In which the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem end up in an Alexandre Dumas novel – a tale of Musketeers, Richelieu’s guards, court politics, Queen Anne, a vain King Louis and the Duke of Buckingham’s attempts to invade France!
There are quite a few different ways to do a ‘Doctor Who’ historical – one is a philosophical piece on the dangers of changing history, another meeting famous historical figures or important events in history (either through the eyes of the big players or a more social history approach) and another is the action, derring-do world of the historical romance (think more of ‘The Smugglers’ or to some extent ‘The Highlanders’). The latter is the world of ‘The Church and the Crown’. It opens with a literal battle between the church (Cardinal Richelieu) and the crown (King Louis) – this time over the chessboard, but soon and for most of the play, they will be at loggerheads for real, culminating in Richelieu ending up in in the cells. Add in that old standby of a companion of the Doctor as a double of a historical figure – here we have Peri as double of Queen Anne (don’t complain it might be a cliché, but Nicola Bryant’s natural accent – a world away from Peri, in all of its breathy glory is enough to reduce a grown man to a puddle!).
You might not unreasonably think, why, what is the point? Well, the point is that it is tremendous fun and hugely entertaining and sometimes that is enough for me, others might disagree – but for me the primary purpose of a ‘Doctor Who’ story is entertain and divert. If it is interesting and has something profound to say as well, well great that is a bonus. This play might not have the depth of ‘Farewell Great Macedon’, ‘The Aztecs’ or some of the other stories in this run, but it delivers an exciting, fast paced adventure with plenty of good stuff for Peri, Erimem and the Doctor. So, whilst not 10/10 fare, it still manages to be superior stuff.
If you don’t know Erimem, she joined this TARDIS team in a story set in ancient Egypt called the ‘The Eye the Scorpion’. She is the Pharaoh Erimemushinteperem or rather was, the Doctor and Peri offered her a way out of being deposed by opponents. This is her first story as part of the TRADIS crew. As unlikely as this sounds, she fits in brilliantly with Peri and this Doctor. Peri and her become like sisters and their relationship is really rather touching. It doesn’t always run smoothly, just like sisters, but it works beautifully and brings out the best in Peri.
Like the Peri of these Big Finish stories, Erimem stands for absolutely no messing and is highly opinionated – giving both the King and Queen a very frank assessment of the standard of their leadership. She also works quite brilliantly in these historical stories, as she comes from a completely different time, the stories I am covering here are all in her future and as an ex-ruler of a country has a very different perspective when meeting royalty and leaders (more to come in later reviews on this). At times you do slightly wonder what the Fifth Doctor has done to deserve to travel with these two after Tegan, Adric and Turlough, but they function amazingly well as a team, with only a few exceptions (I can think of one story in their run in particular that should never have been made). The Doctor almost becomes like a harassed school teacher or an uncle showing his headstrong nieces around the world.
So, how does Davison’s Doctor work in a historical story? Well, I have little run of these to come, but incredibly well I think. He is the Doctor that everyone starts off thinking is a fool (literally a fool or jester in some cases), but earns the respect of those around him. Anyone who has heard Peter Davison read any of the Target books should know what a great narrator he is, injecting great energy and urgency into the material (he even manages this with ‘Castrovalva’!). Likewise, he works very well in full-cast audio drama (as here), maturing over the years and becoming somewhat spikier. Here (it can’t really be 17 years ago can it?), he still feels more like the Doctor he was on TV, he gets to play the innocent abroad, but also when called for steps up and is as good with the sword as any Musketeer. My favourite moments are his disappointment when trying to get a rousing chant of ‘All for one and one for all’ going only to be met with bemused silence by the musketeers Ruffet and Delmarre. It must also be one of the few stories where the Doctor (this very English Doctor especially) helps another nation to stop an English invasion – although it won’t be the last story in this run where the English are the villains of the piece.
With regard to the subject matter, I have rather fond memories of Michael York/Richard Lester Musketeer films of the 70’s – a staple of many a Bank Holiday and although possessing more depth than those, this play is possessed of much the same sense of fun, energy, adventure, romance and sometimes bawdy humour – all with added ‘Doctor Who’. I’m not going to try to tell you that this is up there with ‘The Aztecs’, it isn’t, but it was very enjoyable listen all the same.
A Journal of Impossible Things 