The Seventh Doctor takes Ace and Hex to one of his favourite spots: Glasst City, on the planet Nocturne. The city is the last stop for soldiers heading off to the Forever War — a journey that takes months of interstellar travel. Many last-minute deserters live in the city, which consequently punishes a lack of identification by death.
The Doctor and his companions are, of course, immediately in trouble when a piece of music starts killing people and they're implicated in the murders. The music is composed by a student of music genius Korbin Thessinger. The artist's enclave of Glasst City soon becomes a grisly nightmarish hellhole.
While Ace befriends a disabled ex-soldier named Will (the twin brother of said composer, and also a student of Thessinger), the Doctor slowly comes to realise just what the music is: an ancient alien technique that captures the atmosphere of a planet and turns it into psychic energy. For those Ancient Astronauts, the music was nice and harmonious, much like their planet — for the citizens of Nocturne, who only know war, it's just plain horror. Thessinger lures the sentient music in by playing one of Will's compositions, and team TARDIS succeeds in destroying it, although Will dies in the process. The Doctor realises that he had misunderstood history: he knew Will's music would live on through Thessinger's homages to this final piece, but he had always thought that Will had died in the war. Ace is glad to discover that her friend's music won't be forgotten.
Tropes:
- Admiring the Abomination: Lillian finds beauty in the creature. And tries to save it.
- An Arm and a Leg: Will lost his left leg in the Forever War.
- Big Damn Heroes: When the Doctor and Lothar are surrounded by faulty Familiars, Reeney shows up and blasts them.
- Big Red Button:The Doctor: "Ace! Hit the switch!"Ace: "Which one!?"The Doctor: "THE GREAT BIG RED ONE."
- Brown Note: The main antagonist.
- Busman's Holiday
- Call-Back: Lillian recognizes the Doctor from before, and says he hasn't changed (for a change) making it a difference.
- The Doctor doesn't like the Robot aides, because he's seen the concept of Robots gone wrong so many times.
- It's mentioned that the Doctor made a visit to Nocturne once in the company of Teegan.
- Cassandra Truth: The Doctor claims that when he tells the truth has this quality.
- The Doctor: "I travel in time in a blue box."
- Character Development: Through a My God, What Have I Done? moment, the Doctor promises Ace that he'll be less secretive in the future.
- The Chessmaster: The Doctor is confronted with the downsides of being one.
- The Chew Toy: Poor Hex once again gets captured and generally abused by everyone that crosses his path.
- Death Seeker: Will.
- Does Not Like Guns: The Doctor.
- Doom Magnet: Reeney notices the Doctor is one.
- Energy Being: A creature made of sound.
- Forever War: One that the Doctor doesn't really care about.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: When Hex misses a Shakespeare quote, he receives one from the Doctor.
- Great Offscreen War: Doubles as this. The Doctor apparently also stopped the "Great Orbit Wars" during a Noodle Incident.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: The Doctor confronts Lothar that he is this. Lothar is shocked to find out.
- Idle Rich: Most of the cast.
- In Memoriam: Korbin's last mass with have the subtitle: From a theme by William Alloran, my pupil, and my better.
- Large Ham: Lothor, as an artist, is veeeery hammy.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the last couple of Ace and Hex ''Doctor Who adventures, a typical sci-fi romp with a Monster of the Week not involving a warzone, Hex getting tortures (though he does get bullied), and a fairly low death toll (of named characters just one), and it ends on a non campy "Everybody Laughs" Ending this is DEFINITELY on the Lighter and Softer scale for Sylvester McCoy adventures.
- Mathematician's Answer: When talking to a blind man who asks him which face he's wearing at the moment, he answers: "My current one."
- Mistaken for Gay: Hex gets this for a bit, when he's facing a murder charge.
- Noodle Incident:
- Apparently, the Fifth Doctor took Tegan to Glasst City once. She left a lasting impression.
- Ace and Hex remind the Doctor of several previous occasions that he brought them to places under false pretences including Breearos (apparently in order for the Doctor to return his library books but resulting in a fortnight's stay while he negotiated the ceasefire in the Orbit Wars), Tau Sartos (to use their reliable laundry service but in actuality to prevent the spawning of a particularly mucous Zylax swarm) and Nydas III.
- Robot Buddy: Several in the city of Glasst.
- Shout Out To Shakespeare: The Doctor quotes from Troilus and Cressida.The Doctor: "Take but degree away, and tune the string and hark what discord follows."
- Space "X": Glasst is supposed to be Space Venice. It has many canals, and Hex notes it smells similar. (Having been to Venice as a school kid.)
- Standard Snippet:
- What the Hell, Hero?: The Doctor receives a minor one from Ace and Hex.
- Wrongly Accused: Hex gets a murder charge. The Doctor later takes it over.