Madam President: Romana has served Gallifrey for a long time and defended her academy from all manner of attacks and she wants it on record (even to Rassilon) that she is actively seeking other methods of fighting the War. If not by diplomatic means, then any other methods at their disposal. Surely it makes sense to keep all their options open rather than naturally moving onto a war footing. It’s worth remembering that Romana has been at this sort of thing for a long time now and has picked up more than a few things along the way. How she displays tactics for counter espionage here impressed me. She has learnt to think like the enemy and to give them enough to make it feel like she is mistakes when really she is seeding that information and a few steps ahead. Romana accepts that this is not the Gallifrey that she fought for and that she no longer has a home and needs to travel back out into the universe. She’s running from a Presidential assassination attempt and will in all likelihood never be welcome home again.
Narvin: Romana always wondered how far Narvin would follow her and it seems that killing the President is the bridge that he refuses to cross. Rassilon knows that Narvin is loyal to Romana and so they go on a mission to try and win him over with extravagant promises (his regenerative powers restored) and important positions. I was never convinced that he could be turned, not after everything that he has been through with Romana. Would that all be for nought?
Rassilon: I love the fact that Rassilon is so convinced by his own superiority that even when he is under attack he won’t run to safety or cower. What a fabulously arrogant despot. He has an entire arsenal of weapons to protect his person, some of which we have heard about during the long run of classic Who. Rather wonderfully he laughs his head off at the assassination attempt and declares those who stood up to him and attempted to kill him are exactly the sort of people he needs by his side in the Time War. Facing a regeneration, he welcomes the change as another step towards Godhood. What a guy. With Ollistra and all the other game players off world he feels that Gallifrey has been left dry of talent.
Standout Performance: I’m sure that the creators of this set would want Terrance Hardiman’s name to be emblazoned in this section of the review and in truth he is quite superb in the role of Rassilon. I prefer the scenes where he gets to underplay and try and corrupt Narvin because Hardiman’s purring voice really sells this nightmarishly nasty version of a Time Lord of mythology. However, I want to sing Sean Carlsen’s praises again for what is turning out to be a consistently excellent performance as Narvin. He’s a character who has never had it easy and this set is no different and I loved the suggestion that he might turn on Romana in this story because of the terrifying actions she wants to take. Carlsen makes you wonder which way Narvin is going to jump and that’s exciting with a character that I’m invested in. It goes without saying that Lalla Ward is fantastic. But I’m going to say it anyway.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I imagine spending your entire life sitting on the fence must be extremely uncomfortable.’
‘It seems I’ve found the bridge you wont cross.’
‘You’re going to make Rassilon’s first true regeneration a public spectacle?’
‘You’re terrified of him Livia…precisely how Rassilon likes it.’
Great Ideas: There is no neutral ground in the Time war anymore, stand with Gallifrey or face the consequences. That is what the events on Ysalus have proven. The Matrix has shown thousands of races fleeing from potential battle zones. Training camps are being set up across the cosmos (I believe we visited one in an appalling Matt Fitton penned eighth Doctor story once). Cardinal Ollistra has been given special dispensation to move ahead with projects. How nice to see all of the ranges merging into one here, with Fitton contributing to all three it feels perfectly natural that he should tip the wink to both the War Doctor and the eighth Doctor War stories. For once it feels like they are all inhabiting the same universe. And it’s fascinating to see so much material we have already enjoyed being set up in this series. This is where it all began after all. Livia has been behind the President throughout this entire series but Roman can see the cracks in her armour now as the chess pieces have been moved to extreme positions. How long before the Daleks can use flotsam from the vortex to breach Gallifrey’s defences? There is talk of trying to find their previous allies but Braxiatel more than covered his tracks before skipping Gallifrey (leaving multiple false trials that lead precisely nowhere), Ace’s history cannot be tracked from her biodata and her time trace is blurred and contradictory (much like her appearance in so many ranges, goodness knows where she is supposed to belong anymore), and all evidence points to Leela being deep within the Time War. The Celestial Intervention Agency is to be disbanded. The War Council has delved into as many of the Sisterhood of Karn’s secrets as they possibly can and have a broad understanding of resurrection now. We learn that Ace is safe on Earth and time locked but how much Braxiatel left of her memory intact is anyone’s guess. Leela has appeared at several temporal co-ordinates. The Sicari Collective are borne of a universe that live in fear of the Time Lords. They were always going to come for Rassilon.
Audio Landscape: The realisation of the Sicari was a little underwhelming. I could barely understand what they were saying.
Standout Scene: The moment Romana contemplates the unthinkable…the assassination of Rassilon. Have things really gotten this bad? I was literally gritting my teeth with tension as he realises that she is going to betray him and calls her out on it. When the hell did Gallifrey become the temporal equivalent of Game of Thrones?
Result: ‘This isn’t Gallifrey, not anymore…’ Exciting and climactic, although I’m not sure the set has justified such an approach. This feels like the end of a terrific arc with exciting things being promised for the future and lots of fun details coming together. However, this set has been the epitome of a slow burner with two stories that were all set up and no pay off and two stories that kick start the idea of Gallifrey gone rogue in a riveting way. My point is you probably could have excised the first two stories or at least truncated them into one tale and gotten to this point even sooner because it frustrates me that as soon as this set starts getting really good…its over. However, kudos for avoiding the one duffer syndrome; there is usually one story in a set of four that compares terribly to the rest and the biggest complaint I can make is that the first two instalments are only above average. Can it be treason to have the Lord President executed if it is no longer the Gallifrey they swore to protect? Is Rassilon the only one that the Time War has corrupted? Interesting questions are raised around this grey morality. The story doesn’t scrimp on discussing these points in depth, looking at how Gallifrey has evolved and how the series regulars have too. It’s a refreshing study and features some of the best Matt Fitton dialogue I’ve heard in a while. More fantastic scenes for Sean Carlsen. More fantastic scenes for Lalla Ward. A star turn by Terrance Hardiman who is so cool as Rassilon that he wont even raise an eyebrow when his life is in danger because he is so assured of his dominance. I found myself discussing this series with a friend who has never heard it but has dipped his toes into the War Doctor stories with mixed results. The Briggs and Barnes approach to the Time War is all high concept and no heart, and relatively few consequences. Handcock’s Time War is less showy but with a narrative that builds and develops into something impressive, with tight character moments and smart dialogue. I know which approach I prefer. I’m looking forward to hearing more and after a bit of a wobble in the middle series of Gallifrey, I’m right back in the zone with a series that has caught a second wind: 8/10
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