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Recap / Big Finish Doctor Who JALS 14 E 3 The Corridorsof Power

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At Midnight in St. James’ Park, Jago and Litefoot are spying on the airship above them from an inconspicuous bush through a pair of binoculars. Litefoot turns his attention to watching the funfair in Victoria Park as he notes that the lights have just come on even though it is unlikely to have customers at this time of night. He watches as the Ferris Wheel started to move, but only one individual is onboard…the Home Secretary! Remembering Gilhooey’s words that the airship is the invaders’ flagship, Litefoot deduces that they must have a ground base that receives orders from it. The Ferris Wheel comes to a stop with the Home Secretary at the top of the wheel. The Infernal Investigators watch as the Home Secretary opened a hatch in the compartment and climbed on top of it. Then a large shaft slid down from the airship towards the Ferris Wheel. A small door opened in the shaft and another man exited that the two men could not identify. After a brief conversation, the Home Secretary and the new arrival swap places and the shaft retracted back into the airship. Litefoot tells Jago that he has a plan of action, but Jago tells him to leave it to the morning.

The next morning, the Infernal Investigators arrive at the fairground. Litefoot was decked out in his fanciest clothes as part of his plan. Litefoot plans to infiltrate the airship as a member of high society whilst Jago stays in the funfair to keep an eye on the ground. Both men approach the Ferris Wheel and spot a smartly dressed man waiting to board. Jago introduces himself as a newly appointed member of the invaders’ cabal. He informs the gentleman that due to a rescheduling, Litefoot is to be next to enter the ship. To prove his point, Jago shows him the silver communicator he and Litefoot received from Gilhooey. The gentleman was still unsure as he had no warning of such a change. Jago bluffs that the gentleman’s communicator must be faulty and offers to look at it. The gentleman hands over his communicator and Jago hurriedly sees the confused man off the site. With him out of the way, Litefoot boards the Ferris Wheel and Jago hands him the second communicator. Suddenly, the wheel begins to turn slowly and Litefoot’s compartment rises to the top beneath the airship.

Litefoot’s compartment eventually reached the top of the Ferris Wheel. The hatch in the compartment opens and he climbs through to enter the shaft they had seen the night before. Inside the shaft was a spiral staircase leading further into the ship and at the top was an elderly man. Litefoot identifies him as Sir Jasper. Sir Jasper cheerfully tells Litefoot that he was pleased to facilitate his new rulers’ thirst for knowledge before leaving for Whitehall. As Sir Jasper left the ship, Litefoot checks his communicator to make sure it was functional. To his relief, it still worked as Jago picked up on the other end. With his nerves steeled, Litefoot entered the ship…

Litefoot entered a circular corridor that seemingly encompassed the ship. As he explored, he opened his communicator and described his bleak, industrial surroundings to Jago. Not long after talking to Jago, the communicator stops functioning suddenly. Believing it to be a fault on his end, Litefoot decided to keep the line open should it start functioning again. Journeying deeper into the ship, Litefoot soon begins to hear music playing. He follows the sound to a rather ornate door that looks very out of place on an industrial ship. Litefoot knocks three times on the door, and they slide open to reveal a large, regal ballroom filled with the upper echelons of society. The ballroom had a hazy golden air to the room. It was abuzz with music, chatter, and laughter. Before he entered the ballroom, Litefoot communicated his bizarre discovery to Jago. Whilst he can’t seem to see any sign of the alien forces onboard, he does notice one thing though…all the waiters present are robots…

One robot waiter called Beamish approaches Litefoot and offers him a drink, to which he politely accepts. The robot pours Litefoot a drink from it’s robotic finger. Litefoot looks around and notices a baroque orchestra comprised of robots. After finishing their number, Litefoot claps politely only to realise nobody else was doing so. His action did not go unnoticed as a young woman approaches him. The woman introduces herself as The Duchess of Rutland and comments on how she does not recognise Litefoot. Deciding a measure of deception was necessary, Litefoot introduces himself as ‘Henry Proudfoot’. The Duchess introduces Litefoot to her husband, Viscount Hugo Cavendish. Cavendish comments on how he feels like he has been dancing for weeks on end. Suddenly, a loud, female, Eastern European voice boomed at the group marvelling at the sight of Litefoot. Much to the mild displeasure of the couple.

