The One Doctor
Encyclopedia
The One Doctor is a Big Finish Productions
audio drama based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
.
During the serial, the Doctor and his companions undertake a quest to find the three greatest treasures of the Generios system.
The story was essentially Big Finish's Christmas panto
, and features an extra Christmas scene as a hidden track at the end of the story. The episodes are heavily laden with comedy and the impostor Doctor's name, Banto Zame, is an intentional rhyme with Panto Dame
.
arrive on Generios Eight to try and locate one of the treasures, The Shelves of Infinity (Unit ZX419). The Shelves of Infinity were designed and created by the Assembler race on Generios Eight, considered the pinnacle of their race. The pieces that make up the shelves are constantly phasing in and out of this dimension, so they can never be completely assembled. The Shelves of Infinity were stored in Warehouse ZX under the code ZX419.
Banto and Mel encounter the Assemblers and manage to convince them to let them take unit ZX419, but only if they could assemble it. Banto scoffs, saying it will be easy. Once the two start building the shelves, they notice parts are going missing. The instructions make sense, but they never get any closer to actually building it. Eventually, they come up with a way to fool the Assemblers: since the building process can never be finished, the Assemblers do not know what the finished product would look like.
The Assemblers are fooled long enough for the Doctor to arrive in the TARDIS
, and Banto and Mel escape with the Shelves of Infinity.
Mentos appears in our universe as a small metal box that projects the holograph
ic image of an old man which acts as its real world interface. The box is actually a portal to a shadow universe which is populated by countless information collectors—research devices that travel through time and space, constantly seeking out the answer to any given question. As a result, Mentos literally knows everything there is to know.
Mentos was made to participate in Superbrain, a game show
(a parody of The Weakest Link
). However, as Mentos was able to answer every question put to it, the game continued endlessly. Eventually, the two factions which were vying for control of the Mentos device fought and wiped each other out, along with the codes that would shut down the Questioner and end the game. Mentos, programmed to continue answering questions until it got a wrong answer, outlasted the civilisation that created it by over 330 centuries.
The Doctor arrived on Generios Fourteen to collect Mentos. An alien cylinder was holding Generios One, the capital planet of the system, hostage, threatening to destroy it unless the people of Generios handed over their three greatest treasures. Unable to disconnect the computer without ending the game, the Doctor tried to stump Mentos without success until he and Sally Anne Stubbins asked it what it did not know. With Mentos being unable to answer that question, the game ended, with its score a "pitiful" 679,330,567,010 credits. The Doctor was then able to disconnect the device and take it with him.
During the Doctor's initial attempts to outwit Mentos, the computer tiredly asked him if he was going to ask it "one of those tricky fox-the-computer logic conundrums", like the liar paradox
. In the Third Doctor
serial The Green Death
, the Doctor asked the rogue artificial intelligence
BOSS the same question. Mentos, however, stated that it would not have made a difference—it is able to answer those kinds of questions as well.
The Lonely Jelloid!
The final episode of the play mainly focuses on the Doctor and co. attempting to retrieve a giant crystal from a planet guarded by a large, lonely jelloid organism (voiced by Matt Lucas - Lucas also voiced the cylinder). At the play's conclusion it is revealed that the cylinder was actually after the Doctor all along and the request for the three treasures was a trap - as only the Doctor could have retrieved them. Banto Zame is wrongly identified as the Doctor and is taken away to face punishment for the Doctor's future actions. The Doctor later comments that he shall rescue Zame from this fate.
Also, there are two hidden tracks that appear at the end of the CD. The first is a short scene in which The Doctor And Mel attempt to view the Queen's Speech on the Time and Space Visualiser. The Second is of Mentos and the Quiz Host. This latter scene is extensive and is composed of a question-and-answer format heard during the third episode. Both hidden scenes have the characters wish everyone listening a happy Christmas.
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 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...
.
Plot
The Sixth Doctor and Mel come up against an impostor Doctor and his companion Sally-Anne.During the serial, the Doctor and his companions undertake a quest to find the three greatest treasures of the Generios system.
The story was essentially Big Finish's Christmas panto
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, and features an extra Christmas scene as a hidden track at the end of the story. The episodes are heavily laden with comedy and the impostor Doctor's name, Banto Zame, is an intentional rhyme with Panto Dame
Pantomime dame
A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British pantomime. It is a continuation of en travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. They are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting 'butch' in women's clothing...
.
The Shelves of Infinity
Banto Zame and MelMelanie Bush
Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A computer programmer from the 20th Century who is a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1986 to 1987...
arrive on Generios Eight to try and locate one of the treasures, The Shelves of Infinity (Unit ZX419). The Shelves of Infinity were designed and created by the Assembler race on Generios Eight, considered the pinnacle of their race. The pieces that make up the shelves are constantly phasing in and out of this dimension, so they can never be completely assembled. The Shelves of Infinity were stored in Warehouse ZX under the code ZX419.
Banto and Mel encounter the Assemblers and manage to convince them to let them take unit ZX419, but only if they could assemble it. Banto scoffs, saying it will be easy. Once the two start building the shelves, they notice parts are going missing. The instructions make sense, but they never get any closer to actually building it. Eventually, they come up with a way to fool the Assemblers: since the building process can never be finished, the Assemblers do not know what the finished product would look like.
The Assemblers are fooled long enough for the Doctor to arrive in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, and Banto and Mel escape with the Shelves of Infinity.
