Medicinal Purposes saw the first appearance of Doctor Knox, a time meddling businessman played with a certain amount of relish by Leslie Philips.  Assassin in the Limelight sees his return in a tale which pulls together Knox, the 6th Doctor and Evelyn, the Indo from the writer, Robert Ross’s other 6th Doctor audio Pier Pressure (the one we’re ignoring for the time being); all wrapped up in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  It’s a lot of elements but it works.

I really enjoyed this story.  Oddly, I don’t remember it having much impact on me on first listen.  This time round it felt fresh and interesting.  It is possible that on first listen it had been ages since the release of Medicinal Purposes, whereas this time I have listened to them in relatively quick succession.  The interplay between Baker, Stables and Philips is great and the rest of the cast provide solid support.  Possibly having been stung by criticisms of accents in previous audios featuring American characters, all of the supporting cast (with the exception of Lysette Anthony) are American or Canadian.  (Hilariously, the authenticity of the American accents is a fact reiterated time and again in the interview extras at the end of each disc almost as if Big Finish are making sure no listener is in any doubt at all that the accents are properly accurate – even to the point where the actor playing John Wilkes Booth explains exactly why his accent is the way it is in the production).

The first episode builds nicely to the revelation of Booth’s death before he can assassinate the President but, interestingly, this aspect of the story then takes a bit of a back seat whilst Knox’s personal predicament and the presence of the Indo takes up the lion’s share of the story.  The reappearance of Booth is actually rather underplayed and oddly, I think this works as otherwise it might have been a more predictable runaround of the Doctor and Evelyn trying to ensure history remains on track (a little more like 100 BC for example).  As it is, the listener finds themselves starting to feel some sympathy for Knox.  Ross himself comments in the extras that Knox in this story is a far softer, more likeable rogue than in his first appearance in Medicinal Purposes.  Knox is far closer to the perception many have of Leslie Philips as a loveable old rogue, and Ross again states he found himself writing specifically for Philips in this story rather than a more abstract Knox as in the first story.  The culmination of this character development is a touching scene of Knox’s death and his last words which manage to insult the Doctor even in death.

Apart from this I can’t quite put my finger on what I liked about this story.  Maybe its just the slightly unusual historical setting which bolsters the rather glorious trinity of Baker, Stables and Philips.  The presence of an even more advanced TARDIS than Knox has in Medicinal Purposes is a fun aspect, with a sultry computer voice (Lysette Anthony, again), an elevator and voice control.  I would love to see something like it visualised.  It also allows for some of the best scenes between the three leads with the Doctor pretending he isn’t phased by the functions of the advanced TARDIS and convincing no one, least of all himself.  And there is a little reference to Six Gun Sadie who also graced the stage of the Palace Theatre owned by one Henry Gordon Jago – a lovely little touch, drawing together the Victorian world of Doctor Who.

There are a few minus points.  I wasn’t impressed by the music or soundscape.  I found them a little sparse and lacking.  There were scenes that it wasn’t clear whether they were interior or exterior and a few of the scenes did sound a little too like they were being recorded in booths.  I also found the voices of Lysette Anthony’s Clara Harris and Madeleine Potter’s Lizzie a little too similar and did wonder, initially, if it was the same actress.  Knox’s off-screen resurrection is also a little bit disappointing after such a wonderful ‘death scene’ earlier in the story.

Historically, everyone featured is a real person (with of course the exception of the three leads): John Wilkes Booth, Clara Harris, John Parker, Lizzie Williams, Henry Clay Ford and Thomas Eckert are all mentioned in dispatches concerning Lincoln’s assassination.  My own knowledge of the assassination is based mainly on the usual ‘general knowledge’ aspect and the musical Assassins which has a lengthy section involving Booth deliberating over the assassination whilst being an inspiration to other American presidential assassins throughout the years (my description makes it sound less brilliant than it is – it is a very good musical, even if it is a very odd subject matter). The majority of the story is set in and around Ford’s Theatre, the site of Lincoln’s assassination with brief forays to the nearby park, public house, Clara Harris’ home and the Blue Room in the White House itself.  This is the first Doctor Who visit to the White House and, although I could be completely wrong, I’m not sure we revisit it again until around 1969 and The Impossible Astronaut.

Interestingly, the only major historical figure missing from the story is Abraham Lincoln himself.  The story doesn’t even really show his assassination.  There is a brief flashback (although technically it’s a flashforward historically) from Knox telling the Doctor about what inspired his current plan of the ‘Booth Experience’ having witnessed the assassination on an earlier trip to the time period.

Knox is also passing himself off as Oscar Wilde and is using The Importance of Being Earnest as the play he is taking around the theatres – Wilde would have been around ten years old in 1865.  At the close of the story, after the credits, Knox (now played by director Barnaby Edwards (doing a passable impression of Leslie Philips it has to be said)) is found travelling back to England having adopted the guise of Arthur Conan Doyle (A History makes an effort to point out the inherent flaws in this and suggests that he must discard this alias soon after).

A curiously good adventure.