The Lady of Obsidian

The War Doctor #4.2

Released: 23 February 2017

Listened: 9/3/22

Four boxed sets in, it was about time to introduce other Classic-series characters, in this case Leela. We know from Gallifrey: Time War that she was conscripted to be a front-line fighter, and apparently somewhere along the line, she was injured by a Dalek weapon and believed dead. She was flung far away, and her timeline was scrambled such that she remembered all of her possible lives as having equal weight. Running into anyone or anything that reminded her of her previous life causes her physical pain. Of course Louise Jameson dives headfirst into such a role, and she’s magnificent. The pain of finding out she never had children, even though she remembers them, is hard to take as a listener. John Hurt’s voice is trapped between joy at seeing her again, and compassion for her pain; it’s an amazing thing. There’s some story in here too, with Leela and her people fighting off entities called the Unlived – potential beings from possible timelines, trying to get a foothold in this universe. They look truly terrifying on the cover, but aren’t really described in the story. And Ollistra takes it on herself to force the Time Lords to defend a helpless planet, which is a bit odd, to be honest, but her character seems to be taking a turn toward the good guys’ side. And Veklin gets a cameo, appearing in the nick of time. It feels like this was meant to be the start of a new arc in the series, but sadly, it doesn’t turn out that way.