'Short Trips': 'Still Life' (1 Part) by Max Curtis

When U.N.I.T. is called to investigate a medical spaceship that has crashed on a hill in Lancashire, Jo meets a race of alien medics called the Bloodline, who offer to help mankind with the gift of a time-freezing device, with a caveat of three presses of its control. But instead of giving the device to the authorities for mass-production, Jo keeps it for herself, planning to use it to prolong her remaining time with her dying father, Terry. The next day Jo tells her father all about her adventures with the Doctor and UNIT; but when she selfishly uses the alien time device, she meets the disapproval of Terry and also the Doctor, who remains unaffected by the time-freeze. A while later, Terry changes his mind when the hospital stops his treatment; together he and Jo stop time and go on a driving tour of Terry's life, painting and sketching as they go. When Jo keeps seeing an alien medic following them, she fears that it has come for the time-device; returning to U.N.I.T. HQ, Jo tries using the device, only to realise that she has already used up her three button-presses. Explaining that the box collects life energy for the Bloodline to sell as 'snake oil cures' to unwitting patients, the Doctor uses the TARDIS to unfreeze time for himself and Terry - but with the device keyed to her, Jo has to endure time speeding past her eyes until she can be re-synchronised again. Knowing that her father has very little time left now, Jo cherishes their final moments, as they learn how to paint still life together...

Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Release Date:
June 2019

Notes:

*Featuring the Third Doctor and Jo

*A Big Finish Audio Production