Doctor Who:
The Romans
By Dennis Spooner
“You know, I am so constantly outwitting the opposition I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction of the gentle art of fisticuffs.”
During Doctor Who’s second season the production crew decided to do something different. They decided to make a historical with a different twist. They decided to make it funny and take advantage of William Hartnell’s comedic presence. William Hartnell used to do a lot of comedy when he first started acting and the Romans was the perfect vessel for him to revisit his roots.
The Romans is not your usual Doctor Who story. Besides the fact that it is pretty funny it also was one of the few stories where there were two stories going on at once. First you have The Doctor and Vicki en route to Rome when they come across a body. In fact it’s the body of Maximus Pettulian. The Doctor picks up the lyre just as a centurion arrives and mistakes The Doctor as the famous lyre player. So they are whisked away to Rome where an audience with Emperor Nero awaits them.
