The Kingmaker

"The story changes, the ending stays the same..."

Writer: Nev Fountain
Format: Audio
Released: April 2006
Series: Main Range 81

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem

Synopsis

Doctor Who encounters one of the most notorious characters from the past, as he journeys through time to solve the great Historical Mysteries...

Not surprisingly the Doctor becomes mixed with Richard the Third himself, as he tries to unravel the perplexing problem of who exactly killed the Princes in the Tower.

Peri and Erimem also encounter a suspicious time traveller. Someone from the Doctor's own past. Someone who shouldn't really be there at all.

So who did murder the Princes in the Tower? Perhaps it's best not to ask a question like that.

You might not like the answer...

Verdict

The Kingmaker was an excellent audio adventure and seems to be the best Fifth Doctor story from Big Finish, chronologically, in quite some time! Maybe it has just been a while since I listened to a Peter Davison adventure, I'm not too sure, but I found myself really enjoying this one from start to finish! It was historical which, even after a day full of dissertation research, is something I really welcomed as I'm a big lover of History. I mean I kind of have to say that as I'm only a few weeks from entering my third year of a degree in the subject but hey ho. The story worked wonderfully and somewhat amazingly, not counting the TARDIS, was actually a pure historical although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. I liked the way the story started with Peri and Erimem out and about exploring with some humorous conversation about what was beneath women. There was some surprising innuendo there but I do like how Erimem isn't afraid to talk about anything. She's a wonderful companion and after Charley she is my favourite original companion to come out of Big Finish. This story had some terrific references to Terror of the Zygons and Planet of Fire and I really liked the description of the Ninth Doctor that appeared. I would assume this is the first reference of a Doctor from the modern series to show up in a Classic era story. Picturing the Ninth Doctor doing a favour for Peri and Erimem is quite an image though I must say. I really loved the references to the Target series of novels known as 'Doctor Who Discovers' and actually hearing the Doctor referred to as Doctor Who was quite intriguing following Missy's comments in World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. The way the Doctor described the logo and the series coming into fruition was magnificent. I really liked how he wanted to solve the mystery of Richard the Third and the Princes in the Tower and whilst it isn't a historical tale I actually know a great deal about, I am aware of the basics. Hearing the Fourth Doctor make a cameo, even if it was not Tom Baker, was terrific and I really liked how they squeezed that incarnation of the Doctor into a story. Very clever indeed. Something else that was very clever was the character of Mr. Seyton. He was an enigma for much of the story which was good and I liked how it was said that he and the Doctor knew each other. Once Peri received a description, all signs pointed towards the Master and I must admit that a smile appeared on my face when I thought that he might appear. Sadly that wasn't to be the case but I think the cliffhanger of part three surprised me even more in that Seyton turned out to be Shakespeare! How barmy was that? I loved it. It really was unexpected and I liked how he'd got the Doctor drunk and hitched a ride to the past in the TARDIS. I'm not sure where this leaves The Shakespeare Code in terms of continuity but that's a pointless argument. This story was just marvellous and that's what counts. The King himself was an evil character I liked that and the revelation that the Princes were actually Princesses was told very well. I thought the ludicrousy of Shakespeare dying in the Battle of Bosworth was incredible and Richard the Third taking his place is crazy but terrific. Overall, a wonderful story full of mystery, history and great dialogue. A fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10