The Renaissance Man

Fourth Doctor Adventures #1.2

Released: February 2012

Listened: 2/24/22

One of the themes of the Fourth Doctor Adventures was that the Doctor was attempting to educate Leela about her heritage, so in this story, they visit a museum covering anything and everything related to Earth. However, somewhere along the line, the museum got the idea to drain specialists of their knowledge, leaving them empty shells. The casting is very referential: the baddie and his henchman are played by Ian McNeice, not playing Churchill for once, but still unmistakeable, and Gareth Armstrong, who starred in “The Masque of Mandragora” a very long time ago. Also of note is Daisy Ashford, daughter of Caroline John and Geoffrey Beevers, in a minor role. Leela is certainly exposed to many different aspects of Earth history, but it’s all somewhat random, and leads to her pronouncing “Renaissance” as “runny-science,” which will never not be funny. But it’s clear that she’s starting to get the hang of the Doctor, particularly determining when he’s trying to snow her with technobabble. The acting and dialog make this one more memorable than the plot.