⭐4/10

💩Underwhelming! → Skippable!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

PRIMARY NOTES:

James Goss kicks off the second Dark Gallifrey arc with a story featuring Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman) and the Unbound Doctor, as played by the late David Warner in his last released Big Finish performance.

You quickly realise that this is yet another story told out of sequence, which has been done many times before. This means that you need to remain alert to piece together the story. The gimmick feels quite worn out already, and it remains as confusing as ever.

As explained by the interviews, this entire story is essentially a coda to the Dark Gallifrey arc, but released second after Morbius and before the others.

How Bennie's conversation with the TARDIS fits into the story's many plots and ideas is unclear. There are some emotional moments here that don’t carry the intended weight because I had no prior attachment to them.

There’s joy in listening to Bowerman and Warner act together as they bounce off each other effectively.

Even after it becomes clearer what is going on, the story only slightly pokes at the Dark Gallifrey idea without giving it any more context. The War Master doesn't appear at all, which makes me feel cheated. The end of the story does set-up a potentially interesting continuation, so I am intrigued to find out how it all develops in the next two chapters.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Isn’t it fun how, at one point, it's mentioned that the Doctor is “73 feet below” Bennie? An unintentional reference to 73 Yards (2024)?