The BF Time Warp 006: The Marian Conspiracy

[Anthony Williams]

This week, it's a double-whammy on The Big Finish Time Warp, as we look at both The Fearmonger and The Marian Conspiracy! This thread is for the discussion of The Marian Conspiracy. Click here for The Fearmonger...

Tracking a nexus point in time, the Doctor meets Dr Evelyn Smythe, a history lecturer whose own history seems to be rapidly vanishing.

The Doctor must travel back to Tudor times to stabilise the nexus and save Evelyn's life. But there he meets the Queen of England and must use all his skills of diplomacy to avoid ending up on the headman's block...

What do you remember about your original thoughts on this? Do you feel differently now? Was it a success or a huge failure!?

As usual, the poll will be open for two weeks, even though we start our next audio next week!

Ant x

[SiHart]

I'm just giving this one a relisten, so there will be more detailed thoughts on it to come.

Before that though what's really imporatnt about this story is the introduction of Dr Evelyn Smythe, the first new BF companion, and my favourite of them all. She's wonderful! Good on Big Finish for doing something different from what we've seen on TV with the companion.
As a companion she works brilliantly with the Sixth Doctor, creating a whole new dynamic and helping with the gradual softening of his character. She's the perfect foil for this Doctor- willing to stand up to him, speaking her mind when she thinks he's out of order and challenging him from the outset.

One of the joys of this audio is the first 3/4s of part 1 which introduces her and plays a 2 hander between the Doctor and Evelyn. Both actors are obviously enjoying it immensely and rise to the challenge. Wonderful!

Si xx

[stuartdg]

Another winner here,not least due to the historical setting which is a refreshing change,but mostly due to the fantastic opening episode which not only is (almost) a two hander but also serves to introduce Evelyn,an endearingly charming character who thinks everything can be solved by chocolate cake!

[brandynigma]

Evelyn distinguishes herself from the typical companion mould when being interrogated about her pills. If this had been, say, Peri, it would have been a cue for her to be locked up and the Doctor to act as counsel for the defendant. Instead, Evelyn lectures her accuser on what an idiot he is, before taking the poison herself, helping the Queen, then dismissing the stupid man. Marvellous.

[MacNimon]

I remember really enjoying this at the time, I can't remember many details of the plot but I really enjoyed the story as a whole and Maggie Stables performance/character in particular. And it was good to see (sorry, I mean hear!) the sixth Doctor in a historical setting once again.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm looking forward to giving this one another listen, as I remember really enjoying it. Especially, as I think everybody would agree, the marvellous Evelyn - is this the story with the bit of business about "calling the guard in by pretending to be sick" in it? Made me laugh out loud (or LOL as the kids say) when I heard it.

[Jon Masters]

is this the story with the bit of business about "calling the guard in by pretending to be sick" in it? Made me laugh out loud (or LOL as the kids say) when I heard it.

Indeed it is.

[Jon Masters]

The higlight of this one is the introduction of Evelyn, and episode 1 is just a joy to listen to - witty Doctor-companion banter, and a setting out of just the sort of companion Evelyn is going to be.

The downside is the rest of the story is pretty meh. DW historicals got away with no aliens by being interesting and action packed in their own right. This is neither - there are too many long and frankly dull conversations, with everyone calling each other by their full name for some reason. The Doctor spends almost the equivalent of a whole episode sitting in a corridor talking to one woman about things he already knows.
The casting doesn't help either - Mary sounds far too young and girly, and Rev Thomas far too upper crust and snooty. Throw in an 'Allo Allo bishop and some eastender type serfs and it all becomes very light entertainment. Plotting doesn't help, with a desperate 'To the Tower' bit seemingly thrown in to liven things up.
Ironically the very best scene almost didn't happen apparently - Mary's showdown with Rev Thomas. At last we get a true sense of what living in times of religious discrimination might be like, rather than just a load of old talk about people being unhappy.

Just about good enough to want to hear more of Evelyn but only 3/5

[SiHart]

I agree with most of what you say Jon. having finished re-listening to it this evening, I can't disagree with much of that. This is one that might have benefitted from being made a lot later, when BF had the power to attract rather better casts than they do here. There's nothign wrong with the acting, it's just that the actors aren't quite right for their roles.

I found the whole paradox thing rather confusing too. I still can't quite get my head around it, and I suspect I'm not supposed to, as all it is a device to egt the Doctor and Evelyn to meet. That I'm glad of, but it feels tacked on to the plot. They obviously wanted to a straight historical but didn't quite have the courage just to go for it. It migth have been better if they did.

This all said, I did find I enjoyed listening to it and none of the things I've noted annoyed me enough to rate this less than 4/10. The Doctor/ Evelyn banter saves it, even if at the moment she's still a bit jolly-old-woman.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

I did the first two episodes today. It's an enjoyable listen, although I agree with Jon & Si about the casting, and it is a bit 'talky'. On the plus side, though, and being really quite a thicko when it comes to history, I found the factual historial politics easy to follow without feeling that there'd been great big 'explanation' speeches. There's a nice playfulness to a lot of the dialogue, especially in part 1 (I'd forgotten the bit about the jumper, "And does he have one arm longer than the other?") so much so that I think Jaquie Rayner could have done a good job scripting for the RTD era.

