Fractures

Gallifrey #3.1

Released: May 2006

Listened: 4/6/21

The third series starts off about as dark as the second one ended. The war has been going on for a while, and Romana is definitely on the losing side, somehow, while Pandora has seized most of the power, apparently using the Dogma virus to control high-ranking Time Lords. Except Darkel, of course, who continues to be completely slimy. Leela feels much more comfortable on Gallifrey by helping Romana’s side fight a guerilla war, which is sad enough, so she’s blinded because she hasn’t suffered enough lately. Romana’s K-9 is the only one remaining, and he’s been reprogrammed to be on Pandora’s side, maybe. The plot hinges on Romana trying to get her hands on something to give her side an edge, and encountering yet another Gallifreyan weapon that can potentially destroy the continuum, so of course the Time Lords just locked it away in case they needed it for later. There’s a lot of shouting, and several people trying to do the clever thing that the Doctor always does at the last minute, except none of them are the Doctor, so it doesn’t go very well. There’s an introduction of a doctor with a rather mercenary style. He doesn’t do much in this story, so presumably he’ll be important later. It’s not an inspiring start to the series.