Invaders from Mars (audio drama)

Invaders from Mars
Big Finish Productions audio drama
Series	Doctor Who
Release no.	28
Featuring	Eighth Doctor Charley Pollard
Written by	Mark Gatiss
Directed by	Mark Gatiss
Produced by	Gary Russell Jason Haigh-Ellery
Executive producer(s)	Jacqueline Rayner
Production code	8F
Length	94 mins
Release date	28 January 2002
Preceded by	"The One Doctor"
Followed by	"The Chimes of Midnight"

Invaders from Mars is the twenty-eighth audio drama of the British science fiction audio series Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures from Big Finish Productions. It was written and directed by Mark Gatiss.

Initially released as a CD on 28 January 2002, this story was later broadcast on BBC 7 in four weekly parts (starting on 29 October 2005) and was later rebroadcast on the same channel once more (beginning on 19 November 2006).

Summary

In Manhattan 1938, the Eighth Doctor and Charley meet a crooked gangster, a Russian spy, a sinister fifth columnist and Orson Welles. Welles's broadcast of War of the Worlds is just a story, but maybe there really are aliens at loose.

Cast

• The Doctor — Paul McGann
• Charley Pollard — India Fisher
• Mouse/Winkler/Luigi/Heavy — Ian Hallard
• Ellis — Mark Benton
• John Houseman/Thug/Streath — Jonathan Rigby
• Orson Welles/Professor Stepashin/Halliday — David Benson
• Bix Biro/Noriam/Man — Paul Putner
• Don Chaney/Actor — Simon Pegg
• Glory Bee/Carla/Women — Jessica Stevenson
• Cosmo Devine/Hotel Clerk — John Arthur
• Reception Guest - Katy Manning
• Radio Announcer - Mark Gatiss
• Thug/Toastmaster - Alistair Lock

Deliberate errors

The second season of Eighth Doctor audios featured a number of deliberate errors:

• There were 48 States in the United States in 1938, not 49 as Chaney claims.
• The CIA was not established until 1947, almost nine years after the events portrayed here.
• Welles fails to recognise a Shakespearean quotation.
• Don Chaney claims to own a 1929 Lamborghini previously owned by Al Capone, but Lamborghinis did not exist until 1963.

The first two "mistakes" in this list were deliberate, intended to be examples of anti-time contamination. The third was also deliberate, but was explained in The Time of the Daleks . The last was not deliberate but was later retconned to be another example of anti-time contamination.

Another possible example of anti-time contamination is the date. The War of the Worlds aired on 30 October 1938, yet, when he asks what day it is, the Doctor is told that it is 31 October 1938.

Later Doctor Who appearances

The episode is particularly notable in that five of the actors went on to star in 2005 TV revival of Doctor Who, including:

• Mark Benton in "Rose"
• Ian Hallard in "Robot of Sherwood"
• Simon Pegg in "The Long Game"
• Jessica Stevenson in "The Family of Blood" (as Jessica Hynes)
• Mark Gatiss in a number of roles, including "The Lazarus Experiment" and "Twice Upon a Time"

This does not include Paul McGann and Katy Manning who had appeared in Doctor Who prior to their appearance in this episode, though both would eventually appear in the revival as well.

External links

• Big Finish Productions - Invaders from Mars