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 September
2002's release is a Seventh
Doctor and Ace story titled "The Rapture" (formerly
titled "The Priory"). It has been written by Joseph Lidster who, for the second
month in a row, is another newcomer to Big Finish Productions. This story is
also the first Doctor Who title to be directed by Big Finish producer
Jason Haigh-Ellery. It was recorded on the 20th and 21st April 2002.
Alongside Sylvester McCoy, as the Seventh Doctor, and Sophie
Aldred, as Ace, there is a surprise guest-star has been announced - none other
than the real DJ Tony Blackburn! As announced by Big Finish Productions "The
script originally called for a fictional DJ by the name of Chris Taylor but
director Jason Haigh-Ellery decided to go for the genuine article. When
approached, the legendary Tony Blackburn agreed to join the cast but it was
decided that he should play himself - one of the very few times that this has
happened in Doctor Who's history". This story also has a unique premise to
the story teasing the listener with a pre-theme music introduction by Tony
Blackburn that explains the initial set-up and mood for the rest of the
story.
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The
Rapture
(Joseph Lidster) |
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As well as Tony Blackburn this story also stars
David John who previously appeared in Doctor Who as Derek in the 1989
and final television story "Survival". Also starring are Anne Bird, Daniel
Wilson, Carlos Riera, Matthew Brehner, Neil Henry and Jeremy James.
This
story has The Doctor and Ace visiting a contemporary nightclub and is set on
the island of Ibiza in 1997, at a time when thousands of young people are
acting like mindless zombies. There they also find angels who have come to save
the revellers from their hedonistic paradise. But if that wasn't enough, Ace
has to confront her own past in a way she could never have dreamed
imaginable.
After being traumatised by the events that took place in "Colditz", where she
witnessed the horrific death of a German guard, Ace has resolved that it is
time to 'grow up' and from now on she will from now on be called McShane.
Although, as The Doctor shows throughout this story, thinking and treating her
as anything but Ace is going to prove very difficult for him.
Because Ace is
looking for is a respite and 'one normal night' to relax and unwind The Doctor
takes her to Ibiza a decade after she left Perivale. However, Ace gets more
than she bargained for when they meet an alien time-traveller who just happens
to work in a bar, an Irish girl who doesn't even know who she is anymore and a
young man carrying a photograph of a girl he's never met but who he knows goes
by the name of Ace...
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| Seventh Doctor |
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While The Doctor catches up with an old friend,
and bar owner Gustavo, Ace heads off, at the local's suggestion, to a new club
that has opened nearby called The Rapture. There, in the packed club, Ace meets
holidaymakers Liam, Caitriona and holiday rep Brian who have been attracted
there by the club's reputation.
While Ace is
beginning to enjoy herself she is completely unaware, like everyone else in the
club, that they are in real danger from the club-managers and brothers Jude and
Gabriel who curiously claim to be angels. But are they just performing an act
for the young people thronging to Ibiza? With their Biblical references are
Jude and Gabriel really on a mission from Heaven to save its sinners, through
the power of their music, or is there something more sinister going on? The
Doctor is about to find out…
The Doctor, on
visiting the nightclub, is alarmed to find that the frenzied atmosphere of the
club has caused the revellers to become entranced by the music in a kind of
crescendo which nearly reaches breaking point. But it seems that this is only a
test run for the events planned for the following night. Completely unaware of
the situation the revellers continue to party on. Ace however, has other plans
and on returning with Liam to stay the night she has a nasty shock in store
when it is revealed that Liam is in fact Ace's brother - one that she never
thought she had!
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Ace |
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But more importantly why is Liam so intent to find
his long lost sister and now that he has found her so anxious not to lose her
again? Why is Caitriona, the manic-depressive who finds release from her
troubles in a combination of drugs and music, in such a state and so willing to
accept that Jude and Gabriel are angels and can actually fly. Or is she really
in a drug-fuelled stupor and so willing to believe anything including the
existence of "Angel Dust"?
Why is Gustavo's presence on Ibiza so important to
the events that are now occurring in the club? What is the old secret of the
nearby island of Es Vedra and what is really in the cave that Gabriel visits
when he takes a boat trip to the island and who does he go there to talk to?
Could it really be an Inter-dimensional Port and that Jude and Gabriel are
really aliens who are on Earth so as to obtain new recruits for an ongoing war?
And could The Doctor's interference be responsible for Jude and Gabriel's
actions which threaten to spill over and so destroy thousands of lives?
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| Tony Blackburn |
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Has Ace's need
to travel within the TARDIS,
as a way of escaping her humdrum life, finally caught
up with her and has her attempts to grow-up backfired?
