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147h 'Doctor Who and the Pirates'

CD audio adventure released March 2003, 4 episodes

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner
Director: Barnaby Edwards

Roots: Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction ride. Captain Pugwash. Evelyn name checks fictional characters Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Little Nell. Sally refers to Robert Stevenson and Long John Silver (of Treasure Island fame). The Captain quotes 'Et tu, John Johnson'. John Johnson mentions Passage to India. The Doctor quotes 'Little pig, little pig, let me come in.' Evelyn starts to quote Coleride's Rime of the Ancient Mariner ('water, water everywhere') and sings 'Row, row, row your boat'. The Doctor refers to the ships Queen Mary, Queen Elisabeth II and Titanic. Sally refers to Evita, Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables. Evelyn refers to Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Doctor mentions Henry Morgan, Black Beard and Long John Silver. Gilbert and Sullivan musicals such as The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance. The Doctor mentions Scheherazade. The Tempest ('Caliban').

Intertextuality: The third Doctor met Winston Churchill prior to 'The Ultimate Adventure'. The sixth Doctor met Winston Churchill in Doctor Who: Players by Terrance Dicks.

Goofs: The Doctor calls Daleks and Cybermen robots.

'Gallifrey' doesn't really rhyme with 'legatee'/Gallifrey is mispronounced as 'Gallifree'.

What encyclopaedia has Winston Churchill, the Industrial Revolution and the fire of London in the same volume?

The Doctor wasn't in 'K9 and Company' so how would be know if it was canonical or not? (Let alone know the story to sing about it!)

When the Doctor's singing, how does he sing two parts at the same time in the third song? (He later says Evelyn hasn't been singing!) [Are they actually singing or is it merely a narrative device?]

Double Entendres: 'It just slipped out,'

Dialogue Triumphs: End of episode 2.

''If onlys' don't work. Even in time travel. Well, mostly.'

Continuity: [A lot of this is tricky to know if it's true or not, but assuming any bit not flatly contradicted is...] Red Jasper is only a minor pirate in history (the Doctor hasn't heard of him). His boat is called "The Adventurer's Fancy". He and One-Eye Trent served under Ezecial Bones, "the most feared man to sail the Caribbean".

The Doctor has supposedly met Winston Churchill (advised him on policy), was in the Industrial Revolution (he was the first one to spin the jenny), and doesn't like to talk about the Great Fire of London. He knows that a slow match under the fingernail will burn to the bone, and has a high pain threshold. He claims to have inspired the Mikado and met Albert Gilbert (this meeting is established way back in 'Inside the Spaceship') . The Doctor considers himself the very model of a Gallifreyan buccaneer. <deep breath> He understand dimensional and relative chronometry, he's acquainted with matters of the Capitol including Panopticon protocol. He understands each language and he speaks each vernacular. He was offered the presidential office, although he was eventually ousted out. He knows what it's like to be a wanted man on the run. He's sailed all seven seas of Earth and oceans of the moon [poetic licence? They're not real oceans!]. The term 'preacher' has been used to describe him, but it's not something he does for a living. The Doctor has in his pockets a yo-yo, string, first edition of War and Peace, an apple and a tube of freshmint-flavoured toothpaste. The Doctor can navigate by the celestial bodies (i.e. stars). He is an excellent tree climber. He swam against Captain Webb in the Channel. He has spent many hours on an exercise cycle(!).

The 19th Century is not Evelyn's period. She likes Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. Evelyn can bake cakes (hardly news) but is not very good at telling stories and embellishes them terribly. She says people in the past are always impressed by chocolate.

Location: Somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, sometime between 1702-1714. London, present day (about a week later subjective time for the Doctor and Evelyn).

Links: 'The Visitation' (Great Fire of London).

During his 'song', the Doctor refers to the Daleks, Quarks ('The Dominators), Cybermen, Mavic Chen ('The Dalek Master Plan'), Tobias Vaughn ('The Invasion'), Vikings ('The Time Meddler'), Autons ('Spearhead from Space', 'Terror of the Autons'), Axons ('The Claws of Axos'), Daemons ('The Daemons'), Krotons ('The Krotons'), Monoids ('The Ark'), Vampires ('State of Decay'), Voords ('The Keys of Marinus'), Hecate ('K9 and Company'),and quotes Drax's 'Remember me to Gallifree' ('The Armageddon Factor'). He has saved the planets Manussa ('Snakedance'), Dulkis ('The Dominators' again), Skonnos ('The Horns of Nimon'), and Tigella ('Meglos'). [Hmm. All the boring planets!]

Bottom Line: "Join me for a life of piratical ease!"

Who doesn't like a tale of pirates? Certainly this is an extraordinarily fun adventure, especially after recent audios, but still with an underlying touch of serious that gives the story an extra oomph. Episode Three is especially wonderful, with everyone showing off their singing talents splendidly. And yet another version on the theme tune!

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