Doctor Who Logo 'The Ultimate Adventure'

by Terrance Dicks

The Daleks, Cybermen and a mercenary named Karl enter into an alliance, and plan to use the Doctor as a pawn in their plot to destroy the Earth. Meanwhile, the Doctor and his companion Jason are summoned to Earth by Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister; she asks the Doctor to help prevent a kidnap attempt against the US envoy to a forthcoming peace conference. The Doctor and Jason travel in the TARDIS to the nightclub Number Ten, but are too late to prevent Karl and his mercenaries from kidnapping the diplomat. The Doctor and Jason, together with a nightclub singer named Crystal, follow the trail of the mercenaries to the planet Altair Three, where they barely manage to escape an attack by Cybermen. They then follow a clue which takes them to the Bar Galactica, run by the ruthless Madame Delilah; but Karl and the mercenaries are waiting for them, and the time travellers are forced to flee, accompanied by a small alien creature called Zog. The Daleks capture the TARDIS and transport it to their mothership, but the Doctor outwits them and attempts to transport himself and his companions to safety. They end up on a seemingly barren planet that reacts adversely when Crystal starts singing, and then onto to 18th-century France, where they become embroiled in the French Revolution, and narrowly avoid being beheaded. The Daleks have sabotaged the TARDIS, but the Doctor fixes the problem and returns to the Bar Galactica, where the Daleks turn on the mercenaries, exterminating them. Karl manages to escape, and helps the Doctor to locate the Dalek ship; the Doctor rescues the US Envoy and tricks the Daleks into revealing that they intend to dispose of the Cybermen once their plans have succeeded. Aware of the Daleks’ duplicity, the Cybermen attack their former allies; under cover of the battle, the Doctor takes the Envoy back to Earth, only to find that he has been brainwashed and intends to blow up the conference. The Doctor defuses the bomb, hidden in Mrs Thatcher’s teapot, and sings the Venusian lullaby to break the Envoy free of his conditioning. Crystal, who has fallen in love with Jason, decides to continue travelling with him and the Doctor in the TARDIS.

The Doctor: Jon Pertwee [to 3/6/89, except 29/4/89], David Banks [29/4/89], Colin Baker [from 5/6/89]; Jason: Graeme Smith [to 15/7/89, except 21-23/4/89], David Bingham [21-23/4/89, from 17/7/89]; Crystal: Rebecca Thornhill; Delilah / Mrs T: Judith Hibbert; Karl: David Banks [except 29/4/89], Chris Beaumont [29/4/89]; Cyberleader: Wolf Christian; Emperor Dalek: Troy Webb; Dalek Voices: Chris Beaumont, Troy Webb; U.S. Envoy: Chris Beaumont; M.C.: David Bingham [to 15/7/89, except 21-23/4/89], Oliver Gray [from 17/7/89]; Envoy's Wife: Claudia Kelly; Bell Boy: Stephanie Colburn; U.S. Bodyguards: Troy Webb, Deborah Hecht; Mercenaries: Terry Walsh [to 24/6/89], Alison Reddihough, Oliver Gray [26/6/89 to 15/7/89], Gavin Warwick [from 15/7/89]; Cybermen: Paula Tappenden, Oliver Gray [to 24/6/89], Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]; Cybermen Voices: Oliver Gray; Insect Men: Claudia Kelly, Troy Webb, Alison Reddihough; Zog: Stephanie Colburn; Waitress: Deborah Hecht; Ant-Person: Claudia Kelly; Martial Arts Mercenary: Troy Webb; Vervoid: David Bingham [to 15/7/89, except 22-23/4/89], Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]; Chicken-Headed Alien: Paula Tappenden; Hairy Alien: Chris Beaumont (except 29/4/89]; Draconian: Wolf Christian; Daleks: David Bingham [to 15/7/89, except 21-23/4/89], Oliver Gray, Troy Webb, Deborah Hecht, Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]; Chief Dalek: Paula Tappenden; Dalek Scientist: Chris Beaumont; Executioner: Alison Reddihough; Execution Victim: David Bingham [to 15/7/89, except 21-23/4/89], Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]; Duelling Guards: Terry Walsh [to 24/6/89], Wolf Christian, Oliver Gray [from 26/6/89]; Ragamuffin: Claudia Kelly; French Women: Paula Tappenden, Deborah Hecht, Judith Hibbert; French Men: Chris Beaumont, Troy Webb, Oliver Gray [to 26/6/89], David Bingham [to 15/7/89, except 21-23/4/89], Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]; Customers: Wolf Christian, Claudia Kelly, Troy Webb, Paula Tappenden, Oliver Gray [to 15/7/89], Alison Reddihough, Gavin Warwick [from 17/7/89]

