The Galois Group

The Galois Group made me nervous on initial listen as I was unfamiliar with stories featuring Valarie and the Eleventh Doctor at this time, and didn't know this was a Valarie story until I started listening.

It does largely stand on its own, though one might be better off being more familiar with the Eleventh Doctor Chronicles and the Valarie character with some clear references to past events. Still, I understood the plot and ideas of The Galois Group just fine. This is a strange little story where our characters are creating paradoxes and ghost copies of one another from different timelines. It is the sort of story that could get out of control quickly but I think Felicia Barker manages to strike a balance with this nicely. It was a pretty fun and touching Short Trip thanks to some deft writing and good characters. I found the content around Galois himself pretty touching, especially in The Galois Group's sentimental ending. There's some neat touches to it.

The Doctor is pretty interesting too. Valarie is the source of all this story's conflict and she nearly creates some very serious issues with the timeline. Yet I feel unlike something such as Father's Day, the Doctor treats her a bit more gently here. Sure there are arguments and some pretty hefty consequences to Val's actions, but it all, at least to me, felt like it was done in a way where the Doctor was never presented as overly cruel, or even his usual over-goofy Eleventh self, and the end result was that much better.

The only part of the story that holds itself back is the nature of the production. This isn't a story flush with memorable music or sound effects, and it all feels pretty standard in terms of its direction and editing. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is enough to keep Galois Group from being exceptional. Instead I would just say it was pretty good. Listenable but not anything that stuck with me as much as a story like this could have. I'm glad I listened to it but I am not exactly eager to revisit it, either. It wasn't long or painful to get through but it was not exactly unforgettable, must-see content, either. All that being said, Safiyya Ingar was great. I can see why her Valarie has become popular in the Eleventh Chronicles, and will definitely have to check those out. In that regard, one could argue Galois Group did a good job at advertising that range a little bit, which isn't a bad thing by any means.