‘THE RELICS OF TIME’
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Visiting Roman Britain with the Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey
It’s time to start the ‘Demon Quest’ audio series in ‘The Nest Cottage Chronicles’ of ‘Doctor Who’! 🙂
After the apparent success of the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ series in the BBC Fourth Doctor audio adventures, starring Tom Baker in 2009, a sequel series was soon put together in 2010. Once again, Paul Magrs returned to write another five-part audio episode series that matched the style of ‘Hornets’ Nest’. 😐
When I checked out the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ audios back in 2009 and 2010, they were on CD. In fact, I purchased the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ CD box set to hear all five audio adventures. However, I didn’t feel invested enough in the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ audios, since the style didn’t match to the Big Finish audios. 😦
Therefore, I didn’t purchase the ‘Demon Quest’ audios the following year. Besides, I had other ‘Doctor Who’-related things to enjoy in 2010, like the latest Fifth Doctor audio stories by Big Finish as well as attending conventions, including ‘Regenerations 2010’ in Swansea in September of that year.
I considered ‘Demon Quest’ a low priority. Then ‘Serpent Crest’ happened in 2011 and ‘The Nest Cottage Chronicles’ soon ended (sort-of, which I will discuss another time), as Tom Baker went on to play the Fourth Doctor in the Big Finish audios. I’m happy Tom eventually did the Big Finish audios. 🙂
It’s taken me a while to check out the rest of ‘The Nest Cottage Chronicles’ after initially checking out ‘Hornets’ Nest’. At the time of this review, I’m checking out ‘Demon Quest’ and ‘Serpent Crest’ in 2023. Instead of having them on CD, I purchased the entire ‘Nest Cottage Chronicles’ series on Audible.
This means I have all three sets of Fourth Doctor BBC audios on Audible, which also includes a bonus collection of audio extras (which I will get to another time). Personally, I prefer owning the entire ‘Nest Cottage Chronicle’ series on Audible as opposed to on CD, as it does save up plenty of space. 🙂
Anyway, let’s talk about the first episode of ‘Demon Quest’ called ‘The Relics of Time’. Apparently, it’s Tom Baker and Susan Jameson who are the main stars of ‘Demon Quest’ as opposed to Tom Baker and Richard Franklin in ‘Hornets’ Nest’. Don’t fret. Richard Franklin does appear in the series.
It’s interesting how that’s turned around, since Susan Jameson as Mrs. Wibbsey has become the Fourth Doctor’s companion in the rest of ‘The Nest Cottage Chronicles’. I suppose ‘Hive of Horror’ was an experiment episode to see whether Mrs. Wibbsey as a ‘Doctor Who’ companion would work.
I don’t mind Mrs. Wibbsey being a companion. It’s clear Tom Baker and Susan Jameson got on well with each other when making the ‘Hornets’ Nest’ series. It’s just I’m curious as to why Mrs. Wibbsey wasn’t the Fourth Doctor companion for the entire ‘Hornets’ Nest’ series instead of just one episode.
Richard Franklin didn’t do very much in ‘Hornets’ Nest’, apart from playing a pivotal role in the fifth and final episode. and so far, it seems he doesn’t do much in ‘Demon Quest’. Mind you, I’ve yet to hear the rest of the series and I can’t judge Mike Yates’ role by listening to just one episode alone. 😐
In ‘The Relics of Time’, Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor returns to Nest Cottage, which he considers his ‘vacation home’. It’s Christmas in the year 2011, I believe. Last time when he was in Nest Cottage dealing with the alien hornets, it was Christmas in the year 2010. This does make me wonder here. 🙂
What has Tom Baker’s Doctor been doing in between Nest Cottage in 2010 and Nest Cottage in 2011. Did he go straight from ‘Hornets’ Nest’ into ‘Demon Quest’, or did he have some adventures in between the two BBC audio series? I don’t think the Big Finish audios have filled in that certain gap.
Richard Franklin, Tom Baker and Susan Jameson in ‘The Relics of Time’.
Who knows? Maybe Tom Baker’s Doctor and K-9 met up with Ann Kelso/Anya Kingdom in-between ‘Hornets’ Nest’ and ‘Demon Quest’. I haven’t heard anything to confirm that, so if anyone can clarify that’s the case, please let me know. The Fourth Doctor and James Darby could easily slip in there. 😀
The Doctor enters Nest Cottage to meet up with Mrs. Wibbsey, who isn’t really pleased to see him. The Doctor has come to Nest Cottage to relax and conduct some repairs on some TARDIS equipment. Mrs. Wibbsey is soon about to sell some things from the cottage at a church charity sale.
It’s interesting how Mrs. Wibbsey reacts to the Fourth Doctor. Mrs. Wibbsey of course comes from Cromer in the year 1932, according to ‘The Dead Shoes’. She seems to have a desire to go back to her own time, but the Doctor informs her there’s not much for her to go back to in that time period.
It makes me wonder what Mrs. Wibbsey was like in 1932, as there’s no mention of her having had a family whatsoever. No husband or children to speak of. I mean, did the alien hornets kill Mrs. Wibbsey’s family when they took her over in ‘The Dead Shoes’? I’m not sure that’s clearly established.
Anyway, the Doctor finds that Mrs. Wibbsey has inadvertently taken some TARDIS components, including the spatial geometer, to sell at the church charity sale in the local village. The Doctor is too late to stop her, as a stranger bought the components in exchange for a bag of some odds-and-ends.
The odds-and-ends include a mosaic tile and a photo of the Roman-era mosaic of which it is a part of. The mosaic happens to be an image of the Fourth Doctor. Intrigued, the Fourth Doctor soon takes Mrs. Wibbsey as his companion. They go off on a quest in the TARDIS to find the spatial geometer. 🙂
With the spatial geometer gone, the TARDIS can only travel in time, not space. So, essentially, the TARDIS has ended up becoming the Delorean from ‘Back to the Future’, as it could only travel in time, not space. I wonder if this is an idea that should be considered for a ‘Doctor Who’ TV season. 🙂
The Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey trace the Roman-era mosaic back to Roman Britain itself in the year 46 AD. The Doctor would later return to Roman-era Britain as the Eleventh Doctor in ‘The Pandorica Opens’/’The Big Bang’ and as the Twelfth Doctor in ‘The Eaters of Light’ in the new TV series.
In this story, according to the Fourth Doctor, he hasn’t visited Roman-era Britain or the 1st century on Earth in his current incarnation before. Um, continuity error there. The Fourth Doctor did visit Roman-era Britain in the year 60 AD when he was travelling with Leela in ‘The Wrath of the Iceni’. 😐
That story took place before ‘The Relics of Time’. The Doctor and Leela met Boudica in that story! I know ‘The Wrath of the Iceni’ was made in 2012 after ‘The Relics of Time’ in 2010, but it annoys me the continuity between Big Finish audios, BBC audios and other mediums don’t match up together. 😦
Then again, this continuity error could be resolved by saying that the Doctor probably forgot the events of ‘The Wrath of the Iceni’ from his amnesia in ‘The Invasion of Time’. But then, how come Leela didn’t know who the Sontarans are in that story when she met them in ‘The King of Sontar’? 😐
The guest cast includes Kate Sachs as a female warrior and Rupert Holliday Evans as a male warrior in a Celtic settlement. Kate Sachs happens to be the daughter of Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in ‘Fawlty Towers’ and did Big Finish audios such as ‘The Boy That Time Forgot’ and 2003’s ‘Shada’. 🙂
Rupert Holliday Evans is no stranger to ‘Doctor Who’, as he played Colonel Mace in the new TV series two-parter ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’/’The Poison Sky’. I’ve also seen him in a Series 5 episode of ‘Grantchester’ and apparently, he was in the 2018 film ‘Patrick’. Who knew he was so versatile? 😀
There’s also Nigel Anthony who plays Emperor Claudius, who might not actually be Claudius, as this happens to be a trap set by a ‘wizard’ that the Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey encounter in Roman-era Britain. The Wizard soon departs, failing to capture the Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey in the episode.
Richard Franklin as Mike Yates’ appearance in the episode is of a recorded message on an answering machine that the Fourth Doctor brings with him on his and Mrs. Wibbsey’s trip to Roman-era Britain. Apparently, Mike still has Captain the dog with him and he hopes to visit Nest Cottage for Christmas.
After solving part of the mystery of the mosaic of the Fourth Doctor, which turns out to be a fake, the Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey return to the TARDIS and check out another item from the odds-and-ends bag, which happens to be painting of Aristide Bruant by Lautrec, and it looks like the Doctor. 😐
The Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey are soon on their way to the Moulin Rogue, as they deduce a connection with Paris in the 1800s. I’m not familiar with the Aristide Bruant painting by Lautrec, but it’s fascinating how it has a Fourth Doctor connection, which will be intriguing to uncover next time.
‘The Relics of Time’ is an enjoyable opening story in ‘Demon Quest’. There are narration issues to contend with, particularly since it’s Tom Baker who does the story’s narration as the Fourth Doctor, but I was really compelled into how the Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey end up travelling together.
I don’t know how this BBC audio series is going to turn out, particularly with the TARDIS only journeying in time instead of space and time, but I look forward to what’s going to happen next for the Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey. Hopefully, they will recover the TARDIS spatial geometer soon.
‘The Relics of Time’ rating – 8/10
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