100 BC

"Stepping into the pages of history... that's always special to me."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner
Format: Audio
Released: September 2007
Series: Main Range 100a

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Evelyn

Synopsis

The Doctor and Evelyn arrive in Rome, 101 BC, approximately, October. They meet a young lady of 19, Aurelia. She mentions her husband - Julius Caesar. Evelyn is excited, but her excitement soon turns to confusion. Surely you can't heal a wound in time with just a bit of sticking plaster?

Verdict

100 BC was an excellent start to the one-hundredth release from the Main Range of Big Finish! I'm not sure I like the idea of splitting the release up into one-part stories but I shouldn't really complain given how good this opening adventure was! Jacqueline Rayner is a favourite writer of mine so I was delighted to see that she was back writing audio and she certainly didn't disappoint! She's quirky and bonkers and that definitely translates into her writing. I thought the setting was excellent as I don't think that this period of history gets enough coverage when it comes to Doctor Who. The pairing of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn were great here and they were certainly challenged too! In quite a big way. Evelyn felt strongly about wanting to change history after it was believed that they had mistakenly prevented Julius Caesar from being conceived. That whole concept is just extraordinary and I loved that the Doctor and Evelyn stumbled in as Aurelia was preparing an entertaining and romantic night. The essence of this story becoming the Doctor wanting to make Aurelia and Caesar Sr engage in sex is quite something and not exactly a common occurrence in Doctor Who. When they arrived nine months later, or so they thought, at the birth of Caesar, their reaction when it turned out to be a daughter was terrific. Julia Caesar was born and Evelyn loved the prospect of history being ruled by women. The Doctor was troubled to not sound sexist but he was adamant that history had to be put on the right track and that meant Julius Caesar being born. Evelyn did all she could to change events though, which I was quite surprised by to be honest with her even feigning illness, but the Doctor also had his sly methods to stop her changing history by pretending he was sending her a message from her future self. Neither quite worked but the whole situation being a mix-up because the Doctor failed to realise that going into the future in BC meant lowering the numbers, rather than adding them, was hilarious. His reaction to that was superb and I loved how there actually turned out to be no danger. Overall, this was a great and humorous story!

Rating: 9/10