Lady President: Why, when she has repeatedly done everything in her power to save Gallifrey, at times at the potential cost of her own life, is Romana’s integrity still being called into question? You can understand completely why the Doctor wanted to get away from this infernal planet and why Romana (once she had been corrupted by the Doctor’s way of life) didn’t want to return. Romana is hired as the Co-ordinator of the CIA, a role she never sought. Most of Romana’s family were what humans would call bohemian types. This isn’t the first time she has encountered Rassilon and she knows exactly what he is capable of. Romana talks about resisting Rassilon and fighting the future. But we know that that doesn’t happen. We know where this ends. Does that mean the ultimate path of the Gallifrey audio series is to watch Romana’s downfall?
Narvin: When Romana shows such affection for Narvin, it reminds me of how far they come. Narvin admits that they have been doing this for a long time now (let’s not even get started on how long Carlsen has been playing in this series) and that he is so tired. You can understand. Gallifrey seems to lurch from one terrible crisis to the next. If it isn’t Pandora, it’s alternative universes or the Daleks or bonkers Romana’s from the future with portents of doom. There’s always something. His father was an engineer and his life was unspeakably dull. Sometimes Narvin wishes he had followed in his footsteps.
Standout Performance: Kudos for the inclusion of Lucy Robinson, whose Mayoress Chrissy Wickham from The Thin Blue Line still makes me grin from ear to ear.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Something ancient has returned and it echoes through the citadel like a cloister bell…’
‘If we become a tyranny how are we any better than the Daleks?’
‘All is lost. Our world is coming to an end and we have no way out’ – an ominous warning from the future.
Great Ideas: The bravest thing that could be done to the Gallifrey is to strip it bare of all the things that make it so popular and see if it can stand on its own legs without old favourites Braxiatel, Leela and Ace propping it up. Produce Scott Handcock was very courageous to start excising all of these crowd pleasers (in the most memorable and exciting of ways) in the first Gallifrey Time War set but it has the left the series without a core cast of characters to lean on and thus we enter the second set with only Romana and Narvin and growing sense of dread at the ever encroaching Time War to guide us. I think it is rather exciting, although I wouldn’t want the status quo to be shaken up forever. The destiny of Gallifrey was to maintain order in the universe rather than messing around in its sewers warring against mechanised vermin and squabbling amongst themselves like children. Rassilon is aware that previous allies of Gallifrey have turned their backs on them in their hour of need and this something he won’t let pass. He wants to invade those worlds and use them as pawns in this ghastly temporal war. I suppose the idea of ghosts from the future heading back to avert some terrible catastrophe first cropped up in Day of the Daleks but really all of the Doctor’s historical adventures were in this vein. When somebody travels the ebb and flow of the Time War to warn Gallifrey of it’s future, that’s possibly the most extreme interpretation of that idea. The Chancellery Guard is to be absolved and its guards sent amongst the existing agencies. The Drylands precedent is an archaic law that grants the Lord President the opportunity to create a militia. Even the War Council are starting to feel like a means to an end.
Audio Landscape: The previous set took place on a myriad of locations and felt especially atmospheric in its direction. This in contrast feels like a stripped back Gallifrey with minimal sound effects and music. The result is the focus is on the script and the actors, a sensible move in this new shakeup.
Standout Scene: Once Trave is revealed, his death is certain. Rassilon reacts like a frightened child, ordering his execution rather than investigating his crime. Trave knows about the War, about Rassilon and what he will do to Gallifrey.
Result: ‘From this day forth, all worlds that do not declare themselves allies of Gallifrey are enemies of Gallifrey!’ The question on everybody’s lips is what happens to Gallifrey if the odds are tipped against it in such an extreme way? To survive the Time War what do they have to become? And does Romana’s free spirit vision for home world hold any weight in climate of warfare? Havoc is a slow burn story that takes quite a while to get going but when it does the implications it highlights are dramatic and far reaching. The problem is this series settling down after a major reshuffle in the previous set and at first I was adjusting to a Gallifrey without all the staple characters I have come to expect. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always a delight to listen to Lalla Ward and Sean Carlsen, but the absence of Louise Jameson and Miles Richardson is uncanny. That’s good, it should be, times are dangerous and the last thing Gallifrey should be doing in this climate is resting on its laurels and playing it safe. I’ve read criticisms that the Time War is a creative cul-de-sac for Big Finish and it is something I have levelled at the company in certain cases (mostly the eighth Doctor range). However, if there was ever one avenue to explore the possibilities of the war to end all wars then the planet that was at the centre of the conflict is certainly a viable option. With so much Time War merchandise being delivered from Big Finish it makes this just another in a long line of stories to handle the theme where I feel giving it exclusivity would add to its lustre and make it feel less of a tired setting. By suggesting that nobody should fill in the gaps of what happened on Gallifrey between the end if the classic series and beginning of the new is absurd, and even with the endgame on screen for everybody to see in Day of the Doctor there is still plenty of dramatic leverage in seeing how we got there. There’s a feeling of The Invasion of Time about this opening instalment, that Gallifrey is adjusting to a war footing and that the wrong people are in power and those that put them there are paying the price for their misjudgement. Terrance Hardiman makes an instant impression, although he doesn’t really feature until the end of the story. Rassilon is a tricky character to take on (even Donald Sumpter tripped up and the less said about Don Warrington the better) but Hardiman earns his stripes by playing the part as though nobody else’s opinion has any relevance. He attacks it with unquestionable authority and that makes him a rather terrifying prospect. The mystery of who the temporal figure is far more interesting than who it turns out to be but again the suggestion of why he has travelled back is enticing. I’m heading into this set with guarded optimism. I trust Scott Handcock a great deal, I trust this cast and I trust Gallifrey to provide consistent entertainment. Perhaps the range should be rebranded with a new fascistic logo for Gallifrey: 7/10
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