The woman approaches Litefoot uncomfortably close to him and introduces herself as Countess Eleanor Maximoff. She takes Litefoot’s hand and offers to dance with him on the dancefloor, even though Litefoot makes a complete fool of himself trying to do so. The dancing duo are approached by an elderly German man with a striking number of military medals. He reprimands The Countess for bothering Litefoot. The newcomer introduces himself as Prince Gerhard of Wittenberg and as Litefoot is a newcomer to the party, he will happily take him to receive his orders soon. Gerhard states that their Monarch awaits, a statement that surprises Litefoot. Is Queen Victoria onboard as well? With this new information, Litefoot politely excuses himself and Gerhard directs him to the sleeping quarters should he need privacy.

Litefoot leaves the ballroom and heads for the sleeping quarters. On his way, he talks through his communicator to an unresponsive Jago about what he had just experienced and witnessed. Could the ruling classes of the world be really behind this occupation or are they all unwitting pawns in an alien invasion? He notices a large door to his right and hears heavy machinery operating inside. Rather than head straight to his private quarters, Litefoot decided to venture through the door and investigate. Inside, he discovers several pistons and pumps at work. Looking at the pipework, Litefoot deduces that the machines are pumping gas into the ship’s breathable atmosphere. He notices the gas is a golden colour, which could explain the hazy atmosphere in the ship, but could also be the cause of the hazy golden sky above London. He communicates his discovery to Jago, but suddenly feels disorientated and collapses on the floor. Litefoot was barely conscious but was not alone for long as Prince Gerhard entered the room. Litefoot pretends to have gotten lost and asks where he is. Gerhard tells Litefoot that he is in the antechamber leading to the Throne Room and is nowhere near the private chambers he directed him to. Before Litefoot could say anything else, he passes out in front of a nonchalant Gerhard…

Litefoot awoke on a bed in what appeared to be an opulent apartment room. Gerhard was standing over him. He informs Litefoot that he had been unconscious for 24 hours, much to Litefoot’s shock. He dismisses Gerhard from the room to allow himself to clean himself up before returning to the ballroom. Now alone in the room, Litefoot talks in his communicator to an unresponsive Jago and reassures him that he is fine, and everything is under control.

Meanwhile, Jago was knocking urgently on the doors and windows of the Red Tavern. Ellie eventually answered but was less than pleased to be disturbed before opening hours. Jago informs her that Litefoot had gone dark after he infiltrated the airship. Attempts at boarding the ship himself have proven fruitless and now he assumes that Litefoot has been captured or worse. Ellie tries to reassure him, but it was no good as Jago blusters that he is no good to anyone and is full of hot air. Suddenly, the mention of hot air gives Jago an idea…

Back on the airship, Litefoot returned to the ballroom now fully presentable to find that nothing had changed in the time he was unconscious. He asks Gerhard if he will be meeting Her Majesty anytime soon, but Gerhard tells him that he had been out of commission for so long that his replacement party guest had arrived, but nonetheless tells him to stay and enjoy the party. Litefoot reunites with The Duchess of Rutland. The Duchess briefly looked at Litefoot in confusion and asks if they had met, even echoing the same words she spoke upon meeting Litefoot before. Nonetheless, she remained polite and introduces Litefoot to her husband Viscount Hugo Cavendish. Cavendish wistfully mentions how it feels like his life has just been an endless round of drinking, gossiping, and dancing. Litefoot casually asks the couple how long they have been on the ship and who is hosting the party. Strangely, neither of them could provide an answer. Before Litefoot could press further, he is playfully accosted once more by the Countess Maximoff. To his surprise, the Countess does not remember meeting Litefoot the day before. She mentions how unfortunate that the Saxe-Coburg family could not attend, to which Litefoot finds strange as Gerhard had mentioned that Her Majesty Queen Victoria was onboard. But the company present dismiss his claims. The group begin to flaunt and compare their lineages to the throne with the Duchess mentioning that she is 38th in line, whilst Gerhard was 46th. At this moment, Gerhard arrives and boasts that while he does have a long way to go before he could legally claim the throne, he insinuates that he could do it much quicker. He darkly implies that if a bomb hidden inside a supposed Double Bass instrument in the band were to detonate and kill everyone in the ballroom, he could accelerate his claim to the throne much faster. He laughs and brushes off the insinuation as mere speculation, which doesn’t help to temper the uneasy atmosphere he created before leaving. The group merely hope that he was joking, but Litefoot didn’t want to take chances and excused himself from the ballroom.

