Lies

 

"Everybody hates the Academy."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Audio

Released: April 2005

Series: Gallifrey 2.01

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9, Romana I

Synopsis

Some time has passed since the events of the Timonic Fusion Device threatened Romana's presidency with impeachment, and life has calmed down on Gallifrey. Well, apart from Romana's latest scheme, the opening up of Gallifrey's famed Academy to the students of alien races with the ability, or the potential, to harness temporal powers.

Unfortunately, deep below the Capitol, Leela, confused and morose over the truth about her husband Andred, disturbs a malevolent power. Something from the Dark Days of Ancient Gallifrey.

Something that wants to be reborn and will use any and every means that is at hand. Including the past of Gallifrey's incumbant President...

Verdict

Lies was a superb start to the second series of Gallifrey! This spinoff produced a fantastic first series and it certainly seems that the next instalment is going to follow suit if this opener is anything to go by. I was enthralled from start to finish and I like that a decent chunk of time has passed since the events of Free Time were curtailed, but not so long that there is any noticeable differences on Gallifrey. Utilising Mary Tamm and throwing in the first incarnation of Romana is a stroke of genius and I was really intrigued to hear her in the Matrix early on. Discovering early Romana as fascinating and I liked how she wanted to fail an exam so she wouldn't seem so intelligent and be less disliked. That was quite sad though. The Inquisitor played an interesting role in the adventure after initially stating that she wanted Romana deposed as President, but then ordering the arrest of Narvin after Andred had killed the Archivists following access with Narvin's codes. The way Andred was also presented in the story was really interesting following the events of the first series. I loved the idea of him suffering from post-regenerative trauma and his impersonating Torvald immediately after regeneration meant his true personality hadn't a chance to settle and that made him quite a different man here to what we saw in The Invasion of Time, in spite of the regeneration. I thought Leela was a lot of fun with her K9 below the Citadel and her hearing voices of someone who claimed to be the past and present of Gallifrey and one that was coming home was intriguing. Of course, this turned out to be Pandora who was a great character (being?) who provides such a brilliant prospect. All of the talk regarding the Imperiatrix was magnificent and I liked the history lessons we got about this being the name taken by the first female President of Gallifrey who changed the Laws of Rassilon and had a desire for war. Could this possibly be the destiny for Romana? I like the dynamic that provides and look forward to further exploration as the series goes on. She was back now despite supposedly being dispersed and never having existed and being stuck in a time loop, so as far as comebacks go that was quite the feat! Braxiatel's history with Romana was excellent and I liked the idea of a mind block and the events of The Armageddon Factor being enough to break the conditioning, only for the subsequent regeneration to put things back in place. The way the two Romanas interacted was very good and I loved the idea of memories merging with them both being in the Matrix. Their efforts to trick Pandora were very good and they soon discovered the genetic link within Romana that could allow for Pandora's return. The discussion about the Pandora name cropping up throughout time and space and meaning similar in the form of a box that shouldn't be opened was wonderful and I love the idea of the basis for that being formed on Gallifrey. Castellan Winter was a really good character and I liked the politics at play throughout the story with him, Narvin and Braxiatel. The use of a Matrix partition in trapping Pandora was very quick and sudden but it worked well and I like how Romana has the control to release the Imperiatrix, something which I expect to backfire. The idea of her cottoning on to Narvin with his lack of sleep providing access was good and I also loved Leela's reaction to discovering that Romana's current body was not her first. Overall, this was a stunning opener!

Rating: 9/10