A solid story with some brilliant characterisation and use of time-travel, let down somewhat by a reliance on other stories for impact.

I've only listened to two stories with Charley Pollard, Storm Warning and The Stuff of Legend. I know a little about what ends up happening with her character, but generally, I don't think making the events of Charlie's story central to the finale here does this story any favours. It's not that the story makes no sense without the context of Charlie's continued adventures, everything is explained here pretty well, but it's not *felt* in the way that I think is intended.

My minor gripe with the story out of the way, I think this is a very fun story. The setting is a very nice change of pace from the first three, and does a great job of showing the impacts of time travel on 'lesser species'. Everything to do with the two trains was great ans made sense, I especially loved the idea that getting off and back on lets you switch to the dominant train.

The biggest point in this story's favour however is the characterisation, Romana and Narvin's banter is great, Sissy is suitably hateable, Torvald (real)'s interaction with Romana at the end where he realises she has to let him go is great, and Torvald (fake)'s interactions with Leela are brilliant. As others have pointed out, the confession being structured like wedding vows is incredible, and just works so so well.

I do wish Gallifrey leaned more into the politics rather than the espionage side of things that this first season has done, hoping for more of it in future, though this espionage side is done really well.

I think this may rank higher if I relisten to it after some more 8th Doctor stories, but for now it's a low 8/10.

📝8/10

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

TRACKS OF TIME: SEASON FINALE ON A TRAIN TO CHAOS

The finale of Gallifrey Series 1 grabs your attention immediately with its distinctive setting—a train hurtling through late 1930s Germany. Romana finds herself drawn into a high-stakes meeting with the conman Arcadian, who’s been meddling with time to ensure the proper fate of a German woman linked to the Doctor’s travels.

This woman is Sissy Pollard, the sister of Charley Pollard. Unlike her adventurous sibling, Sissy has grown up in Nazi Germany, embracing its ideology. In a grim twist, Sissy’s suicide is necessary to preserve the timeline, and Romana and Leela are tasked with ensuring this tragic outcome.

Tension on the Tracks:

The moving train provides an evocative change of scenery, lending the story a sense of urgency and claustrophobia. This is easily the most straightforward and tense episode of Gallifrey to date, with fewer detours into political intrigue and more focus on character-driven drama and time-twisting stakes.

The plot also ties intricately into the Eighth Doctor’s Main Range adventures, particularly those involving Charley Pollard. While this connection adds depth for fans of the wider Doctor Who universe, it also complicates the narrative and may confuse listeners unfamiliar with those stories.

Powerful Performances:

Lalla Ward commands attention as Romana, portraying her with a mix of authority and emotional nuance, while Louise Jameson continues to shine as the fierce and determined Leela. Their dynamic remains the backbone of the series, bringing gravitas and energy to every scene.

India Fisher is a standout as Sissy, crafting a character who feels distinct from Charley while retaining some echoes of her sister’s essence. Her exchanges with Leela—particularly their discussions about fascism and Nazi ideology—are among the most compelling moments. Sissy’s attempts to assert her superiority are deftly undercut by Leela’s unrelenting confidence and skill, creating a fascinating clash of worldviews.

Gut-Wrenching Twists:

Erich, introduced as Sissy’s boyfriend, emerges as a pivotal figure. His transformation into a different incarnation of Torvald—and later the shocking revelation that he is Andred disguised as Torvald—delivers the most gut-wrenching twist of the series so far. The emotional weight of this revelation, particularly for Leela, adds a new layer of tension and heartbreak to the story.

Chilling Finale:

The finale builds to a chilling conclusion. Sissy’s ultimate fate is both inevitable and tragic, leaving a haunting final impression as the season closes. The story’s dark tone and high stakes provide a fitting end to a series filled with intrigue and moral complexity.

Final Thoughts:

This finale balances tense action with emotional depth, leveraging its unique setting and complex characters to deliver one of Gallifrey’s strongest episodes yet. While the ties to the wider Doctor Who universe may feel overwhelming at times, the powerful performances and high-stakes drama more than make up for it.

A tightly wound tale of fate, sacrifice, and identity that sets the stage for Gallifrey’s next chapter with chilling precision.

Gallifrey; Chapter IV  - “A Blind Eye" by Alan Barnes

Gallifrey, at least the first season of it, hasn’t blown me away. Some people act like it’s the holy grail of Doctor Who media and so far, I’m finding that hard to believe. Luckily, the consensus seems to be that the first season is somewhat lacklustre, so maybe things will improve. Not to say I haven’t enjoyed it, it’s just that all the episodes land in that weird spot where everything’s good but nothing’s great, worthy of only a shrug and a “yeah, I liked it”. However, I’ve heard that A Blind Eye is by far and away the best episode of the first season and the first chapter that truly showcases what Gallifrey is capable of; and I whilst I don’t think it’s really all that different from its three predecessors in practice, I can say that it is most certainly the best entry yet.

On a long distance train travelling through the Austrian alps, Lady Cecilia Pollard, fascist sympathiser and sister of Edwardian adventuress Charlotte Pollard, is making her way back to England, despite having meant to have killed herself the day before. Also on the train is Romana and Leela, meeting with time hopping conman Arkadian, who says Cecilia is the key to finding Free Time.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

A Blind Eye is a pretty unique entry to Gallifrey it would seem due to the distinct factor that it is a historical story, taking place on an alpine train in the 1930s. First of all, great setting; the underlying uneasiness of Europe on the brink of war lends a great backdrop to a unique set piece with a palpable atmosphere that carries a lot of the story. And what helps is that we have India Fisher playing Charley’s nazi-sympathising sister who is just the worst. Fisher manages to play the abhorrent, privileged fascist incredibly well, capturing the casual and childish bigotry rampant at the time, and I especially love Leela highlighting the backbending logistics of her repugnant reasoning. Cecelia (or Sissy) really does feel like Charley if she fell to the upper class teachings she was brought up on and it's her performance that keeps the unstable atmosphere going. As for the story, once again we’re given a time bending mystery to run around in, this one involving split timelines and a whole lot of convoluted technobabble. The first half is a decently atmospheric beginning, as we get hints of something bigger happening, culminating in the train colliding with a copy of itself. It’s a fun opening and sets up the second half well. And as for payoffs, we get the shock reveal that the Torvald we know is not the real Torvald, and is instead a regenerated Andred. Great twist moment that I unfortunately got spoiled but still packs a decent punch.

Despite its first half being a decent, paradoxical enigma, A Blind Eye once again devolves into aimless exposition and running around, much like The Inquiry before it. The actual mechanics of the timelines crashing together are barely explored and mostly just exist to split are characters up, only getting dumped on us in long strings of exposition. A lot of the second act is somewhat meaningless action, having Leela and Sissy run away from a surprise alien nazi memorabilia collector that monologues for one scene to the audience before dying, making me wonder what its point was. In fact, a lot of these later set pieces just feel like ways to move the story along to the final reveal, a lot of wandering around and dull exposition. It’s not egregious or as confusing as The Inquiry but it's definitely a pace breaker that massively hampered my enjoyment of A Blind Eye.

All in all, I thought A Blind Eye was a simple but very fun way to end the first season of Gallifrey. Like most of this series, it’s nothing I’d call particularly special - it once again ends up as another bog standard bit of espionage - but it’s interesting and unique enough to keep my attention. Gallifrey looks to be very promising, and whilst this first season didn’t blow me away, I’m excited to continue with it.

8/10

Pros:

+ Great setting and period

+ Brilliant, nasty performance from India Fisher

+ First half posits a really fun mystery

+ The reveal surrounding Torvald was great

Cons:

- The sudden inclusion of a shapeshifting collector of nazi memorabilia was unneeded

- The time travel elements feel underutilised

- The second half flows down and becomes a lot of running around and exposition

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.