Ascension

Gallifrey #6.3

Released: 16 October 2013

Listened: 4/27/21

This poor episode has the difficult task of wrapping up this boxed set, which is really an extension of Series 5, wrapping up details back to the beginning of the series, explaining what’s going on with Trey, and possibly kicking off the Time War itself. That’s no easy feat, and honestly, I don’t think this story pulls it off. There’s an awful lot of Matrix-projecting misdirection, including a bit at the end which feels fairly unearned. There’s also a ton of exposition, lots of it coming from K-9, which can be difficult to listen to; poor Leela is almost entirely left out of it. Valyes and Matthias get small roles, but the overall impression is that Gallifrey is severely underpopulated. There’s certainly nobody to stand for President, which results in Romana getting the office against her will. There’s even a connection back to “Genesis of the Daleks”...maybe. Gary Russell does like his ambiguous endings, but for the most part, the board is swept clean, for someone else to pick up the pieces later.