Will anything ever be the same again for her and could
this be the end of Ace's time travelling with The Doctor
in his TARDIS? Could her enthusiasm to join the revellers
at The Rapture be her undoing and is there anything The Doctor can do to prevent a catastrophe?
As
The Doctor's investigation into what is happening becomes
clearer it soon becomes obvious that there are no real
baddies, only terribly misguided people, whose actions
mean that things may never be the same again and not just
for Ace and her new found brother but for the whole planet
especially if Gabriel's music is released beyond the dance
floor and into the airwaves...
Unless
The Doctor takes the correct action it could be too late
for him to stop The Rapture, to save the planet and the
future of his companion!
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| Important Information |
| Immediately
after the trailers in track 9 at the end of the second disc carry on listening
because you find will some music from the recording of this story.
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Notes:
- Featuring the Seventh
Doctor and Ace.
- Serial Number: 7V
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 115 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 23'03", 2 = 27'17", 3 =
26'39", 4 = 30'22"
- Total Story Length: 107'21"
- This story takes place between "Survival" and
"Doctor
Who: The Movie" and follows "Colditz".
- Early Titles: "The Priory Experience"
and "The Priory".
- Cover Illustration: Clayton Hickman
- Recorded: 20th and 21st April 2002
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: September 2002
- ISBN: 1-903654-74-2
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On the Back Cover:
Ibiza, 1997,
and thousands of young people are acting like mindless
zombies.
Which is to
be expected. Ibiza, the island of dance music, sex, drugs
and alcohol, is the ultimate hedonistic paradise.
God has sent help from
on high to save the sinners of Ibiza. He has sent His
angels to save their souls.
Which
would be simple enough if these souls didn't include an
alien time-traveller working in a bar, a woman who disappeared
in 1987, a young man carrying a photograph of a girl he's
never met and an Irish girl who doesn't even know who
she is anymore. |
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On the Inside Cover:
EVER HAD ONE
OF THOSE mornings when you've woken up and not been sure
what happened the night before? You remember the first
few drinks and the people you met, but after that it all
gets a bit hazy. There was definitely some singing...
some dancing... possibly an argument… but you certainly
can't remember how you got home. Ever wondered what happened
in those missing hours?
The idea for The Rapture
came about when, a few years ago, I started to go clubbing.
For just a few short hours the music would take me out
of my mundane life of university lectures, dissertations
and cash-flow problems. For a few short hours the music
would make me forget about my life and I'd be drawn into
a world that seemed extraordinary and unearthly - a bit
like Doctor Who really. So why not combine the
two?
What
if dance music really does make you enter a higher state
of consciousness? What fit's called trance music for a
very good reason? And what would happen if someone took
Faithless seriously when they chanted "God Is A DJ"?
What
if the Daily Mail has been right all along?
As
you immerse yourself in this (hopefully!) twenty-first
century version of Doctor Who, please enjoy the
ride because one thing's for certain - in the immortal
words of Sophie Ellis-Bextor - there's gonna be "Murder
on the Dancefloor!"
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Joseph Lidster,
April 2002 |
Joseph Lidster is an Englishman living in Dublin
where he sells cars for a living. Or something. No one
really knows, including Joe. He submitted The Rapture
on spec and producer Gary Russell liked the idea of a
play about Angels and club music. This is Joe’s
first Doctor Who audio drama, but wont he
his last as he’s currently writing a play for
release in 2003 about The Master. |
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Production Notes:
The
Rapture started life set in a trendy club outside London,
originally the old UNIT HQ. There the Sixth
Doctor and
Peri met up with two young clubbers Kieran and Katrina
and got caught up in the plan of three aliens, Jude, Angel
and the DJ to wipe the minds of humanity with specially
composed dance music. The first change was to make it
a Seventh
Doctor and Ace story, and gradually further
refinements worked in - Jude and his brother became Angels,
the DJ became Tony Blackburn and the old UNIT HQ setting
became Ibiza. At one point there was a Richard Branson-style
figure financing the club who, it was suggested to Joe,
turn out to be The Master but he rightly thought that
was taking things just one step too far... |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| DJ |
Tony Blackburn |
| Liam |
David John |
| Caitriona |
Anne Bird |
| Brian |
Daniel Wilson |
| Gustavo |
Carlos Riera |
| Jude |
Matthew Brehner |
| Gabriel |
Neil Henry |
| Bouncer |
Jeremy James |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Joseph Lidster |
| Director |
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Sound/Music |
Jim Mortimore and Jane Elphinston
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| Theme Music |
Mark Ayres |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC |
Jaqueline Rayner |
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