Line #123 Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho030SeasonsOfFear


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0b79b3ba16ba6d8c42ec38f89ba970e9.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:It's a great chase through time to thwart more dreams of conquest!]]
3
4	[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho033Neverland The Eighth Doctor narrates.]]
5
6	He finally takes Charley to her [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho016StormWarning romantic rooftop rendezvous]]: Singapore, New Years' Eve 1930. While she's off partying with her date, Alexander Grayle, the Doctor meets a man who hates him -- Sebastian Grayle. This rather conceited man claims to have killed the Doctor in his own personal future. He also informs the Doctor that they're currently in an alternate timeline, and that the Time Lords have long since been replaced in this timeline by a much more powerful race.
7
8	The Doctor manages to get the TARDIS out of the alternate timeline with relatively little effort, and deduces that Charley's date is Sebastian Grayle's relative. With a Grayle tissue sample extracted from her mouth, they set out to track down Sebastian Grayle through history. For once, they actually plan ahead, and after three weeks of research, they end up in Roman Britain. Grayle, an aspiring priest of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraic_mysteries Mithras]], makes first contact with his masters, and disrupts a ceremony celebrating the legendary slaying of the bull. The Doctor decides he's got a licence to meddle with time today (what with the alternate timeline and all) and evacuates the temple with the help of a friendly British Roman priest named Lucillius. Charley steals an iron holy sword from the temple and takes it along. (Also, there's a Dalek, [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho032TheTimeOfTheDaleks but that's not important just yet]].)
9
10	Charley wonders whether the Doctor thwarting Grayle's plans is what will cause him to kill the Doctor in the first place. The Doctor tells her not to think about it too hard, because her brain would turn into a spiral staircase and she'd get lost trying to climb it, then tells Charley [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus an old Gallifreyan nursery rhyme]]...
11
12	-> Zagreus sits inside your head,
13	-> Zagreus lives among the dead,
14	-> Zagreus sees you in your bed,
15	-> And eats you when you're sleeping.
16
17	Grayle's next contact with his masters is set during Edward the Confessor's reign, albeit an AlternateHistory version. Grayle has taken TheSlowPath and is ''not'' pleased to see the Doctor. Neither is the very clever political genius Edith Swan-Neck (quite happily playing TheBeard to her friend Edward in this timeline), who it turns out was once engaged to the Doctor before he hastily ran away and left her at the altar. Edward, however, turns out be the Doctor's close friend, and they stop Grayle's plans (involving shiploads of plutonium) in this era using the holy temple sword.
18
19	Their third stop is with a conman in RegencyEngland, posing as Richard Martin, and his supposed daughter Lucy. Their con mark Grayle -- Lucy's fiancee -- is now several times older than the Doctor. When confronted, Grayle kills "Richard" and tries to sacrifice Lucy to his masters, and opens up a time portal which spits out a giant metallic egg. The Doctor finally puts all the pieces together. Bulls, horned artifacts, one loyal follower, human sacrifice... it's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon the Nimons]]!
20
21	Retreating into the TARDIS, the Doctor makes a fake HeroicSacrifice and lets himself and the aliens get sucked into the time vortex without protection. He's able to steer them to Roman Britain, where he falls out of the sky in front of his friend Lucillius... about an hour before he'll have met Lucillius the first time around. The Doctor pretends to be a messenger of Mithras, and Lucillius mobilises an army to kill all the aliens using the iron temple sword. The Doctor, meanwhile, hastily visits Grayle, moments before Grayle pledges his life to his masters, and convinces him (with the help of some of future Grayle's gold) to lead a virtuous life instead. When future Grayle barges in on them (thanks to the TARDIS' fast return switch), original Grayle is horrified to see what he'll become, and murders his future self.
22
23	The timeline restores itself as best as it can, Lucy is taken home, "Richard" is alive again, and all's well that ends well, except [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho033Neverland a being with Charley's appearance shows up and eats Lucy and "Richard"]].
24
25	[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho032TheTimeOfTheDaleks As for all those]] [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho033Neverland continuity errors...]]
26	----
27	!!Tropes
28	* AccidentalMarriage: "I must have mumbled..."
29	* ActionDressRip
30	--> ".. Oh ''my''."
31	* AlternateTimeline: Edith Swan-Neck was the consort of Harold Godwinesson, not Edward the Confessor. It was a different Edith, Edith of Wessex, that was Edward's wife. Benjamin Franklin is mentioned as an American President when he never was. This actually becomes relevant as it is a sign of the damage the Anti-Time has done to the Web of Time, and [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowes the Anti-Time Crisis]].
32	* ArchEnemy: For all intents and purposes, The Doctor is this for Grayle, constantly popping up to cause trouble as every major development in his life.
33	* BatOutOfHell
34	-->'''Doctor:''' "Bats! [[AdmiringTheAbomination Great]]!!"
35	* BiggerOnTheInside
36	--> '''Grayle:''' "Quite spacious."
37	* BloodMagic: The Romans sacrifice what, we hope, are animals.
38	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: What ''is'' morality to an immortal?
39	* BrickJoke
40	--> '''Charley:''' "Another mouse?"
41	* CallBack: To [[MemeticMutation the most famous line]] from the Nimons' first appearance: "WEAKLING SCUM!"
42	* ClarkesThirdLaw: A Dalek shows up, randomly, and gets mistaken for a Demon.
43	** In fact a lot of the story seeps in this. The Nimon being vanquished by Plutonium based weaponry created some Greek Myths.
44	* ColdBloodedTorture: Grayle tortures the Doctor with a sword when the Doctor and Charley are chained to a wall in prison.
45	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: ''Doctor''.
46	* CompleteImmortality: Sebastian Grayle.
47	** Though the Doctor does say that after 750 years Grayle is showing signs of ageing round the eyes. Being a Time Lord, he notices this more.
48	* ConMan: The Doctor's not Charley's papa And neither is Martin Lucy's.
49	* ContinuityNod: The Doctor initially thinks that Grayle must be confusing him for some other Time Lords, and explains that "I'm not the one that says you must obey me, I don't meddle, and I'm not a glamorous woman at the moment." These are references to the Master, the Monk, and the Rani.
50	** The TARDIS' fast return switch makes another appearance.
51	** [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho019MinuetInHell The Hellfire club]] gets referenced.
52	* DealWithTheDevil: Grayle with the Nimon, who are even called demons. The way he is siding with the supposed enemies of his God further emphasises this.
53	* DisneyVillainDeath: Grayle falls off a cliff in DarkAgeEurope.
54	* DitzyGenius: Eight is really on a roll in this episode. When first confronted by Grayle, he thinks Grayle seems a pretty nice chap and offers him his hat. When Charley says she looks forward to more nice period dresses, Eight tells her it would be a look a bit conspicuous on him.
55	* DuelToTheDeath
56	* EvilGloating: Sebastian has his Masters reinstert an old timeline so he can face the Doctor and gloat.
57	* ExactWords: "A banquet to remember."
58	* FakingTheDead: Edith
59	* FedToTheBeast
60	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The first part of the adventure mentions the Minotaur and Demon Bulls quite a bit.
61	** Also, there's a ''Dalek''. And the Zagreus rhyme.
62	*** And the blatant SequelHook.
63	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Sebastian Grayle goes from a poor Roman Decurion to an utterly evil figure over a thousand years old who is helping aliens conquer the world.
64	* FutureMeScaresMe: To the point where Grayle decides to kill his future self.
65	-->'''Past-Grayle:''' He was... e-evil. The worst kind of man. I couldn't let him kill you. How I could turn into that-- that ''thing''? No honour, no love, no humanity...
66	* GorgeousPeriodDress
67	* GratuitousLatin: Latin is peppered in the speech of the people in the Roman era.
68	* HappilyMarried: King Edward and Queen Edith.
69	* HaveWeMetYet: The Doctor to Grayle when they meet in the faked Singapore.
70	** He asks it again when meeting him in the Roman era, just to make sure.
71	* HeroicSacrifice: The Doctor purposefully goads Grayle into torturing him to protect Charley. He also fakes one of these near the end.
72	* HilariousInHindsight: The Doctor shouting: "[[Creator/MattSmith GERONIMOOOOOO]]!!"
73	** A Roman soldier living for hundreds of years while time is being torn apart.
74	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Plutonium kill the Nimon.
75	* HordeOfAlienLocusts: The Masters.
76	* HumanSacrifice: Grayle is more than willing to kill off any amount of people to achieve his goals for his Masters.
77	* IAmAHumanitarian: The Nimon
78	** And what the hell ate Lucy and Martin at the end
79	* ImMrFuturePopCultureReference: Charley promises to teach the queen the Charleston once she's in Bruges.
80	* IndyPloy
81	* LadyMacbeth: Edith.
82	* LetsMockTheMonsters: The Doctor mocks the Nimon quite extensively when they first show up, mainly because they're nearly powerless and need equipment that Martin had stolen.
83	* {{Leitmotif}}: Grayle has a rather intense and repetitive one.
84	* MayflyDecemberRomance: Grayle had 12.
85	* MotiveDecay: And how!
86	** Gralae is initially unsure of himself, acting on the orders of the first higher power that actually reaches out to contact him towards the end of becoming someone respectable enough to marry the woman he loves.
87	** The second (chronological) Grayle is a KnightTemplar who perceives his benefactors as angels, while his drastically extended life has [[WeAreAsMayflies skewed his view on the human race.]]
88	** The final time he and the Doctor meet, he's gone all the way to villain, no longer worshipping his "masters" even though he continues to serve them, and craving nothing more than power and immortality for their own sake.
89	* MrFanservice: Even in a sound-only medium, Creator/PaulMcGann still manages to lose his shirt. Twice. It's lampshaded. Also, according to Charley, Eight just naturally smells like honey.
90	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Gralae sees Grayle and can't understand drove him to this.
91	* {{Narrator}}: The Doctor narrates a large part of the story. ''To'' someone else than the audience.
