Bounty (audio story)

Bounty was one of three stories read by Paul McGann and originally released on the Earth and Beyond double cassette. This story and the other two, Dead Time and The People's Temple, were later released in 2004 on MP3-CD Tales from the TARDIS: Volume Two. It was chronologically the first Eighth Doctor audio story.
== Summary ==
Sam and The Doctor stumble across small alien objects in the sand while playing a game of never have I ever. A Rhiptogan in disguise swiftly takes the alien items Sam was holding and mistakenly takes The Doctor's TARDIS key which Sam was coincidentally holding. The doctor and Sam discover that two Rhiptogans fled to earth to escape a bounty and that a bounty hunter was hot on their trail. 
== Plot ==
Sam and The Doctor stumble across small alien objects in the sand while playing a game of 'Never Have I Ever', also known as 'I've Never ...', to determine whether or not he would take her back home. A Rhiptogan in disguise swiftly takes the alien item Sam was holding. The Doctor had just so happened to have handed Sam his TARDIS key to look at which the Rhiptogan accidentally stole. The Doctor pursues the thief and discovers two Rhiptogans, Lirpa and Ladeeth, fled to earth to escape a bounty that was placed on Ladeeth's head. A bounty hunter, Ruduse, tracked them down killing Lirpa by throwing him into saltwater, lethal and poisonous to Rhiptogans, and attacking The Doctor. Sam wandered into Ladeeth's ship accidentally getting stung and poisoned by a Rhiptogan plant that the ship uses for self defense. Ladeeth confronts her letting her inside telling her apologetically about the poison. When Sam sees The Doctor approach the doors she quickly opens them and shouts warning him. The Doctor walks in with the severed head of Lirpa and Ladeeth reveals that The Doctor she let in was actually Ruduse disguised as The Doctor. A struggle begins between the Rhiptogans and Ladeeth is smashed against the control panel falling to the floor. The real Doctor walks in and threatens Ruduse with a bucket of saltwater. The Doctor throws the saltwater covering the floor causing Ruduse to panic and fall back from the door. The Doctor quickly retrieves a barely conscious Sam. Ladeeth with his remaining strength stabs Ruduse in the foot causing her to fall hands first into the saltwater puddle causing her hands to steam and presumably melt. Shortly after the Doctor's escape the space ship explodes behind them. The Doctor drives Sam back to the beach, in his purple VW Beetle, to treat her poison with salt water. They finish their game of 'never have I ever' with the doctor winning. It is implied that instead of taking her home like she expected he took her on another adventure.
== Characters ==
* Eighth Doctor
* Sam Jones
* Lirpa
* Ruduse
* Ladeeth
== Worldbuilding ==
* This is Sam Jones' first trip in the TARDIS.
* Rhiptogans are a race of shape-shifters.
== Notes ==
* This is the first audio drama to feature the Eighth Doctor.
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor offered Sam one trip in the TARDIS. He would later give Martha Jones the same offer. (TV: Smith and Jones)
* The Doctor says he ran away from home once, but had to go back eventually. (AUDIO: The Beginning, TV: The War Games)
* The Doctor has been to Pluto. (TV: The Sun Makers)
* The Doctor tells Sam that his appearance has changed recently. (TV: Doctor Who)
* Sam finds out that the Doctor has destroyed planets before. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
* After losing the TARDIS key, The Doctor looks for his shoes. In his third incarnation, he kept a spare in his shoes. (TV: Spearhead from Space)
* Sam attends Coal Hill School. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
* The Doctor has a purple VW Beetle in his TARDIS. (PROSE: Vampire Science, Longest Day, Seeing I)
* After this adventure, the Doctor leaves Sam at a Greenpeace rally and picks her up three years later from his perspective. (PROSE: Vampire Science)
== External links ==
Category:Eighth Doctor audio stories
Category:1998 audio stories
Category:Earth and Beyond stories
Category:Audio stories set in Africa