Immortal Beloved was the third story in thefirst series of theEighth Doctor Adventures, produced byBig Finish Productions. It was written byJonathan Clements and featuredPaul McGann as theEighth Doctor andSheridan Smith asLucie Miller.

BecauseBlood of the Daleks was released in two parts, it was the fourth release of the series. It was co-produced withBBC 7. This was the first audio story in whichJake McGann (Paul McGann's son) appeared.

The story was released along with the other stories in Series 1 in the collectionThe Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller on3 October2023.

Publisher's summary[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Theosophy? Ha! Surely you meantheophany? Because we're not talking about real gods here, are we? We're talking about the appearance ofgods. Your heavenly powers are a little too mechanical for my liking. And, if I may be so bold, LordZeus, your demeanour is not very godlike."

Plot[[edit] |[edit source]]

The Doctor and Lucie Miller land the TARDIS next to a cliff in what appears to be ancient Greece. Two star-crossed lovers, Kalkin and Sararti, have been preparing to kill themselves nearby, but the Doctor and Lucie prevent this, and soon anachronistic helicopters surround them all. One of the soldiers who disembark, GeneralAres, is gravely injured in the ensuing struggle. The Doctor just about saves his life and he, Lucie, Sararti and Kalkin are taken back to a grand palace, where to their horror they witness the ailing Ares' mind being transferred into the body of another man, one of the soldiers, who has expected this and is entirely willing to so sacrifice himself to his "destiny". The Doctor confronts Zeus, the autocratic ruler of this strange society where guns are labelled as magic wands and the hi-tech mind-transfer device is an "incarnation chamber". Zeus admits that he is not really a god, and reveals that they are on a lost Earth colony planet in Lucie's distant future.

Generations ago, he and his wife Hera, along with many others, some now long gone, landed here and he has gone on to create a society based upon Greek myth. He explains that he was the pilot of the original colony ship, and Kalkin is not his son, but his next-in-line clone, who has rebelled against his fate. (The next clone after that, Ganymede, is by contrast committed to his cruel destiny, but is too young for a transfer.) The ruling class, the remains of the original crew — the "gods" — use their machine, which the Doctor insists has long been outlawed as an abomination – to transfer their minds periodically into their clones, giving them practical immortality. Zeus has appeared welcoming, but lusts after Lucie despite insisting that he and Hera have a thousand-year-old love. He reveals himself to be a madman, and demands that the Doctor use the TARDIS to fetch parts to repair the immortality machine, as it has become worn out and they are now without space-travel capabilities. The Doctor very reluctantly agrees after Zeus threatens to hurt Lucie – even to clone her repeatedly and torture each Lucie to death for all eternity. When Hera suffers a heart attack, her mind transfer into the unwilling Sararti fails, leaving Sararti in control of her body. Pretending all is well, she suddenly stabs Zeus, so that he requires an immediate transfer into Kalkin's body. The Doctor appears to go along with this under pressure from Ares and the loyal soldiers, but ensures that it fails. Though Lucie and Sararti at first fail to appreciate this ruse, the Doctor and the new Zeus — Kalkin, of course — convince them that the lovers can secretly take on his and Hera's roles. They insist that they will stop using the machine as the Doctor and Lucie take their leave. Lucie is optimistic, but the Doctor reminds her that these two are essentially younger versions of the tyrannical pair they have helped to overthrow...

Cast[[edit] |[edit source]]

• The Doctor -Paul McGann
• Lucie Miller -Sheridan Smith
• Zeus -Ian McNeice
• Hera -Elspet Gray
• Sararti -Jennifer Higham
• Kalkin -Anthony Spargo
• Tayden/Ares -David Dobson
• Ganymede -Jake McGann

Crew[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Cover Art -Alex Mallinson
• Director -Jason Haigh-Ellery
• Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery andNicholas Briggs
• Music -Andy Hardwick
• Producers - Nicholas Briggs andSharon Gosling
• Script Editor -Alan Barnes
• Sound Design -Gareth Jenkins
• Writer -Jonathan Clements
• Associate Producer -Barnaby Edwards

Worldbuilding[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Helicopters andwalkie-talkies still exist.
• Remote synaptical kinesis, performed withRSK machines, is illegal across the civilised universe.
• The Doctor comparesKalkin toPrince Charming.
• Lucie jokes that the Doctor does aMiss Marple routine.
• Zeus says to the Doctor "what big words you have", and the Doctor replies "all the better to understand you with", riffing from a famous line from the story ofLittle Red Riding Hood.
• Zeus assumes the Doctor has taken theHippocratic Oath.
• Lucie sings a line from 'When I'm 64', a song byThe Beatles.

Notes[[edit] |[edit source]]

• This audio drama was recorded on23 August 2006 atthe Moat Studios.
• This story had a running time of approximately 60 minutes.
• This story was adapted fromThe Kingmaker, a proposed sequel toWC:Scream of the Shalka. However, only a few concepts and ideas actually made it intoImmortal Beloved.^[1]
• This story was originally released on CD and download. It is also available to stream onSpotify.

Continuity[[edit] |[edit source]]

• Lucie asks if the Doctor's got closer to her own time than1974, in which year he had landed in the previous story,AUDIO:Horror of Glam Rock^[+]Loading...["Horror of Glam Rock (audio story)"].
• Lucie refers to herself as "Lucie of theM62." She and the Doctor had landed atNadir Motorway Service Station off the M62 inAUDIO:Horror of Glam Rock^[+]Loading...["Horror of Glam Rock (audio story)"].
• Lucie mentions that the Doctor is unable to take her toBlackpool.
• The Doctor mentions his granddaughter,Susan Foreman, who debuted inTV:An Unearthly Child^[+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"], with whom he and Lucie would later share adventures fromAUDIO:Relative Dimensions^[+]Loading...["Relative Dimensions (audio story)"] untilAUDIO:To the Death^[+]Loading...["To the Death (audio story)"].

Footnotes[[edit] |[edit source]]

External links[[edit] |[edit source]]

• OfficialImmortal Beloved page atbigfinish.com

• Immortal Beloved Transcript
• Immortal Beloved at theInternet Archive of Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to:Immortal Beloved atThe Whoniverse
• DisContinuity forImmortal Beloved atTetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide