The True History of The Faction Paradox

Volume 3

Body Politic

Published by Magic Bullet Productions

The Faction Paradox are an enigma in every sense of the word. Initially created by Lawrence Miles to be part of the pre re-launch range of Doctor Who novels, the Faction are one part far future terrorist to one part artist, a group who favour ritual as much as science and who are only definitively on their own side.

Initially a group of Time Lords, the Faction were taken out of existing Whocontinuity by their creator and have flourished since in a rnage of audio dramas and books. There are still echoes of the original series, still hints but the end result is significantly odder, and darker than you might expect.

The Great Houses continue to fight and, facing a nine hundred and twenty four front war across space and time, the War King sends an ambassador to the Osirian homeworld in the hopes of stopping the power rising there before another front is opened in the war. However, the Ambassador is far from popular and the Osirians are far from naïve about his intentions.

At the same time, the Faction’s field agent, Justine, is trying to resurrect the only Osirian capable of standing against the dread Sutekh the Destroyer. To do this she’s searching for his complete biodata, a task that takes her across time and space and puts her squarely in the centre of the Osirians’ and Great Houses’ sights.

The beauty of radio is that, as the saying goes, the pictures are better and that’s no exception here. From the Ship of a Billion Years, the impossibly vast spacecraft of the Osirians to Sutkeh himself, the script continually provides the listener with dizzying images and situations far larger than the suddenly frail, mortal Faction members can handle. Who fans will enjoy the references to Sutekh and the fascinating background to his race whilst fans of good audio drama will be blown away by the cast on display here.

Chris Tranchell’s splendidly plausible Mortega is particularly good fun but it’s Phillip Madoc as the War King and the splendidly named Gabriel Woolf as Sutekh that stick with you. Madoc brings an Arthurian dignity to his role whilst Woolf, reprising his role from the TV show is both grandiose and utterly, coldly alien. Wanda Opalinska and Jane Lesley as the wonderfully unflappable Faction Cousins Justine and Eliza are also great here and are really coming into their own as series leads.  There's a sense of identity to the series that's all it's own and in many ways it's closer to Dune than Doctor Who at this point.

If you’re looking for a fresh perspective and original take on some of the central concepts of Doctor Who, this is for you. If you’re looking for epic scale science fiction then this is for you. If you’re looking for well written, well acted audio drama, again, this is for you. Simply put, this is an extremely impressive story told very well. It deserves your attention, as do the rest in the series.