Weapon of Choice

Gallifrey #1.1

Released: March 2004

Listened: 3/27/21

The kick-off of this series is fairly Gallifreyan, with intrigues and plots, but not really the strongest story. Then again, it’s from 2004, so there isn’t any new-series influence to the plot or pacing. It sets up the recurring characters and where they’ve been: Romana is now president, and considered a fairly radical reformer, which makes you wonder how she got elected, because the aristocracy is all against her. That leaves her sounding annoyed and exasperated much of the time, which Lalla Ward can do well, but it doesn’t make her the most sympathetic character. Leela, however, has lost Andred (under mysterious circumstances), and that leaves her with no place in Gallifreyan society, and wanting to join the outsiders before Romana calls her in to help. We get Braxiatel as Romana’s frequently enigmatic advisor, and Narvin as the head of the CIA, frequently overstepping his authority and being a general jerk most of the time. The plot stems from “The Apocalypse Element,” where a weakened Gallifrey is just one of many “temporal powers,” which means politics as they try to stay on top. But there’s a group of “Free Time” rebels who’ve stolen the plans for a Time Lord weapon that shouldn’t exist. However, Romana out-thinks them without too much difficulty, leaving the episode feeling rather light. It’s a start, if not a great start.