1.3 - Death and the Queen

Death and the Queen

Goritania (Europe) - 1780's

After enjoying last nights new release of No Place by James Goss heading up the opening of the 10th Doctor Adventures Volume 3 I was left in the mood for some more Doctor & Donna by James Goss. Ironically Big Finish had it listed on the current Book Club discount for a $3 download. The Time Scales reviews rank this high so I jumped on the good deal.

The Time Scales reviewers are correct. This is a damn good one. It looks like I have a new favorite Big Finish author now with James Goss. Actually I have never had a favorite Big Finish author before. But now I do. I will be listening to every single one he has written. Death and the Queen is a perfect demonstration of what Big Finish is capable of when all things fall into place in just the right ways. Perfect story, perfect acting, perfect sound.

If you ever have a friend ask you "Hey are those Doctor Who audio books you like listening to any good?" Have them listen to Death and the Queen. If you ever have a Doctor Who friend ask you which book they should listen to first? If you ever see or hear a Doctor Who fan mention any admiration for David Tennant, Doctor #10, Donna Noble or The Doctor & Donna? Yes. Have them listen to Death and the Queen.

If in the middle of this crazy fast paced hootenanger you find yourself wondering what the bloody hell is up with the cloud destroying everything in it's path while bellowing "I bring death! The price must be paid!". Well apparently the kingdom purchased 500 years of peace and is hidden from reality by having agreed to sell the soul of the future Queen to a Mefistole.

(Insert sound of bellowing sheep)

It’s all nines!
Greatly captured our leads relationships and I mean the villain Is basically the grim merchant reaper!

This doesn’t exactly have a finale feeling but if I could liken it to any story of the respective season it’s nodding too I’d elect silince in the library (a favourite of mine) and it is lovely !

Definitely the best of the volume and even this range so far including vol 2

"Death and the Queen" is a wonderful entry in the Tenth Doctor Adventures saga that emphasizes the relationship between Donna and the Doctor. The plot - Donna, overnight, becoming the queen of a territory the Doctor has never heard of - seems to only be the background for the true story, which is the complicated relationship between Donna and the Doctor. Both of assume that they are better than the other, and they both repeatedly make mistakes because of it. Donna becomes a queen-to-be but must put up with her prince's insufferable mother and the constant attention from her servants. The Doctor is suspicious of the entire situation, but he doesn't understand why and continually prods Donna until she becomes so fed up with him that their friendship becomes skewed. This is the meat of the story, and where it shines. James Goss seems to have a brilliant hold on what makes Doctor Who so brilliant - the setting and monster makes little difference (although the monster being a menacing cloud that is later named Death is rather entrancing), the most important element is the relationship between the Doctor, his companion, and how the events around them impact that relationship. This story communicates an understanding of Doctor Who wonderfully, and it is one of the best Tenth Doctor stories to date.

Ever since her debut in 2006's The Runaway Bride, Donna has always been unlucky in love. First there was Lance, then Lee in Silence In The Library/Forest of the Dead. Now she has a new love to add to that list: Prince Rudolph. And no, it's not third time lucky (she does get fourth time lucky in The End of Time though).

Death and the Queen by James Goss is basically one of those fun RTD era romps you would get halfway through a series. It brings to mind series 4's The Unicorn and the Wasp, as a mad caper with plenty of banter from the Doctor and Donna Noble. There are some truly classic Doctor and Donna moments in this tale, such as Donna's moaning that she can never have a wedding that goes to plan with the Doctor around and her frustration at her servants as future Queen doing everything for her including helping her get dressed. My absolute favourite are the early scenes where the Doctor keeps interrupting Donna and Prince Rudolph when they're trying to have romantic moments together. So Donna has finally met her prince and she's about to get married; I bet you're wondering what goes wrong this time...

Well, you see, Death has an army coming for the fairytale kingdom as it is revealed a deal was made between the people of the fairytale land and Death. James Goss plays expertly with creating atmosphere here, with Death at first being obscured by cloud making for a very mysterious and unearthly appearance for the audio's antagonist. It allows for a very powerful performance from Catherine Tate too when she delivers the line 'Death is staring me in the face'. It's a very chilling line and one that works best on audio than it probably would on TV.

Now let's talk about Death: Death is...well, obviously the personification of death as a character and is a very creepy one, especially when his true motives are revealed. The reason behind Donna's marriage is truly shocking and like something from the Philip Hinchcliffe era of Doctor Who. As you can probably tell by what I have said in earlier 10th Doctor audio reviews there's a real 4th Doctor feel going on in these three stories which seem fitting for the best Doctor of the new series. This tale in particular whilst basically as said earlier an RTD-style romp has a very gothic feel to it with some of its ideas and themes. It sort of similar to if you combined a Tim Burton film with an Edgar Wright one.

One of my favourite things about this story is Alice Krige as the Queen Mum. She's wonderfully unlikeable, more determined to hold the wedding than to even batter an eyelid at all the people dying at the hands of Death's army. She even takes a dislike to Donna and that's just not on. The Queen Mum is a brilliant villianess for David Tennant's Doctor to argue with; he, of course, is just perfect as the 10th Doctor as usual and brilliantly portrays the Doctor's desperation at wanting Donna back as a companion. Of course, she rejoins him in the end because Donna's exit doesn't take place until Journey's End and these audios take place between series four but you really feel for the Doctor when he just wants his best friend back.

Overall, Death and the Queen is a fantastic conclusion to the first Tenth Doctor Adventures box set and represents the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble at their best. Here's hoping for a volume two with Bernard Cribbins returning as loveable granddad Wilfred Mott.