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faiazalam's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nwhyte's review
A straight historical story, with absolutely no sfnal content apart from the presence of the Tardis crew, and the fact that Peri is the exact double of the Queen of France (a previous Fifth Doctor companion found she had a local double in the last televised purely historical story, and of course this happened to the Doctor himself in France a few decades earlier).[return][return]It's all done rather well, and Caroline Morris as ancient Egyptian companion Erimem is fab (though I thought Andrew Mackay's King Louis was too demotic and too exaggerated). But there is a basic problem with the plot: the Doctor takes it upon himself to thwart an English invasion of France, purely because he knows it didn't happen in 1626. In this story, the alien force intervening to alter history is the Doctor himself, which (if this is the same Doctor who would not intervene to save Anne Chaplette in 1572) raises all kinds of issues that are not properly addressed, never mind resolved.
colossal's review
4.0
This is a fifth Doctor adventure with PerI Brown and Erimem as companions and is #38 in the Big Finish main range.
En route to take Erimem (and her cat) to refuge in the Braxiatel Collection the TARDIS instead drops them in 17th century France and the time of Anne of Austria, Louis XII, Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Wellington. It turns out that Peri is the spitting image of Queen Anne and the TARDIS crew gets caught up in a plot to kidnap the Queen and more. There's lot of musketeers and swashbuckling, and Erimem, Peri and the Doctor all get turns at the action.
This episode follows on from [b:The Eye of the Scorpion|2041266|Doctor Who The Eye of the Scorpion (Big Finish Audio Drama, #24)|Iain McLaughlin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348203225s/2041266.jpg|2046158] back at #24 where Erimem fled Egypt with the Doctor and Peri. Despite being excellent in her first outing, the Doctor hasn't quite upgraded her to companion just yet, so this one has a lot of the feeling of a "companion audition" piece with Erimem getting a lot of the focus. She deals with the French royalty much better than the Doctor does and also gets to show off by leading the French army at one point; quite fitting for a martial Egyptian ruler.
This is also the first pure historical of the Big Finish line and it's lots of fun. The in-jokes with the comparison with what the musketeers are actually like and what they're like in the Dumas books are mostly funny, and the relationship between Louis XIII and Anne feels quite (prickly) authentic, and Richelieu comes across much better than he normally does in musketeer fiction as well. I'm not normally a fan of the historicals but this one feels like good solid Doctor Who to me.
En route to take Erimem (and her cat) to refuge in the Braxiatel Collection the TARDIS instead drops them in 17th century France and the time of Anne of Austria, Louis XII, Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Wellington. It turns out that Peri is the spitting image of Queen Anne and the TARDIS crew gets caught up in a plot to kidnap the Queen and more. There's lot of musketeers and swashbuckling, and Erimem, Peri and the Doctor all get turns at the action.
This episode follows on from [b:The Eye of the Scorpion|2041266|Doctor Who The Eye of the Scorpion (Big Finish Audio Drama, #24)|Iain McLaughlin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348203225s/2041266.jpg|2046158] back at #24 where Erimem fled Egypt with the Doctor and Peri. Despite being excellent in her first outing, the Doctor hasn't quite upgraded her to companion just yet, so this one has a lot of the feeling of a "companion audition" piece with Erimem getting a lot of the focus. She deals with the French royalty much better than the Doctor does and also gets to show off by leading the French army at one point; quite fitting for a martial Egyptian ruler.
This is also the first pure historical of the Big Finish line and it's lots of fun. The in-jokes with the comparison with what the musketeers are actually like and what they're like in the Dumas books are mostly funny, and the relationship between Louis XIII and Anne feels quite (prickly) authentic, and Richelieu comes across much better than he normally does in musketeer fiction as well. I'm not normally a fan of the historicals but this one feels like good solid Doctor Who to me.
kmccubbin's review
3.0
When the "Peri looks EXACTLY like Queen Anne" conceit was introduced, I groaned, but this ended up rising above and really being a lot more fun than it had any right to be. It's a little clunky. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the voice actors apart, but all in all an enjoyable historical.
And Erimem is a delightful addition. That she and Peri served as self-rescuing royalty was refreshing.
And Erimem is a delightful addition. That she and Peri served as self-rescuing royalty was refreshing.
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