Time War: Nevernor

"You come from the place where the ghosts are."

Writer: Lou Morgan 

Format: Audio

Released: February 2020

Series: Gallifrey 11.02

Featuring: Romana II, Narvin

Synopsis 

Narvin and Romana reach the distant, rural world Njagilheim. But even here the Time War follows – and there are more things to fear in the Vortex than warships and weapons. The Orrovix have caught a scent and they are hunting... 

Verdict

Nevernor was another great episode to continue my way through the third volume of Time War from Gallifrey’s eleventh series! This followed on nicely from the opener as the hunt for Leela continued by Romana and Narvin, and following the savage’s bio data stream to Njagilheim set things up nicely. That planet made for a decent setting and I’m enjoying the dark feeling and atmosphere that is making up this series. That fits in well with the Time War and here Romana and Narvin got an up close example of just how much it was having an impact. I liked that given the overlapping arc of the Time War that it was still being felt despite our main characters being far from the heart of conflict on Gallifrey. I think given what happened to Leela at the hands of the Master it is right to give us a series that feels dark and the eeriness was just excellent throughout. It was an unusual environment for Narvin in particular as he didn’t travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor whereas Romana has experience with all sorts! I liked the hearing of voices and the horror theme was tremendous. It was good that Romana and Narvin weren’t exactly hearing the same voices and having them sound almost desperate was startling but good stuff. Agata was a really solid character and her being pregnant just added a bit of jeopardy to her. It was really good though to have the amalgamation of timelines with Romana and Narvin experiencing and seeing two different times at once. That was a bit of a mind twist but one I really appreciated. I think obviously visuals would have helped in a different format, and there was perhaps a little too much of a reliance on Romana and Narvin explaining what was happening to the listener, but it was new and a fine use of the Time War. Time was simply damaged and happening all at once, with our two leads meeting characters at different points. The pregnancy element of that was fun. I got the feeling throughout that Narvin was not comfortable in his surroundings so it was nice for Romana to be able to showcase her experience in such situations. I liked how she was the one that was bitten and whilst it seemed relatively harmless initially other than physical injury, we soon learned the extent of the Orrovix and what they were after. Leela had been around here previously and whilst Narvin was getting frustrated by the mixed signals of her bio data scan, showing she was there and was not, her impact was very much felt here. She was involved in the time amalgamation, but I really did enjoy the threat of Romana and Narvin getting caught in the time loop. They were aware that may happen as the bedding was ripped which was decent and despite the timey-wimey nature of the episode, everything did tie back nicely despite some potential confusion. The title of the story came into play very well with the discussion of the Nevernor test back at the Academy something I really enjoyed. It was used to recruit spies and the only way to pass was not to care what was on either side of two doors leading to two linked events. That was a fun idea and it seemed neither Narvin or Romana passed. Curiosity always gets the better! Romana not admitting that initially was fun so I enjoyed the moment she admitted to not passing. Narvin highlighting the presence of a temporal storm was something else I liked in highlighting the effects of the Time War. The Orrovix were a good threat and I thought the conclusion with the older version of Agata being the one who could break the time loop and sacrifice herself where Leela arrived was good and emotional stuff. Any sacrifice is always a strong moment, but this one felt big and helped extend the threat of the Orrovix. It was only her that could break the loop so it was clear that was how we’d get out of the mess, but it was nice for the episode to come full circle at the end as we heard her baby being born. It seems the hunt for Leela is drawing to a close and I do hope she shows up in the next episode! Overall though, another strong story to continue a strong start to the series. 

Rating: 8/10