The Kingmaker [AUDIO/2006.4.?]

★★★★★

  Who killed the princes in the tower?

  It's criminal that The Kingmaker is often left out of discussions on Big Finish's highlights. It's certainly one of the most intelligent and hilarious scripts it ever had, thanks to the brilliant Nev Fountain, and its execution is just as peerless. You have Peter Davison fully going for the old-man-in-a-young-man's-body routine: being grumpy, sending characters up with his characteristic sarcasm, and even talking to -- arguing with -- himself (and this time there's no other incarnation beside him, only a tape recording of his predecessor reading a fourth-wall breaking book series). You have Nicola Bryant and Caroline Morris holding their own half of the story very well, brushing off dangerous situations with the kind of humour this story deserves. You have the plot, a great mystery that also works well as a comedy, a hilarious romp that makes history exciting again. I'm sorry for those that generally dislike overt and silly humour, but this thing is filled to the brim with classic jokes and one-liners that one could write an entirely separate story based on its many puns!

  It's also very cleverly written, presenting the answers at the very beginning and letting the audience slowly figure it out by the end. It doesn't shy away from how brutal history gets, and it also presents moral questions for the Doctor and his relationship with history (hint: there's no definitive answer). Over all of this, however, it's simply such an engaging adventure that never loses steam. History has always been exciting in the best of Who, and The Kingmaker is another worthy example. In fact, I'd call this one of my absolute favourites from Big Finish; everything from the sound design to the performances to the music and the delicious dialogue... the story just works. How brilliant the combination ends upbeing is for your lucky ears to find out if you haven't listened to it yet; oh, how I envy thee.