Gallifrey: Panacea

Gallifrey #3.5

by Justin Richards, Louise Jameson (Narrator), Lalla Ward (Narrator)

'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 Lady 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…

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Media Tie In

Audio CD

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Justin Richards is a British writer. He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range. He has also written for television, contributing to Five's soap opera Family Affairs. He is also the author of a series of crime novels for children about the Invisible Detective, and novels for older children. His Doctor Who novel The Burning was placed sixth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's "Best SF/Fantasy novelisation or TV tie-in novel" category of 2000.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Panacea means so much to me. Mainly because this is the Gallifrey CD that I have signed by Miles/Lalla/Louise/Sean and keep it on display.

an EPIC end to series 3 and I love the Braxiatel moments at the end.

But also love how Matthias is desperate and running out of plans trying to save Gallifrey, how Arkadian returns and Leela's reaction to him and Romana going back home to the ruins of Heartshaven.

I just love these idiots so much.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging story, and a nice wrap up to series 3, although I found all the double-triple-quadruple crossing at the end to be a bit frenetic. Also, I know that Gary Russell likes to say that the ending is not a cliffhanger, but...it's a cliffhanger. Roll on series 4!

[Daniel Cork · Rating 5 out of 5]

So here we are at the very end of this series and what an absolute joy this range has been so far, considering how this story ends though, it does surprise me how it took a few years for this range to return however. But I'm really intrigued to see what happens next, despite the fact I will be taking a break from this range.

Matthias is now President and with Darkel and Pandora both now gone, Gallifrey can finally begin to heal. But Arkadian is back and he's up to something devastating that could both endanger and save Gallifrey. It's up to Romana, Leela, and Narvin to stop him.

This was an incredible finale that ties everything up beautifully and gives us all the answers as to what Braxiatel's ultimate game was throughout this series and seeing it all come together. It's a very political episode where the free-time virus has finally been unleashed infecting all of Gallifrey, all leading up to a very intriguing cliffhanger.

Overall: Series 3 is by far the best of the original range, I'm intrigued to see how the storyline continues in Series 4 especially since it looks to be absolutely insane! 10/10

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories like this make me see why people love Brax so much. And he has a great voice one might describe as "sonorous."

And K-9 with the fake betrayals! A lot is going on with this, and now I'm out of all the Gallifrey audios I purchased, so I guess I better get some pennies together to carry on with Series 4!

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling conclusion to series 3. Free Time has unleashed a virus upon Gallifrey that makes Time Lord zombies; Romana and Braxiatel must work together to find a cure before it's too late. I was glad that there was some closure between Leela and Andred, which I thought was a lovely touch, but hated that Leela and Romana had to go their separate ways. I hope they'll be reunited in series 4.

[MrColdStream · Rating 5 out of 5]

📝90/100

Panacea wraps up Gallifrey’s third series with a story that’s equal parts introspective and action-packed. Its political intrigue, character development, and shocking twists make it a standout entry, even as its cliffhanger leaves much unresolved.

Full review at https://tardis.guide/reviews/story-pa...

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this run of Galiifrey so far as a whole. This particular story I thought was not quite at the level of the previous story Mindbomb (which was excellent). A few things got wrapped up, but ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda don’t like how this ends mid sentence. Apparently there’s a five-year gap in releases between this and series 4, so I’m curious how the next one flows from this, if at all. Might be a while before I get to it, though.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrapping up the third “season” of Gallifrey political drama, this story does exactly that and wrap-up a lot of the story threads that have been building for quite some time. And then we’ve got the treat of a coming threat in the horizon. Good stuff all around.

[Harri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cliffhanger?! Also K-9, how could you?!

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Would anyone else care to join this conga over Rassilon's grave?"

There is SO much packed into this last episode. The free time virus is finally let go on Gallifrey leaving large portions of time lords "zombified". It is quite shocking to see how Gallifrey has deteroiated after the civil war and at the hands of the plague. The twists and turn keep coming as more and more is slowly revealved. Both Narvin and Brax say some rather lovely things about Romana, which she brushes off. K9 has some rather brilliant moments, one of the most devious people. A wonderful end to the series. But I am really glad they brought it back for more. Even if it was on different Gallifreys...

Having listened to all three seasons again rapidly. This was definitely the weakest. They got rid of Mary far too quickly and easily. EVERY new character they introduced was male, which considering the smaller role Romana I and Darkel played it was more than a bit disappointing! There was hardly any scenes with Romana and Leela together. And bringing back Arkadian at the end as incredibly comptenet and evil just felt wrong after he'd been pure comedy early on. Definitely preferred the 1st two seasons.

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final episode and the original end of the Gallifrey series. After all the drama of Pandora, Darkel and the brief return of Brax, new president Matthias is left to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, pigrats infected with the Dogma virus run rampant in the undercity. Rogue and weapons dealer Arkadian has a solution, but Romana, Leela and Narvin don't trust the smooth-talking rogue. It's a good story, if a bit bleak. And then, it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger. There's a slight blink-and-you'll-miss-it hint that the Daleks are behind the Dogma virus. It a decent ending, at least in that it does flow somewhat naturally from the previous installments. However, the cliffhanger ending and lack of really good moments do bring it down a bit for me.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a brief visit to Romana's Lungbarrow-like family house of Heartshaven, the Free Time virus explodes back onto the scene, and Gallifrey is suddenly and preposterously becoming overrun by "zombified" Time Lords.

It turns out that both the Free Time infection and its cure (the titular "panacea") were a brilliant plot to take down Time Lord society and sink Gallifrey, so as to benefit other races in the galaxy.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very exciting close to Gallifrey's third series. Free time virus set loose and a huge zombie population roaming around. Past President Romania is trying with the current president trying to stop the infection. Will they be in time.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely twist with the potential cure to the dogma virus. Wheels within wheels, complex political plots and surprising - although shouldn't be really - appearance of Brax!. Love this series. Ends on a cliffhanger...

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1014141.html