History Recap / BigFinishDoctorWho018TheStonesOfVenice

* NostalgiaFilter: Estelle is planning to look at all of Venice before it ends.

* TheCult: Estelle thinks there's one behind the curse.

* TheRevolution: Story starts off in one.

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* HeyItsThatVoice: MichaelSheard, in his last Doctor Who role before his death, after many guest appearances on the show over the years.

* {{Venice}}

* CloudCuckooLander: On the topic of Estella being worshiped, the Doctor goes into a rambling story about how hard it must be to be LizaMinnelli and have JudyGarland for a mom.

* PurpleProse: The Duke is extremely fond of it. Estella isn't.

The Eighth Doctor and Charley decide to take a well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot at and generally suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others. The TARDIS disagrees and plants them right in the middle of the final days of Venice, several centuries into the future.

While the Doctor befriends the curator of the Duke's museum, Charley befriends a gondolier named Pietro, and the two groups are separated without even noticing it. Pietro convinces Charley (with the help of some hypnotic drugs) to impersonate Estella. He turns out to be part of a group of gondoliers who have developed gills over the centuries. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Pietro find Estella's tomb, but it's a bit empty. There's also a mad high priest who has started an Estella doomsday cult. The Duke, confused by all of the above, decides to play along with Charley's ruse, but a perfectly ordinary bystander turns out to be Estella in the end. She's also a vengeful alien who used alien technology, not some magic curse. The Duke convinces her to reverse the curse, which restores Venice, but sadly also costs both the Duke and Estella their lives.

While the Doctor befriends the curator of the Duke's museum, Charley befriends a gondolier named Pietro, and the two groups are separated without even noticing it. Pietro convinces Charley (with the help of some hypnotic drugs) to impersonate Estella. He turns out to be part of a group of gondoliers who have developed gills over the centuries. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Pietro find Estella's tomb, but it's a bit empty. The Duke, confused by all of the above, decides to play along with Charley's ruse, but a perfectly ordinary bystander turns out to be Estella in the end. She's also a vengeful alien who used alien technology, not some magic curse. The Duke convinces her to reverse the curse, which restores Venice, but sadly also costs both the Duke and Estella their lives.

* CloudCuckooLander: On the topic of Estella being worshiped, the Doctor goes into a rambling story about how hard it must be to be LizaMinelli and have JudyGarland for a mom.