Gallifrey IV

Gallifrey

by Gary Hopkins, Justin Richards, Scott Handcock

GALLIFREY: REBORN
Written by Gary Hopkins

Gallifrey survives...

Lady Romanadvoratrelundar has returned to her homeworld, seeking a cure for the Free Time virus that rages across the planet.

Leela of the Sevateem and her companion K-9 are revered as heroes. Narvin is a traitor. And Braxiatel knows more than he's letting on.

Amidst all the confusion, the High Council of Time Lords is poised to take the planet into an all-consuming war against the cosmos. They're selling their secrets to the highest bidder, equipping the universe with temporal technology it should never have been allowed.

And Romana's son will lead them into battle...


GALLIFREY: DISASSEMBLED
Written by Justin Richards

Gallifrey kills...

The President of the High Council wants Romana dead. The Temporal Intervention Agency has been dispatched to hunt her down. Its mission: to eliminate her from the timelines for ever. It would be as though she had never existed...

Only an old friend can offer Romana any hope of survival. An acquaintance she and Leela once shared. One they haven’t seen in years.

But time is running out. Death is fast approaching. And this time, not everyone can survive... with or without the Doctor.

GALLIFREY: ANNIHILATION
Written by Scott Handcock & Gary Russell

Gallifrey dies...

Romana and her comrades find themselves in the dank and grubby wastelands of northern Gallifrey, trapped between two forces in a long and ancient war.

One side bides their time within their nests, whilst the other draws up troops across the trenches. Both sides have their secrets, their means to win the war – and both want Romana fighting alongside them...

After millennia of warfare, the final assault approaches. The Ancient Enemy and the True Lords want this world. And before this night is out, there will be bloodshed.

Only the late Lord Rassilon holds the key...

GALLIFREY: FOREVER
Written by David Wise

Gallifrey stops.

Romana has been assassinated...

The Time Lords have never existed...

Gallifrey’s secrets are lost.

On a world they barely recognise, Narvin and Leela find themselves fighting to stay alive. Against all their expectations, brutality and barbarism reign. And Gallifrey’s slaves are rising up to face their masters.

Before this day is out, their lives will change forever. And the world they know might end before it has even begun...

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Media Tie In, Science Fiction

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

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Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

i've done my reviews for the individual sets of stories before but series 4 will always have a special place in my heart. I love it so much.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Big Finish's most popular spin-offs is their Gallifrey Series which has lasted a great many years and is still growing strong. Series 3 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger that wasn't concluded for a few years but then Series 4 arrived and finally continued the adventures of Romana, Braxiatel, Leela, Narvin, and K9.

Reborn:
They arrived in the Axis and together the 4 travelers must travel through many different alternative timelines of Gallifrey that were canceled out due to issues that created them. On this Gallifrey capitalism runs wild, Tardis' are being sold, regenerations are on the market and Leela is about to be president. But there's another Romana around and our Romana knows her only too well.

Gary Hopkins has written a solid drama that manages to pull off a potential story arc into one singular story surprisingly well. It's a story with some interesting ideas, political corruption, and events that change the protagonists in some way or other, poor Narvin in particular goes through a rough time in this one. 9/10

Disassembled:
Romana, Leela, Narvin, and K9 have arrived on another Gallifrey while Braxiatel stays by in the Axis. But this is a darker Gallifrey where Romana is a dictator, Leela is a torturer and Narvin is dead. The Doctor is here but he goes by the name of Lord Burner now, but on an alternative Gallifrey where The Timelords are willing to interfere with the universe to suit their needs can they trust him?

Justin Richards has written an incredible script that is dark, intense, and at times horrifying. This is Gallifrey at its arguably most dystopian and bleak. It's a very well-crafted story with an ending that is not only emotional but jaw-dropping. I loved the surprise cameo at the end of this one! 10/10

Annihilation:
Gallifrey is at war between the lords of time and the descendants of the great vampire. Romana, Leela, and Narvin arrive to find a barren wasteland spilled with the blood of innocence and where the dead walk. Romana has a history with vampires, so it might well be up to her to stop them, but what of the consequences?

