And so the carnage continues on what is effectively the second half of BBV's initial Faction Paradox audio story (so for the Grandfathers sake don't buy this unless you've already heard The Eleven Day Empire!). A brief series of snippets from the previous audios provides a handy recap for our tired old brain cells, and off we go…
Its here on this second disc that the threat of the Sontarans makes way for that of the highly mysterious Lolita, as the power behind the earlier assault steps out of the shadows. Is she a Time Lord, a TARDIS, or something else? At the plays conclusion I've still no idea, but as villains go her powers are off the scale. Apparently being set up as a recurring adversary for Cousin Justine, Lolita combines haughty put-downs with baby bouncing, as intriguingly it seems to be Who villains 'take a child to work' week…
Cousin Justine is slightly pushed into the sidelines for this disc, only appearing centre-stage in the plays final moments, and the climax is shockingly unexpected. As for how this series will run in the future its too early to be sure, but it appears as though Miles has set up a highly traditional (and vaguely familiar!) format of a couple of renegades fleeing from their home world in a stolen time/space machine. Its amusing that an author so apparently anti-trad as Miles should invoke nostalgic memories of the jokey ending of The Five Doctors at the end of this disc, but the similarities are there.
Overall, I enjoyed these two discs immensely, and have had any doubts about Faction Paradox's translation to stars in their own audio series laid to rest. Unreservedly recommended, just be aware that with the fairly open-ended closure of these two discs, coupled with the current slow release schedules, you may be spending a few months chewing your knuckles between instalments…
