It’s been over four years since David Bradley’s alternate version of the 1^st Doctor last made its way onto Big Finish. A series of highly rated audios, they starred a totally recast TARDIS team from the very first season of Doctor Who, but after five boxsets, it was cut from the line-up in readiness for a new set of regular releases in line with every other classic Doctor range.

A personal favourite of mine, I was in no small part disappointed by the news, as the series had successfully captured the essence of Hartnell’s early seasons, whilst managing to tell new and interesting adventures. Imagine my delight, then, when Big Finish announced last year that this range would be returning as part of a new series of Unbound adventures.  

Knights of the Round TARDIS by LR Hay presents the start to this TARDIS team’s new unbound era with a 2, 50-minute part historical adventure set around The Monk’s meddling with Simon de Montfort and the Second Barons’ War.

Thirteenth Century Oxford – courtly love, jousting knights and a golden age of Academia. What a treat for the Doctor and his companions! A chance to meet precursor of English democracy Simon de Montfort, as well as scientist, visionary and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon – a man truly ahead of his time.

Truly ahead of his time. If the TARDIS team can’t stop him, this time-meddling wolf in Monk’s clothing will alter the course of Earth’s history. But is it already too late to prevent the timelines becoming unbound for the Doctor and his friends?

Big Finish Synopsis

The first part of the story sets a good pace for the adventure. Its 50-minute runtime allows team TARDIS the breathing space to settle into their 13^th-century surroundings while deepening the mystery, as each member in turn comes to discover that Roger Bacon might not be who he says he is.

Where the episode shines, however, is with its characters. Hay’s re-introduction of the recast version of The Doctor (David Bradley), Ian (Jamie Glover), Barbara (Jemma Powell) and Susan (Claudia Grant) ensures that they’ve kept all the chemistry that they had from their original run. David Bradley, especially, is a tour de force during this story, delivering quips and jabs at record pace. Moreover, Keith Wickham’s performance as the new Meddling Monk makes for a great addition to the roster. His portrayal easily stands alongside Rufus Hound’s more jokey version of the twisted Time Lord, with an interpretation closer to the original. With Wickham’s portrayal, there’s more of a sly cunning about his Monk that works well with Bradley’s sharper 1^st Doctor.

Unfortunately, the story’s second part never quite matches the strengths of the first. While still a good episode overall, the story fumbles the believability of de Montfort’s change in motivations and decision to join The Doctor and correct history. I found it hard to believe that de Montfort would be swayed so easily to go to his death by a mere history (or in this case, futurology) lesson, given his lordly and prideful personality. It lacked depth and needed a little more conflict on behalf of de Montfort to sell this change.

Despite these issues, the interactions between The Doctor and The Monk during the episode are great. The bad blood developed between them during this story offers plenty of leeway for fun future appearances.