| THE KINGMAKER by Nev Fountain |
| Story 81 Synopsis: The Doctor is visited by a robot who compels him to try and finish a book he was writing on historical mysteries. He takes the TARDIS to 1485, to solve the riddle of whether King Richard killed the Princes in the Tower. But Peri and Erimem emerge in 1483, and get into the thick of things. The Doctor tries to trace their movements and not antagonise the King. But he pays heed to a weird new adviser, Mr Seyton. Richard eventually comes clean with the Doctor, and reunites him with his companions, who've been masquerading as the late Princes. Then Mr Seyton makes his entrance, and the Doctor identifies him not as the Master, as Peri assumes, but Shakespeare. He objected to the Doctor's criticisms of his play about Richard, so he got the Doctor drunk and sneaked onto the TARDIS. But Richard refused to take his cue and kill his nephews. In fact, they turn out to be nieces, living with Richard's disgraced brother George. Shakespeare tries to force the Doctor to take Richard forward 100 years to stand trial, but he ends up transported to Bosworth Field, taking Richard's place and dying. So Richard has to take Shakespeare's playwright position. The Doctor sorts out the robot. |
| Review:- The comic writer returns to the range with a pseudo-historical which pits the Doctor into difficult moral territory... I went into this audio with low expectations, as I don't rate the writer, and the prevalence of comic casting (Jon Culshaw, Arthur Smith, Michael Fenton Stevens) suggested a lack of seriousness. I'm glad to say I was quite wrong, and if anything, it tries to be too serious, albeit in a good cause. The star of this show is King Richard, and appropriately Stephen Beckett is also the star of the cast, bringing a Lancastrian-sounding no-nonsense attitude to the way his life is blighted by the news he's regarded as a child-killer by the elusive Mr Seyton. In fact, he turns out to be a nice guy who keeps his brother safe and alive, and dotes on his nephews - or rather, his nieces, as what turns out to be one of many revelations, that the Princes were just a cover story. Also, Arthur Smith makes Clarrie such a loveable bloke that you entirely sympathise with him and Richard, and hope they all make it through safely. Splitting the Doctor off from Peri & Erimem allows them to show some thinking for a change, and also puts the story forwards along two lines, with the Doctor now in a quest to find where they've been for 2 years. To the story's credit, they're not reunited until the end of part 3, and the occasional switches in time-frame for events means that vital evidence is not revealed until needed, whether the audience can guess or not. The prospect of their being dead is really a red herring, but does emphasise how high a risk they've all run in investigating this time period. It also gives rise to what I assume crops up later, as Erimem and Peri debate suicide, with one nobly ready, if needs be, and the other hoping to cling to life, whatever the cost. Given the rather lackadaisical attitude taken by the Doctor in coming for the sole purpose of cracking a murder mystery as it happens, it's fitting that Richard takes him to task for it. Seyton's mysterious ray guns and travelling cabinets are an effective lull to make the listener (and Peri) think that the Master is on the loose, and it's a shame his real identity is something of a letdown. This revelation leads into the frenetic final episode, as Shakespeare tries to pervert history and put Richard on trial, and finishes up dying prematurely for his efforts. Whether that's a just reward for his actions is debatable. I think in some regard, the idea of Richard replacing Shakespeare might seem a bad joke, but it actually works well, chiefly again due to the efforts of Beckett. I also like the way that the title, besides being an obvious reference to the royal aspect of the play, is also the name of the pub Clarrie runs. So, despite many dodgy moments (Culshaw's brief impression of the 4th Doctor is over-rated; the whole children's author angle is extremely naff), this is an enjoyable play, down almost solely to Stephen Beckett's turn as Richard. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |