Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday

"Snow White who has been Snowana held the Key of Nevermore, and with it she had the power to make Gallifrey fall."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2011

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 2012

Featuring: Rassilon

Synopsis 

A fairytale of Gallifrey's Old Times. Could the Matrix be wrong? Our would a girl banished to Outer Gallifrey gain the pose to bring the fall of the planet of the Time Lords?

Verdict 

Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday was a beautiful little story! It was a really pleasant read and I just love the idea of a fairytale story from the Old Times of Gallifrey! It's so rare in the revived Doctor Who to get a reference to Gallifrey, especially it's arguably greatest Time Lord, or its history. I mean, they finally made an appearance in the Tenth Doctor's sendoff in The End of Time but that's it. The Master doesn't count in my opinion because that's a historic enemy. Time Lord stories rank as my favourites, with none higher in my opinion than their debut and the Second Doctor's final story The War Games. I love how this story was referenced in Night Terrors as being one of the Doctor's favourite stories from his home world and it's easy to see why. It really was a lovely story! The picture of Rassilon was great and exactly how he appeared in the aforementioned Tenth Doctor story which cancels out any questions as to whether 'the Narrator' was Rassilon or not. I'm not sure why there are any questions to begin with as I'd say the evidence is pretty clear. The story itself is pretty short so there's not a great deal to discuss but what we got really was nice. I loved how it was an obvious resemblance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, but adjusted for the small matter of the downfall of Gallifrey. The continuation from The Invasion of Time was very nice with the Outlers who would of course become Outsiders. The way Rassilon was asking the Matrix questions like it was a magic mirror was pretty funny I thought, though I'm not sure why. Of course he'd want to know if anyone had the power to destroy Gallifrey and I'm intrigued that the Doctor wasn't mentioned. Despite him saving his home planet in The Day of the Doctor, he did have the power to bring about the destruction of Gallifrey after all, even if in the end he didn't take it. The different Keys to Doomsday were all named intriguingly and I like the idea of one being called Nevermore as the most coveted. The obvious similarities to The Keys of Marinus were tremendous and it really was the same concept, just the number of keys the difference. Snowana is a stunning name and really does sound like the name of a Time Lord, or Lady rather. Overall, a short but extremely sweet fairytale story. It really is a nice addition to the Whoniverse and it's great seeing what kind of story the Doctor likes! I just wish there was more so I could discuss things further. 

Rating: 9/10