Scott Handcock and Gary Russell have written a brilliant script that is gruesome, creepy, action-packed, intense and has fascinating mythology. It's exciting to see an alternative Gallifrey where Rassilon betrayed The Timelords and honestly, I loved every second of it. 10/10

Forever:
They've arrived on a Gallifrey still yet to discover time travel and in the hopes of achieving so, they have slaves. President Romana has been assassinated and now it's up to our Romana to infiltrate and put things right. But something evil is about to be reawoken and it might all be her fault.

David Wise has written a terrific script about a Gallifrey that hasn't yet discovered time travel and has an alternative history to Rassilon's success with the eye of harmony. It's a tense script with a heartbreaking ending that promises some interesting developments in Series 5. 9/10

Overall: 38/40

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.1 (15) Reborn - Quite an abrupt change form Series 3. Alternate timelines abound! I think this is the first one of this range I’ve not really cared for, hopefully it’s going to coalesce into something more interesting. (2/5)

4.2 (16) Disassembled - Alternate timelines, vicious evil Leela, a Doctor that is The Doctor … it’s almost like the Whoniverse’s version of Mirror, Mirror. (3/5)

4.3 (17) Annihilation - Romana, destroyer of worlds. Nope, this one isn’t dark at all. It’s so wonderfully uplifting that we don’t even get closing music … (4/5)

4.4 (18) Forever - More multiversal madness as the timey-whimey shenanigans take off. This has been a fun set over all, with guest players of the likes of Colin Baker, Katy Manning, Carole Ann Ford, Alexander Vlahos, Geoffrey Beevers, Mary Tamm and Lisa Bowerman to name just a few, and things just keep cascading and spiraling into new variations of … well … crazy. (3/5)

This box set also includes a bonus disc of behind-the-scenes bonus material including interviews with cast and crew.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was rather good - after fleeing the events of the last Gallifrey episode, this series has the protagonists exploring alternate Gallifreys in parallel universes, most of them not the most pleasant. The stories themselves are excellent although I got the feeling that the overall arc was a little unsure of where it was going - perhaps this will be made clearer in later episodes. Interesting to hear some regular Big Finish actors playing some different roles.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, I liked this a lot. Gallifrey as a series is always really good, and this one tied up some questions I had about where Romana is in terms of the TV show. The banter between Leela and Narvin is always funny too.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

the latest installment in the series of audio plays about Romana II, Leela and K9 Mark II (Mark I came to an apparently sticky end, but somehow escaped to make his own Australian TV series). The third series in this line, which came out a whole five years ago, got a bit caught up in its own continuity and one felt almost a bit revived when our heroes fled from a devastated Gallifrey to make their way elsewhere in the universe. This fourth series has a very clever premise: each of the four stories explores an alternate Gallifrey where Time Lord history took a different path to the original timeline. Some time ago, Big Finish did a series of plays called Doctor Who: Unbound looking at alternative Doctors, and this is along those lines; it doesn't require much knowledge of the previous three series, other than that Romana has been President of the Time Lords, Leela has been struck blind, and their allies from their home world are the obscure Irving Braxiatel and former Citadel securocrat Narvin.

The first story, Gallifrey: Reborn by Gary Hopkins, brings us to a world where Time Lords are mercenary and ultra-capitalist, trading regenerations with each other; and Mary Tamm plays a Romana who never left with the Doctor, while Leela is celebrated as the Doctor's companion during the quest for the Key to Time to the point of being made President with K9 as her Castellan. It all ends in disaster of course. Conrad Westmaas, who several years ago had played audio companion C'rizz for Big Finish, is much more comfortable here as Romana's rising young Time Lord son. We had Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward spark against each other as the two Romanas in earlier Gallifrey plays, but this takes a gloomier look at the dynamic.

Gallifrey: Disassembled by Justin Richards brings us to a world where the Time Lords are actively interventionist in the time lines and, frankly, evil: the power-hungry President Romana, aided by Leela, her Interrogator-General, keeps a tight grip on matters; and what of the character played by Colin Baker who responds to, but doesn't like being called, the name "Doctor"? There's a lot of continuity-style speculation also about the true relationship between Braxiatel and the Doctor, and a rather odd rule of Time about meeting someone who you killed in a different timestream (never heard of this before, and it's flatly contradicted in the fourth play in the series), which weakens the promising start of the story, but it is still fun.

