Gladiator (audio story)

Gladiator
Main character(s):	Rory Williams
Featuring:	Caesar, Augusta, Tacitus
Main setting:	Rome, Starless World, May-Kalends of June 118
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	David Llewellyn
Director:	Scott Handcock
Producer:	Scott Handcock
Music:	Robert Harvey
Sound:	Robert Harvey
Release details
Number of parts:	1
Release number:	1.1
Part of:	The Lone Centurion: Volume One
Release date:	8 April 2021
Format:	1 CD Download 1st of 3 stories
Production code:	BFPDWRORYLC01
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-83868-429-7 (physical); ISBN 978-1-83868-430-3 (digital)
The Lone Centurion
Next →	The Unwilling Assassin

Gladiator was the first story of the audio anthology, The Lone Centurion: Volume One, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams.

Publisher's summary

Kidnapped, Rory is taken to Rome and thrown into the arena, where his hapless inability to die brings him to the attention of the Emperor.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
• Augusta - Joanna Van Kampen
• Caesar - Joseph Tweedale
• First Gladiator - Omar Baroud
• Second Gladiator - Timothy Blore
• Third Gladiator - Glen McCready
• Overseer - Max Hutchinson
• Lepidus - Jacob Dudman
• Tacitus - Terry Molloy
• Marcella - Inès de Clercq
• Announcer - Rhys Jennings

Worldbuilding

• After supposedly killing her, Rory promises to the crowd to cast Marcella into the River Tiber.
• Marcella considers returning to Judea.

Notes

• TV: The Big Bang reveals that the Pandorica was taken to Rome under armed guard in 118. Gladiator depicts the events following that occurrence.
• The Emperor is not named in this story, simply referred to as "Caesar", however the fact that he is openly gay suggests that he might be Hadrian. Indeed, Hadrian was emperor in the year 118. Whatever his identity, Caesar's death is depicted at the conclusion of the story, some 20 years before Hadrian actually perished. He was also succeeded by his wife, something which never occurred in the Western Roman Empire. This suggests that this might be unique to the alternate timeline created by the destruction of the Doctor's TARDIS in TV: The Pandorica Opens - a possibility which Rory entertains in AUDIO: I, Rorius.
• Marcella is played by Arthur Darvill's real life wife, Inès de Clercq.

Continuity

• The Pandorica was taken back to Rome under armed guard. (TV: The Big Bang)

External links

• Official Gladiator page at bigfinish.com