How to Win Planets and Influence People

Short Trips #7.6

Released: 29 June 2017

Listened: 2/12/22

This short trip has a rather unusual structure, with Rufus Hound not narrating, but telling the story in-character as the Monk. Except he’s the keynote speaker at a corporate function, giving a talk on “How to invade the Earth.” Which is, to be fair, an excuse to take lots of cheap shots at humans and their foibles, which James Goss is certainly equipped to do. In the form of anecdotes, the Monk mentions a few recent times that he was defeated by the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry, probably in chronological order. Which means that Rufus Hound gets to play the Monk imitating all three of them, which he does reasonably well, although his Tom Baker isn’t as stentorian as one might hope. Of course, the joy of Rufus Hound’s Monk is hearing him go apoplectic, which he quite kindly does by the end of the story. It’s not really the best entry, but it is funny.