The Last Stand

Story: 207 Writer: Lucille Arboine
Code: 207DWA Production details: 2023 Everlasting Films*
Number: 14DWA207 Duration: 190 minutes

* Miscredited as "Everlasting Film" for Episodes 1-3.

 


Episode availability

Trailer 1 2 3 4 5
  Available

 


Companion status

 


Episodic cast list

Doctor Who - Arthur Vassar (all)
Bess (1-4) / Elizabeth (5) - Yara Johns-Ramos (all)
Harper - Laurence Stirling Knott (all)
Fivehalf - Danette Vassar* (all)
Shard - Alix Roberts (all)
Djan - Caleb Bressler (all)
Melpomene - Cathryn Archer (all)
The Master - Eric Davenport (all)
Vanguard Captain - Thomas Himinez (1, 3-5)
Krane - Louis Frost (1)
Solomon - Scott Watson (3-5)
Vanguard Trooper - Sharon Grunwald (4-5)

* Dannette Vassar's name misspelt.

 


Production crew

Script Editor Amber Rack
Original Music Joel Steudler
Original Title Theme Ron Grainer
Title Music Peter Miles
Title Sequence by Matthew Chambers
  Everlasting Films
Story by Lucille Arboine
Special Sounds Alan Howarth
Casting Diane Ann Parson
Production Secretary Jeff Essex
Credits Robert Eislee
Dialogue Editor Anya Swift
Post production Ezra Hopkins
Produced by Thomas Lonely Wolf
Directed by Shawn Pikeman

 


Writer's comments / notes

- Lucille Arboine

This was actually written before The Voice of Reason (203), so my first script for Bess was destined to be her last! When I found out who she was, my gut instinct was to treat her as the lead and put her in a situation where all the decisions are difficult, to test her mettle. It's so wonderful to hear Yara [Johns-Ramos] bring so much to the role and I hope I did her justice.
The Master nearly turned up in one of my other stories: there were some early discussions about the Piper from Rhythm of the Piper (192) being revealed as the Master in disguise, but for various reasons, it was decided that an original villain would be used. In hindsight, I'm glad we saved him for The Last Stand. I adore the [Roger] Delgado incarnation and wanted to write a suave and wily version of the character in his honour. One of the driving threads for the characters is trust and I hope the Master here is unpredictable and all the more interesting as we see him operate in the moral grey space between good and evil.
This story was written before the Chambers to Vassar Doctor regeneration, so some lines were adjusted to acknowledge Azale's plan, which seeded distrust between the Doctor and Bess nicely for their final adventure.

 

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