The Widow's Assassin (audio story)

The Widow's Assassin
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Peri
Main enemy:	Mandrake
Main setting:	Krontep and Hurn, 24th century
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Nev Fountain
Director:	Ken Bentley
Music:	Howard Carter
Sound:	Steve Foxon
Cover by:	Anthony Lamb
Release details
Release number:	192
Release date:	31 October 2014
Format:	4 Parts, 2 CDs
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78178-333-7
Official trailer
Main Range
← Previous	Signs and Wonders
Next →	Masters of Earth

The Widow's Assassin was the one hundred and ninety-second story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Nev Fountain and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.

Publisher's summary

Once, long ago, in a land of monsters and corridors, a fair maiden was captured, and placed in a deep sleep.

She was used to being captured, and she had a hero who rescued her on just such occasions. But this time the hero never came.

And the fair maiden slept on.

Eventually, a King rescued the maiden, and made her his bride, which many wise old women might tell you is just another way of capturing fair maidens.

And still the fair maiden slept on.

Then, the hero had another stab at rescuing the maiden from her prison, but he was too late. And, more importantly, he had forgotten the rules of fairy tales.

He didn't slay the dragon.

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
• Wolsey/Mandrake - Tim Chipping
• Baron Pteratrark/Guard Two/Prince Most-Deepest-All-Yellow - John Banks
• Reverend Flitamus/Guard One - Andrew Dickens
• Princess Dirani - Fiona Sheehan
• Harcross the Ever-Patient/Pheen-Tu/Flunkey - Glynn Sweet

Uncredited

• Sil - Nabil Shaban
• Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood (Flashbacks)

References

• The Doctor created the idea of the Mandrake as a student at the Academy on Gallifrey.
• Peri mentions that the idea of the "hollow crown" comes from Shakespeare. She lists off kings including Richard IV and the Red King, Tweedledum, Tweedledee, the Jabberwock and the looking glass from Alice in Wonderland.
• The Doctor compares Peri to Jamie.
• The Doctor has a PO Box in London.

Textless cover art

Notes

• This is the first main range release to use the silver/grey gradient version of the McGann logo; however, due to unknown factors, no digital version of the physical release's cover is available. The same is true of various releases throughout this transitional period. It was first used on AUDIO: The Doctor's Tale, although it also suffered from the issue aforementioned.
• This release, as well as the following two, opens with the original rendition of the Doctor Who theme from 1986, before fading into the recreated version from the 50th Anniversary Soundtrack. This was also present in the stories of the 2015 box set release, AUDIO: The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure.

Continuity

• This story creates an additional account of Peri's life after TV: The Trial of a Time Lord. AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox revealed that there are a quantum number of Peris, created through Time Lord interference. In this version of events, King Yrcanos was killed seven days after their wedding by the Mandrake.
• Whilst travelling with him, Flip Jackson hinted at the Doctor's desire to find Peri once again. (AUDIO: Antidote to Oblivion, The Brood of Erys, Scavenger) The Doctor reveals that he saved her life by using the TARDIS to slow her descent to Earth. (AUDIO: Scavenger) Peri declined his invitation to join him for Flip and Jared Ramon's wedding, prompting the Doctor to resume his travels with Peri with the goal of returning for Flip another day. (AUDIO: Quicksilver)
• The Sixth Doctor previously visited Peri's future in COMIC: The Age of Chaos and AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox.
• The Doctor compares Peri's role as Queen to that of a guidance councillor, a role that the Peri of 2009 served as a television personality guiding relationships. (AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox)
• "Peri" imprisons the Doctor for five years out of contempt for him leaving her. Similarly, when the Seventh Doctor found Peri again on Krontep, she could not forgive him for abandoning her. (PROSE: Reunion)
• The Doctor recalls shoving the Borad into the Timelash on Karfel (TV: Timelash) and fishing for gumblejack. (TV: The Two Doctors) He also "tests" Peri by mentioning a fictional encounter with the Monoids. (TV: The Ark)
• Due to her infection with spectrox toxaemia on Androzani Minor, Peri has been rendered infertile. (TV: The Caves of Androzani) Another version of Peri was able to have three children with King Yrcanos, whilst the Peri living in LA in 2009 was unable to bear children because of the abuse she was subjected to by her husband Davey Silverman. (AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox)
• When the Doctor transfers his mind into Peri, he notes that he hasn't been this short since he used to play the recorder. (TV: The Power of the Daleks et al.)
• The Doctor recalls his first encounter with Peri in Lanzarote in 1984 during his fifth incarnation and enters a mindscape of Lanzarote whilst fighting the Mandrake. (TV: Planet of Fire)
• The Doctor's subconscious refers to his attempt to kill Peri shortly after his regeneration into his sixth incarnation. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
• While in Peri's body, the Doctor says, "Is this death?" (TV: The Caves of Androzani)
• The Mandrake refers to the Doctor's defeats of Omega, Celestial Toymaker and Sutekh. (TV: The Three Doctors, The Celestial Toymaker, Pyramids of Mars)
• The Doctor says he walked away from Gallifrey. (AUDIO: The Beginning, TV: An Unearthly Child)
• The Royal Hall at Hurn is built around the ribcage of a Megaptera. (AUDIO: The Song of Megaptera)

External links

• Official The Widow's Assassin page at bigfinish.com