Having learned the truth about her husband, Leela unwittingly disturbs an ancient power beneath the Capitol of Gallifrey.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 8, 2016 at 2:53 AM
GALLIFREY: LIES
The first “season” of Gallifrey audios heavily featured “old hands” as the authors: Justin Richards, Stephen Cole, and Alan Barnes all wrote for the series, and “Lies,” the first play of the second season, features a script by then-Doctor Who range producer Gary Russell. I commented that you always know what’s coming from a Justin Richards script, and the same holds true for Russell’s work: continuity overload. Fortunately, it works for the most part: Russell is obviously adept with his Time Lord history, and weaves it together into an entertaining story that appears to be laying the groundwork for future developments.
It’s important to understand the role of continuity in this script. While attempts are made to explain past events, “Lies” requires a basic familiarity with “The Ribos Operation,” “The Armageddon Factor,” “Destiny of the Daleks,” “Neverland,” “Zagreus,” and of course the first season of Gallifrey audios. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume anyone that listens to this play is going to be a serious Doctor Who fan, but the number of references can be overwhelming. The retconning is a bit much: we are asked to believe that Romana’s comedy regeneration scene at the start of “Destiny” is in fact a desperate attempt to force her own regeneration in order to purge the influence of an ancient Time Lord Imperiatrix from her mind. She certainly handled it well!
Apart from that, though, there are some fine scenes on display in “Lies.” You’d think a scene involving both Romanas and both K9s would be incomprehensible, but Russell writes it brilliantly, easily capturing the differences between the performances of Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward — and then the two actors, aided by a double John Leeson, execute it well. The development of Andred (Andy Coleman) is interesting, following naturally from the events at the end of the first season. Coordinator Narvin (Sean Carlsen) becomes more sympathetic as events spiral out of his control, and Lynda Bellingham impresses in her first extended performance as the Inquisitor, lamenting the lack of inquisitions under Romana’s rule.
My only serious complaint is that, much like in the previous season, there is very little incident to speak of. We learn a great deal about Braxiatel’s past, we get to meet a hapless new Castellan (Ian Hallard), but the actual conflict involves Pandora (Brenda Longman) issuing threats from the Matrix until a simple stun blast from K9 solves the problem. It’s fairly obvious that this will carry over into the subsequent stories, but nothing much has actually happened after 70 minutes. Credit, though, to Russell, who also directed, and sound designer David Darlington — much like the changes between seasons of Sarah Jane Smith, “Lies” seems much more confident and polished than its predecessors. I’m reluctant to give it a particularly high grade, but for the first time I’m optimistic about the future.
GALLIFREY: LIES
The first “season” of Gallifrey audios heavily featured “old hands” as the authors: Justin Richards, Stephen Cole, and Alan Barnes all wrote for the series, and “Lies,” the first play of the second season, features a script by then-Doctor Who range producer Gary Russell. I commented that you always know what’s coming from a Justin Richards script, and the same holds true for Russell’s work: continuity overload. Fortunately, it works for the most part: Russell is obviously adept with his Time Lord history, and weaves it together into an entertaining story that appears to be laying the groundwork for future developments.
It’s important to understand the role of continuity in this script. While attempts are made to explain past events, “Lies” requires a basic familiarity with “The Ribos Operation,” “The Armageddon Factor,” “Destiny of the Daleks,” “Neverland,” “Zagreus,” and of course the first season of Gallifrey audios. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume anyone that listens to this play is going to be a serious Doctor Who fan, but the number of references can be overwhelming. The retconning is a bit much: we are asked to believe that Romana’s comedy regeneration scene at the start of “Destiny” is in fact a desperate attempt to force her own regeneration in order to purge the influence of an ancient Time Lord Imperiatrix from her mind. She certainly handled it well!
Apart from that, though, there are some fine scenes on display in “Lies.” You’d think a scene involving both Romanas and both K9s would be incomprehensible, but Russell writes it brilliantly, easily capturing the differences between the performances of Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward — and then the two actors, aided by a double John Leeson, execute it well. The development of Andred (Andy Coleman) is interesting, following naturally from the events at the end of the first season. Coordinator Narvin (Sean Carlsen) becomes more sympathetic as events spiral out of his control, and Lynda Bellingham impresses in her first extended performance as the Inquisitor, lamenting the lack of inquisitions under Romana’s rule.
My only serious complaint is that, much like in the previous season, there is very little incident to speak of. We learn a great deal about Braxiatel’s past, we get to meet a hapless new Castellan (Ian Hallard), but the actual conflict involves Pandora (Brenda Longman) issuing threats from the Matrix until a simple stun blast from K9 solves the problem. It’s fairly obvious that this will carry over into the subsequent stories, but nothing much has actually happened after 70 minutes. Credit, though, to Russell, who also directed, and sound designer David Darlington — much like the changes between seasons of Sarah Jane Smith, “Lies” seems much more confident and polished than its predecessors. I’m reluctant to give it a particularly high grade, but for the first time I’m optimistic about the future.
6/10