History Recap / BigFinishDoctorWho014TheHolyTerror

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* BurnTheWitch: When a new GodEmperor is crowned, all those who worshipped the old one are burned at the stake. Although they are given a chance to recant, which most of them take.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Three, as usual, but most notably Part Three's cliffhanger is especially shocking: The Child's voice morphs into that of Eugene's as he asks who his father is.

* DownerEnding: ''Big time''. It's a DreamApocalypse, which only the Doctor and Frobisher, since they do not belong in the dreamworld, survives.

* AGodAmI: Played with, Frobisher is worshiped as being some sort of an angelic being ("All hail Frobisher! All hail the big talking bird!"). He is not comfortable with it at all. Also, the King is traditionally worshiped as a living God. This leads to problems, since each King invariably commits the ultimate blasphemy by ''dying.''

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Each God-King has to perform a miracle during their coronation. By the time the Doctor arrives, it's been pared down to a (rigged) card trick.

* ThereAreNoCoincidences: All of the bibles end ''exactly'' on the last page. Strangely enough, Pepin's seems to be very thin.

* CorruptChurch: And how! The High Priesthood has a long history of betraying the true monarch to the evil brother going back to time immemorial.

* [[EvilChancellor Evil High Priest]]: As is designated by tradition, the High Priest must always betray the Lord Emperor.

* LadyMacbeth: Livilla, Pepin's wife.

[[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins Frobisher]], the shapeshifting penguin detective, has convinced the TARDIS to create semi-living fish for him to toy with. The Sixth Doctor tries to explain that even semi-living things can feel pain and distress, but Frobisher won't listen until the TARDIS herself can't cope with Frobisher's games anymore and shuts down entirely. She parks the Doctor and Frobisher inside a medieval-style castle, where the new god-king is about to be crowned.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Frobisher, the big talking bird.

* DownerEnding: ''Big time''. It's a KillEmAll DreamApocalypse, which only the Doctor and Frobisher, since they do not belong in the dreamworld, survives.

* KillEmAll: Livilla, Arnulf, Childeric, Pepin and Berengaria are all killed off over the course of the story, in that order. The trope is then taken up to eleven in the final part, where its revealed that the entire castle is ficticious, created by Eugene's imagination, and even he is killed by The Child in the end, leaving only The Doctor, Frobisher and the empty void.

* KillEmAll: Livilla, Arnulf, Childeric, Pepin and Berengaria are all killed off over the course of the story, in that order. The trope is then taken UpToEleven in the final part, where its revealed that the entire castle is ficticious, created by Eugene's imagination, and even he is killed by The Child in the end, leaving only The Doctor, Frobisher and the empty void.

* [[EvilChancellor Evil High Priest]]: As is designated by tradition, the High Priest must always betray the Lord Emporer.

* SecretUndergroundPassage
* SharingABody: Childeric plans this. He dies.

Meanwhile, the evil half-brother has a secret that's decidedly ''not'' tradition. He has a child, a young boy who's been kept alive for five years in the castle's deepest dungeons. The child was raised "pure", without language -- even his mother's tongue had been cut out during his birth. The child turns out to be a malicious God, intent on killing everyone it encounters. The Doctor is an unexpected factor in its plans, but -- as the child finds out -- isn't immune to MindRape. After violating the Doctor's memories, it goes off into the castle and starts murdering everything it can find... asking [[MadnessMantra "are you my father?"]].

* RealityWarper

Upon arriving in the middle of the ceremony, the Doctor and Frobisher are instantly [[MistakenForGods mistaken for]] the Holy Big Talking Monochromatic Bird and his companion who brings with him every colour of the rainbow. The new king, who's really very confused about the whole deal, becomes even more confused when the coronation fails to give him actual god-like powers. He's too nice of a chap to pretend he's divine, so he promptly abdicates and tells the people to assassinate him for blasphemy. They won't listen, though, and he's forced to accept his new role. The new king's wife begins with the ritualistic torturing and mocking of the old queen (who's not in the mood), while the high priest goes off the ritualistically conspire against the new king together with the evil half-brother.

This was the first Creator/BigFinish episode to feature the shape-shifting companion Frobisher, from the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics. It's also Creator/StevenMoffat's favourite Sixth Doctor episode in all of ''Series/DoctorWho'', and it was a clear influence on his own [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent "Heaven Sent"]].

"Are you my father?"

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* {{Cliffhanger}}: Three, as usual, but most notably Part Three's cliffhanger is especially shocking: [[spoiler:The Child's voice morphs into that of Eugene's as he asks who his father is.]]

* DeathSeeker: Berengaria, Pepin and Childeric's mother, is this. [[spoiler:She is eventually killed [[KickTheDog moments after finally seeing her son in a new light, and just after said son was murdered in front of her eyes]] by the Child.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: The Captain of the guard for the people, although it's more of a StupidSacrifice, since the assassination attempt is always carried out with blanks instead of bullets, [[spoiler:at least until they take the Doctor's advice]].

* InsaneTrollLogic: As an emperor, Pepin is supposedly invincible so [[spoiler:the ritual assassination attempt is done with blanks]] because it wouldn't work anyway.

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Beginning [[spoiler:the moment The Doctor and Frobisher step out of the TARDIS.]]

* LukeIAmYourFather: Subverted, and then played straight: [[spoiler:Childeric isn't the Child's father, but Eugene is.]]