The Satanic Mill (audio story)

Concluding the box set's overarching plot of the Eighth Doctor's search for the Eleven, it reveals the purpose of the Regeneration Codex stolen by the Eleven in The Eleven and ultimately leaves his fate uncertain.

Publisher's summary[]

The Satanic Mill - a vast Victorian factory floating in the deep of space.

As the Doctor closes in on his quarry, long buried animosities come boiling to the surface on this ancient and powerful satellite, in a final confrontation that could have unimaginable consequences.

And even that is only the beginning...

Plot[]

The Eleven is angry that Cleaver and Fortuna failed to deliver him the Doctor, but realises that he will most likely come anyway. A computer alerts him that an unauthorised object is approaching, confirming his suspicions, and he prepares to give the Doctor the welcome that he deserves.

The Doctor, Liv and Helen exit the TARDIS into a hexagonal room and encounter people acting like zombies. They follow them into the factory and watch Father Locke deliver a speech to the people and have them sing a hymn in a language that Helen does not recognise. The people continue to the workhouse, with the Doctor, Liv and Helen joining them and working under the Orbs' duress. Whilst Liv and Helen are put to washing clothes and stirring soup, the Doctor is taken to the generator, instructed by Paine.

The computer tells the Eleven that work has begun in Quadrant 2. The Eleven is amused by how he does not know what he is getting himself into.

Helen asks Liv how she came to be travelling with the Doctor and learns of the concept of regeneration. The Doctor and Paine are made to use treadmills to provide power whilst Liv and Helen cause a spillage, distracting the Orbs and attracting the Eleven's attention. The pair manage to escape under the pretence of fetching mops. They head for the TARDIS, although they are uncertain of the way back to it. Their abscondment is reported over tannoys and the Orbs go looking for them.

Paine injures himself and the Doctor demands that the Orbs allow him to rest. With Paine unable to work, an Orb prepares to kill him but is stopped by the Doctor, who destroys it using his sonic screwdriver. He flees with Paine and the Eleven demands that the Orbs kill the Doctor.

An Orb catches Liv and Helen and is about to attack when the Eight briefly takes control and orders it to cease fire, then managing to convince the Eleven that the Doctor would become more of a danger should his companions be killed. They are instead taken for inspection.

The Doctor looks for an infirmary to tend to Paine's injuries, but learns that Paine has no concept of such facilities and that he and the other workers were created this very day. He begins accessing the computer concealed within the altar in the chapel, attracting the Eleven's notice. The Eleven sends Orbs to capture him whilst Liv and Helen are incarcerated in the Inspection Chamber.

The Doctor and Paine are brought to the Eleven, who tells them that he is planning on using a stellar manipulator, of which the One had learnt whilst working in the Panopticon Archive. The Eleven had used the Regeneration Codex to find the stellar manipulator, which he transformed into a workhouse as part of his trap for the Doctor. He restrains the Doctor, throwing his sonic screwdriver aside, and, after ordering his Orbs to dissect Helen once she has been scanned, tells him that he intends on exposing him to the Sun to kill him and power the manipulator. The Eleven bids him farewell, after which the Doctor tells Paine to take his sonic screwdriver to Liv and Helen and ask them to take Paine to the TARDIS.

The Eleven meets with Father Locke, an automaton, and inserts the Regeneration Codex into his mouth, activating the stellar manipulator. Meanwhile, on Gallifrey, Cardinal Padrac is informed of the danger by Secretary Vorlin. Paine reaches Liv and Helen as their scans are completed and gives the screwdriver to Liv, who uses it on the Orb but not in time to save Paine from being injured and dying in Liv's arms.

With the stellar manipulator primed, the Eleven says goodbye to Father Locke and begins stellar manipulation.

Liv and Helen reach the TARDIS but choose to instead go after the Doctor, destroying Orbs and rescuing the workers on the way, angering the Eleven. The Doctor begins to suffer and the enlarging Sun is brought to the attention of Galileo on Earth. Liv and Helen escort the workers into the TARDIS, which dematerialises. The Eleven tells the Doctor that his plans are about far more than just getting revenge upon him and that there is a bigger picture as the TARDIS rematerialises.

Cardinal Padrac is informed that the Sun has returned to normal and the timelines restored.

On a Tellurian planet, the Doctor tells Liv and Helen that he had set the sonic screwdriver to automatically set the TARDIS to find him, although he had not been sure that it would work. The workers will remain on the planet, gifted with a number of books by the Doctor to educate them. He decides that he, Liv and Helen could do with a holiday.

Cast[]

Worldbuilding[]

"Labor omnia vincit" is Latin for "work conquers all".
The workhouse has mechanised spheroidal guards.
The Eleven found the means of finding the prototype stellar manipulator in the Omega Vault.
Helen says that zombies are popular figures in folklore.
Plotting to destroy Earth's solar system in 1639, the Eleven notes that Johann Sebastian Bach, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and the vast majority of the Doctor's companions will never be born.
Vorlin reports to the Cardinal.

Notes[]

This story was recorded at The Moat Studios.
The title is a reference to the poem And did those feet in ancient time by William Blake, which, in its criticism of industrialisation, refers to "these dark Satanic Mills".

Continuity[]

The Doctor explains how Omega gave the Time Lords power over time. (TV: The Three Doctors)
Liv mentions that when she first met the Doctor, he looked different. (AUDIO: Robophobia)

External links[]

Official The Satanic Mill page at bigfinish.com

Tardis