Reborn

"You can't sell regenerations!"

Writer: Gary Hopkins

Format: Audio

Released: March 2011

Series: Gallifrey 4.01

Featuring: Romana II, Leela, K9

Synopsis

Gallifrey survives...

Lady Romanadvoratrelundar has returned to her homeworld, seeking a cure for the Free Time virus that rages across the planet. Leela of the Sevateem and her companion K9 are revered as heroes. Narvin is a traitor. And Braxiatel knows more than he's letting on.

Amidst all the confusion, the High Council of Time Lords is poised to take the planet into an all-consuming war against the cosmos. They're selling their secrets to the highest bidder, equipping the universe with temporal technology it should never have been allowed.

And Romana's son will lead them into battle...

Verdict

Reborn was a very good and intriguing start to the fourth series of Gallifrey! If I was a contemporary listener I am not sure I would have coped well with waiting nearly five years for a new series after the way Panacea ended the third series on a ludicrous cliffhanger, but what we had here was certainly worth waiting for and an interesting direction appears to be on the horizon for the series. I like how we are sticking with the core characters of Romana, Leela, K9, Narvin and Brax and the latter having saved them by time scooping them to the Axis was some good continuity and an explanation for their survival. I was expecting more of a continuity from the previous episode, but given the gap between series I can't say I'm surprised with the approach taken. I love the idea of the Axis and it's good that we know all about it following The Axis of Insanity. I like continuity such as that so having that appear prominently in this audio was certainly welcomed. I love the idea of an alternate Gallifrey and it allowed a great use of Romana I once again. She hadn't regenerated on this Gallifrey, and it was a fascinating take on the Time Lord world! This Gallifrey was intent on economic gain and was selling off regenerations and ensuring that every home had a TARDIS. That was so much fun and with it even going off world, the dangers were clear to hear. I think a bit more exploitation of that could have been good, but it was still terrific to think about and the potential really was endless. Narvin was a little quiet for this episode which was a stark contrast to what we're used to from him, and I found it very amusing at the start in another alternate time stream that he and Leela were to be wedded, with Brax even proposing to Romana in a very unromantic way. Leela assuming the position of High President on this alternate Gallifrey was amusing as it was she who accompanied the Doctor in the quest for the Key to Time in this timeline. The power she wielded from that made her lack of being Gallifreyan irrelevant. Her appointing K9 as the Castellan was magnificent too. He was loving that role and seemed genuinely upset when he was relieved of his duties! Antonin was a good character and I loved his position as Romana's son. That wasn't something I expected and him recognising his alternate future mum was very good and he wanted to travel in the alternate timeline. That posed numerous issues. I liked how Romana I recognised her alternate future self but still maintained that her son was going crazy. Of course she would recognise herself! Dondequest was a very good character and I really enjoyed her role on this alternate Gallifrey, which really was such a stark contrast to what we are used to from the Time Lord planet. Rexus and Vansell were good characters too and filled out a good set of characters for this Gallifrey. I liked the simplicity of the ending and the story as a whole really with Narvin casually shooting Antonin to wound rather than kill, ensuring he wouldn't make it back through the portal. Brax staying behind to manage the portal was good and I suspect he'll show back up at some point! The post-credit scene with Leela in an aggressive interrogator role was interesting and something I'm sure that has set up the next episode. Is this series going to provide us with a number of alternate Gallifreys? If so, I am very much on board! Overall, a great listen!

Rating: 8/10