Lay Down Your Arms

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 2 #3.2

Released: 23 November 2022

Listened: 3/8/23

This one is a pseudo-historical set at a German spa in 1864. You could be forgiven for not recognizing that Bertha Kinzky, young socialite, is the maiden name of Bertha von Suttner. You would be further forgiven for not knowing who that is, and I’m not even sure whether it counts as a spoiler, so I’ll leave it at that for now. Bertha’s mother is trying to match her up with a suitable (read: rich and/or titled) husband, while Bertha herself is trying to make her own way in the world, and has somehow latched onto the idea that she’ll become an opera singer, with the Doctor as her instructor. Naturally, there are aliens, and they’re up to no good, and frankly what they’re up to isn’t nearly as interesting as the dialog. The exchanges between Bertha, her mother, and the Doctor fairly crackle, so credit Lisa McMullin for that. I’m not sure I can forgive her for the “Two Princes” reference, though. We also discover that the Doctor’s habit of getting someone’s name wrong to needle them didn’t start with Mickey. Most of the pieces are interesting, but I’m not sure the whole is the sum of the parts.