The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Peri and Erimem to the eve of the French Revolution, though they aren’t aware of this at first. As soon as the Doctor realizes what period of history he’s brought his friends to, he tries to round them up to make a quick exit, but it’s too late. Peri has attracted some unwelcome attention due to her striking resemblance to Queen Anne, and Erimem’s usual curiosity has led her to some of the more colorful locals. Peri has become a target of kidnappers plotting against the Queen, and in trying to defend her, the Doctor has made a target of himself as well.
written by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott
directed by Gary Russell
music by Russell StoneCast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Caroline Morris (Erimem), Andrew Mackay (King Louis), Michael Shallard (Cardinal Richelieu), Marcus Hutton (The Duke of Buckingham), Peter John (Delmarre), Andy Coleman (Rouffet), Robert Curbishley (Captain Morand), Wendy Albiston (Madame De Chevreuse)
Timeline: between No Place Like Home and Nekromanteia
LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green
Review: From the writers who brought us the excellent The One Doctor comes yet another tale of mistaken identity – and as much as I loved their earlier work, The Church And The Crown just doesn’t live up to it, despite the promise of its rich historical setting and a new companion aboard the TARDIS whose presence was previously unrecorded by the Doctor’s TV adventures. The mistaken identity gag used here is the biggest problem. The “Doctor/companion looks just like a figure from history” gag goes all the way back to The Massacre, in which William Hartnell played a dual role, and even then it smacked of being a little bit hokey. But to pull the same stunt off on audio? Bah. Granted, it means we get to hear Nicola Bryant’s real accent instead of just her quasi-American “Peri accent,” but by this point that opportunity has lost its novelty since we’ve seen and heard her in other things (well, I have, at any rate). Once this plot twist was revealed, I couldn’t be bothered to care a whole lot about the story. Putting that aside for the moment, I will say that Caroline Morris’ Erimem has livened the TARDIS up immensely, bringing a whole different kind of companion to the table than we’ve seen or heard before, and I do look forward to hearing more of her. Hopefully it’ll be a better story than this.