Tag Archive: Gallifrey

Hello there my fellow Vortex travelers,
My name is Jamie and I will be your guide through the Worlds of Big Finish. In this installment I’m switching things up. To give myself a break from the Main/Monthly Range, I’m going to start delving into other ranges from Big Finish.
In this installment I will give my thoughts on Series 1 of the Gallifrey series. This features Leela and Romana II after the events of Zagreus and deals with events on Gallifrey. The first three seasons tend to flow from one to the next and tell one large story. The next three tell another long arc. Series 7 and 8 are semi-stand alone and then Series 9 onwards is Gallifrey: Time War.
These are available from the Big Finish website on Download for $5.00. Stories #2-3 are still available on CD for $6.20.
Disclaimer: All of the opinions expressed hereafter are my own. There are stories that I love that others may hate, and vice versa. I am not responsible for any reactions others might have to my comments and opinions.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

 

1.1 Weapon of Choice
Written by: Alan Barnes TTV Episode: 450
My Thoughts: We open with a mission to investigate a possibly threatening piece of time technology on the Third Moon of Kikrit. This team is lead by Commander Torvald of the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) and includes a Monan, a Nekestan and a Warpsmith of Phaidon (who are non-corporeal and use slaves to take a corporeal form). In the hut they’re investigating, they find a briefcase. The Phaidon (Napenthe) grabs the case, which she declares is a Timonic Fusion Device and ranting something about “Free Time” vanishes with the case.
We then move to Gallifrey proper and are introduced to Cardinal Braxiatel and CIA Coordinator Narvin (successor to Vansell who bit the dust in Main Range #33 Neverland), and we’re reintroduced to President Romana and K-9 Mk II as they discuss what happened on the moon. A call from the High Monan reveals that Napenthe and the Free Time resistance movement are on Gryben, a temporal enclave that acts as a Time Lord processing center for wayward time travelers.
Leela meanwhile is trying to join the Outsiders. Andred has disappeared and is presumed dead and so there is nothing for Leela in the Capitol. However, the arrival of K-9 Mk I followed by Brax with a summons from Romana ruin her chances. In the Capitol, Romana recruits Leela for a mission to Gryben where she, K-9 Mk I and Torvald, will attempt to make contact with Napenthe and the Free Time movement. The mission to Gryben gets underway. While Leela gets in a fight in the market K-9 seeks information in the local pub. Here we meet Mephistopheles Arkadian, an arms dealer and purveyor of information. Arkadian is a fun character. Scum, but high-class scum. As I listen, having heard all of these (except Series 8 – Enemy Lines), I find it interesting as hints to future events are inserted early. One of these comes when Arkadian is brought to Gallifrey to meet with Romana whom he addresses as “Imperiatrix”. This term will come to mean more in Series 2.
Leela, Torvald and K-9 meanwhile go to the human enclave to seek Napenthe. They find her, or rather she finds them, and Leela attempts to win her trust. Ordered
to kill Torvald, she manages to avoid doing so by revealing a Monan spy which prompts a small-scale Monan invasion of Gryben. However, the Monan actions force Napenthe to arm the Timonic Fusion Device. This forces a mad scramble on both Gallifrey and Gryben.
Romana hatches a plan that gets her to Gryben with Arkadian. She manages to get on Napenthe’s good side before the Monans burst in. The Monan intrusion damages the device accelerating the countdown. A definition from K-9 gives Romana the key while on Gallifrey, Narvin sets the ball rolling on an inquiry and possible impeachment.
The countdown reaches zero and instead of detonating, it just vanishes. Romana explains the purpose of the whole exercise but Napenthe commits suicide before revealing the mastermind behind this. Everything wraps up, though with no real answers, and Romana moves on to the next crisis. She invites Leela back to Gallifrey as her Presidential Bodyguard with K-9 Mk I as her Security Advisor.
A really enjoyable start to the series. It introduces the main characters well, both the ones we already know (Romana II, Leela, the K-9s) and the ones we don’t (Narvin, and Brax). There’s the politics that one expects from Gallifrey but also action, intrigue and surprisingly, humor. It’s plot-driven, but also very character-driven. Overall, a very good start. Rating: 10/10

 

 

1.2 Square One
Written by: Stephen Cole TTV Episode: 450
My Thoughts: This time, we open with Romana, Leela and K-9 in a TARDIS attempting to escape some sort of temporal distortion or some such. Then we jump back to where a temporal summit, the first since Archetryx (see “The Apocalypse Element”), is being planned. Narvin is selected as the Gallifreyan delegate and Leela and K-9 are sent along as Romana’s eyes and ears.
Leela is sent in undercover as an exotic dancer. We get bits of the summit and various bits of gossip that help flesh out some of the non-Gallifreyan temporal powers. Everybody gets at least a little to do. However, this is very much very much Leela’s story.It isn’t long before she finds the body of one of the other dancers and is arrested for the murder. Then, while in her cell, time resets itself. What follows is essentially a Doctor Who meets Groundhog Day as Leela and K-9, and later Romana, work to discover who is looping time in an effort to ensure that the summit is successful without any negative events. And, each time the summit loops, a different problem occurs.A good use of time when the series is all about the Time Lords. It’s not a horrible story. In fact it’s rather good. It doesn’t really drag, and the acting, writing and effects are done well. It’s just not my favorite. Rating: 7/10

 

 

 

