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Overall, more non-Britain based historical episodes. I’m aware of the budget problem, but really, I have no problem with Studios and GCI doubling as, say, Byzantium, and if DW still wants to do the educational thing, well, the last few years have demonstrated that maybe getting stories told from a non-British perspective, especially and including a historical one, is something severely lacking.
This being said, my first suggestion is actually a figure from British history: Aphra Behn, spy, Restoration playwright, poet and summed up by Virginia Woolf thusly: „"All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds." The possibilities are for a meeting with the Doctor and friends are endless: young Aphra, travelling to Surinam? (Maybe Ryan gets involved in original Oronooko’s revolt?) Agent 160 Aphra, spying for Charles II in Antwerp? Playwrighth Aphra, wowing the London stage? (Maybe Yaz gets to be one of the first Restoration actresses?) Bring on the Restoration spy theatre adventure, I say.
Non-Britain-based ideas: Al Andalus, i.e. Muslim Spain, offers seven centuries of history and lots of colourful characters, male and female alike, of all three Abrahamic religions. (Also, bonus point if the Mosque of Cordova reminds Graham of the Mines of Moria, because that actually was the model, according to the Fellowship DVD.) I have a soft spot for the female Muslim poet Walada, the Jewish statesman Samuel Ibn Nagralla and of course Moses Maimonides, who all lived in different eras from each other, so if one of them makes it into the episode, that would be neat, but I’ll take any era, really.
Byzantium: good old Constantinople provides us with centuries of intrigue, coups, inner religious warfare and glorious architecture. If the Doctor should encounter a certain bearkeeper’s daughter, that could be fascinating, but Theodora isn’t the only interesting woman in Byzantine history. Bonus for someone from our gang getting to do a race in the circus.
Egypt:make Erimem tv canon speaking of centuries of history. As someone pointed out once, Cleopatra is closer to our present than she is to the building of the Pyramids of Gizeh. Considering a current member of the US government has gone on record stating those were build by Joseph of Biblical fame in order to store corn in, maybe an episode set around the building of any of the Pyramids could prove enlightening. Bonus if Egyptian mythology is used for the adventure, and not just by namechecking the obvious suspects (Isis, Osiris, Seth).
Holy Roman Empire: moving closer to my home turf, but not that close: again, lots of fascinating history to pick from. Friedrich II of Hohenstaufen, Federico Secondo, stupor mundis, the Renaissance man among medieval Emperors who was German-Norman by genetics, Sicilian by birth and education, was at different points suspected of being a Muslim and an atheist, conducted the sole peaceful Crusade (as in, (successful) negotiations, not a single battle), constantly at odds with the Popes, but also most definitely into absolute monarchical authority. Since he was very much into sciences, questioning everything and not a big believer in miracles, I could see him figuring out what the TARDIS is and trying to hijack it.
The Other Days
This being said, my first suggestion is actually a figure from British history: Aphra Behn, spy, Restoration playwright, poet and summed up by Virginia Woolf thusly: „"All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds." The possibilities are for a meeting with the Doctor and friends are endless: young Aphra, travelling to Surinam? (Maybe Ryan gets involved in original Oronooko’s revolt?) Agent 160 Aphra, spying for Charles II in Antwerp? Playwrighth Aphra, wowing the London stage? (Maybe Yaz gets to be one of the first Restoration actresses?) Bring on the Restoration spy theatre adventure, I say.
Non-Britain-based ideas: Al Andalus, i.e. Muslim Spain, offers seven centuries of history and lots of colourful characters, male and female alike, of all three Abrahamic religions. (Also, bonus point if the Mosque of Cordova reminds Graham of the Mines of Moria, because that actually was the model, according to the Fellowship DVD.) I have a soft spot for the female Muslim poet Walada, the Jewish statesman Samuel Ibn Nagralla and of course Moses Maimonides, who all lived in different eras from each other, so if one of them makes it into the episode, that would be neat, but I’ll take any era, really.
Byzantium: good old Constantinople provides us with centuries of intrigue, coups, inner religious warfare and glorious architecture. If the Doctor should encounter a certain bearkeeper’s daughter, that could be fascinating, but Theodora isn’t the only interesting woman in Byzantine history. Bonus for someone from our gang getting to do a race in the circus.
Egypt:
Holy Roman Empire: moving closer to my home turf, but not that close: again, lots of fascinating history to pick from. Friedrich II of Hohenstaufen, Federico Secondo, stupor mundis, the Renaissance man among medieval Emperors who was German-Norman by genetics, Sicilian by birth and education, was at different points suspected of being a Muslim and an atheist, conducted the sole peaceful Crusade (as in, (successful) negotiations, not a single battle), constantly at odds with the Popes, but also most definitely into absolute monarchical authority. Since he was very much into sciences, questioning everything and not a big believer in miracles, I could see him figuring out what the TARDIS is and trying to hijack it.
The Other Days
