Immortal Beloved ( audio story ) Publisher ' s summary . " Theosophy ? Ha ! Surely you mean theophany ? Because we ' re not talking about real gods here , are we ? We ' re talking about the appearance of god s . Your heavenly powers are a little too mechanical for my liking . And , if I may be so bold , Lord Zeus , your demeanour is not very godlike . " Plot . 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 , General Ares , 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 . . .