Doctor Who: The Chaos Pool

The Key 2 Time #3

by Peter Anghelides

The ageless leader of a dying race believes that salvation lies within The Chaos Pool, a place that even the Guardians of Time have been unable to locate. Meanwhile Commander Hectocot and his Teuthoidian followers move in for the kill - again and again and again...

Two different races from opposite ends of Time - so how can they co-exist?

In their search for the final segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Amy become caught in the crossfire. As the end of everything approaches, old friends and enemies reveal themselves and the final battle between the forces of Chaos and Order ignites…

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Anghelides' first published work was the short story "Moving On" in the third volume of the Virgin Decalog collections, which led to further short stories in the fourth collection and then in two of the BBC Short Trips collections that followed. In January 1998, his first novel Kursaal was published as part of BBC Books' Eighth Doctor Adventures series on books. Anghelides subsequently wrote two more novels for the range, Frontier Worlds in November 1999, which was named "Best Eighth Doctor Novel" in the annual Doctor Who Magazine poll of its readers, and the The Ancestor Cell in July 2000 (co-written with departing editor Stephen Cole). The Ancestor Cell was placed ninth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's "Best SF/Fantasy novelisation or TV tie-in novel" category of that year.

Anghelides also wrote several short stories for a variety of Big Finish Productions' Short Trips and Bernice Summerfield collections. This led, in November 2002, to the production of his first audio adventure for Big Finish, the play Sarah Jane Smith: Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre.

In 2008, he wrote a comic which featured on the Doctor Who website

Reviews

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I probably should have watched the Key to Time serial before starting this miniseries. It would have made a lot more sense, in hindsight. That being said this final installment was jam-packed with action and excitement. I was particularly pleased with the appearances of Romana and Princess Astra.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second Key to Time storyline comes to an end not so much with a bang, but a "myeh."

Stronger than the last installment, the story still suffers from dead spaces where characters are forced to sit around and info-dump plot information or recap what's happened so far--not only in the story but the entire three-story arc.

In the end, it becomes just about what you'd expect and not much more. In fact, the ending isn't exactly the most memorable and fascinating because I just finished listening and it's already fading from memory.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/3

And so ends the Key 2 Time saga. The Chaos Pool repeats some of the first story’s problems. It has incomprehensible talking insects (the slug-like Teuthoidians) and dogs, liberal use of stock sound effects, and an over-reliance on lore beats. That said, there is something to the story’s emphasis on free will, namely concerning Amy and Zara & Astra and Romana. The Doctor takes more of a backseat role, insisting on the personhood of the two tracers (similar to his ‘well-prepared meal’ speech in ‘Earthshock’ - a perfect little monologue for Davison’s Doctor) in contrast to the ethereal Grace and the shortchanged Guardians. There is more made of the White Guardian here, building out the idea of him as beholden to the letter of the law, thereby excluding any capacity for spontaneity or choice. Central to this theme of choice, too, is the return of Astra from ‘The Armageddon Factor’, which is a nice surprise if a bit perfunctory, but does allow for Ward to return in two guises.

Indeed, the story picks up once we are off the ships: cults, free will and choices, and graveyards (oh my!). It’s not enough to rescue the entire trilogy, it ends a bit suddenly, and it is a bit been-there-done-that in places, but it is much more than I expected. Shame about the funny voices.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this part of the trilogy as much as the first two episdoes - there's definitely a lot going on and it does bring things to a conclusion, but it feels like there's a lot shoe-horned in and there's an overuse of deus ex machina - although with the Guardians and the Grace that's probably unavoidable.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah yes, the age old problem when dealing with god-style-level characters. This plays out pretty well, the god-like entities don’t come across as too omnipotent, just a little bit, but not over the top. But it does make things a little difficult to relate to. So while this is entertaining and a nice wrap-up for the Key 2 Time, it’s certainly all cosmic and deus-ex-machina.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be my favorite of the trilogy. Good use of Lalla Ward as Astra and Romana.

[Viviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook CD
2-3 stars

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most definitely better than the last installment, but it was overall just a miss.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Key 2 Time trilogy wraps with an action story involving lots of robed cultists and giant slugs. The story does a good job of bringing together various threads from the first two parts of the trilogy, keeping the whole noticeably more cohesive than the story arc on TV. Not, it has to be said, that season 16 didn't have some triumphs, but, despite the framing device, it's hard to see it as a single story, which you definitely can here.

This story has a number of good ideas, with Zara being quite a key player, and Lalla Ward being well used in a dual role. The White Guardian gets a dressing down, making it clearer than the TV series managed that he's just the flip-side of his Black counterpart, and, in the long run, not really any better. It makes perfect sense that the Doctor, who has always been a somewhat mercurial and disruptive figure would not be all that keen on an entity that so represents order, and it's good to see that brought out.

On the other hand, the slug aliens are rather overdone, and the sub-plot about Zara and Pargrave is entirely unconvincing. (It may not help that, having being recorded first, Jansen and Doddington, as the twins, are still feeling their way with their "new" roles). The ending, when it comes, isn't exactly a great shock, either. It's perhaps also worth noting that much of it doesn't make sense if you haven't seen season 16, since there's a fair few continuity references that some may feel border on fanwank.

It does work, and I've enjoyed the trilogy. Certainly this is better than The Armageddon Factor, although that may not be terribly difficult. But neither has it been hugely memorable, and, like the original, the beginning is probably better than the ending.

3.5 rounded down to 3.

[Nicholas Whyte]

The Fifth Doctor, human tracer companion Amy, and her sister and rival Zara close in on the last segment of the Key to Time. Actually the real star of this is Lalla Ward, who makes a triumphant return; it's not at first clear how or even if this will tie into the Gallifrey series of audios starring her, Louise Jameson and (in part) Mary Tamm, but it's all tied up satisfactorily at the end, including an explanation for Romana's regeneration in Destiny of the Daleks. Purists may object to the fate (or even the portrayal) of the Black and White Guardians, but (as I said in my review of The Destroyer of Delights) I saw it as a rather innovative move by Big Finish to reinvent two essentially rather boring stock characters. While I enjoyed the performances of Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington in the other Key 2 Time audios, this was the first to be recorded and they were still finding their way. The plot is suitably convoluted and enjoyable, though I didn't really grasp the point of the Teuthonians, and you couldn't really recommend it to anyone who hadn't already heard the first three Key 2 Time stories.

[Danny Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally something at least worth chewing on! Peter Angheldies attempts to write an epic but complex story of huge proportions, something which this trilogy should have been striving for overall but in doing so from memory makes some not so desirable decisions that really fault this story.

This is a story that could be considered way too over-complicated after its beginning which was just okay if anything. It's nice to go back and see how Princess Astra is doing but the slug-like creatures I wasn't a huge fan of conceptually and it's also nice to see Romana come back which was a pleasant surprise but the whole plot twist this story goes for doesn't really make sense.

Overall: Out of all the stories in this trilogy this is the most enjoyable and whilst Peter Anghelides does try and do something worthwhile with it being a sequel to The Key to Time stuff it isn't anything amazing and it definitely needed some re-writes. 4/10

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Key 2 Time series wraps up with its best entry yet. "The Chaos Pool" is open to criticism for being a bit overcomplicated and just a bit fanwanky, but it delivered a story that intrigued me, surprised me, and made me laugh out loud at least once.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting if complicated ending to Key to Time segment.

[Debra Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy and the Doctor try to find the last segment to the key to time and run into Astra, Zara and Romana. Can they fix the universe?

[Kate Sherrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was happy to hear Romana but that's about it. Finally just DNF because bored and annoyed.