Doctor Who: Iron Bright

The Doctor (without a companion in this one) meets a young Isambard Kingdom Brunel while the latter is helping his father on the construction of the Thames Tunnel - the first tunnel to be built under a navigable river, and still in use today. The Tunnel it seems, is haunted, and the Doctor naturally sets out to investigate.

The first half of the story is, very loosely, based on real historical events, featuring an underground banquet and an ingenious method for plugging a leak in the tunnel roof, both of which actually happened. To this is added the story of the apparent ghosts which, unsurprisingly, turn out to have a science fiction explanation. Once their real origin is discovered, the story switches to dealing with that and seeing things more from their perspective. This second half was a little less effective for me, but the unreality of the setting is countered by some strong characterisation.

Brunel is the key guest character here, taking some of the role that a companion would normally fill. We see him as a young man, still living in the shadow of his (at the time) famous father and unaware that he's on the cusp of eclipsing him. Tied in with this is a story of the Industrial Revolution itself, contrasting Brunel's vision for the future of his world with some of its unintended consequences. (I'm actually surprised by how many people apparently haven't heard of him. I still recall the 2001 phone-in TV show where he was voted the second greatest person in British history! Granted, that had a lot to do with a campaign by students at the university named after him, and it's not the placing I'd give him, but still...)

It's not just Brunel Jr., though; the other characters are also well-drawn, and it's notable that there's plenty of room for strong female parts in a story that's still conscious of some of the social mores of late Georgian England.