The Paradox Planet

"We're in a state of war... with the past."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: March 2016

Series: FDA 5.03

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9

Synopsis

Whilst travelling in the vortex, the TARDIS is struck by an advanced war machine – a Time Tank! Losing Romana, the Doctor and K9 pursue the Tank to Aoris, a world quite literally at war with itself.

Soldiers from the future are attacking the past of their own planet – gathering resources and stealing endangered species. But the past is not without weapons of its own – leaving deadly devices ready to trigger many years ahead after their enemies have been born.

Trapped at opposite ends of a temporal war, the Time Lords have two zones to save. But who is in the right, and who in the wrong? And when history is against you, can anybody actually win?

Verdict

The Paradox Planet was an outstanding Fourth Doctor Adventures audio! I absolutely loved this one from start to finish and I am very excited that things are not finished yet. This one really did have just about everything you could want and I knew I was going to enjoy it purely on the basis of the pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Romana II. They really are one of the strongest TARDIS pairings and throwing in K9 is just so much fun. The scenes in the TARDIS at the start with the Doctor trying to learn the violin from a guide for octopods was hilarious and just brilliantly typical of Tom Baker's incarnation. He gave a superb performance as the Fourth Doctor and I loved how sharply his tone switched when Romana and K9 warned of an impending crash within the Time Vortex. The concept of that in of itself is quite something and I liked how everything happened in a flash with Romana ending up being taken by the other ship, which later turned out to be a Time Tank, as it materialised within the TARDIS momentarily. The setting of Aoris was brilliant but the situation on the planet was what made this audio so enjoyable. The very concept of the time raiders and a planet being at war with itself across time zones was just magnificent. I absolutely loved it! Things were dire in the future because of actions in the past so their solution? Come back to the past and take what they needed like rare animals and xenox. That element itself proved useful as it could naturally grow and provide capabilities of time distortion which was fun to play with. I thought the defence of those in the past that were being invaded by the future being a bomb set to go off in a millennium's time was quite something. The way things worked out with the Doctor and Romana being split apart and in different times of the planet's war at either end was terrific and provided a good balance. The Doctor's expendability to defuse the bomb in the future was fun and I thought the cliffhanger was sublime as the countdown reached its conclusion with the deactivation codes proving inaccurate. The resolution was so much fun with Romana interfering with the bomb in the past and having K9 placed within to deactivate it in just over three weeks and then go on sleep mode for 1,000 years! That was wonderful. I thought Drang was a very good character and I enjoyed his attempts to restore the planet along with accepting that the past was set in stone. The concept of the Doctor and K9's presence being foretold was fun and I liked how the past era was referred to as the Age of Greed. That seemed quite apt with the parallels drawn to Earth at this present time. The Great Machina coming into effect towards the audio's end was intriguing and the computer being worshipped was very interesting. K9 revealing at the end that he was in fact the Machina was a brilliant cliffhanger finish! Romana and Embery bickering over time travel was really well done and I thought it was good that Shola got into the TARDIS to see the future. Their arrival being in sync with the Doctor's departure was good and I think the dynamic in the next episode with their positions switched will work nicely. Overall, I don't have anything bad to say about this audio as there was just so much to enjoy! A wonderful listen.

Rating: 10/10