Luna Romana

"Gallifrey faces its darkest hour... again."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: January 2014

Series: Companion Chronicles 8.07

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I, Romana II, Romana III

Synopsis 

The search for the final segment of the Key to Time takes the Doctor and the First Romana to Ancient Rome. The Time Lady is appalled when her companion prefers to watch the latest Plautus comedy rather than complete their mission, and is even less delighted to meet the playwright himself. 

But all is not what it seems, either onstage or behind the scenes...

In the far, far future, the Second Romana is destined to have her own encounter with a legacy of Rome, but Stoyn has been waiting. And his actions will set Romana on a collision course with her own past.

Quadrigger Stoyn wants his final revenge on the Doctor, and only Romana stands in his way.

Both of her.

Verdict 

Luna Romana was a great audio to conclude the fiftieth anniversary trilogy from the Companion Chronicles range. It was audacious and bold but it actually ended up working really well and although it wasn't quite as good as the previous two audios in the trilogy, it finished it in some style. I question the dates of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations with this story being released in January 2014 but that's merely semantics. The celebrations shouldn't really ever stop and I'm not sure they ever have but I loved the idea behind this story. A multi-Romana story isn't something I've really thought of before but I just love the concept! It's just such a shame that Mary Tamm passed away prior to recording and her sad loss was deeply felt across the Doctor Who fandom. So with her absence in stepped Juliet Landau as the third incarnation of Romana and she took on the role of narrator which was interesting but I was kind of hoping for her to meet the Doctor. I thought that would have been quite a moment but it wasn't really a problem. This is where things got a little confusing for me though as we had the third incarnation voicing the first which was okay and they were obviously making the most out of a tricky situation but then we had the wonderful Lalla Ward make her mark in part two as the second incarnation of Romana and although the stories for each incarnation were separate, it did become a little difficult to follow for a time. I did get used to things though as time went on and this really was quite a lengthy story, especially for a Companion Chronicle, at two and a half hours long. The cliffhangers of each part were pretty decent which was good and I did like how this didn't really have the feel of a Companion Chronicle and felt more like a full cast audio as there wasn't too much narration needed. I thought Lalla Ward's impression of the Fourth Doctor was very good and I also loved some of the story references that occurred in this audio with the mention of The Iron Legion particularly putting a smile on my face. The expected references to The Beginning and The Dying Light were great and I also liked that The Ribos Operation, The Stones of Blood and The Power of Kroll were referred to. Placing the story amidst the search for the Key to Time was very good and I like how much the search for it has been expanded off television. The return of Quadrigger Stoyn wasn't exactly a surprise but I liked how he reemerged once again. He was beyond obsessed with the Doctor and his event viewer must have driven him mad as all he could see was what the Doctor had gotten up to! The foreshadowing of The Visitation was terrific and I also liked the reference to The Reign of Terror. The plot of the story was good and although it was perhaps a bit long winded, it filled the time pretty well. Stoyn meeting Romana I but in his Janus alias was fantastic and I liked how Romana II recalled that meeting and the other events centred around this story. It was quite ironic that after listening to The Council of Nicaea yesterday that I was back doing a Roman story today but the setting was very good, especially the legacy that was on the moon. Stoyn's final destruction was pretty emphatic and didn't really leave any niggle room for a return in the future. It was wonderful brilliance from Romana and I thought it was fantastic that the Doctor acknowledged that. The ending was really nice and a good celebration of Mary Tamm and the impact of her first incarnation of Romana. Overall, a very good audio!

Rating: 8/10