Weapon of Choice

Weapon of Choice - 7/10

I'm not grabbed yet, but I am intrigued.

I'm a big fan of these types of sci-fi or fantasy political dramas, so already got me on that front, and I think that it's done really well here. The idea of a 'rubbish bin' of all unlicensed time travelers is a fun setting, it's a bit of a shame they don't do more with it, but it's not really the focus of the story so it makes sense.

The opening 10 minutes especially is a great hook into the rest of the story, and it's nice that they give that sort of opening that works well regardless of any prior knowledge of characters or setting.

That said, that's the main complaint I have so far, the characters all seem interesting, this is my first real Brax story and he's great here, but it just sort of puts you into the middle of things on this one without you getting as much of a chance to know the characters and I'd hope for. Granted with the inquest into Romana II coming up I'm sure that's something the rest of the stories do, and they likely just wanted something a bit more thrilling to hook people in, which makes sense.

The ending also leaves a few different plot threads open which all intrigue me, and I can't wait to listen to the rest!

📝7.4 = ENJOYABLE!

Time Lording through time and space, one victory at a time!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: "WEAPON OF CHOICE"

This story is intriguing right off the bat, with the groovy score and the four assessors inspecting time technology on a barren moon (Torvald, the Time Lord and the lady inhabiting the body of an enslaved woman stand out). It has Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes to it.

It takes a while to place everyone, but I like how quickly we are introduced to the main players—Torvald, Narvin, Romana, K9, Leela, and Braxiatel—and get a hunch of the basic plot beats that are relevant in this series, such as the space politics and terror organisations, the character drama, and the wider nature of Time Lords and Gallifrey.

I really like how effectively the characters are established. Romana and Leela are strong women (the former surrounded by people who constantly annoy her; the latter frequently solving problems with her fists), and there’s an intriguing tension between Leela and Torvald, while Braxiatel seems like a very dry Cardinal (as they all are).

The simple music and sound design and the superb performances contribute to building a surprisingly effective atmosphere.

So this Free Time movement and the conflict surrounding the regulation of tune travel is a political allegory I find very intriguing.

The abundance of characters and new concepts mean that this is somewhat confusing at times, but I see great potential in the political intrigue and the character drama, such as the conflict and tension between Romana, Narvin, and Braxiatel.

Alas, the episode lost me a bit in the end. Leela being appointed as Romana’s bodyguard should be cool, though.

STANDOUT DIALOGUE:

K9! We have been unfilterated!

Gallifrey; Chapter I  - “Weapon of Choice" by Alan Barnes

The Worlds of Doctor Who is the name given to every Big Finish property starring a character besides the Doctor. These stem from The Diary of River Song, to Jago & Litefoot and even The Churchill Years, if you ever wanted to listen to that for some bizarre reason. And out of all of these ranges, all of these stories, praised, revered and reviled in equal measure, there is one series that stands out, one series I hear nothing but praise for, one series that is held above the rest: Gallifrey. And, having just completed its backdoor pilot in the form of Zagreus, seeing it up next in Audio Club and finally caving in to all the requests, I’ve decided to begin this much adored series, beginning with a high octane spy thriller.

When a CIA mission goes wrong and a terrorist cell called Free Time gains access to a devastating weapon, President Romanadvoratrelundar of Gallifrey sends a K9 model, a CIA agent and savage ex-companion of the Doctor, Leela, in search of it.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

When I say Gallifrey, many people will think of mystical super beings, outside of time and space, conducting themselves in a way incomprehensible to us, keeping time and acting noble. But then again, you may have seen the classic series and know that in actuality it's a glorified system of bureaucrats with access to time machines. Rather than explore ancient mythology and mysticism, Gallifrey seems to be a series centering on political thrillers: espionage, duplicitous characters, power struggles, threats of war, terrorist cells, that sort of thing. I myself could not be happier, this is a style of story that I can never get enough of and always seem to be entertained by. The plot of Weapon of Choice is a clear indicator of this; Leela and CIA agent Torvald are tasked with finding a stolen doomsday device undercover, meaning we have a good old fashioned spy caper on our hands. It’s a really intriguing story and I found it to be like a mini Doctor Who James Bond (or some other, less extravagant spy film, I guess). Our cast, too, is great, as I had previously heard. I love a series with a returning main group (a lá Torchwood) so seeing we have a set cast of characters, I’m very excited for future stories. Romana and Leela are, unsurprisingly, great and bounce off each other really well. Two of my favourite companions both leading these sets pretty much sell them to me off the bat. As for the others, Braxiatel seems fun - I’ve heard a lot about him and whilst I haven’t yet got a full read on him, Miles Richardson plays him well. And then there’s Narvin, who I assume must have one hell of a character arc because I hear nothing but love for him and currently he seems to be the snake-like foil to the others, which is not the impression I got when I heard about him. Eventually, the plot ends up on the planet Gryben, a sort of temporal checkpoint where illegal time travellers are sent. The worldbuilding here is great and seeing Leela fight with a bunch of market salesmen or K9 stir up trouble at an alien bar is wonderful little bits of knowledge. Not to mention the insight we get to see on Gallifrey. I’m sure we’ll get bigger and better set pieces on the legendary planet but even now, it’s fun to see it so clearly. And in the final act, we a suitably tense ending for a story like this. Fast and fun, with a couple great twists and a lot of good tension. Romana proves herself, a traitor is amongst the cast and the world is on the brink of war. Good stuff.

