Time War: Partisans

"The only good Neo is a dead Neo."

Writer: Una McCormack

Format: Audio

Released: March 2019

Series: Gallifrey 10.02

Featuring: Romana II, Narvin

Synopsis 

When the world of Ysalus becomes a strategic target for the Time Lords and their opponents, Gallifrey takes an interest in the planet's civil unrest. 

But the CIA and the War Council each have their own strategy. 

And, as good intentions only make things worse, the true horror of the Time War will be visited upon the people of Ysalus. 

Verdict

Partisans was was another great episode to continue my way through the second volume of Time War adventures for Gallifrey! It’s incredible to think that this is the tenth overall series of the spinoff range and I’ve liked how despite the threat of war and the Daleks looming, this boxset so far feels a little more traditional. There’s always mentions of the War in the background and here it was commented on ‘the times’ that Gallifrey was under, but it wasn’t just the Daleks that were the enemy. I like the strife between different divisions on Gallifrey and that’s what happened here with the War Council and the CIA. Romana was in the business of going off the record and behind the Council’s back when it came to the urgency of Ysalus. I liked its position as a rich source of olirium with that being a crucial element to the Daleks’ time travel capabilities. This was an excellent use of the Time War without the repetition of the Daleks actually featuring and I loved the strategic manouvering that was going on. I’m loving the politics on Gallifrey and Narvin wanting to be the one to go on the mission to Ysalus was really good. Romana was more interested in blooding some youth in the form of Eris so a compromise was made for them both to go. Mantus being alerted to the fact that both Narvin and Eris were missing was good and I liked how he was listening in on the conversation between Romana and Narvin regarding Ysalus. He’s going to be a player in this series I think, but I must admit I am waiting for a more triumphant emergence for Rassilon. I sense that may wait until the finale but it was important to keep his presence in the background. The extent of going to wiping out an entire planet and its people as casualties meant nothing in the grand scheme of things to him. Aladra arriving on Ysalus as the War Council’s representative was good and Narvin’s shocked reaction to a TARDIS materialsiing was a lot of fun. I thought she was great and the fact she actually came with weapons to sell on rather than just a ruse was brilliant. Narvin was horrified by that and it didn’t take too long for him to realise that she wasn’t on Ysalus to ensure the same side would win the war. The War Council actually wanting to lure the Daleks into a false sense of security of their work being done for them was a little strange, but it was a nice twist and showed the very different approach to the Time War that the Council had. Ystra was a great character as one of the planet’s natives and her choice of killing Alandra was incredible, especially with her reaction to witnessing regeneration! She just kept on shooting which was incredible and a really powerful moment highlighting a strong sense of desperation. Narvin’s reaction said everything as he was pretty stunned! I liked the conclusion in the fact that it appears more is going to come from Ysalus and the planet and that’s no real surprise given its importance to the Daleks. Narvin coming up with a plant to freeze the planet in time to ensure that it wasn’t destroyed and its inhabitants didn’t die was good, and the freezing taking place just as Ystra was going to shoot Temmis was excellent! Will he be shot immediately upon unfreezing? Or will that ever happen given how the Time War ends. I’m surprised that we haven’t heard more from Livia in this series and I do hope that we get more of her in the final two episodes, but it was nice to hear her again with Romana and not wanting to interfere. Overall though, this was a really strong adventure and I’m enjoying this instalment of the Time War saga very much! A great listen and good continuity to move forward.

Rating: 8/10