It's the end... for Gallifrey!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Big Finish have announced the following details for the final two series of the spin-off Gallifrey:
(contains spoilers for series IV)

When we were last in the company of Romana, Leela and Narvin, they were lost on an alternative Gallifrey, one without time travel and all the benefits that offered. A totalitarian world where Romana was a tyrant and Narvin a psychopath. But they are dead and our Romana and Narvin have stepped into their shoes, trying to change this corrupt world from within and turn it into a Gallifrey they can live on... or use to find a way home.

Gallifrey series V and Gallifrey series VI are due for release in 2013 and are now available for pre-order on CD and download. Over these two three-disc box sets will see the long-running series come and final, definite, end.

“Gallifrey has been an amazing series to create, shape and direct over the last ten years,” says series director Gary Russell. “Alan Barnes and I originally spun it out of Big Finish’s fortieth anniversary of Doctor Who projects and so it seems remarkably appropriate to wind it all up in Doctor Who’s fiftieth year. We’ve already told eighteen astonishing stories about these characters, and these final six chapters will see the series culminate in a truly breathtaking and dare I say nail-biting (big) finish. Whether everyone makes it safely to that end, though, remains to be seen...”

Produced again by Gary Russell and Scott Handcock, Gallifrey Series V will go on sale in February 2013. Gallifrey Series VI then follows in November, complete with a free fourth CD looking back at all twenty-four chapters of Romana and Leela's epic story

[SiHart]

I love Gallifrey. In fact of all the spin offs BF have ever done, this is my favourite. I love the combination of characters, the political skull-duggery and everything else in it!

I'll be sad to see it finish, but 6 series' is probably a very good innings!

[Rob McCow]

Good grief! Has this really been rattling on for ten years?!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

The gap between series 3 and last year's Gallifrey IV boxset was almost exactly 5 years.

I'm glad this is happening as possibly the only thing I disliked about series IV was how open ended it was left in the last story. Also the different universe every week format was starting to get a bit tired by the fourth installment.

It'll be interesting to see what this "definitive ending" comes out like given that we already know what happened to most of the Time Lords in our universe.

[SiHart]

I didn't mind the format of the last series- it opened it up a little, but I didn miss the political edge of the previous seasons- though maybe that was adequately replaced by the fun of seeing just how twisted each new Gallifrey they visited was from the norm (and it did give Mary Tamm a good guest role, along with some of the other guest stars)

Also the open ended ending was fine if it was meant to be the end of the series. I wasn't expecting any more.

Hopefully this means they'll get back to Gallifrey Prime and sort out the mess they left at the end of S3.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I suspect I could've made my point a bit better. I really enjoyed the first three episodes which were all quite different from each other but I guess at the time I was a bit disappointed that the fourth story seemed to be something of a retread of the same territory.

Having waited five years for series IV to appear and not knowing that there would be six more episodes to come I was expecting the end of the series to be a little more conclusive and maybe to move things on a little possibly in terms of returning the main characters to Gallifrey Prime (which hopefully will happen next year).

Also the Big Finish website blurb for the last story naughtily suggested that Rassilon might make an appearance so I can forgiven for being disappointed at the lack of Don Warrington.

[SiHart]

Oh no, that's all fair enough. I must admit I thought much the same really, but thought that open ended ending was possibly as far as they could go with it, without returning to Gallifrey Prime. Hopefully this will be more conclusive.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Having finished listening to the final episode last night I shall be interested to see what others think about the so-called "definitive" ending.

Listening to the making of CD at the moment. Currently on the final track and all the actors are talking about Mary Tamm. Very sad.

[SiHart]

Not quite there yet. I did pt 2 of VI last night, and really want to hear pt 3 now, as the cliffhanger was pretty awesome.

I rather liked Juliet Landau's Romana. Very different, but felt like she was still Romana. Nicely done

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Look forward to hearing more of her and Lalla in the companion chronicle "Luna Romana"

[SiHart]

Me too. I'll be buying that one.

