The High Price of Parking was the two hundred and twenty-seventh story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by John Dorney and featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush and Sophie Aldred as Ace.
Publisher's summary
The planet Dashrah is a world of exceptional beauty. Historical ruins; colourful skies; swirling sunsets...
Unsurprisingly, it's a major tourist trap. So if you want to visit Dashrah, first you'll have to visit Parking, the artificial planetoid that Galactic Heritage built next door. Parking, as its name implies, is a spaceship park. A huge spaceship park. A huge, enormous spaceship park.
When the TARDIS materialises in Parking's Northern Hemisphere, the Doctor, Ace and Mel envisage a quick teleport trip to the surface of Dashrah. But they've reckoned without the superzealous Wardens, and their robotic servitors... the sect of the Free Parkers, who wage war against the Wardens... the spontaneously combusting spaceships... and the terrifying secret that lies at the lowest of Parking’s lower levels.
Plot
Part one
to be added
Part two
to be added
Part three
to be added
Part four
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Mel - Bonnie Langford
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Cowley - Gabrielle Glaister
- Kempton / Tribesman - Hywel Morgan
- Regina / Seraphim - Kate Duchêne
- Fulton - Leighton Pugh
- Dunne / Selfdrive - Jack Monaghan
- Robowardens - James Joyce
Crew
- Cover Art - Anthony Lamb
- Director - Ken Bentley
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music - Jamie Robertson
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Sound Design - Daniel Burnett
- Writer - John Dorney
Worldbuilding
- During her travels with Sabalom Glitz, Mel encountered a Galactic Heritage fleet. She describes the organisation as "a militarised, spacefaring National Trust".
- Ace compares one of the Robowardens to a "stunted Dalek".
- Mother Regina is the queen of the Tribe of the Lost.
- Planets the Doctor mentions to confuse Seraphim include Gallifrey, Skaro, Telos, Solos, and Segonax. The remains of the Selachian nebula is also mentioned.
Notes
- John Dorney first expressed an interest in writing a story by this title in VOR 50.
- One of the Robowardens says, "Make my day". This is a reference to the line, "Go ahead, make my day" from the 1983 film Sudden Impact.
Continuity
- Ace said that the Doctor is playing Sherlock Holmes again. He previously did so during his fourth incarnation. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) He would do so once more during his eleventh incarnation. (TV: The Snowmen)
- The Doctor refers to Galactic Heritage. (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows; AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men, Death Match)
- The Doctor mentions that he learned escapology from Harry Houdini. (TV: Planet of the Spiders)
- The Doctor refers to the spare TARDIS key on the outer shell. (TV: Doctor Who, AUDIO: The Architects of History)
- Seraphim's consciousness is allowed to take over the TARDIS, but the TARDIS herself is stronger. Another entity called House would later take over the TARDIS more successfully. (TV: The Doctor's Wife)
- The Fourth Doctor also tried to get to Dashrah but he and Leela were diverted to Dowcra by the Time Lords. (AUDIO: The King of Sontar)
External links
- Official The High Price of Parking page at bigfinish.com