The Outlaws (audio story)

Landing in 13th-century Lincoln, the Doctor and Dodo are soon caught up in the battle between Sheriff Nicholaa de la Haye and outlaw gangs in the nearby forest. King John requires funds for his conflict with France, and Nicholaa is determined to provide them, whatever the efforts of William of Berkshire and his gang of wolves' heads...

After taking refuge in Lincoln Castle, the Doctor and Dodo are separated. The Doctor is detained at the pleasure of the Sheriff, while Dodo indulges her adventurous spirit and plays forest outlaw with William's gang.

But William is not acting alone. The outlaws' true leader knows the Doctor and has a plan for revenge. A man with a passion for meddling. A man who wears a monk's habit...

Plot

Part one

Having recently lost Steven as a travelling companion, the Doctor and Dodo arrive in 13th century England and prepare to explore, Dodo going to dress in era-appropriate clothes in the TARDIS's wardrobe.

In Lincoln Castle, Idonea refuses to leave her grandmother, Sheriff Nicholaa de la Haye, who will not surrender the castle to Prince Louis in London. Nicholaa agrees to allow Sir Hugh to take however many men he needs to combat the troublesome outlaws to allow her to safely deliver King John's taxes. Once Sir Hugh has left, Idonea bemoans that he does not write her poetry. Later, Sir Hugh meets with Idonea on Nicholaa's orders to show her how to escape the castle, although Idonea initially believes that he wishes to enter into a tryst with her.

The Doctor and Dodo leave the TARDIS and meet William of Berkshire, the leader of the outlaws and whose man, Eustace, admits to having killed a merchant during a robbery. The outlaws flee from Sir Hugh before they can rob the Doctor and Dodo, who pretend to be escaping the war mentioned by William and are escorted to Lincoln Castle where they meet Nicholaa. At dinner, Dodo describes King Richard I as a hero and is critical of "Prince John", prompting Nicholaa to have her and the Doctor imprisoned for treason.

William and the outlaws come across the TARDIS and attempt to enter it in search of treasure. Unable to open it, they carry it back to the Monk at their camp. The Monk recognises it and is delighted to have the opportunity to get his revenge on the Doctor for leaving him stranded in 1066.

Part two

After the Monk reminds William that he helped him get to where he is, William agrees to collect the Doctor from Lincoln Castle so long as the Monk comes with him. William meets with Idonea, who gives him information on the movement of goods under the impression that they will run away together when he has enough money. She also tells him of the Doctor and Dodo's imprisonment. When he returns to his outlaws, the Monk exploits his sympathy for Dodo and reframes their venture as a mission to rescue a damsel in distress from a dungeon.

In the dungeons, Dodo is brought food and water by Sir Hugh, who promises to do the same for the Doctor and to speak with Nicholaa about their release. Nicholaa visits the Doctor and questions him; the Doctor claims that Dodo was simply confused because of the horrors of war that she has seen and demands to know what crime he is accused of. She suspects him of spying for Prince Louis, but he points out that they would have to be the most incompetent of spies and starts telling her unflattering stories about King Richard. These stories cheer her and she agrees to release Dodo in the morning, allowing Sir Hugh to take her a light and blankets.

The outlaws climb up the privy chute into the castle where the Monk uses hydrochloric acid to release Dodo, but she remembers William and refuses to go with him until the Monk says that they will come back for the Doctor. The Doctor and Sir Hugh discover Dodo's empty dungeon and find a note for Nicholaa, although Sir Hugh insists that it is for her eyes only. The Doctor soon runs into the Monk, who reveals that he has Dodo before leaving with the outlaws, escaping through the chute.

Sir Hugh shows William's note to Nicholaa and is ordered to recapture the Doctor, whom Nicholaa suspects of being in league with the outlaws and having distracted her whilst they rescued Dodo. Once the Doctor has been captured, she tells him that she will have his head.

Part three

The Doctor and Sir Hugh manage to convince Nicholaa that Dodo has been kidnapped, but she will not allow Sir Hugh to go in search of her as the payment of King John's taxes are more important. The Doctor tells her about the Monk and how he could be an agent of Prince Louis', assisting the outlaws on his behalf; having outwitted the Monk before, the Doctor offers to go with Sir Hugh to deliver the taxes. Idonea watches as Nicholaa plans the route and later leaves on her horse, refusing to allow Sir Hugh to accompany her for her safety, and tells William about it.

The Monk shows Dodo the community that the outlaws have built and paints Nicholaa as unjust and a dictator. He introduces her to each of the outlaws and offers her a place amongst them, an offer which she accepts on a temporary basis on the condition that she gets a "jaunty hat" with a feather in it. Later, the Monk tells Dodo about the plan to steal the taxes and, at the right moment, to give it to the poor. He wishes Dodo and the group luck as they lie in wait for the taxes.

Nicholaa forbids Idonea from going riding again and escorts the chest of gold as it is brought from the treasure room to the Doctor and Sir Hugh. William and the outlaws stop them on the road, demanding the gold, and Dodo realises that the Monk has lied to her about Nicholaa's oppression and the Doctor being locked up. Whilst Sir Hugh continues on with the taxes, the Doctor goes with Dodo and William to confront the Monk at the camp; the Monk admits that he wants to change history by replacing King John with Prince Louis to get revenge on King Richard, who had him dragged out of camp by a horse.

Gregory informs Sir Hugh that the French army have arrived and heads back to Lincoln Castle to alert Nicholaa. The soldiers attack the outlaws' camp and the Doctor and Dodo escape, allowing the Monk to hide in their hiding place with them; he reveals that he has possession of the Doctor's TARDIS but that he does not know how to get back to it.

