Featuring:
117 The Judgement Of Iskaar
118 The Destroyer Of Delights
119 The Chaos Pool
Main range release 117 The Judgement
Of Iskaar (Simon
Guerrier)
Released
January 2009
This release
reintroduces the Key to Time to the Doctor Who universe. First appearing in
season 16, the quest to recover and assemble its six segments joined together
the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9. At the conclusion of this search, the Doctor
scattered the segments again because the alternative was to give it to the
Black Guardian.
Now in his
Fifth incarnation, the Doctor finds himself on a rainy planet, summoned by a
newly born human tracer whom he names Amy. She informs him that he will help
her relocate the segments because they are destroying the universe. This audio
shows the Doctor and Amy locating three out of the six segments, on Chaos, Mars
and Safeplace. It also introduces Amy’s ‘twin’, if you like, Zara. To keep
balance, the Grace (the Key’s creators) made Amy and Zara to collect three
segments each. But Zara wants all of them.
I like how
Amy and Zara are equal and opposite in a way. Both are recently created and
have the means to locate and store the segments. But their behaviour is
opposite. Zara’s experiences before the events of this audio have made her
opportunistic and selfish, shown in how she leaves partner in crime Zinc (no, I
am not kidding) to die at the hands of the Ice Warriors. By contrast, Amy shows
compassion, having moulded herself on the Doctor. This connection will echo in
later stories featuring the characters.
I will admit
that the story can get confusing. We don’t want to see the Doctor at the
Genesis of the Ice Warriors, or how he was involved. When the action moves to Safeplace,
the conflict between the Valdigians and the Ice Warriors is puzzling. I would
just sonic cannon the castle to bits or damage the foundations so the castle
collapsed.
Good effort,
but three segments in one story can seem much. On the bright side, the next two
audios can focus on one segment apiece. Oh, that cliffhanger….
Main range release 118 The Destroyer Of
Delights (Jonathan Clements)
Released
February 2009
If the last
story looked at the range of appearances each segment could take, this one
shows the Guardians, who played a small part in the original Key to Time.
The last
story ended with the Doctor and Amy stuck on a ship falling into a sun,
separated from the Tardis and faced with the Black Guardian (voiced by David
Troughton!). The opening scene establishes how the next segment (note how it is
never referred to as the fifth segment, correct me if I’m wrong) is nowhere is
space and time. Both guardians have been searching for millennia and found zip,
nada nothing. So the Doctor proposes something not unfamiliar to the guardian:
randomosity (I paraphrased). So the Doctor ends up in the desert and Amy in a
palace, both in 9th century Sudan.
This audio
highlights Amy’s reliance on others to determine her behaviour. She has had
only the Doctor to learn from, and has no other experience. Needless to say, he
inexperience and naivety drive Nisrin up the wall (figuratively, not literally,
because that would be a blatant anachronism) especially when it comes to Prince
Omar. This confusion goes two ways, as listeners will find out.
There is an
element of who’s who, if you have a keen ear, or have read the cast list for
this and the next story. Try to identify the Cassim or the Caliphate before the
Doctor can. The alien in the story does not over stay or impose on other characters.
In fact, many elements of this story stem from, and in the DW universe will
inspire, Arabian Nights, as writer Jonathan Clements mentions is the bonus
features. Aladdin will seem the most obvious, what with the treasure cave and
all.
One final thing,
the nature of this segment is very creative. It highlights a problem found with
Eternals, in that a person has to come up with an idea for the Eternal to have
it. The idea that the segment comes into being through the Black Guardian’s
actions towards finding it is clever. This kind of twist makes the story a very
good one, one that surpasses Judgement.
Main range release 119 The Chaos Pool
(Peter Anghelides)
Released
March 2009
Acting as the
trilogy’s finale, there is naturally a lot at stake. The Teuthoidians are
arriving from the dawn of time to face the Atrians (is that right?) who come
from the end of time above the planet Chaos, location of the fabled Chaos Pool.
Members of the Atrios fleet include Professor Lydel (a guess who character),
Princess Astra and a certain human tracer called Zara…
It is here
that the Doctor and Amy come in, become separated from the TARDIS (as usual)
and get underway with the search for the sixth segment of the Key. After some
identity confusion, the search for the Chaos Pool is underway..
I like how
Zara has developed. As she has experienced the universe, she becomes her own
person, as opposed to an agent of The Grace. Zara has learned to love, and this
is very different to the antagonistic behaviour she exhibited back in
Judgement. She is encouraged to make her own choices, not to do as others ask
of her.
Concerning
the nature of the sixth segment, this story links back to the original Key to
Time finale, the Armageddon Factor in that the segment is a person. Also
harking back to that story is sixth member of the sixth something being crucial
the story. In this case the captain of the Atrios fleet, Pargrave (Zara’s
crush) is the sixth son of his family’s sixth generation. Funny how his path
led to the sixth segment!
Lalla Ward
does double duty and plays both Astra, who has aged curiously, and Romana.
(Another Armageddon link!) This allows for an interesting turn in regard to who
turns into a segment. It seems that being restored to a human segment caused
Astra to draw on the life energy of those around her ie the Atrians. This gave
her a sort of immortality at the cost her people. To save them, she allowed herself
to be the home of the sixth segments essence, sparing Romana. What a surprise!
Upon the
conclusion of this tale, Amy is written out so the Doctor can return to Peri. I
found Amy an interesting companion. She demonstrated just how the world around
us and the people we meet influence us. Given that she was created for the
purpose of the Doctor having a new companion (reflecting Romana’s original
recruitment perhaps?) Amy had no further use. She has been quite good in the
Graceless series, so I recommend giving that a listen.
Did you enjoy this review? if so, please comment on any releases or trilogies that you want me to listen to.
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