Panacea

"Your species faces extinction."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: August 2006

Series: Gallifrey 3.05

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

'How much for just the planet?'

Gallifrey is ruined. The great and good of her once-mighty Capitol gather in disease-ridden shanty towns outside its walls. Her 'friends' in the Temporal Powers anticipate her total collapse, and the beginning of a new galactic order.

The Time Lords' President has a drastic scheme to restore this world to its former glory but can a cure for all Gallifrey's ills really be found in the hands of entrepreneur, adventurer and self-confessed swine Mephistopheles Arkadian?

And what of the Lad Romana? Exiled to her ancestral house of Heartshaven, she's about to uncover the greatest threat that Gallifrey has ever faced, one that might yet cause the Time Lord race to become extinct...

Verdict

Panacea was a decent conclusion to the third series of Gallifrey, but despite its qualities I can't help but feel there remain a lot of unanswered questions and I am not entirely convinced by the overall structure of the spinoff. I was very much in favour of the way the three series as a whole came together here with the return of the initial Free Time dogma virus and the return of Arkadian to Gallifrey, but things just seemed a bit rushed and the flow of the series was not as easy as the first two in my opinion. After all of the Pandora build, she was dealt with in Warfare which was episode two of the series which just felt off and in the explanation from Braxiatel towards the end of this story, the weapons concerning her were pretty much disregarded so I'm not entirely sure they fit into the overall arc. However, the characters of this series are incredibly strong and that really did help with the series and they were terrific in this episode to be honest. The likes of Narvin and Braxiatel in particular are brilliant and I really enjoy the interaction between the latter and the featured characters we know from television Doctor Who. I was a little surprised that there was no immediate follow on from Mindbomb after Darkel was killed and Matthias made President. I did appreciate Braxiatel's rationale when it came to explaining why he didn't choose Romana as his successor, as he thought she was the most intelligent and clever Time Lord he had known and needed her to tackle the Free Time movement and virus. One element of the episode I thought was superb was the effect of the dogma virus on Time Lord regeneration. The example of that in action in the depths of Heartshaven with Janartis feeling the impact of the virus was incredible as regeneration meant death which was irony at its highest level. The threat that posed to Gallifrey and the Time Lords' future was such a good concept and I really do think that should have been the focus. Maybe it will be in Season 4? Although, I have to say that the end of this audio was a bit of a let down with the cliffhanger finish mid-sentence from Romana as she was just about to explain the next course of action following the reveal of this threat. That was a bit rubbish considering the build up of the range and this series. There's a lot going on in the series which I am enjoying, but I must admit that I think there probably has been a little too much this series. The inclusion of the Pandora troubles combined with the dogma virus and now bringing things back to Free Time and Arkadian is a lot of strings to carry together and I think that had an adverse impact on the focus. Despite that, there was so much good going on and I do like the Free Time reversion and where that may take us moving forward. One of the highlights of the story was Leela and Arkadian's interaction given their history and the way her blindness was used with her reaction to hearing his voice was magnificent. Louise Jameson's acting when it came to him temporarily providing her with sight again was outstanding. A sublime scene. K9's role in the episode was a lot of fun and his logical and matter-of-fact delivery of statements made his employment by Matthias and partnership with Braxiatel all the better. I really didn't see that coming and Romana's reaction was more than enough to show the surprise! That was a fun moment. Overall though, a decent story but there's probably too much going on and a naff cliffhanger.

Rating: 7/10