| THE CHURCH AND THE CROWN by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright |
| Story 38 Synopsis: Intending to take Erimem to an alien musuem, the Doctor instead finds the TARDIS has landed in 17th century France. He shows Erimem some of the sights, whilst Peri takes a stroll. But she is soon kidnapped, and the Doctor and Erimem see Queen Anne - who is Peri's double. They go to court to enlist help, Erimem posing as Princess of Karnak. The Doctor and two Musketeers deduce a possible hiding place, but Peri manages to break free. The Doctor is imprisoned by her captor - the Duke of Buckingham. He finds that Buckingham has smuggled a force of many soldiers into France, and set out to foment hostility between King Louis and Cardinal Richelieu, creating a confusion and vacuum into which he will invade. The Doctor is rescued by Peri, and they head for Paris to warn the King. Erimem manages to bring the forces of the King and the Cardinal together, and they repel the invading army. Buckingham sneaks through to the palace to imperil the King, but the Doctor beats him in a sword-fight. He returns to England, warned off. The Doctor decides that Erimem can stay on with he and Peri after all, though he's not so keen on her cat, Antranak... |
| Review:- Another trip into history for this Doctor (this tale following on from The Eye Of The Scorpion), and to a city in danger. Paris in 1626 might not seem too exciting at first glance, but the presence of Cardinal Richelieu and the infamous Musketeers is enough to set the pulse racing. A bit of old-fashioned swashbuckling and derring-do is soon afoot, triggered partly by the entirely-contrived resemblance between Peri and Queen Anne. But they are merely pawns in the game, a game that pits the two major forces in France at each other's throats - and to what end? In truth, this is a pretty simple story. Louis and Richelieu clearly don't get on, so it's child's play to up their antagonism, and effect an invasion through the confusion. That the dastardly Duke of Buckingham should also have designs on Anne adds that extra spice to the matter. So, Peri is kidnapped in error, the Doctor and a couple of Musketeers go to her rescue, she escapes anyway, the Doctor gets tortured, she rescues him, and they find the evidence of the real bad guy's plans. At least some welcome surprise is provided by new girl Erimem swiftly faking grand status to win over the King, and later showing military nous to bring the warring factions together, just in time to save the day. And that's pretty much all there is to it. Colour is provided by the suggestions over Anne's romance, although it's surprising that it takes so long for anyone to realise that her lady-in-waiting is also working against her. The two Musketeers are a doughty pair, one of whom sounding vaguely like Patrick Mower. The play takes pains to show Dumas took liberties with his stories, but then who's to say how much a work like this is all above board? The Doctor's attempt to teach them the saying 'all for one and one for all' is a joke that could have stayed on the drawing board. So, a new companion cements her place in a solid team, the past is shown to be 'a foreign country' well worth checking out, and the Doctor shows off his legendary swordsmanship. For small ambitions can reap just rewards. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |