Doctor Who: The Lone Centurion: Volume 2: Camelot by Tim Foley, Kate Thorman andAlfie Shaw *CD review)
Rory Pond (Arthur Darvill) returns in ‘Camelot’ and almost succeeds in making us forget ‘Monty Python And The Holy Grail’. Almost. ‘The Lone Centurion’ has a long wait ahead and rather than sit in the cave for 2000 years, he opts to get a bit of experience in the world. This is the alternate timeline created by the exploding TARDIS that will be sorted out once Amy gets out of the Pandorica or some such I’m way beyond the logic of any of this. What it means is that our plastic pal Rory who has been recreated as a Nestene, but without the entire world-dominating nastiness, is free to roam the world as long as he can pop the Pandorica into a large cave/cupboard/wormhole. Not the last one. He doesn’t eat or drink and, unless someone sets fire to him, he can’t die.
The Once And Future Nurse by Alfie Shaw
Rory is now the medical assistant to Malthus (Barnaby Edwards), who looks after the health of the community within Camelot. That would be fine but mostly this consists of chopping limbs off. When Rory manages to save Lancelot (Hugh Skinner) without this drastic measure Lancelot gets a little ‘twitterpated’ and Rory has to explain he has a significant other.
He’s also made an enemy of Merlin (Richard Clifford) who is determined to find and destroy the mythical Pandorica and use it for his own.
The Glowing Warrior by Tim Foley
Rory is on a quest and Lancelot offers/insists on being his squire. It all gets rather bogged down and it’s not long before Rory realises there is both more and less to the glowing warrior. Never mind someone will write a lovely story about it.
The Last King by Kate Thorman
The story comes to its conclusion as Arthur (Sam Stafford) and Guinevere (Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo) are forced from Camelot and evil stalks the land. Rory must summon his Centurion courage to save the day but where can he go from here?
What a truly excellent and entertaining bunch of stories this is. Always thought that Rory got the short end of the stick but his afterlife is proving to be heaps of fun. The supporting cast are brilliant. There’s no thees and thous in this as it’s a sitcom with swords and sorcery. There is as ever so very good and often highly amusing dialogue. The writers have taken Rory Pond to their hearts and are determined he will have a full and very illustrious life even if the slate is wiped clean at the end. I hope these stories carry on and I’m wondering where Rory might be headed next.
Sue Davies
March 2022
(pub: Big Finish, 2022. 3 CDs, 234 minutes 3 stories. Price: £19.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-83868-431-0. Download: £16.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-83868-432-7)
cast: Arthur Darvill, Tom Alexander, Rosie Baker, Richard Clifford, Barnaby Edwards, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Henry Nott, Hugh Skinner, Sam Stafford, Maanuv Thiara and Harley Viveash
check out website: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-lone-centurion-volume-02-camelot-2306