Outside the ballroom, Litefoot tries to reach Jago on the communicator but still receives no reply. Nonetheless, he voices his hypothesis that the guests have been onboard for weeks and the party has been ongoing all this time. Strangely, none of them have any recollection of the prior days events, which he suggests could be a much stronger form of mind control than what has been inflicted upon the populace of London below. Thinking back to his visit to the room with the gas and the pumps, Litefoot deduces that the gas is what is causing the mind control!

Down in London, Jago is in Wapping Gardens meeting with an old friend of his, Charlie Lucas the hot air balloon proprietor. Jago tries to convince Lucas that he needs to use his hot air balloon ride to gain access to the sinister airship above London. Lucas however cannot see it. Jago then remembers the hypnotic grasp the invaders have over the citizens of London and how they have tricked everyone into believing it to be invisible. Admitting defeat, Jago turned to leave. But quickly turned back once Lucas was distracted and bundled himself quickly into the balloon’s basket and took off into the sky with a furious Lucas chasing after him in vain.

Inside the airship, Litefoot stood outside the gassy antechamber. He took one big inhalation of air before entering the room to avoid passing out again. Inside, he identifies a large pipe feeding the gas to the other pipes in the room. Litefoot spots a wheel valve at the base of the pipe that should shut off the supply. It took all his strength to try and move it one rotation, but it was enough to shut down the pipe. With the room clear of the gas, he called to Jago through the communicator and reported his deed to his friend. With the gas now not circulating in the ship, it should break the hypnotic hold over them all. His attention soon turned to the ornate doors that Gerhard mentioned led to the Throne Room. Maybe now he can find out who was truly in charge…

In the air above London, Jago was flying high above London in his ‘borrowed’ hot air balloon. To calm his nerves, Jago spoke into the communicator but received no response from Litefoot. Nonetheless, he told his friend that he was on his way.

In the airship’s antechamber, Litefoot announces into his communicator that he is heading into the Throne Room. He entered cautiously to discover an ornate, circular room that curved inwards towards a glass ceiling where a thick cloud of gas resided behind it. In the centre of the room was an unoccupied Throne. Surprisingly, there were no occupants seated. Litefoot suddenly heard footsteps coming from the antechamber towards the Throne Room. He took cover behind a bookshelf and watched as Prince Gerhard and Litefoot’s replacement party guest entered. Gerhard and the party guest looked at the throne. Gerhard introduced the party guest to an apparently invisible individual on the throne as Harold Nelson, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Manpower. Gerhard introduced Nelson to the invisible throne occupant…as Queen Victoria, Empress of India and Everywhere Else. Suddenly, a malevolent, inhuman voice boomed for Nelson to come closer to the throne. The voice commands that the robot factory that was recently destroyed by Jago and Litefoot must be rebuilt at once. Plus, police numbers are to be doubled by the end of the year. Nelson furiously scribbles down his orders and is excused from the throne room. Once Nelson had left the room, the voice tells Gerhard that it’s previous appointment failed to show – ‘Proudfoot’ or Litefoot. Gerhard warns the voice that ‘Proudfoot’ is an odd one with a hint of curiosity, but the voice is not interested as ‘The Breath of Forever’ should have suppressed his free will. Nonetheless, if Gerhard stays in line, he will have his army to command in the name of his new masters. The voice excuses Gerhard and he leaves the room.

Now alone in the room, Litefoot breathed a sigh of relief. His relief turned to terror however as the voice boomed menacingly, telling Litefoot that it is aware of his presence. Litefoot asks where the voice is originating from. The voice replies menacingly that it is all around him…the voice introduces itself as ‘The Breath of Forever’…the gaseous cloud behind the glass is the creature’s true form. Despite recognising Litefoot’s intelligence, the voice belittles him by stating that he has no hope of understanding what he opposes or chance of defeating them. Litefoot smiled quietly to himself as he now knows one small weakness of the creature…complacency…for it did not know that Litefoot was not completely alone.

