The Gathering (Doctor Who audio)
Encyclopedia
The Gathering is a Big Finish Productions
audio drama based on the long-running British
science fiction
television series Doctor Who
.
encounters an enthusiastic fan who has found traces of the Doctor's various visits to Earth in his archives. Many of the visits are accompanied by a characteristic energy signature which the Doctor does not recognise and sets off to investigate. He travels to 1984 Baltimore
, but hears a police report with a search out for the Doctor and realises a future incarnation
is already there, so instead decides to visit Australia
in 2006.
There he is to meet Tegan
, an old companion, still trying to reconcile her every day life with the adventures she had with the Doctor, and Katherine Chambers, a woman dealing with a legacy of events in the Doctor's 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...
audio drama 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...
.
Plot
The Fifth DoctorFifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
encounters an enthusiastic fan who has found traces of the Doctor's various visits to Earth in his archives. Many of the visits are accompanied by a characteristic energy signature which the Doctor does not recognise and sets off to investigate. He travels to 1984 Baltimore
The Reaping (Doctor Who audio)
The Reaping is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
, but hears a police report with a search out for the Doctor and realises a future incarnation
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
is already there, so instead decides to visit Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 2006.
There he is to meet Tegan
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
, an old companion, still trying to reconcile her every day life with the adventures she had with the Doctor, and Katherine Chambers, a woman dealing with a legacy of events in the Doctor's future…
Cast
- The DoctorDoctor (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....
— Peter DavisonPeter DavisonPeter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,... - Tegan JovankaTegan JovankaTegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
— Janet FieldingJanet FieldingJanet Fielding is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane... - Michael Tanaka — Dait Abuchi
- Eve Morris — Janie Booth
- Alan Fitzgerald — Nicholas BriggsNicholas BriggsNicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
- James Clarke — Richard GrieveRichard GrieveRichard Grieve is an actor, currently living in England. He was born in Hong Kong. He has worked extensively in film, television, theatre and musical theatre, but is perhaps best known for his roles in the British soap Emmerdale, and two Australian television series, Neighbours and Home and...
- Waiter — Jef Higgins
- Rosemary Stark — Belinda Hoare
- Jodi Boyd — Zehra Naqvi
- Katherine Chambers — Jane Perry
Continuity
- The companionless Doctor says he has left PeriPeri BrownPeri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
and ErimemErimemErimemushinteperem, or simply Erimem, is a fictional character played by Caroline Morris in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A princess of Ancient Egypt born in 1419 BC, she is the daughter of...
in Monte CarloMonte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
, a reference to the Doctor-less audio adventure The Veiled LeopardThe Veiled LeopardThe Veiled Leopard is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
.
- Among the incidents Alan Fitzgerald questions the Doctor about are the Great Fire of LondonGreat Fire of LondonThe Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
(The Visitation) and the Mary CelesteMary CelesteThe Mary Celeste was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned , despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able...
(The ChaseThe Chase (Doctor Who)The Chase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. The story is set on multiple locations including the Mary Celeste, the Empire State Building, and the planet Aridius...
).
- It is heavily implied that James Clarke is working for the ForgeForge (Doctor Who)The Forge is a fictional black operations organisation from the Big Finish Productions audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. This is confirmed in the short story Twilight's End which features in Short Trips: Defining PatternsShort Trips: Defining PatternsShort Trips: Defining Patterns is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Ian Farrington and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
.
- The technology that is spirited away at the end of this story crops up again in The HarvestThe Harvest (Doctor Who audio)The Harvest is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It introduces new companion Hex. It was retroactively made the final part of a trilogy with The Reaping and The Gathering, with all three sporting similar designs for...
, including System, still voiced by Eve.
Trivia
- The story is set on Tegan's birthday, September 22.
- Doctor Who actress and singer Billie PiperBillie PiperBillie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
(Rose TylerRose TylerRose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
) shares that birthday, a fact subtly acknowledged by the story when it is mentioned during an in-story radio broadcast.
- This was the first audio drama in the main Doctor Who range which Janet FieldingJanet FieldingJanet Fielding is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane...
(Tegan Jovanka) appears, although she has confirmed that she will be reprising the role of Tegan in more audios in the future. Fielding has since reprised her role as Tegan alongside TurloughTurloughTurlough can mean:* Turlough * Turlough O'Brien Anglicised form of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, King of Munster, effectively High King of Ireland* Turlough O'Neill Ulster chieftain...
and NyssaNyssaNyssa may refer to:* the genus name for the tupelo tree* Nyssa , a female name** Nyssa , a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors in the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who...
for three audio dramas in 2010, with 3 more scheduled for release starting April 2011.