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159e 'The Rapture'

CD audio adventure released September 2002, 4 episodes

Writer: Joseph Lidster
Director: Jason Haigh-Ellery

Roots: The Bible (the angel Gabriel, the book of Jude, Sodom and Gomorrah, "God said 'Let there be light'.") and extrapolations thereof (the Rapture). Kilroy and Jerry Springer ('my final thought is this...'). Stargate and The X-Files get a mention. The 1991 movie The Lawnmower Man (the sound of telephones as a cliffhanger/reprise). Doctorin' The TARDIS. Star Trek ('phasers on stun'). The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy, Ace's middle name and references to rainbows. This ties in some of the suggestions by Ian Briggs, Ace's creator, as to the influences of her own origins). Peter Pan - angel/pixie dust makes you fly. 20 August is Sophie Aldred's birth date.

Intertextuality: 'Dorothy Gail McShane' as a solution to the Dorothy Gale/Dorothy McShane surname problem has been previously suggested in Mark Michalowski's BBC past Doctor adventure Relative Dementias.

Professor X, a fictional part spoof, part mimesis of the Doctor's adventures is alleged to have been created by Ben Aaronovitch while the Professor X series has featured in many Virgin New Adventures and BBC Books.

Fluffs: Although Caitriona pronounces her name "Katrina", when she tells Gabriel he promptly pronounces it phonetically (no wonder she sticks with 'Cat')

Double Entendres: A nice nod from Blackburn: 'First some tunes, starting with one with we haven't heard in around about a month, and I know you're going to enjoy.'

'Stop talking. We can see what it is, we don't need a running commentary.'

Gabriel says at one point to "Embrace the Darkness."

'Another flashback - getting boring now'

Dialogue Triumphs: 'So here's my final thought...damn it, my mind's completely gone blank.'

'This really is one of the better ventilation shafts I've crawled through.'

Dialogue Disasters: 'There's only one word for this place - Fan-dabby-doozy.' [er, possibly...]

'Now go out there, Gabriel, spread the truth and love of the Lord, and play those kicking tunes!'

Continuity: In another dimension the Euphorian Empire fought a war with Scordatora (which attacked them without provocation ) that went badly; short of forces they conscripted actors, writers and composers, among them artisan brothers Jude and Gabriel. They deserted, traveling through a dimensional portal to Earth in 1855 where they met a monk Francisco Belao on Es Vedra, who took them to be angels. Returning later, they adopted this disguise (as a way for Jude to keep the shell-shocked Gabriel sane) and eventually created the club The Rapture to take humans back to their war as not much more than zombies. Gabriel suffers from shellshock-induced madness, and has been led to believe he is an angel by Jude.  They use hallucinogenic drugs such as PCP to induce 'religious experiences'.

Under the influence of Gabriel, Cat sees episodes from Ace's recent life, including a man in a golden mask (see: 'Links')

Ace was born Dorothy Gail on August 20, 1970 to Audrey and Harry McShane.

Liam was born four years after Ace, but he was taken away by their father after he found their mother sleeping with Harry's mate Jack (Ace was at playschool). Harry died four years ago due to a stroke, asking Liam to find Ace. Audrey never told Ace, but Liam spent a whole year looking for her. Ace studied history 'occasionally' in school, and religious studies less occasionally. She has a 'bit of a thing' regarding fascism She estimates that ten years [on Earth] have passed since she left Perivale.

Kurtz's death (see: 'Links') is one of the worst things Dorothy has seen. The Doctor thinks it has affected Ace so much because it took place in the [apparently] safe haven of the TARDIS.

The Doctor bartends. He knows how to make Sofrit Pages (an Ibizan speciality) and a good sangria. He has seen dimensional portals before.

Location: San Antonio, Ibiza, 14 to 15th May, 1997

Links: The Dalek Invasion of Earth ("One day, yes, one day-"), 'Remembrance of the Daleks' ('Mike...'), 'The Curse of Fenric' ('...Sorin...' Audrey), 'Survival' ('...Kara'), 'Dust Breeding' (a man in a golden mask), 'Colditz'.

Untelevised Adventures: The Doctor fought with Gustavo's father in the Spanish Civil War and later brought Gustavo to Ibiza to recover after the horrors of the war.

The Bottom Line: 'Hey, I can't dance to this!'

There's one word for this story: 'fab-dabby-doozy'. And if you find that particular turn of phrase unflinchingly hip and up to the minute (even for 1997), then this is the audio for you. Although the cliffhangers and title music are rather good, experimental storytelling techniques can't make up for some too obvious parallels (Kat and Gabriel, Dorothy and Jude, Cat and Gustavo) in the storytelling and some clumsy attempt at 'adult' (the highest count of swearing and sexual references to date in a BF story) characterization. Not one to make much of a song and dance over, then.

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