📝8/10 → VERY ENJOYABLE!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

LIES, or TWO-HANDERS FOR THE WIN!

Lies begins with a fascinating scene taking us back to Romana’s time in the Academy, discussing the nature of her education with tutor Braxiatel. It’s a lovely little scene, which also introduces the villain of the piece, as the younger Romana first comes into contact with Pandora.

Lynda Bellingham is back in a larger role as Darkel, and I like how she stirs up things as well and begins scheming against Romana while Narvin is busy with his own schemes. This time, tension is created from Romana allowing alien species to study at the Academy if they have the potential to harness temporal powers.

I sort of like how things have calmed down in terms of the political scheming, but how the central characters continue to throw witty banter. Romana is as sharp as ever, especially when sharing scenes with Andred, Brax, or Castellan Wynter (a freshly graduated Castellan and an enjoyable new cast addition), and Lalla Ward and Andy Coleman shine in their roles.

It's lovely to hear Mary Tamm make her Big Finish debut here as Romana I. Her bickering with Romana II and Leela is enjoyable to listen to, though her role in the story remains small.

Leela is off on her own, exploring the Vaults below the Capitol with K9 while coping with the reveal of Andred’s regeneration in A Blind Eye. Her conversations with the tin dog are some of the better scenes written for the character so far. She then inadvertently unleashes a hidden force from ancient times, Pandora, who is desperate to return to full power through Romana.

Andred is still around and digs around for information on Pandora, which makes him go on his own mission against Romana and Leela.

Brenda Longman is great as Pandora. She makes the character sinister but fun. I still find it a bit difficult to keep track of every character, and the fact that the voices of the male actors sound so similar to each other doesn't help matters.

The plot is a bit more streamlined here and focused on delicious character relations on one hand and the tense Pandora plot on the other. I especially like what Lies is doing with Riomana, suggesting that she is similar to the first female president, who used her influence to overthrow ancient laws. This really builds great tension between Romana and those opposing her, believing her to be a threat to Time Lord society.

The final third, which sees the two Romanas banter while Leela tries to make sense of the situation, and Andred frames Narvin for murder, is truly enjoyable.

Lies then sets up the narrative threads of Season 2, which sound a bit more intriguing to me than the ones featured in the first season. Colour me intrigued to hear where this series is going next!