However, Weapon of Choice has got one big glaring problem for me: it’s a pilot. This is something I’ve observed for quite a while, especially with ranges such as Torchwood: The Story Continues, in which the pilot ends up so preoccupied setting things up it forgets to focus on its own story. And I’d say something similar happened here; the story is fine, nothing much to write home about mostly because it’s used as a taster for what’s to come. It’s certainly one of the better pilots I’ve come across but I can’t help but feel it’s only half a story. The only other thing that I think I disliked was the antagonist - Nepenthe - who I think was bland. I wasn’t once threatened by her and every time she cartoonishly yelled “free time!” a little bit of me died inside.

So, I am very excited for Gallifrey. Weapon of Choice makes it clear to me that Big Finish took a really unique direction with this series. The cast is great, the stories seem fun, and I really can not wait to get into it. Don’t let me down, Gallifrey.

8/10

Pros:

+ Great cast, cannot wait to hear more of them

+ Really intriguing plot that felt oddly Bondesque

+ Fascinating worldbuilding

+ Tense third act

Cons:

- Suffers from pilot syndrome and feels like a lot of setup

- Nepenthe was a dull antagonist

I had managed to sample some of the Gallifrey series before, but am glad to have finally had the chance to start from the beginning and take a look at this series from its start point.

It's always been an interesting idea to me to explore Gallifrey a little more, but my ongoing concern is what I have seen so far are stories very political and human. Personally, I had always preferred the Time Lords as a bit more alien and beyond more petty human conflicts, or at least capable of more advanced ideas than what we get.

Still, there is a lot I like here. Louise Jameson particularly feels like she just steps right back into her role as Leela. She does a really good job of conveying the woman's struggle living on Gallifrey and her place in the story feels pretty appropriate. That being said, I think I like the ideas behind this story better than the execution. Leela living on the outskirts of Gallifrey society while mourning the potential death of her love interest feels like it should work, but in the story I found the writing a little clumsy.

The plot with Romana and the presidency felt a lot more simple and too mundane for me to really get into. Brax stands out a bit, but otherwise I didn't find the whole conspiracy with the Time Weapon that compelling, while Nepenthe felt pretty weak as an antagonist. Once again, there are cool ideas here with the CIA, Romana's relatively limited powers as a president, and the Time Lords sharing the power of time travel a bit, but it all just feels a little underdeveloped in this particular audio. That being said, I think that as the start of a long-running series there is a lot of potential to further build up on these ideas, and Weapon of Choice does do a good job of setting that stuff up for future content, which is hardly a bad thing. I will have to see if it all ultimately paid off.

As far as the beginning of a series goes, Weapon of Choice can seem a little long and dense, full of political intrigue and characters who all have their own agendas on a planet famously full of manipulators and tyrants. The very core of this series is the friendship of Leela and Romana, which may seem unlikely, but they form the true heart of Gallifrey. For Leela, Weapon of Choice lays the scene of a woman who, having lost her husband, is desperate to escape a planet on which she does not belong; while for Romana, we find a president who is trying her best to do the right thing, and being foiled at every turn. Adding to this, we create a quintet with smarmy politician Braxiatel (who, knowledge of from Bernice Summerfield is not necessary, but definitely enhances the experience); and Narvin, the stuck-up, cold Coordinator of the CIA, who you will grow to love. Trust me. If you know nothing about Gallifrey during Weapon of Choice, this seems like an insane thing to say, but Narvin has one of the most superb character developments ever written.

And this is why Gallifrey is worth listening to past the beginning. Although Weapon of Choice can feel slow and dense, it also has a totally different feel to any other series in the Whoniverse, and the slow unfolding of the plot is one of its main allures. Weapon of Choice is very much a set up episode, introducing us to concepts that will have ramifications that will still be felt in stories far after it. Certainly, it is an episode that benefits relisten with hindsight, and gets better with every listen as you notice extra details, but it stands on its own as a tense piece of drama, heightened to no end by an incredibly talented cast. It is perhaps not the easiest episode to listen to for the first time, and certainly requires a level of concentration to figure out who you are supposed to trust, and what everyone is up to, but Gallifrey just gets better and better from here.

And this episode really is good. It's easy to see, even from the start, just why Gallifrey has endured as one of Big Finish's most beloved, most long-running series.