Season 15, Episode 7

Episode 7: Incroyable!

Lady Penelope decides to take a holiday to 1799 Paris, at the time of the Directoire – an era of post-revolutionary extravagance, salon intrigue and moral liberation, where the foppish Incroyables walk the streets in their eccentric attire and the scantily-clad Merveilleuses reign over high society. Soon, she will meet an old enemy with a new face and an Eternal grudge…

We really had a magnificent time with this episode!  Somehow, it encapsulated my favorite ingredients for DWAITAS adventures: a historical setting with colorful NPCs and some leisure time to get a taste of the chosen time period; a sudden twist with direct connections to the past or continuity of the campaign; witty, delightful dialogue; a lot of dramatic tension, with occasional flashes of humor and darker overtones; tough choices for the heroine and a great master villain – in this case, the Eternal known as the Marquis de Carabas (see episode 14.08 for more details). I had been searching for a new, interesting and really powerful Nemesis for Penelope and I clearly found it with the Marquis. The scenario also involved the beloved Count of Saint-Germain… whose body was destroyed but whose mind, memory and psychic consciousness Penelope managed to save in extremis.

The story ended with the Doctor (who has been tampering and experimenting with the secrets of regenerations for the few last seasons…) giving the Count a new body (as he had done with the disincarnated Zoe in an earlier episode) – and turning him into a Neo Time Lord!  And of course, the new, regenerated Count wants to travel.

Time to bring back the old Lady & Count duo!  Allons-y!