The Prisoner's Dilemma

"We're already prisoners, what's the worst they can do?"

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: February 2009

Series: Companion Chronicles 3.08

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Zara

Synopsis

Two prisoners meet in a prison cell. Zara is searching for the segments of the Key to Time; she was only born yesterday but already she's killed hundreds of people. Ace is more ambitious: she was going to kill everyone on the planet.

What have they got against the people of Erratoon? They go peaceably about their simple assignments, beneath their artificial sky. They share their meals and leisure time and they never ask questions. Are they even real?

Ace and Zara will only survive if they can trust each other. Or perhaps if they sell each other out... If not their awful punishment is to become just like everyone else.

Verdict

The Prisoner's Dilemma was a very good little story and a great addition to the Key 2 Time story arc! It serves well as an addition to that Main Range trilogy and depicts the adventure in which Zara obtained her first segment of the Key to Time. The little pre-titles sequence worked well in giving us the threat that Ace would die. The story did well to reintroduce the audience to Zara and we had talk of Amy as well which set the tone and foreshadowed the events of the Key 2 Time trilogy whilst also kicking it off. Zara and Ace being in prison together was fantastic and a really interesting dynamic. I thought it was interesting how Zara had killed hundreds of people so early in her life which was something we came to hear later in the audio. The little explanation of the Grace and the Key to Time was good and would have been beneficial to any listeners not acquainted with the Monthly Adventures. Where we saw Amy basically from the start of her life in The Judgement of Isskar, we had that here with Zara as she described the memory of her creation and how she remembered the Grace fearing reality falling apart. It was very powerful to think of one's first moment and she talked us through her first breath. I liked how this served as Zara's first meeting with Zinc and gave more detail on why she was so distraught of his death. Her realisation that the nose tingle meant she was close to the segment of the Key to Time was good and I loved the reference from Ace that came with her mentioning the Kandyman, albeit not by name. When we meet Zara in the Key 2 Time, it's intriguing to see just how much she is in control of Zinc. However, that really isn't the case here and this audio serves as a big growth period for Zara. She really comes into her own which was terrific to hear. The Erratoon setting was very good and I liked the concept of everyone on the planet having an assignment. I also liked the mystery of something more being below the surface which I think more could have been made of and come back to regarding that. The protocol error that Ace tried to use to escape was good and clever thinking, but something that really fascinated me in the story was the idea of the lake being the segment. Zara sharing a look from the Seventh Doctor was really good and whilst it was beneficial to not have the Doctor in the story much at all, it was nice knowing that he was pretty helpless to stop the events that would unfold as he knew from his fifth incarnation everything that had happened. The moment Zara converted the segment from the water was very powerful and I was surprised that she showed a complete lack of remorse. The riverbed was dry, fish were dead and people were in hysteria and Zara couldn't care less! The moment where Ace and Zara were escaping and then caught, with the latter then ratting out the former and ensuring her memories would go on to be erased was quite the moment! Zara certainly got devious very quickly. I'm intrigued to see her in the long run when it comes to Graceless. The cliffhanger was good, and then we shifted to what Ace was doing on Erratoon. Somehow, it wasn't as interesting or exciting but still worked well because through her we got to hear more of the real Zinc. That was really good. He had his wife Magda and the pair made quite the couple! Ace's mission was to stop them both which was good and I liked how much she enjoyed getting to play dumb. The plan to use the time ring and go back to Erratoon's past and be the first to lay claim to the planet's mineral rights was excellent and it served as Zara's backup plan should the hunt to obtain all of the Key to Time's segments went wrong. Ace arriving on the planet after the lake had gone was good, but if that wasn't enough then she knew of the rocket that was threatening the entire planet! Poor old Erratoon. Zinc being interested in Zara was really good and I liked how quickly that became a thing. Ace actually having her memories wiped was a bit of a surprise and from there on in, Zara assumed command. The shift in her character there was brilliant. The rocket going off and breaking the sky of Erratoon was unexpected as the damage the planet went through was extortionate here! Zara's jealousy towards Magda and how she wanted Zinc all to himself was very good and set things up for the Key 2 Time adventures really well. Ace having an instinctive trust of the Doctor despite not knowing him was great, but I was quite surprised by the Doctor's claim that the TARDIS would restore her memories. That seemed a tad easy. Overall though, this was a fine story and some excellent character development for Zara.

Rating: 8/10