Gallifrey (audio drama series)
Gallifrey is the umbrella title of a line of audio plays set in the Doctor Who universe, produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring Louise Jameson as Leela, Lalla Ward as President Romana II, and John Leeson as two K-9 units, Mark I and Mark II. The title refers to the home planet of the Time Lords.
The first play in the series, Weapon of Choice, was released in 2004. The most recent: Gallifrey: Time War volume 2, was released in March 2019. Two further sets for the Time War series are set for release in 2020 and 2021.[1]
Summary
The series focuses on political struggles within the leadership of the Time Lords, centred on Romana's presidency. In the first series, Romana's progressive policies and desires to open Gallifrey up to the outside universe faces opposition from more conservative cultures. In addition, a terrorist group known as "Free Time", who want to break the monopoly on time travel technology shared among the Time Lords and the few other temporal powers, steals a timeonic fusion device. The inquiry into Romana's handling of the incident reveals a dark secret surrounding the Time Lords' policy of non-intervention.
The second series sees the admission of non-Gallifreyans into the Time Lord Academy, leading to even more tension within the Time Lord political elite. Romana has to deal with Free Time infiltrators as well as an attempted coup by Inquisitor Darkel. In addition, an ancient Gallifreyan evil escapes from the Matrix: Pandora, a megalomaniacal personality who manipulates Romana and others with the goal of regaining life and power. At the end of the second series, Pandora manages to manifest herself in the form of Romana's first incarnation (played once again by Mary Tamm). Both Romanas claim the title of Imperiatrix, absolute ruler of Gallifrey, leading to civil war.
In the third series, Romana traps Pandora in the Matrix once again, and destroys her by sacrificing the Matrix. After an election fraught with political manoeuvring, one Lord Matthias becomes Lord President. The series ends on a cliffhanger, with Gallifrey on the brink of economic and social collapse as well as in danger of being overrun by a Free Time virus, while most of the cast are trapped with no apparent means of escape.
At the time Big Finish's license forbid them from using aspects of the revived television series,[2] the Gallifrey series does not explicitly acknowledge the events of the Time War. However, in the final chapter of the third series Irving Braxiatel speaks of "rumours out there in the big wide universe — more than rumours, in fact — that something's coming to Gallifrey, something worse than you could possibly imagine".
Because of these rumours, Braxiatel engineers the removal of the Time Lord biodata archive from Gallifrey, in order that the Time Lords might someday be restored after their planet meets its doom. Former Big Finish producer Gary Russell indicated in the audio interviews for the fourth series that this was a reference to the television series' Time War.
The fourth series, sees Romana, Leela, K9 Mark II, Brax and Narvin unable to save the Gallifrey they know. Instead, they wander through a collection of truncated time lines, looking for answers in alternate Gallifreys.
A Fifth and Sixth Series was produced. Nicholas Briggs appeared as The Daleks in the latter.[3]
Seán Carlsen returned as Narvin in special Intervention Earth with Juliet Landau as Romana and introduces Sophie Aldred as Ace. Stephen Thorne guest star as Omega.[4]
Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson And Miles Richardson returned having remained absent in the previous release, in Enemy Line, with Seán Carlsen and Sophie Aldred continuing their roles. Celia Imrie was introduce as Livia.
Big Finish finally explored the Time War in 2018 with Ward, Jameson, Carlsen, Richardson and Aldred reprising their roles. Nicholas Briggs returned as the voice of the Daleks. Derek Jacobi guest starred as The War Master.
Episodes
Series 1 (2004)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Weapon of Choice" | Gary Russell | Alan Barnes | Romana II, Leela, K9 I & II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Torvald, Darkel, Arkadian, Free Time | March 2004 |
| 2 | "Square One" | Gary Russell | Stephen Cole | Romana II, Leela, K9 I & II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Free Time | April 2004 |
| 3 | "The Inquiry" | Gary Russell | Justin Richards | Romana II, Leela, K9 I & II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Darkel, Torvald | April 2004 |
| 4 | "A Blind Eye" | Gary Russell | Alan Barnes | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Narvin, Torvald, Arkadian | May 2004 |
Series 2 (2005)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Lies" | Gary Russell | Gary Russell | Romana II & I, Leela, K9 I & II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Darkel, Andred, Wynter, Pandora, Free Time | April 2005 |
| 2 | "Spirit" | Gary Russell | Stephen Cole | Romana II, Leela, Braxiatel, Narvin, Darkel, Wynter, Hallan | May 2005 |
| 3 | "Pandora" | Gary Russell | Justin Richards | Romana II, Leela, K9 I & II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Darkel, Wynter, Andred, Hallan, Valyes, Pandora | June 2005 |
| 4 | "Insurgency" | Gary Russell | Steve Lyons | Romana II, Leela, K9 I & II, Narvin, Darkel, Andred, Valyes | July 2005 |
| 5 | "Imperiatrix" | Gary Russell | Stewart Sheargold | Romana II & I, Leela, K9 I & II, Narvin, Darkel, Hallan, Pandora | August 2005 |
Series 3 (2006)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Fractures" | Gary Russell | Stephen Cole | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Pandora, Darkel, Narvin, Valyes, Matthias, Hallan, Annos, Janartis, Elbon, Henzil | May 2006 |
| 2 | "Warfare" | Gary Russell | Stewart Sheargold | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Pandora, Darkel, Narvin, Valyes, Matthias, Hallan, Annos, Janartis, Elbon | June 2006 |
| 3 | "Appropriation" | Gary Russell | Paul Sutton | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Darkel, Narvin, Valyes, Matthias, Henzil, Annos, Janartis | July 2006 |
| 4 | "Mindbomb" | Gary Russell | Justin Richards | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Darkel, Braxiatel, Narvin, Valyes, Matthias, Henzil, Annos, Janartis, Elbon | July 2006 |
| 5 | "Panacea" | Gary Russell | Alan Barnes | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Valyes, Matthias, Arkadian, Henzil, Annos, Janartis, Elbon | August 2006 |
Series 4 (2011)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Reborn" | Gary Russell | Gary Hopkins | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Braxiatel, Narvin; Alternative Romana I, Vansell | March 2011 |
| 2 | "Disassembled" | Gary Russell | Justin Richards | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Braxiatel, Narvin; Alternative Romana II, Leela, Burner Doctor, Vansell, Andred | March 2011 |
| 3 | "Annihilation" | Gary Russell | Scott Handcock & Gary Russell | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Narvin; Alternative Borusa, Torvald | March 2011 |
| 4 | "Forever" | Gary Russell | David Wise | Romana II, Leela, K9 II, Braxiatel, Narvin; Alternative Romana II, Narvin, Valyes, Vansell | March 2011 |
Series 5 (2013)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Emancipation" | Gary Russell | James Peaty | Romana II, Leela, Narvin; Alternative Slyne, Lukas, Kavil, Valyes, Matthias, Rahvon | February 2013 |
| 2 | "Evolution" | Gary Russell | Una McCormack | Romana II, Leela, Narvin; Alternative Slyne, Lukas, Kavil | February 2013 |
| 3 | "Arbitration" | Gary Russell | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Leela, Narvin; Alternative Kavil, Slyne, Braxiatel, Matthias, Andred, Rahvon | February 2013 |
Series 6 (2013)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Extermination" | Gary Russell | Scott Handcock | Romana II, Leela, Narvin, Daleks; Alternative Slyne, Lukas, Rahvon, Braxiatel, Andred | October 2013 |
| 2 | "Renaissance" | Gary Russell | James Goss | Romana II, Leela, Narvin, Trey | October 2013 |
| 3 | "Ascension" | Gary Russell | Justin Richards | Romana II, Leela, Narvin, Trey, K9 II, Valyes, Matthias, Slyne, Daleks | October 2013 |
Series 7 (2015)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | "Intervention Earth" | Scott Handcock | Scott Handcock & David Llewellyn | Romana III, Ace, Narvin, Omega, Lukas | February 2015 |
Series 8 (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | "Enemy Lines" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Leela, Ace, Narvin, Braxiatel | May 2016 |
Series 9: Time War – Volume 1 (2018)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Celestial Intervention" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Leela, Narvin, Livia, Trave, Ace, Braxiatel | February 2018 |
| 2 | "Soldier Obscura" | Scott Handcock | Tim Foley | Ace, Braxiatel, Daleks, Romana II, Narvin | February 2018 |
| 3 | "The Devil You Know" | Scott Handcock | Scott Handcock | Leela, the Master, Romana II, Narvin | February 2018 |
| 4 | "Desperate Measures" | Scott Handcock | Matt Fitton | Romana II, Narvin, Livia, Trave, Braxiatel, Daleks, Dalek Emperor, Rassilon | February 2018 |
Series 10: Time War – Volume 2 (2019)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Havoc" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Narvin, Rassilon, Livia, Mantus, Trave | March 2019 |
| 2 | "Partisans" | Scott Handcock | Una McCormack | Romana II, Narvin, Eris, Livia, Mantus | March 2019 |
| 3 | "Collateral" | Scott Handcock | Lisa McMullin | Romana II, Narvin, Eris, Rassilon, Livia, Mantus | March 2019 |
| 4 | "Assassins" | Scott Handcock | Matt Fitton | Romana II, Narvin, Rassilon, Livia, Mantus | March 2019 |
Series 11: Time War – Volume 3 (2020)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Hostiles" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Narvin | February 2020 |
| 2 | "Nevernor" | Scott Handcock | Lou Morgan | Romana II, Narvin | February 2020 |
| 3 | "Mother Tongue" | Scott Handcock | Helen Goldwyn | Leela | February 2020 |
| 4 | "Unity" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Romana II, Daleks | February 2020 |
Series 12: Time War – Volume 4
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Deception"[1] | Scott Handcock | Lisa McMullin | TBA | February 2021 |
| 2 | "Dissolution"[1] | Scott Handcock | Lou Morgan | TBA | February 2021 |
| 3 | "Beyond"[1] | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | TBA | February 2021 |
| 4 | "Homecoming"[1] | Scott Handcock | Matt Fitton | TBA | February 2021 |
References
- "Gallifrey - Time War 4 coming soon". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- Big Finish FAQ
- "6. Gallifrey Series 06 - Gallifrey - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- "7. Gallifrey: Intervention Earth - Gallifrey - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
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