The People Made of Smoke (audio story)

The People Made of Smoke was the third and final story in the audio anthology Wicked Sisters, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Simon Guerrier and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela, Ciara Janson as Abby, and Laura Doddington as Zara.
== Publisher's summary ==
Abby and Zara strive to use their powers for good but it's clear they are damaging reality - and allowing monstrous creatures to bleed through from beyond. The Doctor knows he can only save the universe by destroying his friends. But just how much might he be willing to sacrifice if there's a chance to save them?
== Plot ==
On the Moon, the Doctor and Leela observe how it has been changed by the Doctor's defeat of Commander Stent; instead of living on the surface and culling those over forty, the humans live in caves alongside aliens and are permitted to live into their elder years. The Doctor believes that history has been changed for the better, but agrees with Leela that something is not quite right. Abby and Zara tell them that Brody has been murdered.
Posing as watchpersons, Leela and Zara question Brody's husband, Wei, and the Doctor and Abby pretend to be construction workers to rule out the possibility that he was electrocuted by faulty wiring. Wei tells them that Brody was anxious, that they had an argument about going to Zeet's party and that he heard him talking to somebody in the bathroom when the fire alarm went off. The Doctor and Abby find one of the Smoke, weak and incapable of communication, behind a wall. It draws strength from Wei's emotions and grabs the Doctor and Abby, but Zara disperses it with a hairdryer.
Leela and Zara go to Zeet's birthday party and see whisps of smoke around her which seem to be doing no harm. The Smoke grows and speaks through her until Zara blows it away with a hairdryer, after which Zeet collapses and is taken to the hospital. Abby and Zara feel responsible and use their powers to rebuild her burnt insides, change her records and alter the memories of the medical professionals who cared for her and the other patients on the ward. However, a nurse is aged as the Smoke has a direct link to those upon whom the sisters use their powers, which now includes Zeet.
The Smoke feeds on everybody that Abby and Zara have used their powers on, killing Zeet. They feed on the Doctor and Leela, creating a link between the two of them and the Smoke through which the Doctor learns that the creatures are whispers of timelines altered by Abby and Zara. The sisters break the Doctor and Leela free from the connection and the Smoke begins to feed on everybody but the four of them. Abby and Zara prepare to destroy themselves to save everybody, but Leela separates them and tells the Doctor that they must keep the unconscious sisters apart.
The Doctor gave Leela instructions whilst they were linked, telling her to activate the turbines to disperse the Smoke. This results in the Smoke combining into one great cloud. He leaves Abby with Wei and brings the Smoke into the TARDIS before dematerialising, trapping them with him forever. They attack him and, thinking of Adric, he regenerates into a new incarnation and is again attacked. Abby and Zara use their powers to make themselves fade away, telling Leela that it will be nice to finally have some peace.
Resurrected and restored to his fifth incarnation, the Doctor arrives in the TARDIS and refuses to help Leela with whatever mission she has for him, pretending not to remember his adventures with her, Abby and Zara. He agrees to take Leela back to Gallifrey, but has an idea of somewhere that they can stop off at on the way. Afterwards, he manages to track Abby and Zara down at a terminal and learns that they are living without using their powers too much in one place. He asks them not to make him regret what he has done for them.
== Cast ==
* The Doctor - Peter Davison
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Abby - Ciara Janson
* Zara - Laura Doddington
* Zeet - Pandora Clifford
* Wei - Paul Courtenay Hyu
=== Uncredited ===
* The Smoke - Lisa Bowerman
* Sixth Doctor - Dan Starkey
== Crew ==
* Cover Art - Tom Newsom
* Director - Lisa Bowerman
* Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
* Music - Howard Carter
* Producer & Script Editor - Mark Wright
* Sound Design - Lee Adams
* Writer - Simon Guerrier
* Senior Producer - David Richardson
== Worldbuilding ==
* Leela eats an ice cream.
* The Moon is visited by Hathnium Skinks.
* Brody has been murdered. He was married to Wei.
* Abby likes her tea with milk substitute and four sugars.
* Yosuki is a guest at Zeet's party.
* On Middleton, Abby and Zara did not use their powers once. They instead had to marry all thirty-eight chieftains.
* There is a flight to the Sense Sphere.
== Notes ==
* The People Made of Smoke was recorded at The Moat Studios in December 2019.
* This story got its name from a line delivered by the Seventh Doctor in his final speech in Survival. (BFX: The People Made of Smoke)
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor has a sixth sense of history. (TV: Kill the Moon)
* The Fifth Doctor is aged. (TV: Time Crash)
* The Fifth Doctor is cut off saying "Let's go to..." (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
* Abby refers to her and Zara's previous medical experience. (AUDIO: The Ward)
* The Doctor mentions Adric as he is about to die. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
== External links ==
Category:Wicked Sisters audio stories
Category:Regeneration audio stories
Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories