The Mummy Speaks! was the first story in the audio anthology Charlotte Pollard: The Further Adventuress, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Alan Barnes and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard.

Publisher's summary[]

The Carnaval de Paris, 1841. Amid the sideshow tents, the Doctor and Charley discover something truly novel: an Ancient Egyptian mummy that speaks - despite being dead for more than 4,000 years!

But what the mummy has to say translates into terror for the TARDIS twosome... and proclaims doom for the entire world.

Plot[]

The Doctor and Charley visit Paris in 1841, the latter complaining about the smell. The pair of them inadvertently insult Napoléon Bonaparte, causing great offence to the townsfolk and escaping via carriage. Arriving at the Carnival de Paris, Charley realises that the TARDIS' translation circuit is cutting in and out. The pair's attention is drawn to a man in a tent named Cagliostro claiming that an Ancient Egyptian mummy he owns is named Khaset, from the time of Queen Nitocris, and that he can compel it to speak via an electric rod. While scepticism can be heard, the mummy does in fact speak.

Khaset answers questions from the crowd, claiming to have known Cleopatra despite not coming from the same time. The Doctor, sceptical, begins speaking to the mummy in Ancient Egyptian, a language the TARDIS does not recognise and thus comes out as glitchy. Khaset reveals that the process of speaking causes him a deep amount of pain. The crowd is angered by this and the Doctor and Charley run away.

To be continued

Cast[]

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Charlotte Pollard - India Fisher
• Khaset - Cyril Nri
• Cagliostro / Gorilla - John Banks
• Le Roi / Baron / Carriage Driver / Barker - Mark Elstob

Worldbuilding[]

• Charley is looking forward to having her portrait done by Toulouse Lautrec in Paris.
• The Doctor mentions his everlasting matches.
• Napoleon's body was brought back to Paris in December, 1840. He led his forces into Cairo in 1801.
• The Doctor explains not all the ancient languages are recorded in the TARDIS databank for translation.
• Cleopatra's time was 1000 years after Khaset.

Notes[]

to be added

Continuity[]

• Charley reminds the Doctor they flew over France on the back of a Vortisaur named Ramsay. (AUDIO: Storm Warning ^[+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2001).)
• The Doctor recalls travelling with Mary Shelley. (AUDIO: Mary's Story ^[+]Jonathan Morris, The Company of Friends (Main Range, Big Finish Productions, 2009)., et al.)
• The Doctor promises he will not return Charley to the R101. (AUDIO: Neverland ^[+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).)

External links[]

• Official The Mummy Speaks! page at bigfinish.com