Gallifrey; Chapter IX - “Imperiatrix" by Stewart Sheargold

Sorry. That’s all I really have to say, I know Imperiatrix is a really popular episode but I’m beginning to think Gallifrey just isn’t for me. And that’s really sad, because I really want to like it; I love political thrillers; I adore series where the main focus is building developing an ensemble cast, but I just don’t think Gallifrey delivers, at least for me, on any of these fronts. I had to take a day to think about what I was going to say for Imperiatrix because, although I knew coming out of it I was underwhelmed, I didn’t exactly know why and found it hard to put it into words. A little over twenty four hours later and, you know what, still no idea but I’m going to try my best to say why I think that what should’ve been a nail biting climax fell short for me.

Gallifrey balances on a knife’s edge. A cut throat election is disrupted by deadly terrorist attacks and Romana’s inner circle continues to dissolve. With only one option left open to her, will Romana take her title of Imperiatrix?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I’m not sure what I wanted out of Gallifrey, but I don’t think it was this. The ingredients for a great story are there but very few of them actually seem to work. A character-driven political thriller that dives into the mythology and world of Gallifrey’s Capitol is an accurate brief for the series, but one where nearly every point is underdelivered upon. I find the characters likeable but a lot of them feel superficial and lacking in real, defined characterisation. I think the politics are one of Gallifrey’s weakest efforts, lacking any actual nuance or message. And in the end, I think Imperiatrix is just a distillation of so many of my problems with the entire range. However, I would hesitate to call this bad. It’s an incredibly competent story that (especially if you’re going by the first half) is just fine, but there’s a lot I believe it does wrong. If we’re looking at positives though, I’d definitely say the initial half hour or so is some fun if basic shenanigans. The atmosphere leading up to the elections - what with recent news in context - felt suitably tense and Darkel set herself up fantastically as the conniving opponent, callously blaming her opposition for the problems she’s caused. There was also some great stuff with Leela, who, after discovering Andred’s death, decides that’s the final straw and she’s going to leave Gallifrey. This could’ve been done a little better than it was (Leela basically goes from hating Andred to being hell bent on getting vengeance for him between lines and no the “creed of the hunter” or whatever is not an excuse) but her sombreful acceptance of her place on Gallifrey being gone was probably my favourite part of this entire audio. Or, I would say that, if it wasn’t for one scene. Despite Imperiatrix being an unsubtle mess at times, there is one moment where I can see it well and truly delivers on everything Gallifrey has been trying to do. Following an initial terrorist attack, Leela’s K9 goes searching for another bomb, eventually finding one planted in a docking bay through which a crowd of alien students are trying to evacuate. He’s unable to disarm the bomb and Commander Hallan resorts to locking thirty students (and K9) inside to die, against Romana’s wishes. Romana and Leela’s reactions and the quiet, remorseful wander through a pile of smouldering ash afterwards is by far the most emotionally devastating moment in this episode and possibly the whole of Gallifrey Not only that, but it’s the only time where the episode seems to rise from its muddy state of “oh, this character’s kind of evil but we’re not going to say anything about it” to outright condemn Hallan’s disregard of life. I’ll say what I want about the rest of this story but that one scene is stunning. As for the rest, I think it’s mostly fine. It’s flawed, sure, but it’s a very competent script and it manages to successfully wrap up Series 2 in a cohesive way, tying up most plot threads nicely. Imperiatrix, as a story, isn’t a trainwreck, but it’s certainly not far from a wobble.

And that’s just the thing, Imperiatrix wobbles, a lot. If I had to highlight one thing wrong with this story, one singular thing I need to complain about, it’s the politics. So, we’re setting our story during an election where one side is an increasingly desperate liberal politician who’s fast losing friends and the other is a devious conwoman who’s masquerading racist views as trying to protect Gallifrey from invasion. Tons of room for an interesting exploration of a turbulent political landscape, right? What can happen to even the “good-side” when pushed into a corner, mirroring real world pivots to facism? Well, no, instead there’s a crazy terrorist blowing up people randomly and we’ve got to stop him! It’s an utter bungling of what could’ve been a fascinating exploration into how the far-right can manipulate narratives to suit themselves and how the left can betray their own ideals when pushed to it but instead it’s a return to Series One spy capers in a setting that really doesn’t want them. The politics here say absolutely nothing, they are simply a backdrop to a kooky sci-fi story. This results in mind numbing repetition of the same two points that completely miss opportunities for intelligent discussion. Romana only ever says “Gallifrey needs to move forwards” and never really says what that means, Darkel is never called out or put down for being a fear-mongering racist who’s the real cause behind Gallifrey’s unrest and not once are the victims of the terrorist attacks seen as anything other than “well, that’s a blow to my campaign”. Actually, I tell a lie, there are a few moments reflecting on it but you’d think the story would do something more with the fact that innocent students are dying because of the current political climate and not just have it be an irritation to our main character. But since the story has nothing to say, neither do the characters. The politics here are superficial, they’re treated as plot points rather than actual moments of triumph or failure for characters. A military commander commits what could be considered a war crime and gets a slap on the wrists before the story moves on; Romana formulates a coup and the only reaction is Darkel going “hey, you can’t do that!” and Romana going, “actually, yes I can”. Nobody for one moment calls Romana out on anything, despite the fact she’s dissolving a planet’s government and turning it into a dictatorship to save her position. It’s a series of missed opportunities in the shape of a story, no character acts believably, every moment feels underplayed, there is no nuance to the election, it’s a pantomime that could’ve been a brilliant thriller. And what doesn’t help is that the dialogue can be painfully overwrought and far too close to a Marvel villain monologue for my liking at times. Especially with Antimom’s final speech where he painfully outlines his entire plan like a disney antagonist trying to get the children watching to understand what he was doing the whole time. It’s egregiously on the nose and horribly breaks the immersion(or whatever immersion there was, anyway).

Imperiatrix felt suitably disappointing for Gallfirey. A loud and shouty space opera with nothing to say and no real commitment to any character. I was told Narvin had some stuff to do here, but really he just goes “Grrr, I hate everyone” and then blows up, kind of allying with Romana at the end but not really. As a story, by itself, it’s fine but when you look at the bigger picture it just seems like a trip and a fall, failing to do anything interesting with its extended runtime. Even a second appearance from Mary Tamm can’t excite me for Series Three at this point.

6/10

Pros:

+ First half built some fantastic tension

+ Really loved what the story did with Leela (mostly)

+ The second attack was the most emotionally affecting scene in Gallifrey so far

+ Nicely wraps up Series 2

Cons:

- Massively underwrites its politics

- Very superficial in how it displays atrocities and corruption

- Misses opportunity after opportunity to tell a deeper story

- Romana’s role seems massively glossed over

- Dialogue sometimes became unbearably camp