Gallifrey IV

The Gallifrey series of audio-plays were, for the first three seasons, basically political thrillers, set on the titular home-world of Doctor Who's Time Lords. The main characters are Romana and Leela, soon joined by Co-ordinator Narvin of the Celestial Intervention Agency, K9, and various others. The third season was left open-ended, with the villains undefeated and the central characters in peril. This, the fourth season, came along much later, and while it follows on from the events of the previous three, it is quite a different sort of beast.

The season consists of four hour-long episodes, each of which focuses on the characters exploring an alternate reality version of Gallifrey, and one which always turns out to be significantly worse than the original (which was hardly a utopia).

#1 - Reborn
After quickly disposing of the cliffhanger ending to the third season, Romana, Leela, and the others arrive at The Axis, previously seen in the audio-play Axis of Insanity, and begin exploring alternate realities as their only means of escape. The plot from the previous three seasons, while occasionally referred to in dialogue, is essentially forgotten, leaving us with something that's rather less original, as our heroes pop up on various “worlds” at a moment of peril. The first world isn't terribly interesting, although the story tries to ring some changes with the Leela/Romana dynamic, and has Mary Tamm playing the Romana of the alternate reality, who has never regenerated. All in all, it comes across as a side-quest, and a disappointment after the previous seasons. 3 stars.

#2 - Disassembled
This time we visit a dictatorial Gallifrey obsessed with controlling the timeline and intervening in other worlds as much as possible. We are treated here to alternate versions of Romana, Leela, and even the Sixth Doctor, in what turns out to be the strongest story of the four, exploring how the core characters might have turned out given a differing background. There is an obvious parallel with the Mirror Universe from Star Trek here, but the story may be helped by the fact that a lot of the action takes place back on the Axis, as the characters try to work out which part of what they've done has created a time paradox that is tearing the place apart around them. 4 stars.

#3 - Annihilation
The third Gallifrey we visit is a post-apocalyptic one, the result of Rassilon having joined the vampires rather than defeating them (per the TV episode State of Decay). Katy Manning appears as Borusa, leader of the obviously doomed resistance to the vampires, but disappears before the end of the story. It's a reasonably good action piece, if even more out-of-kilter with the previous seasons than the other episodes, and works well enough for what it's intended to be. 3.5 stars.

#4 - Forever
In the final episode, we visit another dictatorial Gallifrey, this time reliant on slave labour and still desperately trying to develop time travel technology. Carole Ann Ford makes a brief appearance as (presumably) Susan, but since she doesn't use the name, it really isn't obvious unless you know who's playing the part, and she gets almost nothing to do, making it more of a stunt casting than anything else. The story focuses on whether or not Romana should help the Gallifreyans of this world develop TARDISes, and presumably conquer the universe with them, just in order to allow herself and her friends to escape back to the Axis. The ending is unsatisfactory, leaving things open-ended, but not in a way that's particularly interesting. 3 stars.

Overall, this is a disappointment after the earlier seasons, trying to head off in a different direction, and with a minimal plot arc between the four episodes. On its own, as an exploration of alternate Gallifreys, it works rather well, but taken as a whole, it's missing a lot of what made the earlier seasons so good.