Homecoming

Gallifrey: Time War #4.4

Released: 4 February 2021

Listened: 5/23/21

So it all comes down to this, the slam-bang ending, and Matt Fitton gets the ball. And for the most part, I’d say it does what it’s supposed to. The story plays out almost like an episode of the TV show, with dramatic rescues, desperate plans that can’t possibly work, heroic sacrifices, and honestly two-dimensional characters who either do the right or wrong thing. Richard Armitage as Rassilon has gone completely over the edge, focusing most of his attention on his “Ultimate Sanction,” which we eventually see play out in “The End of Time.” If I didn’t know better, this story could be taking place around the events of “The Day of the Doctor,” with Daleks storming Gallifrey’s defenses, but this seems to be a pivotal battle that occurs earlier instead. Everybody ends up where they’re supposed to be, per stories that take place later: Leela is set up for the War Doctor stories, Romana is apparently set up for a future chronicled by “Doctor Who: The Experience,” but that’s a remarkably tenuous link. And Narvin is left ambiguous. It’s possible this is the point where the Dalek Emperor falls between times; it’s deliberately vague. Even for a series whose ending was already known before it started, this particular episode succeeds pretty well. As for the fourth volume, I’m not so sure. It has several nice two-handers, but there are too many loose ends in the character arcs, particularly Eris and Rayo. And the Time War series as a whole seemed to wander all over the place, setting up Volume 1 with a lot of promise of new and returning characters, and then shuffling most of them off the page in favor of classic Gallifreyan politics, then a bunch of one-off stories. It never really found its voice as a series, which is a shame. Looking at Gallifrey as a whole, I can see why some people are so fond of it, but I’m not sure I can muster the same affection. Louise Jameson is fantastic in whatever she does, but Lalla Ward’s Romana is much more palatable when she’s bouncing off the Doctor, instead of with the weight of the universe on her shoulders. If this is the end of the Gallifrey stories for good, I’m OK with that, but with Big Finish, it’s best to never say never.