Pandora

"The genie is back in the bottle, but how long until it wakes up again?"

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: June 2005

Series: Gallifrey 2.03

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

A rogue TARDIS that should not exist... A mutilated comatose Time Lord who cannot be identified... A new Castellan desperate to make his mark... Evils of the past, events of the present, and echoes of the future conspire to destroy the very heart of Gallifrey's civilisation.

Only Romana can understand it – but she is haunted by her own ghosts. Only Leela can sense it – but she has unfinished business. Only Braxiatel can stop it – but he cannot being to guess the personal cost.

With both Narvin and Darkel waiting for Romana to make a mistake, the President must take decisions that will change Gallifrey forever. And an ancient evil is ready and waiting for just that moment?

Verdict

Pandora was another great audio adventure to continue the second series of Gallifrey! I must admit that whilst I still thoroughly enjoyed, I was expecting a little more regarding the character of Pandora given that this was also the story's title. Regardless, it was a very good listen and the continuity from Spirit was immediate which I enjoyed. Utilising K9's abilities to detail the injuries of the broken man was quite something and the prospect and suggestion that this figure was known to them was expected, but the confirmation was great and really quite powerful. I'm going to jump right ahead but the scene where we discovered that the broken man was actually Winter was beyond uncomfortable and really gave credence to Pandora as an enemy because the mental torment that she was able to exert was incredible. Hearing the audio of his brain waves and the voice of Pandora in Winter's head was excruciating and I liked how that came full circle with the confusion in the containment earlier in the story with Leela. K9 being broken within was a good development and I loved Leela's literal sense thinking that Winter was conversing with her. Her seeing the broken man wondering around was also a horrific moment retrospectively as the man we met on Davidia was still contained. Of course, he was at a different point in his personal timeline, which just made things worse. The fate that befell Winter was just awful as he was manipulated in such a way through mental torture that he crushed his own hands with the containment door and then proceeded to bite his own tongue out which was beyond gruesome. The thought of that is astonishing and beggars belief. He also shot himself in the hope of regeneration because of his burned body from the doing of Pandora and added together, it was all rather disturbing. Powerful and uncomfortable stuff. I liked that Andred and Leela confronted one another and it's about time that they tried and sort their issues out. I expect they will end up reconciling and this was a good step towards that. Their efforts to stop Pandora at the end after he revealed that Darkel was aiding him and freed him from prison was very good and I liked them pairing up. The Inquisitor's role was somewhat unexpected here as she was seemingly aiding the would-be Imperiatrix. The political stuff was good again and I liked the clash between Narvin and Braxiatel with the latter having been appointed High Chancellor after persuading Romana to reprise the role. The Free Time movement making a comeback in the form of the student in the vault hoping to tarnish the water supply with regeneration poison was very good and I'm intrigued to see how much of a link there might be back to that and Series 1. Pandora being described as feeding on ambition and greed was good and her desire to rebuild Gallifrey in her own image was wonderful. I thought that was nicely done. Her voice sounded so much more scheming this time around which worked well, but the ability of Braxiatel to contain Pandora within his own mind was rather impressive! In doing so, he had to sever ties with Gallifrey and the Matrix and leave the planet, but that was something he knew and chose to do. He wanted to leave anyway. The Inquisitor stripping him of his newfound title despite his desire to keep it was quite harsh of her, but it showed her manipulative nature. The threat and warning from Braxiatel that Pandora existed in three forms was great because whilst he had contained the past and the present, the future was yet to come which leaves things open very nicely for the future and a presumed coming of the future form of Pandora. Overall, a very good audio!

Rating: 8/10