Writer: James Goss
Format: Audio
Released: July 2024
Series: Dark Gallifrey 2.01
Featuring: Unbound Doctor, Benny
Synopsis
Many have sought the legendary Dark Gallifrey over the millennia... but most have been lucky enough to fail. There is another who has his eyes on that glittering prize, however; one who knows how such power could be wielded – the Master himself!
Intrigued by rumours of a hidden Gallifrey – the Dark Gallifrey of Time Lord myth – Bernice Summerfield resolves to find it.
But as the Doctor points out, some things should never be found, and some doors should never be opened. Especially ones that want to be...
Verdict
The War Master started in excellent style to kick off the second instalment of the very exciting Dark Gallifrey series! It started so well in Morbius and took us to the ancient history of the Time Lords which was wonderful, but this has a very different and modern feel. I like that. It does feel a bit strange that in a story titled as a familiar character that the War Master didn't actually feature, but that was completely fine. This did such a good job in actually establishing Dark Gallifrey as something that exists and I think Bernice Summerfield was the perfect character for that. She was an archeologist after all and this was a discovery she wanted. Once she knew it existed, there was no talking her out of it and I loved that about her. She was determined despite the dangers. I think the dynamic she has with the Unbound Doctor is brilliant and it's such a shame that David Warner has passed away. Whilst this doesn't really give us a feeling of finality for his incarnation, it's a wonderful final performance from a great and unique incarnation. I like how his not being from Benny's universe means he would be more likely to see Dark Gallifrey breaking through, and there were even rumours of it in his universe which is a lot of fun. The Doctor talking of the myths of it and how there was a Gallifrey of essentially chaos was exiting. I don't normally listen to the behind the scenes features on the Big Finish releases but I caught the first five minutes or so with Scott Hancock and James Goss and was fascinated to hear that chronologically this would actually be the close of the Dark Gallifrey chapter. That feels a little strange but it's got me very excited for the next two parts of the story! I was a little put off by the format of the story to start with as it jumped around in time as I felt like I was missing crucial information regarding what had happened. I'm a little behind on the New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield so I wasn't sure if this followed on from where that final boxset finished. That turned out, as far as I'm aware, to not be the case. Hearing how both Benny and the Doctor. sacrificed the other's timeline was intriguing and I loved the glimpse at what could have been with Benny as President of Gallifrey and sharing the second half of Romana's full name! That was very amusing. The conversations with the TARDISes were also whacky and I loved the idea of all but one of them being afraid of the Doctor. Benny having to argue and persist with one to get on the verge of Dark Gallifrey and save the Doctor was terrific too. There was a lot going on and it was purposely all over the place but once you understood that and got used to it, that became part of its charm. It was really well done when it could have gotten extremely messy. I liked how despite the dangers, the Doctor was willing to help Benny find Dark Gallifrey and he didn't seem too frightened by the myths and legends. He was intrigued as of course he would be. All Doctors are curious and being from another universe didn't mean this one would be any different. I thought the Abomination was an exciting element of the story too and does feel like a Time War weapon which would tie in nicely with the coming of the War Master. It teasing Benny about being wove in paradox was exciting and I liked that it could communicate. It felt like it existed on a huge scale also! The way things ended with Benny and the Doctor going on the hunt sets things up nicely, but it's very sad that the Unbound Doctor won't be sticking around. I wonder if we'll get an explanation on that? Regardless, I'm very excited for what's to come and this was brilliant in establishing Dark Gallifrey as a physical artefact. Overall, a brilliant episode!
Rating: 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment