A Blind Eye

 

"Should she stay or should she go?"

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: May 2004

Series: Gallifrey 1.04

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

Earth, September1939. With Europe sliding into war, a young Englishwoman, her loyalties torn, comes to a terrible decision. But what does the intergalactic secrets broker Mephistopheles Arkadian want with the fascist sympathiser Cecilia 'Sissy' Pollard on the last day of her life?

Still searching for the facts about the Gryben debacle, President Romana makes a deal with the devil. So begins a chain of consequence that can only end in tragedy for the passengers aboard the Vienna to Calais Transcontinental Express, the woman called Leela included.

By journey's end, the truth will be out but at what cost to Romana and Leela? To Gallifrey's empire, even?

Verdict

A Blind Eye was a fantastic conclusion to the first series of the Gallifrey spinoff from Big Finish! I thought this was a terrific opening series and this must go down as one of the best debut series. This was a fitting finale and tied things up nicely whilst leaving things open for so much more in the future. I really enjoyed the references that came to much of the Eighth Doctor's tenure with Charley and it was good to reflect on the likes of Neverland and Zagreus with an unexpected appearance of India Fisher playing Charley Pollard's sister! Sissy was a great character and I really liked how she got mixed up in Gallifreyan affairs. Her role as a Nazi sympathiser was quite something and a complete contrast to her sister who we know and love so dearly. I'd love for the Doctor to encounter her at length and have a conversation about Hitler and all those things that we apparently all believe but are too afraid to say aloud. Claiming him as the greatest man to ever live was quite something and I loved Leela's reaction to hearing that evil name. She had a tremendously strong story and I felt so sorry for her once the truth was out regarding Andred's disappearance. I didn't expect things to be so simple as Torvald killing him as stated in The Inquiry so to get the truth here was brilliant and I loved how it was revealed. The idea of Andred actually being the one to kill Torvald and then taking his place claiming to be post-regeneration and a new incarnation was outstanding! The audacity of that ploy to infiltrate the CIA was quite something and I am sure there will be more fallout from that in the second series. Leela's reaction was heartbreaking as she couldn't believe that her husband was still alive and had just regenerated. But for her, she had grieved and her husband was dead. She wasn't accepting any apologies which I fully understood. It was a shame to see her suffering emotionally but it was good to see a different side to her. I thought the Earth setting for a Gallifrey story was magnificent and worked really well and it was just fun to place them at a time where World War Two was inbound. Romana was great as President again and I liked her interaction with Arkadian. The way he just oozed swagger and being in control was very good. I thought Joy was also a fantastic character and the suggestion she was a spy was fun given the setting. I loved the concept of the differing timelines and the two versions of the same train worked really well. Meeting an earlier incarnation of Torvald was fantastic and the potential issues for Narvin in wanting to arrest him was great, although we soon realised the current incarnation wasn't actually him. Leela's discussion regarding the Sevateem and the Tesh and likening the differences to what Hitler was trying to do was brilliant and added depth to what was a really deep story. There was a lot going on which was really good and the intrigue that came with the train setting was really nicely presented. Torvald disguising himself as Eric was great fun and he adjusted well to the period and location. The humour that typically comes from K9 was on display once again when Romana asked for the pause feature on her new Type 70A TARDIS with him simply responding that he didn't have a pause function. I love silly stuff like that and it works so well with K9 just replying logically. Romana's frustration is often there to hear. As a whole, this was a really strong conclusion and it all focused on Andred's disappearance and Leela's reaction which was powerful. Overall, a fitting conclusion to a brilliant opening series of Gallifrey!

Rating: 9/10