Empathy Games

"There is no violence here."

Writer: Nigel Fairs

Format: Audio

Released: October 2008

Series: Companion Chronicles 3.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

The present: Leela is doomed, trapped inside a prison cell of a dead race.

The past: After a disaster aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor and Leela arrive at the capital city of Synchronis, a world renowned for peace and civility. But an attack by a vicious creature leaves the Doctor in a coma, and Leela is persuaded to fight in the forthcoming Empathy Games, where she discovers that nothing on this world is as it seems.

Verdict

Empathy Games was a great Companion Chronicles audio! This was a very solid story from start to finish and Louise Jameson did a tremendous job in telling it. I thought it was intriguing to have her telling the story from being locked up and referring to the Z'nai and the links that had with The Catalyst and it was telling that the machines that were torturing her, now much older than when the Doctor left her behind on Gallifrey in The Invasion of Time, were also keeping her alive. It wasn't what she wanted though as she ached for death. Leela revealing a moment she saw fear in the Doctor's eyes was when the TARDIS burned up was excellent and a really interesting thing to think about a man who doesn't often show his emotions. The Doctor removing the oxygen from the room to prevent the TARDIS being obliterated was good and his description of being so scared when he saw a planet die and not being able to prevent was perfect for the character that is the Doctor across any and all of his iterations. The main setting taking us to Synchronis was very good and I loved the concept behind the Waters of Empathy! Leela thought the sky was just that, but soon realised that it was water. It was perfect for her character to be unimpressed with finding that it was gravity machines performing such a feat and for her that meant it didn't warrant a place as one of the 700 Wonders of the Universe. Leela had a lot of time to show her true nature as a character and hark back to her hunter and tribal instincts which were very good. She had no issue in striking at the creature that attacked. Coordinator Angell was a decent character and I was surprised his introduction came as late into part one as it did. The Palace of Tranquility was a good extension of the setting and I absolutely adored the comedy that came with Leela being referred to as Miss Sevateem. The threat of the Doctor being dead didn't quite seem believable, but I really enjoyed how Leela was more than prepared to exert her revenge. The death of her friend didn't last long though as we learned he was just in a self induced coma. Pakora was a fun character to have alongside Leela and her shock at Leela's declining the offer of representing Angell in the Empathy Games was fantastic. The training we heard was good and after watching the third instalment of The Hunger Games soon after listening to this audio, the similarities were clear! That was fun on a personal level. The cathartics element was another good thing too. The cliffhanger was pretty good with Leela being overwhelmed by the water, but not a great deal was made of it and that was fine. The use of a telepathic link for Leela with her prey was brilliant and her thinking she was in fact a rodent was unexpected and a good surprise. Leela being the Coordinator's champion was a very good element of the Games, which themselves were very entertaining. Having Leela combatting with a rodent that had her own face was quite extraordinary and I loved her reaction to that. Her illegal move resulting in the end of the Games seemed a tad premature, but the threat of the authorised disintegration was terrific. Leela telling how she didn't kill for sport was magnificent and just a nice addition to her character. The idea of the rodents that could talk as being even further freaks was quite something and I liked that Leela did not want to hurt them. Pakora's death was very sudden as she was taken by the water flow and her neck snapped as the Games were literally being wiped out. The reemergence of the Doctor into the story was good and whilst Jameson's take on Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was pretty nonexistent, he still carried a presence. He had disabled the observations and disable the Games' central nervous system with the sonic screwdriver was a large act of interference! The Doctor seeing the rodents as just acting in self defence was lovely too. His revelation that the fear of fire Leela referred to at the start of the story had been removed from his brain was excellent and definitely a superb addition to the plot of the story. I was a big fan of that and this was exactly what the purpose of the Palace of Tranquility was all along. If that wasn't enough, the concept of the fears being put into the rodents added a great deal and was the secret of Synchronis. Angell seeing his own face as a rodent was a good way to end as it toyed with him on his fears of the truth and lacking power and the end of his world. It was now a new dawn for the planet as the Doctor had reversed the process of the machines and there were new races now. It tied things up well and I also liked how things came to a conclusion with Leela recalling her mother. That was a nice touch. Overall, a very good listen!

Rating: 8/10