'Short Trips': 'The Monkey House' (1 Part) by Nic Park

On an alien world, a young Thrandahar girl named Milaan visits ‘The Monkey House’, an old enclosure at the zoo where hominids captured from the planet Terra are kept for all to see. Oddly one monkey called the Doctor, and his friends Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa, don’t seem as upset as all the others, and somehow know Milaan’s name... Some years later, Milaan sneaks away from her academy to pay another visit to the exhibit; the four strange monkeys are still there, seemingly unchanged since the last time. Milaan questions the Doctor about Terra, but he chastises the Thrandahar for kidnapping human specimens as a prelude for a ‘cultural exchange’ – in fact an invasion of Earth, as the Thrandahar use deadly Snatchdragon plants to overrun the planet. Realising that Milaan’s curiosity in him and his companions led to Terra being targeted in the first place, the Doctor vows to stop the invasion… Now an adult, and captain of the ‘Cultural Exchange Force’, Milaan returns to the Monkey House on the night before the invasion of Terra. Having gotten to know the Doctor and his friends, Milaan is having second thoughts about her mission; however, this changes when she realises that the Doctor is different from the others, and when she hears that he is actually a Time Lord she storms away in anger… Years later, Milaan and her small invasion team emerge from cold sleep to find themselves approaching Terra. Unfortunately for the Thrandahar, the pollution in the Earth’s atmosphere destroys their snatchdragons, and Milaan and her soldiers are forced to surrender to the planet’s defenders, known as U.N.I.T. Milaan is taken into the custody of a human named Jo, whose friend the Doctor will help to send her home… Several years later, a more learned and enlightened Milaan returns to the derelict Monkey House with her students, where she meets the Doctor once more. Happy that Milaan and the Thrandahar have learnt their lesson, and no longer look for places to invade, the Doctor bids farewell and leaves in his disappearing blue hut…

Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Release Date:
June 2016

Notes:

*Featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa, and Jo

*A Big Finish Audio Production