Day in the Life is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Ian Farrington and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features a collection of stories that, together, are set over a 24-hour period.-Stories:-External links:* * Trevor...
) - "Before Midnight" by Andy Russell (Short Trips: A Day in the Life)
- "Salva Mea" by Joseph LidsterJoseph LidsterJoseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002...
(Short Trips: SnapshotsShort Trips: SnapshotsShort Trips: Snapshots is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Joseph Lidster and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
)