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The Fourth Doctor Adventures #3.6
Doctor Who: Destroy the Infinite
The colony planet Delafoss is occupied by the army of a rapacious alien force known only as the Eminence. These slave armies of terrified humans are commanded by the dreaded Infinite Warriors - impervious to most forms of firepower, voices like icy death.
The Doctor and Leela arrive expecting to find Earth’s most successful, unspoiled colony. Instead, they are confronted by a planet choked by industrialization. And at the heart of it all, the construction of something that the Eminence intends will wipe out all human resistance once and for all.
For the first time in his life, the Doctor confronts the Eminence...and things will never be quite the same again.
The Doctor and Leela arrive expecting to find Earth’s most successful, unspoiled colony. Instead, they are confronted by a planet choked by industrialization. And at the heart of it all, the construction of something that the Eminence intends will wipe out all human resistance once and for all.
For the first time in his life, the Doctor confronts the Eminence...and things will never be quite the same again.
Audio CD
First published June 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Briggs
376 books133 followersNicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. Some of Briggs' earliest Doctor Who-related work was as host of The Myth Makers, a series of made-for-video documentaries produced in the 1980s and 1990s by Reeltime Pictures in which Briggs interviews many of the actors and writers involved in the series. When Reeltime expanded into producing original dramas, Briggs wrote some stories and acted in others, beginning with War Time, the first unofficial Doctor Who spin-off, and Myth Runner, a parody of Blade Runner showcasing bloopers from the Myth Makers series built around a loose storyline featuring Briggs as a down on his luck private detective in the near future.
He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).
Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.
Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.
Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.
He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).
Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.
Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.
Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 16, 2022
The Eminence and the Infinite is a really great creation of the Big Finish Doctor Who universe.
April 4, 2019
Another good story of the 4th doctor. These are always great and I always look forward to them. They are a great way to spend some time. Nicholas Briggs has become my favorite Doctor Who author in any form.
June 22, 2024
There wasn’t a whole lot that captivated me here.
June 23, 2018
When recurring Big Finish foe The Eminence first appeared in The Seeds of War, it was clear that the Doctor had fought it once before. Here, we see that first encounter, making this a prequel of sorts - although, apparently, it was written and recorded first, and so only became such through the vagaries of the publication order.
The first half of the story 'introduces' us to The Eminence, before the Doctor and Leela arrive on a scarred colony world under its tyrannical rule. They become involved with the resistance, but this is largely scene-setting, in a manner that might be more typical of a 4-part than a 2-part story. In the second half, things open up into a space opera, as the Eminence's flagship takes on the might of the Earth Alliance fleet. While the first half, therefore, feels quite like the sort of thing we got on TV in the 4th Doctor's run, the second is more '70s Star Wars than '70s Who .
While The Eminence is an effective villain, and the space opera elements work well enough, the story is, at times, a little lacking in tension. It isn't even really that we know the enemy has to survive to appear in further stories, because the focus is successfully held on the immediate threat, rather than the bigger picture. It's more that there's never really any doubt of how the Doctor is going to defeat it this time round (and Leela more or less keeps reminding us of that fact). If anything, Leela is the more proactive of the two in the second half, and it's her half of the story that's the more interesting one, once again giving her a key role to play in the resolution.
While it wasn't a problem for me personally, the biggest issue many people are likely to have with this story is the open ending. It feels like we're being set up for an epic story arc - and of course, that's because we are, but it's an arc that's followed up in the 6th and 8th Doctor stories, not here. So, those who listen only, or primarily, to the 4th Doctor line will get a set-up with no pay-off. For those of us who listen to the other two series The Eminence appears in, this is a decent, but unremarkable, prequel story.
The first half of the story 'introduces' us to The Eminence, before the Doctor and Leela arrive on a scarred colony world under its tyrannical rule. They become involved with the resistance, but this is largely scene-setting, in a manner that might be more typical of a 4-part than a 2-part story. In the second half, things open up into a space opera, as the Eminence's flagship takes on the might of the Earth Alliance fleet. While the first half, therefore, feels quite like the sort of thing we got on TV in the 4th Doctor's run, the second is more '70s Star Wars than '70s Who .
