The Chaos Pool

"The end of order approaches."

Writer: Peter Anghelides 

Format: Audio

Released: March 2009

Series: Monthly Adventures 119

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Amy, Zara, Romana II

Synopsis

The ageless leader of a dying race believes that salvation lies within The Chaos Pool, a place that even the Guardians of Time have been unable to locate. Meanwhile Commander Hectocot and his Teuthoidian followers move in for the kill – again and again and again...

Two different races from opposite ends of time – so how can they co-exist?

In their search for the final segment of the Key to Time, the Fifth Doctor and Amy become caught in the crossfire. As the end of everything approaches, old friends and enemies reveal themselves and the final battle between the forces of Chaos and Order ignites...

Verdict

The Chaos Pool was an excellent conclusion to the Key 2 Time trilogy of audios that has graced the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! It was a really solid finale to what has been a very good story arc. I was fascinated from the off by the presence of Zara with Lalla Ward's character, and I have to talk about straight away as the twist regarding her actually playing Princess Astra was outstanding. I thought that was done really well and just something I would not have expected. She was President now which was good and although I'm yet to dive into the Gallifrey spinoff series, based off Neverland it would appear that she would fit Romana would fit that role on her home planet. The Teuthoidians were not too much to my liking if I'm being honest as I wasn't a fan of how they were voiced, but the idea of them being amongst the first species to travel in space was good as that meant the setting was very early on in Time. Amy getting a different feeling rather than tickling when it came to her tracing abilities was interesting and I liked how both she and Zara were slowly becoming human beings. It seemed a natural process for the characters and with Zara having feels for Pargrave, it just seemed right for them to stay on after the Key to Time was solved. Amy didn't want to die and Zara was in love. Pargrave being the sixth son of his family's sixth generation was excellent to link with the sixth segment of the Key to Time. Zara disguising herself as Amy to have the Doctor lead her to the final segment was fun, especially when she killed one of the Teuthodians for calling her victim. If he didn't know it already, that would have been confirmation right there. Zara didn't exactly hide herself well as she flaunted the time ring and I thought it was very humorous that her appearance was reverting back to herself without her knowing. That must have been quite embarrassing! I absolutely loved the references and the importance of The Armageddon Factor in this story with Astra seemingly being the sixth segment, but the moment at the end of part three where Romana revealed that it was actually she who was the final segment was outstanding. The setting of Chaos was really good and the links between the start and end of the universe with the Big Bang and the Big Crunch were terrific. Chaos being suspended in time towards the end of the universe made it a fantastic final destination, and its importance to the Key to Time was crucial. This was the planet where the Key to Time was created, and the only place it could be safely destroyed. The crash of the Eschaton was a big moment and Zara's reaction to being abandoned by Pargrave made for a sympathetic feeling towards her despite what she had done. The Doctor felt the same way towards the story's end which I thought was nice. Chaos turning out to be the resting tomb go the Teuthoidians was a very good twist given the time it was in, but the surprises just kept on coming! The reveal that Lydall was actually the White Guardian was something I did not see coming and I really did believe that the Guardians were dealt with during The Destroyer of Delights. Zara rescued him and we saw a different side to the character than what was presented during Season 16 as the Doctor knew he would just control to the letter of the law and be a dictator. The arrival of Romana, the real article, was wonderful and I liked how she'd answered the Doctor's call when he initially thought Astra was his former companion. Combining Peter Davison and Lalla Ward together was brilliant and I would love for them to get more time together in the future. They're quite an intriguing pairing. Her arrival alongside the Black Guardian was also unexpected in isolation, but it brought everything full circle which I thought was very good. We found out that the rain had been unfrozen and Chaos was where it all began for the Tracers in The Judgement of Isskar which worked really well. Romana's willingness to destroy herself was a bit of a shock and not something the Doctor was keen to endorse. The arrival of the Grace at the story's conclusion was expected, but it worked well and I liked how they were able to banish the Guardians and presumably deal with them for good. Their ruthless killing of Freedom showed their power which was very good. The Doctor was appalled. Astra taking the essence of the sixth segment from Romana and sacrificing herself to complete the Key to Time was really good and a nice way to free herself of 200 years of pain. The Key was complete once the Tracers were let go, and it was up to Zara to hand it to the Doctor. He of course sent it straight into the Chaos Pool to see it annihilated safely and disperse the Grace across eternity. He let Zara go with her time ring whilst Amy was invited back to Gallifrey by Romana. It was all a nice ending that tied everything up very nicely! Overall, an excellent audio. 

Rating: 9/10