Directed by Carole Todd

Tour Dates:

Jon Pertwee:
23/03/1989 - 01/04/1989 @ Wimbledon Theatre, London
03/04/1989 - 08/04/1989 @ Her Majesty's Theatre, London
10/04/1989 - 15/04/1989 @ Empire Theatre, Liverpool
17/04/1989 - 22/04/1989 @ Theatre Clywd, Mold
24/04/1989 - 29/04/1989 @ Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
01/05/1989 - 06/05/1989 @ The Bristol Hippodrome
08/05/1989 - 13/05/1989 @ Twongate Theatre, Basildon
15/05/1989 - 20/05/1989 @ Theatre Royal, Glasgow
22/05/1989 - 27/05/1989 @ Manchester Opera House
29/05/1989 - 03/06/1989 @ Apollo Theatre, Oxford

Colin Baker:
05/06/1989 - 10/06/1989 @ Newcastle Opera House, Newcaste upon Tyne
12/06/1989 - 17/06/1989 @ Theatre Royal, Nottingham
19/06/1989 - 24/06/1989 @ Grand Theatre, Leeds
26/06/1989 - 01/07/1989 @ Theatre Royal, Brighton
03/07/1989 - 08/07/1989 @ Edinburg Playhouse, Edinburgh
10/07/1989 - 15/07/1989 @ Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
17/07/1989 - 22/07/1989 @ Theatre Royal, Northampton
24/07/1989 - 28/07/1989 @ Marlow Theatre, Canterbury
31/07/1989 - 05/08/1989 @ King's Theatre, Southsea
07/08/1989 - 19/08/1989 @ Congress Theatre, Eastbourne

Notes:
*Featuring the Third / Sixth / Future Doctor, and introducing Jason, Crystal and Zog

*Jon Pertwee fell ill at the start of the matinee performance on 29/04/1989, so the Doctor was played by David Banks for that day's two performances; Colin Baker later took over the role of the Doctor partway through the tour

*Seeing as how three different incarnations of the Doctor have exactly the same adventure, this can't really be included as canon.


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*In September 2008, Big Finish released 'The Ultimate Adventure' as a newly-recorded audio play, in which Colin Baker reprised his role of the Doctor, and David Banks his role of Karl:

Doctor Who Logo 'The Ultimate Adventure'

by Terrance Dicks
Jacket Illustration

A special audio adaptation of the Doctor Who stage-play from the 1980s.

The Daleks have allied themselves with the Cybermen and a deadly band of mercenaries. The future of Earth depends upon a vital peace conference. And Mrs T knows that only one Time Lord can save the world.

There are epic battles. There are betrayals. There is love, and there even songs.

Take your seat for... Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure!

Colin Baker (The Doctor), Noel Sullivan (Jason), Claire Huckle (Crystal), David Banks (Karl), Nadine Cox (Delilah / Mrs T), Bryan Pilkington (Nightclub MC / Bodyguard / Mercenary Alien Insects), Derek Carlyle (Envoy / Zog / Mercenary / Revolutionary Guard / Alien Insects), Nicholas Briggs (Daleks / Cybermen)

Directed by Jason Haigh-Ellery

Release Date:
September 2008

Notes:
*Featuring the Doctor, and introducing Jason, Crystal and Zog

*A Big Finish Audio Production