Determined to save Romana, Leela is sent on a mission by the man she hates most on Gallifrey – Lord Rassilon…

This is something of a sea change in the Gallifrey saga – not the first in its two decade long history, and I suspect quite possibly not the last. There’s a new production team, headed by Heather Challands, with Samuel Clemens on board as director, and yet another new theme. More importantly, there’s quite a change of emphasis, or at least that’s what comes across in Lou Morgan’s opener for the set. We’re focusing on missions during the Time War, as opposed perhaps to all the internecine warfare on the Time Lords’ home world (although there’s a hint from the last conversation here between Rassilon and Ken Bones’ General that the latter may play an increasing role, given the Lord President’s plans).

Morgan deftly fills in everything we need to know in the pre-credits scene, reminding us of Romana’s fate, Leela’s reaction to it and the changed geopolitical status on Gallifrey, making this a good stepping on point if you’ve not given the series a try before. There’s a necessary recasting that draws on an element of regeneration established in passing for the Time War, and Richard Armitage has the majesty and megalomania that we saw in Rassilon on TV at the end of the David Tennant era.

There’s a feel of the latter days of the Mission: Impossible TV series or the last year of The A-Team about the mission – we know these characters, but they’re being put into a different sort of environment from before. The Gallifrey series used to mean Leela and Romana and Narvin – now it’s going to be something else, and it’ll be interesting to see how that alters the feel of the series going forward. The relationship between the General, Leela and Beth Chalmers’ Veklin is at the heart of this particular story, and there’s more than a few surprises along the way.

Verdict: A very different time for Gallifrey – both within the fiction and in the real world – gets off to a good start. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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