Doctor Who: The Widow's Assassin

Writer: Nev Fountain
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Anthony Lamb
Music: Howard Carter
Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant
Released October 2014

The Widow's Assassin sees writer Nev Fountain at his most unpredictable, which is quite achievement. Across its four episodes, the listener is taken on a journey through a fairy tale made flesh, royal court intrigue, battles inside multiple minds and home in time for tea. That this is accomplished with such style is a credit to Fountain and director Ken Bentley.

Following the end of Scavenger, in which the sixth Doctor's latest tagalong Flip (Lisa Greenwood) departed seemingly definitively, he turns up on Krontep in search of reconciliation with Peri (Nicola Bryant), following their own fractious parting. Familiarity with the 1986 Doctor Who TV story Mindwarp benefits the listener a surprisingly great deal when listening to The Widow's Assassin. No sooner has Fountain finally married Peri and King Yrcarnos (Brian Blessed, on TV) than he's done away with him, and this is the catalyst for the rest of the story. Maybe catalyst is the wrong word, as the first episode alone is audacious enough to take place over the course of five years - and then the second goes one better and doubles it.

Setting the story over such a long period allows Fountain to establish and pay off some of the Doctor/Peri relationship work he is famed for. The irony is that, in the end, barely any time at all has passed for Peri, compared to decades for the Doctor. Ordinarily stories that concern themselves with, to paraphrase The Androids of Tara, the affairs of a piffling little planet, hold little interest. But Nev Fountain's colourful universe of characters really makes this story stand out from the crowd. Most notable is Constable Wolsey, Peri's head of security and also half-man/half-sheep. In fact, it is Wolsey who carries the story's first half, narrating events and taking the lead in the second episode. The Doctor's absence here creates a noticeable void, Fountain's writing creating questions in the listener's mind. What he has been up to is more than anyone would expect.

The Widow's Assassin skillfully walks the line between being intelligent and impregnable. Something this high-concept could have made for a difficult listen, especially at its extended length, and especially given it is such a hardcore sequel to Mindwarp. Ken Bentley, the cast and the post-production succeed in making this extremely listenable and realising the script's considerable ambition. The music in particular is to be commended for completing such a rounded production.

As a scene-setter for a new era of travels for Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, The Widow's Assassin functions perfectly. While it is not a flawless script - the reappearance of the Doctor's first ever foe that comes to nothing is perhaps one subplot too far - the relationship of the Doctor and Peri, characters thirty years in the making is at its core and on this Fountain, Baker and Bryant never put a foot wrong. It is refreshing to have a story as genuinely witty, in writing and execution, as this and it is an absorbing listen, particularly the first two episodes. A triumph for all involved, setting the bar high and leaving the listener hungry for the next story.