Tales from the Vault
Encyclopedia
Tales from the Vault is a Big Finish Productions
audiobook based on the long-running British
science fiction
television series Doctor Who
.
The Companion Chronicles "talking books" are each narrated by one of the Doctor's companions and feature a second, guest-star voice along with music and sound effects.
lies a vast warehouse where UNIT
houses dangerous confiscated alien artifacts. The Vault, also known as The Museum of Terrors or The Gallery of Secrets, is UNIT's most impenetrable Black Ops
facility. And most of the items have a direct connection to their mysterious former scientific adviser known as the Doctor.
In 2011, Captain Ruth Matheson gives a tour to potential new recruit, Warrant Officer Charlie Sato. He quickly notices an innocent looking infantry jacket from the Second Boer War
. It came into UNIT's hands in the 1970s
, when the Third Doctor
's assistant, Jo Grant, reported that it possessed the body of a friend of hers who purchased it.
Also in The Vault is a painting that is so ominous, no one dare look at it. The Fourth Doctor
and his companion Romana discovered it in an art gallery, in Kensington
, in 2002.
One of The Vault's first and most often used artifacts is a crystal that manipulates memories. It was given to UNIT by the Second Doctor
, when he and Jamie McCrimmon
and Zoe, discovered thieves using it in the 1960s
.
During Sato's tour of The Vault, a wax cylinder
draws attention to itself. On it is a partial recording from South Africa
, 1900, left by the First Doctor
, Dodo Chaplet
and Steven Tyler. The message is a warning, meant for 111 years in the future.
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audiobook 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
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television 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...
.
The Companion Chronicles "talking books" are each narrated by one of the Doctor's companions and feature a second, guest-star voice along with music and sound effects.
Plot
Somewhere under the Angel of the NorthAngel of the North
The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture, designed by Antony Gormley, which is located in Gateshead,formerly County Durham, England.It is a steel sculpture of an angel, standing tall, with wings measuring across...
lies a vast warehouse where UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
houses dangerous confiscated alien artifacts. The Vault, also known as The Museum of Terrors or The Gallery of Secrets, is UNIT's most impenetrable Black Ops
Black operation
A black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and often outside of standard military protocol or even against the law.-Origins:...
facility. And most of the items have a direct connection to their mysterious former scientific adviser known as the Doctor.
In 2011, Captain Ruth Matheson gives a tour to potential new recruit, Warrant Officer Charlie Sato. He quickly notices an innocent looking infantry jacket from the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. It came into UNIT's hands in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, when the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
's assistant, Jo Grant, reported that it possessed the body of a friend of hers who purchased it.
Also in The Vault is a painting that is so ominous, no one dare look at it. The Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
and his companion Romana discovered it in an art gallery, in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, in 2002.
One of The Vault's first and most often used artifacts is a crystal that manipulates memories. It was given to UNIT by the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
, when he and Jamie McCrimmon
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...
and Zoe, discovered thieves using it in the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
.
During Sato's tour of The Vault, a wax cylinder
Phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...
draws attention to itself. On it is a partial recording from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, 1900, left by the First Doctor
First Doctor
The First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
, Dodo Chaplet
Dodo Chaplet
Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet is a fictional character played by Jackie Lane in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Earth teenager from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme in its third season, from February to July,...
and Steven Tyler. The message is a warning, meant for 111 years in the future.
Cast
- Captain Ruth Matheson - Daphne AshbrookDaphne AshbrookDaphne Lee Ashbrook is an American actress.-Personal life:Daphne Ashbrook was raised in the San Diego, CA area. Her parents are San Diego theatre actress D'Ann Paton and late actor/Director Buddy Ashbrook...
- Warrant Officer Charlie Sato - Yee Jee TsoYee Jee TsoYee Jee Tso is a Canadian actor.His television roles include Sliders , and the 1996 Doctor Who telemovie, in which he played the character Chang Lee...
- Steven TaylorSteven Taylor (Doctor Who)Steven Taylor is a fictional character played by Peter Purves in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A space pilot from Earth in the future, he was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1965 to 1966.-Character history:Steven first...
- Peter PurvesPeter PurvesPeter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the... - Zoe HeriotZoe HeriotZoe Heriot , or simply Zoe, is a fictional character played by Wendy Padbury in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
- Wendy PadburyWendy PadburyWendy Padbury is a British actress from Warwickshire, England. She is most famous for her involvement in various Doctor Who projects.... - Jo GrantJo GrantJosephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
- Katy ManningKaty ManningKaty Manning is an English actress best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She has also made many theatre appearances, and is now a citizen of Australia. She is myopic... - Romana I - Mary TammMary TammMary Tamm is an English actress. She is best known for being the first actress to play the character of Romana in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, opposite Tom Baker as the Doctor, from the 1978–1979 season known collectively as The Key to Time.-Early life:Mary Tamm was born in...
Continuity
- References are made to UNIT's involvement with a sea monsterLoch Ness MonsterThe Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
in the River ThamesRiver ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
(Terror of the ZygonsTerror of the ZygonsTerror of the Zygons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 August to 20 September 1975...
) and the disturbances at the millennium (The 1996 TV Movie). - Other items in The Vault include Terravores (The Crimes of Thomas BrewsterThe Crimes of Thomas BrewsterThe Crimes of Thomas Brewster is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. - Plot :...
), Krynoid husks (The Seeds of DoomThe Seeds of DoomThe Seeds of Doom is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 31 January to 6 March 1976...
), plastic daffodils (Terror of the AutonsTerror of the AutonsTerror of the Autons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 January 1971...
) and parts of a SontaranSontaranThe Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...
ship from TunguskaTunguska eventThe Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
. - The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
story Enemy of the BaneEnemy of the BaneEnemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series...
featured a UNIT repository of alien artifacts called The Black Archive.
Cast Notes
- Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso played Grace HollowayGrace HollowayDr. Grace Holloway is a fictional character played by Daphne Ashbrook in the 1996 television movie Doctor Who, a continuation of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Chang Lee in the 1996 Eighth DoctorEighth DoctorThe 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...
TV Movie.