1.3 The Inquiry
Written by: Justin Richards TTV Episode: 451
My Thoughts: So, as the title implies, we have the Inquiry. With Darkel (Lynda Bellingham), the Inquisitor from the Trail of a Time Lord presiding, we investigate whether the Gryben incident with the Timonic Fusion Device was handled properly and whether Romana did the right thing. We also delve into Project: Alpha, of which Narvin and Braxiatel were a part of, and whether it actually created a Timonic Fusion Device or if such a device is purely hypothetical.
Whereas Weapon of Choice was an action thriller and Square One was a Timey-Wimey murder mystery of sorts, The Inquiry is a trial, and very much a political story. It is revealed that Project: Alpha did build a Timonic Fusion Device and was on its way to detonating the device before it was halted by Narvin. It was then dismantled and destroyed. Or was it?
Both Narvin and Romana delve into the Matrix for information on Project: Alpha, at the same time. Narvin quickly pulls out but not before discovering a data bomb which K-9 then activates by accident. This causes a bit of panic as the data bomb could potentially destroy the Matrix. The data bomb seems to indicate that there was an explosion in the vortex, but that can’t be as the device never actually went off. However, using the information from the Matrix, they find the device from Gryben and prepare to retrieve it.
The device is recovered having been guarded by Servitor Robots that had gone missing during the last story. Back in the Capitol, Narvin and Torvald track the artron imprint attached to the data bomb. Narvin goes to Romana with their findings and she in turn prepares to meet with mystery individual to get some answers. Leela meanwhile, enters the archives in hopes of finding out the fate of Andred and ends up finding it missing, though Torvald seems to be involved somehow.
The answers about the data bomb are well done. I won’t spoil the rest. It’s good, go listen to it. It helps make Underworld a little more relevant in that story’s background, tying it in to Gallifrey. The ending is superb as everyone something to sink their teeth into. Romana especially gets to shout and be forceful and it sounds brilliant.
After the relatively self-contained Square One, here we get back into season arc and into the political drama of Gallifrey. All of our leads get things to do and time to shine. Romana is a nice standout here as she throws around her presidential weight in the climax. The Timonic Fusion Device plot is mostly wrapped up, though there are a few lingering threads. The mystery over what happened to Andred is still a major plot-point to be expanded upon and wrapped up in a future installment. The Inquiry was fun and keeps you invested as did Weapon of Choice, whereas Square One left a little bored in places, this didn’t. Really looking forward to the next installment. Rating: 10/10

 

 

1.4 A Blind Eye
Written by: Alan Barnes TTV Episode: 451
My Thoughts: So, we find oursleves on a train in Europe in September 1939 as Romana meets with Arkadian (the arms dealer from Weapon of Choice) who wants to make a deal. Arkadian wants free reign for a couple hours to work out some plot involving Nazi sympathizer Cecilia ‘Sissy’ Pollard (played by India Fisher), the sister of Eighth Doctor companion Charley Pollard, in exchange for information on the Timonic Fusion Device.
It seems that everyone is on the train. Romana and Leela who are guarding Sissy, and Narvin and Torvald who are tracking time disturbances. As they all meet and run into each other, another train, or rather the same train, approaches from behind and crashes with the train we’re on. But it doesn’t crash, there’s not a trainwreck, at least in the traditional sense. Instead, the train is existing in two different times.
The joys of this are the characters, and that’s not to say that the plot isn’t good, it is. That said, the interactions between the leads are very good, and the guest cast does well too. Arkadian is a joy and Sissy Pollard is so different from Charley. Where Charley is brave and adventurous, Sissy is a fascist who doesn’t see anything wrong with racism or eugenics while still being very prim and proper.
While Romana and Narvin attempt to understand things, Leela and Sissy (ina separate timeline (or some such) run into Erich, Sissy’s boyfriend. Erich isn’t a Nazi, instead he’s a Time Lord, a member of the CIA. In short, Torvald. There’s also a shape-shifter disguised as an old woman who wishes to collect Sissy as a souvenir. We do get the answers as to what happened to Andred, and it’s very well done. Romana once again gets to show her teeth. Again, everyone gets something to do both the main and guest casts. Erich’s plot revolves around the whole Charley paradox and is resolved nicely. The Gryben incident is wrapped up, but with no true proof because of the events of the conclusion of this story.
An enjoyable story that wraps up the season. It’s a solid story that doesn’t really drag and is enjoyable all while wrapping up some of the plot threads that have been hanging around all season. Rating: 8.5/10
My thoughts on the season as a whole? I’ve made it clear that I really like the Gallifrey series. Sure there are episodes that aren’t my favorites, but you get that with any series. I’m really enjoying Gallifrey, its serialized nature though means that you can’t skip around. All the main characters are great, well-acted and well-written. Romana, Leela, K-9 (both of them), Narvin, Brax, Torvald. And it’s really funny in places without being written as comedy. It all stems from the characters.
A strong opening season, Series 1 hit the ground running, grabbed you by the shirt collar and dragged you along. And the great thing, at least for me, is that I wanted to keep going. Series 2 and 3 are also really good. If you like politics and/or the characters of Romana, Leela and K-9, then you should definitely listen to Gallifrey.
So, that’s my assessment of Gallifrey Series 1. At some point, I’ll have another Series listened to, and can supply another guide for those interested in dipping their toes into Big Finish. Again, this is not a fast process so the next installment might be a while. Happy travels,
Jamie.