[Rob McCow]

Just catching up with Gallifrey IV. Umm so the first one is 'Reborn', wherein the Gallifrey Gang leave the Axis to go adventuring on Gallifreys from alternative timelines. Not quite the same thing as parallel Universes, these Gallifreys exist because experiments in Space-Time have gone wrong.

In this first one, Mary Tamm's Romana has a son called Antonin. She leaves on a crappy vineyard because she hasn't got much money. The Time Lords are into selling their wares, such as future regenerations and TARDISes. Meanwhile they make Leela (don't forget she's blind) the President because in their Universe she touched the Key To Time. K-9 becomes Castellan K-9. Leela is only a figurehead though, Gallifrey is ruled by a Time Lady called 'Dunderhead' or something. On the way we get Braxiatel, Vansell and Narvin strutting their stuff.

Enjoyable but the male Time Lord characters are very weak and interchangable.

[Rob McCow]

Gallifrey IV-2 is called Gallifrey Disassembled. This one was better, with a few surprises and some good twists!

Trying to find a Gallifrey to call home, Leela, Romana, K-9, Brax and Narvin arrive on Gallifrey. (That's the general schtick of this series, d'ya ken?) This time they Time Lords are dedicated to interfering. They have time projections that they keep on track by De-matting people out of existence. Nice to hear the proper sound effect for the De-mat gun, wonder where they got that from?

The Gally Gang try to return to the Axis but get split up. Leela (she's blind remember) gets captured and is interrogated - by Leela! But it's an evil version that we shall call 'Eveela' in honour of Futurama. Leela is Chief Interrogator on Gallifrey and past-probes Leela's mind, meaning that Leela now has all of Leela's knowledge. Leela also inherits Leela's blindness, but reverses the past-probe and changes the event so that although Leela remains blind, Leela can still see. Got it so far?

Back on the Axis, Romana, K-9, Brax and Narvin are accompanied by The Doctor, or this Gallifrey's version of him, who left Gallifrey and tried to undo all of the Time Lord's interferences. Phew. Except he is not the ally they hoped for - he is Lord Burner, the President's Chief Executioner!

Loads and loads of mental twists follow, with two Leelas and a throwaway reference to the Doctor and Braxiatel supposedly being brothers ripped straight from Planet of Fire ("would you do that to your own....?") .

Kind of fun though. Braxiatel gets dumped in this story into a future where Bernice has already met him but he hasn't met Bernice yet. I always thought this all happened after his adventures with Prof. Bernice Summerfield! So brain-frying agony for anyone trying to keep track of what's going on. Where's the f***ing continuity guide when you need it?!?!

As ever, a bonkers story made enjoyable due to the wonderful cast. WHAT CAN POSSIBLY HAPPEN TO THEM NEXT?!?!

[Rob McCow]

Gallifrey IV 3 is a pretty good one, as the remaining members of Team G take on The Great Vampire in a primitive Gallifrey. Great roles for Geoffry Beavers and Katy Manning too!

[SiHart]

I liked that as a nod to The Great Vampire, the music in this one sounds noot unlike Paddy Kingsland's music for State of Decay. A nice touch from Davy Darlington.

[Rob McCow]

Finished up the series with Gallifrey IV 4 last night, with it's jolly little them tune.

This time Leela, Narvin and Romana have left K-9 running the Axis and have found a Gallifrey where assassinations are as common as silver trees and where slaves are employed to carry out the dirty work. These Lords of Gallifrey haven't discovered time travel. They have an Eye of Harmony, but they can't get it to work. Every time they try to run it, something brakes down. President Romana must impersonate the recently assassinated President Romana if the Gallifrey Gang are to survive.

This was probably the best of the four stories, despite a few flaws. There's a fair bit of repetition and the ending is the standard, over-wrought 'Turn on the machine / Don't turn on the machine / I need to sacrifice myself / No I need to sacrifice myself! / Why did he have to sacrifice himself?' comedy schtick.