While The Eminence is an effective villain, and the space opera elements work well enough, the story is, at times, a little lacking in tension. It isn't even really that we know the enemy has to survive to appear in further stories, because the focus is successfully held on the immediate threat, rather than the bigger picture. It's more that there's never really any doubt of how the Doctor is going to defeat it this time round (and Leela more or less keeps reminding us of that fact). If anything, Leela is the more proactive of the two in the second half, and it's her half of the story that's the more interesting one, once again giving her a key role to play in the resolution.
While it wasn't a problem for me personally, the biggest issue many people are likely to have with this story is the open ending. It feels like we're being set up for an epic story arc - and of course, that's because we are, but it's an arc that's followed up in the 6th and 8th Doctor stories, not here. So, those who listen only, or primarily, to the 4th Doctor line will get a set-up with no pay-off. For those of us who listen to the other two series The Eminence appears in, this is a decent, but unremarkable, prequel story.
October 29, 2023
Tom Baker and Louise Jameson give an excellent performance as the Doctor and Leela. There were aspects of the plot and world-building that I liked. But ultimately this is the prequel for another audio play with another Doctor, meaning that we don't get a solid ending.
November 11, 2023
The first time the Doctor meets the Eminence and mine. They're... ok.
September 17, 2014
While I don't begrudge Big Finish creating their own little pocket of continuity within the Doctor Who universe, I still find it a bit frustrating when the script assumed you've listened to not only every release from one particular range, but also every release from the entire range of stories. Or that you've got an encyclopedic knowledge of that range of stories that you can easily call upon in order to understand the current story.
I'm doing well enough to keep my encyclopedia knowledge of televised stories up to date, much less that based on audio and literary adventures.
And so it is that I probably didn't enjoy Destroy the Infinite as much as others who are more familiar with the range probably did. I came to find out from the extras on the disc that this story is a prequel to a previously released sixth Doctor story, Spaceport Fear. It seems that the alien race known as the Eminence made their first appearance there and that events in this story help set up that one. On the one hand, I'll give Nicholas Briggs and Big Finish props for using the nature of time travel in a similar way to what the television series has tried to do. But on other hand, when I got to the end of this story, I was expecting it to be touched upon in the next several fourth Doctor stories and it never was.
It all led to my being more frustrated than entertained by this story -- and curious to see out Spaceport Fear and see what happens there.
I'm doing well enough to keep my encyclopedia knowledge of televised stories up to date, much less that based on audio and literary adventures.
And so it is that I probably didn't enjoy Destroy the Infinite as much as others who are more familiar with the range probably did. I came to find out from the extras on the disc that this story is a prequel to a previously released sixth Doctor story, Spaceport Fear. It seems that the alien race known as the Eminence made their first appearance there and that events in this story help set up that one. On the one hand, I'll give Nicholas Briggs and Big Finish props for using the nature of time travel in a similar way to what the television series has tried to do. But on other hand, when I got to the end of this story, I was expecting it to be touched upon in the next several fourth Doctor stories and it never was.
It all led to my being more frustrated than entertained by this story -- and curious to see out Spaceport Fear and see what happens there.
February 12, 2017
The Doctor tries to stop a race from killing themselves.
June 23, 2014
There was just something about this one that felt very much like a 1970s story with the Doctor and Leela, the planetary resistance, the Earth Alliance, the evil enemy that could take over your mind and possess you. I thought that it started very strongly. There were also some very wonderful Doctor and Leela moments, both having some wonderful lines and some brilliant delivery. Leela was in her element here, despite the advanced technology she got to be a proper warrior and rescue the Doctor which was all done rather well.
January 15, 2023
It is an okay story, but I have never been the biggest fan of the Eminence.
Maybe I was just disappointed- the story sets up the Doctor to become an Infinite Warrior, and to turn to evil in his possessed state. But sadly, not much is done with that idea.
Just imagine how glorious Tom would have been hamming it up in full evil state!
Maybe I was just disappointed- the story sets up the Doctor to become an Infinite Warrior, and to turn to evil in his possessed state. But sadly, not much is done with that idea.
Just imagine how glorious Tom would have been hamming it up in full evil state!
February 26, 2015
Great introduction to the Eminence for those Who Fans that haven't delved into the 8th Doctor audios. Scary stuff in this story! The Doctor and Leela find themselves on a planet ravaged by the supreme rule of the Infinite Warriors, and the Eminence.
November 18, 2014
Good setup and enemy but finale doesn't deliver.
May 4, 2021
I enjoyed it
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews