The Church and the Crown was the second story to feature Caroline Morris as Erimem and her first as a companion travelling with the Doctor. This story is another in a line of stories to feature a doppelganger of the Doctor/companions, with Nicola Bryant voicing both Peri Brown and the Queen of France.
Publisher's summary
A nation divided...
A Queen's life at risk...
A net of conspiracy closing in...
Sometimes being a time travelling adventurer just isn't easy...
For a start there's a temperamental TARDIS that lands a few thousand years off course in 17th century Paris. But why shouldn't the Fifth Doctor, Peri and their travelling guest Erimem take a look around the city on the morning of King Louis' annual State Ball?
As Peri becomes embroiled in a plot to kill Queen Anne and smash the unity of the Church and the Crown, the Doctor finds himself duelling musketeers on the streets.
With Peri missing, Erimem catching King Louis' eye and a Musketeer's sword at your throat, could things get any worse?
Probably...
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Peri - Nicola Bryant
- Erimem - Caroline Morris
- King Louis XIII of France - Andrew Mackay
- Queen Anne of France - Nicola Bryant
- Cardinal Richelieu - Michael Shallard
- The Duke of Buckingham - Marcus Hutton
- Delmarre - Peter John
- Rouffet - Andy Coleman
- Captain Morand - Robert Curbishley
- Madame de Chevreuse - Wendy Albiston
References
- The Doctor tells Erimem that, earlier in his personal timeline, he met an older version of Louis XIII in 1638. He claims to have "had a nip and tuck since then," indicating that it was one of his first four incarnations.
- Erimem names her new pet cat Antranak.
- The Doctor offers to take Peri and Erimem to Barastabon for a chocolate cake.
- Before landing in France, the Doctor was trying to reach the Braxiatel Collection.
- The Doctor has visited the Louvre since its modern retrofit with the glass pyramid and didn't like it.
The comic preview for this story. (DWM 324)
Notes
- Based on known history and clues in the story, it is possible to definitively date The Church and the Crown to 1626.
- Marcus Hutton would play another Duke of Buckingham in BFA: The Kingmaker, which also featured the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem.
- This audio drama was recorded on 5 and 6 September 2002.
Continuity
- The Fourth Doctor's companion Romana previously encountered a double of her first incarnation, namely Princess Strella on Tara (DW: The Androids of Tara). The Fifth Doctor's former companion Nyssa encountered a double of herself in the form of Ann Talbot in June 1925 (DW: Black Orchid). For his part, the Doctor has encountered a double of his second incarnation in the form of Ramón Salamander in 2017 (DW: The Enemy of the World). Furthermore, his former companion Steven Taylor encountered a double of the First Doctor in the form of the Abbot of Amboise in Paris in August 1572, though the Doctor himself had no contact with the Abbot (DW: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve).
Timeline
- The Church and the Crown occurs after BFA: The Eye of the Scorpion.
- The Church and the Crown occurs before BFA: No Place Like Home.
External links
- Official The Church and the Crown page at bigfinish.com
- The Church and the Crown at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for The Church and the Crown at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
