Richard III of England


 * For the play by William Shakespeare, see Richard III.

Richard III was the Duke of Gloucester in 1483, and King of England from 1483 to his apparent death in 1485.

Rise to Power
In 1483, Richard was the Duke of Gloucester. On the night of 9 April 1483 Richard's brother, King Edward IV, died suddenly. His successor, Prince Edward V, was still a child whose mother's family was manoevring to keep the future king under their own control. The Queen Consort sent her brother, Earl Rivers, to escort the prince back to London. The escort passed through Buckinghamshire, where Richard and his ally Henry, Duke of Buckingham joined the Prince's party to keep close watch on both him and Rivers.

After the Prince and Rivers had retired at an inn, Richard and Henry went for a walk outside and were startled by the arrival of The Doctor's TARDIS. A mysterious bearded man dressed in black and calling himself Mr Seyton emerged, claiming to be a wise traveller who had come from the future to provide counsel to Richard. Seyton told Richard he would be crowned king, and centuries later there would even be a play based on his reign. Richard was dubious about Seyton's claims of foreknowledge, but considered his presence a portent. Richard decided to allow Seyton to prove himself as advisor.

Before the young Prince could be crowned King, he and his brother were declared illegitimate by the court when it invalidated the marriage of the deceased King Edward to their mother. Richard was crowned king.

Seyton remained the king's advisor, and continually insisted that removing the princes from the line of succession would not be enough to solidify his claim to the throne and they should be killed. Richard was unwilling to murder his brother's children and refused, insisting that locking the princes in the Tower of London was enough.

Encounters with the Doctor and Seyton
In 1485 the Fifth Doctor, Peri Brown and Erimem investigated the mystery of the princes' disappearance circa 1484 in order to appease a homicidal publishing-company robot who insisted the Doctor complete his contract to write Doctor Who Discovers Historical Mysteries. They discovered Seyton's true plan and identity; though Peri had assumed the dark time-traveller with pointed beard interfering with history to be the Master, he was in fact William Shakespeare himself. After a disastrous unfinished performance of Shakespeare's play Richard III in 1597, the Doctor had chastised Shakespeare for not doing his research and presenting a distorted view of Richard as a Machiavellian ruler who rose to power by murdering the two princes in the Tower. Infuriated by the Doctor's account of actual events which implicated the bloodline of his beloved Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare snuck aboard the Doctor's TARDIS, stole various items of alien technology and weaponry, and stowed away back to 1483 in an attempt to influence history to more closely resemble his play.

Richard had realised Seyton/Shakespeare was untrustworthy from the beginning, however, and it was revealed that the point was moot; there were no princes in the Tower after all. Edward IV had not had sons but daughters, Susan and Judith. Edward kept up the ruse that they were boys in order to guard his family's claim to the throne with male heirs. After Edward's death Richard discovered the ruse. He kept up the pretence that there were two princes in the tower while in reality he had sent his nieces to live out their lives safely as peasants working for Clarrie, innkeeper at The Kingmaker. Clarrie was really Richard's other brother George, disgraced Duke of Clarence, who had been sentenced to death for plotting against Edward IV. Unwilling to have his brother executed, Richard had quietly effected George's escape into anonymity.

Apparent death and writing career
Richard found himself in the TARDIS as the Doctor attempted to take Shakespeare back to 1597, arriving on-stage as the unruly performance was breaking up. Shakespeare stormed onto the stage, enraged by the rowdy audience and the interruption of his play. Richard was even more enraged by the stereotypical portrayal in the play as an ugly, hunchbacked man with a limp and withered arm. He chased Shakespeare through 1597 London. Shakespeare doubled back to the TARDIS, and threatened to detonate a Sontaran grenade unless the Doctor returned immediately to 1485 to pick up the missing princesses; with Richard, they would all be brought back to Shakespeare's own time and stand trial for their crimes against the crown. During the confrontation Erimem broke Shakespeare's arm, and he was further injured by the publishing robot when he left the TARDIS once again, this time at the 1485 Battle of Bosworth, Richard's historically recorded final defeat. Shakespeare, with his injured arm and limp, matched the stereotypical description of King Richard, and was killed by Richard's enemies in his place at the battle.

Richard decided to return to 1597 and take Shakespeare's alloted place in history; he had never really wanted power, and had no desire to return to the throne in his own time when the common public sentiment was that he had killed his nephews. Richard saw taking up Shakespeare's writing career as his second chance at earning a place in history. The Doctor recommended Richard contact a man called Francis Bacon for writing tips. Settling into his new life as Shakespeare, Richard was soon surprised by a visit from Susan and Judith, whom the Doctor had brought forward in time to join him; history recorded that not only had Shakespeare had a son who'd died, but two daughters, and since the princesses had no place in the history of their own time the Doctor knew their true destiny lay with their uncle as he pursued his own. (BFA: The Kingmaker)