The Church and the Crown [AUDIO/2002.11.28]

★★★★☆

  I have a sneaking suspicion this isn't the most historically accurate pure historical Dr. Who's ever one, but I'll take this inaccurate romp when it's delivered with the highest order of humour, drama, incredibly well-written, quotable dialogue... all of the above, plus a rocking score to boot. You don't see people talking about The Church and the Crown very often, but it is my humble opinion that more people should; swashbuckling, royal courtroom drama, and cats scratching Doctor on top of consoles galore.

  See, this is how truly fun pure historicals can be. People often have this misconception that pure historicals of Dr. Who have to be quite slow and (in their eyes) boring; this proves them wrong, as the four parts positively fly by with some expert pacing from both the writing duo (Cavan Scott & Mark Wright) and director Gary Russell. Furthermore, with the adventure indulging in a particular favourite trop of mine -- in which a main character, Doctor or companion, looks inexplicably identical to someone else -- The Church and the Crown unlocks its full potential. Suddenly, this pleasant, daring courtroom drama/musketeer swashbuckling adventure gains the emotional crux, and Nicola Bryant is given some of Peri's best material. She's incredibly funny as Peri, and so romantic and tragic as Queen Anne. Throw an awesome Peter Davison performance (here fully solidifying his role as the surrogate father to his two daughters, Peri and Erimem) and an accompanying Caroline Morris performance that fully utilises her status as ex-Egyptian pharaoh, and this is one audio drama you really don't want to miss. Every scene is either hilarious, hard-hitting or extremely pleasant to listen to. I don't care what kind of Dr. Who you usually like or dislike, get onto The Church and the Crown posthaste.