From TARDIS Index File, the free Doctor Who reference.

Cover Art - Clayton Hickman
The Time of the Daleks
Series:	Doctor Who - Big Finish Audio Dramas
Release Number:	32
Doctor:	Eighth Doctor
Companions:	Charley Pollard
Enemy:	The Daleks
Setting:	Earth, New Britain Earth, England, Stratford-Upon-Avon, September 19th, 1572
Writer:	Justin Richards
Director:	Nicholas Briggs
Music and Post Production:	Ian Potter
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Release Date:	May 2002
Format:	2 CDs - 4 Episodes
Prod. Code:	8K
ISBN:	ISBN 1-903654-61-0
Previous Story:	Embrace the Darkness
Following Story:	Neverland

Publisher's Summary

The Doctor has always admired the work of William Shakespeare. So he is a little surprised that Charley doesn’t hold the galaxy’s greatest playwright in the same esteem. In fact, she’s never heard of him.

Which the Doctor thinks is quite improbable.

General Mariah Learman, ruling Britain after the Eurowars, is one of Shakespeare’s greatest admirers, and is convinced her time machine will enable her to see the plays’ original performances.

Which the Doctor believes is extremely unlikely.

The Daleks just want to help. They want Learman to get her time machine working. They want Charley to appreciate the first-ever performance of Julius Caesar. They believe that Shakespeare is the greatest playwright ever to have existed and venerate his memory.

Which the Doctor knows is utterly impossible.

Cast

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Charley Pollard - India Fisher
• General Mariah Learman - Dot Smith
• Viola Learman - Nicola Boyce
• Major Ferdinand - Julian Harries
• Priestly - Mark McDonnell
• Hart - Lee Moone
• Professor Osric - Ian Brooker
• The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
• The Daleks / Yokel - Clayton Hickman
• Marcus - Robert Curbishley
• Mark Anthony / Army Officer / Tannoy - Ian Potter
• Rassilon - Don Warrington
• Kitchen Boy - Jem Bassett

References

• The Daleks mention the Library of Kar-Charrat. They also gathered data from their attempted invasion of Gallifrey.
• The Eurozone is mentioned.
• The Daleks have constructed their own Eye of Harmony.
• Omega built a function into the Eye of Harmony projecting it fractionally into the future.
• Time winds rip apart a Dalek.
• Orthopositronium coats the mirrors of Learman's time machine.
• Chronons appear when you have a working time machine, except you need chronons to make a time machine work.
• The Daleks plan to use a Temporal Extinction Device to enlarge a temporal rift and harness its power for their own time travel craft.
• The Daleks and Learman need a temporal stabiliser to make their time machines work.
• The Doctor makes mention that Orson Welles didn't recognise William Shakespeare.

Notes

• Justin Richards originally scripted Learman as a man, however Nicholas Briggs wanted to cast Dot Smith in the role.
• Orthopositronium exists in real-world physics..

Continuity

• The Daleks using mirrors for time travel first appeared in DW: The Evil of the Daleks.
• Orson Welles didn't recognise Shakespeare in BFA: Invaders from Mars.
• The Daleks' previous forays into information gathering were in BFA: The Genocide Machine and The Apocalypse Element.
• A Dalek which goes through the mirrors ends up in Roman times in BFA: Seasons of Fear.
• BFA: Neverland reveals who is the narrator quoting Shakespeare.

• Neverland also reveals the cause of the time disruptions.

• EDA: Trading Futures makes reference to Learman.
• DW: Revelation of the Daleks first demonstrated how humans could be turned into Daleks.
• Mirrors were also used by UNIT in DW: Turn Left

Timeline

• The Time of the Daleks occurs after ST: The Heroine, the Hero and the Megalomaniac
• The Time of the Daleks occurs before ST: Apocrypha Bipedium

External Links

• Big Finish Time of the Daleks page
• Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - The Time of the Daleks
• An apparatus to search for mirror dark matter via the invisible decay of orthopositronium in vacuum