I have been looking forward to including this audio in my marathon for quite a while. Gallifrey is a series from Big Finish which I have enjoyed since it’s debut. I’m not usually one for political dramas (it has often been described as a Doctor Who version of The West Wing) but for some reason, I find the series thoroughly gripping and absorbing. I think this is, in part, due to an extremely strong core of characters played by exceptional actors. Taking Lalla Ward’s President Romana and Louise Jameson’s Leela from their appearance in Zagreus and extrapolating an entire series around, effectively, their contrasting and sometimes conflicting solutions to Gallifrey’s problems as a hugely influential power in the universe makes for a great series. Add into that mix, Miles Richardson’s Irving Braxiatel (at an earlier point in his timeline than the Bernice Summerfield range….or at least until it gets a bit complicated further down the line), Sean Carlsen’s utterly wonderful CIA coordinator, Narvin and John Leeson as both K9’s Mark I and Mark II, gives the series a core of characters who are just a joy to listen to.

This first series of four stories adds in turns from Lynda Bellingham returning as her Trial character, the Inquisitor – now given the name Darkel; Hugo (Knightmare) Myatt as a ‘time-conman’ called Arcadian; Andy Coleman as CIA agent Torvald; Jane Goddard as a Time Lord diplomatic powerhouse, Hossak; and, in this final story of the quartet, Susan Engel as Miss Joy, David Warwick as Erich Keppler and India Fisher as Charley’s sister, Sissy.

I’m glad that this series includes a story set in 1939 otherwise it would have been many, many years before I could expound on the series’ brilliance as part of my marathon. How this happens is down to Arcadian, the aforementioned conman, who summons Romana to the timezone because his own plan to alter history has gone somewhat awry. Romana takes Leela with her but Coordinator Narvin has also travelled to the time period with Torvald to clear up the mess on behalf of the CIA – who have already turned ‘a blind eye’ to Arcadian’s mischief in time. Arcadian is very much in the vein of the Meddling Monk (although not a Time Lord) and also has hints of Leslie Philips, Doctor Knox. A time-travelling conman out for himself but able to charm the right people when he needs to. Hugo Myatt is a brilliant fit for the role.

Arcadian has summoned Romana to ensure that Sissy Pollard meets the fate she is destined to meet. In the original history she commited suicide back in Germany rather than boarding the Transcontinental Express as has now happened because of a fake telegram from Charley that Arcadian sent to Sissy. This is so that Sissy can be sold to an alien Nazi-memorabilia collector! Meanwhile, unknown – initially – to Arcadian, his partner in crime, Erich Keppler is actually a Time Lord intent on releasing anti-time back into the universe as almost happened with Charley in Neverland.

It’s actually all rather complicated but, like the train it is set on, rattles along at a heart-thumping pace, with revelation after revelation throwing itself into the story. I actually chose to re-listen to the entire first series rather than this closing chapter and I’m glad I did because a lot of the revelations within are tied into the overall story of this first series involving a Timonic fusion device, the disappearance of Leela’s husband Andred and subterfuge within the other time powers allied with Gallifrey.

Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson are simply excellent throughout this series and bounce off each other extremely well. India Fisher brings a different energy to Sissy Pollard and although their are similarities – enthusiasm and adventure are clearly a family trait – her defence of Nazi ideals is actually quite disquieting. Sean Carlsen has become quite the Big Finish darling and he really did hit the ground running in this first series of Gallifrey. It was interesting to go back and listen to Narvin’s earlier character as oppose to the later one who has acquired a grudging respect for the ‘savage’ and has found a more balanced relationship with his President. In this series we have a Narvin who barely manages to hide his contempt for Romana and Leela and yet is still a capable and almost respected coordinator.

Due to this story being confined to a train (or rather two trains, split between two alternative timelines (I told you it was a bit complicated)) the sense of time and place is rather limited and with the only native character turning out to be Sissy, this isn’t a story about the history of the setting. That said, there are a sprinkling of details, courtesy of Sissy, which link into the trail of breadcrumbs the recent crop of stories have been laying to lead us to the inevitable outbreak of WW2. This is a world where there are people like Sissy who are actually embracing Nazi rhetoric. She namechecks Oswald Moseley and Adolf Hitler. She claims to be a proud member of the League of English Fascists and is their official observer in Munich, reporting back the words and actions of Hitler. There is also the insinuation that at various parties and rallies, she had relations with a series of Nazis. It is even revealed that she acquired a an apartment which had been taken from a Jewish family. Her suicide, that Arcadian’s telegram diverted, however, was a futile attempt on Sissy’s part to draw attention to what she had decided would be a futile war.

It also seems likely that Sissy is based on Unity Mitford, a real life socialite who’s sister had an affair with and then married Oswald Mosely and who, herself, was part of Hitler’s inner circle of friends. Like Sissy, she was given an apartment taken from a Jewish couple. Her story actually ended with same fate as Sissy – she shot herself in Munich when war was declared. Unity survived however and returned to England. Unfortunately, the bullet could not be removed from her brain and Unity eventually died from meningitis as a result of the wound, passing away in 1948.

This is an exciting conclusion to a gripping series. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the world of Gallifrey, this first series is a perfect mix of the sort of stories you can expect and A Blind Eye, though atypical in its setting, satisfactorily wraps up the story, presents a group of fun, well-acted characters and provides a different yet appropriate vehicle for two of Doctor Who’s best loved characters.