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Stories set in Ancient Civilisations
Many of the Doctor’s travels in time and space have seen him visit the vibrant worlds and cultures of various ancient civilisations. Greece, Egypt and China have all given birth to language, music, technology and art which still fascinates us today. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the Doctor has discovered that often these distinctive lands have been visited by many alien races, influencing, manipulating and even creating the histories that we know today.
And beyond Earth, what of the ancient alien civilisations such as the Osirians, the Martians and the planet Traken.
Ancient Greece
Many of the Doctor’s travels – and those of his friends – have found them experiencing life in Ancient Greece. Whether it’s rubbing shoulders with famous philosophers and leaders, battling Titans and Gods or stopping the meddling of other time travellers, Greece is a fascinating place to join the Doctor for his adventures.
1500 BCE – The Slitheen Excursion:
The Tenth Doctor and temporary companion, June, discover Slitheen travel agents selling aliens trips to Ancient Greece.
c1500 BCE – The Time Monster:
The final two episodes of this Season 9 Third Doctor story takes the Doctor, Jo and the Master to the fabled city of Atlantis to face the Chronovore, Kronos.
1503 BCE – Bernice Summerfield – Epoch:
Atlantis features again in this box set featuring everyone’s favourite time-travelling archaeologist, Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield who, after events at the end of the previous season of releases, finds herself alone and confused in the fabled city.
1184 BCE – The Myth Makers:
The First Doctor, Steven and Vicki arrive on the outskirts of Troy and find themselves on opposite sides of a war between the Trojans and the Greeks. With the Doctor mistaken for Zeus, Vicki for a prophet and Steven for a warrior, it will take all their wits to survive the imminent sacking of Troy intact.
1185 BCE – Apocrypha Bipedium:
The Eighth Doctor, Charley and a young William Shakespeare meet Cressida, as Vicki renamed herself and her new husband, Troilus.
430 BCE – Bernice Summerfield – The Oracle of Delphi:
Benny joins forces with Socrates to investigate the disappearance of her husband, Jason, a cult of women and get away from Greece before a plague comes to Athens.
421 BCE – Mask of Tragedy:
The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hector also face plague and the Spartan threat in Athens when the Doctor takes them to visit the theatre and meet the comedian Aristophanes.
410 BCE – The Chains of Olympus:
The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory meet Socrates and Plato but also face the wrath of Zeus as the gods have come to Ancient Greece and they are far from benevolent. A DWM comic strip which begins a long-running story arc.
400 BCE – The Brain of Socrates
The Fourth Doctor takes Leela to Athens to teach her about comedy, with little success, but does also find a crashed alien who is using the brain of Socrates to help repair his ship.
500 BCE – The Pythagoras Problem
The Thirteenth Doctor and her ‘fam’ meet Pythagoras in this short story from Star Tales.
410 – The Library of Alexandria
The First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are enjoying some time exploring the famed library of Alexandria and Ian takes the opportunity to develop a friendship with the famed philosopher, Hypatia. But a terrible destruction is soon to be wrought on the library in this Companion Chronicle performed by William Russell.
Ancient Egypt
The playground of the Osirians, the true Egyptian gods and goddesses, Egypt has provided a fertile land for thrilling Doctor Who stories.
c5000 BCE – Ozymandias & The Judgement of Sutekh:
These two final instalments from Magic Bullet’s excellent Faction Paradox range delve into the history of the Osirians and their war across worlds including Egypt, Mars and the Osirian Court. These stories tell the story of the battle between Sutekh and Horus and how Faction Paradox seek to disrupt history. Gabriel Woolf returns as Sutekh with Edward de Souza playing his father Geb. The previous instalments of this audio series also feature Julian Glover, Peter Halliday and Philip Madoc.
c3500 BCE – The Gods Walk Among Us:
The Sontaran Field Major Styx lands in Egypt and is worshipped as a god before being entombed by his followers.
c2610 BCE – The Forgotten:
The First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan materialise inside one of the great pyramids and foil an assassination attempt.
c2566 BCE – The Daleks’ Master Plan:
The First Doctor, Steven and Space Security Service agent, Sara Kingdom, arrive in Egypt pursued by the Daleks and the Monk, in two episodes of this epic Season 3 story: Golden Death and Escape Switch.
c2560 BCE – The Grel Escape:
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is one brief stop off for Bernice, Jason and Peter whilst on the run from time-travelling Grel.
c2000 BCE – The Sands of Time:
The evil intellect of Nephthys is released and transferred to the body of Nyssa.
1400 BCE – The Eye of the Scorpion:
The Fifth Doctor and Peri arrive in Egypt and soon become embroiled in the court politics and alien interference surrounding long-forgotten Pharaoh-in-waiting, Erimem, who then goes on to step aboard the TARDIS.
300 BCE – The Book of Shadows
Timelines rise and fall when the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara visit Alexandria and the time of Ptolemy I in this short story from the Virgin Decalog collection.
Ancient Babylon
The mystery of the great city of Babylon can be explored in a small selection of stories.
570 BCE – Bernice Summerfield – Walking to Babylon:
Bernice follows her errant husband (again) to Ancient Babylon to prevent the powerful People from destroying the city.
323 BCE – Farewell, Great Macedon:
One on of the fabled Lost Stories, Farewell, Great Macedon features the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara, spending time in the company of Alexander the Great in a story which echoes Marco Polo, The Aztecs and The Crusade. A stunning audio story with musings on religion, history and death. One of Big Finish’s greatest.
Ancient China
c210 BCE – The Emperor of Eternity:
A Companion Chronicle featuring Frazer Hines as Jamie and Deborah Watling as Victoria, finds the Second Doctor in Ancient China and a prisoner of the famed Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Ancient Traken
c1000 BCE – Primeval:
The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa travel back to the earliest days of Traken civilisation, thousands of years before the Source was created and find the planet at the mercy of a malevolent alien called Kwundaar.
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