What's great about this one is primarily Lalla Ward. Romana is fed up with destroying every reality that she comes to and has decided to embrace her role as destroyer of worlds. This means she gets to be insanely angry and Presidential. Highly entertaining! Leela (no longer blind) and Narvin are on great form too.

By this point I've got to know the main cast, there's been excitement, adventure and characters written out. There's also been some brilliant supporting roles for Colin Baker, Katy Manning and even Carol Anne Ford, playing against type in these alternative Gallifreys and proving that yes, they are actors! Katy as the battle-weary Majestrix Borusa (Campest name ever) was particularly impressive.

[Rob McCow]

And so on To Gallifrey 5! And I have to report that every single time I have tried to type 'Gallifrey' I have typed 'Gallfirey' instead.

EMANCIPATION!

Political Maneouvering is back back back in fashion like it never went away. On their new 'Home' Gallifrey, President Romana and Important Title Narvin settle down to secure their position and bring peace and righteousness to the planet. But there are many that are opposed to them!



Chancellor Allora (look, I'm guessing the spelling here) has got it in for Romana and is out to destroy her. With plots and schemes a plenty, Romana must also negotiate the rights to a big stash of Zyton ore that's been found in the Outsiders' lands. Guess who has left the Capitol in a huff and is now leader of the Outsiders? Could it be Leela with her super vampire senses? It is!

There's a fun exchange over a dinner table as Romana digs herself a big hole - she gave a recipe to the chefs, little realising that Allora's family are famous gourmands and know every recipe on their Gallifrey. She nearly got caught out with that one.

This was a decent return to the old ways of Gallifrey. Romana and Narvin are experienced politicians now and not nearly as hapless as they were in the early series, which is good to see. It's a real pleasure to see them use some guile and cunning.

Things feel like they're moving forward too, rather than just milling about. The DNA of the Time Lords / Regenerators in this Universe has given the team a clue as to how to defeat the virus in their own Universe. At last! The plot develops... let's see how they hold it off in the next few installments.

[Rob McCow]

Gallifrey 6 kicks off with BIG ACTION! The Daleks have turned up and brought their wretchedly limited story opportunities with them.

In 'Extermination' we get to see The Gallifrey Three with their backs to the wall, staring down the nozzle of a gun known only as a Dalek Gun. We end up with a fairly decent Dalek story, but nothing that we haven't seen before. The plot is: they run away from the Daleks, find some big guns and shoot them. It really is that simple! There's some derring-do along the way and a few characters from previous stories are slaughtered, but there's not much depth to this one.

The main sticking point for me is the resolution to the cliffhanger. The Daleks arrive through the Axis Portal and then have a bit of a chat with everyone, before letting them escape. It seemed so flimsy - but that's mainly because the Daleks are so over-tough since the New Series. You can't have fun with the Daleks any more, hardly any weapons work on them and you can't push them out of windows to make them explode. They don't need to be sneaky because they are far, far too hard.

Anyway, there were some good moments (and some rotten dialogue - Leela says 'You killed him like the monsters you are!' at one point) Romana gets to go into a rage against the machines which is quite impressive, there's some nice action and heroics for the other two as well. The stakes feel higher than usual, with the whole of the multi-verse threatened. You don't get much bigger than that.

And I hope poor old K-9 is all right!

[Rob McCow]

Gallifrey 6-02 will appeal to two groups of people; those who can put up with being a bit bored; and those who like it when lines of dialogue from old episodes of Doctor Who are recycled for no good reason. I have to say, that sort of thing makes me scream.

It's not all bad. The plot line is all time-twisty with a future Romana popping up with a future Capitol to replace the one that was destroyed in the ruins of Gallifrey. They picked an excellent choice to play the Future Romana, she's sort-of similar while being very much her own character.

It's all rather apocalyptic towards the end, which is appropriate given that it's the last cliffhanger of the season. But it wasn't a great instalment.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

So it looks like it's not quite The Final End for Gallifrey after all.
March 2015 will see the release of Gallifrey: Intervention Earth featuring the return of Juliet Landau as Romana alongside Sean Carlsen as Narvin, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and Stephen Thorne as Omega