Winter (audio story)

was the fourth story in the audio anthology, Circular Time, which comprised the ninety-first release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Paul Cornell and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.
It was set within the last few moments of the Fifth Doctor's life, as he battles the Tremas Master for control of his regeneration — meaning that most, but not all, of the narrative takes place in the Doctor's mind. This also meant that the events of this story were contained within the finale of TV: The Caves of Androzani, and revealed the origins of the visions within his mind as he regenerated.
It was further notable for being the only Big Finish audio, until Devil in the Mist twelve years later, to use the character of Kamelion in any significant way.
== Publisher's summary ==
Many years after their travels together have ended, the two friends meet again in the strangest of circumstances.
== Plot ==
The Fifth Doctor heads out into a blizzard with a mysterious woman. Far away, in another time and place, Nyssa tells Lasarti about a dream she had, reminding her of a time she was with the Doctor. Her dream had Tegan, Adric, the Master, the Doctor and others she couldn't quite recognise. She asks Lasarti to let her use his machine at the hospital to see the dream more clearly. The Doctor and his "wife" find a knocking noise in their barn but decide not to investigate further.
The Doctor encounters Nyssa in his dream but she exclaims that it is he who is part of her dream. He invites her into a parlour in a farmhouse he supposedly inhabits with his human wife and they have a chat, trying to discern who is real and who is the dream/illusion. He, however, has no recollection of her or anything from his life, convinced he is a human who has lived in this house all his life. Just then he hears a noise coming down the stairs and Lasarti has entered the dream. Nyssa decides to test whether she is dreaming or not by switching off the device. She does, yet they are both still in the Doctor's dream and Nyssa is confused. She asks him a series of questions that makes him begin to realise he isn't sure about anything, such as not remembering his wife's name or the fact that his children Adric and Tegan are not who he claims them to be as Nyssa continues to remind him. Panicking, they hear a malicious laugh coming from outside and go out into the blizzard to find the source. Nyssa recognises the laugh as belonging to the Master and tries to convince the Doctor but the Doctor rejects this, trying to convince himself that he is human. Nyssa tries to jog his memories and convince him that this isn't real, reminding him of Adric, herself, Tegan and others as well as his heritage as a Time Lord, which he vaguely starts to remember.
They go into the barn and see a coffin vibrating and Nyssa manages to convince the Doctor to go inside, which turns out to be the Doctor's mind envisioning a zero cabinet, which once inside he reverts back to his old self and explains what's happening to Nyssa. He then asks her and Lasarti to burn everything around them down as he is a traveller who never stays put, which is what the projection is desgined to do, lull him into a false sense of security and this interference by the Master was to block his mind from reaching out across time and space to former companions to help him regenerate. The Doctor then tells Nyssa to help him to the edge of the forest to find the Watcher while Lasarti burns everything and the Doctor's "wife" is revealed to be Kamelion, who thanks Lasarti for helping it finally resist the Master and die, and that it was it that tried to save the Doctor's mind by helping him remember Adric and Tegan by projecting them as children to help him remember since it was the key linking the Doctor's and Master's minds. It finally reveals that once it disappears the connection between the Doctor's mind and the Master's that it has been keeping will disappear.
The Doctor and Nyssa struggle to the edge of the forest, but the blizzard disappears as Kamelion vanishes and he manages to find the Watcher. He thanks Nyssa for her help and merges with the watcher, preparing to regenerate again.
Nyssa and Lasarti discuss their recent adventure and she tells him the Doctor's last moments, how he took her hands and kissed her on the head and after thanking all of his previous companions surrounding him in his mind and ran back into the Watcher's figure and regnerated. The two reflect on their own children and Nyssa is thankful for her time with the Doctor, even if their final interaction was through a dream, unsure if she will ever see him again.
== Cast ==
* The Doctor - Peter Davison
* Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
* Lasarti - Jeremy James
* Anima - Sunny Ormonde
== Worldbuilding ==
* Nyssa points out that aspects of the Doctor's farmhouse resemble his TARDIS, like the hat stand and Nyssa's bedroom.
* Nyssa mentions the Doctor's people, the Time Lords, but doesn't explicitly name them.
* The Master hates being alone.
=== Individuals ===
* There are mentions of the Fifth Doctor's former companions Adric, Tegan Jovanka and Turlough, as well as his current companion, Peri Brown.
* Nyssa is married to a man named Lasarti. They have an infant daughter named Neeka.
=== Illnesses ===
* The Doctor tells Nyssa and Lasarti that he is dying of Spectrox toxaemia.
=== Religion ===
* The Doctor compares regeneration to the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, stating that "Each life creates the next."
=== Species ===
* Time Lords have the ability to make mental contact with others across time and space.
* There is an existence (albeit only a mental one) for a Time Lord's departing incarnation within the act of regeneration.
== Notes ==
* Though Paul Cornell and Mike Maddox share the writing credit on the Circular Time anthology, this story was written by Cornell alone. Cornell has referred to the story as "a weird fanservice thing."http://www.paulcornell.com/2006/11/circular-time-and-irish-comic-con/
* In spite of the fact that he remains unseen throughout, this is the first Fifth Doctor audio drama to feature the Master as a villain.
* As it takes place during his regeneration into his sixth incarnation, as depicted in TV: The Caves of Androzani, this is the final audio drama, chronologically speaking, to feature the Fifth Doctor.
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor can feel himself carrying "someone". (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
* Nyssa recalls leaving the Doctor on Terminus. (TV: Terminus)
* Lasarti mentions Nyssa's father, Tremas, being killed by the Decayed Master. (TV: The Keeper of Traken)
* The Doctor says, "Go softly on", as he mentions how people see theirs lives flash before them as they die. (TV: Castrovalva)
* The Doctor and Nyssa encounter the Watcher in his mindscape and the Doctor merges with him to complete the transition into his next incarnation. (TV: Logopolis)
* Nyssa and Lasarti help the Doctor into a recreation of the Zero Room in his mindscape. (TV: Castrovalva)
* The spectrox poison is breaking down the Doctor's nervous system. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
* The Doctor murmurs that his regeneration "feels different this time." (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
* As he regenerates, the Doctor attempts to make mental contact with his former companions across time and space and get their support. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
* The Master uses Kamelion's lingering connection to the Doctor's TARDIS to try to prevent the Fifth Doctor's regeneration into the Sixth Doctor. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
* The Doctor says that his next incarnation will be very colourful. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
* The Doctor notes that it is "nice" to see Tegan as he dies. (PROSE: The Caves of Androzani)
== Footnotes ==
Category:Stories set in the 35th century
Category:Circular Time audio stories
Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories
Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2018
Category:Audio stories that use the Peter Howell theme
Category:One part audio stories