Doctor Who - Audio Details

The Interzone is a fearsome nether-world protecting a zone ruled by the Kromon. Theirs is an arid land of dust and dying trees. Across the landscape are spheres that look like giant anthills. The Doctor believes that within one of these structures lie the clues that will lead him to his lost TARDIS.

The spheres are ruled by the insect-like Kromon who covet the TARDIS. When Charley is captured she is forced to metamorphosise into a hybrid-insect Queen and so to save her, the Doctor must barter his knowledge of space-travel technology, all the while knowing that he risks opening up all the realms of space to a rapacious race whose creed is not to create, only to plunder.

I'D MISSED WRITING FOR DOCTOR WHO and had said so at a convention where my Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp scripts had been discussed.  That was on a Saturday; on the Monday I heard from Gary Russell that he liked my outline of a proposed audio adventure.  Just one thing: he'd like an alternative to the dinosaur-like creatures who had evolved into a reptoid form of higher management and descended onto new worlds, managing their resources into oblivion, so could I make the Kromon belong to the insect kingdom?  Yeah, sure, Gary, sure.  So this meteoric request consigned the race of Dilworth-dinosaurs to the Sargasso Sea of Martin brainbox.

A few mornings later I began to recall a Penguin paperback I'd read aeons ago - The Soul of the White Ant - that concerned the way insect societies evolve and how each member of the ant colony is linked to the mind of the Queen - what she thinks, they do.  Any regret for the loss of my first concept of the race of Kromon vanished.  After more reading about ants and creepy-crawlies, I was ready to renew my acquaintance with the good Doctor and his newest companions.

I'd forgotten how intensive and demanding audio writing is, it gobbles up story like an army of ants on speed.  Then the freedom that Doctor Who gives us all to imagine and create kicked in.  Soon I was shaking the furry paw of exotic creatures like the Oroog and exploring the soul of truly alien race whose resilience and organisation make them firm favourites to outlast us all.  On that cheery note I invite you to listen to the story and ponder on the fact that there's a lot of us, but there's even more of them!

Philip Martin, October 2003