Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Anthony Howell, Abigail Thaw, Rachel Atkins, Catherine Grose, Kieran Bew, Stephen Critchlow.
Not everything gets recorded in time, somewhere along the line events get muddled, facts get lost in rumour and legend and gaps appear in history. These gaps, although maddening for academics that have to hazard a guess at what could have happened to certain individuals in antiquity are for writers of science fiction and historical dramas pure gold. The journey they can take people on makes for a fascinating story and in Paul Magrs tale of long forgotten Queens of pre-English History, the absorbing The Lady Of Mercia, Big Finish’s Doctor Who series does what the series does best, it gets deep down and dirty in the historical stories of Humankind.
This particular tale sees the series return to form for Peter Davison’s incarnation of the Doctor, even if The Doctor is not the main attraction in the story, that honour falls firmly on the women across the two hours of action and intrigue and if there is one thing that Paul Magrs does extremely well, it is how he presents women as strong individuals and their fighting spirit. Certainly his depiction of Tegan Jovanka, portrayed as usual by the superb Janet Fielding, is a great improvement on some stories where the angry but loyal Australian air stewardess is more of an accessory rather than being one of the great companions in the long running programme. This is a Tegan who really gets to grips with the situation as she is thrust in as a rudimentary time travel experiment by Doctor Philippa Stone, played by Abigail Thaw fresh from her time recording Endeavour, which sees her and Professor John Bleak, Anthony Howell, taken back in British history to a time when the country was split into many factions, each area controlled by a different king or queen, in this case the Northern lands of Mercia and under the protection of Queen Æthelfrid.
It is not just Paul Magrs’ approach to giving back Tegan some splendid backbone, some fighting spirit that seems to have been lost along the way but also his way of showing that women have been just as strong as the men in defending a nation throughout time. History only recalls scant information about Queen Æthelfrid and her daughter Aelfwynn, but that is the great thing about Historical Doctor Who tales, the imagination needed to write about one of the great Queens of the Pre-Norman invasion makes them worthwhile exploring and scripting.
Aelfwynn herself is a past echo of Tegan, the same type of woman, unceasingly loyal to her cause and protective of those she holds dear. In this mirroring of fact/fiction and the blurring between, the character is brilliantly portrayed by Catherine Grose. If there is one female individual that could give Tegan a run for her money, judging by Mr. Magrs script, the Catherine Grose as Aelfwynn is that person.
The Lady Of Mercia is a genuinely good script by Paul Magrs and perhaps a highlight of the Peter Davison stories.
The Lady Of Mercia is available to buy from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall