The Tempest

The Tempest was a play by William Shakespeare. Adrian Davies wanted to discuss it with Clara Oswald in preparation for their teaching of it to Coal Hill School pupils. (TV: The Caretaker)

Writing process
During the course of an unrelated adventure, a version of Shakespeare native to 1597 attempted to force the Fifth Doctor to take him back to Richard III's home time of 1485. While Shakespeare threatened the Doctor and his companions with what he believed to be a Sontaran grenade, a publisher's robot from the 64th century materialised in the TARDIS and told him that his second draft of The Tempest was 7103 years overdue for delivery. It chased him out of the TARDIS and into the raging Battle of Bosworth, where Shakespeare was mistaken for King Richard and killed, with the real Richard ultimately replacing Shakespeare in 1597 to preserve the course of history. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker) In the 2010s, Adrian Davies acknowledged "the fascinating enigma of [the play]'s not-finishedness". (TV: The Caretaker)

Legacy
At Coal Hill School in the 2010s, The Tempest was studied by sixth form students as part of a Shakespeare module. At one point, Clara Oswald and Adrian Davies spent time specifically discussing The Tempest in light of changes which had been made to the module. (TV: The Caretaker)

Behind the scenes

 * The title of the audio story Full Fathom Five is a reference to the line "Full fathom five thy father lies" from The Tempest Act 1, Scene 2.
 * The title of the short story What's Past is Prologue is a quotation from The Tempest Act 2, Scene 1.