The Creation of Camelot (short story): Difference between revisions

'''''The Creation of Camelot''''' was a short story published in ''[[Doctor Who Annual 1984]]'', later performed by [[Geoffrey Beevers]] in ''[[The Planet of Dust & Other Stories]]''. It featured the [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Tegan]]. Its main enemy was [[the Master (The Creation of Camelot)|the Master]], posing as [[Merlin]] long before the TV story ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'' reversed positions and had [[the Doctor (Battlefield)|the Doctor]] in take on the mantle of Merlin. Preempting these later contradictions, the story interestingly posited that "Merlin" was in fact a title within [[Camelot]]'s court, which could be passed from one individual to another.

The [[Fifth Doctor]] and [[Tegan Jovanka]] landed in the middle of a cold, forest landscape and, when they tried to ask the nearby villagers for some food, immediately got themselves captured by guards who looked like [[Viking]]s, and taken to a dingy cell. Anxious, Tegan asks the Doctor when and where they are; he is unsure, as the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]]'s [[time mechanism]] has been acting up, but speculates that they are in early medieval [[Britain]] — more exactly, during the reign of [[King Arthur]]. This is soon confirmed when they are taken by the [[captain of the guard (The Creation of Camelot)|captain of the guard]] to the King's chamber. On the way, the Doctr is told that he may not only meet the King, but also "the Merlin", who the captain explains is "the King's [[necromancer]]", [[advisor]], and [[bard]].  

The [[High King]] is alone when they meet him. He is a charismatic and evidently benevolent man, but, to the Doctor and Tegan's horror, is familiar with the name "[[TARDIS]]" when they mention it; as Arthur tells them more about his "Merlin", they become more and more certain that he is none other than [[the Master (The Creation of Camelot)|the Master]]. He first "appeared" just after Arthur's coronation, following the death of the old Merlin, [[Blaise]]. Arthur even notes that he "vanishes for long stretches at a time". The Doctor lends credence to his claims that the Merlin is evil when he tells Arthur the name of [[Mordred]], the son of Arthur's villainous half-sister [[Morgan (The Creation of Camelot)|Morgan]], whose existence is a closely-guarded secret. Arthur thought he'd had the baby killed (something he reveals with an equanimity which rather undercuts his earlier geniality), but had sent the ''Merlin'' to [[Lothian]] to deal with it. The Doctor guesses that the Master actually took the baby to safety, to grow into the Mordred who, as ''[[La Mort d'Arthur]]'' holds, will one day kill Arthur at the [[battle of Camlan]]. The Doctor further guesses that the Master's plan involves "speeding up" established history, summoning [[Saxon]]s to Britain ''before'' Arthur unites it rather than after his death.

Frightened despite his bafflement at the idea of [[time travel]], Arthur agrees to summon the Merlin to his throne room. Though shocked to see the Doctor here, the Master does not give instantly give in, trying to convince Arthur that it is the Doctor who is a seditious liar. However, Arthur reflects over the events of his reign and grows more certain than ever that it was the Merlin who egged half his court against the other to weaken his government. He orders the Merlin to return to his chamber and await judgment. The Doctor and Tegan, shocked at how easily he gives in, let him leave — until they realise, all too late, that his "room" in the east turret is in fact the disguised interior of [[the Master's TARDIS|his TARDIS]]. When they run after him, they find him gone, the door to "the Merlin's room" now leading to the small, bare stone cell that is actually there in the building, instead of the quarters Arthur was familiar with. With the Master's plans having already been set in motion, the Doctor concludes that his and Tegan's task must be to set "Arthurian legend" back on track to ensure that Arthur's reign endures long enough for Britain to become unified. Suddenly having an idea to cancel out the discord spread throughout the nobility and make his knights get along with each other again, the Doctor slyly begins asking Arthur if he has in his position "any such thing as a [[Knight of the Round Table|large, round table]]".

* [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] recalls that when she was at school, she "had to read history books with pictures in", though she wasn't very interested in her lessons. [[Camelot]]'s guards remind her of illustrations of [[Viking]]s in such books. The [[Fifth Doctor]] is annoyed at this, telling her that the real Vikings looked nothing like the "huge men with helmets with horns on them" that her "ignorant teachers" told you about.