Disassembled

"On this Gallifrey they have a very active policy of intervention."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: March 2011

Series: Gallifrey 4.02

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

The President of the High Council wants Romana dead. The Temporal Intervention Agency has been dispatched to hunt her down. Its mission: to eliminate her from the timelines forever. It would be as though she had never existed...

Only an old friend can offer Romana any hope of survival. An acquaintance she and Leela once shared. One they haven't seen in years.

But time is running out. Death is fast approaching. And this time, not everyone can survive... with or without the Doctor.

Verdict

Disassembled was an excellent episode to continue the fourth series of Gallifrey! This really was a fantastic take on alternate Gallifrey and it only seems right that when venturing into potential alternative universes and timelines that we got to a Gallifrey where their policy was to interfere, rather than observe. The potential abuse of power there is incredible and whilst we didn't quite get something along the lines of Reborn with them selling off regenerations or TARDISes, we did have them going back and changing time at specific moments if it suited their desires. The arrival to this particular Gallifrey was fun and I liked how Romana was feigning being the true copy as High President. There was a lot going on for the true President on this version of the planet and her outrage when she discovered the anomalies and finding out that one was herself was really good. I loved that we also had an alternate Leela as the Interrogator General which was something we heard a little hint of at the end of the previous episode and she seemed a perfect character to have in that role, even if her past was firmly put behind her. I was hugely impressed with Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson's performances in this story with them getting to play two very different versions of their characters. They differentiated well which is important in the audio format and it was just a lot of fun to hear this sideways step. The interaction between the pair of Leelas was magnificent and 'our' version reacting to hearing herself was marvellous. She could take being tortured, even if her alternate self would know how to make her speak, and the Interrogator getting more than she bargained for when taking all of Leela's memories for herself was fantastic. She also became blind! That was really good continuation and it worked well because just for a moment we had our Leela with the upper hand, and then got an example of how this Gallifrey could put things right pretty quickly. The appearance of Colin Baker as the Burner Doctor was excellent and I loved how K9 recognised his bio-data was present. Narvin's confusion when K9 had located the 'master' was terrific and I liked that he wasn't actually on the side of Romana and company. Braxiatel was on hand to provide some intriguing history regarding Burners on Gallifrey and how nobody escaped a kill. The history between Brax and the Doctor was really interesting and I liked how they went out together to avert the paradox. It all tied up rather nicely in the end with quite an emphatic way to exit the Axis! The push sent them tumbling without coordinates to who knows where so I do wonder if this is the last we have heard of Brax in the range, given how the post-credit scene would seem to indicate he is off on the start of his adventures with Benny. That was a nice little touch and some fun continuity. As a whole, this was a really good sidestep into a Gallifrey where intervention was the norm and it was so different to the Gallifrey we know full of order. I'm intrigued to hear where we go next, but for now this was a lot of fun to have the Doctor, albeit not the one we know, interacting with the Gallifrey characters I have come to enjoy and love! Overall, a brilliant listen!

Rating: 9/10