Gallifrey; Chapter VI  - “Spirit" by Stephen Cole

Ok, so, Lies left me cold, but I’ve been promised that Series Two is where Gallifrey comes into its own and I’m determined for that to be the case. And, judging by Spirit, I think I’m going to get just what I wanted. Spirit was excellent and by far the best audio from this range I’ve listened to so far and, in fact, the best thing I’ve seen from Stephen Cole. A two-hander from Ward and Jameson already sounds like it promises to be a good time but I didn’t anticipate just how much of a step up in quality we’d get because, compared to Lies, this is like night and day.

Deciding to take a rest from presidential duties, Romana drags Leela with her to a retreat world, where they aim to enjoy the tranquillity of nature in peace. However, personal grievances and the arrival of a mysterious, injured man threaten to ruin the trip.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

At the end of the day, Spirit is just Louise Jameson and Lalla Ward showing that they can really act. The first half hour or so of this audio isn’t even the real plot, it’s just Ward and Jameson going on a hike and talking and it’s probably the best part of the whole thing. These two can just play off each other so brilliantly and the way Cole uses the two to explore Leela’s fish out of water nature is brilliant. Their arguments over ideology followed up by banter only the best of friends could have is basically the thesis statement of their relationship and is executed gloriously here. As for the actual story, it does the usual Gallifrey thing of having an inexplicable temporal mystery for Romana to solve but does go about it in a much more interesting way (not getting solved with a boatload of useless exposition). Halfway through the story, a horrifically burnt man stumbles from an impossible TARDIS, unable to speak or be identified. This sort of medical mystery, with unknowable John Does or inexplicable injuries always tend to fascinate me (think Dyatlov Pass Incident or the death of Gloria Ramirez) so this immediately had my attention. There’s something so strange and unnerving about this unknowable something that harmed this man and could harm you. It’s that uneasy, macabre tone that persists throughout the rest of the audio. Shortly after the man’s discovery, Romana and Leela enter sensory deprivation tanks, only to wake up to find the story’s suddenly turned into Freaky Friday, with them having swapped personalities. They wander through a destroyed, alternate version of the hotel, finding the broken man and getting hunted by bat-like creatures. This whole section should be a weird diversion, but it miraculously works, and that’s coming from somebody who really doesn’t like body swap stories. And it works purely because of Jameson and Ward’s incredible performances, who emulate each other so well I legitimately could not stop mixing the two up in this section. Plus, the whole thing is bathed in this lonely melancholia that is so palpable from the weird, alternate version of the world like something out of Silent Hill to the excellent sound design of a snow ravaged paradise. In all, Spirit was just a nice breath of fresh air, with an interesting setting outside of the capital and an excellent atmosphere, in part helped by David Darlington’s excellent score.

Although it certainly was an escape from the stifling repetitiveness of what Gallifrey had become for me, Spirit did have its flaws. For one, I think the story lacked cohesiveness between its acts. I don’t really feel like the hiking stuff and the dream world stuff really mix that well and some things kind of happen out of contrivance, like Romana deciding to still do sensory deprivation even after a major security breach. Also, although I thought that the dialogue, for the most part, was good, it could get really clunky at times. Not often but there is one particular moment after Romana and Leela escape the dreamworld and reconcile over some of the hokiest dialogue I have ever seen; it felt like something out of a Dhar Mann video and it completely fumbled what could’ve been a very touching moment. There’s also this subplot surrounding the hotel’s manager trying to seduce Romana’s escort that felt massively out of place and didn’t really go anywhere. I guess it represents Leela’s alternative should she want to escape Gallifrey, considering the reveal it was the manager trying to break her 10 year work contract, but I feel it really wasn’t needed. Then again, it did mean we got to see Leela deck a man in the face so perhaps it was necessary.

Spirit felt like what Lies wanted to be. Rather than being aimless exposition without a plot, we got some fantastic character growth and a brilliant little mystery to boot, even if it was a small-scale, arc heavy story. Stephen Cole isn’t a writer I’m usually this fond of - this is definitely one of his better stories - but I can confidently say he’s written the first of these audios where the characters have really clicked for me. I would’ve loved this if it had just been Romana and Leela hiking, and I think that says something about its quality.

9/10

Pros:

+ A really great showcase of the chemistry between Jameson and Ward

+ Really compelling and surreal mystery

+ Adopts this incredible, macabre atmosphere in the second half

+ Unique and interesting setting

+ Great score

Cons:

- Inconsistent in tone and story

- Some of the dialogue fell flat

- The subplot with Hallan felt incredibly unnecessary