The Monthly Adventures #81 - "The Kingmaker" by Nev Fountain

Writing an audio-only comedy is a pretty damn commendable feat; robbed of the use of body language and visual gags, all you're left with is the dialogue and, if you’re clever, some sound effects. With the Main Range, a comedy could be one of two things: a good time or something absolutely awful. Nev Fountain’s previous work - Omega - whilst not an outward comedy had some great, humorous leanings, so when he put his pen to a purposefully humorous script, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. And for once, that statement proved accurate.

The Doctor’s writing a book. Or he was anyway, before he gave it up. Hounded by publishers, the Time Lord’s finally decided to begin his research on the death of the Princes in the Tower. But upon arrival in the 1400s, he discovers history to be far stranger than it once seemed.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The one thing I can describe The Kingmaker as is “fun”. This a properly joyous script that is full to the bursting with character and charm seeping from every pore. Fountain is a writer who I previously praised for his witty and fluid style, and here he has that in spades. This is a funny script, it uses our characters incredibly well to create comedy and almost all of the jokes land. There’s such a brilliant personality to this audio that makes it a true joy to listen to. I think the real crux of the whole thing is dialogue, which Fountain has a real affinity for. Everything just flows off the page, witticism after witticism falling like dominoes, one after the other, and it’s never overwhelming nor is it ever absent. It’s a wonderfully balanced script that lends a nice feeling of movement to the story.

But who’s delivering our so very excellent dialogue? Well, it’s a pretty damn good cast, who are all on top form throughout. From the dry, humourless drawl of Richard III to the believably over the top Mr. Seyton, we have a well characterised and performed side cast on our hands. A few of the old-timey accents can blend together at points but for the most part, they’re all on top form. This includes our main cast, who are much more tolerable than their last appearance. Erimem and Peri’s relationship has some nice exploration, what with them being stranded without the Doctor and the Doctor himself is at his most cunning and energetic, Davison perfect for the youthful quips the character goes through. We even get a wonderful little cameo from the Fourth Doctor (who I could’ve sworn was being played by Baker but was in fact played by Jon Culshaw) and even a reference to the newly aired Ninth Doctor.

Nev Fountain also excels when it comes to his story. Whilst I have some issues with it, this is for the most part an exceedingly intelligent script with some great bells and whistles added. For one, the actual plot - detailing the Doctor and his companions being separated by two years in the time of Henry III - is really expertly written and managed, especially since it jumps across about three different time streams seamlessly and traverses a whole two years without ever feeling confused or muddled. That alone is a truly incredible accomplishment but then you have all the different subplots and mysteries coming together at the end. The final part to this is truly excellent and easily my favourite part. It all begins with the Part Three twist, where the mysterious Mr. Seyton, who's clearly meant to seem like the Master in disguise, is revealed to actually be… William Shakespeare. Yeah, the main antagonist of The Kingmaker is actual, honest to god William Shakespeare and it’s great; miles better than professional twazzock Gareth Robert’s version. Then comes an absolute maelstrom of events that eventually ends with Shakespeare and Richard III switching places in history, the former dying at the Battle of Bosworth and the latter going onto write all plays after Richard III. It’s a really satisfying ending that manages to pull together a decidedly messy story satisfactorily with the use of a number of really well set up Chekhov guns.

The conclusion is absolutely brilliant and was truly a great way to end a great story, but I have to complain about part one through three. As much as I find the style and humour and character of this story brilliant, it’s actual, well, story remains to be seen. I wasn’t really all that invested in the plot of this thing, which is fine considering I was just enjoying the personality of it all but does mean I wasn’t too attached to the characters or what was going on. Up until the Part Three twist, it’s really a lot of set up and back and forth, the third part is basically just switching between two different conversations. It’s not egregiously terrible but it’s one of those stories that’s all just set up for the ending rather than being a plot in its own right. And the thing is, that set up lasts forever. This rather lightweight comedy clocks in at nearly two and a half hours and let me tell you that under no circumstances should it have been that long. If the final part didn’t click into overdrive so quickly, it might’ve even begun to lose me.

But thankfully, it did not. The Kingmaker isn’t a particularly deep story, but it is an incredibly clever one with more than a few great laughs in it. Whilst as a narrative piece of fiction, it’s not the most compelling thing, Fountain’s clear and present style and excellent sense of humour more than make up for it and I can confidently call The Kingmaker a blast: a rollicking, spirited, unrestrained blast, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

8/10

Pros:

+ Genuinely hilarious and witty

+ Brilliant cast on top form

+ Astonishingly fluid dialogue

+ Manages a complicated story seamlessly

+ Great conclusion that ties together the story well

Cons:

- A little long for its own good

- I find it hard to care about the actual story

This story is utterly hilarious. The jokes mesh perfectly with my sense of humour to create an incradibly enjoyable experience. Richard is brilliantly written and acted. Stephen Beckett's dry delivery is really funny and works perfectly. The plot itself is also increadibly solid. It's an interesting narrative with some fun timey-wimey-ness. There are lots of interesting questions throughout the story which are tied up increadibly neatly in a very satisfying ending. All in all, I cannot recommend this story enough.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Council of Nicaea

I take back what I said about the last story, this one is the best historical in this run and maybe the best historical I've heard in general. This story really contrasts with the serious and dramatic Council of Nicaea by being one of the silliest, most whimsichal and meta stories out there. It's so ridiculous that I don't even know where to start with this review. William Shakespeare gets the Doctor durnk to time travel a hundred years into the past to make sure Richard III kills his nephews so that nobody accuses the Tudors of doing it instead, only for Richard and William to swap places.

It's wild and funny and every twist and cliffhanger leaves you reeling. By far my favourite character here is Richard III. He's used to explore a really interesting idea about the implications of time-travel, that being time-travellers going back to visit (in)famous historical figures and spoiling the events of their lives. It's interesting to see how jaded Richard is when people constantly appear to talk to him about how evil he is and how he's going to kill his nephews, before he even has any. Stephen Beckett performs this perfectly, he plays everything straight which really elevates the comedy throughout the story. It's a very unique take on a historical figure, one that knows of his own existence as a historical figure.

Honestly, there's no real way to get across just how good this story is without typing out the script word-by-word because it is just that good. There's so many fun details and all of them pay off in such clever and satisfying ways. This might be one of my favourite stories for a while and another phenomenal story for the Doctor, Peri, and Erimem.

Next Story: The Helliax Rift

This was obnoxious to listen to, and I say that as someone who usually likes Nev’s audios. Coupled with the two-hour length, I couldn’t finish this one. The jokes weren’t amusing and the entire story was too over the top for my liking (I also don’t care for the meta aspect). Three stars is because I like Perimem working together and, even though I don’t care for the plot, it was original. That’s about it.