The Sword of the Chevalier

The Tenth Doctor Adventures #2.2

Released: 23 November 2017

Listened: 11/15/22

The second story of this set (which doesn’t take place immediately after the previous) is a “historical celebrity” story, and the celebrity in this case is the Chevalier d’Eon, a French spy and expert fencer living in England in 1791. The Chevalier had lived as both a man and a woman at different times in their life, and doesn’t seem to have had a definitive expression. They’re played by Nickolas Grace using a rather indeterminate voicing, and in truth, neither the Doctor nor Rose actually care all that much, although Rose is somewhat curious. As it turns out, the Chevalier is a bit of an egotist, but they have the fencing abilities to back it up. The villain is an alien slaver with three separate faces and personalities, although one of them is deceased. Which is seriously creepy, and suggests a lot of potential for other stories with this species or the criminal organization they belong to, although none has appeared yet. With that much setup going on, the ending is actually a bit weak, more appropriate for a Moffat-era story than Series 2, but on the whole, Guy Adams does a good job of bringing a lot of pieces together.