The Doctor's Tale

"The rebellion has begun."

Writer: Marc Platt

Format: Audio

Released: October 2013

Series: Early Adventures 1.02

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki

Synopsis

England, 1400. Winter. Blood in the snow. Henry IV has usurped the throne, and deposed King Richard II languishes in Pomfret Castle.

Meanwhile the Doctor and his companions preside over New Year revels at Sonning Palace.

But Sonning is a prison, treachery is in the air and murderous Archbishop Thomas Arundel will stop at nothing to crush the rebellion. 

As the Doctor and Barbara take the road to Canterbury, Vicki finds a royal friend and Ian is dragged into a dark web of conspiracy at whose heart sits that teller of tales, Geoffrey Chaucer. 

Verdict

The Doctor's Tale was a great Early Adventures audio! Quite incredibly, nine years after blogging the series and range opener of Domain of the Voord I’ve finally returned to the first series! I’m a huge fan of the range and I think it’s a shame that it’s on the quiet side at the moment as there’s a lot of potential with it. I thought it was terrific to be revisiting the quartet of the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki as that’s often a forgotten TARDIS team and it’s one that actually works well. It’s so important given that it was the first time the team changed. It was quite amusing to start with the Doctor having a cold and if there would be any incarnation to milk that sort of illness it would certainly be the first! He disappeared to the TARDIS for some props though and came back cured. He’d obviously had some pills, but why he didn’t take them in the first place before they went exploring is a little questionable. I was a huge fan of the setting in 1400 as it was actually a chance for me to learn. I have a Master’s degree in History but I haven’t really studied this period to any considerable degree so learning of the rebellion that came following Richard II being usurped by Henry IV. I love exploring different periods and this also allowed Barbara to shine with her historical knowledge. She was both excited to be in the past at this point in time but also did a good job of selling just how dangerous it could be. Whilst I do think this story was very authentic of the era, I think it was probably a bit too gruesome to have aired in that second season back in 1964. The description of the heads on spikes and the inclusion of an apple in the mouth was actually met with laughter! I thought the authenticity factor coming into place with Barbara being absent from the third episode was good, although it’s not strictly necessary. She wasn’t massively missed which is a little sad to say, but I’m not sure how I feel about purposely writing a character out of an episode when it doesn’t need to happen. I thought Maureen O’Brien did a fine job in voicing the character of Barbara though and this certainly had an authentic feel. I do think William Russell has had better takes on the First Doctor, but it was absolutely fine and the usual mishaps on Ian’s surname were most welcomed. Exploring the relationship between Ian and Barbara was stepped on lightly which I appreciated as amazingly that wasn’t overly referred to on television, but it’s clear that they’d end up as a couple so I was surprised they were so quick to point out they were not married. I thought the inclusion of Geoffrey Chaucer was really good and he’s obviously a famed name for The Canterbury Tales, but getting the Doctor’s tale here was fun and a strong title. The relationship Vicki had with Isabelle was good and I thought she was a fun character as essentially a child but not accepting that her husband Richard had been usurped. It meant she was no longer the Queen which wasn’t something that thrilled her. The brutality of the period was showcased in a strong way when we learned of Richard being starved to death and his corpse actually being shown! That was dark stuff. I’m a big fan of how this adventure captured the time period and I think sometimes pure historicals carry a stronger threat than anything alien can conjure up. Ian and Barbara know exactly where they were and what happened, and there isn’t exactly a quick fix. I thought Thomas Arundel was a good historical villain and the cliffhanger to part three with the Doctor evoking The Aztecs and knowing he can’t be stopped because of his place in history was excellent. I also thought the continuity from The Crusade was tremendous with Ian referring to himself as Sir Ian of Jaffa. He was a knight of the holy land so why wouldn’t he use that title in a time like this? I liked that a lot. I thought the lack of an alien threat was most welcomed and history being on the right track by the end with Chaucer heading to Wales was nicely done. Barbara reading parts of the Tales was also a lovely moment. Overall, a very strong listen!

Rating: 8/10