Time War: Havoc

"Rassilon is the only one who can lead us to victory."

Writer: David Llewellyn 

Format: Audio

Released: March 2019

Series: Gallifrey 10.01

Featuring: Romana II, Narvin

Synopsis

In the aftermath of Rassilon's return, Romana finds herself at the heart of the War Council's machinations, with the High Council, the CIA, and the Lord President's new security force all vying for control. 

But then, a mysterious stranger arrives in the Capitol itself. And they bring a terrible warning from the future...

Verdict

Havoc was an excellent start to the second volume of Time War audio adventures for Gallifrey! After a sublime cliffhanger at the end of the first volume with Rassilon returning, this was a fine opener. I really enjoyed the political nature of the episode in dealing with Rassilon’s return as the President Eternal. I think that’s a really fun title and does a lot to show just how prominent a figure he was. Rassilon was audibly not himself for much of the story which might not be much of a surprise given the fact he was resurrected and had been dead for a considerable amount of time. I thought Narvin also did a tremendous job during the story in selling how prominent and important a figure Rassilon was when it came to his comments about looking into his eyes. He felt inferior and that was intriguing to hear him admit. I liked how the episode started with Jevon being murdered and the mystery surrounding that worked very well. It was good that we didn’t know the identity until close to the end and the quietness of the pilot was really strong in enhancing the impact. The suggestion of the TARDIS that arrived with the murderer being from the future was good and I did wonder how that fitted in with the Time War and the time lock. It did seem that considerable effort went into getting him there and after a relatively straightforward murder, he hid himself away. Livia’s position was certainly feeling less than during this story following the emergence and resurrection of Rassilon, and with him as President she became Prime Minister which was very fun. It didn’t exactly bring a lot of power and prestige when it was newly created! Livia helping acquit Romana was a bit of a surprise and suggested a new direction for this series which I would definitely be a fan of hearing. Despite trying to reason and form an agreement with the Daleks, Romana worked her way back into prominence rather nicely here. I appreciated the reference to her having already encountered Rassilon and now she wanted full jurisdiction on the murder investigation. That seemed a logical move and was a good way to utilise her strengths. Rassilon wasted no time in reforming Gallifrey with the creation of the Internal Defence Unit and dissolving the Chancellory Guard which I liked as a way to assert his authority. The Drylands precedent being invoked was really good and with it being an ancient law that was never revoked, it caused a lot of uproar and chaos which was fun. Something that was not fun was Narvin actually going as far as killing the pilot that committed the murder of Jevon. He didn’t intend on shooting him dead but when it appeared that he was going for his staser, Narvin had no choice. Of course, it turned out that he wasn’t actually reaching for a gun but for a video communicator intended for Narvin to see. The CIA Deputy was audibly distraught by his actions and would do all he could to repair the staser blast damage of the video message. The revelation that the killer and future TARDIS-pilot was actually a future incarnation of General Trave was something I did not see coming! I liked it though and things really have escalated for him and Livia since their roles in bringing back Rassilon was perhaps outdated now on Gallifrey and hearing Romana also attempt to form an advisory board to bring up to scratch with the modern era on the planet was done well. There was strong scheming and politics at its best which is what this spinoff range does so well. I’m not sure I was exactly expecting Trave to be executed given the obvious paradox it created but the way it happened was pretty brutal with the gamma ripping him apart almost instantly. It was quite the way to set an example and I’m sure it will have had the desired effect. I’m looking forward to hearing if that is the case as we move forward with this series. The ending with Narvin getting the video communication from Trave to play was good and I enjoyed how it was a grave warning to the past from a world ravaged by war that was on its last legs thanks to Rassilon. Hearing a future version of Narvin warning his old self about the chance for change was startling, but it was something I really enjoyed. Overall, a fantastic audio to kick off the series!

Rating: 9/10