Panacea (audio story)

Panacea (identified on the cover simply as Chapter Fourteen) was the fifth story of the third series of Gallifrey. It ended on what at the time seemed like the end of the series with a definite end/cliff-hanger to the series. The series returned in March 2011 with Reborn.

Publisher's summary
"How much for just the planet?"

Gallifrey is ruined. The great and good of her once-mighty Capitol gather in disease-ridden shanty towns outside its walls. Her 'friends' in the temporal powers anticipate her total collapse and the beginning of a new galactic order.

The Time Lords' latest president has a drastic scheme to restore this world to its former glory -- but can a cure for all Gallifrey's ills really be found in the hands of entrepreneur, adventurer and self-confessed swine Mephistopheles Arkadian?

And what of the Lady Romana? Exiled to her ancestral house of Heartshaven, she's about to uncover the greatest threat that Gallifrey has ever faced, one that might yet cause the Time Lord race to become extinct...

Plot
Romana returns to the House of Heartshaven, to which she is the heir, and the doors are eventually opened not by the Doorkeep but by Janartis, former Commander of the Chancellery Guard who has been squatting there and feeding on pig-rats since Narvin banished him. He blames her for his current situation and says that her corpse will provide ample sustenance for the pig-rats.

Narvin hurries to President Matthias and expresses his concerns about his meeting with Mephistopheles Arkadian, but, as the Agency's records concerning Arkadian's crimes were destroyed in the civil war, Matthias says that all that Narvin has to say is hearsay. As Gallifrey is still suffering from the effects of the war and has no friends, Matthias believes that he cannot be picky about whom he works with; soon after, Arkadian disembarks his spacecraft.

Janartis tells Romana that he needs a woman to cook, clean and keep him warm at night, disgusting Romana. Leela arrives with K9, who subdues Janartis, and says that they came looking for her after she left the Capitol. Due to Janartis' weakened state, he is killed by K9's laser despite it being set to non-lethal. Although he does not regenerate, his life signs begin to return and he says "Free Time", indicating that he has been infected with the original strain of the Dogma Virus. K9 kills Janartis at great effort and departs with Romana and Leela when his localised heat beam causes the house to catch fire.

to be completed

Cast

 * Former Lord President Romana - Lalla Ward
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * K9 Mark II - John Leeson
 * Irving Braxiatel - Miles Richardson
 * Coordinator Narvin - Seán Carlsen
 * Chancellor Valyes - Steven Wickham
 * Lord President Matthias - Stephen Perring
 * Mephistopheles Arkadian - Hugo Myatt
 * Captain Henzil - John Dorney
 * Acting-Castellan Annos - Dickon Tolson
 * Commander Janartis - Charlie Ross
 * Surgeon-Master Elbon - Paul Grunert

Individuals

 * Arkadian is an arms dealer, drug smuggler, people trafficker and multiple bigamist.

Species

 * The Daleks are implied to be the real brains behind Free Time and the "big threat" to Gallifrey.
 * Valyes suggest throwing all the Pandora's weapons at the Sontarans or even at the Daleks.

Substances

 * Taranium is mentioned by Arkadian.

Technology

 * Arkadian has a limited edition Esquera-class Galaxy Slimskimmer with ultra-chrome attachments.
 * Braxiatel takes Narvin, Romana and Leela to the Axis using a Time Scoop.

Time Lords

 * Leela mentions the Time Lords having "thirteen lives".
 * Matthias offers Mephistopheles Arkadian a drink of a Pandak III vintage.
 * Romana refers to herself as "Mortal Heir to the House of Heartshaven, Inheritor of the House of Dvora and Custodian of the House of Everston".

Continuity

 * Arkadian attempts to goad Narvin by remarking that he is "the only senior Time Lord who wasn't Lord President this week." This refers to the fact that the office had recently been held by Romana II, Pandora, Valyes (in an acting capacity), Braxiatel and finally Matthias in rapid succession. Furthermore, Romana, Matthias and Darkel were vying for the position before Braxiatel assumed the office and appointed Matthias as his successor. (AUDIO: Imperiatrix, Fractures, Warfare, Appropriation, Mindbomb)
 * Braxiatel says that they are on the planetoid housing his Collection and that he has separated it from the rest of the universe. The former is false (AUDIO: Reborn), but the latter would eventually be true. (PROSE: Mother's Ruin)
 * The Daleks created the Dogma Virus. (AUDIO: Ascension)