Gallifrey: Annihilation by Gary Russell and Scott Handcock takes us to a devastated, depopulated Gallifrey, where one of the oldest Time Lord conflicts, resolved æons ago in our more familiar timeline, is still continuing. One of the disadvantages of paying for the downloads but not the CDs is that you miss out on the cast lists for each, and I found myself trying to work out why Magistrix Borusa sounded so familiar: turns out she is actually Katy Manning, playing what she describes as her own voice with no Jo Grant perkiness or Iris Wildthyme bawdiness, and doing it rather well. Other guest stars include Geoffrey Beevors as Lord Prydon, who may or may not be an alternate and altered Master; Wendy Padbury's daughter Charlie Hayes; and co-author and director Gary Russell, in a rare appearance as performing artist (though of course we should remember that his career began as Dick of the Famous Five in 1978).

Gallifrey: Forever again starts with an alternate Romana who is a ruthless ruler of Gallifrey, but she is assassinated in the first couple of minutes, and 'our' Romana then has to work out what is going on in this slave-owning, non-time-travelling society, posing as its president, under the vicious supervision of the alternate Narvin who works out pretty quickly what is going on. The voice from the past this time is Carole Ann Ford, playing one of the slave labourers working on the Eye of Harmony (and John Leeson gets to do a different funny voice, a couple of other characters from the previous Gallifrey series return in alternate form). We end up with a situation which liberates Leela either to go into the three Companion Chronicle audios by Nigel Fairs which kill her off, or else for more adventures first.

Author David Wise, I note with interest, is one of only two contributors to the Doctor Who franchise to have also written an episode of televised Star Trek, co-writing the 1974 animated episode "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth", which became the first and only episode of so-called "classic era" Star Trek to win an Emmy Award. (The other such writer is Diane Duane, who co-wrote the 1987 TNG episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" and has had at least three Who short stories published.)

All in all, I think the four audios are relatively approachable considering that they come after three series of a spinoff line of plays. Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson, of course, carry it, greatly helped by John Leeson and in the first two plays by Miles Richardson's Braxiatel. But I think any fan with a vague knowledge of the standard Whoniverse timeline of Gallifrey should be able to enjoy these.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made good use of alternate universes. The Burner Doctor was a surprising addition.

[Jurgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.1 'Reborn' by Gary Hopkins: 4*
4.2 'Disassembled' by Justin Richards: 5*
4.3 'Annihilation' by Scott Handcock & Gary Russell: 5*
4.4 'Forever' by David Wise: 5*

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gallifrey series of audio-plays were, for the first three seasons, basically political thrillers, set on the titular home-world of Doctor Who 's Time Lords. The main characters are Romana and Leela, soon joined by Co-ordinator Narvin of the Celestial Intervention Agency, K9, and various others. The third season was left open-ended, with the villains undefeated and the central characters in peril. This, the fourth season, came along much later, and while it follows on from the events of the previous three, it is quite a different sort of beast.

The season consists of four hour-long episodes, each of which focuses on the characters exploring an alternate reality version of Gallifrey, and one which always turns out to be significantly worse than the original (which was hardly a utopia).

#1 - Reborn
After quickly disposing of the cliffhanger ending to the third season, Romana, Leela, and the others arrive at The Axis, previously seen in the audio-play Axis of Insanity, and begin exploring alternate realities as their only means of escape. The plot from the previous three seasons, while occasionally referred to in dialogue, is essentially forgotten, leaving us with something that's rather less original, as our heroes pop up on various "worlds" at a moment of peril. The first world isn't terribly interesting, although the story tries to ring some changes with the Leela/Romana dynamic, and has Mary Tamm playing the Romana of the alternate reality, who has never regenerated. All in all, it comes across as a side-quest, and a disappointment after the previous seasons. 3 stars.