A muffled sound came from Litefoot’s pocket as the communicator crackled to life and the familiar, bombastic voice of Jago crackled from it. Litefoot desperately tries to shush his friend, but Jago did not get the hint. The evil voice boomed that communication beyond the ship is blocked, so whoever Litefoot is talking to must also be onboard. It demands to know who Litefoot is talking to. Litefoot proudly announces that he has allies poised around the ship ready to strike. The voice counters by stating that it’s robotic minions will hunt them down and kill them all. Litefoot relays one last message to Jago…he’s coming to find him. And with that, Litefoot makes for the door, but is confronted by one of the robots. The voice commands it to capture Litefoot, but it was too slow to catch Litefoot, who simply slipped past and through the antechamber into the ship’s corridors.

As Litefoot ran through the corridor, he reprimands Jago through the communicator for going against the plan. But Jago angrily lashes out at his friend and relays all the trouble he had to go through to reach the ship, such as having to steal a hot air balloon and climbing through an airlock with the wind threatening to blow him away to his death. But worst of all, Jago tells Litefoot that he dreamt that Litefoot had been captured by the invaders. The invaders gleefully told Litefoot their evil plans, followed by how they were going to kill him in a grossly elaborate manner. But what shook Jago worst of all was the final words Litefoot uttered before his demise… “Where’s Henry? He should be here!”. Jago was spurned to do something because he would rather face a thousand horrific monsters, demons, aliens, and villains than let anything happen to his friend…

There was a momentary silence before Jago broke the silence asking if Litefoot was still present. Litefoot finally spoke up after hearing his friend’s emotional speech. He tells Jago that his timing was impeccable as his presence has unsettled their opponent – a gaseous entity pretending to be Queen Victoria. Jago is taken aback by the revelation of their enemy, but nonetheless resolves to help take this monster down. Litefoot directs Jago to his location from the ballroom. Jago presses Litefoot on why he went quiet for so long, and Litefoot tells him about his exposure to the ‘Breath of Forever’ and explains how the gas is what is causing the sky to be a golden colour, followed by how it is what is causing the mind control on the populace of London. Litefoot suspects that one of its side effects is that it turns people into the zombies they saw in the robot factory’s surgery and on the streets. Litefoot explains that the plan is to set the gaseous creature on fire, and it should detonate the ship, thus ending the invasion. Only problem is…how are they going to evacuate themselves and the guests?

Jago entered a large, circular room. He stood on a gantry that ran around the circumference and a singular route crossed the middle of the room. Beneath him were several robots congregating around what appeared to be a stone casket. Jago soon reunited with Litefoot and both looked at the robots beneath them. They noted that the robots looked different than the ones they have encountered, these ones have tools fitted onto their arms. One of which spouted a lick of flame from a flame thrower onto the casket. Eventually, the robots turned and left the room with the casket still lying there. Suddenly, both men heard the voice of Prince Gerhard bellow through a loudspeaker all around the ship.

In the ballroom, Gerhard was on the orchestra stage talking into a microphone. He warns the assembled guests that two dangerous saboteurs have infiltrated the ship. He believes that they wish to bring down anarchy upon them all. To which the party guests seem mildly unperturbed…

Litefoot comments that Gerhard’s announcement will complicate their mission as the corridors will be filled with aristocrats who will mistake them for anarchists. Thankfully, he does have an idea about how to hide in plain sight.