Nicholaa looks out at the French army and warns Idonea that, although Sir Hugh will do his duty, Lincoln is going to burn.

Part four

Whilst sitting around a campfire, the Doctor, Dodo and the Monk hear and see the French army marching towards Lincoln. The Doctor decides that they will go to Lincoln ahead of the army to avoid being caught and killed looking for the TARDIS. They sneak through the French lines to the city and are admitted by Sir Hugh before the attack begins.

William wakes up alone in the camp and meets with Idonea by scaling the city walls and climbing up the castle's privy chute. Idonea tells him that she will not run away with him and that their relationship was only a fantasy; whilst she enjoys romantic tales, she cannot marry a commoner. She leaves him, promising to remember him, and he is shot by an arrow as the French attack.

The Doctor, Dodo and the Monk flee with Sir Hugh, who seemingly sacrifices himself to ensure their escape to the castle but later returns, injured, and is tended to by the Doctor. Nicholaa tasks Idonea with determining the best use of resources, a job that Idonea reluctantly agrees to do, and the Monk offers to serve as a messenger to King John. The Doctor tells Nicholaa not to trust the Monk and that he was behind the outlaws' attacks, so she has the Monk imprisoned whilst she checks with Dodo if the accusations are true. She refuses to send the Doctor as a messenger in favour of Sir Hugh, making the Doctor wonder if he knows of a secret way out.

The Doctor leaves the Monk in the dungeon, having convinced Nicholaa not to behead him, and departs the castle with Dodo and Sir Hugh through the secret tunnel. On the way, the Doctor assures Dodo that an army will defeat Prince Louis long before the castle can be taken, led by the regent of the deceased King John's son. The Doctor, Dodo and Sir Hugh reach the outlaws' camp, where the Doctor finds the Monk's TARDIS disguised as a tree and messes with it. The travellers depart in the Doctor's TARDIS, saying goodbye to Sir Hugh.

The Monk manages to reach his TARDIS and finds that he is stranded thanks to the Doctor's meddling. Trapped in the 13th century, he wonders how Genghis Khan is doing.

Cast

The Doctor - Stephen Noonan
Dodo Chaplet - Lauren Cornelius
The Monk - Rufus Hound
Nicholaa de la Haye - Glynis Barber
William of Berkshire / Gregory - Christian Edwards
Idonea de Camville - Carly Day
Sir Hugh de Courtney / Eustace - Sam Stafford
The Messenger - Barnaby Edwards

References

Dodo says that she would love to see the pyramids, walk on the Moon or meet Catherine the Great. She would love to see a joust.
Great Britain had a bear population around the 3rd century.
Dodo goes to the TARDIS wardrobe to change out of a miniskirt and fetch the Doctor's cane.
Nicholaa says that they might have to eat rat to survive a siege.
King Richard was a poet.
30% of the universe is matter, most of which is hydrogen in interstellar space.
Prince Louis was invited to Britain by "treacherous Englishmen" and has taken London.
Sir Hugh is Marshal of Lincoln Castle.
Dodo has never ridden a horse before.
Nicholaa is High Sheriff of Lincolnshire and Constable of Lincoln Castle.
The Doctor tells Nicholaa that he studied at the University of Oxford.
Nicholaa asks if Rochester Castle has fallen.
Richard I barely ever set foot in England.
William likes gold, jewels and fine wines.
Idonea's parents are dead.
The Doctor tells Nicholaa that King Richard once mistook an amphora of wine for the Holy Grail.
The Doctor tells Nicholaa that King Richard knighted a cook as a reward for a well-cooked meal.
The Monk's TARDIS is disguised as a tree.
Eustace was often locked up in the dungeons of Lincoln Castle.
The Doctor does not know much about Dodo's family.
The Monk uses a concoction of hydrochloric acid.
The Monk made a treehouse.
The outlaws eat squirrel.
Ambrose is the outlaws' musician, being talented at playing the flute.
Alan is well-versed in medicine. The Monk says that his remedies are almost never fatal.
Thurston is a dashing swordsman and the newest addition to the group.
The Monk says that Tom is his favourite. He often tries and fails at things.
Idonea gives her horse an apple.
Nicholaa suggests that the Doctor tries the smoked pork, one of her cook's better dishes.
Idonea suggests that she and William go to Milan, Paris or Constantinople, which she believes to be the greatest city in the world.
The Doctor mistakenly calls Dodo "Susan" in a heated moment.
King John will die of dysentery.

Notes

Real world information places the setting of this story in 1216, the year of King John's death.
Lizbeth Myles wrote this story to be the first adventure for the Doctor and Dodo after Steven's departure.
Accepting that he's stranded again, the Monk says "it could be worse," remembering Antarctica, implying this is where he was stranded in The Daleks' Master Plan. Many other sources explicitly stated this was another planet based on the Monk's "planet of ice" remark.

Continuity

Steven has only recently left the TARDIS. (TV: The Savages)
The Doctor was once his granddaughter's only guardian and says she has now "gone". (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
The Monk is aware of the Doctor's involuntary role in creating the Trojan Horse, and the Doctor expresses bitterness over it. (TV: The Myth Makers) The Second Doctor later cites it as an example of ruthlessness, destroying a city to save a companion. (AUDIO: Daughter of the Gods)
The Doctor regales Nicholaa de la Haye with (likely fictitious) tales of Richard the Lionheart's excesses. (TV: The Crusade)
The Doctor mentions a dentist in Tombstone, Arizona. (TV: The Gunfighters)
Dodo mentions liking Russia. (AUDIO: Mother Russia)
The Doctor previously met the Monk in 1066 and again sabotages his TARDIS to leave him stranded. (TV: The Time Meddler)

External links

Official The Outlaws page at bigfinish.com