92	* NeverMyFault: Basically applies to Grayle, who blames the Doctor for provoking their vendetta and is incapable of acknowledging that the Doctor would leave him alone if he'd just stop trying to destroy the rest of the world.
93	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: See SequelHook
94	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: By creating the new timeline, the Doctor can escape it, and undo the damage Sebastian caused.
95	* NighInvulnerability: Grayle acquires this.
96	* NoImmortalInertia: The Doctor has a blade which saps Grayle's immortality, and he says the years would "act their vengeance".
97	* NotSoDifferentRemark: An heroic inversion. The Doctor tries at one point to convince Grayle to give up his plot by pointing out how alike him and the younger Grayle was and they could have been friends under other circumstances.
98	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Discussed. Charley asks the Doctor if he's going to use his usual tactic of acting like an idiot until people talk. He claims he has no idea what she's talking about.
99	* OutlawCouple: Lucy and Martin.
100	* OutrunTheFireball: Leads to the first cliffhanger.
101	* PaintingTheMedium: When the Nimons ''finally'' appear in the third act, the Doctor asks them if they'd like to introduce themselves or if he should do the honours. It stretches the anticipation just a little further, leading to a ''magnificent'' reveal.
102	* PrideBeforeAFall: The Doctor says this is the case of Sebastian Grayle in the Renaissance era.
103	* PuppetKing: Edward, at first. Before he married Edith.
104	* RegencyEngland: Charley very happily bluffs her way through its social niceties, using her extensive knowledge of Creator/JaneAusten dialogue. The Doctor just groans.
105	* RubberBandHistory
106	* RunningGag:
107	--> "The Doctor, they call you? Series/DoctorWho?"
108	* SarcasmMode: Charley and the Doctor are in a dungeon. The Doctor tells her to cheer up, and goes "Oh look, there's a mouse!"
109	-->'''Charley:''' "...I'm deeply cheered."
110	* SelfDeprecation: When commenting on noticing signs on Grayle's ageing, the Doctor claims "You learn to see such things when you're used to the bitchiness of Time Lords."
111	* SequelHook: Who is the Doctor narrating to? How did the Doctor create the TemporalParadox? And what ate Lucy and Richard?
112	* TheSlowPath: Grayle is forced to take it after making a pact with his masters, leaving him several ''times'' older than the Doctor.
113	* StableTimeLoop: ''Somewhat''. The Doctor only went back in time to stop Grayle because Grayle prompted him in an artificial alternate timeline in which the Doctor hadn't even met him yet. Grayle then develops a hatred for him eventually leading to him creating an artificial alternate timeline and [[Film/AustinPowers oh dear I've gone crosseyed]].
114	* TalkingYourWayOut
115	* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink
116	* TechnicalPacifist: The Doctor
117	* TeleportersAndTransporters: The Whoniverse Transmat system returns.
118	* ThisIsReality:
119	--> "I can't believe we're actually manacled to a wall. I thought they only did that in cartoons."
120	* TimeyWimeyBall: One of the most notorious offenders in the series' long history.
121	** What makes this more weird is that it's not clear where the Grayle the Doctor first met came from, since the evil Grayle from 1806 was killed by his past self and never lived in a timeline where the Nimons conquered Earth.
122	* TitleDrop:
123	-->'''Grayle:''' "My hand wants to reach for my mace and slay you, for all my [[TitleDrop seasons of fear]]."
124	* TrickedOutTime
125	* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: Grayle considers his masters ''Gods''.
126	* SupportingLeader: The Doctor is one for most of the story, manipulating time but letting others do the killing. Charley keeps insisting they could save a whole lot of time if he'd just let ''her'' do the killing, but he won't have it. He gets very frightened when he realises that he ''wants'' to murder Grayle after a while.
127	* TheUnreveal: Why do Grayle's Masters need the machine, why can't they build a spaceship?
128	-->'''The Doctor:''' "I haven't got a clue."
129	* WaxingLyrical:
130	-->'''The Doctor:''' We were travelling in the hills when we saw the ladies and the pages of [[Creator/RolfHarris the Court of King Caractacus.]]
131	-->'''Charley:''' Just passing by.
132	* WeAreAsMayflies: Grayle sees ''everybody'' as this.
133	* WhatIsEvil: "What is morality to an immortal?"
134	* WhenThePlanetsAlign: Every 750 years or so,
135	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Sebastian Grayle does, hence his bargain with his alien masters. He hates being an immortal human and seeing every woman he loves die, so he's looking for a more ethereal kind of immortality.
136	** The Doctor admits that he actually pities Grayle in some ways, noticing that where his ability to regenerate allows him to occasionally change his personality and see the world with fresh eyes, Grayle is stuck being the same person forever, trapped in his own thoughts and becoming more and more embittered as the ages passes him by.
137	* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Said almost literally by Charley.
138	--> '''The Doctor:''' [[{{Beat}} (beat)]] We do not shoot him.
139	* WouldHitAGirl: Or rather the future Grayle would kill women. This is used to show how he has changed over the years, which his past self picks up on to realise he has become evil.

Context Recap / BigFinishDoctorWho030SeasonsOfFear