Gallifrey: Time War 4

At least for the time being, this appears to be the last in the Gallifrey series, which has long since shifted from its original “political thriller” remit to a story about war with the Daleks. This one follows on directly from the cliffhanger ending of the previous volume, although not from the perspective of the person affected - and when it does get back to it, the resolution feels perfunctory and a bit deus ex machina (in that there's no foreshadowing that it's about to happen).

The first three episodes in this collection feature each of the leads separated and accompanied only by a guest character from earlier in the series. Leela faces the after-effects of a time weapon while Narvin visits himself in a Time Lord retreat that, eventually, comes under threat from the Daleks. Although both stories are decent enough, neither goes anywhere that we haven't particularly been before and their resolutions don't tie into anything later on; they're just means to get the characters from A to B and at least have some tension along the way. But then again, perhaps I'm finding the Time War has outstayed its welcome by this point and the wellspring of ideas is starting to wear a little thin.

The third story, featuring Romana and bringing Braxiatel back (from some of the early releases in this series) is, however, rather better. The basic idea of hopping through time streams is nothing new, and the inclusion of the monster seems superfluous - and, honestly, it was never very good when it was the main focus, either. But there is some examination of Romana's character, as she faces an alternate reality in which she appears to have made some very dark decisions - has she, and if so, what could have driven her to them? These questions, at least, make this a more interesting story than it might otherwise have been, adding a moral dimension to what's essentially a chase story.

And then we're off to the grand finale, where everyone meets up again to face off against both the Daleks and the increasingly deranged Rassilon. I had some hopes for a while that this might provide a decent conclusion, perhaps even telling the story of the end of the Time War from the perspective of people who weren't the Doctor. Certainly, there are plenty of ties to events in The Parting of the Ways and The Day of the Doctor as well as other audio stories featuring the Time War. But it's set earlier than that (and perhaps such a story wouldn't really work anyway) meaning that we still have no idea what happened to our protagonists as the War neared its conclusion. (Well, there are possible explanations for Romana and Narvin, but the fact that we don't get one for Leela leaves one with the distinct feeling that it ain't over yet for the others). It's left open-ended, except for the fact that we know how the larger picture is going to turn out in the end, robbing it of any real tension or pathos.

Yeah, there's lots of action and the Dalek Emperor and Rassilon arguing with one another about which of them is really God, and some supporting characters do genuinely get written out. But, once again, the War drags on and we don't get any sense of resolution to the elements of the story that actually could have been resolved. Which I, for one, found disappointing.