The Roundheads.

Approx. 557 minutes. Written by: Mark Gatiss. Produced by: Neil Gardner. Performed by: Anneke Wills.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS materializes in London in December 1648 - in the wake of the Second English Civil War. King Charles I, whose Roundheads were defeated by Oliver Cromwell's Cavaliers, is now a prisoner. Those in Parliament viewed as sympathetic to the king have been either turned away from Parliament or arrested, leaving the way clear to charge King Charles with treason and execute him.

But plans have been set in motion to rescue the doomed monarch, and the members of the TARDIS crew soon find themselves scattered among the opposing forces. Ben is press-ganged onto the Teaser, a ship under the command of the mysterious Capt. Stanislaus, whose Dutch "cargo" is seen as the king's salvation. The Doctor and Jamie are arrested as vagrants and soon find themselves guests of Oliver Cromwell, evading potentially lethal suspicions by pretending to be seers.

Meanwhile, Polly falls in with a group of Royalists working out of the attic of an inn, using her desperation to find her friends to manipulate her into helping to rescue King Charles... An act which could disrupt the proper course of history!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: For much of the book, he does little to advance the story. He spends more than half the running time locked up while Ben and Polly carry threads that actively advance the plot. As if to underline this, there's even a scene in which he stages an elaborate escape from his cell only to end up right back in it, sighing that it was "worth a try." Despite this, his scenes don't play like filler. Writer Mark Gatiss writes a spot-on Second Doctor, balancing both his serious and comedic sides, and his interactions with historical figures like Cromwell are sharply scripted and feel authentic to the character.

Polly: The prologue sees Polly after her return to her own time, visiting the Tower of London and remembering the events of this story - which frames this up-front as more Polly's tale than anyone's. Her loyalty to her friends becomes an Achilles' heel for her, as she's (a little too) easily exploited by Royalist John Copper into assisting with a plot to save the king. Her compassionate side shows in the quick friendship she strikes up with the innkeeper's daughter Frances, and she also forms a rapid connection with Christopher Whyte, a charming Cavalier. The ending forces Polly to make a difficult decision, which is played in an effectively subdued manner.

Ben: Once separated from Polly, he spends the bulk of the story in his own, enclosed "pirate movie." Here is where writer Mark Gatiss' love of pastiche shows, as Ben spends time in the company of Sal Winter, who is basically a likable distaff version of Long John Silver - She not only has a pegleg, but also a false nose, and her every utterance is in pirate speak. Ben acts as the voice of caution to the headstrong Winter, and the odd friendship they strike up works surprisingly well.

Jamie: Admits to the Doctor that Ben and Polly's well-intentioned ribbing hurts his feelings sometimes, as they have a way of unintentionally making him feel stupid. The Doctor has already recognized this, which is why he insists on taking Jamie for a little time away from their other companions. This is a convincingly in-character reason to separate them; it also conveniently allows the story to spotlight to the iconic 2nd Doctor/Jamie pairing, while at the same time giving Ben and Polly plenty to do in their own plot strands.


THOUGHTS

"Have I seen them [alternative futures]? Yes, I've seen them. Or heard of them. Englands with a third, fourth, or fifth Civil War. A resurgent monarch who ruthlessly oppresses all democracy. Or a triumphalist, hereditary Puritan Protectorate that rules the country until the twentieth century. Or an invading Catholic army which takes advantage of England's crisis to take over most of the known world. Oh yes, they're all out there. All kinds of futures. Some great, some truly terrible."
-The Doctor, musing about the possible futures that can result from changing history.

The Roundheads was one of the early BBC Past Doctor novels, published in 1997 - not long after the BBC brought publication of Doctor Who novels in-house. This review is of the unabridged audio reading released in 2015 - but save for notes about the performance and production, it applies every bit as much to the printed novel.

Writer Mark Gatiss obviously did his research into the period. The story's recreation of the historical period is convincing, and there's a decent feel for the issues on both sides of the central conflict. Some of the most vivid scenes in the story don't involve the regulars at all: The dramatization of Pride's Purge, in which 2/3 of Parliament were turned away by the military, for example; or the argument between Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax over trying the king for treason... These are scenes that could easily belong to a straight historical novel set during this time period. A good one, at that.

The audio book is a fine production of a good story. The atmosphere is boosted by background sound effects, such as murmuring voices, horses' hoofbeats, and gunshots and sword clangs during action sequences. The effects help bring it to life, but are used sparingly enough that they don't become a distraction. Anneke Wills' reading is terrific, offering distinct voices for each of the regulars: A soft-voiced, gravely Doctor that captures the kindliness of Troughton's incarnation; a peevish Scottish accent for Jamie; an enthusiastic Cockney for Ben; and a strong recreation by Wills of her own mid-1960's youthfulness as Polly.

Not everything works. There's a bizarre scene late in the book in which one supporting character becomes a would-be rapist for no readily apparent reason. It's jarring enough to have an attempted rape in a story set during the innocent Troughton era - and it's even more jarring given that absolutely nothing leads up to this moment. The character in question has been portrayed as manipulative and ruthless, but not lascivious. He also has barely interacted with the object of his aggression prior to his abrupt assault. It feels out of place, and would have been better excised.

Still, this is a good Doctor Who novel, and very well-treated by its audio production. A strong addition to Who's ever-expanding audio catalogue, and well worth the time of readers and listeners alike.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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