#2 - Disassembled
This time we visit a dictatorial Gallifrey obsessed with controlling the timeline and intervening in other worlds as much as possible. We are treated here to alternate versions of Romana, Leela, and even the Sixth Doctor, in what turns out to be the strongest story of the four, exploring how the core characters might have turned out given a differing background. There is an obvious parallel with the Mirror Universe from Star Trek here, but the story may be helped by the fact that a lot of the action takes place back on the Axis, as the characters try to work out which part of what they've done has created a time paradox that is tearing the place apart around them. 4 stars.

#3 - Annihilation
The third Gallifrey we visit is a post-apocalyptic one, the result of Rassilon having joined the vampires rather than defeating them (per the TV episode State of Decay). Katy Manning appears as Borusa, leader of the obviously doomed resistance to the vampires, but disappears before the end of the story. It's a reasonably good action piece, if even more out-of-kilter with the previous seasons than the other episodes, and works well enough for what it's intended to be. 3.5 stars.

#4 - Forever
In the final episode, we visit another dictatorial Gallifrey, this time reliant on slave labour and still desperately trying to develop time travel technology. Carole Ann Ford makes a brief appearance as (presumably) Susan, but since she doesn't use the name, it really isn't obvious unless you know who's playing the part, and she gets almost nothing to do, making it more of a stunt casting than anything else. The story focuses on whether or not Romana should help the Gallifreyans of this world develop TARDISes, and presumably conquer the universe with them, just in order to allow herself and her friends to escape back to the Axis. The ending is unsatisfactory, leaving things open-ended, but not in a way that's particularly interesting. 3 stars.

Overall, this is a disappointment after the earlier seasons, trying to head off in a different direction, and with a minimal plot arc between the four episodes. On its own, as an exploration of alternate Gallifreys, it works rather well, but taken as a whole, it's missing a lot of what made the earlier seasons so good.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gallifrey is my favourite audio drama. I love Leela and Romana together. Who needs the Doctor? Gallifrey IV was quite different in that the longer political battles were gone and each episode was more selfcontained as they went to a different parallel gallifrey. My favourite one was the alternate dimension with Katy Manning. It was lovely to hear those three women together. I thought the ending was really tragic and I can't wait to hear Gallifrey V and VI.

4.1 Reborn
The unlikely foursome of Narvin, Brax, Romana and Leela find themselves stuck in the axis and visiting different versions of Gallifrey that have strayed from the time line. In the first story they find a Gallifrey where Romana married Andred, Leela found the Key to time and time lords are selling off regenerations and Tardis's. Leela ends up president and Brax does a great deal of flirting with Romana I. A different diversion to the other Gallifrey series, but still enjoyable. Particularly to have these characters all back together again.

4.2 Disassembled
And then there was the gallifrey where everyone had goatees...
"I know the doctor.. he almost certainly needs rescuing"
"I will see you later for some private interrogation"
Romana power mad, the Doctor evil, and Leela as a torturer.

4.3 Annihilation
It is sad that Brax has gone and K9 is mostly out of this one. But it's a really great story. The gallifrey held in sway by vampires and Katy Manning as the Majestrix leading the battle against the vampires. It is brilliant to through Katy into the mix with Louise and Lalla. Romana becoming a vampire and Leela a hound were both pretty great. It's also nice to see Narvin powerless and having to rely on the others, it does great things for everyone's relationships.

4.4 Forever
An interesting end to the series. A new Gallifrey with a very devious Narvin in charge, Leela leading a slave revolt, and people trying to build an eye of harmony. The ending is really sad and it is much nice to listen to this again having already listened to Gallifrey V than it was the first time.

[Audry]

"Listened to" actually, since this is a collection of audio dramas based on Time Lords from the DOCTOR WHO universe. The final episode was written by David Wise (of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE fame -- look him up on IMDB), who happens to be my husband, so I can't exactly judge it impartially, can I? ;-)

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the first three Gallifrey series, which are imo some of the best Doctor Who-related stuff Big Finish has put out, this was a massive disappointment.

(It was fun to hear some of the regular actors play completely different roles for a change, though.)

[Sidney McKidney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason behind their traveling through alternate timelines was rather underdeveloped, but the individual stories were fairly decent with solid worldbuilding.