And it almost goes without saying but, it's a joy to listen to the wonderful Evelyn. Colin too is brilliant, but it's definitely the more amenable season 23 version of his Doctor rather than the spiky one of S22.

[Lissa]

It's fantastic in pretty much ever way. The cliffhangers have cop-out resolutions and that annoys me but everything else is fantastic. Jac Rayner is one of the best Doctor Who writers in any of the show's incarnations and why she's not written for the TV series is beyond me. The Marian Conspiracy is a great, old fashioned historical story with no aliens crammed in where they're not needed. Men who might chop the Doctor's head off - that's all you need to drive a drama forward.

Portraying Mary in a more favourable light is certainly an interesting angle to take. Few popular historians devote much time to trying to make us see the good in Bloody Mary but Jac does so in a way that doesn't stick out as obvious nonsense (see the Doctor saying that John was actually a decent king in "King's Demons").

And of course it has Evelyn in it - a companion that started well and had her moments but looking back I can't help thinking the character ran its course. There are only so many quips about cocoa and chocolate cake that can be made, even in space and time. But then I've never liked Evelyn as much after "100BC" - also by Jac Rayner - when she acted so irresponsibly and so out of character that she instantly became a caricature that is almost too hard to take seriously any more.

5/5 I think.

[Andrew Curnow]

Belatedly finished listening to this today (parts 3 & 4). Although it is quite talky, I really enjoyed the scene early in part 3 between the Doctor and Sarah - in a sense I suppose it's BF setting out their stall for the (sixth) Doctor, as he questions whether it is justifiable to act, as long as you believe you are doing what is right. (It's interesting that we get this discussion in a sixth Doctor play, as I always remember Colin's excellent description of the Doctor in, I think, 30 Years in the TARDIS - when he says that the Doctor doesn't want to automatically make things beautiful or good, but right, it's got to be right.)

The only bit that was a little odd was the resolution - it's admirable that the Doctor manages to talk the Queen into sparing Sarah's life, but if he hadn't just blabbed out Sarah's (alleged) heresy in front of the Queen and thus given the game away he wouldn't have had to do so!!

Nevertheless a very solid, enjoyable, well-written early offering. The guest cast is maybe a little off, the Queen in particular doesn't sound distinctive enough, but all in all a definite hit!

[Anthony Williams]

Wow... another winner! I make that to be two-in-a-row - somewhat of a rarity in early Big Finish.

The biggest thing about this play is the introduction of a new companion - the first non-tv companion by Big Finish. And Dr Evelyn Smythe is wonderful. The problem with the Sixth Doctor on tv is that he just didn't really gel with either Peri or Mel. Evelyn is a character who's a perfect foil for the Sixth Doctor - she won't take any nonsense from him. I also feel that it was a wonderfully bold move for Big Finish to introduce an older companion for the first time in Doctor Who's history (Evelyn is meant to be around 55). The chemistry between them is shown from the off in this story - indeed, the scene where they're trying to outdo each other with their opinions on Queen Mary is a testament to how wonderfully they work together. The way that she appeals to the Doctor's better nature to save Leaf and Crow is just beautifully done. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE the way that she invites herself to join the Doctor a the end of the story!

The real upshot to this is the softer version of the Sixth Doctor that develops. On tv, and even in audios with Peri, he comes across as rude, petulant and argumentative. In the space of one audio play, we are left with a version of the Sixth Doctor who is calmer, warm and well-adjusted. He's less prone to hissy fits. And the best thing is that Colin Baker really seems to relish being able to play this side of the Sixth Doctor.

Now, onto the story itself. With this one, Jac Rayner crafted an extremely tightly-plotted story. A lot of the important plot points are introduced in Evelyn's first speech. But Rayner also uses the play to educate the audience - although not obnoxiously. The twists and turns help to educate without being patronising (‘Baby? The Virgin Queen? History must be going very wrong indeed.’) Like the previous play, The Fearmonger, this is a play that twists and turns, with a surprise round every corner. Everyone seems to be out to get everyone else, and you never know who's a friend or foe.

There were also some lovely little character moments - particularly revolving around the Doctor and Queen Mary. His determination to convince her to forgive Sarah is superb. Then, there's Evelyn believing that the Doctor might be her ancestor, which I felt was largely played for laughs, with Evelyn's amusement and the Doctor's horror!

As a historian, it was nice to see how loyal this was to how things actually were. Queen Mary has a reputation as being a terrible tyrant. Certainly, she did persecute protestants. However, they were always given the opportunity to recant - just as Thomas was here. And, like Thomas, these were people who wanted to be martyred. Serious kudos to Jac Rayner for doing her research, rather than just going with the popularist version of history.

I really, really loved this audio. It's another solid 5/5 for me!

[Nyder]

Just finished this - yep Evelyn is a great companion & perfect foil for Sixie. The story held my attention and left me realising that I didn't know enough about Queen Mary, so I want to find out more. Surely that's a good indication of a Who Historical!

Looking forward to more adventures with Ms Smythe!