Alonso (The Tempest – A Work in Progress)

Alonso, King of Naples was a character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Fictional biography

First thoughts

In his earliest working notes for the play, Shakespeare considered making the characters who eventually became Prospero and Antonio Kings or Dukes of somewhere in Italy, possibly Milan or Naples. Later, having decided that Prospero and Antonio would be Dukes of Milan, Shakespeare wrote that Antonio was assisted in his plan, to usurp his brother Prospero and exile him to an island, by a separate King of Naples character. However, he underlined a note to himself to make sure Naples was near Milan, determined that "no more geography cock-ups" would occur.

Outlining more specific details, Shakespeare jotted down that at some point Antonio could make an attempt on his ally the King of Naples' life, only to be stopped by the deposed Duke in what the playwright himself described as "nice irony". Contemplating the fate of the shipwrecked ship's crew, which made landfall on the same island as Prospero early in the play, Shakespeare judged it to be a "bit grim" for a comedy if they all drowned, instead weighing up as alternatives either that they were just lost on the island or that the Duke and the King were the only ones swept overboard. He also considered the possibility of the shipwrecked ship being undamaged to allow everyone to go home at the end but deemed this a "bit implausible", highlighting in addition to this the already-quite-large coincidence that the usurper Duke ended up on the same island as the deposed Duke, though he also acknowledged that he "got away with it" in both The Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night. (PROSE: The Tempest – A Work in Progress)

Following Forbidden Planet

At some point, the Tenth Doctor became aware Shakespeare was struggling to write his play. He sent him a battery-powered Blu-ray player and a copy of Forbidden Planet to draw inspiration from, reasoning that it was "not stealing" because the film was based upon the version of The Tempest Shakespeare was about to write.

Filled with fresh ideas, Shakespeare, having decided that Prospero was not just a Duke but also a wizard who studied books of magic, removed the coincidence of the two Dukes ending up on the same island, with Prospero causing a storm using his magic staff which forcefully brought the ship there. The magic shipwreck also served to explain why only Antonio, the King of Naples, the Duke's son, the courtiers and the funny servants came to shore. The boat was located on the other side of the island, with the rest of its crew as its occupants all asleep inside.

With regard to the play's conclusion, Shakespeare noted that Prospero would use new addition Ariel to "sort out" the court intrigue and save the King of Naples' life. He later outlined that all three different plot lines (including the court intrigue) would be "sorted out" by Prospero and Ariel. He wavered over whether this was "too easy" and if he could claim it was a deliberate Deus ex machina to impress Johnson. Brushing aside these concerns, he stated in his notes his belief that he was "nearly there" and that the rest of the story would "write itself".

Finally, the Doctor listed off moons of Uranus Miranda and Ferdinand to help Shakespeare with character names but this still left Shakespeare needing to find a name he had never used before for the King of Naples. The Doctor assured him "Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something" before signing off with the words "Allons-y, Alonso!", thus giving the King his name. (PROSE: The Tempest – A Work in Progress)

Behind the scenes

Although the connection is not made in The Tempest – A Work in Progress, Ferdinand was Alonso's son in the real world's version of The Tempest.