Pericles

Pericles was a play written by William Shakespeare.

It was at least partly set in Mytilene. An alternative sequence covering Scenes V and VI which was contained within the Shakespeare Notebooks introduced the character of Romana who also mentioned a companion of hers named the Doctor. These characters were clearly based upon Romana I and the Fourth Doctor respectively. No explanatory note was provided regarding the inclusion of the draft in the Notebooks, with the introduction of Romana giving rise to various theories as to why the sequence was reworked for the final version of the play.

In this version, Romana, who had apparently found herself working under the Bawd and the Pandar at a house of ill-repute, met with the governor of Mytilene Lord Lysimachus. During this encounter she explained she "travel[led] on time's seas", was often "washed up roughly on ungentle shores and trapped in vile dungeons" and that together with the Doctor she searched for "a precious jewel". Romana eventually convinced Lysimachus to free the Doctor, as he was being held in the prisons, as well as to try his best to woo a princess called Marina who could be found at the market. (PROSE: Pericles ^[+]Loading...["Pericles (short story)"])

Behind the scenes

The short story Pericles ^[+]Loading...["Pericles (short story)"] does not specify which act of the play its scene extracts come from but they are both based on scenes from Act IV.

The Tempest – A Work in Progress ^[+]Loading...["The Tempest – A Work in Progress (short story)"] named George Wilkins as a prior collaborator of William Shakespeare. The story did not state the name of their previous play although in the real world Pericles is generally considered to have been a co-effort between the two.