Human Resources (Doctor Who audio)
Encyclopedia
Human Resources is an audio drama based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions
and was broadcast in two parts on BBC 7
on 11 February and 18 February 2007 and was the last to use David Arnold's arrangement of the Doctor Who theme.
In the TARDIS
the Doctor is given a time ring by a Time Lord
to rescue Lucie. Meanwhile Lucie starts her new job at Hulbert Logistics, an office in Telford
, believing that her travels with the Doctor were all a dream. The Doctor arrives at the office and restores Lucie's memories. She realises that this is the job she was meant to start before she was taken by the Time Lords. He decides to investigate and finds the staff working on military tactics. Lucie is fired from the job and is ejected from the office with another member of staff, Karen. The office is revealed to be the interior of a giant war machine on an alien planet, where they find a small group of other ex-employees.
Meanwhile the Doctor finds a dimensional corridor in the human resources department, which leads to an office on Earth run by a man called Hulbert, who explains that he helps aliens fight wars by brainwashing humans to run the war machines. Believing the Doctor to be his latest 'client', he takes him to a conference on the alien planet to demonstrate his company's effectiveness as the current targets of his corporations have been hunted to near extinction. Believing Hulbert's plans to be unjustified, the Doctor sabotages the conference's defensive systems, only to discover that the war is being fought against Cybermen, who storm the conference room.
Part 2
Hubert agrees to work with the Cybermen, against the Doctor's advice. The Doctor learns that these Cybermen are an earlier version of the Cybermen he will encounter on Telos, having not recognised the name of the planet. Lucie and the ex-employees meet the Headhunter, who explains she was hired by Hubert to track Lucie down in case a rival company was trying to reverse-engineer his brainwashing techniques. As she has no desire to see the Cybermen win, she agrees to help them.
Lucie returns to the office with the other ex-employees and regains control. Meanwhile, the Cybermen have summoned the office as it has a 100% success record, and they also intend to use the dimensional corridor to invade Earth. The office attacks the Cybermen whilst Lucie sneaks out and rescues the Doctor. They re-enter the office where Lucie shows the Doctor a device which she found in the office, which he recognizes as a Quantum Crystaliser, a device which alters possible future timelines to ensure the best possible outcome for the user. They both go in the TARDIS to talk to another Time Lord who explains that the war had been engineered by the Celestial Intervention Agency
to try to eliminate the Cybermen.
The Time Lord also explains that the CIA predicted that Lucie would become a dictator
who would interfere with mankind's progress, so they also used a Crystaliser to alter her past to prevent this, but eventually they had to pull her out of time into the TARDIS, as contact with another Crystaliser would lead to her timeline becoming dangerously unstable. Realising that the Time Lords have manipulated her life Lucie takes the Quantum Crystaliser and runs back to the office. The Doctor realises that the Time Lords mistook Lucie for Karen when they pulled her out of time due to them both having job interviews on the same day, and Karen is the one destined to became a dictator.
The Headhunter tries to talk Lucie into using the Quantum Crystaliser to get revenge on the Time Lords. The Doctor arrives and explains the situation to her. She gives him the Crystaliser, but is shocked when he gives it to the Cybermen. However, the Cyberman who uses it instantly suffers total systems failure and is killed. The Doctor explains that the Quantum Crystaliser has been programmed to ensure that the Cybermen are defeated, so he increases the range on it, causing all of the Cybermen to be killed, and rendering the device itself useless. Whilst the Time Lords return the office workers home and Karen decides to become the Headhunter's new assistant, the Doctor and Lucie leave to new adventures.
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...
. This audio drama was 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...
and was broadcast in two parts on BBC 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
on 11 February and 18 February 2007 and was the last to use David Arnold's arrangement of the Doctor Who theme.
Plot
Part 1In the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
the Doctor is given a time ring by a Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
to rescue Lucie. Meanwhile Lucie starts her new job at Hulbert Logistics, an office in Telford
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
, believing that her travels with the Doctor were all a dream. The Doctor arrives at the office and restores Lucie's memories. She realises that this is the job she was meant to start before she was taken by the Time Lords. He decides to investigate and finds the staff working on military tactics. Lucie is fired from the job and is ejected from the office with another member of staff, Karen. The office is revealed to be the interior of a giant war machine on an alien planet, where they find a small group of other ex-employees.
Meanwhile the Doctor finds a dimensional corridor in the human resources department, which leads to an office on Earth run by a man called Hulbert, who explains that he helps aliens fight wars by brainwashing humans to run the war machines. Believing the Doctor to be his latest 'client', he takes him to a conference on the alien planet to demonstrate his company's effectiveness as the current targets of his corporations have been hunted to near extinction. Believing Hulbert's plans to be unjustified, the Doctor sabotages the conference's defensive systems, only to discover that the war is being fought against Cybermen, who storm the conference room.
Part 2
Hubert agrees to work with the Cybermen, against the Doctor's advice. The Doctor learns that these Cybermen are an earlier version of the Cybermen he will encounter on Telos, having not recognised the name of the planet. Lucie and the ex-employees meet the Headhunter, who explains she was hired by Hubert to track Lucie down in case a rival company was trying to reverse-engineer his brainwashing techniques. As she has no desire to see the Cybermen win, she agrees to help them.
