The Council of Nicaea (audio story)

 was the seventy-first story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Caroline Symcox and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown and Caroline Morris as Erimem.

It unusually, though certainly not without precedent, dealt with Christianity's early history. It was also a particularly strong story for Erimem, who came close to leaving the Fifth Doctor over the morality of preserving the integrity of the timeline. In this conflict, the fact that Erimem came from an even more distant past than the story's setting of 325 AD was of central importance. Unlike most stories featuring an "historical companion", the fact of her origin, both as a former Pharaoh and an ancient Egyptian, fully mattered to the progress of the narrative.

Publisher's summary
The year is A.D. 325. In the city of Nicaea, the first great Church council, called by the Roman Emperor Constantine, is due to begin. Here, theology, philosophy and politics will be brought together for millennia to come.

The Doctor, Peri and Erimem are there simply to watch events unfold. Gaps remain in the history books, and the Doctor has come to satisfy his curiosity.

But none of them are ready for what greets them in Nicaea. Intrigue within the Imperial Palace has become violence on the streets. Mobs roam the alleyways and blood is spilt in the name of faith. Even in the face of murder and injustice, though, the time travellers must force themselves to stay aloof.

This is history, after all.

Yet what is history to one person is the future to another.

Is it possible for history to be rewritten? And if it can, can the Doctor afford to let it?

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
 * Erimem - Caroline Morris
 * Emperor Constantine - David Bamber
 * Fausta - Claire Carroll
 * Arius - Steve Kynman
 * Athanasius - Martin Parsons
 * Clement - Michael Garland
 * Centurion Caius - Sean Carlsen
 * Julius - Stephan Bessant

History

 * The Doctor alludes to fixed points in time while warning Erimem against trying to change the end result of Arius' clash with the Council of Nicaea which will decide the future of the Catholic Church, stating: "History is tough and most changes we can make are swallowed up in the vastness of the whole but there are certain moments, certain events that shape history to such an extent that if they're changed everything that follows must change. This is one of those moments."

- The Fifth Doctor

Religion

 * Peri was raised Baptist, but does not consider herself to be a religious person.

Continuity

 * The Doctor previously expressed a desire to visit the Council of Nicaea. (AUDIO: Summer)
 * Erimem mentions meeting Cardinal Richelieu in France in 1626. (AUDIO: The Church and the Crown)
 * During his eleventh incarnation, the Doctor encountered Constantine once again in 312. (COMIC: Conversion)