The Mummy Speaks!

Charlotte Pollard: The Further Adventuress #1

Released: 19 January 2022

Listened: 1/20/22

In 2022, Big Finish released a boxed set of stories featuring the Eighth Doctor and Charley, specifically set pretty early in their time together. The tone is rather different than the stories from the Main Range, in that these are somewhat silly, and certainly high on the “adventure” scale, rather than peril. This one is by Alan Barnes, Charley’s creator, and he seems determined to pack in as much absurdity and references as he can. It’s set in 1841 Paris, where a traveling carnival performer is exhibiting a “living” Egyptian mummy. Except the mummy is nothing of the sort, and is instead connected to a series of robberies. But there’s also an unusually intelligent and stylish gorilla, a police-sergeant Egyptologist, and Charley invents the concept of the taxicab a bit early. Notre Dame plays a major role as well, with an obligatory Hunchback reference. The telepathic translation circuits get a lot of work in this one, as Charley tries to figure out when it translates, and when it will let her speak French intentionally. Cyril Nri, who plays the mummy, has rather a lot of lines for a mummy, and also doesn’t use the typical slow, breathy voice, but that’s a deliberate choice that ties into the plot. As a return to this era after a long time away, this is an excellent straight-up romp. Within the context of the project, it may hit differently.