Mentos
Another of the treasures, Mentos (also known as the Mentos Device), is an advanced computer and information retrieval system. It is one of the three treasures of the Generios system in the far future, described by the Doctor as the "vulgar end of time".Mentos appears in our universe as a small metal box that projects the holograph
Holograph
A holograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose signature it bears. Some countries or local jurisdictions within certain countries give legal standing to specific types of holographic documents, generally waiving requirements that they be witnessed...
ic image of an old man which acts as its real world interface. The box is actually a portal to a shadow universe which is populated by countless information collectors—research devices that travel through time and space, constantly seeking out the answer to any given question. As a result, Mentos literally knows everything there is to know.
Mentos was made to participate in Superbrain, a game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
(a parody of The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
). However, as Mentos was able to answer every question put to it, the game continued endlessly. Eventually, the two factions which were vying for control of the Mentos device fought and wiped each other out, along with the codes that would shut down the Questioner and end the game. Mentos, programmed to continue answering questions until it got a wrong answer, outlasted the civilisation that created it by over 330 centuries.
The Doctor arrived on Generios Fourteen to collect Mentos. An alien cylinder was holding Generios One, the capital planet of the system, hostage, threatening to destroy it unless the people of Generios handed over their three greatest treasures. Unable to disconnect the computer without ending the game, the Doctor tried to stump Mentos without success until he and Sally Anne Stubbins asked it what it did not know. With Mentos being unable to answer that question, the game ended, with its score a "pitiful" 679,330,567,010 credits. The Doctor was then able to disconnect the device and take it with him.
During the Doctor's initial attempts to outwit Mentos, the computer tiredly asked him if he was going to ask it "one of those tricky fox-the-computer logic conundrums", like the liar paradox
Liar paradox
In philosophy and logic, the liar paradox or liar's paradox , is the statement "this sentence is false"...
. In 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....
serial The Green Death
The Green Death
The Green Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 19 May 1973 to 23 June 1973. It was the last to feature Katy Manning as companion Jo Grant in Doctor Who...
, the Doctor asked the rogue artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
BOSS the same question. Mentos, however, stated that it would not have made a difference—it is able to answer those kinds of questions as well.
The Lonely Jelloid!
The final episode of the play mainly focuses on the Doctor and co. attempting to retrieve a giant crystal from a planet guarded by a large, lonely jelloid organism (voiced by Matt Lucas - Lucas also voiced the cylinder). At the play's conclusion it is revealed that the cylinder was actually after the Doctor all along and the request for the three treasures was a trap - as only the Doctor could have retrieved them. Banto Zame is wrongly identified as the Doctor and is taken away to face punishment for the Doctor's future actions. The Doctor later comments that he shall rescue Zame from this fate.
Also, there are two hidden tracks that appear at the end of the CD. The first is a short scene in which The Doctor And Mel attempt to view the Queen's Speech on the Time and Space Visualiser. The Second is of Mentos and the Quiz Host. This latter scene is extensive and is composed of a question-and-answer format heard during the third episode. Both hidden scenes have the characters wish everyone listening a happy Christmas.
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....
— Colin BakerColin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to... - MelMelanie BushMel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A computer programmer from the 20th Century who is a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1986 to 1987...
— Bonnie LangfordBonnie LangfordBonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:... - Citizen Sokkery — Nicholas PeggNicholas PeggNicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.A graduate of the University of Exeter, Pegg trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth...
- Councillor Potikol — Stephen FewellStephen FewellStephen Fewell is a British actor who portrays Jason Kane in the audio adventures of Bernice Summerfield. He has also appeared in classical theatre and as several roles in various Doctor Who audio productions...
- Banto Zame — Christopher BigginsChristopher BigginsChristopher Kenneth Biggins is an English actor and media personality.-Career:Biggins was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England and brought up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, where he took elocution lessons and participated in local drama groups...
- Sally-Anne Stubbins — Clare BuckfieldClare BuckfieldClare Buckfield is an English actress, best known for playing the role of Jenny Porter in the BBC sitcom 2point4 children for most of the nineties and Natasha Stevens in the CBBC series Grange Hill.-Biography:...
- Guard — Mark Wright
- Cylinder Voice — Matt LucasMatt LucasMatthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...
- The Questioner — Jane Goddard
- Mentos — Nicholas Pegg
- Assembler 1 — Adam BuxtonAdam BuxtonAdam Offord Buxton is an English comedian and actor. With Joe Cornish, he forms one half of the duo Adam and Joe. The pair presented Adam and Joe on BBC 6 Music, whilst Buxton also presents his own show on 6 Music on Sundays, called Adam Buxton's Big Mix Tape, currently on hiatus.-Major work:His...
- Assembler 2 — Stephen Fewell
- The Jelloid — Matt LucasMatt LucasMatthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...
Continuity
- The Ninth DoctorNinth DoctorThe Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
also encounters a version of the Weakest Link in the new series TV story Bad WolfBad Wolf"Bad Wolf" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on June 11, 2005. The TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the Gamestation, also known as Satellite 5, where they must battle to survive the cruel games...
, this time actually voiced by its real host Anne RobinsonAnne RobinsonAnne Josephine Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter, known for her assertive views and acerbic style of presenting. She was one of the presenters on the long-running British consumer affairs series, Watchdog, from 1993 to 2001 before returning in 2009...
.
- The CD features a bonus track which involves The Doctor and Mel attempting to watch The Queen's Christmas Message on the Time-Space Visualiser, a machine seen in the First DoctorFirst DoctorThe 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...
story 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...
.
- Clare Buckfield's sister, Julie, has also appeared in a Big Finish Doctor Who Audio.
- Episode three's opening and closing theme is the abandoned Delaware version from 1973.
- The Next Doctor also features another character who is mistaken for the actual Doctor.
Outside references
- The Doctor and Mel at the beginning are playing MonopolyMonopoly (game)Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
.