The Marian Conspiracy (audio story): Difference between revisions

While Queen Mary rests, the Doctor muses that she is not what he expected, and discusses public opinion of her with Sarah. Sarah thinks the public are indifferent, but she herself is passionate about one thing: Mary repealed laws that allowed Protestant clergymen to marry. They also discuss whether doing what you feel is right makes you a good person, even if it means the deaths of others. Evelyn arrives, and she and the Doctor visit the Queen, but almost immediately de Noallies bursts in to accuse Evelyn of plotting to kill Mary with the "poison" in her bag — the analgesics. Evelyn realises Reverend Thomas has betrayed her, but the Doctor explains that the pills are medicine and quite safe in small doses, and gives some to Mary, which help with her pains. de Noallies returns to the Reverend and berates him for the failure of his plan, but this only spurs Thomas to take more direct action. He meets with a conspirator, supplying a potion and insisting only a few drops of it are used, but has to flee when Mary's guards arrive to arrest him — she heard Evelyn mention his name. He seeks refuge with de Noallies, but the Bishop refuses to help him.

This seems to be coming true when Mary's guards arrive and arrest the company, who have been named as co-conspirators by the captured Reverend Thomas. Imprisoned in the Tower, the Doctor and Evelyn realise they must escape and prevent the plot against Mary, or history will be altered. Trying to work out Thomas' plot from what they know about him, they guess that de Noallies will poison the sacraments at the Queen's next Mass. They manage to escape from the Tower, mostly thanks to Evelyn, and travel down the Thames to the Palace. There they are prevented from entering the Queen's presence during her Mass by Sarah Whiteside, since such sacrilege would lead to excommunication, and the Doctor realises no holy man of any faith would poison the sacraments. As de Noallies and Mary emerge, the Doctor realises that Sarah is Thomas' co-conspirator: Thomas' last name is Smith, and Sarah was upset at Mary's changes to the laws because it discredited her marriage to him. She was to feed drops of poison to the Queen, though Thomas told her it was a potion that would give her dreams to show her the error of her ways. Playing on Sarah's duty to her husband, and also deducing the Lady is pregnant with Evelyn's ancestor, the Doctor dissuades Mary from executing Sarah, and she is sent into Elizabeth's service instead; she thanks the Doctor by saying she will name her son after him. Thomas, however, is not so lucky; the Queen offers to spare him if he will recant his Protestant faith, but he refuses, and so goes to the stake to be burned.