Litefoot led Jago to the private quarters area. There should be a change of clothes for both to wear. They dart into one room to avoid the gaze of a patrolling robot and discover a pair of uniforms worn by the orchestra. Both men discover the uniforms to be perfectly tailored to their sizes and proceed to change into them. Just as they started undressing, the door opened, and a robot entered the room. The robot looked at the Infernal Investigators and chirped in a cheerful voice “LIFEFORMS DETECTED! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!” Jago promptly introduces himself as ‘Bill the Bass Man’ and Litefoot as ‘Oboe Joe’. The robot was not fooled and identified the pair as the saboteurs it has been searching for. Jago tells the robot hurriedly that he saw the saboteurs pass by earlier and points to the door. The robot turned to face the doorway, which was the opening Litefoot needed to restraint the mechanical minion, which cheerfully called “ALERT! UNDER ATTACK!” The robot was much stronger than anticipated and freed itself from Litefoot’s grasp. The robot pointed its flame thrower at the Infernal Investigators and cheerfully declared “YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED”. Jago separated from Litefoot and gestured for the robot to look at him. The robot was in no mood for games anymore and it powered up it’s flame thrower and shot a beam of fire at Jago. What the robot failed to realise was that it did not shoot Jago, but at a mirror with Jago’s reflection. Unfortunately for the Infernal Investigators, the orchestra clothes were not so lucky. By now, the robot had realised it’s error and fired a second shot of fire directly at Jago this time. While Jago was able to dodge the second shot, their original clothes were now casualties of the robot’s weapon, much to the dismay of the Infernal Investigators. Now without any clothes to wear and a robot preparing to incinerate them, both men resolve to run…even at the cost of their dignity.

Both men dive into another private quarters to hide from the robot. Thankfully, they are both able to find a new pair of clothes. Unfortunately for them both, they are women’s ballroom dresses. Jago is reluctant to change, whilst Litefoot nonchalantly does not see the issue and offers for Jago to continue their mission commando. With his options now weighed before him, Jago begrudgingly begins to change.

Gerhard returned to the Throne Room. The Breath of Forever commands him to find Jago and Litefoot immediately. The voice booms that their plans are to be accelerated. All onboard the ship will be converted to their willing servants.

Meanwhile, Litefoot had finished tying up Jago’s corset. Both men admire themselves in the mirror and hope their disguises will at least fool the robots. Jago hopes that the disguises will also fool the guests as they are under the influence of the Breath of Forever. However, Litefoot informs him of how he shut off the gas supply and the guests are most likely returning to normal…

Both men, now decked out in their fancy dresses exit the guest room. They encounter the flamethrower wielding robot once more. It cheerfully asks for their identities. Both men introduce themselves, speaking in stereotypically high pitched, effeminate voices, as Lady Henrietta and Lady Georgina. After a tense moment involving the robot analysing them both, it gives all clear and sends them both on their way to the ballroom. On the way to the ballroom, both men encounter the Duchess of Rutland and Viscount Hugo Cavendish, both of whom do not seem to see through their disguises. Even stranger was the fact that they seemed to know Jago and Litefoot’s false names. The Duchess informs the Infernal Investigators that the party has ended because of saboteurs on the ship and that they are to return to their rooms for their safety. Jago/Henrietta tells them that they plan instead to join the hunt rather than hide. Litefoot/Georgina on the other hand directly informs the couple that they have been kidnapped and held against their will from leaving. The couple are disbelieving of this claim as they both had received invites to the party and do not have any intention of leaving because they are enjoying themselves far too much. Litefoot/Georgina presses the couple to think about the odd inconsistences at the party, such as the location of the venue and how the food and drink never seems to run out. Now starting to realise the strangeness of the situation, the couple begin to feel woozy, to which Litefoot/Georgina believes must be the Breath of Forever losing its grip over their minds. With the couple now returned to normal, Litefoot/Georgina asks them both to gather the guests and convince them to rendezvous with them…they need to show them all where they really are…

Ten minutes later, all the guests were assembled by the airlock that led to the Ferris Wheel below. All except Countess Maximoff whom The Duchess failed to find. Jago/Henrietta presses a button that opened a hatchway in the floor. He declares that down below is London. Litefoot/Georgina informs the assembled crowd that a malevolent force is at working trying to subjugate them all and that they must all leave immediately. Jago/Henrietta instructs all the guests to head to The Red Tavern and ask for Ellie once they reach safety. Litefoot/Georgina instructs The Duchess and Viscount to lead the evacuation effort whilst he and Jago/Henrietta look for Countess Maximoff on the ship. Before the Duchess and the Viscount themselves disembarked from the ship, the Duchess bid farewell to Litefoot addressing him by his true name, a sign that the Breath of Forever’s influence had worn off…and that she was aware they were in drag…

With the guests safely off the ship, Jago and Litefoot began their search for Countess Maximoff. They searched everywhere but could not find her anywhere. There were even no signs of the robots onboard. Suddenly, the ship lurched to one side followed by a sound of grinding metal. Jago deduces that they ship has been torn away from the Ferris Wheel. Litefoot suddenly realises there is one person they forgot to account for…Gerhard.

