Assassin in the Limelight was the one hundred and eighth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Robert Ross and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe and Leslie Phillips as Robert Knox.
This story features the return of two previous characters — Robert Knox played by Leslie Phillips from Medicinal Purposes and the Indo from Pier Pressure.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Ford's Theatre, Washington. Friday, 14th April, 1865. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The place, the date and the event which made history. Or did it? Someone has been tampering with time, muddying the waters of history for his own purposes. Time itself is out of joint and the chief culprit is the enigmatic Doctor Knox. Somehow the Doctor and Evelyn must put history back on track before the future dissolves into chaos. But Knox, it turns out, may be the least of their worries...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part One[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Part Two[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Part Three[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Part Four[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Grant Kempster
- Director - Barnaby Edwards
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Martin Johnson
- Producer - David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Robert Ross
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Knox poses as the Irish author and playwright Oscar Wilde. The Doctor realises this congruity immediately since, as he tells Evelyn, Wilde was "still in short trousers" in 1865.
- Knox's body is rotting, but he is using a concoction of lavender and bergamot to cover up the stench, but his breath smells badly.
TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Knox has a TARDIS with voice control which allows him to control the ship's functions, like take-offs and for mundane things like turning the scanner on. Like the Doctor's TARDIS, it has a fast return switch.
- Knox's TARDIS speaks with a calm female voice.
- Type 70 TARDISes can quickly scan their systems to determine if there is a fault.
- Knox's TARDIS's chameleon circuit turns into a cabinet and then a thorny bush.
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Evelyn recalls some notable events from 1865:
- Leopold II was crowned King of the Belgians.
- The Matterhorn was first climbed.
- on 30 December, Rudyard Kipling was born.
Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
Original cover art
Illustration from DWM 395 by Anthony Dry
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This is the final appearance of Evelyn Smythe in the main range until the audio story A Death in the Family in October 2010.
- Given that the majority of the events of the audio story The Haunting of Thomas Brewster take place in November 1867, this is the second consecutive audio drama based predominantly in the 1860s.
- This audio drama was recorded on 7 and 8 February 2008 at the Moat Studios.
- This story was previewed in DWM 395 with an illustration from Anthony Dry.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor and Evelyn previously encountered Knox in Edinburgh in December 1828 in AUDIO: Medicinal Purposes [+]Loading...["Medicinal Purposes (audio story)"], and the Indo in Brighton in 1936 in AUDIO: Pier Pressure [+]Loading...["Pier Pressure (audio story)"].
- On this occasion, the Doctor ensures that Lincoln is assassinated in accordance with recorded history. During his fifth incarnation, he had prevented Lincoln from being prematurely assassinated by Aaron Eddowes in Richmond, Virginia on 9 April 1865, as depicted in PROSE: Blood and Hope [+]Loading...["Blood and Hope (novel)"]. Conversely, in AUDIO: Minuet in Hell [+]Loading...["Minuet in Hell (audio story)"], the Eighth Doctor would tell his companion Charley Pollard that he once attempted to convince Lincoln not to go to the theatre.
- The Doctor mentions that he witnessed the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War in October 1854. He previously related this to Jamie McCrimmon during his second incarnation in TV: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"], describing the Charge as a "magnificent folly".
- Knox has been impersonating the Irish author and playwright Oscar Wilde. Having previously met Wilde, the Doctor was later able to procure tickets for Henry Gordon Jago, Professor George Litefoot, Leela and Ellie Higson to attend the premiere of his play A Woman of No Importance in the Haymarket Theatre in London in the 1890s. At the time, the Doctor, still in his sixth incarnation, was operating under the pseudonym "Professor Claudius Dark." This took place in AUDIO: Beautiful Things [+]Loading...["Beautiful Things (audio story)"].