Episode 13: The Red Queen
Back
in Lord Christopher Marlowe’s alternate timeline*, History has twisted yet
again with the wedding of King James of Scotland to the mysterious Red Queen – the
new guise of Penelope’s shadow nemesis from the Dark Dimension**. As the black clouds
of war (literally) gather overhead, the Time Lady has no choice but to walk
into her evil double’s deathtrap…
* Last visited in episodes
9.9 (Should Old Acquaintances be Forgot) and 9.10 (The Banquet of Ashes)
** See episode 12.4 (Heir
Apparent) for more details
Episode 14: Bad Penny
Her
hunt for her Dark Dimension shadow clone leads Penelope to an alternate 1978*,
in a timeline where the Doctor’s TARDIS has been destroyed, UNIT and Torchwood
have been merged into a single entity (M.I.7), a big space-time Rift has opened
in the heart of London and (for some obscure reason) punk rock never happened.
Joining forces with an alternate, earthbound Doctor**, the Time Lady prepares
for her final duel with her nemesis…
* Last visited during her
quest for the Segments of the Key to Time (see episode 11.3, Time Oddity)
** Who looks, of course,
like Richard E. Grant in “Curse of the Fatal Death”
Episode 15: Loose Ends
London,
1978, in an alternate reality. Following her final battle with her Dark
Dimension shadow double, the Time Lady must now face the consequences of her victory.
How long will her disembodied nemesis stay trapped into the deepest recesses of
Penelope’s own mind? And how exactly is
she going to heal her companion Dorian, whose soul has been ravaged by her
now-captive enemy? A story of farewells
and returns, of closures and new beginnings!
These episodes formed the
final trilogy of our twelfth season, which we have called Adventures & Avatars – “Avatars” being a reference to various
characters encountered over its course, from Penelope’s Dark Dimension shadow
double to alternate versions of the Doctor and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (as a
Susan-like teenage companion).
The final episode itself
gave me the opportunity to indulge in some “Easter-egging” by including a hint
or reference to every setting visited during this season – be they in the form
of personal memories, material souvenirs or brief returns by way of TARDIS. It
also was a very personal episode for Lady Penelope, focusing on her habitual reluctance
to take travelling companions (for fear of putting their lives in danger) and the
reasons why she chose to make an exception in the case of Dorian-Miranda, her
current companion – who WILL be at her side when we start Season 13 in a few
months…