Jago and Litefoot return to the room where they found the stone coffin. Studying the doors in the room, Litefoot deduces that the doors in the room are not equally parallel to one another, and thus do not obey the rule of symmetry like the rest of the ship. Which means there should be a third doorway in the room. His deduction proves correct as he taps on a wall and it opens up to reveal a new room – the cockpit. At the airship’s steering wheel was Prince Gerhard. Gerhard is shocked to see the Infernal Investigators, but he is more surprised by their taste in clothes. Litefoot deduces that Gerhard too must be free of the Breath of Forever and prepares to appeal to his better nature…only to discover that Gerhard was more delusional than when he was under the Breath’s influence. Gerhard rants madly that the Breath of Forever has abandoned him! It promised him the English Throne! But if he cannot claim the throne with the alien’s help…he will destroy the Royal Family instead by crashing the ship into it! The ship’s explosion will destroy the palace and kill both the Royal Family and the Breath of Forever! He accelerates the ship at an alarming rate across the London skyline towards Buckingham Palace and locks the controls. Litefoot exclaims that in crashing the ship, Gerhard will kill himself as well. But Gerhard has another trick up his sleeve and produces a parachute. With this revelation, Gerhard opens a trapdoor in the floor and maniacally explains that with all the Royal Guests onboard dead aside from him, he will automatically ascend to the throne by default. But now it was Jago’s turn to pull a trump card as he reveals he and Litefoot evacuated everyone onboard. With his mass assassination plan foiled, Gerhard flies into a rage which is only tempered by the sudden demonic voice of the Breath of Forever booming that he will not abandon the ship! Gerhard’s skin begins to crack and turn a sickly grey as the Breath of Forever slowly and painfully calcifies him until he was nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor…

Despite Gerhard’s villainous scheme, Litefoot could not help but feel pity for the madman’s suffering. Jago quickly sets to work on trying to undo Gerhard’s locked controls. But a robotic voice from the control panel informs him that the ship has 3 minutes until it reaches terminal velocity. Jago pleads with the Breath of Forever to help because if the ship crashes, the entity will die as well, but receives no response. At that moment, the ship’s controls become unlocked and Jago and Litefoot work together to adjust the ship’s course. Through the window, Jago points out St. James’ Park, they can crash land it safely there. Litefoot smiles in resignation knowing that this will ultimately cost them their lives, but at least they will save others in the process. Jago however has a plan to escape, and he leads Litefoot to the very method of transport that got him onboard…

Jago led Litefoot to the airlock he arrived in. Both men scaled the winding staircase connected to nothing below. At the bottom of the staircase was a rope tied around the railing. On the other end of the rope was a wicker basket and the hot air balloon trailing behind it. Litefoot was incredulous to the sight, but Jago encourages him to board the basket. With both men onboard, Jago untied the rope keeping the balloon attached to the ship and it floated safely away just in time as the airship crash landed in the park…followed by a huge explosion. Litefoot looked out at the wreck and quietly declared the invasion over. They watch as the sky started to turn a light blue once more and Litefoot whispered happily that he and Jago have finally come home…

Two days later at St. James’ Park, a smartly dressed man arrived at the scene of the wreckage and asks a policeman how the situation was developing. The policeman explains that while the ship’s crash did not injure or kill anyone on the ground, they unfortunately found the body of a foreign Countess within the wreck. They suddenly hear a tapping sound coming from within the wreckage. Following the sound, they hear it coming from within a stone casket. The policeman and the gentleman cannot believe anyone could have survived inside it. Suddenly, the casket began to open…and the Countess Maximoff emerges from it alive and with horrifying decaying grey skin with a pulsing red glow. Maximoff proudly declares that the process worked! The energy from the ship’s explosion had accelerated the process! The Countess’ voice changes from her usual Eastern European accent to that of a familiar, demonic voice “I AM THE COUNTESS! BUT NOW I AM REBORN! THE FIRST TRUE WARRIOR OF THIS…THE NEW EMPIRE OF…THE EMINENCE…”

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