Time War: Celestial Intervention

"They let themselves get wiped out."

Writer: David Llewellyn 

Format: Audio

Released: February 2018

Series: Gallifrey 9.01

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, Narvin

Synopsis

The Temporal Powers are under threat. It is only a matter of time before the Daleks attack.

Now CIA Coordinator, Romana must protect the interests of Gallifrey, while dealing with demands from President Livia and an increasingly powerful War Council. 

As allies are whittled away, the Time Lords are drawn into a conflict they can no longer avoid...

Verdict

Celestial Intervention was a great story to kick off the Time War saga and ninth series of Gallifrey! At long last, Gallifrey enters the Time War and I must admit that despite the logic, I was not expecting the opening episode to depict the moments where Gallifrey actually declared war on the Daleks. It's nice to get a firm beginning and hinting at the involvement of the Doctor being required was good as all Time Lords would be necessary for the war effort. After eight long series of scheming and Gallifreyan politics with heavy Dalek involvement, the Time War has finally arrived. I'm so excited by the potential of this series and this served as a fine introduction. There was strong continuity with Enemy Lines which I appreciated as Romana was now CIA Coordinator and Narvin still wasn't used to only being the Deputy. Livia was still Lord President despite a regeneration following an assassination which was a fun throwaway line to explain the change of actress, and I liked how she was even cautious of the War Council. That council was excellent and I love the secretive nature of their role on Gallifrey. The conditions they applied to taking in the 5,000 survivors of Phaidon's description meant that their activities would become even more hidden which was fun, but there was simply no choice. The Daleks didn't actually feature in the episode but their presence was more than felt with the destruction they'd caused to the Warpwrights. Of a planet with a population of nine billion, they were nearly completely wiped out and that news was felt hard on Gallifrey. With a Temporal Power destroyed like that, the only option for Gallifrey was to finally declare war on the Daleks. The War Council had been preparing for this and their secretive operations were infiltrated by Leela through Narvin's aid but the overwrite codes were soon detected. I thought the scheming on Gallifrey was hardly a display of a united front, but the War Council through Nave were up to something very exciting from a listener's point of view! Romana's comment of Time Lord caskets was very intriguing and I loved that the War Council were trying to raise the finest warriors of the Time Lord dead for the Time War ahead. With the War Master featuring on the boxset's artwork, I wonder if this will depict that in a future episode. I sure hope so! Leela's reaction to learning that the dead would be raised was wonderful as she thought they should stay resting and I do hope she gets to confront one that will be resurrected. Livia not punishing Romana, Leela and Narvin for their actions and interference was nicely done though as she wanted Gallifrey to display a united front and would just have them go back to the CIA, much to Trave's dismay. Despite his frailties, Beglis had got his people a form of salvation despite the talk and debates over citizenship and resources with war looming. The ending with Ace and Braxiatel being sent on a mission worse than one of suicide was good and sets up the next episode very nicely, although what could be worse than the trail leading to the Death Zone here! I look forward to hearing. Overall, a really good start to the series.

Rating: 8/10