The Book of Kells

The Book of Kells is the fourth story in Season 4 of Big Finish’s 8th Doctor adventures.  It is the third story to feature Tamsin Drew and this is her first appearance in my marathon.  I had been holding off including this story in my marathon until I had got around to listening to the previous stories.  The recent Big Finish sale on 8th Doctor audios allowed me to plug my gaps and The Book of Kells was one of the stories I snapped up for a bargain price (along with most of Season 4!).  One of my principal reasons for looking forward to these stories, was the presence of Tamsin.  Being behind in the my listening, I was unable to participate in the mystery surrounding who the new 8th Doctor companion would be after Lucie Miller’s departure.  The concept of Situation Vacant (an Apprentice-style series of tasks to choose a new companion) was intriguing (and a lot of fun when I finally listened to it) but due to the length of time between these season’s release and me finally listening to them, I knew long ago that Tamsin was the eventual ‘winner’.  Fortunately, Niky Wardley is wonderful as Tamsin.  Her sarky, spiky persona is different enough from Lucie to not feel like a retread and her background as an actress allows for some lovely little touches (such as her anecdote in the next story, Deimos, about once working at the London Dungeon as a Jack the Ripper victim; or her use of The Sound of Music as a basis for improvising a back story for herself and the Doctor when arriving at the monastery).  She strikes me as a more 21st century, slightly less capable Bernice Summerfield.  Her relationship and interplay with the Doctor has been instantly likeable and (with my knowledge of spoilers) it’s a shame she doesn’t stick around with the Doctor for much longer.

This inability to avoid spoilers for this series caused problems for The Book of Kells.  Prior to listening to the story I had discovered two key facts about the story.  It featured the return of the Meddling Monk and, more importantly, the return of Lucie.  Having finally listened to the story, it is difficult to disguise the fact that most of this audio hangs on these shock revelations.  Admittedly, Lucie’s presence is only revealed at the very end but, knowing she was involved in the story it wasn’t hard to detect Sheridan Smith’s tones in the ostensibly male actor playing Lucianus.  Even the way some of the characters pronounced the name; Lucy-arnus – seemed designed to make it fairly obvious who it was really.  That said, both the technical trickery involved, and Sheridan’s performance, to make her voice sufficiently different for it not to be blatant who she truly is, but in hindsight, it is relatively obvious.

The presence of the Meddling Monk is more integral to the story.  The plot makes no attempt to delay the reveal though, with the Doctor realising the Monk is present by the end of Part One, even if he identifies the wrong guest cast actor.  Both Jim Carter (the Doctor’s mistaken Meddler) and Graeme Garden (the true Meddler) give excellent performances and they are supported by solid turns from Ryan (Luke Rattigan) Sampson and Terence (Demon Headmaster) Hardiman.  However, as good as all these performances are and how well Barnaby Edwards scripts lays the clues, knowing the Monk is present means there isn’t an awful lot left to the story.
The real life basis for the plot – the mysterious disappearance of the Book of Kells; isn’t much of a mystery to be honest.  It only went missing for about 3 months and turned up on a dung heap (effectively).  The revelation that the Doctor dumped it there after it had got ripped and torn in an altercation with the Monk doesn’t really measure up to other Doctor Who answers to historical mysteries such as the Daleks emptying the Mary Celeste of occupants or what really happened to the Princes in the Tower.  The story really boils down to the Doctor and Tamsin meeting some monks, finding the Meddling Monk and, right at the end, solving the mystery of the Book of Kells.  It all felt a little insubstantial and smacked a little of simply being a device to reintroduce the Monk and Lucie (both of whom feature heavily in the rest of this season).

Historically, there are a few real life aspects aside from the aforementioned Book of Kells mystery.  Terence Hardiman plays King Sitric, the King of Dublin at this time.  The Doctor fills in a lot of historical details about this period of history (although oddly, I didn’t think it was made clear that this is happening in Ireland – aside from the blurb on the back of the CD), including the strong Viking influence around the time.  The Abbey of Kells is our main setting and there are references to Iona as well as the Monk’s plan revolving around the monk’s artistic talent for illuminated pages of manuscript.  The Book itself is also referred to by its proper name of the Gospel of Columkille.

Overall, the performances in this story make up for the slightness of its storyline.  The return of the Monk is a great idea which I look forward to seeing played out over the rest of season and the pairing of the 8th Doctor and Tamsin is one I would happily enjoy in numerous adventures if we had the opportunity.  The historical setting for this story is interesting, but unusually for Doctor Who, I didn’t really get a sense of time or place.  There is also an odd reference which seem rooted in the ‘old’ version of the 8th Doctor adventures: the presence of the Vortisaur felt out of place in the fast-paced world of these later stories, belonging to the more relaxed pace and tone of the original Charley Pollard era.  I did find it amusing though that it is the presence of a monastery, monks and Vikings which tips the Doctor off that the Monk might be present inferring that all of his plans involve these elements.

Finally, a banger! Book of Kells is a fun, atmospheric sequel to The Time Meddler, and it makes no secret of the fact. Tamsin gets to show off her (admittedly shite) improv acting chops, which is about the most she's gotten to do thus far. The hunt for the Monk and the scooby doo-esque unmasking of Thelonious at the end were a joy to listen to. The norse accents were a bit hokey, but passable. What the hell is Lucie doing?!

8/10.