Review by Daniel Mansfield

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The mystery of why the Doctor and Rose keep returning to the Powell Estate deepens in Pandemonium by Katharine Armitage, as they discover the place overrun by figures from throughout history.

The Doctor barely has time to complain that he’s back on Earth before he launches headlong into investigating why all this has happened.

While we don’t learn a huge amount about these historical figures over the course of Pandemonium, that’s not really the point of the story. Instead of the who, Armitage focuses on the why, setting up a mystery that initially seems straightforward, but ends up taking us to some quite unexpected territory.

That aside, this story is also a hell of a lot of fun. Samuel Pepys is drunk, the Celts and Romans are fighting, and Edith Nesbit is lodging with Jackie Tyler – this blending of the mundane and the extraordinary is the kind of thing only Doctor Who could do, and it’s done very well here.

Tied into this historical mystery is a touching thread involving Glen (Clive Hayward), whose beloved Paul (Nick Denning-Read) has somehow returned from the dead alongside all of these so-called ‘past people’. Armitage explores the tragedy of how homophobia meant the two couldn’t be openly together when Paul was alive, while also examining how attitudes towards homosexuality have changed since then. This adds to the story a thought-provoking thematic undercurrent about how the past can both be celebrated and criticised.

All of this is capped with a brilliant performance from Billie Piper as Rose, who is faced with an opportunity she finds difficult to refuse. I think part of the success of Rose’s character back in 2005 was Russell T Davies‘ willingness to present her as flawed, and sometimes even selfish, and that side of her character is explored really deftly here as Armitage takes one of her key storylines from Series 1 and fleshes it out in ways you might not expect, but feel true to her character.

And when all is said and done, there’s a mouth-watering cliffhanger that will leave you chomping at the bit for the next episode, which promises answers to the big questions raised over the last five stories.

Overall, Pandemonium is fun and thoughtful in equal measure, mashing together chaos, heartbreak and history to create what’s easily the best of these new Ninth Doctor Adventures so far.

Pandemonium is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com

The Ninth Doctor Adventures continue in June with Thirteen O’Clock