Lucie returns to the office with the other ex-employees and regains control. Meanwhile, the Cybermen have summoned the office as it has a 100% success record, and they also intend to use the dimensional corridor to invade Earth. The office attacks the Cybermen whilst Lucie sneaks out and rescues the Doctor. They re-enter the office where Lucie shows the Doctor a device which she found in the office, which he recognizes as a Quantum Crystaliser, a device which alters possible future timelines to ensure the best possible outcome for the user. They both go in the TARDIS to talk to another Time Lord who explains that the war had been engineered by the Celestial Intervention Agency
Celestial Intervention Agency
The Celestial Intervention Agency is a fictional organization of Time Lords in the universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
to try to eliminate the Cybermen.
The Time Lord also explains that the CIA predicted that Lucie would become a dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
who would interfere with mankind's progress, so they also used a Crystaliser to alter her past to prevent this, but eventually they had to pull her out of time into the TARDIS, as contact with another Crystaliser would lead to her timeline becoming dangerously unstable. Realising that the Time Lords have manipulated her life Lucie takes the Quantum Crystaliser and runs back to the office. The Doctor realises that the Time Lords mistook Lucie for Karen when they pulled her out of time due to them both having job interviews on the same day, and Karen is the one destined to became a dictator.
The Headhunter tries to talk Lucie into using the Quantum Crystaliser to get revenge on the Time Lords. The Doctor arrives and explains the situation to her. She gives him the Crystaliser, but is shocked when he gives it to the Cybermen. However, the Cyberman who uses it instantly suffers total systems failure and is killed. The Doctor explains that the Quantum Crystaliser has been programmed to ensure that the Cybermen are defeated, so he increases the range on it, causing all of the Cybermen to be killed, and rendering the device itself useless. Whilst the Time Lords return the office workers home and Karen decides to become the Headhunter's new assistant, the Doctor and Lucie leave to new adventures.
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....
— Paul McGannPaul McGannPaul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role... - Lucie MillerLucie MillerLucie Miller is a character in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions for BBC7 based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
— Sheridan SmithSheridan SmithSheridan Smith is an English actress and singer who is best known for her contributions to the British sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm. She has also become a recognised face in West End theatre, where she has appeared in Little Shop of Horrors,... - Headhunter — Katarina Olsson
- Hulbert — Roy MarsdenRoy MarsdenRoy Marsden is an English actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations of P. D. James's detective novels.- Education :...
- Straxus — Nickolas GraceNickolas GraceNickolas Grace is a British actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood...
- Jerry — Owen BrenmanOwen BrenmanOwen Brenman is an English actor best known for his role as next-door neighbour Nick Swainey in the multi-award-winning BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave, which ran for ten years and was written by David Renwick. He currently plays Dr...
- Karen — Louise Fullerton
- Malcolm — Andrew Wisher
- Cybermen — 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...
Continuity
- The Cybermen in this story post-date The Tenth PlanetThe Tenth PlanetThe Tenth Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 October to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell's last regular appearance as the First Doctor, and the first story to feature the Cybermen...
and The InvasionThe Invasion (Doctor Who)The Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968...
, as one of the Cybermen mentions the death of MondasMondas (Doctor Who)Mondas is a fictional planet in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Mondas is the homeworld of the Cybermen, a race of cyborgs....
, the Doctor's defeat of the advance Earth invasion party and his encounter with them on Planet 14 (which was mentioned in The Invasion). At this point in their development the Cybermen have not yet colonised themselves on their new home world of TelosTelos-Companies:* Telos , a defense contractor and software business in Ashburn, Virginia* Telos Systems, a manufacturer of equipment for broadcasting stations...
as demonstrated when they fail to recognise the reference via the Doctor. In Beyond the Vortex, 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...
mentions that the Cybermen voices in the story were a mix of the ones used in the 2006 series and The Invasion.
- The Time Ring first featured in Genesis of the DaleksGenesis of the DaleksGenesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
and also features in the next Eighth Doctor season finale, Sisters of the FlameSisters of the FlameSisters of the Flame is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions....
/Vengeance of MorbiusVengeance of MorbiusVengeance of Morbius is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions....
.
- The Headhunter first started chasing Lucie in Blood of the DaleksBlood of the DaleksBlood of the Daleks is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions; the first of two 50-minute parts was broadcast on BBC 7 on 31 December 2006, and the second was aired on 7 January 2007...
. She returns in the Series 2 story Grand Theft CosmosGrand Theft CosmosGrand Theft Cosmos is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions.-Cast:*The Doctor — Paul McGann*Lucie Miller — Sheridan Smith...
, alongside Karen from this story.
- Straxus returns in Sisters of the Flame/Vengeance of Morbius.
Outside references
- The Doctor refers to the Cyberman as "more machine than man". This is how Obi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
describes Darth VaderDarth VaderDarth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
. - StraxusStraxusLord Straxus is a fictional character from the Transformers series. A toy based on his Marvel comic appearance was released in 2010 under the name Darkmount.-Marvel Comics:Straxus was the Decepticon governor of a province of Cybertron known as Polyhex...
is also the name of a mighty Decepticon warlord who originated in the Marvel Comics Transformers comic.
Cast notes
- Only six weeks after the broadcast of this audio, actor Roy Marsden appeared in Doctor Who again, televised in "Smith and JonesSmith and Jones (Doctor Who)"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
" in the role of Mr Stoker. - Straxus also appears in the Bernice SummerfieldBernice SummerfieldBernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
audio play The Adventure of the Diogenes DamselThe Adventure of the Diogenes DamselThe Adventures of the Diogenes Damsel is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :...
- this time played by Peter MilesPeter MilesPeter Miles is a British actor. He has played many television roles including several different characters in Z-Cars and Doctor Who. His other television work has included Survivors, The Sweeney, Dixon of Dock Green, Moonbase 3, Poldark and Bergerac.In the science fiction series Blake's 7 he played...
.