Mindbomb

"I would never resort to assassination to become President."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: August 2006

Series: Gallifrey 3.04

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

'They used to tell meat the Academy that anyone could become president. I'm beginning to believe it.'

The first presidential election for millennia is about to be held on Gallifrey. But in the wake of the civil war that has torn the Time Lords apart, can even an election restore calm and order?

And what of the candidates? Darkel – determined to win at any cost... Matthias – a dark horse with his own agenda... Romana – impeached for high treason...

But even as the candidates manoeuvre and plan, an assassin stalks the galleries of the panopticon.

Gallifrey will soon have a new president, but at what cost? How many people will have to die? And which – if any – of the candidates will survive...?

Verdict

Mind Bomb was an excellent continuation of the third series of Gallifrey! This was a very impressive episode and potentially the best of the series thus far. It followed in a similar vain to Appropriation but I think the way Gallifreyan law and tradition was used was much better this time around and a lot clearer as that was the entire focus of the story. Everything centred around the Presidential election and kicking things off with the ceremony to announce the candidates was terrific. The trio who were standing for office were quite the threesome and they all had very different agendas and roles on the planet of the Time Lords. Matthias being described as a dark horse in the story's synopsis is perfectly apt and judging by how the episode ended, that statement is even truer. Darkel has been conniving and scheming her way to the role of High President for a number of stories now and hearing her get so close only to fall so far was fantastic stuff. Romana had a troubled episode this time around as she was ousted from standing for President before the election even got underway! The way Darkel managed to manipulate events was mightily impressive and her role as Inquisitor coming into play and all that brings with her knowledge of war was brilliantly done. Due to the events of earlier in and previous series, Romana ended up being imprisoned as a political prisoner accused of treason. Going strictly by the law, it was hard to argue against that. But the string of events this triggered was magnificent. The debate on who was actually in power on Gallifrey was a really fun element of the episode. The attempted assassination of Darkel brought back fun memories of The Deadly Assassin and I had to laugh at the claim of Gallifrey being the upmost representation of democracy if Presidents could simply name their own successor! Darkel commanding that the would-be assassin be killed without question was more than enough to illustrate her guilt and Annos revealing that to Narvin and trusting his instincts was excellent. Their unsubtle referring to Darkel in that call was superb and it was clear that the CIA wanted the assassin for questioning. Darkel and Matthias combining to annul Romana's presidency from the moment that Pandora was released was a very good and intriguing move and it coming into effect happened very quickly. That would be her downfall though as that meant that Romana's decision to strip Braxiatel of his role as Chancellor never happened, and in the event of a President being removed from office it was the Chancellor that assumed the role. His return was fantastic and really well done with Leela and K9 seeking entry to his office in the first place. Great stuff. Darkel's reaction when she realised what had happened was priceless. The looming effects of Pandora still remained inside his head, but with the Matrix no more then there was not a huge threat to Gallifrey with his return. His arrest of Darkel soon being turned on its head due to the tradition of pardoning political prisoners was a fun moment, although I do wish it lasted a little longer as it was such a quick turn of events for the Inquisitor. Her speed in making this tradition known and enacted of course freed Romana as well and this meant she could once again stand for President. Darkel's playing on the Pandora element within Braxiatel's mind was brilliant and I liked how this resulted in a quick resignation from the former Chancellor. The moment of him naming his successor with everything pointing towards it being Romana and normality restored was magnificent, as he only went and named Matthias the High President instead! I didn't see that coming, and neither did I envisage the demise of Darkel at the hands of Pandora as it wasn't Braxiatel's mind she was held within but hers. True, it was his will keeping her at bay but it was Darkel who perished which was a big shock! Leela managed to shine and the way her blindness was used was excellent here. Just what I've been after. Her comment about the birds when flapping was mentioned was hilarious and I loved that she made comments like these intentionally so Time Lords would think her stupid. Overall, a terrific audio!

Rating: 9/10