The Winter of Our Discontent, Part II: The Devil Went Down to Anjou (2/3)

[lareinenoire]

Title: The Winter of Our Discontent, Part II: The Devil Went Down to Anjou
Authors: lareinenoire and rosamund
Summary: Something is rotten in the state of England...and it's not just the heads mounted above the gates of York. Can the Doctor and Jack solve the mystery and, even more importantly, can they sober up in a land without safe drinking water?
Rating: PG13 for

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

Oh, I love this! *squees incoherently*

"Oh, come on! I am not that incomprehensible."

Sorry, Doctor, but...

"Are you truly Merlin?"

"I'm never sure," he said to the guard's patent confusion.

"But the stories say you appear and disappear. I have a friend whose cousin's brother-in-law was at Mortimer's Cross and he said he saw you walk into a big blue box and disappear."

"And do you remember Merlin having a big blue box?"

"He might have been wrong about the box. He lost an eye at Northampton."

I love this take on the Merlin question!

His heart was beating uncomfortably hard and fast, and he decided to yell at the Doctor later for not warning him about fifteenth-century fashion that wasn't armour. He should have at least mentioned the tights.

I seem to remember one of Warwick's men liked to write stories in his spare time. Name of Malory, I think *sporfle

[lareinenoire]

We considered giving Malory a cameo, but turns out he was in prison in 1461, so...

The Margaret Thatcher/Margaret of Anjou thing has been done before, actually -- there was a 1990 production of the Histories that drew a very specific parallel between the two, complete with costuming choices. I haven't seen it, but I could see how that would work incredibly well.

::grin:: Someone just needs to write a fic where the Doctor meets King Arthur properly. That's all I'm saying.

[prynne12]

^ This.

[snorkackcatcher]

Brilliant stuff -- Jack and the Doctor seem just right, loads of grreat lines, the historical stuff in excellent (it helps that it's written by people who know what they're doing there :D), and yay for Bilis Manger! About time he cropped up again.

[lareinenoire]

Bilis is so underused! I think he's such a fantastic villain, and I really, really want him to meet the Doctor at some point, just because there can't be too many people out there who can bend time and space.

Very glad you're enjoying it -- we're having a fantastic time writing it!

[prynne12]

This is bloody brilliant! Everything from the misappropriation of the St. Crispin's Day speech to the description of Margaret of Anjou to the fantastic moment with the guardsman and slipping standards.

*Ninja's off to read the footnotes with an almost unholy glee.

[lareinenoire]

Thank you so much -- very glad you enjoyed it so far! There's still one part left to go, as it happens, so it's not over yet. ;)

[prynne12]

Actually, I'm nipping back here after having found the first part of this fic. I was idly scrolling down DW Daily and saw the Anjou reference, which caught my eye as I lived not far from Angers.

Then, I discover fabulous one-liners AND history? FTW.

[lareinenoire]

Glad to oblige! We were bemoaning the lack of medieval Whofic and decided to remedy it. ;)

[tempestsarekind]

*hugs this fic*

I finally got a chance to read part 2, which I like even more than part one. I love the parallel universe that the Doctor and Jack have to go back and fix, the version of Henry VI with Jack in it (is it wrong that I want to read that now?), Malory...and the ending of this part is quite touching.

[lareinenoire]

is it wrong that I want to read that now?

Oh, no. I want to read Shakespeare writing the Doctor and Jack. It would be utterly brilliant. I picture the Doctor as a more manic version of Holofernes from LLL.

[tempestsarekind]

Hee. Well, I've already written about my Tenth Doctor/Hamlet parallels, but...

I am fully willing to admit that this might be just the fact that David Tennant has played both parts, but I think the Doctor would make a pretty good Berowne, if we're talking LLL. I think it's his ability to talk at you about seemingly nothing until, somehow, you've been won over to his point of view. I forget which of the lords says of Berowne, "How well he's read, to reason against reading," but the Doctor is like that, too.

[lareinenoire]

Oh, yes! He was a wonderful Berowne, and I see what you mean -- the Doctor is very good at arguing about nearly everything to the point that you're won over without even realising it.

[persiflage_1]

Oh! If only I wasn't too tired to stay awake and read part III tonight!!

And Bilis Manger - I take it you've not read Gary Russell's TW novel "The Twilight Streets"?? Gives an entirely *different* take on old BM.

[lareinenoire]

I haven't read any of the novels, actually, but I'd be very curious to see what they did with Bilis, if only because he's such an interesting character and I was rather sad they didn't do more with him in the series.

[persiflage_1]

It's worth checking that one out - it's the only one of the handful I've read (I haven't been anything like as diligent over reading the TW novels as I have the DW ones) which I've liked enough to buy and re-read. Definitely an interesting, and rather different, take on Bilis.

[rosamund]

::puts hand up::

I did actually read that one fairly recently.

V interesting take. As for the novel, reading it after "Children of Earth" was bittersweet.

Also, I think it was written by the same guy who wrote "The Shakespeare Code".