Big Finish Productions Gallifrey IV

Format	Compact Disc
Released	2011

Starring Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Colin Baker, Carole Ann Ford, Mary Tamm, Katy Manning, Miles Richardson and Lisa Bowerman

Synopsis: Gallifrey survives. Kills. Dies. And Stops.

• Gallifrey Sliders by Thomas Tilley

Gallifrey Sliders by Thomas Tilley 28/10/24

This series of Gallifrey, unlike the previous three, is a boxset, presumably for business reasons, so it different from the start. It was produced with a five-year gap from the last story that ended on a cliffhanger with Gallifrey infected by plague, the only cure to which would render Time Lords unable to regenerate and with the cast trapped on an isolated base in space with no means of escape.

The first story, Reborn, sets up the series new status quo. The gang are on the Axis, a meeting point of different timelines/universes from which they can explore other versions of their planet of Gallifrey. It reminded me a bit of the TV series Sliders, where they leap from parallel world to parallel world. On this world, Time Lords sell their technology to the highest bidders, Romana is a lonely widow with a son, Leela is considered a legendary hero, and the local politicians are quick to try to use her for their own ends. I thought this story was merely all right, it was nice to hear Mary Tamm again playing a good guy instead of a villain like in the last series. Narvin gets his regenerations stripped off him and gets a nice scene as he snaps at the others, but other than getting attacked in the third story it doesn't come up again.

Dissembled, the next story, is set on a world where Time Lords misuse their power, destroying and unmaking timelines and worlds to suit their own purpose. I enjoyed this story. Colin Baker appears as an alternative Doctor, a baddy called the Lord Burner, and I thought he played the part very well, much nastier than the sixth Doctor. Louise Jameson also does well as her evil alternate persona, again getting to play a meaner version of her own character. Miles Richardson's Braxiatel gets some nice scenes as he reveals some of his backstory, and he gets a lovely scene with Bernice at the end.

Annihilations is set in a version of Gallifrey still at war with the vampires, covered in darkness by the Transduction Barrier. Geoffrey Beevers gives an excellent performance as the head vampire, Lord Prydon. He has a sort of soft hissing noise to his voice that makes it sound like he is talking through fangs, which is great. Katy Manning plays the leader of the Time Lords and again it's a good performance, playing a different, more serious character than Jo Grant.

The final story, Forever, features a version of Gallifrey where the Time Lords never developed time travel, their version of Romana gets killed and ours ends up replacing her. Carole Ann Ford turns up as a slave, but it's a small role and basically wasted. Anyone could have played the part and other than all the plays featuring past actors there doesn't seem much point to include her. It's not as if she is an alternative Susan, so it does seem pointless.

I am not sure if the characters are well served in these plays, from scene to scene, play to play, they variously want to use the Axis to find a new home, find a TARDIS or find a cure/way to get back to their Gallifrey. It's rather inconsistent and makes Romana and co look callus and unpleasant at the thought of abandoning their Gallifrey. Not much of consequence happens in the stories: Narvin loses his regenerations, but it doesn't increase the element of suspense when he gets threatened (after all, he is a main character); Brax gets booted off into the Axis, essentially sent off to the Bernice spinoffs in the second story, forcing them to leave K9 behind on the Axis so he can help in the later stories; Leela gets her eyesight and youth restored so the later stories don't have to worry about it; and then they get stranded on a primitive Gallifrey without a way back to the Axis. They don't even attempt to resolve the end of the last series, which must have annoyed fans of the previous series and instead just do a sort of Doctor Who Sliders/Unbound-style boxset instead almost like they didn't want to do another series of Gallifrey, so the series seems a bit lackluster. I am also unsure of the idea of making the series a more expensive boxset instead of individual releases, as before you could pick and choose which story to get, but now you don't have a choice but to get them all.

All the actors are doing their best, some of the scenarios are interesting but Gallifrey 4 does seem like a missed opportunity.

I rate the series taken as a whole a middling five; not great, not terrible. I would have to dock a few points for failing to be a proper continuation of the previous series. So either a three or a four out of ten.