''Phobos'' is an

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

based on the long-running British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. This audio drama was produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

and was broadcast on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

on 28 January 2007.

Plot

The Doctor and Lucie land on Phobos, the moon of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, which has become popular with extreme sports fans in the future, due to a

wormhole A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are base ...

on the surface which is used for

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

. The Doctor and Lucie listen to Kai Tobias's stories of monsters on the surface, although no-one takes him seriously. Later the monsters from Tobias's stories appear and begin attacking visitors. When The Doctor discovers that the monsters are just robots, Tobias reveals that an entity from another universe is in the wormhole and that it feeds on the pleasurable fear extreme sports fans feel. However, it is hurt by real fear and Tobias made the robots to create real fear. The Doctor enters the wormhole and shows the entity his fears, which kill it, and The Doctor and Lucie leave. The Headhunter awakens on the moon's medical ward, angry that she has missed Lucie again.

Cast

*The

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

—

Paul McGann Paul John McGann ( ; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

Lucie Miller The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann. The character was intro ...

—

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress and singer. She came to prominence after playing a variety of characters in sitcoms, including '' The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Cri ...

*Amy/ Headhunter — Katarina Olsson *Kai Tobias —

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West (20 October 1934 – 12 November 2024) was an English actor with a long and varied career across theatre, film, and television. He began acting in repertory theatres in the 1950s before making his London stage debut in 19 ...

*Eris —

Nerys Hughes Nerys Hughes (born 8 November 1941) is a Welsh actress and narrator, known primarily for her television roles, including her parts in the BBC TV series '' The Liver Birds'' (1971-1978) and '' The District Nurse'' (1984-1987). Early life and e ...

*Drew — Ben Silverstone *Hayd —

John Schwab John Schwab is an American actor, TV producer and musician who resides in London. He produced ''The Hide'' with Christopher Granier-Deferre, which was nominated for a BIFA 2010. He is best known for his film and television roles, such as lawyer ...

*Farl — Tim Sutton *Lad –

Jake McGann Jake McGann, also known as Sonny McGann, is an English voice actor who has appeared in ''Doctor Who'' audio dramas. ''Doctor Who'' In 2007, he appeared in two ''Doctor Who'' audio dramas starring his father as the Doctor: ''Immortal Beloved'' ...

Continuity

*The 2000 Big Finish audio play '' The Fearmonger'' also features a creature which stirs up fear and feeds on it. *The short story ''Crimson Dawn'' in the book '' Decalog 2: Lost Properties'' explains that Phobos is an artificial moon created by

Ice Warrior The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Go ...

s. *The 2006 Big Finish audio play '' Memory Lane'' features a character called Kim Kronotska who says she was on a Phobos mission. *The Fifth Doctor comic strip story ''The Moderator'' features a reference to Phobos at the start of part 2. *The Eighth Doctor visits Mars' other moon in ''

Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: In general * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites Fictional characters * Deimos (comi ...

''. *The Doctor, when showing the entity his own fears, mentions his fears of the future, and the fears of things that he sees he himself might have to do. This is possibly a reference to the events of the Time War, which was to occur in the Eighth Doctor's relative distant future, in which the Doctor was forced to kill all of his own people, the Time Lords.

References

* *

External links

''Phobos''
2007 audio plays Eighth Doctor audio plays Radio plays based on Doctor Who 2007 radio dramas Fiction set on Phobos (moon) {{DoctorWho-stub