Evolution

"We all wish to change the world."

Writer: Una McCormack

Format: Audio

Released: February 2013

Series: Gallifrey 5.02

Featuring: Romana II, Leela

Synopsis

Before the fall of Project: Rassilon, the Regenerators of Gallifrey committed atrocities upon their slaves in the name of science. As Leela discovers the results of one such crucible, Romana and Narvin are pushing forward ways to discover the secrets of time travel, and jump-start their new Gallifrey's evolution.

However, science isn't always the way forward, and in a society built upon the foundations of amorality and fear, a backward step may be the only solution...

Verdict

Evolution was another great episode to continue the fifth series of Gallifrey! I thought this was a really strong idea and an intriguing look at an alternative Gallifrey getting on its way to discovering the power of time travel. With our faithful trio of Romana, Leela and Narvin trapped on this timeless version of their home world, this was perhaps a glimpse of how they may hope to return back to their own reality. Hector provided a strong start with the search for the Pathway which seemed to represent the Time Vortex in this universe and it was really good stuff. The audio's title was perfect because evolution was unfolding before our very ears throughout. The voice of a woman and she supposedly be coming to take them home was fascinating. I liked the humour surrounding the gathering of Gallifrey's greatest minds and Narvin commenting on what could possibly go wrong with such an assembly. Taine was a good character with the scientific interest and his role in the Pathway discovery was great. I felt sorry for Leela during this audio with her relationship with Maris who in herself was a terrific little character. It was a fun role for a familiar actress in the form of Anjli Mohindra and playing a former slave made her the perfect companion for Leela. Her knowledge of the Regenerators having a secret in the mountains and hoping to utilise it to bargain against them was fantastic. Romana giving a speech on the new Gallifrey was excellent stuff and having it played simultaneously with the Pathway being found was very nicely done. Narvin conversing with Maris and revealing that she was his personal spy to check in on Leela was nice to know that he still cares for our savage, and Leela appreciated that later in the episode despite her initial outrage to the Outsider for being lied to. Hector and Taine being the ones in the mountains was good and the continuation of the mystery woman and her guiding them to the White Lands was really interest. They were on the search for new life and the Inner Council were researching to extend life, which seemed odd considering they already had the ability to regenerate. Leela's adamance that there was no such thing as eternal life was wonderful too. I enjoyed Jonias as a character and him being involved in slave experimentation said a lot about his evil nature. There were no scientific ethics on this Gallifrey which was a nice contrast to what we are used to. Maris seeing the woman in the light and wanting to go to the White Lands was something I didn't expect, but it turned out to be her on the other side! That was most unexpected but I liked it. Hector and Thaine being involved in continuing Jonias' work was good and the idea of remote access as fun. One more push was needed to access the Pathway and that appealed to Narvin and somewhat to Romana. Taine got the success without Jonias which was brilliant but the followers were too scared to journey to their famed White Lands of the future without Hector. That said a lot of his standing. The fact they eventually were persuaded through was great and I loved how they were vital components of the potential prototype for time travel, but now it seemed the only option was to continue experiments on the slaves. Was our Supreme Leader willing to do that? That was a wonderful prospect to play with for Romana. The signal, albeit degraded, coming back at the end following the Rassilon cipher decoding was excellent as well in setting up the finale as the signal was just one word. Axis. The way out! Overall, a really good audio adventure.

Rating: 8/10