The Church and the Crown (audio story)
The Church and the Crown was the thirty-eighth monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. It was, broadly, an historical examination of the era of the The Three Musketeers, although it featured original musketeers, rather than those created by Alexandre Dumas.
It featured Erimem's first journey in the TARDIS, and her second display of field-of-battle heroism. As with several other historicals in the first five years of Big Finish's main Doctor Who line, it was a so-called "pure" historical without any science fictional elements aside from the TARDIS.
It also gave Nicola Bryant an expanded acting opportunity, since it featured her as both Peri and Queen Anne. Like Romana I before her, Peri had an exact doppelgänger in a royal family.
Publisher's summary
A nation divided...
A Queen's life at risk...
A net of conspiracy closing in...
Sometimes being a time travelling adventurer just isn't easy...
For a start there's a temperamental TARDIS that lands a few thousand years off course in 17th century Paris. But why shouldn't the Fifth Doctor, Peri and their travelling guest Erimem take a look around the city on the morning of King Louis' annual State Ball?
As Peri becomes embroiled in a plot to kill Queen Anne and smash the unity of the Church and the Crown, the Doctor finds himself duelling musketeers on the streets.
With Peri missing, Erimem catching King Louis' eye and a Musketeer's sword at your throat, could things get any worse?
Probably...
Plot
Part one
In 1626 Paris, a skirmish takes place between the personal guards of the Cardinal Richelieu, led by Captain Morand, and the king’s Musketeers, Rouffet and Delmarre. The fight, which began with an insult by Morand against Queen Anne, ends with a wound for Delmarre, and death for Morand’s lieutenant. Meanwhile Richelieu and King Louis play chess in the palace, oblivious to the fight, which is only the latest in a growing line of such encounters. Richelieu, subtly drawing a parallel with the relationship of the Church to the Crown, checkmates the king. Elsewhere, in the TARDIS, the Doctor seeks to take Erimem to the Braxiatel Collection for further education. It seems the TARDIS and Erimem’s cat are conspiring against him, preventing him from landing there; and the TARDIS materialises instead in 17th-century Paris. Dressing in period-appropriate clothing, the group goes outside.
Marie de Chevreuse, lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne, is having an affair with the Duke of Buckingham. She meets with him, and he gives her a letter to pass on. She is not thrilled with the plot they are enacting, but he reassures her; and she is unaware that he is only using her. Meanwhile, Richelieu is preparing to leave, when Morand arrives with Rouffet and Delmarre. He accuses them of murder, but they claim they were defending the queen’s honor; Louis dismisses the charges. Richelieu and Morand storm out of the palace; the king gives a sovereign to each Musketeer, then sends them on the way. He sets about preparing for a state ball, to be conducted later—although his queen is curiously not present. In the city, the Doctor explains that Richelieu is not the villain that Alexandre Dumas famously portrayed him to be, but plans to unite France. Meanwhile, Peri feels she is being watched, and Erimem is taken with the city. The Doctor takes Erimem to see the Louvre—which in this century is still the palace, not a museum—while Peri, against the Doctor’s better judgment, strikes out on her own.
In his carriage, the angry Richelieu is distracted when he sees a woman walking in the street; he orders Morand to follow the woman and report back. Rouffet and Delmarre go to an alehouse, passing Madame de Chevreuse as she enters the palace. De Chevreuse finds the King instead of the Queen; when he realizes that she has a letter from one of the Queen’s suitors, he demands it, informing her that the Queen has not yet returned from Lyon. He is distracted by a footman, and de Chevreuse leaves him—but can’t deliver the letter, either.
On the street, Peri is accosted by the Duke of Buckingham, who acts as though he knows her—intimately, it seems. While she tries to get away from him, men dressed in the uniforms of Richelieu’s guards kidnap her, wounding Buckingham in the process. Morand and his men—the real guards—try to rescue her, but are driven off by the attackers, who escape with Peri. The Doctor and Erimem hear the commotion, and rush to help, but only catch a glimpse of the kidnappers. The Doctor accidentally bumps into Delmarre, knocking him down; Delmarre takes it as an insult, and challenges him to a duel. However, they are interrupted by fanfare and a passing carriage—with Peri inside! Or so it appears—and the Doctor realizes with dismay that Peri is an exact double of Queen Anne.
Part two
to be added
Part three
to be added
Part four
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Peri Brown / Queen Anne of France - Nicola Bryant
- Erimem - Caroline Morris
- King Louis XIII of France - Andrew Mackay
- Cardinal Richelieu - Michael Shallard
- The Duke of Buckingham - Marcus Hutton
- Delmarre - Peter John
- François Rouffet - Andy Coleman
- Captain Morand - Robert Curbishley
- Madame de Chevreuse - Wendy Albiston
- Crow - Mark Wright
- Piere - Gary Russell
- Passerby - Mark Wyman
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor tells Erimem that, earlier in his personal timeline, he met an older version of Louis XIII in 1638.
- The Doctor has a lifetime membership to the Marylebone Cricket Club.
- The Doctor claims to have once met a Visigoth with a sword.
Foods and beverages
- The Doctor offers to take Peri and Erimem to Barastabon for a chocolate cake.
Individuals
- Erimem names her new pet cat Antranak.
- The Doctor dislikes Alexandre Dumas, and thinks he totally miscast Cardinal Richelieu as a villain.
Locations
- The Doctor has visited the Louvre.
Notes
- This audio drama was recorded on 5 and 6 September 2002 at The Moat Studios.
- An illustrated preview featured in DWM 324 with artwork by Martin Geraghty.
Continuity
- Before landing in France, the Doctor was trying to reach the Braxiatel Collection, in fulfilment of the promise he made to Erimem at the end of her previous story, AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion. The Doctor's purpose at this stage in his relationship with Erimem was to get her to a place of education, not necessarily to travel indefinitely with her.
- The Doctor refers to his former companion K9. (TV: The Invisible Enemy, et al.)
- The Doctor mentions that he was the protégé of the American escapologist Harry Houdini. (TV: Planet of the Spiders) Prior to their arrival in 1963, his first incarnation and his granddaughter Susan Foreman met Houdini in the United States. Houdini taught the Doctor how to perform sleight-of-hand tricks. (PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice) His fourth incarnation had previously told the Iceni cook Bragnar that Houdini kept numerous lock picks on his person. (AUDIO: The Wrath of the Iceni) He met Houdini again at an earlier point in his fifth incarnation, whilst travelling with Adric, Tegan and Nyssa. (AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors)
External links
- Official The Church and the Crown page at bigfinish.com
- The Church and the Crown at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Church and the Crown at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
