In the myths and legends of the early days of the universe, a ship called the Infinite is spoken of. The Infinite reportedly contains a person’s heart’s desire. A criminal called Baltazar in the 40th Century therefore wants to find the Infinite and uses the Tenth Doctor and Martha to follow the trail of data chips to the lost ship. The Doctor and Martha embark on The Infinite Quest in this animated Doctor Who adventure! However, Baltazar has a pet robot parrot called Caw and its offspring Squawk who come to the Doctor and Martha’s aid!

The Infinite Quest

★★★★☆

TX: 30/06/2007

Written by Alan Barnes    Directed by Gary Russell

The Tenth Doctor and Martha arrive in the 40th Century on the ship of the criminal Baltazar, who plans to compress the Earth into diamonds. The Doctor uses a gold spoon to rust the deck of Baltazar’s ship away. Balthazar escapes on the back of his pet robot parrot Caw. Later, the Doctor and Martha visit the planet Pheros, Caw’s home planet. Caw tells the Doctor and Martha that Baltazar escaped from the prison planet Volag Nok and now seeks the legendary lost ship the Infinite. Caw gives Martha a broch as a gift for saving his life and he gives the Doctor the first in a trail of data chips that lead to the Infinite. Caw is secretly acting under instructions from Baltazar, and the broch given to Martha is really a tracking device. The trail takes the Doctor and Martha to oil pirates on the desert planet Boukon, where they meet Captain Kaliko who has the second data chip. This takes them next to the jungle planet Myarr in the midst of a war between humans and giant bugs called the Mantasphids, where they meet the gunrunning humanoid frog Mergrass who has the third data chip. And next, the Doctor and Martha are directed to the prison planet Volag Nok. On Volag Nok, the Doctor and Martha meet the prison governor Gurney who collaborated with Baltazar years ago. Gurney was a former inmate who broke back into the prison on Volag Nok because he was jealous of the former android governor of the prison. Baltazar arrives on Caw’s back, kills Gurney and recovers the final data chip from him. Baltazar has followed the Doctor and Martha’s data chip trail using the tracking device that Caw gave to Martha. Baltazar reveals that he also killed Captain Kaliko and Mergrass. With all the data chips in hand, Baltazar forces the Doctor to set the TARDIS controls to take him and Martha to the wreck of the Infinite, leaving the Doctor behind. Caw has died because he ran out of the gold he needed for the gold fusion of his inner biomechanics. However, Caw’s offspring Squawk (which was disguised as Martha’s broch) grows up and helps the Doctor to reach the wreck of the Infinite. Baltazar has discovered tonnes of gold on the Infinite, which is his heart’s desire. Martha’s heart’s desire is the Doctor being affectionate towards her and reciprocating her feelings for him. The real Doctor shows up and uses his sonic screwdriver to tear the rusty deck of the Infinite apart. The Doctor and Martha escape in the TARDIS, whilst Squawk carries Baltazar back to the prison planet of Volag Nok where he will spend the rest of his life in jail. The Doctor and Martha travel on together in the TARDIS, content that the Infinite is now lost forever and can therefore never fall into the wrong hands again. Some elements of this story were inspired by The Keys of Marinus.